“……”
Go Won bit his lips tightly and flushed his face bright red.
Right…
The indignant staff members looked at Go Won one by one.
Calming down the anger about the insult to their collaborative masterpiece Henzel that they’d worked on for a long time, there was actually quite a cute reason.
“It’s not just because of that, I know hyung is really capable, and age-wise, he’s absolutely not old…, and he’ll continue activities in the future, but that guy talked nonsense.”
He protested in a heavy voice, but the atmosphere had already completely dissolved. Everyone smiled warmly, unknown to Go Won alone, and started a new conversation.
“So what do we do now? Apologize but take a somewhat hard line saying our side had reason to be angry?”
“Right. Won got this angry about it. Let’s protest properly.”
“Well, the person in charge will handle that.”
When I replied dismissively, ‘the person in charge’ Manager Park grumbled.
“Hey, Hanje. I acted tough earlier but I’m actually worse at this kind of thing than you’d think. Ha, what am I supposed to say when I go?”
“Then not hyung, a different person in charge.”
In front of the puzzled gazes, I let out a deep sigh.
The senior who taught the kid who’d lived bearing everything alone to say ‘please help me’ was weary.
* * *
“What about K-dum?”
“Hello, Director-nim. I’m the person in charge.”
“…What?”
I stood before the director with a shameless face.
“I’m a mid-level on the general manager’s direct line, so I’m the person in charge, right?”
“Haa…”
The PD’s gaze swept over me, Go Won, and Manager Park who came together.
He brought a working-level person, and seemed to acknowledge that I had some influence in the company. My attitude showing I had nothing to be caught for also played a part.
But the even more shameless side was the opponents. Kim Eumyul appeared having completely removed his stage makeup.
“Heu…”
So he was crying while highlighting the traces of fighting on his face even more.
“…Alright, fine. Then one by one, let’s hear why this shit happened.”
“Director-nim, they say Go Won attacked first. Even if there was some quarrel between friends, isn’t this too much with this size difference?”
Certainly the kid named something like Music or Rhythm looked almost 10cm shorter than Go Won.
I turned my head and whispered.
“Did you throw the first punch?”
I should have asked this before coming but forgot.
“…I grabbed his collar first.”
“Yeah. The other side threw the first punch?”
“……”
Our twenty-year-old who couldn’t tattle or play victim just nodded silently without speaking.
“I, well, reflexively because I was scared…”
“Oh my, what to do, so pitiful. What to do with this pretty face.”
“Manager-nim, I’m okay…”
Next to the sobbing Kim Eumyul, the Maybe side’s person in charge comforted the artist as if they’d die of pity.
‘Ah, I’m still far from deserving to be called Go Won’s guardian.’
Kim Eumyul’s side’s person in charge was truly a wonderful person. To announce before the PD that their artist threw punches with another idol at a music show and say “Oh my, what to do, so pitiful.”
“Director-nim, our kid isn’t usually like that. He did it because he momentarily heard words that hurt his heart.”
So I tried a bit harder too. The PD’s eyebrow tip turned toward me.
“What words did he hear?”
“To put Go Won down, they cursed at me.”
“……?”
Sometimes rather than detailed explanations, teaching vaguely like this stimulated imagination more.
In an instant, the PD’s eyes narrowed and the expressions of the staff around Kim Eumyul stiffened.
‘Looks like he didn’t mention this story.’
The attitude that had been confident until now deflated a bit.
“Ah, come to think of it, the staff who were stopping them said they heard something about Baek Hanje or whatever.”
When even the PD spoke up, the Maybe person in charge’s expression stiffened further.
“Eumyul-ah, is it true?”
“No…! Sob, I, heu, it’s not that, I meant it enviously to Won who received sunbae-nim’s song, but I didn’t know Won would take it badly. I’m sorry for bothering Henzel sunbae-nim for no reason…”
“Ha…”
The PD sighed toward the ceiling with a face wanting to find a cigarette any moment.
“Go Won-ssi, nothing to say?”
“…I’m sorry for causing a disturbance.”
“Ah, the two are going with opposite strategies. Okay.”
Dark-expressioned Go Won, sniffling Kim Eumyul. The PD made a bored expression with the two kids in front of him.
Actually, the PD wasn’t a homeroom teacher who had to guide the kids, and probably had no interest from the start in who was more wrong or whatever. When they embarrassingly fought in a public place, what was there to win or lose?
But the PD could fully play the role of ‘judge.’
Because he was the strongest person in this place right now, the decision-maker.
Having revealed that both were the same, what remained was simple.
‘The side that captures the PD’s heart becomes the one who did well, the side that doesn’t becomes the one who did wrong.’
