Chapter 115
Chapter 115
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: A Little Naive
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“Yoon-seul.”
After Zero to the Boy left the dressing room, Jung Eun-woo called my name in a low voice.
“Yeah?”
I turned my head to look at Jung Eun-woo.
He sighed, sweeping a hand over his chest in relief.
“What’s with the sudden reaction?”
“Because it feels like you’re finally back to the Seo Yoon-seul I know.”
“I was surprised a moment ago, too.”
“Ah. I did that on purpose. It’s obvious what’s going to happen to them.”
It was only natural for the members to be surprised.
They had never seen the kid who always said he was fine no matter what say he wasn't, nor had they seen him look so serious.
“I was actually relieved.”
It was Park Ji-ham.
“You’re a bit naive, so I was worried you might get taken advantage of somewhere, but seeing you just now, I feel like I wouldn’t have to worry about you no matter where you go.”
“That’s true.”
The manager nodded in agreement.
“You think I look naive?”
“Yeah.”
Park Ji-ham nodded with a firm expression.
“You didn’t know?”
The other members averted their eyes, as if they had been thinking the same thing.
“Yoon-seul, you do seem a little naive.”
“That’s right.”
“There’s a reason your nickname is Golden Retriever. Honestly, Golden Retrievers don’t have a sharp image, do they? If you gave off that kind of vibe, wouldn’t your nickname be Doberman or some other sharp-looking dog?”
That was Haru, Jung Eun-woo, and Lee Ho-jun, in that order.
“See?”
Park Ji-ham gave me a slight nod, as if to say, ‘I told you so.’
*To think I seemed naive.*
I thought I was keeping my wits about me, so it was a bit of a shock to hear that’s how I came across.
“Honestly, you often put yourself at a disadvantage to help others.”
“I do?”
“Yeah.”
I was trying to think of when I had ever done that when Park Ji-ham spoke again.
“Twisty Puzzle, for example. You had no reason to recommend them.”
The members didn't know, but I knew that Creatin had had ‘MESS’ taken from them by us.
Knowing that, I couldn't continue promoting while pretending I didn't. It was just something I did because my conscience bothered me.
*Besides, I was lucky enough to return to the past; I didn't want to do bad things and face the karmic consequences.*
I couldn't bring myself to reveal the truth, so I said nothing.
“And back during RED CUBE, too. I basically did something terrible to you.”
“Why are you bringing that up again? And it wasn't your choice, hyung. The other people were the problem.”
“Anyway.”
Park Ji-ham shrugged once and continued.
“Even so, you helped me.”
“That was for my own sake. If the performance went well, I would do well too. And I didn't want a performance I was in to become a lifelong laughingstock.”
“You also went out of your way to help Kang Ju-hyeok. Honestly, what did it matter to you if he dropped out of the program because of Park Su-hyeol?”
“That’s because I’d been through something similar with Park Su-hyeol.”
“Selfish people wouldn't care, no matter the reason. They'd want to avoid the problem precisely because they'd been a victim themselves. And looking naive isn't such a bad thing. Why are you trying so hard to explain yourself?”
He had a point.
*In a way, he was complimenting me. I could have just let it go, so why was I so desperately trying to justify myself?*
“What you said to Zero to the Boy just now was for their sake, too. You even said so yourself. So why are you so intent on denying it?”
*Is it because I'm not used to compliments?*
Throughout my time as a member of GANGSTER-M's second generation, I lived a life more accustomed to criticism than praise.
If someone praised me for being nice, criticism and condemnation would follow, so I was always careful, busy explaining that I was just an ordinary person.
I'd get flak for being nice and flak for being known as a bad person, so pretending to be just an ordinary guy was comparatively quieter.
*So this, too, was influenced by my past.*
I thought I was slowly breaking free, but I wasn't at all.
That was also a bit of a shock.
Park Ji-ham stood up from his seat and slowly approached me.
“Still, when they asked if you were okay, you did well to say no.”
He said, ruffling my hair.
“What's this?”
“You don't seem very used to compliments, so I'm trying to help you build up some immunity.”
I saw a glimpse of my older sister from when we were young in Park Ji-ham.
*When I was little, my sister used to pat my head and praise me like this.*
Though she never did it again after we grew up.
“You’re too timid.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“The other members were all like that, but you were especially bad.”
Another hand landed on my head.
It was Haru's hand.
“What now?”
“I think Ji-ham's right.”
Lee Ho-jun's and Jung Eun-woo's hands landed on my head too.
They ruffled my hair roughly.
Or rather, messed it up completely.
Normally, our manager would have told them to stop, but he didn't say anything today.
After a short while, the members took their hands off my head one by one.
My hair, which had been fixed in place with a ton of hairspray, was a complete mess.
