The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 180

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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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180

“Why is the Planning Team Lead showing up here??”

[???????]

【
Management Support Team Planning Team Lead Kim Sung-hyun
Special Trait: He cannot easily pass by those in difficulty.
】

‘Why is Hyung showing up here…?
1)
‘The subtitle was overlaid with flowers and sparkles.

Hyun-sung??? lololololololololololololololololololololololololololol

The script did contain the line ‘I run into Kim Sung-hyun at the restaurant,’ but I had no idea it would play out like this.
Seo Ho-yoon lost his appetite and set down his chopsticks.

“Excuse me, Planning Team Lead, what are you doing here?”
“…Well, I took a half day off this morning and came in early to eat, but the restaurant owner asked me earnestly to help out.”
“Sigh….”
“Team Lead, I’ll have the buckwheat bibim naengmyeon!”

Jung Da-jun cheerfully placed his order without reading the room, while Kim Sung-hyun nodded along and carefully wrote it all down.
Seo Ho-yoon and Kang Yi-chae exchanged looks of utter disbelief at the two of them, but it didn’t seem to faze them.

“Alright, confirming the order—one buckwheat cold noodles, one buckwheat mixed cold noodles, one dumpling soup, one plate of dumplings, two bowls of rice, and two sodas, correct??”

[Heard Kim Sung-hyun worked a ton of part-time jobs before debut, so he looks pretty used to this;;;;]

└Wait… is this kind of… sexy…]

[Wait! Let’s learn about Kim Sung-hyun’s part-time jobs
Cafe, PC Bang, Movie Theater, Loading/Unloading, Delivery, Academy, Driving

└Thanks, SpeedWagon!!]

Seo Ho-yoon clicked his tongue and grabbed Kim Sung-hyun’s arm as he turned toward the kitchen to place an order, then untied the ribbon strings of his apron.
He pressed down on his shoulders to make him sit, then called over another staff member to place the food order.
It was at this moment that Seo Ho-yoon realized something: though they each had assigned roles, the scripts they were given were completely different, and everything was unfolding as if it were a real situation.
In fact, the moment Lee Ji-hyun heard the Pyongyang cold noodles joke, she couldn’t let such a good opportunity slip away and had hastily secured the restaurant for filming.
Kang Yi-chae posed a question to Kim Sung-hyun.

“Planning Team Lead Kim, you’re so natural at restaurant work. It’s like it’s in your bones.”
“Huh??? Right, it feels like it comes from experience?”
“I actually helped out there quite a bit.”
“…Did you get paid properly?”
“…Well, I owed him a lot of favors usually.”
“Sigh….”

.
.
.

While Seo Ho-yoon earnestly pleaded with Kim Sung-hyun to stop living that way, Kang Yi-chae and Jung Da-jun cheerfully enjoying their lunch beside him flashed by in fast-forward, and the scene soon transitioned to a different setting.

【The Dun Electronics H1 20XX Results Report】

In reality, an intern would never be allowed to participate in a mid-term report, but The Dun Electronics has them attend and present to nurture their growing intern talent—Seo Ho-yoon’s brief explanation flashed across the screen.
Of course, Kang Yi-chae, who was a “parachute hire,” was nowhere to be seen.

“Jung Da-jun, repeat after me.”
“Yes?”

With Jung Da-jun trembling nervously before the important presentation, Seo Ho-yoon glanced at his tablet, then pretended to be tired and rubbed the corners of his eyes.

“If I make a mistake, the company won’t collapse.”
“…The, the company won’t collapse?”
“Yes, good. You can spit in the face of someone smiling.”
“You spit in the face of someone smiling?!”

Unaware of Jung Da-jun’s wild imagination running rampant with his own interpretation, Seo Ho-yoon turned off the tablet and pivoted toward the conference room.

“What did I tell you? If other departments say something?”
“It’s your fault for dumping all the work on us—deal with it!”
“Even if Jung Da-jun made a mistake?”
“We fix it quickly, but maintain the attitude of ‘Oh, is the company going under~~!'”
“Understood.”

