Chapter 440
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 440
...What is he even talking about?
I looked Kang Yeon-hu up and down before shifting my gaze to his side. Two neatly placed drinks sat there, likely the coffees he’d been ordering when I ran into him at the cafe earlier.
"...First of all."
I pushed myself up from my slumped position, approached him, and picked up one of the coffees. I saw Kang Yeon-hu’s expression flinch for a split second before returning to normal.
I let out a chuckle and took a sip of the still-warm coffee before asking him a question.
"I have one thing I’m curious about."
"...What is it?"
"Does the WH Entertainment audition include a personality interview?"
First, there was Ju Woo-seong, who clung to me with persistent lectures about not giving up. Now, there was Kang Yeon-hu, who personally sought me out to offer a counseling session because he was worried about a member of a rival group.
"Everyone is just so incredibly kind."
It wasn't just those two.
Most of the celebrities under WH Entertainment were well-mannered and gentle, which was rare for people in this industry.
How did they manage to pick out only the cream of the crop—the softest, most fragile souls? I asked out of genuine curiosity about their secret, but Kang Yeon-hu stared at me sourly, as if he took it as a backhanded compliment.
"...There’s no such procedure. But perhaps you feel that way because one needs at least enough consideration to calmly check on a cynical colleague to survive in this business."
"Ah, so getting trapped in a practice room with me was part of 'checking on a colleague's well-being'?"
"I know I’m being nosy, so stop being so sarcastic..."
I knew I wasn't in peak condition, but I didn't think I looked bad enough for Kang Yeon-hu to come find me.
"Did I really look that miserable? Enough for the Prince to make a royal visit?"
"...That damn 'Prince' nickname."
Normally, Kang Yeon-hu would have fled by now, but despite his grumbling, he didn't seem to have any intention of leaving as he continued.
"Sigh, don't take this the wrong way. I don't think this really applies to you, Seo Ho-yun... but I'm saying this because I'm a bit concerned. You'll probably think it's ridiculous, but..."
Why is he laying on so much padding before getting to the point?
I sipped the bitter Americano and waited for the next sentence. Kang Yeon-hu rubbed the back of his neck with his palm and added hesitantly.
"...You look like you're scared."
...Who? Me?
It was a perspective I had never heard in my entire life, so I was too stunned to react.
"...I’ve had that feeling a bit since the beginning of this year. To be precise, maybe after all the award ceremonies ended. That’s why I wanted us to talk, but the timing never worked out—"
"Excuse me, Kang Yeon-hu."
I cut him off, scratching my arm as goosebumps broke out.
"What kind of creepy nonsense are you talking about right now?"
"I'm already regretting it immensely..."
"Then why did you even bring up something you'd regret?"
We were in rival groups, we didn't run into each other often at the company, and I certainly didn't consider our relationship intimate enough to share our private lives.
"Just... on the off-chance, one in ten million, that I was right."
It was puzzling that someone who always kept his distance and avoided me was now trying to look out for me. The man himself seemed to deeply regret bringing it up, as he ran a hand through his naturally wavy hair with a sigh.
"I saw a lot of people with that expression back when I was a trainee."
What did that have to do with me?
When I gestured for him to explain further, Kang Yeon-hu blinked slowly and elaborated.
"Our job is just like that, isn't it? Constraints are inevitable, your radius of action narrows, and even things that aren't failures are treated as such. Sometimes you get so afraid of landmines that you only choose the safe paths, until you eventually forget what you actually wanted to do."
"That's a very detailed description. Almost as if you experienced it yourself."
"I didn't."
"Oh, really?"
Whenever someone says it's 'someone else's story,' it's invariably their own.
After a moment of silence, Kang Yeon-hu shook his head and pressed his palm to his forehead.
"...You know, there's this friend who was a trainee at WH for a really, really long time. This is what happened to him."
"Right."
"He said his debut group was formed and disbanded several times. They even filmed a music video the very first time. But it fell through in the end."
"Why?"
"Because the concept was leaked. It was bad luck. Everything went downhill after that. They were scrapped for all sorts of reasons—the member lineup was bad, there were already similar idols out there. After that, he absolutely hated the photo that caused it all. Looking back, that guy really had his head in the clouds. I don't know why he was so fearlessly smiling like an idiot."
Kang Yeon-hu took his hand off his forehead and fiddled with his disposable cup, letting out a faint, dry laugh.
"But you know, later on, the fans said that photo was actually really beautiful."
There was a hint of bitterness in his voice.
Looking down as if recalling something, Kang Yeon-hu added quietly.
"And well... I heard that later, some higher-ups happened to see it, liked it, and that's how he got to debut... In the end, he benefited from that leaked photo."
Muttering that he did look pretty good back then, Kang Yeon-hu looked up at me.
"So..."
"..."
