The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 88
No one in the waiting room had imagined that the situation would turn out like this.
After all, they had merely intended to talk openly about everything that had happened so far, right before the live broadcast.
“Starting with you, Yuchan hyung! When was the hardest time for you during
“Hmm, probably… when I had to cover Senior Min Siyeong’s song? Well… whew, I should watch my words! If Chunyong were here, he’d have totally related. I’ll have to talk about this with him later.”
“Eek. I half-expected it, but it was really true? Hmm, then next….”
“Me. I have one too. It was when I first had to perform the ‘Aiming’ stage with you, Jihwaseong. When you threw a fit at the team members, just how much my heart….”
“Kim Juan hyung. You do know I’ll have plenty to say if you bring that up, right? You’d better choose wisely.”
“Hey, guys? Don’t fight, you can’t fight….”
“Ah, Chaehyeok hyung! I’m just kidding, haha!”
Truly, no one had any ulterior motives.
“Well, roughly… you must have been desperate back then too, hyung. So was I.”
“…”
“Hmph. Yeah. Good to know you’re aware.”
“Hoo, I have a lot I’d like to say, but Jihwaseong is a good kid, so I’ll hold back.”
“What the hell, so annoying!”
“Haha, he’s pissed!”
Though a few sparks flew between Kim Juan and Jihwaseong’s gazes, that was all.
The bizarre competitive survival where they had to step on each other to rise up was drawing its final curtain today.
After this, the only options awaiting them were to debut, to go back and prepare to debut, or to find a different path entirely.
So, as they talked like this in a situation where they couldn’t be sure when they’d see each other again, what was there to gain by deliberately needling each other?
Everyone was thinking that.
“…”
“Huh, huh? Liu Wei, did you come to perform today?”
“…….”
“OMG, you’re here! No, um. Well… I did see the notice. But still, since it’s the last time, it’d be nice to do it together. We haven’t really had many good conversations during this time—”
“Hand. Move it.”
This shouldn’t be the end.
Except for one person who believed it shouldn’t end.
“…”
“Ah, come on. Let’s just get along nicely today. Anyway, I was thinking that I hope Liu Wei resolves his issues well and does well in the future….”
“…”
“You certainly have a honeyed tongue.”
“What?”
“I know you don’t think that at all.”
“Uh, Liu Wei. Don’t be like that. There’s no need to do this on a day like today.”
“…”
“Didn’t I just say that? Let’s get along nicely. I’m not trying to pick a fight with you today either. I just want to cleanly get on the live broadcast stage.”
“R-right. We shouldn’t fight….”
At Liu Wei’s unexpected entry into the waiting room, the team members tried their hardest to smile and welcome him. They thought, ‘What’s the point of throwing a fit when he’s already decided to leave the show anyway.’
They were young, and because of that, they had never seen what a domineering and brazen person does when backed into a corner.
“It’s because you always have that half-hearted attitude that Son Jaeha doesn’t tell you everything.”
“…”
“What did you say?”
“The agency’s current situation, why things turned out this way. The reason he didn’t tell you is because of your measly attitude. You idiot.”
“…….”
Among the trainees who appeared on
Jihwaseong had personally mentioned in an individual interview that Son Jaeha had really taken care of him when he came up to Seoul from Daegu, that he was no different from a real older brother.
In that situation, for Liu Wei to deliberately tell Jihwaseong that ‘Son Jaeha doesn’t tell you everything’ was…
“…”
“The hell. Hey, what did you say? Say it again.”
“Jihwaseong! Hey, no! Hold back. You have to hold back. Juan! You stop him too! Chaehyeok! Go tell the staff!”
“Yes, yes!”
“Ah, dammit… hey, Jihwaseong. Try to calm down.”
It was no different from driving the situation to the worst possible outcome.
Jihwaseong had been enduring his discomfort and trying to treat Liu Wei with his characteristic cheerfulness, but in that moment, he couldn’t hold back his anger.
And who was Jihwaseong?
“Wow, how can he act like that? If it were me, at the very least I’d be too embarrassed to come back without bowing my head in apology.”
“Hey, Jihwaseong….”
“No, Yuchan hyung. Am I wrong? Just because that guy is preparing to withdraw, does he not know our team practiced both the six-member and five-member formats? Did he really not think about how much of a nuisance he is? Then that’s really a problem.”
Aside from those who didn’t know, wasn’t he the self-acknowledged and publicly recognized mouth of hell?
No matter how bluntly Jihwaseong voiced the thoughts everyone else was keeping inside, Liu Wei’s expression remained unchanged.
And rather, Jihwaseong, infuriated by that very demeanor, ended up saying those words to Liu Wei, who was staring at him intently.
