Season 2: Chapter 29. The Misunderstanding That Came to Light (1)
“Shall we bring in the next guest?”
Ju-Hyeok shouted excitedly, "Ah! Here he comes! Here he comes!"
It seemed like Ju-Hyeok was the one appearing on TV. The person beside him with a nonchalant expression poured the coffee like he was the manager.
"Woah."
Swish.
Sang-Hyeon also drank his coffee and at least gave some reaction.
“From archery prodigy to a regular employee at a major company, and then to a game streamer! The genius of changing roles! Streamer Almond is here!”
Sang-Hyeon's face turned red. It sounded alright to others, but the introduction seemed a bit exaggerated to him.
'It's somewhat embarrassing to watch.'
It felt different from solo streaming. He saw his face adorned with an unfamiliar persona in such talk shows.
Sang-Hyeon led a life far from celebrities and struggled to seem cheerful while chatting with others on the TV. Fortunately, the audience felt that his demeanor was natural, which was enough for him.
“So, you started with archery. Did you continue to become an athlete like that?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, you must've been talented.”
“Yes.”
“???”
— This Almond nut came out raw, lol.
— Hey! You can’t behave like that here, okay?!
— Lol, Han Min-Gu was taken aback for 0.1 seconds
— His response speed lol!
Almond appeared on Evening Wide just like his usual self to the viewers. He was good at not expressing his internal conflicts. Many called that a thick face.
“Wow, are you a genius?”
“Yes, I am a genius.”
Even when he said that, his expression barely changed. His ignorant response, combined with his quick responses, became a comedic highlight.
— Lol!
— He’s a genius, right? A broadcasting genius.
— How many times do you want him to confirm? Lol!
— I don't know about archery genius anymore! He’s the comedy genius now!
— Among all the talk show guests, he's clearly top-tier.
The reactions seemed overwhelmingly positive because the PD edited the chat messages before they aired.
"Wow, they edited this really well, didn't they?" Ju-Hyeok mumbled excitedly beside Sang-Hyeon.
"It's funnier than the live show."
"Right," Sang-Hyeon nodded too.
They both agreed that the editing was well done. It was apparent why this wasn't just any major channel. The show’s atmosphere clearly differed from a stream.
“You really have quick responses. It’s really fast.”
“Hahaha! Right! He’s somehow half a beat faster than the others.”
— Even Han Min-Gu also recognized his reaction speed.
—The first streamer to be recognized by a top-tier MC, lol
— Kim True is genuinely laughing at him, lol.
The PD thought this segment was fun, so he put almost all the scenes from the live show in the edited version. It wasn't a bad choice. After that, they smoothly transitioned by introducing a clip from Sang-Hyeon's past.
“Um... There's that video, right? The one where you won a competition. Let's watch that together.”
Sang-Hyeon felt somewhat uneasy and fiddled with the coffee machine again, diverting his gaze. That topic was still a little uncomfortable for him. Doing a few interviews and sharing stories on a show wouldn't naturally erase such a past.
He felt relieved for a moment, but it was fleeting.
Shivering...
His right hand trembled after holding the coffee cup too long as if to remind him that he couldn't change his past.
Sang-Hyeon decided to head back to his room.
Ju-Hyeok turned to him and asked, "Huh? Why aren't you watching?"
"I don't need to watch what comes next."
"...?"
‘Hey, the fun part is just coming up...’ Ju-Hyeok was interrupted before he could tell him that.
“All ten! All of them! Every single one goes right into the center!”
Only then did Ju-Hyeok fully grasp the video playing Sang-Hyeon's past. It was the past he so desperately wanted to forget after struggling for five years in an unfamiliar and ruthless place called Ah-Sung.
'He's not okay yet.'
Sharing such a past with the public didn't mean Sang-Hyeon was fine. Moreover, he hadn’t yet revealed his real pain to the public.
“I remember her name was Han So-Yeon I believe...”
While Sang-Hyeon often spoke about his archery stories, he never once mentioned So-Yeon.
Almond’s fans didn't even know the existence of the girl named Han So-Yeon.
‘It’s still hard for him.’
This issue would only become more challenging for Sang-Hyeon as more people learned about his past, kept asking him about it, and reproduced it on the internet. He would think of So-Yeon every time and emotions he thought he had forgotten would resurface as he waited for them to fade. It would only repeat the cycle.
‘I didn't think of that.’
Ju-Hyeok hadn't paid much attention because he wasn't sensitive to others' emotions and Sang-Hyeon seemed fine.
After all, Sang-Hyeon declared his ambition to break onto the major scene himself. Right, he said he would do it quite emphatically, but why?
‘... Damn it.’
The answer quickly came to Ju-Hyeok. It was because Ju-Hyeok wanted to break through to the major scene more than anyone. Old habits died hard and he couldn't hide that desire. Instead, he openly expressed it to Sang-Hyeon.
At that moment, rain began pouring outside the window.
Drizzle...!
Ju-Hyeok stared blankly out the window.
‘Rain in midwinter?’
After looking outside for a while, Ju-Hyeok turned to Sang-Hyeon's room. He felt uncomfortable and eventually stood up.
"Hey, Sang-Hyeon."
***
"In-Ho, are you okay?"
Knock knock.
The manager knocked on the door and asked.
"Hey, In-Ho... It's no big deal. Just a segment on a talk show... You can shoot something else, right?"
