Prince from another dimension becomes an Idol chapter 18

“The reason I left New Entertainment?”

Dojae was just speculating that Kyuseong disliked him for being a ‘bossy senior’ who sent him on errands for Louis (albeit unintentionally).

But suddenly asking for the reason he left NEW, Dojae couldn’t understand.

“Yeah. You made it to the debut team, so tell me why you left.”

Kyuseong pressed him persistently.

Despite the faint and delicate image created by his face hidden behind his bangs and his unique expression, his tone was sharp.

“I’ll explain separately later…!”

“No. Don’t hide behind Louis. Tell me yourself, Kang Dojae.”

Louis, worried that Dojae would get into trouble, intervened but only made things worse.

Kyuseong, seemingly more enraged, even twisted his mouth in anger.

“What is this?”

Kijoon thought he needed to mediate the increasingly hostile atmosphere, but he hesitated because it was Kyuseong who had created this situation.

To Kijoon, Kyuseong had always been a younger brother who quietly did his own work.

Unlike his immature younger siblings, he was easy to handle but also worrisome.

It was because he had a too introverted personality to become a celebrity.

Of course, he had enough singing skills to overcome that as a celebrity, but Kijoon was worried that he wouldn’t be able to thrive among the noisy brothers and sisters.

So, Kijoon had been paying attention in his own way, but instead of shrinking, Kyuseong was raising his voice.

“There are two reasons.”

When Dojae opened his mouth, everyone’s attention focused on him.

Regardless of the situation, it was true that everyone was curious about the reason Dojae left New Entertainment.

“One is that I couldn’t debut with those who bullied me.”

“…”

“And the other is that I couldn’t debut at a company that condoned the bullying.”

Despite the serious content, Dojae’s voice was calm and gentle, making it even more pleasant to listen to.

Kyuseong’s eyes shook with confusion.

“Lies…”

“I have no reason to lie to you.”

Louis, who was next to him, quickly shouted.

“He’s telling the truth. That’s why I followed him out.”

Louis apologized to Dojae with a tearful face.

“I’m sorry for mentioning you were in the debut team… I’m really sorry, hyung.”

“It’s not a flaw in itself. It’s okay.”

Dojae comforted Louis and then looked at Kyuseong with slightly narrowed eyes.

“Now, it’s your turn to tell me. Why did you suddenly ask about this?”

Since it seemed like an interrogation, Dojae naturally used the tone from his Imperial days.

However, everyone was too flustered to question it.

“Are you really saying you were bullied?”

“Did you hear something?”

Dojae thought so due to the continuous suspicion.

Kyuseong nodded blankly.

“If you doubt me, you can go to their office right now and ask anyone.”

When Dojae firmly confirmed it, Kyuseong shut his mouth.

“Dojae hyung was… bullied…”

In the atmosphere, as if Dojae’s words were true, Woochul mumbled in shock.

More than anything, it was the fact that was shocking.

It was unbelievable.

No matter the reason, bullying someone was wrong, but when perpetrators bullied a victim, they usually had their own reasons.

Most of the time, it was because they considered the victim to be an easy target.

But looking at Dojae now, he seemed far from being ‘easy.’

“Why on earth…”

Even Heungmin, who couldn’t understand, mumbled, and Dojae shrugged and replied.

“Because I seemed poor and insignificant, I suppose.”

Poor.

Was there a word that didn’t suit Dojae more than that?

“Are all the New Entertainment kids blind or something?”

Heungmin muttered in disbelief.

It was funny to bully someone because they seemed poor, but regardless of his actual circumstances, Dojae never looked poor.

He had a natural elegance.

Even if he were poor, he had an air about him that made you think one day a rich grandfather would come in a sedan and say, “You are actually my hidden grandson.”

And what about his personality?

You could feel his determination just by looking into his eyes.

He seemed to have a lot of potential and didn’t look like someone who would be easily pushed around.

“So, did you just endure the bullying? Why did you leave the debut team… You should have kicked them all out!”

As he thought more about it, Heungmin got more frustrated and shouted as if it were his own business.

Dojae laughed and answered.

“If I had done that, everyone would have left, and I would have debuted as a solo artist. Besides, I didn’t want to debut at such a company.”

“That…”

“Don’t worry, I didn’t just endure it and leave.”

As expected.

He wasn’t the type to just endure bullying.

It was curious in the first place how the act of ‘bullying’ could even be established.

“That’s right! When we left, Dojae hyung was really cool! That’s why I was completely mesmerized and followed him out!”

Louis, who had been tearful, now spoke with sparkling eyes.

As the conversation continued, Kyuseong’s face turned pale.

At that moment, the practice room door opened, and a man in a black suit entered.

“Hello, Manager!”

“Hello!”

It was Manager Kim Seokchul .

Dojae, forgetting the heavy atmosphere from just a moment ago, looked at him with friendly eyes.

He couldn’t understand why Dojae, who had only greeted him during auditions and meetings, was so glad to see him.

“Is it break time now?”

Unlike Team Leader Jung Heeyoung, who spoke informally to the members after knowing them for a long time, Manager Kim Seokchul always used honorifics with the members.

It was rare among the management team, the managers, but it was Kim Seokchul’s belief to maintain proper etiquette as it was easy to treat each other carelessly.

