Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 44

Even now, comments were pouring in in real-time.

 

It went without saying that Kim Haejun was being heavily criticized, but Taehee, who had thrown himself into the fight first, was also finding it difficult to escape criticism. Regardless of the reason, since Jung Taehee was the one who had physically rushed in to start a fistfight, he was receiving his fair share of flak.

 

Still, the people criticizing Taehee were in the minority. The vast majority of public opinion was far more favorable toward Jung Taehee than Kim Haejun.

 

At the very least, No. 123—Taehee—had the justification that he was fighting to protect Lee Unha. More crucially, the problem was that Kim Haejun’s behavior simply didn’t look normal.

 

No matter how you looked at the footage…

 

‘He just looks… like a psycho. A total psycho.’

 

To anyone watching, he seemed completely out of his mind. He was screaming profanities at the top of his lungs, losing his temper, and turning the entire atmosphere into a disaster like an unleashed beast.

 

Not only had he pushed down Lee Unha, who had come to break up the fight, but he had eventually pinned down the fragile No. 123 and rained down punches indiscriminately. It was a situation that was impossible to defend.

 

The scene already looked problematic enough, but the physical disparity between them made him look even more like a villain. If Taehee had been the same size as Kim Haejun or had put up a decent fight, public opinion wouldn’t have been this one-sided.

 

In fact, the reactions in the mounting comments were so vicious that even I felt a chill.

 

 @KKTTasd: I don’t even know what I just watched… wow, simply amazing. Just amazing.

 @yean9903: Fans who liked Kim Haejun from the start know…ㅋ they were just turning a blind eye to it.

 ↳ @user-nd9hl3888zz: Setting this incident aside, I have no idea what fans were supposedly ignoring. Acting like you know everything.

 ↳ @green6932: Isn’t it a fact that he’s controversial?

 

 @user-uc8cc3et5j: Wow… my hands are literally shaking. I wonder if that was always his personality… Hearing him swear was a total shock… Compared to when he was doing the abandoned school experience with Lee Unha, he feels like a completely different person. It’s scary.

 

 @cheseses: I think I see why things didn’t work out with YM. It probably wasn’t a mutual termination; he was basically kicked out. I’m worried Unha and Taehee are going to suffer because of this.

 

 @user-ab9xm7pq55: Taehee and Unha must be really close… The way Taehee lunged in the second Unha fell is just…

 ↳ @user-va5ev34s8e: They’ve always been close. They’re roommates.

 

 @hi_gogo123: I don’t think a kid like this should debut.

 

 @sherdan909: Leave the show.

 

 @anmi651: Withdraw.

 

 @user-cq7p44pa9s: I hope he’s removed from the show. I’m scared someone else might get hurt.

 

It had only been a few minutes since I’d started watching, but it didn’t look like things would calm down anytime soon. Moreover… I suspected it would only burn brighter as time went on.

 

Regardless, the incident was generating massive buzz. I didn’t want to think this way, but it was highly likely the broadcasting station would probably try to sweep everything under the rug. They would probably take Kim Haejun and Taehee for interviews under the guise of counseling and end it by encouraging them to reconcile.

 

‘At this rate… Kim Haejun is definitely going to be eliminated….’

 

JH’s face was pale; he seemed to be thinking the same thing. But a few seconds later, he looked relieved again.

 

— Th-thank goodness. I think it’s been deleted.

 

‘You think that’s a good thing? You think it’s over just because it was deleted?’

 

Naturally, I had to point out the reality.

 

“They probably deleted it because they realized things were getting out of hand. It’s not exactly a ‘thank goodness’ situation.”

 

— What?

 

“How long was it up? Ten minutes? Look at the comments. I guarantee it’s already spread everywhere. I bet if you go into any community site right now, you can find the video of those two fighting. Hell, it’s probably even reached communities that have nothing to do with idols…”

 

— What…?

 

“It’s not a common sight. Idol Classism is already a hot topic, and a video of two idol trainees tangled up and rolling on the floor is prime clickbait. From our perspective here, it just looked like they were throwing weak punches, but on video, it looked pretty brutal.”

 

— W-what should we do?

 

“How should I know? I’m completely overwhelmed myself. I don’t even know where to start cleaning this up. Actually, before that, I’m not even sure whether it’s worth trying to clean it up anymore.”

 

— You… you aren’t going to help fix it?

 

“It’s not like I have the power to control public opinion.”

 

— B-but… you’re a shaman. You can solve this.

 

“How am I supposed to solve this? This is…”

 

— St-still… Ah! P-please solve this!

 

“Pardon?”

 

— I’m telling you to solve it! Help… help our Haejun hyung debut! Th-that’s what I want.

 

“…….”

 

— I won’t accept any other conditions! You have to help him! You absolutely have to.

 

‘Good grief…’

 

He was practically throwing a tantrum. A hollow laugh escaped me.

