Idol Hides His Military Service

Right now, with me in the middle, the team members were staring so hard at the TV to watch the press conference Park Hyungsoo had announced, like it was a famous singer’s concert and their eyes were going to pop out.

With faces that earnest, like it was their own problem, if it wasn’t me, who was going to lead them and take care of them?

Somehow, I felt like I’d already gotten my nose hooked by these guys.

Park Hyungsoo’s press conference, which I originally wasn’t going to watch because I thought it would just make my heart feel a mess for no reason.

But with Shinyu and Yunkyung holding me tight right next to me, it looked like I’d have to watch it live, so I fixed my gaze on the TV along with them.

'High-end TVs really are different.'

Was this the class of a rich household?

From the TV that filled up one wall and the soundbar installed separately next to it, loud, solid audio was blasting out, making it feel like we were in a theater.

The fact that I was watching a press conference related to my controversy on equipment this fancy was seriously tragic.

On this, watching the Resonant Three Kingdoms Blu-ray would be amazing.

'Later, I’ll sweet-talk Yunkyung into watching it with me.'

Of course, that wasn’t the important part right now.

-Tomorrow at 12, we will hold a press conference and explain the school-violence controversy regarding Ms. Lee Sion.

A call from the main PD that came in while we were watching Idol Ground 100 live, which I couldn’t watch together with everyone because I’d fled to Yunkyung’s house yesterday, and we were hanging out.

When he said he planned to hold a press conference at 12 tomorrow—meaning today—and formally push back against the controversy, I had a question.

'What method are you going to use to refute it?'

Setting aside how infuriating the exposer’s post was, part of what it said was something I had actually done, so I thought there wasn’t really a good way out.

And that was because it was extremely hard to explain how I ended up fighting Pancake Pig.

Of course, if it came out that it wasn’t simple bullying but a seven-to-one fight, a lot of suspicion would die down, but,

'With just that, there’s no way there won’t still be people who make an issue out of it.'

Didn’t that famous rapper still have people doubting even after an education-credentials scandal blew up and they went so far as to meet the university president and get certified?

-Hello. I am Park Hyungsoo, and I am currently the main PD of Idol Ground 100. Today, we have prepared this session in order to respond regarding the controversy about Lee Sion, a participant of the program, which is currently an issue on the internet.

Contrary to my worries, Park Hyungsoo looked confident, so I said okay.

Even now, the way Park Hyungsoo appeared on the TV screen and announced the start of the press conference was overflowing with some kind of confidence.

"Lee Sion, you should choose your agency well later, too."

"Huh? All of a sudden?"

"This kind of response is only possible because the production staff are helping you. If you were alone, you would’ve gotten crushed without being able to do anything."

At Ryu Ayeon’s sudden comment—telling me to pick my agency well while watching TV—for a moment I was like, what is she talking about, but I understood right away.

'That’s true.'

If the production staff hadn’t helped, I had no way to handle this situation.

It wasn’t like I could just decide on my own to hold a press conference like that.

"Usually, they can’t just publish articles like that about celebrities from fairly famous agencies. Even if they do write it, most of the time they tell them in advance so they can prepare."

Hmm.

I thought it might be too out of the blue for me, who hadn’t even debuted yet, but like Ryu Ayeon said, there was no rule that a situation like this would never happen again, so if you had a reliable agency at times like this, it didn’t seem bad.

-I have a question! Have you confirmed whether the exposer post uploaded on the internet regarding participant Lee Sion is true?

-Yes. As soon as the post went up, the production side checked it, and after that, through a one-on-one interview with participant Lee Sion, we began confirming the facts.

-Then, is what it says true?

While I was thinking about agencies for a moment because of Ryu Ayeon’s comment, before I knew it, the press conference had moved into full-on Q and A.

-That is a cleverly stitched-together fabrication!

-What?

-Participant Lee Sion definitely received disciplinary action from the school-violence committee, but she did not commit school violence.

