Chapter 72
Chapter 72
There was one thing I had overlooked.
<Deuz Planning CEO Lee Han-min Remains Unresponsive Despite Trainee A's Revelations on 'Favoritism Controversy'>
The article I had seen in the hint.
I had thought it would only happen after the program's manipulation was confirmed.
Since the production team was still maintaining it was a mistake, I'd put it off thinking the time wasn't right.
'...And honestly, I didn't think it'd be Ahn Jiwon.'
There were four trainees from Deuz Planning.
So I judged that the "A" in the article was more likely another Deuz Planning trainee jealous of him rather than Ahn Jiwon.
To anyone, that's more natural than the pre-selected person themselves exposing it.
'Wait, no.'
Ahn Jiwon had directly confessed through his Inheart.
On the other hand, the label "Trainee A" is a term usually used for anonymous whistleblowers, isn't it?
In other words, there's a possibility that A and Ahn Jiwon are different people. There's already plenty of evidence that the hint might not align with reality.
'It's not important right now, but...'
What's always urgent is reality, so let's set aside the truths of the past.
I lay back down after having bolted up in shock. Jeong Sowol, who had taken the phone from my sight, asked.
"You knew already?"
"Yeah, roughly..."
"So it really was a total mess."
I stared blankly at the ceiling, then picked up my phone.
And as I was about to go online to gauge the situation... I stopped at the wallpaper.
'It's obvious without looking.'
It'd be a relief if it were just a flood of insults.
For the fans who'd been waiting anxiously for things to calm down, hadn't Ahn Jiwon just delivered the killing blow himself?
It was only natural for them to be disappointed... no, to feel betrayed.
Even if they weren't my fans and their disappointment wasn't directed at me, it was still uncomfortable to see.
'What should I do now?'
Was it okay to just stay still with the mindset of 'I'm not a pre-selected member anyway, so things will sort themselves out'?
If only someone would give me a hint...
"Ah."
Come to think of it, there really was a literal hint in my life.
The problem was that it was too shady to trust, but looking back, it seemed to have always led me in a not-bad direction.
...I praised it for no reason. Felt a bit sour.
Still, I had nowhere else to lean on right now, so let's get some help.
[Empty Save Point Slots: (1)]
This was the save point I'd earned when Jeong Sowol joined.
At the time, I'd been too busy checking the article about Mun Jeongjin leaving the show to use it, and when I remembered later, I judged it wasn't the right timing and had saved it until now.
'To get a hint, I have to use this.'
If my understanding of save points was correct, using this feature would make previous choices irreversible.
Of course, avoiding a reset was the top priority, but even firmly made decisions become uncertain when someone asks if you'll regret it.
I hesitated for a moment, then made up my mind.
'Let's do it.'
I'd succeeded in recruiting Han Neuti, and the program was on the verge of shutting down.
Ahn Jiwon's impulsive action was problematic because it was impulsive, but it didn't seem like it would work against me.
'Use save point.'
Unlike last time, the response came the moment I thought it.
It seemed the System had been working hard on self-improvement.
[Saving...]
Good, now soon the hint...
Thwack!
"..."
"That must've hurt..."
The phone I'd been holding smacked me right in the face.
Kim Sanho, who'd witnessed it from right beside me, sympathized with the pain, while Jeong Sowol just stared blankly and asked,
"Will you buy me a Smart Talk?"
"I'm fine..."
I rubbed my face and went into the room.
And sat on the bed, turning on the System.
[Hint ready.]
[Currently, (1) hint available.]
[Progress: Prologue (Warnings: 0)]
Let's go right away.
'Use hint.'
This hint came in the familiar way.
Meaning my eyes closed.
Someone's vision unfolded before my eyes. It was the middle of the night, but not too dark thanks to the streetlights, and I could hear cars driving on the road...
'On a bridge?'
I saw a hand gripping the railing, and below it, a river.
The owner of the gaze looked at the river, looked at the sky, looked at the road, then looked at the streetlight. They took their phone out of their pocket, then put it back.
