Chapter 54
Pop, pop, the confetti burst.
Before Do Hee-young could even finish her comment, Lee Juseon hugged me from the side.
“Heoong.”
And she really started crying sorrowfully.
…We came in first place, so why cry?
We should be smiling.
But somehow, I also ended up sobbing along with her.
This was because Lee Juseon cried too sorrowfully.
Yes.
I’m not someone who cries out of happiness, usually.
“Congratulations, both of you.”
Do Hee-young even clapped as she congratulated us.
Seeing her smile so brightly felt like it had been a long time.
Sniffling, I turned towards the audience and bowed.
“Thank you…!”
Oh, darn.
I wished I could speak as well as Seo Baek-young.
But all that came out was a strange nasal sound.
I had no choice but to poke Lee Juseon.
I’m hopeless. At least you should quickly say thank you and share your thoughts-
“Heooong. Hiccup. Heooong.”
…It’s hopeless.
Lee Juseon was beyond help.
In the end, I wiped my tears and grabbed the microphone.
“To our vocal team. Thank you so, so much… really. And to Juseon, and the Dance Position B team, I want to say thank you too.”
I stumbled through my words.
Still, saying something seemed to calm me down a bit.
Out of 100 people, nearly a third voted for me.
…Even though I was late.
“I don’t think they voted for me, but for our team. I’ll always stay humble, remember this moment… and work harder to get closer to the Colorists. Team <Fingertip>, fighting!”
As I looked at the camera and conveyed my feelings to the people watching this moment-
“Hey.”
An uninvited guest appeared.
“…I know I don’t deserve to say this, but….”
An unexpected intruder.
“I, I just want to say one thing….”
Jo Hee-on.
The trainees and the stage went silent in an instant.
Jo Hee-on had really appeared out of nowhere.
Just a moment ago, she was looking up at us from the audience.
Now, she was looking at me from the center of the stage.
“Cheong. I’m sorry.”
An apology I didn’t even want to receive.
“You’re a good person… but I feel like I’ve only done bad things to you.”
“!”
PD Oh was frantically waving his hands with a very complex expression.
Regardless, Jo Hee-on continued to speak resolutely.
“Leaving like this might not be the best gift for you… but I hope it’s at least a minimal apology.”
Coward.
“I’m sorry. I’ll quit here….”
In the end, Jo Hee-on couldn’t expose Kim Ryeo-yu.
She just ran away.
***
As I was coming down from the stage in a daze, someone grabbed my wrist.
I turned around, startled by the immense strength.
This wasn’t just ordinary malice…!
It was Director Kim.
“Trainee Yoon Cheong. Follow me.”
Director Kim pushed me into an empty waiting room and began to speak as he pleased.
“You’re going to debut, just do it.”
“…What?”
“And forget about this incident.”
Director Kim lounged arrogantly on the sofa as he spoke.
“Isn’t this what you wanted? To debut. I got rid of Jo Hee-on for you. She would have thrown a fit about debuting with you, so I got rid of her first.”
“That’s a bit harsh. You shouldn’t talk about people like you just disposed of them.”
“We’ll roughly put together a narrative on our side in coordination with PD Oh. I promise it won’t affect you.”
It was clear that this was not just any ordinary crazy family.
Kim Ryeo-yu was bad enough, but Director Kim was just as bad.
“Jo Hee-on is leaving due to health reasons. She apologized to you because you worked hard despite being sick, and she couldn’t handle it and is leaving. Initially, you two were rivals, but now you’re the best of friends. Doesn’t that make sense? It’s a win for you too, nothing bad about it.”
“What about Kim Ryeo-yu?”
“What?”
“Is Kim Ryeo-yu going to debut? In the same team as me?”
Why leave out the most important part?
She’s the root cause of all this.
You can’t just leave her out.
“I don’t know.”
“!”
Director Kim smiled cunningly.
“Ryeo-yu? She’ll definitely debut. But I can’t say if it’ll be in the same team as you. That’s up to her to manage.”
“…!”
“I don’t plan to manipulate the votes. I thought about it initially. But surprisingly, PD Oh is very sensitive about that.”
Director Kim sneered as if he found it ridiculous.
“We don’t even need to manipulate the votes. If we make Kim Ryeo-yu resign, it’s done.”
“Why should I?”
Director Kim’s eyes changed.
“You might not know because you’re still young, but the world doesn’t give you everything you want just because you ask for it. You already got one thing, so keep your mouth shut and yield one more. If you trust yourself so much, then beat Ryeo-yu fair and square and debut.”
Director Kim looked straight at me and said.
“I can shut down this program right now. If that happens, you’ll block the debut paths for everyone else too, right?”
I sat across from Director Kim.
“Yield?”
There was no reason for me to stand and listen to his nonsense.
“What exactly did you yield?”
It was absurd.
“Not shutting down the production? I know it’s not within your power to stop it. I know that even a company as big as Colors can’t be run on one person’s whim.”
