The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 81
While the trainees were moving to the courage test location the production crew had prepared in advance.
"…
*Sss.*"
I pulled on a zip-up hoodie against the slightly chilly night air and checked once more on the persons of interest.
"Trainee Li Mingshen? Here’s your mic."
"Ah, yes."
Li Mingshen looked calmer than expected, but honestly, I couldn't tell.
"Uh, Trainee Liu Wei too…."
"……"
Liu Wei’s expression remained in the same bad shape I’d seen earlier.
This is….
"Trainee Kim Chunyong. I’ll attach your mic for you. Please be careful not to get any water on it."
"Ah, yes."
I was thinking it again, but I had a bad feeling about this.
Honestly, I couldn’t guarantee that my instincts were good. I’d spent most of my entertainment career drinking and wasting my life away, so I couldn't even call myself smart.
But there’s a sense people feel instinctively, isn’t there? That’s what I’m saying.
In the first place, Liu Wei had said there was "something to talk about" when selecting Li Mingshen as his courage test partner.
If anyone knew the circumstances surrounding that, they’d obviously be worried….
"No way. Chunyong hyung’s face has gone pale! To think he’d be scared of a simple jump scare where it’s just a person in makeup!"…
Was I wrong?
When Gao Yan suddenly thrust his face forward and roared at me, I ended up making a stupid expression without even realizing it.
Of course, Gao Yan didn’t know the private circumstances between those two, but still.
Anyway, he should’ve been able to infer what kind of mood Liu Wei was in right now, and that this wasn’t exactly a good time for those two to go together in this situation.
"Even if it were a real ghost, it couldn’t harm me! Ghosts cannot fix the horizontal coordinate system! There’s no need to worry, Chunyong hyung. You really are weak."
"No… where did you even learn something like that, seriously."
Seeing him focus on the present as if he had no idea what I was talking about—to the point where a sigh escaped me without my realizing it.
"Holy, Gao Yan. It’s okay to be scared. You can’t blame Chunyong hyung like that."
"It’s not blame, Logan. I’m merely enlightening him with reality. Gao Yan will enter proudly and seize the treasure faster than anyone else. While Logan and Chunyong hyung are lying on the ground, paralyzed with fear."
"No, I am not paralyzed with fear!"
With two of my multinational roommates bantering in front of me, somehow all the worrying I’d done until now felt like nothing.
Had I really become oversensitive these days because I had too much going on?
Just as I was about to feel troubled for a moment.
"Chunyong-ah. I got the handycams. Here’s one."
"…Ah. Jaeha hyung."
Thanks to Jaeha hyung approaching my side, I was able to return to reality.
Certainly, being with my multinational roommates had the advantage of letting me forget my worries for a moment and enjoy myself, but….
It wasn’t okay to do so even at important moments.
"Thank you. I could have gone to get it myself."
"Huh? No, haha."
Jaeha hyung smiled brightly at my greeting, his face sparkling as always.
"Besides, I had something to ask the PD anyway, so I just went and got it while I was at it."
And he was even sweet on top of that.
I clicked my tongue secretly behind his back and lightly pressed my forehead.
It was the first time we’d spoken since the break. Yet Jaeha hyung treated me quite naturally, as if that didn’t matter at all.
Thanks to the timing of noona’s clarification and Jaeha hyung’s Outgram feed going up, it was true that it had been a great help in clearing up the rumors about me.
I’d been able to thank Yuchan hyung then, but the timing to say such words to Jaeha hyung had never come up.
It would be nice if I could when I got the chance.
Well….
"All trainees! Now you’ll enter in order!"
More importantly than that right now—let’s focus on the situation about to unfold.
As all the trainees held in their hands a map handmade by the *Targeting Star* production crew, a flashlight, and a handycam, the youngest writer raised her voice and began the announcement.
"If you follow the bloodstains marked on the map, you can easily find the notes. There will be horror elements for the courage test appearing in between, so please keep that in mind! And be careful with the handycam so the memory card doesn’t come loose!"
The number of notes was equal to the number of bloodstains marked on the map.
But even without reading all of the notes, if we could just find the treasure and reach Senior Choi Gaon first, who’d be waiting in the main hall, it would be okay.
One way or another, it was a favorable condition for me, who already knew the entire story of this courage test content.
