Chapter 275

Chapter 275

We’d encountered the contestants from Idol Inc. at the broadcast station, even though we weren’t even appearing on the same program. It was obvious what was going on.

This was on purpose. The staff had led them here so they could film a scene for their show.

Idol Incorporated was more than capable of arranging this kind of scenario. They could make up for the fact that TeSTAR wasn’t officially on the show by employing a trick like this. If we refused to let them film us when they were just saying hello, it would only make us look bad.

They were just filming for their appearance on Music Bomb, at least to any onlookers, so it would seem like an overreaction if we asked them to blur out our faces. The problem that this situation presented boiled down to one element—the cameras. There were cameras everywhere. Ahyeon would be encountering Seodam for the first time in years in the full view of multiple cameras.

Damn it. I eyed the others, and our more social members took the cue, responding first.

“Oh, hello!”

“We’re rooting for you, guys!”

This was good enough. There were seven of us, so Ahyeon would have to do little more than nod. Conscious of the two or three cameras pointed at us, I bowed to the contestants. That was as far as we needed to go, but the contestants didn’t seem to get the message that this encounter was over.

“I’m such a fan of TeSTAR!”

“Oh my god… I can’t believe it.”

“I’m so sorry, but could I have your autograph?”

Roughly half of the contestants were slowly approaching us, perhaps because of how famous we’d become. It didn’t seem like the production team had told them to do this—they were probably just excited to see a successful idol group.

The cameras followed them.

This is going to take a while. Not good. I checked on Ahyeon, who, thankfully, wasn’t showing any visible signs of agitation. He was his usual self, smiling faintly, and while he looked a little stiff, it wasn’t overly noticeable. It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary was going to happen.

Seodam hadn’t said much either, simply going with the flow.

As expected, he’s pretty smart. He seemed to be aware that he didn’t stand to gain anything by letting on that he knew Ahyeon here and showing off that they were acquainted. It would only increase the risk for him.

He’s never mentioned Ahyeon once during Idol Inc. He was probably doing his best to avoid provoking Ahyeon, and wanted to keep his mouth shut since opening his big mouth would do him no good. But that was what he wanted. The production team seemed to have other ideas.

“Come to think of it, didn’t you two attend the same school?”

I’d known the bastards on the production team wouldn’t resist going for this low-hanging fruit if given the opportunity. Any friendship between famous idols always made for some good content.

“Oh.”

The crafty guy that he was, Seodam reacted first, his response measured and calm.

“Yes. We say hello on occasion… Nice to see you again, Ahyeon!” He sounded precisely like he was greeting someone he’d known, but wasn’t all that close to and felt slightly awkward around.

This bastard is disgusting. He’d probably guessed that if Ahyeon reacted by frowning, the production team would try to accuse him of having changed after his success. Now that the production team had backed them into this corner, Seodam had probably decided he’d smile, say hello, and get some footage that showed he knew Ahyeon. Sadly, this industry was hardly ever that fair. I watched him closely.

I can strike a deal with the production team and get the footage removed if necessary. TeSTAR wasn’t competing on Idol Inc.—we were an idol group that already had a contract with an agency—which was a subsidiary of T1, to boot. And if nothing else, we could turn this into a straight-up fight so that the show wouldn’t be able to use the footage. The damage would be repairable.

Excuse me. Why don’t you return all the stuff you stole from him? I’ve lost count of how many of his things you made off with.

Saying something like this, for example, might work. It might kick up some rumors, but a little drama just this once could be managed. It would be better than letting this bastard use Ahyeon to get a leg up, while leaving Ahyeon to lose his sh*t.

Should I say it? I wondered.

“Yes… Hello.”

Ahyeon responded calmly, and a victorious little smile flitted across Seodam’s face. The production team moved in quickly, determined to draw out the conversation.

“Can you say a few encouraging words, please?”

“Oh, well…”

Ahyeon seemed to take a deep breath, and Seodam waited, a confident grin on his face.

“Son of a—”

“Wait.”

I saw Chungwoo grab an angry Bae Sejin, whispering for him to stop.

Ahyeon was able to speak slowly to Seodam, interrupted by no one. “No matter what you do… I hope you will trust yourself more.” He smiled slightly. “Having come… this far, I think that’s the most important part of it. Instead of focusing on what other people are doing, focus on yourself… and trust yourself.”

Surprise flitted across Seodam’s face.

Ahyeon actually took a step forward, making open eye contact with Seodam. “We weren’t… that close. But I hope you’ll make it through the remainder of the show… with a kind heart.”

Seodam said nothing.

“I’ll be praying that you do.”

Ahyeon’s words were friendly, but depending on how they were interpreted, they could mean very different things. No doubt they hadn’t sounded all that friendly to Seodam. I had a feeling it had sounded something like this:

If you have time to attack others because of your low self-esteem, focus on yourself and try to be a good person.

He’s suddenly very tense, I thought. I had seen confusion in his eyes for a moment. It was very satisfying.

Ahyeon looked around at the other contestants and called out, slightly shy, “You guys as well. I wish you all the best!”

“Yes! Thank you!”

As the other contestants responded, Ahyeon held his fist in the air encouragingly. He seemed comfortable. On the other hand, Seodam seemed to have managed a smile, but he didn’t look very comfortable. He had no choice but to hold his hand out for a handshake, however.

“Thanks for the encouragement…” he said.

“Sure,” Ahyeon said, shaking his hand casually.

“Why don’t we say a few words, too? I mean, it’s not common that we get to meet like this!” Big Sejin said quickly, butting in when he saw the opportunity.

“Of course! We’d be grateful!”

Met with eager anticipation by the contestants and the production team, we filmed together for a little while. In the meantime, Ahyeon drew back.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Yeah…” Ahyeon answered quietly, in a calm voice. He sounded relieved somehow.

