Chapter 61
With any problem, correctly understanding the situation is crucial to solving it.
If you try to solve a problem before recognizing it, you won’t come up with a proper solution. You’ll end up hammering a nail where a screw is needed, or driving a screw where a nail is needed.
So what was the problem Myeongjeon was facing?
‘First.’
The crisis right in front of him. Someone had fed the judges rumors about ‘Ha Suyeon’s’ unsavory past… As a result, the judges were waiting for Myeongjeon to explain himself.
Getting past this crisis would be very easy.
Because no ‘victim’ had come forward. All they could say was that they had ‘heard a rumor’; there was no actual evidence or testimony.
He could either deny that anything had happened, or, even if something had happened… reveal what Myeongjeon had done up to this point and say, ‘I’ve reflected this much.’ Since the tip they had received was nothing more than a rumor, that alone would probably satisfy the organizers.
But if the world worked that easily, the earth wouldn’t be in this state.
‘Second.’
The crisis that would come later. Something that would ‘inevitably’ find Myeongjeon once he began working in broadcasting, through auditions and the like, though he didn’t know when.
Something even Myeongjeon, who had worked tirelessly to put ‘Ha Suyeon’s’ past in order, had not dared touch.
That was the existence of ‘Seong Juhee.’
‘It doesn’t matter how things actually went. If she opens her mouth.’
It would be useless even to say, “She drank with us, smoked with us, and extorted money too!!” The sensational story would break first.
Starting with articles like ‘Rising New Band’s Vocalist Involved in School-Violence Controversy?’ they would make a fuss trying to wring views out of the controversy and debate until Myeongjeon explained himself… and even after that.
Because of Seong Juhee’s existence, Myeongjeon had agonized over this countless times. How should he respond? What position should he take? No, before that, was there even a way to respond?
Unlike the other kids, whom he had been able to apologize to and somehow resolve matters with, Seong Juhee held a grudge against ‘Ha Suyeon.’
Offer her money? Reach a settlement? Judging by what he had heard, Seong Juhee was the sort of person who would break a settlement and open her mouth just to screw ‘Ha Suyeon’ over.
In the end, Myeongjeon decided to respond head-on.
He would use his friends’ apologies as a shield and press the attack with, “You drank and extorted money from people too, didn’t you?!” Any damage to his image in the process would simply have to be written off as, “This is what rock bands from the mainland are all like.”
That was his plan—right up until the moment before he heard what had just been said.
“The victim… hasn’t spoken directly?”
At Myeongjeon’s question, the judges looked as though they had realized their mistake. But, as if there was nothing they could do, they quickly composed their expressions again.
“Yes. That band… no, well, anyway, the direct victim… Yes. That’s right.”
A slip of the tongue, probably because they were flustered. Good. A band had submitted the tip, and there was no victim.
“If I decide to give up on providing an explanation, what happens?”
At Myeongjeon’s question, the judges exchanged opinions for a while. After speaking with the staff for a few words, the person in charge and even the director joined them and began discussing the matter.
“Suyeon. Are you quitting?”
During the brief lull, Iseo asked in a slightly anxious voice. Myeongjeon answered with a bitter smile instead, then sank back into thought.
‘The fundamental premise. Even if I explain everything here, they accept it, and the matter is resolved, Seong Juhee will definitely appear afterward.’
And if Seong Juhee appeared, all the explanations he had given during Band Pioneer would probably be dismissed as lies as well.
That was only too obvious. Of course, it would eventually be revealed that they were lies, too. But by then, his image would already have fallen.
But right now, Seong Juhee had not appeared, so there was no one who could contradict Myeongjeon’s words. Even so, the ‘school-violence allegations’ were still hanging in the air. Public opinion knew nothing, and there were many people who could testify on his behalf.
Then…
“We haven’t made an internal decision yet. We only heard this during filming. Still, it will probably end with you simply being considered to have withdrawn.”
The short meeting seemed to be over, and one of the judges answered him. Myeongjeon exhaled briefly, then opened his mouth.
“We’ll quit.”
For now, he would bow out.
When public opinion was favorable toward him.
When he was a ‘promising guitarist,’ a ‘band with a bright future,’ and a ‘talent too good to lose.’
While Myeongjeon’s image was still intact, and before he had said anything ‘official’ that could be picked apart.
“…Yes.”
“But we have conditions. Don’t reveal why we quit, and make the TOP 6 video public.”
At those words, the judges began another discussion. After waiting a while, they answered that they could do at least that much.
When Myeongjeon nodded, the atmosphere settled down slightly. He patted the shoulders of the kids, whose expressions had fallen. He could only feel sorry for them.
But don’t be so gloomy. And don’t worry.
“Student Suyeon.”
“Yes.”
While he was comforting the kids, amid the commotion, one of the judges approached him. The leader of a famous rock band.
“Did you really commit school violence?”
Because he was going to start now.
To overcome the threat Seong Juhee would bring in the future and escape the controversy itself—in the modern parlance, to lay the ‘build-up.’
“Honestly… like I said before, it happened before I lost my memories, so I don’t remember it well. Still, I’ve tried to be as sincere as possible and gone around apologizing for the things I did before.”
“Really? Then why is this rumor going around?”
At the slightly accusatory question, Myeongjeon wore an extremely troubled yet indignant expression.
