The Malignant Member Has Returned! Episode 150
In the middle of the waiting room, the members surrounding me wore very serious expressions.
Wearing gakurans of different designs, arms crossed, sighing.
And there I was, among them, with fake injury makeup on my face and my hands on my knees, wearing a slightly flustered expression.
If someone who didn't know any better saw this, they'd think I'd committed some terrible crime.
No, when I got emergency arrested, there weren't even this many people investigating me!
"Mr. Rex, Mr. Rex! Ugh, it smells like liquor... get in first. Let's talk inside!"
"Let go! Put me dow— ... urg."
"Waaah! Ah, no! Don't get in yet! Throw it all up first, throw it all up, then get in!"
Back then, they just shoved me into a police car, threw me into an interrogation room, waited for me to sober up a bit, and only after an hour did a single investigator finally come in.
"Puhah..."
Comparing then and now, I couldn't help but let out a hollow laugh despite trying to hold it in.
It's not even déjà vu. What the hell is this?
"Uhh, Yongyong hyung. You can laugh right now? Why are you laughing? This is a really serious situation?!"
"Chunyong hyeong..."
"Hwaseong-ssi, it can be heard outside. I did get caught up in this situation without even realizing it, but let's all calm down."
Hobin hyung, with a face even calmer than usual, looked once at the waiting room door, once at the members with expressions as serious as his own, and finally once at me sitting in the chair, then slowly opened his mouth.
"...Chunyong-ssi."
"Ah, yes. Hobin hyung."
"Today's stage was truly great. The quality of the pair choreography you did with Logan-ssi has been improving day by day. I can see how hard you've practiced."
"Uh, thank..."
"However, we're not doing this to overprotect you, Chunyong-ssi. You know that, right? We really need to hear what you have to say, which is why we're doing this."
Hobin hyung was right.
If this had happened to another member instead of me, my members and Hobin hyung would have done the same. I would have joined in too.
Let's think about this objectively.
You just debuted and are starting your second week of promotions, and you hear that there's a conflict with members from another idol group with a similar debut period, whom you'll keep running into?
Just explaining the situation was terrible enough. How could they leave that alone?
But this situation was clearly different...
When it was my own business, I couldn't act like that.
"Chunyong-ah. Hyung went to university, you know? Uh, I didn't study that hard... but I did participate in department life."
As I kept touching my cheek without answering, Yuchan hyung opened his mouth in a gentler voice than before.
There was clear concern mixed into that voice.
"Usually, when trouble arises between people in the same department or a relationship becomes irreparable, one of them takes a leave of absence."
"A leave of absence? So, taking a break from school... right?"
"Yeah, that's right. To avoid further trouble that might arise. Of course, it doesn't solve the fundamental problem. But it's more comfortable that way. You get it, right?"
"I understand what you mean, hyung."
When I nodded silently, Yuchan hyung raised his voice with a face that looked unbearably frustrated.
"But there's no such thing as a leave of absence here! So, you need to tell us what happened, or at least... what kind of relationship you have with those Wiz members, so we can help you. Like, adjusting the waiting room routes so you don't run into each other. That kind of thing?"
"Uhm... Chunyong-ah. Of course, you'll handle it well, and seeing how you haven't told us until now... I know you don't care much about that issue. But still, could you tell us?"
When Jaeha hyung added his words behind Yuchan hyung's, I was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
No, why are these people only saying such reasonable things today?
"Haah..."
I stuck my hand into my stage costume pocket and stretched my body out on the chair as if collapsing.
Within the members' serious expressions, I could read one more question.
The question of whether Chunyong-i got kicked out of Queens because he fought with the Wiz members.
I needed to move right away if I didn't want to be late for the next schedule, yet what was this really all about?
I tried to rub my face in confusion, then checked my already slightly faded injury makeup reflected in the mirror and let out a deep sigh.
Ah, I got it.
"...Everyone, relax your expressions. I didn't come to AG because I fought with them. It's true."
At my answer, the members looked at me with slightly suspicious expressions and exchanged glances.
But I maintained as confident an expression as possible, proving that I was telling the truth.
And it really was the truth.
My relationship with those guys wasn't a major factor in my moving companies from Queens to AG.
The circumstances just happened to align that way.
"...Kim Chunyong, with that attitude of yours, do you think anyone would want to stay on a team with you?"
"That's what I wanted to say."
"...Fuck, remember this. Even if you debut, all the members will hate you. Just like we all hate you!"
Of course, it's not like nothing happened.
"Sigh..."
While I briefly recalled memories forgotten due to the flood of events since the accident, the members' faces finally brightened.
"It's true, right, Yongyong hyung? Th-that you didn't hit their members or anything?!"
"Hey, you punk. What do you take me for?"
