Episode 161: The Return of the Malicious Member
* * *
Ever since we started living together, the routine for us ToZ members after arriving at the dorm was pretty much the same.
"Hwaseong hyung, no fair... Today, I want to use it first...!"
"Ah, come on. I'm seriously so tired today. I don't think I can last until my turn. Siwoo, just let me go first this once!"
"Mate. Whichever one of you showers first, please wake me up when you're done. I'm exhausted, ugh..."
"Hey, Logan! Don't fall asleep. A few days ago you did that and couldn't get up. You'll really catch a cold doing that... Ah! Yongyong hyung! That's cheating! How can you just barge in first like that?"
"Yeah, right here."
"He always does that, always!"
"You should have been born earlier if it's unfair, Hwaseong. Hyung's going in!"
Deciding who uses the bathroom first, dozing off until their turn comes, showering, and then collapsing into sleep as if knocked out.
"Jaeha, should we order some delivery? If we just sleep, I think the kids will all be hungry..."
"Umm, I think there were some side dishes left that Hwaseong's parents sent over before. We could just eat rice with that, or just go with chicken...? Ah, Chunyong. You're done showering. Don't you want anything to eat?"
"Haha... I'm fine, Jaeha hyung. Ah, I'm especially tired today, huh? I think I need to sleep a bit early."
Or using the spare moments to shove something into their hungry stomachs and psych themselves up for tomorrow's schedule.
Of course, today too, I firmly refused all the rough handling and suggestions from the other members and headed to bed after a shower faster than anyone else.
Since I had resolved myself to live more diligently than anyone this time, as much as I had lived dissolutely and lazily before.
[Jeong Yeonwoo: ^^]
"Ugh..."
I let out a short sigh, looking at the messages filling the smartwatch screen.
Now he doesn't even write any content, just sends a smiley emoticon.
The pressure from this was greater than from Ahn Taei, who would whine begging for a reply, or even Han Danwoo's message, which he clearly spent a long time typing.
"Well, seems like our talk is roughly over, so I'll be going. You guys wrap up your schedule well too."
"Hey, wait. Chunyong. How about giving me your number before you go? I want to keep in touch from now on!"
"...
Didn't you get sick of me while we were filming 'Catch Me Catch You,' Taei?"
"Huh? No, I didn't?"
"You got what you wanted realized now, so what other contact do you want to have..."
"Hey. That's that. What's the big deal about keeping in touch? Just reply to me sometimes, that's all!"
"...
Kim Chunyong. Give me your number too. You changed your phone."
In the first place, maybe it's because of the difference where those guys practically extorted my number, and Yeonwoo hyung just up and gave me a smartwatch.
If it's not that, well.
"You seem to have thought of something, right? Ah, if I hear you out on this, maybe I can ask a favor?"
"I can give you something even better than that. Probably."
"...
Something better? What do you think I'm going to request?"
Maybe it's the pressure of having to somehow make good use of the blank check I willingly handed over.
"...
Tch."
I clicked my tongue briefly, threw myself onto the bed, and started slowly tapping on the tiny keyboard of the smartwatch.
The 'something better' I had decided to give to Yeonwoo hyung, who had looked out for my convenience and helped me throughout this 'Catch Me Catch You' filming, whether it was noticeable or not.
One might wonder what a newbie who just debuted could possibly give a senior artist, but there definitely was something.
That is, something only I, who knows the future, can give.
Even Yeonwoo hyung, who is sly, hard to read, and lives solely by his own interests, couldn't know everything.
Of course, he does know a lot, though.
[Sledix's Juyeong, sweet date with Billy from the girl group Lily J.... "He even bought her a ring."]
[
But still, how could he know when a teammate's dating rumor would break?
It's before it breaks now, but the dating rumor between Juyeong sunbaenim and Billy sunbaenim was one of the incidents that shook the idol scene quite massively.
A relationship between a rookie female idol aiming for public appeal with not much career experience and a member of the top-tier male idol group Sledix.
Of course, Korea's representative tabloid, Enter Gate, was absolutely thrilled and made a huge deal out of it, and it was even chaos in communities and on SNS.