Especially since most of the idol group members were young, he thought he could unconsciously treat them carelessly even though they were celebrities he had to care for.

Due to Manager Kim Seokchul’s attitude, the members found him difficult to approach, yet they liked him. They had no choice but to like him, knowing how other managers treated trainees.

“Yes, it’s break time!”

When Kijoon, who had just returned from the hospital with Manager Kim Seokchul the day before, quickly responded, Kim Seokchul nodded.

“Then Dojae, can we talk for a moment?”

Because things were already unsettled with Dojae, the members widened their eyes more than usual.

“Are you talking to me?”

“Yes. Let’s go to the meeting room together.”

“Okay.”

Dojae followed Manager Kim Seokchul without any fuss.

***

After Dojae left with Manager Kim Seokchul, a heavy silence settled in the practice room.

Kyuseong, who had cornered Dojae into confessing he was being bullied, remained pale and shocked.

The members couldn’t easily scold Kyuseong and left him alone for the time being.

Instead, through Louis, they learned what had happened to Dojae at New Entertainment and whether he had only been a victim.

“Well, there wasn’t any other way. Dojae did his best to retaliate.”

“What a total jerk, a real trash.”

“We envied New Entertainement, but it turns out it was a trash group? Glad I didn’t go there.”

“You didn’t get in, remember?”

“Shut up! Back then, I was too young and inexperienced. Now, I’d beat them all.”

While the members were furious at those who had bullied Dojae, Kyuseong was in complete despair.

Kyuseong recalled the message he had exchanged with a friend a while ago.

[Kyuseong~ Did they pick a new member?]

It was his friend Jingu, whom he met at a vocal academy before joining Kingdom.

Jingu had recently auditioned to join Kingdom but didn’t make it.

Despite becoming a trainee at a small agency, Jingu still seemed interested in Kingdom and often asked Kyuseong about new members.

[Yeah, they’re starting tomorrow.]

[Awesome~ What kind of person are they?]

[There are two, but I don’t know much about them yet.]

[How old are they? Are they handsome? More handsome than me? Haha.]

Considering he had failed the audition, Jingu should have felt bad, but he had a good personality.

Kyuseong replied with a quiet smile.

[I don’t know yet.]

[What, you don’t know anything?]

[Haven’t seen a picture, but I heard they’re talented.]

[Of course, they must be if they got picked, haha.]

[I heard they’re both from New Entertainement.]

[New? Wow, that’s big, haha.]

The conversation paused for a moment before Jingu sent another message with a different tone.

[Hey, Kyuseong, hold on. From New Entertainement? That’s not good right now.]

[What do you mean?]

[A trainee who was part of New Entertainement’s debut group left recently.]

[Why did they leave?]

[They got kicked out for causing trouble. I heard they bullied other trainees really badly, doing everything but physically beating them.]

Jingu shared what he had heard from a friend who was a trainee at New Entertainement. It was a well-known story there.

Group bullying.

Even introverted Kyuseong almost experienced it in elementary school.

As he read the messages, Kyuseong’s face darkened.

[They weren’t even a kid; they were an adult. Could it be that the person came to your group? Damn.]

[No way, that’s not possible.]

[You never know. Being from New Entertainment, their skills must be top-notch, though.]

[Do you know their name?]

[I’ll ask.]

But it seemed Jingu’s friend was reluctant to share the name, fearing retaliation. Jingu conveyed his friend’s concern.

Thinking they must be pretty notorious, Kyuseong felt more suspicious. Yet, he couldn’t accuse anyone just because they were from New without knowing their name or appearance.

‘Yeah, I should’ve kept thinking that way.’

The fact that Dojae was from New entertainment’s debut group was decisive.

It was rare for an adult trainee who left New Entertainment’s debut group to appear.

The timing was also uncanny, and it bothered him that Louis seemed to be watching Dojae closely.

‘To think Dojae was just a good guy who liked to follow me around.’

He realized he had mistaken a victim for a perpetrator.

He had been too hasty.

Kyuseong was overwhelmed with unspeakable guilt.

He couldn’t even raise his head, feeling ashamed for having disliked Dojae without reason.

“Kyuseong.”

As the situation was roughly sorted out, Kijoon called out to the silent Kyuseong.

Kyuseong barely lifted his head.

“Tell us. Why did you suddenly act that way?”

At Kijoon’s question, Kyuseong confessed his misunderstanding.

“Anyway. I told you, once he gets angry, there’s no stopping him.”

Woochul, trying to lighten the mood, said something, pretending to be an older brother.

Only Kijoon didn’t know, but Woochul and Heungmin had both been harshly dealt with by Kyuseong when they messed around too much, trusting his gentle and quiet nature.

He was the type to not hold back once angry.

While everyone understood that in Kyuseong’s situation, his misunderstanding was understandable, they couldn’t excuse his rash judgment.

Kyuseong murmured in a small voice.

“What should I do now…?”

“What else? You should apologize.”

At Kijoon’s cold voice, Kyuseong nodded with his head bowed.

***

Dojae sat facing Manager Kim Seokchul in the meeting room.

“Why did you call for me?”

Dojae asked in the same manner as always, mimicking the way Chief Kim used to speak to him. It felt truly strange.

Manager Kim Seokchul glanced at Dojae and asked.

“You requested a counseling session, right? It’s only your second day in the dormitory…. Is there a problem?”