Still, generally speaking, the crying child gets one more rice cake, so attention naturally goes more to the smaller, pitiful-looking side.
But you know what.
“Ah, PD-nim went to the trouble of giving me an opportunity so I stood on the Music Building stage after so long, but I’m so disappointed this happened.”
PD-nim, isn’t there one person you must take sides with right now?
“You must have really worked hard preparing for the overseas location shoot. I was looking forward to it a lot too.”
There’s someone here who decided to appear purely out of goodwill without even releasing one album.
At the broadcast station’s proposal, he went up on stage for special MC and even a performance that didn’t match his years or recognition, raising attention for the overseas special episode.
But he’s being disrespected by some rookie and even got caught up in a fight.
So, who’s the biggest victim in this matter?
Manager Park seemed to realize only then why I insisted on stepping forward. The other side probably vaguely noticed my intention too.
Go Won
Current Status: ■■ ■■■…?
Except for our kid who was blankly raising a question mark.
“Haa…”
The PD let out a deep sigh as if for us to hear.
“……”
Soon the body that had been standing upright with arms crossed in the middle tilted to one side.
“Settle the bad blood between you two as friends yourselves, and I wish you’d kept it unknown at the workplace. But here, Kim Eumyul-ssi, you had an incident related to DearRune before too, right?”
“Ah, I, that was…”
“No matter how times have changed, you should at least show courtesy to seniors who entered the industry first and laid the groundwork.”
“……”
“Especially if it’s yACE, aren’t they an age you can’t even look at? I don’t know how long I’ll be in this position, but how would I feel later seeing Kim Eumyul-ssi and Boyholic get treated as seniors after accumulating years… well, I’m thinking such things?”
“I…”
“PD-nim, I’m sorry. We’ll definitely warn him at the company level.”
Even the Maybe side that had been taking Kim Eumyul’s side quickly bowed their heads when DearRune was mentioned.
No matter what anyone says, Maybe Entertainment’s cash cow is DearRune. They couldn’t dare get entangled in Boyholic’s trivial incident.
Kim Eumyul sensed something was strange when the company people and manager who came to take his side just bowed their heads without any excuses and apologized together.
Well, catching the atmosphere, the K-dum side people also started apologizing while earnestly appeasing the PD.
The incident ended as always, without justice served or any great reversal.
‘Quietly under the surface like most entertainment industry matters…’
Thud.
Or not. Is there still something left?
Taking advantage of the gap after settling right and wrong and everyone dispersing, an arm in a jumper landed on my shoulder.
“Nothing’s free.”
“Aw, noona. A PD-nim who makes good money.”
“Don’t make lisping sounds, you dark-faced bastard.”
<Music Building>’s PD Kim Hyeonju waved her hand dismissively.
Meeting as a newbie AD and errand runner, with affection built over a long time, I thought she might let it slide. But the anger about ruining the 1,000th episode finale wasn’t at that level—her serious expression didn’t relax.
“I let it go because of you, but I’m not in a playful mood. Why are kids these days like that?”
“Because they’re kids who don’t listen. They were high schoolers until yesterday.”
“…Hearing it that way makes it seem bearable again. But if I keep mulling it over I’ll get angry again, right, person in charge-nim?”
While she took my side after seeing my face, Go Won’s fighting was indeed K-dum wronging the PD.
“Is there something you want?”
A smile finally spread across the PD’s face.
“What all PDs want is just one thing.”
“Mm, what could it be?”
“Do the comeback debut stage with us.”
“Aha…”
It was a predictable deal.
“Noona asked shamelessly but I’ll answer conscientiously. I really don’t know when it’ll be.”
“Right, I’m not hoping for full yACE either. Henzel-ssi’s solo, or next time Kwon Taeyoung-ssi can do a special stage too.”
“Aren’t I better than hyung, being fresher?”
“Non-fresh flavor is more my taste. That’s why I like Henzel-ssi too.”
“…I can’t really guarantee hyung’s personal schedule. He’s doing company management now too. Then, about my solo?”
“Right, units with Henzel-ssi in them too.”
“Wow, PD-nim is really excited.”
“I should be excited. When will something like this happen again? If you don’t keep the promise, I’ll threaten to expose that the hoobae Baek Hanje-ssi cherishes threw punches behind the music show.”
“He’s not particularly a hoobae I cherish though…”
“Then?”
Should I say we’re in a relationship sharing life and death due to a quest?
When I couldn’t answer, the PD laughed like watching a sulking child.
Mmm, is it because I lived with a soul as free as a feather while resting from activities? The feeling of being caught by a weakness is strange.
