Episode 43
Jiwon, who had been picking his words for a while, opened his mouth again.
"The hyung who was scouted and came in, he was handsome and talented, so as soon as he arrived everyone paid attention. I was one of those people. He said his family was well-off… So he bought snacks and things for the trainees and spent money freely. On top of that, he was kind and gentle, so not just me but others soon started liking him."
Hwan quickly brought water as Jiwon became more and more excited while talking.
"Here. Take your time. Drink some water."
"Thank you."
After drinking the water, Jiwon continued.
"He got a lot of praise in both dance and vocal class. So among the trainees people started saying he would definitely make the debut lineup. Up until then there wasn't any problem. But at some point the trainees started whispering when they looked at me. By the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late."
"What were they saying?"
"They wouldn't tell me directly, so I was frustrated, but a hyung who was close to me and some friends later came and told me. They said there were strange rumors going around about me."
"Rumors?"
"Yes. At first nobody believed it, but the more people talked, the more they started pointing fingers at me, saying, 'Isn't that true?'"
"What kind of rumor?"
"They said I pretended to be nice and friendly to people to get into the debut, but behind their backs I was badmouthing them."
"What? You?"
Everyone reacted in disbelief.
"The people who came to tell me didn't believe it, but by then many trainees thought it was true. I said it wasn't me, but the more I tried to explain, the less they believed me. Things that I never said were spreading as if I had said them."
Hwan scratched his head in frustration at that.
"No! Do they have any proof that you said it? Why would they believe the rumor without listening to you?"
Jiwon gave a bitter smile at that.
"They do. There's proof…"
"What?"
Hwan froze, surprised, and asked again.
"People had a recording of me badmouthing others behind their backs."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I... I'm so wronged!! I never badmouthed anyone. Sob… These are people I've known since I was little and we're all close. Sob… why would I go around insulting people?"
Jiwon finally burst into tears from the grief.
Hajin, who was sitting beside him, patted his back and comforted him.
After calming down for a moment, Jiwon wiped his tears and spoke again.
"Some acquaintances gave me the recording so I listened to it too. But it really was my voice. I've never said those things! All kinds of words were recorded as if they were my voice."
Hajin carefully asked while soothing the now agitated Jiwon.
"Then who recorded it? If someone recorded it, they must have passed it along to others, right?"
"At first I didn't know. It wasn't that everyone received it at the same time; it was passed from person to person. But later we found out that the trainee who joined three months ago was the first to spread it."
"Was that trainee Kang Seunghwan?"
At Jaewon's question, Jiwon looked up in surprise.
"Yes, yes! That's right. Do you know Kang Seunghwan hyung?"
"Yeah. I saw him briefly when I went to the company last time. Cheolhwan hyung said he was a trainee scouted by Team Leader 2 three months ago. If it wasn't someone who joined many months ago, I thought it was probably him, so I asked."
Jiwon nodded at that answer.
"Then did you talk to Kang Seunghwan?"
"Yes. After hearing the recording, I was so shocked that I couldn't think straight for a while. But a close hyung asked around and found out that the first person who passed around the recording was Seunghwan hyung. So he told me. I ran straight to him."
"And then?"
"When I confronted him, the people standing next to him started yelling at me, saying it was my fault and why I was picking a fight with Seunghwan hyung. He calmed them down and told me to talk somewhere quiet, so he took me up to the rooftop."
"There, I told him I had never badmouthed anyone and that I felt so wronged. He stared at me with this troubled expression. But then, at some point… he started laughing at me. I thought I saw it wrong at first, I had never seen him make that kind of face. But then he said this."
"What did he say?"
"'I know.'"
"What?"
"'I know. I know you never said those things.'"
Everyone's expressions twisted in disbelief.
"So I got angry and asked what the recording was, then. He said he was annoyed because a kid like me was acting all high and mighty. And that since no one would believe me anyway, I should just get lost and leave the company."
"…Wow."
Everyone let out a sigh of disgust.
"Then what is that recording?"
Roy asked, puzzled.
"I don't know. The voice is definitely mine."
Jiwon spoke in frustration, so Jaewon answered in his stead.
"It's probably AI-generated. These days, if someone has your voice sample, they can make anything with AI."
"Oh! I think I've heard of that."
"Yeah. Remember that big fuss a while ago? Someone made a song using AI with a singer's voice, even though the singer never recorded it."
Everyone nodded as they recalled the news.
"Wow… the more technology advances, the scarier the things that end up happening."
Hwan shivered as he spoke, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Jiwon, do you still have that recording file?"
At Joomin's question, Jiwon nodded.
"Yes. I still have it."
"Can you send it to me?"
Hwan asked curiously.
"Why? Are you going to listen to it?"
