Shadows of Suspicion

For a moment, the thought crossed Jiho’s mind that maybe she was hiding the fact of Yongha’s injury.

Fortunately, Haneul quickly spoke in a bright voice, making a fuss.

“Ugh, don’t even get me started. I told him traffic accidents can have aftereffects even hospitals don’t know about, so he should rest, but oppa is just born to be a manager. He’s been running around here and there cleaning up the media mess because of all the talk about the accident. Later, you say something to him.”

“There’s nothing else, right? Like hyung not being able to come or something.”

“Even if there was, would I hide it from you? If it were Haun, maybe, but it’s you, Jiho. Hmm, I should get going now. Team Leader said it’s okay to count this as work hours since I’m at the hospital, but my conscience is bothering me a bit. At least I should go to the office.”

“Don’t worry about me and head in.”

“Yeah. It’s a relief you woke up so well. You know you can’t get out of bed yet, right? The caregiver is someone the company carefully selected, so relax and stay here… If you need anything, call me—oh, Jiho, your phone got smashed in the accident. But it seems like the number got leaked, so oppa just canceled the service with the carrier altogether.”

“I see. Guess I shouldn’t use a phone in my name for a while.”

“Yeah, that’s probably best. I’ll leave this tablet here. It has phone functions, so use it temporarily.”

“Yes, thank you. Haneul noona.”

After Haneul left the hospital room, silence enveloped the spacious area.

Jiho felt this quietness weighing heavily on him for some reason.

Haneul had tried to speak casually, but Jiho sensed some agitation in the gaps between her words.

Her eyes, which avoided his when he asked about Yongha, had seemed strange.

Unconsciously, Jiho’s hand reached for the tablet Haneul had left behind.

Fortunately, the electronic device was close enough that he didn’t need to call a caregiver or move his still-recovering body.

As he picked up the tablet and opened the portal site’s main page, his anxiety grew.

It was an incident where a hugely popular idol group had a major car accident as a group.

Among them, he, one member, had been hospitalized for nearly ten days and even been in the ICU.

If Haneul’s story about the media buzz and Yongha running around to handle it was downplayed, the reality was surely even noisier.

“As expected.”

He had only searched for ‘Pentagram,’ but countless articles popped up on online news sites.

By sorting by accident date and skimming the headlines, Jiho could easily grasp the situation over the past two weeks.

[Photo/Video] Pentagram, Major Traffic Accident… Member Jiho Emerges to Hospital A

‘Car Rollover Accident’ Pentagram, Jiho Loses Consciousness, Sent to ICU. “Heart Stopped Once”

[Comprehensive] Star Entertainment “Vehicle Defect Caused It, Not Manager Drowsiness.”

Idol Agency Claims Sudden Acceleration, Will Manufacturer Admit Responsibility?

Why Did Only Jiho Among Five Members Suffer Severe Injuries? Seatbelt Non-Use Controversy Arises!

<Myth of Comeback No.1 After 3 Years, Red Light on Mini Album 3 Activities>

“Jiho Is the Troublemaker Member?” Malicious Comments Surge Over Pentagram Accident

More…

Jiho couldn’t bring himself to click on any of the numerous articles.

Just the headlines made the future look bleak, and he feared seeing photos from the accident scene.

It was easy to imagine how frantically the company must be handling damage control.

However, among them, one article headline that Jiho absolutely had to check appeared.

It was content he could never just pass by.

It was an article related to the current status of Yongha, their manager.

<Pentagram Manager Scheduled for Police Summoning. Vehicle Defect Due to Excessive Seat Modification?>

[Seoul=MBM News]

Police announced they plan to summon manager Jin Mo, who was driving the van involved in boy group Pentagram’s traffic accident on the highway last month.

The National Forensic Service is verifying vehicle defects and has notified police that the van was indeed modified.

Black box footage analysis confirmed no speeding.

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority stated that modifying a 9-seater van into an arbitrary 7-seater is clearly illegal, and such modifications can be exploited for illegal bus lane use and tax evasion, so they are strictly prohibited.

An official said, “We’re investigating if this seat modification relates to the seatbelt failure, but regardless of the accident, such illegal acts can result in up to 1 year imprisonment or fines up to 3 million won.”

Meanwhile, regarding claims that this accident stemmed from the agency’s attitude forcing event schedules, Star Entertainment, home to Pentagram, stated…

Most Empathetic | Latest

—- gme***

       Knew it, hyping sudden acceleration but it was vehicle mods lololol

—- Ind***

       Article’s point is weird, mods cause accidents? So what’s the cause then

—- mem***

      Anyway, the severely injured member—mods are to blame, right?

