The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 174

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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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174

Joo Woo-sung’s throat was parched, so he picked up the glass I’d poured and downed it in one go. Then, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he suddenly let out a soft laugh.

“I’ve been here a long time, and I thought I’d seen everything that could possibly happen. But you… you’re a first.”

His face cycled through a dozen different expressions, but after his lips trembled silently for a while, Joo Woo-sung finally asked just one question.

“Are you… hurting?”
“I’m fine.”
“No, I mean your mental state.”

That’s what Joo Woo-sung said.
It was just a question, but the fact that he was asking it in a situation like this irritated me. I propped my chin on one hand and tilted my head to look at him sideways.

“I’m fine.”

Joo Woo-sung met my gaze with an unreadable expression. Then he suddenly brought up something completely out of left field.

“Remember when I told you about the mission and the predetermined candidate during Shining Star Season 1?”

I remembered.
But why bring it up now?

“Back then, you said you owed me one, and told me to ask if you ever needed anything. You remember that too?”
“…When exactly was that?”
“Do you remember or not?”

Even though I made it clear how annoyed I was by his pestering, Joo Woo-sung pressed the question firmly.
I considered dodging and deflecting further, but instead let out a small sigh and just nodded.

“I’m cashing it in now.”
“What?”
“Just wait.”

He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his wallet. Since I had no idea what he was doing, I simply watched and waited.

“Pocket money?”
“Just shut up for a second.”

Joo Woo-sung extracted a small piece of paper from inside his wallet and held it out to me.

“Here.”

I accepted it without thinking—a small white business card.
With “Psychiatry Department” printed on it.

“Go visit sometime when you have the time.”

Was he insane?
I flipped the card back and forth in my hands.

“It’s a very private place, so don’t worry about anyone finding out you’re going to the hospital. If you need to, I can show you how to get there.”
“…Why do you even have this business card?”
“Why do you need to know?”

Joo Woo-sung took an irritated sip of his drink.

“Modern medicine has come so far. Just go when you have time.”
“….”
“I can clearly see you’re falling apart inside.”

…Was this really Joo Woo-sung standing in front of me?
The man who’d always been two percent short had vanished, replaced by someone with remarkable perceptiveness.

“Can I count this as repaying a debt?”
“Sure. I’d been saving this to absolutely screw you over, but I’m using it now with a charitable heart instead.”
“Why use it now after saving it all this time?”
“Because I’m damn cool.”
“….”

I stared at him with cold eyes, but Joo Woo-sung paid no mind and brushed his hair back. I was getting annoyed.

“Your Members think you’re the one who caused this?”
“I don’t think they do.”
“Right. I mean… no one in their right mind would think that.”

He asked the question himself, then let out a hollow laugh as if bewildered.

“Anyway, treat the Members well. Those kids were really crying their eyes out. If it were me, I’d be furious, but they’re too kind-hearted….”
“There’s one person who’s angry.”
“Ah, Yi-chae.”

I rolled my eyes slightly and sipped my beer, and Joo Woo-sung chuckled.

“That’s why you should’ve looked after them from the start. I told you, after all, you’re a team. You think you can do everything on your own? You can’t.”
“….”
“Eventually, you’ll reach a point where you need help.”

I didn’t want to answer, so I just tapped the table and asked back.

“So Chae Jung-woo is the only one you’re close to?”
“…hey.”
“I heard you’re distant even within the group….”

Joo Woo-sung bit his lower lip, clearly struck a nerve.

“Where’d you hear that?”
“It’s well-known.”
“Damn it… people really do talk behind your back about everything. I’m trying to fix that too.”

Joo Woo-sung picked up his chopsticks to grab some side dishes, then pouted his lips. His face had flushed a bit more when he added one more thing.

“…Let’s both make an effort. You and me.”

Before I could respond, Kim Hee-young and Lim Hyun-sung returned. I quickly shoved the business card I’d been holding into my pocket.

Lim Hyun-sung, unaware of what Joo Woo-sung and I had discussed, looked at me with a slightly clearer expression from the fresh air, then tucked a cigarette pack and lighter into the pocket of my chest.

“What are you doing?”
“Smoke it and forget about it.”

Even as I shot him a look, Lim Hyun-sung remained unbothered and loudly insisted on going to a fourth place.

“I’m heading in first.”
“Ah~. Where are you going!!”
“You’re so busy~. You don’t want to hang out with us~.”
“Yes, I’m incredibly busy.”

If I stayed any longer, the drunk members would grab me and drag me around until dawn, so I quickly abandoned them and caught a taxi.

When I arrived at the Dormitory, all the lights were off and it was quiet.
It was already past dawn.
Yet despite knowing I’d arrived, no one came out of their bedroom.

