The Toxic Member Has Returned! Episode 239
* * *
The KPCA, one of the biggest award ceremonies we were taking part in, wrapped up in great success.
“Good work! Truly, truly, you all worked so hard. The reaction to your award stage is good, too. There are still a few award ceremonies left, but a KPCA Rookie Award… Really, you’ve all been through so much.”
“Eek, Hobin hyung! Are you crying? You’re not crying, right?”
“…
Of course not.”
“Hyungs! Logan! Siu! Hobin hyung is crying!”
Our ToZ had achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Rookie Male Group Award, the Post K-Pop Star Award, and the KPCA Fans’ Choice 10. Since those were things I’d never accomplished even back in Arrows, it was definitely a great success.
“Hmm. Gao Yan wanted to receive the Fans’ Choice Award too, but I didn’t even make the nominees. How lamentable this is.”
“Gao Yan, get a grip. That award is given to idols, not content creators!”
“Ryota, shh. Do you still not know that Gao Yan’s very existence is that of an idol? You still have a long way to go.”
“Ugh, don’t ignore me!”
“Haha… Guys. Don’t fight, and eat a lot before you go. Thanks for coming. I was worried it might feel like a burden….”
“Mm-mm, what burden could there be? Gao Yan does not refuse free food.”
“Ah, Jaeha hyung. Your stage was really amazing! I want to go up there too. I really do.”
We’d done well on the award stage, and even my multinational roommates from
“Yeonu, congratulations. An unprecedented triple crown! Before your award stage, if you could share a brief personal comment?”
“Mm. There were so many outstanding people this year, so I tried to do my very best too. It feels like my efforts have been rewarded.”
“Oh! Was there anyone in particular you were conscious of? Even a tiny hint?”
“Mm, well. …
Red?”
“Pardon? There are far too many red things! Is it an album color? Or perhaps the hair color of a member from that team?”
“It only counts as a hint if I give it this discreetly, haha….”
Of course, when Sledix swept the grand prizes and Yeonu hyung subtly said something that hinted at me, it did send a slight chill down my spine.
“Chunyong, you’re not drinking today either? Oof, on a day like this, it’d be okay to drink….”
“Uh, um. I’m in a good mood. I want to remember it for a long time while sober.”
“Oh? That’s true too, yeah. Did you see your family off properly earlier?”
“Yes. We’re entering our inactive period now too, so I’m thinking of visiting home sometime next week.”
“Yeah, yeah. Ah, I’m getting drunk… I’m in such a good mood.”
“Hmm. Should I mix you something? You know this too, hyung, but even if I don’t drink, when it comes to mixing….”
“No! What are you saying? Are you trying to kill me?”
Even including that, it was a fantastic day.
The goal that had been set from the moment I debuted—
[Win a Rookie Award at a popular music awards ceremony]
—had been accomplished today.
On top of that, instead of asking my family to go on an overseas trip, I’d prevented trouble in advance by simply suggesting we have an ordinary meal together.
All of it had only strengthened the resolve I’d made backstage, telling myself I had no intention of running away.
…
However.
[WARNING!
This information is currently locked.
Please contact the administrator.
-Star Sirius Security Team Back-]
[WARNING!
This skill is currently unavailable for arbitrary use.
Please contact the administrator.
-Star Sirius Security Team Back-]
[WARNING!
This archive is currently locked.
Please contact the administrator.
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…
Me having no intention of running away and this situation were separate matters, weren’t they?
“Haa….”
After the sweet company dinner held at our dorm ended, and everyone had fallen asleep with their heads buried in the sofa, the living room floor, or their beds, it was dawn.
“This too? I can’t see this either? Ha, haha. Seriously….”
Quietly pulling the blanket over myself, I had no choice but to let out a sigh born of sheer disbelief as I looked at the app functions that were blocked no matter what I pressed.
Checking the goal window, the archive rewards, the skill window, and even my current status window.
[WARNING!
Use of this app is restricted.
Please contact the administrator.
-Star Sirius Security Team Back-]
They were all blocked.
There was one function that hadn’t been blocked, at least, but it only made me suffer more.
- X: It’s divine punishment, divine punishment
- X: I told you so! I told you!
