A New Career Singer Who Can Read The Future [EN]: Chapter 43

Just because the Devil card appeared didn’t necessarily mean it was all bad. The Devil can also signify intense energy.

Dohyun, feeling it was too ambiguous to foresee his future with just the Devil card, picked a second card that caught his eye.

[Justice]

The Justice card. A so-called judgment card, it signified victory in legal battles or personal disputes.

“Hmm, judging from the combination of these two cards, my chances of winning are high. The production team is probably thinking of compiling and releasing the footage from incident 17. And since Hu Entertainment has put me out there as a hidden card, they must be preparing something beyond just a simple official statement.”

Dohyun decided to think positively.

The opportunity lost today would likely be resolved soon.

Believing that the Devil card possessed fast and intense energy, he trusted that the bullying controversy caused by incident 17 would quickly subside.

* * *

The production team of KBC’s ‘I Want to Be Your First Singer’ carefully addressed the issue, as the two contestants vying for 1st and 2nd place were negatively involved, with only nine participants remaining.

They asked the PR team to maintain confidentiality and instructed all PDs [Production Directors] in the entertainment department to handle the matter with utmost seriousness.

The production team met with the head of Hu Entertainment’s PR team to discuss how to resolve the issue.

KBC headquarters conference room.

The main director’s face was etched with irritation.

“Ugh, I really want a cigarette, but I can’t since I quit.”

The assistant directors had already finished chain-smoking at the smoking booth between the main building and the annex.

“We’re getting tons of calls from reporters.”

At the assistant director’s words, the main director, also the CP [Chief Producer], told them to turn off their phones.

“Those reporters are just trying to sniff something out. Don’t give them any bait. Turn off your phones, and don’t change your messenger status messages. Just think of today as a day to go completely off the radar. You know what to do when something like this happens.”

“Yes, we should.”

The head of Hu Entertainment’s PR team also sighed deeply.

“We can’t reach incident 17. It seems they’ve also gone into hiding after giving an interview to the press. The kid is cunning.”

Then the main director said,

“They showed a lot of impudent behavior when appearing on the program and treated the staff like crap… I really don’t know what to say. We already released one video, but releasing all the evidence videos would be like going for total chaos. The higher-ups want us to resolve it as quietly as possible. So, what does that make us? The program is being shaken by a kid’s lie.”

The PR team leader sighed and replied to those words.

“That’s right. Besides, if the current 1st place is shaken by the bullying controversy, the rankings will be a mess. People in our country really love rumors. They love it even more if the target is a celebrity. They’re so good at making up things that aren’t there…”

“That’s the problem. Nadohyun, who I’ve seen so far, isn’t like that. He’s too humble and kind, so we can’t prove it. If we release a video to cover for Nadohyun, people will say the production team has been manipulating the rankings all along.”

“So, the best way is not to release the video. After getting both sides to agree, we should announce an official statement saying we’ll sue for defamation, right?”

The director nodded at the PR team leader’s words.

“What’s the difference between the media that fell for a kid’s prank and the media that creates controversy with it? The best thing to do is to threaten them with a lawsuit.”

“I understand. Then I’ll release it that way. We can release it as the position of both sides, right?”

The director told the PR team leader to do so.

“Do that. Anyway, the KBC PR team and the entertainment department are temporarily on hold today. The higher-ups have ordered us not to do anything today.”

“I understand. Then I’ll instruct my people to finalize the official statement they’ve prepared regarding this matter.”

“Ugh, there are so many people who can’t stand seeing others succeed. What’s the point of having skills if their personality is like that? I’m so angry that they’ve brazenly created this situation against the broadcasting station and a large agency.”

The director continued, as if the anger wasn’t subsiding.

“Don’t give them a single loophole in the official statement. These days, if you write sentences or words that allow netizens to speculate, they’ll create another controversy. Got it? Oh, and we’ll take care of keeping the participants quiet, so don’t worry. If the official statement doesn’t work, we’re also considering using the participants’ SNS [Social Networking Service] accounts.”

The PR team leader stood up and said they would do so.

* * *

The official statement was released three hours after the incident occurred.

The announcement was delayed because KBC and Hu Entertainment had to coordinate.

In the meantime, media outlets released various speculative articles to grab views.

The speculation ranged from Nadohyun’s fourth debut being due to his hidden personality, to incident 17’s swearing being a result of malicious editing, and even an anonymous source negatively evaluating Nadohyun’s personality.

However, the incident was quickly resolved when Hu Entertainment and KBC’s official statement was released.

In particular, the statement included content about suing for defamation regarding untrue facts, so all media outlets, except for the first one that wrote about the exclusive bullying controversy, deleted the articles and videos as if nothing had happened.

Furthermore, when the statement included the KBC director’s words, “We have more data on participant 17,” the media outlets took down various speculative articles.

The articles being released now painted a different picture, as the KBC director and Hu Entertainment’s PR team had agreed.

Nadohyun’s past actions, diligence, and humility were being reported.

Dohyun was checking the situation changing in real-time on his laptop at home.

“Mumyeong, you should eat.”

