# Chapter 91
PepperMix was summoned to Grand Tamer.
He had already heard about the “Crop Five Epilogue” before arriving there.
It was impossible not to know about it even if he tried.
Crop Five, or rather Grand Tamer, seemed to have no idea how to handle matters quietly.
It wasn’t their fault though.
That’s just how fame worked, it seemed.
Whenever Crop Five, who were at the peak of popularity, did anything, people immediately talked about it.
‘Here I am again…’
Outside the company building, he hesitated for a long time.
His memories of this place were complicated.
Not all good memories, not all bad memories.
Kim Taeyoung, who had decided to start fresh with the stage name PepperMix, was the type of person who first looked for reasons within himself whenever something went wrong.
He would wonder if things could have turned out better had he acted differently, if things would have been fine if he had endured a little longer.
Among his numerous regrets, the one that topped the list was, needless to say, leaving Grand Tamer.
At the time, he left because he couldn’t bear it anymore, but watching Crop Five achieve tremendous success often made him think back to that decision.
It was hard not to think about it when seeing Crop Five with Team Leader Hyun.
Especially because he had once been in that position himself.
Whenever he thought about whether he could have been like Crop Five if he had endured a bit longer, it was agonizing.
To the point where he even thought it would be nice if he got into an accident and lost his memory.
How many people know how terrible it is to live a life full of regrets over things that cannot be undone, how excruciating a curse it is?
Kim Taeyoung hoped there were none.
From experience, it was not something a person could endure.
But now.
He was standing in front of Grand Tamer, looking at the company building with a different mindset than before.
When he heard from Team Leader Hyun that Crop Five wanted to appear in his music video, Kim Taeyoung couldn’t say anything for a while.
He didn’t know what to say when he heard such a thing.
He had never been quick-witted to begin with.
Average looks, average singing skills, average dancing skills.
The words “there are plenty of others as good as you” had pierced his heart.
Unable to bear those words, he eventually left Grand Tamer.
Others might think they said those things to drive him out, to make him leave on his own, but Kim Taeyoung wasn’t the type to think that way.
If he hadn’t left on his own then, he would have received notice that he no longer needed to come to the company.
His departure was just a little bit earlier than that.
Once he took his first step, there was nothing stopping him.
At first, he felt like everyone was watching him.
It seemed like everyone knew how inadequate he was and was whispering about him.
It took a long time to break free from that, but he eventually succeeded.
After entering the lobby, he called Team Leader Hyun.
“Team Leader. It’s Taeyoung. I’m in the lobby now.”
He heard that he would come down right away.
While waiting, several people passed by, but they paid him no attention.
He knew very well how grateful indifference could be.
Watching people mindlessly going their own way, he was feeling that sentiment.
Not long after, Team Leader Hyun came down.
Only then did people’s gazes turn towards him.
People were surprised to see Team Leader Hyun, Crop Five, and CEO Kang Seomin suddenly appear in the lobby, and they recognized Kim Taeyoung.
Seeing the core figures of Grand Tamer approaching him.
Kim Taeyoung swallowed nervously.
He tried not to be nervous, but it wasn’t easy.
It had been fine until then, but suddenly he felt a bit shaky.
“Hello……”
After his awkward greeting, Team Leader Hyun smiled brightly.
“Good to see you. Say hello, everyone. This is Taeyoung that I mentioned. Kim Taeyoung. And this is our CEO Kang Seomin. You know him, right? And this is Crop Five.”
Then he introduced each member of Crop Five by name.
Kim Taeyoung already knew them all, but he let Team Leader Hyun continue.
Although he already knew them, the moment the introduced members smiled and greeted him was incredibly moving.
“Hello, I’m Kim Taeyoung. Thank you all so much for helping me like this. I’m not sure if I deserve this kind of help, but I won’t refuse it. And I’ll definitely repay you.”
“You’re practically our senior brother. Team Leader Hyun has never forgotten you all these years. This is fate and a connection, so I hope this album does well.”
When Seo Irun spoke, Kim Taeyoung was startled and looked at him.
Senior brother?
