DASH-Chapter 149

The broadcasting station had high hopes for Kwon Jaekyoung’s debut on a variety show, and sure enough, it aired nationwide during prime time on the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday.

Jiheon really, really didn’t want to watch it, but Jaekyoung insisted, saying, “This is my first variety show. You’re not going to watch it live? Are you going to slack off on your job?” So Jiheon reluctantly sat beside Jaekyoung and tuned in.

However, Kwon Jaekyoung frowned and turned away when about four of his commercials played in a row before the show started. Jiheon tried to convince him.

“Hey, can you really watch an hour-long variety show if you can’t even stand a 15-second CF with yourself in it? No way, right?”

Jiheon pleaded with him to give up and do something else, but Jaekyoung wouldn’t listen.

“I’m not watching to see me. I’m watching to see you, hyung.”

And then he added, “Hyung, you shouldn’t watch to see yourself either. Just focus on me.”

Jiheon clicked his tongue, questioning the logic, but secretly thought Jaekyoung was a genius.

‘He’s got a point. I can just focus on Jaekyoung without paying attention to myself. Jaekyoung’s clothes were pretty and his makeup was done well during the recording... If I don’t watch, I’m the one missing out.’

Jiheon, who had been eagerly awaiting the show, bolted from his seat and ran to his room the moment he saw the CG of a bell ringing and pollen flying in the scene where the MC introduced today’s contestant.

Trying to call Inyeop, who didn’t answer, he sent a barrage of protest messages through messenger, asking, “Sunbae, why the hell are you doing this?”, “What’s going on with the editing?”, “The CG is ridiculous,” and ended up lying on his bed. He feared the latter part would be just as bad but lacked the courage to check it on the broadcast. Instead, he monitored the real-time reactions on social media, and it seemed to worsen over time.

[Since when did Joining the Enemy become a dating show?]

[Kwon Jaekyoung went on a variety show just to flaunt his lover, didn’t he?]

[Are they getting married or already married?]

[Is this a decade-long love story?]

[But is this grooming or reverse-grooming, though?] [1] please see translator's note

[Either way, that assistant manager has zero conscience....]

No one talked about Jaekyoung’s hard work and tears as a national swimmer preparing for the Olympics, only his obsession, tenacity, and persistence for a decade.

Right after the show ended, articles flooded in like crazy. Reflecting people’s intense interest, the top-viewed entertainment articles were all about Joining the Enemy, and oddly enough, the top comments were the same no matter where you clicked. The first spot was undoubtedly:

<Long live the Republic of Korea>

And second and third places were also:

<The future of our country’s swimming is bright>

<For at least the next 20 years, Korea will be the best swimming powerhouse in the world>

<It’s a very happy day for Korean citizens>

etc..

The content mainly revolved around patriotism, which didn’t seem quite fitting for the entertainment section.

The forum reaction wasn’t much different either, with young patriots dominating the board until late at night, seriously discussing the future of the Korean swimming industry.

On the other hand, some conservatives remarked:

[Don’t expect their child to be a swimmer just because both parents are swimmers. They should ask their child’s opinion]

But a few cautious voices shared their views:

[But are they really in that kind of relationship? Why is everyone talking like they’re definitely gonna get married? Maybe it’s just a really good relationship between a manager and their athlete.]

However, that comment quickly disappeared after some replied:

[Hey, you’ve never dated anyone, have you?]

[I bet you’ve been single all your life.]

As the dawn broke, people started to slowly regain their composure, attempting to cool down the overheated atmosphere:

<But that sunbae-nim... is it just me who thinks he’s an Alpha?>

<I can tell that assistant manager is an Alpha just by looking at his face>

<He’s at the very least must be a Beta. In any case, he’s not an Omega, definitely not; that’s absolutely impossible;>

However, some folks simply cursed:

[Just believe in Kwon Jaekyoung and throw away that traitor.]

Posts claiming [I went to the same school as Jeong Jiheon, and he is a Beta/Alpha] were reported for spreading false information.

The fan cafe, where Jaekyoung’s enthusiastic fans gathered, was temporarily closed. Later, when Jiheon used Minwoo’s forum account, the first thing he saw was them blaming Jiheon. However, the situation quickly calmed down as opinions gathered in the directions of:

[Still, he’s the one who made Kwon Jaekyoung what he is today, so shouldn’t we be thankful for that? He’s a hundred times better than that useless Cha Seonghyeon.]

And then, Cha Seonghyeon’s fans showed up in every article about Joining the Enemy, shouting <Long Live the Republic of Korea> and <Long Live Cha Bokjeol> [2].

Jaekyoung seemed pretty pleased with the atmosphere where the whole nation accepted it as a foregone conclusion, whether it was half-joking or not. Unlike Jiheon, who gave up after checking the reaction for about half a day, he spent the entire holiday glued to his cell phone. The guy who claimed he’d never seen news or articles about himself in his entire life didn’t go to the gym and only searched for “Kwon Jaekyoung Jeong Jiheon” on the internet all day long, but his expression seemed happy and joyful.

Of course, there were times when he would frown and swear. Mostly, when he read comments like:

<They don’t get along well>

<That sunbae doesn’t seem to be interested in Kwon Jaekyoung>

<No matter how you look at him, he definitely likes girls>

At one point, Jaekyoung was tapping his fingers like crazy, so Jiheon wondered what he was doing.

