The Existence That Bestows Despair Upon the Protagonist
Han Siwoo led me to a deserted corner outside the set, far from any prying eyes.
Why had he suddenly called me over?
As a judge on My Idol Academia, Han Siwoo carried such a cold, frosty image that I couldn't help but tense up.
Don't tell me I messed something up…
He planted me in the corner, checked that no one was around, and finally spoke.
"I've been watching you this whole time, Miss Yerin."
"……?"
"Would you consider working with me from now on?"
"…Excuse me?"
What the hell did this bastard just say…?
The line Han Siwoo had just delivered was uncomfortably familiar.
And for good reason.
Yerin! I've been watching you all this time… I think I have to say it now…! Go out with me!
It was basically the same confession I'd been hearing from guys ever since I'd been reborn as Ha Yerin.
This crazy bastard. I'm still a minor…!
I'd heard there were plenty of perverts among celebrities. Maybe this was one of those cases.
Just thinking about the age gap between us sent a full-body shiver crawling up my spine.
The moment I looked at him like he was some kind of insect—
"Ah—no! It's not like that!"
Han Siwoo flushed red and waved his hands frantically.
The blush only made him look more like a creep.
I decided I needed to shut this down hard. My already cold blank expression dropped straight to absolute zero.
"I'm sorry, Producer Han Siwoo, but I have zero interest in dating. And I'm a min—"
"No! I'm sorry for phrasing it so confusingly! But it is absolutely not that!"
A man who barely ever showed emotion was now raising his voice in frantic denial.
"Ah…"
Judging by that reaction… maybe it really wasn't.
Still, if you phrase it that way, of course people are going to misunderstand.
"Then what exactly did you mean just now by 'working together'?"
If it wasn't a love confession, what on earth was it supposed to be?
I tilted my head and asked. Han Siwoo cleared his throat a few times before answering.
Once he'd collected himself, his expression turned deadly serious.
"I meant, would you consider spending your future career in the entertainment industry with me."
"……!"
I flinched, then asked carefully, just in case.
"…I'm currently appearing on My Idol Academia. My goal is to debut through the show."
"But any group that debuts through My Idol Academia is contractually dissolved after one year. I'm talking about what comes after that."
He was right. Groups that debuted through the show were dissolved after a year on principle.
If he was talking about after that… then surely…!
"I'll be founding my own company soon. The kind of company that can flip the entire Korean entertainment industry—an industry locked solid around the Big Three agencies."
"……."
"Once the group that debuts through My Idol Academia disbands, I want you to join my company as our first artist, Miss Yerin."
A confident smile sat on Han Siwoo's face as he said it.
"I will make you an idol who conquers not just Korea, but the entire world."
"……."
I knew full well that what Han Siwoo was saying wasn't empty bluster.
One year from now, he really would found his company, HS, and HS would become the supernova agency that shattered the Korean entertainment scene.
The problem was…
Why is he making this offer to me?
I was not supposed to be the one receiving this proposal.
In the original timeline, the first artist of Han Siwoo's company HS was…
Yu Seol…
…the winner of My Idol Academia.
…The future had changed.
Because of me.
Because I'd appeared on the show and caught Han Siwoo's eye, I'd received the offer that should have gone to Yu Seol.
The sudden turn of events left me so flustered my head started to throb.
That was when Han Siwoo held out his hand.
"Trust me, Miss Yerin. Come with me."
The hand he extended was a blank check, pure and simple.
If I took it, every success Yu Seol was supposed to enjoy in the future would become mine instead.
My parents' debt? I'd make so much money that amount would feel like pocket change.
I would taste a level of success I'd never experienced in either of my lives.
Yeah. If I just took this hand.
"……."
I couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
"If we go back in together, people might get the wrong idea. Let's enter separately."
"Yes, sir."
"I'll go in first, so come back soon yourself, Miss Yerin. Break time should be ending any minute."
"Yes, understood."
"Well then…"
With that, Han Siwoo headed into the set.
"Haa…"
I stood there a moment longer, then took a different route inside from the one he'd used.
But then—
"……Oh."
"……."
The second I rounded the corner to enter the set, I flinched and stopped dead.
…Someone had been holding their breath right there.
"…Unni."
"……."
It was Yu Seol.
The same Yu Seol who, in the original timeline, would have received Han Siwoo's offer instead of me.
She'd been standing at the corner with a dazed look. The moment our eyes met, she forced an awkward smile.
"…Sorry. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop."
"……."
Normally she could craft any expression she wanted with her outstanding acting skills, but right now she looked completely at a loss the second she saw me.
I simply shook my head and said,
"It's fine. Really. Let's just go in. They're about to start."
"…Okay."
I tried to walk into the set as if nothing had happened.
But then—
"Hey…"
Yu Seol stopped me.
"Can I ask why you turned down Producer Han Siwoo's offer? It was clearly a great opportunity."
"……."
She was right.
I had turned him down.
