I Became the Youngest Member of a Top Idol Group

Chapter 58: My heart was racing like this

At the point just before the final stage.

Every day without fail, calls began coming in to Kang Si‑woo.

“Si‑woo, pick up the phone.”

It was his father’s call.

Because they weren’t the kind of family who exchanged ordinary daily calls, honestly, it felt burdensome.

There were many times he’d simply powered off his phone to avoid the calls entirely.

Because he knew the purpose of the calls.

It wouldn’t be to say something warm like “congratulations on advancing to the final” or “I’m watching your broadcasts and you’re doing well,” not when he was that busy.

In the video letter there was no support or encouragement directed at him.

He forced himself to deny it, but every time this happened he painfully realized one fact.

He was a child who had been abandoned.

Kang Si‑woo engraved one phrase in his heart that echoed in his ears like an auditory hallucination.

“Live quietly.”

That was what his father had said.

Probably when he was in middle school, when he first said he wanted to try being a trainee and entered the agency, his father spoke those words.

He said he would support everything he could, as long as he wouldn’t come out in front of others.

He said to live as quietly as a mouse, if at all possible.

Thanks to that, he had never grown up materially lacking.

His father had promised to support practically everything if only he wouldn’t pursue being a trainee.

Therefore, he had never felt resentment.

Participating in the Stardust Project had been born of a final lingering hope, not a real ambition to do something extraordinary.

But what could he do?

My heart was racing like this.

It felt like if this didn’t happen, I couldn’t go on.

It had become so genuine that if he didn’t do it he felt like he would go mad.

Kang Si‑woo let out a quiet wry laugh and muttered softly.

“Father, I don’t think I can keep my promise.”

To live quietly would be impossible for him.

By then, Kang Si‑woo had already resolved to see this program through to the end.

No matter how much his father urged him over the phone, he had no intention at all of quitting on his own right before the final.

Instead, he was only pondering how he could flawlessly carry the center position that was miraculously given to him.

On the way back to the dorm late at night.

Kang Si‑woo plugged in his earphones and repeatedly listened to the guide recording audio of “Tied to you.”

“Of course I should go with my own rap.”

In his head he was endlessly crafting the rap lyrics as he went.

It was past 3:30 a.m.

He was undeniably tired, but making the rap was enjoyable even if he stayed up all night.

“Like a satellite orbiting drawn by the gravity of you— I spin around you—”

“You know it’s too late to get out.”

Kang Si‑woo softly muttered the rap he’d written earlier in the day, smiling with satisfaction.

It was fun.

“Better than I thought?”

He gave himself a generous appraisal and nodded his head, lightly feeling the rhythm.

Even though he’d practiced choreography all day, his steps toward the dorm were light.

But.

At that moment, a jarring sight entered Kang Si‑woo’s view.

A familiar black sedan, like one he’d seen before, was parked in front of the dorm.

The moment a man got out of that sedan,

“Long time no see, Si‑woo.”

The amusement drained from the corner of Kang Si‑woo’s mouth.

* * *

They wouldn’t have barged into the dorm without the production team’s permission.

There’d probably been some deal made behind the scenes.

There’s nothing money can’t do.

He swallowed a bitter smile and spoke.

“So you ended up coming.”

He should have realized that since he’d started calling like that.

Kang Byeong‑tae, Vice Chairman of Taewoon Group.

Some might think he was just a second‑generation chaebol who had lived comfortably riding on an already established large company, but the Kang Byeong‑tae he knew wasn’t that easygoing.

He had played a part in growing Taewoon Group into what it was today.

His father was the kind of person who once he set his mind on something, he saw it through.

A person like that had even called to tell him to give up on becoming an entertainer.

So that meant he was intending to get him off this program by any means.

Kang Byeong‑tae looked at him with an unreadable gaze.

The atmosphere was extremely awkward for a meeting between father and son.

After a long silence, Kang Byeong‑tae was the first to open his mouth.

“This isn’t the place to talk. Tara.”

His gaze turned toward the black sedan.

Although it was late at night, there could be observers, so he suggested leaving the spot.

However.

“We’re in dorm training so that won’t work.”

Kang Si‑woo had no intention of following Kang Byeong‑tae.

“What?”

“Literally what I said. We’re preparing for the final, so I can’t leave.”

“What do you mean….”

Kang Byeong‑tae furrowed his brows.

He must’ve known Si‑woo’s intention through the phone, so he’d probably felt annoyed that he just stood there impassively.

Kang Si‑woo swallowed dryly and waited for Kang Byeong‑tae’s words.

Kang Byeong‑tae twisted his face and asked.

“You… really think you can beat me?”

That he was an illegitimate child of Taewoon Group was something not yet even revealed to the press.

It was something he had tried to stop, even offering a large sum of money to the Stardust production team.

However.

If you let the tail grow too long, someone will step on it.

Once Kang Si‑woo debuted, he wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret forever.

So it was perhaps natural that the Taewoon Group side tried their hardest to block Si‑woo’s debut.

Until then, he had planned to follow his father’s will.

But.

At some point, a strange emotion welled up in his throat.

“It’s my life.”

Regrettably, by now he no longer intended to play along by his father’s rhythm. So he spoke in a calm voice.

“I want to debut.”

“…….”

“So I can’t give up no matter what.”

It was the first act of rebellion in his twenty‑year‑old life.

At Si‑woo’s unexpected words, Kang Byeong‑tae looked shocked and couldn’t hold his mouth shut.

“You… what are you saying…? You can’t give up no matter what?”

“I think I’ve conveyed my opinion. Please leave now.”

