Chapter 244: Enemy (3)

Clang.

Sharp shards of glass scattered across the floor.

My grip on the keyboard tightened with force. Hyukwon turned to look at me with a pale face.

“Are y-you okay?”

Seo Ian, who had been on the phone behind me, was just as shocked. My hyung, who rarely raised his voice, spoke urgently.

“Hey, are you hurt?”

Rustle.

I brushed off the glass fragments clinging to my sleeve and nodded.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

It was instinct.

Since I’d had a few brushes with death in my life, from the moment I saw THE-H holding that soju bottle, all my nerves had zeroed in on that hand.

When I tried to restrain him, I’d grabbed something that looked hard just in case… If I hadn’t, I might have taken that heavy soju bottle straight to the head.

That was a close one.

“Ah.”

Still staring blankly at the keyboard shield in my hand, I finally spoke with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry. I swung it without thinking. It looks broken, so I’ll pay for it.”

“Huh…? Ah, no. That thing’s cheap. Don’t worry about it… Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m really fine.”

At least I was physically fine…

But the man standing in front of me didn’t look so good.

“……”

Maybe the alcohol had finally worn off. Realizing what he had done, the man froze.

THE-H’s hands were trembling as his mouth opened and closed silently.

“Th-that…”

It would be a problem if he made any sudden moves.

“Let’s call the police first.”

I turned toward him and spoke coldly.

.

.

.

.

There are things in this world that can’t be undone.

A moment’s mistake is nothing more than a sorry excuse… and even that mistake is just a reflection of one’s true nature.

Thankfully, the police arrived in time, and THE-H sat there blankly, dazed.

Hyukwon wiped his face with trembling hands, his face deathly pale.

“Hoo…”

It seemed he still hadn’t fully calmed down. Manager Lee Jaeyoon, who rushed over after hearing the situation, looked just as pale.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. I’m not hurt. Just a bit shaken…”

“What happened?”

“Apparently he’d been holding a grudge from last time and kept sending threatening messages. I guess no one expected him to actually show up…”

Manager Lee Jaeyoon kept glancing at me with worried eyes.

“That’s… spectacular.”

“Right? Coming to work on music and nearly getting whacked in the back of the head with a soju bottle—definitely a unique experience.”

After the police arrived, I’d been so busy explaining the situation and handing over THE-H that everything felt like a blur.

Even thinking about it again made my head spin.

Almost getting knocked out in the middle of working on a song—wasn’t that a bit much?

It honestly felt like the universe was picking on me.

I was staring blankly into space, lost in thought… when Manager Lee Jaeyoon tapped my shoulder.

“Seohan, you’ve got a call.”

“Ah.”

I’d felt my pocket vibrating earlier but completely forgot about it.

Swipe.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

As soon as I opened the pop-up screen, my expression soured without thinking.

“What the…”

Thirty-five missed calls. It would’ve made more sense if it were spam or a sasaeng…

“Kim Woochan sunbae seems really obsessed with you…”

“Gah.”

Seo Ian muttered, puzzled, after glancing at my call log.

Seriously!

Even I thought it looked downright weird.

Manager Lee Jaeyoon tilted his head, eyes narrowing.

“What? Something happened again?”

“Uh, no… nothing like that…”

At this level of obsession, I figured I had no choice but to answer. I let out an awkward laugh and stepped out for a moment.

I called as soon as I left the studio, and the ringing cut off almost instantly.

A panicked voice rang out through the receiver.

—“Han! Thank God!”

“…Excuse me?”

—“Thank goodness. You’re still alive.”

What the hell was he on about now?

I blinked, holding the phone in my hand as Kim Woochan blurted nonsense through the chaos.

—“You weren’t picking up, so I thought something might’ve happened… Ah, anyway, that’s not the point. Listen carefully.”

“Yes.”

—“I have a bad feeling, so just in case you might be in danger, you should right now—!”

“Sorry.”

I cut him off. I couldn’t keep listening anymore.

“It’s already over.”

—“Huh…?”

Kim Woochan sounded flustered, swallowing nervously before responding in a sheepish voice.

—“Don’t tell me I was a step too late…”

“Yes, a bit too late, I think.”

If he were any later, he’d be calling from my funeral.

“So, you almost died while going to record?”

Kang Siwoo’s eyelids twitched. Seo Ian gave a quick summary of what happened.

An outsider suddenly burst into the studio mid-recording.

And it just so happened to be the same composer involved in the plagiarism controversy, who, drunk and holding a grudge against Hyukwon, had come after us.

Honestly, I really could’ve gotten caught up in that mess and been in real danger.

Kang Siwoo’s expression turned cold as he listened silently.

Cha Seongbin leaned on his chin and spoke up.

“Hey, Siwoo’s seriously pissed.”

“Where is that guy?”

“At the police station… I guess?”