“So I think maybe… I only remember it vaguely, but I once fought with a senior who went around extorting money from the other kids. I think that senior may have spread it. I was told he cursed me every time he woke up after we fought because I saw him extorting money from the kids…”
* * *
To summarize Myeongjeon’s plan roughly, it was as follows.
1. At present, Myeongjeon and the band ‘Group Sound’ are in a fairly promising position. They recorded an OST, made it to the Band Pioneer finals, and appeared at Paradox, among other things.
2. If they quit Band Pioneer in this situation, everyone would wonder what had happened to ‘Group Sound.’
3. Even after quitting Pioneer, they would continue their activities as usual. Then people would inevitably start asking why they had quit.
4. Wage a grassroots public-opinion campaign against them. Appeal to his friends’ sympathy and subtly plant hints among his fans. In doing so, lower his credibility in advance, before ‘Seong Juhee’ appeared.
5. If that happened, then even if they later entered an audition or another broadcast program and Seong Juhee appeared to give testimony… the fanbase and friends he had built during this period would testify in a way that destroyed Seong Juhee’s credibility from the very beginning.
It was less a proper plan than an acrobatic stunt. Something like ‘Group Sound quit Band Pioneer!’ would be news in Ms. Lee Hyein’s household at most; it wasn’t something that would become a major issue for anyone else.
Of course, that would only be true if Myeongjeon stayed still.
[Life Complaints]
Uploaded 8 hours ago | 25,023 views
“…I’ve been thinking things like this lately, too. There are things that won’t work no matter how hard I try. And there are things I can’t do anything about. Even when something unfair happens, I have to accept it. Well… I suppose everything is like that, and that’s what I’ve been telling myself. Still, I can’t help feeling a little overwhelmed…”
- ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Unnie, what’s wrong ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- Did something happen?
ㄴ She suddenly quit Band Pioneer, so I think it must be because something bad happened ㅠ
ㄴ Whoa, the song was fucking good though;
“I’ll read just one last question before I go to bed. Juhyeon-nim! When will you introduce the OST band? Ah… something, uh, something a little unfortunate happened. I don’t think we’ll be able to reveal them right away. Honestly, I was really looking forward to it. Those kids play so well.”
= Whoa ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
= Gasp
= I think I know that band
= Ah
= ㅍㅍ픂ㅍㅍㅍㅍㅍㅍㅍ
= Gasp, what band is it?
“Ah, I don’t go around telling people those kids’ names either, but somehow the rumor has been spreading. Even my friends ask, ‘Hey, you really worked on that OST with so-and-so, right?’ Still, I think I’ll be able to show you those kids somehow before long…”
“Hey, that band competition show you were doing—someone quit, right? Was she Teacher Myeongjeon’s student or something?”
“Hey, I heard the story behind that. It was really unfortunate. That kid was Teacher Myeongjeon’s student, right? But they’d apparently been something of a delinquent, and after meeting Teacher Myeongjeon and learning guitar, they were just beginning to turn over a new leaf. Then the teacher died, and they were so shocked that they got into an accident too…”
“Hey, did you hear the rumor about Suyeon?”
“Ah, that. Heh-heh… Honestly, I did think it was kind of satisfying.”
“Hey, do you know how much she went around apologizing? You’re saying that even though you know she barely remembers her past. After hearing about how she went around apologizing despite that, how can you even think of saying something like that?”
[[2024 Band Pioneer] Group Sound | TOP 6 Online Competition]
- The song is fucking great, so why did they quit??
- I want to see them perform offline ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
- They say it was personal reasons, but damn, I really hate those personal reasons…
- I heard the guitarist has a nasty rumor around her lol
ㄴ No, let us hear that nasty rumor too, for fuck’s sake. What the hell is the rumor?
ㄴ Don’t spread false rumors.
ㄴ lol I heard something about a high school in Jongno-gu or whatever. My younger sibling goes to high school in Jongno-gu, and from what I hear about that girl, she’s completely reformed now. I also heard she stood up to a senior after seeing him extort money from the kids or something.
ㄴ Whoa
ㄴ Crazy righteous outlaw ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
Myeongjeon began a behind-the-scenes public-opinion campaign through truly diverse channels: his YouTube channel, his session connections, his friends, and anything else he could use.
The downside of a public-opinion campaign was that people grew tired when there was an opposing force. At first, they might think, ‘Wow, what an interesting story,’ but as the story kept going back and forth, they would eventually think, ‘So what exactly are we supposed to do about this?’ Then they would lose interest, say they were tired of it, and turn away.
Of course, some public-opinion campaigns aimed for precisely that kind of loss of interest. They kept creating issues and stirring up public opinion until people finally said, “Well, both sides were in the wrong!”—and in doing so, tried to escape people’s attention.
But the public-opinion campaign Myeongjeon was carrying out now belonged to neither side.
Seong Juhee, who would launch the counterattack, had no idea what was happening, while the band that had fed the ‘rumor’ to the judges was satisfied without giving it much thought, having gotten Group Sound eliminated from Band Pioneer.
In that completely unguarded field, the ‘public opinion’ Myeongjeon had stirred up was spreading like wildfire. People interested in bands or music had at least heard of ‘Group Sound.’
But Myeongjeon wasn’t satisfied with that. They needed greater attention—not direct promotion for ‘Group Sound,’ but the kind of attention that could still draw interest.
So Myeongjeon made a phone call.
* * *
“Yes, this is Juhyeon. Ah, yes, Director. Yes? Uh… them? Yes. You’re saying they might be able to play a session at my concert? Those kids?”