Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 171

“Huh?”

 

‘This guy seriously needs to calm down…’

 

“What did that bastard Seo Dongkwon say to you, Unha?”

 

‘That expression isn’t something an idol should be making, Haejun hyung… You’re seriously terrifying.’

 

“Did he bully you? He did, didn’t he? Don’t leave out a single detail. Tell me everything.”

 

‘I’d honestly prefer the codename <Wizard> version of you. He’s less scary than this, Haejun hyung.’

 

“Did he hit you? Is that what happened?”

 

‘Hit me? Of course not. That would have caused a massive scandal. No matter how crazy he is… surely he wouldn’t go that far….’

 

He looked far more agitated than I had anticipated. He was punctuating every sentence with profanities; I couldn’t even tell if I was talking to Kim Taeyeol or Kim Haejun anymore.

 

‘Has his mental state gotten worse than I thought?’

 

Being backed into a corner seemed to have made him hyper-sensitive. His eyes were hollow, as if he hadn’t slept at all. At this point, I even wondered whether provoking him any further would do more harm than good. He was so unlike the usual Kim Haejun that it felt dangerous.

 

‘Should I… just leave him be? Tell him nothing happened?’

 

“Huh…? Yes?”

 

“Tell me. Quickly.”

 

“Huh? N-No, it’s…”

 

I was at a crossroads. I considered just glossing it over and saying nothing happened, but the situation was already at a point where hiding it was impossible. In the end, I had no choice but to tell a carefully edited version of the truth.

 

“Well….”

 

I told him exactly what I had told actor Kim Jonghoo just moments ago.

 

“And so….”

 

I explained that I hadn’t been able to greet him properly, and that he had used that as an excuse to corner me in the bathroom and scold me. Naturally, I didn’t describe the actual argument we had.

 

I focused on portraying Lee Unha as the victim, describing the scene with an active, somewhat rambling urgency. I even let my emotions well up enough to show tears in my eyes. I had decided to stick to the plan: push Kim Haejun’s buttons and provoke him.

 

“That’s how it happened. It wasn’t actually a big deal. I made a mistake too, after all.”

 

“…….”

 

“So….”

 

Of course, it didn’t take long for me to realize that my choice might have been a mistake.

 

Kim Haejun’s expression was even darker than before. To exaggerate a little, he had the eyes of an assassin.

 

‘Are you okay?’

 

“F*ck, seriously….”

 

‘Are you really okay?’

 

“Sigh… Unha, you stay out of this. I’ll handle it myself.”

 

‘No. What are you going to handle? Just stay still and make music.’

 

“Those bastards, seriously… even here….”

 

“No, hyung. Wait a second.”

 

“I’ll make sure that bastard can’t even touch a hair on your head.”

 

“No, wait! I’m fine, hyung. I’m really fine.”

 

I was actually scared because I had no idea what he was planning to do. He was already striding toward the door. I had to scramble to stop him. I didn’t know what he intended to do, but I knew that whatever choice Kim Haejun made at this point wouldn’t end well.

 

‘What… are you going to transform into <Wizard> and cast a curse?’

 

“Hyung! I’m really okay! It’s no big deal!”

 

‘Or are you going to post a direct attack on SNS? You know that’s a terrible idea, right? Engaging in an open dogfight is stupid. Starting a live stream or posting weird things on [GIFT]—you know all those solutions in your head right now are nonsense, right?’

 

“Please don’t!”

 

‘Are you going to contact Seo Dongkwon directly? Do you think that’s a rational choice? To tell him to shut up before you blab about JH? Is that what you’re thinking?’

 

Every single one of those was a bad option. The first wasn’t even realistically possible, and the second and third were tantamount to scoring an own goal.

 

Especially the second one. There was nothing uglier than idols publicly attacking each other on social media. It might be interesting gossip for the public, but there was absolutely no reason for us to risk everything just to drag ourselves down to their level.

 

‘Fantasia already has the upper hand. Why would we stoop to some pointless public mudfight?’

 

Normally, Kim Haejun would have realized all of this. But not now. Perhaps because he had the memory of losing JH right before his eyes, he seemed to be dominated by the thought that he must succeed in doing what he couldn’t do back then.

 

‘I need to be direct.’’

 

I grabbed his collar tight and spoke with a firm voice. Of course, I had to maintain the sad undertone.

 

“I’m really fine.”

 

“How can you be fine? Unha… I… I know you’re not. I can tell just by looking at you….”

 

“But it’ll be a problem for me….”

 

“What?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re planning… but you acting like this actually makes things harder for me.”

 

“…….”

 

“You know I’m not some helpless little kid. We’re only going to be together for the duration of the shoot anyway….”

 

“…….”

 

“Our filming schedules don’t overlap that much. And the other actors are helping me a lot.”

 

“…….”

 

“You aren’t planning on contacting them, are you? And you won’t post any snipes on SNS, right? Promise me.”

 

“Unha.”

 

“Don’t lower yourself to his level.”

 

“…….”

 

“Don’t react emotionally. I don’t know exactly what you went through in [TOP9]… but things are different now. I can handle it. I have the <Fantasia> members… everyone is helping me. Even if it’s hard, I’ll get through it.”

 

I showcased a steadfastness that wouldn’t buckle under any adversity. It was the correct argument, a quote that had no reason to be rebutted.

