NOVEL NEXT Chapter 33 - Slave Chaser (3)
Lee Cheonghyeon got up from his seat, startled.
‘How did you find me?’
He had thought that someone might come looking for him if he didn’t return home on time. But that was just a thought.
He never imagined they would actually come to catch him. How could anyone find him in the middle of Seoul without any communication?
What was even scarier was Kim Iwol’s utterly calm reaction when he found him.
‘So you were here after all.’
That meant it wasn’t a coincidence that Kim Iwol found Lee Cheonghyeon. That made it even more terrifying.
Cheongyeon desperately wanted to lighten the mood by joking, ‘Hyung, did you work part-time at a detective agency before becoming a trainee?’.
But he couldn’t. Kim Iwol’s expression as he looked at him was truly menacing.
The colleague who had come to find him had an unusual aura from the first time they met.
It was hard to say if it was dreary or cold.
Or perhaps a combination of both—a face exuding such coldness that it made anyone think, ‘Ah, this hyung is not ordinary.’
When Kim Iwol stood still with an expressionless face, he had such an intimidating presence that no one except Choi Jeho dared to approach him easily.
Kim Iwol’s quirky personality contradicting his appearance made him somewhat more approachable, but facing him one-on-one was still not easy.
Lee Cheonghyeon respected his friend Kang Kiyeon for practicing with this hyung every day.
For Lee Cheonghyeon, facing Kim Iwol, who had come all the way here—an hour by bus—because of him, was almost terrifying.
He had run away without a word from the company that had placed him in the debut group.
He feared facing the situation where his humble first creation was being discussed as a potential debut piece upon his return.
Everything felt overwhelmingly heavy to Lee Cheonghyun. He felt like he was taking an exam that never ended.
So, Lee Cheonghyeon chose to run away.
He was haunted by the terrifying imagination, ‘If I get caught, I’m dead’, a thought so extreme that, in hindsight, it seemed irrational.
“Lee Cheonghyeon!”
A voice called his name from behind him.
Lee Cheonghyeon shouted inwardly, ‘I’m sorry, hyung!’.
It was an action completely out of character for him, not thinking about the consequences.
He forgot that Kim Iwol, who had the best physical stamina among the trainees, could catch him effortlessly.
Lee Cheonghyeon, who had recklessly run up the hiking trail, was caught by the arm at a spring halfway up the mountain after just 20 minutes.
The grip on his arm was so strong that Lee Cheonghyeon had to stifle a scream that almost escaped his lips.
“Cheonghyeon.”
At the same time, he heard Kim Iwol’s voice much closer than before.
If there had been urgency in his voice earlier, now it was filled with anger—pure anger, and nothing else.
Just as Lee Cheonghyeon was thinking, ‘I’m out of breath, but how is hyung perfectly fine?’,
As if the previous grip wasn’t at full strength, Kim Iwol tightened his hold on Lee Cheonghyeon’s arm and asked,
“Is being an idol a joke to you?”
The words that came out of Kim Iwol’s mouth were the last thing Lee Cheonghyeon had expected.
* * *
‘What’s with this kid’s expression?’
I thought as I looked at Lee Cheonghyeon’s face, whom I had finally managed to catch.
While I was being serious, he looked clueless.
‘Does he not realize how dangerous the situation could have been?’
Of course, he didn’t, that was why he was making such a blank expression.
My chest felt stuffy. I might need to take some stomach medicine again.
Trying to stay calm, I thought about the ‘Top 30 scenes to think of when you need peace of mind’, and asked Lee Cheonghyeon,
“What were you thinking, running around the mountain? What if you had scarred that golden face of yours? Are you not in your right mind? Can’t you think about the fans who will be crying and laughing, feeling full just by looking at your high-resolution photos?”
With a face like that, Lee Cheonghyeon needed to understand the impact of his appearance.
I was not someone who believed looks were everything, but the world didn’t work that way.
‘There were so many comments saying they’d forgive Spark’s mistakes just because of Lee Cheonghyeon’s face.’
Not everyone in the world would forgive Spark’s controversies just because of Cheonghyeon’s face.
But at least it could help retain some fans, and preserving Lee Cheonghyeon’s face was a matter of team survival.
I had to take three deep breaths to suppress my rising anger. My head was throbbing.
Some people were wracking their brains from morning till night just to make a smooth debut.
The last time I felt this uncooperative vibe from those around me was when Manager Nam suddenly moved my desk right in front of the restroom.
So I tried to remind myself that Lee Cheonghyeon was still a minor and might be feeling distressed in the eye of the storm.
