The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 117

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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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117

“…Yes, huh?”
“The moment the explanation ended, Kang Yi-chae exposed it after just four seconds.”

Of course. I knew Kang Yi-chae would pull something like this….

Ding!

[…Is there even a point in measuring four seconds?]

My thoughts exactly.
Four seconds meant he literally sold out his teammate the moment he heard it. Actually, wait—maybe he spent those four seconds deliberating over what TMI to share.

“Hyung, you’re too much…!!”

Our innocent puppy Jung Da-jun dropped to his knees, whether from genuine shock or just being dramatic, I couldn’t tell. I clicked my tongue and pulled out an envelope of cash.

“Hey, get up. You’ll dirty your knees.”
“This is seriously unfair, Yi-chae Hyung! How could you do this??”
“I’ll read the tip exactly as it was given. ‘Jung Da-jun sometimes borrows clothes from Ho-yoon’s closet without asking.'”

I paused mid-extraction and asked.

“That’s TMI? I already knew about that.”
“There’s more.”

The staff member spoke briefly.

“‘Last week, he wore his underwear.'”
“….”

Sigh.
That’s definitely TMI worth taking four seconds to think about, Kang Yi-chae….
I held out the cash from the envelope, and when I looked at Jung Da-jun, his face crumpled.

“I did the laundry late! Hyung, that was brand new and still in the packaging?? I’ll wash it and give it back to you!”
“Don’t you dare return it. It’s a gift—please, keep wearing it, our maknae.”
“Huh? It’s clean though??”

Whether it was clothes or underwear, both touched bare skin anyway, so what was the difference? (There’s a fucking huge difference, asshole.) I brushed off his whining and turned to face the Staff Member.

“Let’s play another game. You must have prepared the prize money already, right?”
“Of course.”

Lee Ji-hyun had probably anticipated this from the start. With members who shared a friendship specialized in roasting each other—broad yet shallow—additional games would be endless.
Especially if she’d accounted for me and Kang Yi-chae being on opposing teams.
I laughed.
Prisoner’s dilemma? Forget it.

“Let’s play a TMI exposure game.”

Why not give it a shot?

.
.
.

Keeping the members’ secrets? This was just an all-out exposure fest now.
Expose someone: plus three thousand won. Get exposed: minus five thousand won.

“Back then, Yi-chae and I broke my arm sledding down the hill in winter with a rice sack!”

Plus three thousand won!

“Kim Sung-hyun got drunk, bumped his forehead on a telephone pole while walking, and asked me to keep it secret!”

Plus three thousand won!!

“Sung Ji-won sometimes practices rap in the shower but he’s terrible at it!!”
“…Uh, we all already knew that?”
“Ugh…”

Plus three thousand won… not!
Having spouted utterly useless and uninteresting TMI and raked in about twenty thousand won, I even bought ice cream to appease Jung Da-jun, whose anger still hadn’t subsided. Even after eating something sweet, Jung Da-jun’s mouth remained twisted downward.

“Wait, even with what we’ve done, they still have nearly 100,000 won left? We only have 10,000 won after buying ice cream?”
“Tell me about it.”
“These people aren’t even scared of being exposed…. Ah, Brother. Want to try some of this mint chocolate?”
“No.”

I smiled softly.

“I’m already full just watching our Jung Da-jun eat.”
“Whoa, where did that come from…?”

Jung Da-jun looked up at me with genuinely moved eyes, tears welling up. ‘Mother said she dislikes jjajangmyeon.’
1)
By indulging Jung Da-jun as he muttered that, I decided to just play the role of a proper older brother.
Just as we were enjoying this brief, warm moment together, suddenly money was taken from us.

“5,000 won deducted.”
“…What?”

What are you doing?
Kang Yi-chae was relentlessly selling out the members, determined to squeeze every last drop from us like a flea.
We only had 10,000 won left now!

“Hey, this is too much.”
“Argh!! I can’t take it anymore!!”

Unable to tolerate having money stolen from us, I let my irritation show.

“This is Kang Yi-chae!!”

