“What?”
In Namsu’s memory, Hayoon was the kind of person who would go so far as to play dead just to please him.
Seeing him so completely changed now left Namsu slightly taken aback.
“I don’t remember us ever being friends.”
“Ha— after everything I did for you, don’t act like this. It’s troublesome.”
“Troublesome because you’re afraid I might testify against you?”
“Testify? What testimony!”
At the word testify, Namsu sprang up in anger, but Hyunjae and Hyungkyu, sitting on either side, immediately pressed him back into his seat.
“You’ll regret it if you start making a scene here.”
“Wouldn’t it be even worse if the victim reports you for causing a disturbance at his workplace?”
Namsu had no idea why he’d walked in here of his own accord, but it was clear they had no intention of letting him leave quietly.
“Wh… what’s going on here…”
Still unable to grasp the situation, Namsu stammered.
“I’d like you to apologize for what you did to me.”
Hayoon’s voice was firm, his resolve unshaken.
“Apologize? Ha, we were just playing around as friends—why should I apologize?”
But Namsu stayed brazen.
From his point of view, it really had been nothing but jokes.
He had only acted that way because he found Hayoon’s reactions funny, enjoyed seeing him flinch under the pressure.
“How can you call that a joke?”
Hayoon couldn’t comprehend it.
How could he dismiss everything he’d been through with just that single word—joke?
“If I say it was a joke, then it was a joke—ow!”
Hyungkyu, unable to take it anymore, smacked Namsu on the back of the head.
“Watch your mouth.”
“You still don’t get the situation, do you?”
“I’ll sue you! All of you! For assault!”
Namsu trembled as he threatened them, but none of the three even blinked.
“Do whatever you want.”
“Good thing we did that interview in advance.”
“Interview?”
At that word, Namsu’s eyes went wide.
“If you’d apologized, I might’ve felt bad. But lucky for me, you didn’t.”
“What the hell are you babbling about!”
“Check it yourself. Now you’ll know what it feels like to be abandoned and left alone with no one to help you. When that time comes, regret all you want.”
Feeling that something big had happened, Namsu quickly pulled out his phone.
The screen was exploding with dozens of notifications.
[Hey, there’s an article saying you bullied someone—this true?]
[Was that interview with Lee Hayoon? Don’t tell me he included my story too?]
[You okay? (link) But this isn’t about you… right?]
[Reporters are swarming the place. If you’re going to make a scene, clear out your stuff now.]
[I kept believing you, but honestly, I can’t anymore. Let’s end this. Don’t bother replying.]
Messages poured in: friends asking if the interview was real, his girlfriend breaking up with him.
“What the hell is all this?”
“It’s proof you’ve officially become the villain nationwide.”
“Hey!”
“Don’t worry. We didn’t exaggerate a thing—just your so-called jokes.”
“Damn it…”
Seething as he stared at his phone, Namsu lunged at Hayoon, but Hayoon caught his arm in one swift motion.
“Guess you forgot—I’ve always been a lot stronger than you.”
“Ugh…”
Namsu tried to pull free, but Hayoon’s grip didn’t budge.
Watching him squirm and strain to get loose looked downright pathetic.
“If you’re not going to apologize, then get out.”
Hayoon no longer looked like a gentle bear—his presence now was enough to tear someone apart.
Namsu flinched and stumbled back.
“Y-you think I’ll let you get away with this? Just wait!”
Even as he fled, he was shouting threats to the very end.
“No one who says ‘just wait’ ever turns out to be scary.”
“You okay, Hyung?”
Hayoon realized anew how reassuring it felt to have people on his side.
“Why was I ever afraid of someone like that…”
He was smaller, weaker, nothing at all to be scared of.
“You were amazing back there.”
“Well done.”
Hyunjae and Hyungkyu didn’t hold back their praise at Hayoon’s transformation.
“That’s the coolest, most charismatic I’ve ever seen you!”
“Knew I was right about you.”
“Y-you’re making me blush…”
Hayoon’s ears turned red from the compliments.
“Bet we’ll never see that guy in this field again.”
Yongha’s company wouldn’t leave him alone, and no one would hire a bodyguard who’d been exposed as a whistle-blower.
“Hm?”
Hyunjae glanced at his still-buzzing phone and his eyes widened.
“I don’t think this is the main issue anymore.”
“Why?”
“Another victim just came forward—someone besides you.”
“What?”
“They said your interview gave them courage.”
“Ah…”
Hayoon had never thought of himself as someone who could give another person courage.
The feeling was strange—almost as if he’d become someone extraordinary.
“It’s going to get noisy for a while.”
“Serves him right. Now he’ll know what it feels like to be doubted and left without help.”
***
Thanks to you, we got an exclusive scoop.
“No, I should be the one thanking you.”
Hayoon’s interview had been arranged through Undeuk.
They’d grown close after working together on the military-broker story, and thanks to that, the article was published without distortion and under perfect protection.
That bully’s going to owe tens of billions.
“Tens of billions?”
Two of Joo Yongha’s ad deals collapsed, and the agency’s charging the penalty fees to him.
“Wow.”
Even with clear evidence of assault, the agency wasn’t letting go—and now they were hitting him with damages on top of it.
Looks like he doesn’t even have money for a lawyer. Wonder what gave him the nerve to sue.
“He probably thought he could settle and make some cash.”
But once the “school-violence thug” label stuck, Yongha’s agency doubled down.
His past is unraveling like an onion, huh?
“Then that guy…”
His life’s ruined.
