The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 212

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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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212

International expansion was a critical matter for both idols and their fandoms.
The Korean Wave, which began in the 1990s, swept through Asia in the 2000s with the export of dramas.
And now.
Its vast influence extended even to Western countries, spreading the depth of Korean culture far and wide.

‘Do you know… kimchi?’
‘Do you know… Black Call?’

Some reactions dismissed it as excessive national pride, but honestly, this wasn’t particularly important to The Dun.

‘Humility is the only way forward.’

An idol that had gained some traction in Korea, now beginning to attract interest from overseas.
If we were like Black Call, standing at the pinnacle, or a group that had steadily built recognition in that sphere, we would have reveled in the overseas response. But The Dun was not.

‘The Dun embodying national pride? That’s absurd at this stage.’

Moreover, associating with the topic of “national pride” risked drawing scrutiny from rival group fanbases, which was dangerous.
If an article came out about a group like Black Call embodying national pride, that would be one thing, but if The Dun became the subject, the response outside our fanbase would be dismissive—who even are they?—accusations of fabrication, and general skepticism.
People would call it excessive self-consciousness.
Our fandom’s fatigue was already at maximum from the High Five rivalry and concerns about the overseas tour.
While it was inevitable that various controversies followed in proportion to our popularity, there was no reason to create unnecessary ammunition for critics.
And besides.

‘The Noeul fans… their instincts are incredible.’

They’d immediately picked up on the overseas tour.
Dae Pa-sung was planning a full-scale international tour following this concert.
The agency would naturally see this as good timing to continue momentum, but the Korean fans—especially the Noeul fans who’d endured countless hardships from the very beginning—couldn’t possibly be unaware.
That’s precisely why we needed to express pride in our overseas success while exercising restraint.

‘Okay.’

Having thought it through to that point, I shot up from my seat after the plane took off.
The documentary team seemed to be focusing on the Korean Wave phenomenon sweeping through Europe, so I needed to handle this carefully.
I scanned through all the members and singled out the one most likely to cause problems.

“Kim Sung-hyun, switch seats with me.”
“Huh? Sure.”

Despite my abrupt demand, Kim Sung-hyun readily moved to another seat. The moment I settled into the chair he’d vacated, I leaned over to the adjacent seat and thrust my face forward.

“Jung Da-jun.”
“Whoa! You scared me! Why are you here, hyung?”

Jung Da-jun, who had already reclined his seat considerably, pulled an earbud from his ear and widened his eyes in surprise.

“I wanted to see you, so I switched.”
“Why do you always say things like that?”

I’d decided to do a practice run with the most anxious member first.
I snatched the travel guidebook titled “Diving Headfirst into Europe” from his hands and spoke in a low voice.

“The documentary team asked you about the local response. It was incredibly hot—what do you think about that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Quickly. If you had to describe your feelings right now in one phrase?”

Jung Da-jun tilted his head slightly, seeming to ponder, then slowly opened his mouth.

“Do you know… The Dun?”
“The moment you mention that, be prepared not to speak to me for a month.”
“…!!”
“Alright, second one.”

I left the shocked Jung Da-jun behind and quickly scanned my surroundings.
Fortunately, no one was paying attention.

“A YouTube video went up titled ‘Why did foreigners faint the moment a Korean idol grabbed the microphone?’ Why do you think that happened?”
“…Maybe K-pop is a god?”
“Wrong. It’s just clickbait with a sensational thumbnail.”
“What? Clickbait thumbnail?”

Jung Da-jun was shocked once again.
Still, he seemed to have grown a bit sharper, picking up on what I was about to say.
I posed a final question to my increasingly clever youngest member.

“Last one. Suddenly some foreigner shows up, introduces themselves as Noel, and says they flew all the way to Germany just to see us. What would you say?”
“Could I say something like ‘That’s absolutely amazing and touching’?”
“Are you joking?”

No, it seemed he still had some growing to do.
I clicked my tongue and pinched the chubby cheeks of Jung Da-jun.

“Of course that’s fine. Just tell Noel you’re always incredibly grateful.”
“…!!”

Jung Da-jun realized he’d fallen into a trap and looked at me with a betrayed expression, but I ignored him and pulled the blanket over myself.
It was far better than when he’d been shouting “The Dun~” earlier.
We still had quite a ways to go before arriving in Berlin, so there was plenty of time to brief Jung Da-jun on precautions.

