The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 68
* * *
The conversation I had with Gaoyan in the vocal room wasn't actually long.
"To think you know this kind of information. Chunyong hyung. Don't tell me you have ties to the Public Security Bureau? That'd be a bit troublesome! Of course, I guarantee that all our family members earn money legitimately. I just hate the Public Security Bureau, that's all."
"What are you even talking about, seriously?"
If Gaoyan hadn't added such nonsense with a serious face, it might have been even shorter.
Anyway.
Having heard the fact that Liu Wei had a fiancée—a truth I had brought up after a thousand hesitations—Gaoyan wasn't very surprised.
He said it was something perfectly common for the children of China's upper class, or something like that.
To me, it was a story so shocking that even now, seven years later, it still didn't feel real.
An arranged engagement decided by the family in this day and age—what sort of engagement was that?
"I think I understand why you hesitated, Chunyong hyung. But an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Since Liu Wei's side is far worse for spreading false rumors, this is a fitting response."
"Right. It can't be helped. So I wanted to avoid this method as much as possible, too… but it's a laughable situation for me to be the only one keeping to the line when the other side crossed it first."
"Think positively, Chunyong hyung! It's better for that woman to quickly break off the engagement with such a bad guy. Liu Wei will undoubtedly be a mess at married life too. There will be problems with the alimony division."
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway… even if I say he has a fiancée without evidence, no one will believe it. I need definite proof. Don't even bring up the live broadcast, Gaoyan."
"I thought my live broadcast talking about this fact would be perfect?"
"You punk, I told you not to bring it up."
"Then tell me what I need to do to help you, hyung!"
"…I know that fiancée's name. And that she's quite active on various SNS, including Outgram."
Thanks to the appearances of Liu Wei, Li Mingshen, and Gaoyan,
Whether because of that or not, Gaoyan's former influence as an influencer with 15 million followers hadn't gone anywhere.
The guy's Outgram account began appearing on people's recommended tabs, and it wasn't just happening to Koreans.
The Outgram mission had ended with the mid-ranking announcement, but account operation remained active as part of program promotion and personal viral marketing.
Finding someone on SNS without information is harder than finding a needle in a desert, but with this level of exposure, it was possible.
It was fortunate that I remembered the reason Liu Wei wanted to break the engagement quickly was because of the other party's SNS addiction and pressure to get married.
So there are days when being a good drinker comes in handy.
"Understood. I'll write and post something that catches the attention of Chinese-speaking people, and find the person from there!"
"Yeah. Don't relay my words exactly as I said them. If possible, it'd be nice to narrow the scope a bit more…"
"Yep, that's very easy. Challenges are all the rage in this world, Chunyong hyung! If I ask them to attach the name, they'll definitely jump at the chance to add it."
Even though he knew it wasn't an easy task, Gaoyan was very confident, and that result was now before them.
"The candidates I've narrowed down now are about 15."
Gaoyan, heads close together with mine, whispered quietly, and I too nodded as I checked the list of people that appeared on his phone.
"All of these have the name hyung mentioned. Not only that? There are even posts revealing that some of them, upper-class children likely to have an engagement, had previous interactions with Liu Wei! As expected of Gaoyan. Honestly, Gaoyan would have done well even as a detective."
"Yeah. Your older brother, who said he knows this side inside and out, probably did almost all of it, but having a good family by your side is a blessing too."
"Yep, I'm happy you recognize it. I really like our family. The family likes Gaoyan too."
Gaoyan thumped his chest once with a thud, then solemnly continued.
"Now I'll watch what kind of posts these people write, quickly fish them out, and try to find a way to tie Liu Wei into it. It's a truly cool and splendid task. I'm excited!"
"Yeah. In the meantime, I'll… keep looking for other methods too. Anyway, this is a huge harvest. Thank you, Gaoyan."
"It's nothing. For Gaoyan, the star of Hong Kong, the star of detectives, it's not even a task."
Gaoyan, brimming with confidence, soon giggled and slipped out via the emergency stairwell first. Insisting on his opinion that "if we go together, we'll attract attention."
