Chapter 235

Chapter 235

The Human… Rights Commission? I expected the room to fall into confusion upon hearing Bae Sejin’s sudden announcement, but everyone but me was calm. It seemed all of them had agreed on this course of action.

He told them he was going to do it before he did it, at least. I was about to massage my forehead but stopped myself. I had an IV drip embedded in my arm.

“You mean… the National Human Rights Commission, right?”

“Yes!”

That institution has no actual judicial power, as far as I know. The most they could do was give the agency a scolding. I doubted they would even take an anonymous report on human rights infringement regarding an idol seriously.

Bae Sejin didn’t seem taken aback by my reaction.

“I know… They can’t solve all our problems for us,” he said. “But the press will still cover it! And the agency will get a correction warning!”

Bae Sejin still had his fists balled as he eagerly explained his reasoning. In summary, he had decided the following.

“So because the agency is stopping the press from covering us in celebrity news… You’re trying to get the general news to pick up the story?”

“Yes.”

He’d come at the problem from a new angle, in other words. I didn’t think Bae Sejin was capable of such an ambitious plan.

Whew… I could really use a smoke— Actually, never mind. I’d nearly bitten my tongue, so I decided to gather my thoughts. I did my best to figure out what the repercussions of this would be. If the report had been anonymous, the results Bae Sejin was expecting probably wouldn’t appear.

An entertainment company was trying to keep an artist-related incident secret. The likelihood of the National Human Rights Commission putting in the effort to hunt down the correct agency was extremely low. And if the journalists who got their hands on the story were only going to write a few rumor articles, all they will accomplish is pissing off the agency, and nothing more. However, this would put the agency on edge, at least, and if their fear grew stronger than the spite they felt toward whoever had made the report, perhaps it would make negotiations easier for us in the future.

“And when I say anonymous… I don’t mean I avoided mentioning the group name,” Bae Sejin said.

“What did you mean, then?” I asked.

“I just kept the identity of the person making the report a secret. I reported it as a friend of my mom’s…” Bae Sejin swallowed. “That way, they won’t think it was us. Maybe they’ll think it was a competing agency, someone who left the agency, or something like that.”

As it turned out, he’d compiled a list of all the labor and employment laws that had been broken at the agency, including its failure to pay overtime wages and illegal inspection of personal information with regard to the corporate spy.

How big are you planning to make this? I was starting to wonder if I’d woken up to a daydream within a daydream. I didn’t know what to say.

“I-It’s not like I’m trying to brag about what I did! But we needed to do at least this much…” Bae Sejin said.

I repressed a bitter smile. “No. I think you did well.”

His eyes went wide. “R-really?”

“Yes.”

We’d addressed the most pressing concerns, so I decided to move on.

At least T1, the parent company, won’t direct all its anger at TeSTAR. It was a shame that we couldn’t use the accident to our advantage, but I hadn’t been the only one involved. There was no rule that said things needed to always go the way I wanted them to.

The other members probably have a bone or two to pick themselves. They were allowed to make a few decisions on their own.

Though, I think this might get out of hand… in an unexpected way. This was a good thing. If this suddenly became about social issues, such as workplace arrogance, the problem would require high-ranked personnel and the parent company to solve it. And from our perspective, it didn’t matter what the top brass had to suffer, as long as the staff important to our work could get on with it. If the group was facing no issues getting work done, it didn’t matter what happened upstairs.

If we’re lucky, the director will enter sign-and-forget mode again. That would be satisfyingly convenient. Feeling comforted, I nodded.

“Yes. I’m looking forward to seeing the results.”

“All right!”

Bae Sejin brightened. The other members nodded along, none of them betraying any agitation or discontent.

I guess they had a pretty serious falling out with the agency after the accident. I silently tutted and asked the question I hadn’t gotten an answer to earlier.

“So, what day is it today?”

They exchanged glances.

Huh?

Chungwoo, who’d said nothing so far, slowly said, “Moondae…”

“Yes.”

“Today is July 6th.”

It was a new month.

Wait, I fell unconscious on June 18th, our debut anniversary… This meant I’d been in a coma for no less than eighteen days. There goes the whole month of June.

While I sat there, shocked, Chungwoo added quietly, “Don’t worry about anything else for now, just rest. You can think about work and promotions later. And from now on… put your own well-being first.”

