The Malignant Member Has Returned! Chapter 185
* * *
Having skipped the repackage album showcase for a faster comeback, our Tioje’s first stage was naturally Music Music Days. We, whose debut was confirmed through
Well, anyway, it would be ridiculous to neglect an idol who just debuted and is now raising their stock price.
Especially now, when word is going around that our ‘Hide and Seek’ album had set a new record for total sales of a male idol debut album.
Rumor has it that instead of skipping the showcase this time, they’re planning to build our Mumude pre-recording set incredibly well, or something.
Anyway, I was going to come face to face with Yeonwoo hyung there.
It was the last week of promotions for Sladix, who returned with their full album ‘Mongjung Mongseol’.
Precisely aiming for that time.
“Pfft... so, we’re taking a break, right? I was wondering because Jaeha suddenly stopped.”
“Ah, yes. I just stopped abruptly. It’s because Chunyong seemed to want a break... sorry everyone.”
“Jaeha hyung, what’s there to be sorry about? It’s the perfect time to rest! Yongyong hyung has good instincts. Hey, Logan. Let’s go get some water. No, I’m thinking of just running to the convenience store.”
“Hwaseong, No. I don’t even have the strength to lift a finger... .”
“Eek, that much? You’re really a weakling. Then Siwoo! Let’s go!”
“Hyung, go... by yourself, and come back... .”
“This won’t do. Logan, come here immediately. You’re the only one I can boss around.”
“Aah, Hwaseong! You're cruel!”
In the practice room where only Jaeha hyung’s beat sounds and the members’ shoes squeaking had echoed, a brief vitality returned with the start of the break.
Because the grueling march that had been entirely preparation was finally about to lift its veil, their anticipation was evident.
Since we poured even more effort into this album than Hide and Seek, perhaps it was only natural.
Leaning naturally against the front mirror of the practice room, I rolled my eyes as I examined each of the members’ faces.
Now, then....
How should I phrase what I’m thinking?
The reason I decided to throw a bait at Yeonwoo hyung on the day of the Mumude pre-recording and observe his reaction was that it was hard to find a better timing than now.
[Jeong Yeonwoo: Finally, you contacted me first ^^]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: Then, shall we meet on the day of the pre-recording?]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: You can come by our waiting room, too]
Good catch.
[Kim Chunyong: Ah, if it’s okay with you]
[Kim Chunyong: How about meeting in front of the underground snack shop at Mumude!]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: The snack shop is good]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: It’s a place even idols who debuted long ago don’t know well, but I’m not sure how you know it, Chunyong-ssi ^^]
[Kim Chunyong: ^^;; Just came to know it haha]
The place is good too.
[Jeong Yeonwoo: Since our pre-recording is earlier than your team’s, Chunyong-ssi]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: I’ll stop by briefly on my way to another schedule]
[Jeong Yeonwoo: Let’s decide the exact time then]
Since it would become undeniably harder to meet face-to-face right after that conversation, it’s almost perfect.
Now I just need to tell the members.
Something like, ‘I might step out for a bit to see Jeong Yeonwoo sunbae-nim on the day of the Mumude pre-recording, so don’t worry.’
However, this plan had one big flaw.
That was exactly....
“Uh, Chunyong wanted to rest? What, he’s not the type. Are you sick or something?”
“I’m also a bit concerned about that. He’s sweating a lot... I think I should tell Hobin hyung.”
“Chunyong, hyung... are you okay...?”
“Heok, look at that. The sweat is red, right? Something seems wrong! Chunyong, are you really okay?”
Since the incident with Wijeu and An Taei, the frequency of the members’ gazes fixating on me had noticeably increased.
“Haha... it’s because the dye from my hair is bleeding. Yuchan hyung, it’s not like you’ve only seen me for a day or two!”
“That, but... the feeling is, a bit different... .”
“Yeah, Siwoo’s right. Chunyong, you seem like you haven’t been sleeping well lately. I can’t not know since we’re in the same room.”
“Jaeha hyung... you’re the one who sleeps less, you know?”
“Eohoo, both of you are so sensitive, it’s really a problem. Still, I thought Jaeha would be like that. But Chunyong, you don’t look like that kind of kid, so honestly....”
Especially the three members who react sensitively to this.
It went without saying that Jaeha hyung and Siwoo keenly checked people’s conditions, and Yuchan hyung was skilled at looking after his dongsaengs with his innate social skills.
So, if I acted just a little strange, they’d catch on immediately.
When I said I’d go meet Yeonwoo hyung alone, the possibility of them letting me go willingly wasn’t zero, but....
Roughly, there was an expected conversation.
‘...
You’re going to see Jeong Yeonwoo sunbae-nim alone? Why? Let’s go together. Isn’t this something all the members should do together? If you go alone, sunbae-nim might think we’re rude.’
‘Yuchan hyung is right, Chunyong. He gave us a song for our debut album, so it’s proper for us all to go and greet him. And I’m the leader, so it’s a bit much to just send one member. We should take our album and all go together.’
‘Chunyong, hyung-ah. Let’s go... together. Hyung, last time too... you went around alone like this... and had trouble with An Taei-ssi... . Back then, hyung looked... really, hard... worn out... .’
Right. A vivid conversation, as if it’s already happened, is expected.
“...
Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue lightly and wore a hollow smile on my face.
If only I hadn’t made such visible trouble with Wijeu and that bastard An Taei before, those people would have no reason to do that.
Is this what they call reaping what you sow?...
It’s not like I wanted it to happen!
While I clenched my fist with the urge to punch An Taei for a moment, the members who had plopped down on the practice room floor began chatting softly.
