The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 59

With the midterm evaluation not far away now.

“One, two, three, four. That’s right, from there again five, six, seven, eight.”

“Good job, everyone’s getting the hang of it well.”

The practice room was filled with heated energy.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead while checking the time.

“It’s 12 o’clock, so let’s quickly grab lunch and meet back here. Everyone worked hard.”

“Yes!”

I tore open a sandwich I’d gotten from the convenience store the night before and leaned against the practice room wall.

Then a large shadow moved, pulled out salad and chicken breast, and settled next to me.

“Si-hyeok, you definitely dance the best.”

“You’re too kind, Brother.”

“This kind of praise should just be accepted, man.”

I munched on my sandwich while patting Ma Si-hyeok’s broad shoulders.

Then Ma Si-hyeok, showing a shy blush that didn’t fit his build at all, stuffed crunchy salad into his mouth.

While we were taking this peaceful break.

“Trainee Ma Si-hyeok? Someone’s here to see you.”

“Huh?”

“Seems like someone from your agency.”

A staff member who had been urgently taking a phone call beckoned to Ma Si-hyeok.

Ma Si-hyeok stood up with a face that showed he had no idea what was going on, and at perfect timing, the practice room door burst open.

“……Si-hyeok.”

“Te-Team Leader?”

The neatly dressed man in a suit emanated dark eyes.

‘What the hell could be so urgent that an agency employee comes during filming?’

The man who seemed to be a team leader from Vex Entertainment quietly pulled out his phone and handed it to Ma Si-hyeok.

“The article’s already up. The CEO said to check with you first……”

Ma Si-hyeok, who had maintained a bewildered expression, obediently took the phone and stared at the screen for several seconds.

And during that brief time, I witnessed the color drain from Ma Si-hyeok’s cheeks in an instant.

“……Ah.”

“Si-hyeok, let’s stop filming for now and talk first—”

“Ahhh!”

“Ma Si-hyeok, what’s wrong!”

Whether his strength had evaporated, Ma Si-hyeok dropped the phone straight to the floor and clutched his hair tightly.

His tightly sealed lips turned blue and both pupils began dilating abnormally.

The Vex Entertainment team leader, sensing something was wrong, hastily grabbed Ma Si-hyeok’s shoulders, but it seemed too late to calm him down.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“Stop filming, quickly!”

“Medical room, get him to the medical room!”

Ma Si-hyeok, who had been letting out sounds close to screams, was surrounded by the production crew who had quickly stopped the cameras and rushed out of the practice room.

It all happened so suddenly that I didn’t even have time to react.

In a daze, I found the phone left on the practice room floor and accessed the entertainment news main page.

And there, along with 35 related articles, was the title that appeared.

[‘ISL 2’ Ma Si-hyeok, School Violence Allegations Heat Up…… Will He Drop Out?]

“Damn it.”

A curse mixed with sighing burst out involuntarily.

Currently, our stage preparation was going so smoothly it couldn’t get any better.

But as if the heavens were jealous of my smooth sailing, a nuclear bomb had exploded right before my eyes.

After settling the initial shock, I started looking for the original expose post.

‘As expected, they posted it on IdolNet.’

The anonymous platform I’d been using to check people’s real-time reactions.

It’s also the site with the highest influx of domestic idol fans.

They probably posted it here to take full advantage of that population benefit.

Moreover, this place is ‘anonymous.’ IDs are replaced with IPs and there’s no exposure of identity whatsoever.

In short, no matter what you say, it has no impact on your real life.

I swallowed dryly and scanned through the main post.

[<<Rising Hot!!>> Ma Si-hyeok participating in Idol Stove League Season 2 is a school violence perpetrator. +31298]

Hello. I’m truly sorry for having to convey this message only through the power of anonymity.

The thing is, my classmate and the person who makes me have nightmares every night, Ma Si-hyeok, is a school violence perpetrator. Ma Si-hyeok, who graduated from S Middle School, continuously bullied me and my friends who were in the same class from our first year of middle school, and constantly used harsh profanity.