"Nooo. I know Yongyong hyung wouldn't do that. But somehow, today your costume and appearance..."
"Jesus, Hwaseong! Chunyong hyung has always looked like that!"
"Hwaseong... hyung, that's rude..."
"...Ugh. Ah, I know, okay! Well, I'm glad you didn't come to our company because of a fight. But... it still seems like you're not on good terms!"
"..."
I pressed my lips shut and rolled my eyes at Jihwaseong's last words.
No matter how much I wanted to be honest with our members, I didn't want to talk about this part.
Because it's embarrassing.
Don't people usually call it a dark past?
Saying things you shouldn't in the heat of emotion, lying in bed at night kicking the blanket and regretting it, then trying your best to forget and pretend it didn't happen.
I had moments like that too.
So...
There was a time when my personality was as bad as my face that looks thuggish and delinquent-like.
"Kim Chunyong, what riches and glory are you chasing that you practice extra so hard like that? It's not like they'll debut you just because..."
"Better than not doing it like you, Kim Juan. You don't even know that your vocal room reservation time already passed, do you?"
"...Hey, you crazy bastard! You, you! If you knew, you should have told me quickly!"
Of course, I didn't really do anything to Kim Juan.
He's just barking at me like a hamster because he's feeling guilty for no reason.
Anyway, I sprang up from my seat in the now slightly relaxed interrogation atmosphere and dismissed the members' worries in one sentence.
"...It was because of the monthly evaluation."
"Ah..."
When I said that, small sighs escaped the mouths of the three members and Hobin hyung, who had been trainees at AG for a long time.
"...Chunyong-i can move on from basic choreography now. Next, Hawon-i! You're in big trouble if you can't do this today, Hawon-ah. Teacher can't overlook it anymore."
"...Understood!"
"Yes, I believe in you. Then play the music... seven, eight!"
The monthly evaluation, where they check the trainees' practice proficiency and the staff decide whether to keep them at the company.
There was no need to explain what the words "something happened there" meant to people familiar with trainee culture.
"Huh? I don't really understand what you mean..."
"My goodness, Logan! You're not supposed to ask more about those things. And here I was worried something happened... whew, agencies are all the same everywhere, all the same."
"Hwaseong, don't leave me out of this! Tell me, tell me!"
"Shh, shh. Quietly follow me, Logan..."
"Wait. I need to hear this too, Hwaseong-ah! What is it exactly?"
"Okaaay. Both of you ordinary-person backgrounds, follow me. Let's chat while sipping some drinks."
"Hwaseong, why does a nineteen-year-old kid talk like a middle-aged man in his forties..."
Jihwaseong, looking suffocated, thumped his own chest, put his arms around Logan and Yuchan hyung's shoulders, and left. Only then could I move my feet past the human barricade that had been blocking me.
I debuted after all that hardship, all sorts of strange things keep happening, and I thought I had gotten through it somehow, but...
"Uhh, Chunyong hyeong."
"Hm? Siu, what is it. We need to move now..."
"Um... can I ask just one more thing? It's not... an uncomfortable question."
"...What is it?"
Still, there was one thing bothering me.
At my words, Siu played nervously with his fingers with a slightly flustered look, then slowly parted his lips.
"Uhh, Ahn Tae-i... ssi, why did he... ask you something like that?"
"..."
Yes, this exactly.
I could answer all the other problems briefly, but this was the one thing I couldn't easily open my mouth about.
"Hey, Kim Juan. Sorry to ask during practice... but let me ask you one thing."
"What, you crazy bastard. Can't you get lost? Right now I'm about to burst my head trying to memorize just one 'Aiming' choreography, what the hell..."
"Do you know who ended up in the Queens debut team? Your uncle is still a director there. I heard he was famous, but I got kicked out without even seeing his face."
"...Argh. This is really! Getting on my nerves again. They say he's someone who came from doing separate individual practice, satisfied? The staff picked him the moment they saw him! I don't know who he is or what he looks like either, so get lost!"
Because I didn't know the reason.
Ahn Tae-i, the Wiz member who joined without Kim Juan—who had an uncle that was a director at the company—or me, who had almost made it into the Queens debut team, knowing anything about it.
No one knew why that guy had acted that way.
"Excuse us. We need to prepare for our stage too, so we'll be heading back first."
"Huh? I haven't heard anything yet though?"
"I said we have to go back. Can't you understand?"
"...Hm, okay. Let's see each other again next time, Chunyong-ah!"
Even the other Wiz members who debuted with him.
"Uh... well. I don't really know either, but..."
After pondering briefly, I carefully adjusted Siu's slightly folded sleeve and finished speaking.
"...I'll find out someday."
And that "someday" I had blurted out without thinking arrived faster than expected.
