Chapter 314

Choi Jeokhyeon usually didn’t bring up Seo Yuseong first.

It wasn’t like there were many people in this world who had a good relationship with Choi Jeokhyeon, but he and Seo Yuseong had an especially hostile relationship.

“You, aren’t you supposed to be at work? For someone who’s the CEO of a company, you sure seem to have a lot of free time, seeing how you keep showing up uninvited and hanging around us like this.”

“‘Us’? Haha, I guess it’s because you grew up being pampered too much by your older brother … Sadly, it seems your ego has become quite inflated. Do I really need to spell it out that I’m not the slightest bit interested in you for you to understand?”

“It’s ‘us’. My brother is always with me. Shouldn’t you at least have the basic manners to realize you’re intruding where you’re not wanted?”

“Stop fighting and get inside, you crazy bastards. I can’t sleep because of the noise you’re making.”

“We weren’t fighting.”

The way the two of them would bicker like kids, then act all innocent as if nothing had happened whenever I showed up, was still vivid in my memory

‘At first, I thought they might get along because they had some similarities, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.’

“Ah, come to think of it, did Seo Yuseong ever live on his own before?”

But now, when he suddenly asked about Seo Yuseong, I was honestly a little surprised. At the same time, though, I think I was also quite happy. The sadness that surfaced every time I remembered that I had lost Seo Yuseong was as painful as the sadness of not being able to reminisce about him with someone. So, I was really grateful that there was someone I could genuinely talk to about Seo Yuseong.

After our conversation, I sprang to my feet, ready to return to the dorm, but Choi Jeokhyeon stopped me, so I ended up staying at the hospital a bit longer. Naturally, I had no choice but to contact the agency, and as soon as the members got the call, they all rushed over at once and filled the hospital room with noise.

“Sunfish, I’ve never seen a human less healthy than Leada.”

“Where did you learn that ‘sunfish’ from this time?”

“Muse informed me. The best.”

“Uhuhuhuhuhu, hyung, are you really okay? Why do you keep getting sick like this? Is it because your body is too weak? You don’t have some terminal illness, do you? Did you lose more weight? Why did it take you so long to contact us? Where did you collapse? Were you alone when you collapsed? Who helped you?”

“…Calm down and ask one question at a time. And you don’t need to worry that much. They don’t usually keep you hospitalized for this long over something like this.”

In fact, there were so many people at the hospital who were in worse health than I was, so it was almost embarrassing that the members were worrying about me this much.

“Hyung, is this because you’ve been under a lot of stress lately?”

“No, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

“Aaaah! Don’t give a thumbs up with the hand that has the IV in it!”

I’m not sure how bad Han Seungbeom’s health was in the past. However, thanks to the status window, it seemed that I didn’t need any major medical help, like surgery, in my current condition. As a result, the doctor’s advice ended with a simple request: Please gain some weight, exercise, and don’t get stressed.

‘How am I supposed to do that?’

I knew about those three things too. I knew, but the problem was, it never went the way I wanted it to. Trying to improve Han Seungbeom’s health always felt like pouring water into a bottomless pit.

To begin with, I never had much of an appetite, so I didn’t particularly enjoy eating. But unfortunately, thanks to the members who somehow took the doctor’s advice to heart and became determined to fatten me up, I ended up in a food hell.

“Ugh…….”

After forcing myself to eat, I ended up with indigestion and threw up everything I had eaten, ultimately losing weight instead. I had to gain weight, so I forced myself to eat a lot, but I lost weight again due to indigestion. This was definitely a tragedy, or a parade of fools.

“Hyung, I’m sooo sorry! I think the portion was too much! But hyung, don’t you think you eat like a hamster?”

“…Stop exaggerating. That’s only by your standards, eugh.”

“Seo Yutae! Are you alright?”

“S-Sunbaenim! Shouldn’t we prick your finger? 1 Should I do it?”

“Excalibur in my hand.”

“Zen, no! Stop! Put the needle down ……. That’s not it!”

“You, don’t do anything weird to Seo Yutae!”

Bang bang, crash bang . It was just another typical day in Pantheion.

