The Villain Member Returns! Episode 15
* * *
“Good work!”
It was evening after the dance coaching with Jin Da-sol and the guide recording for the original song.
“Oh, Chun-yong hyung. Where are you going?”
“My stomach’s not feeling well!”
I hurled myself into the bathroom inside the dorm room.
Because.
Ppi-yong! Ppi-yong! Ppi-yong! Ppyeo-ro-rong!
That horrible sound had started ringing non-stop at some point.
“What was that sound just now….”
“Whose notification sound is this? Ch-Chun-yong?”
The moment that ‘ppyeo-ro-rong’ started, the trainees’ gazes at me were like something out of a nightmare. No matter how much I explained it wasn’t a notification sound I had set, it didn’t work.
They just looked at me with eyes that said, ‘So that’s your taste….’
“No, really… what’s with the ‘ppyeo-ro-rong’?”
When I huffed and turned on the blackened phone screen, messages from X that he’d sent in bulk came flooding down.
- X: Hey hey, how was the skill effect?
- X: I’ve never seen
- X: Do you feel like something’s drastically different? Your stats are up so you might not feel it?
- X: That Ju-an or In-ju earlier turned bright red lol lol lol lol lol ah so funny, living up to his name.
I tapped the screen quickly with my fingers, pouring all my anger at X and fatigue from practice into it.
- Kim Chun-yong: No, does skill effect or whatever shit matter right now?
- Kim Chun-yong: I’ve told you nine times already
- Kim Chun-yong: To change the message notification sound ;;
- Kim Chun-yong: When are you going to change it? I’m so embarrassed I want to die.
From X, who had briefly not replied, came back only sentences that got on my nerves, as always.
- X: I’m not embarrassed so it’s not my problem (pfft) (pfft)
“Damn it….”
I pulled at my hair and groaned, then compromised with the fact that getting angry at X, who only exists on the screen, was useless, and calmed my breathing.
Yeah. The only way to cut ties with this guy is to quickly rise to the top of K-pop.
And right now, there was something more important than deciding whether to kill X or spare him.
“Definitely, if my feeling is right….”
With a pounding heart, I pressed ‘Status Window’ on the app’s menu tab.
My previous status window was a mess.
Dance, song, rap—originally made up of even shabbier and more trivial numbers than this time. Even appearance and charm.
But earlier, while dancing the dance break part in front of Kim Ju-an, I felt that something had changed.
A feeling as if something was welling up from the very bottom.
[Status Window
Name: Kim Chun-yong (Survival Program Trainee)
Vocals: 52 (55) (Idol Trainee)
Rap: 50 (63) (Idol Trainee)
Dance: 70 (84) (Idol Sub-Dancer)
Appearance: 71 (80) (Handsome Idol)
Charm: 55 (75) (Idol Trainee)
Skills: Idol's Aura (F)
Suppress the Opponent with Dance (C)
Will of the 6th Place (F)]
“As expected.”
Of course, it wasn’t quite at idol-era level, but there were noticeably increased parts.
Especially the dance part.
[Dance: 70 (84) (Idol Sub-Dancer)]
When practicing alone in the practice room, raising it even by 1 was hard. Now, even the title is Idol Sub-Dancer.
If it keeps increasing like this, it seemed like I could perform at almost my original stats for the final stage of
Even though the original stats weren’t the peak era stats, anyway.
I rubbed my finger over the
If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have been able to do the dance break in one go.
No matter how hard I had practiced the choreography, since about 7 years had passed, there was a vague feeling.
But the moment Kim Ju-an started picking a fight, saying he wanted to be center, somehow the dance break movements naturally came to mind.
I got angry at X, but in the end, the skill I obtained was definitely helpful.
The dance break center was important to me, who was aiming for main dancer. I had absolutely no intention of handing over the position meekly when my own plate was full, let alone Ju-an’s pathetic provocation or whatever.
“Anyway, what’s done well is done well….”
I let out a deep sigh of relief and thumped my head against the wall.
“Now, back to dawn practice, personal interviews, stage prep….”
So far, everything seemed to be flowing smoothly according to plan, but in a survival situation, you could never let your guard down.