“Hyung, I’ll do my best!”
“You better.”

But there was one thing I hadn’t told Jung Da-jun.
‘Once someone’s made up their mind to do something, they’ll twist anything—even just breathing through their nose—into their narrative.’
No matter how careful The Dun was, videos would flood YouTube with titles like “Korean idol cries at touching remarks from foreign fan” or “The real truth about idols who’ve been hit with patriotic fervor,” all simply because we were cast members.

***

“Jung Da-jun! The local response has been incredibly hot—what do you think?”
“Da-jun, how do you feel seeing the concert poster just now?”
“What’s it like singing in Korean in a foreign country?”

The Documentary Team pursued The Dun with unwavering professional dedication.
I respected their work ethic, but we had to survive this first, didn’t we?

“Oh! We’ll work really hard!”
“Yes, it made me realize I need to give the performance even more effort!”
“I’ll burn myself out and give it my all!”

Though they sounded like different variations, Jung Da-jun was essentially parroting the same phrase about working hard, deftly dodging every trap.

‘If Maknae managed to pull this off, that’s already impressive.’

Kang Yi-chae was maintaining his composure, but it was obvious he wasn’t particularly interested in the documentary—he kept his mouth shut and only fooled around with the members.
Sung Ji-won didn’t need to be told anything; his experience as a long-time trainee spoke for itself. And Kim Sung-hyun, with the attentiveness of a leader who looked after the members, seemed to sense what I was trying to avoid and naturally adjusted his behavior accordingly.

“Sigh, The Dun interview is turning out to be harder than expected.”
“I don’t think we’re going to get the shot they want.”

The moment the Documentary Team concluded they wouldn’t be able to extract the scenes they were looking for from us, they left without hesitation to find another group.

‘Excellent.’

As long as it wasn’t The Dun, I didn’t care what happened.
I climbed onto the stage, rooting for their project.
The venue was far larger than I’d expected, and seeing it packed with spectators made my spine straighten with tension for the first time in a while.

【I won’t do it if you don’t like it
If you don’t like it, I won’t do it.

The Dawn performed four songs in about 20 minutes, including ‘Falling Down’, ‘Kismet’, ‘Ocean Train’ and ‘Stardust’.
The Dun showcased four songs—’Falling Down’, ‘Kismet’, ‘Ocean Train’, and ‘Stardust’—over approximately 20 minutes.

【Don’t let this be our last】

‘this. ‘It’s worth it for the documentary team to find Gukbbong.’

Even after the performance was over, the growing heat did not cool down easily.

“Uh, high five senior, the performance is starting.”
“Hey, High Five senior, the stage is starting.”

At the center, the smiling face after the lecture filled the monitoring screen.

‘what?’

The more I watched the performance, the more amazing it felt.

‘Did you practice with your teeth clenched?’

Usually, long-term trainees often fall into inertia.
Long-term trainees often fell into complacency, but Kang Yeon-hu showed marked improvement every time I saw him.
Of course, he had his rough edges here and there.
Was this a WH characteristic?
Sung Ji-won never took his eyes off the Music Broadcast or performances by other idol groups whenever the opportunity arose, and today was no exception.

“It’s fascinating.”
“Right?”

As if they didn’t want to miss even a single scene, they stared intently until High Five came off the stage and Lia Purple ended the performance.
Then, with an excited expression, he said this:

“Hoyoon, do you want to go back to our dorm and practice some more?”
“Why are you spouting nonsense?”
“…Have you been cold to me lately?”

Seong Ji-won lowered his eyebrows and muttered as if he was disappointed. However, I didn’t react in any way because I had already realized that he wasn’t hurt to this extent.
Sure enough, once he understood it wasn’t working, he flashed a bright smile and left my side to scout his next victim for the training hell.

‘Scary guy… .’

The end of the first phase, Operation ‘Absolutely Avoiding the Lethal Dose of Gukbong’, was more important.
After the concert ended, we rented out an entire restaurant for the after-party.
I surveyed the scene with a hawk’s gaze, searching for my target.

“Oh, that… Seo Ho-yoon.”

Anyway, shouldn’t his face be shown in the documentary?

“PD.”

