Chapter 131: Malicious Accusations

Even fantasy needed some degree of reality to be interesting.

After reading the online comments, I could only let out a bitter laugh. That was how absurd it was.

“Taemin-ssi, this is an extremely serious matter.”

Manager-nim, who sat me down, stared at my face with a very stern expression.

“I’m being completely serious. You need to tell me the truth about this right now.”

“Manager-nim.”

I pressed my palm to my forehead and sighed.

Where should I even begin?

What was written there was a whole other person’s life story entirely.

They brought a middle school yearbook as ‘proof’, so the one who did it was someone who went to the same school as me at least.

“I did graduate from that school, but you saw my student records back then, Manager-nim.”

My past records had nothing particularly noteworthy about them.

If being an otaku was a crime, I could probably be on the most wanted list, but thankfully we didn’t live in that kind of world.

“I’ve never hit anyone and I just went to school quietly.”

Proving the absence of something was incredibly difficult.

It was the equivalent of asking why pizza was called pizza, it was that ridiculous.

After thinking about how I should tell her in the most efficient way, I decided to just confess to her what kind of kid I was.

“Um… Manager-nim, you know I like Luka, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, I used to really love manhwa, anime and stuff like that. Actually, I still do now.”

My leaving time felt like it was getting further and further, but I thought it’d be better to make this perfectly clear,  so I explained what a loser I was back when I was at school.

“I even hid in the classroom reading manhwa instead of participating in sports day!”

That one was top-secret info that even my mom didn’t know.

Seeing me going into such detail, Manager-nim started nodding with a somewhat reluctant smile.

“So, do you believe me now?”

“Yes… I believe I can convey this to the team leader.”

“Phew…”

School violence? What ridiculous nonsense.

If anything, I was the one who scurried off whenever I saw an alley because I was scared of getting beaten up.

“In any case, it feels a bit early to respond immediately, so we’ll wait and see a bit more. So, please don’t worry too much and just trust us, Taemin-ssi.”

After returning to the parking lot and getting into Manager-nim’s car, we ended up experiencing the hellish 6 PM rush hour together.

“Really… These trashy trolls just don’t care whether you’re a newcomer or not.”

Following the traffic signals, the numerous cars were moving slowly.

The red lights on the road that came with each brake looked like a mob of trolls eager to block my path.

“Taemin-ssi, considering that more people are going to know your face, you’ll probably need to move out.”

“…Move out?”

Move? Like, I gotta move somewhere else?

“Yes. The place you’re staying at now doesn’t exactly have great security, right?”

Well, expecting a luxury security system in a one-room monthly rental was unreasonable.

Since both the tenant and the belongings inside weren’t worth much, having fancy locks would be out of place if anything.

“But… Won’t I need to meet various conditions first before moving?”

“Well, we wish for our talent to operate as freely as possible, but generally, the talents themselves move out first.”

I thought that those people only did that because they made a lot of money, but her next words stated otherwise.

“After all, whether they’re popular or not, there’ll always be malicious fans lurking around.”

Manager-nim gripped the steering wheel and let out a short sigh.

“That’s just how this job goes. Even before I was in charge of you, I worked with both newcomers and people whose names you’d recognize, and all of them had those kinds of fans. Without exception.

“At first, they took various measures and tried to endure it, but eventually they got uncomfortable and ended up moving. The company knows how these things go, that’s why we recommend it to you.”

I rested my chin on the window frame, suddenly feeling afraid of the future that might come.

Honestly, I didn’t have any special attachment to my place.

It was just, if I were to move out, I’d be leaving my girlfriend behind.

I was worried about Doah.

All the good things I could enjoy from having her next door flashed through my mind.

Her coming over at dawn wanting late-night snacks and ordering tteokbokki.

My days of taking her to and from the studio.

Even the occasional surprise visits without prior notice.

…If I were to move out, I wouldn’t be able to do any of that.

Of course, there was no guarantee that I’d become a superstar to warrant moving, but the thought still crossed my mind nevertheless.

“You worked hard today. I’ll come at the same time tomorrow.”

Since the car couldn’t enter the alley, Manager-nim dropped me off in front of the bus stop.

“Yes! Get home safely!”

Tracing the uphill path covered with ice from the unmelted snow felt like a new experience.

