The Villain Member Has Returned! Episode 72
* * *
And so, at the moment when Liu Wei and Li Mingshen were clashing.
"Oh…."
Kim Chunyong, who had been waiting for his individual interview, quietly hid his body behind the lounge vending machine.
'I didn't know Liu Wei would badmouth him so openly.'
Of course, he had thought, 'Their relationship is going to get worse from here on out.'
Because the parts Kim Chunyong currently possessed were gradually influencing Li Mingshen.
"Trainee Kim, Chunyong… and. Trainee Li Mingshen… will continue holding the center… let's go with that. Nice."
"…Huh? So, we're doing the dance break?"
"Yes. The two of you toge…ther. It's… fine."
"Haha, Li Mingshen. I'll be counting on you for the main stage too."
"U-uh. Yeah. Th-thanks, Chunyong."
For instance, Li Mingshen's attitude, which had become more confident thanks to the skill Kim Chunyong had received from X, [Don't Cry, Be Brave (D)].
"Ah, there's that hand gesture in the second verse bridge. Want to try matching that together?"
"What kind of way? Have you thought of something?"
"Yeah. Look, when Xiu sings the 'that faint escape route' part, like this. Get it?"
"Oh, that's kinda… not bad."
Or, the lines of their dance that had grown similar from practicing side by side.
Having listened to Jung Yeonwoo's advice, Kim Chunyong had thought thus:
'First, I need to show that I'm a different type of person from Liu Wei.'
Since he had buttoned the first button that should have been done up properly too stubbornly, he thought he'd try building a relationship for proper conversation, even if it was a little late.
So for the past few days.
He had intentionally been nicer to Li Mingshen and approached him friendlily, but….
"Right now, Liu Wei, I don't really want to talk to you."
"…Ni. (…You)."
"I'll go first. Good luck… with your interview."
He hadn't known that such small parts would gather and gather to yield this result.
"You never know where the pride of boys that age will make them jump off to. They might not have wanted help yesterday, but want help today."
"……."
"Don't look at me like 'you're not even our age,' haha."
'Ah, thinking about Yeonwoo hyung again. Damn it. Focus.'
And so Li Mingshen left first, and Kim Chunyong watched Liu Wei's figure standing blankly for a while.
Liu Wei walked boldly toward the lounge vending machine where Kim Chunyong was hiding.
"…Hi."
Unlike when Kim Jooan and Kim Chunyong had talked before, cameras were now attached to the lounge to capture the trainees' natural appearances.
Perhaps because Liu Wei remembered that fact as well, he didn't openly express anger toward Kim Chunyong, who greeted him awkwardly.
"Yeah."
As if he didn't even want to trade words, he blocked any further conversation with just a short reply.
Thud—Soon, Liu Wei pulled out a can of sports drink from the vending machine, then dropped that can on the floor as if by accident, or perhaps not.
Clatter, clatter. The rolling drink miraculously stopped right in front of Kim Chunyong's feet, and the moment both their bodies crouched down simultaneously to pick it up.
"I suppose you're planning to use that guy."
…Liu Wei muttered, small and low.
At the unexpected words, Kim Chunyong raised one eyebrow, and Liu Wei drew his body even closer to Kim Chunyong's side and continued speaking.
"You seem to have used your head a bit, but it won't go as you think."
To the lounge camera, it would probably be produced as a rather amusing and cute scene of them crouching down to pick up a drink together.
"That guy and I have a relationship you can't even imagine. It's solid and hard to break easily."
The reality was quite brutal.
"…Well. If I wanted to entertain you, what couldn't I do?"
Kim Chunyong retorted, slightly riled, but Liu Wei's face remained hard.
No, the next time he spoke, he seemed to smile slightly.
"When your rank dropped because of that groundless rumor that spread thanks to me, that was a bit amusing. The clarification you put out saying you'd do something about it, too."
Though doing so doesn't mean you can debut.
"…Ha, haha!"
It was 100% conjecture that it was Liu Wei. As for evidence, of course, there was none whatsoever.
