The Villainous Member Has Returned! Episode 137
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Lunchtime at a girls' high school was a time of liberation.
“Anyone want to go walk around the field?”
“Me! Wait, no, I have something I want to talk about. Do you know what Saengyun said earlier? It’s seriously insane.”
“I-I’m crazy with food coma right now. I want to sleep more….”
Some went out to circle the field, while others lay down to catch up on sleep.
Someone else, complaining she’d gained weight from sitting too much, did diet exercises with her friends at the back of the classroom, while another girl next to her ate bread to compensate for her insufficient lunch.
In that classroom, free-spirited beyond compare, there was one thing that bound them all together.
“—Hey, the group order for T.O.J name tags is here. Just picked them up from the store.”
“Holy shit, open them now!”
“Wait. Let me check the list with the other class’s names marked… Hey, take only yours. The Logan name tag is mine.”
“Huh, no way? I think I ordered one Logan too? I ordered one Siu and one Logan, I’m telling you.”
“Are you lying right now?”
It was, of course, the idol they were currently obsessed with.
“Ah, wait. I’m really so sleepy… someone grab my Jihwaseong name tag for me….”
“Is Hwaseong your friend? Use honorifics and call him Jihwaseong oppa.”
“Ugh, what are you even saying, seriously?”
Liking the same idol, chatting about them, shaking off the burden of school exams and mock tests, if only for a moment.
It was one of those precious experiences you could only share with your peers during your school days.
And understandably so, because once you became an adult and could freely do whatever you wanted, that interest faded more than you expected.
To drinking, to dating.
To grades, to job hunting.
Caught up in each individual’s life, being this passionately fond of something with your peers was quite a difficult thing.
“Did you see the kids from Teacher Kim’s class carrying something earlier? They said it was some rookie idol name tags.”
“I saw. Whew, they really buy all sorts of things.”
That was why, even as adults looked at students thinking *what’s so good about idols*, they half-considered it a healthy hobby and let it be.
“The settlement money left over from selling these on SNS came out to roughly a little under 150,000 won? I’m using all of it to buy albums. And the photocard profits are split separately.”
“No, T.O.J is seriously such a boon… The photocard prices don’t even vary much, right? I’m so moved I could cry. How is a rookie group like this?”
“Right! At this rate, it seems we won’t suffer any losses. Crazy profit, seriously.”
Of course, it was also because they didn’t know much about the reality of money changing hands within it.
From the perspective of experiencing in advance the things you would go through later in life, it wasn’t exactly a bad thing.
“Jaeha has 17, Yuchan has 17. And Hwaseong and Logan have 18 each… Oh, that’s exactly right. Everything’s here except the ones sold. Take yours.”
“Holy shit, Siu…!”
Gathered by the window seat of Class 4, Year 3 at a certain girls’ high school, the female students eagerly reached for their name tags, whispering amongst themselves.
“Did you watch the re-airing of yesterday’s debut showcase? I took over 200 screenshots. I thought my storage would explode.”
“I know! The B-sides are fucking good too. I wish they’d release the digital songs quickly. I bought a spare phone just for streaming, you know. The digital release is at midnight tonight, right?”
“Yeah, and that too. Bang Yuchan is so fucking sexy… He’s seriously a sexy dynamite.”
“Agreed. The pair choreography between Jang Siu and Bang Yuchan was insane? I’m going to prostrate in the direction of Jindasol later, let’s do it together.”
Amidst such conversation, the unofficial metal goods—name tags the high schoolers had pooled their money to make—sparkled brightly in the sunlight streaming through the window.
“This is so cute… I think I replayed Jaeha’s part in yesterday’s MV like 20 times, and the name tag he’s wearing looks exactly like this one.”
“It’s because Nari is crazy good at Photoshop. She whipped it up in no time after seeing the mood sampler once. And she said she doesn’t care what or how we sell as long as she gets one Siu and one Zenia set aside. Isn’t that crazy?”
“Tell her to go to art school, seriously. …Right, she’s preparing for art school entrance exams, right? Her talent is already showing, it’s showing.”
“Please, please, I want to see their music show stage quickly. Their variety show appearances too. Their Witube self-produced content too!”
“…Hm? Wait. Is this the exact right quantity? Why is there one Chunyong name tag left?”
“Huh, Chunyong? Uh… wait. Chun, yong… I think I know whose it is.”
“Whose?”
“It’s, well….”
The voices that had risen high gradually lowered, and their gazes fixed on one spot.
To someone gathered at the very back of the classroom with her friends to film a Witube video.
“Ahaha! Hey, that looks so fucking stupid. Let’s film again. I’ll upload this separately to my own channel.”
“Ah, I told you to delete it! Are you crazy?”
