≫ Assault?

≫ Well he’s done forㅋㅋㅋㅋ

≫ Release that CCTV ㅋㅋ

≫ Hitting parents is crossing the line.

≫ Standard of an empty-headed idolㅋㅋㅋ

The chat window gained momentum. People were raising their hands everywhere.

『Did Kim Iwol really assault his mother?』

『Were the agency staff just standing by?』

『Guys, this is insane. See? Kim Iwol is f*cked now.』

My fingertips felt numb. As I clenched and unclenched my fists, the only thing audible in the meeting room was the sound coming from the live stream.

“They’re really running their mouths. It’s not like you grabbed her by the throat, does grabbing a collar even count as assault...?”

“It does.”

“What?”

“I said it does.”

I rubbed my face with both hands.

“What if we delete the footage first?”

“Instead of the evidence disappearing, it’ll create an excuse. They’ll say we deleted it because we had something to hide, or that something even worse happened... If we do that, there’s no turning back.”

“And being known as an idol who throws punches is fine?”

Choi Jeho’s blunt words sometimes forced me to see the situation more objectively than anyone else. My mouth felt bone-dry.

“The only way is for the other side to agree to a settlement, but I don’t know how much they’d ask for. Besides, settling is essentially the same as admitting it’s true.”

My body felt cold. Like when I was hit with a hammer, it felt as though all the blood was draining out of my body.

‘Is there a way to placate the other side?’

My head was in a fog. Outside the meeting room, things became frantic with the sound of telephones ringing simultaneously in the office.

“F*ck, hey. Get a grip.”

Choi Jeho grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

“I am in my right mind. I’m thinking.”

“Find the focus in your eyes before you talk. Don’t just sit there like the world is ending.”

Unfortunately, the world was indeed on the verge of ending. Did he think I never searched ‘What happens if I grab my boss’s collar’ back when I was dealing with Manager Nam?

‘I shouldn’t have lost my cool.’

Too late for regret. It felt hopeless.

“Delete it. We can just delete it, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s delete the footage. If you’re too uncomfortable to say it, stay tucked away in here. I’ll go handle it.”

“Did you hear a single word I said?”

I was already distressed, and now even Choi Jeho was causing a scene.

“It’s not completely without upside. We can’t deny the wrongdoing, but if we reveal the context, we’ll at least have something to say. Whether it’s verbal abuse or threats...”

“You’re going to reveal that?”

Choi Jeho’s voice trembled. He was clearly furious.

“Do you even remember what state you were in that day?”

“......”

“It’s fcked up enough that we have to repeat what those people said to you. And now you want to lay out every last detail? You’re going to broadcast them calling you mentally ill right to your face? They were the ones talking total bullsht, so why reveal the fact that you were sitting there taking all that verbal abuse!”

“I hate it too!”

My frustrated feelings burst out reflexively.

“I also have sides of myself I don’t want to show.”

Who would like having to expose their weaknesses? It was the worst, having to voluntarily provide fodder for others to bite into.

“But there’s no other way.”

I tried to maintain my composure. I had no intention of garnering sympathy even from Choi Jeho.

“For now... don’t come out of here.”

Choi Jeho pressed down on my shoulders and got up.

Just as I was about to grab him, the meeting room door opened. It was Ms. Jukyung.

“You’re still here. That’s a relief.”

She said she’d heard from Manager Chanyoung that we were watching the livestream, and guided Choi Jeho back into his seat.

“Did you see the part where they mentioned the CCTV?”

“Yes.”

“Since the situation is urgent, I’ll get straight to the point. There is no CCTV footage. This means even if they ask for it, there’s no evidence to give.”

What did that mean? Choi Jeho also wore a confused expression.

“To be precise... the footage wasn’t recorded.”

“Was it a malfunction?”

“They said a request was made a few months ago to turn off the meeting room CCTV. It seems it hasn’t been recording since then. The company only found out about this now.”

“Who on earth would...?”

Then I heard a name I never expected.

“It was Jang Junhoo.”

Jukyung summarized the situation quickly. Jang Junhoo had personally visited the security office and requested to stop recording the meeting room CCTV. The reason given was “protection of artist privacy.”

“It was a request made by someone who has no relation to you two, and it happened long before your parents visited, so there’s no malicious intent. Jeho, you were the first one in the meeting room, right?”

“Yes.”

“Chanyoung and Daeyeon said they didn’t see you grab his collar either, Iwol. The corridor CCTV only shows Chanyoung and Daeyeon entering the meeting room.”

I mulled it over, trying to make sense of how this could’ve happened. As I narrowed down my deductions, there was a suspicious point.

“Ms. Jukyung.”

“Yes.”

“By any chance, was the point when Jang Junhoo sunbaenim requested to turn off the CCTV...”

