# Chapter 97
When I told Hyung about it, he had an expression that showed he didn’t understand.
He said that if I was thinking like that, it would be better not to visit at all.
But I couldn’t do that.
It’s not that I hadn’t thought about it, but it was already beyond my control, so there was nothing I could do.
“It looks like you came right after the broadcast, Hyung.”
Kim Taeyoung smiled gently at Sijin’s words.
“There’s really not much time left now. Would it be offensive if I say that?”
“No. It’s true that there’s really not much time left now.”
“You’ve endured well. Well done.”
“I’ve been thinking the same. I don’t know how I managed to endure.”
Sijin smiled playfully.
I was proud that after it was all over, he could look back at that time and speak like this.
I wanted to tell him he’d really done well and hug him, but I couldn’t.
Because I felt like I wouldn’t be able to stop there at all and would end up sobbing loudly.
“I’ve got work lined up for you two when you get out.”
“Eh? Already?”
“Yes. Grandfather’s birthday celebration. This time, it’ll be arranged with only Grand Tamer artists.”
“Ah. Of course, we have to go for that.”
Sijin seemed to be trying to divide his gaze equally between me and Kim Taeyoung, but he failed every time.
Even when Kim Taeyoung spoke to him, he would look at me, then realize it and be startled, turning his gaze back to Kim Taeyoung. I’ve lost count of how many times this has happened.
I was proud of this and smiled contentedly.
But then, realizing that it might look too much like a lover’s smile, I would flinch and stiffen my expression.
It seemed like meeting in front of other people had become too difficult now.
With so much longing accumulated, controlling emotions wasn’t easy at all.
I thought maybe I should have come alone, but then shook my head slightly, knowing that wouldn’t have been a good idea at all.
“What have you been up to? Do you have a lot of free time these days?”
In response to Kim Taeyoung’s question, Sijin said he’d tried composing songs.
The way he became so shy after saying it was so cute I felt like I could die.
“I’ve also tried writing lyrics… I’ve done quite a lot of that.”
“I see. You’ll be on leave soon, right?”
“Yes. Will you spend time with me when I’m on leave?”
I asked the question from beside Kim Taeyoung and immediately received a frightening retort.
When I flinched, Kim Taeyoung burst out laughing.
“Sijin. Don’t be like that. It wasn’t like that on purpose back then, was it? Our CEO was so sorry after that. There was really nothing that could be done at the time.”
It brought back memories that couldn’t be recalled without tears.
Despite having looked forward to Sijin’s leave for weeks, an issue had arisen at Grand Tamer right at that time, and I hadn’t been able to see his face even once until he returned to base.
As if someone had done it on purpose, scandals about Grand Tamer artists had broken out simultaneously, and the absurd thing was that they weren’t malicious rumors aimed at defaming the artists – each one was actually true.
Initially, we were looking for ways to actively respond to protect the artists, but after confirming the facts, we were really dumbfounded and angry.
So from that point on, we stood on the side of those who raised the issues and supported them.
That must have looked strange to others.
But as a result of showing that we wouldn’t blindly take our team’s side, the matter received a lot of public support.
It became widely known that Grand Tamer doesn’t engage in covering up for its own people, and if an affiliated artist has done wrong, they would cut ties decisively without looking back.
The process of compensating those who had been harmed by incidents from long ago for their mental and material damages inevitably had to be drawn out.
And in a situation where a protracted legal battle was expected to be difficult, Grand Tamer first compensated the victims and then claimed indemnity rights from the offending artists.
This was talked about among people for quite a while, and artists affiliated with Grand Tamer worked to clean up their past wrongdoings themselves.
When someone asked for help to resolve matters, the company would also stand with them, and that had an influence on the entertainment industry as a whole.
The fact that this happened right during Sijin’s leave meant that I couldn’t even see his face.
Sijin laughed as if it had been a joke and asked if that issue had been resolved well.
“Yes. When things turned out that way, all the people who had been holding out went and apologized. The victims said they wanted an apology more than anything else, and they cried.”
“You did well. People here talk about it a lot too. They say they didn’t expect Grand Tamer to respond that way, thinking you would definitely protect and shield the artists. They say that if Grand Tamer handles things like this, it could set a good precedent for the future, and the evaluations are positive.”
