Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 39

39. I’ll Take Care of It

Even though it was Saturday, practice continued as usual.

However, the dance instructor had to leave early, shortening the practice time.

After the dance instructor, who had been checking on Keshi and Rembrary for thirty minutes each, departed, Rembrary practiced the choreography alone before heading to the lounge for an ion drink.

“Are you alright?”

Hye-gyeol was already in the lounge.

“No…”

Hye-gyeol answered Rembrary weakly, leaning her head against the wall.

“What grudge does she hold against me? Did I wrong her in a past life? Why is she clinging to me like this? Is this how she wants to live? All these thoughts are swirling in my head. It’s so frustrating.”

She seemed genuinely distressed.

But some people speak the truth as if it were a lie, and others speak lies as if they were the truth.

As her colleague, I hoped the rumor was false, but I couldn’t blindly trust her words.

Instead of revealing these feelings, Rembrary patted Hye-gyeol’s shoulder to comfort her.

“It’ll be alright. Don’t worry too much.”

Just then, someone knocked on the waiting room door, even though it was already open.

“Hye-gyeol, the CEO wants to see you.”

It was one of the staff members whose name I couldn’t quite recall, but they had also been at the concept meeting.

Hye-gyeol swallowed hard and stood up from her chair.

* * *

Hye-gyeol entered the CEO’s office, extremely nervous.

Although she had a lively personality, she usually kept to herself, so this was the first time she’d been called in alone.

CEO Lim was standing in front of the cabinet, looking at a box of candies, when Hye-gyeol entered. He glanced back and said,

“Sit down.”

He gestured towards the multi-person sofa.

As Hye-gyeol sat down, CEO Lim took a lollipop from one of the candy boxes, unwrapped it, and began to speak.

“My resolution to quit smoking, Hye-gyeol,”

“Yes?”

“Has been tested three times this month.”

“?”

“Once by Yeon-woo, once by Keshi, and now you. So, what do you think the common thread is between the three of you?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s not the commonality.”

Blue veins pulsed on CEO Lim’s forehead as he smiled brightly.

“Yeon-woo wasn’t sorry at all. Keshi says she’s sorry, but she doesn’t seem sorry. You’re the only one who actually looks sorry.”

Hye-gyeol’s face paled, and she lowered her head.

CEO Lim sighed, put the candy in his mouth, crunched it, and asked,

“Explain the situation.”

“The post that was uploaded on the community…”

“Middle school. What exactly happened?”

CEO Lim’s expression hardened.

“Don’t even think about lying. We have several employees tracking down Woongin Middle School alumni.”

Hye-gyeol clasped her hands tightly and fidgeted before finally speaking.

“There was a friend I was close to in the first year. I think it’s her.”

“…”

“We were close at first, but the other kids in the class kept comparing her to me… I’m not sure if that’s the only reason, but I think the biggest reason we drifted apart was that she didn’t react well whenever the kids teased her and me.”

CEO Lim narrowed his eyes.

Up to this point, it was understandable enough.

Hye-gyeol had been a child model and still had a pretty face. When she was younger, she looked like a Christmas fairy.

It was an advantage for a celebrity, but it would have been difficult to fit in with her peers.

That age is a time when the desire to belong and the desire to be special both exist. Hye-gyeol would have been the opposite of both.

If Hye-gyeol had fully established herself as a child model at the time, the situation might have been different.

However, Hye-gyeol only worked as a child model until elementary school, leaving her in an ambiguous position as a middle school student.

“Anyway, we had an argument, and she said something offensive about my parents. I got angry-”

“Did you push her?”

“No!”

“Then?”

“When I got angry, she said she didn’t want to deal with me and left. I followed her, protesting, and near the stairs, she suddenly turned around. Then she suddenly staggered and fell backward.”

“She fell on her own?”

Hye-gyeol nodded and frowned.

“Was there CCTV footage or anything? Didn’t she admit it was her fault?”

“There wasn’t anything like that. She definitely didn’t admit it was her fault. She claimed I pushed her, and her parents came to school and made a scene. The police even came, but fortunately, I was cleared of the false accusation.”

Hye-gyeol was still angry just thinking about it.

At the time, her parents even considered leaking the incident to the media.

Somehow it passed, but she had been so upset and scared.

“Anyway, she kept telling the other kids in the class that I pushed her. I made a decision: until I debut, I will never get involved with other people. So, I’ve been alone ever since.”

CEO Lim chewed the remaining candy and frowned.

“This is really difficult.”

It would be difficult if her words were false.

Even if they were true, it was still difficult.

Even if Hye-gyeol’s words were true, someone skilled at inciting people could still blame her.

If she had fans, they would unconditionally believe in her, but she didn’t even have fans like that yet.

CEO Lim’s worries deepened the next day as he reviewed the information the employees had gathered.

As Hye-gyeol said, there were hardly any people at Woongin Middle School who had been close to her.

Woongin Middle School alumni said they had heard a rumor that ‘someone pushed someone,’ but they didn’t know if the person had been pushed and hurt or had fallen on their own.

CEO Lim became troubled and repeatedly took out and put back a cigarette from the case.

How can I solve this problem?

