Chapter 86: I'm Scared

It wasn’t as though I had been dragged out here against my will.

If I wanted to refuse, I could have easily done so.

And yet, I came along…

Why was that?

Seo Ian looked up at Kang Ji-hyuk standing in front of him and fell into thought.

That wretched face of his was grinning right before his eyes.

“Hey, Ian. Long time no see.”

We weren’t exactly close enough to greet each other so cheerfully, were we?

Seo Ian swallowed those words and bit down on his lower lip.

Even though three years had passed, his shoulders instinctively shrank in front of that hyung.

‘There’s no reason to shrink back.’

We debuted under the same conditions—what meaning did any of that have now?

Seo Ian steadied himself and smiled faintly.

“Yeah, hyung. Long time no see.”

“Ah, this is nice. Seeing each other again on Weekly Pocket Idol like this.”

Kang Ji-hyuk shrugged his shoulders and added,

“I saw you on Starf.”

“Ah, you did?”

“I didn’t expect you to debut, honestly.”

Ah.

There was a sharp edge in Kang Ji-hyuk’s cold remark.

That tone clearly said, How did someone like you even debut?

In the past, each and every word like that would’ve hurt, made me self-conscious, and stuck in my mind…

But it didn’t hit as hard as I thought it would.

So what?

I debuted anyway.

What did it matter whether or not you thought I would?

‘There were fans who chose me.’

What Seo Ian gained through his time on Starf was self-esteem.

Because he had only recently come to realize that there were so many people supporting him.

Words meant to tear him down no longer held much weight.

Being afraid of Kang Ji-hyuk was one thing—but there was no need to be hurt by such meaningless insults.

Seo Ian let out a faint laugh and answered back.

“Yeah. I didn’t think I’d debut either.”

“……”

“But I did, thankfully.”

The confusion in Kang Ji-hyuk’s eyes was obvious.

He probably hadn’t expected me to respond like that.

The distorted expression on his face was actually kind of satisfying to see.

“Debuting is great. Getting to appear on the same show with you like this, hyung.”

“Wow.”

Kang Ji-hyuk let out a hollow laugh.

“Are you mocking me right now?”

“Who knows?”

“You’ve grown up, Seo Ian. Weren’t you the one bawling your eyes out every other day?”

The smile that had lingered on Kang Ji-hyuk’s lips vanished without a trace.

Was it that he felt the pretense had gone on long enough?

Just like the image Seo Ian remembered, that vicious gaze landed squarely on him.

Kang Ji-hyuk began speaking in a cold voice.

“You debuted with sympathy votes.”

At that moment, it felt like all the air was knocked out of his lungs.

“You had no screentime, and you debuted by leeching off Do Seohan, didn’t you?”

I thought I was okay earlier.

But this time, Kang Ji-hyuk’s words hurt.

Seo Ian clenched his teeth and forced out his response.

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yeah, you did, dumbass. If it weren’t for Do Seohan, how the hell would you have debuted?”

Kang Ji-hyuk let out a nasty laugh and continued sneering.

“Last time you used Do Seohan to escape our company~, and this time you debuted thanks to him again? Damn, at that point, the guy’s basically your lifesaver. You better treat him well forever, yeah?”

Seo Ian bit down hard on his lower lip.

He had made it into the debut team thanks to the “Touch Me” fancam, and he believed it was the result of his own effort…

But it also felt like Seohan had been the one to pull him up when he was bound to be eliminated.

This time, he couldn’t deny it.

Maybe those words really were true.

“……”

Seeing the tremble in Seo Ian’s eyes, Kang Ji-hyuk pressed him coldly.

“I’d already planned to come find you if you ever debuted. Do you have any idea how chaotic our company got after that exposé dropped?”

Only now did Seo Ian start to understand why Kang Ji-hyuk had been so openly hostile.

He had been pissed about the exposé from the beginning.

Grinding his teeth, Kang Ji-hyuk spat his words venomously.

“The manager got arrested, and we got ridiculed before debut even happened. People calling us the manager’s pick and all that crap. It pissed me the hell off, damn it. I told myself, the moment I see you, I’m bringing this up.”

Once we debuted, the public response turned out better than expected, so the issue got buried, but before debut, jokes about being the manager’s pick were all over the communities.

As the actual manager’s pick, Kang Ji-hyuk must have been boiling with rage every time he saw those posts.

But.

‘You think you were more wronged than me?’

There’s someone else who should feel wronged.

‘Every single moment was hell for me.’

In KJ Entertainment, where the manager reigned supreme, I was utterly powerless, and at that young age, I’d learned to read the room as if it were second nature.

So even if that ridicule was unfair…

Do you think you have more right to be angry than I do?

“But hyung.”

Seo Ian, who had been quietly listening, finally opened his mouth.

His trembling voice stammered out slowly.

“It’s true I debuted thanks to Do Seohan… And yeah, he is my lifesaver…”

Seo Ian swallowed hard.

“But you debuted thanks to the manager.”

“What?”

That shaky voice from earlier had suddenly grown calm.

“You had no skills, nothing, and you got your debut by riding on me.”

“Wh…what did you say?”