“Mom, I don’t have an appetite.”

“Is it because of what happened today? That kid from incident 17 seemed strange…”

“I guess so. Because of that, I missed the opportunity to meet fans, and only incident 17 and I are in trouble. It also took time for the official statement to come out. The difference in votes missed during that time will be quite significant.”

“Our Mumyeong, sigh… When I see you living as a singer, you do well, but then something goes wrong. Maybe it’s not right for you?”

Dohyun didn’t answer, feeling like his mom was telling him to give up his singing career.

“I’m going to rest for a bit, so just you and Dad have dinner.”

“You’re upset, and you’ll get indigestion if you eat, so rest for a bit… I’m on your side, but you should still reconsider your singing career…”

“Mom, I really want to succeed as a singer. So, don’t say things like that. I’m going to rest.”

Dohyun lay on the bed and covered his eyes with one arm.

He felt suffocated. What good was it if public opinion changed?

He missed out on so much today.

Even though things were handled quickly as the Devil card and Justice card had said, Dohyun didn’t like this situation.

If violence were allowed for just one day, he felt like giving incident 17 a flick on the forehead.

“Sigh, I guess I can turn on my phone now.”

Dohyun turned on his phone, thinking the media had calmed down a lot.

He had over 200 missed calls and over 500 text messages from unknown numbers.

“People really love other people’s stories.”

Dohyun seemed to get more stressed as he read the text messages one by one.

It was because there were many reporters asking ridiculous questions.

Whether the reason for his fourth debut was due to his hidden personality, or when the relationship with incident 17 went wrong, or whether he had been ignoring incident 17… Seeing these things piled up made it hard to breathe.

“This is why celebrities get panic disorders and develop social phobias. I feel like this after just one day, so how must celebrities who get countless malicious comments feel?”

Dohyun, feeling that this situation was truly burdensome, decided to get some sleep.

However, even after closing his eyes for 30 minutes, even after an hour, Dohyun couldn’t sleep.

His head was too complicated, so he couldn’t even fall asleep.

It was then.

Drrr, his phone vibrated.

It was Hyoseop.

-Hyungnim!

“Oh… Hyoseop-ah, why are you up at this hour?”

-I saw the official statement, but I’m so frustrated that I can’t sleep.

“Me too. After seeing all sorts of speculative articles posted for a day, and then taken down because of the threat of a lawsuit for defamation, I feel like I’m not myself. I’m feeling skeptical about the existence of people themselves.”

-Me too… I even think it was better when I was unknown.

“But that’s not true. All sorts of bugs will stick to you anyway because of fame. But incident 17 is really unforgivable. They’re more shocking than the team leader who ran away during my first debut. I don’t even understand how a kid could be so cunning. I lived really hard at that age.”

-That’s what I’m saying. I found out incident 17’s contact information and contacted them, but they didn’t answer. I don’t think they’re reading the texts either. I asked to have a conversation via text, but it shows they’ve seen it, but they’re ignoring me.”

“They probably don’t want to be caught saying something that could be used against them since defamation has been mentioned.”

Dohyun sighed deeply.

-Hyungnim, do you want to come out and have a beer? I can’t sleep either.

“Okay. Let’s have a drink.”

Dohyun set a meeting place with Hyoseop.

As Dohyun was about to leave, having skipped dinner at almost midnight, Dohyun’s parents asked where he was going.

“Son, where are you going?”

“Ah, I’m meeting incident 33 [Hyoseop]. We’re both exhausted from today’s events, so we decided to have a simple drink.”

“Ah… Be careful, there might be people starting fights at the bar.”

“Yeah. So, we decided to go to a room-style izakaya [Japanese-style pub with private rooms].”

Dohyun said goodbye and moved to the meeting place.

Thanks to Hyoseop’s reservation, they were able to enter the room without waiting.

Hyoseop arrived 10 minutes after the agreed time.

“Oh, Hyoseop-ah.”

“Hyungnim, I’m sorry for being late. I dozed off and got off at a different station.”

“It’s okay. It can happen. I’ve already ordered soju [Korean distilled spirit] and beer. Should we mix them?”

“Let’s have somaek [soju and beer mix]. There are still two days left until the music show… No, it’s only one day left now. Let’s only drink a moderate amount of somaek and go home to adjust our condition.”

Dohyun nodded at Hyoseop’s words.

The two exchanged drinks and drank.

As the protagonists of the incident 17 bullying controversy, they understood each other well.

Moreover, since they had gone through it since their unknown days, they couldn’t help but have a good conversation.

After drinking for a couple of hours and coming out of the room, the owner said to them,

“Oh? Aren’t you the people who appear on TV?”

The two, feeling sorry to say no, nodded and replied.

“Wow, celebrities at our store… Please sign! I won’t accept the bill today!”

Dohyun said firmly.

“I’ll sign it for you. I’ll take a picture too. But please accept the bill.”

Dohyun, worried that there might be a problem because of the bill, said, and the owner said okay.

Dohyun and Hyoseop finished signing and taking a selfie with the owner, then went home.