Like someone freshly brainwashed, Jung Da-jun rattled off the answer in 0.1 seconds flat.
Seo Ho-yoon smiled with satisfaction and gently brushed back Jung Da-jun’s disheveled bangs.

“I’m counting on you.”
“…! Yes, sir!!”

With that, Seo Ho-yoon opened the conference room door and stepped inside. Jung Da-jun, moving with stiff motions, slowly took his place at the front.

“Oh, is it Jung Da-jun’s turn this time? I’m excited to see what you’ve got.”

Sung Ji-won, seated across from Seo Ho-yoon, smiled brightly.
His flawless, crystalline smile seemed to instantly illuminate the darkened conference room where the projector had been turned on.

“You know the topic, right? Anything that can help improve teamwork for The Dun will work.”

Witnessing this directly, Jung Da-jun’s thought process seemed to freeze momentarily before he whipped his head back toward Seo Ho-yoon in a panic.

“Team Lead Seo!! Team Lead Sung is smiling—what do I do in this situation?! Do I spit?!”
“….”

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Jung Da-jun you crazy bastard hahahahahahahahahahahaha
I’m not saying you’ll spit when you laugh lol

One of Seo Ho-yoon’s eyebrows twitched.
He spun his pen idly before sinking deep into his chair as he spoke.

“Most of what Sung Ji-won says is right, so just swallow what’s in your mouth and listen carefully.”
“Wow, favoritism much….”
“You stay quiet, baby team lead.”
“Ugh!”

Seo Ho-yoon, who had startled Kim Sung-hyun sitting diagonally across from him, gestured toward Jung Da-jun.
Jung Da-jun clenched his fist with determination and turned on the PowerPoint presentation.

【How to Increase The Dun’s Teamwork!!
Subtitle: The Secret to Stopping Getting Scolded by Planning Team Lead Seo Ho-yoon!
-Jung Da-jun-】

Lee Ji-hyun had insisted that it only held value for the fans if he made it himself, so Jung Da-jun had racked his brains and prepared it with considerable effort.

“I believe the top priority for increasing The Dun’s teamwork is Planning Team Lead Seo’s scolding. I mean, why on earth does he have such a personality in the first place!!”

But if he claimed he’d tried, he’d deserve ridicule—it was that much of a mess.
Behind a blindingly bright rainbow background, Gungsuh font was plastered everywhere. Photos of Seo Ho-yoon even flew in from all directions—top to bottom, right to left, whooshing across the screen.

[Kyaaaah]

The screen was utterly chaotic, yet the Noeul fans were too busy hitting the screenshot button to care about the dazzling animations. Every photo on the PowerPoint was previously unreleased.

[I’ve never seen any of these before, damn it!!!!!!!!!]
[That sleeping photo is insane, first time seeing it;;;;;;;;;;;;]
[Da-jun, your sense is seriously incredible, make Jung Da-jun the CEO of this company right now]

Though it wasn’t an intentional strategy, the fans were eating it up, and Jung Da-jun continued his presentation by striking the stage with a flourish.

“In conclusion! The Dun has had to memorize every customized menu from all the coffee shop chains currently existing in South Korea just to please Seo Ho-yoon! When it could’ve just been an Americano!!”

Seo Ho-yoon scrutinized the content on the screen with sharp eyes from beginning to end.

“Jung Da-jun.”
“Yes!”

He looked at Seo Ho-yoon with a flushed face, seemingly quite satisfied with his own presentation. Seo Ho-yoon tapped the table with his pen.

“Have you ever actually brought me a customized drink that matched my preferences even once?”
“…!!”
“Whenever I ask for a drink, you just dump whatever you like into a Frappuccino. Is this an assassination attempt?”
“Th-that was! I just thought we should try mixing everything I like!”

Jung Da-jun, caught off guard, stammered.
Mixing a beverage into a Frappuccino was something he enjoyed, but it had been half driven by curiosity.
In any case, all of Jung Da-jun’s careful preparations had come to nothing.

“Did I ask for something so difficult? Come on, Kim Sung-hyun. Tell me what I like.”
“Sol X Nun, yuzu tea, and syrup—mostly caramel, chocolate, or condensed milk.”
“Isn’t it perfectly possible like this?”

