The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 61

First, as soon as it hit 7 AM, Ma Si-hyeok called the Vex Entertainment team leader.

Before long, all portal sites uploaded articles with bold lettering [〈ISL 2〉 Participant Ma Si-hyeok, School Violence Allegations All Proven False].

In addition to proving that all three photos in the expose post were stolen.

[I’m a real classmate of Ma Si-hyeok.]

[I’m Si-hyeok’s high school senior. Si-hyeok wasn’t that kind of kid at all……]

[Hello, I’m Ma Si-hyeok’s middle school homeroom teacher.]

When actual classmates and one homeroom teacher appeared, public opinion turned even more decisively.

I was internally worried that the middle school homeroom teacher might accidentally reveal that Ma Si-hyeok was actually a victim rather than a perpetrator, but fortunately there were almost no words that could cause misunderstandings.

‘It would be good that they didn’t say those things, since it could backfire by stimulating Ma Si-hyeok’s bad memories even more if public opinion suddenly shifted to sympathy for him as a school violence victim. I’m very relieved they didn’t say anything like that.’

When Vex Entertainment left the words “we’re even considering filing lawsuits” at the end of their rebuttal statement, the original expose post disappeared in an instant.

I really didn’t like seeing them run away like cutting off a lizard’s tail, but Ma Si-hyeok himself had said it was okay.

“Are you really okay with this? If you just give us the word, we were thinking of requesting IP tracking—.”

“I’m fine, team leader. I think it would be best to just end it like this.”

“Alright, I understand. I’ll tell the CEO that too.”

The team leader, who had rushed back to the filming location, kept making worried expressions, but there seemed to be no way around Ma Si-hyeok’s resolute declaration.

That’s how the incident was completely wrapped up and it seemed like we were returning to our original daily routine.

“One and two and three four! Uh…… Si-hyeok?”

“Ah, huh? Oh, sorry. That was my part.”

Now with less than 9 hours left until the midterm checkpoint, Ma Si-hyeok couldn’t focus on the practice session at all.

Seong-hwi, who had been helping adjust the choreography together, scratched his head and glanced at me.

‘Is it okay to just leave him alone?’

The question he was throwing at me was audible enough to hear out loud.

And the answer to that question was…… absolutely not okay.

Ma Si-hyeok is the main dancer. In other words, even within the 〈Winning Shot〉 choreography that boasts extreme difficulty, he has to handle particularly difficult parts. And while performing individual choreography, he’s also in charge of key positions during formation movements.

If Ma Si-hyeok can’t concentrate, it means the overall balance breaks down all at once.

‘I didn’t expect this.’

I looked sympathetically at Ma Si-hyeok’s eyes that couldn’t hide his anxiety.

The expose post had been completely taken down and fans had worked hard to defend him, successfully protecting his image.

Externally, there were no problems at all.

However, the mental shock from this false expose post seemed like it still hadn’t faded.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. We can just go through it one more time. Si-hyeok, you can do it, right?”

“……Yes.”

“Let’s cheer up, fighting!”

Kang Seon-woo patted Ma Si-hyeok’s shoulder with a deliberately bright voice, but his eyes were sending an SOS to me.

If I just sat back and did nothing, it would be neither here nor there.

I temporarily halted the session.

“Let’s take a short break. You all haven’t eaten breakfast either, right? Let’s grab some brunch and then practice again. The midterm checkpoint is this evening, so we still have time.”

“Yes!”

“And Si-hyeok, let’s talk for a bit.”

When the other team members left the practice room, I sat down on the practice room floor again with Ma Si-hyeok.

His gaze was still fixed on the floor.

“Can you roughly tell me how you’re feeling right now?”

“……I’m scared.”

Ma Si-hyeok said in a hollow voice with his broad shoulders drooping.

“Other people might think I look really stupid, but somehow this scary feeling won’t go away. It’s funny, isn’t it? The expose post was all taken down and people all turned back around, so why am I still scared? I…… I know in my heart too. I know the situation has gotten better, but these anxious feelings keep lingering.”

“What kind of anxiety?”

“It feels like tomorrow another weird post will go up…… Actually, even while taking medication, I have nightmares every night, so I feel psychologically exhausted too.”

I can somewhat cheer people up with words for most situations.

But this is a topic that’s far beyond my domain. No matter how well I understand human psychology, there’s no way I could resolve trauma that even professional therapists would find difficult.

While I was pondering what to say, Ma Si-hyeok suddenly burst into a candid laugh.

“Haha, come to think of it, when I first saw you, Brother, you probably had this exact same expression.”

“Mm, to be honest, your first impression was just scary.”

“Really? I only remember staring at the ground from before going to the level test. It’s a chronic problem. I always lack confidence…… I was always afraid someone might throw stones at me, so I always stayed quiet. I kept telling myself not to do anything that would stand out.”

After hearing the rest, I understood what kind of first impression Ma Si-hyeok meant.

In the early days of 〈ISL 2〉, Ma Si-hyeok was so slow in his actions that he couldn’t even get ice water, and he always kept his gaze directed at the floor.

Then he gradually showed improvement as he became close with his current teammates.

But when a situation arose that stimulated his serious past trauma, he had returned to square one.

“The reason I wanted to become an idol was also related to that. If I could confirm in front of many people that I’m someone with no problems at all, someone worthy of receiving love, I thought this chronic illness would disappear too. So I wanted to go up on stage and show them. But now…… no matter how much I try to think that way, no matter how much I tell myself that people won’t look at me with those eyes, my body won’t move that way.”

He knows what the problem is.

