The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 154

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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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154

“Is this what growing up feels like?”
“What are you talking about?”

‘No way, are they actually close…?’

They’d appeared on variety shows together and rumors of their friendship were rampant, but most broadcasting industry insiders had assumed their relationship was purely business.
And for good reason—this was Joo Woo-sung we were talking about.

‘Look at the atmosphere. He’s a true entertainer’s entertainer….’

Even Black Call was rumored to be distant with Joo Woo-sung, except for vocalist Chae Jung-woo. So what kind of relationship would he have with other celebrities in the industry?
If Seo Ho-yoon had known, he would’ve scoffed—though he was famous for being a homebody cat lover who rarely left the house except for work.

“Oh! Senior Joo Woo-sung, hello.”
“Mm~, Ji-won, hey.”

Yet the Assistant Director was witnessing something entirely different from what he’d heard.
He even remembered the names of The Dun’s other members. Sung Ji-won, unfazed by the situation as if accustomed to it, greeted Joo Woo-sung with a slight smile.
The staff members watching the entire scene whispered among themselves in the background.

“Joo Woo-sung, is today your mentoring shoot?”
“No…? Why am I here?”
“…Is your agency Dae Pa-sung?”
“What kind of nonsense is that??”

Even if his schedule was free during his inactive period, was it really okay for a famous idol to just show up at another agency and hang around like this?
Wait, hadn’t the schedule been shared? They’d announced today’s practice shoot.

“What’s going on…?”

Then why had he come to The Dun?

‘Shouldn’t he be going to High Five? Is he worried about getting criticized if he shows up on his direct juniors’ shoot day? But he’d get criticized for coming to The Dun too, wouldn’t he?’

I couldn’t voice it aloud, but countless questions churned beneath the surface among the staff members.
The only person here genuinely delighted by Joo Woo-sung’s arrival with pure intentions was the Screenwriter—once an ardent fan of Black Call.

“He’s so radiant it’s blinding….”
….

Meanwhile, Joo Woo-sung settled onto the sofa with casual composure, as though Dae Pa-sung’s practice room were his own home. He sipped the sports drink Kim Sung-hyun had brought and smiled gently.

“Shall we get started then?”

‘Oh!’

On the surface, the idol profession gleamed with glamour, yet beneath lay not only innate talent but also grueling practice and relentless effort!
The Assistant Director thrilled at the prospect of witnessing it firsthand.

‘How professional will they be?’

Squeak, squeak!

The moment The Dun launched into practice with the synchronized sound of sneakers dragging across the floor, the Assistant Director watched with bright, eager eyes—but only briefly.

“Ugh! Why isn’t this working, come on!!”

The Assistant Director stared blankly at the practice room.

“-you’re already doing it.”
“Is that what you call doing it? Cute and sexy while also looking cool, come on!!”
“We’re already doing it cute, sexy, and cool.”
“Look in the mirror.”
….

The start hadn’t been bad, certainly.
Even when Joo Woo-sung went through The Dun’s members in order, fine-tuning their postures with meticulous detail, it was tolerable despite some rough edges.
But the moment it was Seo Ho-yoon’s turn, the previous corrections seemed like mere appetizers—he ground away at him relentlessly.

“Sigh….”

Seo Ho-yoon’s jaw trembled faintly, whether from holding back because the camera was rolling.

“What? What?? Are you—sighing? You’re sighing right now? I should be the one sighing here. Why can’t you do this?”
“Can’t I breathe however I want?”
“No.”

Whether PD Kim Hee-young had already said something to him or not, every time Joo Woo-sung threw caution to the wind with his remarks, I found myself double-checking that the camera was rolling while clenching my fists instead of speaking.

“Senior, could you give advice in a way that even a complete novice could understand?”
“…Just do it, why is this hard?”
….

‘…Is he here to help, or just to mess with me?’

Joo Woo-sung came alive like a fish in water, vigorously tearing into me with relentless energy.
Even Jung Da-jun, our maknae, got caught in the crossfire and was thoroughly roasted alongside me.

“Da-jun, snap out of it….”
“Y-yeah… okay….”

His spirit had already left his body.

“Ho-yoon, if you weren’t born with talent, you have to make up for it with effort.”

When I clamped my mouth shut under the barrage of harsh truths, my eyebrows twitching slightly, Joo Woo-sung finally rose from his seat, swept his hair back, and assumed a proper stance.

“Watch.”

Counting out the beat with his mouth—one, two, three—he flowed seamlessly through the wave motion, the hip thrust, and even the wink that I’d been struggling with, finishing it off with a casual kiss blown from his fingertips.

