The Malicious Member Returns! Episode 120
At the same time.
The manager who followed the grocery shopping team, Jo Tae-wook…
“Ah, fuck. These little shits are so damn full of themselves.”
He had cranked the car’s music volume to the max and was pouring out his complaints alone.
“They don’t know a thing about the world, so why are they acting up? Do they already think they’re stars just because girls like them a bit?”
He spat out words that would make anyone frown and pass by, then slammed the steering wheel with his fist and fumed.
“…
Fucking sick of this.”
Normally, he should have gone into the mart with the members and focused on taking care of them, but there was a reason he was alone in the van, raging like this.
The reactions of the grocery shopping team members toward him weren’t very positive.
“Ah, so you’re Mr. Si-woo, Mr. Jang Si-won’s younger brother, right? Wow. If my older brother were someone like that, I think I’d just lie down and do nothing but spend money!”
“…
Hyung, the money is yours… and I just, don’t really want to do that.”
“Ehe-hey, what’s that between family? What’s yours is mine, what’s mine is yours. Si-woo, if you do that, Mr. Si-won will definitely be disappointed, you know? From what I know, Si-woo even shot a CF thanks to Mr. Si-won….”
“……”
“Huh? Where are you going!”
He was just trying to be nice and get friendly, but all of a sudden, he was ignored and just walked ahead.
“But, Mr. Logan. Isn’t Liverpool a place with really thick English dialect? But you don’t seem like that at all.”
“Oh, well, sometimes you might hear it, right? Or… maybe, it’s because my grandmother doesn’t really use the Liverpool dialect!”
“Ah, so you must have been really well-educated, then? Heh… then you must be the same, Mr. Logan.”
“Um… if you really want to put it that way, I suppose so?”
“I’m so curious about this! What’s your educational background? Did you prepare for some very expensive university? Like Cambridge, or something like that? I heard the way you go to university in the UK is really different from Korea…”
“―Sorry. That’s too difficult in Korean, I can’t understand well.”
Just a moment ago, he was grinning and laughing along, but then suddenly he pretended not to understand what people were saying!
“Ah, manager hyung. From here on, we’ll just go by ourselves. I asked the camera director, and he thought that would be better.”
“…
Haha! Mr. Hwa-seong, but I am your manager, am I not? I have to follow you around, prepare for any unexpected situations, and all. You know?”
“Huh. There aren’t many people here, so I think it’ll be fine? And the camera director is here too. Just go rest in the van. Today’s shoot is busy, so you’ll have a lot to do later, right?”
“Ahem….”
And at times like this, he was subtly interfering with Tae-wook’s plan to appear on camera and get word-of-mouth as a ‘hardworking manager’.
“Sigh….”
Tae-wook squeezed the steering wheel until the veins stood out on his hands, trying to calm his churning heart.
‘No, even if I don’t like it, I have to endure it for now.’
Tae-wook hadn’t yet signed a proper contract with AG. For now, he was first following an urgent schedule for Tioje, and only after returning from this schedule and stamping the contract would he become a ‘real’ manager.
‘…Let’s just stamp the contract first and get started.’
Tae-wook gritted his teeth as he watched Tioje’s younger member line approaching with the cameraman.
Clunk―
“…
Oh! You’re here. Haha, I wonder if the filming went well.”
Tae-wook plastered a smile on his face—the one that had been distorted just moments ago—and naturally greeted the members.
The music that had been blasting loud enough to make the van rumble was turned off at some point, and the faint cigarette smell was masked by the deodorizer Tae-wook had sprayed all over.
“Ah, it was… okay. Grocery shopping, I did it once before.”
“Right. Yu-chan hyung and Chun-yong hyung went once. We’re already experienced, you know. Hwa-seong, understand? When the price is the same, buying fresh ones is the right call. It’s not about the quantity.”
“No, what are you talking about now? When there are six mouths, you need more quantity! Wow, I feel so wronged. And I carried all the stuff too, you know? Go on, try to excuse yourself.”
“Haha, Hwa-seong. Losers talk a lot.”
“Hyung… it’s because you lost at rock-paper-scissors.”
“Wow, Jang Si-woo. You too?”
“Haha! Alright, I’ll start driving now. Everyone, fasten your seatbelts!”
Pretending not to hear the members’ boisterous voices, Tae-wook smoothly drove the van off.
