The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 144

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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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144

“Cough, cough! Ugh, blech….”

You could have at least told me you were in this much pain!

[That’s why I warned you when you were having regrets….]

The System Window that had materialized before me—regarding me with a mixture of pity and exasperation—dissipated like smoke.

“Stop appearing in front of me like that. You’re making me dizzy and I feel like I’m going to throw up….”

[You’ve already thrown up.]

Thirty minutes before the event was set to begin.
I’d gripped the bathroom toilet and retched countless times, yet nothing came up.
Nothing except gastric acid and blood.

“It hurts….”

I staggered to my feet, turned on the water, and gripped the sink, trying desperately to regain my composure.
The face staring back at me in the mirror was deathly pale—far worse than when I’d ignored the Leaker Quest.
My brain felt like it was melting into mush, and my breath had been shallow since earlier. My legs kept threatening to give out, forcing me to clench my teeth just to remain standing.

“Ugh….”

[Oof….]

And on top of everything, blood kept surging up my throat.
I spat out another mouthful of blood into the sink.

“…Did that bastard’s item work well?”

[You’re really harsh even in this state.]

I turned the Leaker’s dreams into nightmares.
Not a metaphor—the literal truth.
Whatever he dreamed, wherever it took place, whoever appeared—

[How could you possibly imagine something like that?]

Every living creature pointed at him, condemning him as the Leaker.
The constant barrage of public condemnation and mounting pressure from the company had worn his already frayed nerves down to gossamer threads, ready to snap at the slightest provocation.
Designed to crumble at the smallest trigger.

“How is it?”

I’d suffered immensely to prepare this item, so shouldn’t this bastard who caused me all this trouble suffer equally—bleeding and screaming?
When I posed the question, the System Window grimaced before finally yielding an answer.

[…It’s working perfectly. He hasn’t slept more than an hour in three days. He looks half-dead, completely hollow. …Just like Seo Ho-yoon right now.]

“That actually makes me feel a little better….”

[Ugh….]

As I inhaled, blood streamed from my nose. I quickly pressed my hand against it to keep it off my costume, then roughly yanked out tissues to wipe it away.

‘Damn, I’m really going to die like this.’

Feeling the tissues grow damp in my hand, I genuinely wondered whether I could dance and sing in just a few dozen minutes.

[Why don’t you skip the stage? Can’t you see you’re not in your right mind?]

“I know….”

My vision kept tilting.
But I couldn’t stop now, not after coming this far.
The Quest would be complete after just this one performance.
It was more practical to think about how to handle it if I started bleeding while singing.
I tossed the blood-stained tissues into the trash and gently pressed my burning, fevered eyes.
At that moment,

Zzzzzt.

[Damn bastard.]

My phone rang.
I was in no state to answer, so I hung up, but it rang again with relentless persistence.

“Tch….”

Eventually, I swallowed the taste of blood in my mouth and answered the call.

[Hello? Hey, Seo Ho-yoon! You hung up on purpose, didn’t you.]
“…What is it.”
[…?]

I asked, clinging desperately to the threads of reason.
Joo Woo-sung, who was always quick to pick up on things when it mattered least, seemed to sense my state. After a moment of silence, he asked carefully.

[…Are you sick?]
“I’m not sick.”
[Really? Your voice sounds off.]
“I said I’m not sick. Just get to the point.”
[Wow. You’re being sensitive all of a sudden.]

Joo Woo-sung hesitated for a moment, then began speaking.
Something about ‘Shining Star’, ‘mentor’, ‘Chung Beom’, and whatnot—information I’d normally want to absorb carefully, but honestly, I couldn’t focus at all.
It felt like someone was constantly slamming my head against a wall.
I gripped my phone and tried to breathe as slowly as possible.
The situation seemed to be getting progressively worse.

‘This is actually dangerous.’

I thought I might actually collapse at the event.
I was reconsidering whether it might be better to skip the event and just catch the leaker instead, when Joo Woo-sung stopped talking and called out to me.

[Seo Ho-yoon, if you’re sick, just go to the hospital. Getting sick away from home is the worst.]
“Yeah….”

That’s enough—just hang up already.
My head’s pounding….
I’d been trying to bear with it and listen, but as Joo Woo-sung’s words kept flowing endlessly, irritation was beginning to well up.

[Are you guys doing a concert? Wouldn’t it be better to tell the company beforehand rather than collapsing there?]
“…What?”

His words weren’t wrong, but one phrase grated on me terribly.

‘A concert?’

I’d spent an entire year honing The Dun to perfection, yet we hadn’t managed a concert anywhere—not in Japan, not even in Korea. There was no way we could pull off a concert in Japan under these circumstances.
Meanwhile, Joo Woo-sung, this major entertainment company veteran, had apparently discarded whatever social awareness he’d been carrying moments ago, or perhaps he was doing this intentionally, continuing to ramble on.