I could just carry Jaeha hyung on my back and go retrieve the treasure, but considering the runtime for the Wetube Blue content, that would be too foolish.
I couldn’t give up on the benefit or the screen time.
Debuting wasn’t such an easy thing, after all.
And of all people, the ones going in before me were Li Mingshen and Liu Wei, so I was worried about them too.
"Alright then, sixth! Team Li Mingshen, Liu Wei, please enter!"
"…Yes. We’re going."
As if their shoulders might brush, yet might not.
Maintaining that ambiguous distance, the two slowly walked toward the trees situated beside the parking lot of the idol canning facility.
At a glance, the trees didn’t seem that numerous, but once you actually walked in, it was a long wooded path that took more than ten minutes in a straight line down to the road below.
They’d deliberately chosen an outer location to prevent other reporters or fans from approaching, but in truth, they’d probably chosen the location while considering even this kind of content.
But why, of all times, did they have to proceed with such perfectly-timed content now, why.
Quite a lot had changed since I came back. How nice would it have been if they’d changed the order of this content too.
"Team Son Jaeha, Kim Chunyong! You’re going in now!"
"Ah, yes!"
While I was inwardly feeling frustrated by PD Ju Cheolyeong’s thorough planning, my and Jaeha hyung’s turn to enter had already come.
"You won’t get lost, right? Still, if it seems too complicated, please ask the people in makeup."
"Yes, thank you."
I gave a thumbs-up to Gao Yan, who was behind me cheering, "If all else fails, punch the ghost in the jaw," and slowly began moving my steps deeper into the wooded path.
The forest was darker than I had thought.
Hiiiii—
With the ghostly wailing set up by the production crew in the distance as the backdrop, I had to rely on a single flashlight to find my way, film properly, and worry about the pair of Li Mingshen and Liu Wei who had entered before me.
In the midst of all that, Jaeha hyung stuck close beside me, thrust the handycam forward, and smiled brightly.
"Aah. Star Shooters, hello? This is Jaeha. Today’s mission content is a courage test. And my partner for today is Chunyong."
"…Ah."
I momentarily forgot my own predicament and couldn’t help but admire Jaeha hyung’s professionalism.
Because of Jaeha hyung’s somewhat strange attitude since returning, I’d forgotten for a moment, but the most idol-like part of him was actually in moments like these.
Remaining composed no matter what situation arose, faithfully carrying out his role.
"The Monthly Issue Star we’ll be meeting today is… none other than August Entertainment’s new boy idol group! Arrows! Everyone, applause!"
"Hello, we are Arrows!"
Before the accident.
That is, before I properly fell apart, the members of Arrows had once appeared together on an entertainment channel.
It was a variety show with a safe format where they enjoyed the most popular mini-games of the time with the MCs and promoted new songs or dramas.
The problem was that this variety show was quite notorious for targeting idols.
"Ah, the note Rex picked is… random song singing! Haha, but I wonder if you can sing it. Rex, aren’t you a dance member?"
"Ah, yes!"
"The random songs our production crew prepares are all songs that require singing really well. What to do? Ah, this is going to circulate on the internet, isn’t it? Hey, PD. This is a bit harsh for a rookie, isn’t it!"
They claimed "frankness and bluntness are our program’s pride," but in reality, it was an extremely rude proceeding.
Later, people grew tired of such aspects, changed the channel, and the program was canceled due to low ratings. But at the time, it was quite the sensation.
Moreover, the MCs’ yardstick wasn’t directed at me alone.
They started with Siwoo, who introduced himself as an all-rounder, asking if there was anything he was particularly best at.
To Yuchan hyung, they said he must have met a lot of girls while attending university; to Hwasung, they told him to do some Daegu dialect since he was from Daegu.
We’d gone to the studio thinking that as rookie idols, we had to take the criticism if they dished it out, but that didn’t mean we welcomed such treatment.
But Jaeha hyung was the one who practically saved us there.
"Ah, this is my favorite song… Is there any way to steal the penalty from Rex?"
"Ooh, Jaeha. Are you trying to steal our joy? Ah, we have to make a living off broadcasting too!"
"Or how about Rex dances and Yuchan hyung sings? Besides, Siwoo can do both. Our members are really multi-talented."
"…Oh well, nothing we can do then. Production crew. You have one more game prepared, right? Let’s do that."