In-Ho didn't answer.
"Sigh," the manager sighed.
He leaned against the door and sat down.
‘What's the big deal about this?’
Evening Wide was just a talk show that was popular among young people. Although it was the main show for a worn-out network like SCB, a member of Blossom like In-Ho simply made an appearance for his fans. Of course, it could’ve been a significant variety show debut for In-Ho who wasn’t at the top in Blossom, but... Such a reaction like this was unexpected.
‘Why is he so depressed?’
Even if In-Ho was attention-seeking, he was a professional idol. Cooping up at home and feeling depressed just because he had a small part? Or was it that he couldn’t control his emotions all day? This was unusual. Did he expect too much from the show?
Then, the manager thought of one possibility.
‘Maybe... it's not just about the screen time?’
The manager suddenly recalled something and played back the edited file.
[Rewind 10 seconds]
[Rewind 10 seconds]
As he went back, he found the part that felt off.
“Did you greet each other in the waiting room?”
The scene seemed perfectly normal as the host asked all the guests if they had greeted each other, but this was just the beginning.
“Yes! I did earlier! I was here first. When Almond came in, I thought he was a real actor as soon as the door opened!]
“In-Hooo~ Did you greet like an idol again? Hello! This is Blossom!”
“No way, do you do that even when you’re alone?”
“It, it's a habit...”
'It’s here.'
Something seemed off about this part.
“Is that true, Almond?”
Especially when the question went back to Almond the next moment, In-Ho's face took up nearly the entire screen.
'Why is In-Ho's face a close-up?'
It was like the shot typically used in B-rated thrillers to hint that someone could be a suspect. If the director added a swoosh sound effect and zoomed in on his eyes, it would look like the still of a morning drama villain.
'Why does he look like that?'
In live broadcasts, focusing on each individual's facial expression was quite hard. Many expressions passed by at the same time, but it was different in the edited version. The edited broadcast could show different reactions to the same statement one at a time.
When the host asked if In-Ho had greeted Almond like that, the production team decided to close in on In-Ho's face.
'Guess he didn't greet him,' the manager concluded without any further thought.
It was a common thing that happened. Fitting into the situation on the show and wearing the right mask was often more important than telling the truth.
The audience demanded this flexibility and In-Ho had a knack for picking the right mask for each situation.
'But this is too obvious.'
However, the story changed when the mask was exposed. When hints of the face behind the mask were revealed, the face became more important than anything else even if there was no initial interest.
Therefore, viewers wanted to be perfectly deceived. They didn’t want the mask to be removed or revealed. Was the mask off or on?
It was very ambiguous yet eerily clear. For instance, the close-up on In-Ho's face was a clear instance of the mask being removed. It was hard to articulate why, but everyone felt it. Both the manager and In-Ho felt like they had been wronged.
'Isn't this the fault of the edit?'
Despite being a professional idol, one couldn’t hide such minute expressions and shouldn't have to. Editing should naturally account for this. If not, celebrities could never function properly. Rightfully, it should’ve been edited.
What if...
'If they intentionally aimed to damage In-Ho's reputation...'
They would’ve edited it properly if they weren’t deliberately trying to bury a guest.
The manager started writing a message to the production team.
[Mr.PD, the editing direction seems very different from what we thought. Can we talk over the phone?]
[Mr.PD?]
However, the message wasn’t read until 9 P.M. when Evening Wide broadcasted. Only then did the manager realize.
'Shoot... something went wrong.'
In-Ho and the manager going up to the upper floor to discuss things had backfired.
***
An unexpected downpour began around 9:20 P.M.
Shaaaa!
Raindrops lashed against the sleek curtains of the office. The rain was so loud that it drowned out the other noises.
"Is that Yu Sang-Hyeon?!" a voice pierced through the rain.
It was the team leader Sang-Hyeon used to work for. Due to that, the break room at Ahsung grew noisier with voices than the rain.
"Yu Sang-Hyeon?!"
"What?!"
Employees doing overtime from other teams gathered around in shock.
“Huhhhhhh?”
“Whattttt...?”
Only two newbies who didn’t know Sang-Hyeon stared at all the others weirdly screaming.
"Uh, uh, oh my! It really is Sang-Hyeon!" a female employee, somewhat acquainted with Yu Sang-Hyeon, exclaimed.
He had met her at a company dinner a while back.
"Yu Sang-Hyeon?"
"The guy who left a while ago?"
"The one who had a big fight with Director Park and left?"
The rumors attracted the employees with even more rampant curiosity.
"Is that Yu Sang-Hyeon?"
"He looks younger."
"This is back in the day when Sang-Hyeon was an archery athlete."
"What? An archery athlete?"
"I guess he did it as a hobby?"
"It was a rich hobby. And he landed here through connections."
On the screen, a younger Sang-Hyeon wore a white uniform that suited him better than any other outfit. The weather on the screen was a sunny summer, unlike today.
Sang-Hyeon briefly adjusted his cap. The sun seemed to be in his eyes and distracted him.
Then, he pulled the bowstring. The string reflected the sunlight and brightly shimmered. When the viewers felt it shimmering exceptionally bright, he released the arrow.
Swish!
It landed dead center.
"...?"
"!?"
The expressions of the employees watching momentarily mirrored the expressions of the talk show participants on the screen.