You're Family Now
Family..., he'd said.
"Y-you're giving me a signing bonus? Fifty million won?"
"That's right."
That was the part of Hyeongje Entertainment's exclusive contract that had left me stunned.
The moment I signed, they would pay off fifty million of the two hundred million won my family owed — as a signing bonus.
A signing bonus for a trainee...? And fifty million won, no less...
No company handed out signing bonuses to trainees who had nothing to their name. Even if a trainee's talent was so exceptional that a bonus was warranted, nobody threw around a sum like fifty million.
I reeled for a moment, then forced myself calm and started reading the contract again.
Maybe the money was bait, and somewhere in the fine print lurked a monstrous poison clause.
But...
There's nothing...
The rest of the terms were good for me — if anything, better than good. Nothing disadvantageous. Nothing that would force me into a corner or strip me of my rights.
I read it through five more times just to be sure before I finally admitted it.
This contract... was overwhelmingly in my favor.
"Why..."
"...?"
"Why are you being so good to me...?"
How many times had I been burned already?
The world was not a warm place. In a world that could make you hate even your own blood, I couldn't bring myself to trust a contract this kind.
"...Don't tell me you're trying to be my spon—"
"Don't ever say that kind of garbage again, even as a joke. Do you have any idea how many years apart we are?"
"......"
...Judging by how dead serious he'd gone, I'd really pissed him off.
Right... Kang Hyeongman didn't look like that kind of scumbag.
Which meant this contract was the real thing...
What do I do...
If I was seriously considering becoming an idol, the contract in front of me was the best I could possibly hope for.
But...
I should think about this more...
The term was five years.
The moment I signed, I would be legally bound to Hyeongje Entertainment.
If I got dazzled by the immediate gain of fifty million won and signed, I might regret it later, so I needed to think it thr—
Thud.
"I just stamp here, right?"
"......"
That was when my legal guardian — my father — stamped his seal on the guardian signature line without a second of hesitation.
"Instead of applying the bonus to the debt, could you just pay it out directly? I'll give you my account number..."
...This insane bastard.
And this man calls himself a father...
Even if it had no legal force without my signature...
How does he look at fifty million won and decide his daughter's future without blinking?
The room spun.
And then—
A firm squeeze.
"Yerin."
"...Mom."
Mom took my hand in both of hers, her expression full of gentle warmth.
That soft smile. Those warm hands.
The look on her face was so comforting that the hurt I'd been feeling began to melt awa—
"Hurry up and grab the pen. You need to sign already."
"......"
...Melt my heart, my ass. Goddamn it...
"Yerin, what are you even hesitating for? You think fifty million won grows on trees?"
"The only reason you've got a face that can make it as an idol is because of Mom and Dad, so when we're old, you'd better take care of us, okay?"
"......"
Korea has a mythical custom called Goryeojang — abandoning your elderly parents in the mountains.
But looking at my mother and father... a thoroughly unfilial urge to make that myth a reality was quietly rising in my chest.
In the end, I stamped the contract.
And it wasn't only because of my parents...
"If you're that uneasy about it, how about this?"
"...About what?"
"We'll put a grace period on it until My Idol Academia wraps up. If you don't want the contract after that, you can terminate it without paying any penalty beyond the fifty million."
"......!"
...Because Kang Hyeongman had offered a new clause.
With one more term stacked in my favor, I stamped without delay.
If problems came up later, I could walk away. There was no way for me to lose.
"Kyarr~, kyarr~."
"Thank you so much, CEO Kang!"
Apparently thrilled that fifty million of their debt was about to be wiped out, Mom and Dad saw Kang Hyeongman and his men off with beaming faces.
Kang Hyeongman looked at my parents like they were insects, then pulled me — who'd come out to see them off as well — into a corner and...
"...A moment."
"...Yes?"
...whispered into my ear.
"I have no intention of paying off fifty million of your parents' two-hundred-million-won debt."
"...What do you mean..."
"I'll deposit the fifty million into your account instead. Give me the number."
"...Excuse me?"
The words were so unexpected that I stammered for a second before I managed to pull myself together and ask.
"But why would you give it to me...?"
"Isn't it obvious? Your parents are the ones who ran up two hundred million in debt. The person I agreed to pay a fifty-million-won signing bonus to is you. Why should I be settling their debts?"
"......"
"I know how grasping those two are. If I'd said this in the house, they would've gone berserk. That's why I'm telling you out here. Now give me the account number."
At Kang Hyeongman's urging, I fumbled out my account number, and the money hit almost instantly.
"This time, hide it properly. Don't let those parasites snatch it from you."
"W-wait...! Mister...! It's not fifty million — fifty-one million just came in?"
An extra million had landed, and I called after him as he turned to leave. He kept that blank expression of his as he answered.
"It's your first day with the company. Consider it pocket money. Spend it however you like."
"......"
His tone was indifferent, but the content was impossibly warm.
So I couldn't help asking.
"...Mister."
"Hm?"
"...Why are you being so good to me?"
The world was cold.
And in that cold world... the man in front of me held one of the cruelest jobs there was — a loan shark.
If he wasn't after my body, then why on earth was he showing me this kind of kindness?
When I asked him seriously, he stopped mid-step and answered.
And that answer was...
"Because I felt sorry for you."
"Ah."
Somehow, it made me feel even smaller.
"Watching you struggle under those worthless parents made me feel sorry for you, so I did it."
"...Because you felt sorry. Of course."