He subtly made it possible for me to do the dance I was best at, and defended the other members from hearing things they didn’t need to hear.
Since I hadn’t experienced going on stage with Jaeha hyung during this *Targeting Star* shoot, the feeling had faded a bit, but…
The truth was, Jaeha hyung was the one who first imprinted on me the impression of a leader who guides an idol group.
Recalling old memories, I smiled slightly, put my hand on Jaeha hyung’s shoulder, and waved at the handycam.
"Star Shooters, hello. Spring Chun, Yong Yong! It’s Chunyong. I’m doing the courage test with Jaeha hyung. Yes. We’re currently walking down the wooded path to find the first note. Ah, maybe it’s because I’m with hyung. It’s not that scary?"
"Huh, huh?"
I led Jaeha hyung, whose face showed slight surprise, toward the location of the first note that I remembered perfectly even without looking at the map.
In fact, there was no need to even remember it.
The first note was….
Thud-!
"A-ack!"
"Hyung, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah. I’m okay. But… wait. Is this really a person’s hand…?"
"…Hyung. Take a look at what that hand is holding."
At the first fork in the path straight down the wooded trail, a hand lying prone grabbed the trainees’ ankles.
A note was clenched in that hand covered in red bloodstains.
"Hm, this wasn’t something to be surprised by. I’m a bit embarrassed."
Jaeha hyung, who’d been patting his startled chest, slowly picked up the note that the hand which had grabbed his ankle was waving, and muttered.
"A sudden jump scare from the floor like this is good for surprising people, but you probably couldn’t find the note unless you came close."
"There will probably be a few kids who run away in surprise. Then that puts us one step closer to the treasure, I suppose."
"Hmm… Let’s read it as we go. The more clues, the better."
"Yes. Let’s do that, hyung. Mr. Ghost, thank you for the note. Good work! This was Chunyong!"
Whether he was slightly flustered or not, Jaeha hyung and I—who’d made a trembling hand and a heart gesture for the handycam—started walking down the wooded path again.
Once he calmed down, Jaeha hyung found my attitude funny and began giggling.
"Ha, haha. Who greets a ghost so politely like that, Chunyong-ah. And what’s with the heart."
"Ah, well. They’re working hard…."
"Right. I had a feeling you’d be like that. In other matters too… you care a lot about people."
For example, "Li Mingshen."
"……"
"You helped him out a bit. Right?"
At that moment, I pressed my lips into a straight line and rolled my eyes at Jaeha hyung’s words.
On the handycam, it would look like he’d just naturally brought up a member he’d done the fourth round evaluation with, but instinctively, I could tell.
That what Jaeha hyung was talking about right now wasn’t because of that.
"…Haha. Yes, I suppose so. I helped out a bit when we were on stage together."
"Hmm, that’s right. It was a good sight to see. I’m talking about Team 'Groggy'."
He really doesn't let you lower your guard for even a moment, this hyung.
Just when you think you know him well, you don't, and when he declares that he doesn't know a single thing, he seems exactly like the hyung of old.
The fact that he specifically chose me, who was right after Liu Wei in order, creating a situation where I could follow after him, too.
Just how much does he know, Jaeha hyung?
I deliberately acted cheerful, strode up to hyung abruptly, and continued speaking nonchalantly.
"You picked me for that reason too, didn't you? Because you thought I'd be helpful."
"...Yeah. That's right. I thought it would be nice if we were on the same team."
"Yes, me too."
I think I'd like being on the same team as you too, hyung.
That was my sincere feeling.
Not in some survival courage experience pair like this, but by debuting together again, I wanted to properly be of help to hyung.
There was no way it would be conveyed properly, but they were words I spoke anyway.
"......."
Perhaps because those words were unexpected, Jaeha hyung suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at me.
It was a dark night where even the moon was hidden behind clouds; the only things illuminating the surroundings were the flashlight and hyung's two eyes reflected in its light.
I had never imagined I'd be able to have a conversation like this with the leader hyung, but well.
Could he have read those thoughts of mine?
Just then.
"Wait, Chunyong."
Unexpected words popped out of Jaeha hyung's mouth.
"...What's that?"
At the end of his gaze, where moonlight had broken free of the clouds, there was something half-hidden in the grass.
