The Vicious Member Has Returned! Episode 158: Why Did An Taei Drop a Huge Bomb on T.O.J and Wiz.
As Kim Chunyong had inferred, his background of being called the "love of the century" played a significant role. More than the title of "rookie idol Wiz's visual member," it was the title of being the precious only son of national actor An Myeonguk and first-love icon Baek Yeonghyeon that preceded it.
In fact, until his debut, that was practically the world An Taei lived in.
"Oh, Taei. Did you come to the filming set again today?"
"Yes!"
"Oh my, look at those big eyes. How old are you now? Seven? ...
You're really going to make it big, truly."
Constantly showing his face at his parents' filming sets, never stopping hearing words like, "He'll definitely take after his parents and have a huge impact on the entertainment industry."
Honestly, An Taei liked that.
Who wouldn't like praise?
Who wouldn't like being told they'd succeed?
People often said, "Parents worry their children will be buried under their shadows, so they don't easily let them enter the same industry," but An Taei wasn't the type to be discouraged by such words.
"Oh my... Taei, you want to try taking acting lessons too? Really?"
"Yeah. And um... I want to take vocal lessons too!"
"Huh? Vocal lessons too? Why the sudden interest?"
"I like singing, Mom. So I want to learn properly, just once. Seriously."
"...
Hmm, I don't know if your dad will like it. But Mom will ask some people she knows for now. Mom supports Taei!"
Since he was in a position where he could do and challenge anything he wanted if he wished, was there any reason to refuse such an opportunity?
The opportunities to go to filming sets with his parents decreased, and their conversations lessened, but that alone was enough.
"Let's stop here for today. Taei, you've improved a lot with that hesitation during monologues. Should I say your vocalization has gotten better?"
"Ah, really? I did increase my practice volume a bit. I didn't know it would show."
"Yeah. I think vocal lessons are really effective too. You're really good... to the point it's jealousy-inducing."
Moreover, there was no way the talent his brilliant parents passed down would go to waste.
He was good at acting too, and his singing wasn't lacking anywhere.
"Taei, you're now... fifteen? You should think about what you want to do. Do you have anything in mind?"
"For now, I just want to focus on my lessons... haha, what I'm thinking about is what to eat when I get home today, things like that?"
"Oh, right. Kids like you can live like that... must be nice, nice."
Therefore, An Taei was steadily building up specs befitting any novel protagonist, planning to worry only about happy concerns.
About in which field he would bloom his talent, and in what way he would show it.
But.
Perhaps it was because, while firmly harboring the thought that others would point fingers at him calling him "raised in a greenhouse with flowers for brains," he did whatever he pleased.
"Mom! You were home? I finished all my lessons today, and the teachers said...."
"Ah, T-Taei, you're back? Oh my... I didn't know you'd come now...."
"...
Mom, are you crying?"
"Mom needs to rest alone for a bit, Taei. I'm sorry, sorry...."
A wall came to An Taei in a different way.
A wall that, however absurd, he had thought impossible for his parents—who were called the "love of the century."
"Oh? Taei, didn't Dad drive you today?"
"Haha, yes. He's a bit busy with his schedule today... so I'll take the bus to the filming set later! I don't think I've gone much lately. I should have paid more attention to him."
"Hmm, you're not going with your mother? Is Baek Yeonghyeon also preparing for a project these days?"
"Ah, I think she's preparing for a reading. ...
Probably."
"Hmm, then... An Myeonguk is in this drama with Jang Siwon, right? I heard he's bringing his younger sibling to the filming set. To save your father's face, why don't you buy a gift for that sibling and go?"
"...
Oh, that sounds good. Thank you for your help, Teach!"
Although Jang Siu worried that he might be overshadowed by his older brother's radiance or become a nuisance to his own team members....
Separate from that, the Jang brothers' relationship was certainly good.
An older brother who cherished his younger sibling dearly, and a younger brother who strived to somehow surpass that older brother.
However, An Taei, who came from a similar celebrity family, was different.
"...
Dad. Where are you going? It's really late."
"Oh, son. Dad needs to clear his head for a moment. I was thinking of driving the car around the block."
"Oh, um. Shall I go with you? I'll tell you about the lessons I took today. I also started a new choreography lesson today...."
"Today, Dad will go alone. Sleep early, son."
"...
Where do you think you're going by yourself? We haven't finished talking properly. Come in."
"Dear, I said I have nothing more to say. I told you it's not like that. You should clear your head too. Talking more won't make things better."
"......."
Misunderstandings he couldn't resolve only piled up, and even when he tried to approach them to untangle things, they only ran away.
"...
Mom. That agency that offered me a contract before, should I visit them once? What do you think?"
"Do you mean Queens, Taei?"
"Yeah. I've grown old enough now. If I start working properly soon, I thought it might help Mom and Dad. ...
I want to be helpful."
"...
Shall we think about it together a bit later? Around when our Taei enters high school and becomes a full adult. Right now, it's a bit hard to think about such things...."
Though he tried his best to pretend to be a good son throughout that process, it was no use against parents whose hatred for the spouse they had married had grown larger than the very existence of a son in their world.
The couple and son who had shared the envy of the entire world slowly drifted apart, and An Taei grew accustomed to hiding himself and pretending to be thoughtless.
"...
You came to sign the contract without bringing your parents? I naturally thought you'd come together."
"Haha, I'm an adult now! Must I go everywhere with my parents? Ah, I just need to stamp here, right?"
"Hmm, for long-term contracts like this, even adults sometimes come with their parents... well. Yes. Just stamp there. Congratulations on joining."
"...
