The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 235
* * *
The situation was favorable, and that was what felt strange.
“Wow, look at Gim Chunyong’s hair and makeup. He really looks like an idol?”
“It feels weird seeing him after so long...? Tsk, is that really Gim Chunyong….”
“…
Come here.”
“Urk! H-hey. What’s with the sudden hug?”
After sharing brief hugs with my noona and Nari, the underground parking lot became rowdy overall.
“Logan! Wow, this is our first time seeing each other since the parking lot that day, right? Oh my, you’ve gotten even more handsome since then.”
“Ahaha, have you been well? Good to see you. I’ve been absolutely wonderful thanks to you. I even debuted with Chunyong hyung and all….”
Having met for the first time since their encounter in the parking lot on
“Huff… J-Ji Hwaseong… 2OCD? R-right? What’s going on? My sister and I only came to see our oppa!”
“Ah! We ran into each other by chance while coming to surprise Yongyong hyung. Y-Yong, no. Chunyong hyung’s younger sister…? I’m Ji Hwaseong of TIOZE, the same company as Chunyong hyung! I heard you’re a Siu fan, is that right? Tsk, maybe I should have brought him along?”
“Yes! Yes! No, no. Siu is someone I couldn’t even dream of. I think I’d faint if I saw him in person. Wow, j-woah. This is insane. Woaaah… N-next to you is Nate. It’s Nate, right?”
“Haha, hello. It’s a bit embarrassing to greet you like this….”
Gim Nari, who was at an age where she was extremely interested in idols, couldn’t hide her *is this real life?* expression upon seeing Ji Hwaseong and Hyojae hyung.
Normally, I would have been busy checking if anyone was watching this, and furthermore, thinking about what kind of repercussions this might have on other matters.
Right now, I didn’t have the luxury for that.
T-that.
“No way! Even on the way here, I was wondering if TIOZE members might be here. 2OCD? For real?”
“Yes, yes, 2OCD. Even if we’re not on the same team as oppa, please like our team too. Haha.”
Because of the person who was currently approaching Nari so naturally, as if he were part of TIOZE himself.
Despite saying he’d just follow along, get the album, and keep quiet.
“Ah, if our van were nearby, I’d give you at least one album as a gift. Sorry. But since there might be a chance later….”
“Huh, n-next time?”
But is that the behavior of someone keeping his mouth shut?
What the hell is he scheming, seriously!
I clenched my jaw so hard it nearly cracked, then quickly moved my footsteps through that gap.
Even if I gave him a hundred concessions, I had begrudgingly accepted him just following along.
But suddenly trying to literally lay hands on someone else’s family?
While that wasn’t what he meant right now, thinking back to the old Hyojae hyung, I couldn’t overlook it.
That hyung was someone quite experienced when it came to dating.
“Huh? Nate hyung… is he dating?”
“That hyung has never dated before. Why are you stating the obvious, Rex?”
“I didn’t know….”
“It’s because you always come over and don’t listen to anyone else, just drinking your own booze. Pay attention to others. We’re friends, after all.”
“Right. ‘Ten years up or down doesn’t matter,’ isn’t that Nate hyung’s creed?”
“Shut up, you crazy bastards. When did I say that? No matter how much trash I am, I don’t touch minors!”
“Right. You just wait until they turn twenty and then just….”
“I said shut up, for real.”
He used to say he wouldn’t touch minors, at least.
It might be a leap, or he might really be asking for a handshake simply for his skill, but.
“Since it’s the year-end stage season, we might run into each other like this next time you come too. Haha, would you like a handshake?”
With the goodwill I had built up while being friends with Hyojae hyung nearly depleted due to that behavior and the series of events, to me, it didn’t matter either way.
Block him first and see.
“…U-um, Nate sunbaenim! The album, the album.”
“Ah, you came to get the album? Please step aside from there for a moment.”
Whether Hobin hyung had sensed something from my urgent voice or was squinting his eyes to grasp the situation, he immediately fumbled with the car key and opened the trunk.
“Uh….”
“Ah, tsk. I missed the idol handshake.”
Thanks to that, the distance between Nari and Hyojae hyung, who had been standing in front of the trunk, was completely widened.
Seriously, for real, nice one Hobin hyung!
Constantly marveling that someone’s competence could move a person this much, I hurriedly grabbed one of our repackage albums piled up in our car trunk.
It felt like my insides were boiling.
No, when we were drinking buddies, I never felt like this.
