The Superstar’s Fall
Superstar.
There had only been two future texts related to K-1.
The first future text was about the bastard’s filthy sexual deviancy.
And the second future text concerned K-1’s plagiarism.
That trash had, astonishingly enough, even tried to steal a song from one of the artists under my care.
The problem was that, unlike his sexual deviancy, the plagiarism case wasn’t easy to approach.
I didn’t know when K-1 would steal Park Ga-eul’s song, or whether it would even happen at all, so I couldn’t move rashly.
So I set a trap.
I told To.Any’s manager, Lee Ye-ji, to film Park Ga-eul’s songwriting process whenever she could, then waited for the right moment.
If K-1 stole the song, that footage would become decisive evidence.
Even if he didn’t, the video itself would make for a pleasant memory, and a pretty decent source of content for NutTube.
Now then, what choice would the genius singer-songwriter K-1 make?
The answer was about to come out of Hwang Deok-gu PD’s mouth.
“What the hell? That’s exactly the same as K-1’s song.”
Hwang Deok-gu PD couldn’t hide his stunned expression.
Having overheard him by chance, I let out a snort of laughter.
“So he really plagiarized it.”
Then again, once a man had crossed the line once, was it really that hard for him to cross it again?
“At this point, the whole stage is set.”
I’d waited a very long time.
But it seemed the wait had been worth it.
Secretly filmed videos, plagiarism...
And even sexual assault by blackmailing his girlfriend.
No matter how bright a pretty-boy singer-songwriter might be, could he preserve that image if all of this blew up at once?
I slowly turned my head.
...
Kim Su-ji, the team leader, had gone pale as paper, and her shoulders were trembling.
I looked at her for a moment, then lightly called her name.
“Team Leader Kim Su-ji.”
She jerked in place.
I walked toward her and lifted the smartphone in my hand.
On the screen was the full exposé article about K-1 that Reporter Seo had sent me.
“Looks like a disaster just hit.”
...
Kim Su-ji, who had been staring blankly at my phone, bit down hard on her lip a beat later.
Frustration, resentment, maybe an injustice she couldn’t even put into words hovered on her face.
Seeing her like this, she didn’t look connected to this incident at all.
Maybe that was why.
I wasn’t the type to meddle in other people’s business, but before I knew it, I’d tossed out a remark.
“Team Leader Kim Su-ji.”
...
“You can ignore me if you want, but I think it’s right to cut loose a rotten lifeline.”
Kim Su-ji didn’t answer.
She passed me by and headed somewhere else.
Where was she going now, after suddenly becoming the manager of a sexual predator?
Rubbing my chin, I slowly turned my head.
Flashing lights, dozens of staff members.
At the center of it all, a man was stepping onto the stage.
“K-1, we’re starting rehearsal!”
At the FD’s shout, a laugh slipped out of me.
“There he is. The lead.”
Now then, let’s watch.
Let’s see how far that piece of trash, the protagonist of this stage, was going to fall.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After Park Ga-eul’s rehearsal ended, K-1 stepped onto the stage and thought to himself.
When the song comes out, there’s definitely going to be controversy, right?
The song he was about to sing had the exact same melody as Park Ga-eul’s, the star of the previous stage.
It absolutely would.
No matter that the song had been made through a collaborative mission, using the same melody meant noise was inevitable.
But if he had to pick the side that would take the bigger hit, it would probably be Park Ga-eul.
I’m already an established singer-songwriter, and that girl’s just a rookie.
If a plagiarism controversy broke out, the public and the staff would all side with him.
Then that nasty little brat Park Ga-eul would be sent straight to hell.
And that obnoxious manager of hers would probably get dragged through the mud too.
Just as K-1 began to sing, savoring a thrill that felt like more than soda and close enough to drinking acid, it happened.
“...Huh?”
The reaction he’d been waiting for finally burst out.
“What the hell? What is this about?”
“A hidden camera?”