Since I’d been busy committing villainous member acts, I might have forgotten something, or an unexpected variable could suddenly appear.
I carefully moved my finger to the phone’s message inbox.
Not the chat with X, just the message inbox.
[Son, are you eating well? Dad keeps cheering for you!]
[Chun-yong. Mom is okay whether you debut or not. Just do your best at what you wanted to do. I miss you, son~]
[When you get your younger sibling Choi Ga-on’s autograph, send it by registered mail to your sister’s school. If you forget, you’re dead.]
[Hey Chun-yong; Our classmates say the AG unreleased trainees are freaking handsome, is it true?;; Send some photos.]
“Haha….”
I couldn’t help but smile. My parents cheering me on, my female siblings saying only what they wanted to say.
Yeah. I missed this.
Things that are more precious because I lost them once.
Instead of replying to them, I opened the bathroom door and shouted at Gao Yan and Logan, who were collapsed exhausted on the beds.
“Hey, let’s go for extra lessons.”
So I wouldn’t lose precious things again.
* * *
The whole time they were being dragged by me to the practice room, Logan and Gao Yan wailed in sad voices.
“Chun-yong hyung, I’m really, really exhausted. I mean, I’m seriously dying. Can’t we rest a little? It’s time to sleep!”
“I agree with Logan. Chun-yong hyung. I came to Korea to become an idol, not to become a dancing machine!”
“Aish, that’s harsh. When did I ever tell you to become dancing machines?”
At my nonchalant answer, Gao Yan flinched and eyed me.
“Th-then what is it.”
“I just….”
I only want you to be able to dance to the point where you can match the formations even with your eyes closed….
“Logan, Chun-yong hyung is weird!”
“Gosh. I really have to run away….”
“—Run away where!”
“What!?”
Ji Hwa-seong, who had appeared behind me at some point, grabbed the scruff of Logan, who was shuffling his feet.
“Alright, let’s hurry in. Ju-an hyung and Seo-bin hyung are already inside, they say.”
Ji Hwa-seong’s eyes sparkled as he urged the two. I knew that look.
“You know we have exactly one week until the stage, right? Then absolutely….”
So.
“We have to master the choreography in three days.”
“We have to write all the lyrics in a week.”
A look that comes when one is blinded by the goal.
Previously, Ji Hwa-seong had participated in writing lyrics for our 2nd album, and I remember him saying that to me before I fully made a name as a villain member.
“Yong-yong hyung, time is opportunity.”
If the given deadline is ten days, then a week; if a week, then three days; if three days, then one day—he had to resolve all given tasks within that timeframe to feel satisfied.
In some ways, he’s worse than me now, full of venom.
Gao Yan and Logan’s faces turned pale. I just smiled faintly behind them.
Survival isn’t easy, kids.
Thus, three days.
For three whole days.
Ji Hwa-seong literally rolled the team members around.
“Gao Yan! You keep messing up the formation!”
“……
Got it.”
“Don’t just ‘got it’! You have to do it!”
“I-I’ll do it!”
“Logan, too. You keep extending your arms sloppily; you can’t do that. Longer!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Ju-an hyung. Everything’s right, but you keep getting your feet wrong in the second verse bridge. Left first, then right.”
“…….”
“Huh? Why no answer? Could it be you still want the dance break center—”
“I heard you! I heard you!”
At Ji Hwa-seong’s urging, Kim Ju-an answered in fright. It seemed me dancing right in front of him had become quite a trauma.
“Seo-bin hyung and Kim Chun-yong hyung are fine now. Seo-bin hyung’s detail is a bit lacking, but. Chun-yong hyung can help him, right? I have to watch the others too!”
“Yeah, I’ll ask Chun-yong about the hard parts.”
“Uh-huh.”
I nodded and looked at the clock.
Already 2 PM. It was time to head down to the vocal room to meet vocal mentor Min Si-yeong senior.
We’d do one recording for the six members for this competition stage, then do a full group recording for all 18, and in two hours get dance feedback from Jin Da-sol.
And after that, more free practice.