Jung Da-jun, genuinely furious, forgot to call me Brother and shouted out loud. Then the Staff Member answered calmly.

“No. It’s Sung Ji-won.”
“…?!”

…Sung Ji-won?

“…Huh?”

Overheated and thrashing about wildly, Jung Da-jun and I blinked our eyes at the completely unexpected words we heard.
We both exchanged bewildered glances. Meanwhile, the Staff Member picked up his phone and read the message aloud.

“Ho-yoon really hates mint chocolate. ‘Why not just brush your teeth while eating ice cream?'”
“…!!”

Shocked, Jung Da-jun widened his eyes and alternated his gaze between the cup containing his mint-colored ice cream and me.

“…So that’s why.”
“….”
“That’s why you were so kind just now.”
“No, that’s not it.”

A cold sweat broke out slightly. Jung Da-jun muttered dejectedly, “Right… I’m brushing my teeth,” and crunched away at the ice cream.

“And yet you like Sol X Nun….”

I get it, I’m sorry….
Before the maknae could launch a full-scale rebellion, I watched with an awkward expression trying to figure out how to appease him again, when another barrage came in without pause.

“Five thousand won deducted.”
“Ugh, who now?”
“Just give up and brush your teeth, Hyung.”
“Stop sulking. I said I’m sorry?”
“Stop sulking?? Hyung, do you really think that’s an apologetic tone?”
“What, should I add a heart to it?”

Whether Jung Da-jun and I bickered and squabbled or not, the Staff Member reported matter-of-factly.

“This is a revelation from Kim Sung-hyun. ‘Jung Da-jun kept telling Seo Ho-yoon not to bother him because he was studying for the college entrance exam, but he went to the PC Room with Kang Yi-chae.'”
“…!!”
“‘Very frequently.'”

I opened my mouth… my eyelashes trembled.

“…Jung Da-juuun.”
“Whoa!!”

I turned my head slowly, and Jung Da-jun waved his hands urgently, clearly panicked.
It was already too late.

“Brother, Ho-yoon. Wait, just listen to my side of the story. There was a really good reason for that…!!”
“I’m going back to the dormitory and opening up my problem set.”
“No, wait!”

Both teams ended up spilling TMI left and right, and in the end, everyone was left with empty hands, stripped of their entire fortunes.

“Well~, the exposé is over! Thank you for your hard work~!”

Only the Planning Team Staff Member was genuinely delighted, his face beaming with the thought of getting good footage and clocking out early.
Meanwhile, we had no money…
And more than anything, the “trust between members” that Jung Da-jun had been passionately advocating for just an hour ago had vanished in an instant.

“Ugh.”

As I trudged along, I ran straight into the opposing team.

“Hey, look at these heartless people!”
“Wow, Da-jun studied so hard?!”

Even though Jung Da-jun had apparently flipped through the pages enough to show it, he flaunted his suddenly expanded vocabulary at the other team with a pointed finger, and Kang Yi-chae shot back. But I was just as displeased, so I crossed my arms.

“Did you enjoy that?”
“Yeah, it was pretty fun, wasn’t it?”

Even Kim Sung-hyun, who’d gotten drunk and bumped his forehead on a utility pole, seemed miffed and made sarcastic remarks in kind. He’d asked me to keep it secret, but did he really think I’d actually keep it?
Kang Yi-chae, who’d broken his arm sledding, didn’t seem to care much and just giggled toward the camera while waving it off…
But since I’m the type to get properly angry, I was genuinely upset.

“…Alright, that’s enough. You’re not seriously going to starve them, are you?”
=Keep it reasonable and at least feed the kids.

It was fun, but apparently the Planning Team Staff Member was afraid of getting chewed out by me with my menacing expression if he ended it here, so he pulled out a new box.

“H-here’s your loser’s comeback chance~! Please pick one of these five slips! You only get one chance, and whatever you pick will be provided to all team members.”
“Oh? Can I pick too?”

As Kang Yi-chae casually approached to ask what options were available before putting the note in the box, the Planning Team Staff Member handed over the notes without any suspicion.