“No way, sexual assault?”
“What the hell is this...”
But the responses coming up from below the stage were nothing like what he’d expected.
While K-1’s cheekbones slowly sank back down from their raised height, the staff began pulling out their smartphones and checking them.
Not one or two people, but every staff member on site was doing it, and that made it impossible for K-1 to keep singing.
What’s wrong with all of them?
Hidden cameras? Sexual assault? What the hell were they talking about?
What other piece of trash had caused an incident?
No, incident or not, was it right for the staff, who should have been focusing on the stage, to be looking at gossip instead?
Just as K-1, annoyed, was about to grab the microphone and say something, someone stormed onto the stage.
“K-1!”
It was Kim Su-ji, the SAG team leader.
Startled by her twisted expression, K-1 asked, “What is it, noona? I’m in the middle of a stage right now—”
“Shut up and get down here!”
At her furious voice, K-1 let himself be dragged down off the stage.
Still dazed as she led him down below the platform, he quickly came to and shouted, “Hey, what are you doing? Can’t you see I’m performing?”
K-1 roughly shook off Kim Su-ji’s hand.
Kim Su-ji stopped in place and looked down at the back of her hand, now red from where he’d thrown her off.
“Stage prep? Fine. You said that right.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What did I tell you?”
Kim Su-ji shouted, raising her voice.
“I told you to do your stage prep and nothing else! When did I ever tell you to go around filming hidden cameras?”
At her cry, K-1’s eyes flew wide open.
“What are you saying, noona?”
Kim Su-ji didn’t answer.
Instead, she turned off the nonstop vibration of her phone, then showed him the article her coworkers had sent her.
K-1 took the phone from her and read through the article slowly.
A moment later,
“No, fuck-!”
He burst out with a rough curse and shouted in a panic, “What the hell is this shit!? Me, a hidden camera criminal? What kind of insane bullshit is this...!”
Rubbing between her brows, Kim Su-ji muttered in a low voice.
“K-1.”
“Noona, I really didn’t—”
“Shut up. Shut the hell up!”
...
“From now on, you’re going to tell me the truth. That’s the only way you get to live, understand?”
At Kim Su-ji’s threat, fear washed over K-1’s face.
Then she threw a blunt question at him.
“How many girlfriends do you have right now?”
K-1’s lips parted and closed again.
“They’re not girlfriends, exactly, just girls I’m casually seeing...”
“Then how many are there?”
K-1 started doing the math.
How many women was he seeing?
There were three he met regularly... and if he added two more from the side...
No, wait.
More importantly, was it even okay to say that?
He’d signed a no-dating clause when he contracted with SAG, so wouldn’t this become a problem later?
But if he didn’t tell the truth here, would Kim Su-ji really help him?
The sudden crisis made K-1’s brain misfire.
His mind was so full of the article he’d just seen that he couldn’t think of anything else.
And from deep inside that confusion, he realized something.
Then could the sexual predator the staff had been muttering about earlier be...
As the reason K-Singer-Songwriter’s staff had stopped focusing on the stage and started looking at their phones finally clicked into place, a chill ran down K-1’s spine.
Slowly, like sinking into a swamp, he remembered those moments when stars who had once been higher than anyone else fell all at once.
With his face drained of color, K-1 shouted, “Noona!!! It wasn’t me!”
He grabbed Kim Su-ji by the shoulders.
“I, I didn’t do that! What am I missing that I’d need to do something like sexual assault, or filming, or any of that? It wasn’t me, I’m telling you!”
Kim Su-ji’s eyes twitched violently as she said, “Give me your phone.”
The screaming K-1 jolted and stepped back.
“Why?”
“We need to check. Whether there’s something like that on your phone or not.”
Acting as though he’d lost the whole world, K-1 suddenly twisted his face and shouted, “Noona, you don’t trust me!? What do you mean, check my phone!”
“I said let me look once. Let’s see whether something like that is on your phone or not.”
