Chapter 225. An Unexpected Outing (1)
– “Shouldn’t you at least earn the price of the chicken? I spent a lot of money, you know.”
Leaving me frozen in place, Seo Taeil demanded his rights as if he were a creditor pressuring a debtor for unpaid money. Worried that someone might overhear, I covered my mouth with my hand and carefully asked,
“Was that a gift or a loan? I’m sorry, but I think I should look into illegal collection practices and fraud charges. Could you please recommend a law firm as soon as possible?”
– “Are you trying to find a law firm to sue me?”
“My mom always said that you should ask someone knowledgeable about these things.”
Then, Seo Taeil’s laughter grew louder.
He’s laughing after stressing me out? How is he able to laugh?
I was flabbergasted, but I only thought about it internally. Outwardly, I politely requested further explanation.
“If you’re talking about the concert guest spot… you’re referring to the encore concert you’re doing this time, right?”
– “Yes. You’re aware of it? We usually invite a guest during the transition between the first and second parts of our concerts…”
(“Huh!? Little Taeil!? Is our Red Riding Hood Fairy Boy Jini on the phone with Hajin right now? Are you telling him? What? Let me talk too. I want to say it, I…!”)
Click.
“Oh dear.”
My well-honed corporate persona, shaped by Nam Tijoo PTSD, won out.
The moment I heard Nam Daun’s voice, I instinctively hung up the phone. Realizing this, I quickly called back, and it wasn’t long before I heard Seo Taeil’s voice again.
– “Hello?”
“…Uh, I was at the hospital, so I had to hang up for a moment….”
– “Ah, it’s okay, it’s okay. I sent Daun out for a bit.”
“Ah, yes.”
The soothing voice, as if he already knew everything, made me unconsciously sigh in relief.
I thought I could hear banging on the door and Nam Tijoo’s barking voice from beyond the phone, but I decided to ignore it.
– “Anyway, we always invite a guest to perform during the transition from the first part to the second part of our concerts. About 10 minutes?”
“…The guest performs for 10 minutes?”
– “Given our concert runtime, it’s not that long, really.”
Well, that’s true. Utopia concerts were famous for their long runtimes and many encores.
Since, aside from Nam Daun, the members didn’t engage much in other entertainment activities and focused solely on concerts and album work, concerts had become one of their main content offerings.
‘A concert… It would indeed be helpful to gain such experience.’
I pondered for a moment.
While it wasn’t uncommon for junior idols to perform as guests at senior idols’ concerts, it often did more harm than good.
It felt similar to the time we accepted the 1st place trophy on the music show on Utopia’s behalf.
It might be fun for fans to see their idols dote on juniors they found cute, but there were quite a few fans who wouldn’t tolerate a junior idol taking up 10 minutes of the concert they paid to see their main idol perform.
As if to put an end to my worries, Seo Taeil added brightly.
– “By the way, the Enderway kids performed as guests right after their debut, and I’ve already discussed it roughly with your company, so all you need to do is agree.”
‘You should have told me from the start that the only option is to accept this automatically approved quest. I worried for nothing.’
…That’s what I wanted to say, but the last bit of my social etiquette restrained me from being cheeky to a senior idol like Seo Taeil.
This damned persona that can’t even grab Dan Haru by the collar always appears only in times like this.
“Yes, then I’ll prepare and work hard for it.”
– “Really? You’ll really do it?”
“…Can I refuse?”
– “Of course not~ Then I’ll tell Suho hyung that you guys agreed, thanks!”
“Yes, take care.”
True to his (distant) relative’s nature, the excited Seo Taeil hung up with a voice as bright as Seo Taehyun’s. Without realizing it, I found myself bowing my head toward Seo Taeil, who wasn’t even in front of me, and then, realizing I was on the phone, I awkwardly cleared my throat and sat up straight.
I wonder when this habit, ingrained from my days as the youngest assistant director, will ever go away.
“……”
As I casually spoke, suddenly, the now-faded image of my twenty-nine-year-old self shattered like a fragment in my field of vision.