 

“Hyung. Be quiet.”

 

— Uh…

 

“This is a mutual contract, but you aren’t the one in power. It’s common sense that the spellcaster holds the cards. Maybe it’d be different if you were a high-level evil spirit, but you’re not. More importantly, I’m not Superman. Once public opinion has shifted this far, it doesn’t matter how badly I want to debut with Haejun hyung—it simply isn’t possible.”

 

— St-still… other than that… I won’t accept the contract. At… at least… help him be able to continue his career normally. Th-this isn’t right. It’s strange. Suddenly…

 

I shifted my gaze slightly. I saw JH trembling. I could feel a resolve that wouldn’t buckle, even under my threat. His eyes held a strange determination to see Kim Haejun debut no matter what.

 

‘What a pain.’

 

If I were a high-level black mage, I might have a way to forcefully erase that soul, but unfortunately, I didn’t have that kind of knowledge or ability. My tough talk earlier was just a bluff.

 

I could even feel a strange, lingering resentment from JH that I hadn’t felt before. Sure enough, he started spouting lines that didn’t fit his character. It was a typical symptom.

 

— I’ll curse you…. I-I’ll curse you.

 

‘What’s gotten into this guy?’

 

-This is all because someone… someone is targeting Haejun hyung….

 

‘What kind of bullsh—’

 

“Huh?”

 

— Ye-yes?

 

“Wait a second.”

 

— Wh-what’s wrong? What is it?

 

“You said someone was targeting Kim Haejun.”

 

— D-did I say that?

 

“Suddenly, that sounds quite persuasive.”

 

I looked at the bracelet on JH’s right hand. For some reason, it made the idea even more convincing. Souls normally didn’t manifest small accessories like that. Most likely, it had appeared because it had been something JH treasured deeply while he was alive.

 

“That bracelet.”

 

— Ah! The bracelet…

 

“Is it like a friendship bracelet?”

 

— Ah… yes!

 

JH raised his arm, revealing a simple bracelet around his wrist.

 

— But… why do you…

 

“I told you earlier. I don’t know who it is, but it looks like someone set Kim Haejun up to screw him over.”

 

— Wh-what?

 

Recalling the video that had been uploaded earlier, my conviction only grew stronger. Of course, I knew it was a crazy thought. This wasn’t some slave dormitory in another world; it was a place where young people gathered to chase their dreams of becoming idols.

 

But even so, it didn’t mean accidents and schemes never happened.

 

Since it was a point where objective evaluations of each other had concluded, anyone who believed they were within the reach of debut range would naturally become even more desperate.

 

Someone who knew Kim Haejun was obsessed with that bracelet probably made a move to provoke him. Thinking back to the timing of the video’s upload, and the way the camera had moved as though the person filming had already decided in advance to capture exactly this moment…. I couldn’t help thinking it was entirely possible.

 

‘Maybe they even knew it was a friendship bracelet he matched with JH….’

 

The bracelet was visible in every single photo on Kim Haejun’s SNS… It wouldn’t have been difficult for someone to figure it out.

 

‘Wow. Is this for real? It’s a total jungle here.’

 

— Th-then what do we do? We have to catch the culprit. Right? And then we just clear Haejun hyung’s name, right?

 

“There’s no such thing as completely clearing his name. The fact remains that Haejun hyung became violent. If there’s a legitimate reason, people might forgive him to some extent, but that kind of image doesn’t disappear overnight. Still….”

 

— Yes.

 

“If there really is a trainee trying to screw Haejun hyung over, he won’t be completely ruined. In fact, he might take off by using media play with stories related to you.”

 

— Th-that could happen? Th-then please find the culprit quickly. I-I’ll make that my request. Please?!

 

“Wait. Don’t be so hasty. It’s not a situation where I can just point at someone and call them the culprit.”

 

I did feel like things had become excessively tangled.

 

I only wanted to dig into Kim Haejun’s past, but somehow I had ended up on a quest to find a bracelet thief. I thought deeply about whether Kim Haejun was really a member worth the effort to recruit, but it was still hard to make a judgment.

 

However…

 

After organizing my thoughts in various ways:

 

“I’ll think about it.”

 

— What? Re-really?

 

“I’m not saying I’m going to do anything extraordinary. He’s talented and has a good personality… so I thought… it would be good if he were a member.”

 

Call it a whim, or call it stubbornness. Honestly, if this were a slave dormitory, I wouldn’t have made this choice… but for some reason, I found myself wanting to reach out a hand.

 

It was because the thought crossed my mind that Joo Wooyoung would have made the same choice.

 

No… that was part of it, but…

 

‘It’s still better than letting that sociopath become one of the members.’

 

There was a slightly more calculated reason behind it.

 

I was certain that whoever stole the bracelet was also someone within the debut range—someone in the top 10 of the follower rankings.