บท 32: The Rumor Mill

Lee Yong smiled at Lydia and nodded his head at others as he took the seat. Lydia is a strong-headed girl with lots of ambition. More than ambition, she was fiercely protective over her band members. The amount of time she bravely fought against the company for the sake of her band members always astonished Lee Yong.

She was one of the female idols he respected in the company. There were others he had heard stories about their talent and work ethics but rarely got a chance to interact with them. He never wants to be part of rumours and create an issue for the company. More than the company, he did not want to worry his fans.

Even though the opportunity presented now to interact with Lydia, he did not want to speak and create unnecessary rumours. So he sat there and decided to listen to others rather than interact with anyone.

Everyone in the company knew that Lee Yong was arrogant and preferred to keep himself only exception being his bandmates. He never mingles with other band members or even the trainee. Even the successful idol stars had to think twice before approaching him.

With an already established reputation as such, Lee Yong did not care about even maintaining any polite conversation with the girls' band even though he joined them at the table.

There was a reason why his fans called Lord Yong. After all, he behaved like a lord and never cared about bowing his head to others in the industry. The only people who mattered to him were his fans.

The company also treat him like a lord noticing his attitude. Obviously, the company could not reprimand Lee Yong as his little brother was one of the successful businessmen with a good connection in the entertainment industry.

Even before the company's PR team, his younger brother took care of the issue whenever Lee Yong ran into trouble. So everyone was scared to offend him.

"The house help of our dorm said, the new choreographer of our company moved to the unoccupied flat on the tenth floor." Song Soo Young initiated the conversation naively. She continued to spill the rumour she had heard ages ago. "Isn't the flat with the ghost of a trainee who committed suicide for not making it to the band? I thought that is the reason the entire floor was empty."

"I heard the idol had a girlfriend, and they got pregnant. But fans got angry when they found out, and the idol broke up to appease his fans. His heartbroken girlfriend committed suicide. After attending the funeral, in the pain of losing his woman and child, the idol also committed suicide. I heard he drank poison in his flat." Ji Yu told the story he heard when they moved into the dorm.

"I heard the idol committed suicide because his work got plagiarised and failed to prove his innocence. The poor guy did not get any support from the company, and his reputation was ruined. I heard the police break the door and had to retrieve his dead body. They did not even disclose the cause of death." Na Hyun Joon frowned as he said the story he heard from their manager during one of their team dinners.

Lydia froze as she heard the half-truth from this particular rumour. As someone who was with the company for the longest she definitely knew the truth. She was glad her good friend did not die, but he did vanish overnight and was not in touch with anyone.

Lee Yong noticed her reaction but shrugged it off as it was not his concern.

Park Ye-Hee frowned as she remembered hearing a different story during her trainee days. "No… it was the female ghost! Apparently, she was addicted to sex, and someone filmed her during... you know... when she was having sex. Then our company kicked her out to protect them. She lost her mind as she could not become an idol and committed suicide."

"Whatever it is the reason behind the suicide, we all know there is a ghost. We have heard the wailing cries in that flat. Poor choreographer. Heard our president worked hard to get him to our company. Then why would she put him in a haunted apartment?" Ra Soo Ji spoke as if she was a kindhearted person. She kept looking at Lee Yong while she spoke, hoping the other would pay attention to her.

Lydia snorted as if she had heard the joke of the century. "Who? Did she ever work? We all know how neglectful she is when it comes to the company! Now that she was officially appointed as the company's president, she was trying to save face for the period she slacked off." She did not participate in the gossip, but her hatred for the president was pretty visible.

"No matter what, no one needs to be in a haunted house." Ji Yun Soo looked at the boys hoping his bandmates shared the same sentiment as him.

Park Ye-Hee giggled as she spoke. "But I heard he is haunting the ghost in the flat!"

Ye-Hee continued when everyone looked clueless and turned toward her for more information. "Every day, there is a party in the house. Lots of boys and girls dropped by, and there was alcohol flowing like a river."

"When I went to throw the trash, I saw the garbage can filled with bottles. Most were expensive whiskey and wine bottles. There were even makgeolli bottles and two cartons full of soju bottles. I noticed all these just by a mild glance. Are we really having such a person in our company?" Ra Soo-Ji spoke politely but looked terrified. She asked the last question looking at Lee Yong with so much dependence hoping the other would reassure her.

"I heard something else about the choreographer. Seems like he is too addicted to sex and would go after people even though the other refuse to acknowledge their presence. Maybe too eager to climb the social ladder?! How shameless!" Lee Yong smirked as he lied through his teeth but indirectly taunted Ra Soo-Ji.

He did not hear any rumour about the person, but he heard the commotion during the party. Lee Yong knew it was a simple party which lasted for days. But looking at the girl portraying a fragile maiden to get his attention, he wanted subtly warn her.

He was satisfied when he saw the girl pale in fear. Not because of the rumour he spoke about but because she understood who those words were directed, and she understood Lee Yong was calling her shameless!