Thanks to them diligently looking around, I was able to figure out where it was too.
It was a path I frequented as well.
'It's near Mary.'
It wasn't exactly right next to it, but since I'd used it often as a running route, most Mary trainees would be familiar with it.
It was a road with heavy traffic and a lot of noise, so few idle pedestrians ever went there.
So it was even more deserted late at night, and for that reason, it was a spot we trainees used to stop by when we had a lot on our minds.
'Hmm...'
I asked for a hint, so why is it dragging up unnecessary memories?
My eyes opened with the question still unresolved. I glared at the familiar sight of my room and started deducing.
'The time frame seems like the future.'
Right now it's four in the afternoon, and the hint was late at night.
'Then let's sort this out.'
The information the hint gave was that someone went to a bridge in the dead of night.
What I could additionally glean from my own experience was that the location was familiar to Mary trainees.
And the most significant event at this juncture... was that the program, teetering on the brink of survival, had completely tipped over due to Ahn Jiwon's confession.
If I tried to find a connection among these pieces of information.
'...Mary.'
And Ahn Jiwon.
It might have been only a month, but Ahn Jiwon had also been part of Mary's debut team.
Enough time for the location to become familiar.
'So was that Ahn Jiwon's point of view I just saw?'
In this situation, why would he go there?
As the question formed, keywords began to align one by one, and my mind started writing its own story.
On a bridge over the Han River.
The way the gaze seemed to be troubled.
The current situation.
And... before I knew it, I muttered to myself.
"...No way."
* * *
[23:00]
The time displayed on the phone screen.
I put the phone in my pocket and, holding onto the railing, looked down at the river.
'This is the right spot.'
Exactly the location from the hint.
I'd been so tense I hadn't noticed the time passing, but now that I checked, a thought struck me.
'Could it be not today?'
Right, night comes every day, why did I assume it was today?
No, more than that... would I have to show up here every day from now on?
At the sheer dread of that thought, my head tilted up on its own. A half-moon was out.
'This won't do.'
It's a bit old-fashioned, but I'll turn on the hint to at least check the moon shape...
"Chaegyeom hyung?"
That was when I reopened my eyes after checking the hint again.
Just one meter away. Ahn Jiwon stood watching me with eyes that said he'd seen it all.
Setting aside that I'd suddenly become some guy meditating in the middle of the street, I quickly checked Ahn Jiwon's complexion first.
'...He looks fine.'
So my earlier thoughts were just delusions.
"What are you doing here?"
"Why are you here, hyung?"
To see you...
"Just came out to clear my head."
"Same here."
After hearing that ordinary reason, the tension drained right out of me.
It felt more like deflation than relief.
'Time to head back.'
I'd rushed out earlier, turning down an offer to eat something really good today. It was too late to eat anything even if I went back now, but... I'd left without giving a reason, so I should hurry back and make excuses.
But my mouth moved faster than my mind.
"Why did you do it?"
Ahn Jiwon, who'd been looking at me, raised an eyebrow, then shifted his gaze beyond the railing.
"Because of you, hyung."
"Huh?"
"You caught me. I meant I got ahead of it in case you'd tell. I figured confessing might make people curse me a bit less."
"...That's some overactive imagination."
I'd just now imagined myself directly exposing him, thanks to him.
Even if fans called it a hole-in-the-wall, an entertainment company is usually started by people with some industry connections.
If you're going to keep being an idol, it's better to stay quiet. Even if there's a plausible reason like 'I thought I'd get less hate if I confessed.'
Besides... hmm, Ahn Jiwon's company, Deuz Planning, was ambiguously sized.
Unlike agencies like Mary or Youth, where image management was crucial, it meant they'd draw comparatively less attention even if they went rogue.
I asked cautiously.
"How's it at the company?"
"I don't know. I was ready to get slapped, but it wasn't that bad."
Still looking down at the river, Ahn Jiwon spoke as if it was no big deal.