"Wasn't Billy sunbaenim at the club today? Rex, shouldn't you go say thanks to her?"
"What are you talking about... Just pour me another shot, man."
"What do you mean 'what am I talking about'. Because Juyeong sunbaenim and Billy sunbaenim's dating rumor broke, your articles cooled down a bit. Aren't you thankful? And, so with that thankful heart, for our drinks today too, Rex should..."
"Alright, I'll pay the bill then, so the compensation for the vomit here, you guys... urrp."
"Hey, hey! Stop pretending you're trying to puke!"
Well, it had even become a minor topic among the unsavory guys I used to hang around with.
"......"
I quietly recalled the memories from that time and tapped the top of the smartwatch, which was blinking with its battery nearly dead, with my finger.
"Ah. Thank you, Juyeong sunbaenim!"
"What's there to thank me for over water. My manager over there is giving out hand warmers, so don't forget to take one. So... you're Chunyong-ssi, right? I know you because Yeonwoo hyung has taken an interest."
"Haha, yes. I got acquainted a bit thanks to
"Why is a call suddenly coming, gasp! J-just a moment!"
"...
Haha."
Thinking back to how I stared blankly at Juyeong sunbaenim rushing off to where there were fewer people in the middle of talking with me, I guess I already suspected he was in a relationship.
But, accurately pinpointing it was something Yeonwoo hyung clearly couldn't do.
If Yeonwoo hyung had known, would the dating rumor even have broken?
He'd probably have gone around handing out bottles of expensive liquor to journalists he knows, arranging things in advance to ask them to handle the articles somehow.
"Cough, Yeonwoo hyung... You're drinking quite a lot today."
"Hmm? ...
Haha. There's one guy who didn't do as I said and got himself into big trouble again. Sigh... Why is your learning ability so low?"
"Are you talking about me, hyung?"
"Well, Rex, your learning ability isn't that high either. But I'm not talking about you. So don't get prematurely guilty and waste alcohol; if you're not gonna drink it, give it to me."
I remember Yeonwoo hyung's alcohol intake sharply increasing because of that dating rumor, so this much is perfect as 'something better'.
[Kim Chunyong: I haven't forgotten what I promised to give you, sunbaenim!]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: Can I ask what it is?]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: Just telling you in advance, I don't accept alcohol as gifts ^^]
[Kim Chunyong: ^^;;]
[Kim Chunyong: Ah, it's something I need to give you when we meet]
[Kim Chunyong: I'll contact you again when I see you soon]
[Kim Chunyong: You don't need to reply, please rest comfortably ^0^]
"...
Phew."
I was surprised by the sudden quick reply, but I managed to finish the response safely. I just glossed over it vaguely with 'when I see you soon,' but there wasn't really a lie in that sentence.
[Aiming for the second half of the year's music industry again... Sledix regular album 'Dream within a Dream (夢中夢說)' logo image revealed]
[Seasons, Sledix, Gaeon, ToZ... 'Must avoid the second half of the year' Idols' Waves]
Around the time our ToZ's 'Hide and Seek' activities wrap up, Sledix will make a comeback, and even if schedules change and we can't meet, we'll run into each other at the soon-approaching year-end music festival stages anyway.
"Haa..."
To see the name of our ToZ among these prominent idols.
It's such a touching moment, but no sooner had I put the smartwatch down than notifications started flooding like crazy on my muted phone.
[Message Arrived! Receiver: Bomb (Disarm Complete)]
[- X: Hey, stop doing other stuff now and talk to me a bit...]
[Message Arrived! Receiver: Han Danwoo]
[Message Arrived! Receiver: Hobin hyung]
[Message Arrived! Receiver: JDS Crew Jin Dasol Sir]
[(Ad) Right now! Enter! Immediately! Minimum 1#6# percent up in 1 hour! Click link to check info▷ ...]
No contact from the family I want to hear from, nothing but messages I really don't want to see and advertisements flooding in.
What is this, seriously.
"Goodness..."
