LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 211
Chapter 211
When On Raon saw Seo Joo-won’s fierce eyes choking him last week, he instinctively knew.
Zero, his encounter with Director Chun Hae-kyung, and the constant calls from Oh Hyun-jin…
Like connecting scattered dots, events and incidents linked together in a flash.
If he were to expose only the bullying he suffered from Oh Hyun-jin and the Huntred members.
The company could easily downplay it by claiming it was just mutual disputes rather than one-sided harassment, brushing the incident off to a tolerable extent.
It might even be buried altogether.
However, if recent violence was added to past grievances, the seriousness of On Raon and Oh Hyun-jin’s relationship and the sensationalism of the incident would escalate instantly.
If On Raon himself got seriously injured in the process, he could significantly sway public opinion in his favor.
He didn’t report Seo Joo-won, who had also been manipulated by Zero, considering it wasn’t entirely his will.
But if it was to deal with Oh Hyun-jin, he could use such things however he needed.
Rewinding to the moment just before On Raon was pushed down the stairs.
Director Chun Hae-kyung, whom On Raon intended to make a witness and reporter, was in the exact spot as last week.
At first, Director Chun Hae-kyung, who was about two floors below, couldn’t hear the precise conversation due to the low and small voices of the two, thinking someone came all the way here to talk.
But as the voices grew louder and the atmosphere became hostile, he stubbed out his cigarette and quietly ascended a floor.
He didn’t need to go higher to hear the voices clearly.
“Didn’t you feel uneasy watching Seong-ha and Ha-ram?”
“I…”
“Did you ever feel sorry for me, even once?”
Director Chun Hae-kyung recognized that the person speaking sharply was On Raon, whom he had briefly met last week.
‘He seems to be deliberately provoking…’
As Chun Hae-kyung suspected, On Raon was intentionally raising his voice, cutting off Oh Hyun-jin’s words to provoke him.
It was to incite Oh Hyun-jin and also ensure that Chun Hae-kyung below could hear the conversation.
Moreover, someone outside might be listening too.
“You pushed me down the stairs a few days before the monthly evaluation when I was a trainee!”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You just brushed your shoulder lightly against me in a crowded place!”
“Nonsense? Because of that shoulder bump, I fell and injured my ankle, failed the evaluation a few days later, and went into a slump… You call that nonsense!”
The two were a floor above, and the surroundings were dark, making it hard to see their forms, but by leaning towards the railing and looking up through the gap, Chun Hae-kyung could barely see part of Oh Hyun-jin.
‘One is On Raon… who’s the other?’
“Be honest. Don’t you still want to push me down here?”
“…”
“Every time you see me at the broadcast station, aren’t you anxious that I might reveal your past? You never expected I’d overcome my slump and debut, did you? Do you regret it? Do you think, ‘If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have done that’? No way. You’d never think that.”
On Raon continued dramatically, as if mocking.
“Ah, instead of pushing me from a moderate height where I only slightly injured my ankle, you should’ve pushed me from a height sufficient to kill someone, like now!”
“Shut up.”
“If you had, it could’ve been brushed off as an unfortunate accident that happened to a foreign trainee who barely spoke Korean. Now, you can’t even do that… how frustrating it must be.”
“Watch your mouth. Do you think I can’t do it now?”
“You haven’t changed at all. Always the same.”
“…”
“I’ll start revealing everything you did from today, so thanks for not feeling any unnecessary guilt. Do your best for your final stage.”
Right then, as Oh Hyun-jin reached out, Director Chun Hae-kyung turned and sprinted up the stairs.
* * *
Before anyone nearby noticed something strange, Larry manipulated Young-min Lee’s body to absorb all the shock of catching a person who had fallen from a high place, then began to act as if he was in pain.
On Raon took out his phone to call an ambulance and report to the police, but realized that the second ring was still echoing.
[Ban Yo-han]
There was no need for On Raon to answer the call now.
Above, standing like a statue in the backlight, was Ban Yo-han.
‘When did he get here? The door was closed when I fell, so did he come in after?’
Worried when On Raon hadn’t returned even after some time had passed since saying he was going to the bathroom, Ban Yo-han wandered the corridor. From afar, he saw a couple suspiciously peeking into an infrequently used stairwell.
Approaching out of curiosity, he heard familiar voices clashing sharply from inside the door.
