Chapter 57

Then the album quality would naturally improve.

“.......”

Was the problem a faint prick of conscience?

I had felt it before, but this quest window was rather lacking in humanity.

Even the way it looked after Gowon was slightly different from simply doting on him.

It was closer to preventing things that might interfere with his success, such as severe damage to his Mental Strength or getting on a producer’s bad side.

...Newton’s downfall, and... Gowon’s Rookie of the Year award, the objective of this quest.

It was only late spring. No one knew where a new rookie might suddenly emerge from.

And because Gowon was a soloist, there was a limit to the amount of original content he could produce, so it was difficult to expect much fan growth through that route either.

Even with strong debut results, it was not a situation where we could be completely certain of Rookie of the Year.

So the more guarantees we had, the better.

My finger moved through the contacts saved on my phone.

At this point in my career, it was not as though I knew no reporters. I had more than enough connections to spread this story everywhere.

Newton wants Executive Director Choi to get screwed too. At this point, it’s a win-win for both sides.

“.......”

All right. Do I do it or not?

While I was debating, someone knocked on the studio door.

The rhythm was familiar by now.

It was Gowon.

He entered carrying a drink carrier. From it, he set an enormous iced Americano down in front of me.

“You could hold a water festival in this.”

The sheer size of it, with no sense of restraint whatsoever, made me laugh in disbelief. With this much caffeine, I would not sleep for three days and two nights.

“...How do you manage to say everything like that?”

“Do you think the lyrics of the century came from nowhere?”

“.......”

Gowon glanced around cautiously, then awkwardly lowered himself onto the sofa.

“Are you not angry anymore?”

“Is this a bribe?”

“.......”

“I thought it was an assassination attempt meant to send me to the grave through caffeine addiction. I’m impressed.”

Maybe because my thoughts were complicated, even my words came out twisted.

Gowon

Current Status: (Trem■...)

Apparently, Gowon had interpreted my attitude differently.

The reason was probably the lecture I had given him after we returned home that day.

How many times do I have to tell you that your body is an asset?

.......

You had no idea what kind of situation that was, yet you just carried someone and ran? Do you think life works out as conveniently as a movie?

...I’m sorry.

It had been more than one remark, now that I thought about it.

Gowon fidgeted with the neatly gathered tips of his fingers, then carefully opened his mouth.

“Yesterday....”

Instead of answering, I merely tilted my head.

“...You said you gave me your door-lock code so you could make me run errands for you.”

“Yeah.”

I had more or less brushed it aside that way.

“I don’t know why, but I felt like you were helping me.”

“.......”

“So I thought it would be all right to push myself and help Yusang.”

Well, would you look at that.

The reason was so honest and ridiculous that it made me sigh.

Still, he had gone to the trouble of bringing me coffee.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

Apparently, I really was frightening when I got angry. Normally, he would have answered with a casual, “Oh, okay,” but now he sat up straight and responded properly.

“Why did you help Newton’s youngest member? Their group kept making your life miserable. You’re not some damn pushover.”

“...Hanje, I’m not a damn pushover, but....”

“Yeah, you are. Go on.”

Gowon answered after a beat.

“Yusang said he wanted to bring good news back to the older members. He said he wanted them to tell him he had done well and praise him....”

“.......”

“I think I understand what that feels like.”

“You’re the oldest. What could you possibly relate to there?”

“.......”

“Oh? What’s with that look?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then I suppose you don’t want Newton to fail.”

“...What? Why would they fail because of something like this?”

Gowon’s eyes widened.

“They’re the victims.”

The answer was exactly what I had expected, and a deep sigh left my mouth.

“Then you’re on Director Kwon’s side.”

“What?”

“Good grief....”

Director Kwon would never even consider abandoning Newton, who were younger artists.

He would probably use the materials he had gathered as leverage if that was what it took to preserve Newton’s activities.

And Gowon would not be much different.

Then there was no helping it.

I would not send Newton down together with Executive Director Choi.

I decided to return the subquest reward.

The moment I reached that conclusion, the weight knotted across my shoulders seemed to dissolve.

Apparently, I had felt deeply uneasy about sacrificing younger idols too.

“So what do we do now?”