Even though it had some aspects of being run like a corner store, Colors was still a listed company.
How would you explain it to the shareholders?
What would you say to CEO Hong?
I knew Director Kim couldn’t stop it.
I could feel Director Kim gritting his teeth.
But for once, I was really angry too.
“I’ll keep my mouth shut for the sake of the others, but both Ryeo-yu and you should properly apologize to me.”
Director Kim sneered.
“If not, what will you do?”
I didn’t answer.
Then I’ll make you regret it in another way.
***
[“Make a New Color,” unprecedented situation… sudden withdrawal of 000, why?]
[Make a New Color production team, “For health reasons… trainees’ health is our priority”]
[Colors☞ “Rumors of discord not true” clarification, where is the truth?]
Spoiler) One trainee drops out
I went to the audience, and one dropped out lolol
Who?
└ JHO
└└ Hul, why did she drop out…?
└└└ I overheard some fans talking, but I don’t know the exact reason ㅜ
★
Why did Hee-on drop out…? And voluntarily at that…?
Gosh no, Hee-on and Ryeo-yu were my favorite combo
RT pleaseㅠㅠ #Protect_Jo_Hee-on #Oppose_Jo_Hee-on_Withdrawal
No, it’s weird. She said she’d drop out as soon as she joined Team Fingertip #Make_a_New_Color_Explain #Protect_Jo_Hee-on #Oppose_Jo_Hee-on_Withdrawal
Articles poured out.
Even people who didn’t usually watch the program gathered when the controversy broke out.
They said Yoon Cheong bullied her…
I heard Jo Hee-on specifically pointed her out when she left?
Anyone who was in the audience, come here
I know you weren’t there, but did you hear anything in the hall??
Don’t knowㅠ We were only there for the MVP announcement, probably when Jo Hee-on showed up to decide on the MOM
└Damn, did Yoon Cheong ostracize Hee-on in Team Fingertip?
No official statement yet, so calm downㅋㅋ
Why blame others when Jo Hee-on chose to leave…? Did you lose your mind over fangirling?
└We’re the ones fangirling, but normies are the ones giving adviceㅋㅋ Just pass by~!
└└ She must have had personal reasons to leave. Telling the production team to explain is too muchㅋㅋ Feel sorry for the production team, they must see Jo Hee-on as a troublemaker;
Of course, the atmosphere at the dorm was terrible.
Everyone was gloomy. In any room of the trainees.
Our room was no exception.
“Why did she leave so suddenly? And why did she apologize to Cheong unnie?”
Kim Geum looked genuinely puzzled.
It was understandable.
Besides Jo Hee-on, only Kim Ryeo-yu and I knew the details.
Ah, by now, Director Kim must have heard everything too.
I checked the real-time reactions on my phone.
I could only laugh in disbelief.
I was the victim, but now I was becoming the perpetrator.
Is this the advantage of striking first?
“Cheong unnie, by any chance-”
“Read the room, Kim Geum.”
Ryu Bo-ra shut Kim Geum’s mouth, who kept asking questions.
“…I’m going out for a bit.”
I left the room, feeling suffocated.
Click.
Oh, damn.
“Oh my.”
As soon as I stepped out, I ran into the person I least wanted to see.
Kim Ryeo-yu was drinking water with a triumphant look on her face.
“Cheong, are you okay?”
“…What?”
“People think Hee-on left because of you. Well, it’s not entirely wrong, is it?”
Look at this crazy person.
I was so flabbergasted I could only laugh.
“Really. If we trace back the cause,
isn’t it more your fault than mine?”
“What nonsense, Cheong. Hee-on apologized directly to you when she left.”
Kim Ryeo-yu smirked as she approached me.
“Uncle told me everything. He said if I apologized, you’d keep quiet.”
Kim Ryeo-yu tilted her head back, trying to look down at me.
“Apology? I’ll give you one as much as you want. I’m sorry, Cheong. Very, very much. Okay?”
“Wow.”
I resisted the urge to grab Kim Ryeo-yu by the hair.
I wanted to know how they raised their kids in that household.
“Is that what you call an apology? What will you do if I don’t stay quiet?”
“Then you’ll drag down Jo Hee-on and yourself. Want to try running your mouth, Cheong? But Hee-on will never side with you. At best, she’ll just stay silent. So who will people believe? You, who had a bad relationship with her, or me, who was always her closest friend?”
Kim Ryeo-yu laughed and then pretended to pat my head, only to mess it up.
“So let’s settle this amicably while I’m being generous. Okay?”
I pushed Kim Ryeo-yu’s hand away.
“Generous?”
It was absurd.
“I haven’t decided what to do yet. Does your uncle know you’re kicking away the opportunity he worked so hard to give you? Don’t provoke me, seriously.”
Even when I tried to let it go, they wouldn’t leave me alone.
I passed by a trembling Kim Ryeo-yu and stepped outside the dorm.
First, I had to meet Jo Hee-on.