“…”
“Are you saying it’s our fault you got kicked off?”
“——.”
And then, it happened in an instant.
Liu Wei grabbed the pin mic body from the table and threw it at Jihwaseong, and as Jihwaseong dodged, the mirror was shattered by the mic.
Before the team members could even process the situation, Liu Wei stormed out of the waiting room.
“…”
“He’s crazy.”
The first words Kim Chunyong uttered after hearing the full explanation from Bang Yuchan, who had a bewildered expression, were exactly that.
“Exactly. Even Gao Yan thinks this is insane.”
Right before a live broadcast, something like this suddenly happens?
As if even he couldn’t believe it, Bang Yuchan, with a complicated expression, placed a hand on Kim Chunyong’s shoulder and spoke cautiously.
“For now, Chaehyeok went and told the writer in the middle of it. That there was a problem in the waiting room. But putting that aside, um.”
When Bang Yuchan glanced at Jihwaseong, who was holding his forehead in the center of the waiting room with the broken mirror, Kim Chunyong carefully lowered his voice.
“Is it because of Liu Wei, hyung?”
“…”
“Yeah. It sounds a bit funny given the circumstances, but someone pushed to the brink can do anything. Just look at the waiting room right now.”
“That’s… true.”
No one knows what choice a person standing at the edge of a cliff will make.
Just like that trash Rex, who had dashed out of a fan meeting venue because of the sense of loss from losing his family and the thought that he didn’t deserve the crowd’s cheers.
Kim Chunyong, reminded of his own past for a moment, pressed his lips into a straight line and fell silent briefly.
For now, right now…
“Hey, Jihwaseong.”
“…”
“What.”
“You punk, don’t be so prickly. Go to the infirmary first.”
“No, what infirmary. I don’t have any injuries.”
“The back of your hand is cut. You just can’t feel it because you’re worked up right now.”
“M-my hand? Ugh, ouch.”
“See, you idiot. Hurry to the infirmary.”
Starting with recommending the patient get treatment.
Perhaps because Liu Wei’s words were still echoing in his mind, Jihwaseong, with a confused face, soon nodded slowly and moved his feet.
‘Ah, Liu Wei shouldn’t have touched the relationship between Jaeha hyung and Jihwaseong. …
He really is a good-for-nothing bastard.’
Watching that heavy back, Kim Chunyong clicked his tongue lightly and held his forehead.
Anyway.
The person who would have objected the most if he had said ‘Let’s go find Liu Wei!’ right now had left.
Therefore, what to do next was obvious.
Bang Yuchan, sharing a glance with Kim Chunyong, cautiously opened his mouth to the team members with disgruntled expressions.
“…”
“Anyone going to look for Liu Wei?”
“Gao Yan is opposed. What Liu Wei did just now is obvious trolling. No! It’s downright foul quality. Every single action from before, really, is fucking— mmphm!”
“Gao Yan, you really need to relearn Korean before debuting. …So, anyone going with Yuchan hyung to find Liu Wei?”
Those remaining here were Bang Yuchan, Kim Juan, Yi Chaehyeok, and Kim Chunyong.
“Mmgh! G, Gao Yan’s Korean is perfect because Gao Yan taught it himself! Bbubbub….”
Well, Gao Yan, whose mouth was covered by Kim Chunyong, was excluded for now.
“Hmm, well….”
“Do we have to? We’re not even staff. Why go looking for that bastard?”
Kim Juan and Yi Chaehyeok, who had witnessed the whole situation, held skeptical positions.
“If he doesn’t come back, we go on stage as five. If he shamelessly comes back, we still have to go up as five. Wow, fuck. I’ve lived this long and never seen such a thing.”
“…I think so too. He’s really not sane. What the hell, throwing things at someone like that? What if Jihwaseong had been seriously hurt?”
“Hmm… you’re not wrong. No, you’re right.”
Bang Yuchan nodded with a troubled face, then soon turned his body toward Kim Chunyong.
“You too, Chunyong, if you don’t want to go, it’s fine. This is just something that’s personally weighing on my mind. Well, it’s not like everything will work out just because we look for him. …You need to take care of yourself before the live broadcast.”
Kim Chunyong, meeting Bang Yuchan’s eyes, slowly closed and opened his eyes, falling into thought.
‘Honestly… I don’t really want to go.’
After all the suffering because of Liu Wei up until now, and with the live broadcast approaching soon.
On top of that.
[Current Goal Imminent Alert!
