# Chapter 75
In another situation, that wouldn’t have been an issue, but the problem was that Crop Five had grown too big and was enjoying immense popularity.
I wanted Crop Five to be happy forever and to have no hardships in life.
For that to happen, I thought we needed to be careful and suspicious of everything beforehand, checking even stone bridges by tapping them one by one before crossing.
I wasn’t going to make Crop Five do that; I would do it myself, and I thought I’d have to keep nagging them in the future.
“But is this place completely safe, hyung? There are no surveillance cameras or bugging devices, right?”
At Dagyeong’s words, I nodded confidently.
“I always check for those.”
Maybe that’s something I should be grateful to my uncle for.
Because thanks to him, I’ve learned to be cautious.
“Then shall we have our real final after-party now? I feel more at ease when we have our after-parties like this.”
As Yeonwoo spoke and headed to the kitchen, Seo Irun followed behind him.
“Cha Yeonwoo. You can’t even cook, so stop hanging around and get out of the way.”
“Tsk. Our Irun is really consistent. Doing all the hard work alone but always talking like that. Sigh.”
“It’s because Irun hyung has such a good heart. He can’t stand us feeling sorry, so he acts like that.”
Even as the members teased him with laughter, the guy didn’t back down at all.
The after-party at the dorm didn’t last long, and the members celebrated the success of the God Hyunshin Cover Contest, saying it was truly the end.
* * *
In the end, it was decided that it was impossible for one person to care for both Ki Hyunshin and Crop Five.
Just taking care of Crop Five alone required a lot of attention.
But after Ki Hyunshin’s rapid rise to blue-chip status following the huge success of the cover contest, it became impossible to handle both of them simultaneously.
If I had to choose one, it would obviously be Crop Five.
However, I didn’t like the idea of entrusting Ki Hyunshin to someone else, and while I was unable to make a decision, Hyung stepped in.
When Hyung said he would take charge of managing Ki Hyunshin, I thought I had misheard.
In other companies, there were cases where the CEO directly oversaw artists, and in such cases, expectations for them changed both internally and externally.
But at Grand Tamer, Crop Five was pretty much the only group Hyung directly took care of.
Even then, it was only said that Hyung managed them because of me; he didn’t really take charge.
So this was truly a unique case.
I thought Hyung would be able to ask Ki Hyunshin without feeling apologetic.
Above all, the chemistry between the two was better than I imagined, so I expected that it might yield better results than when I was in charge.
From then on, both Crop Five and Ki Hyunshin entered into album production.
Ki Hyunshin had been widely known for his perfectionist tendencies and personally oversaw everything from start to finish.
Compared to him, Crop Five was really easy.
They hardly paid attention to what they considered outside their domain, which made for a clear comparison.
While everyone was busy with their own schedules, an incident occurred.
How could I have known that I should have nagged Hyung and Ki Hyunshin the same way I nagged Crop Five?
* * *
[BizGayPer just like Grand Tamer]
That was the headline of an article first identified by the PR department.
The content essentially stated that Grand Tamer, which had thoroughly enjoyed the precarious and titillating bromance chemistry between the manager and members during Crop Five’s debut, was now putting forward business gay performance again, this time featuring the CEO and Ki Hyunshin.
While terms like “business” and “performance” were used in the beginning, the tone at the end of the article was quite suggestive.
I was shocked to see the combination of BizGayPer and Grand Tamer, and for a while I read the article several times in a daze, wondering why Hyung and Ki Hyunshin were mentioned in it.
‘What part of it?’
This was truly absurd, and I thought it was a simple issue that could be dealt with at the company level, but then Hyung came looking for me.
Thinking that he might be scared because he was directly mentioned in this trivial matter, I immediately went to Hyung’s office.
There, looking uncharacteristically anxious, Hyung got up from his seat and headed to the conference table.
“Sit down.”
“Okay.”
“Did you see the article?”
“Yes. Is that why you’re like this?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at Hyung’s naive demeanor, perhaps because this was the first singer he had taken charge of.
“Hyung. You can handle it the way you usually do; why are you so tense?”
Then Hyung let out a small sigh.
“I should have been more careful.”
“…About what?”
“No. I just. Was that strange?”
His incoherent speech became increasingly suspicious.
“Hyung. Perhaps…”
Suddenly, Crop Five’s road manager came to mind.