If I were to tell that Kang Hajin from back then that he would later debut and perform as a guest at a Utopia concert, how would he respond?
Thinking that, I rested my chin on my hand when I noticed someone walking toward me from the distant hallway. Just as I turned my head, thinking it might be Ji Suho, bright blue windows suddenly obstructed my view.
[A past connection of the Fixed Regressor has been detected.]
[The Fixed Regressor’s “Trauma (Burnout)” has identified a potential trigger.]
[Mental Care System is activated.]
[Processing….]
[Processing….]
[<Memory Suppression> is activated for Mental Care.]
“……?”
What was I just doing?
Feeling like a bunch of alarms just popped up, I opened the system alert window, but it was only filled with the quest update logs I’d already checked.
Meanwhile, I saw Ji Suho, who had completed his examination, prescriptions, and payment, striding toward me from beyond the hallway.
“Hajin-ah, it’s done. Let’s go.”
“I’m fine, right?”
“…Yeah. You’re so fine that the doctor was surprised. He said he hadn’t seen a patient this healthy in three years.”
“See, I told you.”
Laughing, I stood up, and Ji Suho, looking like he had a lot to say, sighed deeply. Still, it seemed he was relieved that nothing was wrong with me, as the color had returned to his face, which had been pale with worry.
And so, I left the hospital with Ji Suho.
I completely forgot about the strange déjà vu and odd feelings I had experienced just a few minutes ago.
* * *
“Shall I drop you off at the dorm? I heard Doha and Taehyun went to the company.”
“Lee Doha said he was working on the sample for the next comeback track… and Taehyun probably went for vocal practice? They’re amazing to work on a sweet day off.”
“How about you, Hajin? You probably won’t have time to visit your family because of tomorrow’s schedule, so should I take you to the dorm?”
Ji Suho’s question about my destination made me think for a moment.
The empty streets on a weekday, and the rare day off I received.
Perfectly armed with a hat, glasses, a mask, and a scarf, thanks to Seo Taehyun’s fuss about people recognizing me.
If I wanted to carry out ‘that’ thing I’d been thinking about throughout the music show activities, today seemed to be the right time.
“Director, how do I look right now?”
“You look like an idol who came out perfectly disguised because they were worried about being recognized.”
“Right? A scarf in October, seriously….”
I took off the suffocating scarf I had wrapped around me, placed it on the passenger seat, gathered my belongings, and closed the car door again. Then, as if wondering what I was up to, I rolled down the passenger window and revealed my destination to Ji Suho, who was looking at me.
“I’ll just hang out for a bit since I’m out. I’ll do some shopping and get some fresh air.”
“Where are you going? Well, I’m not worried since it’s you, but still….”
“I won’t do anything weird. I’ll just drop by somewhere and then head back to the company soon. I’ll take a taxi when I head back.”
Ji Suho stared at me for a moment, then nodded as if realizing I had no hidden agenda.
‘It’s definitely nice to have a relaxed atmosphere in the company.’
‘If someone’s going to get out of hand, don’t debut them in the first place’ was the only business philosophy Han Taewon, the CEO of Miro, had. Because of that, Miro was quite lenient with practice and self-management compared to other idol companies.
However, the responsibility for that freedom also fell on the individual.
‘Even so, it’s amazing that people like Shin Kyungho managed to survive.’
While I was pondering the downsides of laissez-faire policies and the freedom and responsibility one must bear as a democratic citizen, Ji Suho, who had gotten out of the driver’s seat, approached me.
“…? Why, what’s wrong?”
“….”
Standing in front of me, Ji Suho silently handed me a card. It was a credit card in his name, with Ji Suho’s three characters engraved on it.
“You haven’t even been paid yet. What money are you going to use for shopping? Use this to enjoy some fresh air and take a taxi. It’s a personal card, so you don’t have to process the receipt. Just use it comfortably, and when you get to the company or dorm, let me know immediately.”