At the sight of Liu Wei not even trying to hide the vicious act he had committed, Kim Chunyong let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
'Yeah. That's why you left Arrows like that.'
After Kim Chunyong's accident, Liu Wei had left the already stumbling Arrows behind like a stone and headed to China.
No matter what had happened, he ignored the members he had spent time with.
'Should I thank you for erasing even the slightest bit of guilt I felt thinking everything flew away?'
Kim Chunyong bit down hard on the flesh inside his mouth, picked up the drink Liu Wei had dropped, stood up, and shouted loudly.
So that the camera would capture it clearly, thunderously.
"Oh, right. I really want to debut. Because if not this, I can't make it."
'Unlike you, who is already thinking of your next fortress, this is my first and last chance.'
Hiss—Kim Chunyong opened the sports drink lid and handed it to Liu Wei with a bright smile.
So that his fangs were properly visible, perfectly.
"So you do your best too, Liu Wei."
Save your resentment for your fiancée, not me.
"…….
Liu Wei, who had been silently staring at the drink Kim Chunyong handed him, left the lounge without answering.
On the broadcast, it would be captioned blandly as
Kim Chunyong, who downed that drink in one shot and stuffed the can into the trash bin, strode across the hallway with wide steps.
Because he needed to live up to Liu Wei's expectations.
* * *
The place I headed straight for was the dorm where my multinational roommates were gathered.
Now that the interim evaluation for the upcoming competition had ended.
"Ack, I did better than Gao Yan! Gao Yan forgot the lyrics! He forgot!"
"Tsk, tsk, Ryota. If you had seen my perfect dance after that, you wouldn't be able to say that."
"Seriously, I thought both of you were good. So let's not have a pillow fight. They all burst!"
"Logan, who was told today too that he 'seems to have a special talent,' doesn't want to hear that!"
"That's right. Actually, Gao Yan is even more special. Look at this handsome face. My goodness, I never get tired of seeing it every day."
The chattering of the roommates who had returned after their individual interviews flowed out beyond the door.
"…Were you having fun?"
When I cleared my throat and opened the door, pretending to know them with a playful voice, Gao Yan, who as always spouted nonsense with a serious face, sprang up and opened his eyes wide.
"—Chunyong hyung! I have something to say!"
Yeah, I have something to say too.
"So are you going to contact these people now? Gao Yan personally? Well. Gao Yan is quite skilled at flirting, so I suppose that's trustworthy."
"No, what are you talking about? A trainee sending a DM to a civilian? Would that work? You'll really get in big trouble doing that."
"Then what are we supposed to do! Chunyong hyung, you're too cautious. This is the kind of thing you just do first and see!"
"We're going to do something, but…."
'Not with our
Those so-called 'influencers' who love to be seen by others, pour much time into SNS, and care about likes and followers absolutely need one thing.
That is….
[Hello ( ˃ᴗ˂ )
We are a Korean beauty brand called 'Kaoyongyong' that is just preparing to enter the Chinese market!
We have determined that your feed image matches our brand image perfectly! So we would like to cautiously propose a product sponsorship ४'ٮ'४]
Sponsorship.
Of course, it had been a long time since sponsorships were no longer the exclusive property of celebrities.
No, rather, the reality was that more sponsorships went to Outgram stars than to unknown idols.
In fact, this villain member, this piece of trash Recks that is me, had never received a sponsorship inquiry while only ruining the company image.
In contrast, what about Gao Yan with his 15 million followers?
[Gao Yan @GaoYeeen_
(photo) (photo)
Another company was amazed by Gao Yan's shining appearance today and sent goods.
Doing this kind of pack won't make you as handsome as Gao Yan, but it's definitely better than not doing it.
They say if you put Gao Yan's name as the referrer, you get a 5,000 won coupon.
But 3 million have already sold, is there really a need to advertise? Gao Yan doesn't know. #ad]
Inquiries poured in so much that he could pick and choose, well.
On Gao Yan's
"My goodness, Chunyong hyung. Really… this isn't the police, right!?"