He’s probably still at the police station. Since he was arrested on the spot, he wouldn’t be getting out that easily. Though, I was a little worried—Korean law is too lenient.

Once things settled down, I planned to tell Hyukwon it’d be best to move studios.

Anyway, considering how sudden it all was, we were just startled—no direct damage was done.

“I was right next to him, and Seohan was seriously incredible.”

Seo Ian spoke in a slightly excited voice.

“He suddenly swung something with the keyboard—wham! I didn’t even know what was happening, and then I heard the sound of a soju bottle smashing.”

“No glass flew? You didn’t get hurt?”

“Luckily, we were a bit fortunate.”

“Then we called the manager, the police came… it got noisy. The composer was totally freaked out! Anyway, it was way too spectacular—I don’t want to go through that again…”

I had focused all my nerves on the situation, but that level of reflex was honestly just luck.

The members let out quiet sounds of amazement.

“Yo, blocking it like that? That’s insane.”

“Seohan’s kinetic vision isn’t a joke—you saw it during that ticketing madness too, right?”

“Hamsters have good kinetic vision by nature!”

At Seo Haim’s cheerful remark, Jin Sehyun poured cold water on the mood.

“Hamsters don’t actually have good eyesight. That’s not a fact.”

“Really? You’re not a hamster?”

“…What?”

I’m a human being, thank you very much.

I waved my hands in protest at Seo Haim’s words. Kang Siwoo let out a short, hollow laugh, then asked seriously again.

“What’s Doubles saying?”

“Seems like the company’s trying to keep it quiet.”

They didn’t want things to blow up by getting tangled in a criminal case, and I was the one who stopped them because I didn’t want fans to worry.

But—

There was one thing I hadn’t considered.

There’s no such thing as a secret in this world.

“Well. Looks like it’s already out.”

People are like bloodhounds for this kind of stuff.

[Composer A threatens junior composer out of grudge… swings soju bottle]

Famous K-pop composer A, intoxicated, got into an argument with a junior composer and threatened them by swinging a soju bottle, attempting assault, and was booked by police.

Artists present at the scene noticed the situation and intervened….

—My acquaintance works at Doubles and says the artist caught up in this is from Stardust? Both composers have worked with Doubles before?

└???

└Our boys???

└Heard ㅅㅇㅇ and ㄷㅅㅎ got caught up while recording an OST

└Is it true someone almost got hit with a soju bottle? Were they hurt?

—Things got tense after the song camp. I don’t know the full details, but apparently he got caught trying to plagiarize a junior’s song, fell out with them, and went that far. Went to threaten them drunk;;

└Is he out of his mind?

└He wasn’t even the one plagiarized, and he went berserk like that?

└Yeah, sounds about right

└Anyone who was at that song camp knows… that guy’s always been hopeless

—Please state who the artist at the scene was

└Stardust

└For real?

└Dunno, all of this is rumors rn lol

Ordinarily, this would have been a dime-a-dozen violence incident among nobodies, and wouldn’t have attracted much attention.

However, rumors that Stardust members were involved had sent the article’s view count soaring like crazy.

Dusty’s Im Yoonseo, reading the article for the second or third time, clutched her head in rage.

“F*ck…. Why isn’t there an official notice?”

Those insane Doubles bastards.

Lately, the company had seemed like it was doing better, but I guess I shouldn’t have trusted them so easily.

How could they leave out something this important?

To fans, there’s nothing more important than the health and safety of the artist.

If this incident was serious enough to be reported in the news, shouldn’t they have made an announcement to fans?

The fan community was already in chaos.

[Explain yourselves, Doubles]

F*ck, just imagine how scared our boy must’ve been ㅠㅠ

Are you sure he didn’t get hurt?

Whenever something happens, you just shut your mouths, huh? You’re fine taking fans’ money, but can’t even post a notice? You could upload one with a single click???

—I’m so worried today since we didn’t get a Private Message ㅠㅠ

└Exactly, he always sends them regularly

└He’s not really hurt, right?

└The article says no injuries but still…

—F*cking Doubles, do your job you psychos… why’d you send the boys somewhere that dangerousㅠㅠ

└Never thought I’d live to hear that a recording studio is dangerous lol. Just super unlucky, huh

└True, don’t even walk outside anymore—cars are too dangerousㅠㅠ

└If you’re not a fan, get lost. We’re seriously worried right now

└You really wanna taunt worried fans right now?

“They’ll be okay… right?”

Dusty’s Im Yoonseo murmured with a nervous expression.

Just like one of the comments said, the fact that no Private Message had arrived today really bugged her.

Even if there weren’t any injuries, she was worried they might be too shaken up….

“Doubles, say something.”

Just as all the fans were desperately pleading like that…

Her phone buzzed softly.

“Seohan!!!”

[Hello, and….]

The livestream started.

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