I went straight to bed without even changing clothes.
I was still tired, but my mood wasn’t terrible.
I rubbed my tingling left arm and organized my thoughts.

“…Hmm.”

Then I rummaged through my pocket and pulled out the business card to examine it.
I hadn’t thought about it at all until Joo Woo-sung mentioned it again today, but I’d received counseling before, so I had no resistance to it.
Going to the Hospital wouldn’t be bad,

‘but it’s not a fundamental solution.’

Even if I went there, there were far too many things I couldn’t discuss honestly.
Well, I’ll go anyway.
I never expected him to ask me to repay a debt this way, but I’m the type of person who keeps promises no matter what.

‘As long as it’s not a scenario, it doesn’t matter….’

I’d been curious for a while now. Why was Joo Woo-sung being so kind to me?
I slipped the business card into my wallet and recalled something else.
Joo Woo-sung would occasionally play the senior and I’d let it go in one ear and out the other, but today there was something particularly irritating about it.

In any case, the fact that we were a team.

I glanced at the empty bed beside me.
If I left things as they were, it could cause problems during our activities.
Besides, I couldn’t just sit here wallowing forever.

“…All right.”

I pulled myself together, jumped up, and headed straight to the Entertainment Company.

.
.
.

“So.”

Arriving at the Entertainment Company in the early morning hours, I decided to confront Kang Yi-chae directly.

“Did you catch on?”

Kang Yi-chae, who’d apparently been working until now and was awkwardly wearing headphones, widened his eyes at the sight of me.

“…What are you talking about, showing up out of nowhere like this?”

But the way his gaze quickly dropped told me he’d already figured it out.
I collapsed into the chair beside him.

“You’re avoiding me. You’ve realized what’s going on, haven’t you?”

If this continued, rumors of discord within the group would inevitably surface.
At my question, which seemed to show I’d regained some clarity, Kang Yi-chae paused for a moment before speaking slowly.

“…Did you really let personal matters get to you?”

…Just as I thought.
When I remained silent, Kang Yi-chae scratched his head vigorously. Then he removed his headphones and slowly leaned closer to me while still seated.

“Sigh…”

And he exhaled a deep, heavy sigh.

“Well… I mean, it’s not like I’m avoiding you because of that. To be honest, I wasn’t unaware of your darker side until now. …But I didn’t expect you to come at me like this out of nowhere.”

After exchanging a few words, I found myself thinking something unexpected.

“…You’re not angry?”

Kang Yi-chae was oddly composed.
The corner of his eyebrow twitched slightly.

“…Hmm, you really don’t remember, do you?”

He fell silent for a long moment, then muttered while dragging his finger across his lips.

“Hyung, I’ve already vented enough.”
“Huh?”
“You weren’t in your right mind these past few days, so it makes sense you don’t remember.”

He twisted the cap off a water bottle sitting on the edge of the table and took a sip.

“Ever since the leak broke, you haven’t slept a wink for days. When you did manage to doze off, you’d groan like you were having nightmares. You were fine in front of the camera and the audience, but otherwise you were walking around like you’d been possessed, completely out of it.”
“….”
“Because you were like that, I started doubting myself too. I kept wondering if you really did what they’re saying.”

There was no particular blame in his tone or word choice toward me.

“Then why aren’t you coming back?”

That’s what puzzled me most.
If his words weren’t the reason, then why was he sleeping on that cramped sofa in the Work Studio instead of in a comfortable bed?

“…Maintaining appropriate social distance?”

Kang Yi-chae threw out a joke with a playful smirk, but the moment I gave him a skeptical look and crossed my arms, his expression turned serious again.

“Just take a break for a while.”
“…!”
“Everyone’s going to say something anyway right now. It’d be annoying if even the people closest to you added to the noise. We’ve already agreed on it as a group.”

It was a story I was hearing for the first time.
Kang Yi-chae’s eyes rolled as if recalling that moment, and his body trembled slightly.

“There was some resistance, of course, but Sung Ji-won hyung completely shut it down. The way he speaks so calmly and methodically crushes everything—he’s a real demoralizer.”
“Sung Ji-won?”
“Yeah, that Sung Ji-won you trust so firmly, the soft-hearted one.”
“When did I ever—”
“Right, right. Of course not.”

I already knew that Sung Ji-won had a formidable personality.
Kang Yi-chae’s lips curved upward at an angle.

“You might not know, but the company tried to push through the schedule. Instead of a break, they crammed in a reality program and concert dates right away. Hyun-sung hyung got furious, and Da-jun was barking along with him too.”
“…Really?”
….

Kang Yi-chae’s exasperated gaze pierced into me.

“Sigh….”