"It's not, I told you."
I'd just been rolling around the entertainment industry as a villain member for a long time, so I'd picked up things here and there.
Gao Yan, who had worn an expression that he couldn't have imagined such an opinion, soon clapped his knees in agreement.
"Chunyong hyung! My older brother has a cosmetics business in Korea that he tried and almost failed at; I think we can use that."
"Tried and almost failed at… ahem, well. If it's a real company, it would be easier to approach. Then can I send sponsorship inquiries to these people from that company's Outgram account?"
"Would I have brought it up if it weren't possible? Gao Yan does not lie. My brother can fully provide sponsorships!"
And, let's see what happens next.
Because the
But since it was done through an account that had already been made, there was no problem.
Anyway, the replies had arrived, is what I mean.
"Chunyong hyung, hyung must have seen too. Everyone said they'd be happy to participate. Except for one person."
"Yeah, I saw. From one person, a somewhat strange… reply came."
Covered in a blanket together with Gao Yan, I scrolled down my phone and pressed on the last DM that had arrived.
That person was someone Gao Xiumin, whom Gao Yan and I considered the most likely candidate.
[Gao Xiumin: Thank you for the sponsorship offer!]
[Gao Xiumin: However, I have a question.]
[Gao Xiumin: Is a face reveal mandatory?]
"If it's on the condition that my face isn't revealed, I'd like to do it…."
"I thought this person was the most likely candidate, but it's a bit strange. They've uploaded quite a lot of feeds that look quite close to Liu Wei, yet not a single photo with their face on it has been posted."
Illuminated by the phone light, Gao Yan stroked his chin with a slightly serious face and continued.
"It might be a lie. They might just be pretending to be close when they're not, and if that's the case, that explains the lack of face photos."
"……."
It was an unexpectedly reasonable remark, uncharacteristic of Gao Yan.
It would be easier to approach the others who had made contact and find out information.
Setting aside the morality of the process.
"But…."
Something faintly unsettling was creeping up in a corner of my heart.
"…Wait. Let me send a message."
"Hm? Understood. Do that. But you'd better be quick, Chunyong hyung. I don't want to stick this close in the same bed with a man for so long!"
"Got it, you punk. You move away."
I pushed Gao Yan more than 30cm away from my radius and fell silent for a moment.
Seeing how it took the meticulous Liu Wei a long time to break off the engagement, the other party must not have been ordinary either.
So, in cases like this, rather….
A person trying to hide themselves is more suspicious.
Moreover, one feed that amplified our suspicions more than anything else.
[Gao Xiumin @Gaosuusuu
I'm so happy to see Liuliu doing so well ♡
I miss you so much
Hurry back to China soon (pray)(pray)]
Unlike other feeds filled with all sorts of tags, a feed solely attached with Liu Wei's nickname and a childhood photo taken together.
If we ignored something like this, we shouldn't have chosen this method from the start.
[Kaoyongyong: It seems you're reluctant to reveal your face ㅠㅠ]
[Kaoyongyong: If you don't mind me asking, may I know the reason? Of course, we plan to proceed with the sponsorship! Please reply without burden (*^▽^*)]
The message, drafted with reference to the sponsorship template Gao Yan's brother had sent in advance, was translated, and soon Gao Xiumin came online.
And so. A reply slowly came back from 'Gao Xiumin.'
[Gao Xiumin: The reason is….]
"…I really found them."
"What did you say!"
"Look, this message that came."
"…Swear on Gao Yan's name, my goodness."
At my small voice, Gao Yan's eyes opened wide, and the two of us high-fived inside the blanket.
Well.
A person who hides themselves to an odd degree is most likely to be the person in question, right?
Of course, even though they said they were reluctant to reveal their face….
[Gao Xiumin: It's because I'm scheduled to marry someone who will soon become famous in Korea ㅠㅠ]
[Gao Xiumin: It's Liuliu (lol)(lol)]
I hadn't expected them to reveal themselves so openly like this.