The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol Chapter 43

Chapter 43

 

“…Huh?”

“We need a sub-vocal in our team too.”

Looking at the flustered team members, I briefed them on everything I had organized in my head.

The trainees’ expressions, which had been troubled at first, gradually became resolute before they finally nodded.

Now all that remained was legally working them hard for a week.

 

☆☆☆

 

Practice progressed quite smoothly.

It was thanks to the trainees finally waking up and understanding the reason after receiving harsh criticism from the judges.

There wasn’t much time left, but considering the circumstances, we had handled the group project fairly well.

“Alright, the underage trainees should head back to the dorm now.”

As soon as the clock struck exactly 10 PM, I started ushering Seo Hayul and the long-haired trainee out.

“Ah… Hyung!”

“Can’t we practice just a little longer?”

“Nope. Growing teenagers should be sleeping at this hour.”

“But the other teams aren’t saying anything…”

“You don’t want to grow taller?”

“…”

With puffed-up expressions, Seo Hayul and the long-haired trainee were practically pushed out of the practice room.

Only after locking the practice room door did I see the silhouettes of the two disappearing down the hallway.

“Let’s continue practicing.”

Yoon Minsu nodded with an exhausted expression.

“Siwoo, you’re really strict.”

For reference, ever since the team members started cooperating, we had begun speaking casually with one another.

‘We’re on the same team, after all. Having older people constantly speak formally felt awkward.’

And since we were even sharing a room, staying distant was exactly the kind of thing that could spark controversy, so I immediately cleaned up our relationship dynamics.

“The fact that you’re saying that means you’re still doing alright, Minsu-hyung. Let’s start practicing again!”

“Ughhh…”

The now overly familiar song, ‘The Story That Couldn’t End’, flowed through the speakers.

We practiced for another two hours, matching the new arrangement and choreography.

Then…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Someone pounded violently on the practice room door.

We immediately stopped moving.

‘What?’

“Who is it?”

“Hyung! Something terrible happened!”

Hearing the panicked voice of the long-haired trainee I had sent away earlier, I hurried to open the door.

Standing there was the trainee, drenched in cold sweat and holding a cellphone.

“What happened?”

“Look at this.”

“Weren’t you supposed to turn in your phone?”

“That’s not important right now. Hurry!”

I took the black rectangular phone from him.

A familiar website was displayed on the screen.

One of the major idol communities I often browsed.

 

> [(HOT!) S.H.Y is a school violence perpetrator…]

 

“What the…?”

‘Seo Hayul is a school bully?’

Of all people, that label was attached to Seo Hayul?

I had been too busy practicing lately to browse online much.

Learning that posts like this had spread during that time was genuinely shocking.

When I clicked on the sensational title, the contents were even worse.

 

> [(HOT!) S.H.Y is a school violence perpetrator. He crippled a classmate’s leg, and now he’s appearing on TV trying to debut. Disgusting.

> Just like the title says.

> S.H.Y, a participant from the rapidly rising ‘Star Picking 5’, is a school violence perpetrator.

> I’m sick of fangirls worshipping a bully, so I’m posting this.

> There were three trainees from Planet Entertainment at G.R. Middle School. S.H.Y crippled one of them and ruined his chance to debut, even though he was originally in the debut lineup.

> Anyone who attended the school already knows this.

> Watching someone like that act innocent and cry on a survival show gives me chills.

> If he has any conscience, he should apologize to the victim and withdraw.

> (+Additional) Since some people don’t believe me, I’m uploading my graduation album to prove I attended G.R. Middle School.

> (++Additional) I also just took a picture of my school uniform and uploaded it.]

 

Below the post was a verification photo of a G.R. Middle School graduation album.

Underneath that was a blurry picture of a school uniform.

The school logo of G.R. Middle School was clearly visible on the chest.

There were several scandals that idols absolutely had to avoid at all costs.

Violence, drugs, crime, promiscuous scandals involving the opposite sex…

And among them was school violence.

This was the kind of controversy that could socially bury someone alive.

 

– I knew it from his face. He already looked like a thug.

  ㄴ Physiognomy never lies.

  ㄴ Guess he acts exactly how he looks.

– People with scandals like this shouldn’t even think about appearing on TV. Does he even have a brain?

  ㄴ Exactly.

  ㄴ What era do you think this is? You thought you could hide it?

  ㄴ All school bullies deserve divine punishment!

  ㄴ He’s not even human.

– I attended G.R. Middle School too. It’s true.

  ㄴ Really?

  ㄴ Yep. Everyone at school knew about it.

 

The news of a new target had spread perfectly.

People were gathering at an exponential rate.

“Where’s Seo Hayul?”

“The production staff took him away.”

My body moved before my mind could.

“Siwoo-hyung…! What are you planning to do?!”

Without even looking back, I sprinted down the hallway like a madman.

 

☆☆☆

 

Bang!

The conference room door slammed violently against the wall as the handle was forcefully turned.

The air trembled.

Every gaze in the room instantly turned toward the doorway.

“Haa… haa…”

‘Found him.’

I saw the stiff-faced staff members.

And Seo Hayul, his eyes red and swollen.

“Cha Siwoo? How did you get here?”

After calming my ragged breathing, I answered.