“Can I start calling you ‘hyung’ from today? Suho hyung, I’ll use this card wisely. Brace yourself.”
“Good grief, anyway.”
Ji Suho, who chuckled like a male lead in a
2000s internet novel, tapped my shoulder a couple of times before returning to the driver’s seat. Leaning slightly into the still-open passenger window, I shook the card in my hand.
“Can I really use this? I’ll buy something delicious and even get some beef for the members?”
“Sure~”
“Wow, awesome. You must have to be this generous to become a Director. So cool.”
“Now get your head out of the window before I close it. Anyway, if you get caught doing something weird, you’re in big trouble, got it?”
“Don’t worry and take off, hyung.”
Yes, I got the card.
I pulled my body away from the window and waved my hand as Ji Suho’s car smoothly exited the parking lot.
As I confirmed that lunchtime was approaching, I headed toward today’s destination with a light heart.
* * *
A few hours later, in the evening, somewhere.
As usual, Kim Makki was passing each day by indulging in petty provocations and trolling.
He was bored with the lack of scandals and incidents in the entertainment world recently, so he gnawed at his nails.
‘This is so boring, damn it.’
Hoping to find something new to liven up this dull day, he refreshed various communities and SNS multiple times before his gaze settled on a messenger open chat room.
It was an anonymous chat room he had accidentally found and entered a while ago, mostly used by those who share information about idol sasaengs or similar gossip.
“K2ㄹㅅ ㄲㅊㅇ,” which referred to Kairos’s Kang Hajin, was a code used in case of a potential lawsuit, with the group name encrypted, and ㄲㅊㅇ was short for “Kkangchung,” a derogatory term he had originally coined to refer to Kang Hajin as “Gaocheung.”
Kim Makki felt a strange thrill as he saw people using the term he had created and read through the chat logs that had been piling up in the anonymous chat room for hours.
<Leon ‖ Hospital? Kkangchung is sick? His activities are over, lololol>
The story that started with the rumor that ‘Kang Hajin was sick and went to the hospital’ soon continued with discussions about Kang Hajin’s next destination.
<Miko ‖ Haha, he sure looks like he’d have a lot of girl friends>
There were derogatory terms for Jung Siwoo and Seo Taehyun and malicious remarks without any basis or evidence.
But as Kim Makki read through the chat, he felt not a shred of guilt or remorse.
To him, idols were just ‘entertainment’—entities existing in the digital world that he’d never encounter in real life.
They were a bunch of bratty kids who made more money with their looks alone than others would in their entire lives.
The anonymous world beyond the screen was nothing more than ‘letters’ to him, mere tools to satisfy his daily entertainment.
As he scrolled down further, he saw that someone had obtained and posted information about Kang Hajin’s current location.
<Miko ‖ (Photo of Hajin watching a street busking performance)>
<Miko ‖ Crazy, lololol Kkangchung is in Hongdae right now>
A rookie idol showed up in Hongdae alone on a precious day off without his manager.
Sensing that this could turn into an interesting story, Kim Makki quickly scrolled down to the most recent messages.
Those who had missed catching him again were spewing all sorts of slander and insults toward Hajin.
Then, someone posted a photo that sparked another fire.
<Leon ‖ (Photo)>
<Leon ‖ (Video)>
<Leon ‖ Hey, isn’t this Kkangchung?>
<Leon ‖ The image is blurry, but it’s definitely him with the red hair and those features, right?>
<Leon ‖ Is he out of his mind?>
The photo was taken in a dark club.
Perhaps it was a screenshot from a video with frantic movement because the image quality was all pixelated, and the facial features were blurred, making it hard to identify the face. But it was clear that the red-haired person resembling Hajin was holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand and dancing surrounded by people.
Moreover, Kim Makki confirmed that the outfit matched the black turtleneck described in the Hongdae sighting and quickly saved the photo.
“…Crazy, damn.”
He couldn’t just keep this thrilling story to himself.
Kim Makki’s fingers, moving rapidly across the screen, couldn’t have looked more excited.