"Just things like, 'Don't even think about becoming an idol,' you know?"
It was such a predictable outburst that I wasn't even surprised.
"...Don't worry too much."
"About what?"
"Whistleblower protection... there's that kind of thing. The company won't be able to do whatever they want. The fans will wait for you, too."
It was just a comforting word.
In a market where idols pour out every year, who'd want to be a fan knowing it'll be an emotional struggle?
"Ah."
Ahn Jiwon nodded as if he understood.
"I'm not going to be an idol."
"...Huh?"
Then he rested his arms on the railing and propped his chin on them.
"Being an idol wasn't really my dream from the start. It was just... someone uploaded a video of me on a festival stage, and I got a DM from Mary out of the blue one day. With Mary, it's believable, right."
"..."
"That stage was fun back then, though. But."
It took a moment for the next words to come.
Tapping the railing with his fingers, Ahn Jiwon soon murmured as if to himself.
"It's so different from what I expected."
"..."
"I thought all I needed was to dance well and sing decently. I figured if you love the stage, that's sincerity, so I believed I really wanted to be an idol..."
"So you're saying it's not."
"Yeah."
The answer was firm.
"I just liked the stage. Everything else, I hated."
Any idol trainee knows what that 'everything else' means.
Of course I knew, so I didn't bother asking again.
"I thought maybe the team was the problem, so I left Mary, then followed a hyung I was close to and came to this company... I thought it might be different, so I joined this show too, but it was all the same."
"Uh-huh."
I nodded while listening... then stopped.
"...You left Mary?"
"Yeah."
"On your own?"
"Yeah, those guys there."
Ahn Jiwon's gaze, which had been on the river, turned to me.
"They were all just a bunch of weirdos."
...In context, that seemed to include my former teammates.
I didn't know if I should defend them here or just agree.
"So my first impression of you wasn't great either, hyung."
"Ah."
Oh, so I was included from the start.
I'd expected it. From the beginning, Ahn Jiwon hadn't even tried to hide it.
"It's still not much different now."
This... I hadn't expected.
"Still, I wanted to stand on stage with you."
"..."
"But now I can't."
That last line was a declaration. That he was truly giving up.
I couldn't even offer the common platitude, "Aren't all those efforts a waste?"
Putting aside various realistic reasons, because in Ahn Jiwon's current state, I saw myself from a few years ago.
If I'd heard "Aren't those efforts a waste?" back then... I would've just felt hopelessness.
Because no one knew better than me that it was a waste.
'What did I want to hear back then.'
Even thinking about it now, nothing came to mind.
No, maybe there wasn't anything I particularly wanted to hear...
As I was mulling over a suitable word of encouragement, Ahn Jiwon beat me to it.
"Don't worry too much. My mom's a lawyer."
"Oh, that's a relief then..."
"I inherited her brains, so my grades were always good."
"Ah, that part."
It seemed laced with a joke. Ahn Jiwon chuckled at my reaction.
Well, the lawsuit would pass someday, and that was what really mattered.
'He'll have it easier than me.'
Why didn't my parents pass their brains down to me?
"..."
Once the situation settled, a question gradually crept in.
'That's weird.'
That's it?
Was what the System wanted just a sincere conversation with Ahn Jiwon?
'What for?'
There wasn't even a warning sound. Which meant there were no wrong answers in my actions.
As I was mulling over that question, a vibration sound came from somewhere.
It was Ahn Jiwon's phone.
"...It's not the company, right?"
"No."
As if it were an expected call, Ahn Jiwon calmly pressed accept.
"I'm sorry. I thought about it again, but I don't think I can do it."
Ahn Jiwon continued the call a bit longer, then repeated another apology.
"Thank you for understanding. ...I'm really sorry."
Then he put the phone, now off, into his pocket.
I couldn't not ask.
"Who was that?"
"A reporter."
Ahn Jiwon added.
"I was pissed off because of the other bastards, so I was going to expose everything."