Ignoring Kim Sung-hyun’s grumbling about how he couldn’t possibly not know after hearing it hammered into his ears so relentlessly, Seo Ho-yoon pressed Jung Da-jun further.

“Your point keeps shifting. What exactly are you trying to say?”
“What do you mean, animation?”
“Get to the conclusion.”

Jung Da-jun’s eyes drooped as he silently screamed inside, and I heard Seo Ho-yoon’s disapproving click of his tongue.

“…I can’t memorize it, so what do I do??”
“If it were me, I’d write it down in a memo and show it to the staff member taking the order every time.”
“…There’s a way like that?!!”

Jung Da-jun smacked his forehead.
Sung Ji-won tilted his head in confusion.

“You knew but didn’t tell him the method, Ho-yoon?”
“Ah.”

Seo Ho-yoon stopped tapping the pen on the table and leaned close to Sung Ji-won, whispering.

“He looks adorable when he’s all flustered like that.”
“I see.”

[hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]
Hey you son of a bitch!!!!lololololololololololololol

“…Team Lead Seo….”

Though he’d pretended to whisper, his voice rang out clearly across the entire conference room. Jung Da-jun, who had already heard everything, glared at Seo Ho-yoon with blazing eyes.

“But you just said to ignore it!!”
“That was about other departments.”
“Huh??”
“I never said anything about what happens when it’s the same department.”

The moment Seo Ho-yoon left one person utterly speechless, the conference room door burst open with a bang.

“Good afternoon~.”

It was Kang Yi-chae.
The one who’d been mocking him as a “parachute hire” and grinding his teeth over it,

[This crazy bastard]

had literally shown up wearing an actual parachute pack on his back.

Hey, you crazy bastard lol

“Kang Yi-chae, whose hobby is paragliding, has arrived.”

After landing a blow on Seo Ho-yoon, he’d asked the staff to retrieve a parachute from the tvK Props Room.
While Sung Ji-won grinned away, both Kim Sung-hyun and Seo Ho-yoon’s expressions darkened simultaneously. Kang Yi-chae, properly fitted with a helmet and goggles, climbed onto the stage beside Jung Da-jun.

“Get out.”
“Wait, just a moment!”

Seo Ho-yoon pointed toward the door, but Kang Yi-chae stubbornly grabbed the remote and switched the screen.
Kim Sung-hyun had long since given up trying to stop his team’s rapper, so he could only watch with an exhausted expression.

“Today, I’ll be presenting the topic from the Strategic Planning Office.”

Ornate hearts spun across the screen before fading away, revealing the text beneath.

【The Dun Electronics Saga】

“Excuse me, where did this saga suddenly come from? It has nothing to do with teamwork.”
“Team Lead Kim Sung-hyun, doesn’t our morale improve when the company’s reputation is strong?”

Kang Yi-chae responded shamelessly as if Kim Sung-hyun should have known better, then pointed at Seo Ho-yoon.

“I came into the Strategic Planning Office and was deeply moved by how the Planning Team Lead treated me with such genuine warmth and consideration.”
“Yes, I’m a rather warm-hearted man.”
“Since you treat people that way every day, inspiration just comes flooding in, you know?”

Seo Ho-yoon’s brow furrowed sharply.
He’d noticed that Kang Yi-chae kept disappearing somewhere during filming breaks or was too preoccupied tapping away on his laptop to pay attention.
Kang Yi-chae snapped his fingers with a confident smile plastered across his face.

“Listen to this.”

Kang Yi-chae clicked on a small heart icon positioned at the corner of the screen. The conference room fell silent in an instant, and a beat began to flow.

[This song is insane]
[What is this? Are they releasing an unreleased new track here??!]

For Kang Yi-chae, who had been buried in production work ever since Shining Star Season 2, churning out an R&B beat that reeked of money was absurdly simple.
Just as the Noeul fans gripped their racing hearts and stared intently at the screen,

【Pa- Pa- Pa-】

A mechanical sound layered over the melody, enriching the tune further,

[I’m so nervous I can’t even watch]
[Are they seriously revealing it here?]

And then the lyrics came through.

【Pa-pa-pa-pa-ra—Shoot~.】

“…?”

