The Malicious Member Returns! Episode 191
* * *
While Jeong Yeonu was thus building up a mountain of subtle misgivings about Kim Chunyong on his way to the morning radio show,
in the waiting room where Kim Chunyong had belatedly returned with a bundle of sikhye, the previously forewarned interrogation was in full swing.
“No, Jaeha hyung. I didn’t mean to do it like that...”
“So, what? Hwaseong and Logan both have their lips sealed tight. At least you should say something, yeah?”
“I can’t talk about that...”
“This won’t do. Chunyong, arms up higher. Higher. I’ll hold the pose for you. Like this.”
“Ugh, hyung!”
By Son Jaeha, leader of T.O.Z, who was clearly seething with anger despite veiling it in a gentle, kind voice.
“Tada! Sikhye delivery is here. Everyone have some, rest a bit, and then head up when it’s time...”
“Chunyong. You’re slick as a whistle today too. I knew this would happen. You always have such a knack for handling situations.”
“Jaeha hyung?”
“Why don’t you come sit down for a moment? It’s nothing, I just want to ask you something. Hmm, arms up would be best.”
“Hyung? Doing this as soon as I got here is a bit...”
“Doing it as soon as you got here is the only way you can’t run away. Since your arms have to be up, take off your jacket too. Hurry.”
“Jaeha hyung...!”
Thus, as soon as he arrived, he was sat on a chair in the middle of the waiting room, arms raised high, in the position of getting scolded.
“Jaeha hyung... I haven’t been scolded like this even once since I was ten. And to have it happen on our repackage comeback day.”
“Ah, at least you’re self-aware, that’s a relief. I thought maybe you’d forgotten it was our repackage comeback today and went causing trouble.”
“......”
With those razor-sharp words that jabbed right through flesh, muscle, and bone, Kim Chunyong had no choice but to shut his mouth and focus solely on keeping his increasingly heavy arms perfectly straight.
After all, he could understand Son Jaeha’s feelings.
Just think.
“Logan, are you okay? Sikhye? Or water?”
“Sikhye, sikhye. That’ll do. Thanks, Hwaseong. I’m feeling overwhelmingly like I’m okay now...!”
“Aish, what in the world was that to get so startled over!”
“You were startled too, Hwaseong! You were! Don’t pretend you weren’t, dummy!”
“Well, was it being startled? Honestly, it was scary!”
The two younger members who had followed along were all shrunk up in bewilderment and terror.
“Are you two really not going to talk? We promised to tell us if anything happened. How worried Jaeha and I and Siu were!”
“R-Right... scary, scary... we, say that. But what... we don’t, say!”
“Sigh, Yuchan hyung. Siu. The world’s full of things that are better off not knowing. I now hundred-percent understand Yongyong hyung’s feelings.”
“Honestly, Hwaseong. Just what have you been learning from Chunyong...”
So when the members who’d remained in the waiting room grilled them, they kept their mouths firmly shut, shook their heads wildly in denial, and exercised their right to remain silent.
With the pre-recording stage appearance just around the corner, this kind of situation could not have been pleasant for the one in the leader’s role.
“Chunyong. Are you going to keep your mouth shut too?”
“...
I’m sorry.”
Yet, Kim Chunyong still could not speak.
No, what could he even say from the start?
That he’d set the stage for revealing a senior artist’s relationship, and then witnessed that group’s leader grab the member like catching a rat before his very eyes?
That on top of that, he’d even had a covert conversation with that senior leader about the situation?
‘Can’t say that. I even had Logan and Hwaseong only see the beginning then head back up. If Jaeha hyung finds out...’
Glancing cautiously at Son Jaeha, pale-faced but still handsome, Kim Chunyong slowly lowered his arms and dropped his voice.
“Jaeha hyung.”
“Chunyong, I never told you to put your arms down...”
“Hyung, did you take your meds?”
To say this, he needed to speak a little quietly.
“......”