"Yeah. And there's a service that can check whether an audio file is AI-generated or not. I want to run it through that."
"Oh! Then that'll solve it!"
Jiwon's eyes widened at those words.
If what Joomin said was true, then there was finally a way to clear his name.
He had suffered so much because of the people who misunderstood him. Even if he couldn't continue being a trainee, if he could at least erase the misunderstanding, the wound in his heart would heal, at least a little.
As everyone realized they finally had a possible solution, the atmosphere brightened a little. Then Hajin asked Jiwon carefully.
"But Jiwon… was it only the recording? Considering that, your condition seems way too bad."
"You're right. Back on the rooftop, I begged him not to do that to me. And after listening for a long time, Seunghwan hyung told me that if I listened to everything he said from now on, he would clear up the misunderstanding. Now that I think about it, that was a lie too… but back then, I believed him."
"And then?"
"After that… I did everything he told me to do. Somehow, I don't know what he said to the others, but the other trainees started treating me the way they used to. So I felt relieved. I thought that if time passed, things would go back to normal."
"And Seunghwan hyung started treating me well again, just like when we first met. He took me everywhere, bought me food, bought me gifts. As long as I did what he said, there were no problems. Before I realized it… I think I started relying on him."
As time passed, he began to control Jiwon's entire daily life, but he accepted it as if it were natural.
"And once I started depending on him, he slowly showed his true colors. He ordered me to do things that were difficult or unreasonable, and when I couldn't do them… he started hitting me."
The members and Sejin, listening quietly, widened their eyes in shock.
"Hitting you? Are you serious?"
"That bastard hit you?"
"Why didn't you tell anyone? If the company had found out, they wouldn't have let him get away with it!"
The members, now angry, spoke over each other. Jiwon shook his head slowly.
"I don't know why I was like that at the time… but I was more scared of disappointing him."
"He always said he didn't want to hit me, but he had to because I messed up. And he always said, 'You know how much I adore you when you do well.'"
At that, Jaewon let out a long sigh.
"That's… gaslighting."
"Yes. I guess so. After that, the beatings got worse. He always hit only the places you couldn't see, so no one noticed. But one day, he went too far and beat me badly."
"When I got home that day, my parents were waiting for me. They said I'd been acting stranger and stranger lately and wanted to talk. I said I had nothing to say and tried to go into my room, but when they grabbed my arm to stop me… I screamed."
"That's how my parents found out I was being assaulted."
"Haa… Your parents must've been terrified."
"Yes… When they saw my body, they were so shocked they cried. They kept asking who had hurt me… but I couldn't bring myself to say it."
"No! Why?! You should've told your parents and reported it to the company!"
Roy shouted in frustration.
Jiwon gave a bitter smile.
"I know I was stupid. But… he said that if I told anyone, he wouldn't leave my parents alive."
"What?!"
"What do you mean? He threatened your parents too?"
"Yes. After the assaults kept happening, I eventually realized something was very wrong. So a few times I resisted, telling him I would tell the adults. But he just said, 'Go ahead.' He said that the moment people found out, he would make my parents disappear without a trace."
"At first I thought he was just saying it, but then he asked me if I knew how many people he'd already killed so far. And if I didn't believe him, he told me to go ahead and tell, then he'd show me what kind of monster he really was. Hic…"
As he spoke, the grief washed over him again, and Jiwon burst into sobs. Hajin, sitting beside him, pulled him into a comforting embrace.
"It's okay. We understand you. If it's too hard to talk, you don't have to continue."
Sejin, who had been sitting next to Hajin, crawled over his uncle's lap and wrapped his arms around Jiwon too.
'He's tall, but he's still just a third-year middle schooler… He must have been terrified. And if that guy is the same person I saw with the snake before, then he really is a monster.'
With the warm hugs from Sejin and Hajin, Jiwon slowly calmed down and pulled away, his face red with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry... Talking about it just makes me cry."
"No, don't apologize. Do you want to go upstairs and rest for a bit?"
"No. I… I want to tell everything."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm okay. Talking about it actually makes me feel like I can breathe a little."
"Alright. If it gets too hard, we can pause. Just go at your own pace."
"Yes. Thank you."
Jiwon took a moment to gather his thoughts, then continued.
"I still can't forget the look in his eyes when he said those things. They were so cold and murderous that it didn't feel like he was lying at all. So when my parents said they would go to my school and the company to demand answers… I was terrified he would actually kill them."
"So I told them… if they did that, I would die…"
"That shocked my parents really badly. After that, seeing my destroyed room and how my parents cried every day… I became scared that my presence alone was tearing the family apart."
"So after thinking about it, I decided the only way to escape him was to quit the company. That was the only option I could think of. So I told the team leader I wanted to quit."
At those words, everyone fell silent, unable to say anything.
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