The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol – Chapter 34

Author: Cireng

Chapter 34

Kim Moonsu stared at me with a bewildered look before turning his attention back to the phone.

[You guys seem way too relaxed just because you’re from a big agency. Do you think everyone from a major company debuts automatically?]

[What?!]

[Do you really think you can survive in the brutal idol industry with such a complacent mindset?]

[You done talking? Come over here!]

[I’m not done yet. Your tone’s getting pretty rude, isn’t it? Is this how Harmony Entertainment teaches its trainees manners?]

[Hey!]

[And you’ve been going on about connections and favoritism this whole time, but judging by your attitude, aren’t you the one who got in through favoritism?]

[You little—!]

Thud!

[…Ah!]

[Oh my, are you okay?]

[…Yeah.]

[You’re bleeding.]

[…Damn.]

[Ah! S-Sorry! I… I wasn’t trying to hit you.]

[Hmm… For now, Mr. Park Sugyeok should probably go to the infirmary. Imagine how upset the fans would be if they saw your injured face.]

[What’s going on over there?!]

Crackle.

[He hit him.]

“Now that you’ve heard the voices, you know who they belong to, right?”

“…”

The man’s expression instantly stiffened.

“The trainees you mentioned earlier… Sugyeok, Juhan, Minjae, and Hosu. Surely you’re not saying you don’t recognize their voices?”

“Why are you showing me this?”

His voice had become noticeably lower.

Since there had been an assault incident, the company undoubtedly already knew about it.

‘They probably thought they could just silence things through the broadcasting station.’

They clearly hadn’t expected me to bring a recording to the negotiating table.

“How am I supposed to debut alongside such ‘dangerous’ people?”

“…”

“If this gets out, it won’t just hurt them. Harmony Entertainment will take a hit too. Are you really okay with that?”

Kim Moonsu’s expression twisted dramatically.

His eyes narrowed.

The corners of his mouth twitched.

A short snort escaped through his nose.

“You little punk. Are you threatening me right now?”

‘He took the bait.’

Keeping my professional smile, I nodded.

“As expected of Harmony Entertainment. The language is rough, and your speech suddenly became informal.”

“What?”

“But honestly, this is great. It makes things move faster. It’s not a threat… It’s a proposal. How about we come to an agreement?”

The man stared at me in disbelief, mouth slightly open as he momentarily lost his words.

“You weren’t even hit. What kind of settlement are you talking about?”

“I wasn’t directly hit, but there was clear intent to assault me. There were plenty of witnesses too. That makes me a victim.”

“Give me a break. You’ve never even worked a real job, yet you’ve picked up all sorts of nonsense somewhere. Hey! If you weren’t directly assaulted, you can’t be a victim. Got it, kid?”

“It’s funny how someone who knows that psychological and indirect damages are legally recognized is pretending not to know. Before I file a civil damages claim and hand this to the media to make things messy, why don’t we settle this nicely?”

“Ha… Hahahaha!”

The man ran a hand over his face and let out a hollow laugh.

“I’ve never met a lunatic like you before. You’re really something else.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“What exactly gives you this much confidence? Got someone backing you up?”

There was nothing in this world worth trusting.

The only person I could trust was myself.

“I do.”

‘Myself.’

“Haa…”

Kim Moonsu rubbed his forehead.

“Fine. Let’s settle.”

“…!”

Who would’ve thought the negotiation skills I picked up as a paparazzo would be this useful?

Pushing the contract aside, Kim Moonsu stood up and retrieved a new document.

At the top, it read:

Settlement Agreement.

‘As expected of a major company. They’re quick when it comes to this sort of thing.’

Picking up a pen, Kim Moonsu sighed.

“The moment you sign this agreement, that recording gets deleted immediately.”

“If the settlement amount is generous enough, I’ll delete it right in front of you.”

“And don’t even think about telling anyone else about the recording or this settlement.”

“As long as the money is good, I keep my deals clean. No need to worry.”

“…Fine. How much do you want?”

“Come on. Show some sincerity. You’re a major entertainment company… you’ve got money.”

“…”

After meeting my gaze, the man held up five fingers.

“Five.”

“Five hundred million won?”

“Are you insane? Five million!”

“Come on. Has a major agency really fallen this far? That’s not a settlement. That’s pocket change.”

I picked up the phone from the table.

Our eyes met.

His expression became increasingly complicated.

“Let’s just pretend this settlement never happened~”

“…Ten million.”

“Well then, I guess I’ll head over to a news outlet. I think they’ll pay better. Take care!”

“Twenty million!”

There were fewer than two months left until the audition ended.

Twenty million won would be enough to cover Sihyeon’s hospital bills until my debut.

‘With this, I won’t have to worry about hospital expenses until I debut.’

“Sounds good. Twenty million it is. Cash only, and immediately. I don’t want any transaction records.”

“…Ha.”

Kim Moonsu let out a hollow laugh and signed the agreement first.

“I’ll sign too.”

I picked up the fountain pen, smooth ink flowing from the tip, and firmly wrote my name on the signature line.

As I completed the final stroke of my signature, it felt as though some of the heavy burden weighing on my chest finally lifted.

Sihyeon’s hospital expenses were secured.

☆☆☆

In my musty semi-basement studio apartment, I waited for Episode 4 of ‘Star Picking 5’ to begin while replying to the backlog of messages one by one.

[I heard you were discharged today. Are you feeling okay? Will you be able to appear tomorrow?]

The first message was from one of the show’s writers, a routine check-in and confirmation that I wouldn’t be dropping out.

