Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: The Tide Turns
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After agonizing over it all night, I kept it a secret from my family and headed to the broadcast station for a meeting with the writer.
It was a place I’d frequented until just a short while ago, yet it felt strangely unfamiliar.
The station was crowded, making me self-conscious, so I pulled my hat down lower.
As I looked around for the writer, a woman in a shirt and jeans caught my eye.
‘That must be her.’
“Hello.”
I approached cautiously and greeted her.
“Ah, Yoon-seul. You’re here.”
The writer welcomed me with a bright smile.
“Let’s head inside first.”
“Okay.”
I followed the writer to an office.
“Here we are.”
She opened the door to reveal a room with a simple table and a few chairs.
“You’re here?”
A man who looked like the producer waved at me.
“Hello. I’m Seo Yoon-seul.”
I bowed my head in greeting.
“Have a seat here.”
“Okay.”
The producer and writer sat side by side, and I took the seat opposite them.
I was so nervous my throat felt parched.
“I heard you don’t drink coffee, so I got you an iced chocolate. Is that okay?”
“Ah, thank you.”
The writer brought a coffee and an iced chocolate from a corner, having apparently bought them in advance.
“Let’s talk comfortably while we drink.”
“Okay.”
This small gesture—knowing I didn’t drink coffee and preparing an iced chocolate for me—eased my tension a little.
It was a consideration my own company had never shown me.
‘They always told me to just drink an Americano because I’d gain weight. Looking back now, maybe they were just too cheap to buy coffee.’
As I took a sip of the iced chocolate, the producer spoke again.
“We’ve seen all your videos, Yoon-seul. Your live stream, too.”
That one sentence held so much meaning.
Unlike other participants who were complete unknowns, I came with negative public opinion.
It would be a double-edged sword for the show.
My name recognition would naturally draw attention, but the negativity people felt towards me could easily spread to the program itself.
There was no way the people in broadcasting didn’t know what I already knew.
‘I thought this might be my last chance, but is even that about to slip away?’
“So, we did some real research on you. It turns out that in your school days, you were just a student who loved playing soccer. And you like sweets so much you don’t even drink coffee, let alone touch alcohol.”
“Huh? Yes, that’s right.”
I expected them to start with an apology, so I was a bit surprised when they instead brought up what they’d found about me.
“We were actually short on people we could push for the main vocal position when we saw you. We thought about it, looked into you, and realized there was no reason for us to say no. So, we’d love for you to be on the show. By the way, what’s the status of your contract with your former company?”
“The contract was terminated. They didn’t charge me a penalty fee, but in exchange, I agreed not to mention anything about the company.”
At my words, the producer’s face filled with shock.
“They’re truly vicious.”
“Pardon?”
“A group like GANGSTER-M must have already been getting paid, right?”
We had been, so I gave a small nod in place of an answer.
“They’re terminating your contract because they can’t control you anymore. When you think about it, they’re the reason for the breach in the first place.”
“Right.”
The producer and writer started getting fired up, as if it were their own problem.
“They shouldn’t be messing with these kids like that.”
“I’ve heard a lot of stories about LM Entertainment only seeing their artists as cash cows.”
“Um, excuse me…”
I carefully interrupted their conversation.
“Yes? Is there something you want to say?”
“So, does this mean I can be on the show?”
“That’s what we wanted to ask you. Given the circumstances, there’s going to be a lot of talk if you join this program. Can you handle that? I can’t just blindly protect you for the sake of the show. You know what people call ‘evil editing’ these days. I’ll have to do that.”
I was actually grateful for his honesty.
Everyone always says they’ll never do things like that, that they won’t air certain clips, but when you watch the broadcast, they never keep their promises.
So, after they contacted me, I had already steeled myself for the evil editing.
“I’m fine with it. Ever since our leader left like that, public opinion has been against me, so I’m used to it. In fact, I’ve never once received any support.”
I said, offering a bitter smile.
Public opinion had never been kind to me.
There were only ever sharp, cutting words.
It was the first time I learned that you could feel malice from written words.
“You haven’t checked the internet yet, have you?”
“Huh?”
I still hesitated to see the reactions myself, so I had deliberately avoided looking.
Even the DM from the writer—if it hadn’t arrived while I was on my phone, I probably wouldn’t have seen it until much later.
“I don’t think I should be the one to tell you, so look it up when you get home. I think it’ll mean more if you see it for yourself.”
“Okay.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but since I couldn’t just pick up my phone and check right then, I had no choice but to agree.
“So, you’ll be on the show?”
“I want to.”
“Excellent. Our first shoot is in a month. You’ll need to prepare a song and a dance for the level evaluation. We’ll send you a self-introduction form today, so please fill it out by hand and send it back to us.”
“Okay.”
“Alright, I’ll show you the contract now. Please read it over carefully.”
* * *
Without even having a chance to tell my family, I signed the contract and returned home.
Thinking of it as my last chance, I didn’t want to let it go.
‘But what did he mean about seeing the internet reactions for myself?’
I hadn’t wanted to look at social media, which I assumed would be full of the usual ridicule, but after hearing that, my curiosity was piqued.
