The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 235

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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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235

Joo Woo-sung maintained his ordinary routine without deviation. He practiced with Black Call, played with Nyang-nyang, occasionally shared meals with Chae Jung-woo, and frequently appeared at the Seo Ho-yoon Criticism Group.
Though there were still moments when he grew sensitive, witnessing fans who steadfastly cherished him even during periods when he’d lost his grip on reality—he couldn’t imagine a life more blessed than this.

“…What?! Seo Ho-yoon?”
“Yeah, yeah, it was all over the internet.”

When Chae Jung-woo relayed news of Seo Ho-yoon, I was utterly taken aback.
I hurried to the hospital that the Staff Member had helped me locate.
Seeing that guy sleeping so profoundly—almost like death itself—I could feel just how mercilessly he’d been pushing himself.

‘Insane bastard, seriously.’

My lingering here wouldn’t hasten his recovery anyway. Without hesitation, Joo Woo-sung left the hospital room.
Thinking he’d return once the guy woke up.

And shortly after, I heard he’d regained consciousness.
Wondering if his complexion had recovered, or if I should prepare some medicinal tonic for him, I arrived at the hospital to find—

“Huh?”

A remarkably radiant Seo Ho-yoon standing before me.
He wasn’t even wearing hospital clothes.
The air conditioning maintained a pleasant temperature, the air purifier supplied fresh air, and a basket overflowing with colorful fruit occupied the space atop the drawer.

“Oh… Ah! Um, Joo Woo-sung.”
“Huh? My brother?”

Seo Ho-yoon’s younger brother was also visible, seated on a simple chair beside the bed, peeling an apple.

“Oh, Joo Woo-sung, it’s been quite a while.”

A complexion flushed with vitality and a surprisingly warm tone.
Was this man smiling in greeting truly Seo Ho-yoon?

‘There’s no way.’

“I think I’ve entered the wrong room. I apologize.”

Joo Woo-sung quietly slid the door shut.
He checked the room number, and it matched the digits he’d been given.
Squinting, he pulled out his phone to double-check that he hadn’t misread something, when the door suddenly creaked open again.

“Yelp!”

Seo Ho-yoon, dressed in a black tracksuit with an expressionless face, had kicked the door open. He held a banana smoothie in one hand, sipping it through a straw with casual indifference.

“Why are you treating me like a ghost?”
“What about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you hit your head or something? Why… why aren’t you happy to see me?”

Seo Ho-yoon clicked his tongue softly and gestured toward the hospital room with his chin.

“Stop talking nonsense and come in.”

Joo Woo-sung shuffled in his slippers, following Seo Ho-yoon while remaining cautious. Even now, Seo Ho-yoon’s brother was piling fruit high on a plate.

“This is my brother. You know him, right?”

It was a rather blunt introduction.
Since Joo Woo-sung had only caught a glimpse of him when drunk, he smiled awkwardly, but unlike Seo Ho-yoon, his brother was friendly and bowed his head first.

“Hello! I don’t think I properly greeted you last time, but I’m Seo Ho-jin, Seo Ho-yoon’s brother. My brother is always indebted to you.”
“Oh, no. I’m sorry for being so drunk back then…”
“What are you two doing?”

Seo Ho-yoon let out an exasperated laugh and flopped onto the bed.

‘He looks more like someone on vacation than a patient.’

Below the wall-mounted television that dominated one wall, letters from fans were stacked in layers. They all showed signs of having been opened.

“Seo Ho-yoon, you’re… living better than me?”
“It’s frustrating.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t go outside.”

At those words, Joo Woo-sung tilted his head while crunching on the rabbit-shaped apple that Seo Ho-jin had stabbed with his fork and handed over.

“My brother hasn’t been able to leave here for four days because of the members and the Manager.”
“…Why?”
“Just… they told me to rest a bit….”

As Seo Ho-jin fumbled through his answer, Seo Ho-yoon let out a deep sigh.

“Seriously, even the Doctor said I’m perfectly fine—healthy enough to run a marathon—so what’s the deal?”
“You do look incredibly healthy, hyung.”
“So you’re just going to sit there quietly like this?”

When Joo Woo-sung asked with suspicion, narrowing his eyes, Seo Ho-yoon shrugged nonchalantly.

