Cheat day

Ha-chan (3)

I hurried to Park Ha-im’s house, wondering if I was thinking something bad.

“Wow, you actually came.”

Park Ha-im opened the door, looking drained.

As soon as I stepped inside, I asked, “Have you eaten anything?”

He shook his head.

On the dining table, a salad and sweet potatoes sat untouched.

“You collapsed, right?”

“…Just faking it.”

“Do you think I’m a fool? I wouldn’t know whether you’re faking or not?”

Park Ha-im sat on the sofa, hugging his knees.

“They said it’s nutritional deficiency. I got glucose.”

“Hey, then you need to eat something. Why is that still there?”

I sighed, pointing at the salad.

“Don’t say anything. I’m having a hard time.”

Seeing him in person, it was much worse than I expected.

He seemed so overwhelmed that it was hard for him to accept any words of comfort.

I thought that I needed to feed him something, so I opened the fridge, only to find it empty.

There were no dishes, and as I looked around the house, I noticed there wasn’t even a TV in the living room.

The whole place felt barren.

I wanted to take him out and feed him something delicious that would be easy on his stomach, but he was such a well-known figure that it wouldn’t be easy.

But leaving him alone to go buy ingredients felt risky too; who knew what kind of trouble he might get into?

With no other option, I downloaded a food delivery app and ordered food to the address I had received via chat.

After a while, I sat beside Ha-im, waiting.

He finally spoke up.

“Just say something.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“I am curious.”

“Then why are you so quiet?”

“Because you aren’t saying anything.”

I hadn’t gone through a similar situation, but I knew what it felt like to be in a similar state.

When someone is too sick and tired, they can’t accept anyone’s involvement.

It only makes them feel irritated.

But when someone is beside you, there comes a moment when you want them to understand your feelings, no matter how late.

I was just waiting for that moment.

If I reached out first, it meant he was ready to accept my words.

“I’ve been really busy since the year before last.”

Even though it wasn’t during an album activity period, he was appearing on all sorts of shows, including those promoting Korean food, so I could tell how much he was overworking himself.

“Plus, the diet is strange.”

“Right! Doesn’t it seem strange to you too?”

I nodded just as the doorbell rang.

Ha-im’s eyes widened.

“I ordered delivery because I thought you might be hungry.”

“What?”

Just moments ago, he had looked lifeless, but now he seemed excited.

“Congee.”

I realized for the first time today how desperate someone could be.

“If you eat something spicy right now, it’ll upset your stomach. You need to recover little by little.”

“Burger…”

Instead, I brought the congee and set it in front of him.

“Eat it.”

“I don’t like this kind of stuff.”

“It’s good. Just try it.”

Ha-im hesitated, took a spoonful, and blinked.

“It’s really good.”

B’s cold radish beef congee is great for when your stomach feels upset.

“The radish helps with digestion, and the beef adds flavor and protein. Even though it’s congee, it’s made from brown rice, so the carbohydrate absorption isn’t too high. Eat as much as you want.”

It seemed like he wasn’t hearing me.

He was eating eagerly.

Seeing him not even able to finish half made my heart ache because he must have been really hungry.

“Ah. I’m full.”

“When did you start that diet?”

“Since I was a trainee.”

Ha-im put down the spoon and continued, “I used to be a bit chubby, but one of my seniors who debuted before me was similar to me, and it scared me.”

Hearing his story made me sigh.

One of Ha-im’s seniors, who was chubby, had suffered through all sorts of ridicule after debuting and eventually retired.

After seeing that, he decided to start dieting on his own.

“When I debuted, my concept was that of a younger brother vibe.”

“Yeah.”

“When I lost weight, I started getting recognized, but then during the off-season, I suddenly gained a lot of weight.”

It was probably due to the wrong dieting methods.

With a nutrient imbalance, his appetite would keep increasing, but with the enforced circumstances, his body would have adapted to absorb nutrients better.

“Since then, they’ve been really hard on me.”

“I’ll help you with that.”

“How?”

“By teaching you how to diet properly. If you keep doing this, you’re going to ruin your body.”

“…”

“If you and I, along with Ji-chan, help you out, the company won’t say anything. It’ll be good publicity.”

“Cha Ji-chan? The guy who works out?”

With his three million YouTube subscribers, APOP would have to take him seriously.

By doing content with Cha Ji-chan, there would surely be side benefits.

“But I don’t have time.”

“Yeah, I was curious about that too. Even if you’re the only one active, how can they make you work so much?”

“They say the company is struggling.”

Ha-im started talking about APOP.

“All the seniors terminated their contracts and left. The company’s sales are dropping, and the trainees I practiced with have been sent away.”

“…”

As far as I knew, APOP was quite a big company, but it seemed the internal situation was not good.

“You know the company was sold, right?”

“I didn’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

He rolled his eyes before continuing.