That helped to cool my anger somewhat.
“You’re not angry because I ran away… right?”
“Why would I be angry about you running away when I’ve already caught you?”
To someone like me who had survived for years at the Hanpyeong Industry, this barely counted as playing hooky.
“I’m not saying I’m not mad. It’s more like having your meal taken away.”
“Well, at least it’s a meal, not jjolmyeon, so that’s a relief…”
“What ticks me off is that you were running around the mountain without any safety gear. If you had just come along quietly, we could have sat at a level negotiating table.”
Just as I was about to regret the rambling, Lee Cheonghyeon mumbled,
“I’m sorry.”
It was a dejected apology.
Although I hadn’t known him closely for long, he didn’t seem like the type to act this way. He must have felt truly cornered mentally.
‘Having a rational talk… We should.’
Especially after knowing what happened with Jeong Seongbin, who had been pressured by an adult, I didn’t feel good about pushing him.
No matter how well-intentioned I might be, it was difficult for younger people in Korean society to not be conscious of age differences.
In the end, I decided to hold back and change the mood first.
“No. I knew you wanted to be alone, but I one-sidedly came looking for you. I am sorry. But I came because I was worried about you, so I hope you don’t feel too uncomfortable.”
Lee Cheonghyeon smiled awkwardly at my words.
It seemed he wasn’t genuinely trying not to feel uncomfortable, but rather pretending to be nonchalant because he didn’t want to be scolded.
“I was just planning to stay for another 30 minutes and then leave. But I got caught, so I guess I have no choice. Too bad!”
Lee Cheonghyeon then got up from the bench and dusted off his pants.
“Then why not stay for the remaining 30 minutes?”
“Huh?”
“You can just do more self-practice later. Since it’s already late, you might as well take the break you planned.”
I checked if there was anyone nearby who needed the seat and then sat down next to where Lee Cheonghyeon had been sitting.
Lee Cheonghyeon glanced at me sideways and awkwardly sat back down.
“Why are you so nervous?”
“Well, it’s only natural to be nervous when you’re caught skipping practice.”
“If you’re going to be that nervous, why did you skip in the first place? You’re getting extra demerits for that.”
When I looked at Lee Cheonghyeon, he swallowed.
I kept my gaze fixed on somewhere in the city below and asked,
“Are you still worried, even after writing such a good song?”
Then Lee Cheonghyeon asked back.
“How did you know?”
I didn’t bother answering that.
I didn’t feel the need to explain in detail the process I went through to reach that conclusion, nor did I think it would be important to Cheonghyeon.
Instead, I decided to address what seemed to be Cheonghyeon’s main concern.
“I understand you’re worried about the outcome, but that’s not your problem to worry about.”
“Huh?”
“There are so many factors that affect the results: the difference between the streaming and album markets, group recognition, promotion, exposure on music shows… The list goes on. There’s no way all the responsibility would fall on the composer alone.”
This was something Cheonghyeon could intellectually agree with. His feelings might be a different matter, though.
It had been proven in numerous cases that no matter how good a concept talented members brought out, if the song wasn’t appealing, they couldn’t even make an impression.
Moreover, Cheonghyeon was someone who never missed out on music or studies when he was younger.
People like him, who had always done well, often felt a lot of pressure to perform.
They were afraid of failing because they had never failed before.
While they might be confident in showing off something they were already recognized for, they became excessively anxious when trying something new.
Just looking at that, I could easily figure out Lee Cheonghyeon’s personality.
“Of course, you’d be concerned. But even if the results aren’t good, no one will put the blame solely on you. I can’t stand someone taking all the blame.”
Even as I spoke, my face scrunched up in distaste.
But then I quickly smoothed my brow, knowing that frowning would only lead to more money spent at the aesthetic salon.
“It’s tough. Not long ago, all I had to do was report my progress to hyung.”
“If you’re really worried, we can hold feedback meetings as rigorously as those progress check-ins.”
“Wow. Just imagining it makes me feel drained already…”
Lee Cheonghyeon rubbed both his arms.
‘I’ve felt this way since last time, but he seems to be very weak to negative reviews.’
Up until he went to the A&R team with his work, I thought Cheonghyeon didn’t have any aversion to that.
But it seemed that as a creator, he couldn’t help but care about evaluations.
No one went through life receiving only praise.
Naturally, everyone experienced criticism or rebuke at some point and grew from it.
However, for Cheonghyeon, this ‘criticism’ seemed to have a significant impact.
If others knew, they might say, ‘
Are you so afraid of maggots that you can’t make soybean paste?
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