“What can a weak and fragile person like me do?”
“You’re full of it, seriously.”

This bastard seems to be enjoying himself.
Though something felt off about it all, he’d heard they were in a hiatus preparing for The Dun’s comeback, and it occurred to him that a good rest might be beneficial, so he held his tongue and said nothing more.
He’d witnessed the collapse himself or heard about it secondhand twice already. And that was in less than two years.
Muttering to himself that the body couldn’t handle his temperament and had given out, Joo Woo-sung pulled a tangerine from the fruit basket.

“But tangerines aren’t even in season right now, are they?”
“You talk a lot for someone eating for free. Why don’t you stir-fry them with kimchi instead?”

No matter how much of a kimchi fried rice fanatic he was, he hadn’t gone mad enough to stir-fry tangerines.
As he glared at Seo Ho-yoon’s casual response, he felt his younger brother glancing at him.
When he turned his head and raised his eyebrows, the boy crept closer.

“Um, Woo-sung…”
“Yes?”
“Um… my brother is… kind of mean, isn’t he?”

With only three people sitting in the quiet hospital room, even my whisper would have reached Seo Ho-yoon, but he didn’t seem to mind.
Seo Ho-yoon simply offered an occasional murmur of acknowledgment, lying still and chewing on his apple.

“Well, I mean….”

I didn’t want to upset him, so I could only offer an awkward smile, but seeing that, Seo Ho-jin let out a sigh instead.

“If you’re really struggling, you can always talk to me….”
“Seo Ho-jin, what could you possibly do?”
“—I can at least listen!”

While Joo Woo-sung felt slightly moved watching his gentle younger brother, who carried a similar aura to Seo Ho-yoon, the latter regarded them both with disdain.

“Seo Ho-jin, you’re a college student…? How old are you?”
“Yes! I’m twenty-four.”
“Huh? The same age?”
“Wait… aren’t you in exam period?”

Seo Ho-yoon, who had been wilting like overcooked kimchi, suddenly bolted upright. Seo Ho-jin’s body visibly flinched.

“…Yeah.”
“What? Why are you here? Don’t you have classes? You were with me all day yesterday too?”
“…I’ve only finished two subjects.”
“Don’t bullshit me, damn it.”

As Seo Ho-yoon ground his teeth while speaking, Seo Ho-jin hurriedly offered an excuse.

“I was planning to take summer classes anyway.”
“Does that even make sense? Why aren’t you leaving?”
“….”
“Answer me.”

His younger brother, who had been pouting his lips and glaring at Seo Ho-yoon defiantly, immediately cowered and lowered his head the moment their eyes met.

“…Just go, just go already!”

Muttering that he was the embodiment of stubbornness and had good reason to be class representative, Seo Ho-jin stood up from his seat.
Watching him, Joo Woo-sung felt puzzled.

‘Aren’t we the same age?’

We’re the same age, yet he calls me brother?
And why does he live so tightly wound?

“Brother, if it hurts, tell Da-jun right away!!”

Seo Ho-jin quickly gathered his things and fled the hospital room like he was escaping.

“Tsk….”

The brief click of his tongue made me think he was a bit irritated.
Yet the Seo Ho-yoon reflected in my field of vision didn’t appear angry at all.
Resting his chin on his hand, he gazed at the now-empty doorway with affectionate eyes.

‘So that’s it.’

Joo Woo-sung immediately grasped it.
The reason Seo Ho-yoon clung to his idol career so desperately was precisely because of Seo Ho-jin.
Of course, he couldn’t understand the connection between Seo Ho-jin and idol activities, but it was becoming clear.

‘Still, after always watching him destroy people from behind the scenes, it’s refreshing to see a face like this.’

Joo Woo-sung pulled out another out-of-season mandarin orange from the fruit basket and was peeling it when Seo Ho-yoon, standing up, lightly kicked the chair he was sitting on with his foot.

“Whoa!”

As Joo Woo-sung barely regained his balance after nearly toppling over, Seo Ho-yoon smiled brightly and extended his hand.

“What? Are you insane? Asking me to grab it? Giving the disease and then the cure?”
“No, what nonsense is that.”

