The Toxic Member Has Returned! Episode 160
* * *
After the eventful filming of “Catch Me Catch You” came to an end.
The preview went up sooner than I’d expected.
- “The last teammate I’m going to choose is….”
- “Ah, I was wondering why hyung didn’t pick this person from the start! You’d had your eye on them since ——, right?”
- “Haha, Juyeong. If you say it that openly, what does that make me?”
- “Come here! I’m totally into you now, you know?”
- “Ugh, wait…! I’m into you too, but that’s—!”
- “Jayden, listen. I think I found a great secret.”
- “I got you. Speak, Logan.”
It was a little longer than the previews for other episodes, and it had been edited to include a lot of conversation scenes.
Honestly, because the camera team had been absent due to food poisoning, I’d been a little worried they might have trouble filling the runtime, or that even unnecessary things we’d said might have made it in.
“Chunyong-aa… Sledix’s senior Yeonwoo picked you as his last teammate, right? Hm? It was mosaicked, but I still think it was you. My soul told me so.”
“Ah, that’s still a secret! But since it’s you, noona, I’ll tell you just a little… How about checking the hair color one more time?”
“Gasp… Our Chunyong really is a pro idol… Ah, for the Post-it, just write which Wiz member you talked to the most. And this is a gift! The headband you were wearing in the ‘Catch Me Catch You’ preview looked so good on you….”
Judging by the reactions of the fans who came to our second-week offline fan signing event, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“Siu, were the seniors hard to deal with? It was your first variety show. Though, just from the preview, I feel like you probably did well!”
“Yes… the hyungs were all… really nice to me….”
“Wait. Hyung? You decided to call someone hyung? Who!”
“Ah, Wiz’s… H-Hawon hyung….”
For Logan, they asked if he’d gotten close with Jayden; for Hwaseong, they asked if he and Eun were rising as a new same-age duo, and so on.
Right.
“Jaeha, why don’t you ask the agency to send you on more variety shows? Your face is a national treasure, so you need to go on broadcasts a lot and make it known….”
“Hmm, if you put it that way… I’ll ask them too. I actually did want to try appearing on more variety shows.”
“Yuchan oppa. I really became certain after watching the ‘Catch Me Catch You’ preview. I think you need to go on a singing competition program. That’s where your talent lies.”
“…
You’re not indirectly saying I’m bad at dancing, are you!? Ah, I really worked hard. But why did the scene of me falling have to be the very first thing in the preview….”
The response was definitely good.
“Everyone, great job at the fan signing event. Still, since it’s the second week, you were less nervous than the first week, right?”
And maybe I wasn’t the only one who noticed that, because the moment we got into the van after the fan signing, Hobin hyung began pouring out words with a bright smile.
“Maybe because the preview for ‘Catch Me Catch You’ came out well, there was a lot to talk about too. When you keep meeting people and talking, you end up forgetting what you’ve said.”
“Whoa, that’s true. No, I thought I hadn’t talked much about the ‘Catch Me Catch You’ outfits today, right? But Siu told me earlier that I’d said it more than ten times!”
“Haha… Everyone was like that. Still, if you appear on variety shows, you can apply a wider range of repertoires. It’ll keep increasing more and more.”
With those words from Hobin hyung, the van started moving smoothly, and the members began chattering about the conversations they’d had with the fans throughout the fan signing.
“Logan, seems like you heard a lot about Jayden from Wiz today. Did you share a lot of fun episodes?”
“Huh, as much as I could! Luckily, the Xenia I talked to today happened to be very interested in Canada and the UK, so….”
Listening to the members’ excited voices, I felt somehow relieved.
Right. This was it.
This kind of atmosphere was the peaceful debut promotion I’d wanted from the very beginning.
…
Not worrying with the members inside the van because of another group.
Of course, another group was included as a topic of conversation, but what I meant was that it was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves no matter how we got there.
“Phew….”
Just as I was leaning my head against the seat headrest, savoring the situation—
“Ah, Chunyong.”
