Chapter 9: The Enemy Is Close (2)

From the very beginning, it had been a mystery.

Even if CEO Jo was holding something over the trainees, could Kim Haram really be such an idiot that he couldn’t do anything with all that money?

Come on. Was it really possible he never once thought of just throwing it all away and running?

No way. That couldn’t be.

There must have been something else—something that kept Haram from breaking free.

“Hey. I’m asking you. Say something.”

Like this guy right here—Go Jeongeun.

“How much of the money I earned did you leech off?”

Go Jeongeun’s eyes started trembling like poplar leaves.

He slowly backed away—until he hit the wall. Nowhere left to run.

“…Nothing.”

“Huh?”

“I said I didn’t take anything, damn it! We didn’t even make any money, so what the hell would I take?!”

If you want to claim you didn’t take anything, maybe don’t talk about Haram’s income.

A sigh slipped from my lips—at his foolishness, at his pathetic excuses.

Cowards like him always act the same. Weak to the strong, strong to the weak. They think they’re clever, leeching off anyone they perceive as more powerful than themselves.

So, that means…

“You’re more scared of the CEO than me, aren’t you?”

Foolish bastard.

Kim Haram was never weaker than that piece of trash, Jo Jeongjae. He was just too kind—even to scum like you.

“What did that bastard tell you?”

Not that I expected an answer.

“He told you to keep me in check so I don’t get any ideas, right?”

Because the answer was obvious.

“If I even looked like I might run away…”

I brought my face up close to his.

“…he told you to stop me no matter what, didn’t he?”

The reflection in Go Jeongeun’s eyes was filled with ice.

I bet Haram could make that same expression too… What a foolish kid.

“Say something.”

But Go Jeongeun stayed silent.

Of course he was flustered.

Kim Haram probably never had to yell like this.

‘I trusted you alone when I came here.’

That one line would’ve been enough to shut him up and keep him working, practicing, without another word.

Even now, Go Jeongeun was still bold enough to say it—to claim that Haram came here believing in him.

As time passed, it must’ve become harder and harder to turn back.

For CEO Jo, who ran the company with his own money.

For Lee Hyunjae and Choi Woojin, who trained in silence.

They all probably thought they had to be Haram’s support. But Haram, you were too naive.

If you keep trying to prop up a rotten tree, you’ll just rot with it.

You should’ve cut off the rot long ago—cut off guys like Go Jeongeun, who couldn’t even speak up when it mattered.

“You… you crazy freak, writing some twisted fanfic or something?! You son of a—!!”

Wow, look at that—so loyal in all the wrong places. Still siding with CEO Jo?

Head down, can’t even meet my eyes, and still trying to put up a fight. It was almost… pitiful now.

“Just give me your bank account.”

I stepped back, away from Go Jeongeun. I didn’t want to breathe the same air.

“What?”

Oh wow, look at that. The moment I take a step back, he suddenly finds the courage to glare.

He really doesn’t realize how much I’m kindly offering him a clean exit.

“You’re only doing this crap for money, right?”

I should sit down. My legs are too precious to be wasted standing here.

I pulled up a chair and sat down.

“I’m not doing this just for money…”

“Ten million won.”

Go Jeongeun’s face froze in disbelief.

“I’ll give you ten million. In exchange, you keep your mouth shut for two weeks.”

I looked up at him, eyes narrowed. Not a bad position. Even though I was looking up, it still felt like I was towering over him.

“I don’t know how much the CEO usually gives you. But hey, not bad, right? You get 5 mil a week just for zipping your lips. Sound like a deal?”

There was a long silence before he finally opened his mouth.

“…It’s all because of you…”

“What?”

“This is all your fault!! If you’d just worked a bit harder, if you’d begged to debut—!! Then I, and the others, we’d all be debuting by now, raking in money!!”

Wow. The deflection is insane.

What, is he actually saying Haram refused to debut?

That’s ridiculous.

If that were true, why would Haram pour all his earnings back into the company?