【Pa-ra-pa-ra—Shoot~】

“….”

Parachute.
In other words, a bailout.

【Yeah~ I’m a parachute~
You’re a slave~】

As everyone’s jaws dropped, Kang Yi-chae twisted his body slightly, speaking as if a bit embarrassed.

“I created it based on my own autobiographical experiences.”
“….”
“….”

[This crazy bastard]

The fans’ reactions, which had frozen for a moment, began pouring onto various SNS platforms and communities.

[Yo Kang Yi-chae you’re insane lololololololololololololololololololololololol]
[No wonder this guy gets along so well with Seo Ho-yoon, he’s got the heart of a true Noeul fan lololololololololololololol]

Regardless of what expressions the other members wore, Kang Yi-chae kept wiping his chest repeatedly, as if moved by the song he had created.

【You’re~~ a slave~ oh no~.】

“Hey, you parachute maniac!!!!!”
“Tell that bastard to just put on the parachute and jump out the window.”

Kim Sung-hyun, hardened through various part-time jobs, and Seo Ho-yoon, who had accumulated countless experiences through workplace life, were about to stand up in extreme fury when—

【No~ yes, slave~~ s.】

A clear, crystalline voice resonated throughout the conference room.

【I am a slave~ s!】

That’s right.
The title was: Parachute (feat. Sung Ji-won).

【I’m Ji-won from HR Support, yo
Yi-chae told me to just try whatever I wanted, so I’m trying rapping in support, no and yes】

“…What is this.”

Listening to the crisp, rhythmic staccato rap that cut through the beat, Seo Ho-yoon’s mind grew hazy as he whipped his head toward Sung Ji-won, demanding an explanation with his eyes.

“…Well, the song was just so good.”

[Sung Ji-won, you still haven’t given up on rapping?]
[Looks like I haven’t…]

Kang Yi-chae winked at Sung Ji-won.

“You’ve improved tremendously!”
“Haha, that’s all thanks to you, Yi-chae!”

Kim Sung-hyun swept his sharp gaze across the two of them, their atmosphere warm and friendly.
Simultaneously, narration flowed in Kim Sung-hyun’s voice.

【This collusion. Come to think of it, that’s right. Even if the CEO planted the parachute hire, it had to go through the hands of the HR Support Team Lead.】
【We forgot an obvious fact, mesmerized by that innocent smile….】

As the screen shifted, Kang Yi-chae was shown bursting through the conference room window and paragliding away.

【Goodbye, parachute.】

Behind the gently descending paraglider, the sun set as if marking the end of a long day, and The Dun’s logo was emblazoned across the screen.

【Goodbye, slaves.】

Then the camera captured the three eldest brothers rapidly escaping the conference room. Following them, Jung Da-jun turned off the lights and, being the last to leave, clenched his fist tightly.

【Goodbye, elephant….】

“You all did great today!! Good!!”

The narration wrapped up in a wistful voice, and as the ending credits slowly rolled, the Noeul fans fell into thought about what they’d just witnessed.

[Ah…]

After a moment, they all reached the same conclusion.

[This is what you call a waste of talent…]

These guys are genuinely committed to maintaining their B-grade sensibilities.

[They’re seriously all-in on this…

└There was a rumor that they get offended if they lose to something funny, and it seems to be true
└└Guys… if you’re not funny, do they kick you out of the dormitory in your underwear? I’ve thought about it so much, but I can’t figure out the reason…
└└That’s credible…]

“Pa-pa-pa-pa-ra—shoot~.”
“Slave~ss.”

I thought it was over, but after the ending credits finished, a post-credits scene followed.
This time, The Dun in their entirety—including Sung Ji-won—were back in the restaurant in the same outfits, eagerly slurping Pyongyang cold noodles.
Jung Da-jun swallowed a mouthful of noodles and asked.

“By the way, are you guys performing this song at the concert?”
“….”

Everyone fell silent.
Even Kang Yi-chae, who composed and wrote the lyrics, couldn’t answer.

1) One of the representative memes from Episode 408 “The Giant of Temptation” of MBC’s flagship variety show Infinite Challenge (2006.05.06.-2018.03.31.)

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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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