The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 154
* * *Even after I prodded An Taei to extract some information, the filming of "Catch Me, Catch You" proceeded magnificently.
"Huff, what floor are we on now? The second floor?"
"Yes. To get to the first floor, we'll have to run to the staircase on the other side again. Haha... it's been a while since we've been at such a spacious location."
"Wow, I've been here a few times. It's originally a place frequently used as a horror movie filming set! If you open this door, you can use the central staircase too. If we go this way, we can probably get down faster, right? ...
Ah, hi camera."
"..."
"Taei, why are you only saying that now!"
"Huh? Well, going back and forth between both sides is obviously more fun...."
"Hmm, it seems not many people know about this path... we could ambush them by hiding behind the central staircase door. Let's adjust our movements to account for that."
Running, catching our breath for a moment. Finding a new path, modifying our strategy accordingly.
"God, Chunyong hyung! You can't take our armbands! That's my pride!"
"Then how about I take them? If they're taken by a sunbae, you might accept it as just your pride. Or... perhaps Taei-ssi?"
"Hey, Taei hyung. No. Wait. Don't come closer. We can make a deal. Logan and I figured out the secret of the medals. And that is...."
"Haha! Jayden. Sorry, but I'm not really interested! I hate quibbling over that stuff even more!"
Grabbing someone from another team, ripping off their armband, snatching their medal.
"Hmm? Do I just insert this here? There's nothing else to do?"
"Seems like it. Just insert it, Taei-ssi. Let's finish quickly and move to another place."
"Aah. Yes, sunbaenim! Haha, this is really fun! Of course, stealing someone else's armband is even more fun!"
Arriving at the designated spot and swapping the medals, while simultaneously hearing the production crew's announcement broadcast.
- "Team 2 has replaced Team 1's medal! There are 6 replacement medals remaining."
- "Team 1 has replaced Team 2's medal! There are 5 replacement medals remaining."
After repeating this series of processes twice, we sat down at the spot designated for our Team 1 for a moment and had a brief conversation.
"..."
"Since we just replaced two, it seems the other team members replaced one each."
"Hmm, so it seems. I guess our teamwork is better than I thought."
Whether the other side felt awkward because of me, or whether they were walking on eggshells, seeing them remain as dedicated as possible to the filming made the words "as expected of our members" slip out naturally.
"Or maybe they're just thinking about resolving this quickly and getting off work, haha...."
I lightly ignored Yeonwoo hyung's subtle remark implying, "Surely the reason isn't as pure as you're thinking," and spoke to An Taei, who had a composed expression.
"..."
"Taei. Aren't you tired? You ran around a lot today."
"Ah, Chunyong. Yeah, I'm not really tired. Swapping medals, stealing armbands. It's simple and nice? If it's this kind of filming, I think I could do it for a week."
"If you really did it for a whole week, you'd be exhausted, but well. Fine. I get it, you have good stamina, punk."
"..."
"Haha! What. You're the one who needs to exercise more, Chunyong. Since you dance so well, I thought you'd have incredible stamina too. But I think I'm a bit better in that department!"
"..."
"Tch."
At the punk's excited voice, I lightly clicked my tongue, then prepared to move to the next location while organizing my thoughts.
Innocent, pure.
Speaking his thoughts without filtering them, acting brazenly.
If you only looked at the exterior, he was the very image of a spoiled only son from a wealthy family who had never once been scolded.
This was An Taei as seen by the public.[An Taei definitely grew up pure and clean, huh? The kid has no emotional baggage, lolol. People talk about his tenacity and all that, but seeing such a pure kid like that makes me feel a bit better... is it because I live with too much stress?][⎿ What's with all this packaging to say the kid has a flower garden for a brain? Just say you like his face.][⎿ But I think I get what you mean. These days, seeing kids obsessed with their careers is tiring... so a kid who just lives thinking simple is good is rather comfortable to watch.][First off, he's a celebrity second-generation who was born inheriting only the good points from his mom and dad, so he's crazy handsome, and his vocals and dance are passably okay. I've wanted a kid exactly like this, not an idol who looked exhausted from needlessly agonizing like hell over his career by himself all this time...][⎿ Lolol other kids sacrifice years of their lives just to stand on stage once, and it's funny how he easily rides his parents' coattails up and then complains about how hard it is??