“Got it?”
“Yes, I got it!! Senior!!”
“I don’t… I don’t get it….”

The person who’d just demonstrated it had a completely unmoved expression, but Kim Sung-hyun’s eyes beside me had grown misty.
Joo Woo-sung flopped back onto the sofa, crossed his legs, and looked at me with a smirk playing at his lips.

“What are you doing? Get moving.”
….

I answered with nothing but a deep sigh and awkwardly hauled myself up. Then, using Joo Woo-sung’s relentless nagging as background music, I practiced, breaking down each movement in 0.1-second increments.

“Wait a moment—let me swap out the tape before we start individual interviews!”
“Oh, yes!”

After Joo Woo-sung’s observation and my sigh repeated a few more times, PD Kim Hee-young determined we’d captured enough practice footage and gave the order to prepare for interviews.
Even in our exhausted state, The Dun bowed respectfully to each staff member and continued practicing.

“Impressive, really.”

That’s what it takes to be an idol.
Only when told that individual interview filming was about to begin did The Dun finally stop moving.

“We’ll start with Jung Da-jun! We have plenty of time, so take your time getting ready!”
“Yes!”

Everyone simply tidied up their clothes, faces, and hairstyles.
Except for Jung Da-jun, who stepped in front of the camera first, the remaining members retreated to the camera’s blind spot to wait. Among them, Seo Ho-yoon and Sung Ji-won were looking at something on their phones.

“My appetite’s a bit off and I feel dizzy and nauseous, but it’s fine—I can manage!”
“…Oh, aha?”

‘Cheerful and nice.’

Perhaps because he was the youngest, Jung Da-jun’s interview proceeded with energy from start to finish.

“Next up is Sung Ji-won!”

At the staff member’s words, Sung Ji-won, who’d been whispering with me, stood up and switched places with Jung Da-jun.
Moments later, I saw Jung Da-jun rush out from in front of the camera, and I was pinching and poking his cheeks with one hand before quietly stepping out of the practice room myself.

“Ji-won, you’re famous for being a practice enthusiast, aren’t you?”
“Aha, my practice is still lacking. I think I’ll need to do more even after filming wraps.”

As Sung Ji-won’s interview was in full swing, a delicious aroma drifted into the practice room, filling it completely.
It wasn’t just me who noticed—other staff members’ noses twitched too. We’d been pushing through since morning without eating, filming continuously the whole time.
The Assistant Director, searching for the source of the smell, spotted me standing near the practice room door with plastic bags in both hands.

“Oh?”

As the staff member noticed, I carefully spoke up, trying to stay as unobtrusive as possible.

“I apologize for interrupting the shoot. Um, I heard from a few people that you haven’t eaten yet.”
“…?”
“Please have some of this if you don’t mind.”
“What? No, you shouldn’t have….”

Seo Ho-yoon’s laughter scattered among the cheers of the staff members.

‘What?? His thoughtfulness is incredible.’

The Dun members, each receiving a plastic bag from Seo Ho-yoon, bowed repeatedly as they personally handed out premium boxed lunches and beverages.

“Wow~, thank you so much!!”
“Please enjoy your meal.”
“Wow, amazing. These are seriously high-end lunches.”
“Oh, the team doing individual interviews separately should eat later, and the rest of you can eat now. Okay?”

As PD Kim Hee-young quickly took charge of the situation, everyone nodded while unable to tear their eyes away from the boxed lunches.
Kim Sung-hyun’s interview followed after that.
After exchanging some casual remarks, he posed a common question that he was asking all the members.

“How do you feel about the first round of competition coming up?”
“Ah, yes.”

Kim Sung-hyun paused briefly in thought.

“Our debut title track didn’t receive much love. Because of that, we had a long hiatus, and the anxiety about the future was significant.”

Kim Sung-hyun’s eyes, as he gazed directly at the camera, were as upright as his character.

‘Yeah, he’s definitely a beneficiary of Shining Star Season 1.’

“Now we’re receiving more love than we deserve from many people, but through that process, I’ve had to repeatedly reflect on myself and revisit countless things.”

Both his words and his face were captured beautifully on camera.
Just as the Assistant Director thought this scene would turn out nicely, the atmosphere shattered completely.

“But still, I want to work even harder….”
“Hey!! That’s not how you do it!!”

—And behind the scenes, Joo Woo-sung’s Spartan training was beginning again.

“….”
“….”

They were trying to be quiet in their own way, but their voices were all picked up by the audio.
Kim Sung-hyun, who had been exchanging glances with the Assistant Director conducting the interview, took a shallow breath and opened his mouth again.

