Chapter 333: Stay Strong (6)

Goh Yoo-Joon poured all his emotions into protecting himself and Chronos. He submitted a statement and evidence as the company requested and even decided to press charges. The public opinion surprisingly flipped, and the future responses were led by Su-Hwan as the company took over.

Su-Hwan led the response team and helped the company adopt an unusually aggressive and swift approach. The company’s protective stance toward the artist, efforts to voice his grievances, and a firm stance against Goh Yoo-Joon's father, all added strength to the supportive public opinion. This made people wonder "How wronged had he been to go this far?"

The people’s attitude was gradually becoming positive toward Goh Yoo-Joon, and rumors that had once filled articles about the possibility of the concert being canceled disappeared as if they had never existed in the first place.

"Actually, Yoo-Joon’s image is slowly recovering with the company making such a noise.”

"Ah, that’s a relief. Su-Hwan hyung and the response team are working their butts off.”

Usually, YMM would have dragged the issue until it died down and quietly settled it when public interest waned. Since this was a company with little experience in idol management and no history of handling high-profile artists, the members and fans of Allure and Chronos were particularly vulnerable to controversies. There was a sense of resignation among them in such situations.

However, this prompt action had unusually garnered positive feedback from Rings, though criticisms of why it couldn't have been handled proactively still lingered. Despite the improving external circumstances, the mood within Chronos remained the same.

"Hyun-Woo hyung, did Yoo-Joon hyung eat?"

"He didn’t.”

"Again?” Jin-Sung sighed heavily. His lips twitched as if he had a lot to say, but eventually he remained silent.

"What if Yoo-Joon hyung faints?” Yoon-Chan asked.

Joo-Han looked at the firmly closed door of Goh Yoo-Joon's room. "This is serious. He is not eating at all.”

Joo-Han usually didn’t express concerns in front of the younger members. However, he could no longer hide his worries this time.

Everyone's gaze turned towards Goh Yoo-Joon's room.

"He didn’t talk to you either, right, Hyun-Woo?”

"No, nothing.”

He hadn’t even opened his door or come out, so there was no chance for conversation. It had been three days.

"Yoo-Joon hyung...”

He was usually the most cheerful and playful member, the one who softened the group's mood. Since Goh Yoo-Joon had locked himself in his room after issuing the statement, the members had gathered in the living room and spent their days filled with worry.

"How can he be alright when he is publicly mired in a mud fight with his father? He was tormented by guilt while writing the statement.”

Despite having to make many choices over the past few days, nothing had been for Goh Yoo-Joon’s own benefit. At just eighteen years old, he was enduring a situation that even adults would find overwhelming.

Even Jin-Sung, who usually joked around with Goh Yoo-Joon, was now often on the verge of tears just from talking about him. I tried to console Jin-Sung, who looked like he was about to cry again. "It seems he hasn’t collapsed yet. I can hear some movements from his room.”

Sometimes the slight noises of him getting up or moving in bed were the only reassurances that he was still alive. But with him skipping meals, that too seemed to be reaching a limit.

The thought

‘Is he thinking of dying?’

naturally came to my mind. Deciding to die doesn’t require as much resolve as one might think. People often become vulnerable easily, casually ending their lives as easily as eating a convenience store onigiri meal.

If Goh Yoo-Joon lost the will to continue all acts of living, what would be the right way for us to act?

Someone tapped my arm. "Hyun-Woo.”

"Hmm?”

Joo-Han removed a hairpin from Jin-Sung’s hair and handed it to me. I glanced at the hairpin and asked, "What’s this for?”

"I thought it would be best to wait quietly until Yoo-Joon sorts himself out, but it seems that won’t cut it.”

Not getting what he meant, Joo-Han straightened the hairpin into a straight line and handed it back to me. "Use this to get in.”

"Huh?”

His suggestion came out of the blue, but Joo-Han looked serious. "Might be better to check if he is really okay and help him out. I think I misread the situation.”

Joo-Han stared at the hairpin in his hand before standing and heading to Goh Yoo-Joon’s room.

"Yoo-Joon might be more at ease with you than me, Hyun-Woo. Try talking to him. I’m worried I might just make things worse if I go in.”

It appeared that Joo-Han also realized we couldn’t leave things as they were.

"Got it.” I nodded. Joo-Han immediately knocked on Goh Yoo-Joon’s door.

Knock, knock.

"Yoo-Joon."

All the members looked serious as they waited for a response but, once again, there was no answer from Goh Yoo-Joon once again.

"Yoo-Joon, you okay? Aren’t you hungry?"

Still no reply to Joo-Han’s questions, and he sighed deeply before kneeling down and starting to pick the lock. "I’m coming in, Joon."