You're basically saying it's a stupid thing for an idol to agonize over putting on a cooler stage. Seriously, the level of a Wiz fan.][⎿ Ah, go away, really. When did I say it was a stupid thing? I just said he looks tired ㅡㅡ And did I force you to like Taei? I just said I like him, that I just like him, so screw off, screw off.]
Well, truthfully, I hadn't been all that different either.
When I faced An Taei again as T.O.J, I also thought he "seemed like he had no thoughts," so I figured if I kept him by my side and hit him with some appropriately harsh words, the kid probably wouldn't act up too much.
When I asked Yeonwoo hyung to casually bring up the topic of parents when picking team members, it was because I wondered if it might be a case similar to Siwoo's.
However, An Taei showed a dramatic reaction not when I mentioned the halo of his parents that might overshadow him.
It was when I noticed the word "fight" that he repeatedly used without realizing it.
And when I put all of that together....
Something came to mind.
"..."
"An Myeonguk? The actor An Myeonguk? Why would he come to a club? He's a married man."
"You didn't know? Lately, there's been talk that things aren't good between An Myeonguk and Baek Yeonghyeon's couple. I don't know if it's true, though."
"Hey, their son is promoting just fine right now, so how could things not be good? They'd probably at least pretend to get along for the sake of the kid's future."
"Well, anyway, they say he came to drink and blow off stress. Let me go see his face just once. I'm a real fan."
"He's not even a female actor, why a male actor... you're really weird."
"What are you all even talking about, ah... never mind the water, give me a bag... uek."
"..."
"Aaaack! Rex! These pants cost me 4 million won!"
Because I had been drunk. Along with the short conversation that I remembered faintly....[Who exactly is the other party in actor An Myeonguk's nightly outing? ...
The century's romance and its flip side.]["I took it off briefly to wear a sponsored ring" - Baek Yeonghyeon's explanation, but had the ring been off even before that? Digging into the discord rumors of An Myeonguk ♡ Baek Yeongheon.]
Articles claiming the century's romance was crumbling, which had surfaced when the negative articles about me briefly disappeared.
"Taei-ssi? There are rumors that your parents are currently separated. Is there anything you would like to say about that..."
"Haha, separated? My parents are still doing well at home. These days, baseless speculations come out too often, so it's really troubling. They say my parents' displays of affection have only deepened."
"..."
"But, the paparazzi said that Mr. An Myeonguk went for a drive at night!"
"Ah, I saw that too. I mean, I was really surprised. I was in the back seat there! Haha, who knew a father and son going out to play briefly at night would turn into an article like that. Shall I show you the photos?"
"..."
"Oh my, is that real?" ...
And, as soon as that article came out, An Taei's interview where he quickly left an explanation.
"......."
Along with the wonder that all these things came to mind the moment I tried to recall them, a subtle emotion reared its head in my heart.
A spoiled only son from a wealthy family, dismissing rumors related to his parents quickly with a single interview?
Such interview skills couldn't be acquired just by watching with your eyes.
One had to keenly observe trends, find ways to respond, and practice them to be able to use them in real situations.
"Um, this time I'd like to ask Rex-ssi a question. Regarding this mini-album's choreography, perhaps Rex-ssi...."
"..."
"I'll pass on that question."
"Huh? I'm really asking this just because I'm curious about the album...!"
"Next person, please."
It was something Rex—the piece of trash—could never have done, always drunk and unable to distinguish between good and bad questions.
Moreover, before coming to today's filming, I had watched Wiz's "Monochrome" showcase stage.
If An Taei hadn't clumsily followed along with the choreography that Dasol hyung and I had done, making the audience laugh, it was clear the atmosphere at the showcase would have become even more dreadful due to an ill omen.
