Chapter 58
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Manager's True Identity (1)
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I'm heading to the company right now.
After overhearing that shady manager's phone call in the broadcasting station parking lot yesterday, I'd made up my mind to properly investigate him.
I pulled my hat low over my eyes and scanned my surroundings. Fortunately, it was a day off from schedules, so the streets were empty.
But my feet wouldn't move easily. With Song Yu-bin's injury on top of the sasaeng fan breaking into our dorm last night, my guard was up higher than ever.
"Hoo..."
Only after checking multiple times that no one was following me could I finally start walking.
After trudging along for a few dozen minutes like that, I arrived in front of the DIEN headquarters building.
I caught my breath, then stepped inside.
What I had to do from here was simple: figure out what the hell the manager was up to.
To investigate him, I needed to check out the places he frequented. There might be clues there.
So, the first place to look...
Was inside the van.
Whenever we headed out for schedules, the manager was alone in the empty van. I had to start by finding out what he did in there.
'There's a black box in the van, so I should dig into that first.'
The company managed the van.
And since today was a no-schedule day, it should be parked in the headquarters lot.
First things first, I needed to head to the section chief's office as planned.
'Section chief... Hate meeting the guy, but no choice.'
I reached the door to his office.
Knock knock—
I knocked, and his voice came from inside. Only after he told me to come in did I enter.
He looked startled by my sudden visit and stood up.
"Uh, Eun-ho. What brings you here?"
"Just have something to talk about."
"Oh? Yeah, sit down."
I sat on the sofa across from him. Then I worked hard to put on the most downcast expression I could muster.
Sensing the heavy mood, he patted my shoulder and spoke.
"I heard the news. You guys hit #1 on Keyword Music, right? Hey, congrats."
"...Yeah."
"But right after #1, that crap happens, so I bet you're not feeling great. The company's gonna amp up security, so don't stress too much."
It had already reached the section chief's ears, huh.
Well, with the cops showing up at the dorm yesterday and all the chaos...
Pretty much anyone worth knowing at the company would have heard by now.
"So, what'd you want to talk about?"
I steadied my breathing, then laid out what I'd prepared.
"You know what happened at the dorm yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. Like I said, we're beefing up dorm security so that shit doesn't happen again..."
"No. What I wanted to say is..."
I paused for a beat before continuing.
"We have that van, right? I want to check the black box footage on it."
At my words, he gave me a puzzled look.
"The van's black box? Why?"
I answered while watching him.
"There were days during schedules where things felt off. Like stuff I left in the van ended up somewhere else."
Of course, it was a lie.
Just something I'd made up to justify checking the footage.
"With a sasaeng getting into our dorm yesterday, maybe they got into the van too. So I really want to take a look."
His expression turned serious at that. I glanced at it, then added in a quiet voice,
"It's making me anxious during schedules, and my condition's been off because of it..."
He seemed to mull it over for a moment before slowly speaking.
"I see."
"......"
"What's not to allow? Black box? If you wanna see it, see it. Can't have you distracted during schedules."
Perfect.
I barely held back a grin and replied.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"Oh, want me to send you the files? Nah, we'll check it out for you. You must be wiped after schedules—get some rest."
Before he could finish, I jumped in.
"Ah, no. I'll look at it myself."
"Huh? You wanna check it, Eun-ho?"
"Yeah. It'd be tough for staff to go through every single frame... I'll just focus on the days and times that bugged me."
I flashed a bright smile as I said it.
I'd phrased it like I was worried about the staff, but that wasn't it at all.
I just didn't trust the company to handle the footage.
Even if they spotted something sketchy, DIEN—consistent bystanders up to now—would just let it slide.
Why? Too much hassle.
Unless there was clear footage of a sasaeng breaking in, DIEN wouldn't lift a finger for us.
That's why I had to check the black box footage myself.
"You sure you're okay with that?"
"Yeah. No schedule today, so no issue. And it feels safer if I do it myself."
