The Toxic Member Has Returned! Episode 65
Throughout the basic choreography lesson.
“Kim, Trainee Chunyong.”
“…….”
“Hey, Chunyong. Mentor Dasol is calling for you.”
“Ah, yes! I-I’m sorry. I was too fast, wasn’t I? I-I mean, with splitting the beat.”
“…
I-It’s fine. It wasn’t… that fast. Let’s try again.”
It was difficult to maintain my focus.
My head was so completely filled with the thought that I wished I hadn’t run into Yuchan hyung just now that I couldn’t focus at all.
From the moment Yuchan hyung had shown me Noona’s Outgram post until now had been the hardest moment to stay calm since I started this survival show.…
No, really.
“Hey. Are you crazy? You’ll never debut if you eat this stuff!”
“Noona, I bought that to eat after practice!”
“I’m helping you debut by eating it for you. Are you stupid?”
In my memory, Bomi noona was someone who always tied her hair up tight, smacked my back, and said things like, “What kind of idol are you going to be with that mindset?”
[I have created an Outgram account to clarify the rumors directed at my younger brother.]
And yet *that* noona had written such a post.
As if trying to prove the words “I’m a high school teacher” that she always tacked onto the beginning of her sentences, the post Noona left on Outgram was impeccably clean, lacking nothing.
[1. Regarding the girlfriend rumor
First, let me clarify that the woman in the photo circulating as evidence of my younger brother’s girlfriend is me. At the time, my father and I had personally driven him to the dormitory early in the morning to support him. The photo is presumed to have been taken at that exact moment. Furthermore, the date in question differs somewhat from the date in the rumors. You can compare and estimate the timeframe using the video posted by another trainee earlier, so please refer to that.]
With sentences as clean as an official document, and an explanation structured perfectly by the five Ws and one H.
[2. Regarding the game item rumor
My brothers and I have an unspoken rule when creating game IDs: we match the letters at the front and only change the numbers that follow. Therefore, the game character in the post claiming “this is Kim Chunyong’s account” cannot be my younger brother’s character. This game only allows one character per account, so I believe this answers the question. In case there is any doubt, I have attached photos of my brothers’ and my characters and accounts.]
And to think, Noona and Nari had even gone through the trouble of finding the game characters they had created because of me in the past but had abandoned, just to upload photos of them.
It might have been better if it had ended there. But Noona’s Outgram post didn’t end there.
[The truth is, until now, I have refrained from mentioning family matters out of respect for my younger brother’s wishes.
I am also aware of the various hardships one must endure when choosing a profession exposed to the public.
But everyone.
He is someone’s precious son, younger brother, and older brother.
I cannot stand idly by as malicious sentences he doesn’t deserve pour down upon him for things he did not do.
I will end it here.]
The malicious comments, rumors, and articles I had seen back when I lived as a toxic member were on a completely different level from the current ones.
So, this level of hate was really nothing to me.
There was no reason for Noona to do this.
In the first place, preparing this kind of response takes more than just one or two things!
What kind of teacher, busy writing student records, has the time to write something like that?
The moment the basic choreography lesson ended, I dashed out of the practice room and immediately called Noona.
I couldn’t help but be impatient.
Just as I reached the emergency stairwell, the ringing tone cut off.
It was just about lunchtime at her high school.
- …Hello?
“Noona, it’s me. Kim Chunyong.”
- What the hell. Why are you calling at this hour? Don’t you know I’m at school?
On the other side of the phone, Noona was busy scolding me as usual.
In a slightly low tone, with a way of speaking very similar to mine.
I shut my mouth at that voice, organized my thoughts in my head, and spat out fragmented sentences.
“Noona.”
- Don’t drag it out and say what you need quickly. Today’s school lunch has sweet and sour pork….
“I saw the Outgram post you uploaded.”
- …Aren’t you practicing? Skipping out to check SNS instead.
“Why did you upload it? I sent you a message yesterday. I said you didn’t need to worry about it. It must have taken time to write that.”
Noona was silent for a moment, then spoke lightly as if it were really no big deal.
- Yeah. It took a bit. But the person in that photo is me, right? And I’m supposed to just endure that without clarifying? I’m becoming my own brother’s girlfriend? Ugh, gives me the creeps.
“No. That’s not what’s important right now…!”
- Hey. Then what is important?
The moment I raised my voice, Noona shot back at me sharply, lowering her voice.
If there was a moment when Bomi noona was the scariest, it was exactly times like this.
When her demeanor as a teacher came out.
- Did I write something I shouldn’t have? Or did I write something that would harm you?
“…
No.”
- Then what’s the problem? You said it’s not important. Answer me.
“…….”
This isn’t why I called.
Even after turning back time eight years, I still can’t beat Noona from this era with logic.
With no answer coming from me, Noona let out a deep sigh that I could feel even through the receiver, then slowly chewed on her words.
- Kim Chunyong. You. I know you’re worried about causing me harm, but that’s an overinflated sense of self-importance.
“…….”
- You’re not that famous. A clarification post? Even after writing it, no comments appeared. So there’s no harm that’ll come to me from that.
“No, that’s because you disabled the comments….”
- Aah, shut up. I need to eat. Are you going to take responsibility if the sweet and sour pork runs out today? If not, hang up and go practice your ass off.