I looked in the mirror on the dressing room wall and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
“Seriously. Isn't this like a punishment on a variety show?”
My hair was sticking up in every direction, a style that seemed impossible to create even if you tried.
“Aigoo. I stayed quiet because you guys seemed to be having a good time, but isn't this too much? It's a good thing we have some time left. Yoon-seul, let's go wet your hair, quickly.”
“Okay.”
I hurried to the restroom with the manager.
***
Zero to the Boy left RE-V's dressing room and headed not for their own, but for the emergency stairwell.
They needed to talk somewhere private.
“Okay, we'll start filming now.”
But the emergency stairwell was also crowded with people.
There were more than a few idols filming challenges or taking group photos.
“So this is why they tell you to watch your mouth at the broadcast station.”
Ji Hyun-soo said, blinking his eyes.
“Should we try the restroom?”
“Let’s do it.”
Hoping to find it empty, Zero to the Boy made their way there.
“Ah.”
Inside the restroom were Seo Yoon-seul and his manager, wetting his hair.
“Yoon-seul. I think your hair is mostly fixed.”
“That’s a relief.”
The two were so focused on his hair that they didn't notice Zero to the Boy's presence.
“Aigoo. It's tough being the youngest.”
“I know. But it's because the hyungs are showing me affection. I'm trying to think of it as a privilege of being the youngest.”
“That’s a wise way to look at it.”
“Right? Still, hyung, I think it's mostly fixed now.”
Zero to the Boy couldn't take their eyes off Seo Yoon-seul, who seemed to have a good relationship with his manager.
They then quickly left the restroom.
“I'm jealous.”
“Yeah.”
Chatting and laughing with their manager.
That one simple thing was something Zero to the Boy had never been able to do.
“I guess all the other idols live like that, right?”
“Probably.”
On Twisty Puzzle, it was easy to see other managers working hard for their idols.
Though they had done nothing wrong, they hurried to the end of the hallway as if fleeing.
“Oh? There's no one here.”
“You're right.”
Somehow, they had reached a place where, just as they'd hoped, no one was around.
“Let's hurry up and talk here.”
“Yeah. If we take too long, the manager will give us hell again.”
“Should we really sue?”
“I know.”
They huddled together and began talking in low voices.
“We can't keep wasting time at LM. Yoon-seul hyung said it. We won't make any money and we won't get any sleep.”
“But the manager told us GANGSTER-M got paid a lot. He said everything on TV was a lie.”
“What if that was a lie he told us, too?”
Zero to the Boy didn't fully believe what the company said.
To be precise, since they were under the company, they wanted to believe it.
If it wasn't true, they had no hope left.
“Hah... I was afraid of this, but it seems it's true.”
“Yeah.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Unfair contract. He said it was an unfair contract.”
Ji Hyun-soo recalled what Seo Yoon-seul had told them a little while ago.
“If it's an unfair contract like Yoon-seul hyung said, can't we sue and get out?”
“How can we win against the agency?”
Cher, the youngest member of Zero to the Boy, said with a tearful expression.
As befitting the youngest in a group where all members were minors, he was sixteen this year.
“We don't even have money for a lawyer.”
“We have to look into it, step by step. We can't just stay like this. We have to escape from LM. Or, instead of letting the agency push us around, we need to fight back.”
Zero to the Boy quickly returned to their dressing room.
The manager was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, using his phone, when he looked up.
“What'd they say? Are they doing it?”
“No. They said their agency is against it, so they can't film it with us.”
Annoyance instantly spread across the manager's face.
“Ah, seriously. Can't you even do that one thing right? I told you to beg them if you had to! Was that so hard?”
“We tried. But they said absolutely not...”
Ji Hyun-soo hid his hands behind his back and tried to record with his phone.
“And you just gave up and came back? You guys have no grit. Do you think the company asked you to do that for no reason? There's a reason for everything, you know. Huh?”
“We're sorry.”
“Then don't do things you have to be sorry for in the first place! This is so annoying. Do you have any idea what I have to hear from the higher-ups because of you? I'm already going crazy because of Seo Yoon-seul. Hah...”
The manager threw the snack box that was on the small table onto the floor.
Because it was packaged in a plastic container, it made a rather loud noise.
“Hyung!”
“Our fans gave that to us.”
The snack was a gift sent by Zero to the Boy's fans to congratulate them on their debut.
“So what? You wouldn't even get things like this without your company. Do you think you could even exist without the company? Huh? Without the company, you wouldn't exist, and neither would your fans.”
After letting out a torrent of frustration, the manager sat back down.
He was still fuming, as if throwing things and yelling hadn't been enough to release his anger.
In the end, it was up to Zero to the Boy to clean up the ruined snacks.
They could no longer stand by and watch their manager's behavior, which trampled even on the hearts of their fans.