The Toxic Member Has Returned! Episode 51
* * *
In the trainee waiting room, before the position competition stage of
Logan, who had received a painful, scathing evaluation during the interim assessment saying, “Even if it’s not your area of expertise, you look like you have no willpower.”
“Logan, no! That’s not how you do it. Again, again. From the ‘Even if it seems like I’ve fallen to the bottom, I’ part….”
“Holy. No, Hwaseong. Didn’t I do well just now?”
…He had clearly improved since our conversation.
I didn’t know if it was because he thought this was his last stage, or if he had truly decided to put off later matters for later, but for now, that state was better.
“I hope what Trainee Kim Chunyong told me was helpful.”
“…Same for me.”
If President Do Jaechan’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering against Director Shin was working out right now, the appearance he would show on today’s stage was important too.
And then.
As if a script someone had written was being executed.
“Being kind of good won’t cut it! Ah, this guy really. He’s definitely gotten much better since the interim evaluation, but—.”
“Excuse me, Trainee Jihwaseong.”
“It’s not enough to go on a music show… huh? Writer-nim?”
“May I take Trainee Logan with me for a moment?”
“…What? Me?”
“Yes. The PD said it’s im-important…”
Logan, who had been practicing his part with all his passion, was called out by the junior writer looking bewildered.
“They’re only taking Logan? …Why aren’t they calling the other rap position trainees?”
“Hmm, well. Maybe there’s something to relay separately.”
He played dumb for Jihwaseong, who was in the rap position like Logan, but to me, it was a sight I had already seen before.
It was from when I had experienced
‘I’m so sorry. I-I’m sorry….’
Logan, who had been called out like that back then too, came back looking like he was about to die and completely ruined the stage.
And the very next day, he had posted a withdrawal notice due to personal circumstances and left
So, this call right now meant it was a call related to Logan’s withdrawal.
At the time, I had been too busy worrying about my own stage and my own ranking, so I had only thought something like, “He went back to England.” But…
This time, it was a bit different.
A bit?
No. It was enormously different.
“Hoo.”
I adjusted the height of the harness tightening around my waist slightly and let out a breath.
“…I’m going to my waiting room. Good luck, Jihwaseong.”
“Yongyong hyung, where are you going! You have to play with me!”
“Play with Gaoyan, you punk!”
“Yeah, Hwaseong. Now it’s your turn to listen to my rap. I’ll show you Gaoyan, the incarnation of rap.”
I tossed the uncharacteristically clingy Jihwaseong to Gaoyan and quietly slipped out into the hallway.
Of course, it wasn’t like anything major would change just because I came out like this, but I wasn’t in the right mental state to just sit around twiddling my thumbs either.
“Uh, Trainee Kim Chunyong. Where are you going? If you move around carelessly, it’s difficult to keep track of your movements.”
“Ah, Writer-nim. I’m going to go up to the rooftop for a moment.”
“What?! Why would a trainee go to the rooftop?! Trainee Kim Chunyong, don’t tell me!”
“Ah, it’s not what you’re thinking! To get a drink, a drink from the vending machine!”
“Hmm… alright.”
I gave an awkward smile to the junior writer who was looking at me with a suspicious expression and urged my steps forward.
It wasn’t strange that the junior writer reacted that way.
People who worked at Music Days Broadcasting Station usually went to the rooftop for one reason.
“Hooo….”
I carefully opened the rooftop door I had rushed to and moved cautiously so as not to make a sound.
The smell of cigarettes lit by someone who had arrived before me stung the tip of my nose.
…The smoking area located in a corner of the rooftop garden.
A place where broadcasting people, who often worked overnight, could catch their breath; surprisingly, it served another function as well.
A hotbed of rumors.
And this time, it wasn’t playing the role of merely a hotbed of rumors.
“Why are you doing something foolish, PD Ju?”
With Director Shin, who had a cold face, and.
“Whether this is a foolish move or a good move, no one knows.”
PD Ju, who was snarling right back as if refusing to lose to that momentum, was standing right there.
I had been hoping for something like this, but to see the parties themselves so openly like this.
Is this what they call a eureka moment?
I hurriedly crouched behind the vending machine next to the glass wall of the smoking area and held my breath.
The two men, unable to see my hidden figure, hurled fierce words at each other.
“…If it was something that could be resolved in a day, those people wouldn’t have come all the way to Korea. Don’t you understand that either?”
“You aren’t sure either, Director Shin.”
“The guardian of a minor says they’re taking their ward away, and you say you’re not sure? PD Ju. I think something’s wrong with your head.”
‘Hah.’ At that shocking remark, I clicked my tongue and lightly pressed my forehead.
Right. I had wondered how the withdrawal was decided overnight….
It was because Logan’s parents had come all the way to the broadcasting station.
Right, no wonder. If it hadn’t been his parents coming personally, given Logan’s personality, he would have held out until the end. Normally.
I put strength into legs that wanted to give way from emptiness and continued listening.
“I think we’ll need to talk longer after this matter is settled. I’ve said it time and again, but
“Investment this, investment that! Anyone hearing you would think you’re the one making the program. Let me make this clear right now. In the end, I’m the one who makes the broadcast. Remember that.”
