Chapter 263

The members of Prism, to put it bluntly, were ‘ too much for Kang Hyukwoo to handle’ .

Let alone the individual abilities or personalities of the members, the overall atmosphere within the Prism group itself was like that.

Even if someone other than Kang Hyukwoo took over that position, I bet they would have felt the same way.

The members of Prism were well aware of their own worth and abilities, and based on that, they developed very personal firm opinions and were reluctant to listen to others.

“Your eye for selecting works is downright terrible. It’s infuriating. Who picks a project just based on the writer’s name value? You need to look at the script.”

“The employees at my company were really against me going on the hip-hop audition program. They said it would ruin my image. But, well … I figured if my image was so fragile that one program could ruin it, I might as well just destroy it properly. So, I insisted and came here anyway.”

This was especially the case when they were hindered by people they deemed less capable than themselves.

How many people could possibly be more capable the Prism members, who were bundles of remarkable talent, and convince them of it? As a result, Prism developed an independent nature, refusing to take orders from anyone other than me, their leader.

‘Kang Hyukwoo, from the start, had an abnormally strong pride … it must have been hard for him to put up with that.’

“Don’t lie. You’re just making up excuses because you screwed up. F**k, you can’t even do something this simple properly?”

He would feel an excessive sense of crisis when his authority was threatened and react with over-the-top actions.

‘He probably went out of his way to find weaknesses in the Prism members because of that. Since he couldn’t win against them in a battle of wills through normal means, I guess it was an effective tactic in its own way.’

Similar to how the members of Prism developed overly sensitive and exclusive tendencies due to Kang Hyukwoo’s influence, Kang Hyukwoo was also influenced by Prism.

‘He surely knows that turning Dalli into an enemy right now would do him no good.’

Compulsions are scary because they’re beyond one’s control.

Even if it caused his plans to go awry and he gained more enemies.

“…Why are you talking to me like that?”

I knew that, and that’s why I dared to make Kang Hyukwoo and Dalli face each other.

“Why are you speaking so meanly? You’re my friend.”

When I confronted Dalli in person at the broadcasting station, the moment he instantly changed his attitude and began to threaten me was right then.

As I looked back at him, I realized that when someone Dalli considered to be on friendly terms suddenly showed hostility toward him, he wouldn’t be able to accept it and would immediately go on the defensive. I also noticed that, rather than focusing on his current situation, his first reaction would be to Kang Hyukwoo’s tone.

“Why are you talking to me like that? I did everything you asked me to. Look what I’m going through now because of it ……. You should be speaking nicely to me.”

The reason Dalli was so fixated on ‘ speaking nicely ‘ right now was obvious.

The first reason was that he lacked the ability to assess situations objectively, so he had to rely on surface-level cues like tone and facial expressions to guess what others were thinking. The second reason was that he was under extreme anxiety at the moment.

Since Dalli had little to no interaction with others, he likely had very few experiences of having this kind of conversation with anyone besides his parents. Therefore, he probably recalled the memory most similar to this situation; the times when his parents directly threatened him.

“How dare you be so rude … to an elder.”

Words that didn’t quite fit the relationship between Dalli and Kang Hyukwoo followed.

Perhaps Dalli was now imitating the words his parents used when they threatened him. That behavior was clearly an attempt to mimic the words and actions the authority figures in his mind, to somehow alleviate the psychological pressure of being threatened by Kang Hyukwoo.

“Haa … this is why you shouldn’t use mentally ill bastards.”

“…What?”

“Why would I, you f**ker. You couldn’t even do a single thing I asked properly, and yet you have the nerve to act like we’re equals? Hey, do you want me to make you die without anyone noticing? You think your parents would even look for you if you died? You’ve been missing for days, and they haven’t even reported it. Snap out of it, you bastard.”

In that situation, if the other person reacts even more strongly, Dalli would completely fall into panic.

“Huk, heuk…….”

As expected, as soon as he heard Kang Hyukwoo’s insults, Dalli began frantically scratching his bound hand with the other, hard enough to draw blood, disregarding the odd angles of his fingers. His legs started trembling violently.

I watched that compulsive behavior with an indifferent expression, then pressed the end call button and turned off the phone. I had successfully provoked Dalli to the extent I desired, and now that I was satisfied, I had no further need for Kang Hyukwoo.

“Now do you get it? What kind of person Director Kang is?”

“…….”

“You were used.”

As I leaned in and whispered softly, Dalli finally burst into tears. I wiped his wet cheeks and began to speak in a fake sweet tone.

“You were originally meant to be someone who deserved love and respect. How did things end up like this?”

“…Hic, I don’t know. I really just wanted to be loved…….”

“Yeah, I know. You just wanted your parents to love you the way they loved your little brother.”

I was confident that I had a fairly good understanding of Dalli.

No, ‘ understanding ‘ was too strong a word. I could just see his thought process laid bare.

“Yeah! H-How do you know exactly how I feel?”

“I know everything, even the feelings you don’t realize yourself.”

I didn’t know this bastard’s feelings.

I was never interested in it, and I have zero empathy for him.

But if I say it like this, that idiot will really believe my words reflect his own feelings. Without even thinking for himself, he’ll start getting blindly influenced by whatever I say.

“Do you know why your father beat you like that?”

“…Stories about our family suddenly spread everywhere like news articles, and he said it caused harm to the family members.”

Dalli had a weak and cowardly nature, making him incapable of handling or taking responsibility for his own actions. As such, it had become a habit for him to avoid accountability at all costs, and to shift the blame onto others.

“That’s right. Then where do you think that information came from?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know ……. It had already spread everywhere before I even knew about it.”

