The Toxic Member Has Returned! Episode 241
* * *
After listening to my explanation that “I’ve only just won a rookie award, so being a mentor on a survival program feels far too burdensome and I want to turn it down,” Hobin hyung looked as if he understood and gave me various pieces of advice.
“Mm, I thought so. So back then, you said it was fine because of the circumstances. For now, I haven’t reported to the higher-ups that it’s properly confirmed yet… so maybe that’s a relief.”
“…
But still, it’s already been roughly discussed under the assumption that I’ll be appearing, right?”
“Yes. In cases like this, Chunyong-ssi, it would be better for you to speak to Director Shin yourself. Honestly. Since two other members have already confirmed their appearances, I don’t think the director will be that strict about it either.”
If I spoke honestly, he would listen.
In any case, as long as AG’s first principle was protecting its artists, there was no way they would force me into a program I said I hated.
There was a slight gap between the Director Shin I knew and the Director Shin Hobin hyung knew, so I wasn’t entirely sure, but I agreed that, without skills or stats, I had no choice but to stake everything on honesty.
“…
Explain properly from the beginning.”
When I told him I wanted to decline appearing on the survival program, irritation and annoyance naturally filled Director Shin’s face.
As expected of the man who had once had that foul-tempered Liu Wei in the palm of his hand.
However, after clashing with Director Shin every so often over the past six months, I had learned a thing or two as well, so backing down like this was not an option.
Why else would I have memorized this man’s custom coffee order?
“Well….”
Opening my mouth and taking a short breath, I began speaking haltingly, controlling my tempo so it wouldn’t seem too obvious that I had prepared this sentence in advance.
“…
It feels burdensome. Jaeha hyung debuted in first place, and Logan can compose, so there’s no issue with them appearing. But I debuted in sixth place, didn’t I? The trainee kids would probably want to debut within a stable range rather than just barely making it, so I don’t think it would be easy for me to serve as some kind of mentor.”
“…….”
“Uh, um. And if it’s just about dance, Jin Dasol… teacher is there. So I don’t think there’s any particular need for me to go out.”
“…….”
“…
Yep. That’s all.”
As I said that, I was honestly a little impressed with myself.
No matter how much my brain had a track record of turning to mush because of alcohol, should I say that the experience of running myself ragged after coming back was showing?
Even with my skills and stats sealed, this kind of thing comes from experience, you know.
Clearly organized reasons, an emotional appeal that could soften the other person’s heart.
On top of that, even an excellent replacement candidate who could stand in for me.
In truth, my biggest reason for not wanting to appear on the survival program wasn’t any of those things but because I wanted to reduce my chances of running into Yeonwoo hyung, but still, it wasn’t as if any of it was a lie.…
Who the hell am I to be a survival program mentor right now?
All I want is to faithfully abide by the terms of my contract with X and maintain this life well, living in harmony with my members and my family.
I had already run into problems with secretly searching for “the others,” causing a hitch in the contract, so adding another variable on top of that was not desirable.
Besides, an incident had already happened at a time I hadn’t expected at all.
The guy who caused that incident might be moving, so avoiding anything where I couldn’t predict what might happen was the best option, that was all.
After finishing that series of resolutions and organizing my thoughts internally, I lifted my slightly lowered head again and met the eyes of the person sitting in front of me.
After listening to me, Director Shin wore an expression as though he was deep in thought about something.
“…….”
As if I could tell, yet couldn’t.
As if he would say what I wanted, yet wouldn’t.
In my own way, I had expectations for this person.
Not positive expectations, but negative ones.
What kind of person was Director Shin Giho, as I knew him?
In the past, he had ultimately used me as a shield and fled to China with Liu Wei.
He had led Logan’s voluntary withdrawal, but failed because of the role I played in the middle.
Because of the snowball that rolled from there and the resulting trouble with Liu Wei, his plan to escape AG had ultimately been distorted.