Jaeha hyung, who was sitting beside me, gently turned toward me.
“Yes, hyung. Uh… do you want some water?”
“Ah, no. I was just curious about something. …
At the fan signing event today.”
Covering his mouth with his right hand, Jaeha hyung continued in a calm voice, as if it were nothing.
“That Post-it earlier. Who did you write down?”
“Uh… I got so many Post-its today that I don’t know which one you mean?”
“You know, the one asking which Wiz member you talked to the most.”
“Ah.”
At Jaeha hyung’s words, which clearly had an intention behind them, I let out a short sigh and rolled my eyes.
Right. His seat at the fan signing today had been right next to mine, so he must have seen everything.
Honestly, I was the idiot for thinking he wouldn’t ask.
“…
Why are you curious about that, hyung? The people I’m closest to are our members anyway.”
“Hmm, I can’t help but be curious. After the ‘Catch Me Catch You’ filming ended, you didn’t tell us at all what you talked about with the Wiz members, did you?”
A soft smile floated on Jaeha hyung’s face, and I couldn’t tell whether he was genuinely curious or teasing me.
“…….”
“So I told that Xenia that if I ever went to Canada, I’d like to visit Quebec….”
“Shh, Logan. Tell us the rest later. Later!”
Even the voices of the other members that had been filling the van disappeared in an instant, and everyone focused on our conversation.
Good grief, they were all way too interested in something that wasn’t even that important.
“Tsk….”
Clicking my tongue lightly, I tossed out an answer they would never have expected.
“I just wrote ‘all of them.’”
“…
Really?”
“Yes. Because it’s true.”
This, at least, wasn’t an answer I’d given to avoid the truth.
Because I really had written exactly that on the Post-it the Xenia gave me.
However, the members’ expressions were filled with suspicion. As if they had the words “That can’t be it” written in huge letters across their foreheads.
“Hmm… All right. I was just asking because I was curious. Don’t misunderstand.”
“Aw, that’s no fun. I was listening closely because I thought Yongyong hyung might’ve written someone special!”
“Huh? Hwaseong, you cut me off because of that? That’s mean. Of course, I was curious too, but…!”
“Well, Chunyong is right. Even if the teams were split up, we did face each other during the mini games, didn’t we? That means he talked to all of them.”
“I thought… Chunyong hyung would have written… the people he talked to at the end….”
“Tsk… Ah, I’m sleepy! I’ll sleep a little until we get back to the dorm. Okay?”
Leaving behind the members’ disappointed grumbling, I turned my body to the side, pulled the blanket all the way over my head, and began pretending to sleep.
Though in truth, the moment my body was covered, I quickly took out my phone.
The top bar of my phone, which I’d left neglected throughout the schedule, was a complete mess from the flood of notifications.
- X: Hey Kim Chunyong-yong-guri
- X: If you’ve done enough already, focus on the contract, okay???? What the heck are you doingㅡㅡ
- X: Did you come back to make friendy-friends or something? No, you didn’t! Focus on the most important thing, focus
- X: Don’t pour your whole heart and soul into useless variety shows like this, okay?
- X: Raise your group’s recognition! Focus on things that help you become the world’s best K-pop idol! Stuff like that!
As expected, the largest share of those notifications belonged to X, who always did his best to torment me by pinpointing my location and condition just when I was about to forget him….
But aside from that, messages had arrived from other people too.
[Bomb (Defused): Chunyong, if you see this, can’t you reply to me?]
[Bomb (Defused): You replied to Danu ㅠㅠ Why won’t you reply to me? I did everything you told me to do during filming]
[Bomb (Defused): Even if you don’t reply, we’re going to meet on this week’s music show]
From one guy whose saved name I’d even changed, thinking he must be a complete dud by now….
[Han Danu: Yeah, thanks]
[Han Danu: Work hard at the fan signing]
And from my former trainee colleague and current rival group leader, with whom I’d finally started proper communication again.
