The Vicious Member Has Returned! Episode 164
* * *
A noraebang I’d gotten dragged to just as I felt a sudden burnout and was about to wind down.
It would have been a lie to say I wasn’t taken aback.
Well, maybe if I’d at least dressed properly.
What I had on was a hoodie I used as pajamas and training pants I’d worn to death during
And Yuchan-hyung’s hat I’d thrown on over my red hair, which was starting to show signs of fading—that was it.
Since I wasn’t the one paying, I could excuse my wallet, but to think I’d even left behind the phone I used to contact X with every day.
“Hah….”
My sigh, tinged with a strange dilemma, rang through the noraebang booth via the mic.
…
No, it wasn’t that I hated this.
It wasn’t a bad thing either!
But isn’t that just how a person’s mood works?
A little more, huh? Reading the room, huh? Checking the timing, lighting, temperature, and humidity, huh?
Usually, you go out together after doing that, don’t you?
But right now, he’d asked, “Wanna eat?” and when I said sure, it felt like the king’s royal table had instantly appeared before me.
“Keuheup….”
Just as I was grabbing my head in momentary absurdity, letting out groans that weren’t quite groans.
“Ooh, we still have fifteen minutes left, Chunyong! Let’s rest for two minutes and then keep singing. Got it?”
Yuchan-hyung, who had plopped down beside me, was spewing words at me with his eyes sparkling brightly and a wide grin plastered on his face.
This was nothing more than a coin noraebang booth barely one pyeong in size, yet Yuchan-hyung looked like he was performing a concert at a massive stadium.
Literally, passion itself.…
How can a real person be like that?
I scrubbed my face with my hand and barely managed to answer Yuchan-hyung with a bizarre voice on the verge of going off-key.
“…Is it really fifteen minutes? I thought it was already over. Did some service time kick in so we’re singing more?”
“Ugh. No, no. It’s only been forty-five minutes. I put in exactly five thousand won. This is a coin noraebang, so they don’t even give service time.”
“Service… no, Yuchan-hyung. You don’t always play like this at noraebang, do you? If you play like this, forget an hour. Everyone would drop dead in thirty minutes.”
“Hm, right? That’s why I always felt it was a shame when I came with friends. Everyone would sing a little, then say they were tired and just lie on the sofa. But Chunyong, I guess it’s because we came through that hellish survival show together—our energy levels actually match!”
Listening to my excited hyung, my mouth fell open on its own.
No, there was no way our energy levels actually matched.
“Heueoohk, I, w-wait! Let me breathe… no, why are you singing non-stop like this?”
“No, no. You can sing more. Think of it as concert rehearsal.”
“Even concerts have talk segments and water breaks in between, hyung.”
“Aha, we’re talking right now… Here, water. We go straight to the next song after you drink this? Hold on, let me raise the key a little more!”
“Ah, Yuchan-hyung…!”
It wasn’t that our energy matched—I was just being driven into a corner with no time to rest!
Just as I was about to blurt out from my throat, “No, honestly, no matter what, I’m the dance member so this is really hard!”
A heated arm, hot with excitement, slung over my shoulder with a thud, and…
“But it’s fun, right? Your nerves are loosening up too?”
Words that pierced the situation with perfect accuracy flowed from Yuchan-hyung’s mouth.
Thanks to that, I had to gulp down the words I was about to say and close my mouth.
Was it fun?
Were my nerves loosening?
“…….”
A myriad of emotions crossed my mind.
Because after returning as Gim Chunyong instead of Lex Trash, I’d thought there would be no days to spend time like this.
Obsessively checking my phone to verify the missions X sent, suspecting whether someone showing ominous signs was trying to harm our team.
Setting all that aside, the fact that I’d played and sung so thoughtlessly like today… well.
Really….
“…Yes. It’s fun.”
Yes.
It was too fun to run away behind the excuse of being bewildered.
Singing our debut song in a trot version while knowing full well the members were watching on video call, singing a b-side at double speed.
Ah, when would I ever get to do something like this again?
At my answer that ultimately raised the white flag, Yuchan-hyung patted my shoulder hard and let out a giggling laugh.
“I knew it! Let’s play to our hearts’ content today and tomorrow, then focus again after that, okay? The other members made huge plans to hang out with you, too.”
Yuchan-hyung’s smiling expression was so full of relief and joy that it was almost embarrassing for me to add anything more.
“…….”
I still gripped the slightly slippery noraebang mic tightly in my hand, quietly closed my eyes, and thought about what would come after this.
X, who would raise complete hell asking, “What were you thinking leaving your phone behind?” and Yeonu-hyung, who would surely have sent a reply asking, “Exactly when are we meeting?”
The repackage activities that would follow the “Hide and Seek” promotions, and the whereabouts of the New Artist Award that still hadn’t been properly pinned down.
♪♩♬♪….
To the intro of the reserved song that had started playing before I knew it, I finally opened my eyes and looked at the spinning karaoke screen.
And, as a bonus, I simultaneously reached out with the noraebang remote and canceled the reserved song.
“Huh? Why! You don’t want to sing more?”
“Haha….”
At Yuchan-hyung’s slightly bewildered appearance, I faintly smiled and shook my head.
There was much to think about, and much to do ahead.
I’d wondered if spending time with the members right now was too luxurious a decision.
“…You’ve reserved all the songs until now, hyung. This time, I want to reserve them.”