"……."
I watched his retreating figure for a moment, then checked the message from X again.
- X: I put in the 8th place reward for now, so check it out, got it??
- X: Now your stats are pret~ty much back, so that's a relief, phew
- X: You were getting held back and your skills were a mess too, see, you would've just been eliminated
- X: Still, seems like things are working out a bit, so that's fortunate?
- X: I can't help much with that… but I can get you a skill like [Fortune Cookie]!
- X: It predicts that day's luck, but this isn't superstition, it's all data based on probability. Trust my company's big data.
- X: I'll try to adjust it so you can get it if you finish this competition well! Your success is the shortcut to my performance bonus :-D
"Luck, huh…"
After checking the skill X sent, I put my phone away and chewed on one word from the message.
I'd never had good luck before.
If I'd had good luck, that accident wouldn't have happened back then.
That might be why I kept acting more passively. Even though it didn't suit my scary-looking appearance.
Even with endless caution, things happened. Because I was unlucky.
"But Gaoyan. Honestly, you don't have to go out of your way to help me."
"Chunyong hyung, you say everything you need to say then suddenly try to get all serious!"
"I'm not trying to get serious. You punk. Listen carefully. This… isn't something that will help you. It's just a hassle, and it won't have any effect on your rank rising."
Gaoyan's current rank was 16th.
They say it's not over until it's over, but in reality, from what he himself felt and what the trainees around him saw, it was practically hopeless.
Even if I knew Gaoyan would brilliantly make a name for himself as an Outgram influencer…
I couldn't ask Gaoyan, who didn't know what his own future held, to only look out for my position.
However, Gaoyan's thinking was different.
"Chunyong hyung. You might not know, but there's a book written by a man named Laozi. Its title is the Tao Te Ching."
"Why bring that up all of a sudden? I know it too. They teach it all in middle school. Stop fooling around. I tell you to think seriously and this is what you do."
"Oh, you don't look it but you're knowledgeable, Chunyong hyung. Anyway, there's a passage like this. If someone does harm to you, wait. Soon his corpse will float down the river."
"……."
"What I want to say is this, Chunyong hyung. In the end, that corpse became a corpse because someone dirtied their hands. In the first place, Liu Wei threatened my family. That doesn't change."
"……."
"Besides, Chunyong hyung is one of the good people I met since coming to Korea. If I can help that person, and if helping improves the situation, there's no reason to refuse. They say the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but we were already friends from the start!"
But seeing how I got a chance to come back, and how there were people by my side helping me…
It felt like I had been so ill-fated back then just for this moment.
"…I'm getting all sorts of weird thoughts."
I slapped both my cheeks hard with my palms as I started to get sentimental, then opened my eyes wide.
Just because I was receiving help from someone didn't mean my gaze should be fixed only on that side.
- "Trainees, please gather in the main hall within 30 minutes. Before practice begins, there is an additional announcement regarding the next competition."
To properly settle my karmic debt, there was more than one or two things to do.
* * *
Preparations for our next competition had begun since last week, when episode 5 of
Mentor evaluation, original songs, covers of senior singers' songs, position competition, and more.
Although they had already performed on stage four times, the trainees had to check the goosebumps rising on their arms every time they heard about a new competition.
By the nature of idol survival programs, the stages that appeared in the later episodes were inevitably more important.
Having seen enough of their growing process, it was only natural for viewers to want to see the trainees' completed forms as time passed.
Therefore, although in reality only an extremely short time had passed, the stages in the later episodes had to be of high completion.
Skills hadn't improved, yet the stage completion had to be high.
What did this mean?
"The beat. Not a single… thing matches. Again."
"C-can't we just rest for one, one minute? Hah. I'm so out of breath."
"Looking at what you're doing now, you shouldn't rest."
"Hah. It's the first time I've seen Mentor Dasol speak that fast…."
"…Rest for 5 minutes, and today… we'll finish… the first verse. Or I won't… be able to sleep."
Naturally….
