âYou donât have to talk to me if you donât want to. But you have to tell the company when the manager comes. Thereâs a problem with your future activitiesâŠâ
Hwijin spoke softly, but no one answered.
âThis is really shitty.â
One of the members who had been silent all along threw the cushion he was holding onto the sofa and went into his room.
âLetâs talk again when the manager comes.â
As they went into their rooms one by one, as if they had nothing more to say, Naruâs face turned pale.
âNaru.â
It was a look that couldnât be ignored at a glance. There was something wrong for sure. Hwijin felt a shock in his heart and tried to calm himself down as he asked.
âYou look really bad⊠Do you want to rest in your room?â
As Hwijin reached out to support Naruâs shoulder, Naru shrugged him off and slapped his hand away.
âIâm fine, donât worry about me!â
He didnât look fine at all. Was Naru the one who leaked the contract? Hwijin answered with a feeling that he knew this was coming.
âYour face is too pale right now. You may think youâre fine, but you donât look fine at all. You should rest a little.â
Honestly, no one here thought that Naru didnât get any favors from the production team.
There were four or five members who got a noticeable push from the first episode.
Naru, Chanhyung, Sunghyun, and two foreign members. In Junâs case, his agency participated in the production support, so not only Jun but also Toru who came out with him got a lot of push. Toru was eliminated in the third round and only Jun survived.
If we exclude the two foreigners who didnât have any insiders in Korea to leak anything⊠It was either Naru, Chanhyung, or Sunghyun.
While Hwijin was thinking of the possibilities in his head, Chanhyung cursed and tore his hair.
âWhy donât I just get lost? Iâm the one who made the atmosphere shitty, right? Iâm trash.â
He grabbed his phone and coat and was about to leave the dorm. Hwijin was startled and got up from his seat to stop him.
âLetâs talk when the manager comes. Youâre too worked up right now. What if you go out andâŠâ
âWhat if what? Are you afraid Iâll go around punching people?â
âNo, thatâs not it! Iâm just worried that you might get into a situation that youâll regret later. Youâre too flustered right now.â
Hwijin felt dizzy, wondering what sin he had committed to be in this position. But he couldnât just stand by and leave him alone.
âHa⊠Thatâs funny. Youâre going to kick me out anyway. What does it matter if Iâm gone by tomorrow when the withdrawal article comes out? Youâre so nice, pretending to care about me when youâre just afraid Iâll splash shit on you.â
He wasnât wrong. Hwijin had endured a long life of obscurity and sometimes felt that his popularity was like a dream. He was very lucky.
It was the same for the other guys, but for Hwijin, Floss was the golden thread that changed his life. He had joked about wanting to escape, but it was only a joke based on envy.
It was inevitable that the contract period would end and they would disband. But he didnât want to scatter in the worst way possible.
âJust calm down a bit. Letâs talk to the manager when he comesâŠâ
âWhatâs there to talk about? Will it change the fact that I hit people? Do you think the company will shield me and keep me?â
Hwijin couldnât argue. If there was no video evidence, he could have dismissed it as a minor âmisunderstandingâ with a childhood friend, as a common repertoire.
But Chanhyung had two very clear pieces of evidence. And one of them was very recent.
He was wrong to lash out first and then try to fix it when it seemed hopeless. It was extremely ungrateful, but Hwijin was ten years older than the other members.
There was no point in getting emotional in this situation.
It was already announced that a bomb would go off regarding their appearance on the My Idol stage, and no one knew who was hiding what secret. Trust had been broken long ago.
No. From the beginning, they were a team that gathered only for business, not trust. Maybe it was foolish to expect anything else.
âStill, you have to talk to the manager. What do you want to do from now on?â
Leaving Floss wouldnât end his life. Even if he retired from being an idol and became a normal person, todayâs controversy would follow Chanhyung forever.
Apart from being disappointed in Chanhyung personally, he had to stop him from running away and causing another accident.
âWhy do you care? Are you trying to act like a nice brother until the end, pretending to be worried and hypocritical? Or what, do you have some secret that you canât afford to be exposed?â
âWhat are you talking about? Why did the conversation suddenly turn like that?â
Hwijin was startled by the sudden spark and let go of Chanhyungâs wrist.
âIt doesnât matter, right? Even if Floss fails, it wonât affect you. Just mind your own business and cover for yourself.â
As Chanhyung pushed Hwijin away and slammed the door open to leave the house, thatâs when.
Ding-.
A cheerful text message alert rang out. Was it from the manager? Hwijin quickly checked his phone screen.
ââŠ?â
But to his surprise, there was no message or any notification at all.
What? Hwijin asked, bewildered and clueless.
âWho sent you a text?â
Sunghyun, who was sitting on the far left of the sofa, dropped his phone.
âWhat? Why did you drop your phone?â
Pposili, who was sitting next to Sunghyun, reached out to pick up Sunghyunâs phone.
âDonât touch it!â
Sunghyun threw himself and snatched his phone back, as if he had seen a ghost.
âWhat are you hiding, freaking out like that?â
Pposili stretched his hand toward Sunghyun, suspicious.
âLet me see. What text did you get? Show us too.â
Naru had gone into his room earlier, and the only ones in the living room were Jinhyung, Hwijin, Sunghyun, and Pposili.
