The Toxic Member Has Returned! Episode 56
“Hoo….”
I glanced at Jaeha, who was walking beside me, and let out a light sigh so he wouldn’t hear.
I had considered that maybe, during the survival show vacation period, I might end up spending time with some trainees.
But for that person to be none other than Jaeha.
So, to put this situation briefly….
“Hmm, is it a bit awkward after all?”
“Huh? Y-yes?”
“Haha. No, you just seem so quiet. Think of it comfortably. Today, I’m the one receiving your help.”
“Ah, h-hyung, please think comfortably too. Yes.”
*Ahem.*
Having been unexpectedly hit where it hurts, I let out an uncomfortable fake cough and rolled my eyes.…
Yeah. It was awkward.
Unlike me, who had memories of living and working together with him for eight years, to Jaeha, I was nothing more than a pre-contract trainee he had encountered on the survival show.
And due to some chain of coincidences, among the eighteen trainees, we had never once been on the same team. We had briefly talked during the second round competition game of Cops and Robbers, and when we ganged up on Kim Ju-an, but that was it.
Put nicely, we were people who needed to get to know each other more.
Objectively speaking, we were just strangers.
The reason such a Jaeha came looking for me was simple, yet complicated.
“Ah, you said we’re filming a video at the company.”
“Yeah. It’s for program promotion purposes.” An “Aiming” choreography video to be posted on the AG Prospect channel was being filmed, and the subject happened to be Jaeha.
Was that an obvious thing to say? After all, Jaeha was the current ace of the AG male trainees.
“But I struggle a bit with the dance break part. That stage was rather… ruined by me.”
“Ahh… yes.”
Perhaps pained by the memory of that time, Jaeha made an awkward face for a moment before quickly softening his expression and asking me.
“But I remember you were really great at center back then. If… it’s okay, could you help me a bit? I’ll make sure to repay you properly.”
He was asking me to help check his choreography.…
Me.
Honestly, refusing would have been the right answer.
What kind of situation was I in right now?
I was at a point where I needed to use the entire vacation to hammer out a plan to take down Liu Wei. And I was supposed to squeeze out that precious time to help someone else check their choreography?
Was there ever such a thing as leisure, or complacency, like this?
However.
“Eohu, sounds good. I actually wanted to check the details one more time myself. Haha, it’s nice that my body won’t get stiff during the vacation!”
“…
Thank you for agreeing.”
I didn’t have the guts to flatly refuse a request from a member hyung whom I had tormented to death.…
Damn it.
I clenched my fist as I looked at the AG Entertainment building at the end of my gaze.
Yeah. If I gotta do it, I gotta do it.
Because that is the fate of a (former) toxic member who boarded the Atonement Express.
“Do you have a company access card?”
“Yes, I got this after signing the pre-contract. Will this work?”
“Yeah. All the doors here only open with card keys… wait a moment. Thanks.”
Practice Room 1 of AG Entertainment, which I was entering after a long time.
This practice room, Jaeha’s favorite, had naturally become the Arrows’ practice room after
They had even practiced the choreography here for the mini album they had planned to release before returning.
“I left out Rex’s part… just in case, so I’ve only practiced excluding that. Still, let’s go and check the basic choreography. I have to stand on stage at least once, right?”
“…
But I haven’t even heard the demo for this song?”
“R-really? Oh my goodness.…”…
It was the final practice that had been a complete mess.
I took a deep breath and swept my eyes over the familiar equipment inside the practice room.
This time would be different. It had to be different.
“Yes. Turn from there, ta-ta-ta. Ta. Yes, good.”
“The part that comes after the drum sound. Is the rhythm okay?”
“Yes. It’s right on the beat. The details are perfect too.”
Perhaps thanks to that mindset.
The choreography check with Jaeha went smoothly.
No matter how much he had ruined the stage, he had practiced “Aiming” for close to a month.
That meant his fundamentals were practically perfected.
And perhaps because he was bothered by the ruined stage and practiced more, Jaeha’s mastery of the choreography was high enough to leave even me, a dance member, astounded.
“Honestly… I don’t know what more I should check for you. To go further from here, there’s nothing but subdividing the beat. Ah, of course, I’m sure you’d be good at that too, hyung.”
“Come on, it’s not to that extent. I’m still far off.”
What do you mean it’s not. There’s a limit to modesty.
The aggressive external recruitment by CEO Do Jaechan, who had gnashed his teeth as the senior group Lady Swan collapsed in ruins, included not only Director Sin, who had dealt a staggering blow from behind.
The training division, the A&R division. Even the contents team and media analysis team.
To the point of wondering if this wasn’t a bit excessive, the greatest trainee born from a completely overhauled system.
That was Jaeha.[NEW! AG prospectER: Son Jaeha]
Talent with balanced abilities not lacking in any area, and a face like the protagonist of a pure romance comic.
