The Evil Member Returns! Episode 49
Amidst the buzz, the video editing room at the Music Days headquarters was busy editing
“Are you doing well?”
“Ah, Writer-nim!”
“You guys seemed to be working hard… so I brought something to make you work even harder.”
“Still, since you brought it, I should say thank you….”
Lee Hyeon-jeong placed the mountain of energy drinks she’d bought onto the table with a nod.
“Which part are you working on right now?”
“Ah, I’m clipping. I’m looking at the hallway and lounge footage to see if there’s anything usable. But the hallway has so much audio cutting out, it’s a bit tricky.”
“Hmm, then we’ll have to use more lounge scenes. How’s the dorm room footage?”
“Ah, I salvaged a few decent clips… but would you like to see the lounge first? There were some trainees who secretly talked at night.”
In an idol survival program, what matters is not only the trainees’ skills, but also the chemistry between them.
The editors, who had nearly been brainwashed by Ju Cheol-yeong’s words, were building the show around that very principle. The clips being uploaded to the
[Episode 4 Preview! A compilation of the Brotherz’ sleepy late-night talks]
[Ryota & Tsubasa “So, what was that in Japanese again?”]
[
“They’re all fine, but… huh?”
Flipping through a few cut scenes, Lee Hyeon-jeong suddenly murmured to herself at the sight of two people who appeared next.
“… Trainee Kim Chun-yong and Logan?”
“Ah, yes. It was filmed the night before last. I didn’t fully listen to it, but they seemed to be giving each other advice, so I thought about making it a ‘Roommates’ kind of clip.”
“—May I listen to the audio? I have something I want to check.”
“Oh… of course.”
Rubbing her palms stiff from tension, Lee Hyeon-jeong bit her lip.
On the day Do Jae-chan secretly visited the trainees’ dorm, it was only natural that besides Kim Chun-yong, Logan was also among the trainees he met.
‘… Naturally, since he’s directly involved in the current incident.’
A secret late-night conversation between the two trainees of interest who had spoken with Do Jae-chan. She couldn’t help but be concerned.
‘I did tell trainee Kim Chun-yong to resolve things within the cameras’ view, but I didn’t mean let such an important conversation be caught on camera…!’
Thus, with Lee Hyeon-jeong’s immense tension, the conversation between Logan and Kim Chun-yong played through the headphones. It was brief.
Logan’s voice came first.
- “Honestly, I don’t really know. What to do. You know what I’m saying. So… yeah.”
Logan’s face on screen was thoroughly distorted, uncharacteristically so.
So much so that it evoked the guilt you’d feel tearing a toy away from a gentle retriever.
Kim Chun-yong didn’t seem much different, clicking his tongue lightly and scratching his cheek.
- “Mm… I don’t know. It’s a bit… hard for me to say carelessly.”
- “But still, you’re the only one I can talk to about this. As you know, you’re the only one who knows.”
Logan’s voice had a desperate edge. Considering his current state, which Lee Hyeon-jeong had learned from the head PD, it was understandable.
‘President Do Jae-chan personally offered an exclusive contract after
On top of that, Ju Cheol-yeong had deliberately changed the song for the rap position and assigned Logan there, pretending to comply with Executive Shin’s pressure.
This young Liverpool boy was, knowingly or not, in a tight spot.
“Trainee Logan.”
“Yes—no. Y-yes!”
“You know it yourself… this isn’t it. You know.”
“... Yes.”
“This isn’t about writing new lyrics or creating a song. Practicing an existing track is a matter of sincerity.”
“……”
“Pull yourself together. Think about how many more stages are left ahead of us.”
‘He even got a scathing review at the recent midterm evaluation just the night before last, so he must be feeling terrible. Ah, poor kid….’
On screen, Kim Chun-yong fell silent for a moment without answering. Then he got a sports drink from the lounge vending machine and handed it to Logan.
- “… Anyway, the fact that you’re competing in the position battle isn’t going to change, is it? Right?”
- “Yes. That’s true.”
And before answering Logan, Kim Chun-yong glanced at the camera.
‘Wha—what? Is he looking at me? No. He’s looking at the camera, isn’t he?’
