The Villainous Member Returns! Episode 26
* * *
Choosing the song I had in mind was fine.
So it has public appeal secured, and with young Min Si-young sunbae’s high and low notes, plus a somewhat cute rap, the part distribution balance of the song itself is good.
But there’s no way an anime opening would have stage composition or choreography.
That’s why Jang Si-woo was needed right now.
Knock, knock
-Still holding Ryota by the scruff of his neck, I knocked on Si-woo’s door, and someone inside made a sound.
- Who is it?
“Ah, I came to see Jang Si-woo. Is he in there?”
- Eh, that voice is… Eek!
A sound of something clattering and breaking came, and soon someone who kept rubbing their own knees opened the door.
Tall stature, blonde hair dripping water as if just washed, double eyelids slightly swollen from fatigue.
“Ssseup, what. Why is hyung suddenly here?”
Ah, he was in the same room as Si-woo. I didn’t know that.
I laughed awkwardly and greeted the other person.
“Hello, Ji Hwa-seong.”
Perhaps embarrassed by my greeting, Ji Hwa-seong shook off the remaining water from his head and pouted his lips as he spoke.
“Yes, I am Ji Hwa-seong. But why did Yong-yong hyung come here?”
“Uh…”
Yong-yong hyung, huh…
It’s been a while.
Seeing Ji Hwa-seong suddenly call me by the nickname I used when promoting with Arrows, I was momentarily speechless, but I quickly turned my head away and blurted out.
“I’m on the same team as Si-woo. You know? Min Si-young sunbae’s cover.”
“Ah, no wonder he seemed a bit strange.”
Quickly checking the hallway camera, Ji Hwa-seong slung an arm around both my neck and Ryota’s and whispered in a small voice.
“Since I have some fondness from being on the same team with Yong-yong hyung in Aiming, I’ll tell you something important.”
“Wh-why me!? Even though we weren’t on the same team!?”
“Shh, shh. Anyway, you’re on the same team as Si-woo this time. It won’t hurt to know. Listen carefully. Si-woo is glass, glass.”
“G-Glass?”
Ryota, flustered by Ji Hwa-seong suddenly putting an arm around his shoulders as well, opened his eyes wide.
As if expecting that reaction, Ji Hwa-seong snorted and acted cocky.
His showing off is the same now as it was then.
Of course, it was because that side of him appealed that he was a popular member of Arrows.
Ah, the least popular member was me, of course.
Come to think of it, it’s funny that he’s popular even after doing that kind of thing.
“You didn’t know, right? It’s premium info. You have to be really, really careful with Si-woo. He’s not a bad kid, you know? I’m not saying this because we’re in the same agency. Once you get close, he even calls you ‘hyung’ quite well.”
“Whaat? He’s never done that with me and Yuchan aniki before! I want to hear it too!”
“Then you approached him wrong. You shouldn’t do that, tsk. Anyway, there’s a topic you must never bring up in front of him, and that is…”
Just as Ji Hwa-seong’s voice was getting quieter,
“Hwa-seong hyung, what are you doing there?”
“Eek.”
“Ouch!”
Ji Hwa-seong abruptly threw me and Ryota aside and quickly turned around.
That rude bastard. He’s no different now than before.
“Uh-uh, no. Just! Your teammates came looking for you.”
“…What? My teammates?”
“…”
Until he called Ji Hwa-seong, his face had been as adorable as softly melted cotton candy, but as soon as he heard that his not-yet-close teammates had come, a cold wind blew across Jang Si-woo’s face again.
“Rex hyeong.”
Damn it, there was a time he called me like that too!
I quickly hid my feelings of injustice, cleared my throat, and called out to Jang Si-woo.
“Yeah. There’s a choreography lesson in three days, but… I came because I thought it’d be good if we worked out some choreography beforehand.”
“The song we chose doesn’t really have choreography. We’d need help from a professional.”
“We’ll become professionals once we debut. And, if we work some out in advance, wouldn’t the choreographer teacher be a bit more at ease?”
Jang Si-woo, who had been rolling his eyes at my words, soon nodded willingly and came out of the room. This kid shows even his agreement not with words but quietly with actions.
Right. This is our maknae.
“Then, including Yuchan hyung, let’s at least work out the key choreography today. That way we’ll keep up with the other teams’ progress.”
I led Jang Si-woo and Ryota to the lounge downstairs. It was to pick up Yuchan hyung.
