PA 19

Yejun, who had hastily hailed and gotten into a taxi, stared blankly out the window without even stating his destination. The taxi driver, who had been glancing at Yejun through the rearview mirror, could no longer hold back and spoke up.

“Student, where are you headed?”

“Ah… I’m sorry. Please take me to Sinsa-dong.”

Yejun’s cell phone, tucked away in his pocket, vibrated loudly. It was an unknown number, so he hesitated for a brief moment, but he answered it, thinking it might be a work-related call.

“Hello?”

— Oh, oh! Son.

“Ah… why did you call?”

— That CEO of your agency, he turned out to be a pretty reasonable guy.

“What?”

In that moment, Yejun’s heart felt like it plummeted to the floor. Yejun took a long sigh to calm his trembling hands and then continued to speak.

“What are you talking about?”

— I’m trying to start a little business this time. I asked your agency’s CEO to give me an advance on your settlement payment.

“What does that mean? Did you borrow money again?”

— Yeah, I got a little. I’m just trying to get some compensation for all the hardships I went through raising my child! What? Are you going to say I can’t again? You damn, ungrateful brat!”

“Ah… Father, where are you? Let’s meet and talk first.”

— It’s just the price for raising a punk like you. Five hundred million. It’s a piece of cake for you to earn that much.

“Father!”

Hyungyu shamelessly yelled at Yejun and then hung up the phone. Yejun kept trying to call Hyungyu, but there was no answer.

“Um, driver. Please take me to HI Entertainment in Sinsa-dong.”

“R-right.”

For some reason, there were a lot of fans camped out near the agency today. Yejun, who had rushed over in a taxi, rummaged through his bag for a mask, but unfortunately, there wasn’t a single one. Resigned, Yejun pulled his hat down low and hurriedly got out of the taxi.

“Aah! It’s Yejun!” “Oppa!”

The fans, being considerate of Yejun, formed a circle around him, keeping their distance. Yejun’s mind was a complete blank because of the loud cheers. On top of that, he was in such a hurry that he had no leeway to wave to his fans as he usually would. He just lowered his head and ran toward the first-floor entrance.

“Ah… what’s wrong with this thing?”

To make matters worse, the fingerprint sensor on the entrance door kept malfunctioning. Yejun’s heart grew even more frantic. Fortunately, an employee who had come in to work on the weekend spotted Yejun from inside the lobby and quickly opened the door, allowing Yejun to get inside the building safely.

“Yejun! What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Ah… is the CEO here right now?”

“Now? He probably is. But why the CEO…?”

Yejun, practically ignoring the rest of the employee’s words, barely managed to squeeze into an elevator that was about to close. Today, the time it took to ascend to the top—the seventh floor where the CEO’s office was—felt as long as an eternity. Yejun, focusing on the number display inside the elevator, bit his lips repeatedly until he finally drew blood.

“Ah… hurry up.”

The elevator, which had been ascending so slowly, finally stopped with a cheerful ding-dong sound, and Yejun quickly stepped out through the opening doors. With an anxious heart, he knocked on the door of the CEO’s office.

“Mr. CEO, it’s Yejun.”

“Huh? Oh, come in.”

As soon as Youngsik’s voice flowed out from the office, Yejun threw the door open and went inside. The man, the CEO, was meticulously wiping a nameplate that read ‘Song Youngsik.’

“Mr. CEO, why did you lend money to my father?”

“…”

Youngsik stared at Yejun for a moment before answering with a placid expression.

“When the father of one of my agency’s artists is in a difficult situation, how can I just pretend I don’t know?”

“Mr. CEO!”

Yejun shouted in a resentful voice.

“Yejun, your father has really come to his senses now. Now, he really…”

“You know my father will go gambling the moment he gets his hands on money. So why?”

“Lee Yejun, you guys are in your third year now. You know your life as an idol is over if you don’t get a proper response with this second full-length album, right?”

Youngsik stepped right up to Yejun and spoke in a slightly threatening voice.

“Ah…”

I just finished paying off all the debt… and now this again.

“Still, you’re preparing well this time, so once you make a comeback, you’ll be able to pay that off easily.”

“…”

Debt was a shackle. Until now, Yejun had to do all sorts of dirty work to repay the money Youngsik had lent him as if doing him a favor. He had to go on programs he didn’t want to—no, programs everyone else avoided—and smile brightly, and he had to dance and sing until his body felt like it would break. Was that all? The tightly packed nationwide schedule of events was too overwhelming for the young Yejun.

“Even so, it was too much for you to lend him money so rashly without consulting me at all.”

“Right, right, my mistake. His father’s situation just seemed so pitiful, I couldn’t help it.”

Memories of the past days resurfaced, and he clenched his fists tightly at the image of his father. Youngsik, whose expression changed in an instant, meekly admitted his fault and continued.

“If you lend him money again, I absolutely cannot pay it back. No, I won’t pay it back.”

“Of course, of course.”

