NOVEL NEXT Chapter 214
Crash-!!
“Craaack-!”
Shin Si-woo, who had the frail body of an idol, was knocked out by one punch from Older Brother Sang-gu.
But Older Brother Sang-gu didn’t stop there; he prepared to mount Shin Si-woo and deliver follow-up punches.
However, at that moment…
Swish.
Thinking he couldn’t win with strength, Shin Si-woo reached out towards the remaining white powder in the container.
I couldn’t be sure what it was, but there was no doubt that something bad would happen if it touched his body, so…
Boom!
I quickly reached out my hand faster than Shin Si-woo and snatched the container filled with white powder, sealing the lid.
“…Hey, wait a minute!”
Watching the container drift away, hope faded from Shin Si-woo’s eyes, and to him…
Thud-!
Older Brother Sang-gu threw another punch.
Thwack-!
Pow-!
For a long while, the sound of something breaking continued relentlessly.
“Grrrr….”
Leaving behind Shin Si-woo, who was barely conscious, I handed the container filled with white powder to Older Brother Sang-gu.
“What’s this…?”
“Do you have any idea what it is?”
Staring intently at the white powder, Older Brother Sang-gu cracked his knuckles and looked again at Shin Si-woo, answering in an angry tone.
“…I once had a turf war with some guys who dealt with this. I’m not sure, but it seems like it’s some kind of… drug.”
…So that’s what it was.
He was trying to spray drugs on my face.
I looked sharply at Shin Si-woo and said to Older Brother Sang-gu.
“…At least we got some evidence.”
“Evidence?”
“Actually, this time….”
I told Older Brother Sang-gu everything from my first meeting with Shin Si-woo to the recent events.
And upon hearing this, Older Brother Sang-gu nodded as if he already knew.
“Ah, I see that’s how it went….”
“…Huh?”
He nodded as if he had been aware all along.
“You knew…?”
“I didn’t know everything, but I knew you were wrongfully accused.”
It was supposed to be a confidential investigation. That’s why there hadn’t even been a single article on the internet.
How did Older Brother Sang-gu know about it?
No, when I think about it, it was strange how he suddenly appeared at the broadcasting station to save me.
Above all…
Did time just stop for a moment…?
That was definitely “her” skill…
How did Older Brother Sang-gu manage to show up just in time?
…It seemed I had a lot to ask Older Brother Sang-gu.
“…How did you know about that? And how did you know to come here?”
“…Well, you see…”
Older Brother Sang-gu hesitated for a moment before he began to explain.
*
Even though Brotherhood Planning had temporarily stepped back, they were closely monitoring the movements of their first trainee and family-like Ha Ye-rin.
Especially due to the aftermath of what had happened before their agency transfer, Brotherhood Planning was connected with the police and quickly found out that Ye-rin was being investigated privately due to drugs.
“…Yes, Deputy Chief. Thank you for the heads-up, and please help my girl if she gets into trouble again.”
As Kang Hyung-man spoke on the phone regarding Ha Ye-rin, Sang-gu, who was in the same room, flinched and asked.
“…Hyung, is something wrong with Ye-rin?”
“…Sang-gu, you’d better go check on her.”
So, Sang-gu set aside everything and began closely guarding Ye-rin.
Just to be safe, he decided to watch over her for a few days.
And just a moment ago…
Creek.
“……!”
Sang-gu got startled when he saw Ye-rin hurriedly leaving the waiting room and rushed to follow her.
However, perhaps due to not being familiar with the layout of the broadcasting station, he quickly lost his way.
Maintaining a distance so as not to burden Ye-rin only made things worse.
Then suddenly…
“…Excuse me. You were Ha Ye-rin’s former manager, right?”
“…Who are you?”
Someone approached him, recognizing that he had secretly infiltrated the broadcasting station.
Not knowing that he had once been known as Na Ah Ah’s manager, Sang-gu panicked when the girl in front of him recognized him.
And…
“Are you…?”
Seeing the girl’s face in detail, he was even more shocked.
As a representative who had researched various idols, Sang-gu recognized who had just addressed him.
“Python….”
As Sang-gu muttered this, the girl clicked her tongue and pointed down the corridor.
“Forget that. You need to go right away.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Ha Ye-rin is with some crazy dude. Hurry!”
“……!”
The moment he heard that, Sang-gu sprinted towards the direction the girl had indicated.
And that’s how we ended up in the current situation.
*
“Ah….”
After hearing all of Older Brother Sang-gu’s story, I lowered my head.
“…I’m sorry for getting you worried.”
