# Chapter 12
“What about the acting? Didn’t you say there was something back then?”
“The director wanted to have an individual meeting before the script reading, but when you said you were sick and asked to postpone it a bit, they immediately published an article about your replacement.”
“Didn’t they make a big deal about how hard it was to cast me for the drama? And it changed that easily?”
“That’s just how the CEO talks. Don’t take it to heart.”
It seemed like they hadn’t even reached a proper contract stage if it could change this easily. Yet they had the nerve to brag and blame him? Hwiseo’s eyebrow twitched. The manager carefully transferred a Victoria cake onto a plate and asked, “Do you want one too?” Hwiseo shook his head.
He would have been angry if something that was his had been taken away, but perhaps because neither the idol career nor the acting had originally been his, he didn’t feel particularly regretful. The problem was that his chances of meeting Lee Sunwoo had decreased, and he thought he’d have a higher probability of meeting him if he were an entertainer himself.
“And the PR team and planning team are saying that since you have some bad rumors going around, we should at least do something like a Q-app to check fan reactions and communicate. Look, I think that’s the right move too.”
“Rumors about me?”
The manager hesitated to speak. When Hwiseo pressed him to answer, he put down the cake plate he’d been eating from and fumbled with his words.
“That you married into wealth and got arrogant. That you left the drama because they wouldn’t cater to your tastes, that sort of thing.”
“But that’s not true.”
“Of course not!”
“So you want me to appeal that I’m not arrogant, and that I never demanded the drama fit my taste? Through this Q-app?”
“Yeah, why not? Are you still not feeling well?”
“And what is the agency doing? Shouldn’t the company do something first, even just for image management? Or are they telling you not to shield me because I’m defiant?”
The manager wore a troubled expression and didn’t answer. Hwiseo suspected this wasn’t just happening now but had been going on for a long time. He had seen fan comments about poor management. Whether it was lack of ability or lack of sincerity, the agency seemed to have many problems.
Hwiseo’s group wasn’t unpopular, but they weren’t a highly recognized top group either. They didn’t have any distinctive hit songs but seemed to have gathered fans through various concepts. Hwiseo often saw malicious comments on his videos. They ranged from personal attacks to baseless rumors. In contrast, most individual videos of other members mainly had comments from a small number of supportive fans.
Hwiseo pulled over the laptop on the table and clicked on a video. Lee Hwiseo didn’t have many singing parts, but he was usually the center during the chorus.
[Comeback Special BLEN (블렌) “Follow Me” @Musictown_2017.4.5.]
-lookintomyeyes · 9 hours ago
The fans here are hilarious lol If it weren’t for Lee Hwiseo, no one would even know this group lol Why don’t you talk about how badly Juhyun’s solo flopped? It brings me to tears watching you all fawn over these guys who aren’t even as good as one married man.
-ImShamanyou · 1 day ago
I love this sooo much;;;;; This is the song that made me a fan, still hits all the right spots. New album soon Lee Hwiseo ffs
-Jjokjidon · 5 days ago
Look at Song Ju’s dance lines at 2:09. Gasp gasp. But Lee Hwiseo has no talent at all.–
-Kungzzafunsong · 10 days ago
Getting beaten down by Juhyun-nim’s voice. I wish they’d just come back with the rest of the members. LHS is a total burden.
-Divya77 · 2 months ago
i literally died at 1:32 whiseo oh god too sexy….
-PCpin · 4 months ago
I really miss those days… I’m personally so upset..
-Bamdullaeham · 4 months ago
What kind of idol has a wife and child?? What a burden on the other members. Lee Hwiseo should know it’s time to quit
-Kkohung · 4 months ago
Didn’t you see the article about Lee Hwiseo?kkkkkkkkkkkkkk When are they disbanding?
-Dancinghamchioppa · 1 year ago
Lee Hwiseo got marriedkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk Now this group will finally find their proper place based on their skill
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-hi365 · 3 years ago
When you put someone with Lee Hwiseo’s visuals in the group but give them songs and choreography like this…
-Алла · 3 years ago
Hwiseo is Korea’s treasure.
-Mochi · 3 years ago
Is Lee Hwiseo even human… His face is like that and his physique is fraudulently perfect too… I’m grateful to be born in the same era
-Donggugwasuwon · 4 years ago
Lee Hwiseo’s face is so interesting
-Handsomeguydetector · 4 years ago
I really want to record the song for himㅠㅠㅠㅠ..