He was a famous delinquent who not only drank and smoked but also didn’t listen to teachers. Despite coming from a well-off family, for some reason he always took money from our class kids and created an atmosphere where we couldn’t have proper school life.

Because of this bullying, I became so mentally and physically exhausted that I can’t live without psychiatric medication. (photo of pills) Also, in addition to the mental trauma, I had to receive treatment after being beaten. (photo of bruised body)

……Below is a photo of me holding my graduation album. Ma Si-hyeok, I know you’re watching this. If you’re truly human, I hope you voluntarily drop out of the program.

The comments that had reached 30,000 overnight didn’t need to be examined one by one.

‘They’re swarming like hyenas since it’s not their problem.’

The content of the expose post was sensational from the start. And the photos of pills and bruised body that the author attached acted like very convincing evidence.

The details of the victimization were so specific that there didn’t seem to be any way to escape.

I read through the post a couple more times and then quietly looked up at the practice room ceiling.

‘……But Ma Si-hyeok doesn’t seem like he could properly throw even one punch.’

Of course, I can’t define a person’s character based only on what I’ve seen.

However, based on the insight I gained from living in hell for 50 years.

And considering Cerberus’s direct words about the ‘scent of a decent soul,’ Ma Si-hyeok seemed like someone completely unrelated to violence.

He does look scary and has a mountain-like build.

But he can’t even speak informally properly, he’s reluctant to step forward and express his opinions.

Most importantly, in the very beginning of 〈ISL 2〉, he lacked so much confidence that he used to walk around with his eyes on the ground.

That such a kid was a tyrant at school.

‘It’s reasonable to be suspicious.’

Obviously, this is a problem that can’t be resolved without asking Ma Si-hyeok himself.

While I was still sitting on the practice room floor turning the current situation over in my head, the team members who had gone out for lunch returned one by one.

“Ah, I’m full! What’s this, Si-hwan, that half-eaten sandwich next to you.”

“Oh, now that I think about it, Brother Si-hyeok wasn’t here either? Where did he go?”

I explained Ma Si-hyeok’s school violence expose in a coldly detached tone.

Then everyone loudly objected as if they couldn’t believe it.

“That doesn’t make sense. Si-hyeok being that kind of kid?”

“Seon-woo is right! Brother Si-hyeok is so kind!”

“Hmm, I haven’t talked with Si-hyeok that much either, but I didn’t sense any strange vibes at all.”

“……If you think about it negatively, we might have only seen one side of him.”

Chae Ha-ru mentioned in a calm tone that the expose post might actually be true.

Yu Ha-woon’s mouth opened briefly as if to object again, then closed.

There’s no point in us debating this among ourselves.

I ran my hands through my hair and took a deep breath.

“Let’s ask Si-hyeok when he comes back after sorting things out with his agency team leader. Until then, we’ll keep practicing. Remember, time is money right now. If we get shaken by this kind of thing, we could ruin the entire stage.”

“Yes……”

“Let’s focus and put our hearts into it.”

* * *

Ma Si-hyeok returned to us that night.

After struggling to close the dorm door, Ma Si-hyeok was still trembling.

“……”

“……”

Only awkward silence stretched endlessly in the room.

Recognizing that someone needed to break the ice, I slowly began.

“Si-hyeok. Did you talk well with the team leader?”

“……I, I don’t know.”

“How’s your condition.”

“I took medicine so I’m a little…… a little better.”

Contrary to his words, his hands continued shaking like they had vibrators attached.

Kang Seon-woo, unable to watch anymore, spoke with a face that showed firm resolution.

“I’d like you to be honest with us. We think Si-hyeok isn’t that kind of person. So please be honest with us. The content written in that expose post—is it true or is it a lie?”

“……Seon-woo.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever experienced PTSD?”

Everyone paused at the sudden medical term.

