Chapter 309 : I Saw It in the Future
Chapter 309: I Saw It in the Future
Today felt long.
Perhaps it had already been decided the moment I came face-to-face with Do Seojun that this already exhausting day was only going to get longer.
When the door opened, someone's shadow fell over my head.
“Sponsorships?”
Holy—
The moment I saw Do Seojun standing in front of the dorm entrance, I jumped back in shock.
I'd put off replying to his messages and had only just returned from the practice room.
My plan had been to think up a convincing excuse by tomorrow morning before talking to him again.
That plan collapsed spectacularly.
Why was someone who wasn't even a member standing so confidently in our dorm's living room?
With a grim expression, Do Seojun kept talking.
“Hey, tell me honestly.”
“Where did you hear about that?”
“No, how did you even get into the dorm?”
“Forget that.”
“Just answer my question....”
Cha Seongbin glanced at me before smiling.
So that's what had happened.
There was a reason for this.
“I figured it'd be better to talk inside than outside, so I invited him in.”
“Yeah.”
“Go inside and talk.”
There were too many eyes outside.
There were sasaengs practically at our doorstep.
If something this serious leaked outside, it'd be a huge problem.
I agreed with Cha Seongbin's reasoning to some extent.
That didn't mean I wanted a one-on-one interrogation inside the dorm.
With no other choice, I grabbed Do Seojun's arm and headed toward my room.
I could feel his piercing gaze on the back of my head.
No matter what excuse I came up with...
There was no way he'd let this go easily today.
Bang.
The door shut.
Biting his lower lip, Do Seojun slowly looked me up and down.
Meanwhile, my brain was desperately spinning.
The first question was exactly what I'd expected.
“So if you knew about it...”
“That means you had connections on that side, right?”
“Well, here's what happened....”
“You don't mean....”
Do Seojun frowned before shaking his head.
“No.”
“You're not stupid enough to do something like that.”
While I'd been surviving in the entertainment industry...
He'd been struggling alongside me as a rookie producer.
He wasn't someone completely ignorant of how this industry worked.
Which was exactly why he was even more worried.
After all...
Sponsorships were one of the entertainment industry's openly acknowledged diseases.
Holding his forehead, Do Seojun let out a deep sigh.
“So.”
“Who was the bastard that approached you?”
I'm telling you, nobody approached me.
Swallowing hard, I searched for the best excuse I had.
There was only one relatively safe choice.
“I just overheard it.”
“Where?”
“Ah...”
“In a music show waiting room...?”
Do Seojun stared straight at me.
He looked me over suspiciously before clicking his tongue.
“Why are you avoiding my eyes?”
“You've got the wrong idea.”
“I don't think so.”
“I think I hit the mark.”
“It's a misunderstanding.”
Of course, I knew my excuse had holes.
To make matters worse, I was terrible at lying.
If I wasn't careful, sharp-eyed Do Seojun would immediately catch me.
Forcing an awkward smile, I tried to sound calm.
In a cold voice, he sharply asked,
“Then name just one person who told you in the waiting room.”
“Someone from TBY....”
Sorry, TBY.
“Hwan?”
“You're not close.”
Caught.
Clearing my throat, I looked away.
“No.”
“We're close.”
The second option was simple.
Deny everything.
As long as I insisted, there was no realistic way for Do Seojun to verify every detail himself.
Stretching my neck slightly, I glanced around the room.
The air felt stifling, as if someone had turned the heater on.
“......”
Silence filled the room.
Moistening my lips, I forced another awkward smile.
By the way...
The bedroom door had been moving slightly this whole time.
Someone was obviously eavesdropping outside.
Turning around, I calmly spoke.
“Um....”
“Hyungs, I know you're out there.”
“Stop eavesdropping and come in.”
Creak—.
“Ah, sorry!”
Of course it was him.
Cha Seongbin casually stepped inside with one hand raised.
The corners of his smiling mouth curled upward.
“We barely heard anything!”
“TBY's Hwan?”
“You heard all of it!”
Then a heavy voice suddenly cut in.
“Seohan isn't close with him.”
“They've never even met.”
“Oh?”
That guy?
I never imagined Cha Seongbin would refuse to cooperate this thoroughly.
Standing there in complete betrayal, I suddenly felt another piercing stare from behind.
Do Seojun.
“Hey.”
“Tell me properly.”
“Don't lie.”
“Exactly.”
“Tell him properly~.”
“Hyung's worried about you.”
I understood what Cha Seongbin was doing.
The two of them were clearly planning to interrogate me together.
Clicking his tongue, Cha Seongbin added,
“What are you hiding, Do Seohan?”
“Everyone already knows you blackmailed Kang Hyeyoung.”
“The question is where you got that information.”
“Haa....”
“If it's something that important....”
“I think family deserves to know.”
He wasn't wrong.
The problem was...
I had absolutely no reasonable evidence capable of convincing Do Seojun.
The only excuse I'd painstakingly prepared had been destroyed by Cha Seongbin's betrayal.
Now I had nothing left.