“Piss off, seriously. Why would I delete it? Do you think I’m a pushover? Huh? You think you’re all comfortable now?”
An excessively shortened school uniform skirt, heavy makeup that would be more fitting at a technical high school than a girls’ high school.
Those in the know would understand, but there was a reason why they avoided mentioning a particular someone within these two sharply divided cliques.
“…What, Jeong Chaehyeon? Seriously? She likes T.O.J? I thought she had absolutely no interest in idols. Unless it’s a boyfriend or something.”
“Who knows. She ordered it when I posted the demand survey in the group chat before….”
“It must be a mistake!”
“Ah, no. They said she even completed the payment after that? Look. Here… the name. Jeong Chaehyeon, one Kim Chunyong name tag.”
“Crazy… it’s real.”
As an awkward air began to circulate during what should have been a pleasant time chatting about T.O.J’s newly released music video and debut showcase, ambiguous expressions crossed the girls’ faces.
“Ah, shit. Rather than talking to her later, I’ll just go give it to her now….”
“—I’ll go give it to her. Hand it over.”
And surprisingly, it was an unexpected figure who resolved the situation.
“Huh, huh? When did you get here… Nari!”
A gym uniform under her school skirt. Having sold her tie and vest somewhere, a track jacket haphazardly thrown over her lone shirt.
“Hey.”
And a face that looked strangely like her older brother’s.
“Fucking hell. Yesterday she was running her mouth about how he started smoking, and it was so fucking pathetic I said let’s break up right away….”
“Hey, I’m calling you.”
Kim Nari, who had marched over from the next class after hearing the commotion about the Jang Siu name tags, called out to the girl trading crude curses with her friends that she had no desire to hear.
“…What.”
“Your name is… Jeong Chaehyeon? Right? I think I saw you once before.”
Kim Nari casually thrust the Kim Chunyong name tag toward Chaehyeon, who was looking at her with slight sharpness, and said nonchalantly,
“This is yours. Hurry up and take it, seriously.”
At the unofficial merchandise of an idol who looked like he belonged in a delinquent gang, the other students around Chaehyeon burst into laughter.
“Wow, what? Jeong Chaehyeon buys stuff like that?”
“What. Chaehyeon, you told us you didn’t like idols!”
“Right. Didn’t you say it was fucking hilarious to care about that stuff? Wow, this is seriously a blazing betrayal.”
As laughter erupted toward her, who had been at the center of her group, Chaehyeon pressed her lips into a straight line for a moment and quickly snatched the name tag from Kim Nari’s hand.
“—Of course. You think I bought it because I like the idol? I just bought it because it’s fucking hilarious. I mean, isn’t it funny to you guys? How is an idol’s name Kim Chunyong?”
“Ah, agreed. It is a bit countrified. You’d just let it pass if you saw it on the street, but an idol named Kim Chunyong, pfft!”
At the words of Chaehyeon and her other friend, the face of a student who knew who Kim Nari was turned deathly pale.
“Hey, hey. Watch what you say. Chaehyeon, she’s….”
“Look. Have you guys seen what he looks like? He seriously looks like a fucking delinquent. With that face and this name. He’s perfect for appearing in a Witube video later. For something bad!”
Of course, that didn’t stop Chaehyeon.
“…That’s why I bought it. So I can pin this on and film a Witube video later if something blows up. Then the views would be good, right? Being a Witube creator is no big deal. If you make money off that stuff, you’re a Witube creator.”
“…….”
The classroom, which had been bustling, went coldly silent at Chaehyeon’s oddly excessive words.
And sensing the mood, Chaehyeon’s voice gradually trailed off.
“…What the fuck. What are you staring at? Do what you were doing. Don’t eavesdrop on other people’s conversations….”
“Hey. Chaehyeon?”
And cutting off Chaehyeon’s words mid-sentence, Kim Nari spoke low, scratching her cheek.
Still, her expression remained nonchalant.
“If you like him, just say you bought it because you like him. What’s so embarrassing?”
“No, I just said I didn’t buy it because I like him….”
“And, Kim Chunyong’s name was given by his grandmother. And yeah, Kim Chunyong might look a bit rough around the edges… but does he deserve to be cursed out like that?”
“What, why are you making a fuss.”
“What do you mean why. It’s because the person you just cursed the fuck out is my older brother.”
“…Huh, crazy. I heard there was an idol’s younger sibling at our school, but it was her?”
“Hey, Choe Minhye. Get a grip on the situation…!”
“…….”
Hearing Kim Nari’s words, Chaehyeon’s face turned ashen.
Of course, thanks to her heavy makeup, it didn’t show that much.
Beneath the makeup, her young face was full of bewilderment.