The moment those words left Kim Chunyong’s mouth, a look of embarrassment spread across Son Jaeha’s face.
For Son Jaeha, thoughtful and responsible by nature, pressure-filled situations were like kryptonite.
But idol life itself was a minefield perfectly suited to flinging one into such situations.
‘He must have already gone through a lot of trouble coordinating the repackage schedule with the company people. I can’t add more worries for Jaeha hyung here.’
Rising from the chair in the middle of the waiting room, Kim Chunyong patted Son Jaeha’s shoulder as his eyes rolled around, soothing him with a cheerful voice.
“Hyung, it really was nothing. If it had been something big, I would’ve talked about it like that time with the Viz thing.”
“Chunyong, back then you just kept pretending it was nothing too...”
“Uh-oh, we need to go up for the pre-recording soon. Let’s hurry and get your meds taken first, hyung.”
“You really...”
Ultimately unable to beat Kim Chunyong’s brazen act, Son Jaeha squeezed his eyes tight as if giving up and let out a deep sigh.
“...
Since Logan and Hwaseong still don’t know, about my... meds, keep it quiet like today. Please.”
“Of course. That kind of thing I’m good at, you know.”
This conversation was an unspoken promise to move past the situation for now.
Just like not informing the members who still didn’t know about the psychiatric medication Son Jaeha took regularly, it was a promise to not ask further and to keep secret what happened with Kim Chunyong today.
“Then I’ll step out for a moment. Our turn’s right around the corner, so don’t go anywhere now.”
“See you, hyung.”
And so, the interrogation came to a close thanks to Kim Chunyong’s detested knack for handling situations.
Not that everything was over, but well.
“Hoo...”
Slumping onto the waiting room sofa at last, Kim Chunyong let out a low sigh, pressing firmly around his temples with his fingers.
Yes.
Not everything was over, but he’d overcome one mountain.
On Kim Chunyong’s phone, which he’d shoved deep into his pocket earlier, the skill that had been active until a moment ago was deactivated, and in its place a flood of messages from X had arrived.
- X: I told you I’d tell you the truth of the incident after you get the rookie award, and you just went charging out on your own?? Huh??
- X: Chnyong, you’ve been ignoring what I say too much lately??
- X: Ha, I was going to give you more of a hard time originally
- X: Since it’s a benefit from the skill I got a bonus for, it’s a bit ambiguous to say anything ㅡㅡ
- X: Anyway anyway, can you just focus on the main event now?
- X: You’re an idol, you know? Doing well on stage is the most important, you know?
- X: Let’s do well, partner!!
Maybe because the pride from the skill co-created with Kim Chunyong still remained, for X who would normally fly off the handle, the sentences were quite moderate.
‘Talking about a main event. For someone, this is their life...’
- Kim Chunyong: ㅗㅗ
- X: This little punk
- Kim Chunyong: ㅇㅇ ㅗㅗ
Having safely swallowed down the complaints that had risen to his throat, Kim Chunyong added a few more simple affectionate emoticons to X and closed his eyes.
He could now slowly sort through the events that had transpired with no time to catch a breath.
What Kim Chunyong had confirmed today: Jeong Yeonu was not one of the ‘other bastards.’
If Jeong Yeonu had been one of the ‘other bastards,’ he would have focused a bit more on the fact that Kim Chunyong knew about Juyeong’s relationship.
So it meant Jeong Yeonu’s puzzling actions, judgment, and sharp demeanor so far were all from his innate nature and natural ability.
That fact only served to magnify Kim Chunyong’s terror toward Jeong Yeonu, but anyway.
He’d confirmed that the person who would be scariest if an enemy with malice wasn’t an enemy.
So, what did Kim Chunyong need to do from now on?
‘I have to change course. The only person I can confirm directly is Yeonu hyung. For others, I’ll get help from X, or perhaps...’
It was just as Kim Chunyong was racking his not-so-smart brain as hard as he could to think of the next step.
