The Vicious Member Has Returned! Chapter 141
The article I pressed without hesitation contained nothing much different from what I had seen before.
[The male rookie idol ‘WEZ,’ newly prepared by entertainment agency QuinCE, has been the talk of the town day after day.
WEZ is a six-member group consisting of Ahn Taei, Han Danu, Park Hawon, Jo Eun, Seono, and Jaden, the children of actors Ahn Myeonguk and Baek Yeonghyeon, known as the ‘love of the century in the Korean film industry.’…….
One interesting point is that WEZ is a debut team selected through QuinCE’s own internal selection process, and among the trainees eliminated from that debut team, there is currently an idol who has already debuted.…….
Presently, while the eliminated trainee is presumed to be a certain idol who recently debuted through a survival show, attention is gathering toward WEZ’s debut showcase ‘MONOCHROME: The First Showcase.’]
“… Ha.”
No, it wasn’t merely a matter of being ‘not different.’
Not a single letter was omitted; everything was exactly the same as before.
The members who ended up debuting, the parts that subtly mentioned me, the debut song—everything.
Ah, if there was something slightly different…[When reporters showed curiosity about the ‘debuted idol who fell from QuinCE’s internal debut team,’ QuinCE dismissed the question with the words, ‘Why he was eliminated will be explained separately due to the things that happened to him.’]
Was it the fact that QuinCE had deliberately brought up and fanned the flames of that absurd rumor the bastard Ryu Wei had created?
My sister. Jaeha hyung.
After all my own efforts, and the people around me working so hard to keep that rumor buried—to think they’d bring it up again.… These bastards.
I gritted my teeth once in irritation, then called out to the members who had just brought cards and were about to start a game, putting on a good-natured voice.
“Ah, wait! I’ll head to my room first. Ah, is it because of the music shows? I’m so tired.”
“Huh? Chunyong, you. Are you going to be okay like that? You didn’t even eat much. Your chopsticks are still clean!”
“Um, maybe because I’m on a diet? I feel like my stomach’s gotten a bit smaller.”
“Chunyong. I know you’re tired… but why don’t you stay a little longer? It’s a shame to end it like this. Who knows when we’ll get to rest like this again.”
“That’s true, but….”
“Yongyong hyung, don’t tell me? Are you finally running away because you’re scared of losing the card game? Eheh, that’s a problem! Logan, Siu! Grab him!”
“Okay. Leave it to me.”
“Chunyong hyuuung….”
I looked at the younger members grabbing both my arms with an expression that was slightly happy yet bewildered.
This much meant we had gotten close. That’s right.
Even if not completely, having become a relationship where we could open our hearts and brush shoulders without reservation gave me quite a large sense of fulfillment.
“Yongyong hyung, are you scared? No way, right?”
“Ha….”
I let out a light sigh mixed with helplessness toward Hwaseong, who was grinning at me with an extremely excited expression.
Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to play more with the members, but there was something I needed to take care of right away.
Normally, I would make all sorts of excuses to somehow slip away, but with this meat party going on, there was an easier method.
“Well, fine. I’ll hang out a bit more before going in, I guess.”
“Yeah. It’s not like we get times like this often….”
“But, Yuchan hyung. Wouldn’t it be more fun with alcohol? If we’re going to party, I’ll go out and buy some. There are four adults who can drink… so maybe about 15 bottles?”
“…….”
The moment I uttered ‘that’ single remark, the expressions of the members, and Hobin hyung, were stained with something close to shock.
It was only natural that Siu and Logan flinched and let go of my arms.
The memory of being knocked out by my drinking skills that day must still be vividly drilled into their heads.
The first to raise the white flag was Jaeha hyung.
“… Chunyong, go in and rest first.”
“Huh, you’re not going to play more?”
“Um, no. You… should rest. Haha! Yeah, when you’re tired, eating is hard too, right? U-uh, hurry up and go rest.”
“Phew. Thank you, hyungs. You guys rest too if you’re tired! Everyone else too!”
“No, how can he say that after dropping such a bomb…!”
