Chapter 236

Chapter 236

Bae Sejin’s message to the National Human Rights Commission went off like fireworks.

I can’t believe this is how things are turning out. I was at a loss as I watched the internet come down mercilessly on T1. The most explosive ammunition, naturally, was that the agency had kept the cause of the accident a secret.

[A tragedy caused by neglect… The naked truth behind huge entertainment company T1]

[“It was no accident” Agency hides terrifying attack]

My eighteen-day coma having just come to an end, the TeSTAR accident had in turn become the hottest topic on the internet once more. And now the public had found out that not only was there more to the story, but an extremely interesting piece of information had also been concealed.

Many excited netizens began talking like a conspiracy theory had just been proven true. The press used descriptors like terror, sabotage, and impending disaster to fan the flames. News regarding the accident was no longer confined to the celebrity category, and it seemed not even a powerhouse like T1 could do anything to stuff the worms back in the can.

- One of their artists was in a coma and all they cared about was keeping a tight lid on the situation. Corporations have no conscience…

- A former manager attacked them? F*ck. He only went after the idols because he didn’t dare attack the company itself

└ Did they not interview the guy before they hired him? How could they make someone like that a manager of such famous idols?

- They obviously have a ton of nepotism hires LOL. The agency’s probably a mess. I hope the TeSTAR members don’t start losing hair from the stress

- Apparently, he was “fired for multiple counts of verbal assault.” In other words, the agency realized too late that he was the wrong guy for the job and then fired him in a hurry, but their clumsy security allowed the guy to take revenge. Amazing, T1! LOL

- All they’re good for is hiding the truth and deceiving the public. They need to be punished. We can’t allow such practices to run rampant in our society

Because Bae Sejin had carefully gathered every bit of incriminating information he could to send to the National Human Rights Commission, there was more for the internet to work with than just gossip.

[T1 Stars, subsidiary of large corporation, severely infringing on employee rights]

[Overtime unpaid, verbal abuse, quitting… T1 exposed on various fronts]

[T1 cuts their losses: “We are not involved in the management of T1 Stars”]

In truth, usually, the public wouldn’t have had much sympathy for a popular idol group who had made a lot of money but were suffering at the hands of their company. They would simply say, Those kids still make plenty of money at such a young age, and any indignation on their behalf would quickly peter out. If the conclusion was that This corporation is sh*t, however, the online reaction was usually different—a common, justified enemy turned outrage into an exciting sport.

That was why people were relieving their July stress, the heat waves arriving late because of a delayed rainy season, by bashing T1. Because the parent company, T1, was far better known than the relatively new T1 Stars, it was the former who was getting the brunt of the backlash. Someone even started a national petition.

[We request an investigation into the human rights abuse allegations levied against T1.]

It was little more than angry ruffled feathers, but naturally, T1 was in a state of shock.

They don’t have a reputation for treating their own employees very well, though. Frankly, I thought they deserved everything they got. I pitied the innocent employees who would be forced to handle this mess, but the unfolding events sure were interesting, regardless.

In any case, as Bae Sejin had thought they would, the company seemed to think this was the result of a whistle-blower from within or intentional sabotage from a competitor. The TeSTAR incident had started to look very much like the beginnings of a malicious advertising campaign.

Good… Keep looking into it. You’re not going to find anything. The more time they wasted, the less the company would get done, and the more influence our group would gather. With an amused smile on my face, I swiped at my screen. I was taking a peek at the fan communities.

[Boycotting T1 (175)]

[Assholes, I am so pissed (24)]

[Can’t the members find a new agency? (798)]

[So it was the agency’s fault… LOL (13)]

[Praying Moondae only sees the ♡positive posts♡ after waking up T_T (151)]

Most posts and comments were along these lines, but the mood wasn’t all that miserable, considering. If I had to guess, people were just overjoyed that I’d woken up. They weren’t too stressed, either, since the public was siding with TeSTAR, and all the criticism wasn’t being leveled at us. I even got the impression that the fans had guessed there was more to the situation, since so many of them seemed utterly unsurprised.

That’s good… I wiped at the phone screen with my shirt, then locked it. I was itching to post something but decided to discuss it with the other members first just in case.

A post just telling people I’m back should be all right. I also urgently needed to discuss an important topic with the others.

We need to go on that tour, no matter what. I’d come up with a plan of sorts regarding this. Crossing my arms, I waited calmly for them to come.

It was two in the afternoon when Bae Sejin burst through the door, his face flushed with excitement.

“It went well, don’t you think?” he exclaimed.

“Yes. The reception online has been pretty good,” I said.

