The Villainous Member Has Returned! Episode 188
Watching someone kneel and tremble before me, confessing their love life, wasn't exactly a pleasant sight, but…….
"So, we started dating during our last promotion…."
"You started dating?"
"B-Billy's team is also tricky about dating issues! So I got close to their manager, and gradually increased how often we met…."
"You got close to the manager? How?"
"He said his younger sibling was my fan, so I signed some albums for them. Took some pictures too."
"Aha, so you activated fan service for your beloved girlfriend. Hmm… I don't think that's all though. A belt? Wallet?"
"A-a bag… And while at it, I bought some stuff for Billy too…."
"How much."
"……"
Six hundred.
The dating story of the senior idol unfolding before my eyes was so gripping that it let me forget the discomfort for a moment.
"Whew…."
I clicked my tongue lightly at the tragic love story I was witnessing from the front row, crunching popcorn aggressively.
So even a member of Slothic, who had achieved everything and had nothing to regret, was making a fool of himself in front of love.
Maybe now I finally understood what Yeonwoo had meant when he told me to watch this "like a morning drama" before this situation erupted.
"…Noona, what's so fun about this that you're watching so seriously? Secret birth identities, affairs, forbidden love. It's all so predictable."
"Hey, dongsaeng. Don't talk about what you don't know. Do you know how popular this is these days? Among the teachers at our school, if you don't watch that, you can't hold a conversation, I'm telling you."
"No, I'm asking if it's fun."
"Then isn't it fun watching handsome, pretty actors going crazy and doing insane things for love?"
I used to wonder what was so fun about it when Noona watched so intently, but I guess I'm the type who reacts more to reality than fabricated stories.
Crazy. For real.
The reactions of the two members sitting next to me were varied as well.
"A-a bag… The bag was six hundred… ten thousand won… Not just for the person they're dating, but for the people around them too? Holy, so K-dramas weren't exaggerations…."
Logan, who looked uncomfortable with the situation yet showed reactions that would fit right in on *What K-Dramas Are Like to Foreigners*.
"Damn, we haven't even received our settlement yet… A six-million-won bag? Yongyong hyung, should we buy something like that for Hobin hyung too? If possible, by pooling our money together…"
Hwaseong, carefully chewing on puffed rice, whispering with an excited face, over-immersed in the practical side of things.
He now looked completely absorbed in that story.
"You haven't heard from Jaeha hyung yet, Hwaseong?"
"Nope. I think I can take it even slower."
"God, having to keep listening to this…!"
And so, just as we were building anticipation for what Senior Juyeong would say next.
"…U-urk."
In the center of the dark underground parking lot, we could see Senior Juyeong's shoulders trembling as he knelt on the cold cement floor.
"Hyung, I was really wrong… Please, let's stop now…."
And the moment large tears began dropping from Senior Juyeong's eyes was the moment I came back to my senses.
Ah.
This wasn't something to just gawk at.
"…Tch."
I handed the popcorn I was holding into Logan's arms and quietly clicked my tongue.
Maybe not for Hwaseong and Logan, but I shouldn't have dismissed this as just an amazing dopamine hit before the start of promotions.
Because I had to observe Yeonwoo hyung's reaction toward Senior Juyeong.
When I'd first gotten help regarding the An Tae-i matter, sure.
I'd seen how much stress hyung was under because of this before I returned, so my intention had been to resolve it beforehand, but.
Now that Yeonwoo hyung, with his extraordinary mind, ability to act, and attitude, had become a candidate for the "other guys."
I needed to look at this situation a bit more objectively.
"……."
There was no change in expression on Yeonwoo hyung's face even after seeing Senior Juyeong's tears.
As if his legs weren't numb, he simply continued crouching there, shoving his phone screen at Senior Juyeong.
It was a moment later that Yeonwoo hyung, not even the smile at the corners of his mouth wavering, opened his mouth.
"…And then?"
The soft, low voice was flat and even.
"Juyeong, I told you earlier. Summarize your entire dating story in 15 minutes and tell me everything. It seems my words don't even sound like words to you anymore…."
And there was no mercy.
"Gurk, hyuuung… Really, I was wrong… Yeonwoo hyung…."
Senior Juyeong's appearance was utterly pitiful no matter who looked at him.
He already had the kind of looks that reminded people of a small, squirrel-like animal, and fans loved his large eyes—to see him crying like that.
Unless one was extremely cold-blooded, "Okay, let's stop for now" would naturally slip out.
But Yeonwoo hyung did not.
"Because you won't talk properly, I have to keep asking questions, Juyeong."
"Urk, that's why, ah…."
"When did you hold hands? What about a kiss? Was the trip during the last vacation also with Billy? When you said you were visiting your parents, was that a date too?"
"Hn, hng…."
On the contrary, he only pressed on even harder.
"……."
The two dongsaengs sitting next to me grabbed onto my arm tightly.
Their slightly trembling gestures made their intention clear.
They'd found it briefly entertaining earlier, but they didn't want to see such a desperate situation anymore.
Despite being much taller than me and having gone through all sorts of hardships in a survival program to debut, the two of them were still young.
Kids who were only 19 years old, who hadn't yet seen enough of the entertainment industry's dark shadows.
Honestly, both of them needed to see something like this at least once.
What actions someone who feeds on fans' excessive love and earns money from it must not do.
And furthermore, what price they must pay when they commit such actions.
I thought this would be better than going through pouring comments, articles, and the company staff's yelling like I had, so I'd seated them next to me if possible, but….