That actually came out of Seo Ian’s mouth?

Kang Ji-hyuk slowly turned his head in disbelief.

Seo Ian stared at him down and let out a faint, scoffing laugh.

“Then shouldn’t you be a little thankful to me too?”

“Hey!”

It happened in a flash—Kang Ji-hyuk grabbed Seo Ian by the collar.

Thud—

Seo Ian was shoved against the wall, letting out a choked sound as he swallowed a groan.

“Are you insane? Do you not see anything in front of you anymore?”

The sudden impact made his back throb with pain.

Seo Ian frowned and lifted his head.

“Ugh…”

Kang Ji-hyuk’s eyes were wide, glaring at him with a deadly intensity.

“You really got a death wish, don’t you?”

“……”

“What, should I help you remember how things used to be?”

Swoosh—

Kang Ji-hyuk clenched his teeth and raised his fist.

Seo Ian instinctively shut his eyes tight.

“…!”

At that moment—

The bathroom door, which had been tightly closed, swung open, and a rather familiar face popped out.

A sudden appearance, holding a selfie stick.

“Hello, on the way to work~ Do Seohan’s V-log~!”

It was Do Seohan.

.

.

.

.

Do Seohan, holding up the phone fixed to his selfie stick, quickly captured the entire scene.

His beaming smile, completely out of place for the situation, came as a bonus.

Seo Ian slowly opened his eyes with a dazed expression.

By now, he should’ve finished the interview and gotten into the car—why the hell was he here…?

Before he could even digest that thought, a cheerful voice rang out again.

“Oh, hello, sunbaenim!”

“……”

“You’re grabbing our team member by the collar first thing in the morning~.”

Kang Ji-hyuk froze in place, still holding that pose.

“Looks like you’re about to throw a punch?”

What the hell is this.

“You…”

Though flustered, he quickly regained composure.

For a second, he mistook it for a live broadcast on Yui App, but realizing it wasn’t live, his face quickly twisted.

“Delete it.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I was born with the gift of an influencer… Why do I always catch these moments that people say are rare to see, like someone getting grabbed by the collar?”

“I said delete it!”

“Our next group content is a V-log concept, so I don’t think I can.”

Seohan fiddled with his phone before slipping it into his pocket.

“If I delete this, everything gets erased. That won’t do. I’ll keep it for personal use.”

“Hey!”

Every word out of Do Seohan’s mouth scraped at Kang Ji-hyuk’s nerves.

Kang Ji-hyuk clenched his fists tightly and ground his teeth.

Seohan muttered in mock admiration.

“Wow… Are you really going to hit me?”

“Delete it, Seohan.”

“Hyung, we’re not trainees anymore. If you lose your temper and hit me, how will you deal with the consequences?”

He’s the type whose sneaky brain works fast, but not the kind who actually throws punches, right?

“You can’t hit me, hyung. So calm down.”

“Fuck…”

He thought only Seo Ian was sharp-tongued, but this once-young kid had come back just as fierce.

He had no choice but to admit it.

Threats wouldn’t solve anything.

“Haa… Ha.”

Kang Ji-hyuk exhaled heavily and lowered his fist.

Seohan stepped back and pulled out his phone to show it.

Obviously, he had no intention of deleting it.

“Oh, and consider this collateral?”

A warning and a threat—he could blow it up anytime he wanted.

Of course, for active idols, it wasn’t as simple as that, but it was enough to hold Kang Ji-hyuk down.

What’ll you do when you lose your temper? Want me to release it?

“Let’s get along during filming.”

Do Seohan added with a faint smile.

Of course, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

It had been a noisy incident, but it ended around there.

There were no cameras around, and if Kang Ji-hyuk had any sense left, he wouldn’t escalate the situation.

The real problem was that it reached the ears of the Stardust hyungs.

The story that the team’s youngest and Sundubu Seo Ian almost got into a fistfight with The Core’s leader.

‘I just gave our manager a heads-up in case it became a problem later…’

But it felt like they were angrier than I was.

“Is he insane?”

Leader Kang Siwoo’s face went cold.

No matter how much he thought about it, one thing pissed him off.

“Where the hell on our maknae’s body is there even a spot to hit?”

“Exactly.”

“It’s already a miracle all his facial features fit on that tiny face, and he tried to punch that?”

“He’s out of his mind.”

Even Ha Junseo, who rarely used harsh words, looked visibly furious this time.

“Haa…”

He felt like the precious kid they had raised since Starf days went out into the world and got hurt.

They should’ve gone together and said something to his face. Not doing so was now a regret.

Seo Haim burst out with an agitated look.

“VS Special or whatever, I’m seriously going to go all out.”

“Haim, you have to control your expression in front of the camera.”

“Let me just get in the Toy Hammer game. I’ll go full swing…”

“No, don’t. You can’t do that.”

Jin Sehyun, who had been the first to regain composure, tried to calm Seo Haim down,

While Kang Siwoo let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

His cold gaze hovered in the air.

Ah.

“I’m pissed.”

Seo Haim turned his head, startled.

“Sorry, hyung…”

“Huh?”

“You’re scarier.”

“……”

Kang Siwoo just standing there was scarier than anything.

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