The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 183

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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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183

Kang Yi-chae and Seo Ho-yoon were a perfect match, both equally cunning.

“You get the mission password and location by using Jung Da-jun and Kim Sung-hyun. I’ll figure out who the traitor is.”
“Roger that.”

Because they knew each other so well, it was easy to predict each other’s behavioral patterns, and they believed that once they coordinated their efforts, they could effortlessly extract the necessary information.
After exchanging meaningful glances, they turned their backs and flashed cunning smiles, which were immediately overlaid with speech bubble CG.

‘So he’s going to betray me, this bastard.’
‘He’s going to milk this for all it’s worth….’

[Wow, the production team nailed Yi-chae’s character

└Looks like they really studied The Dun’s content]

Lee Ji-hyun’s 56-page planning document contained such detailed character profiles of The Dun that the production crew couldn’t possibly have missed it.

Judging that things were becoming increasingly entertaining, the production crew cut the take midway and inserted a brief interview with Kang Yi-chae.

【Q. Who do you think the traitor is?】

“Well, the only person in The Dun whose every word I trust is Hyun-sung.”

【Q. Why is that?】

“Because he’s a terrible liar—it shows immediately.”

Kim Sung-hyun played the decisive role in his deduction. Kang Yi-chae chuckled and pushed his sunglasses up.

“So the traitor is definitely Seo Ho-yoon.”

[Dude, how’d you leave out your brother]

Confident that he’d figured everything out, Kang Yi-chae approached the temporary public phone booth slowly and spoke.

“Would I trust my brother?”
-What?

He stepped inside the phone box and toyed with the receiver, speaking playfully.

“Hyun-sung lying? That’s ridiculous. There’s no way he could pull off that kind of acting.”
-….
“I mean, even if he were a traitor, come on. Why did he act so carefree like an amateur? At least he could’ve pretended to receive the mission first.”
-…Do you really think that?

Instead of answering, Kang Yi-chae let out a quiet laugh.

-Yi-chae, where are you?
“What good does it do you to know?”

No matter how much I thought about it, Kim Sung-hyun didn’t seem capable of acting well enough to deceive me. His facial expressions had improved recently, but the moment he opened his mouth, it all fell apart.
However, Seo Ho-yoon was different.
He could deceive anyone in the world without blinking once.

“Brother, I’ll call you again later.”

Kang Yi-chae waved at the invisible person on the other end.

“Should I give you a password then?”

Without hesitation, Kang Yi-chae hung up and hummed a tune as he held the receiver.

[Hey guys, thanks for filming the movie with us
But honestly, the whole “sincerity” thing is getting old
But… trust each other a little, yeah?
I’d trust a door-to-door flooring salesman more than this

└Seriously, a door-to-door salesman has higher credibility at this point]

While Noeul watched The Dun members’ desperately low trust in each other and tore at their hair, Kang Yi-chae grinned and spoke.

“The traitor is Seo Ho-yoon.”

He wanted to make this dramatic moment even more theatrical.

“Ho-yoon, how could love—.”

So he deliberately held his breath for a moment, then exhaled slowly, and was just about to recite the mission password in a wistful voice when a mechanical sound came through the receiver.

【Kang Yi-chae, your traitor deduction has failed.】
【You are immediately eliminated.】

“…Huh?!”

Kang Yi-chae, caught off guard, couldn’t even respond properly before the line went dead.

Beep, beep.

[?????]
[Why did Yi-chae get eliminated?]

Still holding the phone, Kang Yi-chae dejectedly ran his hand through his hair, and a knock sounded from behind him.

Knock, knock.
Beep, beep.

Startled, he turned around to find Seo Ho-yoon tilting his head slightly with a subtle smile.

“Hey there.”

[Kyaaaaaaaa]

All the viewers watching the broadcast screamed at his incongruously gentle tone given the situation.
Kang Yi-chae looked around in confusion, trying to make sense of what was happening, then turned back to Seo Ho-yoon.

“…What??”
“Haha.”

Seo Ho-yoon opened the public phone booth door and casually brushed some dust off Kang Yi-chae’s clean shoulder.

“Why didn’t you just trust your brother?”
“…!!”
“Come on, you bastard.”

Seo Ho-yoon chuckled as he grabbed Kang Yi-chae, who was letting out a hollow laugh, and dragged him outside.

Hahaha look at that incredibly satisfied expression hahahaha
Looks like you’re feeling relieved hahahaha

“Wait, hold on! You said you wouldn’t make me regret this!!”
“But it was fun, so I won’t regret it.”

【The Fourth Betrayal Occurs!
Seo Ho-yoon betrays Kang Yi-chae!】

Since there was nothing wrong with his logic, Kang Yi-chae missed his chance to counter and was dragged away by the Staff Member, visible over Seo Ho-yoon’s shoulder.

[Wait, so if it’s not Seo Ho-yoon, who’s the traitor???]
[Crazy Seo Ho-yoon going straight for it;;]
[Damn, that’s insane—you can only do this once and the difficulty is way too hard]

Without a moment’s hesitation, Seo Ho-yoon pressed the numbers decisively, then pulled out his phone from his pocket, brought up the messaging app, and showed the camera lens.

