# Chapter 76
My mind became complicated with thoughts of how to handle this situation.
“I’ll take care of this. There’s nothing good about dragging out this kind of thing. Even if those two had that kind of interaction due to a special closeness, it’s not something to be blackmailed about. What era do they think we’re living in, trying to attack with something like that? They’ll face backlash.”
“Is that so? Then is this not something to think about so seriously?”
Hyung spoke as if seeing a glimpse of hope.
“Right. Don’t worry. It seems like they’re just testing the waters first, watching how hyung reacts before deciding how to proceed to the next step. Even though it seems like an anonymous threat, we can roughly guess who’s behind it. Hyunshin hyung’s road manager saw it and leaked it to the press. If we pressure them a bit, we’ll probably get answers, so don’t be tense. And be careful in the car from now on.”
“Hey. When you say it like that, it sounds like I did something inappropriate in the car. I swear that was all there was to it.”
“Sure. I get it. But don’t do even that next time. Understood?”
“……”
“Hyung. Answer me. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Who would have ever imagined that hyung and I would exchange words like this?
I don’t know how much hyung has guessed about my relationship with Sijin.
But if he knew, he might feel wronged that people were targeting them instead of us.
Anyway, without mentioning any of that, seeing him just sighing was cute.
Come to think of it, I seemed to have been lucky enough to avoid many issues until now.
‘But was it simply a matter of luck?’
If hyung and grandfather hadn’t actively stepped in to protect me, I might have been the one exposed to these things and torn to pieces.
The moment Crop Five got involved, I might have gone on a rampage.
I could have handled being shattered myself, but I couldn’t bear the thought of Crop Five ending up like that because of me.
“Should I meet with Hyunshin hyung? If he doesn’t know yet, I think it would be better for me to tell him. Better than hearing it through someone else.”
“Yes. That would be better.”
“Got it. Don’t stay alone. Contact me immediately if anything happens.”
Hyung didn’t answer, but he looked much more stable than when he first entered the CEO’s office.
* * *
Crop Five seemed greatly shocked after hearing what I had to say.
Their reactions were all the same.
The question of why this happened to the CEO and Hyunshin sunbaenim.
At first they were surprised, but after a few minutes, it seemed other thoughts crossed their minds.
“Hyung. Do you feel guilty at all?”
Seo Irun asked first,
“If it were me, I think my conscience would hurt a lot.”
Jeong Chan followed.
“No way. Hyung has no conscience. He never had one from the beginning.”
Han Sijin sealed it,
“I think he had one at first? I saw it when I first met hyung. Though it seems to have disappeared quickly.”
Cha Yeonwoo concluded.
Lee Dagyeong, perhaps because he was young, was still confused and couldn’t join in.
“But aren’t those people really stupid? Did they think their anonymity would be guaranteed just by sending an anonymous message? The route it took is totally transparent. In cases like this, wouldn’t the chairman’s secretariat step in directly to handle it?”
I nodded at Cha Yeonwoo’s words.
Then all the members looked at me at once.
They didn’t seem to understand my answer because Yeonwoo’s question was ambiguous.
“They might or might not. If asked, they might help that way. But no matter how quietly they try to handle it, rumors can spread, and in that case, there could be backlash. People do have some aversion to that kind of approach. We shouldn’t mistakenly give them a victim image.”
The members nodded with serious faces, as if they hadn’t thought that far.
“But we really need to be careful from now on. Seeing this, hyung has foresight. When I heard about it before, I thought you might be overreacting, but it’s indeed hyung. You knew this would happen, right?”
When Dagyeong admired me, other members agreed that he had a point.
“What’s with that attitude, reluctantly acknowledging rather than actively agreeing?”
“Wow. Even in this situation, you want to be praised, hyung? You’re really bad.”
As I listened to Cha Yeonwoo’s words, I opened my laptop to check the reactions to the related articles.
[Grand Tamer’s BL performance is not something other places can match. I think companies without Crop Five shouldn’t attempt such things.]