With a gentle voice but rough movements, he worked the hairpin on the lock. While I was observing Joo-Han work, Yoon-Chan stepped out briefly and returned before handing me something. It was water and bread. "Hyun-Woo hyung, take this! This is all we’ve got right now... But Yoo-Joon hyung needs to eat."

Yoon-Chan passed me the items with a concerned look.

"I will bring him out," I said.

Click.

The locked door swung open. Joo-Han stood up, stepped back, and looked at me, gesturing for me to go inside. I pushed the door open without hesitation and stepped into the pitch-black room.

The guy who used to throw open the curtains every morning to wake me up didn’t seem bothered by the darkness.

"Goh Yoo-Joon."

Instead of turning on the light, I closed the door behind me and drew back the curtains. It was night, but the city lights were bright enough to light up the room. As I approached Goh Yoo-Joon, who lay unresponsive on the bed, I touched his shoulder to find he was still breathing. He was asleep, not dead.

"Hey, are you asleep?"

"...No."

"I did all of this just to get in your room, look at me at least. Let’s talk."

Goh Yoo-Joon surprisingly rose from the bed without much prompting. He kept his head down but seemed ready to talk.

I handed him a glass of water and asked, "Did you manage to eat anything, even with the members asleep?"

His silence told me he hadn’t.

"Did you get some sleep?"

"..."

Ah, fine. I hadn’t really expected an answer. What kind of response could I expect from someone in tears?

I simply sat beside him as I had done before.

"..."

Every mention of Goh Yoo-Joon brought tears to Jin-Sung’s eyes, and I thought I understood why. I couldn’t tell if it was Goh Yoo-Joon’s sadness affecting me, or if I was reflecting on my own past, but I felt incredibly burdened.

Time passed slowly. Goh Yoo-Joon eventually spoke up in a muffled voice, seeming a bit calmer. "Why are you crying?"

"I’m not. I was waiting for you to finish."

"...It's embarrassing that you had to see that."

"I'm here to take you out of the room." I stood up and patted Yoo-Joon on the back. "Come on, wash up. Let's go outside and talk. Everyone is worried about you."

We had just begun to talk about moving to a lighter space when Goh Yoo-Joon unexpectedly changed the subject.

"I actually liked my dad."

"Oh, did you?”

"We got along pretty well when I was younger."

I sat back down. It seemed he wasn’t ready to leave the room just yet. I wouldn’t force him out. It was better to just listen.

He explained that even before his father’s most recent jail term, there were days when he had been kind to his son. Days like that probably made it even harder for Goh Yoo-Joon to reject his father’s affection and resist his manipulation.

"I'm thinking about cutting ties with him now, and it feels pretty sad."

But in the face of such overwhelming sadness, the only option was to endure.

"Stay strong."

The only way to handle unresolved grief was to endure it. It dulled over time, and you could eventually consider it overcome.

"Don’t be alone in this, though. Let's go through this together. There are a lot of people worrying about you."

"I will stay strong. I’m sorry."

"Enough with the apologies, dude." I chuckled lightly, and Goh Yoo-Joon began to cry again. I found myself longing for his usual playful and irritating antics. I comforted him until his tears stopped and then left the room.

Over the next few days, Goh Yoo-Joon stayed in his room, but didn’t bother to close the curtains I had opened, nor did he lock the door. The members took turns checking on him and keeping him company.

Joo-Han and I updated him about the public sentiment, messages from Rings, and communications from the company to monitor his condition. I heard from Yoon-Chan and Jin-Sung that they just chatted about things completely unrelated to the situation. A few more days passed like this.

[I am Chronos Yoo-Joon’s dad. I apologize for all that has happened.]

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Goh Yoo-Joon’s father posted a handwritten apology on the forum where the initial message had appeared. After discussions with the agency, he stepped back and wrote a desperate apology, although defensively. It acknowledged the truth about the accusations of fraud and gambling that led to his imprisonment and offered apologies to Goh Yoo-Joon, Chronos, the agency, the fans, and the public.

He didn’t seem to wish to go against a company that had made significant revenue through Chronos and Allure recently, even though YMM was a small agency. The response was managed by our team leader Su-Hwan, who accepted the apology but pursued the lawsuit rigorously.

All charges against Goh Yoo-Joon were dropped, and YMM covered the events extensively.

On social networks like BlueBird, hashtags like '#It's_Okay_YooJoon' and '#Dont_Die_YooJoon' popped up as Rings expressed their support and sent messages to Goh Yoo-Joon.

Finally, he came out of his room. "I’m sorry, and thank you, everyone."

Perhaps the efforts of the members had an impact on him.

"I saw my dad's apology."

He had gone online to check the apology himself and looked bitter but somewhat relieved.