Senior brother to Crop Five?
Just hearing it was thrilling.
“Then I should call you senior brother from now on.”
Lee Dagyeong caught onto the idea, and everyone agreed.
Kim Taeyoung could barely speak properly.
More and more people were gathering in the lobby, and all eyes were focused on Kim Taeyoung.
* * *
The lyrics were really…
How should I put it.
The more I listened, the more intriguing they became.
About the sky closing its eyes, or about inevitably taking a path that shouldn’t be taken.
It seemed to be talking about a forbidden love, but the exact nature was ambiguous.
When I contacted the lyricist to ask, they avoided answering, saying it was up to the interpreter.
“Is it about an affair? That wouldn’t be good.”
Serious discussions were going back and forth when Kim Taeyoung cautiously spoke up.
“What if we express it with a bromance vibe?”
“……”
The lyrics were so lyrical and beautiful that being captivated by them without first understanding their true meaning had created this current situation.
After hearing Kim Taeyoung’s words, there was no room for any other interpretation.
“Hmm……”
From that moment on, everyone there couldn’t hide their perplexed expressions.
Unlike other things, this was a quite sensitive issue at Grand Tamer.
There had even been related issues, and now they were filming a music video with that kind of atmosphere.
The ripple effect was unimaginable.
Public opinion could seriously deteriorate.
They might rise up and claim that with Crop Five’s powerful influence, they’re having a negative impact on teenagers.
Various negative futures were imagined, and I hesitated, wondering if we really needed to take such a risk.
Somehow strangely, we had escaped such views, but Hyung wasn’t the same.
Neither was Ki Hyunshin.
Just as I was about to speak about it, Hyung opened his mouth.
“Let’s give it a try. I think we can do it.”
Hyung…?
I thought I should talk to him separately for a moment.
But before I could, others were agreeing to his words too easily.
“That’s right. I think it’ll be fine. I think something good will come out of it? I’m looking forward to it.”
At Seo Irun’s words, I desperately looked at Han Sijin.
The meaning was for him to try to stop this, but Sijin nodded.
No, dude!
What are you doing nodding there, huh?
But that wasn’t the end.
“How about Sijin and Seomin as the main characters?”
“Hyung!”
What is this hyung doing now!!
Thankfully, there were no cameras.
We were having a meeting among ourselves without cameras because Kim Taeyoung was uncomfortable and pressured, but if there had been cameras…
I shook my head and calmly said that it would be better to approach it in a different way.
“It’s a difficult challenge. It will be worthwhile.”
Hyung spoke decisively once more, and I looked at Ki Hyunshin.
Then Ki Hyunshin nodded too.
“I don’t think Seomin necessarily has to do it. And rather than making the two main characters look like each other’s lovers, it might be safer to structure it as completely separate, independent stories. Each person misses and longs for someone they love, but there’s no direct expression showing that the person in the music video is the object of their longing.”
Ki Hyunshin proposed a solution to us who had been running parallel lines.
If we did just that…?
No, even so, once the lyrics are added, everyone will know what it’s about anyway.
From that point on, the Crop Five members seemed to be deep in thought without speaking.
This project might be better off being suspended completely.
The strange thing was that Hyung didn’t seem to want that.
Did he want to give a message to the world through this?
Why now, of all times?
All sorts of thoughts crossed my mind.
And after a very long discussion, we came to the conclusion of modifying the lyrics.
In the music video, we would metaphorically deal with the longing for each other, and even the lyrics would avoid direct expressions to evade controversy.
The lyricist gladly accepted our opinion and even replied that it could make the message stronger.
Once it went that far, there was no more escape, but Crop Five said that not just me and Sijin, but they too would appear and take on parts.
That way, it would be much more dispersed, becoming a story of six people rather than two, reducing the possibility of criticism.
“Then don’t I not have to do it? I think Crop Five’s appearance is meaningful enough. If I’m included, people will criticize saying, ‘Why is that person there?'”
I spoke thinking I could persuade Crop Five, but nobody listened to me.
I don’t know why they don’t listen to me, but that’s how it was anyway.