“Early last year, when it was acquired by Saebyeol Entertainment, I thought it would get better, but it didn’t. The business was divided.”

“Saebyeol? Bae Do-bin?”

Saebyeol Entertainment was established by Bae Do-bin and producer Himura Sho.

“You say you don’t know anything about the entertainment industry, but you know about Saebyeol?”

Back Woo-jin was obsessed with Bae Do-bin and had filmed several videos related to him, so naturally, I had developed an interest while editing them.

“It’s a bit different to call it the entertainment industry, isn’t it?”

“I guess so. That person is on a whole different level. Anyway, they say Saebyeol made the first proposal. They’d keep the current employees and let us continue on like before.”

“What’s good about Saebyeol?”

That implies they guarantee management rights, so there’s no reason to acquire a company that’s in debt like APOP.

“They said they’d raise classical musicians, but I don’t know the details.”

After Bae Do-bin, the classical music market had grown remarkably.

Bae Do-bin had even moved to the Berlin Philharmonic, so Saebyeol would surely need new star musicians.

I speculated that APOP had thought about using the distribution network and connections they had built over time.

It must have been challenging for a Japanese representative to operate in Korea without a foundation.

“So the president you mentioned was Himura Sho?”

“No, I only met him once for an introduction and never saw him again.”

“Then who?”

“Jeong Mun-il.”

“You said it was sold.”

“It just seems the same.”

I figured I shouldn’t expect much from this guy.

It seemed that while the company’s shares were sold, Saebyeol was dividing the business, so Jeong Mun-il was likely not involved in that aspect.

It seemed they just referred to him as the president or representative by convention.

“But what does that have to do with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The company has already been sold, right? They’ve separated the business and are managing it. So why are they treating you like this?”

“I don’t know. They say it’s hard.”

Logically, it shouldn’t be difficult.

There must be some other reason.

It’s unlikely that a black company that would push people to this extent would properly train its workers, and Park Ha-im, who had practiced dancing and singing since he was ten, wouldn’t have been able to grasp the internal situation.

He was probably just following what the people he had worked with since childhood told him without realizing he was ruining himself.

“Was there anything strange? Even a small thing.”

“…Mi-kyung noona told me to run away.”

“Mi-kyung noona?”

“She was the accountant, but she left the company two years ago.”

This was before APOP was acquired by Saebyeol.

“She said that a lot of work was going to come in.”

Now, things started to fit together.

For Jeong Mun-il, the representative of APOP, who was struggling with financial issues, he must have wanted to sell the company to Saebyeol at all costs.

Saebyeol would have certainly reviewed the financial situation and, to inflate the short-term performance, they would have pushed Park Ha-im hard.

Still, one question remained.

Even after the acquisition was successful, I was curious why they were so eager to push Ha-im, their only major star.

“What are you thinking?”

As Park Ha-im asked, I explained my suspicions, and he frowned, tilting his head.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“I don’t understand any of it.”

“So, after the acquisition by Saebyeol, the funding issue was resolved, but why are they still making your life miserable?”

“Is it because they don’t have enough money?”

“They shouldn’t be lacking money. Saebyeol Entertainment is owned by Bae Do-bin, one of the wealthiest third-generation heirs in our country.”

Park Ha-im rolled his eyes and spoke up.

“If they aren’t struggling, then why can’t I get my payments?”

“What do you mean you can’t get your payments?”

“They say I’ve spent a ton of money teaching, working on albums, and entertaining.”

“What are you talking about? It doesn’t make sense that someone who was a PAK can’t get paid!”

“Rent. The boss is covering it for me.”

“That’s insane.”

I couldn’t help but curse under my breath.

***

The legendary producer Himura Sho-u, known for producing 17 albums across genres like classical, rock, and new age, had sold over a million copies and was focused on turning classical musicians into stars last year. He aimed to solidify his position in the rapidly growing classical music market after Bae Do-bin’s success.

However, troubling news reached him about APOP, the company he acquired to target the Korean market.

The only star in the business division, Park Ha-im, had collapsed.

“What happened?”

“They said it was due to overwork and malnutrition.”

Himura Sho-u’s expression twisted in distress. He had no knowledge of the Korean entertainment industry and had avoided involving himself in Jeong Mun-il’s affairs, only cooperating on necessary matters. He never imagined he would let one of his artists collapse from overwork.

He had become especially sensitive to such matters ever since Bae Do-bin had collapsed from overwork during his childhood.

“Contact Jeong Mun-il. Tell him to come in immediately.”

“Yes, understood.”

Park Ha-im was one of the most popular entertainers in Korea, garnering significant media and fan attention. APOP would not be able to evade responsibility for this incident, and if they handled it poorly, it could damage the reputation of Saebyeol Entertainment and its owner, Bae Do-bin.

Most importantly, the fact that a young musician was suffering from malnutrition made it unforgivable for Himura Sho-u to overlook Jeong Mun-il’s actions.