His demeanor was so pointed it even gave the illusion he was saying: ‘Writer-nim, you’re watching closely, right?’
He stared for about three seconds.
Then, turning his head back toward Logan, Kim Chun-yong slowly opened his mouth.
- “Logan. Listen. … What if this is your last stage?”
- “……”
- “And what if, because you were distracted by other thoughts, you mess it up and end up going back to Liverpool? How do you think that would feel?”
- “What…? I—I don’t know.”
- “Let me put it differently. Say you made some kind of deal with the devil, and you came back from a future full of regrets to the past. Then you’d change the past so you wouldn’t have regrets in the future, right?”
- “Chun-yong hyung. What—what do you mean? I don’t know Korean. Easier.”
- “Yah, you punk. So what I’m saying is….”
For now, you just have to do your best with what you can do….
Having watched up to the scene where Kim Chun-yong put Logan in a headlock, Lee Hyeon-jeong carefully set down the headphones and quickly racked her brain.
‘… These two know everything and are talking around it.’
To the casual viewer, it just looked like Kim Chun-yong was supporting Logan as he struggled with the rap position. But to someone in the know, it was clearly trainee Kim Chun-yong counseling Logan about his concerns over leaving the show.
Lee Hyeon-jeong fell into worry.
Could she really air this as a clip?
A video that neither PD Ju Cheol-yeong, Executive Shin Gi-ho, nor President Do Jae-chan had seen.
She was the only one who knew the content of this conversation right now.
With
Who would like it if this footage aired? Who would dislike it? And who would get hurt?
‘PD Ju… no. Executive Shin would definitely use it against the trainees. But what about President Do Jae-chan? Ah, I’m going crazy!’
Biting her nails several times in confusion, Lee Hyeon-jeong quietly spoke to the editing team member who was still looking at her with a baffled expression.
“By any chance… do you have a few other clips pulled besides this one?”
“Ah, featuring these two?”
“Either one of them is fine.”
“Uh… um. Oh right! There’s practice room footage. This was also one of the clip candidates.”
Click.
At the next video the editor played, Lee Hyeon-jeong’s eyes went wide. She slowly opened her mouth.
“… We’ll go with this one.”
“Ah, should we? But the atmosphere between the two is a bit odd… honestly, I think that advice clip from earlier might be better.”
“No, I think this one is better.”
“Uh… understood.”
“I’ll leave it to you. Good work.”
Patting the editor on the shoulder with words of encouragement, Lee Hyeon-jeong carefully made her way out of the editing room.
Despite it being dawn, the hallways of the Music Days headquarters were bustling with people moving busily for the broadcast.
‘There’s no need to drag the kids into the adults’ power struggles….’
She couldn’t know exactly how the snap judgment she’d made today would play out.
But one thing was certain: because of it, the situation would definitely shift in yet another direction.
* * *
Now, with the idol fandom thirsting for stimulation focused on
the trainee chemistry videos uploaded as Episode 4 teasers on the official YouTube channel drew considerable reactions.
[@fireworksday (link)
No but the Pure-Bloodz late-night talk lololol they’re all so sleepy it just sounds like mumbling ; How are we supposed to deal with these baby animals??]
[⎿ Even though the video specifically labels them ‘Brotherz’ and not Pure-Bloodz, the Hwaseong Mom level of insisting on the Pure-Bloodz wording ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Classism has completely blinded you ;]
[@UUchan__ALL
They grouped them as Vocalz, but is Mr. SB really at that level…? Honestly Channie is so overwhelming it’s a bit lololol]
[⎿ @@DWDFROP9999
Yeah you just worry about your Yuchan coming from a poor background]
[@HARDWARE_store (video)
#Jaeha_singing_you_a_lullaby #Have_a_listen♡]
[Wait aren’t Tsubasa and Ryota Japanese? But suddenly ‘I can’t remember Japanese’ fkldsj]
[⎿ But they can’t speak Korean either… Global trainees 0 languages somebody save them ffs]
Amidst everyone boosting attention by mentioning clips of their own picks and others’,
there were some who drew particular attention too.