The reason was…
"Because of my current company."
Because of Hyeongje Entertainment.
"Why? Producer Han even said he'd cover the penalty fee for you. Your current agency isn't that big… Moving to his company would've been way more beneficial."
She wasn't wrong. Leaving Hyeongje for Han Siwoo's company would have been a huge win for me as an idol.
But…
"The CEO of my current company is a huge benefactor to me."
If Kang Hyeongman and Hyeongje Entertainment hadn't existed, I never would have even dreamed of becoming an idol. I'd still be trapped in the swamp of my parents' debt.
I didn't want to betray the man and the company that had saved me.
And also…
Originally, HS's first artist was supposed to be Yu Seol.
Somehow it felt like I was stealing her place, and that left a bad taste in my mouth.
"I plan to bury my bones at my current company."
"…I see. Okay."
Yu Seol nodded even though her eyes still said she didn't understand.
Maybe it was the bitter look on her face.
Before I knew it, I said something I never should have said.
"Instead of that… what if you went to Producer Han's company, Unni?"
"……What?"
Back then, all I could think about was fixing what had gone wrong.
Yu Seol was the one who was supposed to go to Han Siwoo's company… so even if I had to force it, I wanted the future to flow the way it originally should have.
I had no idea how thoroughly I was crushing her pride.
"I'll recommend you to Producer Han myself."
"……."
"You sing better than me and dance better than me, so I'm sure he'd be happy to take you. What do you think?"
"……."
The moment those words left my mouth, Yu Seol froze like a statue.
And then—
Crack.
As if a mask had shattered, her face went slack, and—
"…Heh."
"…Unni?"
"Hehehe…! Ahahaha—!"
She suddenly burst into wild, manic laughter.
"Ahahahaha—!"
But the laughter didn't last long.
Snap.
"Yerin."
Because she was now staring at me with a face no one else had ever been allowed to see.
"The person Producer Han made that offer to was you, not me. Do you not understand what that means?"
From those pitch-black eyes of hers, I felt a hostility that made Seo Yujin of SAV look like nothing.
"What, did you think I'd be happy if you said that?"
"…That's not what I—"
"Or did the old hag who trained for nine years and still never debuted just look that pathetic to you?"
Had Yu Seol's training period been nine years?
I hadn't known.
I hadn't known her training period was nine years.
And…
"…Yeah. To someone who got that kind of offer from Han Siwoo after only a month of training, I must look pretty pathetic."
…I finally understood how she had been looking at me this whole time.
"A genius like you… could never understand someone like me."
The expression on Yu Seol's face as she said that was impossible to describe.
It looked like rage… and resignation at the same time.
"…I was an idiot for thinking competitors could get along."
She muttered something I couldn't quite parse and turned her back on me.
I reached out to stop her.
But—
"Unni, wait just a—"
"Don't touch me."
"…!"
…Her voice was as cold as midwinter, and I had no choice but to freeze.
She shot me a sidelong glance and delivered one last icy line.
"Yerin. Wake up. You and I are competitors."
"……."
"If you're going to half-ass it, just drop out. Do you not realize that every second you're standing here, some desperate person is losing their chance?"
With that, she strode into the set without looking back.
I stood there staring at her retreating figure for a long time.
…Damn it. I screwed up.
I'd been so rattled by Han Siwoo's offer that I'd tried to force the timeline back into place too quickly, and this was the result.
Part of it was also that Yu Seol had built such high walls around her heart that I'd never properly seen what was inside.
She was still being named one of the strongest contenders to win My Idol Academia… so I'd assumed she wouldn't have this kind of inferiority complex…
Or did the old hag who trained for nine years and still never debuted just look that pathetic to you?
…Yeah. To someone who got that kind of offer from Han Siwoo after only a month of training, I must look pretty pathetic.
How must she have felt saying those words?
That was when my eyes, almost against my will, snagged on my status window.
The Heavenly Demon who bestows trials and despair upon the protagonist.
Looks like I'd been playing the Heavenly Demon role to perfection.
I trudged back onto the set with a blank look on my face. The production staff waved me over urgently.
"Miss Yerin—! Where have you been?! Break time ended ages ago! Hurry up!"
"Ah… I'm sorry."
Even then, I still hadn't fully come back to my senses.
Because of Yu Seol.
What… am I even supposed to say to her?
I didn't have the courage to look her in the face. Just the thought of sitting next to her made me feel like I'd explode from the awkwardness.
But then—
"Yerin, where did you wander off to? You're so late."
"……!"
The moment I arrived, Yu Seol greeted me with her usual bright, sunny smile.
I flinched and glanced back toward the outside of the set—
Whirr—.
…Of course. The cameras were rolling.
"…Sorry… for being late…"
I couldn't keep up with her professionalism at all. I gave her a robotic reaction and sat down beside her.
That was when it happened.
Synchronizing…
Yu Seol's locked trait is currently being unlocked…
All of a sudden, Yu Seol's status window began to stir.