Chapter 59

Chapter 59. That Day's Incident, One Thread After Another

I said I'd begin explaining once the livestream reached five thousand viewers.

Apparently, that information spread somewhere.

The number exploded upward.

We reached five thousand almost immediately.

The members sitting across from the laptop swallowed nervously.

Usually, the members were in front of cameras and I stood behind them.

Now the roles were reversed.

It felt strange.

"I'll begin. Everyone participating in this stream is probably already interested in the issue, so I'll skip the background explanation. First, about the provocative title. The moment the allegations against our member Serin are proven true, we'll immediately stop activities. Even if we fail to prove her innocence within one month from today, we'll do the same."

[What? How do you prove someone DIDN'T bully anyone LOL. That's gonna be hard.]

[Do hyung, no. Commander Do! We believe you!]

[Kim Serin don't cry ㅠㅠ]

[Do you have evidence she didn't bully people?]

My plan was simple.

Wait until the school-bullying allegations became organized and specific.

Then refute them one by one.

And every time something appeared, use Nutube livestreams.

The reason I began streaming immediately was to gather counterarguments and witnesses before the rumors fully developed.

There were many people who wanted to maliciously destroy others.

But there were also many people who wanted to help someone unfairly attacked.

Once people learned that Universe was directly challenging the bullying allegations, anyone who knew the truth might gather around me.

Ideally, I wanted graduates from Ara Arts High.

Classmates would become the most authoritative witnesses for Serin.

And they might also speak about Seo Hae-won's school-bullying allegations.

I remembered the reaction of Turb's Division 4 director.

He was using the only strategy available to someone with nothing good to explain.

They'd probably investigated too and discovered Hae-won really had bullied people.

If this broadcast exposed evidence proving Hae-won's bullying, they wouldn't be able to quietly wait anymore.

They would either come forward and cooperate.

Or try to manipulate the direction of the debate.

"I know there are a lot of disgusting rumors going around. But if you actually read the so-called exposé posts, there's no solid evidence. Someone said in the comments earlier that evidence someone didn't bully others doesn't exist. That's correct. It's much easier to prove something happened than to prove it never happened. That's what an alibi is for, right? If nobody even says the minimum, like what month, what day, and what time something supposedly happened, what evidence are we expected to present? First show us evidence she did it. Then we'll respond. Isn't the complete lack of evidence itself evidence that it probably never happened?"

[Exactly!]

[We believe you!]

[Do hyung is awesome! Fighting!]

[This is the official response to the Kim Serin controversy, right?]

There were people trying to throw cold water on the mood.

Still, most viewers were favorable toward me.

That wasn't ideal.

This livestream needed to spread beyond the fandom.

"A victim's tears can be evidence. I agree. That's why I'm asking those victims to come forward with their evidence. Serin told me there weren't even fifteen students in her practical-music vocal major. Why are there suddenly dozens of anonymous classmates claiming things? And why isn't even one of them willing to show their face and speak openly like I'm doing now?"

I went through every rumor about Serin and responded.

Yes, Serin's family had been poor.

But she'd received a scholarship for low-income students from an outside foundation.

The actual tuition her family paid had only been a little over one hundred thousand won.

She also worked part-time at a pet shop.

She barely had time to hang around after school.

There was no reason for her to extort classmates for tuition.

She didn't have time to spend every afternoon hanging around with delinquent students either.

"Finally, I'd like to say something to the CEO of Turb Entertainment, who hasn't explained anything at all. When we asked to cooperate on media response, you basically told us to handle our own problems, right? So that's what I'm doing. You have plenty of capital, so you think hiding until everything blows over is the efficient choice? I'm curious how long you can hide. I'm going to keep doing these Nutube broadcasts, so this controversy probably won't disappear very quickly."

[LET'S GO DO HYUNG!!]

[LOL Seo Bada is gonna get kicked out.]

[Look at that charisma.]

I ended the broadcast after attacking them directly.