As if reminding me of the ominous premonition I'd been harboring in one corner of my mind since before entering this forest until now.
The malicious member is back! Episode 82
In fact, as Gao Yan first said, this courage experience was a mission that wouldn't be that special if you weren't afraid.
As long as you're not afraid.
On the other hand, if you're scared, it's extremely scary content.
As for the extent... .
I could tell just by looking at the contents of the first note Jaeha and I received from the hand grabbing our ankles.
In fact, as is already known, this is a facility built by remodeling an old abandoned factory.(If you didn't know, now you know ^^)Dear trainees.
Have you ever gone down to the basement?
When we first visited this place, the 4th basement floor was locked with a large iron lock, so our production team had a hard time getting in.
There, we encounter something we didn't really want to see.
It was obviously a food factory, but it was full of mannequins. ▷Continued from second message>
Storytelling that is appropriately mixed with the current situation, rather than suddenly coming up with a ridiculous story and saying, 'Okay, now you can be scared.'
Having already experienced it once, I know that it's all a blatant lie, but...
The current situation was a bit different.
Something having fallen on the way to the second note, or it looking similar to filming equipment, was something that hadn't happened before.
"Wait a moment. I'll go check."
"...Mmhmm."
Therefore, there was only one direction I could think of.
That this was genuinely fallen filming equipment.
And what was important here was 'how it had come to fall.'
In this courage experience mission, there was one camera at each note spot, and the point was to capture the trainees' startled reactions from a third-person perspective.
But since it was filming equipment fallen in a place that wasn't even a note spot, well.
Either the production crew had accidentally dropped it while moving the camera, or...
"Chunyong, what is it?"
"Um, well."
I picked up the object that had become slightly damp from lying in the grass and clicked my tongue lightly.
Just as I had expected, what was sitting heavily in the grass was filming equipment.
To be exact.
"...It looks like a camera."
A handheld camcorder.
"......."
Jaeha hyung's eyes cooled slightly at my words. It wasn't an appearance of fear.
It was simply a face speculating about why on earth that thing would be there.
I dusted off the grass stuck to the camcorder here and there and asked hyung in a low voice.
"Jaeha hyung. What's your camcorder number?"
"Ah, my number is... number 11."
The one I was holding was number 12.
And the number attached to the camcorder Jaeha hyung and I had just found was number 10.
The deduction was easy.
They had received the camcorders in the order they entered, and the numbers quite naturally started from 1.
Meaning the owner of this camcorder was Liu Wei.
When no answer came back from me, Jaeha hyung, who had approached my side, also checked the number and fell silent.
It was impossible not to be concerned.
I hadn't thought it was a good decision for those two to enter this forest as a pair from the start, but now one of their pieces of equipment was lying on the ground like this?
I could think of numerous possibilities, but well.
Not a single good direction existed among the ones I came up with.
"...How about trying to contact the production team?"
For such a sentence to pop out of Jaeha hyung's mouth, who always prioritized the filming situation above all else, said it all.
"Hmm, well."
Contacting the production team to tell them we had picked up the filming equipment of the trainees who entered ahead of us.
The method itself wasn't bad.
It was also the most ideal option from a trainee's standpoint.
But what if this was nothing, too?
Though it was highly unlikely, what if Liu Wei and Li Mingshen had truly been fleeing in terror and 'accidentally' dropped the camcorder?
If that were the case, the moment we contacted the production team, Jaeha hyung's and my mission filming would be as good as over.
Jaeha hyung seemed to realize that belatedly too, and his expression grew increasingly worse.
Besides, it was now about time that Gao Yan, who had set off behind us, would discover the first note.
I had to choose.
Just then.
"...Ah."
From Jaeha hyung's mouth, as he stood thinking with me for a moment, popped a subtly uncomfortable voice.
Instantly, I opened my eyes wide and looked at him.
Jaeha hyung was someone who would never make such a voice where there was a camera.
And I soon realized why hyung had shown such a reaction.
Because that cause had begun to fall onto my cheek too—plop.
"...It's raining. All of a sudden."
Jaeha hyung hated rain.
I didn't know the specific reason why, but at the very least, I knew what hyung hated.
Having lived together, if I didn't even know that much, I'd truly be unqualified as a member.
"Yeah. The weather forecast said it would be clear today, but I guess it's a sudden shower. Haha, dear Star Shooters, we're filming in the rain...."