He wasn’t faking kindness like he is now—he had emphasized so much that, unlike his appearance, he was a boisterous person.
Even if he came back once, can he act like a completely different person?…
Even though he clearly knew I had been struggling throughout our drinking sessions because of the accident that happened to my family?
“Haha, I’m sorry for cutting in suddenly. I thought it would be best to give you the album quickly. You need to get back to your waiting room too, Senior….”
“Aah, yes, uh, that’s right. Right. I do need to get back to the waiting room, hm.”
“Wow, Gim Chun-, no. Oppa, what’s with your tact? You’re totally blocking your sister’s idol encounter.”
“Nari, j-just… be quiet….”
Barely holding back what felt like a torrent of curses about to burst out, I struggled to put on a smile.
If hyung keeps coming at me like this….
I have no choice either.
Originally, I tended to refrain from preemptive strikes when the other party hadn’t hit first.
Because the fault would come back to me.
Moreover, when I was making a name for myself as Rex Trash, I had experienced getting beaten back several times over even without hitting anyone.
But now, and this time, things were a bit different.
He’s trying to mess with my members, my family to suit his own taste.
There’s a such thing as minimal courtesy.…
This is a Confucian country, damn it!
“Here, Senior.”
Before Hyojae hyung could say anything more, I plopped the album into his hand and spoke first.
“The thing is, my younger sister is still a high school student. She’s at an age where she really likes idols… I’m worried she might have been rude in all her excitement.”
“Ah, I see. It’s fine, I! I enjoyed our conversation….”
“If she’s a high schooler, she’s a minor, right? Haha, the kid doesn’t know propriety.”
“…Ah.”
“Hey, oppa. What did you say?”
“That you’re kind.”
Holding back Nari’s fist as she flared up demanding *why would you say that,* I gauged Hyojae hyung’s reaction.
*Minors don't know propriety well.*
This had been a slip of the tongue Hyojae hyung made while half-asleep during his radio hosting days, and the backlash had been so severe that he even posted an apology on Outgram.
[Nate @2OCD_hyojaae
Hello, this is Nate from 2OCD.
I am writing this to apologize for the rash remark I made on BNS Radio’s
At the time, the reason I said such a thing was that one of the letters I received was about having trouble getting close to high school friends… ]
[⎿ 47,816 comments]
[⎿ Minors don't know propriety, minors don't know propriety]
[⎿ Nate's old enough but can't tell what he should and shouldn't say ㅠㅠ]
[⎿ Looking at these comments, seems minors really don't know propriety lol]
[⎿⎿ That's you, you bastard]
[⎿ Why doesn't he understand people's feelings? I'd never say something like this. He finally got a radio DJ gig but seems to have zero consideration for the public]
Hyojae hyung had always made many small mistakes due to his rash personality, but that situation had been difficult to dismiss as a simple mistake.
It just so happened that a certain minor idol was embroiled in an exploitation controversy, making SNS and online communities boil over, and that idol had immediately mobilized a team of lawyers upon turning twenty to take the agency to court over the matter.
To say something like *minors don't know propriety well* in the midst of all that, well.
Public opinion formed that he was *taking the agency president's side,* and since he was highly exposed to the public, he took a severe beating for it.
The reason I was triggering that past of Hyojae hyung now was because my app was activated in real time.
Other people might wonder *what is this* since it’s something they never experienced, but this hyung was someone who came back just like me.
He’s been rudely using his skills non-stop.
What’s wrong with me using my skill too?
Of course, if it were someone else, I wouldn’t have even thought of using the [Overlap] skill so recklessly, nor using it to hurt and scare them.
But looking at it now, I think this hyung needs to know how unpleasant it is to have that done to him when he doesn’t want it.
“Hm? U-ung…?”
Hyojae hyung, holding the album I gave him, had a blank expression for a moment, rolling his pupils left and right.
As if he couldn’t understand what had just been done to him.
As if thinking about something, recalling something.
Rather than immediately getting annoyed or panicking, it was me who was flustered by his reaction, which was different from what I had expected.…
He’s recalling it?
Based on my experience using the [Overlap] skill so far, when words that served as triggers within that person’s memories appeared, the relevant memory immediately surfaced and affected the relationship.
Since charm fluctuated between -10% and +10%. Roughly similar.
But he actually has to think about it?
Since it was one of the moments he got cursed at the most in his life, he shouldn’t need to deliberately recall or dwell on it.
