LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 202
Chapter 202
In a spacious meeting room of the impressive Baekdo Entertainment building, Gyun Seong-ha and Gyun Ha-ram sat on opposite sides.
“So, it was Ha-ram who was being bullied?”
“Is that how the story goes?”
“Ha-ram… ‘Is that how the story goes?’ What do you mean ‘Is that how the story goes?’ They excluded you, ignored you when you finally went to school, and messed up your desk and locker! Anyone can see you were being bullied!”
Ha-ram’s manager, unable to contain his frustration, spoke up in response to Ha-ram’s nonchalant attitude.
“No, Ha-ram, above all, you should have told us if something like that was happening.”
Ha-ram gave a skeptical look at the other Baekdo employee’s comment.
“Well… even if I had told you, it’s not like the company could have resolved such issues. Given Seong-ha oppa’s circumstances and our parents’ jobs, transferring schools wasn’t an option. I thought the best I could do was endure until graduation. Actually, things got a bit better when I moved up to middle school.”
“So, you didn’t have any close friends in elementary school either?”
“No, not really. I’m not the type to try to make friends in such situations. If I were them, I wouldn’t have liked someone like me either…”
“It’s unlikely that other classmates would post favorable comments then.”
“Yeah. My homeroom teacher liked me a lot, but most of the other kids probably didn’t see me that way.”
Several people cast looks at Ha-ram that seemed to say, “You really are something,” as she remained unfazed despite the situation. Only Gyun Seong-ha, who had known her the longest, looked at his always composed sister with anxious eyes.
Unlike Seong-ha, who showed visible signs of stress when troubled, Ha-ram became even more calm and collected in difficult situations—until she reached a breaking point and exploded.
“So, there’s no truth to the rumor that I talked behind other kids’ backs.”
After a while, Ha-ram’s side of the issue was roughly settled, and the focus shifted to Seong-ha.
“Then, what happened on your end, Seong-ha? We heard briefly that you did push someone.”
“Well…”
“Seong-ha, it’s okay. Just speak calmly.”
Gwak Sang-hyun tried to soothe Seong-ha, who seemed overwhelmed by the somber atmosphere.
“Yes, don’t worry about me. Just speak comfortably.”
Even Ha-ram, who thought her brother was being unnecessarily timid, chimed in.
After taking a few sips of water, Seong-ha began to speak with a trembling voice.
“At that time, I had quit child acting and was focused solely on swimming, so I didn’t have many friends. But I wasn’t experiencing anything like Ha-ram.”
“So, you weren’t being bullied?”
Seong-ha nodded.
“But I happened to hear a nasty rumor about Ha-ram. It was bad enough that even I, in a different grade, heard about it. It wasn’t just a typical case of celebrity syndrome; it was too serious to ignore.”
“Do you remember what the rumor was about?”
At the Baekdo employee’s question, Seong-ha glanced at his sister.
“I’ll tell you about that separately.”
“It’s okay with me.”
“I’m not okay with it.”
“Alright, please continue.”
Seong-ha, having moistened his throat, spoke in a slightly calmer tone.
“The day I heard the rumor, I went to Ha-ram’s class just before lunch break ended.”
“Was Ha-ram attending school that day?”
“No, Ha-ram was absent due to a shoot.”
“Then how did you know who was bullying her?”
“When I got there, they were loudly badmouthing Ha-ram in front of their friends for everyone to hear.”
“I see…”
“So, I got angry and confronted them. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but as we talked, one of them suddenly got too close, and I pushed them away out of surprise. They fell more easily than I expected and hit the locker, and then… they started crying.”
“It’s okay, stay calm.”
“Yes… The locker was in such a state that even a slight touch would cause everything inside to fall out. The kid fell because I pushed them, but I think they were more shocked when the stuff inside the locker fell on them.”
“So, you didn’t push them hard enough to make them fall, just enough to make them stumble, but the already full locker’s contents fell out and startled them more?”
“Yes.”
Despite his low and calm voice, Seong-ha’s explanation was somewhat rambling, so Gwak Sang-hyun summarized it.
“If what you said is true and they approached you first, then your actions could be considered self-defense.”
“We can’t just end it with an explanation. If we leave it like this, our image will suffer too much. We need to clearly establish that Ha-ram was the victim and the other party the aggressor, and that Seong-ha acted to stop rumors about Ha-ram. Of course, if Ha-ram is okay with it.”
“I’m fine with it. In fact, I want to request it.”
“The person who posted the comments was definitely that girl, so let’s contact her right away…”
“No.”
At Seong-ha’s sudden objection, the Baekdo employee looked at him as if asking what he meant.
“What?”