[You know what’s funny about Grand Tamer’s BL performance? They make us call it ‘Grand Tamer’s BL performance’ with our own mouths. Look at other places. It should be called ‘Crop Five’s BL performance,’ right? If it were somewhere else, it would have been a business performance between Crop Five members, but somehow this involves all Crop Five members and their manager, which makes it even more delicious.]
└The conclusion got weird there at the end, but it’s right. Only Grand Tamer, which has Crop Five and even Kang Seomin, could create such a delicious BL performance.
[But the article feels off? Isn’t this subtly criticizing Crop Five? It seems like they’re throwing up a massive smokescreen claiming they’re not criticizing while actually burying insults, probably because they’d get cursed out if they wrote it directly. Looking at the comments, it doesn’t seem like anyone has caught on to this vibe yet. I should mark the coordinates and call in the troops.]
[I kind of felt that too. The article doesn’t seem to be conveying facts or expressing opinions, but rather has a vile smell like they’re throwing bait to see reactions? The tone itself is strange. Looking at the journalist’s past articles, there’s a pattern. They’ve caused many controversies with strange provocations and a “throw it out there and see what sticks” approach. Shouldn’t this kind of trash journalist be incinerated?]
└Who in their right mind would criticize Crop Five? Do they want to die?
└This isn’t about Crop Five, right? Fans are creating the criticism. Are you dyslexic? And it’s not insulting, there’s nothing to be suspicious about.
At this point, even if there wasn’t much to worry about, the direction could change completely depending on how follow-up articles came out.
Crop Five looked at me.
They were guys who flew fearlessly on stage, but at times like this, their youth seemed to show.
“Hey. Are you scared? Why are you all so intimidated? You’re Crop Five. The guys I raised. Did you think this hyung couldn’t protect you from something as trivial as this? Don’t be afraid. I’ll kill anything that bares its teeth at you.”
“Ohhh!”
As Dagyeong’s eyes lit up, Jeong Chan shook his head.
“Dagyeong, you shouldn’t fall for hyung at times like this. I have to tell you not to do that. Hyung is really someone who would do that. Hyung, that’s what I’m most worried about. I’m not so worried about these people biting and tearing at us, but I’m more concerned that you won’t be able to control your anger and might act too harshly. Honestly, we’ve already earned a lot of money and done almost everything we wanted to do. Even if no one recognizes us and no one likes us anymore, I think I can continue making music in the future, and I don’t think we have much to worry about.”
As Jeong Chan spoke point by point, the other members nodded and agreed with him.
“But why are you so scared?”
“We’re not scared though? Ah, I guess hyung thought that. No, hyung. We’re not scared. It’s because of you, hyung, because of you. I completely agree with what Chani said.”
When Yeonwoo spoke, Irun also said he was right.
“Anyway. Even if that’s what you think, nothing changes. I cannot tolerate other people touching my kids. You need to continue singing while hearing people’s cheers. That’s your place, and there’s no need to give that place to others. Understand?”
The members all smiled at once.
Seeing them like that, I thought that what I wanted wasn’t so extraordinary.
If Crop Five looked at me and smiled, if they had such lovely expressions like now, I wanted nothing more.
And to protect those smiles, I decided to become a warrior.
If I told them that, they would probably just laugh.
“Hyung. It looks like you’re burning with tremendous determination in your head, but you don’t have to do that. We’re strong. We should be protecting hyung, not the other way around. And don’t worry too much about Grand Tamer. It’s where Crop Five is. For the next few years, even if Grand Tamer makes several big mistakes, I think they’ll be automatically buried because of us.”
The fact that Seo Irun was the one who said this made it a bit more believable.
He wasn’t the type to say such things carelessly.
And I too knew that his words weren’t just unfounded.
“How about you guys staying with Hyunshin hyung for a while? I’m a bit worried about him living alone at a time like this. He had bad experiences before and barely overcame those wounds.”
I felt bad about passing this task to Crop Five, but I thought it would be better to bring it up first, and Crop Five completely agreed.
“I was thinking that would be good too. Hyunshin sunbaenim might blame himself for this happening after he joined Grand Tamer. He might also take the situation more seriously than it actually is. We’re perfect for this kind of situation. We’re shameless, right? We learned it from hyung.”
I was left speechless at Han Sijin’s words.
No. In what way?
