Chapter 86
Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: 24. About Faith (6)
“What do you mean by that?”
Naturally, Jaha was the first to react to the CEO’s sudden confession.
“Casting Soi hyung as an idol in Nine Factions? And what’s that about the concept being Shadow Clan?”
“Oh dear…”
The CEO smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling.
“I guess Soi hasn’t told you yet.”
“CEO, what are you talking about?”
“I can’t spill what Soi hasn’t shared himself. Sorry for bringing it up so carelessly, Soi.”
“…”
The CEO apologized with an awkward look, and since I stayed silent without responding, Jaha shot me a glare full of dissatisfaction.
‘This is on purpose.’
Carelessly my ass.
I could tell right away that he’d brought it up deliberately at this timing, in this place.
I hadn’t told the members yet that I’d been a trainee.
No, I didn’t plan to tell them in the future either.
Treat the debut thing like it never happened and just live on.
I hadn’t even realized it was something I needed to share with anyone.
It was already eight years ago.
Bringing it up was a bit tough for me too.
‘But.’
If I’d anticipated it coming out of the CEO’s mouth like this.
I should’ve said it myself first.
‘Having it revealed that I was a trainee in this situation isn’t good…’
The reason why.
It leaves the question of why I didn’t debut with Nine Factions and became a manager instead.
If I’d revealed it myself, there wouldn’t have been any issues.
But hearing it from the CEO first was bound to raise suspicions.
On top of that, the CEO was showing me unconditional favor.
Even after I declared I was leaving the agency, things should’ve soured between us by rights.
Yet here I was, moving into his house.
It’d be weirder if that didn’t seem suspicious.
‘I could just say I couldn’t debut because I sucked at dancing and singing…’
That was the truth, after all.
But now we knew my lack of dance skills was due to Senior Hyun Sung’s acupoint seal.
Since I’d gone to the CEO’s house as Senior wanted, the seal would be released soon enough.
I had no clue yet what changes that would bring to my body, but at least using it would get easier.
That would create inconsistencies in my story, and explaining the acupoint seal risked exposing Senior Hyun Sung’s identity.
I wanted to clarify without dragging Senior into it, if possible…
As I’d expected, sensing something off, the Nine Factions members wore subtly stiff expressions throughout the meeting.
“Then we’ll finalize the concert setlist after consulting with Soi.”
Only the CEO pressed on with the meeting in a cheerful tone.
“It’s a bit late, but how about summer vacation?”
At the words “summer vacation,” the members—who’d been staring at the schedule—looked up in unison.
The CEO gave them a small smile and continued.
“You’ll be busy with concert prep soon, so why not go before that? Expenses and duration are up to you.”
With permission for free rein on both costs and length, Jaha—who’d been a bit down—lit up with excitement.
“Wow! Can we go overseas? Like a week?”
“Of course. Just set the dates, and I’ll announce the summer vacation schedule on Witax.”
“Yes!!”
Most of us had no family to visit during breaks, so spending summer vacation together was an unwritten rule.
Last summer, we’d gone to an island near Bermuda owned by the CEO; the year before, to a castle in Europe that he owned.
We stuck to his properties so the members could relax without worry.
This year, we probably wouldn’t go to any of his tourist spots.
Of course, there were issues to resolve before picking a destination…
“Hyung, what’s going on?”
The moment the meeting ended and we left the company, Jaha dragged me to a secluded spot with the other members and demanded answers.
“What was that about earlier? Were you a trainee, hyung?”
Guess it was time to come clean.
Well, it wasn’t a big deal anyway.
I wasn’t the only one cast as a trainee but failing to debut.
Take Dang Sacheon, for closest example.
But when it came to actually saying it, words stuck in my throat like something was lodged there.
“This Sovereign pried it out through intimidation…”
As I hesitated, the Heavenly Demon spoke indifferently.
“He was cast in Nine Factions before any of you lot.”
“Pried it out? Wait, before us?”
“This fool’s looks are even recognized by beggars.”
“Even so! Then why didn’t you debut and became a manager instead, hyung?!”
I couldn’t leave this answer to the Heavenly Demon either.
I finally managed my usual voice.
“I wasn’t good enough.”
I’d worried Dang Sacheon might blab what he’d heard from Senior Hyun Sung without thinking, but he stayed quiet, like he was waiting for something.
I could see Jaha slap his forehead in disbelief.
“No way…! You could’ve said something sooner! Hyung, you know you’re kinda weird sometimes, right?”
From Jaha’s perspective, yeah, it must’ve seemed odd.
The Heavenly Demon knew before they did, after eight years together.
And it was true that the Nine Factions members who debuted had a rough time.
He couldn’t help but suspect I’d gotten a heads-up from the CEO and bailed on debuting.
Maybe that guilt was why I’d struggled to tell the members.
Losing their trust because of it… yeah, honestly, that scared me.
Well… it was bound to come out eventually.
Whatever they said, I was prepared to take it, and I’d explain convincingly that I was still on their side…
“I had no idea, and here I was whining about quitting in front of you all the time. What does that make me!”
“…Huh?”
That wasn’t the reaction I’d expected.
“You’re not… suspicious?”
“Suspicious of what?”
“I… avoided debuting…”
Jaha’s face twisted strangely at my words.
Then he suddenly smacked my back.
