39. Camera (3)

39. Camera (3)

"First, I would like to apologize for the mistake we made."

Unlike the photographer, the woman in a suit seemed to be a very sensible person. I glanced at the back of Ji Yeong-heon's head and quietly watched the situation.

Ji Yeong-heon spoke in a firm tone while maintaining a polite attitude.

"Yes, I understand that you wanted to give advice, but it was too much."

"Ah...."

"The photographer's name is... Lee Jeong-soo, right? I heard that you were very skilled, so I had high expectations, and I am very sorry that something like this happened during work."

When I specifically mentioned his name, the photographer's face turned pale.

In this case, it was possible to protest because the other party crossed the line first.

It was just rude, but it didn't cause any trouble, so protesting wouldn't result in major sanctions, but it could affect your reputation.

'Looking at your tired face... You're not an exclusive employee? A contract employee?'

The woman in a suit stepped in and lowered her head. It seemed like it wasn't about protecting the photographer, but rather not wanting to cause trouble.

Well, they are office workers, so they should clean up the mistakes made by their subordinates.

"I'm sorry. I'll warn him in the future."

I felt bad, but since there wasn't really a problem, I think this is the end of it.

Ji Young-heon nodded, as if he had similar thoughts to me.

"Then I'll trust you, Team Leader, and move on. If we've made any mistakes unintentionally, I apologize."

"No. Thank you for moving on.... Mr. Jung Soo?"

"......I'm sorry."

After receiving the apology, the shooting went smoothly. The photographer clicked his tongue here and there, but when I stared at him for a long time, he bowed and went back.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"No. The other members worked harder."

After my turn, while the rest of the members were shooting, I went to the cafe with Ji Young-heon to buy drinks. Not only for us, but also for the staff.

'This is also a kind of showmanship.'

The scene where a young kid who did something wrong beats up an adult is not a good thing to see in Korea, a Confucian society.

Moreover, we are a rookie idol who just debuted.

So, we distributed drinks to the staff and set up the first line of defense. Even if they wanted to gossip about this incident, they would first say, "He's not a completely shameless person because he buys drinks."

"Even if they accept it, those who curse at us will curse, and those who like us will like us. It's better than not doing anything."

The woman in suit smiled awkwardly and received the coffee. It seems that she has a conscience because she is aware of our reactions.

"Thank you. I'll drink it well."

"No. Thanks to you, we were able to finish filming earlier than scheduled."

The overall work was finished quickly because the woman in suit was paying attention and supervising the filming site. During that time, the photographer kept his mouth shut and just took pictures.

"I'll contact you again when I finish editing."

The interview was also finished smoothly according to the script, and only then did the woman in suit's face brighten up. The only person who had a sour expression was the photographer.

"Then I guess we don't have to worry about this."

I looked back and forth between Lee Aram and Hwang Bo-kyun, lost in thought. There was only one thing left to do.

'There's no point in dragging it out, so I should go back to our dorm and finish the conversation we had earlier.'

This time, I really need to tie things up with Aram. I will also explain my condition.

...And despite that promise, the story didn't go as I wanted.

***

As soon as we received word from the studio that the cameras had been recovered, we headed to the dorm. The members were so tired that they were groaning.

"Why am I so tired even though I slept...."

"Isn't it because there were so many things going on?"

The defenseless members opened the dorm's front door. In an instant, my nerves were tense. A familiar feeling struck me.

I stopped the members who were trying to enter the dorm with a stiff face. My heart pounded.

"Manager, you said that all the cameras were recovered, right?"

"Yes? Uh... Yes. I'm sure because the studio contacted me directly. Why are you like that?"

Without answering, I searched the dormitory like a thief. The members stood frozen in place at my sudden eccentricity.

'I hope my feeling is wrong, but........'

After moving solely based on my senses, I was able to find two small cameras.

One was in the bathroom, and the other was in the room where the three of us were staying.

I felt like my blood was running cold. The tiny cameras were hidden in a corner that was hard to find even if I looked closely.

'This isn't the model used in the studio.'

As I stopped, the guys who followed me into the room tapped my shoulder. It seemed like they hadn't seen the cameras yet, covered by my body..

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

"......Manager, there's a hidden camera in the dorm."

"Huh?! That, that can't be happening......."

Ji Young-heon came towards me in surprise. As soon as he saw the two small cameras in my hands, numerous emotions crossed his face.

At this point, even the members realized the seriousness of the situation and became thoughtful.

'Let's calm down.'

I took a deep breath and looked at the camera. Fortunately, it was not a surveillance camera that transmitted in real time, but a built-in camera that recorded.

"....... First, tell the company. And the studio too."

"That, s... must have been accidentally left behind in the studio?"

"No. This isn't the model they use. I'm calling them to check the situation when the camera is retrieved."

I said it indirectly, but Ji Young-heon took a deep breath, knowing that a third party must have entered. I grabbed Ji Young-heon's arm.

'What if you panic too?'

The manager should calmly calm the members. Ji Young-heon was good at his job, but he wasn't the type to be relied on in these unexpected situations.

"Aram... ?"

At that moment, Aram collapsed on the floor. He crouched down and shivered, as if he was really scared. When Seol Yisoo tried to comfort him, he even threw his arms away. Seol Yisoo shook his head after examining Aram's condition. It seemed like they couldn't communicate at all.

'Ha.......'

The only ones who were awake at the moment were Seol Yisoo, Hwang Bo-kyun, and An Jeong-woo, including me.

After brushing my hair back, I gestured to Hwang Bo-kyun.

"Everyone, check to see if anything is missing. You need to check everything, including the small details and even the underwear."

"Okay. Let's get moving, guys."

Lee Aram felt like he needed someone by his side, so we left Seol Yi-soo and went to his room alone.