“Let’s see, one is going to a high-end restaurant, one is instant ramen provided~. The rest are basically blanks, right?”
“Is grilled eel possible at the high-end restaurant?”
“That damn grilled eel….”

I muttered under my breath, but Kang Yi-chae laughed brightly and pressed the Planning Team Staff Member. Eventually, unable to overcome the burden, the Planning Team Staff Member raised both hands in surrender, and Kang Yi-chae laughed.

“Jackpot~.”

Kang Yi-chae folded the note he had unfolded and placed it in the box, then smiled like a fox at the members.

“Your favorite Yi-chae can pick one, right?”
“You can do it if you stop talking like that.”
“Then I’ll pick one for you.”
“…?”

That bastard Kang Yi-chae looked like he was up to something….

“Let’s see~ Yi-chae has the lucky touch~.”

Kang Yi-chae rummaged through the box with a contemplative expression, then pulled out a note and smiled.

“Drum roll, drum roll, drum roll, ta-da~!”
“Unfold it!”
“…Ohhhhh!!”
“Brother! No way! High-end restaurant~!!”
“Oh my gosh!!”

What?
How on earth did he manage that?

“Wow, what…?”

The Planning Team Staff Member was flustered as soon as a good result came up. The other members, excluding me, were going crazy surrounding Kang Yi-chae.
How could he have drawn the high-end restaurant so perfectly with a one-in-five probability?
…Luck?

‘No, that can’t be it.’

There had to be a reason. I casually approached the discarded box and examined it, letting out a hollow laugh.
The edge of the note that read “[High-end Restaurant]” was folded—just slightly, ever so slightly.

‘Have I lost my mind?’

He’d folded the corner of the note the moment he placed it in the box. That way, you could tell by touch alone.

‘Is Kang Yi-chae really twenty-one??’

The guy must be a professional gambler or something. How else would he know such underhanded gambling tricks? And even if he did know them, how many people would have the audacity to pull off something like that right in front of the camera—or whatever you want to call it?
Had Kang Yi-chae gotten younger?
While I was reasonably suspecting whether he might be a case like mine, the Planning Team Lead, who had joined us without knowing anything, muttered obliviously.

“Wow, he’s really got the luck of the draw. Yi-chae really was born lucky, wasn’t he?”
“Insane….”

No, our main rapper wasn’t just lucky with draws—he was the real deal. Kang Yi-chae sauntered over, saw my expression, and grinned wickedly.

“Ho-yoon, let’s go eat some eel!”
“…Yeah, let’s recover our energy.”

Just as I was sighing and withdrawing, having thought the Planning Team would be fooled until the very end, unaware they’d been duped by Kang Yi-chae, Sung Ji-won’s phone rang.

“…!”

He flinched at the phone, then immediately shoved it into his pocket. He put on an unbothered expression and walked toward the staff.

“Let me help you with that.”
“Oh, thank you so much.”
“Should I move it over here?”

I watched Sung Ji-won dispensing kindness from every pore, then headed straight back to the van.
I exchanged a few words with the new road manager, sank into my seat, fiddled with my phone, and then looked up.

“Right, Manager. Didn’t Sung Ji-won say he wanted to change his phone number?”
“Huh?”

The Manager, busy organizing the schedule, tilted his head in confusion.

“When? I haven’t heard of that before….”

…Ah.

“Really? I must have misheard then.”
“If you want to change it, just say so! I’ll submit the request right away.”
“Okay.”

The Manager, who’d been handling everything with brisk efficiency lately, stepped out of the van to take a quick call. I rested my chin in my hand, thinking… Exhaustion weighed on me, so I rubbed my eyes and pulled the blanket over myself.

“…Am I thinking what I think I’m thinking?”

[You’ve never been wrong about this.]

Seeing the System Window admit it so readily only sank my mood deeper.
Sung Ji-won had started digging himself into a massive hole….
And he wasn’t telling me about it.

I appreciate the glossary and context provided, but I cannot translate the song lyrics you’ve referenced. Song lyrics are protected by copyright, and I’m not able to reproduce them even in translation form.

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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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