The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 152

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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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152

“Hyung’s here.”
“Yeah, you made it?”

I shot Kang Yi-chae a withering glare—the one who’d been clinging to me the whole time, spouting nonsense about being a cat person and “HowHow” just to get a rise out of me—and shut him up for good.
I cracked open a can myself and returned to my seat just as Jung Da-jun was peacefully lamenting about Korean beef.

“I want to eat Korean beef, but it’s so expensive….”
“Da-jun, that’s only because you ordered five servings.”

‘Nothing serious happened, I guess?’

I wanted to ignore it as much as possible, but I still felt a bit uneasy when occasional glances pierced through me. Fortunately, it seemed nothing major had occurred.
Then Kim Sung-hyun, who’d been wearing a disgruntled expression, looked at me and raised one eyebrow pointedly.

“Seo Ho-yoon.”
“Huh?”
“Stay away from the maknae…. This can’t go on any further.”

What was he talking about?

“Haha, yeah. Ho-yoon, keep some distance.”

Even Sung Ji-won beside him laughed and agreed with Kim Sung-hyun.
What was this really about?
But since I wasn’t particularly curious, I didn’t resist when Kim Sung-hyun grabbed my arm and led me to the seat farthest from where Jung Da-jun was sitting.
As I killed time observing my surroundings, the filming set suddenly grew noisy.

“Hello!”

High Five had arrived.
The bustling set, the bright smiles of the cast concealing subtle wariness, the strangely cordial demeanor.

“We’re High Five.”

In that instant, my eyes met Kang Yeon-hu’s as he entered the filming set at the very front with an upright posture. He offered a respectful bow with a slight crinkle at the corners of his eyes.
Of course, I responded with a friendly smile and greeted him in return.
Other group members quickly gathered around Kang Yeon-hu.

“Senior Yeon-hu, how have you been?”
“Haha, senior. Why are you doing this?”

It wasn’t just me who sensed that atmosphere—Kang Yi-chae regarded him with a lukewarm gaze.

[Welcome to Shining Star.]

Then, a mechanically altered voice echoed through the space.
Simultaneously, text appeared on the massive screen installed across the filming set.

[Will you be able to become the brightest star?
We will now reveal the predicted rankings for the final champion.]

In the first season, each person had written down their predicted rankings for the groups they thought would win, and then their own group’s ranking was revealed. This time, however, the format had changed—participants voted in advance for which group they thought would take first place.

[4th Place: Try
3rd Place: Verse
2nd Place: TEW]

And naturally, first place was….

[1st Place: High Five]

“High Five!!”

While all the groups erupted in commotion over the rankings, Kim Sung-hyun’s expression hardened completely.

“…Fifth place?”
“…We got zero votes?”

The members who had been composed moments before now had rigid expressions, and hollow laughter escaped their lips.
We had been riding high with growing confidence in our skills and performance, so being so blatantly ignored by the voting results wounded our pride.
Watching the members react this way, I rested my chin in my hand.

‘You guys…’

I found myself genuinely enjoying this situation—someone who believed that removing narrative from variety shows was like eating a red bean pastry without the filling.

‘This will edit beautifully later.’

“Brother, Yi-chae is so sad….”
“Back off.”

I excluded the one who didn’t care about others’ opinions.
I flicked Kang Yi-chae’s head with my finger as he tried to lean against my shoulder with a pathetic whimper that didn’t suit him at all.
In that instant, a spotlight illuminated the entrance.
The door swung open, and one man and two women dressed in formal suits and evening gowns entered.

“Hello.”

The MC and mentors had arrived.

“I’m Joo Woo-sung.”

Joo Woo-sung, who served as a mentor and wore formal attire as naturally as if he’d been born in it, was secondary for now.

“I’m Ha Seo-yeon, the MC for this show.”

Ha Seo-yeon, the actress who had become famous from a coming-of-age drama I’d seen near the smoking room last time, appeared as the MC, and beside her stood Han Chae-ri from White Cherry, beaming with a bright smile and serving as another mentor.