“…Whew. This is fucking absurd, seriously.”
Having watched that up close, Kim Nari shook her head a few times and swaggered back to her own class.
To her, it didn’t matter much what strangers who didn’t even know her family said.
“…….”
In this case, the one who suffered wasn’t the person who heard those words.
“…Hey, Chaehyeon. Where are you going!”
“Don’t talk to me, crazy!”
It was the person who had spat out words she didn’t mean due to shame and her own position.
“Hey, hey! Wait! Let’s talk for a second!”
“Huh, what?”
Having dashed into the hallway in an instant and grabbed Kim Nari’s track jacket sleeve, Chaehyeon gulped, looking back and forth between the name tag in her hand and Kim Nari’s face.
Certainly, that face resembled someone who had recently taken over Chaehyeon’s phone gallery.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I made a… mistake. Though I shouldn’t call it a mistake. Uh. Sorry.”
“…Okay, I got it. But?”
If it had been her usual personality, she would have said something like *so what if he’s your brother* and sat on the desk, but….
“I’m really, really sorry for saying this after all that. You might think it’s a bit funny, but so.”
“No, why are you laying so much groundwork for something you’re about to say….”
“C-could you just tell your brother I’m really fucking rooting for him? I sent all my text votes to Chunyong… I’ve never done this before, me.”
“…Wow, crazy.”
To a high school girl experiencing fangirling for the first time in her life, pride was a more trivial issue than expected.
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[Kim Nari: Hey oppa]
[Kim Nari: You’re fucking popular]
[Kim Nari: You haven’t even appeared on a music show yet but you’re already this popular… It’s bewildering, seriously ㅡㅡ;;]
[Kim Nari: Why do they like you? If they have eyes, shouldn’t they obviously like Siu instead?]
[Kim Nari: Anyway, fighting, she says she likes you so so much that you even appear in her dreams and stuff, and she’ll keep buying albums until your photocard comes out, and she said she was so sad that all her requests for survival shows got rejected]
[Kim Nari: No, but I still don’t get it. Out of all people, Kim Chunyong?? Kim Chunyong??]
[Kim Nari: I should go ask her tomorrow if she got the name mixed up]
Midnight of the same day.
“…Why is she starting something again?”
Kim Chunyong, who had been going between the practice room and the salon all day, barely half-conscious, blinked his eyes and couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the message he’d received from his younger sister during the day.
Whether this was an insult, a compliment, a word of blessing, or a curse.
Kim Nari, true to her age as a girls’ high school student, had a tendency to describe the situation emotionally, and to the already-busy Kim Chunyong, it came across as a code that was difficult to decipher.
“Hey, Chunyong. Is your hair all done? Whew… You look handsome today too.”
“Ah, Yuchan hyung.”
And so, Chaehyeon’s desperate support was buried in the back alleys of the broadcasting station.
Later, crying and grabbing Nari’s sleeve, saying she felt like she was being punished… Chaehyeon’s regret was destined to echo through the headquarters of Music Days.
Well, leaving that aside.
Right now, that wasn’t what was important.
“This reminds me of when we first performed ‘Aiming.’ Remember? I told you then that you looked handsome.”
“…I remember. I also remember you said I looked scary.”
“I don’t think so? I don’t think I said that?”
“Haha… You did, though.”
Unlike during ‘Aiming,’ smiling at Bang Yuchan, who was showing off his mature charm to the fullest, Kim Chunyong lightly sighed, massaging his temple.
It was natural.
Having just finished hair and makeup at the salon, this was the pre-recording for their first music show that he would travel to film now.
He had to be tense upon tense about what might happen there again.
*‘They debuted about a week or two later than us. We don’t need to keep them in check right away, but….’*
Thanks to yesterday’s conversation with X, Kim Chunyong’s senses had become incredibly sharp for the first time in a while.
Winning Rookie of the Year at a prestigious major music awards ceremony.
This wasn’t something you could achieve just by wanting it.
From music streaming site rankings to each music show’s charts, album sales, and the fans who would vote for T.O.J to win Rookie of the Year.
Only when these four elements all aligned could one obtain a prestigious awards ceremony Rookie of the Year.
*‘Not only grinding my body working hard, but I need to keep an eye on a few things here and there. First, based on what I know… Ah, wait! The digital release should be out?’*
Just as Kim Chunyong moved his fingers to listen to the first digital release of the group he’d poured his blood, sweat, and tears into.
“—Siu! Oh, Siu’s here, right? Hyung’s here!”
Even Kim Chunyong, who had been keeping his nerves on edge, received an unexpected visitor.
“H-Hyung…!?”
Not only Kim Chunyong, but also the person closest to him.