 

As I conveyed my emotions, even layering in a bit of <Siren’s Voice>, I saw Kim Haejun finally calm down a little. He seemed to realize that his current behavior was driven purely by emotion. The sympathy lingering in his eyes, however, remained unchanged. He clearly felt sorry for Lee Unha, a boy so young, trapped in a situation where there seemed to be no good choice at all.

 

‘I guess he’s still overlapping me with JH.’

 

I wasn’t sure if it was because I was tired, but that was exactly how it felt.

 

“Leave the complicated stuff to the company; let’s just focus on working hard. I got cast in this project pretty suddenly, but I’m really going to give it everything I’ve got.”

 

“…….”

 

“I’m not doing it for myself; I’m going to work hard for you, Haejun hyung.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I know you have bad feelings toward [TOP9]. I don’t know the exact circumstances of why you left that agency, but I’m going to work hard anyway. Seeing you like this today just made me even more determined.”

 

“Oh….”

 

“You know what they say. The best revenge is showing them your success.”

 

I lightened the mood with a small smile, acting as if I were joking.

 

“…….”

 

But Kim Haejun didn’t seem to take it as a joke.

 

“Right….”

 

“…….”

 

“That’s… that’s how you get revenge… You’re right. I’ll work hard too. You work hard as well, Unha.”

 

After a brief hug, I watched Kim Haejun walk away. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking… but it was certain that a fire was lit in his eyes.

 

‘Something is coming. Something big is definitely coming.’

 

I saw Kim Haejun stumbling like a zombie toward the studio to bury himself in work again. Judging by the atmosphere, a masterpiece was about to be born.

 

‘Is he going to produce something by tomorrow at this rate?’

 

It wasn’t a completely nonsensical thought. This had happened before. When I performed the death of Graham the revolutionary, he had suddenly locked himself in his room and come out with a song. It felt exactly like that. It was hard to explain, but it felt like he was about to achieve something.

 

‘Or not? Surely he wouldn’t ignore my advice and open up a gladiator arena on SNS immediately, right?’

 

I was puzzled because he seemed angrier than necessary….

 

But looking at what Seo Dongkwon was doing….

 

‘Ah. This is worth being angry about.’

 

I realized it was justified.

 

[Seo Dongkwon: Ah… seriously… I wasn’t going to say this… but juniors these days really have no manners.]

 

‘This guy is a piece of work. He actually started a livestream?’

 

[Seo Dongkwon: No… no… of course I can’t tell you exactly what happened. How could I? I’m not targeting anyone specifically. No! Stop! [9S]! It’s not good to suspect people recklessly like that. I don’t want articles written about this; I just want it to pass quietly… but I’m human too; sometimes I just want to tell people how I really feel… Let’s just keep this between ourselves.]

 

‘No wonder the media picked it up.’

 

[Seo Dongkwon: Honestly… no. Never mind. It’s just… I’m fine with being ignored, but when I’m ignored, I feel like our [9S] are being ignored too, so I just felt bad. I thought since we work in the same industry, we should work with mutual respect. I guess the times have changed a lot.]

 

‘What do you mean times have changed? Your group isn’t even that much older than ours.’

 

Success is the best revenge. I had spoken those boastful words to Kim Haejun, but watching that bastard’s brilliant acting take over the communities made my blood boil. I almost felt like turning on a live stream myself to fight fire with fire.

 

‘Does he not know our fandom is way bigger?’

 

“…….”

 

‘Where is all this confidence coming from?’

 

“…….”

 

‘Why is he even picking this fight?’

 

If his goal was to damage Lee Unha’s personal reputation, I couldn’t say it wasn’t effective. It was an undeniable fact that my image was worsening among the public due to things like the appearance fee issue.

 

Until [Zombie] aired… more precisely, until Lee Unha proved his acting skills… this situation would likely persist. Being mocked by various posts and getting beaten down by public scrutiny would be my daily life.

 

But reality wasn’t that simple. That was the perspective of the public who didn’t know the situation on the ground….

 

For the actors and staff working on set, it was a different story.

 

Sure enough.

 

‘Looks like someone stepped in to defend me.’

 

I saw articles popping up. The interesting part was that these articles weren’t just simple pieces comforting Lee Unha.

 

[Actor Byeon Yongseok breaks his silence on Lee Unha controversy. ‘A rude junior? Groundless. If anything, he raised the level of focus during the script reading… He had a positive influence on everyone… There are many rookie actors who can’t keep up with Actor Lee Unha. Envious stares also….”] [Goryeo Ilbo, Reporter Kim Jinhwan]

 

‘Wow, Grandfather… did your steering wheel break or something….’

 

[Actor Byeon Yongseok: Boomer culture in the broadcasting industry must disappear….] [Goryeo Ilbo, Reporter Kim Jinhwan]

 

‘Wait… they’re a major agency, is it okay to go this far? Grandfather? You’re basically branding Seo Dongkwon as an old-school bully.’

 

[Actor Byeon Yongseok: ‘There are too many rookie actors who aren’t properly prepared. Character matters even more than acting.’ ‘The right path for an actor is to strive instead of envying others….’] [Goryeo Ilbo, Reporter Kim Jinhwan]

 

Seeing him go on a rampage like that…. I felt like I wanted to adopt Grandpa Byeon as my real grandfather.

 

It wasn’t just Grandpa Byeon; it seemed other actors had given short interviews as well. <Aether>, who had been getting pummeled by [9S] in every community….

 

The signal fire for a counter-attack was lit.

 

‘Is this guy actually going to get kicked off the drama after all?’