What happened afterward, I was able to learn through the help of one additional person.
— Hyun Ji-oh, sorry, but can you put Woo-bin hyung on the phone?
Because Park Woo-bin—the main dancer of LON and the trainee with the shortest training period among KRM's debut lineup—had once belonged to Eight Entertainment.
Since Park Woo-bin transferred agencies right after Snatch debuted, he must have trained alongside the Snatch members and Cheon Se-rim during that time.
As expected, Park Woo-bin confirmed the events that had happened to Cheon Se-rim. At first, he hesitated to talk, but once I mentioned the name "Kim Young-shin," he seemed to assume I had heard something from Se-rim and eventually explained the situation in detail.
— It was around the time Snatch's debut prep was nearly finalized… There was a rumor among trainees. That Young-shin was seeing a psychiatrist, and that things weren't looking good.
Every Eight trainee felt some degree of guilt toward Kim Young-shin. Kim Min-ho's hierarchy games and violence had worked only because the others remained silent.
When Kim Young-shin left the company, he cut off contact with the trainees he had lived and practiced alongside. But as people do, rumors still found their way out.
Cheon Se-rim only heard about it near the very end of his debut preparations.
— He looked confused… he wasn't originally that kind of guy. He didn't come to the company for about two days straight. And the last time he came was to resign.
The last time he saw Se-rim, he said, was when Se-rim was fighting with Kim Min-ho in front of the CEO's office. Apparently, Min-ho had once again raised his hand, unable to fix his nature, but he couldn't bring himself to strike Se-rim. Like people said, Se-rim "came from a well-off background."
And witnessing that seemed to disturb Se-rim even more. Perhaps because it confirmed what Young-shin had told him: that Kim Min-ho would never dare lay a hand on him.
He said Se-rim was sixteen at the time.
A young age. No matter how early he learned to calculate and maneuver, that was far too young to walk away unshaken.
Afterward, Cheon Se-rim turned to his family for help, paid the penalty fee, and withdrew from Snatch's debut lineup.
I had no intention of judging whether Se-rim's actions were right or wrong. I could understand why he made the choices he did.
What trainee would want to throw away a guaranteed debut?
At that point, Se-rim had already trained for a year and a half.
And the reason he was able to secure a debut spot after a relatively short period was because he had worked incredibly hard during that time. You could tell just by looking at his status window and the way he behaved now.
But the reason he felt "self-reproach" was because, in order to secure his debut, he had contributed to pushing his close peer all the way to the edge.
That was the full story. And that was why Se-rim, despite being labeled a "runner" (escape trainee), could never refute it.
He, too, had been a bystander—and above all, he saw that event as a Trigger.
"What are you so desperate to know that you're asking me this?"
Perhaps because of all that, Se-rim was looking at me with a wariness I had never seen before. I didn't waste any time and asked:
"Are you going to withdraw?"
"…Is there even a way not to? You know how this industry works, hyung. From now on they're going to use this against me every chance they get. It's the first time I've become such a hot topic online, so they're probably partying about it right now."
Se-rim smirked bitterly and continued:
"I know how this industry moves. Once you're branded, I'll be treated just like Ji-hyuk hyung—a runner. At least Ji-hyuk had a reason. I can't even reveal mine. What would I even say?"
"...."
"And fans hate guys exactly like me. Cowardly, the type to give up fast. Fans would never let someone like that debut. Even if I endure, I'll just flop. It's better to withdraw before that."
"So you're just going to lie down and take it?"
"…What?"
Se-rim wasn't wrong—but he wasn't entirely right either. Quietly, I pointed out the parts he'd missed.
"If you quit now, you're basically saying, 'Yes, I'm a runner.' You're confirming it yourself. Just like you said—you'll be telling the fans with your own mouth that you're 'a coward who gives up easily.' You'll never recover from that."
"…It's the same even if I stay."
"At least you can aim for the right timing."
"What timing?"
"When someone else exposes Kim Min-ho."
"...!"
Knowing Snatch's future, I could say this with certainty.
A scumbag doesn't change his nature—there's no way it only happened once.
Snatch had actually been involved in a scandal right before my regression, after physically assaulting a junior idol. Several members were even booked by the police. Se-rim's prediction that "something will eventually happen" was spot-on.
"You think Min-ho only did this once? You must've seen things too. There's no way he acted like that only inside the company. When something blows up, other cases will pop out everywhere."
Se-rim didn't argue. He'd probably seen things before Young-shin's case—less severe, but similar incidents. And he had ignored them, just to avoid becoming a target himself.
I wasn't here to condemn that. His guilt was his own problem. I had a different point to make.
"…Even if someone has dirt on him, who would reveal it conveniently at the perfect time? Aren't you being unrealistically optimistic? I didn't think you were such a naïve person, hyung."
Se-rim said that with bitter resignation. He agreed with my logic, but didn't believe the situation would cooperate.
