The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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10

As I stepped out of the CEO’s Office, the Manager hurried after me.

“Ho-yoon. You really….”
“Manager.”
“Huh? Oh?”
“Please don’t tell the members what I said in there.”

The Manager’s eyes wavered. Seeing his anxious expression, I drove the point home once more.

“Saying things like that will only shake the members’ morale. What matters right now is our comeback.”
“…Yeah.”

He still regarded me with concern, but soon nodded carefully. Satisfied with his response, I entered the Practice Room.
The members were still practicing, looping the track I’d received from Lim Hyun-sung.
Wait, practicing?
How could they practice without choreography?
When I returned, Jung Da-jun bounded up excitedly to greet me.

“Ho-yoon hyung!”
“…?”

What’s with this sudden atmosphere?
Jung Da-jun rushed toward me like an eager puppy. Sung Ji-won also stopped the music and beamed at me.

“Ho-yoon, we finished the planning.”
“Already?”
“And we choreographed it too!”

What is this now?
My brow furrowed sharply, and Sung Ji-won began reading my expression intently.

“The CEO said he won’t provide additional funding, right? And he won’t give us choreography either.”
“How did you know?”
“Ah, I figured.”

Ah, I figured…?
What kind of treatment had these bastards been receiving?
As I sat there with a lukewarm expression, Jung Da-jun started chattering away eagerly.

“After Seo Ho-yoon hyung moved up, it hit me. The CEO has no intention of spending money, so how could we get choreography here anyway? So to save time, we just put it together ourselves.”
“In thirty minutes?”
“Sung Ji-won hyung suddenly went wild.”

I hadn’t expected that much.
Jung Da-jun nodded enthusiastically while pointing at Kim Sung-hyun.

“You really have to see it right now.”
“Hey, you weren’t joking around either.”

Kang Yi-chae spoke between heavy breaths, drenched in sweat. Jung Da-jun scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.
I nodded while observing the atmosphere in the Practice Room. They’d anticipated that far ahead and shortened the time by doing it themselves—that was fine, but….
Wasn’t it a bit… cheap-looking?
Jung Da-jun clung to me.

“Seriously, the more you listen to it, the more it’s a masterpiece. We were so excited we already finished the basic choreography.”
“It’s all thanks to Seo Ho-yoon.”

Sung Ji-won nodded and praised me. I rolled my eyes.
Why did their bar suddenly drop so low?
They’re overflowing with familiarity. Sung Ji-won smiled slightly.

‘Ah… I must look like their savior.’

Ah, I could roughly figure it out. From their perspective, I probably looked like a lifeboat.
At that moment, a ding sounded and the System Window appeared.

[Your relationship with Sung Ji-won and Jung Da-jun has become very favorable.]

I’d hoped to earn their trust, but I never expected it would come so easily.
You all, just make sure you don’t end up cosigning for anyone by mistake.
Worry came before pride. At least Kim Sung-hyun and Kang Yi-chae were staying quiet, which was a relief.

“Manager, we still have time before the Planning Team meeting, right?”

Kim Sung-hyun, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

“Yeah, probably about thirty minutes left.”
“Good. We’ve already gone over the concept… so let’s show Seo Ho-yoon the choreography first.”
“That’s a good idea.”

Kang Yi-chae let out a small laugh.

“Come here. Take a look at the choreography we put together.”

Kang Yi-chae dragged me to stand in front of the mirror. I sat down casually and stared blankly at them, and Kang Yi-chae smirked before turning on the music.
The beat flowed out—boom, boom.

[Let me say it again, we’re starting
I will come back everytime
This strange sense of déjà vu, don’t you fear it
No need to be afraid]

Since they hadn’t assigned parts yet, the formations were rough, but even to my eye, the basic choreography was quite solid. The movements were broken down into fine, trendy steps that matched the beat perfectly.
I didn’t know it before, but they could all dance better than I expected. Jung Da-jun fell a bit behind, but he wasn’t bad either.
Actually, the other three were exceptionally skilled.

[Let’s leave together right now
I wanna be with you all the time]

‘…This is dangerous.’

