The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 142

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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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142

“…Wow.”

Kang Yi-chae’s mouth fell open slightly as he witnessed the scene.
He’d run through countless possible responses in his mind, but never this one.
Naturally, the Noeul fans who’d seen it all were losing their minds in the comments.

[Are
you
serious
right
now]
[How can he say he dislikes it there????? Seo Ho-yoon? With that tone of voice??]

“Look at that delivery….”

Seo Ho-yoon pressed his lips firmly shut (there would be no further dialogue from him), let out a small sigh as he looked at Jung Da-jun, then lowered his gaze.

-Got it.

And with that, he turned and walked out.
No matter how much Jung Da-jun struggled, he remained entirely in Seo Ho-yoon’s palm.
He’d been certain the reaction would be anger or sarcasm—one or the other. The innocent maknae, completely blindsided by this response, trembled with nervous energy.
The Noeul fans were no different.

[Yi-chae, Ho-yoon’s leaving]
[What do we do now??]

“It’s fine. This is all part of the plan.”

Kang Yi-chae responded with composure, pressing his hand to his ear.
It was Sung Ji-won’s turn to go.

“Okay, Sung Ji-won, we’re switching to Operation D.”

We’ve entered Phase 3.
Operation “Let’s go make up.”
The pre-installed CCTV captured Seo Ho-yoon leaving the hotel room and walking down the hallway. Sung Ji-won hurried after him urgently.

-Ho-yoon!

At Sung Ji-won’s call, Seo Ho-yoon’s footsteps halted. Sung Ji-won, his expression troubled, carefully approached Seo Ho-yoon’s side.

-Wait, Ho-yoon.
-What.
-…I know you’re upset, but we can’t just leave Da-jun like this.

Sung Ji-won gently remonstrated with Seo Ho-yoon, his eyebrows drawn downward. The revised “Operation D” contained too many unknowns to prepare dialogue in advance, but his improvisation was absolutely masterful.

-Let’s go back.

“Wow… look at this ad-lib.”

[Is that ad-lib lolololololololololololol]

Kang Yi-chae marveled at the beautifully executed scene and gave a thumbs up.

-Go talk it through slowly….
-Why should I?
-…What?
-If he says he doesn’t like me, why should I care?

Yet Seo Ho-yoon crossed his arms and displayed genuine irritation. Kang Yi-chae watched him in admiration.

“His acting is incredible too.”

He’d been nearly certain that Seo Ho-yoon would harbor suspicions up to this point, but seeing such annoyance blazing in his eyes made it seem like he was genuinely angry.

[There are 2 houses ㅠㅠㅠ;;;]
[Lee Chae-ya, no, I think Ho-yoon is really angryㅠㅠ]
[Let’s not be too harsh ㅠㅠ;;;]

Yet Kang Yi-chae remained completely unmoved.

“What are you talking about? He’s just acting.”

[???]

“Ho-yoon doesn’t talk like that when he’s really upset, everyone~.”

[…seriously]

It was a roundabout way of saying he was putting on an act in front of the camera.
Even the Noeul fans, who had a decent grasp of Seo Ho-yoon’s personality, were caught off guard and fell silent, but Kang Yi-chae’s mind was already racing ahead.

‘I need to confuse Ho-yoon.’

Sung Ji-won had carried the act reasonably well, but he was no match for Seo Ho-yoon, who had completed an entire project alongside Min Ji-heon.

-…Hmm.

Sung Ji-won was aware of this fact too, so he simply offered an awkward smile and maintained his silence.
That’s when Kang Yi-chae decided to play his trump card.

“Bring in Ji-won and Hyun-sung!”

When faced with a move, counter with a move.
He’d just deployed an acting stat E- bomb.
Sung Ji-won lowered his gaze briefly to hide his agitation, then looked back up and spoke.

-…Wait, then let me talk to Da-jun about it.

With that, Sung Ji-won made his exit, and Seo Ho-yoon came into view, standing with his back against the hallway wall, fidgeting with his lips.
Moments later, a genuinely dazed Jung Da-jun was being comforted, and the innocent Kim Sung-hyun, fully invested in the situation, burst onto the scene.

-Seo Ho-yoon.

At that call, Seo Ho-yoon raised one eyebrow, and Kim Sung-hyun pressed his brow with a troubled expression.