As he was doing so, there was a cheerful knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Unexpectedly, it was Yeon-woo who entered.

* * *

Rembrary closed the door and approached CEO Lim.

CEO Lim looked at Rembrary, who stopped at a distance, strangely.

“What brings you here?”

CEO Lim asked, puzzled.

“I came because of the matter concerning Hye-gyeol.”

At Rembrary’s words, CEO Lim’s eyebrows shot up.

As a member of the same group, he must be worried.

But even so, what could Yeon-woo, who had difficulty taking care of himself, possibly have to say?

“Why? Do you know something?”

CEO Lim guessed.

“Hye-gyeol said it was all lies to me. Did she tell you guys something different?”

Rembrary shook his head. That wasn’t why he came.

The reason Rembrary came to CEO Lim was,

“I think I can solve this problem.”

Because the atmosphere in the dorm was unbearable.

Even in this situation, Keshi was secretly flirting on her phone, and she bared her teeth every time the other members blocked or interfered.

Before the incident, Tae-in had already been a ticking time bomb, a hedgehog covered in thorns.

Jung-seo was a responsible leader, but not a kind and considerate person. Rather, he was blunt.

Rembrary was quiet because he had a lot to think about and investigate on his own.

The brightest and most cheerful one was the youngest, Hye-gyeol. With Hye-gyeol looking so down these days, the dorm had become an uncomfortable space rather than a resting place.

So, after thinking about it, Rembrary decided to take action himself.

Since there were still several years left on his contract, he couldn’t leave this place.

However, at Rembrary’s bold words, CEO Lim burst out laughing.

“What?”

He didn’t seem to believe Rembrary’s words at all.

“This is something.”

CEO Lim laughed as if he had heard a very funny joke.

“You guys must be very close.”

Moreover, he even mistook Rembrary’s genuine discomfort for friendship.

“You son of a gun, you have a sense of loyalty.”

However, CEO Lim appreciated Rembrary’s sentiment but firmly rejected it.

“But it’s not something you should get involved in.”

“I can solve it neatly.”

“Don’t. If you get involved and things get twisted, the school violence label will be transferred to you. They say that if there are three people, they can create a tiger out of nothing [a Chinese idiom meaning that rumors can become believable with enough people repeating them].”

“You can create a tiger on your own.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Rembrary, who was thinking of illusion magic, and CEO Lim, who was thinking of a Chinese idiom, looked at each other for a moment, misunderstanding each other’s words.

CEO Lim considered the fact that Rembrary had lost his memory and nodded appropriately, saying,

“Anyway, you have high recognition, so even if you stay still, reporters are dragging your name into it. If you step in directly, you’ll only be wronged.”

Rembrary tried to say something, but he just closed his mouth.

The method he was going to use to reveal the truth was divine power.

A power that people in this world do not understand.

Of course, he wouldn’t use divine power openly, but it would be difficult to persuade CEO Lim without mentioning it.

“I understand.”

Rembrary nodded and left the CEO’s office.

But he didn’t intend to stay still as CEO Lim had suggested.

Why bother going around when you can easily solve things by taking direct action?

This time, Rembrary went to Jung-seo and asked for a favor.

“I want to resolve the matter about Hye-gyeol. Go to the CEO and get permission on my behalf.”

Jung-seo stopped practicing acting and

“Huh?”

He asked back.

His face showed his confusion.

“How?”

“With my power.”

“Treatment? What are you going to solve with that?”

Jung-seo was puzzled and then

“Ah.”

He exclaimed.

“Are you going to treat the person who wrote that post?”

“No.”

Rembrary said no without even thinking about it.

“Then?”

“I have something in mind.”

Instead of giving a detailed explanation, Rembrary asked again,

“Doesn’t the CEO listen to you well? Can you get permission to meet the person who is attacking Hye-gyeol directly? Let’s go meet them together.”

“Isn’t your competition on Monday?”

“After the competition on Monday, I’ll be free from Tuesday.”

Jung-seo’s face showed that he didn’t fully understand Rembrary’s words.

But he knew that Rembrary had strange abilities, so even if he didn’t understand, he agreed for now.

“I’ll ask, but don’t expect too much. The CEO might not give permission.”

However, as Rembrary expected, CEO Lim immediately granted permission at Jung-seo’s request.

This was because there were many ways to use Jung-seo’s direct visit and conversation with that person in the future.

If the conversation went well, he could create the image of a leader who directly stepped up for the members. Even if the conversation didn’t go well, he could record it and use it as a counterattack.

If an employee of LLL stepped up, it would look like they were trying to bury the matter by putting pressure on a powerless individual, but if Jung-seo stepped up, there would be no such misunderstanding.

Of course, all of this was possible because CEO Lim trusted Jung-seo’s calm and unwavering personality.

CEO Lim took out a small recorder from the drawer and handed it to Jung-seo, saying,

“Just in case, take this and turn it on. Be careful what you say.”

“Yes.”

“Stop by the legal team and have them pick out what you can and can’t say in advance. There’s a high probability that they’ll bring a recorder too.”

Jung-seo said he understood, received the recorder, and returned to Rembrary.

“I got permission. What are you going to do now?”