All I had to do was point the arrow of blame at someone other than myself.

“All, all is because of you. The Director said it’s because of you.”

I was simply giving Kang Hyukwoo a taste of his own medicine.

With a method that was far more potent than the one he took.

“Think about it carefully. The ones who first reached out to you were Kang Hyukwoo and Lim Seunghoon, right? And while you were in contact with them, didn’t their subordinates come to your house several times? They already had your home address and family information from the very beginning.”

Dalli didn’t have the ability to find out the community operator’s information on on his own. If he did, he wouldn’t have needed to rely on Kang Hyukwoo to get information about me in the first place. Therefore, the idea that Kang Hyukwoo was the one who approached him first was nothing more than a naturally logical deduction.

And considering Kang Hyukwoo’s personality, it was entirely plausible that his subordinates frequently visited Dalli’s house to keep an eye on him. In fact, I had even heard that while Choi Jeokhyeon was monitoring Dalli, he had noticed other tailing vehicle.

But since it was impossible for Dalli to noticed that himself, my pointing that out would have been enough to give him a sense of credibility. He’d start to see me as a collaborator who understood everything about the situation and was keeping him informed.

A person who let himself be controlled by someone like Kang Hyukwoo, despite not even having a weakness used against him, couldn’t possibly have much of a brain to begin with.

“No way, no way…….”

I just looked down at Dalli as he stammered in confusion.

I presented biased information one step at a time to steer him toward a predetermined answer, but the most crucial lie—the one that would truly manipulate him—had to come from his own mouth, not mine.

“It was their doing? Why the hell!”

“So that you would resent me and act exactly as they wanted. You were just a pawn. Haven’t you ever thought something was off while watching how Kang Hyukwoo and Lim Seunghoon treated you? Someone as smart as you couldn’t have missed it…….”

“…I remember. They looked at me like I was trash! They intended to use me and throw me away from the start!”

That way, even if he noticed some inconsistencies within the lie, he would foolishly fill in the gaps himself.

‘Of course he did. Kang Hyukwoo has always looked down on everyone except himself.’

Watching Dalli sink into his self-made delusions of persecution, I held back a scoff and showed him part of the conversation history I had obtained from Lim Seunghoon’s phone.

[Find some mentally unstable idiots in the community and give them his dorm address and personal information. Tell them just enough to scare him. Anyway, those freaks who obsessively chase celebrities aren’t right in the head. They would do anything, even if it means getting a criminal record. Just tell them they’ll get a chance to see Han Seungbeom’s face, and they’ll lick your boots if necessary.]

Seeing the message, Dalli wore a face full of betrayal. In truth, the words in the text didn’t even seem that far from reality, yet he looked as if he had been insulted with something utterly outrageous.

“And when you were truly in danger, they didn’t offer you any help. If they hadn’t manipulated you and used you for their own agenda, your relationship with your parents wouldn’t have deteriorated this badly. Don’t you think that’s pretty irresponsible?”

“…It was all because of them. I’m going to make Kang Hyukwoo suffer just as much as I did. I’m going to kill him!”

I deliberately hardened my expression into a cold glare and remained silent as Dalli revealed his hostility toward Kang Hyukwoo. Then, as I looked down at him with blatant contempt in my eyes, Dalli nervously shifted his gaze around before finally asking.

“Why, why aren’t you answering all of a sudden? … If I did something wrong, just tell me. I’m scared…….”

Acknowledgment, empathy, and a word of affection.

I gave him everything he had been expecting from his parents, and then changed my attitude in an instant.

“Kang Hyukwoo spends most of his day surrounded by bodyguards, so it’ll be hard to get close to him. Are you sure you can do it? You, who couldn’t even manage to kill a person by running them over with a car?”

“That’s because it’s you ……. How can I win against you?”

And in this situation, I took advantage of the fear that naturally arose. The obedience one unconsciously felt toward someone who held the power over their life and death was not something unfamiliar to him.

“…….”

“…Then, what should I do? I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”

“Can’t you decide something like this on your own? You’re past the age to be acting like a child.”

I was convinced that Dalli was placing me in the position of his imagined parent , so I met his gaze and spoke words his parents might have said. He shuddered reflexively and desperately began racking his brain to find the answer I wanted.

“…T-then what about Lim Seunghoon? Do you think it’s possible with Lim Seunghoon? We can just go in order, starting with the easiest one!”

And finally, as the answer I had been waiting for came out, I softened my previously stern expression and gently placed my hand on his head as if to praise him.

“Phew, that’s a relief. Are you feeling better now?”

In the first place, I never had any expectation that Dalli would be able to take care of Kang Hyukwoo.

What I wanted right now was to deliver a ‘ meaningful blow ‘ to Lim Seunghoon.

If I were to borrow their words, I suppose I should say “ just enough to scare them “.

I used the fear that Dalli already had toward his parents, but then I would throw him the affectionate words they never gave him as a reward, making him blindly follow me. This was the implication I aimed to implant in Dalli.

“I’ll do my best! I really won’t disappoint you!”

I have no interest in your meaningless apologies and remorse.

Go and commit an irreversible mistake with your own hands.

And then, waste the rest of your life in the gutter, unaware that you’ve been foolishly used all along.

This is the punishment I impose on you.

You can support this translation through Buy Me a Coffee or Wishlist!

Translator’s Corner:

This diva …..

but if Han Seungbeom asked me to do anything with that face, I would 100% say yes

Oh coming up next is another favorite arc of mine (happy one, I promise) (but how many times already I said an arc is my favorite….). Let’s start March with happiness……

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.