A single conclusion drawn from putting all of this together.
"Then shall we head out now! If it's something requiring strength, leave it to me!"
An Taei, speaking so excitedly like that, was no fool, and was a target who needed to be taken down with more effort than expected.
That the context of "we shouldn't fight" that the punk was fixated on extended further than I thought, and I had to find out how it could be resolved.
Good grief....
Pretending to be simple while being incomparably complicated, that punk!
"Whew...."
I rubbed my sore thigh muscles from the continuous running and let out a small sigh.
Just, huh?
No matter what happened, pretending not to know roughly, huh?
Can't we just focus on our respective teams?
Why make things this bothersome, really. ...
I was only thinking of making my T.O.J win the Rookie Award this time and continuing my atonement!
"Haha... Chunyong-ssi."
"..."
"Ah."
At that moment, at the gentle voice piercing my ear, I snapped my head up and blinked my eyes.
Yeonwoo hyung had brought his face close to mine, smiling brightly.
Yeonwoo hyung, who gripped the microphone attached to his clothes tightly with his hand once, continued speaking in a low voice.
"If you roll your eyes too much, it'll show, see."
"......."
"Don't speak while holding the mic too much. If the audio is empty, the production crew will get suspicious. And whatever you're worrying about... it will be resolved soon."
Yeonwoo hyung, who patted the shoulder area of my special forces costume that had become disheveled from the scuffle with Logan earlier, finished speaking with a slight eye-smile.
"..."
"Because we're still filming."
And, at the same time.
"—You are surrounded!"
The crude villain line thrown by a familiar voice echoed through the designated location where our team had been briefly catching our breath.
"Huh? Wait, isn't this our team?"
"..."
"Yuchan hyung."
"Uh, Chunyong-ah! What the heck. Wasn't this Team 2's camp? Damn... I thought we'd completely caught you from behind!"
"Haha, hyung... the lights here are blue, so how could it be Team 2's camp?"
I showed Yuchan hyung a hollow smile, then looked at Yeonwoo hyung who stood before me again.
The hyung, showing a well-forged, metallic smile, mouthed words to me. 'I'll look forward to finding out what that better thing you promised me is.'
And then....
"Ah, since meeting like this is fate too. Shall we stick together again from now on? There aren't many medals left to replace anyway, so let's focus on getting enough screen time."
As if he had been waiting for this moment, he very naturally took control of the situation.
"Ah, shall we? Then let's join up with the other units if we meet them too!"
"Haha, sounds good, Yuchan-ssi. You seemed to have replaced a lot of medals while going around. You've worked hard."
"Phew, sunbaenim has worked harder!"
"......."
Between Yuchan hyung and Yeonwoo hyung exchanging banter like a comedy duo, I could see the eyes of the person standing behind them shaking like crazy.
The one who had been on the mission with Yuchan hyung the entire time because Yeonwoo hyung had designated him earlier, the one who boasted the longest trainee period within Wiz....
"You guys saw it. If not, how could the choreography be this similar? Can you deny it?"
"Don't talk shit! So the choreography I stayed up for a week straight without sleep to make, was just to copy yours? Kim Chunyong, are you crazy?"
"Watch your mouth. You're the crazy one."
"For real!"
It was Han Danu, who had fought head-on with me in Queens.
Behind me was the time bomb An Taei, whom I had to keep worrying about how to resolve, and before me was a former trainee friend whom I'd hoped to avoid meeting as much as possible and just live separate lives.
"..."
"Damn it."
Yeonwoo hyung had told me to speak moderately while covering the mic, but this time it couldn't be helped.
In these constantly arising dramatic situations, how was I supposed to hold back my curses?
And no matter what I thought, no matter how much I racked my brain or rolled my eyes.
"..."
"Let's head out again now. We have to win the mission, right? The prize for winning 'Catch Me, Catch You' is quite a good one too. I'm sure it'll help the rookies."
The person who, amidst this dramatic situation, was only looking forward to the enjoyment he would gain, showed no signs of stopping.