If new allegations continued appearing, I could drag this for two or three months.

Of course, by then Universe might already have collapsed.

I'd challenged Turb by asking how long they could endure.

The truth was, they could endure for quite a while.

They had countless fans willing to donate money like fools if the company suffered.

Their other teams would keep earning too.

I felt frustrated.

I'd wanted a company for Blue Moon.

Not a company supported entirely by Blue Moon.

At this rate, Universe wasn't feeding Blue Moon.

Blue Moon was feeding Universe.

We couldn't remain like this forever.

We needed to grow.

Diversify revenue.

But first...

I was going to knock Turb Entertainment down.

"If the accusations are true, you all get the credit. If they're lies, blame Do Jun-hyeok. So don't worry about getting dragged into trouble. Keep sending tips. Evidence would be even better."

I kept streaming the next day.

And the day after that.

The first stream began with five thousand viewers.

But because I'd mentioned Turb Entertainment, clips were exported into Turb's fandom.

That brought plenty of new viewers.

Naturally, they weren't friendly toward me.

Their own idols were their priority.

Then the head writer of 〈Meme Quiz〉 released a short preview clip from my interview on Nutube.

Because I'd publicly promised to prove my innocence within a specific period.

Before I acted, the mood had been one-sided.

Everyone was attacking Serin.

Now people were becoming genuinely curious whether she had done those things or not.

The explanation broadcasts were already working.

The 〈Meme Quiz〉 preview was becoming a major topic in idol communities.

[Yes! We need planners like him...!]

[Do hyung let's go! Don't back down!]

[Fan heart... A real planner who doesn't treat idols like products.]

[Now I understand why Blue Moon suddenly succeeded.]

Thanks to that attention, new results arrived almost every day.

Today, several former Turb Entertainment staff members accused the company of workplace abuse.

There was no direct evidence.

They claimed they were ordered to carry bags.

Buy coffee.

Perform unnecessary errands.

Endure verbal abuse.

Typical workplace bullying.

There was no proof.

But multiple former employees signed their names together.

That was enough to at least create public pressure.

Other tips continued too.

Stories from friends of friends.

Stories from classmates in different departments who'd seen things in passing.

Nothing decisive.

But interesting.

Of course, some reports could be malicious lies.

So Serin and I reviewed them beforehand.

We compared each story with Serin's memories and tried to judge whether it sounded plausible.

Through that process, I naturally heard Serin's own story.

The truth she'd quietly kept buried inside.

"Today, I'm going to tell you what Serin's three years at Ara Arts High were actually like."

After sharing new tips and addressing the latest bullying allegations, I began the main story.

First.

It was true that Serin and Seo Hae-won had once been friends.

It was also true that Serin sometimes followed her to the school bathroom during lunch, when the bathroom had basically become a smoking area.

But Serin absolutely did not smoke.

Serin had been close to Hae-won until Hae-won suddenly became a delinquent shortly after entering Ara Arts High.

After that, Serin constantly criticized the things Hae-won did.

Their friendship collapsed.

Hae-won's group often dragged Serin into the bathroom and harassed her.

If secondhand smoke counted as smoking, Serin would've been a chain smoker.

During those incidents, Serin realized the bathroom wasn't only a smoking area.

It was also a hidden location for bullying.

Whenever someone was dragged there to have their money stolen, their hair pulled, or be beaten, Serin regularly stepped forward and confronted Hae-won directly.

Then one day, Hae-won damaged an instrument belonging to another student in the practical-music department.

The student played clarinet.

The instrument cost more than five million won.

Without it, the student couldn't attend lessons.

When she ended up in trouble, Serin bought her another clarinet.

From then on, people called Serin an obnoxious girl showing off because her family had money.

In reality, she was poor.

She had used money she'd saved for living expenses.

And because five million won was completely unaffordable, the clarinet she'd bought was only a 210,000-won practice instrument.

Just something temporary until the student could buy a proper one.

