Chapter 48
In truth, it seemed like she was asking everyone, but that wasn’t the case.
Kim Ryeo-yu’s gaze was precisely directed at Jo Hee-on.
Subsequently, everyone’s gaze turned towards Jo Hee-on.
Jo Hee-on felt suffocated for a moment.
I haven’t done anything right.
The whole situation was suffocating.
She wanted to run away.
Even opening her mouth was burdensome, so she was just panting.
“I’m fine.”
The person who answered was Ryu Bo-ra.
Ryu Bo-ra had a very comfortable face.
“Unnie, have you ever been sick? In your life?”
“Huh?”
Kim Ryeo-yu, on the other hand, barely lifted the corners of her mouth in response to the returned question.
But inside, she was flustered.
If Yeon Juhong, Kim Geum, or Seo Baek-young had answered, she wouldn’t have been flustered.
Those three had always been circling around Yoon Cheong.
But Ryu Bo-ra was always aloof, a bystander who didn’t say anything from behind.
But why interfere?
“People are, well, sick. It’s not for us to say whether we’re okay or not, right? If you insist on asking, yes. I’m very fine.”
Ryu Bo-ra said so and looked straight at Jo Hee-on.
“And the person who would be most upset about not being able to come to rehearsal, we, our team, know best that it’s Cheong unnie. If the person who worked harder than anyone else can’t come to rehearsal, it seems like she must be quite sick. Isn’t that right, unnie?”
“Bo-ra is right.”
Lee Kyunga also quickly nodded her head.
“And I believe. Cheong will come tomorrow. Even if she doesn’t, if the three of us fill Cheong’s empty spot well, it’s okay.”
“That’s right. We appreciate your concern, but we’re more concerned about Cheong unnie.”
Ryu Bo-ra said so and looked at PD Oh.
“PD-nim. Have you heard from Cheong unnie?”
“…Wow.”
PD Oh had a unique sinister smile.
“Ryu Bo-ra trainee, your timing is amazing, huh? It just came in right now.”
“!”
The expressions of the trainees changed in an instant.
That, it must have come earlier.
But he just wanted to see us fight with each other, so he didn’t say anything.
An unpleasant intuition swept over everyone.
“Yoon Cheong trainee, fortunately, she can be discharged tomorrow. She’s getting better. She can attend the stage without any problems, and she said she was sorry for not being able to come to rehearsal today. If she pushes herself today, her throat might go out tomorrow, so she’s focusing on recovering her body as much as possible.”
“I knew it!”
Yeon Juhong shouted in a happy voice.
“Our Cheong Cheong. I told you she’s a person with a plan! How many times do I have to say that she’s a very scary and meticulous person for everyone to believe!”
“…Be quiet, you horse.”
Kim Geum covered Yeon Juhong’s mouth with her hand.
“But the thing is.”
“?”
PD Oh’s words were not over.
“They did a test at the hospital…. I think she might have eaten something wrong?”
“Huh?!”
“It’s not confirmed. It’s a suspicion.”
PD Oh quickly put out his hand.
“Is it not food poisoning, then?”
Seo Baek-young asked worriedly.
“Well, I don’t know that far. Anyway, we suspect that the food might have been a little wrong. The problem is that you guys might eat that food, right?”
That’s right.
The trainees each nodded their heads.
Everyone shares the food in the fridge at the dormitory.
“But Yoon Cheong trainee can’t remember what she ate in the morning. We decided to take a look at the video.”
“…!”
“Fortunately, our youngest made a mistake, so the camera was rolling. We’re going to check it out early this morning. Until then, don’t touch the food in the fridge. If you’re really hungry, go outside and buy something to eat. You understand, right?”
“Yes!”
Everyone immediately answered cheerfully, but there were two people who couldn’t.
Jo Hee-on and Kim Ryeo-yu.
***
“What are we going to do?”
When they got off the bus and everyone was heading to the dormitory.
Jo Hee-on grabbed Kim Ryeo-yu, who was about to enter the dormitory, and came out without thinking.
When they were a certain distance away from the apartment.
“If they look at the video, they’ll see everything I put in that food!”
“…Calm down a bit. Does it solve anything if you scream?”
Kim Ryeo-yu was, on the contrary, very relaxed.
At least on the outside.
But in fact, it wasn’t.
Kim Ryeo-yu was also still 20 years old. A young age.
She was relaxed when it was advantageous for her, but not when it was disadvantageous.
“I’ll call my Uncle for now. Wait, you.”
Kim Ryeo-yu, pretending to be calm, called Kim.
But her insides were already burning.
-Hello?
“Uh, Uncle. Did you hear that the camera was rolling then?”
