The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 130

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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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130

The Acting Awards held on December 30th—a showcase of which dramas captivated audiences that year, who delivered the most compelling performances, and who truly immersed themselves in their characters.
Or so it appeared on the surface.
In reality, awards were determined by a complex interplay of factors beyond acting alone: the cultural zeitgeist, behind-the-scenes rivalries between production companies, and countless other considerations.
This year, naturally, “Please Camera” had secured nominations across multiple categories. Though some criticized it as excessive favoritism, Min Ji-heon and Yoo Ji-a had each earned nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively.
In any case, to push “Please Camera” all the way to the finish line, they’d even prepared a congratulatory performance for the ceremony….

“Wow….”

Yoo Ji-a let out an admiring sigh.

“Min Ji-heon, um… you know….”
“Yes?”
“…why do you move like a robot?”

Despite her hesitation, Yoo Ji-a’s blunt assessment made Min Ji-heon laugh awkwardly from the center of the practice room. While he excelled brilliantly in acting, his dancing was genuinely painful to watch.

A robot? No, that comparison was unfair to robots.
Watching Min Ji-heon move like some creaky, broken-down relic that couldn’t be salvaged even with repairs, Yoo Ji-a shook her head in dismay.

“Speaking of robots, I just remembered a joke!”
“Please don’t.”
“I’d rather not hear it either.”

Yoo Ji-a and I turned away, trying not to engage, but Min Ji-heon was relentless.

“What sound does a robot make while cooking chicken~?”
“Senior Yoo Ji-a, how much longer are we practicing?”
“Sorry, I think I need to leave soon….”
“…What, what sound~?”

Unlike me, Yoo Ji-a couldn’t quite ignore Min Ji-heon’s hopeful gaze, and she finally waved the white flag of surrender.

“What is it?”

Min Ji-heon answered with an animated expression.

“Wing… chicken, wing… chicken.”
“….”
“Hehe.”

That was a joke even old comedians wouldn’t touch these days.
I looked at Min Ji-heon with sympathy—clearly he hadn’t been blessed with a gift for humor—and spoke.

“At least the mysterious concept works in your favor, senior.”
“…Yes, I need to make a living too.”

Min Ji-heon muttered “Was it really that bad?” and looked embarrassed. If it had been Jung Da-jun, maybe he would’ve laughed.
I quickly brushed it off, downed an ion drink, and watched Min Ji-heon resume practice. Yoo Ji-a stood beside him offering advice with an “oh, this part” expression, but she held back from openly criticizing him.

“Hmm….”

Though Yoo Ji-a had debuted first, Min Ji-heon’s career as an actor had started earlier.
Since Yoo Ji-a had fully transitioned to acting, it was awkward for her to critique him.
But.

“Senior Yoo Ji-a.”
“Oh, yes. Ho-yoon.”
“I can help Senior Min Ji-heon. I wasn’t good at dancing at first either… so I can use that experience to guide him.”

Here stands Seo Ho-yoon, who’s been working hard solely as an idol.
This was the moment for the real me to step forward.

“Oh! Would that be okay?”
“Yes.”

Yoo Ji-a’s face brightened immediately.
Min Ji-heon, who’d been listening beside us, widened his eyes and looked between the two of us alternately.

“…You’re leaving, Yoo Ji-a? So it’s just me and Seo Ho-yoon practicing?”
“I have some things to attend to….”
“It’s fine, senior.”

I flashed a bright smile.
At that, Min Ji-heon took a step back, as if recalling something.

“Y-Yoo Ji-a, please don’t leave me alone~. We got along so well~.”
“Ahaha. Sorry… I’m not really talented at teaching.”

That made sense. After dancing together, I realized Yoo Ji-a was in the same class as Joo Woo-sung—a naturally gifted dancer.

“Min Ji-heon, I promise I’ll help you with all my effort.”

While Min Ji-heon trembled anxiously, trying to figure out how to escape this crisis, Yoo Ji-a quickly gathered her things and left the practice room with her manager.

“W-well then, I should go too.”