Because I felt like it might be okay to spend a day, or half a day more, with these people without thinking about anything.
“…….”
As if realizing something at my words, Yuchan-hyung, who had opened his eyes wide, looked at me for a moment then handed over the noraebang remote that had been on his lap.
[11555 ToZ – Boyhood Ending]
Pressing the numbers there without hesitation, I stretched my remaining arm wide.
Yeah, this was good.
…For real, let’s try playing without thinking for once.
* * *
And so, in the late dawn hours as Sunday passed into Monday.
“…Yes. I’ve sent the reply. I’ll submit it for approval right after confirmation. Yes, thank you. I’ll contact you again.”
Following the opinions of his artists who wanted to get just one day of rest before repackage preparations, Yu Hobin had coordinated a tightly packed schedule and was wrapping up work at home to endure the aftermath.
Honestly, it was absurd to give such time to rookies who were just getting onto the track.
“This week’s third place is… ToZ’s Hide and Seek!”
ToZ had achieved really good results even while the formula “digital chart powerhouses are indeed girl idols” was rampant, and the more it was like this, the more the company would want to strike while the iron was hot.
However.
“Ah, I bought coff… Is Mr. Chunyong sleeping right now?”
“Ah, yes. He even slept during hair and makeup. Hmm, I don’t think he was like that before.”
“…Understood. Then I’ll come back before van boarding.”
Something kept catching his eye.
“Yes? He wants to practice the choreography before promotions end?”
“Ah, yes. The pair choreography between me and Rogan changed rather abruptly, so everyone felt a bit scattered in that part. To go in more polished, I think it’d be good if we all matched it once together.”
“I think that’s good too, but… didn’t JDS Crew contact Mr. Chunyong once more? If we try to match that too, the schedule seems like it would be too tight.”
“Aah, that. It’s fine. It’s not that hard.”
“…….”
No matter that he’d been through a survival show, there was a certain member who relentlessly drove himself without rest.
“…Hoo.”
Yu Hobin, who had nearly finished the work that needed to be done by tomorrow by sending one more email, took off his work glasses and slowly rubbed his tired eyes with his hand.
It wasn’t just the ToZ members who owed Gim Chunyong.
As their manager, he was the same.
Gim Chunyong was the one who made Yu Hobin throw himself back into the work he loved most.
Though it was slightly embarrassing, if examined piece by piece, it was an undeniable fact.
He was passionate about everything and did his best.
A strange idol who kept overlapping with Lady Swan, the greatest idol in his life.
“Because you keep wallowing in useless sentimentality, you can’t succeed at anything real and just do weird cleanup work,” someone inside Yu Hobin’s heart seemed to shout, but….
Ding!
At that moment, a message arriving on Yu Hobin’s phone made him fold those thoughts immediately.
“…Ah.”
Yu Hobin, blinking slowly, couldn’t help but smile softly as he looked at the photos and messages in the group chat room he shared with the ToZ members.
[Jihwaseong: (photo) (photo)
Jihwaseong: I’m Chunyong and right now I have Hwaseong’s phone
Jihwaseong: Hwaseong said he’d carry everything but he was Bronze
Jihwaseong: Since when could Bronze carry?;
Son Jaeha: ^^
Rogan Lee: Wut? Carry? You mean carrying something around?
Jang Siu: Rogan-hyung, that’s not it
Jihwaseong: Omg I can’t delete this?
Jihwaseong: Ah ㅠㅠㅠ I took the phone back from Yungyung-hyung everyone please forget it I really can carry I’m not lying
Bang Yuchan: kkkkkk
Bang Yuchan: Ah, I guess I need to provide Hwaseong with some covering fire~
Bang Yuchan: (video)
Bang Yuchan: It’s a video of Chunyong singing our b-side in techno version earlier ;-D
Jihwaseong: Yay weakness secured
Jang Siu: Hwaseong-hyung, it’s already been over an hour, now it’s my turn
Jihwaseong: Ppung]
Having just received the baton from the first batter, they were breathing vitality into that exhausted member in what they thought was the best way.
“Haha….”
In the end, Yu Hobin smiled brightly, slowly got off his work chair, and moved his hand to turn off the computer.
Yes.
Tomorrow’s work could be finished tomorrow for now.
[ToZ Repackage Album Meeting Attendee List]
“…Ah.”
Just before turning off the computer, an arrived email hinted that things ahead wouldn’t be entirely comfortable.
Ah, but what did that matter right now?
[Jang Siu: (photo) (photo)
Jang Siu: Please choose. Chunyong-hyung says he can’t decide
Rogan Lee: Is this candy?
Rogan Lee: omg I prefer chocolate!!!!!
Jang Siu: I don’t know what you’re saying
Jang Siu: It’s yugwa
Jihwaseong: Wow Siu, did you seriously take Yungyung-hyung to a hangwa shop? Is it open there now? That’s amazing
Son Jaeha: I like tteok better
Bang Yuchan: Jaeha is really amazing too. You must have eaten tteok every day, yet you still like tteok more
Son Jaeha: ^^
Jang Siu: (photo) (photo)
Jang Siu: Chunyong-hyung likes yakgwa more ㅠ]
A manager’s job is to take care of his artists’ condition and help them focus on their work.
[ToZ Repackage Album Meeting Attendee List Re: Sin Giho, Mun Yunha...(and 14 others)]
For now, Yu Hobin had not the slightest intention of disturbing their sweetness.