[Where would it be? Yokohama?]
“…”
[…Oh, no? Sorry. I’ve only been going to Tokyo and Osaka lately, so I’m not sure.]

My hands trembled.
Not from pain, but from rage.
My hazy gaze ignited with fury in an instant, and I gripped the sink with one hand, speaking in a deceptively soft voice.

“—Joo Woo-sung. I’m going to ask you one thing.”
[…Huh? What?]
“How many minutes did the Black Call Tokyo Dome concert sell out in?”
[…Huh?? Out of nowhere?]
“It’s fine, just tell me.”
[Uh, um…]

Joo Woo-sung, sensing something unsettling in my tone, muttered that it was fucking terrifying before reluctantly giving me an answer.

[…Oh, five minutes, I think?]

Hah…

“Hang up, damn it.”

I immediately ended the call and spat blood into the sink again.

“I, you bastard…”

In the mirror, a man with the appearance of a sick patient and a cold expression stared back at me, his eyes burning with an intense light.

“I’ll… definitely make it succeed.”

Woo-sung, thank you.
Because of you, I’ve made up my mind again.

***

“What?! A direct cam dropped??”

After the grueling exam period—where she’d endured each subject with a sharp sense of impending retakes—finally ended, Noel, a university student enjoying her leisurely days, frantically clicked the link upon hearing that a Seo Ho-yoon direct cam had been uploaded.

“Wow, amazing~!”

While Japanese activity videos were uploaded more frequently than other overseas activities, direct cams were still relatively rare compared to Korea, so Noel felt as though she’d received an unexpected gift.
She turned on her laptop to watch the direct cam larger and clearer, and habitually refreshed her phone while accessing a private SNS account, when—

[shivering/trembling]
[Insane]

“…?”

Everyone’s reactions were strange.

‘Is it because of the leak?’

She felt uneasy, wondering if something else had blown up.
Then, from the laptop video, she heard the MC’s voice introducing Second Chance. On screen, Seo Ho-yoon’s figure, waiting backstage, gradually came into focus.

“…What?”

Upon seeing him, Noel couldn’t close her mouth.
From a position in the audience seating where it wasn’t clearly visible, he was leaning against Sung Ji-won’s shoulder, his complexion ashen, breathing in ragged gasps—clearly in pain somewhere.

“Wait, is he sick??”

Noel’s expression grew increasingly grave as the MC’s introduction ended and The Dun took the stage.
Even before the song began, beads of sweat glistened on Seo Ho-yoon’s forehead.
Yet when the formation was set and the intro began to play,

“…!”

My eyes shifted in an instant.

【This sensation ringing in my head
In other words, I’ve returned】

Though I’d heard this intro thousands of times before, Seo Ho-yoon was different today.
With sweat-dampened bangs slightly covering his forehead, he delivered the live performance with meticulous control over his expression—and from him radiated not mere intensity, but something bordering on madness.

“What, what is this?!”

【A future becoming clearer
You grow anxious at the low probability】

Having watched countless direct camera shots of Seo Ho-yoon’s Second Chance performances, Noeul’s instincts flared.

[This is absolutely insane what is this????]

This direct cam would become legendary in history.

[Yo what is this??]

Noeul couldn’t tear her eyes away from Seo Ho-yoon.
Recently, Seo Ho-yoon had appeared composed on every stage. It wasn’t that he wasn’t trying hard—rather, his accumulated experience had stripped away the freshness and desperation of his earlier days.
But in the video, whenever Seo Ho-yoon’s movements drifted outward or he turned his back to the audience, his expression would cloud and his lips would press tight. Yet the moment he shifted toward center or his part arrived, his eyes burned with emotion as he sang, pouring everything into every movement.

“Insane… absolutely insane!!”

Watching Seo Ho-yoon brush his hair back as he stepped away after his verse ended, Noeul’s eyes widened.

[Ah.. wait… I..
I shouldn’t be feeling this way about someone who’s hurting
Ah I’m really sorry]

The Noeul fans….

[So hyped]

…They had no conscience. Especially Seo Ho-yoon’s fans.
His private account was in absolute chaos.

Ugh, that feeling when Seo Ho-yoon comes back at the very beginning of Second Chance… Argh, I’m so excited I could cry!
Back then he really looked unhinged and so sensitive]
[He’s got such a pure, innocent image but seeing him full of venom got so many people excited.. I thought he’d become more relaxed and softer lately but ahhhhh]

[My heart is breaking from the pain but at the same time I’m grinning so hard my face might split
I’m really sorry for being trash…

└Don’t worry, everyone’s like this
In winter, the trash can is warm.
Hahahahaha, I’m dying laughing

“Seo Ho-yoon, what the hell is this?”