The moment the door closed, I grabbed and dragged Min Geu-ro, who was trying to slip away.

“Where do you think you’re going, Min Geu-ro?”
“…Look at how fast this guy changes his attitude.”
“That’s my charm.”

People need a bit of willfulness to live well, after all.
Practice continued for quite a while longer, and whenever the slightest opening appeared, I seized it mercilessly.

“Hey, not there—here.”
“Are you really desperate to perform?”
“Ji-heon! Let’s quit!!”

And Min Ji-heon’s response was like this.

“Uh, isn’t it here….”
“Mm, not really desperate… I’m sorry~.”
“Wow, hyung’s like a fish in water right now~.”

I captured everything—from Sung Ji-won’s movements to his gestures and the light in his eyes, as if I’d possessed him—yet Min Ji-heon had only managed to improve to a robotic level.
Satisfied watching Min Ji-heon lying on the floor with a slightly dejected expression, breathing heavily, I let him rest for a moment.

“Here, drink some water.”
“You give the bottle, then the medicine, then the water bottle….”

Min Ji-heon muttered that even Min Geu-ro was human, and perhaps the guy had a talent for rapping.
I let out a scoff, leaned against the practice room wall, and checked the time on my phone.

“Let’s just wrap this up. I’m busy.”

Truth was, I had something more pressing than Min Ji-heon’s dancing—contacting Kim Jae-yeon.

‘Yoon Hee-eon, I need to expose him, but…’

The timing was the problem.

‘Early in the year? Or wait until joining Shining Star is confirmed?’

The latter would paint a prettier picture, but there were too many unpredictable variables.
While I was organizing my thoughts, Min Ji-heon, who’d been rolling around on the floor, suddenly approached and flopped down beside me.

“You contacting that person?”
“Who?”
“You know, that paparazzi who was tailing me.”

I stopped scrolling through my phone and lowered my gaze.
When I didn’t respond, Min Ji-heon looked up at me with his chin resting on his hand.

“Hmm, you really care about the members that much?”

What nonsense was this?

“Stick to the five W’s and one H.”
“At last week’s year-end stage, some gutsy guy confronted you about the members, right?”
“….”
“And you probably got fired up and did something you didn’t even need to do….”

Min Ji-heon, who had an eerie ability to read minds, playfully flicked at his own bangs falling across his smooth forehead.

“Am I right?”

There was no point asking how he knew. He clearly already understood everything.

“…Min Ji-heon, be honest with me. How many snakes did you eat?”
“Wow, is that really something you should be saying to your brother?”

Min Ji-heon had a point.
Truth be told, there was no real reason to go this far.
Seo Ho-yoon, who had lived thirty-three years, had always been pragmatic—no matter how irritating or infuriating something became, if the return didn’t justify the effort invested, he simply turned his attention elsewhere.
But since I had no obligation to spell out such reasoning, I was about to brush it off when Min Ji-heon drained an entire bottle of water and casually dropped another comment.

“I wonder who it could be~? Sung Ji-won, perhaps?”

…He wasn’t wrong about that either, but this wasn’t for his sake.

‘He’s more composed than I expected.’

He was someone who knew everything worth knowing, even if not quite as much as I did. He wouldn’t want petty revenge over a careless remark dropped by some passing stranger.
But you never know.

“Sigh…”

Just because someone’s accustomed to such words doesn’t mean they don’t hurt.
The image of Sung Ji-won, pale and trembling in the Recording Studio before the Showcase, and weeks before that, surfaced in my mind, and I ran my hand through my hair.

‘I’m the one who’s been making a mess of things all by myself…’

“Hey, Min Ji-heon.”

Click.

I shoved my phone into my pocket and grabbed a fresh water bottle from the floor, twisting off the cap and chugging it down.

“You’re wrong.”
“Huh?”
“I’m bringing down each and every backstabber one by one…”

I wiped the moisture from my lips with the back of my hand and smiled sharply.

“Because I want to rank first in house-robbing.”
“….”

Min Ji-heon stared at my face for a moment, then subtly shifted away.