Watching Jaeha hyung trying not to let that show, waving his hand repeatedly at the camcorder, many thoughts came to mind.
The first thought that came to me was, ah. That hyung is really trying hard.
And the second thought was....
I needed to resolve the current situation quickly.
As quickly as possible.
I took off the zip-up hoodie I was wearing and handed it to hyung, slowly opening my mouth.
The slightly thickened raindrops struck my bare skin, but so what. It wasn't going to be a problem.
"Jaeha hyung. Put this on for now."
"Huh, huh?"
At the hoodie I handed him, Jaeha hyung's eyes, which had been saying something to the camcorder, opened wide.
Hyung's dark pupils seemed to demand an explanation for the current situation, but whatever.
It's not that important, so let's resolve what's important right now, Jaeha hyung.
"And, I'm asking this seriously."
Hyung, by any chance...
"Are you a scaredy-cat?"
This was an important question.
Whether meeting something that startles you like before would be okay for a moment. Whether you could just calmly look through and pass by densely packed, costumed mannequins.
Or, whether it would be okay even if one of those mannequins suddenly moved.
It would have been nice if I had watched Jaeha hyung's
"Uh... well."
Jaeha hyung, his face momentarily confused, slowly took the zip-up after a slight hesitation and opened his mouth.
"...A little?"
"Yes. Good."
I abruptly picked up the map that had been temporarily set aside and spoke to the camcorder in a broadcast tone.
"No, I saw it. The fork in the road up ahead. There's a path this way too, but it's marked with an X, isn't it?"
"...Yeah. I think that path means we shouldn't go that way?"
Though he didn't seem to have accurately grasped my intention, the quick-witted Jaeha hyung reacted to his own camcorder and played along with me.
"But isn't it strange, hyung?"
"What is?"
"If it were really a path we couldn't take, they wouldn't have marked it on the map."
"......."
At my theatrically shouted words, Jaeha hyung finally seemed to catch on to my intention too.
PD Joo Cheol-young was indeed a smart person.
Seeing how he knew there would definitely be people who took the path they were told not to take.
[
It wasn't the debut group trainees who got the most views in
It was the pair that Lee Chae-hyeok, who supposedly ran every morning around the trainee canning facility, belonged to.
In that video, Lee Chae-hyeok had dragged crying Tsubasa, who was wailing that they might die if they went this way, by the arm and shouted heartily.
"Nooo, Tsubasa. Listen. This is definitely where the treasure is. I saw it while I was running; there's a really big tree if you go this way. Don't they usually hide treasures in places like that?"
"That is true! Chae-hyeok, calm down. I feel like a monster will come out on that path. I don't want to!"
"Monsters don't exist in this world, Tsubasa. That's all a hallucination from lack of muscles."
"Liar. Didn't we see the note earlier? It said there was a huge accident while secretly running a mannequin production business in this area! It's definitely full of vengeful spirits. And, that path is especially dark!"
"It's dark at night!"
In conclusion, Lee Chae-hyeok's words were correct.
If you met all the notes marked on the map and properly deduced the story, in the end you would head toward the side with the big tree that Lee Chae-hyeok had mentioned.
And if you took the box held in the hand of the mannequin wearing dark clothing beneath it, it was over.
If you weren't surprised by the horror props the production team had painstakingly made, found the notes immediately, and went directly to story deduction, it took roughly about 30 minutes.
If you went even slightly off track in the middle, it would naturally take a bit more time.
However.
If you crossed the path marked with an X and went to the opposite side of the tree, you could skip all the story and find the treasure directly to return.
The time it took to get there was, well, maybe 15 minutes?
But there was a reason they had gone to the trouble of marking it with an X.
"Chae-hyeook... look, there are so many mannequins. Huuuing, I want to go back... it feels like ghosts will come out..."
"Tsubasa, if you go alone, there's no flashlight. If we go together, we die together."
"I don't want to die, kyaAAAAh! It moved! I said it moved! Help me!"
“Wait, wait! Tsubasa, don’t! Hit them, not me! Aack, aack!”
Since we were charging down the path we’d been told not to take, the production crew’s most elaborate props were all deployed here.
“In my opinion, we can probably grab the treasure right away if we go this way without bothering to look at all the notes. …Though it’ll be really scary instead.”