âWhy, why me?â
âYouâre acting shady. What are you hiding?â
âWhoâs hiding? Who said Iâm hiding? Who shows their messages to others?â
In the tense situation, Youngchan was determined to check the message, and Sunghyun was adamant not to.
âYou donât have to show us, but at least tell us where the message came fromâŠâ
Hwijin, who was caught in the middle, tried to mediate with a compromise, but Sunghyun wouldnât budge.
âWhy me?â
âWhat?â
âAre you all crazy? Why do you want to see someone elseâs message? Donât you know what privacy is?â
Sunghyun clenched his phone, ready to delete the message, and Jinhyung asked him, doubtful.
âWeâre all anxious right now. If you have nothing to hide, just show us.â
âWhy do I have to do that!â
Naru was locked in his room, and Chanhyung had left. Hwijin felt like he was losing his mind in the midst of the fight in the living room. Youngchan rushed to Sunghyun and finally snatched his phone.
âNo! Donât look!â
Despite Sunghyunâs desperate scream, Jinhyung took the phone from Pposili and checked the message.
[Sender: (Unregistered user)]
[(Picture)]
It was a picture of the first page of Sunghyunâs pre-contract.
âWas it you? The one who signed that contract.â
Pposiliâs cold voice echoed in the living room. Sunghyun stuttered for a while, unable to answer, then shouted in resentment.
âI didnât write it alone! Oh-chan, that bastard, wrote it too! Why are you giving me shit! Heâs the one who caused the accident!â
Hwijin barely held back the feeling that his head was about to explode.
âYoungchan expressed his boiling anger, saying, âX⊠Are you from the same agency as that jerk, Oh Chanhyung? Iâve worked hard and now Iâm nobody. Iâm nobody.'â
Suddenly, Hwijin asked Sunghyun, as if something had occurred to him.
âDo you know who else signed the contract besides you?â
âI donât know the details! Our company had three people sign it, and there were almost ten more from other companies, but how would I know? Itâs not like we changed the rankings, but theyâre making such a fuss about it!â
As soon as Sunghyun exposed the truth, a cold silence fell over the living room again.
Who would believe me, even if I didnât touch the rankings?
The problem was not just a simple member dropout. There were several other debut members who had signed separate contracts besides Chanhyung and Sunghyun.
âDamn it. Weâre all screwed.â
Jinhyung clenched his fists and sank onto the sofa.
Manipulative bastard.
A short but powerful word popped into everyoneâs mind.
âAchoo!â
I suddenly felt a chill as a gust of wind blew in from somewhere. I thought I would be fine since I had the heater on and the blanket over me, even though it was winter.
I sniffled as I let out an involuntary sneeze. Kyunghwa clicked her tongue and handed me a tissue.
âGo blow your nose.â
I took the tissue and quickly wiped my face, then tossed it into the trash can with a nod.
âCome on, itâs not that bad. Just press the record button.â
As I lowered my head sheepishly, Kyunghwa pressed the button on the selfie stick as if he knew what I was feeling.
âHello, Rise fans! We finally made it! I think we drove for about 20 minutes. Letâs go inside and greet the director, and register as students. Iâll be back soon!â
âLetâs go together!â
âWow!â
It was honestly hilarious to see the five of them struggling to fit into one screen.
I had no idea what Pposili was thinking, but he seemed to be having fun, sticking out his tongue and running around everyone.
âWow, this place is really spacious. Even the big dogs can run around for a long time!â
The place we arrived at, along with Kyunghwaâs natural reaction, was none other than the Dog Adventure Park.
What kind of place is this, you ask? Well, itâs not just a place where dogs can run and play, but also a place where they can experience things like dog agility.
They said they open a swimming pool in the summer, but of course itâs closed now since itâs winter. Today, we made a reservation and visited to try out the basic agility course.
âBut heâs not even a real dog⊠How did this happenâŠâ
How did we end up here, you wonder? WellâŠ
The public opinion was that I hadnât shown much of my dog, except for the occasional appearances on TV as a celebrity who raised a dog in my accommodation.
âWell, itâs not even a real dog, itâs just an interfaceâŠâ
They might be worried about whether the puppy was living a happy and colorful life, but this was not a real puppy.
I couldnât reveal the truth, and I was in trouble. So we decided to use the holiday that came up to try something new.
It was a bit random, but thanks to Yi-junâs enthusiastic suggestion, we came here, the Dog Adventure Park.
âLetâs just film quickly and go back.â
I gripped the leash firmly in my hand and entered the indoor area. The staff who had been waiting for us after receiving our contact greeted us with bright smiles.
âHello, thank you for coming today and nice to meet you!â
As the staff greeted us, Pposili wagged his fluffy tail like a furball and barked briefly.
âWoof!â
âOh, our friend has such a pretty tail~. Whatâs his name?â
Seon-woo, who was standing closest to the staff, reflexively answered without a chance to stop himself.
âAh, Seon-woo!â
âSeon-woo~, your name is pretty too.â
âNo, thatâs this guyâs name and the dogâs name is Pposili.â
âOh.â
Seon-woo was embarrassed and didnât know what to do. Meanwhile, I checked the time and asked the staff where to put our luggage.
The scheduled filming time was from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. We had to finish the experience quickly within an hour to avoid colliding with the general visitors.
âWell, shall we start then?â
Click, I unhooked the leash and Pposili lifted his sharp snout to the sky with shining eyes.
âWoof!â