Kim Haram wanted to debut more than anyone. He wanted it—for himself, and for the rest of you too.

And maybe… one of the reasons he couldn’t speak up for himself…

I turned to the newly appeared window floating beside Go Jeongeun.

[<Character – Detailed Stats & Info>

Name: Go Jeongeun

Dance: D
Vocal: D–
Visual: B–
Charm: D
Luck: C+

Not much talent, and doesn’t seem to have put in any effort either! Definitely someone who’s just been taking hobby dance classes for fun!

Oh—what? You’re saying that’s not true?

Uh… that’s awkward.]

I stood up from my chair again and walked toward him.

“Cut the crap.”

How dare he act like he’s desperate.

“You’re not here because you want to be an idol.”

He’s only ever thinking about leeching off others. And what pissed me off even more—

“And how dare you even bring up Hyunjae-hyung and Woojin.”

Just being mentioned in the same sentence as them is an insult.

“Do you have more talent than others?”

They’ve got talent, at least.

“Then do you work harder than them?”

They put in more effort than you ever have.

“If it’s neither of those,”

Then don’t be a nuisance to others. Sit down and stay quiet.

I stared straight into his eyes. I didn’t need to say it out loud. He’d understand. The contempt in my gaze said it all.

“You get it, right?”

Jeongeun stared back at me, his face drained of all color, and I gave him a thin smile.

“Alright then, we’ll consider it settled at ten million won?”

Jeongeun hung his head low again, saying nothing.

“When someone’s asked a question, they should answer, don’t you think?”

Still no response.

“Jeongeun-ah, answer me?”

He buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath.

Nod—

He gave a small nod.

“Fine.”

You should’ve said that from the start.

Just as the conversation was wrapping up—

“Hyung!!”

Choi Woojin burst into the practice room, dragging along a boy about the same age.

Nice timing.
Is this the last one?

He was clearly out of breath, suggesting he ran straight over as soon as the final member arrived.

“I brought Jiwon-hyung! Is everything okay… hyung?”

Judging by the way he spoke, it seemed Go Jeongeun had been acting suspicious ever since they left the dorm.

Woojin glanced between me and Go Jeongeun, clearly gauging the mood.

Go Jeongeun, still covering his face, hadn’t budged an inch—he seemed weighed down with guilt.

You don’t have to worry, Woojin. This bad guy right here has already been cleanly defeated by your big brother.

“Uh… sorry, Haram-ah. On the way here, I said something unnecessary to Jeongeun…”

Finally, Lee Hyunjae stepped forward, revealing his presence.

“It’s okay. It was something that needed to be said anyway.”

He must’ve yelled at him big time on the way here. I don’t even need to see it to know.

“So… we’re all here now?”

“Yes. This is everyone on our team.”

That was rough… it felt like there was way too much drama just to gather five people. Maybe it’s a blessing that we’re so few.

“Alright then, let’s talk a bit.”

Each person grabbed a chair from the corner of the practice room and sat down.

“So, the reason I suddenly called you all here is…”

Just as I began to speak, my eyes caught on Go Jeongeun, standing alone and blankly staring at the floor.

“Jeongeun. Come sit with us too.”

“What…?”

He looked up at me with swollen eyes.

Did he cry?

“It’s distracting, so come sit down. I was going to talk to you about this anyway.”

Go Jeongeun, who had been spacing out for a moment, slowly shuffled over and sat down on the floor.

Is he sulking or what?

Alright. That’s enough. I’m done wasting energy on you.

I’ve got way too much on my plate to keep worrying about you—

“Okay, now I’ll really explain everything.”

…Way too much.

“Wait… but is that actually possible? Seriously? For real??”

“Uh… it should be…”

“Hah… I mean, that’s insane. Hyung, I didn’t know your power was on that level. That’s no joke. Seriously.”

What is with all this “for real,” “seriously,” and “power” talk?
This guy’s amazing… in a very different way.

And why does his voice sound so good?

“Haa… Haram-hyung… power, seriously… power… wow… the influence… wow…”

Should I just land a power punch right on his mouth?
Then maybe he’ll never say the word ‘power’ again.