As befitting a main vocal, Yuchan hyung always practiced vocals individually even during the survival show.
Before that, he’d peel and eat a raw egg to soothe his throat.
He’d be in the lounge now, eating eggs, so if I time it right and just bring him along…
“Huh?”
At a combination I couldn’t understand at all, my mouth fell open, and I spaced out for a moment.
The trainee lounge at the end of the first-floor hallway.
There—
“So this is good for the throat? Really amazing.”
“Ah, yes. Well, it’s a bit expensive… but if hyung wants to try some, I’ll give you a little.”
“Whoa, really? Thanks. Then I’ll just have a tiny bit.”
Kim Ju-an and Yuchan hyung were chatting incessantly.
No, maybe not. Kim Ju-an looked a bit uncomfortable, but only Yuchan hyung seemed excited.
“Oh, awesome. I think my throat already feels a little better?”
It seemed the sociable Yuchan hyung had once again struck up a conversation with Kim Ju-an who was just passing by.
Kim Ju-an, who had been managing his expression somehow until Yuchan hyung gladly ate his propolis, mercilessly scowled when he saw me standing outside the glass door of the lounge.
Kim Ju-an, who looked like he was about to curse at any moment, saw the camera in the hallway, pursed his lips, and got annoyed.
“…Ah, seriously!”
I thought he’d self-destruct, but not quite.
“Whoops, did I eat too much? Sorry!”
“Ah, no. It’s not because of hyung…”
“Oh? It’s our team kids. Wait. Ju-an, want to say hi? Kids, come in!”
Yuchan hyung, who couldn’t understand why such good connections wouldn’t even exchange names, soon had our team members and Kim Ju-an greet each other amicably.
“This is Japanese individual trainee Ryota, and this is Chun-yong. Ah, you said you’re from the same agency as Chun-yong. Then you probably already know—and here is our team’s maknae, Si-woo.”
“Jang… Si-woo? That Jang Si-woo?”
“Uh, uh… yes. Hello…”
Kim Ju-an, who had been looking me and Ryota over indifferently, suddenly brightened up the moment he heard the name ‘Si-woo.’ The speed at which his pupils moved was unusual.
Quickly grabbing Jang Si-woo’s left hand, Kim Ju-an chattered away excitedly, not knowing that he had just become minus 200 points in Jang Si-woo’s mind.
“Wow, I really wanted to meet you!”
“…Yes? Yes?”
“You’re exactly that—”
Huh?
Is this guy not even trying to hide that he can’t keep his mouth shut?
“Hey, Kim Ju-an, you…”
I hurriedly tried to clamp Kim Ju-an’s mouth shut, but he already blurted out that problematic word with his eyes wide open.
“—You’re that Jang Si-won sunbae’s younger sibling, right? The one in the milk commercial! That, the copy was this, right?”
Mom, give me the milk hyung is drinking too!
I want to grow taller!
“…….”
The childish, lisping voice Kim Ju-an made echoed loudly through the lounge, and Jang Si-woo’s face turned whiter than a sheet of paper.
I wasn’t much different.
Because for the first time in a while, I thought about smacking someone in the back of the head with a bottle.
“Is it a bit similar? Of course you were cuter back then! Hey, you know. Later, if it’s okay, could you get me Jang Si-won sunbae’s autograph—?”
Slap.
“…Huh?”
Silence lingered in the lounge.
Because Jang Si-woo, who had unnaturally dropped his head and was shaking his shoulders, had quickly slapped Kim Ju-an’s hand away.
“Ah, that.”
As if unable to bear the others’ gazes, Jang Si-woo opened and closed his mouth a few times, then looked at me flustered and quickly spoke.
“…I’m not feeling well. I don’t think I can work on choreography today. Sorry.”
Before I could stop him, Jang Si-woo hurried out of the lounge. The three, including Kim Ju-an, were dumbfounded, not understanding why this situation was happening.
And I, who knew all the reasons, was about to have my head split open.
Damn it.
The mood had been settling well, but with Kim Ju-an’s trolling, whether intentional or not, Jang Si-woo had closed the door of his heart to his teammates again.
I could only grit my teeth in frustration and watch Jang Si-woo’s back as he ran up to his dorm room.
If we can’t somehow resolve this properly, our team with completely broken chemistry…
is really f*cked.