“Because I’m the team leader.”

The moment our eyes met, the gray cat burst into tears.

“We’re discussing something serious right now. Could you please leave?”

The staff pointed firmly toward the door.

“What kind of conversation are you planning to have with a minor sitting here alone at this hour? As team leader, I should act as his guardian. I’ll listen too.”

As soon as I sat beside Seo Hayul, the staff’s expressions stiffened even further.

“Ha… Fine.”

Reluctantly, they nodded and placed a tablet on the table.

Displayed on the screen was the community post I’d just seen.

“You know the internet is in chaos right now, right?”

Sniff… 

“Yes.”

“How are you going to resolve this?”

Sob!

Seo Hayul only swallowed his tears, looking utterly terrified.

“I’ll handle it.”

Every gaze that had been directed at Seo Hayul shifted to me.

“How exactly, Cha Siwoo?”

“Honestly, it’s obvious this post is fake.”

“What?”

“Let’s start with the photos. These aren’t photos he personally took.”

“…Huh?”

Looking at the confused staff, I pointed at the tablet.

“Normally, photos contain metadata. You can check the shooting time, camera model, location, camera settings, and so on. Look at this.”

I opened the image information.

The location and camera settings were both displayed:

None

“This showing up as ‘None’ means the image was captured from somewhere else. It’s a screenshot.”

“…!”

“Look here. The uniform photo was supposedly taken right before the post was uploaded, right? But screenshots record the time the screenshot itself was taken. That’s solid evidence.”

The post specifically claimed that after people doubted him, he immediately took a photo of the school uniform and uploaded it.

If the post were true, the photo’s original shooting timestamp should have been later than the post itself.

But when checking the metadata, the timestamp was actually from before the post was uploaded.

That alone was evidence that the story was fabricated.

“So we’ve already proven that the claim about personally taking the photo is false, right? Which means the claim about being a classmate is probably false too. So then who’s the real liar here?”

To anyone looking objectively, the poster was clearly the one lying.

“…How do you even know this stuff?”

The staff looked completely bewildered.

“Just picked it up somehow. Besides, does Hayul seriously look like someone who’d bully people? If anything, he’d be the one getting bullied.”

At that moment, Seo Hayul visibly flinched.

‘I suspected it, but was it really true?’

“Even if that’s true, the problem is whether the public will believe us.”

“That’s right. Public opinion is really bad right now.”

With controversies like this, speed was everything.

If you didn’t put out the fire immediately, it would grow into an uncontrollable blaze.

“First, let’s reveal that the photos in the post aren’t original photos but screenshots.”

“But before that, there’s something we need to verify.”

The staff looked at Seo Hayul with firm eyes.

“Seo Hayul. If you keep sitting there crying without saying anything, we can’t solve this.”

They were right.

Even if we wanted to help him, we needed the facts.

After a long silence, Seo Hayul swallowed his tears.

“Actually…”

Silence lingered.

Several minutes passed.

Finally, he spoke.

“I was the one being bullied.”

The moment his miserable voice echoed through the room, it felt as though a stone crashed down into my chest.

“I wasn’t bullied from the very beginning. He used to be a friend who took care of me.”

“…”

“The problem started after we entered middle school. Bad kids who judged people by appearances started hanging around him.”

“…”

“They kept trying to drag me into things students shouldn’t do. When I avoided them, the bullying became more aggressive. I think that’s when he started changing.”

Seo Hayul looked anxious and pained.

“Of course, part of it was my fault too. If I had told them to stop… if I had fought back instead of staying quiet, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten so bad.”

“How is that your fault? They’re clearly the ones who were wrong.”

“…This is why I like you, hyung.”

I gently patted his head.

The agony on his face seemed to ease slightly.

“I knew it was excessive, but back then, I don’t think I realized how wrong it was. Then one day during gym class, everything happened.”

“…”

“We were playing soccer during free time. I was always the goalkeeper.”

“The goalkeeper who was never allowed to stop goals.”

“…What?”

“While I was silently getting hit by every ball, that friend tried copying a shot he’d seen on TV. He overextended, lost his footing, and injured his own leg.”

“What an idiot. Serves him right.”

“…Haha.”

For the first time, Seo Hayul let out a relieved laugh.

“You’ve been through a lot, Seo Hayul.”

“Thank you for telling us.”

“At least now we know for certain that you’re not the perpetrator.”

At that moment, one of the writers spoke cautiously.

“Do you happen to have any classmates who could post a rebuttal?”

“…No. I don’t really have any friends.”

“Ah…”

The atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

“Then what if we simply announce that Seo Hayul was actually the victim?”

It was the fastest solution.

But it wasn’t a pleasant one.

What victim would willingly publicize their own suffering?

After shooting the thoughtless staff member a glance, I spoke.

“Let’s first expose the fact that both the photos and the story are fake. Then we issue a warning that spreading false information about trainees will result in strong legal action.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Yes. The fact that they used initials instead of names already shows they’re scared of getting sued. A warning alone will probably make them delete the post.”

“Hmm…”

“And if they double down and act shamelessly, we can reveal the truth later. It won’t be too late.”

“That makes sense.”

There wouldn’t be any shameless retaliation.

‘Because I’ll deal with it before it ever reaches that point.’