“Hwaseong, shh! Do you wanna see that nightmare again?”
“Speak Korean, you!”
“D-don’t fight….”
“Haha….”
I left a smile at the members, who were growing rowdy again, and moved toward the room I shared with Jaeha hyung.
Of course, it was regrettable that I had to spend this precious time I could share with the members like this, and I felt a little sorry for pouring cold water on such a pleasant gathering, but if I didn’t deal with that article I saw earlier quickly, tomorrow it wouldn’t be cold water but ice water that would be poured over our van.
“…….”
Having entered the room, I quickly erased the smile that had filled my face and tapped away at my phone.
It was to send a message regarding that article.
[Kim Chunyong: Hey]
[Kim Chunyong: Hey, you asleep?]
[Kim Chunyong: I know you don’t sleep at this hour, so answer me]
The recipient was neither the party who wrote the article, nor an AG Marketing Team staff member, nor even X, the only one I could consult regarding this kind of matter.
We weren’t exactly on good terms, but after
[Kim Chunyong: It’s me, Kim Chunyong]
[Kim Juan: Ah fuck]
[Kim Juan: Here comes the evil spirit that devours salt and soju, you crazy bastard]
[Kim Chunyong: ^^]
[Kim Juan: Don’t laugh you crazy bastard it’s disgusting die]
It was my longtime fellow QuinCE trainee, Kim Juan.
* * *
The roughly fifty text messages exchanged with Kim Juan, and the twenty-minute call spent holed up in the bathroom, ten minutes of which were shouting, hadn’t been entirely useless.
[Article deleted upon request]
Because the article I checked again in the van heading to the shop had definitely been deleted.
Yesterday, I had pushed aside the get-together with the members and asked Kim Juan for a favor—no.
What I had proposed was one thing.
Among the articles QuinCE had put up for marketing this time, I had asked that anything related to me be taken down through the authority of Kim Juan’s uncle, the agency director.
[Kim Juan: I got what you’re saying, you bastard]
[Kim Juan: You’re saying that if I, the latecomer, don’t want to become a sacrificial lamb for that kind of marketing, I need to take care of it in advance, right?]
[Kim Juan: Fuck, honestly I hate hearing you out, but I’m doing it because it makes sense]
[Kim Juan: Be grateful that I hate Han Danu as much as I hate you, you crazy bastard]
[Kim Juan: Ha fuck, just thinking about it pisses me off again. I can’t even beat up Han Danu now that he’s debuting, damn it]
[Kim Juan: Anyway ok, I told my uncle and the article will be taken down before sunrise tomorrow]
“… Phew.”
I gazed out the still-dark car window with a rather refreshed feeling and carefully chewed over the events of the past.
The events from before I returned under the name Kim Chunyong.
“Hello, we are Arrows!”
Indeed, our Arrows had been an idol group with quite a good response in the beginning.
To the point of winning Rookie of the Year at the Korean Popular Music Awards, a ceremony presented by MusicDays, and at the CAMM Popular Music Awards.
However, as X had said before, there was a reason we couldn’t win awards at the ‘authoritative award ceremonies.’
“No, there’s propriety even for awards. What kind of article is this? Are they looking down on us because we’re singers from our agency now or what?”
“We already put in a request to delete the article, but the view count is already quite high. It’s being mentioned here and there on SNS and communities too.”
“It’s only been a week since the kids debuted, ugh seriously…!”
“Damn it, they put out another article! Argh, I’m going crazy!”
The difference was noise marketing.
Because it failed to establish the narrative of ‘AG debuted a trainee thrown away by QuinCE’ in the early days, Arrows’ album was overshadowed by WEZ, which debuted right after, despite having the potential to rise higher.
At that time, our company wasn’t pushing firepower into Arrows as much as T.O.J does now, and because I, who had just debuted, didn’t know what to do, the situation worsened further.
“Sorry. I just, I wanted to debut so I did that….”
“No, Rex. It’s not your fault. So, I wish you wouldn’t think like that. We just need to prepare our next album better.”