“Si‑woo!”

A cold shout grabbed Kang Si‑woo.

“Why on earth aren’t you listening to me!”

Kang Byeong‑tae, with his face burning red, gripped Si‑woo’s shoulder hard.

“I clearly told you to live quietly. To live as quietly as a mouse… so why— why are you stepping forward unnecessarily!”

Si‑woo’s body, which wasn’t resisting at all, shook back and forth.

He bit his lower lip gently and stared straight at Kang Byeong‑tae.

“I don’t want to.”

“What? You don’t want to?”

That words to live quietly.

Back then he didn’t know, but it really was a cruel command.

He was alive and breathing just like everyone else.

Why should he have to live as quietly as a mouse?

It was unfair.

He had just been born this way.

There was no reason I should have had to hear words like those.

“Heh… You and your mother took that money and yet you still need more?”

“...What did you just say?”

“Tell me how much. Tell me how much it would take for you to shut that big dream of yours up.”

In that moment, my blood froze cold.

His attitude, reducing my only dream to mere money, disgusted me.

“Heh.”

I sneered and ground my teeth.

Because the one speaking wasn’t just anyone, but my father, the last trace of conscience melted away in an instant.

Now that it had come to this, the words I had held back tumbled out easily.

“…You don’t need to support me anymore. I’m an adult now, I’ll live on my own.”

But.

He insisted that he couldn’t interfere beyond that—into my life.

I spoke calmly and clearly.

“Whatever you want from me, this is how I’m going to live. I’ll appear on broadcasts, release albums— as much as possible to irritate your eyes. Oh, and someday I’m going to do a world tour. I’ll become such a dazzling singer that there won’t be a single person in the entire nation who doesn’t know me. I’m going to be that incredible celebrity.”

“You brat!”

“So remember this clearly: Kang Si‑woo, those three syllables. One day even if someone types just ‘Kang’ into the search bar, I’ll appear above you.”

Right then.

Slap—

Unable to stand it any longer, Vice Chairman Kang Byeong‑tae’s hand rose.

My cheek burned painfully and swelled; I looked up with hollow eyes.

“What? After raising you all this time… you dare stab me in the back?”

I wiped my stinging cheek and glared at Kang Byeong‑tae.

All emotions had already been unleashed by both of us.

The vice chairman, thoroughly enraged, was nearing the edge.

As he was about to strike my jaw again—

Instinctively I squeezed my eyes shut.

But then.

“……”

This time I felt no pain.

Thwack—

Because someone grabbed Kang Byeong‑tae’s arm.

I frowned and slowly opened my eyelids.

My momentarily blurred vision came back into focus.

“What are you doing?”

It was Do Seohan.

“Assaulting someone is a bit much. He’s someone with a known face, after all.”

“Huh.”

Vice Chairman Kang’s gaze turned to the unexpected interloper.

A boy whose face was quite tall and mature despite his youthful looks. A handsome teenager who blocked the space between the two.

“Who on earth are you?”

Although Kang didn’t know him, this was Do Seohan, whose popularity was soaring on the audition program.

Seohan said confidently, with a smile on his lips.

“Actually, I was filming a little video from over there. If you want tomorrow’s news front page, I can send it to the journalist…”

“Delete it.”

“Oh, of course I’m very particular about that. Nowadays image rights are important. You can’t just film people recklessly.”

Seohan shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“So if the vice chairman here quietly leaves tonight, I’ll pretend I don’t know about this footage.”

I looked at Seohan in mild bewilderment.

I had no idea why this guy happened to pass by at this hour, or why he was stepping into such a complicated situation when we weren’t particularly close.

Even I, his son, could tell that Kang Byeong‑tae had an extraordinary aura.

I was trembling from nerves even now.

Yet Seohan didn’t cower at all, even though he was up against the vice chairman of a chaebol.

No—he confronted him all the more confidently.

Seohan turned and asked me nonchalantly.

“How about it, hyung. Should I delete the video?”

In his hand was his phone, showing the video.

I took a deep breath as I looked at it.

It wasn’t the video of my father hitting me just a moment ago, but the monitoring footage he had shot earlier during practice.

‘Crazy guy.’

He was definitely insane.

A confused light filled Vice Chairman Kang’s face too.

Who was this ridiculously young crazy guy?

That seemed to be what his eyes were thinking.

“……”

I swallowed hard and looked between them.

The air was tense as if a time bomb might go off at any moment.

If I had been there alone, he would surely have dragged me away by force.

But.

Once Seohan appeared, any intimidation lost its meaning.

Because now there was another set of eyes watching.

“Haa….”

Kang Byeong‑tae grit his teeth with an expression full of things left unsaid.

His chilly gaze touched me.

“All right, we’ll see next time.”

It sounded like, if he saw me next time, he'd kill me.

I awkwardly smiled and bowed my head.

“Yes, I’ll see you after my debut.”

Those words were not easily dismissed until the end.

Vice Chairman Kang furrowed his brows again, but that was it.

The others hurried toward the driver’s seat.

Thump—

The door of the black sedan closed.

“……”

I watched the sedan speed away up the dorm’s hill, then stumbled for a moment.

My legs shook from the sudden release of tension.

“O‑oh! Hyung, be careful.”

Seohan supported me, helping me regain my balance.

“Mm, yes.”

I barely steadied myself and stood there, breathing heavily.

The chaotic situation had passed, but it wasn’t easily sorted in my mind.

One thing was certain.

That younger brother seemed especially reliable today.

I gave a faint, blurry smile and spoke.

“Thank you.”