Cheat day

Ha-chan (5)

Despite having exchanged greetings, the newly arrived guests recognized them, causing a stir. Thanks to the kindness of the Dongtae-tang owner, they were able to enjoy their meal in a cozy six-person room.

While waiting for the food, Park Ha-im checked a KakaoTalk message he had received.

“Hello, this is Team Leader Park Sun-young from Saetbyeol Entertainment.

Before I visit to greet you, I wanted to inform you about the internal disciplinary committee’s progress and actions regarding Director Jeong Mun-il from APOP.

On December 6th at 11:03 AM, after receiving a report that Park Ha-im collapsed during rehearsal due to overwork and malnutrition, Saetbyeol Entertainment summoned Director Jeong Mun-il for an internal investigation.

As a result, it was confirmed that, during the APOP acquisition process, there were signs that the sales figures for the second half of 2021 were inflated, and the payment that should have been made to Park Ha-im was deposited into Director Jeong Mun-il’s relative’s account.

In light of this, Representative Himura Sho has immediately stripped Director Jeong Mun-il of his position and filed a complaint with the prosecution.

I am sending you the confirmed unpaid amount and additional details, so please check them.

Also, I have attached detailed information regarding Director Jeong Mun-il’s breach of trust and embezzlement for your reference.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, feel free to contact me anytime, and I will arrange a meeting soon.

I hope you recover your health as soon as possible, and I wish you well.

[Attachment 1] APOP_Singer_Park Ha-im_Settlement Details [Attachment 2] Jeong Mun-il Director Disciplinary Committee Meeting Minutes.”

“Wow.”

Today is December 9th. It’s only been three days since Park Ha-im collapsed, and they’ve resolved this issue so quickly that it’s impressive.

“How does it look?”

“It’s very clean!”

I need to check the detailed information, but it’s unbelievably swift and clear.

“I expected the reason for the unpaid settlement, but it’s too obvious. Jeong Mun-il used the money as if it were his own.”

Evidence has surfaced showing that he sent a large sum of money to a relative working as an external director of APOP under the guise of performance bonuses.

This is the kind of irrefutable evidence that Muk-ji had mentioned was critical.

The more he pushed Park Ha-im around, thinking it would fill his greedy belly, the more unreasonable his demands became.

“…….”

“Strictly speaking, Saetbyeol has nothing to do with this. It’s a Jeong Mun-il issue.”

“Yeah.”

“If you take this to court to reclaim your money, it might take years. During that time, you won’t receive any payments.”

“But I’ve received it.”

“Right. Saetbyeol Entertainment has decided to minimize the damage to you by paying you the settlement amount first and will collect it from Jeong Mun-il later. While it may cause some inconvenience to Saetbyeol, it’s the best option for you.”

Park Ha-im nodded.

“Besides, it doesn’t make sense that they figured this out in just three days.”

“If they could give this so easily, why didn’t they do it before?”

“Don’t think that way. How long have you been debuted?”

“Six years?”

“Digging through six years’ worth of data means that Jeong Mun-il wouldn’t have handed that over easily. It’s his own dirty laundry.”

“True? How did they manage that?”

“Who knows?”

They are backed by the largest corporate group not just in the country, but worldwide.

Regardless of how they did it, I can’t imagine anything is impossible.

“Anyway, this indicates they’re taking this matter seriously, which is good for you.”

“…….”

“What’s wrong? Not happy?”

“I am. I felt vaguely good about it, but hearing you explain makes me realize how much Saetbyeol cares for me.”

“But?”

“……I don’t know.”

Park Ha-im put down his spoon.

“Mr. Owner, Jong-woo, Kyung-ho, Jae-sung, and Yeo-eun all worked hard with me. It feels like they’ve been deceiving me all this time.”

He couldn’t continue speaking.

The sadness of being betrayed by those who have been with him since his trainee days seemed greater than the joy of receiving the massive sum of 2.7 billion won.

His head hung low as he trembled.

“……Let’s eat.”

As I served him some Dongtae-tang, he wiped his tears and picked up his spoon.

After tasting the broth, he whispered softly.

“It’s delicious.”

***

[Park Ha-im: I haven’t received a single penny from my agency]

[Why did Park Ha-im collapse? Revealed to be malnutrition]

[Saetbyeol Entertainment reports APOP’s Jeong Mun-il]

[Himura Sho: “I will definitely make it right.”]

[The controversy of power abuse by entertainment agencies reignites]

As expected, the incident of APOP’s unpaid settlement exploded in the media.

The surprising aspect was that Saetbyeol Entertainment did not try to hide the situation and directly reported and publicized the facts.

As Muk-ji had mentioned, Bae Do-bin and Himura Sho presented the best solutions to protect the rights of artists.

With the publication of completely accurate information without a hint of falsehood, there were temporarily some people scrutinizing Saetbyeol Entertainment, but this was short-lived; all the blame shifted toward APOP and Jeong Mun-il.

└Is this crazy?

└Even someone like Ha-im has to go through this kind of thing.

└2.7 billion??

└What was Saetbyeol doing all this time? Isn’t this just them cutting ties?

└They said they separated management. Read the articles before complaining.

└As soon as the unpaid amount was identified, they immediately paid 2.7 billion. Honestly, Saetbyeol hasn’t received a single penny and is the real victim here.

└It’s amazing that they paid in advance and are planning to slowly recover the funds from Jeong Mun-il later.

└Right. Ha-im even thanked Saetbyeol Entertainment on his social media.

└I wondered why he suddenly stopped appearing on broadcasts.

└The reason for his collapse being not just overwork but also malnutrition is shocking.

└That’s truly messed up.