So it seemed like he just saw a comment like this:

<If this is how it’s gonna be, why didn’t he just date Cha Seonghyeon? Just looking at the sunbae’s face, you can see that he looks like a lower version of Cha Seonghyeon. He definitely did it to drag Kwon Jaekyoung to his company, but Kwon Jaekyoung was so naïve and passed it on. I think that sunbae is gonna set up a separate company and do business using Kwon Jaekyoung’s name. Just look at him, he’s so good at persuading Kwon Jaekyoung to shoot commercials and appearing on a variety show.>

In response to that long comment, Jaekyoung typed a long sentence that started with a curse, <Youfuckingidiotyoudontknowafuckingthing>

Of course, the comment wasn’t even registered because it violated the forum’s rules, and Jaekyoung had to delete his forum ID in front of Jiheon.

Anyway, the aftermath of the broadcast turned out to be even bigger than expected. Jiheon and Jaekyoung’s names were trending in real-time searches throughout the holiday, and articles kept coming in.

On the last day of the holiday, Jisoo sent a message.

[I wonder if my brother-in-law, who is four years younger than me, has a job but doesn’t go to work but still makes a lot of money, is actually...?]

Jisoo attached a screenshot of the Joining the Enemy broadcast. It was the part where hearts poured out from Jaekyoung’s eyes as he looked at Jiheon. Inyeop went all out with unnecessary CG.

Jiheon thought for a moment and replied.

[Don’t say anything to Mom and Dad]

[Pretend you don’t know, please]

[Jisoo-ya]

After seeing her brother’s serious message, Jisoo called immediately.

｢Is it really Kwon Jaekyoung? Really?｣

Jisoo almost screamed, but then she lowered her voice.

｢Oh, but I watched Joining the Enemy with Mom and Dad.｣

“Really? What did they say......?”

｢Well, Mom just said Kwon Jaekyoung is handsome.｣

‘Yeah, Jaekyoung is indeed handsome.’

It was the moment when Jiheon felt relieved and a weight lifted off his chest.

｢But when I asked Dad what he thought of a son-in-law like that, he said he didn’t like good-looking guys because they were high maintenance.｣

‘......Is it not okay to be too handsome? But it’s not his fault, right? What the hell is he supposed to do with that? Dad is just finding fault with everything.’

Jiheon hung up the phone, filled with frustration and rebellion against his father that he had never felt even during his adolescence.

The internet went crazy, and there was no way the company could remain sane. When Jiheon returned to work after the holidays, people from all departments came to him and greeted him, saying they enjoyed watching the broadcast.

However, beneath the surface, they were dying to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} know about Jiheon’s relationship with Kwon Jaekyoung.

If it were a broadcast concept, they might have teased him with remarks like, “When are you gonna feed him noodles?” But it seemed they couldn’t say anything because Jiheon and Jaekyoung genuinely appeared to be in that kind of relationship.

A relationship between athletes and agents was a serious issue in this world... and it was bound to become a sensitive topic. Since the agent also acted as a counselor for the athlete, forming mutual trust was important. However, if it went beyond that and the boundaries became indistinguishable, it could definitely pose a problem.

Unable to say anything, everyone just smiled, implying, ‘Yeah, yeah, I know everything.’ Team Leader Lee then called Jiheon into the conference room about ten minutes before lunch. As they sat facing each other at the long desk, she cut to the chase.

“Mr. Jeong, I’m sorry to suddenly ask you this, but are you going to marry Kwon Jaekyoung?”

Jiheon felt quite embarrassed. Expecting to talk about Jaekyoung, he didn’t anticipate skipping the dating question and jumping straight to marriage. Though, of course, the answer was actually yes.

“I think that’s probably... going to happen, ma’am.”

Just a couple of months ago, during the initial filming of Joining the Enemy, Jiheon was serious about not being in that kind of relationship with Jaekyoung. Now, faced with the direct question about marriage, Jiheon’s face turned red, feeling like it was burning.

He avoided Team Leader Lee’s gaze, nervously clasping and unclasping his hands on the desk.

“Do you have any plans within the year, Mr. Jeong?”

Well, I’m not sure about marriage plans, but I do have childbirth plans.

‘─ Is it okay to say that? ...No, I have to tell the company after the 12th week. And it doesn’t make sense for the company to know before Jaekyoung does.’

“I see. Congratulations.”

While Jiheon was pondering hard, Team Leader interpreted his silence as a positive response and quickly moved on to the topic of transferring.

“Congratulations, but I think you should consider moving after the Olympics, Mr. Jeong. It’s better to transfer regardless of when you get married. Being in charge of Kwon Jaekyoung might stir up talks among athletes. You understand what I mean, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. I understand.”

Jiheon nodded. Truthfully, even if the company asked him to resign over this, he had no choice but to accept it. Transferring departments seemed like a very reasonable solution. Besides, there was no reason to decline after the Olympics.

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‘After the Olympics, I’ll need to apply for maternity leave in September... Starting in a new department right after that would be perfect.’

The more he thought about it, the more it felt like a perfect plan for postpartum recovery. Jiheon left the conference room with Team Leader Lee, wearing a satisfied expression.

(end of volume 4)

Note:

[1] grooming, reverse grooming: (키잡, 역키잡) abbreviation for (역)키워서 잡아먹기 (literal meaning: raise it to eat it/be eaten by it).

키잡 (grooming) is where the top raises/takes care of the younger bottom and has a romantic relationship later on, while 역키잡 (reverse grooming) is where the bottom raises/takes care of the younger top and has a romantic relationship later on.

These are not very unusual/rare tags in Korean novelkisss. However, though they may sound highly negative in the translation, the Korean novelkisss usually restrict such a relationship to only when both characters are adults. In fact, Korean readers (or their literature community in general) are very sensitive and strict when it comes to mature/sexual content involving underage characters.

PLEASE NOTE that Dash doesn’t have any of those tags. MC may be 6 years older than ML, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s “raising” ML