Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Speaking the Truth
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It's only hard to speak the first time; after that, it was all too easy.
It was frustrating to think about why I hadn't been able to do this all along.
“Just think about it. What exactly did I do?”
[He's really let it all go.]
[Oh no……. I'm starting to feel sorry for him.]
[But if you really think about it, what did he do wrong?]
[He didn't know about the other members' scandals? He should have stopped them. Why is he being so shameless? What does he have to be proud of? Unbelievable. He's decided to just be completely shameless.]
'You should have stopped them.'
'You debuted in the same group, you worked together, you lived together. How could you possibly not have known?'
Those words hurt me the most.
'How was I supposed to stop them? By what means?'
“If I had known about the school violence, I would have stopped him from debuting in the first place. How would I know something even the company didn't? At least to me, he was a good person.”
Park Su-hyeol, the group's leader, was someone who took really good care of the members.
Throughout our trainee days, he was like a pillar of support, someone not just I, but many others, relied on.
Who would have ever imagined that such a person had been a school bully in his student days?
“During our dorm life, he not only took on all the tough chores like cleaning and laundry, but he was also always the first to comfort us when things were hard. Even when I made it into the debut lineup before him, he was the one who congratulated me and bought me a cake, even when he barely had any money. So how was I supposed to know?”
[Looks like he was the type to be good to his own people.]
[Yeah. Someone can be a villain to me but not to others.]
[Let's say that's true. Then what about the other member's relationship? There's no way he didn't know about that. Living in a dorm, going on dates, texting... it's impossible not to know.]
“Dating? They were crazy about each other, what was I supposed to say? 'Be careful. Try not to meet up.' That's all I could say. Who am I to pressure them to break up? Who am I? To tell them to break up for the team? That's something the company should say. We were friends before we were colleagues. We weren't in a position to meddle in each other's private lives.”
[Honestly, the dating thing is something Seo Yoon-seul couldn't have touched.]
[Yeah. I'll admit that.]
[Then what about the youngest member? He really should have stopped that.]
[Seriously lol. Let's say he could claim he didn't know about the bullying, and that he knew about the dating but couldn't say anything. How is he going to explain this one? Let's see how he dodges this.]
“Hey. Turn off the live stream.”
I could see them scrambling to turn off the stream.
“Didn't you hear me?! Turn it off now!”
[What? Why are they suddenly turning it off?]
[Don't turn it off!]
[Hey, I still have a lot of questions!]
[It's just getting good, why turn it off? Besides, Seo Yoon-seul seems to be handling this properly. Speaking his mind like this is actually better for avoiding problems.]
“It's no use turning it off now. I'll just start another live stream and say everything I need to say. I'm serious.”
At my firm tone, the staff member's finger froze in mid-air.
“You don't know what I might say. Wouldn't it be better to just stand there and watch?”
[Looks like Seo Yoon-seul has made up his mind.]
[He's filled with a fierce resolve right now…….]
[There's no stopping this.]
[But doesn't this mean he has a lot to say about the company too?]
In the end, the live stream continued.
“We were talking about the youngest member, right? That I should have stopped him? I did try to stop him. There's no way I would have just watched. I constantly tried to keep him from going out late at night. We were a four-member group that had become just two, so of course I was worried. I could have ended up being left all alone.”
The manager was glaring at me as if he wanted to kill me on the spot, but I didn't care at all.
“Because of the other members, we weren't even allowed to go to the supermarket alone. We couldn't go out at all without a road manager accompanying us. We even have location tracking apps on our phones.”
To prove my innocence, I took the phone out of my pocket and showed the location tracking app on the screen.
[It's real?]
[Wait. The company used an app like that?]
[Wow. They were managing them that strictly, so how did a minor manage to drink and even do drugs?]
[But the reason the company had to install something like that is insane.]
“If even the company couldn't do it, how could I?”
My emotions started to well up.
“Besides, that day, he left saying he was going to a relative's 60th birthday party. He even wore a suit, saying he wanted to look neat for his relatives, so I had no reason to be suspicious.”
[I can't imagine how frustrated he must have been all this time.]
[He must have come on prepared to reveal everything from the moment they told him to do an apology broadcast.]
[Listening to his story, he's a total victim, isn't he? Poor guy. When you think about it, the members who left are living just fine, while the innocent one kept taking all the flak. Basically a punching bag.]
Public opinion flipped all too easily.
Of course, I knew this wasn't everything.
But the fact that at least the people watching this live stream now knew the truth meant so much to me.