“This is really our first comeback... I’m nervous. I think it’s about time I stopped being nervous, but I don’t know why I’m nervous every day. Is it because I didn’t go through trainee life separately?”
“Hmm, no, hyung. I’m the same. My trainee period isn’t short, but seeing that I’m nervous... maybe it’s just like that for everyone.”
“Still... when we debut, stage... there are... good... memories, so... I think it’ll be okay....”
“For someone like that, your hands are shaking a lot, Siwoo...!”
No matter how many stages you’ve been on through survival, anything with the word ‘first’ attached is bound to make you nervous.
First showcase, first debut, first comeback.
The excitement and weight those words carry can’t help but be special.
So, I could naturally understand the members’ reactions like that.
I feel like I should say something to them before getting to the main point, um.
I smoothly moved my body next to those members and put on a casual front.
“... But still, once you actually get on stage, you all do well. Because you went through so much hardship in the survival.”
“Mm, right. Should I say the body reacts on its own... Haha, Chunyong, you especially do.”
“Right, I know... Chunyong hyung... I’ve never seen... him nervous... .”
“That is a bit fascinating. Is it because dancing is his specialty? Something like, if physical tension is less, mental tension is less too?”
“Hey, no way. I get nervous too.”
Anyway, since I’m a veteran, it’s more strange for me to be nervous.
If someone who drank and went on stage and threw up also gets nervous, that wouldn’t be fair.
Well, back then I thought alcohol was the medium that eliminated my tension....
Now that I think about it again, I think I just wanted to justify my situation with that.
If I did well on stage, it was thanks to alcohol; if I did badly, it was also because of alcohol.
“No, Rex hyung. Hyung, are you some 90s athlete? Why do you keep bringing beer into the waiting room!”
“It’s just one can, one can. It’s not like I brought more....”
“Does that make sense? Manager hyung. Don’t keep letting Rex hyung do this. If this keeps up, I’ll really tell the company. Then you know it won’t end with just getting scolded.”
“Hey, hey. Hwaseong. Then what do you want hyung to do? You know Rex can’t function without that. If you tell the company, hyung gets fired. Do you want to see hyung fired? Huh?”
“This ssi... .”
Ah, another dark past memory comes to mind.
“...
Tsk.”
I shook off the memory of the very day I drank, went on stage, and threw up, which had filled my head, and opened my eyes wide.
Now was not the time.
The important thing was how to tell the members in this friendly, harmonious situation that I’m going to go meet Yeonwoo hyung.
A direct approach, or an excuse.
Or a lie.
“Um, I have something I want to say... .”
At that moment, while I was racking my not-so-smart brain and testing the waters with this and that.
“Still... at the debut stage... Chunyong hyung bought us sikhye... so I wasn’t... that nervous. No, I was nervous... but it was... okay.”
One word that Siwoo shyly brought up, seeing me mutter, rippled like a stone thrown onto a water surface and echoed through the practice room.
And at the end of those ripples were those who had no idea about that fact.
“What? Sikhye?”
“Eung? Jang Siwoo, that sikhye... wasn’t it from the coffee truck Siwon hyung sent? You’re saying Yongyong hyung bought it for you?”
“Uh? Yes, y-yes....”
To be precise, the two who hadn’t gone to the snack shop with me because of the bathroom back then.
At the conversation that flowed in a direction I hadn’t even thought of, I slowly blinked my eyes and tried to grasp the situation.
Wait, wait.
This...
This could be good.
“... Logan and Hwaseong didn’t go to the Mumude snack shop back then, right? Ah, I didn’t think of that.”
From right after that, my mouth moved on its own.
I couldn’t be sure, but probably in a good direction.
* * *
Located in a corner of the underground level 4 parking lot of Sangam Music Days Live Hall, the Mumude pre-recording one-day snack shop.
A place that only those in the know knew about, with not so great product turnover, and due to being a one-day snack shop, didn’t open often.
There was exactly one reason that place could continue to operate steadily.
Because the snack shop owner knew too much.
“We haven’t seen each other for too long, right... .”
“Yeah, I missed you. I was worried we might not see each other because your comeback was so late. But, is it okay to meet here? Over there... there’s someone in the snack shop.”
“It’s fine. They say he’s someone who keeps his mouth completely shut.”
The location in a corner of the underground level 4 parking lot was a very suitable secret meeting place for idols who couldn’t openly share their love.
Ah, they go into the van and hold hands and kiss and make a commotion among themselves, I tell you.
The snack shop owner, the only one shining inside the snack shop there, watched all those scenes, and the agencies, combining the cost of his silence, helped him continue to run the shop there.
It wasn’t just the agencies.
Even the live hall that directly secured that location for him, and furthermore, the Mumude headquarters.
Come to think of it, the middle-aged snack shop owner was like a bamboo forest that knows all the rumors but keeps its mouth shut.
However, it had been several years since he’d been running the snack shop like that.
“Huh, really. What... I thought you came to pay your tab. This is... .”
Even that owner was witnessing a scene he’d never seen before in his life, unfolding before his eyes.
So....
“Aack! Yeonwoo hyung, wait, wait! Hyung, you can’t do this here!”
“Mm? What’s not allowed, Jooyoung? Hyung doesn’t know well. I think I need to first confirm whether what I just heard is true or not.”
The sight of a top-tier male idol’s leader holding onto one of his own members for dear life...
“Holy. Is it really... okay to just watch this, Chunyong hyung?”
“Mm, for now? Hey, Hwaseong. Give me some of that puffed snack.”
“Aish, hyung eat the popped rice you bought!”
And it was the recently hot rising junior idol watching that.
To explain this, we needed to turn back time a little.