“R-right… Rex hyung, I wish you wouldn’t worry so much….”
“—Anyway, we’ve ended up having to bear the name of a group that debuted a nobody.”
“Wow, Ryu Wei! How could you say it like that? It’s not Rex hyung’s fault, it’s the people who did this marketing who are bad!”
“…….”
That we somehow managed to win Rookie of the Year despite such things was a great comfort to me.
That I wasn’t a nuisance.
That our team was truly a team destined to succeed.
The prestige of the award ceremony wasn’t important.
I didn’t even hear the talk that it was a meaningless award won by riding on the Chinese member’s popularity.
“Th-thank you. Really, thank you. First, to our members who worked so hard all this time, thank you so much… Mom, Dad. Bomi noona, Nari! You sent me a message yesterday saying ‘Don’t cry your eyes out after winning an award,’ but I’m sorry for crying….”
To me, the trophy in my hand, the hands of the members patting my back, and the family members who sent congratulatory messages were more precious.
“Let’s go on a family trip! I’ll prepare everything, okay? Our family has never been abroad before.”
“No, Kim Chunyong, aren’t you preparing for the repackage album? Can you just, just go like that?!”
“Yeah, I asked the company staff. I said I’d work really hard after coming back from a week trip. So let’s go! We’re all going to rest as a family. Noona, you’re on break too, right?”
“That’s… true. Ah, damn. At this rate, I’ll probably get extra work after getting back from Cebu…!”
“Haha, think about that after we get back, okay?”
Whatever happened after that, well, there was no need to say more.
“…….”
My face reflected in the window had, before I knew it, completely sunken and turned pale.
Like a ghost.
I hadn’t even put on makeup yet, but my eyes were terrifyingly sharp, and my unstyled bright red hair had fallen around my eyes.
Whether I was angry or in tears, my expression was bizarre.
“…….”
Well, I could calm my emotions.
But I couldn’t tolerate the members, who had briefly fallen asleep, seeing me in this state, or me ruining things by wallowing in the melodrama I created myself.
“… Phew.”
I smoothed the corners of my mouth with my thumb and index finger, then checked the messages I had exchanged with someone else yesterday with a determined face.
The messages, riddled with typos, were overflowing with boundless joy in every sentence.
[JDS: reallt thancc. i will scrubb the pratice room floor cleen hehe]
[JDS: thhis wway Chunyong shi will be comfortabl soo pls do it^^]
[JDS: do ur bestt reallt all prep is dun]
[JDS: but by anye chance]
[JDS: can i film anoter danc togeether too…]
Maybe.
Until now, I had focused all my attention only on the immediate debut schedules, the members who had various matters, and further, the contract with X itself.
[OP@wjsurehsrktm but how is an idol’s name Kim Chunyong < I heard the teacher choreographed with Jin Dasol? Is nothing being uploaded?]
[⎿They’re probably too busy with schedules to do anything? Or maybe Jin Dasol just choreographed it all and they just slipped the name in quickly lol]
[It’s a shame. T.O.J kids seem pretty talented individually so they could make a lot of good self-produced content, but there’s nothing much]
[⎿There are others besides Logan, aren’t there??]
[⎿Chunyong dances well you crazy bastard, they said he choreographed it himself during the TATTA mentor evaluation]
[⎿⎿Ah, they probably hyped that up for the broadcast, ugh crazy stans]
Because I had judged that even if my name was relatively less highlighted, that was right for my atonement.
But….
“Excuse me, Hobin hyung. Could I ask you for a favor?”
“Ah, Chunyong-ssi. You weren’t asleep. Yes, please speak. Shall I buy some coffee on the way?”
“No, it’s not that… I was wondering if, after our live broadcast schedule today, I could go to the practice room alone.”
“… Do you really intend to do that? We have quite a tight schedule as it is, so I’m a bit worried. Ah, regarding your condition, Chunyong-ssi.”
“Haha… I am a bit tired, though.”
People who are neither our members nor family are trying to sell my name off again.
“… I think this would help our team more.”
I have to make it a name they can’t sell off, then.