So it was pity after all.
Having been an orphan in my previous life, I was all too familiar with other people's pity.
Because I had no parents. Because I was poor. Because I was pitiful...
Not that pity was a bad thing. But... I couldn't help the bitter aftertaste.
In this new life, I didn't want to live on anyone's pity anymore...
In the end, nothing had changed from my previous li—
"Ah. Of course."
That was when he spoke again.
"I also wanted to make a good impression, because my expectations for you are high."
"...What?"
Kang Hyeongman, who'd been heading back to the car, paused and turned to face me.
"I've always had a good eye for people... And the second I saw you, I knew I had to bring you into our agency."
"......"
"That's why I was willing to put in some unreasonable terms if it meant signing you."
For the first time, a small smile touched the corner of Kang Hyeongman's mouth.
There wasn't a shred of falsehood in the way he said it, and I froze for an entirely different reason than before.
His expectations for me... are high?
I stood there blankly, turning the words over, as Kang Hyeongman turned back toward his car.
"If that answers your question, I'll be on my way. I'll contact you again within a few days."
"...Yes, Mister."
"Ah, and one more thing..."
Thud.
He got into the car, rolled down the window, and waved as he spoke.
"From now on, call me CEO. You're one of us now. Family."
"......!"
With that, Kang Hyeongman's car pulled out of the alley where our villa stood.
I watched the black sedan carrying Kang Hyeongman and his men disappear, turning his words over in my mind.
"Family..."
He'd probably said it without meaning anything by it... but the word somehow brushed against something soft in my chest.
"Ugh, finally those scary-looking bastards are gone..."
"Tell me about it..."
The same parents who'd smiled and waved Kang Hyeongman's crew off wiped the smiles off their faces the second he was gone and started trash-talking them behind their backs.
Then they turned to me — still lingering in the afterglow of what had just happened — and said:
"More importantly, Yerin! Let's eat first. Aigoo... I'm so hungry my stomach's stuck to my spine."
"Yeah, I'm starving... Go in and make dinner already. Three soft-fried eggs, please~"
I hadn't eaten dinner either. I was hungry too.
On any other day, I would have nodded, gone inside, and started cooking...
"...No."
"...Hm?"
"...I'm sorry, Mom, Dad! There's something I need to check — I'm running into town for a bit!"
"...Huuuh?"
I had something to confirm, so instead of making dinner, I took off running toward downtown.
"Nooooo—! Yerin, where are you going at this hour—!"
"Who's supposed to cook if you're not here—!!"
My starving parents' desperate wails followed me from behind, but I kept running toward the city.
"Hah... hah..."
Before long, I reached the still-bright shopping district.
"Coin karaoke... coin karaoke..."
The moment I hit the street, I started scanning for a coin karaoke sign — and that was when it happened.
A hand closed on my arm.
"Excuse me... just a second."
"...?"
Someone had grabbed the arm of a girl hunting for a coin karaoke.
"...What is it?"
"Ah, sorry. I'm not some weirdo..."
At first I thought it was the usual guy trying to get my number, but the vibe was different.
He looked to be in his late thirties, and with an easy smile he pulled out a business card and held it out to me.
"I'm with this company — I'm sure even a student like you has heard of us?"
"......"
The card he offered bore the name of a reasonably large agency, along with the title of manager.
"I don't usually hand these out to just anyone, but you really caught my eye. Have you ever thought about joining us as a trainee?"
"......"
"We're putting together a new girl group right now. Two years...? No — one year. I can promise you a debut in a girl group within a year. Interested?"
A situation any student my age would dream of.
But my answer was, of course...
"No. I'm sorry."
...a refusal.
I'd been collecting agency business cards since I was little. Every agency that handed them out, I'd taken one.
That included the so-called Big Three — and I'd turned every single one of them down.
There was no way I'd pick a mid-tier outfit like this.
Apparently he hadn't expected a rejection that clean, because the manager's easy smile started to crack into flustered confusion.
"...Hmm. Kid, I don't think you understand how heavy what I just offered you is..."
"No, I understand perfectly. And I'm still declining."
"...Hah. Kid, just think about it one more—"
Normally I would have turned the clingy manager down again in carefully polite language.
But right now I was in a hurry to find a coin karaoke, and...
"Look, I said I'm fine."
"......!"
...my voice came out a little sharper than usual.
"Ah... uh..."
The manager let go of my arm, flustered for a beat, then...
"S-sorry, kid. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable... I'll just be on my way...! P-please don't be mad...!"
He bobbed a hasty bow and fled like he was running for his life.
"...Ah."
I stared blankly at the spot where the agency manager had vanished, then checked my expression in the side mirror of the car in front of me.
Looking back at me was a coldly beautiful woman whose eyes were drawn up as if she were furious.
"Hoo... chased another one off."
In my previous life and this one alike, there hadn't been much to smile about — and it showed. My face was endlessly cold.
Raise my eyebrows even a little and I looked enraged. Furrow my brow and my eyes turned contemptuous.
Force a smile and my face twitched like I was having a stroke.
That was the first reason I'd given up on entertainment despite this face.
No matter how good-looking you were, an expression like mine made connecting with fans impossible.
Who would love a celebrity who stayed blank-faced and couldn't even smile?
And that wasn't the only reason I'd walked away from the industry.
"Ah... found it. Coin karaoke."
I stepped into the coin karaoke to confirm the second reason I'd abandoned entertainment — idols in particular.