└When you see Park Ha-im in real life, it’s hard to believe he’s an adult male because he looks so thin.

└Ugh. I wish all these abusive people would just disappear.

└Seriously, Ha-im is only 13, right? He must have been a trainee for a long time, so he probably endured all kinds of gaslighting besides the unpaid settlement.

└To be betrayed by someone you trusted must feel devastating.

└Is he going to retire? He looks really troubled these days.

└I heard he will make a statement today at the side dish store?

└?

└Why is he doing it at a side dish store? He has Instagram and everything.

└I don’t know. They might want to talk about something.

└I heard the side dish shop owner took care of Park Ha-im a lot. He used to come by to cook for him when he was feeling down.

└Right now, the biggest issue seems to be not having anyone he can trust. He probably doesn’t want to get involved with APOP anymore.

└That makes sense.

As I checked the internet before the broadcast began, I noticed a wave of support and sympathy being formed.

“Let’s start soon.”

“Can you show me the statement?”

“Of course.”

Park Ha-im had displayed a statement prepared with Team Leader Park Sun-young on a secondary monitor.

Setting the title as “Park Ha-im’s Statement,” I began the broadcast, and the viewer count skyrocketed to 40,000 in an instant.

Given that my average viewership is 20,000, it was clear how much interest there was in this incident.

I couldn’t read the chat.

“Hello. As you can see from the title, I’d like to share what’s been happening, my current feelings, and my future plans,” Ha-im said.

I switched the screen to focus on Park Ha-im.

Although he usually seemed a bit lacking, his expression changed dramatically when he entered the broadcast.

He smiled brightly.

“Were you worried? I’m perfectly fine.”

He was anything but fine.

“Some people are seriously concerned because they heard I’m malnourished, but I had lunch and even had a steamed bun for a snack today. I’m eating well, so don’t worry. If you don’t like me gaining weight, that’s a no-go.”

His forced smile only made my heart ache more.

“But I’m going to get healthy, so I’ll be eating and exercising with Chan-yong hyung. Please support me. Oh, I should mention this too.”

Finally, Ha-im looked at the statement he had prepared in advance.

Team Leader Park Sun-young had advised him to reveal all the abuses he had suffered, including the fact that he hadn’t received a single penny from APOP over the past six years, but Ha-im chose not to do so.

He mentioned that his fans would be hurt by this incident just as much as they love him.

“Doesn’t that mean my songs will sound sad?” he asked, adding that he hoped his voice would lift the fans’ spirits.

“So, the contract with APOP can be declared null and void. Sun-young noona promised to help me as I wished. So, we’ve decided to end things with APOP now.”

Ha-im swallowed hard.

A sigh echoed in the chat.

It wasn’t that APOP was sad, but rather that everyone could see how much Ha-im cherished his agency.

“I’m going to sign a new contract with Saetbyeol. Watching how they handle this incident made me realize I can rely on them. Since we used to be in the same company, only the department is changing, and my actual activities will remain the same. Isn’t that great?”

Ha-im beamed with joy.

“And starting next week, I’ll be appearing here regularly, so please hit that subscribe button. You know what I mean?”

Ha-im turned his head, and as he nodded at me, I sat next to him and added explanations for the parts he missed.

After finishing the broadcast, I was pondering what to have for dinner when Ha-im and Muk-ji continued their conversation.

“Really? Does noona gain weight immediately after eating too?”

“That’s right. I’ve been negligent about eating for a long time.”

“It sounds weird to say you were lazy about eating. Isn’t not eating how you lose weight?”

“You can learn the details through the broadcast. It took me a while to understand as well.”

“Ugh.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I want to do it together. You have to adjust your eating and exercise too.”

“I am doing that.”

“On a broadcast.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want to reveal my face.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be recognized?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, you get to greet and smile at people. I think it would be beneficial to be recognized, even if I don’t know anyone.”

Muk-ji frowned slightly.

Her expression clearly showed she couldn’t relate at all.

Listening to the conversation between Ha-im, who had been loved since childhood, and Muk-ji, who was fed up with those around her, was amusing.

“Eun-ji, how about trying it together?”

“Do you think so too, Chan-yong?”

“I was cautious because I thought my body wouldn’t be able to handle a sudden change, but now I feel like I can slowly start doing it in earnest.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ve always wanted to do content with the two of us. I thought it might be good to adapt slowly with this incident.”

“If it’s with Chan-yong, I’ll consider it.”

Muk-ji turned her head.

Ha-im looked back and forth between Muk-ji and me, filled with anticipation.

“I don’t think the fans would welcome someone else being part of Park Ha-im’s journey to regain health.”

“That’s true. My fans, Choco, only like me.”

Choco is a term referring to his fans, known as Choco-haim, which is casually shortened to Choco.

It’s similar to how I refer to my subscribers of the side dish store as Tori, based on the name of a subscriber taken from a grain of rice.

“Still, it’s a pity. I thought it would be perfect if I learned to exercise from you, and you learned makeup from me.”

“Do as you wish.”

Muk-ji lunged forward like a lion pouncing on its prey.

Ha-im looked surprised, then glanced back and forth between Muk-ji and me before smiling broadly.

“Who knows?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. We have to do it even if we create a new channel.”

“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”

“What are you hesitating for?”

“If it’s just the two of us, what’s the fun in that? We need someone to react.”

“React?”

“Yeah. If Chan-yong hyung takes care of his face a little, it’ll be obvious, and we’ll need someone to be there to watch.”

Ha-im wiggled his body to provoke Muk-ji.

She, who had approached everything with calmness and rationality, nodded without any resistance.

“I’ll do it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

I never imagined that something as trivial as makeup would lead to the start of Ha-chan’s journey.