“…I’m glad I’m not an idol.”
“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t either.”
“It’s scary because I can’t always tell if you’re serious or joking. You’re still a lunatic, as always…”

Was he introducing himself?
Min Ji-heon, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, remained unchanged.
From what I’d heard in passing, he was swamped with preparations for a film shoot releasing mid-next year…

Moreover, complaining about the heat, he’d rolled up his sleeves, and the rosary beads he always wore on his wrist were nowhere to be seen.
When my gaze lingered there, Min Ji-heon casually waved his hand.

‘What a strange guy.’

Min Ji-heon had deliberately left it off.
From experience, given his personality, he wasn’t the type to easily open his mouth unless he brought up the subject himself.
I wasn’t sure why he took an interest in me or if he simply found it amusing to tease me, but I also wasn’t the type to spill secrets just out of goodwill, so I’d held back to some extent.
Most troubling about dealing with Min Ji-heon was that even things I’d dismissed as nonsense at the time would resurface in my mind later, replayed like a broken record.

“Isn’t a request a more ordinary method than blackmail?”

—Like this.
What he’d said before now applied to Sung Ji-won’s situation as well.
Watching the guy whose face remained stunningly, brilliantly beautiful,
…I suddenly felt that Sung Ji-won and Min Ji-heon were similar.

‘…Am I insane?!!!’

With so many things happening recently, I quickly erased the ridiculous thought from my head, telling myself I wasn’t in my right mind.

“But you know what.”

While I was internally apologizing to Sung Ji-won repeatedly, Min Ji-heon relaxed against the wall and slid down, brushing his hair back as he glanced at me.

“I’m genuinely curious about something.”
“Just keep being curious then.”
“…You’re rude. Anyway, do people blackmail you sometimes, hyung?”
“What?”

Was I being blackmailed? That wasn’t it?

“Ah, it seems you’re not reading the room after all.”

And he muttered to himself.

“But why did you act like that at the awards ceremony….”
“….”

It didn’t seem like he was asking for a clear answer—Min Ji-heon just shrugged and lost interest in me, humming the song he’d perform for the congratulatory stage while staring blankly ahead.
Being around him made me feel like I’d keep spiraling into pointless thoughts, so I decided to charge up some energy by heading to a nearby convenience store, fishing through my sports bag for my wallet when—

Bzzzzt—, bzzzzt—

Min Ji-heon’s phone, carelessly tossed aside, rang loudly. Even when I glanced back, he showed no signs of moving, so I finally spoke up.

“Hey, you’ve got a call.”
“Just hang it up… I can’t be bothered….”
“Without even checking who it is?”

I picked up the phone as it continued vibrating, about to toss it to Min Ji-heon when I happened to catch the caller’s name on the screen.

[♡Princess♡]

“…Are you serious?”

Was Min Ji-heon dating someone?

“What? Why?”
“South Korea isn’t a constitutional monarchy, Min Ji-heon.”

The creepy formality made me cringe, but Min Ji-heon, who’d been lounging lazily, suddenly bolted upright at the sound.

“…Wait, Chae-yeon?”
“…?”
“Hold on, hold on! Don’t hang up, give it to me!”

Thud thud thud!!

Whether I was bewildered or not, Min Ji-heon rushed over, snatched the phone from my hand, cleared his throat with a couple of coughs, and answered the call.

“Princess!!”
“???”
“What’s the occasion for calling?”

Even as Min Ji-heon spoke, I could see him struggling to suppress his laughter.
That bastard was definitely teasing someone right now.
Goosebumps crawled up my arms. Without thinking, I took a step back from him.
But Min Ji-heon wasn’t finished.

“Why, do you have something to tell your oppa?”
“Ugh….”

Princess and oppa??
I stared at him with cold, sharp eyes, and Min Ji-heon glanced at me briefly before turning his gaze away and continuing his response.

“Yeah, uh-huh. Your oppa’s been pretty busy lately, so I haven’t been able to drop by…. Huh? Aha, that so? I’m sorry about that.”