Bang!
A sound of something being kicked violently rang out, and PD Ju Cheolyeong came out of the smoking area and walked off the rooftop without looking back.
Was it a good thing he hadn’t found me, or was it a bad thing because someone who would soon have to film was agitated?
But such thoughts of mine couldn’t last long.
Because soon after, I heard Director Shin muttering in a low voice as he exited the smoking area.
“…Who’s there?”
I naturally thought those words were directed at me.
I couldn’t imagine anyone else with such guts coming all the way up here right before a stage except me.
But there was.
“…It’s me.”
Another gutsy trainee who had come all the way here.
A figure that had been sitting like part of the background among the scattered plastic chairs next to the vending machine where I was hiding slowly rose.
Someone even I, who had snuck here, hadn’t noticed.
A white shirt like mine, and a harness worn over it.
A face like ice that seemed like it wouldn’t fluster in any situation.
“There’s no reason I can’t come here.”
The moment I met eyes with him, I mouthed without realizing.
‘…Liu Wei.’
And, as if he had heard that, Liu Wei’s pupils turned toward where I was.
I gasped and tried not to reveal myself any further.
And fortunately.
“Why did you come all the way up here, Liu Wei?”
Director Shin spoke up without questioning that gaze, and for the moment, I was in the clear.
“I told you not to wander around needlessly during standby time.”
Despite Director Shin’s sharp rebuke, Liu Wei, who still had his gaze fixed where I was hiding, continued in a composed voice.
“My throat was dry.”
“…You came all the way to the rooftop because your throat was dry? You expect me to believe that?”
As far as I knew, they had a relationship of helping and being helped depending on their goals, but the words they exchanged were quite harsh.
“No. But I have to answer, so.”
“Such an impudent little brat.”
No, it wasn’t just at the level of being harsh….
“If you want to debut, stop getting distracted in strange places and focus.”
“That’s something I’ll handle myself.”
“You’ll handle it yourself? Someone who handles himself well was looking at his phone at the mission site?”
…They were almost fighting.
“Even so, my ranking didn’t drop much.”
“That’s because that video hasn’t been uploaded yet, and because I ordered the editing to focus on you. I didn’t know you were that stupid. This is really getting serious.”
“The one in serious trouble is you.”
“…What?”
“Failing to handle one thing properly and staggering around like that.”
“H-ha, haha… y-you fucking arrogant Chinese bastard…”
“Yes, I’m Chinese.”
Regardless of that.
“The one who should focus on their own work is someone like you.”
At Liu Wei’s final words, I heard Director Shin sputtering a few curses in Korean as if dumbfounded, and the rooftop door slammed shut.
On the quiet rooftop, only Liu Wei and I remained.
…Things seemed to be a mess on his side too.
I kept my mouth shut, waiting for Liu Wei to leave as well, and rolled my eyes.
But Liu Wei didn’t leave the rooftop as I wished.
“Come out.”
It was a call without a subject.
“I said come out.”
Now I couldn’t pretend not to know.
For whatever reason, it was no different from Liu Wei having drawn attention so as not to reveal my presence to Director Shin.
I carefully got up from my spot and chose my words.
What should I say here?
That I happened to come here?
Should I crack a joke, or play dumb?
But rendering my concerns meaningless, Liu Wei approached and stood before me, his next words colder than frost.
“…Does hiding and listening like a rat change anything?”
“What?”
What’s this guy saying?
Before I could even grasp the meaning of those words, Liu Wei approached the vending machine and pressed my shoulder with the index finger of his right hand, muttering.
“The one inside there will withdraw soon, and next is you.”
Ah.
So he’s showing off that he knows everything?
The check against me and Logan that he proposed to Gaoyan, making Logan withdraw.
And his hostility toward me.
He was just showing it all like this.
I held back the rage that surged up for a moment and clenched and unclenched my fist.
This kind of contemptuous attitude from Liu Wei directed at me wasn’t something I couldn’t handle, since I had experienced it during the three years we had been active together.
Because of the damage I caused as a toxic member, I had been somewhat careful, hadn’t I.
But…
Now that I’ve returned and have nothing to do with him anymore, there’s no need to be careful.
I flicked away Liu Wei’s hand that was on my shoulder. A large, pale-white hand fell away powerlessly.
“Liu Wei. I think you’re misunderstanding something. I just came here just like you to get a drink from the vending machine.”
“……”
Even at my nonsense, there was no change in Liu Wei’s expression.
As always, a serene, composed, cold face.
So in contrast to him, I smiled widely and chewed on my words.
“So you said I’m next after him to withdraw. I have no idea what you mean by that….”
Though I actually know everything, anyway.
“That’s your wish, not the truth, you bastard.”
At my firmness, Liu Wei’s eyes narrowed. I likewise closed my mouth and stared straight at him.
I had returned from hellish days; no matter what anyone said, I had to atone and protect my family.
Who said I could just withdraw as they pleased?
I patted Liu Wei’s broad shoulders and threw my arm around him, clicking my tongue.
“Hey, let’s go down.”
I knew well that telling this arrogant guy a hundred times wouldn’t work on him.
Then…
I should show him something else instead.