“As I said,” Choi continued with all the charm of a python squeezing its prey, “a rivalry is a much safer, more manageable story. You will give me that story. You will be rivals again. And this footage," he gestured to the screen behind him, "will just stay between us. Are we clear?"
20
Blackmail?Min Jae was so appalled he was almost impressed. He still wasn’t sure what was worse–the fact that Choi had threatened them with security footage of their rooftop tryst, or the fact that he’d known about it the whole time and had said nothing.
Min Jae had been a trainee before. He knew all the rumors about the shady practices happening in the boardrooms upstairs. But he’d never dealt with any of them firsthand. Until now, sitting across from an SCG executive so powerful he was a mentor on his own show and so ruthless that he wasn’t above threatening his contestants if he didn’t get his way. Releasing that footage could easily bring about the end of their idol dreams. And, even if he and Andy played along and somehow still managed to finish in one of the eight debut ranks, that footage would hang over their heads for their entire careers.
For a terrifyingly powerful moment, Min Jae was ready to burn the whole thing down. To tell Choi to fuck off and shove his Dream Boy Project right up his own ass. To walk away. He’d win the moral victory, sure. But he’d never debut after that. His name would be blacklisted throughout the industry. He’d be untouchable.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Andy exclaimed, dropping all pretense of propriety. A very American trait that Min Jae suddenly appreciated. “You’re trying to blackmail us into playing out your little rivals fantasy?”
Choi chuckled, not in the least bothered by Andy’s outburst. “I suppose you could call it that. But I’d prefer we call it what it really is. You’ve been caught in violation of your contract’s morals and propriety clauses.” He pointed to the screen. “This type of behavior is strictly prohibited while you’re filming. But I’m willing to look the other way and allow you to continue competing in exchange for some concessions from you.”
Very businesslike. Choi treating Hyun Woo’s situation like a business problem made sense. For him, it was one. “Alright,” Min Jae said, waving away a startled look of anger from Andy. “Assuming we go along with this, what guarantees do we have that you won’t simply release this footage anyway?”
Choi smiled, a satisfied predator who knew he had his prey cornered. “You have no such guarantee, of course. But, consider the circumstances. If I wanted you gone, you’d already be gone. I want you to stay and compete. I want you to win. Doing all of this is as much for your sakes as it is for mine.”
Andy huffed. “So, you’re giving in to him? Just like that?”
Min Jae swallowed his own huff, locking Andy in place with a stern look. Andy’s lack of filter could be a double-sided blade. “Our only other choice is to walk away, and I’m not about to give all this up. Not after all the work I’ve done to get here.”
Andy held Min Jae’s gaze as his frantic, angry breathing finally slowed. “Alright, fine.” He turned to Choi. “Give us a few minutes to talk this over.” Choi opened his mouth to respond, but Andy cut him off. “You want it to look authentic, right?” Choi nodded. “Then we need to talk about it without you hovering around like an obsessive parent. You can watch us on your perv cams or whatever, I don’t care. I just don’t want to look at you while we figure this out.”
Min Jae nearly burst into applause. He wondered how often one of Director Choi’s subordinates might talk to him like that. Based on the near scarlet color of his cheeks and his tightly clenched jaw that practically vibrated, probably not often, if ever.
“Very well,” Choi finally replied. “You have five minutes. As long as you make everyone believe this–as long as you make me believe it–we won’t ever have to speak of this again.” He crossed to the door, pausing as he reached for the handle. “It should go without saying, but a failure on your part wouldn’t work out well for you.”
Min Jae stopped Andy’s comeback with a quick hand on his knee. “We understand.”
Andy at least waited until the door closed before jumping from his seat. “Ugh! That guy’s such an asshole,” he said in English.
“He is,” Min Jae replied, dusting off his rarely used English language skills. “But you did not have to tell him so.”
Andy quietly grunted as he paced back and forth across the room. It would’ve been adorable if it wasn’t so distressing. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just–” He stopped, loudly huffing. “I probably would’ve agreed to all this if he’d just asked me.”
Min Jae frowned. “He did ask.”
“No, that wasn’t asking.” Andy huffed again as he resumed his pacing. “Look, I know how things are. But he could’ve appealed to me as a future idol. He could’ve reminded me of how much the company needs me.” He stopped, throwing his hands out wide. “I actually like the guy. You know? But, instead of treating us like colleagues, he just jumped right into being a fucking thug at the first sign of pushback.”
Min Jae smirked, slowly shaking his head. “We’re definitely not his colleagues,” he responded, shifting back to Korean. “That’s not how things work here.”
“Oh, I know all about your shitty system,” Andy said, taking the hint and switching back to Korean, too. “That asshole gets todemand my respect without trying to earn it just because he’s old and rich.”
Min Jae chuckled. “Are you telling me old rich guys in America don’t do the same thing?”
“No, I guess not.” Andy huffed a third time before plopping onto the couch beside Min Jae. “And I’m sorry for calling your system shitty.”
“It’s alright,” Min Jae allowed, putting his hand on Andy’s thigh. If Choi was really forcing them apart, Min Jae was going to stick by Andy’s side until the last possible moment. “It is shitty sometimes. But it’s not mine. I’m just stuck in it.” He gently squeezed Andy’s thigh. “Just like we’re stuck doing this, I guess. How should we do it?”
Andy shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s gotta be believable, right? That shouldn’t be too hard. We know way more about being assholes to each other than anything else so far.” He glanced at the small ceiling-mounted cameras behind Min Jae. “What if I’m jealous of you taking back first place?”
“No way.” Min Jae shook his head. “No one would ever believe that in a million years. You’re way too nice.” He sighed, shaking his head again as the obvious answer presented itself. He hated how much it would work almost as much as he hated how easily it could be real. “It has to be me. I’m the ice king, right?”
“Hey.” Andy frowned, taking Min Jae’s hand. “No way. It’s not like–”
“But it’s true,” Min Jae cut in. “It’s how everyone sees me because that’s what I’m like. So, we use it. You congratulated me on camera, but backstage I told you I was only using you. I was using our fan ship to get ahead in the vote count.”
“Wow.” Andy shook his head, quietly chuckling. “That’s a little too real, maybe.”