I left him to it as he balled his fists, no doubt enjoying the thrill of a blow well-delivered.

I was about to slowly begin laying the groundwork for my plan when he said, “When the commission gives us the results… we should sue the agency! We’ll be able to win if they find proof! I-I’ll pay for the lawyer and everything!”

Bae Sejin was once again ready to go full steam ahead.

We can’t do that. He was too drunk on victory. I understood where he was coming from, but a lawsuit was an extreme measure only meant as a last resort in this industry. Big Sejin, who’d arrived with Bae Sejin along with the rest of the group, interjected before I could.

I guess they didn’t discuss this part of Bae Sejin’s plan. Apparently, he’d finally gathered his thoughts on the issue.

“Bae Sejin. This is part of your plan for us to move to another agency, right?”

“Yes…” Bae Sejin said.

“Hmm. If we do that we won’t be allowed on broadcast stations and shows that T1 invests in. Don’t you think that would be bad for us?”

“There are plenty of other shows… And there’s WeTube and various other ways of getting exposure these days.” Bae Sejin swallowed nervously. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll have to stay three more years with this agency… Who knows what they’ll do to try and extend the contract after that?”

Big Sejin had nothing to say to this.

“That’s why I think we have to do this… now.”

Big Sejin’s eyebrows twitched, but he eventually settled on a moderately cheerful tone and said, “It would be really great for us if a lawsuit went well, of course! But if we have to go on hiatus for over a year, our career will be dead and over. And that means no agency will want us even if we win.”

Big Sejin delivered the final blow in a gentle voice.

“We need to gain enough popularity that another agency will take us despite the risk of antagonizing T1. And that’s not possible right now. Why don’t we just try to strike a good deal with the agency to amp up our dedicated management team, add a few extras to our contracts, and things like that? What do you guys think?”

Bae Sejin seemed unhappy, but he said nothing. His face fell, apparently already having worked out that there was very little he could say to this, and anticipating what everyone’s response would be.

So this is how it’s going to be.

I pressed a hand to my forehead. “First of all… Why don’t we have a vote? Who wants to go ahead with a lawsuit right away?”

Bae Sejin raised his hand. Eugene’s hand shot into the air as well.

“We’re going to win!” he said.

He seemed to love the idea of hiring a lawyer. Americans.

“Eugene, what about the year we’ll have to take off?”

“We’ll do great even if we take a break for a year. It’s okay! We can just start over!”

His response was both confident and optimistic. It was also unrealistic. Thanks for your meaningful contribution, Eugene.

“Who wants to stay with our current agency and use this to try to improve our conditions?” I asked.

Big Sejin raised his hand, of course. Raebin surprised me by also putting his hand up.

“There are a lot of great people working at the agency, too… It’d be great if we could work things out with them.”

This was also an optimistic and impractical response, though in the opposite way. Thank you, too.

That left Chungwoo and Ahyeon.

“What about you, Ahyeon?” I asked.

“I… I’m good with either, if it means we’ll be safe and happy!”

“All right,” I said. This was exactly the sort of thing I’d expect Ahyeon to say. “And you, Chungwoo?”

“I feel… similarly. Personally, I’d like to give the lawsuit a try, but we’re a group. We should respect that those who disagree shouldn’t have to risk their careers,” he said slowly.

“What do you think, Moondae?” he asked.

Me? My take is simple.

“I think it would be very difficult to proceed with a lawsuit immediately.”

I would have been against the lawsuit even if I wasn’t worried about the tour being canceled.

Things have gotten out of hand. The moment this ceased to be about our group and became a labor rights issue, it became a lawsuit that a large corporation like T1 would never allow themselves to lose, lest it besmirch their reputation. If they were to lose, it would set a judicial precedent.

And if the labor unions follow behind us with a string of cases themselves, they’ll lose their minds. While they were walking on eggshells around us, it was in our best interest to take as much as we could without damaging our relationship with the agency.

We need to make sure the agency feels apologetic toward TeSTAR. Even if they weren’t really apologetic, we could use that the agency was acting like they were. I didn’t want to say this in so many words, however, given what Bae Sejin had done for us. I tried to voice my thoughts more indirectly.

“We don’t know how the public’s opinion will change from one day to the next. Why don’t we keep an eye on things and collect evidence so that we can sue later down the road if we need to?”

“Secretly gather evidence?” Big Sejin asked.

“Yes,” I replied.

Bae Sejin seemed lost in thought, but he eventually nodded.

“Right... All right. I can’t insist that my opinion is the only correct one. W-we’re a team!”

It seemed he was starting to appreciate having a close relationship with others his age, just as Ahyeon had done during Idol Inc.