I flipped my phone over and, of course, shoved the smartwatch Yeonwoo hyung gave me into a drawer too, and then I lay still, staring at the ceiling of the dorm room, letting out a low groan.
Having finished what I needed to do, I needed a moment to breathe too.
Just like with the debut activities of our ToZ.
"Jaeha, so how many more music show appearances do we have left?"
"Probably about four times. Hmm... It's few if you think of it as few, many if you think of it as many. I think we need to review the parts of the choreography that aren't syncing up before then. Since we need to finish strong. Chunyong especially keeps saying we must do it."
"...
I didn't expect this conversation to suddenly lead to more practice, haha! ...
Right. We should finish well. True. So we aren't embarrassed in front of the fans."
Given the trend these days where idols promote for a short 2 to 3 weeks and then return with a repackaged album, our ToZ's 'Hide and Seek' activities were scheduled to wrap up next week.
"Ah, everyone. There's a concept meeting for the repackaged album next week Tuesday. So, tomorrow we have the music show recording and fan signing event together, and then the schedule ends. You have a vacation until Monday."
"Whoa! You mean we can rest for two days...? This is insane, insane! Wow, then I'm definitely going to play games like crazy..."
"Ah, Director Yunha sent over the concept draft in advance. She said to read it all before Tuesday."
"...
All of this? It seems like it will be 80 pages long?"
"Umm. You won't be able to play games like crazy, Hwaseong. Haha..."
Thanks to that, I did get a short two-day vacation, but with talk of the repackaged album, talk of preparing for the year-end festival stages.
Quietly organizing those things in my head, I couldn't help but think a lot.
Should I say the times I've been running non-stop since returning like this flashed through my mind?
Right after crying my eyes out seeing my family, I went straight onto the survival show, then kicked out the guy full of thoughts of running off to China and finally debuted again.
Resolved conflicts between members, practiced a debut song I'd never even heard before...
Drove out the problematic (former) manager, and then solved problems involving another group entangled with me this time.
Of course, there were many good things in between too.
"Hey, Chunyong hyung! Gao Yan contacted us asking if you could appear on her YouTube channel for a bit after this promotions ends!"
"Ah, really? ...
Thinking about it, it might be nice for you, me, and Ryota to go on together once."
"Got it. I hear Ryota is still coming to Korea often these days. Maybe he's preparing something?"
Like meeting a new member, Logan, or getting closer to people I couldn't form proper connections with before.
"Yeah, Mom. Tell Noona I sent the album, so ask her to check the package locker. Yeah, thanks. I love you. Please make sure you eat."
"...
Chunyong hyung. Are those... your parents?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah... it's my mom. Because my noona ignores all my contacts."
"Hyung, you're... really good at saying... 'I love you'... to your family."
"...
Haha, why don't you try sending a message to your hyung-nim saying you love him too? Who knows? He might like it."
"That's a bit...!"
I've become able to do better by my family, and I can speak more openly with the members too.
Maybe it's because, unlike the days when 'trash' was attached to my nickname, I'm living diligently, doing my best.
There's a lot of work, and a lot of fulfillment.
However, when I put all this together, one thing remains.
Truly, too, insanely...
"I'm... dying..."
Exhaustion.
Come to think of it, before coming to the dorm, I planned to spend time with family and catch my breath briefly.
But because of the issue that suddenly blew up, I ended up giving up even that time and working.
It's been so long since I properly let my guard down and rested.
Since loafing around was my daily life back in the Rex trash days, I don't even know what resting well means anymore.
But I can't spend it like those days...
I have two days off for the first time in a while, what on earth am I supposed to do?
"Should I maybe reinstall some phone games? Ah, but I don't want to look at my phone..."
Just as I was pointlessly pondering a rest plan from this evening until tomorrow night, at that moment.
"...
Chunyong. Are you sleeping?"
"Huh? Yuchan hyung? ...
I'm not asleep yet."
"Oh, good! Then can you come out for a moment? ...
I have something I want to say."
For some reason, Yuchan hyung, with a resolved expression on his face, opened the door and came to find me.