Seeing him perform on stage while injured made me sad and worried, and I wanted to tear those Dae Pa-sung bastards to shreds.
But separate from all that, Seo Ho-yoon on screen was absolutely insane—he was killing it.

【Come to me, Come to me
Don’t be afraid, come to me】

The other members, naturally aware of his condition, were subtly watching out for him, but he didn’t spare them a single glance.
The Home Master, knowing this was a crucial detail, managed to capture each perfect moment with uncanny precision.

【Say it once more
That we are a new beginning】

Then, as Seo Ho-yoon moved to the edge of the stage, he spotted the camera filming him and his lips moved slightly.

“What… what is this?”

I frantically rewound and played it back several times, and it became unmistakably clear.
It was a greeting.

‘Hello.’

to the fans.
My eyelashes trembled, sweat dripping from my chin, yet I was still looking after my fans.
Without my usual smooth smile or any hint of laughter in my greeting, Noel grew even more excited.

Bang!
Bang, bang, bang!!

“Hey!! You bastard!!”

It was a greeting delivered while barely clinging to reason.

【This time, in this lifetime, I will definitely
I will Save You (Save You)】

As the song ended, the members quickly gathered beside the slightly swaying Seo Ho-yoon, exchanged their farewells, and descended from the stage—the video concluded with that final scene.

“…Is he insane??”

Noel continued muttering curses while replaying the direct cam over and over.

[Seriously… he’s definitely a popular member…]
[Setting aside the pain, Seo Ho-yoon is truly tough.. Honestly, even when I see clips of him greeting the Fan Manager circulating, I feel nothing.. but with Ho-yoon, even though he’s in pain, you can really feel him holding onto his composure]
[The best part is that he greeted without smiling.. it really seemed like he barely managed to speak]

Only then did Noel calm down slightly and switched to a general account to check reactions.

[#Dae_Pa_sung_Protect_Artists]
[#Cancel_Japan_Event]

As expected, everyone was roasting Dae Pa-sung for pushing a sick artist.
The leak incident still hadn’t been resolved, and now a signed artist was performing on stage while sick overseas?
It was a complete disaster.
Noel leaned back in the chair and scrolled through the posts, then dragged a finger down the screen to refresh.

“…I’m sorry, Ho-yoon.”

Setting aside what felt good, what was wrong was simply wrong.
But what could I do—it was my preference, after all.
Noel added a hashtag, posted the comment, and played the direct cam video once more.

.
.
.

[Quest Complete!
You have successfully completed 10 events in Japan.
Truly a relentless person….
5,000 points have been awarded.]
[The penalty will end soon. You’ll recover gradually within half a day, so hang in there a bit longer.]

Yeah, I’m really grateful for that.
But it wasn’t news I wanted to hear while trapped in the bathroom.
The members, thinking it was just a simple cold, kept insisting I go to the hospital, but since I hadn’t actually caught a real illness, I didn’t think it was necessary.
When I finally returned to the hotel, the members kept hovering around and pestering me, so I kicked them all out.
After watching Kang Yi-chae follow them out, I burrowed under the blankets and lay in bed groaning.
Then suddenly, nausea would surge up, and I’d find myself rushing back to the bathroom.

“Ugh….”

Even though the only light seeping through the gap in the bathroom door was a faint glow from outside, the bright red blood was unmistakably vivid before my eyes.

[Ugh….]

“Damn, this really sucks….”

I could still taste the metallic flavor of blood. My nosebleed continued, along with chills, a soreness throughout my body as if I’d been beaten, and waves of nausea. Every symptom the System Window had listed, I was feeling all of it.

“Ah, the leaker…. The Planning Team cleanup….”

[You’re insane! You’re insane!]
[Is that really important right now?!]
[I’ll do it later! Take a rest first!!ㅠㅠ]

I braced myself against the wall with trembling hands and stood up, then turned on the sink to rinse out my mouth.
I was about to flush the toilet to erase the evidence before the members returned when,

Ding!
Ding!
Ding!!

The System Window erupted with warnings, flashing frantically.

“…?”

Before I could even read what the System Window was screaming about, my vision flooded with light.
The bathroom light had switched on. A chill of foreboding crept up my spine, and goosebumps erupted across my back.
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, trying desperately to adjust to the sudden brightness, when a voice reached my ears first.

“I was worried your stomach might be upset, so I came to pat your back while you throw up…”

‘…Damn it.’

As I slowly lifted my head, I saw a face reflected in the mirror—all traces of warmth drained away.

“Well, well.”

It was Kang Yi-chae.
His arms crossed, his lower lashes lowered in a cold gaze that swept across the toilet and sink—both stained crimson with blood.

“…It’s red?”

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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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