Chapter 15. The People’s Elbow
Even though no follow-up article had been published yet, things were already in complete chaos.
Several trainees had shown up at the Universe Entertainment building.
“Who are all of you? What are you doing here?”
“We’re trainees from Pantheon. Manager Do Junhyeok is here, right?”
“What? Pantheon trainees?”
The trainees spotted me sitting in the corner of the office and rushed over before bowing at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
“Hello, sir! We heard you asked President Ji Cheonwoo to make things easier for us. Thank you so much!”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Please take us in, Teacher Do Junhyeok!”
Apparently, thanks to Ji Cheonwoo, they had managed to tear up their contracts and leave the company.
Even if they were trainees Pantheon considered unlikely to succeed, trainees from a major agency were treasures to a company like Universe.
Besides, there was no guarantee Pantheon had evaluated them properly in the first place.
“Why am I your teacher? Do you even know who I am?”
“Of course we do! You’re Team Leader Do Junhyeok, the man who created and raised Victory before being falsely accused and kicked out! You’re a legend among us. And didn’t you successfully raise Blue Moon this time too?”
Giving up those trainees must have hurt Ji Cheonwoo a little as well.
Especially considering all the money he had already spent feeding and training them.
Still, judging by the fact that they knew who I was, it didn’t seem like he had simply gathered some random actors and pretended to keep his promise.
My only complaint was that every single one of them was male.
“Anyway, you’re being noisy. No. Go back.”
“Please, sir! We’re begging you!”
I chased away every trainee who desperately pleaded with me.
Even if I accepted them now, I had no idea when I could debut them.
Universe simply didn’t have the resources to take care of male trainees.
Teenage boys ate twice as much as girls.
At that point, raising pigs would probably be cheaper.
“W-Wait, wait! Guys, I’m Director Kwon Daehoon. I used to work at Pantheon too. Do any of you remember me?”
“Nice to meet you for the first time, Director Kwon Daehoon!”
“Ah, right… So you don’t know me.”
Daehoon treated them like visiting members of the National Assembly, saying most of them were already nearly fully trained.
It really was a serious situation.
Even Oh Soo kept coming in and out of Team 2’s office with the expression of someone who had just been struck by lightning because of the Pantheon trainees staging a sit-in.
“I heard all those kids left because they were following you, Do Junhyeok. Is that really true?”
Oh Soo asked.
The real story was a little more complicated.
But in the end, yes.
Once the articles came out, Oh Soo would find out what had happened anyway.
“Well… apparently so. They’re all pretty immature…”
“Wow… This is…”
Oh Soo let out a sigh as if he had just discovered a goose that laid golden eggs.
In his left hand was a stack of employment contracts he had printed out—one for every trainee.
Over my dead body would Universe take in male trainees.
Still, their status as Pantheon escapees was incredibly attractive.
At least when it came to helping Reporter Shin’s story.
“Hey. Everyone, attention for a second.”
“Attention!”
The trainees who had been leaving the office instantly stopped.
I had told Ji Cheonwoo that if he released the trainees, I could stop my report from coming out.
“Which one of you can cry on command?”
……
I would gladly accept the punishment for lying.
Though I had no idea who in the world was qualified to punish me for it.
TV Shilla Entertainment Special Report — ‘Director Nam’s Private Life’
Just hearing the title of Reporter Shin’s Entertainment Special Report was enough to make my heart race.
The Nam Wonsoo special became a huge issue among the public.
The broadcast featured numerous informants whose faces were covered entirely by mosaics.
They gave shocking testimonies about a man referred to only as Director Nam.
—Park Cheolsu (alias), trainee and assault victim:
“I seriously can’t even explain it. He’d suddenly come down to the practice room, start punching people, kicking them… I later found out that whenever something didn’t go his way, he’d come downstairs, pick someone, and beat them up. Sob…”
—Shin Jiwon (alias), stalking victim:
“He even knew my home address. I was terrified. He told me he’d get me into a web drama if I went on a date with him. Honestly, I had dreams too, so I endured it for one day. But he gradually started demanding worse things. When I refused, he completely changed. He kicked me, cursed at me… I even developed a bald spot from stress because of him.”
Nam Wonsoo appeared on the program too.
His face had been covered by a mosaic, but the sheer misery on his face somehow came through as clearly as UHD footage.
The moment Ji Cheonwoo received my call, he had fired Nam Wonsoo from the company.
He had simply dismissed him in advance because he was worried about possible fallout.
But because of that, there was now no one left to protect Nam Wonsoo from Reporter Shin’s aggressive investigation.
Ji Cheonwoo had trusted me a little too completely.
The funny thing was…
I didn’t actually know what kind of corruption Nam Wonsoo and Ji Cheonwoo might have been involved in.
There was an old saying about a thief being frightened by his own footsteps.
This was exactly what that looked like.
Both Pantheon and the person involved were kept anonymous during Entertainment Special Report.
But the following Daily Shilla article clearly identified both of them.
Nam Wonsoo in particular attracted enormous public outrage simply through his voice, which had been distorted so high that it practically sounded like a whistle.
—Wow, he’s seriously fucking annoying. I hate that guy just from hearing him.
—That’s that bastard, right? The guy who got exposed after trying to bribe Reporter Shin Hyuncheol before? LOLLLLL
—You really can trust Shin Hyuncheol to deliver. Pantheon has prostitution AND trainee assault? Damn, that place is basically a gangster hideout.
—At this point, isn’t Ji Cheonwoo seriously some kind of gangster?
—Holy shit, my friend became a trainee there ㅠㅠ
Compared to the Club Area incident, this was technically a less severe scandal.
Yet the public judgment was even harsher.
At least back then, only Team 1, which Victory belonged to, had been attacked relentlessly.
Everyone else had been protected by the mentality of,
Our oppas must be different.
But this time, the targets weren’t idols.
They were unlikeable company employees.
Idols had fans.
Employees didn’t.
Even the fandoms of Pantheon’s own idol groups began enthusiastically joining a boycott of the company.
The aftershock that began with Entertainment Special Report eventually spread all the way to the nine o’clock news on a major national broadcasting network.
More trainee assault cases emerged, along with accusations that Nam Wonsoo had committed dating violence against several actresses.
In the end, the bastard was placed under arrest and investigation.
When he came out of court, he received his first-ever camera massage from hard-news reporters.
There was a huge bruise on his face that even the news department’s mosaic work couldn’t hide properly.
According to what I heard, during the police investigation, Yeo Eunju had slammed her elbow straight into Nam Wonsoo’s face.
And not just a normal elbow.
She had thrown herself into it.
After seeing all the bruises on Yeo Eunju’s arms, the police quietly decided they had seen nothing.
“Yes!”
Oh Soo, who was sitting in front of the computer in the CEO’s office, pumped his fist.
He wasn’t watching a Korea-versus-Japan football match.
He was reading Pantheon’s official apology.
We sincerely bow our heads and apologize to Pantheon’s fifty million fans.
Regarding the recent controversy involving Director Nam Wonsoo’s violence and abuse of power toward actresses, we deeply regret having caused such great disappointment…
……