“The manager is telling us we have to get a move on.”

“Yes, thank you!”

“Don’t mention it. See you on stage!”

The other members all filmed a few encouraging words for the contestants before moving along.

As we parted ways in the corridor, I saw Seodam turn toward us.

“…!”

Apparently, he’d had every intention of glaring at Ahyeon, since he flinched when he locked eyes with me instead.

Scared the sh*t out of you, huh? I guessed he’d convinced himself he could take on Ahyeon, since he was first place in the current season.

The show feels so important when you’re a contestant. Did he think he was superior to Ahyeon because he had a better score on the show than Ahyeon did? He’d expected Ahyeon to be intimidated by him, but what he’d gotten was a threat instead. It was probably driving him nuts.

I smiled at him and mouthed, Lucky little bastard.

“…!”

I wouldn’t normally go out of my way to make enemies, but based on the way he was acting, he was more emotional than I’d expected. He wouldn’t last long. I liked that I wouldn’t have to worry about him for very much longer.

Massaging the back of my neck, I turned away from him. I wondered how long he’d be able to keep it together in front of the cameras.

We’d soon traveled the length of the corridor and arrived at our waiting room.

“I’ll go and check on our lunch,” our manager for the day said.

“All right!”

The door closed, leaving only us in the room.

“Phew!” Ahyeon seemed to finally relax. He exhaled and sank into the sofa.

The members all crowded around, congratulating him.

“Whoa, Ahyeon!”

“Wow!”

“You were super calm.”

Ahyeon seemed taken aback, but he was also very happy with our reaction.

Even Bae Sejin seemed excited as he said, “You taught him a pretty good lesson.”

“What? Well, I… wasn’t intending to do that… Is that how it sounded?” Ahyeon asked, hanging his head. His face was as red as a cherry.

Bae Sejin seemed taken aback. “Uh, really?”

“Yes! I was just being honest… But still… I had no idea I was going to say something like that until the words were coming out…” Ahyeon sighed quietly, relaxing a little. “It’s… amazing. I-I thought I would be scared.”

I asked him, “How did it feel?”

“Better than I expected. Yes.” He clasped his hands together, then muttered quietly, “Seeing him in person confirmed it for me… that he’s nobody special.”

Contrary to my concerns, it appeared that the encounter had been something of an awakening for him. He had experienced for himself that the guy no longer had any power over him.

“I was… all right,” he said firmly.

“Right…” I said.

“That does it, then!” Big Sejin patted him on the shoulder, and the other members surrounded him with proud smiles on their faces.

That was when Chungwoo said with a smile, “Come to think of it, didn’t Ahyeon just speak almost entirely without stuttering? Even though he wasn’t really trying?”

“…!”

“You’re right!”

Had overcoming some of his trauma helped him?

Ahyeon visibly brightened. “R-really? I-I think you might be… oh…” He seemed to become aware of it right away and started stuttering again.

The members looked at each other and began shouting hurriedly.

“Well, what does it matter, Ahyeon? Anyone can stutter while they’re relaxed!” Big Sejin said.

“It doesn’t matter at all when it’s just between us.”

“Exactly. Eugene never chooses his words with much care, but he gets along just fine,” Raebin said.

“I’m a great speaker!” Eugene insisted.

“Yeah, sure.”

The conversation had taken a detour, but our intentions seemed well conveyed.

Ahyeon bowed his head and said, “Yes…” He seemed moved. Eventually, he raised his head and said confidently, “But still… I’ll practice more s-so I can speak better without… trying!”

“Yeah. We’ll be rooting for you.”

The mood in the room couldn’t have been better.

Good. I patted him on the back. He’d made us very proud.

“Th-thank you. Thanks!”

Ahyeon smiled, looking much more relaxed.

***

The interesting thing was that Ahyeon actually began to speak more comfortably in public settings after this, without stuttering. Feeling less pressure and relieved of some of his past burdens seemed to have helped him.

“M-my therapist told me my progress would be like climbing stairs… I think I just went up a stair!”

“Yeah. Congrats.”

We watched that week’s episode of Idol Inc. together with an eager Ahyeon. It just so happened that it was the ranking announcement.

[“And in first place is… Chae Seodam!”]

“Whoa.”

What’s there to be surprised about? I saw this coming. I stared at the screen, unimpressed. There had been a section in the last episode where Seodam was portrayed as having to deal with lackluster teammates. I’d known he’d only gain more momentum from this—certainly not less.

[Chae Seodam: Thank you… thank you so much. I’ll try even harder going forward!]

The mood in the living room wasn’t all that bad, however.

“W-want some, Moondae?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Ahyeon!”

Ahyeon seemed unconcerned as he handed out dried apple chips to the others. He probably wouldn’t care even if Seodam ended up getting first place at the end of the show and went on to succeed as an idol.

Well, that’s good, but… I shrugged to myself. I wouldn’t feel happy letting things go like that. That night, the bait that I’d set finally attracted some fish.

“Hello, Moondae!”

I was referring to Miry-nay, of course. I entered my room, quickly getting to the point. “Hello. Are you calling about what I asked last time we spoke?”

“Yes! Uh… We were at the team battle filming today, and we just got back!”

Since the ranking announcement was airing now, I’d guessed that they would be busy filming for a few days right around now. If she’d called, it meant that she had something on her mind. It was telling, though, that she’d called without hesitation on the very same day.

“Did you see something happen?”

Minha, the second-place member of Miry-nay, sighed. “Well… You see…”

“Yes. Go on.”

“About that person… the same guy we told you about last time. I think he was subtly trying to get our phone numbers.”

“…!”

Is that the sound of a jackpot I hear?