Rather than thinking he had done something, I suspected that what I had cautioned Crop Five about had happened between Ki Hyunshin and Hyung.
Hyung would have been prickly as always.
But Ki Hyunshin didn’t seem to find such a Hyung difficult or uncomfortable, and frequently crossed that line.
How amazing it had been when I first saw that.
‘Who was Hyunshin hyung’s road manager again?’
They would have been careful enough in front of others, but in the car, they might have become so comfortable, as if they were alone, that they acted intimately like they would at home.
“Hyung. Don’t overthink it too much. The article’s tone wasn’t that bad. Talk about the chemistry between me and Crop Five, or bromance, or BizGayPer, it’s not the first time such things have been mentioned. It’s because all our boys are handsome and charming that they make such connections. I don’t think it’s something to worry about.”
“But that’s not such a simple issue.”
After that, Hyung hesitated for a long time before finally pushing his smartphone towards me with a long sigh.
The pattern was already unlocked, and a message was displayed on the screen.
Wondering if he wanted me to look at it, I glanced at Hyung, and he nodded.
The sender’s information wasn’t accurately displayed, but the content and intention were clear.
Send money if you don’t want to see the next article.
It wasn’t a simple threat.
That was evident just from Hyung’s attitude.
But I was confused because I didn’t think Hyung would have done anything to receive such a threat.
“Hyung… what happened?”
Hyung probably didn’t want to talk about it, but he would have known that this wasn’t something that could be resolved by simply avoiding it.
“It’s nothing much. That guy kept joking around, so I played along. Well, it’s something you could think about. While joking with each other. I just stayed like that. Like putting him in a headlock and staying that way. Well… things like that. Would that have looked strange?”
“…For how long? In the car? Did the road manager see?”
“Yes. I think so. I think that’s how it leaked out. He’s not coming to the company now. The timing matches.”
“…”
I was speechless.
The first thought that came to mind after hearing those words was why I hadn’t cautioned Hyung earlier.
And the next thought was what I could have done anyway.
My goodness, who would have imagined that Hyung and Ki Hyunshin would be mentioned in terms of bromance or BizGayPer?
No matter how imaginative one was, that would have been difficult.
“No. Hyung.”
I called him because I felt I should say something, but the words didn’t follow.
“Does Hyunshin hyung know? Do you think he saw the article?”
“I told him not to look, but he probably has.”
“He hasn’t contacted you separately about it?”
“No. That’s why I called you. I don’t know what to say. How something like this happened. It’s ridiculous.”
Anyway, I felt I needed to know what Hyung’s intention was in joking like that, and exactly what had happened in the car.
“Hyung. We need to resolve this quickly. This isn’t just an issue related to you; it will affect all the singers under Grand Tamer. We could also get involved in lawsuits that we can’t handle. Well, money wouldn’t be much of an issue anyway. But still, we need to resolve this, right?”
Hyung glanced at me.
I thought he might be grateful that I said “we” in this situation, but then I caught myself trying to suppress a sigh.
Although Hyung always appeared strong and solid, I thought even he would be shaken by something like this.
Despite having gone through numerous incidents, he probably never imagined that he could be viewed this way publicly by people.
“I was just joking around. But I don’t know why I didn’t let go right away. Hyunshin didn’t seem to ask me to let go either, he just kept fiddling with my hand. He even rested his head on my shoulder. He kept coming like that. But did that look very strange?”
“For someone else, it might not have looked strange, but for you, it probably seemed extremely unusual. You’ve never done that with anyone else.”
“Of course not. Why would I do such a thing unless I was crazy?”
“Exactly. That’s what I’m saying. Why did you do that with Hyunshin hyung?”
“I don’t know. I guess I was just comfortable. With that guy, conversation flows well, he seems to understand what I say, and it’s comfortable. I think that’s why. No. But even so, isn’t it nonsensical to drag it that way? It wasn’t BizGayPer. Hey, if you’re going to do BizGayPer, you do it in front of fans, why would you do it in a car? That was, you know, like a strong camaraderie. A tight friendship that developed from enduring fiercely day by day on the frontlines.”
“Looks like it appeared more like a sticky friendship.”
“Hey!”
He yelled loudly, but that was it.
Soon, his expression showed that even he could understand.