—- fuc***

       Covering for idol not wearing seatbelt by throwing innocent manager under the bus;;;

—- akm***

      They wore seatbelt but it broke because of manager, read the article?

—- tim***

       Why do articles contradict each other, Jiho or Geo or whatever, not interested in idols so stop writing articles

The article featured a photo of the wrecked van, fittingly described as half-destroyed.

Seeing it, Jiho unconsciously hit back, but the afterimage lingered in his mind.

The shock from the article’s content came with it.

“Yongha hyung… is getting summoned by police?”

Now he understood Haneul’s flustered reaction when he asked about her boyfriend’s whereabouts.

And how much suspicion this accident had stirred while he lay in the hospital.

Jiho continued manipulating the tablet.

His scrolling finger sped up.

He no longer hesitated to read articles he had avoided due to accident scene photos.

He checked comment sections full of wild speculations and even meticulously read personal posts related to the crash.

As if the tablet were a magic box holding solutions, Jiho kept searching.

The attention that usually fades quickly didn’t apply to their accident.

Whether because member Jiho was severely injured, or because the cause remained unresolved, all sorts of rumors and suspicions swirled for ten days.

Especially shocking was the rumor that Jiho got this hurt because he didn’t wear a seatbelt, and the agency pinned the blame on the manager to protect the idol’s image.

‘I definitely buckled my seatbelt then. The reason I was thrown from the car was…’

He remembered word-for-word the short conversation with Gohun before the van left the broadcasting station.

The seatbelt felt loose, so he unbuckled and rebuckled multiple times, but it still wouldn’t fix, so he just left it plugged in.

Jiho wasn’t the type to ignore safety; if anything, he prioritized it.

He hesitated briefly, then entered a phone number into the tablet.

It was one he had memorized: Yongha’s number.

“Even so, police investigation? No way Yongha hyung gets punished, right?”

Considering Yongha’s startled shout just before the impact hit the vehicle, it didn’t seem he was the cause.

Moreover, the seat modifications were for Pentagram members who spent tons of time inside the van traveling nationwide for schedules.

Not to mention the company couldn’t afford a new van yet, but the seats were too cramped for their tall, large-framed members to endure long sits.

That’s why they modified it.

Whether that truly caused the seatbelt failure was questionable, but Jiho thought it unfair for Yongha to take sole blame, even if illegal.

“If the articles are right and no speeding was confirmed, my testimony about the pre-accident situation might help hyung.”

But Yongha didn’t pick up.

Was the police investigation already underway?

Terrifying words like ‘arrest’ floated into Jiho’s mind.

“…No, the article said it could end with a fine.”

Jiho left a text for Yongha and set the tablet down.

He could just wait for a reply, but anxiety doesn’t vanish so easily.

Given Haneul’s attitude, he felt the company might hide the truth from him, heightening his unease.

Jiho picked up the tablet again and entered another number.

Idols routinely changed numbers due to sasaeng fans leaking info, but he remembered all the 11-digit numbers the members had used until recently.

From leader Sehan, to Gohun and Noah, and Haun.

The ringing continued, but no one answered.

“They won’t pick up an unknown number.”

Haneul’s words about calling if needed came to mind.

But it felt too soon to call her, after she’d just left following all her care.

Afterward, Jiho tried various ways to contact the members.

He tried logging into the group SNS chat for Pentagram’s five, but it required phone verification under his name and failed.

He signed up for Upsta for the first time to DM Haun, who checked his phone often, but with thousands of messages daily, it seemed unlikely he’d see it.

With no other options, Jiho let out a big sigh.

In his blocked state of mind, he set the tablet aside and looked out the nearby window.

Whether due to fine dust or not, the hazy view showed only the faint tops of high-rises.

Countless worries flooded in.

‘They said my left leg needs rehab, but even with that, can I keep performing?’

‘Seatbelt controversy? What if rumors get worse? I need to clarify soon…’

‘Yongha hyung will wrap it up with a fine, right?’

‘Is it okay for me to just lie here like this?’

The future looked pitch black.

A sense of helplessness washed over him intensely.

It was suffocating that he couldn’t reach anyone to discuss solutions amid all this.

He thought the members would contact him first upon hearing he woke up, if he just waited a bit, but strangely, he couldn’t bear even that short wait.

“Actually, what scares me most—”

Is that no one will contact me.

That nagged at him most.

“I should have told Yongha hyung the seatbelt felt weird back then.”

The fear that this was all his fault, that everyone resents me.

That terrified him most.

Yet, after that, the quiet hospital room was enveloped in prolonged silence.