This Shouldn't Be Happening
Oh Yuri seemed extraordinarily flustered by the current situation. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead as she fidgeted with the wing section of her flying squirrel pajamas. It was a pitiful sight, but none of my business. No matter how unhinged I might be, I wasn't the kind of lunatic who would treat someone gently after they'd tried to blackmail me.
"While the claim that Miss Oh Yuri is finished might vary depending on who's looking, from my perspective, it seems like a pretty accurate assessment."
I slipped the pen-shaped voice recorder back into my inner pocket before continuing.
"Yeah. Looks like you're done for, Yuri."
Oh Yuri curled up like a flying squirrel and began to shake uncontrollably. She must have been picturing the pitch-black future closing in on her.
"Well then, I'll be on my way to see PD Kim. There are plenty of things to do besides being an idol, so looking for a new career path wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, it'll be difficult for you to show your face in the broadcasting industry anymore."
"W-wait! Just a second!"
What now? I have no intention of cutting you any slack. Get lost.
"Did you have something else to say?"
"You don't have to draw such a harsh line..."
"Harsh or not, I think we've covered everything that needs to be said between us."
She steadied her trembling body as best she could, her mind clearly racing, before practically shouting her next words.
"Then... a deal! Let's make a deal! Just like you did with PD Kim!"
"You keep making dangerous statements. I never made any deal with PD Kim."
I had, in fact, but that was completely irrelevant here. There was no evidence, after all. Got any proof, Yuri? All you have is a hunch, don't you? Come find me in two years when the prosecution announces their investigation results.
"Then let's assume you didn't make a deal with PD Kim and make one with me instead! I'll pretend I don't know anything about it!"
"...How exactly do you plan to pretend ignorance after you've already blabbed about it so enthusiastically?"
At my question, Oh Yuri lightly touched her forehead, took a deep breath, then slammed her head against the whiteboard.
Thud.
What the hell was that?
She staggered for a moment while touching the spot, then muttered with a dazed expression.
"Huh? Where am I? Who am I? ...I don't remember anything at all."
...She really was something else.
"If you don't remember anything, how are you going to make a deal?"
"Th-that part, fortunately, I remember everything clearly."
"...That's truly a fortunate circumstance."
I gave her a crooked smile and looked down at her coldly.
"So what exactly do you want to trade with me? I don't have any desires when it comes to you, Miss Oh Yuri."
"...Well, that is..."
Once again gauging my reaction while breaking into a cold sweat, Oh Yuri tightened the waistband of her flying squirrel pajamas, winked, and struck a sort of sexy provocative pose.
"The right to go on a date with me—the greatest beauty of Hana Art Middle School?"
"Even if you gave me that, I wouldn't take it."
"...I see."
Looking dejected with her head drooping, Oh Yuri suddenly seemed to realize something. She covered her body with the wings of her flying squirrel pajamas and spoke.
"Then perhaps a physical relationship..."
Wow, she really just throws anything out there.
"Are you insane? Do you want the two of us to end up happily getting sent to juvenile detention and prison together? If we get involved in something like that, we'll both be ruined! You're an idol, aren't you?"
"...I'm sorry."
"...Sigh. Good that you understand. Don't say things like that even as a joke. Since you're practically a public figure, Yuri, you need to be more careful with your words."
Wasn't the lack of that very caution what got you into this mess?
When I shot back emotionally, Oh Yuri looked completely deflated. With her pink pigtails hanging limply, she stared only at the floor. She looked exactly like a child waiting for the teacher's punishment.
Watching that clumsy demeanor, honestly, much of the anger from being blackmailed had drained away. I'd been surprised by her sharp judgment, reasoning, and courage that seemed beyond her years, but ultimately, it hit me that the other party was nothing more than a middle school student.
Perhaps because of that, I found myself wanting to hear why this young kid was going to such lengths.
"So what is it?"
"...Yes?"
"All this talk about blackmail and deals—what exactly do you want from me?"
Oh Yuri hesitated as if debating whether she should say it, then asked without hiding her tension.
"Could you turn off the recording for a moment?"
"Of course not. How do I know what you'll do?"
"...Then I'll just say it."
She fiddled with the hem of her flying squirrel pajamas as she spoke.
"Do you remember Manager Ban Seongcheol, who was next to me at that time?"
I remember him all too well.
"Yes, I do. What about him?"
"That person is trying to send me out for sponsorship. Even though I say I don't want to, he's forcing me."