"...Don't be afraid of things before they happen. They might actually end up helping you."
Having finished his main point, Kang Yeon-hu finally let his voice trail off awkwardly.
"...That's just what happened. To my friend."
How am I supposed to react to this?
I stared blankly at Kang Yeon-hu, who was stubbornly insisting on his story despite his face turning red again, before I finally spoke.
"I hope that friend is living a good life now."
"...He says he's doing okay."
"I see. By the way, is that friend the one calling you right now?"
"...Huh?"
"Your pocket."
Startled, Kang Yeon-hu twisted his body to check and found his phone bulging and vibrating in his right pocket. He quickly tried to shove it back in.
Watching his phone continue to flash as the call persisted, I curled my lips into a smirk.
"You two must be really close."
"..."
"Why don't you just ask them to come and open the door?"
As Kang Yeon-hu stood there speechless, his mouth agape, the practice room door suddenly burst open.
"Ho-yun hyung-hyung-hyung~~!!"
Jeong Da-jun sprinted inside, holding a box of donuts high in both hands. Kim Seong-hyeon followed close behind, using his foot to kick down the doorstop so the door wouldn't close.
"After a fierce debate, we decided on that hot gukbap you like for lunch today, so let's go eat—huh?"
"Oh? Senior Kang Yeon-hu, what are you doing here?"
What else? He was giving his junior some warm advice.
Kang Yeon-hu, his face now looking like a roasted sweet potato, scrambled to his feet and muttered under his breath.
"...I'll be going now."
"Wait, Senior!! Do you want a donut?!"
"I'm fine..."
I reached out and grabbed Kang Yeon-hu's arm as he tried to leave.
"Hyung, are there any photos left of that first concept?"
Then, I narrowed my eyes and whispered softly.
"I'm curious, since you said it was prettier than you are now."
"You crazy bastard, seriously..."
Unable to take it anymore, Kang Yeon-hu cursed under his breath, shook off my hand, and bolted out. Watching him go, Kim Seong-hyeon clicked his tongue, his lips thinning into a straight line.
"Did you bully him again?"
"He started it."
I stood up, cracking my neck, and turned to the members.
"Is Kang Yi-chae still in the studio?"
"Probably. He told us to eat without him, said he'd take care of his own lunch."
"Then I'll pass too. You two go ahead."
I pressed down on the youngest's head as he grumbled about me ditching the pasta, grabbed a donut from the box, and left the practice room. I stopped by the studio to grab my power bank, plugged in my phone, and turned it on. I used an app to call a taxi and headed back to the dorm.
After staring out the window for a while, I accessed a portal site on my phone. I started searching for Kang Yeon-hu's 'friend' whose debut was canceled due to a leak.
'Is this it?'
It wasn't hard to find.
Searching for 'leak,' 'debut,' 'canceled,' and 'WH' brought up the results almost instantly.
"...Hmm."
It was a photo of a younger Kang Yeon-hu, looking even more youthful than now, lying among pearls scattered on a lakeshore lush with green lotus leaves, wearing a faint smile.
I was slightly surprised when I saw it.
"...He wasn't lying."
I had only looked it up to tease him the next time we met, but Kang Yeon-hu's own description had been quite accurate.
I was examining the photo more closely when I realized the taxi had stopped at my destination. I quickly tucked my phone away. After offering a habitual thank you, I walked briskly to the dorm. I popped a candy from the bowl on the living room coffee table into my mouth and sat down heavily in the computer chair in Kang Yi-chae's room. Rolling the candy around in my mouth, I scanned the room before opening a notebook on the desk. It was Kang Yi-chae's work log, filled so densely with notes that it was hard to find a blank space.
"...Tsk."
I flipped through the pages, closed it, turned on the computer, and expertly typed in the password. I accessed the drive shared with the members and saw the songs that had been diligently backed up. The titles were still as haphazard as ever. I clicked on a random one and played it.
The temporary lyrics flowing out were full of hope, as if he had nothing to fear in the world.
"..."
To be honest, I was still hesitating a little.
There were smooth highways laid out in every direction; did I really need to take the long way around on a gravel road?
"...Sigh."
But I had no intention of repeating the failure of the last Grand Prize.
I rubbed my face hard to clear my head, then went to my room to retrieve a spare phone I'd kept just in case I ever needed it. After plugging it into a charger, I quickly revised the plan in my head.
There had definitely been occasional complaints among the reactions to the Song Camp program regarding the ratio of the judges' scores. I woke the computer from sleep mode, accessed the internet, and searched for keywords linking 'QBS' and 'judges.'
< 'Find the King of Singers' Judges' Scores Receive 'High Praise' >
< Increasing Weight of QBS Grand Prize Judges' Scores... >
< Audition 'Be My King' Judging Criteria Revealed >
I scrolled through the mouse wheel without much emotion, checking if anything had changed since my days as a PD. I gathered information on how much judge information was disclosed in each broadcast and the public opinion surrounding it.