An affectionate personality, and an attitude of doing his best in everything.
“Whew….”
As I listed them one by one, a sigh escaped me.
To think that person was our leader. Of course.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere?”
“Ah, no. I just have some things to think about, yes! Haha.”
See.
No matter how many twists and turns there were, there was no way this hyung couldn’t debut.
“Ah, I thought you were sick. …
That’s a relief.”
Of course, even after a long time, there were still a few incomprehensible corners to him.
And that wasn’t something the current me needed to worry about.
Feeling sheepish at his concern, I scratched my cheek and turned off the “Aiming” accompaniment that had been booming through the practice room.
It was the signal marking the end of the choreography practice.
This was enough of a pleasant and harmonious choreography practice with the leader hyung.
Now I gotta go home and rack my brains to debut together with him again, ugh.
“You can film right now, can’t you? In the first place, I think it would have been fine even if the AG choreography team checked it for you instead of me….”
“No. I needed you.”
“Huh?”
No, isn’t that line way too cringeworthy? I know hyung has an affectionate personality, but still.
“So….”
However, Jaeha himself, the person in question, slowly opened his mouth with a face still full of smiles.
For a moment, it felt like time was flowing slowly.
“The thing about filming a separate choreography video. Actually, it’s a lie.”
At the same time, silence fell.
In the practice room where only Jaeha and I remained, only the hum of the air conditioner echoed.
Right.
It was those kinds of aspects that made him unknowable.
I had completely forgotten because it had been so long since we talked like this.
I stared intently at Jaeha’s handsome face.
Beneath his sleek black hair, his pupils were as black as his hair.
Those eyes whose thoughts I couldn’t grasp even after eight years of knowing him.
Perhaps noticing my gaze, Jaeha let out a small sound of realization and continued.
“The thing is, you and I don’t overlap in teams or rooms. But if I asked to meet without an excuse, I thought you’d be very confused. So I was wondering what to do, and thinking about it….”
“…….”
“It turned out like this.”
I opened my mouth briefly and thought about what Jaeha’s words meant right now.
“So, in order to create a situation to talk with me… you went out of your way to book an AG practice room during vacation.”
“Hmm, if you put it that way, yes.”
“…
Huh.”
Come to think of it, there had been many strange points if I chewed over them one by one.
Filming a separate choreography video to post on the AG Prospect channel while
Isn’t that a topic that would set real-time trends ablaze with controversy over AG favoring their own trainees?
Moreover, even though I had done quite well on the “Aiming” stage, our team's MVP was Ji Hwaseong. The one who would hate to be called second, Jaeha’s inseparable sidekick, Ji Hwaseong.
If that guy found out about this….
“Why is Yongyong hyung checking Jaeha hyung’s choreography? And not the choreography team? And not me? No, it should be me doing it!!”…
Ugh.
Jaeha, seeing me already drained and standing there blankly from a shout I hadn’t actually heard, laughed loud enough to make the practice room resound.
“A-ahaha, since I decided to lie deliberately, it’s natural you didn’t notice.”
Jaeha had always been difficult to read, but I had never imagined a situation like this even in my dreams.
Even if I had had plenty of time to think while smoothly progressing through the survival show, I wouldn’t have predicted this at all.
Anyway, that’s why he….
Why did he call me?
As if reading my thoughts, Jaeha sat down heavily on the practice room floor and patted the spot next to him, gesturing with his eyes.
He’s still the same in that regard too.
When I soon sat down and hesitated, hyung’s mouth slowly opened again.
“It was hard because of Siyeong, wasn’t it?”
“…
Huh?”
What was this all of a sudden?
Perhaps reading my expression, Jaeha covered his mouth slightly with his right hand and let out a broken laugh.
“That noona cares too much for the agency’s trainees. She’s not a bad person. She probably… feels a bit sorry toward you even now. Though she can’t show it.”
I nodded quietly and agreed with what he said.
“It’s fine. I did use underhanded methods, after all.”
“…
Even though from your position, there was no need to understand that?”
“It’s all in the past. Thanks to that, I actually got a good ranking.”
Someone who didn’t know anything would have gotten angry, asking what that had to do with her giving me the side eye and acting the way she did, but… well.
Because I knew well what kind of person Min Siyeong was, I was fine with it.
After confirming that my reaction was okay, Jaeha rolled his eyes a few times and slowly opened his mouth again.
“Hmm, I think breaking the ice with this was okay. Then let’s talk about something else.”
You know.
“Usually, most artists affiliated with the company don’t know much about internal politics. Unless shareholding issues directly affect them… it’s something they can’t know. Even that Siyeong-noona.”
“…….”
“But I’m directly involved. So I couldn’t not know.”