"Is that true?"

A scream-like reaction burst out of the kids watching the press conference at the same time.

'What is this, “I drank, but it wasn’t drunk driving”?!'

Even I, the person involved, couldn’t hide my shock at what came out of Park Hyungsoo’s mouth, so it was a reaction I could fully understand.

Even the reporters on the screen were making the exact same face as us.

-First, with participant Lee Sion’s cooperation, I will show you the contents from her high school’s School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee regarding the situation at the time.

Tick.

The moment Park Hyungsoo finished speaking, a document appeared on the screen installed at the venue.

-This is an incident investigation report recording what happened at the time. Since we inevitably cannot expose the identities of private individuals, please understand that we have mosaicked everything except participant Lee Sion’s name.

「2013. 04. 25 School Violence Statement

XXX, who had a dispute with Lee Sion of Year 2, Class 3 in the classroom, called the student to the recycling area after school and, together with six people including friend XXX who was present, threatened the student.

Afterward, it escalated into a fight, and to Lee Sion···」

-As you can see, participant Lee Sion did not bully or hit anyone. She only acted in legitimate self-defense to protect herself from students who were trying to threaten her.

At Park Hyungsoo’s words, briefing the content boldly like he was announcing a declaration of independence, the reporters’ murmuring was so obvious [N O V E L I G H T] you could feel it even through the screen.

-Six crazy people tried to take down one person?

-No, if you include the person who posted the exposer post, it’s seven. This is the victim and the perpetrator getting flipped, isn’t it?

-Isn’t there something online about the identity of the person who posted the exposer post? Tell them to secure that quickly and investigate!

As soon as it came out that it wasn’t simple school violence but rather a seven-to-one situation, the press conference venue became total chaos.

-So you’re saying participant Lee Sion didn’t commit school violence, and instead she was the one who suffered it?

-To put it accurately, that’s correct. As you said, it’s not wrong to say participant Lee Sion was a victim who nearly suffered school violence.

Maybe it was hard for the reporters to believe the statement’s contents even after seeing it with their own eyes, because they competed to fire off questions at Park Hyungsoo.

And at Park Hyungsoo’s answer, they looked shocked and seemed busy urgently hammering their laptop keyboards.

'The atmosphere changes in an instant.'

At first, they’d gathered with a vibe like they were about to nail me to a cross, but now, with interested faces like they were watching I Want to Know That, they were staring at Park Hyungsoo’s lips.

But—

-I’m Park Sunwoong from Hot Issue Journal! Isn’t it that, right now, PD Park Hyungsoo is hiding an important fact and trying to mislead the truth?

-Me? What are you referring to?

-If there was the group assault you described, then why did participant Lee Sion receive disciplinary action—on top of that, Measure No. 3?

A reporter named Park Sunwoong who, as if refusing to get swept up in that atmosphere, skillfully stabbed right into the core.

"That guy is the one who first reported the school-violence article about Sion, right?"

"Hot Issue Journal is famous for targeting celebrities with planned articles and attacking them."

"Ugh, even his face looks annoying."

"···."

Watching Park Sunwoong, the kids were pouring out disgusted reactions, and among them, I noticed that Shinyu’s expression, unlike usual, was extremely cold, which bothered me.

'Later, I should ask if something’s going on.'

For now, the press conference was still in progress, so I decided to ask later, and kept looking at the TV screen, and the answer to Park Sunwoong’s question was starting.

-That’s because participant Lee Sion···.

Park Hyungsoo, who had answered without stumbling up to now, fell silent for a moment like his words had finally gotten stuck, and then,

-Because she won against seven people by herself.

He finished his response.

***

'We’re lucky we got this.'

A video with somewhat poor quality playing through the venue’s screen.

"Is this some action movie?"

"Whoa··· so seven-to-one is really possible in real life."

"So you’re saying it became school violence because she fought seven people and didn’t even get hit once? This is insane."