K-1’s expression shifted into desperate panic.
“You know that’s a violation of my privacy, right?”
At his words, Kim Su-ji closed her eyes.
So that’s what this is.
Her heart collapsed inside her chest.
She’d hoped it wasn’t true, but she had to face the truth she’d been trying to avoid.
At that instant, the feeling that had been packed with rage and resentment changed into emptiness.
And yet the incident still wasn’t over.
Kim Su-ji offered one last prayer.
Please, let this one prediction be wrong.
“K-1.”
As both his manager and as one of his fans, she asked, praying desperately that he would at least preserve the identity he had built for himself.
“Did you plagiarize Park Ga-eul’s song?”
At Kim Su-ji’s final question, K-1, flustered and breathing hard, fell silent.
...
A low silence settled between them.
K-1’s face suddenly went rigid.
And Kim Su-ji looked at him.
Then, at last, Kim Su-ji burst out laughing.
“Ha...”
With that hollow laugh, even the last shred of trust came crashing down.
The genius singer-songwriter had stolen someone else’s song.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The internet was on fire.
On social media, forums, and every other platform imaginable, endless talk about K-1’s hidden camera scandal spilled out.
The fandom defending K-1, those condemning him, and the neutral third party simply watching the situation unfold.
The comment section was nothing short of a war zone.
That alone would have been enough to make this year’s biggest hot topic, but unfortunately, K-1’s hidden secret didn’t end there.
The plagiarism of a genius singer-songwriter.
When that secret was finally laid bare to the world too, what kind of reaction would the public have?
One thing seemed certain, at least.
The moment that secret came out, there would be nowhere left for K-1 to run.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The day before the second round of the competition, Vice President Kim Jong-ho was roaring inside SAG’s executive office.
“Are you kidding me right now-!!!”
He slammed the documents he’d been holding straight at Team Leader Kim Su-ji.
“What kind of idiot makes a mess out of work like this? How are you going to fix this?”
Kim Su-ji shut her eyes tightly and explained the situation.
“We’re in the middle of assessing the situation, Vice President.”
“Assessing the situation? Hey, Team Leader Kim. Do you really think this is the kind of thing you solve by ‘assessing the situation’?”
Vice President Kim Jong-ho pounded roughly on the tablet PC sitting on the table.
“Can’t you read the article? This K-1 bastard isn’t just some ordinary hidden-camera creep! He’s a sex criminal, a criminal! Do you think this is the kind of thing you sort out by assessing the situation?”
Kim Su-ji couldn’t answer.
Watching her, Vice President Kim Jong-ho pressed his fingers to his brow and collapsed back into his chair.
“God, my head... How long has it been since the sponsor article about Jeon So-yeon came out, and now this is a sex criminal? Jesus Christ, does that even make sense?”
After rubbing his brow for a long time, Vice President Kim Jong-ho asked Kim Su-ji, “What’s that crazy bastard K-1 saying?”
Kim Su-ji, who had been keeping her lips tightly sealed, opened her mouth a little.
“...He’s denying it for now.”
“Ha. Denying it? Then are you saying all these articles are just smear pieces?”
“That’s...”
Kim Su-ji trailed off, then thought to herself.
Smear pieces?
No.
K-1 really had filmed a hidden camera.
That was an undeniable fact, an obvious criminal act.
The problem was...
This article wasn’t just a simple exposé.
The timing of the reveal was far too precise.
For this to break right before the second round of the competition could only mean someone had deliberately targeted K-1.
They went in fully prepared.
Who would stand to gain from going to such lengths?
Just as a man with a cold, sharp impression surfaced in Kim Su-ji’s mind, Vice President Kim Jong-ho, having suppressed his anger, called her over with a grave look.
“Team Leader Kim.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“What’s the status of the singer-songwriter appearance?”
Kim Su-ji answered immediately.
“Public opinion is split right now, but I think we need to keep him as restrained as possible.”