-Yeah, I heard. But I thought it would only raise suspicions if I poked around, so I left it alone.
“They’re going to look at it now. They say that Yoon Cheong, that crazy woman, seems to have eaten something wrong.”
-…What?
“Hee-on is very anxious, can’t you do something, Uncle?”
-Let me hang up for now. I’ll talk to PD Oh.
Click.
The call was cut off.
Kim Ryeo-yu shrugged her shoulders and looked at Jo Hee-on.
“I’ve done everything I can. Wait and see. Uncle will take care of it.”
“They might be looking at it already!”
“Well, then what do you want me to do?”
Kim Ryeo-yu replied with a full voice of irritation.
“Can’t we go to the broadcasting station and erase that video ourselves?”
“What are you talking about? You’ve watched too many movies. How are we supposed to erase that? Just wait.”
“You…!”
Jo Hee-on gritted her teeth.
When she was told she would never get caught, and now she’s backing out.
She was boiling inside.
But Jo Hee-on endured.
If she rebelled here, everything would go down the drain.
It’s okay. After all, if I go wrong, those people will all fail together.
Jo Hee-on looked at Kim Ryeo-yu.
She was the worst person I knew, but at least she wasn’t stupid.
She would know that it’s not just Jo Hee-on’s ship that’s sinking.
If it sinks, it’s all sinking together.
“Resolve it well… Definitely. Take responsibility.”
“I said I got it. Wait a bit, Hee-on. You’ve waited so well for a hopeless debut, why can’t you wait these few hours?”
…A hopeless debut?
“You, that… Don’t tell me you’ve been thinking all this time that I have no chance of debuting?”
“Ah, you’re sensitive again….”
Kim Ryeo-yu sighed.
“No, Hee-on. It’s just that debuting is so hard. It’s not just you who’s picked on, it’s everyone. Debuting is like a needle hole. You’ve waited so well to get through that needle hole. Now that we’ve really reached the end, let’s wait a little longer. Okay?”
Kim Ryeo-yu gathered the last of her patience and spoke.
Only then did Jo Hee-on’s expression soften a bit.
Because of the words that the end was near.
“…Okay. Because the end is near.”
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
Kim Ryeo-yu forced a smile.
Ah, it’s really annoying.
***
In the end, morning came without any contact from Yoon Cheong, or any nagging from PD Oh or Director Kim.
Jo Hee-on felt like her insides were burning every second.
Kim Ryeo-yu, who was sitting next to her, was either really okay or she was just talking to herself with a self-cam.
“Today is, finally~! It’s the day of our third mission stage! Soon we’ll be able to go see the colorists, so I’m excited. Are you guys as nervous as we are? Probably not as much as me. I’ve never had a crush before, but now I feel a bit like a crush? Am I in love with the colorists?”
That crazy idiot.
I knew she was crazy, but she was even crazier.
This stupid Jo Hee-on. Why did she participate in that crazy girl’s plan?
She fell for it and dug her own grave.
While laying out such regrets, makeup was applied to her face, and stage costumes were put on her body.
“Hee-on unnie.”
The final stage check and final rehearsal.
The vocal team was, of course, the last order today.
Because Yoon Cheong hadn’t come yet.
“PD is calling you. I think it’s because of our self-cam.”
“Ah, yes.”
When the three of them went to PD Oh, PD Oh waved the script with a happy face.
“Uh uh, come here. Vocal team.”
PD Oh deliberately handed the camera to Ryu Bo-ra.
“This is your camera. Take selfies with it. Manage without Yoon Cheong. You’re in a ring, unnie is worried, you know what I mean?”
“Yes.”
“Instead of seeming like you’re faking it, it’s more beneficial for you all to be genuinely emotional because the child is in pain. Of course, it’s entertaining to pretend I’m faking it and capture some engaging footage.”
“PD…”
At the devilish remark, Writer Kang quietly covered PD Oh’s mouth.
“Anyway, whether you shield or condemn, figure it out yourselves.”
Why is that to us?
Writer Kang looked at PD Oh with a puzzled look, but Ryu Bo-ra and Jo Hee-on had finished assessing the situation.
They’re trying to shift the responsibility to us.
It’s not the devil’s editing, it’s the devil, what do we do? That’s the sentiment.
“Um, PD.”
Whether or not, a bad guy doing bad things is not surprising.
There was something else that was important.
Jo Hee-on mustered up the courage to open her mouth.
“Uh, why?”
Looking at the situation, it didn’t seem like he had seen the video.
Should I ask, should I not?
Did Director Kim really cover it up well?
Or has he not seen the video yet?
“Well, I heard you watched the video yesterday… .”
“Ah, that.”
PD Oh chuckled.
“Jo Hee-on, why are you shaking so much?”