This isn’t a bad outcome, I guess.

“Team! TeSTAR! Come on, let’s go!” Eugene cried

“I agree completely, Bae Sejin!” Raebin said.

I shrugged, finally able to bring up the topic I wanted to address. “Why don’t we keep an eye on things and go ahead with everything we already have planned?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“Wh-why…?”

“Well, there will be fines for pulling out of any contracts. And I think the spirits of anyone watching us at this time would be improved if we showed everyone that we’re still going strong.”

They all stared at me silently for a long time.

“You, too?” Chungwoo eventually asked.

“Yes. Of course, I mean after I recover completely, and a doctor declares that I am fit to go back to work.” I was being genuine, and not at all bluffing. The Nectar I’d used was what allowed me to say this without qualms.

“Hmm…”

“Especially when it comes to the tour. People have already paid for tickets and reservations, so it would be best if we—” I began.

“N-no!” Ahyeon suddenly shouted.

W-wait, what? I stared at him, but he didn’t back down, despite how red his face was.

“M-Moondae, you need to rest!”

“Yes. I’ll get plenty of rest, of course—”

“You need to rest a lot!”

Aren’t you listening?

“Ahyeon is right, Moondae,” Chungwoo said.

“I was wondering where this was going. What tour? Just stay in your bed,” Big Sejin said.

“We’ll continue with the preparations for the next album as planned and share our progress with you. Don’t worry about it,” Raebin said.

“You need to live a long life, Moondae!” Eugene said.

I won’t, not if you guys don’t let me do this tour. They were firm, however, and maintained that they would not compromise on this. It seemed as though my eighteen-day coma had a very strong impact on them.

I can’t tell them about the Nectar skill, can I? I could pretend I was nuts and tell them about the status window, but that would only get me a one-way ticket to a psych ward and a lot of therapy.

As I felt pain mounting in my temples, Chungwoo said with a soft smile, “And Moondae, the tour in the second half of the year has already been canceled by the agency, at our request.”

You are out of your minds! The bastards all took turns patting me on the shoulder, speaking affectionately.

“The fans probably just want you to rest and recover… Maybe upload a few posts or pictures every now and then,” Chungwoo said.

I said nothing.

“Let’s go ahead like that for the time being.”

“Yes! He’s right,” Big Sejin said.

“We’ll be rooting for you while you focus on your recovery!” Raebin said.

And so, the tour was no more.

***

I lay in bed after they’d left, going over my situation mentally. I very quickly came to a conclusion—I was f*cked.

How am I supposed to perform in front of 400,000 people without a tour? Would I have to do guerilla performances in Myeong-dong or an amusement park forty times? My head hurt just thinking about it.

I can’t even be angry at them, because they probably meant well. I sighed deeply, trying to think of a way around this new problem, then decided I’d think about it later.

First, I should figure out what counts as an audience. There was one other thing I needed to do as well. I picked up my phone and took a few selfies, choosing only the ones that came out nice. Then I logged onto TeSTAR’s social media.

========================

Hey Loviewers.

It’s me, Moondae (puppy emoji). I’ve been doing very well. Thank you for waiting for me. I’ll be back soon, better than ever before.

========================

Then I attached the photos and hit upload.

Twenty-one days… is that how long it’s been? I was a little tense.

My phone was soon flooded with social media notifications, just as I’d expected.

- Moondae!

- Thank you so much

- ♡♡♡♡ T_T

- You need to get better soon, Moondae. Eat well and sleep well…

└ But don’t sleep too much

└ I’m going to sue you, whoever you are

- We want you to be healthy and happy

They were just words on a screen, but they left me feeling warm. I could almost hear their voices in my head saying the kind words to me.

They’re so encouraging. I smiled as I looked through the comments. There was something I was hoping to accomplish by posting this.

If the fans are excited about me coming back soon, I can use that to argue that I...

- You don’t need to worry about coming back so soon, Moondae. Your health is what matters most

- Moondae, please don’t do anything that might be detrimental to your health

Even if they were commenting like this, I assumed they really wanted to see me all the same.

They have to. This is driving me nuts. I ruffled my hair and tossed my phone down next to my pillow. As if on cue, it vibrated several times.

I just turned off notifications for our social media. Slightly puzzled, I picked the phone up again. I’d received a few texts.

[(Photos)]

There were nearly twenty photos of a very familiar dog.

I can’t believe I’m actually happy to see these. You bastard, give me something. F*cking anything. If I was going to die anyway, what did I have to lose from grasping at some rotten straws?

[Shin Cheongryeo (VTIC)]

I called him.