“Restrained? The second round’s about to start. Are you saying he should withdraw?”
“Yes, Vice President. In this situation, there’s no other choice.”
Vice President Kim Jong-ho let out a dry laugh.
“Ha... And how much were those ad contracts and sponsorships we put into K-1 supposed to be, so we just spit all that back out?”
...
“The victim hasn’t come forward yet, right?”
Kim Su-ji’s eyes widened.
“Vice President, don’t tell me...”
Kim Jong-ho glared at her.
“Answer me, Team Leader Kim Su-ji. Has the victim herself come forward or not?”
...Not yet.
“So? She hasn’t shown up yet?”
Kim Jong-ho’s eyes turned sly.
“Then this case... nobody really knows about it yet, do they?”
No.
This wasn’t right.
Kim Su-ji answered quickly.
“If they prepared this thoroughly, they definitely secured the victim’s identity too, Vice President.”
“Right, they probably did. But Team Leader Kim Su-ji, the decisive evidence isn’t the victim’s tears. It’s the public’s response to the case.”
Vice President Kim Jong-ho slowly rested his chin in his hand.
“Public opinion’s split right now anyway, so just drag it out a little.”
“Vice President!”
“What, were you just waiting to shout because I did something well? Am I saying we should bury the case? No! I’m saying we meet the victims and work things out nicely. There’s a good word for that too, you know: settlement!”
With a face set in determination, Vice President Kim Jong-ho declared, “While K-1 is out there doing the live broadcast for K-Singer-Songwriter, you go meet the victims and settle it. Tell them we’ll pay whatever it takes, so they keep their mouths shut.”
Kim Su-ji’s eyes twitched.
“...Vice President, that’s a little much, no matter how you look at it.”
“Then are you just going to throw away one of our own artists?”
Kim Su-ji’s eyes jolted.
Watching her, Vice President Kim Jong-ho barked sharply, “Team Leader Kim, were you the kind of manager who throws out the artist under her care the second he causes trouble?”
Kim Su-ji pressed her lips into a thin line.
Kim Jong-ho watched her with a cold stare and made his decision.
“K-1 will appear in the second round as planned.”
He rose from his seat and sent her a warning with eyes full of fury.
“In the meantime, Team Leader Kim Su-ji, you will absolutely settle with the victims. Do you understand me?”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The exposé broke, and the next day dawned.
As I headed with Lee Ye-ji toward the Sangam Concert Hall, where the second round of K-Singer-Songwriter was being held, she clicked her tongue.
“Team Leader, did you hear the news?”
Still seated in the passenger seat and watching K-1’s articles and the flood of comments, I asked back, “About what?”
“That guy K-1 is going to show up for the second round today!”
At her words, I nodded slowly.
“Yes, I heard.”
“I mean... it was already shocking enough that something like this happened, but is it even normal for him to still appear in the second round after all this? What kind of nerve does he have? Is this the kind of superstar who drives both the fans and the haters insane? No, wait. Is he just a crazy bastard?”
At her remark, I snorted a laugh.
A crazy bastard and a star...
Well.
From my point of view, he was neither.
He just looked like a rat cornered in a dead end, thrashing around for one last chance.
Did he think a head-on charge would create some kind of opening?
No.
More like he was pretending to charge head-on while searching for a side door.
Now that the victim’s identity still hadn’t been made public, it seemed he was trying to buy time through the competition and force a settlement somehow.
Whenever scandals like this exploded, silencing the victim with a settlement was industry common sense.
If that was the way a huge entertainment company handled things, then sure, you could call it a method of dealing with the matter.
But from another angle, it also felt like the last shred of humanity had gone cold and brittle.
No matter how important money and image were for an artist under your company, I still couldn’t accept it.
Of course, SAG’s choice wasn’t entirely without benefit to me either.
“Wow... look at the forum burning.”