-You… well, I mean, I know what Da-jun said was a bit harsh.
-….
-But the maknae is still young. He’s really hurt right now.

Kim Sung-hyun’s natural performance cracked Seo Ho-yoon’s composed expression ever so slightly.

-…Hmm.

His face screamed, ‘There’s no way this bastard can act this well.’
Watching him, Kang Yi-chae burst into laughter he’d been holding back.

“Pffhahaha!!”

[Lmaooooo Seo Ho-yoon was actually acting lmaooooooo]
[Look at his confused expression hahahahahahahaha]
[Oh my god hahahaha this group is giving me chills hahahaha]

“I told you!”

The Noeul fans had caught on too—the comment section was flooded with laughter.
Kang Yi-chae continued giggling, fully entering popcorn-munching spectator mode.

-Let’s… let’s go back in.

Oblivious Kim Sung-hyun seemed to be carefully choosing his words, desperately trying to defuse the situation.

-Honestly… you wouldn’t normally care about something like this, but you got mad because Jung Da-jun said it.
-….
-Because you care about him.

“Ugh, Hyung-sung, seriously….”

Kang Yi-chae couldn’t suppress his laughter at Kim Sung-hyun’s deadly serious expression, caught up in the act. The atmosphere was reaching peak entertainment as the content unfolded perfectly, but Seo Ho-yoon’s gaze dropped.
The fun content was really hitting its stride and the atmosphere was building to a peak, when Seo Ho-yoon looked away.

Kim Sung-hyun.

It was a weak, lifeless voice.

-Caring about him… fine, let’s say that’s a valid excuse. But how long do I have to keep doing this? He needs to understand too. The hyungs can’t keep overlooking it every time.
“Fine, let’s say I’m being considerate by holding back. But how long do I have to keep doing this? He needs to start understanding too. We can’t keep letting it slide every time just because his hyungs are looking out for him.”

Kang Yi-chae’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the unusual turn of events.

[Wait… wait… guys, is it okay if we go live with this?
Ho-yoon’s going to find out later that we secretly recorded this, and he’s going to be so upset about it, right?]
[…;;;;;; no idea]

Kim Sung-hyun was genuinely flustered seeing Seo Ho-yoon in such a vulnerable state for the first time. But drawing on his experience caring for his younger members, he asked gently.

-…Is something wrong?

Seo Ho-yoon looked at him, then rubbed his eyes with a melancholic expression.

-He didn’t listen to what I said.
-…What?

“…Huh?”

At this point, even Kang Yi-chae was starting to get confused.
Was he actually upset?
Should I wrap this up now and prevent any broadcast accidents?
While he was wavering in uncertainty, Seo Ho-yoon let out a long sigh through the screen.

-Sigh…. Hey.
-….

And then he locked eyes with Kim Sung-hyun. The moment Kim Sung-hyun swallowed nervously,

-I—.

Seo Ho-yoon spoke.

-—want to eat whipped cream cake.

“…What?”

In an instant, all reactions—from Kang Yi-chae to the comments to SNS—came to a complete halt.
Their brains couldn’t process what they’d just heard, as if their minds had frozen. Kim Sung-hyun was equally bewildered, his head tilting slightly to the side with a massive question mark plastered across his forehead.

-…Huh?
-Jung Da-jun, anyway, he’s not listening….

Seo Ho-yoon merely turned his head away with a bitter smile. The atmosphere was unnecessarily wistful.

-How many times did Ho-yoon say he wanted strawberries on top of the cake?

“…St, strawberries.”

Seo Ho-yoon was insane, and

“…Ugh, strawberries….”

Of course, a surprise camera like this wouldn’t work on him.
The comment section erupted again.

Hahahahaha oh my god hahahaha!!!
“Seo Ho-yoon you’re gonna die for real lol”

Seo Ho-yoon had already known everything.
Kang Yi-chae couldn’t hold back the laughter spilling from the corners of his mouth and collapsed onto the table, trembling.

“Hehe… ah….”

-Wh, what’s that supposed to mean?
-Strawberries and whipped cream… or at least cranberries.

“Ah, I lost…, I lost, damn it!!”