"...What?"
...To a middle schooler?
When I tilted my head at the excessively absurd statement, Oh Yuri declared firmly.
"He's demanding that I provide entertainment services."
...This fucking bastard.
In my previous life, right after joining Flower Entertainment, I had been incredibly busy. Yet I ended up even busier cleaning up after my entry-level colleague Ban Seongcheol's idiot moves.
"Why the hell would you steal a trainee's tracksuit, you fucking moron!"
Incidents happened every single day, but thirty percent of all the trouble could be traced back to that son of a bitch's trolling.
"It's not like I stole it. I just sent it to the laundry for them. You know how it is. After Mijeong ran away, we ended up handling the laundry too."
When I listened to his explanation, there was a certain logic to it. In his own way, he'd meant it as consideration, but it had clearly caused a misunderstanding.
"Then what about the part where you sniffed it after stealing it?"
"No, Taeyang. That's a misunderstanding. It's not because I'm some crazy pervert. The tracksuit that needed washing and the spare one were just lying in the same spot after someone had messed them up. I couldn't tell which was which, so I just took a quick sniff. That's exactly when Hyemin caught me."
The company was so short-staffed that the road managers were doing laundry and dishes on top of everything else. That was how these disasters kept happening. So, you piece of shit president of Flower, I told you to hire some female managers. There had been one named Park Mijeong until last week, but she couldn't handle the pathetic pay and insane overtime and ran away. As a result, all her responsibilities had been dumped on us.
As the days passed, sleep decreased while work increased. It was nothing short of tragic. I let out a deep sigh.
"Just leave that kind of thing for them to handle themselves. No one thanks you for that kind of consideration. Do you know how sensitive kids in puberty are?"
"Dude, I just have so much love overflowing for the trainees. When I see them, I want to do everything for them."
"If it overflows one more time, you'll either end up in jail or bankrupt from settlement money."
At my joke, Ban Seongcheol burst out laughing and rolled on the floor.
"Then is my crime loving too much? Heh heh."
"..."
I couldn't understand why a guy with a good background, unlike me who had nothing, lived like that. Yes. Ban Seongcheol was an idiot, and I was the sucker who cleaned up after his idiocy. But back then, it didn't feel all that bad.
Later, after Flower Entertainment got on the path to success, that guy and I rose to important positions in the company. Naturally, we no longer bumped into each other like before, and our work became largely separated. Thanks to that, I didn't know exactly what kind of work he was doing. And because I respected Ban Seongcheol's domain, I avoided getting involved in his affairs or looking into his activities.
Even so, rumors reached me one way or another. Rumors that Ban Seongcheol was doing illegal things. Yet the me of the first round, even after noticing signs that Ban Seongcheol was pulling strings behind the scenes, even after learning he was involved in corruption, had pressed down the truth and pretended not to know.
Because whenever the moment came to dig it up, memories of the time I'd spent with that guy would surface. The times we'd wandered around searching for cafes open at dawn to buy the sandwiches the kids wanted. The times we'd put our heads together worrying about how to make the kids succeed. The times we'd slapped each other's cheeks to stay awake and avoid drowsy driving. The times when those kids stood on music show stages, took first place, and called my name while I cried, and that guy had laughed at me for being a pathetic bastard before teasing me and giving the kids high-fives.
In those memories, Ban Seongcheol had been a son of a bitch, but at least his care for the kids had been sincere. No, I had believed that much was genuine.
But hearing Oh Yuri's words now, I wondered if it had all been an act directed at me.
I guess the way I endured all that disgusting shit and bowed my head looked like great acting to him.
The "acting" Ban Seongcheol had mocked me with right before my regression might have been something that had been going on for a very long time. If what she said was true, it meant Ban Seongcheol had been involving the kids in things like sponsorship from this period onward.
Still, the claim that he was forcing a middle schooler into providing entertainment services was hard to accept rationally when considering the risks. The speaker, Oh Yuri, wasn't exactly highly credible either. This could be a trick to deceive me.
"...Um, excuse me?"
Oh Yuri looked at my face, trembling violently, yet spoke as if she absolutely had to say it.
"Your expression is really scary... Are you okay?"
"...In detail."
"Eek! ...Yes?"
Even so, if Oh Yuri's words were true...
"Tell me that story in detail."
I wasn't confident I could hold back the rage that had risen all the way to the top of my head.