- X: Not to do anything unnecessary
- X: To just focus on winning the Rookie Award, I told you over and over and over again
- X: But you went poking around heeere and theeere, great job, real great
From the moment I was able to touch my phone again, X had been hurling abuse at me nonstop.
This bastard. At least when
- X: I told you info would unlock after you won the Rookie Awardddd
- X: Sob sob poor me ㅠㅁㅠ
- X: What is all this suffering because I met the wrong contractor?
Right now, his self-pity and rage had exploded so completely that he didn’t even seem to have the presence of mind to say something like that.
Since I did have my share of guilt, unlike usual, I obediently sent X a reply.
- Kim Chunyong: So this is a penalty, right?
- Kim Chunyong: A penalty from breaking your company’s? rules and contacting someone from another company
- Kim Chunyong: I’ll try to resolve it somehow
- Kim Chunyong: Calm down a little
However, despite my sincere apology, X only got even angrier.
- X: Resolve, my ass??
- X: Hey, you punk, do you know how frustrated I am right now!!!
- X: Originally, even if you didn’t bother replying to me, I could read things like your thoughts and figure out the situation
- X: But now I can’t do thaaaat!!
- X: For the time being, skills! Stat increases! I can’t even submit payments for approval!
- X: Ahyo, my sins are deep, so deep
- X: I should never have given you that hint in the first place
- X: Sob sob, at this rate I’m no different from a SimX…
After spamming the chat window with [ㅠ] and [ㅗ] for a long while, X finally reached a state where he could have something resembling a conversation with me after nearly ten minutes had passed.
I still didn’t know whether he was a person or not, but the first thing X said after finally beginning to speak like a person was….
- X: So what are you going to do
- X: You know the important things right now are checking your goal and figuring out what you’re going to do next, right?
- X: The goal is a required condition, so it’ll probably unlock soon. Our company has to make a living too, so they can’t just keep harassing a contractor
- X: But!!
- X: What? You started contacting that Lee Hyojae? or whatever, and you’re going on some program with Jeong Yeonu tooooo!
- X: What are you going to do now, huh?
- X: You got penalized because of that, and you’re just going to keep doing it?? Hmmm??
- X: Then even I don’t know how long the penalty will last ㅡㅡ
He was stabbing straight at the part I’d briefly forgotten because I was drunk on the joy of the Rookie Award, so I could only lie under the blanket and stare at my phone screen for a while.
Right.
In truth, just as there were things that had been resolved, there were also things that had gotten tangled.
[Lee Hyojae: Congratulations on the Rookie Award, Chunyong]
[Lee Hyojae: I don’t know? exactly? but?]
[Lee Hyojae: Still, this means one worry is off your shoulders now, right?]
[Lee Hyojae: Then can’t you really help me think about my problem too?]
[Lee Hyojae: I understood when you said you didn’t know, Chunyong]
[Lee Hyojae: But ㅠㅠ you’re the only person I can say this kind of thing to, Chunyong ㅠㅠ]
Even though I’d sent a roundabout refusal saying, “I don’t know anything about that either,” fake Hyojae hyung, whose real name I still didn’t know, kept sending me desperate messenger messages.
He said he’d only ever listened to other people’s worries until now, and that I was the only person who could listen to his.
That meant that unless I changed my phone number, fake Hyojae hyung would keep contacting me.
Well, even if I conceded on that point a hundred times, I could just say I hadn’t seen the messages because of my schedule.
The important thing was the second problem X had pointed out.
[Jeong Yeonu sunbae: There’ll be a meeting next week after the Seoul Zero One Music Awards]
[Jeong Yeonu sunbae: I heard Director Sin and your manager gave the okay, Chunyong]
[Jeong Yeonu sunbae: I’ll see you then ^^]
During BNS Sound Stage The Final, when I tried to chase after Yuchan hyung and Siu but got caught by Hobin hyung.
To quickly get out of that situation, I had unified most of my answers into “yes” and “sounds good,” and that had naturally guided me to a mentor position on Producer Ju’s next survival show.
…
Should I say I dug my own grave?
If I wanted to assign blame, there were plenty of things I could blame, but bringing those up now wouldn’t help solve anything.
So I had to think of something else.
“…
Hmm.”
After pressing my red hair, which had faded slightly, against my phone for a while as I pondered, I slowly sent X a reply.
