Chapter 90

Episode 90

“…This cannot be happening!”

Oh Yoori, clearly flustered by the current situation, was sweating bullets while fiddling with her squirrel pajamas’ wings.

It was a pitiful sight, but honestly, not my problem.

No matter how out of my mind I may be, I wasn’t about to go easy on someone trying to threaten me.

“Whether or not Miss Oh Yoori is ruined depends on who you ask, so I can’t say definitively, but from my perspective, that sounds quite plausible.”

I tucked the pen recorder back into my pocket and said,

“I do think Yoori is done for.”

Oh Yoori curled up like a squirrel and shook nervously, probably envisioning the dark future ahead of her.

“Well then, I’ll be off to see PD Kim. Since there are many other jobs aside from idols, it might be a good idea to look for a new path. After all, it’ll be hard for you to show your face in the broadcasting world anymore.”

“W-wait a second!”

What now? No way I’m going to give you a break. Go back.

“Do you have something to discuss?”

“Must you really draw the line so harshly…”

“Harsh or not, I think we’re done talking.”

She struggled to steady her trembling body, racked her brain, and yelled,

“Then… let’s make a deal! Just like you did with PD Kim!”

“You keep making dangerous statements, but I didn’t make a deal with PD Kim.”

I technically did, but that was entirely unrelated to this.

After all, there’s no way she could have proof.

Got any proof, Yoori? You only have a hunch, don’t you?

Come back two years from now when the prosecutor’s investigation is over.

“Then let’s assume you didn’t make a deal with PD Kim and let’s make a deal with me! I’ll act like I know nothing!”

“…How do you plan to pretend you know nothing after chattering away like you just did?”

In response to my question, Oh Yoori lightly touched her forehead, took a deep breath, and slammed her head onto the whiteboard.

Thud.

What was that?

Then she staggered, touched her head again, and mumbled with a dazed expression,

“Wait? Where am I? Who am I? …I don’t remember a thing.”

…This is too much, for real.

“If you don’t remember anything, how can we make a deal?”

“U-um… that part I definitely remember quite well.”

“Well, that’s quite the convenient memory you’ve got there.”
“It’s a story, isn’t it?”

I gave her a lopsided smile, looking down coldly and asked,

“So, what are you planning to trade with me? I don’t want anything from you, Oh Yoori.”

“…Well…”

As she gauged my reaction, Oh Yoori, sweating bullets, tightened her squirrel pajamas’ waistband and struck a sort of sexy pose, winking at me.

“How about the right to date the most beautiful girl at Art Middle School — me?”

“That kind of thing? No thanks.”

“…Oh, I see.”

Oh Yoori, looking dejected, lowered her head, then, as if realizing something, covered herself with the flaps of her squirrel pajamas and said to me,

“Then, you don’t mean a physical relationship… right?”

Oh man, she’s really throwing things around.

“No way! Are you nuts? You want to see us both getting sentenced to a juvenile center and prison together? If that kind of thing happens, we’re both done for! You’re an idol, for crying out loud!”

“…I’m sorry.”

“…Haa, just know that. Don’t even joke about that. You need to be careful with your words since you’re practically a public figure, Yoori.”

Is that how we ended up in this mess because of the lack of caution?

As I spat my words out emotionally, Oh Yoori drooped her pink pigtails down, staring at the ground.

She looked like a kid awaiting punishment from a teacher.

Seeing that clueless demeanor made the anger from being threatened fade quite a bit. I was surprised by her quick thinking, reasoning, and courage that seemed beyond her years, but in the end, it hit me that she was just a middle schooler.

Maybe that’s why I wanted to know why such a young girl would go this far.

“So, what is it?”

“…Huh?”

“The threats and deals and what you want from me.”

Oh Yoori hesitated, debating whether to say it or not, then nervously asked,

“Can you turn off the recording for a sec?”

“Of course not. How do I know what you might do, Yoori?”

“…Okay, I’ll just say it.”

She fidgeted with the hem of her squirrel pajamas as she spoke.

“Do you remember that Ban Seong-cheol manager who was next to me back then?”

I know, all too well.

“Yeah, I do. What about him?”

“He’s trying to make me into a sugar baby. Even when I say I don’t want to, he’s pressuring me.”

“…What?”

…What could a middle schooler possibly be doing?
“Are you serious?”