Then, I found PD Choi in a nearby alley outside the restaurant.
As I approached with a warm smile, the documentary team’s main PD seemed a bit uncomfortable.
It appeared he was frustrated because he hadn’t extracted anything worthwhile by Broadcasting Station standards for The Dun.

“Thank you for your hard work. Thank you for your hard work by coming all the way overseas.”
“Ah, it wasn’t that bad. I’m just disappointed I couldn’t get a more substantial interview with The Dun.”
“Really? But you filmed it so wonderfully. I suppose having on-site experience helps.”
“Huh?”

I raised the corners of my mouth slightly as I saw PD Choi making a puzzled expression.

“I watched a documentary about the German pilgrimage filmed the year before last.”
“I watched that documentary you filmed two years ago—the one about the pilgrimage sites in Germany.”

The cigarette in PD Choi’s hand fell to the floor.

“That’s what ruined me?!”
“That was a total failure?!”
“Not at all. The cinematography techniques you pioneered in that documentary became the foundation for your later works, didn’t they? You even won a directing award based on those innovations. None of that would have been possible without filming that German pilgrimage documentary. I have tremendous respect for you, PD. I genuinely enjoyed watching it.”

Otakus tend to say what they like even without being asked.

PD Choi was also in the same department as Ji-Hyeon Lee.
Choi PD was in the same department as Lee Ji-hyun.

“Wow, he’s very interested in filming! He communicates well! I really like him! Even during dry rehearsals, he told me to break down so hard. He’s such an idol model~!”
“Wow, you’re so interested in filming! We’re totally on the same wavelength! I love it! And even during a dry rehearsal, you gave it everything you had. You’re a true role model for idols~!”
“You captured that on camera?”

Producer Choi, who was in a much better mood, gave me a thumbs up and returned to the store humming a tune.

‘exorcism.’

It was a pretty good ending.
That had gone rather well.

“Snake snake….”
“Cunning fox….”

Kang Yeonhu was squatting on the street corner right next to him, shaking his head.

“Oh, senior. I was desperately looking for you, but were you here?”
“Senior, I’ve been looking all over for you. You were here the whole time?”

After the lecture, where I had already experienced a lot of my true nature, I abruptly cut out the business comments.

“I’m really amazed. Have you memorized the script? How can you speak so well? I’m always surprised by your shamelessness.”
“I’m genuinely amazed. Did you memorize a script or something? How do you always manage to run your mouth so easily? I’m constantly shocked by your shamelessness, Junior.”
“I’m amazed too. How does someone who knows that keep falling for it every time?”

I was trying to pass by, ignoring the guy who was making a fuss, but after the lecture, I saw beer cans lined up next to me.
I tried to brush past the muttering guy, but then I spotted a line of beer cans lined up next to Kang Yeon-hu.

“Why are you drinking alone like this outside?”
“Why are you sitting out here alone like this, drinking so miserably?”

After the lecture, who added that he was just enjoying the unique atmosphere because he was abroad, he suddenly asked a question.

“How did you do it? I heard the stage quality was different.”

That was what I was going to ask.

“Well, the kids work hard….”
“Well, the kids work hard, so….”
“No, I mean—Seo Ho-yoon was incredible.”

About me?
Me? We’re talking about me?
Me, the clumsy one?

“My skills have improved since Shining Star, but more than that, I feel like I have the power to attract people… Surely, senior Woo-sung Joo deserves praise.”
“Your skills have improved since Shining Star, but more than that, there’s this power to draw people in, you know? Definitely—Joo Woo-sung had good reason to praise you.”
“Joo Woo-sung, what?”

What kind of nonsense is this?
What kind of nonsense was this?
This guy was always the first to curse me out, asking why I’d even be an idol if I was going to dance like that.
I’d heard Joo Woo-sung say to me over and over, “Ho-yoon, do you want to be a singer?
1)

‘what? ‘Dude, did you go around praising me behind my back?’

I waited for the next words with a slightly proud heart.

“Yes. I praised you.”

After the lecture, he looked up at me and said.

“I heard he’s a guy who rubs his face with his gang.”
“I heard you’re the type who gets by on looks and nerve.”

And then he calmly took a sip of his beer.

Is that a compliment, you idiot?

1) What trainer Bae Yoon-jung said to trainee Kim So-hye in episode 4 of Producer 101 (2016.01.22. – 2016.04.01.).

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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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