With that stigma, he won’t even get a job, and he still has to pay off tens of billions in penalties.
“That’s music to my ears.”
Hayoon quietly celebrated the start of Namsu’s hard-mode life, hoping he’d live the rest of it repenting for all the people he’d hurt.
If something like this comes up again, call me anytime.
“Yes, thank you.”
The two of them were perfectly aligned in what they wanted; they worked well together.
Oh! I heard you’re attending an action school these days?
“Huh? How did you know?”
It had only been three days since Hayoon started action school, but the reporter’s information network was impressive.
“Reporters know stuff like that too?”
No~ it was a coincidence. The director there’s a friend of mine.
“Ah~”
You’re famous there, you know?
“Me?”
There could only be one reason the head of such a renowned action school—one nearly every actor passed through—would remember him.
***
Action School.
“Come to us, we’ll take good care of you.”
“Why do you keep trying to recruit me~”
While I was warming up, the team leader of the action school stood beside me, still trying to recruit me.
“It’s a waste to let talent like yours go to waste!”
“Thank you.”
“No, don’t thank me—this is heaven-sent talent. Are you really going to bury it?”
At our first meeting, he’d looked at me and said flatly, “Alright, let’s see how hard you work.”
But as I learned each move, more and more people started gathering around. By the second day, the team leader himself was personally teaching me.
“I’m working hard so it won’t go to waste.”
“In my twenty-five years, I’ve never seen someone with your eyesight, reflexes, and physical ability all at once.”
“Haha, thank you.”
“Hyunjae, should I tell your agency president? This is the perfect time for you to start action work.”
“Perfect time for what?”
Just then, a welcome face appeared.
“Jaehoon.”
“Hyung!”
I knew Jaehoon was also attending this action school, but it was the first time we’d run into each other.
“Perfect time for what?”
“We’re thinking of raising him properly.”
The team leader put an arm around my shoulder, making it obvious he’d already marked me as his find.
“Please, talk some sense into him…”
I sent an SOS to Jaehoon with my eyes, too tired of turning him down, and Jaehoon chuckled at my expression.
“Haha! He did the same to me when I first came here.”
“It’s different with you. This kid… he’s the real deal.”
“So you’re just throwing me away, huh?”
“You’ll see for yourself.”
Jaehoon’s eyes filled with curiosity at the team leader’s words.
“If you’re saying that, now I’m curious.”
“Let’s show him our new recruit’s skills.”
“Ah—Team Leader, I’m not a recruit!”
At his cue, I stopped stretching, stepped onto the blue mat, and reviewed the moves I’d learned yesterday.
“You remember the routine from yesterday?”
“Yes.”
After a brief glance with the team leader, we performed the action sequence together in front of Jaehoon.
“Well? Crazy, right?”
As the action ended, the team leader, sprawled on the mat, sat up and spoke to the stunned Jaehoon.
“How long have you practiced this?”
“Exactly five days today.”
He proudly held up five fingers.
“Five days?”
Jaehoon, who’d done plenty of action scenes himself, knew what that meant.
For a beginner to pull off a routine like this in five days was impossible.
Even he had rarely seen such a clean sequence.
“At this point, isn’t he basically stolen from you guys?”
“Stolen what~”
“He’s good, though.”
“You’d better be careful. He’s playing your younger self—you’ll have to be even better.”
The team leader was one of the few who knew I’d been cast as Jaehoon’s younger counterpart.
“Lunch’s here!”
“Lunch!”
As part of his ongoing recruitment efforts, the team leader had ordered food.
“Jaehoon, you haven’t eaten yet, right?”
“No, but…”
“Eat with us. I ordered a lot.”
“Let’s eat together!”
I took Jaehoon’s arm and led him toward the cafeteria inside the action school.
“Are there more people here?”
“No, just the five of us.”
Only two staff members, the team leader, Jaehoon, and me.
“You ordered all this for five people?”
Jaehoon’s eyes went wide at the table covered in food.
“People who train need to eat well. This is nothing.”
“Of course! We can finish it.”
After working out since morning, I was hungry enough to polish it off myself.
“I really like you. Come over to our side; I’ll make you my successor.”
“Thank you for the food~”
Even the chatty staff fell silent as everyone switched to battle mode, attacking the meal.
“Ah, how’s your back? Any better?”
Once we were partway through, the team leader spoke up.
“I’ve been diligent with physical therapy, so it’s a bit better now.”
“Hyung, you hurt your back?”
“You didn’t know? He got injured filming Blue Sky Spring.”
Injured on our drama set? I’d never heard about it at the shoot, never seen him show pain.
“Hey, why bring that up in front of the kid?”
Jaehoon lowered his gaze, looking embarrassed.
“Keeping up appearances in front of your junior?”
“Was it serious?”
“Just a little tweak.”
But seeing how devoted he’d been to therapy, it didn’t seem like just a little tweak.
“Acting tough even when you’re badly hurt.”
“It’s embarrassing. Eat up.”
Jaehoon pushed a dish from across the table toward me, showing the kind side of a senior.
“Yes. By the way, can I come watch your shoot tomorrow?”
“Sure. Come and watch.”
“Were you two always this close?”
The team leader tilted his head at how naturally Jaehoon and I were talking.
“We filmed a drama together.”
“But you hardly appeared in scenes together.”
“Hyung’s always looked out for his juniors.”
“Hmm. But you two…”
The team leader set down his chopsticks, folded his arms, and looked back and forth between us.
“You look kind of alike.”