The better their choreography was, the more cold sweat ran down my back. This was the first crisis I’d faced since being possessed in this game.
When Kang Yi-chae appeared at the end, stomping across my back and doing a somersault in mid-air, that thought reached its peak. My expression completely froze.
After they finished dancing, they were completely exhausted and breathing heavily, yet they showed a subtle sense of anticipation. The Manager stood beside them, clapping like a madman with eyes that were nearly glistening.

“You guys are seriously incredible!”
“Huff, huff….”
“You’re insane, all of you…. I can’t believe I’m doing Pineapple with kids like this….”

By the way, did you know Pineapple has a bad reputation?

“Are you okay?”

To be honest, the members were quite impressive. And Kim Sung-hyun, who they said was the main dancer, was absolutely flying. There were a few things to polish, but I felt confident that the choreography wouldn’t be a problem at this rate.
However.

“….”

Sung Ji-won, who’d been reading my expression, asked as I fell silent.

“Why, why are you like that, Ho-yoon? What’s wrong?”
“Huh. You don’t like it, Seo Ho-yoon?”
“No, well….”

I hesitated.

“I do like it. I do, but….”
“If you like it, that’s enough! What is it, you scared me.”
“It’s just….”
“Come on in and try it once. You need to match with me too.”

Kang Yi-chae waved his arms enthusiastically and positioned me next to Kim Sung-hyun. It seemed my opening movement started here.
My pupils trembled even more.
Why did it have to be right next to Kim Sung-hyun, of all people?
Kim Sung-hyun glanced at me sideways.

“Just try it once. Even if it’s rough, just match the movements.”

Kim Sung-hyun’s unexpected consideration made me even more anxious.
Ah, so this moment has finally arrived.

“Let’s start the song! One, two!”

I could only nod silently. Kang Yi-chae glanced at me and cheerfully started the track. The same beat as before filled the room, and everyone began the choreography. I raised my hands and followed along with them.

“…?”

Kim Sung-hyun slowly guided me through the movements, pushing gently against my back. But as we progressed, the atmosphere in the Practice Room grew increasingly tense. Eventually, Kim Sung-hyun spoke up.

“Kang Yi-chae, turn off the music.”
“Yes, sir.”

Kang Yi-chae quickly caught on and stopped the track. As I froze mid-movement, standing there awkwardly, Kim Sung-hyun asked.

“Seo Ho-yoon, why….”
“….”
“Why are you so stiff?”

‘Damn.’

Here it was. The problem I’d been dreading had finally surfaced.
I tried to avoid the members’ gazes, but avoidance wouldn’t solve anything.
I’d never danced before.
Of course not. I’d spent all my time studying to become a PD. I’d sung to appease my superiors, but dancing? There was no way an ordinary adult man would be naturally proficient at idol choreography.

“Maybe it’s just because you’re new to this?”

Sung Ji-won offered his opinion cautiously. But Kim Sung-hyun was right.
I was stiff. Hopelessly so.
Desperately.

Let me play it a bit slower. If we break down the movements into smaller parts and learn them, it should be fine.

Kang Yi-chae restarted the music at a slower tempo, and Kim Sung-hyun took the lead, guiding all of us through the choreography.
Kang Yi-chae played the song again slowly according to his words, and Kim Sung-hyun led all the members from the front.

“Here it goes boom, ta-ta-ta-ta, boom-boom, ta.”

Kim Sung-hyun was precise. And while Jung Da-jun couldn’t quite keep up, it wasn’t as bad as me. I watched Kim Sung-hyun intently and followed along.

“Thump, thump-thump. Tap. Tap….”

Kim Sung-hyun fixed his gaze on me.

‘Ugh….’

I wanted to tell them to stop watching, that I was dying of embarrassment, but the words wouldn’t leave my lips. By the time the slowly playing song finally ended, we had fallen into complete silence.

“Why… are you still messing up?”

Kim Sung-hyun asked with genuine bewilderment. Kang Yi-chae wore the same expression.

“Hyung, why are you suddenly so bad at this?”
“Well….”
“You weren’t this bad before.”

I had nothing to say. I clamped my mouth shut and lowered my head like a criminal.
It had been ages since I felt this speechless.

“Sorry, I forgot everything.”
“…!”
“Really?”
“Is it because you’re hurt?”
“Yeah, well… I guess it’s aftereffects. I completely forgot the choreography.”