‘I feel like it’s been ages since I’ve seen Lee Hwayoung this freaked out.’

I wonder, was it just my imagination, or had these guys really not changed at all after finding out that I’m Seo Yutae? It was a good thing, of course, but honestly, seeing their unchanged attitude made me want to laugh.

And not long after, an article was published reporting that Han Seungbeom had been hospitalized for health reasons, even though our agency hadn’t taken any action yet. Actually, I kind of expected this ever since the Pantheion members started coming in and out of the hospital. I also could feel the hospital staff staring at us from time to time.

To be honest, I didn’t want my health status to be known, as I didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry for the fans. But given the nature of my job, where my face was well-known to the public, it was inevitable that I couldn’t control every piece of information.

After some secretly taken photos of the Pantheion members at the hospital, especially a picture of Do Yuda with his eyes all puffy like ‘ 33 ’ from bawling after seeing me lying in a hospital bed, were uploaded, SNS was flipped upside down once again.

[#POX_ExplainItProperly]

[#POX_AreYouNotProtectingYourArtist]

The fans, worried about my health, started putting tremendous pressure on the agency. For example, they completely plastered the real-time trending keywords with demands to explain my condition.

In light of that, the agency had no choice but to officially announce that I had experienced a temporary health issue. They also issued a statement, assuring that they would make every effort for my swift recovery, while once again clearly stating that I was not the perpetrator of the sexual harassment incident.

From that point on, public opinion began to tilt.

— ㅠㅠㅠ Ha…… I know exactly what the kid has been going through, so it really makes my heart ache ㅜ POX, get your act together and protect your artist

— Ah ㅜㅜ I had a feeling this would happen. He’s already so frail, and he had collapsed before too, so I was anxious. Just as I feared ㅠㅠ Seungbeom-ah, don’t push yourself too hard and make sure you recover well

— Leave Han Sngbeom alone, seriously, I’m going to kill you all

— Ugh, this is such a headache, all because of one troublemaker at home. He didn’t even seem that close to his family… I clearly remember that his family was the only one who didn’t attend the debut concert. Well, I guess they didn’t come because there were no cameras ^^

Most fans quickly made the connection to what I had recently gone through and realized that stress was the cause of my health problems.

[Our Seungbeom]

[Because of Han Jaewoon]

And despite there being no specific organized hashtags campaign, as a large number of fans started discussing the related stories at the same time, the topic once again became a trending real-time keyword and spread to the general public.

— I’m a classmate of Han Jaewoon. He and Han Seungbeom are half-brothers. He’s been telling everyone he doesn’t even talk to his brother at home, so lumping them together like this feels like a stretch

└ Half-brothers? Damn, what kind of bullshit is this? They’re only a year apart

└ What?

└ Wait, what? Am I just dumb and got it wrong, or is the rest of the family batshit insane?

└ This is true. For your information, Han Jaewoon’s mother was the head of Parent Association all through his elementary, middle, and high school years, but she never showed up even once at Han Seungbeom’s school

— To be honest, Han Seungbeom didn’t even do anything wrong, so I don’t get why they’re attacking him so much. What did he even do? Did he shield his brother? He’s getting tons of hate just for being tied to the family that neglected him. Ha, I guess being famous is a crime after all

Maybe it was because of the fans’ support, or perhaps because the public’s opinion of Han Jaewoon’s family had already hit rock bottom after the sexual harassment and affair were exposed, but the majority of the public seemed to have turned to my side. I didn’t want my image to be tarnished in this way, but given that the incident had already blown up, this seemed like the best outcome.

‘Well, there’s no celebrity who hasn’t gotten caught up in some kind of controversy at least once during their career…….’