* * *
The day of the mid-evaluation, one week before the cover mission stage.
“I’ll do individual interviews one by one!”
Lee Hyeon-jeong called the trainees, who hadn’t even caught their breath and were still panting, one by one into the individual interview room.
She had no intention of giving them time to sort out their thoughts about their own condition or how they felt after previewing others’ stages.
Only then would unfiltered words pop out, and the interviews could be edited to be sensational.
The first interview subject was Seong Won-hyeop, currently ranked 14th.
Perhaps because he had gained an advantageous position compared to other bleak teams by picking the male idol 2OCD in the previous cover singer selection, Seong Won-hyeop’s face was relatively bright despite his low rank.
“2OCD’s ‘Be the LOW’? The song choice is good. The dance fits well, and if you can do this much in front of the audience, I think it’ll be fine.”
Since he had even received fairly high praise from mentor Min Si-young.
Lee Hyeon-jeong looked at Seong Won-hyeop with an interested expression and lightly started the conversation.
“Congratulations. You received a good evaluation.”
“Ah, thank you! Well, I’m still a bit dazed.”
“That’s understandable. It’s right after the mid-evaluation. How did you feel when watching the other teams’ stages?”
“Hmm, first of all, I thought everyone prepared hard, and I was especially surprised when I heard the song from Ryota’s team, who we’re going up against. I really like ‘Let’s Ride a Galleon.’ I didn’t know mentor Min Si-young sang that opening…”
To talk about the opposing team first.
The story unfolds easily.
Lee Hyeon-jeong smiled elegantly and guided Seong Won-hyeop’s answer in the desired direction.
“Right. The song ‘Us Beyond Those Waves’ that trainee Ryota’s team chose. We were also surprised when we received it. It was interesting. But… from what I heard, it seemed like your team, Seong Won-hyeop, received a better evaluation? What do you think?”
“Uh….”
Not realizing Lee Hyeon-jeong had naturally set a trap, Seong Won-hyeop agonized over it before opening his mouth.
“Well, Ryota’s team still feels like their stage isn’t quite ready…”
Hooked.
Lee Hyeon-jeong pressed on without giving Seong Won-hyeop more time to think.
“Did you think they lacked practice?”
“No, it’s not that! Since ‘Us Beyond Those Waves’ is a song without choreography, I know they need time to create it. But…”
“But?”
“Well, the point choreography that Chun-yong made was really good. The movements were big and matched the song, and using an item like a handkerchief felt like an extension of Aiming, so it was natural. But how should I say this… um, Si-woo… was.”
On broadcast, out of Seong Won-hyeop’s long statement, only the last part ‘the members felt a bit disjointed’ and ‘um, Si-woo… was’ would be edited together and aired.
Well, you could call it evil editing, but.
‘Then he should have thought carefully before speaking.’
Seong Won-hyeop kept chattering away, not knowing what would become of his fate. But Lee Hyeon-jeong, having already extracted all the necessary parts, gestured with a satisfied expression to the camera person.
‘Tell the next one to come in now.’
The interviews continued to flow in the direction she wanted after that.
“I think we were a bit lacking.”
Edited to only the ‘I think we were a bit lacking’ part.
“The arrangement was really good. I was motivated. Ah, how great would it be to have a team with a member like that? I thought.”
Edited to only the ‘How great would it be to have a team with a member like that?’ part.
“I really tried hard this time. During Aiming, our team got first place, but… I thought maybe ‘trainee Kim Ju-an’ didn’t leave a strong impression. So even though I knew it was too much, I told Jae-ha hyung I’d do one acrobatic move too. Then at that time, the other team members…”
Completely edited out.
“Today’s Gao Yan was amazing. I’ll run only toward debut like this. Remember, the Hong Kong man Gao Yan.”
No editing needed.
Lee Hyeon-jeong, who had been watching with an ‘Let’s see how far this goes’ expression every time Gao Yan opened his mouth, checked who was waiting and sent Gao Yan out.
Gao Yan had a blank expression even though his words were cut off.
Well, that’s because in Gao Yan’s head, Gao Yan is the best.
Leaving that guy overflowing with confidence behind, Lee Hyeon-jeong greeted the person sitting in the empty interview chair.
‘The real deal starts now.’
Doted on by the main producer, possibly guaranteeing ratings once
“Hello. I’m Kim Chun-yong.”
Trainee Kim Chun-yong.