-Orangejuice · 4 years ago
I’ve known BLEN since their debut, and while I’m happy Hwiseo is getting popular nowㅠㅠ I hope BLEN gets more popular too, they’re all so charming.
So Lee Hwiseo himself had high recognition. Thanks to that, he had initially helped drive the group’s popularity with his looks, but that seemed to be the extent of it. This meant many of the video views weren’t from fans, and among them would be people whose sole purpose in life was to leave malicious comments. And it seemed like the fans had dropped even more after Hwiseo got married and became a husband. He supposed even he would feel a sort of ex-boyfriend sadness if a member of a girl group he liked got married.
As he was reading the comments intently, the manager came over asking what he was looking at. Though Hwiseo wasn’t bothered, the manager preemptively panicked and closed the laptop. Then he changed the subject while gauging Hwiseo’s reaction. But Hwiseo thought these weren’t even that severe as malicious comments go. What was important now wasn’t whether he appeared on broadcasts or not, rather than the nonsense of those who deliberately sought out videos of someone they disliked just to curse at them.
“I’ll think about it. But how does it work? Do I use a computer?”
“No!” the manager exclaimed, placing the bag he’d been carrying onto the table. A fairly loud thud was heard. There was a lot of equipment. There was a camera and several lights. Once Hwiseo started paying attention, the manager talked excitedly for a long time. He also ate the dessert enthusiastically. In the end, only after finishing all the cookies by himself did he get up. He said he would prepare a script for the live video and come back soon. Hwiseo thought he should at least see his guest out since they were his visitor, so he went together to the front gate.
“By the way, did you get laser treatment? Your face seems a bit different.”
The manager asked after looking closely at his face.
Instead of answering, Hwiseo just rubbed his face.
“It’s not time for you to get laser treatments yet. Your skin is thin and you don’t have much fat, so it’ll sag quickly. Wait, did you get a tan too? Why are you so tanned?”
“I went to the sea and must have gotten tanned.”
Few people knew that Hwiseo had been found at the Han River. There would have been the person who reported it and the paramedics, but Je Wooseung had said he’d take care of it himself, so let’s keep this between us. Externally, Hwiseo was said to have had an accident slipping on stairs at a lodging while on a trip.
“But this skin color looks good on you, makes you look healthy. Your face looks super firm too.”
The manager kept talking about Hwiseo’s appearance until he left in his car. He didn’t forget to warn him not to get filler treatments carelessly. It made sense that the current Lee Hwiseo looked younger. He was still 21 years old, 6 years younger than the original Lee Hwiseo of this world.
As he walked through the garden toward the front entrance, he heard a baby crying. Wondering if it was a neighbor’s baby, Hwiseo looked around. He saw a two-story house in the distance. Then it must be a cat’s cry, he thought, tilting his head as he entered the house, but the crying got louder.
“Our Lord Woojoo, what’s making you so sad?”
In the living room, Manager Oh was holding a baby and comforting it. Even though it was a home, for them it was a workplace, so it didn’t seem like they would bring a child. Whose baby is it? The tiny thing had a booming voice. He paused on his way to the second floor. A suspicious thought occurred to him. Hwiseo stood in place and looked at the baby. Cradled in arms, only the top of its black hair was visible.
‘No way. No way, it can’t be, right?’
At that moment, another woman came from the kitchen with prepared milk and took the baby, putting the bottle in its mouth. The crying stopped, but instead, the sound of the baby bottle being sucked filled the living room. Only then did Manager Oh notice Hwiseo and, along with the other woman, gave him an eye greeting before disappearing with the baby into another room on the first floor.
Hwiseo followed them, forcing himself to move his feet. When he opened the slightly ajar door and entered, a colorful ball caught his foot. The soft ball, making a heavy bell sound as it rolled, stopped after a short distance. Beside it were scattered baby toys. There was a baby mobile on the ceiling and a crib beneath it.
Against the wall was a diaper changing station with drawers, and the baby was drinking milk on top of it. The woman who was changing the diaper noticed Hwiseo and looked surprised. The baby was aggressively sucking on the bottle that Manager Oh was holding. With fists tightly clenched, the baby’s plump legs kept kicking as if annoyed at having the diaper changed.
Holding his breath, Hwiseo approached to check the baby’s face, and well, the face…
“It’s like looking in a mirror…”
Hwiseo experienced what it feels like when consciousness gradually fades and cuts off. His arms dangled in the air as people carried him to his room.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