“……”
Seeing this, Older Brother Sang-gu let out a deep sigh and…
“Huff…, Ye-rin.”
He patted my head and continued.
“…Is it so hard for you to accept help from someone?”
“……”
“No matter what, this was serious. Do you know what could have happened if you met that crazy guy alone?”
The tone of Older Brother Sang-gu seemed a bit angry.
From his perspective, it would make sense to be upset.
It must have seemed reckless.
But…
I didn’t want to involve anyone else, especially not the Brotherhood Planning family or NAS Entertainment staff. I didn’t want to burden them unnecessarily…
“Did you think that pulling others into this would be a burden?”
“……!”
At that moment, it was as if Older Brother Sang-gu read my inner thoughts, as he stared at me with his usual expressionless face.
When I flinched and couldn’t respond, Older Brother Sang-gu smiled bitterly and said.
“…Yeah, Ye-rin. I thought you would think that.”
“……”
“Your world has been lonely until now, so even if people came into your life, you likely only knew how to give but not how to receive.”
Knowing how to give but not how to receive…
I felt a bit strange as I muttered that, and Older Brother Sang-gu stood up and continued speaking.
“There’s a saying that happiness doubles when shared and sorrow halves. I hope you learn how to live with others, Ye-rin. …You’re no longer alone.”
The moment I heard that, I remembered what Yoo Seol had told me earlier.
“If anything happens, rely on adults at any time. …You can rely on me too.”
…….
…I was blessed to have so many good people around me.
So maybe that’s why I struggled to reach out to them.
Instead, I always turned to the status window for help, thinking with it, I could solve anything by myself.
Even though I knew from my time on stage that the status window wasn’t omnipotent and relying on it was hindering my own skill…
When the problem arose, I instinctively depended on the status window.
So, what was the result?
Trying to handle things on my own led to me losing myself in anger and hatred, almost causing everything to go awry.
I realized that seeking help from the Brotherhood Planning family or others would make things easier, but I didn’t do it.
Even though there were countless people willing to help me…
“……”
As I blankly stared into space, Older Brother Sang-gu gently patted me and stood up…
Click.
He took a picture of the groaning Shin Si-woo’s face with his phone.
“…We’ll deal with this guy. Embarrassingly enough, we Brotherhood Planning members know how to completely ruin someone’s life.”
As he said this, his expression while messing with Shin Si-woo’s hair was intimidating.
After meticulously gathering the white powder that Shin Si-woo had brought, Older Brother Sang-gu stood up.
“Then I’ll take care of this guy. Ye-rin, you go ahead in first.”
“…Yes, Older Brother Sang-gu. Thank you.”
Though Older Brother Sang-gu was usually quiet, he had talked quite a bit today.
That was all for my sake.
In fact, Older Brother Sang-gu’s words resonated deeply and brought me insight.
As I lowered my head in gratitude to Older Brother Sang-gu…
“Oh, but Older Brother Sang-gu,”
“Hmm?”
“That guy and I aren’t on good terms… Why did you help me?”
“That guy? Ah.”
The guy who had informed Older Brother Sang-gu of my location and used his skill to stop me from being in danger was that guy.
Why did he help me, despite clearly wanting to hate me?
As I asked, Older Brother Sang-gu, not knowing the exact circumstances, tilted his head and said to me.
“I don’t know for sure, but… maybe he didn’t dislike you as much as you thought?”
“Me…?”
“Try talking it out with him.”
“…Okay, I will.”
With that, I cheekily bowed to Older Brother Sang-gu one last time…
Squish.
“Ahhhhh-!!”
I happily stomped on the groaning Shin Si-woo’s hand before returning to the waiting room.
*
[This week’s number one on Music Top is none other than Rookies’ “Meteor”! Congratulations!]
Following yesterday’s victory, today…
Rookies secured the top spot on a terrestrial music program for the second time in a row.
“Tsk…”
After watching Rookies’ encore stage, O Ah-ra clicked her tongue as Python’s O Ah-ra got off the stage late.
Seeing O Ah-ra in that state, Kanna from Python worriedly asked.
“Ara-chan, are you okay?”
“……”
…She thought yesterday’s music victory was a coincidence, but now Rookies had beaten Python to the top spot again without an album sales boost.
It wasn’t okay, but O Ah-ra managed to control her expression and patted Kanna.
“Why would anything be wrong?”
“……”
“I’ll go to the bathroom for a moment; you go ahead back first.”
“…Okay.”
With that, O Ah-ra sent Kanna off and headed to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face.