Current Goal: Survival Program
※ If the goal is not achieved, the ‘Failure’ penalty will be immediately applied according to the Star Sirius Standard Contract Terms
※ Failure: Return to pre-contract status]
Because that morning, a notification had arrived stating that he had to successfully finish today’s stage and debut no matter what.
Although Kim Chunyong currently had numerous skills and X’s non-assistance assistance attached to him, that didn’t guarantee his debut.
His rank at the time of the mid-ranking announcement was 8th.
With Liu Wei withdrawing, he had managed to somewhat turn public opinion around and make up for it with his previous stages.
However, unless today’s live broadcast text vote scores and mission scores backed him up, it was still a state where he couldn’t say it was ‘certain.’
“…”
“It’s fine. Hey, I’m not some elementary school kid. You think I can’t find my way alone? Don’t worry, Chunyong. I’ll be right back.”
However.
“…”
“No, hyung. Let’s go together.”
It wasn’t because he was stupidly nice.
It was simply that Kim Chunyong couldn’t stand by and watch a member-hyung who had once sacrificed for him go out and exert himself for someone alone.
“Huh? No, I said it’s fine. It didn’t seem like you were on good terms with him either. You don’t have to go all the way….”
“No, well. It’s not that I don’t want to look good in your eyes, hyung. More than anything else….”
More than that….
He roughly knew where he was,
“I think I know.”
Because he didn’t want to leave even the slightest possibility of Liu Wei causing a scene on stage.
* * *
I quickly moved my feet toward the path leading to the back of the performance hall, briefly recalling the conversation I’d had with Yuchan hyung.
“I said I think I roughly know where he is… but it’s not certain. I’ll go check the other side first. Chunyong, you check the 3rd and 4th floors, and I’ll check the 1st and 2nd.”
“Yes, okay.”
“If it takes too long, it’ll affect our stage too, so let’s look for exactly 30 minutes and then head back. Okay?”
“Yes, well. That shouldn’t interfere with rehearsal time either. That’s just right.”
“Haha, then thank goodness! Uh, for now… I got the junior writer’s phone number earlier, so if we find Liu Wei, just contact her here.”
“Got it. Hyung, and also….”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t do anything too dangerous. Okay?”
“Hey, you should be the one saying that!”
‘You should be the one’ what, Yuchan hyung.
I am someone whose body, having returned like this, is my entire asset right now. I can’t even think of doing anything dangerous.
In contrast, Yuchan hyung is the kind of person who would throw himself in the way if someone tried something dangerous.
That’s why it’s better not to create a situation where he’d meet Liu Wei again in the first place.
“…”
“Hoo.”
I stood in front of the emergency stairwell door leading upstairs and lightly caught my breath.
From now on, what I had to do was simple.
Find Liu Wei quickly, avoid wasting time on useless chatter with that bastard, and immediately contact the junior writer to have him dragged away.
Good, perfect.
Tap-tap-tap—
In this large indoor gymnasium building, the reason I had said ‘I think I know where Liu Wei might be’ wasn’t simple bluffing.
Our team, Arrows, had once performed in this indoor gymnasium building.
Therefore.
“Yes! That was Son Jaeha. Up next is Rex’s solo performance! Since Rex has really prepared hard all this time, shall we hear a brief explanation of what kind of performance it will be?”
“…….”
“Rex?”
“Sorry, I’m sorry… just a moment, I need some air outside, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.”
“W-wait! Rex, Rex!”
That fan meeting venue where I had inadvertently run out, unable to bear the pressure, was right here.
“Hoo….”
It’s embarrassing to explain what state of mind I was in back then, so I’ll stop.
Right now, I needed to focus on the fact that even back then, there was a place Liu Wei had gone to, saying he ‘wanted to be alone.’
Click.
Unlike the lower floors, where the heat was stifling due to the raucous atmosphere, a slightly chilly breeze brushed against my cheek as I arrived.
It couldn’t quite be called a rooftop, but it was an outdoor terrace designed to double as a smoking area and resting space.
Well, it seems like when people’s minds get complicated, they always come to places like this.
“…”
“Hah.”
As if to prove my guess wasn’t wrong, a figure was crouched blankly beside the vending machine, firmly planted in that spot.
He should be able to clearly hear me walking up with long strides, yet he didn’t budge at all.
“Hey.”
“…….”
“Hey, Liu Wei. Get up. We’re going down.”
“Go.”
“Go my ass, you just pulled that stunt and ran away without even properly apologizing—”
“I said, go.”
At Liu Wei’s face, which snapped up in that instant, I could only freeze with my mouth hanging open.
Liu Wei, who never showed any sign of crying, that guy called the ice fairy….
“…”
“Are you crying?”
“…….”
Because he was making an expression that was beyond description.