- Kim Chunyong: I thought about it
- Kim Chunyong: Anyway, after I won the Rookie Award, the existence of the “other guys” was supposed to unlock, right?
- Kim Chunyong: Then it should be fine to mention them now
- Kim Chunyong: Doesn’t that mean the penalty issue is basically going to be resolved soon?
- X: …
Hm?
- X: That’s true, but
- X: You’re not seriously saying that as if it’s a solution, are you?? Huh??
- X: Hey, there’s a thing called procedure, and there are parts that need explanation
- X: You just went straight for it! Saying there were other guys! You used the hint I gave you and rammed into things all over the place!
- Kim Chunyong: No, I do feel sorry about that…
- Kim Chunyong: But I’m saying we should first think of the parts we can use to resolve this situation
At least, that was what I thought.
Even when I’d made a name for myself as Lag Trash before, whether I had actually done that thing or not hadn’t been very important.
What mattered was how I cleaned it up afterward.
Set aside the things that had already happened, and resolve the problems unfolding right in front of me first.
The current concern X and I shared was the app penalty laid out before us both.
Without realizing it, I’d received quite a lot of help from my stats, skills, and the archive, and if they disappeared, it was obvious things would become inconvenient.
First, I had to get this lifted somehow.
And after that was running into Yeonu hyung, which both X and I found uncomfortable.
X had said that if I got entangled with Yeonu hyung, I would encounter the “other guys” too quickly without going through the proper steps, so I had to avoid him. As for me, I simply found Yeonu hyung uncomfortable and wanted to avoid him.
So, how to resolve this immediately.
[Would you like to mute notifications from friend “Lee Hyojae”? Yes / No]
For now, I’d ignore this side.
2OCD’s and ToZ’s activity periods miraculously never overlapped, so as long as I avoided contact, I should be able to offset it somehow.
And next was Yeonu hyung’s side….
- Kim Chunyong: Let’s sleep for now
- X: ㅇ?
- X: You’re going to sleep without even trying anything about this?
- X: Aren’t you feeling defeated by Jeong Yeonu way too quickly??
- X: Hey, if you want to become the greatest idol in K-pop history!!
- X: Beating Jeong Yeonu is a constant!!
- Kim Chunyong: It’s not because of that, you punk
Lightly ignoring X’s misunderstanding, I left the chat window that was filled with sentences that looked noisy just by glancing at them.
Rather than something I could immediately do myself, this was a problem that required borrowing the power of someone above me.
Someone above me who could influence whether or not I appeared on the program.
“You want to do well? For me? …
Kids with no social experience wouldn’t think that way. Unless they have some purpose, there’s no reason for them to act like that. So hurry up and say it.”
Of course, this person was just as uncomfortable to face as Yeonu hyung was….
Still, since our team had even won the Rookie Award this time, he probably wouldn’t flat-out refuse my request.
“…
Hoo.”
After counting through the ways I could put out the urgent fires one by one, I opened the entertainment news page before going to sleep.
Because I didn’t want to end a dreamlike night like today by worrying about the future.
[A KPCA full of sights to see… Who were this year’s faces? “Grand Prize goes to Sledix, Rookie Award goes to ToZ”]
[
[
I slowly slid my finger across the screen, carefully looking over the faces of the members decorating various entertainment news articles.
Among them, the one I tapped to check the photos was the collection from when our ToZ won the Rookie Award.
Jaeha hyung, who burst into tears after we won the Rookie Award, and Hwaseong standing beside him, holding Jaeha hyung’s arm.
Yuchan hyung with his bold expression as always, and Siu with a shy but firm face.
And Logan, who had his arms around those members’ shoulders and was wildly wagging an invisible tail like a big dog.
And next to them, me, making an expression that couldn’t be told apart as a smile or a near-crying face.
“…
Haha.”
I felt like I’d be able to sleep happily.
No matter how tangled some things had become, it was happier to think about the things that had been properly settled.
Like that, I planned to fall asleep after checking the congratulatory messages my family had sent me.
Because that seemed like it would be the perfect end to the day.
“…
Huh?”
However.
Below the entertainment news section, a breaking news alert caught my eye in the real-time news.
[
The kind of news that sent a chilling prickle down my spine.