Avoiding Joo Woo-sung’s attempt to clasp hands, Seo Ho-yoon added:

“My phone was also taken from me.”

That was what he was asking for.
Joo Woo-sung exhaled in exasperation, brushing back his bright brown hair tinged with ash blonde.

“Don’t tell me… the reason I was glad to see you was….”
“It’s so nice to see you, senior.”

There wasn’t a shred of sincerity in it.

“You bastard….”

I muttered the curse, but thought—yes, this is Seo Ho-yoon. This is how he should be.
Joo Woo-sung felt a bit relieved that Seo Ho-yoon’s irreverent nature hadn’t changed much despite the injury.

***

‘So they’re not touching Joo Woo-sung either.’

On the day I woke, various discussions took place, and everyone ultimately agreed to my confinement. That evening, under pressure from the members, I handed over my phone—which went straight into the Manager’s hands.
After that, Seo Ho-jin never brought his phone when visiting the hospital.
I was wondering what to do about it when Joo Woo-sung showed up.
The members came rushing in every day after practice ended. But all they talked about was rating the taste of the new ramen at the Convenience Store, or how they wanted to go to Tongyeong for oyster soup when winter came, or their thoughts after watching a program about restaurants.
It seemed they were deliberately blocking me from hearing anything negative….

‘Who do they think I am?’

I’m Seo Ho-yoon.
When it comes to curses, I’ve already heard enough in my past life to be immune. If anything, when I think of it as a form of resistance, sometimes it even puts me in a good mood.
I accessed SNS through the Portal Website app and searched my name combined with a few keywords in various ways.

[Dae Pa-sung you bastard just die I knew from when you were screwing that kid like that]
[Ho-yoon’s complexion looked bad a few weeks ago damn it,,,,,, Dae Pa-sung doesn’t protect their artists and just sticks in a straw and sucks them dry..]
[#DaePaSungJustDie
#DaePaSungProtectArtists]

‘It’s chaos out there.’

Fortunately, I didn’t see any posts about coughing up blood or my heart stopping.

After Sung Ji-won and Kang Yi-chae’s argument ended, Kim Sung-hyun, our Leader, reported my condition to the Manager. Then, as if they’d been waiting outside, the Manager and Road Manager came rushing in like arrows.

“Cough, cough-cough. Ho-yoon!”
“….”

The Manager, who had been checking my body with an almost creepy thoroughness, broke down in tears of relief, and immediately contacted Dae Pa-sung to post an announcement.

Given how quickly we’d handled the previous posts, it seemed like we’d responded promptly enough, but the fans whose anger had already reached a boiling point looked ready to stage a protest right in front of the company building.

“You keep looking at stuff like that, and you won’t have any mental strength left.”
“Who are you talking to right now?”
“…Right, you’re Seo Ho-yoon.”

Joo Woo-sung shook his head and rummaged through the fruit basket again. He looked like he could finish it all by himself.
I shifted my gaze to my phone.
This time, I searched for the members’ names.

[Kang Yi-chae’s stage performance was seriously insane…
Pre-release please quickly ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Don’t make her a female idol]

[Yes, my pick from Rising Rookies is.. none other than-!
“Kang Yi-chae”

└ You’re my number one,,
My little Yi-chae,, so cute,,]

Honestly though, without Kang Yi-chae and the members around, his default expressionless face is so scary lol

└ At least the mentees didn’t get scared,,,
Damn, hahahahahaha

There wasn’t much of note, but the Noeul fans seemed slightly stirred up about Kang Yi-chae.
It appeared that rumors about the Rising Rookies mentor performance were already spreading, even though no clips had been released yet.
Still, perhaps because I’d collapsed that day, everyone seemed to be deliberately restraining their mentions.

[I love you Hoyoonㅜㅜ Don’t worry and rest well]

‘That’s cute.’

After checking the fan reactions a bit more, I closed the app and returned the phone to Joo Woo-sung.

‘I owe Min Ji-heon a debt.’

I decided we’d need to have a proper conversation when time allowed.
Looking at how the overall atmosphere was unfolding, it seemed best to refrain from broadcast activities for now.
Maybe uploading a selfie to SNS or sending a message to Pop Pop about a week from now would work fine.
I racked my brain thinking about how to return to activities without causing concern among the fans.