- "Trainee Ryota. You have to pronounce properly. If you mumble, does that sound like anything? Are the lyrics written that way?"
- "N-no!"
- "Diction is the life of rap. Open your mouth wide. Pak pak! At this rate, you sound like a baby babbling!"
- "Understood!"
It meant they had to practice to the death.
"Ugh, Ryota's going to damage his vocal cords practicing rap like that."
"Mmh, I know right. Ah. Chunyong hyung, some water please."
"Yeah, here. You should've said something earlier if you were thirsty."
"Thank you…"
I lightly patted the shoulder of Siwoo, who was carefully sitting down beside me, then averted my gaze from the rap mentoring room across the way.
Even Jin Dasol and Na Jihyeok, who were relatively gentle in personality compared to the other mentors, were grinding their teeth preparing for the stage now.
For the moment while practicing, I too had to forget about Liu Wei for a while and pour myself into stage preparation.
Moreover, because this fourth competition was very special.
"Hello, trainees! I'm Gaon. Ah, does anyone know what this competition's theme is today? I won't say the same thing. Haha, since none of you will be able to guess it anyway."
"…Just how special is it that no one can guess?"
"Trainee Ahn Jinwoo! The skill of getting a camera one-shot by talking to yourself like that is very good! You've become a broadcasting expert now?"
"I-I was really just curious…!"
"Don't worry. It's a compliment! Right. Everyone's curious just how special it is that no one can guess, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then without dragging it out, I'll reveal it right away!"
"……."
"…Nothing is showing on the screen!"
"Ah, I misspoke. It's not a reveal. Yes. It's not being revealed through text or words!"
"Tch…."
I clicked my tongue, recalling how that went.
Ju Cheolyeong had gritted his teeth for the success of
Guest casting that revealed an intention to make even people uninterested in this broadcast, even people uninterested in celebrities, watch at least once.
"The senior singers who personally! made the songs you will sing through this competition—let us welcome them here!"
Leopold, Serenia.
Min Siyeong, Choi Gaon. And Lady Swan, who could certainly make a mark narratively as well.
Having already gathered a dazzling lineup in the first half, Ju Cheolyeong's ambition didn't end there.
It was so grand that the word ambition felt insufficient.
"Hello, I'm singer Lee Seryeong!"
"I'm singer-songwriter Laki. I'm really happy to meet you all, trainees."
"*Cough*…"
"T-that it's really that Senior Lee Seryong…"
To think he called all the singers who had challenged the very top with only songs they wrote themselves.
At that moment when the trainees couldn't hide their exclamations mixed with excitement and terror, I couldn't hide the anxiety and awkwardness creeping up my spine.
"……."
All because of one of those singers challenging the very top.
"Are you all practicing well?"
"…Eek."
As if caught thinking this, a tall handsome man opened the practice room door and strode in with a smile.
"Huk…! *Cough* *cough*!"
"Ah, I startled you. Sorry, Trainee Jang Siwoo."
"Ah, no. It's fine. …Hello!"
"Hello, senior!"
One who deservedly received the disciplined greetings of the trainees including myself, and one even 'that' dancer Jin Dasol bowed her head to.
Despite debuting three years earlier than Leopold, who was currently called the trend, the leader of the mega idol group 'Sledix' who always took victory in chart battles against them.
A composing genius recognized by the charts.
A workaholic gone mad.
"I bought some snacks for you all to work hard. And while I'm at it, I thought I'd watch you dance a bit."
Senior Jeong Yeonu.
"Did you know mixing panic pills and alcohol makes you sleep well? But you can't wake up easily, so you should know how long you'll sleep."
"How… do you know that? No, isn't it weird that you know that? The hospital definitely said not to take them together."
"Hm? Rex, you need to know now. For me, I only take it occasionally to focus on stage and work… but you're different."
'If you're going to keep living like this from now on, you should know how to take care of your body.'
…One of my drinking buddies.
As I watched his fluid gait, it was perhaps only natural that I smiled bitterly while tensing up at the same time.