“…I think so too. Yeah, I was thinking the same. I feel like the
Would we take our time mining for content, or endure the fear and go for a quick one-shot one-kill?
“…….”
“…….”
My eyes met Jaeha Hyung’s.
It went without saying that we nodded at the same time.
We chose the latter, moving quickly and intending to find out where Liu Wei and Li Mingshen had gone.
“Hyung, then let’s go.”
“…
Yeah. Let’s go.”
Having exchanged glances with Jaeha Hyung, who had put on my hooded zip-up and assumed a grim expression, I started sprinting headlong toward the path with a large paper reading pasted on it.
A single beam from our flashlights spilled into the pitch-black path.
Eeeeee—as if this place were the source of the eerie BGM that had been playing all along, the sound grew louder the deeper we went.
Moreover, the quality of the mannequins placed along the footpath was enough to give anyone goosebumps.
Saaaaah—and with the rain making it even creepier, I had to wonder if someone had held a ritual before this shoot.
And the highlight of this spectacular situation was….
Creak
—Screech— Creak—“Th-the mannequin is moving?”
“Hyung, it’s a person! Let’s greet them! One, two!”
“Hello! I’m Son Jaeha!”
“I’m Kim Chunyong!”
“Guh, uh… U-uhm?”
At our loud greeting, the costumed staff member seemed greatly flustered, bringing the hand that should have reached forward to their own cheek and letting out a strange noise.
“Guh, wait, guh…”
It must be bewildering when the trainees who should be jumping in fright and screaming in this situation are instead holding up handheld cameras and sprinting at full speed toward their destination.
“You must be having a hard time in the rain! Hang in there!”
So, the greeting was a service.
Had we run for about three more minutes like that?
It was something I’d seen before, so my memory was hazy, but if we ran about this far, probably….
“Chunyong. Wait. Th-that looks like it.”
Perhaps even his excellent stamina had been slightly spent; Jaeha Hyung, panting heavily, grabbed my shoulder.
Yeah, to my eyes too, that looked like the treasure we were after.
Beneath a tree about 1.5 times larger than the others.
A slightly damp paper box held in the hand of a mannequin arm jutting out abruptly.
They really outdid themselves with the staging, even for something like that.
“…Hah.”
And so, the moment I picked up the paper box from atop the mannequin’s hand—the final prize and benefit of today’s mission—and rose to my feet.
At Jaeha Hyung’s voice coming from right beside me, I hurriedly turned around and looked about.
“J-Jaeha Hyung. What’s wrong?”
“Ah, no. Chunyong, your hair is red, and with the rain it bled onto your clothes, ah. I’m really sorry. It just occurred to me suddenly, ah.”
Ah, damn.
“Hahaha! Ah, sorry. Why is this so funny all of a sudden? Running around in the rain like this. Greeting the staff member, ah.”
Perhaps our situation struck him as quite funny; Jaeha Hyung suddenly burst into laughter and patted my shoulder.
Well, if I thought about it calmly, it was a bit funny. But given the situation.
Come to think of it, back during our Arrows days, I’d hardly ever spent time like this with Jaeha Hyung.
When it rained, Hyung hardly ever left his room, and as for me… I used to go outside because rain calls for pajeon and soju.
Perhaps today might be the first rainy day I’d ever spent together with Jaeha Hyung.
I’d grown a bit sentimental without even realizing it.
Considering the current situation, I really shouldn’t.
In that instant, I hardened my expression and grabbed Jaeha Hyung’s shoulder.
“…Chunyong? Are you angry?”
Perhaps thinking I was furious because I’d suddenly put on a stern face, Jaeha Hyung visibly flustered.
But I shook my head and quietly brought a finger to my lips.
Then, carefully, I pointed toward the low forest on the other side of the large tree.
“…….”
And at the same time, Jaeha Hyung couldn’t help but harden his expression just as I had.
The reason we had forced our way down the path we were explicitly told not to take, dashing at full speed to seize the treasure.
“Even though I said it wasn’t me, you have no intention of listening at all. Then what the hell are you even trying to say? Are you kidding me?”
“别撒谎。(Don’t lie.)”
“Lie? What lie am I telling!”
Because beyond the footpath, standing in the rain, they were unleashing their full fury at each other.