Moving… I might have to move…

Every time I climbed up here, I used to think how nice it would be if this place were flat ground.

But now that I might actually have to move to flat ground, a complicated feeling rose up in my chest.

I took out my phone and called Doah.

「Hello?」

「Oppa! Why are you calling me so late!? You said you’d finish at five!」

Telling her that I was late because of a sudden counseling session regarding school violence issues would be awkward, so I just told her that the lessons ended later than expected.

「What about dinner?」

「Haven’t got any.」

「Are you eating at home?」

「Maybe. Delivery sounds good.」

I didn’t usually cook much, but right now I was mentally and physically exhausted in various ways.

「Wanna eat together?」

「You haven’t eaten too?」

「Yes, because I wanted to eat with you, Oppa!」

That comment only made me feel unnecessarily guilty.

「Give me a moment. I’ll change my clothes and I’ll go to your place.」

「Should I order the food first?」

「Sure, just order whatever you want.」

「Then how about pig’s feet? It’s been a while.」

My girlfriend hummed, apparently excited about eating something delicious.

I told her I’d come over and went inside my place.

Damn… After Manager-nim said those things about moving, it felt like I was seeing through everything through a nostalgia filter now.

I didn’t even have any attachment to this room. Why did I feel so emotional now?

After realizing how unexpectedly sentimental I was, I hurried over to Doah’s place.

“Ta-da!”

There, Doah was wearing clothes I’d never seen before.

“How is it? Pretty, right?”

“Did you buy new ones?”

From what I knew, she only had one pajama set, a light purple one.

But today, she was wearing light pink pajamas—Luka’s signature color.

“I bought it from an online shopping mall. Nice, isn’t it?”

“Yep, it’s cute.”

Hearing that answer I gave out with a smile, Doah came into my arms and hugged me tightly.

“You worked hard.”

“Nah, it was nothing.”

While waiting for the food to arrive, I enthusiastically told her what I learned today.

“Try it, try it!”

“…No.”

“C’mon, you learned it, no? Do it!”

When I told her that they tortured me with sitting and standing practice, Doah immediately told me to try it here.

It wasn’t a cool enough move to show off and I wasn’t confident I could do it well, so even though she was urging me to, I stubbornly stayed lying on the bed.

-Knock knock knock

Hearing that food had arrived, I bolted upright and went out to receive the delivery.

“Time to eat~”

“Show me after we eat.”

Luka-tan’s so persistent today…

When I set up the table, Doah opened the packages one by one and put the containers on top.

“Ahhh!”

“Jeez! You scared me!”

Her sudden scream startled me so much I almost dropped the plate.

“What’s wrong?”

“The makguksu!”¹

“Huh?”

“I didn’t order the makguksu!”

She stretched her cheeks downward, reminding me of The Scream.

My girlfriend leaned her head against the bed frame listlessly as if her soul had left her body.

“I’m an idiot…”

“C’mon, we can just order it next time. Why are you being like this?”

“Pig’s feet are supposed to be eaten with makguksu!”

“You can eat them without it, no?”

As someone who’d eat things if they were there and didn’t if they weren’t, I couldn’t really empathize with her.

After propping her zombified self up and we started our meal.

“Seriously… Oppa’s at fault for not reminding me!”

“You were the one who ordered things on your own, how was I supposed to remind you?”

“I should ban Lucario from chat for a month.”

Doah-ssi was abusing her power more by the day.

Oh dear, I shook my head.

“Anyway, Oppa, the reactions to the drama are really good these days, right? There are tons of comments again, no?”

“Ah…”

For a moment there, the school violence issue came to my mind and I failed to control my expression.

Of course, Doah didn’t miss that.

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing…”

Even I knew that my response sounded suspicious, so it wasn’t a wonder that Doah tilted her head.

“There’s really nothing, right?”

“Of course.”

“I saw all the comments yesterday too. Everyone was saying how handsome and cool you are.”

Maybe she was trying to show me some of the comments to cheer me up, but her finger that had been scrolling down suddenly stopped.

Her eyes shook.

“Huh…?”

Seeing the way she reacted, as if she’d seen something she shouldn’t have, brought only one thing to mind.

Did she see it…?

I was hoping she wouldn’t see it…

“This fucking bitch?”

Hearing a sharp curse from her that I’d never heard even on her streams, my whole body stiffened.