He recognizes what’s eating away at his current self and also recognizes what could solve it.

‘……This is the most hopeless situation.’

If he didn’t know the problems and solutions at all, I could just guide him in the right direction.

But in Ma Si-hyeok’s case, it’s a situation where even walking the right path means having endless thorns scattered on the ground because of unavoidable past memories.

I could only pat his arm and throw him this one line.

“We have to try as far as we can go.”

“……Brother?”

“Let’s practice. We just have to practice and practice more so those distracting thoughts don’t enter your head. Even if panic comes on stage, your body will be able to remember those movements. Let’s repeat until we want to throw up, and repeat again. I’ll do it with you.”

Ma Si-hyeok who heard my words just silently nodded once or twice.

That’s how we took on this enormous homework, and the D-DAY of the 3rd team battle competition quickly arrived.

* * *

“I cried when I heard the number of people increased~.”

“Ah, even someone this slow showed up, 〈ISL〉’s firepower is totally dead.”

“What did you say, Song Ji-won? You’re really gonna get beaten to death—.”

“It’s a joke, a joke! If you hit people with that tumbler, it’s murder!”

The popularity of 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 was rising day by day.

Thanks to that, the number of live audience members, which had been increasing by subtle numbers, had now dramatically increased to a whopping 1,000 people by the time it reached the 3rd team battle.

So Song Ji-won’s friends, who had always tasted the bitter experience of being shut out, were finally able to enjoy the benefits of this expanded cutline.

‘It’s nice and lively having all four of us together after so long.’

Song Ji-won proudly stuck her number tag on her forehead and made a V sign.

“Take a proof shot for me. Evidence that this sister succeeded in getting audience tickets for the eleventh time!”

“Wow, are you a magnet person or what? How does that stick to your forehead perfectly?”

“If you wet your forehead with sweat, you can do it too. Try it, try it.”

“No thanks.”

Everyone was in a very good mood. It was partly because they succeeded in getting audience tickets, but also because their favorite’s situation was on an upward trend.

First of all, Ryu Si-hwan goes without saying.

Consecutive stage hits. Consecutive proof of leadership abilities. And even the subtle scent of a super insider leaking out.

He succeeded in embracing even that unpredictable Seong-hwi, earning the nickname “trainer” after “father.”

Considering that related memes had been posted, it probably wasn’t a nickname that would be used once and disappear.

The thing that became most talked about online was a meme that modified the scene of the male protagonist intensely training three raptors from ‘Jurassic World.’

—Jack Russell Terrier (looks similar to a beagle at first glance but has a more mischievous personality), Retriever (just big and intimidating but listens well to people and is timid), Poodle (this one just looks like a poodle from the start, no arguments accepted) – all being raised by trainer Ryu (21)

└LMAO Why can we all tell who this is even though not a single letter of their actual names appears?

└Other things aside, seeing the national managers change from calling Hwi a beagle to a Jack Russell Terrier for realistic accuracy is chef’s kiss

└Just a crazy barking dog evolved into a barking dog capable of hunting – Seong-hwi

└But looking at that, Si-hwan is really the only one who could get attacked, while Si-hyeok and Ha-woon are harmless dog breeds personified T_T lol

└You never know, maybe Ma Si-hyeok might roll over onto his side with that broad build while sleeping

└I’m dying, people are so funny LMAO

The fans of Ryu Si-hwan and Seong-hwi, who had been running a rival narrative due to the 2nd team battle story, achieved great unity, which was most effective.

So community life continued really peacefully, but a major bomb dropped a few days ago.

—Oh right, how was the atmosphere for people who went to the live taping?? There probably aren’t people still cursing at Si-hyeok, right? T_T

└No no, the atmosphere is really good right now, everyone’s just sweating from the heat

└That’s a relief. I was worried there would still be jerks doing hate comments even after all the suspicions were cleared

└From the beginning, anyone who properly watched the show would know Si-hyeok isn’t that kind of kid…… I hope the bastard who spread those rumors gets properly punished

└Vex put out a statement saying if the trainee himself doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it, they’ll just delete the posts and not file lawsuits

└Ma Si-hyeok, this naive bear…… They should have properly fed him prison food so crazy bastards like that don’t appear again T_T

—I’m disappointed about that too, but the suspicions are all cleared so we should be satisfied with that

└Agreed, and because of that incident, people are giving Si-hyeok more votes. I was originally a Si-hwan fan but I felt so bad for Si-hyeok’s suffering that I donated 5,000 benefit votes on my way here

└That malicious commenter bastard probably didn’t expect this. How the tables turn~

Fortunately, the false spread of information claiming Ma Si-hyeok was a school violence perpetrator was quickly suppressed within two days.

Song Ji-won also felt a strange sense of discomfort when she first saw the original post, and sure enough, it turned out all the photos were stolen.

So in the end, Ma Si-hyeok, who suffered unfair witch hunting, received more sympathy votes, and the analysis was that if he just showed a good performance in this 3rd team battle, his ranking would probably rise even more.

Song Ji-won, who was browsing communities during the intermission, saw a familiar notification pop up.

A community post notification from the NeoTube channel [Hwan-father] that she had subscribed to early on.

[Subscribers! Are any of you coming to 〈ISL 2〉 audience viewing today?? If you succeeded in getting audience tickets, come to the standing area on the right side of the stage, I’ll give out custom-made Ryu Si-hwan slogans I made myself *.☆⸜(⑉˙ᗜ˙⑉)⸝♡.*]

“I have to get this.”

“What?”

“I’ll be back in a bit!”