There Are Four Top Idol Uncles - Chapter 209
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Part 2, Episode 35
* * *
“I’m gonna be born with a Haion spoon next time too. Damn it!!!”
Yewon turned quietly to look toward the source of the shout behind her.
It was a table in the third-year section.
‘Haion spoon.’
This phrase had been born from a malicious article reported last year.
Originally, all the adults—Yusong, those at GLEET, and everyone else—had worked tirelessly to ensure that Yewon’s connection to the Hyun family remained hidden.
They had already judged that Yewon was receiving more than enough unwanted attention simply from her known ties to Director Yeon Taejung and Lee Doha.
If public interest in Yewon’s family connections had remained just that—mere curiosity—it wouldn’t have mattered. But the problem was that criticism attached itself to her career as well.
Even for roles Yewon had landed entirely on her own, without adult assistance, there was always murmuring that she’d gotten them thanks to ‘Grandfather’s Spoon’ or ‘Uncle’s Spoon.’
Yewon understood those looks to some degree, and she knew well that she had to bear them. After all, there were times when she did receive help.
Whenever such reactions came, Yewon believed that all she had to do was act well. An actress showed her craft through acting. If she outperformed everyone else, who would dare criticize her?
And indeed, each time Yewon displayed overwhelmingly brilliant acting, the voice of criticism weakened, and the voices supporting and cheering her grew louder.
Buoyed by that support, when recognition of Yewon’s acting ability reached its peak in <Very Another Day>—
[EXCLUSIVE: Not Lee Yewon, but Hyun Yewon? Daughter of Hyeon Yuseong from Haion]
This article dropped.
[A birth secret surrounding Lee Yewon (12), one of South Korea’s leading child actresses, has been revealed belatedly. According to this outlet’s investigation, Hyeon Yuseong (38), the second son of the Haion family and CEO of Haewon Entertainment where Yewon works, has been confirmed to be Yewon’s biological father—someone previously known only as a ‘neighbor like family.’
This fact emerged through recent anonymous tips and testimony from multiple sources….]
When that article broke, the whole family went into chaos, naturally.
Haion sent a massive protest to the newspaper, and Time Entertainment scrambled to protect Yewon however they could.
But.
[‘Top Child Actress’ Lee Yewon’s Shocking Identity…Revealed as Biological Daughter of Hyeon Yuseong, Haion Heir]
[Lee Doha from GLEET, Director Yeon Taejung, and Haion—In-Laws? The Birth Secret Surrounding Yewon]
[True ‘Silver Spoon’ of Entertainment Industry, Birth of an Heiress Bridging Entertainment and Finance]
The adults’ efforts were rendered meaningless as all the news in South Korea buzzed about Yewon.
It was too late to suppress an article already published, and the adults ended up looking frantically for where the leak had come from—
‘…and concluded it was an inside job.’
And that inside person was probably….
Yewon glanced at Siwoo, whose face had turned ashen before her eyes.
His adoptive mother—or should she say his aunt?—was suspected to be the culprit.
Mrs. Ju had thrown a fit, demanding that she be cast out of the family immediately, but due to the protection of a certain distant elder who insisted that divorce was absolutely impossible in their household, it hadn’t come to that.
Of course, while she hadn’t been ‘cast out,’ she was being thoroughly ostracized in practice—excluded from virtually all family gatherings.
‘She probably wanted to prevent Haion from secretly supporting me….’
Though I’ve been refusing all help from Haion anyway….
Yewon sighed, thinking of a distant figure whose face she’d never even seen.
In any case.
So what did Yewon and Yusong do?
They neither confirmed nor denied it.
They simply maintained complete silence. Declining all related questions and interviews.
‘Dad wanted me to deny it, actually.’
But Yewon had refused that.
She didn’t want to drive another nail into the heart of Yusong, who was already tormented by guilt toward her.
‘He’s my dad now, after all.’
But she didn’t want to ride on Haion’s halo either.
So Yewon chose to neither confirm nor deny.
Which caused an uproar in the media and on social media. Yes or no….
Ninety percent of people bet that Yewon was indeed the granddaughter of Haion, but ten percent wagered on all sorts of bizarre conspiracy theories.
Yewon paid no mind to either side.
‘I’m too busy rescuing my uncle anyway.’
And just adapting to middle school is exhausting enough!
‘…Though admittedly, people like that picking fights does get tiring.’
Thinking of it as something she’d have to face eventually, her heart settled more easily.
She’d started to shake her head at how even a third-grader hadn’t gotten their act together, when—
“…I’m sorry.”
Siwoo apologized to her.
Unlike before, his face was burning red.
“I’ll go yell at that senior. That was way too rude—”
“No, Siwoo.”
Yewon grabbed his wrist as he pushed up from his seat.
“I’m fine. Really. Not bothered at all.”