I had no immunity to such blatant affection, so I decided to leave.
But Min Ji-heon blocked my path with his arm as I tried to pass.

“What.”
“Oh, you’re right here? Should I switch to video call~? …Wait, are you crazy?”
“…?”
“Hmm… wow, yeah. Our Chae-yeon’s gotten even more talkative while I haven’t been around. Yeah… I was definitely in the wrong, I’m sorry.”

He blocked me whether I tried to go right or left.

“What are you doing?”

He kept saying “princess” this and “oppa” that, preventing me from moving until the call ended, so I finally stood still with my arms crossed and glared at Min Ji-heon.
Right up to the end, he kept apologizing to whoever was on the other end of the line, but all he did was chuckle with amusement.

“You tease your girlfriend while you’re dating her?”
“…Huh?”

But why was I the one being caught in this?
I added the comment flatly, and Min Ji-heon’s laughter followed.

“Dating? I don’t do relationships. That was just my sister.”
“Your sister?”
“Chae-yeon~.”

I’d never given much thought to Min Ji-heon’s family, so a flicker of doubt crossed my mind.

‘Could he be hiding the fact that he’s dating?’

But thinking about it, he wasn’t an idol, and an actor of Min Ji-heon’s caliber didn’t need to hide a relationship.

“I have no intention of spreading your love life around anyway.”
“Want to see a photo?”

No.
I was trying to deflect since it wouldn’t even make for good blackmail material, but Min Ji-heon stubbornly dug through his phone’s photo gallery and shoved a picture in front of my face.

“Ta-da!”

There was Min Ji-heon beaming brightly, and a girl who looked barely middle-school age glaring at the camera with a pouty expression. She didn’t look anything like Min Ji-heon at all.
Not even remotely similar.

“Isn’t she cute?”
“…You call your sister a princess?”
“It’s fun watching her get annoyed.”

Min Ji-heon rambled on about how the age gap was large enough that he’d raised her since childhood, how she used to listen to everything he said when she was young, but these days she’s become incredibly stubborn and distant.
Of course, I had no desire to bond with Min Ji-heon over the shared joy of teasing a younger sibling with an age gap, so I quickly opened the practice room door.

“This guy’s really prickly. Now that I think about it, he’s got a personality similar to his brother.”
“Chae-yeon must be popular and have it good.”
“…Well, not quite as shameless as this.”

Good character, that one.
At least, to survive under the same roof as Min Ji-heon, you’d need that level of mental fortitude.

“Our Chae-yeon—no matter how much I love her, she shouldn’t become too much like her brother…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, didn’t I mention it?”

I turned my head, opening my eyes slightly, and Min Ji-heon, who had been grinning the whole time, tilted his head in confusion.

“This is Noel.”
“….”
“She’s also my favorite.”
“…huh?”
“I grabbed you thinking you’d be happy if we switched, but when I actually asked, you freaked out like I’d lost my mind. You said you weren’t ready yet, that I should tell you these things in advance, that I have no sense of consideration—you really tore into me something fierce….”
“….”
“…Chae-yeon, even your brother gets hurt sometimes.”

Even Min Ji-heon, the Korean Wave Star who could casually devour all of Asia, was nothing but a lowly extra in front of his younger sister.
Whether he was hurt or not didn’t matter—my stamina gauge needed refilling more urgently, so I left him there and headed outside.

[This is White Christmas
Snow is falling slowly…]

Carols drifted through the street, fitting for Christmas.
I wished we had prepared something to commemorate Christmas too.
…The moment that thought crossed my mind,

‘…wait.’

A strange premonition struck me like a bolt from the blue.
I fumbled through my pockets and quickly pulled out my phone.

[Yes, it’s White Christmas
With you in a winter wonderland!]

No way. No, surely not? It couldn’t be.
We hadn’t prepared anything.
But sure enough, the entertainment news portal displayed a massive headline.

[Black Call Surprise Album Release ‘Christmas with you’…]

“Corporate tyranny strikes again, damn it….”

With that sigh, the Christmas season had begun.

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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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