Which trainee they’re planning to push. How they’d like you to act.
“Which room they’d like you to enter during missions… and such.”
I barely held back a gasp that tried to burst out in that instant.
So Jaeha knew too.
Not everything, but he knew.
That the one being pushed on
And to some extent, that he was being used in it.
Before I could even process my surprise at that, words poured out of hyung without cease.
As if he had been waiting for just this moment.
“You’re from Queens, right?”
“…
Yes. I got dropped from the debut team.”
At my low reply, the smile that had covered Jaeha’s face faded.
He tapped the practice room floor with his fingers and quickly checked beyond the door to see if anyone was there.
Thanks to that, I immediately knew that what would come next was what he had really wanted to say.
Jaeha’s bangs fluttered in the air conditioning.
His voice lowered to match.
“Well. From what I’ve heard….”
Director Sin has been exchanging some contact with Queens.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about, but it didn’t seem very productive. I saw the secretary under him getting angry right in front of me.”
“…….”
“What did she say? I think it was something like, ‘Nothing happened, so I don’t know why he keeps poking at it.’”
At those words, I didn’t ask further and clamped my mouth shut.
Because that alone was enough.
As if my attitude was understandable, Jaeha smiled lightly and soon dusted off his seat and stood up.
“Anyway, thank you for helping today. I’ll definitely buy you a meal later.”
“…
For what.”
A meal is nothing.
When you just gave me something much more valuable.
What Jaeha had just said was unconditionally helpful to me in my current situation.
Because now I could predict how Liu Wei, who was trying to get me eliminated, would act.
However, there was indeed a part that still bothered me.
I called out quietly to Jaeha’s back as he put on his hat and mask again and headed out of the practice room.
“But why did you tell me that?”
“…
Hm?”
As if he hadn’t expected me to add anything more, Jaeha hyung, who had been turning away, paused and looked back with his large eyes rounded.
“I mean, I’m grateful… but you didn’t really have any reason to tell me.”
Jaeha hyung had no idea I had come back from eight years in the future.
Naturally, he wouldn’t know that X was by my side either, so even if he told me that, he wouldn’t think a mere trainee like me could do anything about it.
Besides, the only things connecting us right now were Ji Hwasung, who clung to Jaeha hyung like glue, and that conversation we’d had once in passing.
So why go out of his way to tell me something like this? That was what I meant.
“That’s….”
At my words, Jaeha hyung hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
* * *
The last thing Jaeha hyung said kept coming back to me the entire way home.
“I don’t really like someone grabbing us and jerking us around however they please, huh….”
The person he was probably referring to was Liu Wei.
And beyond that, Director Shin, who was actually moving behind Liu Wei.
But still….
Boop!
- X: Why?? Are you feeling all guilty because you’re trying so hard to change the members??
- X: Because you think you’re the same as Liu Wei? lololol
- X: Sry but isn’t that conscience way too selective? You should’ve been like that back when you were active as Lextrash too ;;
“Ugh….”
Normally, I would have immediately snapped back and told it not to spout nonsense, but this time X had hit the mark, so it was hard to find anything to say in response.
- Kim Chunyong: 🖕
- X: Wow, you damn Lextrash ㅡㅡ
Maybe my brief curse had offended it, because a torrent of biting words poured out from X.
- X: Hey, why the hell are you so soft?? Don’t let every little thing like that get to you, man!!!!
- X: Even so, you’re pretty mild! There are tons of guys who come back, fight with their own teammates first thing, and go riiight back again lol
- X: Honestly, even if you’d said, “Can I just change everyone except me??” I would’ve gotten it approved… Hey, hey, members are best when they fit your tastes exactly! Easy to handle, that’s what matters ㅡㅡ
This thing, seriously.
Normally, I would have pretended not to see it and tried to preserve this sentimental mood, but I couldn’t help the way something surged in one corner of my chest.
- Kim Chunyong: So did all of them succeed?
- X: ????? What?
- Kim Chunyong: I’m asking if they all succeeded doing that.
- Kim Chunyong: Did they change all their members to people who were easy for them to handle and become the greatest idols in K-pop history? Because from what I saw in the life I lived, I don’t remember seeing that.
There was no reply to the message I hammered out and sent. Even that rude little X seemed to have been quite taken aback.
“…
Whew.”
I hadn’t come back for my own personal goals.
I came back to apologize to my family, and to the members I’d hurt.
Yes, atonement was the biggest part of it.
Because of that, it was true that it bothered me how I had ended up inevitably clashing with Liu Wei, but what could I do?
“…
It’s already happened.”
I lifted my phone, silent without its excessively cute boop-boop sounds, and opened the notes app.
After this vacation would come preparations for the fourth competition and the interim rankings announcement.
Before that, I had to properly gather the cards I needed to deal with Liu Wei and Director Shin.