“I’d die without you! That’s why you couldn’t say it, huh? Hyung, you really know your thought process is messed up, right?”
What was wrong with my thought process?
But the other members’ expressions weren’t much different from Jaha’s.
The Alliance Leader let out a small sigh and said,
“Same with that time Taeul attacked… Hyung, you don’t look after yourself at all. In my opinion, the CEO overprotects you because you’re that indifferent to yourself.”
“Yeah, hyung treats his body like crap. During that all-nighter U-Live, I told you to sleep, but you powered through, right? Without any internal energy!”
Jaha, learning demonic arts and now talking about internal energy.
“And suspicion? Come on? After everything you’ve shown us… Do you think we’re idiots?”
When the practice room mirror collapsed, I kinda hoped they’d think it was an earthquake. Sorry.
That’s when the silent Dang Sacheon finally spoke.
“The CEO brought it up hoping we’d suspect.”
“He said it on purpose?”
“Exactly. Any normal person would. It only passed without issue because Soi hyung isn’t normal.”
“Saying it while cosplaying as Soi hyung makes it feel so sincere.”
“And I think the summer vacation talk is part of the same thing.”
“Part of it?”
“If this causes a rift between us, we won’t go on vacation together.”
I’d been so rattled by the trainee reveal that I hadn’t thought that far.
But it made sense.
I’d just been worrying if we could even go together.
In that case…
“We should take separate vacations.”
“As expected of Soi hyung. Great minds.”
Namgung Mu tilted his head and asked cautiously,
“We’re supposed to… pretend we’ve fallen out on purpose?”
“That’s right.”
Yi Taegeuk, who’d been mulling it over, chimed in.
“Timing-wise, it’d actually be effective to look like we’ve grown apart now.”
Spot on.
After managing Nine Factions, starting an agency to debut Five Great Families and disowned disciples—having us look chummy the whole time would’ve been suspicious.
Plus, it’d make them feel more betrayed when I jumped to my own agency without renewing next year.
With separate vacations decided, the Alliance Leader suggested,
“Same dates for the break, but different destinations. To make it obvious, it’d be good if word spread on SNS that we went separately.”
“If we each do vacation U-Lives, fans will notice right away, Alliance Leader hyung. We’ve gone together for six years straight—they’ll think it’s weird if we split.”
“Hope the fans don’t stress over this…”
As Jaha muttered worriedly, Dang Sacheon tilted his head.
“Why would the fans stress?”
“Huh? ‘Cause it’ll look like we’re on bad terms?”
“You’ve misunderstood. The Nine Factions members should vacation together. The ones splitting off from the members are me and Soi hyung—that’s it.”
The members’ faces turned strange at that.
“‘That’s it’ means… the Heavenly Demon is vacationing with us too?”
“Is that it? Then what about Soi? Leaving him alone will cause trouble for sure.”
“I’ll be there—what’re you worried about?”
“That’s the problem, you lunatic! Look at yourself right now. How can we entrust Soi hyung to you! Hyung, this guy’s doing it to fulfill some selfish desire!!”
I didn’t think Dang Sacheon was offering to vacation with me purely selflessly either.
But yeah, I needed to vacation apart from the Heavenly Demon.
He was a full-fledged Nine Factions member now.
Fans needed to see him spending summer break with the members.
They all seemed to think I’d be in danger without the Heavenly Demon around.
‘The CEO’s trying to hold onto me because he thinks I’m the Heavenly Demon’s summoner.’
If the summoner leaves the company, naturally the Heavenly Demon would follow.
If I really were the Heavenly Demon’s summoner… I could see why CEO Lion was so confident that ‘the cult CEO won’t touch Soi.’
No matter who I took with me—even the whole Nine Factions.
As long as summoner and summoned shared a life, the CEO probably wouldn’t make a move.
Worst case… if I didn’t bend to his will.
Who knew what he’d do…
People had plenty of ways to control others without killing them.
Especially against someone like the CEO, who’d built a creepy confinement shed in his basement home—better to stay cautious.
So for now, pretending to fall out with the members as the CEO expected was the way to go.
“Let’s go with Dang Sacheon’s proposal for now.”
“Thank you for trusting me, hyungnim.”
“Hyung… you just said not to treat your body carelessly.”
It was just one vacation with Dang Sacheon—did it warrant that?
“Coldly speaking, Dang Sacheon’s martial prowess isn’t low. And…”
I stated calmly.
“Having a guy like this on our side is reassuring.”
“Ah…”
The members looked somewhat convinced.
Dang Sacheon was the last type you’d want as an enemy, so as an ally, he had this oddly reliable vibe.
His Fury-Inducing Stratagem alone made it his signature move, for sure.
“Alright, that’s the plan. Everyone, just decide where you’re going for vacation and let me know.”
“Uh, hyungnim.”
Dang Sacheon raised his hand.
“I’ve thought about where we should go.”
“…Yeah?”
Dang Sacheon had ‘thought’ about it…?
“Where… are we going?”
Feeling a slight ominous vibe, I pressed.
“Where we’re going is…”
Dang Sacheon answered confidently.
“Las Vegas.”
It was absurd enough already, but the sudden declaration didn’t end there.
“I’m going with Soi hyung too.”
The one who said that.
Was Baek Nahhan.