“Huff….”
But no matter how much she cooled her face, the anger didn’t fade.
Why couldn’t Python defeat Rookies?
At this rate, if they couldn’t win before Rookies disbanded, they’d forever remain second to Rookies.
‘That can’t happen.’
They had to beat Rookies before that.
To do so, they needed to sharpen their skills even more.
O Ah-ra steeled her resolve as she left the bathroom.
And then…
Thud.
“……!”
As O Ah-ra stepped out, someone grabbed her wrist.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
It was Ha Ye-rin.
While the other Rookies members were nowhere to be found, Ha Ye-rin was clutching O Ah-ra with a serious expression.
Caught off guard, O Ah-ra attempted to deflect her but…
“I have nothing to say…”
“Why did you help me?”
“…!”
Ha Ye-rin directly asked as if she had no time to waste.
“……”
Did she really figure it out?
It would have been odd if she hadn’t.
O Ah-ra had prompted her skill openly just before.
Why did she help…?
The truth was that it was a coincidence.
She had seen Ha Ye-rin running somewhere in a hurry and noticed Shin Si-woo attempting something nasty, while she just happened to come across the thugs looking for Ha Ye-rin.
Finding it hard to answer, O Ah-ra recalled Older Brother Sang-gu’s advice and tilted her head.
“You didn’t hate me, did you?”
“I hate you. I absolutely hate you.”
Ha Ye-rin was hated.
That was an unchangeable truth.
“Then why…?”
“Ugh, seriously.”
Not letting O Ah-ra go even after she answered, Ha Ye-rin stubbornly questioned her, causing O Ah-ra to lose her patience and reveal her true feelings.
“I hate you. …I’ve worked so hard in this life and the last, and seeing you makes it seem like all of that is negated. So I hate you.”
But…
‘I swear, I didn’t smoke any marijuana…!’
‘Please…! Believe me…!’
‘This cigarette is Shin Si-woo’s…! I really don’t know why it ended up in my bag…!!’
‘So please…!’
‘…I’ll just disband from Rookies.’
After that brief moment of reflection, O Ah-ra scowled as she answered.
“…I just hated you less than I hated Shin Si-woo.”
At that moment…
“Sis-!”
With that familiar call, Seo Yoo-jin appeared.
“Sis! Where were you running off to right after the encore?! I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”
However, the one Seo Yoo-jin referred to as “sis” wasn’t O Ah-ra but Ha Ye-rin.
As she ran towards Ha Ye-rin with a smile, she suddenly…
“…!”
Yoo-jin gasped and extended her hand toward O Ah-ra, her expression turning wary.
“…What are you doing? Are you trying to bother my sis again?”
“……”
In her past life, Seo Yoo-jin had always worn a sad expression from a certain point onward.
And when she declared her withdrawal from Rookies, she wore a look that seemed to have given up entirely.
But now, as she ran toward Ha Ye-rin, she…
‘She looks really happy.’
O Ah-ra had never seen that bright smile before.
In her past life, O Ah-ra knew that Seo Yoo-jin wasn’t the type to dabble in drugs.
Eventually, time passed, and she found out it was actually Shin Si-woo’s doing.
…Yet, she still resented Yoo-jin.
Regardless of the reasons, whether Yoo-jin was wronged or not…
Yoo-jin held the largest share of blame for Rookies’ downfall.
Yet, undeniably, that was how she felt.
“…Still, it’s better to see you smiling than crying.”
Swish.
Thus, Ha Ye-rin and Seo Yoo-jin left behind some unexplainable words as O Ah-ra turned her back on them.
And she momentarily forgot the past memories, filling her heart again with determination to surpass Rookies.
*
“…Still, it’s better to see you smiling than crying.”
What on earth did that mean?
“What were you two discussing for Python’s leader to say that to my sis?”
“…I don’t know.”
O Ah-ra didn’t know the exact reason behind those words.
However, seeing her bittersweet silhouette…
‘Happiness doubles when shared, and sorrow halves. I hope you learn how to live with others, Ye-rin. …You’re no longer alone.’
‘If anything happens, rely on adults at any time. …You can rely on me too.’
The words that Older Brother Sang-gu and Yoo Seol had told me today echoed in my mind.
Like they implied, I was accustomed to living alone in this world.
…That must have been because I had been an orphan in my past life, and until the age of 19 in this life, I had no one to rely on.
But…
‘Maybe O Ah-ra…’
As I looked at O Ah-ra’s back, I felt a sense of loneliness that seemed even more profound than mine.