By Zephyria I couldn’t support my trembling legs and ended up collapsing. Before I fell to the ground, Sung Se-han picked me up.
“This won’t do. Let’s go to the hospital.”
“N-no! I’m not sick…!”
Even though I refused adamantly, he didn’t budge and started running.
“My manager Hyung is waiting at the entrance of the apartment? Straight to the emergency room… No, should I just call an ambulance? Hey, Lee Tae-kyung! Don’t faint. Stay conscious!”
Thanks to Sung Se-han’s flustered fuss, my head was clearing up. The sidewalk at the entrance of the apartment is narrow and dark, so he might fall while running with me on his back.
“Se-han-ah! First, put me down for a second. Hey, hey! I said stop for a second!”
I grabbed and pulled the set hair of the guy who wasn’t even pretending to listen.
“Ah, hey! Ouch, ouch….”
“I said I’m okay, why don’t you listen?”
I got off his back as soon as Sung Se-han, who was staggering, stopped.
“Let me see your legs. Here, are you okay?”
Sung Se-han flinched every time I massaged his right and left legs.
“Lee Tae-kyung, wh-what are you doing?”
“Does your leg hurt anywhere?”
“I’m okay…?”
Well, he seemed fine when he was running. After that, I immediately checked his arms.
“Does your arm hurt anywhere? Shake it once.”
“Why are you suddenly worried about my arms and legs?”
Sung Se-han’s body certainly didn’t seem to have any problems, but even so, my heart didn’t calm down. I moved back only after touching Sung Se-han’s arms here and there.
“Se-han-ah, if you feel sick anywhere, contact me right away. Got it?”
“Hmm….”
Sung Se-han, who was staring at me, made a strange expression.
“What are you going to do if I contact you?”
“I’ll, I’ll run right over.”
Pfft. Sung Se-han covered his mouth as if he was contemplating, but a laugh leaked out before that. Seriously, my insides are rotting, rotting.
“Sung Se-han, I’m not kidding right now. If your arm or leg hurts, contact me right away.”
“Um. Since you’re asking, I guess I will.”
Se-han-ah, it’s not something to laugh about. You might die if you’re not careful! I have to stop that, but I still haven’t come to my senses….
“Lee Tae-kyung, if you’re sick, contact me right away too. Got it?”
“Se-han-ah.”
I brushed off the dirt on his knees that had gotten on him while carrying me and looked into Sung Se-han’s eyes.
“When I think about it, there seems to be nothing more precious than health. I don’t want much, I just want to live a long and healthy life, that’s what success is! So take care of your health. Got it? And… Ah, what!”
My body swayed because Sung Se-han grabbed my head and touched it here and there.
“Hey, what are you doing!”
“You don’t have a fever… Why is he really like this? Are you hiding something from me? If you’re hiding something, I’m really going to punish you?”
He was so strong that I had to struggle to get him off.
“I’m not hiding anything…!”
I didn’t even have the energy to argue with him anymore.
“Oh, right, Sung Se-han. We might be able to release our debut album in the spring.”
My heart ached when I said it.
Sung Se-han’s eyes widened when he heard my words. And he smiled broadly, without even trying to hide his happy expression.
“Wow! Finally.”
Sung Se-han, who closed his mouth and stared at the air for a moment, looked at me with a challenging look.
“Life is going to be fun now.”
I was called in early in the morning by General manager Kim Hyeong-seok.
I expected that General manager Kim would call me. But I didn’t know that A&R Team leader Jang Ju-mi, with a scary face, would be waiting for me.
“Tae-kyung, I heard you said you wanted to leave the company yesterday?”
General manager Kim Hyeong-seok, Team leader Jang Ju-mi, and even Gun-woo Hyung were sitting side by side, looking at me coldly, making my shoulders shrink as if I had committed a great crime.
“Since when have you been thinking that?”
Team leader Jang Ju-mi was the one who discovered ‘Seol Ye-eun,’ who is the pillar of our company.
Seol Yeeun Noona was the solo singer I admired and also the reason I wanted to join Global.
I had felt proud that Team Leader Jang Joo-mi, who nurtured Yeeun Noona, liked my singing.
“I’ll be honest with you, Team Leader.”
But if Global keeps pushing back our debut, I won’t be able to respect anyone anymore.
“I’m twenty years old now. The debut album the company promised has been delayed for a year, and I can’t just keep waiting forever.”
General Manager Kim Hyeong-seok clicked his tongue as if he felt sorry for me.
“So, you’re planning to debut at another company?”
Even though he’s small in stature, the charismatic General Manager stared at me as if I were pathetic, and I felt a bit intimidated.