Kang Seon-woo, who received the question, scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

“I think all I’ve done is jokingly say ‘I’m going to get PTSD~’ with the kids. Post-traumatic stress disorder, right?”

Ma Si-hyeok didn’t answer and just nodded.

He just kept touching his fingernails together as if chased by something.

“……I’ve been continuously taking medication for post-traumatic stress disorder. When I stay still, only bad memories come to mind and I unknowingly self-harm, I get panic attacks, and feel like I’m about to collapse. But after becoming a trainee, I could focus on something so I was okay.”

“After seeing that post today, it came back again?”

“Yes.”

Ma Si-hyeok turned his head toward me, almost on the verge of bursting into tears.

“Si-hwan, sob, Brother Si-hwan. I really wanted to die. Every moment was so hard that I wanted to die, but I still wanted to become a singer so I somehow endured. Why do they keep chasing me? Why?”

“Si-hyeok, if we’re making things too hard for you, it’s okay. We can talk about this later—”

“No. This was something I had to confess eventually anyway.”

In the dorm that had become coldly quiet, his voice settled low.

“I suffered from school violence for over two years in middle school.”

“What, what did you say?”

“Brother Si-hyeok, what did you just—”

“It was hard enough that I self-harmed, and I was barely able to escape that hell by transferring schools just before graduation.”

I watched Ma Si-hyeok turn over his wrist, unable to say anything.

Ever since I first saw him during the level evaluation, Ma Si-hyeok had worn many bracelets on his wrists.

So I simply thought he liked this kind of accessory.

“……Oh my god.”

“What do we do about this.”

On the skin where the bracelets were removed, long scar marks were clearly visible, as if a cat had viciously clawed him.

Kang Seon-woo, who had thrown the direct question, looked very flustered about how to handle this.

‘He definitely didn’t expect such a heavy truth.’

That was the same for me.

Ma Si-hyeok put his bracelets back on while muttering even more quietly.

“I asked for the reason once. Why are you hitting me? What did I do wrong to you that I have to get beaten like this? The answer that came back was that I just stood out too much to their eyes. A kid who’s just tall like a beanpole with a much better build than other kids, why does he go around so quietly, they couldn’t understand it. So they said they wanted to bully me to see what would happen…… I had to endure that kind of mockery for two years…… and what comes back is a post saying I committed school violence.”

“Then let’s clarify just this one last thing.”

All eyes focused on my words.

It might sound too obvious when you hear it.

But to even slightly reverse this atmosphere and boost the other guys’ morale, there’s no choice.

“Ma Si-hyeok. The content written in that expose post, it’s all fake, right? Rather, you went through this kind of pain but someone twisted the facts like a crazy bastard.”

“……Yes. I’ve never really hit anyone, never openly cursed at anyone, never extorted money—”

“That’s enough.”

As I expected, the team members who heard Ma Si-hyeok’s strong denial showed different energy than before.

“Then we can refute it immediately! Say this is all a ridiculous story!”

“Si-hyeok’s agency had someone come too. Then we can immediately publicize this and make the bastards who wrote this post eat prison food.”

“You met with that company person earlier! Brother Si-hyeok, what did you decide to do with that company person?”

“A-actually, I was half out of my mind so I couldn’t properly discuss what to do.”

“Ah……”

While Yu Ha-woon was sighing, I smiled slightly.

“Actually, that’s better.”

“Huh?”

“If you had decided immediately, a rebuttal statement that couldn’t perfectly turn public opinion might have come out. The counter-evidence that people would love to tear apart hasn’t come out yet.”

“That’s true, but……”

Chae Ha-ru stared at me with suspicious eyes.

“Don’t tell me, Brother Si-hwan.”

“Yeah, you’re probably thinking what I’m thinking.”

“Simple.”

Seong-hwi, who had been rolling a water bottle in the corner, joined in.

That characteristic maniacal laughter had never been more welcome.

“This post being complete garbage fabrication—we just need to find that out ourselves, right?”