Even after searching again, the missing item was not there.

"....."

At the end of my line of sight, a laptop was catching my eye. When I turned on the laptop, the message 'Incorrect password. Please try again.' appeared.

They didn't take the laptop... Did they not have time to run away with it?

'Wait a minute.'

Now that I think about it, why didn't they turn off the laptop before they left...? If they had, I could have noticed something strange even if I hadn't found the camera.

I closed the laptop and headed toward Aram. Then the front door creaked and closed.

'No one among us is missing. There's no sound in the front door. So someone must have gone out.'

I saw the washing machine in the living room veranda that had been closed until a while ago open. Small pieces were gathering one by one. I didn't follow out the front door. If someone was doing something so bold, I didn't know what would happen if I went alone.

"Ahhh!"

I came to my senses at the sound of a scream. Aram covered his mouth, gasping for breath.

Seol Yi-soo hugs A-ram and pats him back. Seol Yi-soo, who found me, said that it would be better not to come near them.

For now, I left Seol Yi-soo alone until A-ram calmed down, and the rest of us went out to the living room.

"The company said they are in contact with the studio. The police... haven't been called. Only our staff will come as much as possible."

"Good job. The top priority is to keep this from leaking out. Did you lose anything?"

"No. We didn't."

The people sent by the company arrived soon after. They checked the room with a camera detector, but apart from the two cameras I found, nothing else was found.

"I'll take the camera to the company and check. The person who installed it will be recorded. Fortunately, it's the type that records on the built-in card. I'll contact you once I confirm the contents."

"Please."

A-ram fell asleep almost as if he had fainted, and the remaining members stayed in the living room and didn't go into their rooms. Ji Young-heon decided to stay at the dorm today to prepare for any unexpected situations.

Hwang Bo-kyun, who was similar in size to Ji Young-heon, said as he packed his clothes to change into.

"What the heck, really......."

That's right.

I picked up my phone and checked the message that had arrived a little while ago. It was a sasaeng I had been contacting.

[I got caught]

Look at them sending this message in a situation where they might be caught for stalking. It's someone who's hard to understand with a normal mindset. Well, there's no need to understand it.

I ignored the message and asked Ji Young-heon.

"Manager, what's our schedule for tomorrow...?"

"It's an internal schedule within the company, so we can adjust it. Should we postpone it for a few days?"

"Yes, I don't know about anything else, but it seems like Aram hyung isn't in a state to do our schedule."

I thought of Lee Aram who had fallen asleep after screaming. What could have driven Lee Aram to such a point?

Ryu Hyun-seung, who had been quiet until now, carefully raised his hand.

"Young-i and Han-gyul. You were trainees with Aram hyung, the same Lime...... Do you know why he's like that...?"

"No. I don't know because I transferred to another organization after only being a trainee at Lime for a month."

"I don't know either... Aram hyung-nim was in class A and I was in class B, but the two classes didn't really interact with each other. What's more, Aram hyung-nim was reluctant to hang out with other classes."

Suddenly, I remembered the internet comment I saw the day after I encountered Aram's sasaeng. It seemed like someone who had been following Aram for quite some time. So, the ID was......

'Ah, I found it.'

When I went into the community I had seen before, posts written by sasaengs appeared one after another.

Some were deleted by the administrator, but some remained. Most of them were recent posts.

- Ah, you changed your number again. That fucking idiot keeps making me spend money.

- Why aren't you answering the phone? Why aren't you answering the phone? Why aren't you answering the phone? Why aren't you answering the phone?

- It's so hard to find a rookie's accommodation ㅋㅋ

- I wonder if he'd like it if I left him a gift like before

- Proof shot

The title of the last post was short. When you click on the text, a large picture pops up first.

The photo was of three toothbrushes, and the content that followed was all yellow hearts, the same color as Lee Aram's hair.

'No way....'

As soon as the thought occurred to me, I ran to the bathroom. The toothbrush sterilizer attached to the mirror was a double-door type, so you couldn't tell if there was a toothbrush inside unless you opened it.

Without hesitation, I opened the sterilizer, and Hwang Bo-kyun, who followed me, frowned and asked.

"What? Young-ah, what's wrong?"

"......The toothbrush is gone."

Three out of the seven that were there originally were gone. To be exact, mine, Ahn Jung-woo's, and Lee A-ram's, as shown in the picture. There were three.

Not long after, the account in question said that it had been deleted.

'This is the first time I've seen such evil.'

Despite hearing the news that the toothbrush was gone, Ahn Jung-woo sat on the sofa with an indifferent expression. Rather, the other guys were more excited than Ahn Jung-woo.

"Jung-woo, are you okay?"

"Uh... Me? I'm okay. I heard a lot of stories from my seniors when I was at Lux, so I was prepared for this situation."

"Story..?"

An Jung-woo nodded. Now that I think about it, the agency that suffered the most from sasaeng issues was MH Entertainment, which has Rebel, and the second was Lux. Lime came in third, for reference.

I returned to the living room and lay down on the floor. My head rested on the cold floor, and my brain felt clearer.

'Based on the circumstances, I guess the person who caused this incident is Lee A-ram's sasaeng...? I don't know his past, so I can't make a rash guess."

But Lee A-ram's condition wasn't good enough to ask him directly.

The caller ID blocker who contacted me, the mysterious person who entered the dorm and installed a camera, and the sasaeng who was attached to the trainee Lee A-ram.... Ah, the trainee...?

As I chewed on the word, I jerked my upper body up. I thought of the people who had been watching Lee A-ram since his trainee days.

'Lime's Rookie Development Headquarters.'

And I had the contact information of someone who was in the Rookie Development Headquarters and who would know a little about Lee A-ram.

That was Team Leader Lee Ki-ho.

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