“…!”
“So sit down and eat already, okay? Today’s lunch is good.”
At Yewon’s words, Siwoo stared at her with a dazed expression before nodding slowly and slumping back into his seat.
Yewon watched him with sympathetic eyes.
‘He’s feeling guilty because of his mother. He doesn’t need to feel that way at all.’
“Is he your bodyguard or something?”
Just then, Seo-a asked from beside them, her tone dripping with skepticism.
“Why are you making such a fuss over her with one comment? I thought you were some kind of knight-errant.”
At Seo-a’s words, Siwoo’s face flushed even deeper.
“That’s not… it’s just that kind of talk isn’t right.”
“What do you mean? I’d be thrilled to have the Haion spoon. Is that an insult?”
Seo-a said that and turned to look at Yewon.
“While we’re at it, let me ask. Are you really Haion’s granddaughter?”
At that question.
Yewon felt every ear in the vicinity perk up toward her.
In an instant, the surroundings fell into an eerie silence.
Hmm.
‘They’re all so transparent.’
Instead of answering, Yewon rose slightly and asked the two of them.
“Done eating? Want to go to the snack bar? I’ll buy you both ice candy.”
“!”
That’s what Uncle told her.
If you want to make friends in middle school, start by offering ice candy.
‘Let’s see if it actually works.’
* * *
It was an unspoken rule that the Film Production Club met every Friday after school.
Obviously, finishing a film was impossible if they only shot during regular class hours.
So the routine was to gather and shoot on Fridays first, then do additional filming on weekends depending on how the footage looked.
And today was the first day the Film Production Club would meet after school.
‘…And the day I become everyone’s enemy.’
Sigh.
Yewon swallowed her tears and headed toward the practice room with her friends.
“So we’re deciding what project to work on today, right?”
At Jeongyun’s words, Harin nodded.
“Right. Even though they said we don’t get a choice.”
At that, all the kids sighed together.
‘Having to take whatever role the seniors give us!’
“So even if the actors don’t have a proper role, they just have to hold the lights.”
“Hold the lights? Those seniors would never give us something so important. They’ll probably just tell us to fetch water.”
“True.”
“Ugh. That’s my luck. Why do I never get a choice anywhere—I’m always just picked and sent wherever?”
“I actually kind of miss the days of that survival show.”
“Hey, that was perfect. I mean, that kind of survival thing doesn’t come around twice.”
At Baek Yun’s grumbling, Jeongyun poked him in the ribs.
Then the children’s gazes turned toward Siwoo, who had been trailing behind them with a gloomy expression like a limp sack of grain.
And….
At some point, their attention shifted to Seo-a, who had been confidently following along.
‘But who is this girl and why has she been following us this whole time???’
‘I don’t know. Figured she was Yewon’s friend so didn’t ask. If we ask why she’s tagging along, it seems rude. Since you’re a girl like her, why don’t you ask?’
The Yoo siblings exchanged looks before turning to ask Yewon.
“Yewon. Is she… a classmate?”
“Oh, yeah. Her name’s Seo-a. Seo-a, these are Jeongyun, Baek Yun, and Harin. Turns out Seo-a’s in our club too.”
Seo-a glanced at the three of them and then simply nodded without saying much.
At her demeanor, the three friends were momentarily baffled, but when they saw Yewon’s unbothered expression, they accepted it.
‘She’s brought home another strange one!’
‘We thought Hyeon Siwoo alone was enough this year!’
Since it was routine for Yewon to pick up one odd child each year and nurture them carefully before sending them off like a mother bird, the friends didn’t ask further questions.
* * *
The moment the five friends stepped into the practice room.
The first person to catch her eye was Mun Hyeok.
He sat alone in the farthest corner, isolated.
On the other side—
“For the first shoot, I think we should probably start with this scene—”
“We’ll need to contact those locations we got permits for again, right, Eun-o?”
“Right. The weather really has to cooperate. The costumes—Siwoo’s father said he’d sponsor them—”
There was someone at the center of it all.
“Wow. So the CEO really is the CEO. Pretty popular. What’s the secret? A good personality?”
Jeongyun said it with admiration.
Hmm.
That didn’t seem to be it, Yewon wanted to say….
Instead, Yewon quietly took a seat in front of Hyuk.
And in that moment.
“Now that everyone’s here, let me start by explaining the third-year project.”
Yoo Eun-o stepped forward with his laptop and spoke.
“As announced before, third-years will each produce one short film under forty minutes during the first semester. We’ll first decide who participates in this project. The film’s title is—”
Yoo Eun-o said this and switched on the beam projector.
Then a large title appeared in the center of the screen.
!
Seeing the title, Yewon’s face went rigid.
No.
That couldn’t be. There’s no way. No.
“Proof of Summer”
Yoo Eun-o.
There was no way he could have made that film.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————