“…So with that kind of heart, we selected the song….”
“If you keep making that clicking sound, why don’t you just pick up a hammer, huh?”
“—That’s why.”
“Should I really pick up a hammer?? Click-clack, click-clack?!”
“Yeah! Just take it and go on stage like that!”
“….”
“….”

Joo Woo-sung and Seo Ho-yoon, who had been coordinating their choreography in the corner of the practice room, were now openly bickering with each other.
Watching them, Kim Sung-hyun’s eyelashes trembled slightly before his expression relaxed like someone who had achieved enlightenment.

“Phew….”
“…W-we got enough for the interview, so it’s fine. We’ll wrap up here.”

The Assistant Director, who had unwittingly experienced the leader’s hardships firsthand, hurriedly called the next member.

“Seo Ho-yoon, let’s do your interview!”

Finally, Seo Ho-yoon stepped in front of the camera as the last interviewee.

“Ha….”

Irritation was thick in that sigh. As Seo Ho-yoon furrowed his brow and swept his hair back, even the Camera Director filming flinched slightly.

“Ah, my apologies.”

But the moment Seo Ho-yoon saw the Assistant Director, a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.

“It was pretty noisy, wasn’t it?”
“Ah, no, it wasn’t.”
“Did you get to eat the lunch box earlier?”

‘…No, seriously, he’s got such a good personality, doesn’t he?’

The conversation flowed more naturally than expected. Before long, the Assistant Director had let his guard down and was chattering away cheerfully.
It wasn’t until he’d spilled that his younger cousin was a High Five fan that he finally snapped back to attention and could resume the interview.

“Was there a particular reason you chose a Lia Purple song?”

Seo Ho-yoon seemed to think for a moment before flashing a soft smile toward the camera.

“Because the song’s good?”

It made for an undeniably beautiful shot.

‘But….’

Watching Joo Woo-sung beside Seo Ho-yoon hear the answer and smirk with one corner of his mouth raised, the Assistant Director felt slightly exasperated.

‘Just stop fighting with Joo Woo-sung already….’

At the same time, a thought was seared into the Assistant Director’s mind: ‘Joo Woo-sung and Seo Ho-yoon are best friends of the highest order.’

.
.
.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Even after all the broadcast filming wrapped, we continued our practice.
Joo Woo-sung stayed until dawn, meticulously reviewing everything from our choreography to our expressions and gestures.

‘The guy’s relentless….’

After a few more hours passed and everyone else was sprawled on the floor, Joo Woo-sung—still wearing that somewhat dissatisfied expression—grabbed his sports bag.

“Hey, I’m heading out in a taxi too. Make sure you’ve got this down by the time I come back tomorrow.”
“Got it.”
“Look at him—the moment the camera stops rolling, his attitude goes straight down the drain.”

Joo Woo-sung clicked his tongue and stood up.

“Oh, and one more thing.”
“….”
“You guys are sharp.”

I wanted to add something about how obvious that was, but I lacked even the energy for it, so I simply lifted my eyes.

“Honestly, I was curious why you chose a Lia Purple song, but now that I see it, I get it. This could work.”

Of course it would.
Instead of answering, I just waved my hand lazily, and Joo Woo-sung chuckled before leaving the practice room.

“See you tomorrow, Seo Ho-yoon.”

After that, the other members left to shower, and I collapsed flat on the dark practice room floor, alone.

Ding!

[You picked it just because you like it?]

“Like what.”

[There’s no way Seo Ho-yoon would select a song for that reason alone, would you?]

Spot on.
After resting, some strength had returned to my arms. I pulled out my phone and played a video.
This stage could become a good opportunity for The Dun, who had worked so hard to get here, and perhaps even for Lia Purple.

‘Why would I take a loss?’

The method was just a bit shady, that’s all.

[So why did you really pick it?]

“If you’re curious, wait and see, damn it.”

I shut down the System Window as it chimed away with its pestering questions, and though it grumbled, it quieted down somewhat.

[…But still.]

But that was short-lived.
The System Window pestered me again with another message.

“What, again.”

[Joo Woo-sung is nice and all, but honestly, he’s not that good of a person, is he? He basically doesn’t care about other people.]

“So?”

I half-heartedly glanced at the text, then refocused on my phone. The System Window shrunk down to a smaller size and floated across my vision, blocking my view.

[Aren’t you curious? Why are you staying up until dawn helping Seo Ho-yoon?]

“Is he my main scenario target?”

[…No?]

“Then that’s all there is to it.”

[….]

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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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