"I'm not telling you this because I want to brag about how kind Serin is. The important part is that Serin never explained any of this until graduation. At the time, she told me she was actually more embarrassed about being a scholarship student than about being accused of showing off with money."

Until graduation, only one Ara Arts High classmate knew that Serin's family was poor.

Seo Hae-won.

Serin had told Hae-won once when they were close in middle school.

After that, she never told anyone else.

Then when the scandal first began...

Who could've started the rumor that Serin was poor and extorted classmates to pay tuition?

[Whoa... no way.]

[This really does keep connecting one thing to another.]

[Wait. Did Seo Hae-won start spreading this to distract from her own scandal...?]

"I'll stop here. Any conclusions after this should remain your own personal thoughts. That's all for today's broadcast. I'll see you tomorrow."

I ended the stream.

Turb Entertainment still hadn't moved.

So I had no choice but to push a little harder.

Would they finally react now?

While I checked the comment reactions afterward, a call came from an unsaved number.

A tip?

Probably not.

Kim Jin-hee handled most tip calls now.

"Yes, this is Do Jun-hyeok from Universe."

"CEO Do Jun-hyeok. It's me. Kang Sang-do from Fever Music."

Sang-do.

I'd given him my business card before and told him to call if he ever needed help.

"Yes, yes. Mr. Sang-do. Have you been well?"

"I watched the entire broadcast you just did. Could we talk for a moment?"

The story I wanted from Sang-do concerned the truth behind that old drunk-driving incident.

I wasn't certain there even was a hidden truth.

But receiving a call like this was definitely a positive sign.

It wasn't as if Kang Sang-do could suddenly turn out to be an Ara Arts High student.

When I met Sang-do again, his complexion seemed better than before.

Or maybe better wasn't the right word.

Last time, he'd looked slightly absent-minded.

Now his eyes looked sharper.

"You've been provoking Turb Entertainment. Is there a reason?"

Sang-do asked immediately.

Of course there was.

The first reason was to gain leverage for clearing Serin.

But Turb wasn't going to help me.

According to Serin, Hae-won really had bullied people.

There was no reason for Turb to explain.

Instead, Turb had every reason to attack Serin.

If Hae-won had genuinely committed school violence, they would probably try to shift as much blame as possible onto the other person being discussed.

At minimum, they would encourage public criticism of Serin so Hae-won didn't suffer alone.

That would make the fight harder.

But strangely, it also raised my chance of winning.

Serin had not bullied anyone.

And fighting a giant visible Goliath was easier than fighting an invisible ghost.

Instead of desperately searching for evidence that couldn't exist, I could simplify the issue into a battle between Universe and Turb Entertainment.

If Turb took my bait...

The moment their statements were proven false, Serin's innocence would become much easier to believe.

"We're in a position where we need to defend ourselves. But we're also witnesses regarding Seo Hae-won's school bullying. Serin knows exactly what kind of school life Seo Hae-won had. We can't necessarily speak immediately, but we need to prepare to tell the truth. There are victims involved."

"Because victims exist, you believe you eventually have to reveal the truth?"

"That's right. The longer we delay, the longer they suffer."

Sang-do thought about my words.

Then he said,

"I wish my brother had thought that way too."

"Your brother? Ha-do?"

"Yes."

Sang-do had come to reveal at least one truth he'd kept hidden before.

Something he had refused to say previously.

"You remember the drunk-driving accident we discussed?"

"Yes. Is there more to the story?"

"There is."

What had changed his mind enough to come here?

First, I listened.

Then I'd ask why.

"My brother wasn't driving that night."

"What? Then who was?"

Sang-do quietly looked toward the company buildings outside.

Then he answered.

"Turb Entertainment's CEO was driving. After hitting someone, he switched seats with my brother, who'd been sitting in the passenger seat."

The moment I heard that, one thought became clear.

The connection between Blue Moon's new song 〈Homesick Girl〉 and Serin's school-bullying scandal...

This was how the knot would come undone.

Next.