* * *
Kim Jieun, the part-timer at Hanmae Private Practice Room and the owner of the SNS nickname 'Yongyongguri,' looked anxious today.
"Hiss... no, crazy. When is it going to be posted. Naelbom-nim said they usually post at 6..."
The reason she was as tense as a puppy that couldn't go for a walk was because today, the appearance of Tioze on an entertainment program was finally going to be decided.
[When is Mudae doing that one this time? The one where rookies and established artists play tag mixed together?]
[⎿Seeing the recent job postings for short-term outdoor filming staff for Mudae, they'll probably reveal the lineup soon?? Looking forward to it]
[⎿⎿No, but I'm freaking looking forward to this. If Tioze goes on this, they're really Mudae's sons, agreed. The song title is Hide and Seek and the program is tag too, LOL]
[⎿They chose the song title targeting this... Moved by AG's foresight]
[⎿⎿Tioze's appearance isn't even confirmed yet, so don't get ahead of yourself]
Music Days' monthly hide-and-seek program for idols, 'Catch Me, Catch You.'
A program that serves as a surefire way for rookies to make their mark on the public, and for established artists to announce their comeback while proving their recognition was still intact.
The current fandom between Tioze's fans, Zenia, and Wiz's still-unnamed fandom, were engaged in a subtle war of nerves on SNS and community sites over this program's casting.
[AG Trading Company @HARDWARE_store (Photo)(Photo)
Our Jaeha did so, so well in TATA Team Picking’s Cops and Robbers too, so how well would he do if he went on Catch Me Catch You…? If Music Days has any sense, shouldn’t they call ToZ?][⎿ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You’re trying to send a kid who can only read from a script onto a full-on reality show, are you even a fan? Tsk tsk, I feel bad for Son Jaeha too][⎿If it’s not Xenia, leave][WIZ’s first variety show being Catch Me Catch You would seriously save face… Aren’t Sledix the only ones who’ve succeeded while walking nothing but the royal road like that? Queens really pulled it off lol][⎿Hm? Music Days isn’t even thinking of calling them, but WIZ fans already think they’re appearing… This must be why you still don’t have a fandom name, right?]
The slander born from the desire that, on a popular program, it should be my idol appearing, not your idol.
At the center of that typhoon, Kim Ji-eun, who had been trembling like a scallion root, slammed her head onto the counter desk and screamed.
“If our Chunyong doesn’t get to go on Catch Me Catch You, I can’t live… I even renewed my tablet’s Music Days live broadcast pass to watch that….”
I want my idol to properly raise his recognition through a fun program.
And, while he’s at it, I want other people to realize my idol is doing well too!
“To think I’d wish this hard for someone else’s happiness… Is this what being a pure-hearted stan is…?”
And so, the moment Kim Ji-eun finally acknowledged that she was no longer a light fan, but a heavy idol otaku.
A short vibration rang from her phone.
For someone like her, who always kept her phone on silent unless there was something special, there was only one reason it would vibrate.
A notification that a new post had been uploaded to ToZ’s official social media account, which she had set alerts for.
“Ugh, holy shit!”
Startled, she checked her phone, and soon she was able to break into a bright smile.[ToZ @Targetofzenon_AG(Photo)
Xenia!♡ Are you ready to see ToZ’s real hide-and-seek? Target of Zenon to appear on Music Days’ chase variety show Catch Me Catch You!#ToZ #티오제 #TargetofZenon #MusicDays #CatchMe_CatchYou]
“It’s done, seriously, it’s done! Wow, shit. At this rate, ‘Hide-and-Seek’ playing as the ending song is basically confirmed….”
And then, right before Kim Ji-eun sent Neulbom Mir a DM saying, “Just like you said, Neulbom-nim, the kids are going to appear!”
“…
Huh?”
She discovered other names in the photo from ToZ’s new social media post, which she had skimmed over.[NEW!
“…
Huuuh?!”
Names she had expected, and names that would make things extremely troublesome if they appeared now.[Fuck, this Catch Me Catch You is going to be huge. The leader of the first tier is coming to set things straight][⎿The lineup is seriously going wild, what the hell is this? If the rookies don’t make a proper impact, they’ll be completely buried by Jeong Yeonwoo and Juyeong][⎿Ah fuck, we’re saved. See you next month, our Serenia babies♡][⎿Xenia and WIZ fans at this moment: We’re fucked…][멘똘기이렇게살다죽긔 @mennnnheeriS2Yeah, ToZ or WIZ or whatever, our Yeonwoo is gonna hard-carry. The rookies are just there as extras, tsk tsk. They got all hyped up among themselves and now they’re screwed, right? Nothing ever works out for you, right? lololol]
That was the omen of yet another upheaval that would blow across social media and idol communities.