[Our Ye-rin…!! Hhuh!! After this competition, make sure to come home right away!! Got it? Hhuh…!! Ha Ye-rin, fighting!!]
After my parents’ embarrassing interview ended…
Paat.
“…Huh.”
I couldn’t help but be startled when the next person’s interview appeared on screen.
A middle-aged woman in a hospital gown leaning back against a bed began her interview.
Her appearance and atmosphere exuded the aura of a long-term patient, and… above all, she was the only one who had been alone during the interviews so far.
‘But the only one who hasn’t been interviewed until now is….’
I turned my head towards her, who had not been interviewed until now.
Yoo Seol was staring at the screen with an expression as if she were on death row.
Indeed, the identity of the woman in the video seemed to be Yoo Seol’s mother.
Soon after…
[Seol-ah, it’s Mom.]
The mother in the video began to speak.
[Our Seol, who always suffers because of me….]
[I’m always sorry….]
Saah-.
Yoo Seol’s expression turned into uncontrollable anger.
The usually masked expressions hiding her true feelings had now completely vanished…
Kwang-!!
“……!”
“……!”
She threw off her mask in front of everyone and jumped up.
“…….”
The clear display of Yoo Seol’s true face was far more ferocious than what I had seen before.
And with that ferocious expression, she shot a glare at Shin PD, someone the participants had never dared to confront…
Taah.
Kwank-!!!
With intense steps, she left the set.
[If it weren’t for Mom, our Seol could have become the idol she always wanted to be….]
[Hhuh…. ]
Even while Yoo Seol left, the interview in the video continued.
Yoo Seol’s mother had just started to shed tears.
And soon, she wiped her tear-streaked face and expertly forced a smile.
[But selfishly, I really want to see our Seol debut.]
[Seol-ah, if you move forward in the right way, you will definitely debut.]
Ironically, I felt…
‘…She looks like her.’
I felt a resemblance between Yoo Seol and her mother.
[Our Seol…, I’m always cheering for you and love you.]
Thus, the interview, which began with tears, ended with a picture-perfect smile from Yoo Seol’s mom.
However…
“…….”
“…….”
Unlike the warm end to the interview video, the atmosphere in the room where the video was played stiffened as if time had stopped.
Due to the sudden unexpected situation, even Han Si-woo couldn’t continue the broadcast, and the production team couldn’t issue any orders.
Swuk-.
In the meantime, I sneakily got up from my seat.
“…Unnie?”
“…Unnie, where are you….”
“Shh, I’ll just step out for a moment.”
There was no way to continue the broadcast normally in this situation.
So, during the brief pause of the broadcast, I followed Yoo Seol outside.
Where did Yoo Seol go?
I had no clue where she might have vanished, but I was easily able to find her.
Shwaaa.
From the end of the set, I could hear water flowing from the restroom.
The restroom was the only safe zone in the Na Ah Ah set, which had cameras everywhere.
So, I entered a bit more at ease.
Shwaaa.
Yoo Seol was standing in front of the sink with her head bowed low, running water from the tap….
Dreureuk-.
“…Is it you again?”
As soon as I entered, she figured it out by just looking at my legs instead of my face.
Without moving, Yoo Seol snapped at me irritably.
“Why? Again? Trying to act nice? Is it that your body needs thorns if you don’t act nice even once?”
“…….”
I wasn’t even sure why I followed Yoo Seol.
It felt similar to when I had picked Seo Yoo-jin for my team.
Before I could think, my body just moved.
If I think now about why I followed Yoo Seol…
‘She looked too desperate.’
The Yoo Seol, who usually managed herself thoroughly in front of the camera, had thrown off her mask in front of everyone.
Her face behind that mask looked so desperate and fragile…
So, it seemed I immediately followed her.
Maybe she read that expression on my face, because Yoo Seol sharpened her gaze even more as she said.
“You… felt sorry for me again, didn’t you?”
“…….”
That’s right.
I did feel sorry.
Yoo Seol, who had once shone so brightly in her past life.
Seeing her now, struggling without any light, was pitiful.
‘It feels like it’s my fault….’
Especially now, as she shot me a glare with such malice, it felt like she was building walls around herself.
For so many reasons, I couldn’t take my eyes off this pitiful Yoo Seol. She approached me with an expression and steps like an ice doll…
Kwack.
“…Ugh.”
She grabbed my cheek with one hand and said.
“You… told me not to feel sorry for you, right?”