Lee Jiwon, the one who came with Woojin, seemed like the kind of guy who made you want to use physical force—but for a completely different reason than Go Jeongeun.

[<Character Info>

Name: Lee Jiwon
Age: 21
Position: TBD
Traits:

• TMT (Passive/Activated)
• Career Search (Passive/Activated)

View detailed stats and info (Expand)]

Lee Jiwon was certainly living up to his traits. Honestly, the fact that he walked into the room, saw the chaos, and still kept quiet was… almost commendable.

“Seriously, hyung, I was shocked. You suddenly told me to come, so I just did. Woojin didn’t explain much, but he looked kind of desperate. Then I show up and Jeongeun’s just staring at the floor, and then you hit us with this wild proposal, and… ah, today is seriously going down in my life as—”

Please… stop…

I need to leave this room… If I keep listening, I’m going to lose my mind.

“Um, Haram-hyung. But, uh—”

Savior.

As Woojin opened his mouth, Jiwon’s finally stopped.

“If we do this… you’re not going to get hurt, right?”

Woojin asked, his eyes full of concern.

“Right? I was wondering the same thing. Will the CEO… really go along with this like you said?”

Lee Hyunjae chimed in from the side, supporting Choi Woojin. Maybe because he had overheard my earlier conversation with Go Jeongeun, he looked hesitant to even mention CEO Jo by name.

‘I’ll probably have to explain things properly later.’

“Yeah. There won’t be any problems. I won’t be taking any kind of damage either.”

Honestly, what mattered more than me was how they felt about it.

“Are you guys okay with this? Woojin, Ji-won?”

Even putting aside the fact that they had to audition tomorrow, it was a decision that could lead to a lot of complications.

If things went wrong, they might have to abandon everything they’d built up until now.

‘I won’t let it come to that, but still…’

What if they say no? How do I convince them…?

While I was lost in those thoughts—

“Yes!”

“Yup.”

Surprisingly firm answers came back.

…Huh, it’s really that fine with them?

‘Really that fine’—what kind of phrase was that? The reaction was so casual that it made me blurt out nonsense.

“Yes. Like you said, hyung… I actually think it’s a great opportunity.”

“Yeah. We’ve had our issues with the company too…”

Lee Hyunjae’s eyes flicked briefly toward Go Jeongeun. He was definitely still worrying about him.

“…There were a lot of things we didn’t like. And like Woojin said, it seems like a good chance.”

If they truly felt that way, then it was a huge relief.

“Hyung. I mean, you’re going this far for us—how could we not follow you? Honestly, if we didn’t, we’d be total idiots. Not just idiots, but ungrateful ones. I mean, where else in the world is someone thinking this much about us…”

Power Punch. I swear, I’ll make sure to learn Power Punch next time we draw skills.

Get ready, So-ram.

So-ram, having read the look in my eyes, nodded enthusiastically. Yeah, you’re on the same page as me.

“Let’s all just do our best tomorrow. We’ve been practicing hard up till now, haven’t we?”

Lee Hyunjae swept his gaze over the younger members as he spoke. Now that’s more like the eldest brother.

And a little later…

“I think it’s better to sleep and wake up early like usual, rather than being a wreck tomorrow from lack of sleep.”

At my suggestion, the group—having come to a quick consensus—began preparing to head back to the dorm.

“Haram, you’re not coming?”

“Oh, no. Since there’s stuff to take care of after tomorrow’s audition… I’m going to stay back and think a bit on my own.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard, hyung.”

And just like that, the noisy, chaotic air inside the practice room began to quiet down.

“Whew, now that there are fewer people, it feels chilly.”

Only the damp, clammy air of the semi-basement practice room remained.

Left alone, I stood in front of the mirror.

“Well then… I sure went on about having no talent earlier…”

At some point, Soram had changed into his practice outfit and walked over to me.

“The real issue with talent is…”

It’s me. I’m the biggest problem.

Haah— Time to practice.