Chapter 55

Gowon’s eyes widened. Until then, he had kept his head held stiffly upright even in the face of Executive Director Choi’s threats.

“You’re all having quite a bit of fun in the middle of the night.”

“...Baek Hanje.”

“Let me join in too.”

***

Gowon still had not come back, and he was not answering his phone.

Nine o’clock had just turned into ten.

I knew his practice hours had grown considerably now that the choreography for his comeback song was finished. But lately, the guy who had taken over someone else’s kitchen had come home without fail every evening.

As though he had been entrusted with some sacred mission to feed me home-cooked meals instead of delivery food....

—The person you are calling is currently unavailable....

So yes, this was definitely strange.

When Gowon failed to answer the call I had made while telling myself it would be the last one, I spoke quietly.

“Gowon’s status window.”

A gray window appeared, filling my vision.

After standing me up, where the hell was he and what was he do—

Gowon

Stamina 46%

“...What?”

Gowon

Current Status: Hide Jung Yusang.

“...And what the hell is this now?”

For once, it seemed ready to show me exactly what was on his mind without censoring anything, yet all it gave me was something completely incomprehensible.

Jung Yusang was Newton’s youngest member, wasn’t he? The one who kept picking fights with Gowon....

What, did you finally snap and kidnap him?

Gowon

Current Status: Why are they trying to connect a victim of school violence with the perpetrator from another agency? He’s the victim here.

...Ah.

Looks like another piece of shit did horrible things in school and is still trying to become a celebrity.

There was one highly probable explanation for the situation.

“They must’ve taken money from the other agency.”

Gowon

Current Status: What are they trying to do to a kid?

“But do you really want to help Newton’s youngest member?”

Gowon

Current Status: Yes. Because this is completely wrong.

“......?!”

It had to be a coincidence, but his Current Status looked as though it had answered my question directly.

Gowon

Current Status: Should we run to Hanje’s studio?

“...Yeah. Even the CEO can’t touch you there.”

I sent the door-lock code to his phone.

I had no idea what exactly was happening, but he seemed to have gotten tangled up in something extremely filthy. Would it really be that easy to get away?

Especially when Gowon seems unusually vulnerable to bad luck.

“Haah....”

I rose from the spot on the sofa where Gowon always sat as though he had claimed the territory like a cat and picked up my car keys.

“You really are a high-maintenance junior.”

From here to the company at this hour, roughly....

“Run hard and hide well. Ten minutes should be enough.”

Gowon

Current Status: Costume storage room. It connects to a freight elevator, but... are people even allowed to ride this?

Gowon

Current Status: Is he hurt? It can’t be helped. I’ll have to carry him.

“Huh.”

Just as I started the engine and was about to leave the parking garage, the genre abruptly changed. What was this kid doing, filming a horror game?

Apparently, his attempt to flee to my studio had failed.

Meanwhile, the coldly indifferent quest window remained silent, apparently deciding that this was not a problem that would interfere with “Gowon’s success as an idol.”

Well, strictly speaking, Gowon was not the one in danger. It was that kid Jung Yusang.

As the chase continued, Gowon’s Stamina dropped rapidly. It made sense. He was running for his life without even eating after an exhausting practice session. And hadn’t he said he was carrying someone too?

Gowon

Current Status: We can escape if we reach the underground parking garage.

Around then, my foot pressed harder against the accelerator.

I arrived at the company in a hurry and headed toward the loudest area.

Combined with the sight of the company building with all its lights turned off, it was such a heartwarming spectacle I could have cried.

“You’re all doing such wonderful things in the middle of the night.”

Bang!

With a deafening crash, I kicked one of the cars parked aboveground.

“Mind letting me join?”

I had no idea whose car it was, but an expensive imported car waiting at the company this late at night with a chauffeur in tow hardly seemed likely to belong to a decent person.

Sure enough, Executive Director Choi’s face twisted violently. Apparently, I had guessed correctly.

Beep, beep. The car, now dented at one corner, emitted a shrill alarm. As the small disturbance grew loud, panic spread across the faces of the fucking bastards gathered there.

I advanced toward the scene one step at a time.

“Am I really seeing what I think I’m seeing? Division Four may be a pack of antiquated assholes, but I never imagined you’d go as far as playing gangster with kids.”

All six members of Newton were there, along with Gowon.

They looked young enough that I could have believed this was a high-school classroom after dismissal.

On the other side stood adults thoroughly poisoned by society, apparently having lost their minds.

I supposed that was why my place was between them.

“Executive Director, should we subdue him?”

“Are you insane? That’s Young Ace! Don’t touch him!”

Apparently, he still possessed a microscopic scrap of intelligence befitting an entertainment-company executive.