The story flowed from Sijin’s mouth for a long time.
“Anyway, next time I’m out, you’ll spend time with me, right?”
“Of course. Don’t worry about that. If it looks like something might come up, I’ll ask Hyung to handle everything.”
“Alright. I’ll trust you one more time.”
Sijin’s eyes shone.
Like a beast.
Of course, I was probably the only one who felt that way, and I barely managed to pull down the corners of my mouth that were trying to rise, controlling my expression.
* * *
Why do issues always break out like this?
I felt like life was playing tricks on me.
This time, our kids were the victims.
It might not be right to think it fortunate that our kids were the victims, but sometimes I thought that way.
If it was revealed that an affiliated artist was the perpetrator, we would have to draw the line and stand on the other side, and that was never a pleasant experience.
The issue was that some people were aggressively filming celebrities drinking alcohol and picking a fight, and when voices were raised a bit, they called the police first.
There was no action that could be called assault, and all that happened was that when they grabbed arms and came close saying they wanted to take pictures together, our artists firmly shook off their arms saying, “Please stop.”
But because of that, they claimed they were injured and filed a case of assault.
I was in the car, having set out early to match the timing of Sijin’s message that he would be leaving after morning roll call.
I was humming involuntarily and was in the best mood possible.
Sijin’s song was playing in the car.
It was a Crop Five song, but I was only focused on Sijin’s voice and was listening to it thinking of it as Sijin’s song.
I was just excited, thinking that I should never tell Crop Five because they wouldn’t let it slide.
It must have been a little past 4 AM.
Even considering that something might happen on the way or that traffic might be heavy, I had set out early, and it did seem excessive.
It seemed like I would arrive too early, but I thought, ‘Then I’ll just wait in front of the base,’ and had set out with plenty of time, when a call came in.
It was Team Leader Hyun.
As soon as I heard the urgent voice, I spoke even more urgently.
“Team Leader. I’m on my way to pick up Sijin, do you really have to tell me this?”
Team Leader Hyun seemed to hesitate for a moment, but perhaps thinking there was no choice, he spoke.
—I’m sorry, Director Kang. But something came up. The police have been dispatched now.
And a long story began.
Before I knew it, I had turned the car around and was heading to the scene.
I was hoping the issue wouldn’t escalate too much, but such luck didn’t follow me.
When I arrived at the scene, there were two patrol cars, four police officers, and a crowd of people gathered like clouds.
That number of people gathered wasn’t a significant sight for me, but my artist being investigated in connection with an assault case was a different story.
There wasn’t a proper place to park the car, so I just parked it roughly and ran to where the police were.
Cha Gaon, a rookie actor from the acting team, was lamenting with a frightened face, unable to hide his bewilderment.
He didn’t seem to have drunk much alcohol and was explaining what had happened at the scene relatively accurately.
“Excuse me. I’m Kang Seomin, CEO of Grand Tamer. I’m the CEO of the company that Cha Gaon belongs to.”
When I approached and spoke to the police, there was a murmur among the people surrounding us, which soon turned into cheers.
The police officers didn’t seem to have expected me to show up there in person.
They probably didn’t think there would be someone passing by at that hour who would receive a call.
It seemed like Team Leader Hyun didn’t call me to go there, but received a call from Cha Gaon and was surprised, so he contacted me first.
It seemed like he thought it would be faster for me to give instructions than for him to do so, and I happened to be the closest, so I ended up coming like this.
“Wow, this is crazy. Who is that person that the CEO comes out in person? At this hour too?”
“I’ve seen him on TV a few times, is he someone that Grand Tamer is heavily promoting?”
“He looks so young, is this person lying to try to implicate the celebrity? There seem to be a lot of CCTVs around, they can just check those.”
“They’re not cooperating. If the business owners around would just cooperate with that, it seems like it could be easily resolved.”
That sound caught my ear exactly.
“May I try asking the business owners around?”
“Ah… but they said the CCTV is broken. It won’t work even if you ask.”
“I’ll try talking to them anyway.”
I gave Cha Gaon’s arm a pat and headed towards a nearby store.