‘Will I be able to win the Grand Prize next year? No, I have to.’

I’d make every effort to at least scrape into the first tier, but what I really needed right now was luck.
And the right timing, along with a powerful song that could shake the hearts of the general public.
However,

“Hey, you need to take care of your health.”
“….”
“Normal people don’t collapse like you do. I’m scared you’re actually going to die, man.”

Even if everything else fell into place, it was only possible if I could get past this fool who kept peeling tangerines and dumping his worries on me.

“I’m going to train hard. Will you help me out?”
“Huh? Yeah, sure.”
“…Why are you being so agreeable?”
“I have enough time to help out a rookie.”

I ignored what Joo Woo-sung was saying.
The Grand Prize this year was definitely going to Black Call.
They’d be active next year too.

‘Damn, the wall is so fucking high.’

Now that November was right around the corner, I might be able to win a few decent awards, but the Grand Prize was impossible.
Watching Joo Woo-sung’s smug face—someone with such a short activity period yet sweeping up every award in sight—made me click my tongue involuntarily.

“Joo Woo-sung.”
“Huh?”

Joo Woo-sung answered while wiping his sticky fingertips with a wet tissue.

“You’re not going to the military next year?”
“…Huh?”
“Say you are.”
“…Isn’t it too early for that at my age?”

Sigh.
I asked again, clinging to a shred of hope.

“Then is there any chance of a disbandment rumor?”
“Why are you really like this to me?!”

Joo Woo-sung reacted far more sensitively to the disbandment question than the military topic, suggesting he still wasn’t close with the other members besides Chae Jung-woo.
Beside me, he huffed and muttered things like “And how close are you with the members?” and “Geez, you two do seem pretty friendly,” his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“No, I can just ask.”
“You poke at a sore spot and then say the same thing. Why would you even ask something like that….”

Joo Woo-sung, who had been making a fuss, suddenly stopped mid-sentence and let out a hollow laugh.

“Hey, shit, I get it.”
“…What is it.”
“You’re trying to sabotage me because you’re worried I might win an award?”

I rolled my eyes slightly and offered a harmless smile.
As if such a thing had never crossed my mind.

“No way.”

Of course, it was a perfectly accurate guess.
Joo Woo-sung, who had already seen through my nature long ago, erupted in indignation.

“Seriously! Look at this ungrateful bastard! I came here out of concern, and Seo Ho-yoon is pulling this award nonsense!!”
“No, that’s not it. I was just curious how well Woo-sung is getting along with the other members.”
“There’s no way you’d be curious about something like that! Listen, I’m Joo Woo-sung. Even if a disbandment rumor happened, winning an award would be nothing to me?”
“…!!”

This bastard?
Blood rushed to the back of my neck in a hot surge.
While I forcibly held back the corners of my mouth from trembling, Joo Woo-sung made exaggerated pouting gestures.

“Well, I’ll win the Grand Slam for the next five years. You guys will never get your hands on it.”
“Have you lost your mind?!”
“Are you seriously dropping the formal speech right now?!”

I was bickering back and forth with Joo Woo-sung when Kang Yi-chae walked in.

“Oh, Woo-sung hyung~.”
“I’m leaving! Go!”
“Who told you to stay?! Go! Hurry up and go!”

With that, he brushed past Kang Yi-chae, who had just arrived, and headed straight out, saying he was going home.

“Just wait until practice! You hack!!”

So he was helping with practice anyway?
I rubbed the stiffness from the back of my neck when Kang Yi-chae sauntered over and flopped down into the chair where Joo Woo-sung had been sitting moments before.
Ever since he’d mentioned activity suspension to me, he’d been ignoring me whenever he was with the other members, but now he’d come to see me alone.

“Kang Yi-chae.”
“Yes, hyung.”
“…Why are you like this again.”

Suddenly speaking in formal speech?
I felt goosebumps rising.

“I’m creating emotional distance through formal speech, hyung. Da-jun gave me the advice.”
“Are you insane?”
“Ahahaha.”

Kang Yi-chae laughed, covering his mouth with his hand as if embarrassed.

“Still a little bit, yes.”
“…”

Ah.
I decided to leave this crazy bastard as he was for now.

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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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