After shouting “damn it” and realizing it was on B App, Kang Yi-chae quickly covered his mouth and brought his face back down to the table, trembling again. His pride was wounded, but once he realized there was no way to reverse the situation, he couldn’t help but admit defeat to Seo Ho-yoon.
His pride was wounded, but realizing there was no way to undo what had happened, he had no choice but to concede to Seo Ho-yoon.

-…Wh, what’s going on?
-Well. Want me to explain?

Leaving Kim Sung-hyun still confused and stammering, Seo Ho-yoon returned to the room with Kim Sung-hyun, Sung Ji-won, and Jung Da-jun.
Then, shortly after, it seemed only Seo Ho-yoon came back out of that room, and after a few minutes, the hotel room door where Kang Yi-chae was staying swung wide open.

“Yi-chae~.”

The birthday boy had arrived.

“Tell Hyun-sung where Ho-yoon’s strawberries went!!”
“….”
“Ugh… Th-they’re in the refrigerator over there….”
“Ahahaha~, right?”

[I’m so frustrated
I’m so frustrated!!!!!!!]
Hahahahahaha Seo Ho-yoon aha hot< his laugh is really funny hahahahahaha

Having been caught with the hidden camera, Kang Yi-chae quickly gathered the situation and called all the members together.

"…It was fake?"
"Ahaha, sorry, Hyun-sung."

I confessed everything to the Leader, who had been anxious about the team falling apart,

"No, hyung, why did you say it like that? Do you know how scared I was??"
"You said you dislike me."
"Th-that's…."
"Our maknae… drawing a line with his hyung right after turning twenty?"
"…."

Jung Da-jun genuinely sulked, his voice trembling.
But no one made any effort to console him.
Seo Ho-yoon simply rolled his eyes like someone watching a fire across the river, scraping away at his cake.

"Too bad~. Mission failed!!"

In any case, The Dun members wrapped up their B App broadcast after some casual conversation. As the others tidied up, Kang Yi-chae approached Seo Ho-yoon and quietly asked.

"Hyung, but how did you figure it out? Honestly, weren't you confused at all?"

After all, they'd even deployed Kim Sung-hyun, who had zero acting ability, to push the realism to its absolute limit, yet Seo Ho-yoon had seen through it.
Replaying the situation in his mind, Yi-chae couldn't find the flaw in an otherwise airtight operation, which was why he asked.
Seo Ho-yoon answered calmly.

"Ugh, kind of confusing."
"…But why?"
"Just threw it out there."
"While doing Cranberry? What were you planning to do if it was real?"
"Ah."

Watching Seo Ho-yoon's curved smile, Kang Yi-chae's eyebrows twitched.
There was one thing Kang Yi-chae hadn't accounted for—.

"Even if we really had fought, I knew Kim Sung-hyun would overlook whatever I said anyway."
"…."

Seo Ho-yoon was an unchanging bastard, that was the thing.

.
.
.

'Yi-chae, you tried hard.'

After demolishing an entire cake and deceiving even Jung Da-jun's humming and myself, I watched the furious Kim Sung-hyun and sucked down my lemonade in satisfaction. It was incredibly refreshing—this was what a birthday should feel like.
It really was the perfect celebration.

"I sometimes get tired of you, hyung."
"I feel best when I hear stuff like that…."
"Really annoying, seriously…."
"That's kind of thrilling too~."

I poked the youngest's puffed-up cheeks repeatedly and teased him mercilessly, giggling all the while.

"I'm not talking to you anymore."
"Whatever~."

At two in the morning, the birthday gift the members had prepared spectacularly fell apart—making the day even more enjoyable.
And there was one more thing I was waiting for.

"…Huh?"

Just then, Sung Ji-won frowned slightly as he checked a message that had come through on his phone.

"…Ah, um."

It was late. Everyone's attention had zeroed in on Ji-won.
Just as I was about to set down my glass after taking another sip of lemonade, my phone vibrated.

[Seo Ho-yoon, my apologies for the late message.]

It was a text from the Management Team.

[It would be best if you didn't log into Pop Pop today.]
[Please avoid the Internet for now as well. I'll give you the full details once everything is sorted out.]

"Why?"
"…Well, that is."

Ji-won couldn't answer Da-jun's question right away.
I immediately logged onto a Portal Website and searched my name. Upon seeing the post pinned at the very top, I couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
It had arrived.

[Title: Seo Ho-yoon Smoking?]

My self-gifted birthday present.

—————
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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