Knock knock—
“Um, are the T.O.Z members inside? I think it’d be good to see you briefly before the pre-recording!”
Someone who might help with that came looking beyond the waiting room door.
* * *
It wasn’t only the T.O.Z members themselves who had eagerly anticipated the group’s music show pre-recording, which was happening after nearly a month.
No, perhaps there were people who had looked forward to it even more.
“Jania fans! Once everyone’s gathered, we’ll start moving now!”
The fans who had waited, devouring everything from promotions to teasers, concept photos, mood samplers, and the music video—Jania.
And among them, Kim Chunyong’s named fan, Neulbommir, could well be said to have an anticipation level out of the ordinary.
“Ah, crap. Has Mulsan Hoesa-nim gotten in yet...”
Despite having fallen heroically in the pre-recording lottery, she had braved the cold wave to come to Sangam Live Hall in hopes of capturing even the tips of Kim Chunyong’s hair, her demeanor bordering on solemn.
My ultimate bias, seen again after nearly a month.
Ah, my long-awaited ultimate bias!
For Neulbommir, who had long savored that desperate feeling filming only trainees struggling through a survival show, an ‘ultimate bias comeback’ was a first-ever event in her life.
So even knowing she couldn’t use her phone once inside the pre-recording hall, she couldn’t help but burn with impatience.
[Neulbommir: Mulsan Hoesa-nim, did you get in okay?]
[Neulbommir: ㅠㅠ Are the kids' outfits decent?? I mean it’s Moon Yun so of course they won’t be weird, but]
[Neulbommir: Please just send a ㅇ as a survival signal, I feel like I’m going crazy]
Thus, despite having failed gloriously at the morning arrival shoot, Neulbommir’s heart was brimming with love from that one fact alone, and her fingers danced over her phone.
She posted in real-time on SNS which she had briefly abandoned due to the chaos from individual member fans, so much so that her eyes spun with anticipation.
It would’ve been weirder if she hadn’t.
[ Ep.0 ‘Pilot’ Views: 1,758,762]
The view count for the self-produced content pilot that came out during the hiatus was a massive hit.
[ToZ @Targetofzenon_AG
(Picture) (Picture)
ToZ 1st Repackage Album - ‘ Another Clover’ Concept Photo (Chunyong/Logan)]
Wondering if a repackage album released right after a debut album could be any better, teaser photos just as stunning had been uploaded.
[ToZ 1st Repackage Album ‘ Another Clover’ Title - ‘W.o.W’ MV]
And what’s more, how good was the music video where Kim Chunyong from those teaser photos came to life?
Just thinking of Kim Chunyong blowing bubblegum and holding a paint gun between skyscrapers, traditional houses, and neon signs was enough to make Neulbommir faint one more time on the spot.
‘The stage is all set. Now if they just nail the stage! If they somehow get the stage right! T.O.Z’s rookie award is a done deal. Ah, crap. I’m going crazy with curiosity, seriously.’
T.O.Z’s ‘W.o.W’ music video released earlier was, like the previous ‘Hide and Seek,’ filmed with a story focus.
Which meant the choreography and actual stage moves were still shrouded in mystery.
To declare to fans ‘just wait a little longer’ while scattering all sorts of trendy combinations, connections to the previous album, and hints...
It was torture, no, outright torment for fans who couldn’t attend the pre-recording.
“How am I supposed to wait two hours for Mulsan Hoesa-nim to come out, seriously... No, wait. MuMuDay broadcast time is 6 p.m. this evening. So that means there’s still over 12 hours left...!”
And so, while Neulbommir was dying in a 24-hour fast food joint, flaunting her extraordinary affection,
Ping—
“What’s this... Huh? Huh? Wait a minute!”
A notification arrived on her subscribed AG Entertainment official WeTube channel.
[ Gaon & T.O.Z New Song Choreography Challenge ▷ New!]
A notification to rescue her from having to wait 12 hours for T.O.Z’s comeback music show, and one under whose surface Kim Chunyong would be swimming diligently.