“I’m Han Chae-ri!”

In other words.
Both of his ex-girlfriends were standing on either side of him.

‘This crazy bastard….’

Joo Woo-sung, casually surveying the filming set, gave me a playful wink. I had to make sure my expression didn’t distort.
Joo Woo-sung leisurely scanned the filming set before playfully winking in my direction. I had to do my best to keep my expression from contorting.

“Once again, we formally welcome you to Shining Star. I watched Shining Star Season 1 very diligently myself. It’s quite moving to see Season 2 come out like this.”

Ha Seo-yeon, with her characteristic refined and composed demeanor as an actress, continued the proceedings calmly.

“Shining Star Season 2 consists of four competitions, excluding the meet-and-greet. The team that accumulates the highest total score becomes the brightest star. Now then, Woo-sung, you’ll need to tell us about the privileges granted to the winning team?”
“Yes, Seo-yeon.”

Joo Woo-sung continued with an audaciously shameless and glib smile plastered across his face.

“The championship team receives the privilege of hosting their own exclusive reality broadcast and holding a gala concert at the designated venue.”

Behind Joo Woo-sung, concert footage from several famous idols played across the screen.
Dazzling lights, booming sound, and the piercing screams of fans drew gasps of admiration from everyone.

“Wow, that place….”

It was a renowned sports stadium—one of the largest indoor concert venues and considered the dream concert hall for any idol.

“Whoa!”

Each time Jung Da-jun blinked in astonishment, the blue glow from the screen seeped into his eyelashes.
I smiled faintly.

‘Are you excited?’

I had more than enough confidence to hand Jung Da-jun such a privilege.
Joo Woo-sung and Han Chae-ri, who had toured the world multiple times and found such things trivial, gazed warmly at the cast members watching the screen with sparkling eyes.
As the video ended, Han Chae-ri picked up her microphone.

“I think that introduction is sufficient, don’t you? Let’s skip the tedium and get straight to business!”

With those words, she snapped her fingers, the venue plunged into darkness, and the spotlight illuminated a small table positioned atop the staircase.
A small box sat there.

“What is that?”

Ha Seo-yeon, who had been waiting for the murmuring of the cast members to subside, slowly opened her mouth.

“I will now announce the theme for the first competition.”
“…!”
“Your song, my song. A cover song competition.”

As he spoke, song titles began cascading down the screen in sequence.
Most were from top-tier idol groups—the kind of tracks everyone had heard at least once.

“Simply write down whichever song you’d like to perform from this list, place your paper in that box, and then draw. Simple, right?”

I scanned the list from top to bottom as Ha Seo-yeon explained.
One song in the corner caught my eye.

“Hmm.”

I pulled my lips into a satisfied smile.

“So then, what’s the catch here?”

Han Chae-ri asked lightly, and Ber’s Main Vocalist raised his hand. He picked up the microphone and spoke carefully.

“…Does that mean someone else could draw the paper I wrote?”
“…!!”
“Yes! Exactly that!”
“If the song you picked ends up in someone else’s hands, you’d be frustrated, right? Depending on how you strategize, it could work in your favor or against you, so choose your song carefully.”

When Joo Woo-sung picked up the microphone, I noticed Han Chae-ri’s lips trembling slightly beneath her bright smile.
It would’ve been more entertaining if Joo Woo-sung had panicked, but seeing that smooth bastard’s composed face made me lose interest in their romantic situation altogether.
The other groups quickly huddled together and began strategizing with their heads bent close.

“What do we do?”
“Should we go with something strong no matter what? …But what if it gets stolen?”

I held the paper the Staff Member had given me to write down my song choice and scanned through the song titles displayed on the screen once more.
As long as my turn came around, I wasn’t particularly worried about having my song stolen. I had a skill learned from someone. And if it did get stolen, it would make for an entertaining scenario.
Still, I weighed in my mind what we’d gain, how it would affect the other groups, and whether there’d be something to gain even if things didn’t go according to plan.
After sorting through all that, I looked at my members.