[
It was the all-night practice of Kim Chun-yong and Liu Wei.
- “Uh… Liu Wei.”
- “……”
- “Um, want to practice together?”
- “… Do whatever.”
Without lengthy conversation, the video of the two dancing to Choi Ga-on’s “Crucial Boy” like mad gained meta popularity.
[Wait what’s this Kim Chun-yong and Liu Wei combo? Totally unexpected?]
[What do we even name their unit… Dancerz?]
[⎿ Will you die without a unit name? Just call them Kim Chun-yong & Liu Wei ;]
[⎿⎿ Yeah you loser don’t understand the next-level idol industry ㅅㄲ]
For one thing, Kim Chun-yong is currently gaining word-of-mouth through the meme of “how can an idol trainee be named Kim Chun-yong,” his unexpectedly good dancing, and his roguish looks.
On the other hand, Liu Wei is attracting classic popularity with his cold handsome aura, netizens’ goodwill towards Chinese members, and skills that live up to expectations.
And to think these two trainees, polar opposites in the same position, spent the whole night without sleep practicing together.
[Seems like they’re on the same team for the 3rd round… They’re going fckin wild matching each other’s dance skills]
[Wait but the song is Crucial Boy ; what if Choi Ga-on bursts in while they’re dancing in the middle?]
[⎿ Actually, that’d be great]
Of course, netizens’ excited speculations were a bit different from reality.
* * *
‘As expected, the lounge conversation with Logan didn’t make it as a clip.’
At night in the idol canning facility.
Having finished searching, Kim Chun-yong pulled down the blanket he’d flipped over his head and let out a sigh of relief.
‘Whether it’s PD Ju Cheol-yeong or the head writer, I figured if either of them saw that footage they wouldn’t air it… but it still feels weird.’
He could have had that conversation with Logan on the basement stairs, but he deliberately chose the lounge.
The reason was so that Kim Chun-yong could ‘show it’ to the people behind the cameras.
Logan and I have already spoken with President Do Jae-chan about
‘So pay more attention to our actions. So that Logan’s family issues don’t get exposed… is what I’m saying.’
Back when Kim Chun-yong had made his name as the evil member Rex Trash, his family had been mentioned on an entertainment news program Ju Cheol-yeong put out to advertise his evil behavior.
[Rex’s outrageous conduct—could it really stem from the loss of his family?!]
Though for some unknown reason Ju Cheol-yeong now seemed to have picked Kim Chun-yong as his favorite, the hatred from that time didn’t fade easily.
‘I want to make Logan a member of Arrows, not broadcast his personal circumstances to the entire world.’
As thoughts of the past, blurred by frantic practice, suddenly surfaced, Kim Chun-yong bit the inside of his cheek hard with his canine tooth and turned onto his side.
Ping!
- X: Ohh a bit emotional there ㄷㄷ
- X: But did you really need to vent your feelings by dancing with Liu Wei like that? ㅠㅠ
- X: Even though his face never changes, I could see he was pissed….
As X said, Kim Chun-yong staying up all night practicing with Liu Wei after talking to Logan was practically a way of venting his anger.
How many people have gotten tangled up because of you and Executive Shin alone?
Why do you have to use Arrows as your stepping stone, making me struggle to find new members?
Why are you making my atonement even harder?
“… Ugh.”
Realizing that such an attitude stemmed from the habit of blaming others he’d picked up during his evil member days, Kim Chun-yong frowned deeply and sent a short reply.
- Kim Chun-yong: So what ㅡㅡ
- Kim Chun-yong: If you hadn’t sent me back to the present, I wouldn’t have done that
- X: Ohh we’re blaming me now? Ohhh… ohhh…
- X: That evil member seasoned energy is showing ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- X: Anyway
- X: Go to sleep fast ㅋㅋㅋㅋ You look scary so you need to at least put on makeup to seem a bit kind ㅠ
- X: If you sleep late the makeup won’t work and it’ll mess up tomorrow’s performance~~ After seeing X’s teasing mixed with concern, Kim Chun-yong shoved his phone under his pillow.
X was right.
The position battle stage that would change so many things was right around the corner.