Still, the fact that I was weak when it came to members, and that the current situation was gradually becoming harsh for these kids, remained unchanged.
"Sigh…."
So what should I do?
I had to clean this up.
"Excuse me, Senior Yeonwoo."
"……?"
"I'm sorry, but… could you send these two members back to the waiting room first? I'll say something came up in the waiting room."
"…Ahh."
Even while pushing someone to their limits, Yeonwoo hyung quickly grasped what I was getting at, looking as if he was thinking something over for a moment.
Probably even about how to use my statement right now.
"Then, shall the two of you go up first. I was short-sighted."
The answer came without delay.
"Instead, could you pass by this way? If you don't mind."
Half in the direction I wanted, half in the direction I didn't.
Yeonwoo hyung's fingertip was pointing next to Senior Juyeong.
The reason Yeonwoo hyung went so far as to guide the path they should take was obvious.
To deliver the final blow to Senior Juyeong, whose mental state had already completely shattered.
"Guh, Yongyong hyuuung…."
"…Go ahead first. I'll come up in a bit."
"Mate, don't come up too late…!"
Logan and Hwaseong, who glanced once at me, Yeonwoo hyung, and Senior Juyeong on the floor, moved their feet slowly.
They were moderating their pace so it wouldn't look weird if they sprinted off, but, well.
"…U-urk. Uwaaa…"
For Senior Juyeong, feeling the hems of the pale-faced juniors' pants slowly brush past him, the feeling must have been different.
Now only four people remained around the convenience store in the underground parking lot.
Senior Juyeong,趴在地上 and sobbing as if becoming one with the parking lot floor, and Yeonwoo hyung, still filming him.
Me, forced to watch those two until the end, and the convenience store owner, who had already witnessed countless secrets of the Music Days Live Hall.
Beep—What broke the brief silence was the sound of a phone being operated, signaling that the filming had ended.
Yeonwoo hyung, leisurely sliding his phone into his pocket, looked at his member with emotionless eyes and opened his mouth.
"Juyeong."
If a stranger heard it, they would think it was a kind tone, as if trying to comfort him.
But I knew what that hyung was going to say after calling his name.
"See, who told you to do such useless things."
Yeah, those words.
"Hic, heoong…."
"Lonely? You needed someone to share that loneliness with? But if you're going to do that, why be an idol, Juyeong."
"Y-Yeonwoo hyuuung…."
"If you want to do whatever you want, just withdraw. Then you can date freely, and you won't have to be treated like this by me."
Yeonwoo hyung's white hand gently massaged Juyeong's shoulder.
A smooth, long hand without a single raised vein or tendon slithered over the trembling shoulder like a snake.
"…Do you want to withdraw? Shall I make you withdraw?"
"N-no! No! That's not it! I, I just…."
"If you just say the word, I can do that for you. No, to be honest, it's not even for you but for Slothic."
The hem of Yeonwoo hyung's uniform, reformed into an Eastern style, lay long on the cement floor like a shadow.
And that shadow gradually devoured Senior Juyeong.
"No, hyung. Please! Absolutely not. I've never even thought about withdrawing, not once. Slothic is most precious to me. This is my lifelong dream, it can't compare to anything else…!"
"Yes, yes."
I'd anticipated this, was more than willing to endure it, and had even half-intended to use it, but….
"Then you know what you have to do now. Right?"
"Y-yeah…."
"Because of you, I'm going to get a bit busy. What do you think I meant earlier when I said what I could do? Cleaning up after you. So, what you can do, you must do."
"Th-then…."
Well, seeing someone completely break another's spirit and wield them like their own limbs….
"Don't even think about seeing Billy again. Understood?"
Well, even though I'd anticipated it, my mouth clamped shut on its own.
"……."
Senior Juyeong couldn't answer Yeonwoo hyung's words, and tightly clenched his fist that had been supporting him on the cement floor.
The direction that fist wanted to turn toward was unknown.
Was it Yeonwoo hyung urging him to break up, or was it me who made this situation happen.
Or perhaps himself.
"…Hoo."
I slowly leaned back against the plastic chair backrest and closed my eyes.
Senior Juyeong clearly hadn't really thought much about this at all.
He probably just wanted to show off to much younger juniors through small talk that he had a pretty girlfriend.
Since the job of an idol is inevitably lonely by nature, it was probably true that he longed for that warmth.
He would have wanted someone to acknowledge this love, to hear that it wasn't wrong.
But, as Yeonwoo hyung said.
Then he shouldn't be an idol.
When someone who feeds on blind love discriminates in that love, it becomes difficult to call them an idol.
There are people who say, "So idols can never date forever?"
But that's obfuscating the context.
There is a line for everything.
A line for "whether that's okay."
A line for "whether I'm deceiving someone else."
And we, as industry insiders, had to distinguish best between the lines we could cross and the lines we couldn't.
"…Go wait in the car. I'll tell the members to take the other van. From today, stick with me."
"U-ung. Okay…."
Senior Juyeong's back as he left with Yeonwoo hyung's final words looked miserable.
His voice cracked from sobbing so hard, his face was smeared with stage makeup, and his hands were dirty with floor dust—all looked miserable.
And, it overlapped with the past me who had committed an irreversible mistake.
But it was different.
Senior Juyeong could somehow turn this situation around thanks to Yeonwoo hyung.
Unlike me, who had to gnash my teeth and turn back time, he could do so while living in reality.
Squeak—I slowly rose from the plastic chair and moved my feet.
One step.
Two steps.
"…I think this might have been too grand for a gift."
Now, to have the conversation that had been my biggest goal.