Just as Lee Ye-ji said, the K-Singer-Songwriter board was in flames.
Not only that, but every platform, including social media and community sites, was exploding with reactions to K-1’s attempt to force through the crisis.
Good reaction or bad reaction, it didn’t matter.
Right now, K-Singer-Songwriter had become the hottest program in Korea.
Lee Ye-ji quietly asked me, “...Team Leader, doesn’t it feel like things have gotten a little frighteningly heated all of a sudden?”
I nodded slowly.
“Yeah. It does seem a lot more heated than it should be.”
“Aren’t we going to get caught in the crossfire?”
At her question, I smiled faintly.
“We probably will.”
“Th-then that’s not okay!”
“Well, there’s no helping it. We’re going up against someone caught in the middle of a scandal. But...”
Letting my words trail off, I lightly patted her shoulder and said, “Don’t worry too much. We’re on the right side, aren’t we?”
Lee Ye-ji’s eyes went wide.
“...Team Leader.”
“Yes?”
“You looked cool for the first time in a while!”
Well, that was something.
So the rest of the time I’d apparently looked pathetic?
Holding back my laughter, I stood up.
“I’m going to go see the PD for a moment. Please take care of Ga-eul.”
“Yes, have a good visit!”
After Lee Ye-ji saw me off, I walked into the dark corridor.
Coincidence or fate, I couldn’t say.
The many staff members I’d seen just moments ago were nowhere in sight in the hallway.
As I made my way step by step through the damp darkness, a roar so loud it nearly numbed my ears and the blaze of brilliant lights made me frown briefly.
-Waaaaaaah!
The five thousand fans gathered to watch this round of the competition were letting out a massive cheer.
As I stood for a moment watching that fierce energy from where I was, someone called my name from behind.
“Team Leader Kwon.”
It was Hwang Deok-gu PD, the overall producer of K-Singer-Songwriter.
He had his headset around his neck and was looking at me with a strange expression.
Turning around, I walked slowly toward him.
Watching my relentless stare, Hwang PD opened his mouth.
“Did you know?”
A faint smile touched my lips.
“About what?”
“That K-1 friend of yours plagiarized.”
Hwang PD’s Adam’s apple bobbed so hard I could see it clearly.
“Did you send me that video in advance because you already knew?”
“Surely not.”
I answered lightly, as if it were nothing.
After all, my answer to that question had already been decided.
“It just happened to line up by chance.”
Chance.
What a convenient word.
After mulling over my answer for a moment, Hwang PD nodded.
“Well, it doesn’t make sense otherwise. That you’d know plagiarism was going to happen and film something like that ahead of time.”
“Yes. I got lucky. But, PD Hwang?”
“Go ahead, Team Leader Kwon.”
I asked cautiously, just to confirm the last detail.
“The video I sent you—you edited it well, right?”
The corners of Hwang PD’s mouth curled upward.
“...Heh. Of course.”
I could feel the barely contained excitement in his voice.
From the look on his face, as though dopamine had surged so hard it had already blown up, I could tell.
“I was surprised myself by how well it turned out, so you can look forward to it.”
That the final puzzle piece I’d prepared had fit perfectly into place.
I turned my head again and looked out toward the audience.
-Waaaaaaah!
The five thousand fans of K-Singer-Songwriter were still cheering without the slightest sign of tiring.
Arms folded, I watched the scene and thought to myself,
Today, two superstars are born.
One was the superstar who would overturn the existing hierarchy of the competition.
The other was the tragic superstar whose shining star would lose everything and crash to earth.
Wouldn’t this make the peculiar curse of competition shows come true once again?
Letting out a quiet laugh to myself, I shook off even the small pressure I’d been feeling a moment earlier.
Now then, let’s just sit back and enjoy the show.
“Find Korea’s best singer! K-Singer-Songwriter! The brilliant curtain rises now!”
On the ugly fall of the genius singer-songwriter who had once soared so high into the sky.
---