“The kid I fought with. It wasn’t a girl, it was a boy.”
* * *
One of the ordinary fans leading a mundane life, Geum Gyu-ri, felt anxious and uneasy ever since the allegations of Gyun Seong-ha’s school violence surfaced.
She constantly refreshed the idol community site, where new posts were actively uploaded, every three seconds.
Watching videos compiled from moments when Gyun Seong-ha showed a cold expression, pushed a member, or raised his voice, which she hadn’t thought much of at the time but now felt suspicious, she wondered if he could really be that kind of person.
However, the biggest hope within Geum Gyu-ri was that the allegations weren’t true.
Hoping the rumors were false, she frequently visited anonymous communities, looking for any good news or positive stories that could reverse the bad public opinion.
Even after watching videos posted by those claiming they had a bad feeling about him, she reassured herself that those moments were taken out of context and that his actions were just natural behaviors at the time, now unfairly pieced together.
“It can’t be true. It won’t be true.”
Her head was filled with repetitive thoughts like this.
Despite not being her favorite member of ORCA, the incident had thrown her and her surroundings into chaos within less than 24 hours.
It was at that moment that a post appeared on the previously quiet Seed Entertainment official account.
“Gasp…”
ORCA OFFICIAL [Announcement on the Issue Regarding ORCA Member Seong-ha (Link)]
Geum Gyu-ri, eyes wide open, clicked on the attached link, which took her to the official fan cafe after a brief buffering.
[Hello, this is Seed Entertainment.]
The statement began by stating that Seed Entertainment was doing its best to clarify the facts of the matter. It explained that Gyun Seong-ha’s act of pushing the male student who wrote the post was not an act of violence but a self-defense response, and that other claims were also false.
The company was trying to contact the involved parties and was also reaching out to their acquaintances to handle the matter carefully.
The author of the post had been avoiding contact from the company, claiming that as an individual, they felt intimidated by the powerful entertainment companies.
If the post’s author were truly a victim, this would be a reasonable statement, but since it wasn’t the case, it was quite a headache for the company.
The statement ended by declaring that the company would respond strongly to baseless falsehoods about the artist.
“It’s not true…”
Feeling relieved after quickly skimming through the post, Geum Gyu-ri let out a sigh of relief.
Many other fans did the same.
* * *
After the statements from both Gyun Seong-ha and Gyun Ha-ram were posted, the original exposé was suddenly deleted, sparking further debates among the public.
– So, Ha-ram was the victim then??
– Child actors often get bullied. Even Chae-yun said he was bullied before.
– If that’s true, the writer must be a guy. It feels like they wrote it to deliberately mislead people into thinking it was a girl. Why delete the post then?
┗ 222 Especially since there were a lot of comments asking if Seong-ha did that to a girl. It seems like it was meant to make him look bad.
– (Comment deleted)
┗ Where are the classmates claiming Seong-ha was a bully?
┗ Deleting comments is so shadyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
– Changing the author’s gender doesn’t erase the bullying. Let’s not cause secondary harm.
– (Photo) How do you explain this then?
┗ Don’t bring unverified stuff. I can frame anyone as a bully like this.
– I wish people who recklessly type would just break their keyboards. How will they compensate for ruining Seong-ha and Ha-ram’s image on the news and trending searches? Celebrities are people too. They’re only twenty and nineteen. If it’s proven false, what about the damage they’ve suffered??? It’s really disgusting.
– Do they have a lot of fans? Why so much shielding?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
┗ What are you talking about? Fans are being cautious and saying not to jump to conclusions.
– We should always side with the victim in such cases, but this is a bit ambiguous, so I’m staying neutral for now.
In this situation, the person who posted the exposé deleted it, fearing their identity would be revealed, and announced that they would write another post soon, leaving the public more confused about what was happening.
* * *
On the day the first statement was posted, On Raon left the dormitory for a Music Pangpang shoot.
For the time being, it was decided that Gyun Ha-ram would not appear on broadcasts until the school violence issue was clearly resolved.
Lee Se-jun, who harbored a grudge against Ha-ram, snidely remarked that he always knew she was that kind of person, trying to provoke On Raon.
“Living like that, he’ll ruin his own life.”
After a series of self-affirming thoughts, On Raon was able to completely ignore Lee Se-jun’s nonsense.
Unfortunately, many people besides Lee Se-jun at the broadcasting station were interested in Gyun Ha-ram and Gyun Seong-ha.
That unpleasant attention naturally extended to On Raon, who was associated with both of them.
“…Ah.”
“…”
Trying to escape the stifling waiting room full of staff, On Raon wandered around looking for a quiet place, only to unluckily run into Huntred, who was making a comeback that week. He stiffened his expression.