Oh. I looked up at him. There was an uncharacteristically dark expression on his face.

Oh right, he nearly ended up with metal in his brain. I took the hit to my chest instead. It wasn’t a bad trade-off in my mind, seeing as he’d have died if I hadn’t intervened. I wasn’t a psychopath, so I couldn’t simply sit by and watch as the guy sitting next to me was stabbed through the head. I shot him a wry look, but I could understand where he was coming from.

Did he think I fell into a coma in his stead? He didn’t need to feel sorry, considering this whole event might simply be more trickery on the system’s part. But if he considered himself indebted to me, I hoped he would come down on my side more in the future.

I shrugged and made to get out of bed.

“I will. To be honest, I feel fine now… I must have just been sleeping off all the built-up fatigue.”

“Y-you can’t get up!”

“Sit down, Moondae!”

“I think it’s best that you let the nurses give you another checkup.”

They were all making such a fuss.

Moments later, the medical staff returned more quickly than planned because the members had requested it urgently. They were shocked to hear that a patient who’d been in a coma for over fifteen days had devoured a melon as soon as they’d woken up.

“You ate what? Excuse me, but please tell me how your stomach feels right now!”

“I feel fine,” I said.

“Sir! The patient here…”

A series of urgent calls and requests followed.

Right… I’d been out for eighteen days, then eaten an extremely sweet melon. I supposed their reaction was warranted.

Big Sejin turned pale, since he was the one who had suggested the melon, but my results came back clear. If I’d been an ordinary patient recovering from a coma, my stomach would have cramped from the moment I swallowed the first bite of fruit.

“I should have eaten it!”

I ignored Eugene’s disappointment over not having eaten the melon by himself.

This is probably thanks to Nectar. Its description had read, “Complete vitality recovery,” so my digestive organs had no doubt recovered quickly thanks to it.

Why don’t I check, while I’m at it? After the noise had settled some, I summoned up the traits section in the status window.

[Traits: Infinite Potential, Time for Yearning (S), Nectar (S) - activated, Catch-All Ears (A)]

It was marked as activated, as I’d expected. By the looks of it, I was currently undergoing a rapid recovery, and the trait would vanish once the wound in my chest was totally healed.

Does that mean no more Energy Drink? I was a little disappointed by this, though I did wonder if I’d get it back during the next trait draw. It was so useful during our activities. Curbing my disappointment, I turned the status window off.

So… Eighteen days. That was a lot of time wasted, but at least there would be no issues with regard to our upcoming tour.

A month will be more than enough time for me to recover. The other members who were in casts had said they’d be better within three weeks. If we took another month to prepare, we’d be able to hold our tour as planned, except for a few of the concerts scheduled in Japan, perhaps.

That’s good, I told myself.

After the medical staff had left, the members sighed with relief, gathering themselves.

“Moondae… I’m so sorry.”

“Why? It was delicious,” I said.

“We’ll get permission before we do that next time…”

Moments later, it seemed to finally occur to them that perhaps I should be getting some rest.

“We’ll be back tomorrow!” Raebin said.

“I-If there’s a problem… Call us at any time! I-I live nearby!” Ahyeon said.

“I’m not leaving,” Eugene said.

“Ah, Eugene’s getting out of hand. Let’s go!” Big Sejin said.

“Ugh.”

“Get some rest, Moondae. We’re so glad you’re back.”

“Thank you.”

Chungwoo smiled faintly, but the smile soon faded.

He looks really upset. He’d been more worried than I’d expected him to be. I wondered if I should call him back and have a talk, but Bae Sejin turned to me gravely before I could.

“Moondae…”

“Huh? Yes?”

“If the commission starts an investigation… I’m going to look into suing T1 Stars based on the results.”

“What…?”

“And if we succeed, we’ll find ourselves a new agency!”

The f*ck are you talking about? I felt like he’d slapped me on the back of the head. He’s not just trying to release articles… He also wants to take this to court using the authority of the commission?

Whether this would actually work was beside the point. Why was he looking to pick a fight with a large corporation that had its own broadcasting station and studios?

Are you planning to kick all their resources to the curb? I turned my stare on the one member I couldn’t believe had agreed to this. Big Sejin avoided my gaze

Hey!