“I plan to think about that slowly.”
“Tae-kyung! Why are you really doing this…!”
As my attitude hardened, Gun-woo Hyung’s face turned pale.
“How are you going to handle the aftermath of this? Hurry up and apologize and tell them you’ll work hard on your debut preparations!”
Gun-woo Hyung couldn’t hide his shock; his face turned white, then red, and he started scolding me. I wanted to comfort Gun-woo Hyung a bit, but the expressions of the General Manager and Team Leader staring at me were so cold that I couldn’t move a muscle.
“Tae-kyung, the album will be out by July anyway, so why are you causing trouble? This isn’t like you.”
Team Leader Jang Joo-mi’s words weren’t true. Our album won’t be out until October.
Honestly, whether it’s July or October, what does it matter? As long as the debut song doesn’t change, the situation won’t be much different.
I lowered my hands, which had been resting politely on the table, and leaned back in the chair. My posture might have looked a bit arrogant, but I felt like that was the only way to make them focus more on what I was saying.
“If the debut album doesn’t come out by April, it’s meaningless. As I mentioned yesterday, I plan to give up on debuting with Global.”
“Tae-kyung…!”
Gun-woo Hyung’s lips trembled.
“Lee Tae-kyung, where did you learn that attitude?”
General Manager Kim Hyeong-seok threw his pen on the table and shook his head as if he were dumbfounded.
“You’re out of the debut team. And even if your contract ends in September, you can’t go to another company. Keep that in mind.”
Gun-woo Hyung looked at General Manager Kim Hyeong-seok with a horrified expression. Team Leader Jang Joo-mi was just observing my reaction.
I gritted my teeth to avoid showing any agitation, but I felt a shock as if my heart had dropped to the floor.
“General Manager, formally….”
I tightly clasped my trembling hands under the table. My palms were sweaty and damp.
In the already tense atmosphere, General Manager Kim Hyeong-seok widened his eyes. Team Leader Jang Joo-mi furrowed her brows and looked at me.
“I formally request a contract termination.”
“Haha, this kid is really funny.”
General Manager Kim Hyeong-seok burst out laughing as if he found it utterly ridiculous. I turned my gaze to Team Leader Jang Joo-mi, who had a serious expression.
“I believe the reason our debut album has been delayed for over a year is that we’ve been neglected.”
This was somewhat exaggerated, but to get my point across, I had to use any means necessary.
“What?”
“What are you talking about?”
Everyone raised their voices in surprise, but I continued speaking even more calmly.
“While the album was delayed, we didn’t receive proper vocal lessons, and the choreography teacher was focused on the girl group debut team, so we were pushed aside. I thought everyone was aware of that.”
“Lee Tae-kyung, do you really think that makes sense? The team the company cares about the most is the boy group debut team….”
“Also, our manager, Seong-wook Hyung, continuously subjected us to verbal abuse and physical violence.”
I’m sorry to Seong-wook Hyung, but this is the truth.
General Manager Kim Hyeong-seok leaned forward, bringing his menacing expression closer to me.
“Lee Tae-kyung, do you even know what you’re saying? Can you take responsibility for your words?”
As someone who knows the future, I’m desperately striving to take responsibility and for our team’s success.
Please, anyone, I wish I had at least one person on my side to help me.
I was forcing myself to act calm, but my fragile mental state was shaking uncontrollably.
“Seong-wook Hyung didn’t directly use his fists, but he habitually threw things at me.”
“What…!”
“There was a time he even threw a phone at me, and Se-han got hit instead and was seriously injured. At that time….”
As I mentioned Sung Se-han’s name while explaining the situation, it was as if a light had turned on, and my vision suddenly brightened.
There was someone! Someone who would be my reliable ally!
Seeing the General Manager and Team Leader’s faces completely stiffen, I straightened my back even more. My tightly constricted heart seemed to relax.
“At that time, Se-han bled a lot from his forehead….”
From the moment Sung Se-han’s name came up, the General Manager and Team Leader were noticeably flustered. Sung Se-han, whose mere cough makes headlines. I never thought I’d use his name as a sturdy weapon.
“We got a medical certificate from the hospital and even recorded the wound. Se-han also recorded him cursing at me multiple times. At that time, I barely managed to stop Se-han from threatening to sue the company.”
Everyone in the meeting room turned pale and waited for someone to speak next.
I looked at Gun-woo Hyung, whose face was full of despair.
“If you don’t terminate the contract, I’ll gather evidence of the unfair treatment I’ve received over the years and hire a lawyer.”