— Isn’t that just an excuse? He’s probably just not wanting to face the cameras because people are seeing him in a bad light right now haha. Celebrities always pull the health card whenever something goes wrong~~

└ Han Seungbeom has always had a weak constitution, and there are pictures of the other members of Pantheion in the hospital, so please don’t spread false information

└ So what? LOL, he probably bribed the hospital to make it look like he’s actually sick. For all we know, it could just be an act. Here comes another Han Seungbeom crazy fangirl

└ What the, is Han Seungbeom a member of the National Assembly now? Going as far as to fake being hospitalized to fool people;; Our boy is talented, but not THAT talented… and Do Yuda’s so bad at acting, he couldn’t fake-cry even if he tried

└ Do Yuda randomly took an L

As is always the case with the public, there were inevitably people who continued to attack me no matter how much I clarified things.

However, I’d already weathered too many storms to react to every petty accusation. After all, I was someone who had even been suspected of killing my father, so would I really get worked up over a rumor that I lied about being sick?

I consistently maintained a no-response stance to both the supportive and hateful comments directed at me. Given the current public sentiment, this was the choice that would cause the least damage to my image and would allow me to quickly settle the situation.

Once the public opinion was shaped in that way, people began to pick apart and curse at every single thing the family, including Han Jaewoon, had done in front of the camera up until that point.

[Did the top actress Gong Ayeon already know about Han Jaewoon’s true colors?]

Among them, some were true, while others were maliciously edited with reverse playback or slow motion. However, in the view-count war of cyber wreckers, such distinctions held no meaning.

[The Reason Why Han Seungbeom Can’t Help but Hate Han Jaewoon]

Han Seungbeom making a stern face while watching his family try to use him 😯

└ Wow, that look in his eyes is the real deal…… it’s a pure hatred that comes from deep within

The thing that garnered the hottest reaction was, as expected, the conflict between me and Han Jaewoon’s family.

I had intentionally drawn a clear line between Han Jaewoon and me in front of the camera, preparing for the possibility that I might one day be dragged into the mistakes made by that family. While I succeeded in clearing my name, I couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter seeing how the public focused more on the sensational family drama than on the discussions or criticisms about the sexual harassment incident.

[Hello, this is Han Jaewoon.]

Soon after, a handwritten apology letter was uploaded to Han Jaewoon’s official SNS. This apology made no explicit mention of his wrongdoing or an apology to the victim; instead, it was filled with vague statements like, “ I sincerely apologize for disappointing my fans due to this unfortunate incident, regardless of the truth .”

‘…Is it because there’s a chance it could be used against him in the trial?’

Some pointed out that the apology letter had no real substance and questioned whether he was truly reflecting on his actions. However, others argued that Han Jaewoon’s confident behavior must indicate he had some legitimate grievance.

And so, this issue was swept under the rug without a clear apology or reflection, overshadowed by the scandals of other celebrities and various political incidents. Meanwhile, I immediately started preparing for Pantheion’s last comeback and concert, which had been delayed for too long.

While I was deep into my work, the manager once again opened the door to my studio, hesitantly walked in, and then started to speak in an awkward manner.

“Seungbeom-ssi, the victim reached out to the company. She said she wants to meet with you. How would you like to proceed?”

I blinked slowly, then opened my mouth.

“…Please tell her that I will go to meet her.”

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Translator’s Corner:

Parent Association (학부모회 ) isthe same with PTA (Parent-Teacher Association ), typically made up of parents who collaborate with the school to support education, plan events, raise funds, and help with school activities

“but she never showed up even once at Han Seungbeom’s school” actually I’m not sure because the sentence sounds more like “but she never showed up even once when Han Seungbeom was in school”, but the latter makes it sounds like she never showed up at school when Han Seungbeom was still there, right? But Seungbeom and Jaewoon are only one year apart, and being the head of Parent Association means she must be coming often to the school, so I think it’s safe to assume that Seungbeom and Jaewoon attended different schools … that’s why she never showed up “when Han Seungbeom was in school” (Han Seungbeom already graduated now) = never showed up at Han Seungbeom’s school

I’m planning to read The Malicious Member is Back from Chapter 1 (actually I was considering between that one and Grab The Regressor Collar, but somehow my brain doesn’t really favor the latter ? I already read both of them before when they still only had 200~ chapters, but I vaguely remembered the second one has too many past scandals for my taste …. my memory might be wrong, but well.), so if you guys don’t see me tomorrow, that means I’m busy reading

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