‘Let’s just check once.’
Honestly, I was a little hopeful.
The producer’s tone hadn’t been negative when he brought it up, so I had a sliver of hope.
[Seriously, Seo Yoon-seul is so extra. Just say you want to stay a celebrity.]
↳ LMAO, my thoughts exactly.
↳ lol, I agree.
[LMAO, what a legendary live stream. The company’s hilarious, and so is Seo Yoon-seul lolol. Casually promoting himself in the middle of it all.]
↳ Right? lol He says he’s never dated or had a drink. Anyone can say that.
All I saw were the same kinds of posts as before.
Just posts mocking and criticizing me.
‘What was I even expecting?’
I decided to check just one more post and scrolled up.
[Seo Yoon-seul Live Stream Summary.
The company tried to make him apologize, but he said he couldn’t because he didn’t do anything wrong. That’s the main point.
Regarding the leader, Park Su-hyeol: He said if he had known about the school violence controversy, he would’ve told the company and stopped him from debuting. He said Su-hyeol was a good person to him, so he never expected it.
Regarding the main dancer, Yoo Jin-hyung: How could he manage his personal life? He couldn’t force him to break up for the team’s sake, so all he could do was tell him to be careful not to get caught.
Regarding the youngest, Choi Jun-seong: The company was monitoring him with a location tracking app, and he still went to a party and did drugs. What was Yoon-seul supposed to do? He trusted him because Jun-seong used a relative as an excuse and even wore a suit. But this was the result.
For reference, Seo Yoon-seul thinks even coffee is bitter, so he doesn’t touch alcohol and is a homebody. He’s also apparently never been in a relationship. Said he was too busy training to ever meet girls. And in school, he was just a student who got along with everyone.
Doesn’t this make him a pretty safe idol to stan?]
↳ Thanks for the detailed summary. I was curious but didn’t want to watch the whole live stream.
↳ But the company is super weird. Why are they making the remaining member apologize instead of the one who actually did something wrong?
↳ I know, right. After Park Su-hyeol left, they made Yoo Jin-hyung lead an apology stream. Then after Yoo Jin-hyung left, they made Seo Yoon-seul do it. The other members caused all the problems, so why is the one who did nothing the one apologizing?
It was a post where someone had summarized my live stream.
The comments on it were completely different from before.
They were understanding me.
[I think Seo Yoon-seul left his company.]
↳ ????
↳ Huh?
↳ His name is gone from the agency’s website. I checked several times thinking it might be an error, but it’s not. They just deleted it.
It had only been a day since I’d left the company.
‘They must have deleted it the moment I walked out of the CEO’s office.’
[It’s true, Seo Yoon-seul’s name is gone from the agency website. Wow. They’re something else. They even posted an announcement on their official account today saying they’re creating a new idol group. And not a girl group, a boy group.]
↳ Huh?
↳ Already?
↳ At this point, they must have already been planning it.
What an agency—no affection, no loyalty, right to the very end.
‘The new boy group they’re debuting is probably them.’
Ji Hyun-soo, Kim Tae-wan, and Jung Seok-hyung, who were in GANGSTER-M with me.
They wouldn’t debut them as a trio, so they’ll probably add one or two standout trainees to form a new team.
[I feel so bad for Seo Yoon-seul. He didn’t do a single thing wrong, but he became the scapegoat because not one, but three of his members bailed. I wonder if he’ll quit being an idol now.]
↳ If it were me, I’d be so sick of it I couldn’t continue.
↳ Look at the reactions now. If I were him, I’d be completely disillusioned with being an idol. He did absolutely nothing wrong, took all the hate, and only when he spoke out like he was ready to quit everything did public opinion flip and start supporting him.
↳ Seriously. Seeing him cry, it looks like he went through a lot.
[I’ve been a fan of Yoon-seul’s since his debut. I thought he was a person who shined so brightly, just like his name. But because of the circumstances around him, misunderstandings just kept piling up. It was so upsetting that I went to a public broadcast and shouted at him, “I’m so frustrated! No one recognizes your true worth!” And you know what he said to me? “It’s okay because you do! Thank you.” That’s the kind of person Yoon-seul is. Even if everyone misunderstands and hates him, he’s grateful for the one person who believes in him. That’s how he was able to endure it all until now. The world has just been so cruel to a kid like that. Yoon-seul. You might not see this post, but I really want to say this. The brightest idol in my life is you. That will be a fact that never changes. If you’re tired, it’s okay if you don’t come back. I’ll just keep cheering for your future to be full of sparkle.]
It was a post where I could truly feel the sincerity.
‘So this is why he told me to check for myself.’
[Yoon-seul. Thank you. I was happy because of you. Even if you don’t come back, I’ll understand. I was just grateful, and I loved you.]
[Yoon-seul, you’ve worked so hard all this time. We’ll remember all your shining days.]
[I was so happy to be able to share in your shining moments. Yoon-seul, thank you for being an idol. The joy of my life was the time I spent loving you.]
That wasn’t the end of it.
People whose names and faces I didn’t know were cheering for me.
I was so grateful, my heart swelled.
As I thought, I couldn’t quit being an idol.