“……”
As he did so, he didn’t forget to carefully observe each member through the rearview mirror.
“But, I wonder if the hyungs… will know what kind of food this is? I think we, kinda bought it all over the place….”
Jang Si-woo’s refined and pretty face, and his gentle, quiet way of speaking.
“What? Wouldn’t it be weird if they didn’t know? We picked them out perfectly fine. I’m pretty sure they’ll know.”
Logan’s flowing, smooth English pronunciation, and the round, delicate features reminiscent of a good puppy.
“No, more than that, we should be doubting the hyungs’ cooking skills. Jae-ha hyung isn’t bad, but I’ve never seen Yu-chan hyung and Chun-yong hyung cook. Is this going to be okay…?”
Ji Hwa-seong’s blond hair, which shook with every word he spoke, and the pale skin beneath it. And even his tall, well-proportioned body.
“Then, I’ll just start with a melon ice cream… I might skip breakfast.”
“Agree. Give me one too, Si-woo.”
“Ah, me too.”
On top of that, even their conversations were witty, and they already had tons of recognition from the survival show.
“…
Hmph.”
Tae-wook changed lanes and sneered silently.
He didn’t like them, but Tioje were truly…
the perfect idol for Tae-wook’s grand ambition.
‘I’ll ride on your coattails a bit, and this hyung is definitely going to suck some honey this time.’
Tae-wook had always loved playing around. It was his inborn nature. Even during his school days, rather than studying for entrance exams, it was soccer or dating. Even after barely getting into university, instead of grades, it was drinking, clubs, and dating.
While others lived breathlessly chasing certifications, TOEIC scores, and job searches, Tae-wook’s head was filled only with thoughts like that. Ways to play more thrillingly. Ways to work half-heartedly, suck honey, and drink.
Ironically, it was during his time in the military—the period when he had to be the most diligent in his life—that Tae-wook found his path.
“…
Really? You’re saying even if they’re not celebrities, you can play with people as pretty as celebrities. And if you get close to the celebrity you’re in charge of, you can still slack off at work?”
“Yes! My older brother is a manager team leader at a small agency, and he says after you build connections during your road manager days, everyone plays like that!”
“If you’re lucky, you even play with celebrities? Play drinking games?”
“Yes, that’s right. But of course, only if you’re really lucky. Sometimes, even with celebrities…”
“Hey, hey. Enough. Shut up. What was your name again?”
“Yes! Chung! Seong! Private, Choi! Hak! Jun! Sir!”
“…
Don’t you want to make the rest of your military life easy?”
“I’m sorry! I don’t have a sister or a younger sister! I don’t have a girlfriend either! No friends of my girlfriend’s friends! I’m sorry!”
“No, fuck. Don’t bullshit.”
‘I just want to get a bit close to your brother, you little shit!’
That was how Tae-wook, without any notable grades, portfolio, or experience, was able to start working as a manager.
He had no grades, portfolio, or experience, but Tae-wook was good at matching drinks. He was even better at drinking games, and twice as good at sucking up to people he needed to impress.
‘I was lucky.’
But perhaps because they eventually sensed that his motives had started from such impure intentions, that actress cut ties with Tae-wook after just a year and six months.
‘I thought my line in the entertainment industry was gone for good… but then AG, which I’d half-heartedly applied to, contacted me.’
As Tae-wook slowly eased the van into the parking lot near the camping site, he calmly laid out his next plans.
‘Since those brats are way too obvious about finding me awkward, I’ll have to start with the adults. I’ll emphasize that I’m older than them and that I can show them a fun time.’
And with that, the first person Tae-wook thought of was Kim Chun-yong.
‘His gaze was a bit prickly, but unlike his looks, he seemed nice. Perfect fit.’
A face with a rugged, wild charm that would definitely be cheered at a drinking party, and even the way he already seemed extremely close with the members.
‘If I get close with one, the other members will follow in no time.’
Even back when Kim Chun-yong was active as Rex, Jo Tae-wook had been this way.
“Oh my, Mr. Jae-ha. Let me handle something like that! Give it here, give it.”
“Ah, manager-nim. I can do it too.”
“No, no. It’s only right that I do it. And… please call me comfortably? Wahaha, just don’t call me ‘hey’! Tae-wook hyung would be best. I’ll help you out a lot.”