【Kim Sung-hyun: I did exactly what you told me to】
【Kim Sung-hyun: They really did betray me right away, those bastards…】
[Me: O photo]
【Kim Sung-hyun: You were bad too…】

At the bottom of the brief messages was a photo of what appeared to be a mission card sent by Kim Sung-hyun.

【Deduce the Traitor―
‘I’ve walked through darkness for this moment’】

Shining Star Season 2, the legendary final stage.
Lyrics from Stardust.

Kim Sung-hyun had never intended to lie to Kang Yi-chae and Jung Da-jun from the start. Before filming, he had tried his best to ignore even Seo Ho-yoon’s words, which subtly amplified his anxiety by asking, “Is there any member besides Sung Ji-won that I can trust?”

But as time passed, the sentence Seo Ho-yoon had casually thrown out lingered in my mind like a demon’s whisper, and ultimately, I had provided a different hint as insurance.
Truthfully, if Jung Da-jun and Kang Yi-chae hadn’t betrayed me, I would have corrected it later.

However, when I was truly backstabbed, the first person who came to mind was Seo Ho-yoon.
Because if the target wasn’t him, there was no one more suitable to entrust with handling someone.

【Fifth Betrayal Occurs!
Kim Sung-hyun betrays Kang Yi-chae and Jung Da-jun.】

Whirrrr… whirrrr.
Click.

Seo Ho-yoon called out to the other person with ‘affection.’

“Ji-won.”

Moments of warmth and tenderness between Seo Ho-yoon and Sung Ji-won flashed by in crude CGI.
He paused, tapping at the tangled phone cord, and his expression turned bitter.

“How can love change?”

An awkward laugh came through the receiver.

【The Primordial Betrayal.
Sung Ji-won betrays everyone.】

.
.
.

The full story of The Dun’s Five incident, which involved six total betrayals, unfolded as follows.
A few days before filming, the production staff called Sung Ji-won aside and assigned him the role of the traitor.

“Aha, sounds good! I’ll give it my all.”

【Traitor Sung Ji-won confirmed!】

With an angelic face, Sung Ji-won carried the role far beyond what the staff had anticipated.
From subtly hinting that Kang Yi-chae was the traitor, to deliberately drawing Seo Ho-yoon’s attention by mentioning how delicious the hot dogs looked, to engineering a scene where he got surrounded by fans at the cafe.

[Damn, so there was a reason they filmed the couple’s mission]
[It wasn’t Seo Ho-yoon who was dragging out time… it was Sung Ji-won]

Despite all the interruptions meant to stall, Seo Ho-yoon simply nodded along.
After all, he didn’t need to do anything himself.
He’d already set traps with Kim Sung-hyun and Kang Yi-chae respectively, so if they busied themselves and self-destructed as expected, all he had to do was take what he needed and make a single phone call—a remarkably simple task.

“…Ah, this is rather troublesome.”

Sung Ji-won, unaware of these machinations, was flustered that Seo Ho-yoon had followed him so obediently. He hadn’t intended to obstruct him to this extent. On the other hand, he felt like he was being swept up in Seo Ho-yoon’s pace.
Part of him felt like he was being carried along by Seo Ho-yoon’s momentum.

“Hmm… I’ll play poker to figure out the treasure’s location.”
“Sure, then I should head off to act.”

In the end, Sung Ji-won, who had been sipping his iced Americano while deliberating, decided to seek out someone more manageable than Seo Ho-yoon.
Of course, even after that, Seo Ho-yoon remained in the cafe, merely sipping his drink.

Hahahahahaha… Seo Ho-yoon, you heavy-assed bastard… Did you even move around besides fooling around with Sung Ji-won?
But seriously, he’s so smart lol

He either stared blankly outside the whole time, occasionally checked his phone, or briefly chatted with the staff—that was all.
Then, checking the time on his phone, Seo Ho-yoon slowly rose from his seat.

The traitor’s hint he’d obtained from Kim Sung-hyun.
The mission password that Jung Da-jun had acquired, relayed through Kang Yi-chae.
Finally, the locker number that the arrogant Kang Yi-chae had revealed.

All the information was gathered.
Now he just needed to head to the public phone booth.

‘The reason Kang Yi-chae failed is clear.’

In truth, though no one would realize it, this game had been considerably favorable to Seo Ho-yoon from the start.

Kim Sung-hyun would be unable to act!

Such a strong conviction had taken root in The Dun.
However, after checking Kim Sung-hyun’s stats in the latter half of Shining Star Season 2, Seo Ho-yoon was quite surprised.

【Kim Sung-hyun
Acting E → D】

Kim Sung-hyun had achieved a remarkable improvement in his acting ability.
Of course, I had poured out an exaggerated amount of praise to make it happen.

‘Still, this is good enough to actually use, isn’t it?’

This was something only I knew.
This time, my interview was included briefly.

