A New Career Singer Who Can Read The Future [EN]: Chapter 68

The sight of the photo in the envelope made my skin crawl.

It was a picture of me taken while I was asleep, as if someone had been secretly photographing me.

And it wasn’t just one photo. All the other pictures were taken inside my house without my knowledge. The angles weren’t possible from the windows. They were definitely taken from inside the house. It couldn’t have been Doha, my manager.

“Hey, Doha… let’s report this to the police first.”

“Hyung [older brother/term of endearment], I’ll report this to the director and the CEO first. Reporting to the police might add fuel to the fire and make the stalker even more interested… so I’m a little cautious.”

This was a first for me in my 10 years in the music industry.

I resolved to check all the interior decorations in my bedroom.

“Okay, report it first. And you and I, let’s check all the interior decorations in the house, everything we received from fans. It’s time for you and me to sleep… but this seems more important right now.”

The thought of a camera filming me from somewhere was chilling. On the other hand, I also felt a sense of disgust.

I had been thinking of lyrics to write for the fans, for the fan song I was asked to write.

But coming home, what was waiting for me was candid shots taken by someone obsessed under the guise of a ‘fan.’ Could I write a good fan song in this state? I doubted it.

“Hyung, this doll’s eyes look weird.”

Doha said, examining the eyes of the rabbit doll in the living room.

“I feel sorry for the fan who gave it to us, but let’s open it up.”

I took scissors and carefully cut around the rabbit doll’s eyes.

And… there was a miniature camera inside.

A curse almost escaped my lips.

“Damn… a fan gave this to us?”

I got goosebumps and stabbed the miniature camera repeatedly with the tip of the scissors. Even after it was no longer functional, I stabbed it once more as if warding off bad luck.

“We found one, at least. But the angles are so diverse… I wonder if they installed it after we moved in.”

I agreed with Doha’s words.

“Right? The angles are too diverse. It feels like they know my entire routine, from when I sleep shirtless to just my daily movements.”

“I’ve heard that some fans can be obsessive or delusional, and I’ve seen top actors I’ve worked with experience this to some extent, hyung, but this is a bit much.”

I took a deep breath and thought about the timing of when someone could have come into our house and installed everything.

“Doha, did anyone suspicious approach us on moving day?”

“No? Actually, people from other countries came to help, so even though communication was difficult, there were no suspicious approaches.”

“No matter how I think about it, it seems like someone came into the house and installed them after we moved. We need to find out more about the people who visited that day from the moving company. And we need a camera detector, too.”

“Yes, hyung. I’ll take care of it. In the meantime, why don’t you go to your parents’ house and sleep? I’ll stay up all night and find everything, even if I’m tired.”

Doha said with a tired look on his face. Seeing that face, I couldn’t bring myself to make him work more, so I refused Doha’s offer.

“Doha, you look too tired right now. It seems like we’ve gotten rid of one in the living room, so go to sleep first. I’ll look around a bit more and then sleep.”

“Yes, hyung. Just in case, don’t report it to the police. The company needs to handle this… It’s better not to report to the police first so as not to provoke the stalker. Although, they might be listening to this conversation.”

Doha’s last words made me feel uneasy and unpleasant once again. The thought that someone might be watching our conversation made me feel uncomfortable.

I changed from my shower gown into comfortable training clothes in the bathroom. I hoped they hadn’t installed anything in the bathroom, so I moved freely only in the bathroom.

Of course, I checked the bathroom just in case. But nothing was installed. Maybe it was because I only kept practical items like lotion and shampoo in the bathroom, rather than interior decorations.

“Haa, should I even consider this person a fan? Are they a real fan? Excessive possessiveness, obsession, and delusion. Is this the psychology of fans?”

I fell into thought. In my entire life, I had ‘respected’ someone, but I had never deeply ‘fanned’ [supported/been a fan of] anyone. That’s why I couldn’t understand why they would do something like this.

What exactly is a fan? A feeling of liking? A feeling of support? Or wanting to possess? Having vain fantasies about me? What on earth is it? I want to know.

* * *

The next day, Doha went to work at the company, leaving Dohyun at home after he had slept soundly.

Dohyun, who had stayed up all night and found three more miniature cameras, showed no signs of waking up and was fast asleep.

Doha had given a preliminary report to the management team.

As soon as he arrived at the company, Doha met with the director, the CEO of Hue Entertainment, and the public relations team. The atmosphere in the conference room was somber.

“So… there were no traces on the envelope, and it was stuck in the mailbox of Dohyun’s villa, 401, and when you looked, it contained footage of Dohyun’s every move?”

“That’s right. Hyung found three cameras, and I found one, so we were able to find a total of four cameras. You said you were going to report it to the police, but it seemed like things would get too big if we reported it to the police, so I requested this meeting early in the morning.”