“…….”
“…We are all competitors. Both you and I, even for the debut rights, there can only be one winner.”
I could overpower Yoo Seol with my overwhelming physical strength, but I deliberately didn’t and just let her grab my cheek and opened my mouth.
“If you and I have solid debut rights, we’ll end up being on the same team after Na Ah Ah…, so can’t we show a little sympathy for each other as teammates?”
“Team? Ha! You’ll just be briefly active for a year and then separate, team?”
Kkuuk.
“Not a chance. I’ll never think that way. …I don’t like you. Just looking at you gives me chills and annoys me to death.”
“…….”
“So you hate me too. Hate me.”
Was this just my imagination?
Her constant attempts to push me away seemed like a cry for help.
With no change in expression, I looked down at her, and Yoo Seol spoke hurriedly.
“And… you know? The reason that woman Seo Yoo-jin got kicked out this week?”
“……Huh?”
I flinched at what Yoo Seol blurted out.
“…The sickness? It was all a lie. Being on a team with that airhead Seo Yoo-jin, who has no sense and is rude, will only harm the team in the future.”
“…….”
“So, to get my vote count too, I flirted with that 17-year-old. She was foolish enough to accept all the roles of leader and center just because I pretended to be sick.”
“…….”
“This is who I am, this is what I’m like. But do I still look pitiful?”
“…No.”
Kwack.
As soon as Yoo Seol’s words ended, I grabbed her wrist, which was holding my cheek.
Yoo Seol seemed to struggle to resist, but my strength proved overwhelming, and she couldn’t move.
“All of that… you planned it? You acted otherwise back then… you even showed me the pill bag.”
“…I had it all prepared. I had to be that meticulous to send her down without it affecting me.”
“…You’re so terrible.”
At that moment, memories of the last few days flooded back.
How much that young Seo Yoo-jin had suffered… how much she had cried…
Swuk-.
This was not why I followed Yoo Seol, but having learned the truth, I found it hard to suppress my anger and, without even realizing it, my hand went up.
Suhrk-.
The moment Yoo Seol saw that, she closed her eyes, as if daring me to hit her, and my hand came down swiftly.
Just then…
“What the….”
The sudden voice interrupted, and I turned back to see…
“……!”
“……!”
Standing in front of the restroom door was Seo Yoo-jin, looking as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“…Yoo-jin.”
“…….”
Judging by her expression, it seemed she had heard our entire conversation.
“Uh, um….”
The moment I saw Seo Yoo-jin’s face, my mind went blank.
‘What should I do? How do I explain this situation…?’
I instinctively opened Seo Yoo-jin’s status window to check her abnormalities.
[Status Abnormality: Mild Depression, Mild Anxiety Disorder, Severe Separation Anxiety.]
Fortunately or unfortunately, Seo Yoo-jin’s status was the same as before, but… her expression was visibly hardening in real-time.
I was also anxious about what Yoo Seol might say to Seo Yoo-jin.
‘Why? Again? Trying to act nice? Is it that your body needs thorns if you don’t act nice even once?’
‘You… told me not to feel sorry for you, right?’
‘Team? Ha! You’ll just be briefly active for a year and then separate, team?’
‘Not a chance. I’ll never think that way. …I don’t like you. Just looking at you gives me chills and annoys me to death.’
‘So you hate me too. Hate me.’
Yoo Seol had completely discarded her mask in the restroom and had hurled those spiteful words at me.
‘What if Yoo Seol spews those harsh words at Seo Yoo-jin and shakes her mental state…?’
Especially on the day before the competition… Seo Yoo-jin might return to her original state.
Then it would affect her performance on stage tomorrow.
The moment I turned my body to stop Yoo Seol from speaking….
“……!”
I had to stop in my tracks again, staring at Yoo Seol’s expression.
I had thought the fierce and calculating face behind the mask was Yoo Seol’s true face.
But now, Yoo Seol was…
“Ah…, um….”
Suddenly, she was making a foolish expression, different from the one she had just shown me, looking at Seo Yoo-jin in front of the restroom door.
And soon, her foolish expression began to be colored with…
Unbearable guilt.
I was so captivated by that expression that I couldn’t help but check Yoo Seol’s status window.
And….
[Status Abnormality: Depression, Anxiety Disorder, Severe Self-Hatred.]
The opened status window for Yoo Seol was as colorful as Seo Yoo-jin’s once had been.
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