"No, more than that, there’s even a club over there right now. This is just—wasn’t the kid who posted the exposer post crazy? They did that and then shamelessly posted an exposer post?"

Watching the video, the reporters at the press conference were continuously letting out exclamations.

And that was because the video being played, like one reporter said, was content where one person was mowing down seven people like it was a well-choreographed action movie, so it was more than enough to make you gasp just from watching it.

And if the main character in that video was the main character of today’s press conference and a contestant on an idol survival program, it went without saying that it was a scoop.

Park Hyungsoo, in fact, had agonized a lot over whether to play this at the press conference.

'Impact matters. No matter how much you say it in words—that it was a seven-to-one fight and she won without any injuries so she got disciplined—who would believe that?'

Even if Park Hyungsoo explained based on the materials he’d hurriedly prepared yesterday, it was obvious people wouldn’t believe it, so he needed strong video evidence—and in the middle of that, he obtained the on-site video from back then.

Since it was filmed on a smartphone, the quality wasn’t good, but thankfully, the faces of the people in the video and the situation were captured exactly as they were.

"In a situation like this, participant Lee Sion acted in legitimate self-defense, but whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, since she didn’t get injured, inevitably, she had no choice but to receive disciplinary action from the School Violence Countermeasures Deliberation Committee."

-So that’s why I explained from the beginning that participant Lee Sion did not commit school violence, and only received disciplinary action.

When Park Hyungsoo’s first remark, which at first had drawn confusion and ridicule, came out again, this time, the reaction was different.

Because every reporter gathered at the press conference was nodding and expressing agreement with Park Hyungsoo’s words.

'Not everyone?'

Of course, not all of them—there was one reporter who could be seen staring at the video on the screen with an especially rotten expression.

"Even so, isn’t it true that participant Lee Sion used violence? Since her usual relationships with classmates weren’t good, isn’t that why it escalated into this situation? Can you assert with certainty that there was no fault on participant Lee Sion’s part in the reason she ended up fighting in the first place?"

Sure enough.

The reporter who, like they were advertising how much they disliked the current atmosphere, was now trying to pick a fight with a ridiculous hypothesis was Park Sunwoong.

And—

'You picked the right target, you bastard.'

Looking at Park Sunwoong’s reaction, Park Hyungsoo cheered inwardly.

"There’s someone who will answer that part instead of me."

-Come in, please.

And in time with that, the door at the venue entrance opened, and a woman appeared.

At the appearance of a new person, every gaze inside the venue turned that way in an instant.

"Please come this way."

"Yes."

While everyone was dumbfounded because they didn’t know who this suddenly appeared woman was, only Park Hyungsoo calmly seated the woman next to him and set up the microphone.

Once the microphone setup was finished, maybe tense, the woman closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then began to speak.

"Hello. I’m Jeong Sua, and I came today because I have something to report regarding the school-violence controversy involving Lee Sion."

Click!

"Isn’t that the high school uniform Lee Sion wore?"

At the appearance of a new person, the reporters, like they thought they should take pictures first, were busily clicking their shutters and murmuring.

And Jeong Sua—the woman who introduced herself—maybe because this kind of place was her first time, couldn’t even properly open her eyes at the reporters’ actions.

"I’m sorry, but since this person is a private citizen, she is currently very nervous. Please refrain from filming for a bit, and first, listen to her statement."

Only when Park Hyungsoo stepped in and discouraged filming did they finally restrain themselves, and an atmosphere formed where people could listen to the statement again.

"The reason I came here today was because I didn’t want participant Lee Sion—no, Sion—to be harmed."

"What is your relationship with participant Lee Sion?"

"We were classmates in our second year of high school."

At Jeong Sua’s words, the reporters murmured.

It seemed like they were thinking that a classmate from their second-year class, when the incident happened, had come out to testify for Lee Sion.

But—

"I’m the one who provided the video that’s playing right now."

It didn’t seem like she had come out to give an ordinary testimony.