Just as I had gathered enough data, a system window popped up in front of the monitor.
[...What are you doing?]
[Why are you suddenly looking up these articles?]
[I have a really bad feeling about this right now!]
Ignoring the thing hovering in my field of vision, I picked up the spare phone, which was now about one-fifth charged, activated a paid VPN app, and started typing a message.
Ding!
[Wait, wait, wait, wait a minute!]
[Why are you taking that out?!? Don't tell me! Really!! You're not planning to bribe a judge or something, are you?!!]
[I strongly object!!! The probability of getting caught is too high!!!!!]
"Whatever. I don't have any contacts right now, so I can't do that."
When I replied, glancing at the blue window out of the corner of my eye, the text on the vibrating rectangle grew larger and bolder.
[But you've memorized them!! The phone numbers!! You just know them by heart!!]
"I'm not doing it. I won't do anything that might get me caught."
I learned my lesson from the incident where I got snubbed for the Grand Prize.
The system window, which had shrunk rapidly as if it had calmed down a bit, displayed a sentence after a short pause.
[......Then what?]
"Just... throwing a stone."
To use the ripples that a small controversy would create.
Unless a major scandal broke out and caused a massive overhaul, the judges hired by QBS were almost always the same. It would likely be the same for Song Camp.
Even back when I was a PD, we used to gossip about how that list was more like a stagnant, rotting pool. Some were even close enough to the QBS Bureau Chief to be rehired as judges even after taking bribes under the table.
I briefly summarized a post to the effect that a judge who had shown suspicious behavior in past broadcasts seemed to be participating in a recently popular program. I used appropriately abstract and vague language to ensure it wouldn't be reported and taken down from the community.
I framed it so the author sounded like an insider while pretending not to be.
Despite being purely speculative without a shred of evidence, it looked quite plausible.
"Once the ripples start, I'll keep leaking issues about how the judges' scores account for 40%, meaning the results can easily be manipulated even if the public votes diligently."
I leaned back deep into my chair, leaving the spare phone on the desk. The system window, which had been quiet while apparently reviewing what I'd written, posed a question.
[...I don't think it'll go the way you want? They might just drop the judges who are likely to get caught.]
"QBS is very cunning. Or should I say, they're good at self-preservation. If something isn't exposed, they'll ignore it as if it never happened, but once a flaw is revealed, they choose to delete everything."
The thing my former workplace was best at was 'cleaning.'
They were so obsessed with being spotless that once they started, they left nothing behind, as if they'd burned it all down.
How many people had been swept away and cut off in those fires?
"And then they'll act all high and dry about it."
[...For example?]
"How our station is so fair and clean. How we will determine the winner 100% by the public's choice, in accordance with the viewers' wishes."
That way, they could at least temporarily quiet the uproar.
Of course, I didn't expect all of this to happen naturally just because of a single post.
If they tried to dodge it, I'd throw a bigger rock. If they turned tail and ran, I'd trigger a massive tsunami.
I tapped the armrest with my finger, establishing plans to deal with various random situations that came to mind.
"...In the end, we'll be judged solely by blind voting."
[...Are you insane...?!]
This guy's mouth is getting more and more unrestrained.
I clicked my tongue and waved away the system window in front of me. Just as I was about to pick up the spare phone and register the post on the anonymous community, the system window appeared again, blocking my view.
[...But assuming it really goes that way, are you really confident you won't get caught, Seo Ho-yun?]
[If it's someone who knows your past actions well... they'd surely find it strange that a problem suddenly flared up and the landscape shifted so chaotically.]
"Is that so?"
The list of QBS judges was kept strictly within the station, never shared even with the participating celebrities or their agencies.
"If someone suspects I did it..."
Information restricted to key staff members closely involved with competition programs at QBS. The people who knew this were the Bureau Chief, a few executives,
"Then tell that person to go set up a shaman's mat."
And QBS PDs.
As long as I was currently an idol, no matter how much they searched, they wouldn't find any evidence that I knew those facts and exploited them. I lifted my finger and calmly pressed the 'Register' button.
[......No way....]
[......Where do you get the balls?]
[Is this guy seriously a lunatic...?!]
I didn't respond further to the system window and leaned my head back to look at the ceiling.
If the judges' scores disappeared, only the blind voting would remain.
That voting was the one part I couldn't control...
"...The song is good."
I closed my eyes as I listened to Kang Yi-chae's competition song, which was still playing on repeat.
It was a good song, fitting for someone who wanted to win on musical merit alone.
'Right, Yi-chae. You do your best in your own way.'
I can't give you everything you want...
But I'll provide the stepping stone so you can climb to the highest point.
'Because I'm going to do what I do best.'
With manipulation and fabrication.