Moreover, hyung is someone who came back just like me.…
It was strange.
“U-um, Nate seon….”
The moment I, sensing something strange in this, was about to say something.
“Ah, we should head up soon too. I’ll guide Mr. Chunyong’s family to their seats first, so would you members like to go up first?”
“Huh? Ah, wait! Just now, Yongyong hyung’s noona said she’d show us some old photos of Chunyong hyung!”
“Ah, I was going to embarrass our little brother a bit.”
“Haha, let’s save that for when we meet later. The stage is what’s important right now.”
“Huh, that’s true too. Then we’ll be on our way….”
“Ah, I think you should head up too, Nate. The stage time difference between you and TIOZE isn’t that big, right?”
“…Ah! Yes, uh. I should.”
Thanks to Hobin hyung’s smooth handling of the situation, Hyojae hyung flailed his arm about in an even more flustered manner than when he first met me earlier.
Really, the more I watched, the stranger it got.
Even if he came back, does personality change this much?
I’ve changed too, so it’s not my place to talk, but still, this is….
“I need to go, I need to go. Hm? L-like this?”…
He’s like a completely different person.
In the situation where something seemed about to surface yet didn’t, my eyes narrowed, and Hobin hyung grabbed my shoulder from behind.
“Mr. Chunyong. It’s not that tight on time, so shall we go to the gate together? I’m sure you have lingering feelings you haven’t been able to let out.”
“Ah, I don’t have much to say to Gim Chunyong!”
“Mom told you to make sure you tell him how to take the nutritional supplements. Just bring him along.”
“…Sure. I’m all for it. I’m seeing family.”
“Yes, very well. Nate, please go in safely. Everyone else, this way….”
At this rate, the meeting seemed poised to end without incident.
Hyojae hyung, despite having come all this way, hadn’t been able to lay a hand on my family at all, and thanks to him indiscriminately using his skills, I had figured out he was one of the *other guys*.
With things roughly wrapped up, I should have been in a good mood.
Setting aside whether that hyung was the culprit behind that incident or not, I should have been happy that I had shaken him off.
But why did I feel so uneasy?
As if I was missing something very big….
“Hey, Gim Chunyong. I put it in your van, but it’s a whole box of nutritional supplements, got it? The red cap is only once a week… Hey, why aren’t you coming?”
“Ah, uh. C-coming!”
And so, just as I was turning toward the staff entrance gate with my family, harboring bewilderment in my head while following Hobin hyung.
“Ch-Chunyong! Just a moment!”
“…Yes?”
“One last greeting…!”
Hyojae hyung’s hand, which I had been avoiding all this time, grabbed me firmly.
Hyojae hyung’s hand, touching my bare arm exposed due to my stage costume, was cold, as if in anticipation of something.
“A greeting…”
And his guileless, drooping eyes sparkled brightly.
A very short time.
A brief contact where one couldn’t tell if it was a handshake or grabbing someone who was leaving.
Hyojae hyung, who had been staring blankly at me, opened his slightly trembling lips and….
“Could it be…”
“…….”
“D-do you know how to go back?”
He said words that only I, among the people here, could understand.
From behind, Logan and Hwaseong asked “You can just go with us, right?” in puzzlement, tugging at Hyojae hyung’s clothes, but Hyojae hyung’s gaze was fixed on me.
As if I were the only one who knew the real way to go back.
The place this hyung wanted to go back to probably meant the future he originally came from.
Since he had just grabbed my arm and used the skill he had wanted to use so badly, he must have realized I was someone who came back from the future.
But I am someone who doesn’t want to go back.
Because that was the most terrible period of my life.
But this hyung wants to go back.
Why?
“…….”
Hyojae hyung’s desperate expression, his strange attitude throughout, and his reaction to the [Overlap] skill wove together into a single story.
Why did Hyojae hyung have to rack his brain to recall a slip of the tongue that had been one of the biggest issues in his life?
Why was that reaction so awkward, as if it weren’t his own?
Why had he been urgently using his skills on every person he met?
And then, a thought shot straight up along my spine.
Right after I came back traveling against time, it was one of the other possibilities I had recalled while thinking, *isn’t this too much like a game.*
I had wondered, *maybe there’s someone like this,* but my own situation was more urgent so I hadn’t thought about it separately.
“…Ah.”
A sigh escaped my mouth on its own.
Hyojae hyung hadn’t changed personalities after coming back.…
He was really, truly a different person!