Doha spoke logically. The CEO of Hue Entertainment nodded and said, resting his chin on one hand.

“These days, private investigators are legalized. If we can’t borrow the hands of the police, we’ll have to borrow the hands of a detective, right? First, I know someone trustworthy, so let’s borrow their hands, and if the case gets really big, let’s inquire with the police.”

Doha wasn’t relieved by the CEO’s words, but he nodded for now.

The management director seemed to be in a similar position, tilting his head and saying.

“CEO, still, shouldn’t we report this to the police…? It’s not just anything; they installed a camera in the house and took candid shots, and I think it’s a matter that could endanger Dohyun’s life.”

The head of the public relations team agreed with the director’s words.

“That’s right. If Dohyun gets hurt due to the stalker’s stalking, negative issues may arise. Not only will distrust in the company increase, but the album scheduled for release will also be negatively affected. At the album release showcase, only questions about the stalker and stalking will be asked all day long… You know, CEO.”

The head of the public relations team tried to persuade the CEO gently, but the CEO’s position was firm. The CEO’s primary position was to solve the problem with a detective first, and the last resort was to report to the police.

“Then put one more manager on Doha. Is that okay? If you have one more road manager [personal manager], it’ll be fine.”

“A stalker is already attached to him while he’s living with Doha, CEO.”

The management director tried to persuade him once again, but it didn’t work.

In the end, the morning meeting ended with the decision to hire a detective the CEO knew to work on the case.

* * *

It was already past lunchtime when Dohyun woke up. He had slept a lot for the first time in a while, so his body felt heavy.

“It’s a relief that the schedule is in the afternoon today. It would have been a disaster if it had been in the morning.”

Just then, the sound of the door lock being pressed, beep beep beep beep, was heard. It was obviously Doha, but Dohyun was gripped by the fear that maybe the stalker would open the door and come in.

‘I wonder what decision the company made.’

It was Doha who opened the door and came in.

“Hyung! You were awake. I was just about to wake you up.”

“Oh, uh… what did they say at the company?”

“Ugh, the CEO is stubborn in his own way.”

Doha sighed deeply.

“Why, they won’t let us report it to the police?”

“They’re going to hire a detective to investigate. He said he knows a detective. So the director was worried that Dohyun hyung might be attacked by the stalker, so he said he’d give us one more road manager. It’s not a problem that can be solved by adding one more road manager.”

“Hmm….”

Dohyun was lost in thought. He wanted to call the police and search every corner of the house, but he felt a little disappointed that he had to hide it like this because of the judgment that negative issues could arise.

“Oh, and something that came up in the middle of the meeting. If any questions come up about stalkers or stalking-related issues, they said never to answer them, hyung.”

“Well… I know in what way negative issues might arise, but I can’t help but feel a little upset.”

Dohyun couldn’t help but show a little disappointment that Hue Entertainment, a large entertainment company, would handle it in a slightly different way.

However, Doha was the same. Doha, who mainly worked in small and medium-sized entertainment companies, also felt that the decision of the CEO of Hue Entertainment was disappointing.

“I find it hard to make this decision… To be honest, I could understand small and medium-sized entertainment companies covering it up, but this is the first time I’ve seen a large entertainment company do this. They immediately announce that they will take action against stalking and sue them… Even though four cameras came out of the house, it’s a bit much to handle it this way, hyung.”

Doha agreed with Dohyun’s words and replied. Dohyun felt a little comforted by those words. Having his reliable helper with him made his disappointed feelings feel halved compared to when he was working alone.

“In that vein, the detective is scheduled to come tonight. So there will be some traces of him having been in the house. Is that okay?”

Doha carefully brought up the topic. Dohyun nodded as if to say he understood.

“But Doha, have you ever been truly obsessed with a celebrity, or even another profession… what you call ‘deokjil’ [being a dedicated fan]?”

“Hmm, it’s not like I haven’t at all. There was an actor I liked. Of course, not in a way that I wanted to date them, but I liked them out of fandom.”

“Then, do you want to possess them so violently and know their daily routine like this?”

“No, never. It’s just the word ‘idol’ itself. Something ideal. Life is tough, so you can dream of an ideal, right? It was just that.”

Dohyun sighed deeply. Doha widened his eyes and asked.

“Why, hyung? Is it because the lyrics aren’t coming out well because of this stalking?”

Doha guessed Dohyun’s inner thoughts perfectly even though Dohyun didn’t say anything.

“That’s right. I don’t understand at all. Fan and stalker. Isn’t it just a fine line? Don’t you think so?”

Doha pondered Dohyun’s words before answering.

“I don’t think it’s a fine line. Fans and stalkers are in different realms, hyung. The feeling of passionately liking something and dreaming of an ideal cannot be compared to stalking.”

Dohyun’s worries deepened at those words.

Are they really different?