Executive Director Choi understood that whatever he might gain by forcibly dragging Newton away from here would be dwarfed by the loss and fallout if I were injured and raised hell over it.

“Haah. Baek Hanje, I think there’s been some misunderstanding.”

“Yes. This really is the sort of situation that had better be a misunderstanding.”

I deliberately surveyed the pitch-black scene at a leisurely pace. One bastard hurried into the imported car and shut off the alarm. Once it stopped, murmurs drifted toward us from people wondering what was happening. Entertainment companies always had employees working late.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“.......”

“Don’t feel like it? Then what do you say we all appear in the crime section together? If I were you, I’d go figure out what excuses I’m going to spout at tomorrow’s meeting.”

“...Baek Hanje, watch your mouth.”

“Why should I? The person who did something wrong is the one who needs to watch what he says.”

“Executive Director. Somyeong Entertainment says....”

A Division Four employee leaned in and relayed something to Executive Director Choi. In the direction he vaguely pointed, a van was hurriedly pulling away.

“Looks like they’re making a run for it. See? People outside K-Dom have no loyalty. Why neglect your own people to take care of someone else’s?”

“.......”

Executive Director Choi’s vicious gaze swept over me and everyone nearby. Standing with the younger artists behind me made my body tense even further.

“...Let’s go.”

In the end, he withdrew. Some people immediately followed him, while several others lingered indecisively, glancing toward Newton and shifting their feet.

“Guys... what happened? Huh? You’re all okay, right?”

And then there were those who looked just as frightened but rushed toward Newton first to check whether the members were safe.

I approached Newton’s leader.

“Don’t go back to your accommodations. Stay at a hotel or someone’s family home. Turn off every member’s phone.”

I held my card out in front of Nam Jeongho.

“...S-Senior, I....”

“Is this the time to worry about appearances? Move. Unless you want to keep making that guilty face forever.”

Nam Jeongho hesitated, then accepted the card. He lowered his head deeply before raising it again.

Soon afterward, Newton and the employees who had remained with them left as well.

A dim silence settled over the scene of the incident. Only Gowon and I were left.

“Ha....”

Executive Director Choi, that fucking bastard. I had tolerated him long enough....

He was consumed by greed, so I had assumed he was lining his pockets behind the scenes. But I had never thought he would go this far inside the company itself.

How was I supposed to deal with this? My head throbbed.

It was obvious Gowon had landed squarely on Executive Director Choi Dongjin’s bad side.

For now, the quest window was saying nothing. Did that mean he was not an immediate threat?

Or perhaps it was withholding a quest because getting rid of an executive was not an option. I could throw my weight around using Young Ace’s name, but in the end, I was still only a singer.

But putting all of that aside, there was something I absolutely had to say.

“Gowon.”

“...Yes, Hanje.”

“Forget what that son of a bitch said to you.”

Who the hell did he think he was, saying he would ruin someone? He was the one who deserved to be ruined.

If Gowon failed, then I failed. Young Ace failed. And then the whole world failed.

...And even if that were not the reason.

How could someone who lived so desperately yet still helped a senior who had tormented him when that senior was in danger be allowed to fail?

“You will never fail. Not even if you die. I’ll make sure you succeed so completely that no one in the world has anything you need to envy.”

“.......”

I firmly gripped the arm of the still-rigid Gowon.

“I told you I’d make sure the light above you never goes out.”

The stage spotlights you love so much—you deserve every bit of them.

You couldn’t fail even if you wanted to. Who did you think was going to grant that wish of yours, whatever it was?

“Come on, baby. Let’s go home. You must be exhausted after all that running. I’ll order you some meat.”

I got into the driver’s seat. Gowon followed and climbed into the passenger seat.

Normally, by this point, he would have muttered some complaint about being called a baby, but Gowon said nothing. Puzzled, I turned to look at him. His expression, illuminated by the interior light, was strange.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“Huh? Uh, yes...?”

Even his reaction was strange.

“Let me see. Did you get hurt while you were running away?”

“N-No. I’m not hurt anywhere!”

The bastard would rather die than tell a convincing lie. He claimed he was fine while refusing to meet my eyes, and even the glimpse I caught of his complexion looked odd.

Did you think I could only find out how you were doing by asking?

Flower Path. Open his status window. Stamina only.

A pink window popped into existence before my eyes.

...Pink?

It was definitely a desaturated gray before. Why did the color change?

While I stared in disbelief, the system window enlarged his Stamina as instructed....

Gowon

Stamina 130%

What the hell? He had energy to spare.

...Show me his Current Status.

Gowon

Current Status: ♥

“Huh?”

Gowon

Current Status: ■!!!

Ah. It must have been an error.