Chapter 56

President YG looked up when a knock sounded on his door. It opened and Manager Hyung walked inside.

"As you requested, President YG, Mr Lee Seung-hyun is here." Manager Hyung said.

Seungri appeared from behind his manger, his expression blank and indifferent.

"Thank you." President YG replied from his seat behind his desk.

Manager Hyung left, sparing a worry glance towards the dark haired boy he had summoned from the training room. He closed the door behind him, leaving Seungri and President YG alone.

President YG's office was unlike any other room Seungri had seen. It was nice, even nicer than any president offices he had seen on TV, but in an entirely different way. It lacked the formality of any president offices would have. There was no stiff furniture which had seemed purposefully placed to intimidate and impress any visitor. Instead, the circular room has a startlingly airy space, the walls lined with different types of cute figures that only inspired curiosity instead of promoting awe and fear. For a moment, Seungri forgot himself and stared at the cute figures.

"Cute figures, aren't they?" President YG said conversationally as if Seungri was just joining him for tea.

Seungri jerked his head back to the desk in front of him, abandoning his curiosity the instant President YG had spoken. It only took the sight of President YG at his desk for an unwanted chill to ripple down his spine.

"Please, take a seat." President YG gestured to a chair at the table.

For a moment Seungri remained where he stood, but when President YG didn't continue, Seungri soundlessly took a seat.

"Seungri, I just read the contents of that article from the magazine.” President YG said at last, not unkindly, as he folded his hands on his desk, his eyes never leaving Seungri's face. “Would you care to tell me about what had happened during the interview that made the article being published in such a way?"

"I still don't know how the article turned out this way."Seungri lied, knowing that nothing good will happen if President YG were to find out about this.

President YG paused for a moment before he turned the pages of the magazine.

If President YG noticed that Seungri had lied, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he plowed ahead, his voice never losing its infuriating calmness. “You mentioned that instead of performing classical musicals such as Mozart or Romeo and Juliet, you already have a plot in mind.”

"Yes."

"And you told the reporter about it.”

"Yes."

“And you mentioned that two friends turned into enemies and started to kill each other.”

"Yes," Seungri snapped, disliking where the conversation was headed, disliking the fact that President YG seemed to have the most irritating habit of making him lose all control, from even just the simplest of questions. "Is there a problem with that?"

"There is no problem, Seungri," President YG replied calmly. "I was merely checking the facts. It seems that your answers have been misinterpreted."

Seungri didn't say anything as he avoided President YG’s gaze.

“Seungri, as a celebrity, you need to understand that you need to be careful on everthing you did.” President YG explained simply. “For now, I will not continue to pursue this incident. Do you still remember about the 3 out system?”

Seungri was having a nervous breakdown.  Why did President YG suddenly decided to let this incident go so easily? Why did he talk about the 3 out system? Seungri couldn't help but wonder if President YG actually knew something.

Seungri looked at President YG carefully before answering.

"This isn't my fault," Seungri answered simply, his black eyes flashing. “It’s like what you had said, my answers have been misinterpreted.”

"Perhaps not," President YG agreed, and Seungri blinked, stunned at the agreement. "But I would like to give you a strike. Regardless of what happened, getting your answers misinterpreted is still your fault. I hope that this could remind you to look out for you actions.”

Seungri had to bite down hard on his tongue to stop himself from arguing with President YG. It doesn’t matter that he just got himself a strike as long as President YG stopped interrogating him.

While Seungri remained silent, President YG took a chance to speak.

“Before I forget, you and Hyun Seng will have a press conference next week to clear up this incident regardless of whether this article is true or not. For the mean time, your upcoming activities will be put on hold until the conference has ended.”

Seungri was silently fuming, his anger causing heat to rise in his cheeks. His fingers were curled so tightly around the arms of his chair that they were white from the strain. Not only have his activies been put on hold, he even had to have a press conference with Hyun Seng. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He wasn't supposed to have the same fate as Hyun Seng. Yet there he was, shaking from pure outrage, while President YG merely watched.

Seungri meet President YG's eyes, and for a few minutes he did not move, he was searching, President YG's face and his own mind, trying to find something, a shred of enlightenment on which he could cling.

“What if Hyun Seng Hyung did not want to attend this press conference with me?”
 

Seungri was vaguely aware that he was being sarcastic, but President YG made no mention about it.

"It's because of that that I am quite certain that Hyun Seng would agree to attend this press conference." President YG said calmly.”If both of you still want to be in the entertainment industry.”

Seungri gnashed his teeth angrily together, becoming more irate by the second.

He didn't wait for President YG to dismiss him. Everything was a blur, a red angry blur, as Seungri leapt to his feet and stormed out of the office, rage blazing down the back of his neck in a stifling heat.

As Seungri walked along the corridor, he felt another emotion building inside him. It was a pure hatred, with flames of enmity that could never be put out. Not even time could destroy that blazing emotion, and time never would.

President YG may have interfered with this round, but it wasn't over.

It was far from over.