As I tilted my head at such an absurd statement, Oh Yoori firmly said,

“You’re asking me to entertain you.”

…What a crazy bastard.

*

Before my regression, during my early days at Flower Entertainment, I found myself busier than usual, trying to clean up the mess created by my colleague Ban Seong-cheol.

“So why the hell are you stealing trainee tracksuits, you idiot?”

Every day, incidents popped up here and there, and about 30% of those disasters stemmed from that little troll’s antics.

“No, I didn’t steal it! I just had to send it to the laundry, so I did it for them. You know, right? Mi-jeong ran away, and we ended up having to do the laundry ourselves.”

Listening to him, he did seem to have some twisted logic behind it.

He thought he was being considerate, but it looked like there was a misunderstanding.

“Then what’s this nonsense about smelling it before returning it?”

“No, Taeyang. That’s a misunderstanding. It’s not because I’m a crazy pervert; it’s just that the tracksuit was mixed up with some random laundry that needed washing, so I wanted to check what needed to be done by smelling it for a second. But at that moment, Hye-min caught me red-handed.”

With such a skeleton crew at the company, even the road managers ended up doing laundry and dishes, which led to disasters like this.

Seriously, you bastard, the president of Flower Entertainment. Hire some female managers already.

Until the previous month, there had been one named Park Mi-jeong, but she couldn’t stand the lousy pay and crazy overtime, so she ran off. As a result, all the duties Mi-jeong had were dumped on us.

As days passed, my sleep time dwindled while the workload increased, and it was pure tragedy.

I let out a deep sigh and said,

“Just let them handle that stuff. No one appreciates that kind of consideration. You know how sensitive those teenage kids are.”

“Bastard, I’m overflowing with love for the trainees. Whenever I see them, I just want to do anything for them.”

“If you overflow twice more, you’ll either end up in bread or bankrupt from settlement fees.”

At my joke, Ban Seong-cheol burst out laughing and rolled on the floor.

“So, the charge would be being too loving, huh? Keuhuh.”

“….”

I couldn’t understand why a good guy like him was living like that, unlike me who had nothing.

That’s right. Ban Seong-cheol was an idiot, and I was just a fool cleaning up his mess.

However, back then, it didn’t feel too bad.

*

In the future, Flower Entertainment would hit the success track, and both he and I would become key figures in the company.
I became a key figure in the company.

Naturally, the chaos from before disappeared, and our tasks were largely separated. Thanks to that, I didn’t exactly know what that guy was doing.

And because I respected Ban Seong-cheol’s territory, I avoided getting involved in his work or trying to figure out his movements. Even so, I heard various stories here and there.

Rumor had it that Ban Seong-cheol was involved in illegal activities.

But even when I sensed Ban Seong-cheol’s behind-the-scenes maneuvers or learned that he was entangled in corruption, I pretended not to know the truth. It was because the moments we spent together would come flooding back.

I remembered the time we wandered around looking for a café open at dawn, promising to buy those kids the sandwiches they wanted.

I remembered brainstorming how we could help the kids succeed.

I recalled the days we slapped each other’s cheeks to stay awake and avoid drowsy driving.

I thought back to the time I was crying as I stood on the music broadcast stage, hearing the kids shout my name, while that guy mocked me as a loser and high-fived the kids.

In those memories, Ban Seong-cheol was a jerk, but at least his care for the kids seemed genuine. No, I believed that was the only thing that was true.

But now, hearing Oh Yoori’s words, I began to think that it might all have been a deception aimed at me.

“If I had to endure such crap and he thought it was just acting, I must have been a damn good actor.”

It made me consider that the act he once scoffed at right before my regression might have been performed for a very long time.

Because if what she said is true, then Ban Seong-cheol had already started involving the kids in sponsorship by this point.

However, the notion that he pressured middle school students into entertainment was hard to accept within the bounds of common sense, considering the risks involved.

Oh Yoori, the speaker, didn’t have much credibility. This could just be a ploy to deceive me.

“…Excuse me?”

Oh Yoori, trembling while looking at my face, said as if she had to.

“Um, your expression is really scary, so… are you okay?”

“…Details.”

“Eek! …Yes?”

Still, if Oh Yoori’s words were true…

“Tell me more about that story.”

I felt I wouldn’t be able to contain my anger rising to the top of my head.

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