【Q. How did you come up with such a scheme?】

“You don’t need much—just two absolutely certain facts.”

I rested my chin in my hand, my eyes crinkling with amusement.

“Kang Yi-chae will never trust me. And everyone thinks Kim Sung-hyun’s acting will be obvious.”

The more Kang Yi-chae distrusted and doubted me, the closer I drew to victory.
I opened the bag with the password Sung Ji-won had given me, pulled out a jewel, kissed it, and smirked.

“Of course.”

【Seo Ho-yoon WINNER】

And so I claimed victory as expected.

***

Kim Sung-hyun, Jung Da-jun, Kang Yi-chae, and Sung Ji-won stood in front of the tvK Broadcasting Station.
The three of them, excluding Sung Ji-won, were busy glaring at each other and bickering.

Boom~~ bada boom boom!

Then, the most famous OST from the crime film suddenly blared out.
And from a distance, I came driving up on a children’s electric car, crouched on top, even pulling off a drift or two before arriving in front of the members.

Whiiiine—.
Screeeech.

Despite the car looking barely capable of containing him, Seo Ho-yoon maneuvered it with surprising skill, parking it directly in front of the main camera before lowering his sunglasses and winking.

“Macau Seo, arrived.”

[Hahahahahahahaha you crazy bastard why are you riding this hahahahahahahaha]
“Damn, that’s so cool lol”

“Wooooo~~!!”
“Traitor, traitor!!”
“Why are you acting like an amateur?”

I threw back the exact words Kang Yi-chae had said to me, then approached my only ally, Kim Sung-hyun, and threw an arm around his shoulder.

“Thank you for your help, Kim Sung-hyun.”
“Y-yes… I’m just glad I could be of service.”
“I should reward you for that.”

I rummaged through the inside pocket of my jacket as if I actually had something to give. Kim Sung-hyun watched with a skeptical expression, clearly holding no real expectations.

[Is he going to give me money???]

But I instead,

“Here you go.”

pulled out a finger heart.

“Oh, and this too.”
“…!!”
“Thank you very much~.”

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Lol Hyun-sung’s being all contemptuous but Seo Ho-yoon doesn’t care one bit lololol

Kim Sung-hyun’s expression darkened as he received the wink.
He hadn’t particularly wanted money, but now he was stuck with something utterly useless while his eyes literally rotted away from the sight of it.
As Kim Sung-hyun shrieked and jabbed at his own eyes, Seo Ho-yoon unfastened the briefcase that had been hanging from the back of the children’s electric car.
He handed the bag containing jewels and gold bars to a staff member and received a replacement bag filled with prize money.

[Looks like Seo Ho-yoon’s gotten a taste for teasing Kim Sung-hyun… I wonder how Sung-hyun’s really feeling right now…]

He really had gotten a taste for it.
Jung Da-jun grumbled with his mouth hanging open.

“How is his personality like that??”
“Our Da-jun, you’re still young and don’t understand. Character always comes from a wallet.”

As if to say, ‘Look how kind I am right now,’ he opened the bag and waved a fistful of bills in the air.

“I may lack pride, but do I lack money?
1)
”

[hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]
Ah hahahaha the lines are reversed, aren’t they hahahaha

Seo Ho-yoon laughed as he slightly lowered his sunglasses, just as Sung Ji-won had done in the opening.
At the same time, the ending credits for The Dawn’s Five rolled up.
Alongside photos of the production staff who participated in the shoot, their brief commentary appeared.

【We designed this concept so they’d cooperate and fight the traitor… but apparently they each betrayed one person in a friendly manner.】
【I was genuinely reminded once again of how remarkable The Dun is… The way they tear into each other like hyenas is truly heartwarming.^^】

Finally, on a darkened screen, the title “Winner: That Guy Seo Ho-yoon” appeared with an angel mark drawn above it.

【However, Seo Ho-yoon was truly a wonderful person.
(This is definitely not because he treated all the staff to an expensive lunch course with the prize money)】

And that’s why he said it.

【The Dun are angels, and I will continue to support them forever.
(I’m saying this not because they sent us a coffee truck today while we were editing.)
May you prosper.
-All Staff Members.】

The Dun’s “Stardust” song played as the broadcast ended.

Filled with suspicion toward one another, they committed betrayal after betrayal after betrayal, yet The Dun maintained their title as angels.

Moreover, through this reality show, Seo Ho-yoon successfully shed his previous image.
He escaped the descriptors of “parentless” and “victim of a tragic accident,” becoming instead someone sharp-tongued and quick-witted.
Officially, I had become the eccentric one, the abnormal one, the victory-obsessed one.

[Seo Ho-yoon, our small and precious crazy angel…]

When thinking about the group’s long-term future, everyone already knew this was necessary….
The Noeul fans simply laughed it off.

[Where would you find angels who betray five or six times over…]

They decided to overlook the minor details.

1) A parody of a line from the film ‘Veteran’ (2015.08.05.) spoken by Seo Do-chul (played by Hwang Jung-min).

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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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