“Well....”
I swallowed a helpless laugh.
I saw it in the future.
The articles came out.
I couldn't exactly say that!
Ah.
“Huh?”
Maybe...
I should.
[Achievement] Complete Synchronization
The current universe is maintaining an unstable state. Certain conditions must be fulfilled in order to synchronize the two universes. Proceed with Complete Synchronization while maintaining the Variables.
A certain achievement suddenly flashed through my mind.
Combined with what Kim Woochan had told me....
Maybe this was the perfect opportunity to bring it up while everyone was completely sober.
I stood there silently with a serious expression.
The words refused to come out.
If I wanted them to believe me...
The first sentence had to matter.
I stared silently at Do Seojun for a long time.
Perhaps he'd sensed I was about to say something important.
Instead of rushing me, he simply waited.
“Hoo....”
Finally...
My heartbeat steadied.
I could say it now.
“Don't be surprised.”
As calmly and carefully as possible, I spoke.
“Hyung.”
“The truth is...”
“I saw it in the future.”
Do Seojun's expression instantly turned ice-cold.
Then—
“Get out.”
There was no way that would've worked.
The sponsorship issue wasn't finally settled until late that night.
After being grilled nonstop by Cha Seongbin and Do Seojun, I had absolutely no energy left.
Airet's Lee Kwon.
JPL's Yoo Hyunho.
TBY's Hwan.
I repeated the three names I'd previously told Reporter Lee Doyeon.
'I overheard them talking trash in the waiting room.'
'They said that club was connected to major corporations.'
'It was about half a year ago? Maybe even longer.'
'Since it involved Taewoon Group... I figured it might come in handy someday, so I remembered it.'
I stubbornly stuck to my story that I'd simply overheard it.
Fortunately...
That was enough to end the interrogation.
It seemed Do Seojun didn't actually believe I was directly involved in the sponsorship scandal.
Once he'd accomplished what he'd wanted...
It was also about time for him to return to work.
“Hyung, get home safely~!”
“You've got to invite us if you make another program!!”
After Cha Seongbin bowed a perfect ninety degrees and saw Do Seojun off...
Only the members remained in the dorm again.
The living room finally returned to its peaceful atmosphere.
I quietly turned my head to check Kang Siwoo's expression.
The one who'd suffered the most through all of this.
'Siwoo-hyung seriously looked like he was considering leaving the group.'
From the casual remark Jin Sehyun had made earlier...
I could roughly piece together what had happened.
While I'd gone to negotiate with Kang Hyeyoung...
Kang Siwoo must've gone through every possible scenario in his head.
One of those...
Was leaving the team.
Rather than become a burden to everyone...
I'd leave first.
How much must someone who loved this job more than anyone have agonized before reaching that decision?
I couldn't truly understand what he'd gone through....
Still...
Fortunately...
He looked alright now.
After all, Kang Siwoo knew my threats had played an important role in resolving this situation.
The problem was...
There had been a slight distortion of the facts during the process.
'Seohan really does have a talent for moving people's hearts with words.'
...Excuse me?
'I don't know how you persuaded her, but that was amazing.'
'Good work.'
'It wasn't persuasion.'
'It was blackmail~.'
Cha Seongbin's firm opinion was automatically filtered out inside Kang Siwoo's head.
'At this point that's basically a religion, hyung.'
Even Jin Sehyun's quiet reality check had no effect.
Watching the whole thing, Seo Haim simply gave me a bright thumbs-up.
Kang Siwoo's idol career...
Had once again survived despite hanging by a thread.
Our team's leader overcame another crisis.
He was such a resilient person that he recovered quickly.
Now...
It was time to return to everyday life.
Just then, Kang Siwoo called everyone over.
“Hey.”
“Everyone, come here for a second.”
He'd been flipping through several sheets of paper.
They were documents Manager Lee Jaeyoon had left behind.
Seo Ian quietly sat down with curious eyes.
“I called everyone because of our schedule.”
“We've received a few offers.”
“Shouldn't you be resting, hyung?”
“Hm?”
“I'm fine.”
Jin Sehyun's worried question briefly interrupted.
But Kang Siwoo merely shrugged with a relaxed expression.
That genuinely meant he was okay.
“We've got to strike while the iron's hot.”
“The fans are waiting for new schedules.”
There was about a month before the next overseas tour.
Several offers had come in for variety shows that only required a single day of filming.
Scanning the documents, Kang Siwoo quickly summarized them.
“This one's a YouTube variety show.”
“They asked for Seongbin-hyung and Junseo-hyung.”
“Ah.”
“When's the schedule?”
“Next Thursday.”
Rustle.
After spreading the papers across the table, Kang Siwoo looked up.
“And this one....”
“I think Seohan and I will be going together.”
The schedule was next Wednesday.
“It's a fitness-themed YouTube channel.”
“Want to do it?”
“Sure.”
Since it didn't conflict with anything else, I answered without much thought.
“Do Seohan... fitness?”
“I work out, you know.”
I shouldn't have said that.