I look forward to working with you!"
Against that background, it was perhaps inevitable that An Taei discovered and reacted to the problem between T.O.J and Kim Chunyong.
For the attachment to what one had finally given up did not fade easily, and even when he turned his eyes and body away, it steadily followed.
"Hey, An Taei. No matter how late you started dancing, you can't fail to follow this one. There's less than three months until debut."
"Haha, I thought I was working hard! Hmm, I guess it's still lacking? I'll try harder, yeah."
"Sigh... If it were Chunyong hyung, he would have explained it more easily,"
"...
Jo Eun. You fucker, what did you just say?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Sorry."
"—Wait, wait. Who? Who is Chunyong? Such a unique name... Ah, I remember! The one on that survival program right now!"
"Hey, hey. Shut up. If you haven't memorized the choreography, just practice."
"Did they fight with him? ...
I had a feeling they'd debut in a different group." That whole incident started from there.
An Taei, steeped in the thought that he had failed to properly turn back his parents' relationship, made a rash judgment that "this time might be different."
They fought over misunderstandings, quarreled, and drifted apart without a single conversation.
He had already seen such sights throughout his growth.
Because it wasn't as if everything would be solved just by being endlessly kind.
Honestly, he couldn't say he hadn't acted that way out of impulse and surging anger.
Feeling as though he was always at the center of trouble wherever he went, it was certainly true that he had impulsively done something wondering, "Will things change if I do this?"
And unlike his parents, who had lived as actors and worn themselves thin in the entertainment industry, the reaction came very clearly from these young peers who had just debuted.
"Isn't this okay? If I just push a little more like this, I think they'll talk to me properly because they won't be able to help themselves. If I try it this way once, maybe Mom and Dad too...."
But.
As expected, being raised in velvet truly meant being raised in velvet.
That An Taei belatedly learned that someone might act differently from his expectations.
The moment he realized it....
"I know what you want, so I'll do that for you too. Understand?"
"......."
"This is what you wanted from the start. Don't pretend you don't know."
When the sly Kim Chunyong—whom he had assessed as being like a fox—snagged his ankle, causing him to fall into the trap he himself had laid.
From the moment Kim Chunyong became involved in this matter, the situation could not flow according to An Taei's thoughts.
Family conflict with his parents?
Ah, that must be sad and difficult.
You want to solve the members' troubles with a groundbreaking method?
Admirable, amazing.
But before the vicious member who had returned after all manner of trials and tribulations, what good was it for a second-generation celebrity—raised in velvet, whose biggest problem in life was "a conflict he couldn't resolve"—to try and force his way in?
"Wait. What's this, Taei hyung? ...
Did you come to fight alone? You know it's three against one? Are you stupid?"
"Hmm, shall we subdue him first? Anyway, if we just finish exchanging these medals, it's our victory. Since we're in the same group, Seono and Euni, you decide."
"...
Well, he seems to have something to say. Shall we hear him out? Anyway, we have more people on our side."
An Taei, who stood alone before the 2nd team members with physiques just as good as his own, put on a smile mixed with bewilderment and bitterness, and obediently raised both hands.
"...
Yeah. I'm surrendering, that's what this is. Let's talk."
An Taei's ambition was reigned in within Kim Chunyong's palm, and it was the moment a proper board was finally set.
* * *
What Kim Chunyong and Jeong Yeonu demanded of An Taei in joining forces was only one thing.
To draw the attention of the 2nd team survivors to An Taei as much as possible.
"So you're saying you'll join our team now? To share the prize? ...
Is this even possible under the rules?"
"Hmm... I don't think it's entirely impossible. In a previous broadcast, the 2OCD seniors and Leopold seniors also formed an alliance near the end."
"But with an armband involved, it's completely unreliable."
"That's true too...."
At the sharply exchanged conversation unfolding before him, An Taei gulped and glanced behind him.
Whether they were moving or not.
If this was how it would be, why had they left him standing here like this!
"......."
However, even though An Taei looked, no one suddenly appeared from behind to help.
That was the nature of games.
If you really wanted to win, if you wanted to achieve your goal.
You had to be able to deceive not just others, but even your allies.
Of course, at this timing, to Kim Chunyong, an "ally" was...
"But you told Chunyong you were going to the bathroom and just came here? ...
Really?"
"Huh? Ah, yes. I said I'd be right back."
"...
This is all a lie, isn't it? He's not someone who would let that slide during filming."
Son Jaeha walked toward An Taei with slow steps and a meaningful face.
"It would be best if you spoke honestly. Let's start over from there."
"Haha... It's true. The bathroom was close to where we were, so I said I'd be right back."
"Because it was close, he must have told you to hold it a little. The shoot's about to end; that can't be."
"...
Maybe he was being considerate because I'm from a different team?"
"Well, I don't think so."
Son Jaeha acted this way partly because he truly intended to win this mission safely, but also because he was worried that An Taei might have done something else to Kim Chunyong.
Ah, you know it's a shoot.
But you dropped a bomb on our team member before.
The coldness revealed beneath Son Jaeha's gentle expression prevented An Taei from opening his mouth any further.
"How can someone be so rigid...!"
And just as An Taei was about to let out a hollow sigh of defeat before Son Jaeha, unable to put up any notable act—
"—Taei, you really can't act!"
"Gasp, wait!"
"We won't take your armband, we won't! Run, An Taei!"
Jeong Yeonu and Kim Chunyong came around via the central staircase and ambushed the 2nd team survivors from behind, snatching the medals hanging at their waists.
The medals that only Team 2 could use, which Team 2 had been about to exchange.