“…….”
After checking those messages in the preview, I pulled the blanket that had been covering my face back down and let out a light sigh.
Well, whatever else might be true….
“Honestly… it’s not like I have that much I want to say to you guys. We’re in different groups anyway.”
“Uh, Chunyong. Isn’t that a little too much? After treating me like that throughout filming….”
“Be quiet for a second, An Taei….”
“…
But still, I don’t want to make my members worry. And I think I should wrap things up with you guys too.”
“Kim Chunyong, you… your personality’s changed a bit. When you were at Queens, you kind of lived like you were all that….”
“Hey.”
The conversation I’d had with them hadn’t been that bad.
I learned the background behind why An Taei had acted that way, and I learned that what had happened between Han Danu and me had been a misunderstanding.
It had been the first time in a while that I could make use of the advantage of having “returned from the future to the past,” but that didn’t mean it was easy.
“So what is it that you want to say?”
“…
Han Danu, weren’t you coming to me because you had something to say too?”
“I-I was… but Kim Chunyong, you’re the one who opened your mouth first.”
“Ah, then I’ll yield. You go first.”
“…
No, it’s fine. You talk.”
It was embarrassing.
The reason I could show blind devotion to our TOJ members and my family was because I clearly positioned myself as the weaker party in those relationships.
After what I’d done, of course I had to.
But with Han Danu, it was a separate matter.
“Danu, Chunyong, I’m sorry. If I’d given clearer direction, this wouldn’t have happened….”
If we tried to determine who was right and wrong in the issue between us, there were a lot of difficult parts.
While preparing for the monthly evaluation under the same choreography teacher, we’d coincidentally come up with similar choreography.
Then was it my fault? Or was it Han Danu’s fault?
Or was it the choreography teacher’s fault for telling us to reference the good points of another friend?
I’m telling you, it was ambiguous.
At the time, both Han Danu and I received fairly good scores in the monthly evaluation, and neither of us was penalized because our choreography was similar.
We were just young, and our heads caught fire and our feelings got hurt simply because, “How could someone who prepared separately have choreography similar to mine?”
“…
You come looking for someone without even preparing what you’re going to say?”
“What about you, Kim Chunyong?”
“You’re really….”
Because of that, when we actually tried to talk about it, we ended up in an awkward situation for both of us.
And then, just as Han Danu and I were both racking our brains over how to open our mouths about this twisted relationship—
The answer came from the guy who had been staring at us from beside us with an innocent expression.
“Wait, wait. Guys! You’re trying to resolve your hurt feelings right now, aren’t you? Haha… Ah, I thought I was supposed to suggest this first. That’s why I was going to go find Chunyong!”
No, perhaps he had been hoping for that situation.
An Taei got to watch how a problem he hadn’t been able to solve himself was resolved in a different way, and Han Danu and I got to ease even a little bit of our old resentment.
“Phew….”
After checking those messages in the preview, I pulled the blanket that had been covering my face back down and let out a light sigh.
Well, since there was no longer any chance of shrapnel from the accident site flying toward our members, I supposed I should say this was enough.
Even if they were our rival group, our promotion periods barely overlapped.
We just had to be a little careful when dealing with each other.
“Um, Hobin hyung. Then are all our schedules fixed until next week?”
“Ah, Chunyong. You weren’t asleep? Yes. I think we’ll probably schedule the repackage album activities around next weekend.”
After nodding lightly to hyung, I glanced at the sun sinking outside the window, then quietly counted on my fingers.
Completing the terms of my contract with X, then going on a family trip to Cebu after winning Rookie of the Year—I didn’t even imagine things like that anymore.
Now, the members and I just had to flawlessly carry out the schedule for winning Rookie of the Year.
Ah, of course.
Before that….
[Jeong Yeonwoo: The “better thing” you promised to give me]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: You haven’t forgotten, have you, Chunyong? ^^]
I did have to hand over the blank check I’d offered in order to clean up the situation.