Do well in filming.
- …Don’t forget Gaon’s autograph. Got it?
Click─
“…
Noona? Bomi noona? Ah, damn.”
I pressed the dial button over and over, but the call didn’t connect like before, and Noona’s voice didn’t come through again.
She was intentionally ignoring me; that was what this was.
As I was holding my head in frustration and confusion, I heard footsteps thudding into the emergency stairwell.
“I knew you’d come here.”
And another familiar voice.
The protagonist who had shown me this whole mess firsthand.
“…
Yuchan hyung.”
“Chunyong, you need to change up your hiding spots. What if someone other than me sees you like this?”
Yuchan hyung broke into another hearty laugh, soon approaching my side, sitting down, and patting my shoulder.
“Everything will work out now. Sure, your mid-term ranking dropped a bit… for now. But you’ll rise back up!”
“No, more than that, I….”
“Chunyong.”
“…
Yes.”
“I know you don’t want to cause trouble for others. That’s right. But it’s not like getting help from others in this kind of situation will make things worse, right? It’s not even something you did yourself, so what gives.”
There was nothing wrong with what he said.
Because if we could clarify and resolve it, it was clearly better to do it quickly.
But the reason I had decided to let this pass without responding was partly because I didn’t want to add fuel to baseless rumors and inflate the situation….
Most of all, it was because I didn’t want to reach out to others unnecessarily.
Because the previous me had made too many people suffer.
Since I had returned to that time when everything was fine, I shouldn’t do that again.
But the very people I wanted to atone to were stepping up to help me.
I gently removed Yuchan hyung’s arm from my shoulder and spoke carefully.
Words that perhaps I should have said back then, and absolutely had to say now.
“…
Thank you, hyung.”
Just, thank you.
Even when we were in the same group, you never gave up on me, and now you’re trying to help me again. Because you’re still the same member I know, thank you.
And to my noona, who isn’t answering my calls.
“Ugh, hey. That’s so cringeworthy? What, this is nothing. Just look it up online and the countermeasures all come up. I did more than this when researching for school. Jaeha was the one who actually did something, anyway.”
“I looked up simple lawsuit methods as a general education course when I was in school, remember? Don’t worry, Rex. This is what being a good hyung is all about.”
Seeing Yuchan hyung spouting words similar to before, unchanged, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Ah, right. Gao Yan said he should come see you first! I stole his turn. Anyway, fighting, Chunyong. See you later at mealtime.”
“Yes, hyung. Thank you.”
I watched Yuchan hyung’s back for quite a long time as he waved energetically at me and climbed the stairs.
This was why, with the Arrows members.
And with my family, I wanted to do better, so much better.
Because they were good people who reached out to help even when they didn’t have to.
“Truly beautiful friendship, Chunyong hyung. If others saw you and me, they might think we look like that too….”
And just like that, the being that shattered my emotion came striding up from the basement below.
“Yeah. I knew you were there the whole time.”
I cleared my slightly choked throat and spoke in a playful voice.
“As if. You brat.”
Though my attitude should have been quite embarrassing, Gao Yan didn’t bat an eyebrow. He made some gestures like from a spy movie and whispered quietly.
“I looked into what hyung said.”
“…
Okay.”
Anyway, thanks to Gao Yan, I could return to reality.
So that the help my hyungs and noona showed me wouldn’t go to waste, I had to quickly proceed with what I needed to do from now on.
In order to safely get through the mid-rank announcement and settle things with Liu Wei before the live broadcast.
* * *
I slowly moved my feet toward the emergency stairwell with Gao Yan, going over my thoughts.
That I had stuck to a different method without batting an eye despite X’s anxiety, Li Mingshen’s worry, and Gao Yan’s fuss.
It was because once I used this method, there would truly be no turning back.
Liu Wei and I hadn’t had any particularly noticeable interactions during our Arrows days, but just once. We had shared a conversation over beer.
It was after that incident had already happened, and around the time I was starting to gain notoriety as a toxic member.
In other words, right before Liu Wei left the group.
“Ah, I think I’ll live a little….”
Unlike the other members, I had no individual schedules, so I returned to the dorm faster than anyone and was downing beers from the fridge, and no other member should have returned before dawn.
But then. Liu Wei had suddenly burst through the dorm door.
“…
Liu Wei? Why are you back already. Didn’t you have radio.”
“I canceled it.”
“Oh, okay.”
Liu Wei, who normally would have gone straight to his room without a word to me. For some reason, he stared at the beer in my hand and paced around the kitchen.
As if he needed it too.
“You want a drink too? It helps a bit.”
Words I had blurted out without knowing anything.
And after hesitating, Liu Wei, who never drank alcohol, took the beer I offered, downed it all in one go, and said:
“I finally broke off the engagement.”
Words that should never come out of an idol’s mouth.
Until now, I had pushed it far down the priority list thinking the other party shouldn’t be harmed, but there was no need to consider that in this situation anymore.
Since Liu Wei was the one who crossed the line first.
Now then….
“Did you look into that person’s account?”
“I’m checking on it now. Just trust me, Chunyong hyung. The reason Gao Yan studied not just Cantonese but Mandarin too was all for this moment.”
Let’s break off that engagement a little faster, Liu Wei.