“Hmm. Well, T1 will want to change things around at the agency if that happens. I bet we’ll get a better deal if we discuss litigation!” Big Sejin said.

I didn’t say anything.

“Even if we don’t find ourselves a new agency, getting a better deal would be great for all of us.”

So that’s why he went along with it, too…

“It’s not going to happen right away… We’ll discuss it slowly. Let Moondae get some more rest for the time being,” Chungwoo said.

“Right!”

“See you…” I said.

I needed to give all of this some thought on my own. I waved at them, my thoughts a confused muddle, and the members smiled or waved back as they all filed out. The door closed behind them, and I sighed in the quiet hospital room.

A lawsuit? I could roll with most things, but a lawsuit wasn’t a good direction to take things if we wanted to last a long time in this industry. There had been almost no cases where an artist had sued and things had turned out great for their career. Regardless of whether they won, it would be a spot on our record.

If we want the public to remain happy with us, the most practical method is to keep things friendly. And even if we came out on top, it would take too long for us to win a lawsuit. There was a chance our activities would all be put on hold until…

Hold on. I felt a chill go down my spine.

What about our tour? There would be no tour if that were to happen.

You bastards! I could die without that tour! As the saying went, the road to hell was paved with good intentions. I realized the risk of death was suddenly looming on the horizon.

***

While Moondae sat in his hospital room, confused, breaking news reports that he’s woken up were hitting the internet.

[(Breaking) TeSTAR’s Park Moondae regains consciousness]

[Park Moondae is back… “The prayers of the fans were answered”]

[TeSTAR recovers from 18-day coma after car accident]

- Wait, what’s with these articles?

- Are they for real?

- Is this really true? (link)

- Please let it be true. Please!

The fans tried to remain calm, thinking it might be yet another false alarm, but the agency’s press release confirming the truth of the articles came out thirty minutes later.

[T1 Stars states, “Park Moondae woke up at 2 P.M.”]

Only then did congratulations, relief, and tears flood the various social media platforms, communities, and comments sections.

- I pray this isn’t a dream

- I can’t stop crying…

- Moondae, thank you for fighting for eighteen days. No matter what you do, we’ll be rooting for you

- I’m so happy and thankful I can upload this image now. (Photo of Park Moondae from 2nd anniversary)

- I love you Moondae! I’m so happy that I will be able to keep cheering for you at twenty-five, and thirty, and forty… T_T

A young celebrity had nearly been killed in an unfortunate accident, so for now, the public responded with great warmth.

- It would have been such a waste for him to die so soon. I guess that’s why he was given a second chance. I pray he recovers and brings glory to our country with amazing music!

- This is so great. I’m not even a fan, but I felt so sorry for him T_T

- Congratz! Have a good life!

- So he came back after eighteen days? That’s amazing

Not even malicious comments could get a word in edgewise at such a dramatic moment.

- Don’t tell me Moondog planned this from the start? What are the chances he was never in a coma in the first place? LOL

└ You have lost your mind

└ This is what we call “crossing the line”

- He’ll be incapacitated for a while, at least. I’ll content myself with that

└ You are a surprisingly scummy person

└ Korean anti-fans. They’ll criticize even a twenty-three-year-old who was unconscious for eighteen days

- LOL I don’t like him much. The people on the internet are making such a fuss. Nobody I know mentions him

└ I’m sorry, but do you even have any friends IRL?

└ LMAO

There was no knowing how far the mean comments would go after the initial wave of feel-good emotion passed, but right now, everyone was just happy congratulating the artists and their fans. This was why the report Bae Sejin had made to the National Human Rights Commission came out of nowhere, coming out while everyone online was still happy and touched by the turn of events.

[The dark side of the entertainment industry… What is the truth behind TeSTAR’s accident?]

[“Multiple reports of human rights abuse” T1 Stars being inspected by National Human Rights Commission]

- The hell? What’s going on here?

- Wow

- LOL! T1 has finally lost it!

Things were panning out in an interesting way. The expose had been released immediately after the happy news regarding Moondae’s recovery, and suddenly everyone was satisfied with what they considered just desserts.

- That pathetic company deserves to die!

- For justice! Let’s go!

In the end, the public decided they wanted a perfect happy ending, which fueled their desire to see the company go down far better than anger and tiring themselves out would. They were satisfied that the agency was getting its due.

Bae Sejin had won.