[Hello, Writer. Thank you for your concern. I’m feeling fine and can participate as scheduled tomorrow. Also, since I collapsed during filming, I’d like to process it as a workplace injury. When would that be possible?]

[That’s such a relief! I’ll ask the relevant staff about the workplace injury claim and get back to you. Get plenty of rest and see you tomorrow.]

That “relief” was probably relief that I wasn’t causing a scheduling problem.

Legally, a workplace injury claim was possible.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to prepare in case things got messy.

‘Just in case, maybe I should get ready beforehand.’

I replied to the trainees’ messages one by one as well.

There were messages from Rua and Yoo Hoseung too.

While replying to Kim Sunyoo, my phone suddenly vibrated intensely.

Bzzz… Bzzz…

A familiar name appeared on the screen.

[Seo Hayul]

‘I replied to him first. Why is he calling?’

“Hello?”

[Hyyyuuuung!

“What’s wrong?”

[Are you okay?! I went to visit you in the hospital, and when they told me you’d checked out right after waking up, do you know how shocked I was?!]

“It wasn’t immediately. I got the basic examinations done first.”

[That’s not the point! Someone unconscious for six days shouldn’t be leaving the hospital right away!]

“Ah… I had something I needed to do. And I’m fine.”

I really was.

The penalty had felt as if my body had been forcibly shut down.

Those six days felt completely erased.

My body had simply restarted with no memory of them.

‘Honestly, after resting that long, I even feel less tired than before.’

[Sigh… What am I supposed to do with you, hyung?]

“Were you worried?”

[Of course I was! But hearing your voice now makes me feel better.]

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

[Hyyyuuuung!]

Ignoring Hayul’s continued protests, I opened an idol community website.

‘I couldn’t search for anything while I was unconscious.’

It was time to check the reactions to the position evaluation performances.

A review post uploaded six days ago had accumulated an enormous number of views and reached the HOT section.

‘Let’s start with the top post.’

> Review of attending the first Star Picking 5 competition.

> Because of the NDA, I can’t talk about vote counts or detailed stuff, so this’ll be vague.

> First of all, there were 15 teams.

> Some teams were really good.

> Some teams were absolutely terrible.

> Everyone only got two votes, so teams performing earlier definitely had an advantage.

> The performances were split into vocal, dance, and rap categories, and the order was random, so it was frustrating not knowing when my favorite trainee would appear.

> Basically, I spent most of the time waiting.

> My legs hurt like hell.

> Fifteen teams are too many, so I’ll only talk about the memorable ones.

> First was the team with ‘that famous Gwangalli dancer.’

> I had high expectations since they performed “Neon Promise,” and honestly, the overall performance didn’t surpass the original group.

> But the dancer guy absolutely surpassed the original performers.

> His dancing was insane…ㅠㅠ

> He’s not even my favorite, but after seeing him dance, I instantly understood why people say he dances in a way that keeps you hooked.

> Honestly, the dancing was legendary.

> The stage felt like “the dancer and his children” because he stood out that much.

> The second team was honestly kindergarten recital level.

> The only trainee I remember is Yoo Hoseung because he was ridiculously handsome.

> Compared to the first team, though, they were just… cute.

> As for vote counts…

> I’ll stop there lol.

> …

> The rap stages were mostly average, but one team stood out.

> Was it the Strong Team?

> The gray cat was flying all over the stage.

> Then came the performance right before the last one… my favorite, Sunyoo!!!

> Seriously, he was the perfect embodiment of “model student idol.”

> Ha…

> His dancing, singing, and even the way he looked at the camera were perfect.

> This was what people mean when they say “born to be an idol.”

> He absolutely destroyed the stage, so make sure you watch it when the episode airs.

> Then came the final performance.

> It was a vocal stage, so I was already getting ready to leave.

> Then out of nowhere, they started acting cute, and I stopped packing to pay attention.

> There were a bunch of handsome guys, and honestly, they could really sing.

> I felt bad because it seemed like they got fewer votes than their performance deserved.

> Being last probably hurt them because people had already used up their votes.

> Honestly, I’m glad my favorite wasn’t the final performance.

– Lucky you. Who did you vote for?

ㄴ My favorite, Sunyu, and the first performance. Honestly, the first team’s dancing hypnotized me into voting.

– I heard the waiting time was insanely long. Was it rough?

ㄴ It was ridiculously long. The judges got to sit while we stood there for hours. It pissed me off. But seeing Sunyu’s face made it worth it.

– The performances were basically school talent-show level. Why are you hyping them up so much?

ㄴ Depends on the team.

– Honestly, seeing all those good-looking trainees made the wait worth it.

ㄴ Once they get more popular, we’ll never get to see them this close again ㅠㅠ

– Isn’t it a stretch to say the Gwangalli dancer surpassed the original group during “Neon Promise”? How can a trainee outperform a top-tier idol group?

ㄴ Yeah, sounds fake.

ㄴ OP acts like they’re a Kim Sunyoo fan, but they’re probably actually a Kang Chan fan.

ㄴ I heard Yoo Haein was the MC. I’m so jealous of everyone who saw her in person.

As expected, it had been a mission that heavily favored the teams performing earlier.

“Well, Kang Chan ‘was’ really good.”

I continued scrolling through posts.

> The live voting heavily favored trainees with higher recognition.

> It basically turned into Yoo Hoseung’s team vs. Kang Chan’s team.

> The vote difference wasn’t even that large.

> That’s honestly ridiculous.

> It was a dance-position battle too.

> Once the broadcast airs, the skill gap is going to be obvious.