“Haah…”

“Your father looked like a total beggar today. He’s the father of a famous idol, for crying out loud, should he be like that? Let’s help him start a small business and just watch over him for a few more years.”

“…Yes.”

It was pointless to explain that it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit; he would never understand. Yejun answered him, as if giving up.

“Our Yejun is a twenty-year-old adult now, too, so let’s trust your father one last time.”

“Haah…”

“Yejun.”

Youngsik called to Yejun quietly, as if coaxing him.

“This is the last time. For you to lend money to my father.”

“Of course, if he loses all the money to gambling again this time, I’ll refuse him without mercy from now on.”

“…Yes.”

Just as Yejun, with his shoulders slumped, turned to leave the office.

“Yejun.”

“Yes?”

“You have somewhere to go with me.”

“Where?”

“He’s the one who invested a tremendous amount of money in us. Let’s go give him a light greeting.”

That damn money was the problem. Yejun, now saddled with an enormous debt of five hundred million won, couldn’t even talk back and had to follow Youngsik out again.

The car carrying Yejun and Youngsik sped unimpeded along the wide, straight riverside highway of the Han River. Then, a super high-rise hotel overlooking the Han River far in the distance came into Yejun’s view, and Yejun’s gaze naturally shifted in that direction.

“That’s right, we’re going to the Mirae Hotel.”

“Yes…”

Youngsik often met clients or investors at hotel restaurants. Because of that, Yejun nodded his head without much thought.

“Seil Department Store, Duty-Free, Mart… you’ve heard of them all, right?”

“Of course I have.”

“Well, Chairman Cha Sanghyeon of that Seil Group made a massive investment in our company this time.”

“Is that why the scale of the music video was so much bigger this time?”

“Of course! Do you know how much money went into this music video? A whopping one billion, one billion!”

Youngsik said, almost shouting, with a slightly exaggerated expression. The Seil Group was large enough to be one of the top 30 corporations in the country and boasted being the undisputed best in the domestic distribution sector. The thought of going to meet the head of such a corporation made Yejun feel a little nervous.

However, Yejun soon shook off all the slight tension and spoke to Youngsik.

“I really hope we get a good response this time.”

“Of course. If this full-length album gets the response we planned for, it might even be possible for us to stand on the stage at the year-end awards ceremony. Who knows? You might even receive a small award.”

Even now, idol groups are pouring out. Among them, the number of idol groups that can stand on the stage at a year-end awards ceremony is bound to be limited. That is why the success of this full-length album held great significance not only for Yejun but for the other members as well.

“I don’t have any other ambitions, I just hope we can at least stand on the stage at a year-end awards ceremony.”

“Anyway, Yejun, you have no ambition at all.”

“Hey, that’s an amazing thing in itself.”

Youngsik, looking a bit excited, began a long speech about their future plans.

“By the way, are the other members not coming?”

“Huh? Oh?”

“Like Suho hyung, at least. He’s our team’s leader, after all…”

“Ah, ah! Originally I was going to go alone, but since you happened to be at the company, we’re going together. Let’s take the other guys next time.”

“…Yes.”

While Yejun and Youngsik were talking back and forth, the car carrying them was already entering the entrance of the Mirae Hotel.

After getting out of the car, Yejun followed Youngsik into the hotel. Then, men in black suits appeared from somewhere and began to escort the two of them. Yejun had naturally expected to go up to the hotel lounge where the restaurants were, but the men in black suits guided them to the VIP-only elevator.

The VIP-only elevator’s doors were wide open, almost as if it had been waiting for them. So, they were able to get on right away without needing to wait at all. The elevator carrying Yejun passed right by the first basement floor where the boisterous club hall was, and stopped on the third basement floor, where the VVIP-only club, famous for being inaccessible to just anyone, was located.

Yejun, who got off the elevator awkwardly, slowly looked around. The place was entirely composed of private rooms, so it felt like one’s privacy would be perfectly protected. Standing there, Yejun felt as if his feet were glued to the glistening marble floor, unable to move his body.

“This way, please.”

To Yejun, the bodyguard’s words felt like a silent urging, asking why he wasn’t moving faster. Youngsik grabbed Yejun’s shoulder and pressed him in a small voice.

“Let’s go, quickly.”

“What? Yes.”

Yejun was able to stop walking in front of a room in the deepest, innermost area. The bodyguards in black suits had Yejun and Youngsik stand in the hallway and carefully entered the room.

A short while later, about five or six bodyguards came out in a group. It seemed they were all Sanghyeon’s bodyguards.

“You may go in.”

Unable to resist Youngsik’s prodding from behind, Yejun entered the room. Youngsik tried to follow him in, but the bodyguards told him they had something to discuss with him for a moment and led him away somewhere.

The enormous door, padded with soft leather, closed with a heavy sound. Music, which had been completely inaudible from outside the room, was now flowing out through high-end speakers. In this secretive space, there was a large table that looked big enough for four or five people to lie down on, and it was filled with what was at a glance high-class liquor and appetizing snacks.