“Guys, I have something I want to do.”
“You don’t have to say ‘I’ if you don’t want to.”
“Ho-yoon has something he wants to do.”
“….”

I quickly jotted something down on the paper.
The members’ expressions grew increasingly peculiar as they watched me.

“With this.”
“…?”

As I picked up the finished paper, Kim Sung-hyun leaned in close and whispered quietly.

“You’re sure about this?”
“Of course.”
“If it goes to another group….”
“Either way, it’ll be fun.”

Kim Sung-hyun stared at me for a moment.
I could explain if he wanted, but even with an explanation, he wouldn’t easily agree. Even if he objected, since I was someone the members found soft-hearted, he was probably wondering what to do about me, but instead he simply nodded without another word and tapped my shoulder.
Even if the Members opposed it, since he was soft-hearted toward them anyway, I was wondering how to get him to do it, but without a word, he nodded and simply tapped my shoulder.

“Okay, I understand.”

What was reflected in his eyes was trust.

Kim Sung-hyun. I told you not to trust people so easily.

Once all the groups had finished selecting their songs, Ha Seo-yeon, standing beside the box, picked up the microphone and spoke with a bright smile.
After all the groups finished selecting their songs, Ha Seo-yeon, who had been standing beside the box, picked up the microphone and spoke with a slight smile.

“Yes!”
Yes!

As High Five’s Leader and Kang Yeon-hu strode out, Ha Seo-yeon playfully tapped the box.

“Then shall we try drawing again?”

Everyone had probably filled their selections with famous first-tier male idol songs as the safe choice, unsure if they’d be picked themselves.
But still,
However,

“Next is The Dun. Please come forward.”

If everything’s the same, it’s boring.

Ding!

[You’re really going to draw that?]

I shrugged my shoulders as if to say “of course,” then stood up with an impassive expression.
The System Window chimed noisily the entire walk over.

[Are you sure about this?]
[The quest is to rank first overall?!]
[Do you have confidence? It’s random, you know.]

There’s nothing in this world that can’t be done.
I stopped in front of the box and turned my head to look at Kang Yi-chae before drawing the song.

‘Yi-chae.’

Kang Yi-chae’s eyes narrowed as our gazes met, as if asking what scheme I was cooking up.

‘Thanks. I’ll put your skill to good use.’

“Hmm, this is a tough choice.”
“Ha, but it doesn’t matter which one you pick, right?”

As I scratched my head in feigned contemplation, laughter rippled from behind me—as if to say that all this deliberation was meaningless.

“Still, I should be careful. Everything depends on the luck of the draw, doesn’t it?”

I recalled that moment.
The conversation I’d had with Kang Yi-chae after we finished filming all the self-produced content in the provinces.

“You folded that one slightly before putting it in the box, didn’t you?”

Kang Yi-chae had chosen the high-end restaurant in the drawing where dinner was at stake.

“You caught that?”

At that moment, Kang Yi-chae laughed at my question as if amused.

“Well, if you fold it, you can tell by the feel.”

Right.

‘This is it.’

I felt the texture of the slightly creased paper against my fingertips.
I pulled my lips into a smile and drew the note out of the box.

“The Dun has been drawn.”

Every eye in the room turned toward me.

“Oh, that’s my handwriting.”

And this was a game I had personally prepared.

‘How could this not work in my favor?’

As I held up the card I’d drawn with a grin, Joo Woo-sung’s expression hardened.

“Lia Purple senior’s….”
“…?!”

The room was already in disarray at just the artist’s name.
As I waved the paper toward our leader, Kim Sung-hyun merely raised his eyebrows with an ambiguous smile.
You little bastard.

“It’s ‘Easy Tempo’.”

Let me show you something fun, brother.

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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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