Chapter 37
The fans were angry with Myunghee, but with Hyunsuk’s plea, they decided to let it go and promised to forgive the ex-stylist.
Well, at least for now anyway.
After The M’s members’ explanation, things settled down in the chatroom and so the guys were able to resume their normal program. They were already exhausted by then, but all of them didn’t show it. They danced, sang, and made their fans laugh.
The show was initially planned to last for only an hour, but it went on much longer.
Two hours later, the show finally ended with happy fans and depleted members.
Hyoyoung waited for everyone to return from their quick shower. She thought to herself, ‘Gosh, this is harder than I expected. Being an idol is not easy.’
She was upset and relieved at the same time. Hyoyoung sighed at least six times while waiting when suddenly, the door to the practice room burst open.
Hyoyoung stuttered in shock, “W-who are you?”
A woman walked in.
Thin face. Sharp eyes. Dull, rough hair in a ponytail.
The woman asked, “Where.. are they? Where are my oppas?”
The woman’s words were slurred, and she was clearly looking for The M members. Hyoyoung asked in confusion, “O-oppas?”
The woman sneered and walked towards her unstably. The woman murmured, “Who are you? Do you know who I am?”
The woman’s eyes turned dark, and suddenly, she lunged for Hyoyoung.
“Myunghee Shin!”
The woman was about to hit Hyoyoung, but she was unsuccessful because Kiwook ran out from the changing room and pushed her out of the way. Kiwook yelled angrily, “What do you think you are doing?!”
The woman fell on the floor and groaned. Kiwook turned to Hyoyoung and asked, “Are you ok?”
He looked over her quickly to make sure she wasn’t hurt. Hyoyoung assured him that she was ok, but she whispered urgently, “Oppa, your mask!”
Kiwook’s face was bare because he ran out of the changing room in a hurry to protect Hyoyoung. He quickly turned around so his back faced Myunghee and hugged Hyoyoung, who covered his face with her hand because she was worried that Myunghee might be able to see Kiwook’s face through the reflection on the wall mirror.
Suddenly, Myunghee stood up and screamed, “Get your hands off from him!”
Myunghee was clearly furious. She continued to yell, “Mine! Oppa is MINE!”
When the other members heard her scream, they ran out from the changing room as well. Thankfully, the three of them had enough sense to wear their masks.
Jiwoo was the first one to reach Kiwook, and he placed the mask over Kiwook’s face for him.
Hyojun walked up to Myunghee and asked quietly, “How did you get in?”
His voice was calm, but it was clear that he was furious.
“I used to work here, remember? It was no problem walking in here.”
While Myunghee ranted, Hyojun glanced at Jiwoo, who nodded and quietly walked to the door. He closed it and locked it firmly.
“How could you abandon me like that? How could you leave me? After everything!”
Myunghee was clearly unstable. She couldn’t control her own anger, and when no one seemed to care, she started to throw things at everyone. Then suddenly, Myunghee grabbed her own hair and began to pull angrily.
The members quietly surrounded Hyoyoung to protect her and began to back away from Myunghee. When Myunghee realized that The M’s members were leaving her again and shielding Hyoyoung, she lost it.
“I won’t let you get away with this!”
She walked towards them looking crazy, and the guys tensed. They were expecting violence, but unexpectedly, Hyunsuk raised his hand to stop her.
He said to her in a quiet but menacing voice, “Stop right there, Myunghee Shin.”
To everyone’s surprise, Myunghee hesitated.
Hyunsuk continued, “Who is it? Who made you do this?”
When Myunghee’s eyes wavered slightly, Hyunsuk asked, “… Is it President Kim? Did he orchestrate all this?”
The other three members gaped. They never imagined that their own agency’s CEO would do something like this.
Myunghee replied without thinking, “It’s not President Kim!”
“So… not President Kim. But there is someone then, right?”
Myunghee swallowed nervously and began to back away. Hyunsuk took this as his chance and advanced towards her step by step. He looked determined and angry, which was very unusual for him.
Hyunsuk warned her, “Little girl, you better tell me everything right now. I can find out about you and this whole situation soon, and when I do, I will make sure you regret it. The only chance you have of escaping this is to tell me the name of the bastard behind this stupid stunt. Tell me right now and get lost, make sure we never see you again.”
Myunghee cringed in fear and she continued to back away, but Hyunsuk had no sympathy for her.
She said weakly, “G… g-get away from me.”
Myunghee tried to fight back, but she was no match for Hyunsuk. He demanded again, “TELL ME.”
Myunghee’s back was now against the wall. She had no place to go, so she remained still and silent.
When she refused to answer, Hyunsuk slammed the wall beside her head.
BANG!
“TELL ME NOW! NAME! WHO IS IT?!”
“AAHHH! It’s Jaehoon Shim!”
Myunghee collapsed to the floor and burst into years. She explained, “My… my uncle… He thinks that one of The M’s members used to be his trainee. He said that his whole business was ruined by this one trainee in his company! And when his business went bankrupt, our whole family lost everything… S-so… I…”
“Jaehoon Shim?”
Hyunsuk took a step back. He was deep in his own thoughts, so when he became quiet, Hyojun stepped forward and asked, “So Jaehoon Shim is your uncle?”
Myunghee nodded. Still crying, she explained, “After my mom and dad got divorced… I wanted to live with my mom, but she didn’t have a lot of money. So we worked really hard and took any jobs we could find. We worked at many different makeup and hair salons…. Then, my uncle, my mom’s brother, came and rescued us. He was the only one who helped us. At the time, he owned a pretty big entertainment agency… He made a lot of money, so he opened a salon for my mom and paid for my tuition. He promised to send me abroad so I could study fashion, but then…”
“Then what?”
“Everything changed.”
“How?”
“He said that he used to have these two trainees in his old company. Their names were… Kiwook Noh and Hyojun Ahn.”