His sigh carried countless emotions.
I could feel him swallowing his words, looking disappointed, and it stung my pride.

“Anyway, we share responsibility for what you did. I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with getting first place, but.”
“How is that your fault?”

Was I mistaken, swayed by guilt?
Perhaps sensing that meaning in my words, Kang Yi-chae rebutted with eerie perceptiveness.

“Acting emotionally… No, you’re right. I can’t deny it.”

Kang Yi-chae, coolly acknowledging himself, took another sip of water to wet his throat.

“Anyway, we’re on the same team, hyung. If we’d objectively performed well, you wouldn’t have needed to do something like that.”

My obsession with first place was obvious.
To prevent any possible information leaks, and to escape this scenario as quickly as possible.
I didn’t think the Members lacked skill.

“If I hadn’t thrown a tantrum about not wanting to compose back then, if Jung Da-jun hadn’t made that mistake, if Ji-won had practiced more, if Hyun-sung had worked on his abs. And so on and so forth….”
“What’s the last one?”
“Honestly, isn’t our responsibility taking up the biggest share?”

Kang Yi-chae said it playfully with a chuckle, then closed the water bottle cap and spun it with his fingertips.

“I know the group isn’t your top priority.”
“….”
“I’ve always been curious why you go this far. But watching you, I get it now. You have something else you’re aiming for.”

I pushed off the ground with my foot and moved toward the desk where I’d been working, then frantically mashed the save button on the composition program in the laptop.

“Then we should run together.”

And I smiled.

“Does it hurt?”
“Nope.”
“Can you breathe okay?”
“Of course.”

I lied shamelessly, deploying acting skills that somehow never worked on the Members.
When my arm started tingling occasionally, I shifted my body slightly away from Kang Yi-chae, but he just watched quietly without saying anything.

“Yeah, that’s a relief.”

He murmured only that, and silence settled between us. After a moment, Kang Yi-chae stretched and stood up.

“But stop throwing up when you do, got it?”
“….”

Does he have to make it rhyme even at times like this?
I returned to the Dormitory with Kang Yi-chae, who patted my back and gestured for me to go. Despite the deep hour before dawn, unlike before, all the Members were gathered in the Living Room, speaking in hushed tones. They widened their eyes when they saw us.
Even though it was deep into the early morning hours, unlike before, all the Members were gathered in the Living Room. They were talking quietly together when they saw us and opened their eyes wide in surprise.

“You’re back?”
“Yeah. Hey, we don’t have anything to do anyway….”
“Yeah. Hey, we don’t have anything to do…”

I settled naturally onto the sofa, wondering what to say, when I suddenly remembered Da-jun singing about wanting to drink alcohol once he came of age.
Back then, I’d scoffed at the kid for having such fearless thoughts, as if his liver were invincible.

“…Want to grab drinks for the after-party?”
“What do you…?”

Even Da-jun looked at me with eyes that screamed this was completely out of the blue.

“If you don’t want to, forget it.”
“Oh! No, let’s do it, let’s do it.”

Ji-won seemed to think this was a perfect opportunity to lighten the mood, so he agreed with my suggestion and jumped up to start setting things up.
I followed behind Kim Sung-hyun as he volunteered to go buy the drinks.

“What do you want to drink?”
“Sol O.”
“I’m so sick of that….”

If you’d ever mixed Sol O with soju, you wouldn’t say that. I was grabbing beer and soju, and now I was eyeing the liquor section when Kim Sung-hyun asked from beside me.

“By the way, you came back without fighting Yi-chae? That’s unexpected.”
“Why would there be a need to fight…?”

I awkwardly scratched the bridge of my nose for no reason.

“Yi-chae seemed mature.”
“…What?”
“He was really composed, you know?”

The Sol O in Kim Sung-hyun’s hand dropped to the floor with a thud.

“Hey. You really don’t remember, do you…? When you were in bad shape, he was the one who got the angriest, wasn’t he?”
“…??”

And from Kim Sung-hyun’s mouth, wearing an expression of utter bewilderment, came a story I had no knowledge of.

“Remember when the company was discussing whether to leave you as you were or pull you from the stage? Yi-chae and Ji-won fought so viciously. I thought his eyes were going to roll back in his head—I was sure we’d disband right then and there.”
“….”
“Da-jun and I both got our backs torn up. I never imagined I’d become the shrimp caught in the crossfire.”

Kim Sung-hyun glanced at my face, then grumbled as he picked up the drink rolling across the floor again.

“And letting him roam around outside all this time was to give Kang Yi-chae time to calm down.”

Only then did I understand.

‘Kang Yi-chae, you bastard!’

He’d conveniently left out all the unfavorable details.

—————
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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