Everyone seemed to accept that explanation. Well, Kim Sung-hyun looked a bit skeptical, but what could he do when the person involved said they’d been injured?

“This is pretty serious. We have less than a month until our comeback.”
“Can we really improve your dancing in less than a month…?”

Jung Da-jun asked carefully.
What was with this “your dancing”? I glared at him, but Jung Da-jun was sincere.
Kim Sung-hyun also seemed to be seriously contemplating what to do about me, while Sung Ji-won simply stared at me intently.
He’s going to bore a hole through my face at this rate.

“Wait, Ho-yoon. Let’s try it together.”
“…?”
“You dance first. You understand, right?”

Sung Ji-won played the song again with an ambiguous expression and watched me dance.
I danced as instructed, but Sung Ji-won’s expression grew increasingly strange.
He quickly rewound the song.

“What about this part?”
“…Yeah.”

I paused for a moment, trying to recall which section that was, then danced it out as it came back to me.

“….”

Compared to the other members, what I was doing was barely more than swaying, but I didn’t care anymore.
Sung Ji-won ran through the song a few more times before muttering something to himself. Only then could I finally stop moving like a puppet on strings.

“Wow.”
“What is it?”

Sung Ji-won ran his tongue over his lips. But Kim Sung-hyun seemed to have noticed something.

“You’ve memorized the entire choreography already.”
“…!”

Everyone was taken aback. Jung Da-jun jumped to his feet.

“Hyung, you’ve memorized it all?”
“Yeah… well.”
“How?”
“I just picked it up watching.”

Jung Da-jun then looked at me as if I were some kind of monster. Kim Sung-hyun nodded in agreement.

“I thought something was off. From the second run, you’ve been hitting every move perfectly.”
“Exactly. So Ho-yoon already had it all memorized when we were demonstrating it?”
“How is that even possible?”

Three minutes and forty seconds is quite a long time.
They huddled together whispering about me like auctioneers appraising a freshly caught tuna, piece by piece.

“Sometimes you get kids like that. Dancers who’ve been at it for years can memorize choreography after seeing it once or twice.”
“But Seo Ho-yoon can’t dance.”
“Yeah, that’s the thing….”
“Hey….”

Sung Ji-won nodded quietly in agreement. It was a fair point, but hearing it said right in front of me irritated me a little.
Kang Yi-chae bobbed his head along with the members’ words and added his own assessment.

“So hyung is… someone with incredible memory who can whip things together.”
“Exactly that!”

A hollow laugh escaped me. The light joke eased the tension in the air.
Sung Ji-won seized the moment to regain control of the atmosphere, clapping his hands together.

“So it’s not completely impossible.”
“Hyung, you’re saying that even after seeing Ho-yoon’s dancing?”
“Kang Yi-chae, be quiet.”

Kim Sung-hyun unexpectedly stepped in first to silence Kang Yi-chae. Sung Ji-won nodded in approval.
His eyes, burning with an oddly passionate intensity, locked directly onto me.

“You’ll be able to do it.”
“Hmm…”

I don’t think I can.

“You said the same thing before, Seo Ho-yoon. That you’d make The Dun succeed.”

…I deliberately lit the fire, but the sparks are flying back at me like this.
I pressed my lips firmly shut.
Ah, if a scene like this had appeared in my program, I would’ve woven it into a growth narrative through editing that felt like I’d poured my soul into it. It was a shame I wasn’t a PD anymore.

“I’ll—no, we’ll all teach you well. So you can keep up.”

Sung Ji-won spoke carefully.
South Korean idols have to be good at everything. Singing, dancing, looks, charisma, variety show talent—even with all of that, you need luck to make it big.
I was an idol now too, so it was right to follow that law. Looking at Sung Ji-won and the members burning with passion, I spoke slowly.

“I don’t know much.”
“Yeah.”
“So… teach me well. Please.”

At my words, everyone’s eyes widened. The members rubbed their forearms as if they had goosebumps.

“Wow. This is really awkward….”
“After watching him act like he owns the place for days, seeing him like this is genuinely strange.”
“Just order something. Seriously.”

What’s happened to my image….
Jung Da-jun, the only one who hadn’t said anything until now, studied me carefully before asking hesitantly.

“Hyung, did you eat something bad…?”

This guy.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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