“Hmm, tha… thank you.”
After getting close to each person with very trivial things, he’d make them unable to refuse his words.
“Si-woo. I’m really sorry, but I don’t think hyung can go with you for today’s schedule… I’m feeling, way too sick.”
“Ahh… are you okay? Then I’ll tell the company so they can send someone else just for today…”
“Wait, wait! That’s fine too, but ahem. Then hyung’s position could be in danger in the future… you’re not hoping for something like that, are you?”
“Uh, uh…”
“Can you ask Jae-ha just for today? So hyung will make sure this never happens again, cough!”
“R-rest, hyung! I’ll, tell Jae-ha hyung…”
So that they could never tell the company, no matter what.
A catalyst is needed for a person to change. Even something very small.
But Tae-wook, who had never received such a thing his whole life, nor had any intention of giving it, only repeated his wrong choices.
‘They’re trainees, so they must have all grown up nice and sheltered. The oldest one is just a college student who hasn’t even been to the military yet. Then, fuck, they’ll be a piece of cake.’
“…
Puhaha!”
Tae-wook, who burst into laughter without realizing it, slowly made his way toward the campsite, following the members who had gone ahead.
With the intention of approaching Kim Chun-yong during break time.
However.
“Huh?”
As soon as he set foot in the campsite, Tae-wook instinctively sensed that something was turning strange.
“Is that so?”
“Ah, yes. It just suddenly came to me without thinking… I’d be grateful if you could help, but you don’t need to go out of your way.”
“…
Haha. No. I’ll help you.”
He saw Yoo Ho-bin plastered to Kim Chun-yong’s side, his face smiling as if something was very amusing.
“Huhh….”
Unable to control his expression for a moment, Tae-wook folded his arms and let out a voice of disbelief.
The senses he had honed through drinking parties and dating whirred into action. There must have been some kind of conversation between the two. And that if Ho-bin grew attached to Tioje, his own place might disappear.
“…
This won’t do. No way, sunbae-nim.”
He muttered lowly and slowly moved his steps.
To deal with this greedy sunbae who suddenly coveted his spot.
* * *
“…
Sigh.”
After a conversation with Yoo Ho-bin about ‘I need to get Choi Ga-on’s autograph for my noona but the problem is I never get to see his face,’ Kim Chun-yong entered the camper van. He pulled out his phone from his pocket with a faint sigh.
As if refusing to hold back now that it was on silent, messages from X were flooding the screen.
- X: Hey the effect was insane wtf this is a new paradigm for our company
- X: I just went and reported it, ready to get torn apart, you know? But guess what
- X: He absolutely loved it. It’s been a daily grind of getting chewed out for only being a nuisance, but this is seriously bonus material
- X: Ah!!!! I’m so freaking excited
- X: Heyyy Chunyong Chunyong Chunyong♡ When I get the bonus, I’ll give you one skill or stat boost lol
- X: Uuuung (⌒▽⌒)☆ Who would’ve thought our Rextrashtalk would be this helpful to me ㅠ
“…
Pft.”
Normally, he would have sent a reply telling him to stop with the creepy shit, but just for today, Kim Chun-yong ended the exchange with a simple [thx] without much comment.
Well, it was well deserved. The skill he had schemed with X to obtain this time was far more helpful than he’d expected.
[Overlap (F): When the skill user performs an action that might trigger the target, the memory of that time resurfaces, applying a Charisma modifier (possible demerit). Effect: Charisma toward target -10% ~ +10%]
When that memory was a bad one, using it was worse than not using it at all, and it was a little regrettable that he’d lost two skills at once. But since he’d achieved his immediate goal, it was not a losing deal for Kim Chun-yong either.
“…….”
As he put on an apron over his clothes for the next filming, Kim Chun-yong calmly mulled over the next matters.
‘First, earning goodwill was a success. If I’m lucky, maybe I won’t even have to do anything next and he’ll change his mind.’
However, one must always stay on guard and be prepared for everything. Having experienced all sorts of things himself during
‘So, what I need to keep a close eye on is….’
Knock knock—
— Chunyong? Are you ready? I think we need to start cooking now!
“Ah, yes! I’ll be right out, hyung!”
Of course, for now, he had to climb the mountain right in front of him: cooking for the reality show.