Even during the preparation process for the repackage album, he had clashed with me at every turn and shown differences in our positions.
To begin with, Director Shin and I had never once been defined as having a decent relationship.
We were closer to having a strategic ceasefire because of our shared goal that TOJ had to do well.
In the end, appearing on a survival program meant raising the cast member’s recognition.
So if Director Shin Giho still didn’t like me very much, he wouldn’t send me there because of the weak side I had just shown and because of his dislike for me.
In some ways, this was close to certainty.
“…….”
The certainty that Director Shin would not roll up his sleeves for something that would benefit me.
And so, amid such expectations of mine, after tapping on the armrest of his chair for quite a while, the words Director Shin spoke were….
“No.”
They shattered those expectations of mine and left me rather flustered.
“Pardon? Why, why not….”
“You idiot. Have you not even figured out what it means for you to go on that program? Tsk… listen carefully.”
And after that, there was no room for me to get a single word in.
* * *
Some time later.
The ones who hesitantly entered the office after Kim Chunyong had sat there sweating cold sweat for quite some time before leaving were Secretary Choi and Yu Hobin.
“Um….”
“Director.”
The two people, who vied for the title of most competent even within AG, looked at each other once when their words overlapped, then shut their mouths tight again.
This was not a common occurrence for them either.
They had been worried because it seemed like voices had gotten rather loud inside the office here and there, and because Kim Chunyong’s expression when he came out afterward had been quite a sight.
But Shin Giho, the person who had been talking to him for all that time, was….
“…
What are you both doing? Sit.”
He looked more refreshed than ever.
‘…
What happened?’
The two people who obediently sat down watched each other’s reactions, gauging who would speak first.
Would that director’s secretary speak first?
Or would it be the manager of the idol who had just been thoroughly chewed out by that director?
“So….”
“Um, what happened….”
However, despite that attempt to calculate the timing, their voices overlapped once more, and the atmosphere grew even more awkward.
Thanks to that, the one who opened the floodgates of the conversation was Shin Giho, with his relieved expression.
“…
What happened? We finalized the cast for this survival program.”
Shin Giho, who had been sprawled back in his chair, held up three fingers and folded them one by one as he muttered in a low voice.
“Son Jaeha. Logan Lee.”
“…….”
“And Kim Chunyong. The three of them will go out as planned.”
At that, it was only natural that Yu Hobin, who had been earnestly supporting Kim Chunyong, had his face stained with sorrow.
‘…
Chunyong-ssi worked so hard all this time that I thought it would work out this time too. How did this happen?’
Even from Yu Hobin’s perspective, Kim Chunyong had a certain extraordinary quality compared to other idols.
The things he was confident in, he somehow accomplished; things that seemed impossible, he made happen through effort and luck.
For such Kim Chunyong to fail at persuading Shin Giho could only give Yu Hobin a particularly unusual sense of sentiment and sadness.
“I see. As expected.”
However, Secretary Choi, who had watched Shin Giho all along, felt somewhat proud.
‘He has finally established discipline!’
The reason Secretary Choi believed in and followed Shin Giho was not because he was a person without pride or ambition.
It was because he had an infinite conviction that a road toward success lay open before Shin Giho.
Secretary Choi, who had assisted Shin Giho since the startup company he had worked at before AG, felt proud of this situation in which he had finally won against Kim Chunyong, who had been slightly irritating him all this time.
Should it be called a difference in stance depending on which person each of them had supported?
“That’s good. You were concerned because this matter hadn’t been properly fixed until now, weren’t you?”
“…
I hope Chunyong-ssi doesn’t feel too burdened.”
One side was sorrowful in defeat, and the other was worried about his idol, who must have been hurt by this.
However, the thoughts of the man sitting in front of them were different.
“Tsk, if you’re both thinking useless things, put them away. In the end, this is a good thing for that brat too.”
To Shin Giho, this matter was neither his victory nor Kim Chunyong’s defeat.