'If I had just spoken up sooner, I wouldn't have had to be hated by everyone. Why did I... all this time...'
Remembering all the difficult times, a feeling of injustice surged through me.
“So, I can't apologize. If I apologize here, it makes me the one who did something wrong.”
That's what an apology was.
What is the meaning of an apology?
To ask for forgiveness for one's own mistake.
Apologizing itself is perceived as an admission of guilt.
'Because of this one apology live stream, all my efforts—no, my very existence—was negated.'
“I have done nothing wrong. I've never even had a girlfriend. I don't drink because alcohol is bitter. I don't even drink coffee because it's bitter, so there's no way I'd touch alcohol. I've never engaged in school violence. Call the schools I attended and ask them. Ask what kind of student Seo Yoon-seul was.”
Whether it was from the feeling of relief or the thought that my suffering was finally over, I felt my eyes welling up.
'No. Don't cry now.'
I bit my lip, but it was no use. The tears had already pooled and were streaming down my cheeks.
I hastily wiped the tears away with my sleeve.
[He must have been through so much emotionally.]
[Isn't he the real victim here?]
[What was the agency thinking, making him do an apology broadcast? I seriously don't get it.]
The atmosphere in the live chat had changed completely.
[Seo Yoon-seul. I'm cheering for you.]
[Stay strong. Listening to you, it really seems like you're innocent.]
[You've suffered so much. We're sorry.]
For the four years since my debut, all the words directed at me had been so cold, but even if this was just a dream, the warmth of these words was a comfort.
'This dream today must truly be a gift for all my past suffering.'
“I feel a lot better now that I've said everything I wanted to say. I'll end the live stream now. Thank you for listening to my story.”
And with that, the live stream ended.
“Are you really crazy?!”
As if unleashing the anger he'd been holding back during the stream, the manager let out a roar.
“Yes. I am crazy. How could I possibly be sitting here with a sane mind?”
“You're just itching to get kicked out of the agency, aren't you? You think anyone will take you in after you leave? This industry is crawling with people like you.”
I was sick of that kind of gaslighting.
“In that case, I'm asking you. Please kick me out.”
At my words, the manager just fumed without saying anything.
It was only natural, since kicking out an artist wasn't within a manager's authority.
'Maybe it would have been happier to get kicked out like this. I might never be an idol again... but it's not like I can achieve my dream by staying here either.'
Just then, the manager roughly shoved my shoulder, causing me to lose my balance and fall to the floor.
A loud thud silenced the room.
“Ah.”
The pain in my shoulder and hip kept me from getting up right away, and I remained sitting on the floor.
'Wait. Why does it hurt?'
If this was a dream, I shouldn't be feeling anything, but the distinct pain left me bewildered.
“Not getting up? Anyone would think I punched you.”
The manager said in a sneering voice.
“I said, get up!”
The manager's shouting made the atmosphere grow more hostile.
The other staff in the room were busy glancing back and forth between the manager and me, trying to read the situation.
But what was important to me wasn't the manager who only knew how to rage like a madman, nor the other staff watching cautiously, nor my aching hip and shoulder.
'If this isn't a dream, then what is it? Don't tell me I've suddenly come back to the past or something? In novels, people go back in time after getting hit by a truck or receiving a strange object from a stranger, but nothing like that happened to me.'
Last night, I was at the dorm as usual and fell asleep normally.
That was it.
I couldn't tell if I had actually gone insane.
Life wasn't easy, so I sometimes had such delusions.
How wonderful would it be if I could turn back time like the protagonist in a novel or drama?
Knowing the future, I would promise myself never to repeat the same mistakes.
'When my mom and sister seriously said they were worried about my mental health and suggested I go for counseling, should I have said yes?'
“Yoon-seul. Are you okay?”
The stylist helped me up.
“He's just pretending to be hurt. I didn't even push him that hard.”
The manager glared at me and scoffed.
“The CEO is calling, so you should calm down for now.”
“You'd better know the CEO just saved your skin.”
The manager stomped away, as if to vent his anger.
“Yoon-seul, you should go to the CEO's office.”
“Okay.”
I walked towards the CEO's office with a dazed expression.
'Have I really gone crazy?'
Wanting to check, I slapped my face hard.
A sharp *smack* echoed, and a stinging sensation spread across my face.
'I really have gone crazy. Completely and utterly insane.'
But to say I had really gone crazy, there hadn't been any incident that would have suddenly made me lose my mind to the point of hallucinating.
'Could it be that I've actually regressed? If so, I don't want to repeat the same past ever again.'