As On Raon and Oh Hyun-jin’s conversation reached outside, the couple peeking in let out a gasp just as On Raon fell, and Ban Yo-han, almost running, threw open the emergency door without hesitation.
Seeing Oh Hyun-jin frozen with his arm outstretched and Young-min Lee, who hadn’t been seen for days, catching On Raon at the bottom, Ban Yo-han quickly grasped the situation but was unable to move.
A dreadful possibility he didn’t want to believe crossed his mind.
At that moment, Director Chun Hae-kyung rushed up from below, checking on On Raon and Young-min Lee’s safety.
“Are you alright?!”
Ban Yo-han, with an unusually cold expression, also freed from Zero’s influence, realized what he had done and glanced at the frozen Oh Hyun-jin before rushing down the stairs two at a time.
In the meantime, On Raon carefully distanced himself from the fallen Young-min and answered Director Chun Hae-kyung’s question.
“I think I’m okay… but our manager got seriously injured catching me, so please call an ambulance. And the police too.”
“That guy pushed you from above, right? I’ll call the police, and you, the blonde, call an ambulance. Hey, stay conscious.”
The couple who had witnessed the incident during their secret meeting ran back to their group with the startling news, causing an unexpected commotion at the usually quiet broadcast station.
By the time the ambulance arrived and carried the immobile Young-min away, the previously desolate corridor was bustling with people curious about the incident.
Despite appearing quite fine except for some bruises and a hand that repeatedly hit the railing, On Raon also followed Young-min to get checked out as a precaution.
There were still about three hours left until the live broadcast of Music Pang Pang.
The examination revealed no serious injuries, but it was advised that he should rest for at least a day.
Everyone expected On Raon wouldn’t participate in the broadcast due to his poor condition.
“You’re going to do it?”
“Yes. Ha-ram couldn’t come, so if I’m not there today, it won’t go well.”
Gyun Ha-ram had been bedridden due to stress and was set to return as MC next week.
Gwak Sang-hyun, momentarily at a loss for words at On Raon’s determined eyes, which indicated he had no intention of backing down, calmly reasoned with him.
“Raon, I actually wanted to stop you from coming to today’s schedule. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have insisted. Your health is more important than work, right?”
“It is important.”
“What?”
“It’s important for me to be standing there today.”
On Raon pleaded, locking eyes with Gwak Sang-hyun.
“I know I’m making things difficult for you, but please allow me this one time. Even if it’s just for a moment, it’s fine. I can just do the opening and then leave.”
While fans online were merely murmuring, wondering what had happened due to their incomplete understanding of the situation…
Once the full story of the incident was made public, if it was revealed that a sick artist was forced to perform…
Even if On Raon’s insistence was the cause, Manager Gwak Sang-hyun would inevitably be held responsible for not properly caring for the artist.
“Raon, I’m not stopping you because I’m worried about the consequences for me.”
“I’m sorry.”
On Raon was desperate.
If the plan he executed by risking his own body fell through, he might never get another chance to bring down Oh Hyun-jin and True with his own power.
Anyone could see that his current state wasn’t good.
But conversely, there was no more effective way to generate sympathy than appearing on the live broadcast immediately after being pushed down the stairs by Oh Hyun-jin.
Ban Yo-han was honestly impressed by his determination.
He then had a reasonable doubt.
Was On Raon truly rational right now?
He was only seventeen years old, yet in just one week, he had been choked by a member, suffered various incidents, and now nearly died after being pushed down the stairs by someone who bullied him as a trainee. How could he remain so calm immediately after?
Was it really possible?
In fact, as Ban Yo-han suspected, what On Raon executed wasn’t a meticulously planned strategy based on rational thinking but rather a loosely connected impulse, like a net full of holes.
On Raon hadn’t even informed Go Kyung-yoon about the exact timing or prepared detailed materials in advance.
Because he wasn’t sure if things would go as planned.
So he had just said he would contact him later.
Go Kyung-yoon, whose music broadcast activities were ending this week, was in the waiting room at the time of the incident.
When he heard the siren of the ambulance vibrating the air fiercely, Go Kyung-yoon instinctively knew it was time.
Upon hearing about the incident involving On Raon, Oh Hyun-jin, and Young-min from a broadcasting station staff member he was close with, he immediately took action.
Originally, On Raon was supposed to contact him directly, but there was no clearer signal than this.
As a result, portal sites were now flooded with articles exposing the truth about True that Go Kyung-yoon had prepared.