“…
Pardon?”
“What do you mean, pardon? Do you think I forced that bastard to appear just to torment him? Honestly, what do you take me for?”
Without giving the two people time to be surprised, Shin Giho’s mouth, once opened, began moving without stopping.
“…
Who currently has the highest brand index in TOJ?”
“Ah, that would be… yes. Overall, they’re all pretty neck and neck right now, but Logan and Son Jaeha are still the highest. Logan’s image is fresh in the Korean music market, and Son Jaeha is… yes. People are wary of what’s typical, but they also like it.”
“Right. That’s the survey data that came out right after. But there’s another set of data I checked recently.”
As if he had prepared for this in advance, Shin Giho pointed at the documents scattered across his desk.
“The upward trend index. The one who has drawn the steepest upward curve since debut is Kim Chunyong. Especially after the repackage, it climbed even more sharply.”
“…
Ah.”
A sigh escaped simultaneously from the two people sitting in front of him, so that it was impossible to tell whose it was, and Shin Giho’s eyes glinted low.
He still did not much like Kim Chunyong.
No, he intended to never like him for the rest of his life.
To him, Kim Chunyong was cheeky, sly in a way that resembled him despite not looking the part, and a brat who talked back to adults without manners.
However.
“They really did take first place, TOJ.”
“Ah, yes. And since it wasn’t Mumu Day but BNS, this is truly meaningful. It shows that male idols can also reveal their strength in the digital music market….”
“…
Right.”
Shin Giho had blind faith in numbers.
“A-are you saying you’re investing this amount? Um, even if it is about your son. Are you really sure this is all right…?”
“Didn’t I say this before? We look at commercial viability. This isn’t because he’s our son, but because we’re investing on the grounds that AG will stand out in the idol market.”
“I-I see….”
And he had seen results.
The results brought about by a series of clashes with Kim Chunyong.
The future that was now being shown because Shin Giho had chosen a different path.
He had no choice but to acknowledge it.
Somehow, Kim Chunyong was somewhat….
“He’s showing this kind of upward momentum, and he wants to refuse a situation that will raise his recognition? From what I heard, there isn’t even any special reason for him to refuse. He just doesn’t understand his own value and is cutting himself down.”
…
Should he say he looked like a goose that laid golden eggs, one that had grown up all on its own somewhere he hadn’t known about and then come looking for him?
“Tsk.”
Having unknowingly said something that praised Kim Chunyong, Shin Giho realized that fact and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Of course, if he had truly cherished Kim Chunyong, he would have agreed with his words that it felt burdensome and considered a break period or an appearance on another program.
“…
This program. The lineup is formidable. Jeong Yeonwoo, Lee Seryeong. Even the PD is Ju Cheolyeong. If Kim Chunyong goes on, there will definitely be synergy.”
“Yes, there certainly will. It also has the feel of a follow-up to
“Right. So just have him appear. Since we said we’d schedule the comeback toward the tail end of the first half of the year, it’s not good for a rookie idol to have a hiatus either.”
Still, while he coveted him, he was not affectionate toward him.
He would manage him in just the right measure, but would not indulge him completely; at the same time, he would not work him recklessly enough to damage his value.
This position that Shin Giho had come to hold was, in truth, practically good news for Kim Chunyong, who wanted TOJ to do well.
Because it also meant that, thanks to him, full support for TOJ was promised going forward.
However, that flap of a butterfly’s wings somehow blew in a rather strange direction….
- X: You said something like “let’s just sleep for now,” and now look how well you’re doing. Great job, just great, damn it.
- X: Yep, now you’re going on with no way out, aren’t you? Kim Chunyong is screwed, isn’t he?
- X: Just say one more thing about skills not being much help from now on or whatever. Seriously.
- X: Agh! Agh! What are you going to do about this, seriously! Ugh, I’m so frustrated!
It did not end up being entirely a good thing for Kim Chunyong.