It looked as though a bitter wind would be blowing through the company for a while. I hoped the situation would be resolved quickly enough not to interfere with Gowon’s comeback... but given the circumstances, that was unlikely.

If things went wrong, the employees’ hostility toward Gowon might only grow.

“Hey. If anything happens to you—”

“Yes.”

Oh. He was going to answer obediently for a while.

“When something happens, what are you supposed to do?”

“...Tell my manager or the division head.”

“That’s right. Good.”

It would be perfect if he stayed this quiet and compliant all the way through promotions.

Damn. I wished I had a guardian I could report this miserable situation to as well.

Wait. A guardian?

“I have a guardian too... don’t I?”

***

“You’re going to believe something those brats said when they don’t even know what they’re talking about? And so what if it’s true? What do you think will happen to everyone if this gets outside?”

Executive Director Choi shamelessly raised his voice instead.

Considering K-Dom’s reputation, merely becoming entangled with the phrase “school violence” would be devastating.

And an agency that had forced a victim of school violence to meet the perpetrator, committing further abuse in the process?

There was a risk that the images of K-Dom’s other artists would be damaged as well.

That was why, even if people from the other divisions looked coldly at Executive Director Choi, they could not wish for the matter to grow into a public scandal.

But imposing severe internal disciplinary action was another matter.

“Ah... Executive Director Choi is a little old-fashioned. I suppose he made a mistake.”

“Everyone lived like this in the past. His intentions weren’t bad. In the end, everything he did was out of concern for Newton.”

People from the same university and those connected through the management line stepped forward to shield Executive Director Choi.

The employees who had joined after K-Dom went public could not hide their disgust. For those who took pride in crying and laughing alongside growing artists, the story was impossible to believe.

“From what I heard, the school-violence incident happened just after they had barely graduated from elementary school. Honestly, that can’t even become much of an issue. At that age, it’s all just children fooling around. Yusang is unusually sensitive, so maybe he’s reacting too strongly.”

“Ha.”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the person who had deliberately let out the sigh loudly enough to be heard.

“...Director Kwon, it seems you have something to say....”

“Whose side is Division Four on, exactly? Your own artist is the victim, and he is still suffering from trauma, yet you say something like that?”

At his criticism, even the executives who had been confidently making excuses fell silent.

Executive Director Choi stepped forward.

“So what? The great Kwon Taeyoung is going to take those Newton bastards off my hands?”

“...Do you even understand what you’re saying right now? Are you threatening us with the well-being of your own artists?”

“Every plan I had for them is dead because of this. Do you honestly think Newton will continue functioning normally?”

“.......”

Kwon Taeyoung’s silence was not agreement. It meant he was so dumbfounded that he had no words.

And the fact that everyone else seated at the table responded with the same silence made Executive Director Choi’s blood boil.

“To begin with, how does someone expect to become a celebrity if he can’t even endure that much and smile through it? Huh?”

“Are you finished? Don’t you feel even a little sorry for that kid?”

“Taeyoung, calm down. Calm down and talk! I know you’re angry, but what are you doing right now?”

There was a reason Executive Director Choi was deliberately taking his words too far.

For a long time, once Kwon Taeyoung truly lost his temper, even the other members had difficulty restraining him.

That was why Choi was intentionally provoking him further. The rougher Taeyoung became, the easier it would be to cling to his threatening behavior and muddy the essence of the incident.

Executive Director Choi was just about to seize on another opening.

“Is the fucking nonsense I heard true?”

The conference-room door flew open, and furious footsteps stormed inside.

“I’m asking you. Is it true that you took money and tried to sell out one of our singers?”

The person who entered the conference room was Yang Okmi, CEO of K-Dom Entertainment.

No one could say a word at the CEO’s appearance. But the endless silence was as good as an admission.

“I founded this company because I never wanted to see something like that again...! And you all know that...!”

The CEO stared at Executive Director Choi as though she could not believe what she was seeing.

“CEO, you don’t understand the circumstances right now....”

“So it’s true?”

Even Executive Director Choi, who had treated Kwon Taeyoung as though he could simply crush him beneath his thumb, had no choice but to shut his mouth in front of the CEO.

“How can a person change this much?”