"He's scared of Min-ho. No one will move. That guy's been acting so brazenly all this time for a reason."
"You just need someone to start. Once the first person speaks, the rest will follow."
"And who's going to be that first person…?"
"There is someone."
"…?"
I pointed directly at Cheon Se-rim. His voice trembled with confusion.
"…Me?"
"Of course. Who else?"
Se-rim looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but honestly, the fact that he hadn't thought of it himself surprised me more.
Because the solution was incredibly simple.
Realistically, no one is better positioned to start it than Se-rim.
The reason others couldn't expose Min-ho was simple. The issue hadn't surfaced publicly yet, and they feared being targeted again by Min-ho if they spoke out.
Which meant there was only one viable method.
"Blow it up. Admit you quit and left Eight, and state the reason."
"…Are you telling me to admit I was a bystander?"
"Yeah. If you do that, Min-ho won't be able to touch you anymore."
Taking the initiative—admitting everything first and opening the floodgates.
People pay more attention to a confrontation than to a single person's monologue. And once additional revelations start pouring in afterward, the situation will begin shifting in Cheon Se-rim's favor.
And there was one more reason why he had to be the one to start it.
"Your family's pretty well off, right?"
"…What does that matter right now?"
"That's exactly why Kim Min-ho can't touch you. Even from how he's been skirting around mentioning you directly, it's obvious he wants to avoid a head-on clash. Of course, things will change if you admit everything and withdraw."
If everyone else was too afraid of being targeted by Min-ho to speak up, then naturally, the person best suited to withstand him—Cheon Se-rim—was the right one to start.
If anything, withdrawing would be the worst move.
Because then Min-ho's past actions would remain buried forever, and Snatch would continue thriving with a "tragic underdog" image.
If they were trying to use Se-rim to boost their own visibility, then Se-rim simply had to fall into their trap—then expose them later.
"Create the stage yourself. Give people something to talk about. It's better than quitting out of guilt."
"…And you really think that'll erase my 'runner' image? It'll just make people hate me even more…"
"That's something for the public to decide. But isn't that still a better method?"
Apologizing and posting a statement wouldn't magically fix everything. But it was, at minimum, the best available strategy to break out of the current situation.
"Better to have mixed opinions than be branded a one-sided runaway."
Some people would curse him, but once the truth started to come out, so would the defenders. And if further exposés followed, the situation would improve even more.
And this wasn't a method that helped only Se-rim. In reality, the lack of someone willing to take that first step was the reason Snatch had been coasting unchallenged for far too long.
It wasn't until the junior assault scandal broke that the exposés finally flooded in.
Those who had suffered under Min-ho and the other Snatch members must have been gritting their teeth for years. They simply had no one to take the first swing, so they'd been forced into silence.
So if Se-rim truly felt guilty about what happened, the solution was simple.
"Hold the line, Cheon Se-rim."
"...!"
"Don't fall apart and make the situation even worse."
If you endure long enough, something always breaks open. If there were truly no path forward, that would be one thing—but Se-rim still had a way out.
And the sooner he moved, the greater the effect. His chances would only rise from here.
『White Hacking: Truth Generator (Single-use) — Activated!』
Because the system itself would help him.
"…Tell me more."
And seeing the sudden spark in Se-rim's eyes, I realized he had chosen a future different from the one he once lived.
***
"Ahhhh!"
A working adult fan screamed while staring at a picture of Won Yoo-ha on her phone.
Why… why wasn't I at Gangnam Station today…?!
What she was looking at was the subway-proof photo of Won Yoo-ha taken that evening at Gangnam Station. In the picture, Yoo-ha was smiling softly in front of his own digital billboard, which displayed a message encouraging votes for
How is he somehow more handsome than in edited pics…
The Gangnam Station advertisement had been designed by this very working fan—using photos provided by a fansite master. She had received recommendations via Yoo-ha's fan community, raised funds from the "streaming team," and created the ad out of pure affection.
So she was overwhelmed with emotion. She was grateful her bias had seen her hard work—but devastated that she hadn't been there to witness it.
No… I'll see him next time… Today wasn't the only chance. And I couldn't have taken a day off today anyway… Even if I took one, Yoo-ha would've already left by the time I got there…
She tried to reason with herself to soothe her regret, but the ache didn't go away.
While scrolling through posts from people who had seen Yoo-ha in person and shared their proof photos, something caught her eye.
— But Yu-ha was with Cheon Se-rim;; I wish he'd keep some distance;; Nothing good comes from hanging around someone branded a runner
— Yu-ha, please cut ties with Cheon Se-rim… I know you're soft-hearted but you need to drop the people you should drop…
— Yu-ha please stop acting dumbㅠ This isn't the time to stand next to that guy. Read the room
"…Hmm."
The working fan immediately lost the mood to keep scrolling and closed the Whisper app. All the uproar about Cheon Se-rim throughout the day naturally resurfaced in her mind.
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