บท 77: New Beginnings (5)

Joon-woo was slightly embarrassed with how well he had acted. He was only half-confident his plan would even work. Ha-rin, while never really doing any projects, took acting classes for the sake of media training. She knew she was good at it, though. She was the group's designated speaker in interviews from the beginning. She could control her expression and find the right words the best. Hell– some producers on the many reality shows her group did offered her roles in their new projects. Her agency never really accepted them, though.

Joon-woo knew that to survive in this industry, you had to use what you're good at until it was dead and bone. Take for example, his voice. This kid's body had been particularly blessed with vocals, so Joon-woo used his voice to busk and make money. It was the same with acting. So that's what he did.

When his name rang over the announcements and Producer Jang-Soo was the voice that followed, he knew what he had to do. Kite sent Joon-woo a worried glance, but Joon-woo paid no mind. The bird had been looking at him weirdly ever since their talks, ever since Kite had revealed to Joon-woo a little more about the underworld's operations.

Joon-woo stopped by the staff lunch room. The producers, of course with the exception of the loner Producer Jang-Soo, met up and ate lunch.

They were quite surprised to see Joon-woo, of all contestants, standing at the door. His reputation would forever be tainted by the so-called "favoritism" Producer Jang-Soo pushed the agenda of. But Joon-woo set his eyes on one in particular.

"Park Joon-woo? Shouldn't you be on your way to Jang-Soo sunbae's office right now?" Chang Dae-Jung, a producer known to be close to Producer Jang-Soo and with rumored connections to even the richest of chaebols, spoke to him.

Joon-woo shifted his expression. He had to come off as nervous, but respectful all the same. He thought of his life as Ha-rin. With her dance teacher, with him. A good actor evoked past feelings from past situations and used them well. A good actor did it in moderation, but he wasn't close to there yet.

"Um, about that…" Joon-woo avoided looking at any of them. "I don't– I can't, I'm scared to go there alone…" He admitted, slightly puffing at his cheek as if biting his tongue.

The producers exchanged glances.

"What?" Chang Dae-Jung asked, perplexed by the implications in Joon-woo's words.

Joon-woo sucked up his pride momentarily. He had to let go of it for this next part.

Joon-woo fell to his knees, placing his hands in front of him and onto the group. The group gasped before him.

"Producer-nim… Please… Don't let me go alone, he'll hurt me– he will…" Joon-woo muttered.

Chang Dae-Jung visibly flinched.

"Sunbae? Hurt you?" He questioned, considering Joon-woo's words for a moment.

Perfect, Joon-woo thought behind fake tears. Who would they believe in such a case? Producer Jang-Soo, the six-foot known to be cold producer? Or Joon-woo, the 5'6" eighteen year old who had repeatedly been called to Producer Jang-Soo's office? The kid that had been an odd object of hatred to Producer Jang-Soo? The kid who had already been hit a few times on the show?

Joon-woo knew Producers usually didn't have the best interest for the contestants, but he knew they had to have morals.

"Everytime… And he'll– he'll accuse me y'know. He'll say that I leaked the eliminations and he'll try to grab me and, and–" Joon-woo went to continue, but was interrupted.

"Get up." Chang Dae-Jung suddenly said.

Joon-woo complied, stopping his fake tears from falling. He looked at the older man confused, but still stood with a slight forced wobble.

Chang Dae-Jung looked angry and that look made Joon-woo slightly scared. The man was even taller than Reggie or Producer Jang-Soo, beefier too. Had his acting job worked? Joon-woo hoped so, because he didn't think he could incur the wrath of Chang Dae-Jung.

"I'll… I want to see this for myself…" Chang Dae-Jung cautioned Joon-woo. The man signaled for one of the female producers to follow too. Joon-woo didn't recognize her, but she looked at him with such pity he almost flinched.

Another witness didn't hurt, he thought.

–+–

Joon-woo knew his plan worked when he was in the tight and violent grasp of Producer Jang-Soo and Chang Dae-Jung had swung the office door open in his defense. He, of course, hid the satisfaction from his face, instead holding the shake in his body and the fearful expression he wore.

He was dropped from Producer Jang-Soo's grasp and though he could've landed on his feet, he let himself fall to the floor with a pained gasp. The pain was slightly real at that moment.

He was suddenly spooned by the female producer whom Joon-woo didn't know the name of. She muttered comforting words to him as his hands shook violently. Joon-woo went to stop his hands, but they didn't stop shaking. Perhaps he had actually been a bit scared…

"What's wrong with you, huh? Trying to hit a kid like that! Accusing him of leaking the eliminations? Don't you know that they can't even post on social media until the show ends? Are you crazy?" Chang Dae-Jung lectured Producer Jang-Soo. "Was that all an act of yours? Acting so kind in front of everyone of similar power or more powerful than you? It was always so suspicious, you know!"

Joon-woo internally placed a hand over his own mouth, surprised by the rawness of the words coming from Chang Dae-Jung's mouth.

The female producer patted Joon-woo on the back, helping the younger up and acting as a crutch until out the office door. Joon-woo's legs felt weak with overwhelm. Perhaps he would need to learn to control the emotional intensity of the memories he chose to evoke emotions from, because he had chosen too-strong ones for his current mental state.

Once a hallway and a half away from the office, another staff member was present. It was one of the make-up artists. F*ck, Joon-woo thought, this would be more embarrassing than he thought…

The female producer signaled in the direction of a hallway down, where Joon-woo recognized the nurse's office. Quickly the make-up artist ran to the nurse, casting Joon-woo a worried look before disappearing through doors.

As per her own words, the nurse had gotten him the prescribed anxiety medications and that's probably what he was gonna be forced to down. Hell– He probably needed them, as getting shaken around while recalling memories of his own grooming wasn't exactly the most comforting thing.

The female producer suddenly tok Joon-woo's avoidant face by his chin. He flinched, hard. He still wasn't used to physical contact despite Mi Yong's touchy nature. Not to mention part of his mind was still stuck as Ha-rin in that practice room, alone with her dance teacher as he locked the door behind him. Part of him was still there and he knew a nightmare of high caliber was brewing.

The female producer let go of Joon-woo upon seeing his reaction. "I'm sorry, Joon-woo. I was just trying to check. Did he hit you?"

Joon-woo shook his head, "But he was gonna, he would've…" He lied. Perhaps Producer Jang-Soo would've taken it that far, but not now. Joon-woo still had more up his sleeve. Cheerleader didn't top the charts for no reason.

The female producer nodded, "We'll get him written up, okay? We'll see what we can do to help." She promised Joon-woo, be careful to touch him.

Joon-woo wondered, then, if these producers were really the viewer-hungry scandal-making bastards they edited as. Really, he had never met such kind producers ever. They were always looking at idols for one thing and one thing only: dollar signs. Perhaps it was their morals, helping Joon-woo and his acting out. Either way he didn't mind, as so far everything was going to plan.

Joon-woo sent a small puffy-eyed smile to Kite who sat in the corner watching Joon-woo with a blank stare. Even fake crying still made your nose run and eyes red, Joon-woo thought.