“Ah, this is really a bit… tough.”
“…
Yeah? Want some drinks or something?”
“Yeah, thanks. Chun-yong, is your stamina okay? I seriously feel like I’m using up my lifespan right now.”
“Hmm, I’m still okay. Thanks.”
To me, who had been an idol for nearly 8 years, it was familiar, but it seemed not for the others. Seeing even Seo-bin, who should be used to the training grind, look troubled.
The signs of the members panting from the tight schedule were odd.
“I know it’s hard. But we have to debut, debut!”
Though Ji Hwa-seong still didn’t seem to notice.
I secretly stuck out my tongue and rolled my brain.
…
At this rate, something’s bound to happen, right?
* * *
In Ji Hwa-seong’s mind, everything was perfect right now.
“Our team still hasn’t finished distributing parts. They say Liu Wei’s team is the same.”
“…
Really?”
“Yeah, really. Your team is the smoothest now. Wow, Ji Hwa-seong. Isn’t your team going to take first place this time?”
To think we were better organized than the team of his role model, Son Jae-ha!
At Son Jae-ha’s words suggesting that Hwa-seong’s team might get first place, he humbly said that couldn’t be, that we still had to wait and see, but Hwa-seong’s heart was already swelling a hundredfold, a thousandfold.
Even though I planned it, really first place? Our team, made up of only leftovers, first place?
Thanks to me?
‘…
Aren’t I really amazing? I’m doing everything alone right now!’
Ji Hwa-seong couldn’t hide his smile even as he entered the recording room.
If it keeps going like this, it’s first place. I’ll lead, I’ll carry us to first place.
A fitting way for a pure-blood AG trainee.
A fitting way for a strong debut candidate!
“Wait a moment. This part is a bit off?”
“…
Yes?”
While the elated Ji Hwa-seong was diligently recording, Min Si-yeong cut off his voice and rolled her eyes in thought.
She looked at him for a long moment, then opened her mouth as if she’d made up her mind.
“The tone doesn’t match well with you, Hwa-seong. Shouldn’t you go lower here? Or, come back after practicing a little more.”
“Oh….”
Since it was Min Si-yeong, whom he frequently ran into at the company practice room, saying this, there was no doubt. It meant he was doing something wrong right now.
‘Was I too excited? Shoot.’
Ji Hwa-seong was bewildered by her words, but he tried not to show it on camera and answered brightly.
“I’m sorry, I’ll work harder! Let me do it one more time!”
It was strange.
And that feeling continued in the dance lesson with Jin Da-sol.
“Right now, the people in the left row.”
“Yes!”
“Not even one part matches. Only the formations are right. All the movements… are all over the place. Only trainee Kim Chun-yong is right.”
“Ah. I see. I’ll fix it!”
“Fixing it now might not be enough… Let’s go over the movements again first.”
“I-is that so?”
With Jin Da-sol’s deflated voice, when they had to restart from basic choreography practice.
Ji Hwa-seong felt the sweat running down his back turn cold.
Something was wrong.
“First… I’ve seen enough. I’ll check the rest tomorrow.”
When Jin Da-sol left with a slightly disappointed expression, Ji Hwa-seong felt impatient and urged the people even more.
“Why don’t we eat dinner a bit quickly, then do one more group run-through and then go into individual practice? I think we can’t just proceed like this because of our basics right now.”
“…
Hwa-seong. We haven’t rested for more than thirty minutes in the last six hours.”
“But there’s not a single thing that’s matching now, is there? We have to sort this out before we go.”
But the expressions of the team members looking at Ji Hwa-seong were unusual.
“…….”
Everyone was holding back because of the cameras, but they had expressions that said they had something to say.
Having grown slightly impatient from the day’s evaluations, Ji Hwa-seong started to get annoyed.
‘No. These people are riding on my coattails, so why are they so full of complaints? Can they make faces like that even after hearing the feedback earlier?’
But he didn’t show it. There was nothing to gain.
“…
Then let’s meet by nine. You’re not against this either, right?”
And.
The incident erupted at 2 AM that day.
It was also an event that Kim Chun-yong had been anticipating.