He still looked reluctant, but nodded like he had no choice against my stubbornness.
He reached for the phone right away, punched a button, and held it to his ear.
"Hello? You got the van Manwol's Boys uses, right? Pull the black box footage and send it to my email now. Yeah. Thanks."
A bit later, his smartphone pinged.
He checked it and said,
"Black box footage is here. I'll send the files via message."
"Yeah."
"If you spot any issues while watching, tell me right away. Got it?"
"Yeah. Thanks."
As I stood to leave, his voice called from behind.
"Congrats again on #1 on Keyword Music. Yu-bin probably worked the hardest—tell him good job for me!"
"Yeah."
I gave him a smile, closed the door, and stepped out.
"Haa..."
I let out the sigh I'd been holding in front of his office door.
Alright, now I had the black box footage. Time to hunt for clues in earnest.
With the files in hand, maybe head back to the dorm.
"I'm back."
I opened the dorm door and stepped in. Baek Si-woo, watching TV in the living room, turned his head toward me.
The other members poked their heads out curiously and looked my way.
"Oh, back already?"
"Yeah."
I'd vaguely told the members I was off to practice.
I considered filling them in, but they were already wiped from yesterday—no need to burden them with manager drama too.
"I'm heading to my room."
"Yeah."
The second I got in, I pulled out the laptop under my desk and powered it on.
The screen lit up, and soon the boot sounds filled the room.
All that was left was to check the black box footage from the section chief...
'How long's this gonna take?'
Fatigue hit before I even started. I'd bullshitted him about specific dates and times, but there weren't any.
I'd have to comb through every video from start to finish, day by day, for anything suspicious...
'Gonna puke already.'
As the thought crossed my mind, the laptop's wallpaper came into view.
I transferred the black box videos from my phone to the PC, unzipped them, and opened the folder.
Now I had to review every black box recording from debut day to now.
'This is gonna suck.'
Start with the first folder.
Hand on the touchpad, I opened the first one.
It showed the manager and us boarding the van. Our chatter played a few times, then silence fell.
Time ticked on, but the van in the footage stayed eerily still.
'Nothing happening.'
A few minutes in, we appeared heading out for the schedule. Soon, only the manager remained inside.
He seemed to spend most of his time in the van sleeping or on his phone.
"Haa..."
Watching this asshole I couldn't stand was pure torture. But I shook it off and focused.
'This'll eat up all my time at normal speed. Let's do 2x.'
I bumped it to double speed, planning to pause if anything looked off.
How much time passed? Eventually, the last video in the first folder ended.
"Hah."
No real finds in the first one.
'Damn. Eyes hurt.'
I rubbed them, sighed, and opened the second folder.
Eyes glued to the screen again, I watched the manager's every move.
Some time later, the manager appeared on a call.
I hit pause, switched back from 2x speed.
Cranked the volume, and his voice came through clear.
[Hello? What? What's up.]
[Why're you calling? I'm in the middle of a schedule. What? You want more info? I already gave you the dorm details. What do you want this time?]
A short silence, then his voice again.
[Want more info? Wire the money. Then I'll give it.]
I paused and dragged a hand down my face.
Just as I suspected.
The manager was selling our info to sasaengs.
I'd always wondered how they knew our dorm address right from debut...
Now it all made sense.
'Let's check the rest.'
Sure enough, in the next video, there he was talking to Kim Bit-na.
[Dorm key code? Hey, that's pushing it for me to spill. You just wanna come and go? Fine, but it'll cost you big this time. Hey, without me, you couldn't even tail these guys. Right?]
No surprise there.
Kim Bit-na getting into our dorm yesterday? All thanks to this guy.
'So he's been selling every scrap—dorm address, key code, everything—to sasaengs?'
Now that I knew, my blood boiled.
"Hoo..."
I sighed and looked up.
One thought burned in my mind.
'Now, what to do with this bastard.'