Was it after the day I drank that beverage in the meeting room and collapsed?

At my question, Choi Jeho winced. It seemed to have left him with a bad memory.

“The date was definitely... yes, that’s right.”

Jukyung’s answer put a checkmark on my deduction.

On the day I collapsed, Jeong Seongbin checked the meeting room via CCTV. Thanks to that, we found out that Hong Unseop had dug through the trash, stolen a post-it note, and left a drink with coffee in it.

By checking the CCTV extensively within the company, everyone at UA became aware that the CCTV was operating normally. Including Jang Junhoo, who had once had a private meeting with me in that room.

‘Even if he couldn’t help what had already been recorded, he wanted to prevent any future mishaps.’

If the records were suddenly deleted after everyone knew they existed, he would inevitably be suspected. So, Jang Junhoo chose the next best thing: a method to reduce potential problem factors for the future, even slightly.

He ensured that no more evidence footage would remain in the meeting room where I might call him out again. He already had a history of being tripped up by CCTV, and now he knew reviewing footage wasn’t that rare, so he must have been anxious.

“Actually...”

Jukyung continued carefully.

“On the corridor CCTV, there’s a scene where you, Iwol, are clutching your own neck.”

When she asked if I wanted to check it, I nodded.

On the phone screen Jukyung held out, there was a photo taken of the CCTV monitor. Though the CCTV mainly showed the corridor, a portion of the meeting room interior was visible at the corner.

Beyond the transparent wall over the translucent glass, the silhouette of me clutching my own neck was revealed. This meant that even if my mother or father were to receive all the footage from that day, that was the only scene they would see.

The tension drained out of me and my body started to shake. While Jukyung went to get a thick blanket, I buried my face in my hands and drew breath after breath.

We scheduled the press conference for the very next day after the bombshell statements. I never dreamed I would be holding an idol’s press conference, something that had become rare these days, with my own hands.

There was no time for meticulous preparation. In a society where even ordinary citizens faced severe punishment for crimes against their parents, dragging things out with the label “assaulted his parents” attached would’ve been suicide.

It wasn’t done blindly. I, the UA staff, and the lawyer gathered and prepared throughout the night. During this process, I had to make a certain resolution.

Because his father appeared at the end of the first press conference, Choi Jeho was summoned along with me. Who would’ve thought I’d end up walking the road to hell together with Choi Jeho? Regression was a funny thing.

My stomach stung. Was it because it was empty? I stopped counting how many meals in a row I’d skipped.

Unlike the video I saw yesterday, the atmosphere at today’s site was heavy. It was partly thanks to UA managing the attendees, but the presence of major media outlets played a big part.

The shutters fired as the lawyer stated that the venue was arranged to clarify the series of events. Recording alerts rang out as livestreams began from every direction.

My turn came quickly. I had organized and printed materials all night, but there was no need to read them.

Because everything was vivid. Even things I’d forgotten came back to me while reviewing the documents.

‘If they’d just let me forget, they wouldn’t have been sued for every single thing.’

I could clearly picture what kind of expressions those two would be making while watching the live stream.

“......What you’re seeing on the screen is a copy of the reflection letter submitted as rebuttal evidence to the claim that I attempted to manipulate demerits by threatening a teacher. You can see a clear description of the circumstances: ‘If the marks from being beaten were discovered, a child abuse report would be filed, and I was afraid that after being reported, even worse violence would follow, so I tried my best to hide it.’ The situation was acknowledged as unavoidable, and the demerits were removed. Since there was no longer a reason to record the demerits, the reflection letter was returned to me.”

Speaking alone in front of countless cameras, I suddenly thought of Lee Cheonghyeon in the past, holding a solo press conference to clarify the drug situation—the kid who held the paper tightly with both hands and stuttered while claiming his innocence.

Proving your innocence when you have done nothing wrong is this grueling. I could feel the full weight of the burden Cheonghyeon must have felt.

“I intended to wait for the court’s ruling before addressing any of this, but a misunderstanding arose that I couldn’t ignore, so I’m here to clarify.”

All the camera lenses turned toward me at once. They sensed that my words were leading toward yesterday’s issue.

“The statement made by my mother, claiming that I assaulted my father who visited the agency...”

Mom, Dad.

Lies can really drive a person crazy. My blood felt like it was drying up and my vision was going dark.

I was fine knowing that your claims of suffering while raising a “no-good child”, and the story of spending hundreds of millions to raise me, were lies.

But some lies are just impossible to tolerate. I was so indignant and aggrieved that I felt like I couldn’t breathe. Seeing how I felt a surge of anger even at things I thought I’d grown numb to, maybe I hadn’t fully given up after all.

“It is not true.”

So, you experience it yourselves. Feel what it’s like to jump in frustration at how unfair it all [N O V E L I G H T] is.