The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 238

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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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238

Dae Pa-sung had been swinging between hot and cold baths lately.

“Yes!! This is incredible, absolutely incredible!!”
“Wow~~!!”

The third quarter earnings for the year had hit an all-time high, and every employee celebrated.
Min Ji-heon’s film from last year had become a massive hit the moment it released, drawing crowds, and The Dun’s album activities showed steady growth alongside it.
Moreover, Min Ji-heon’s appearance on terrestrial variety shows had worked positively, as love calls flooded in from various advertisements and entertainment programs, and the recognition of Seo Ho-yoon and Jung Da-jun, who appeared alongside him, increased noticeably.

“The special bonuses came out great!”
“Right?! Working at this company feels worthwhile!”
“That’s not quite right.”
“My apologies.”

The moment of happiness clutching the special bonus was brief.
Curses toward Dae Pa-sung continued pouring in. People were grateful they weren’t storming in to lodge complaints.
Moreover, as late autumn arrived and people began layering their clothes against the chilly air, strange rumors began circulating within the company.

That Seo Ho-yoon, who had been discharged from the hospital, was acting strange.

There was considerable evidence proving this claim.

“I’m heading to practice….”
“Are you… sure you’re okay?”
“Yes….”

Recently, Seo Ho-yoon radiated an intensely sensitive aura and was immersed in practice day and night without distinction.
He appeared even more relentless than Sung Ji-won, who had earned a reputation as a practice machine. The people at Dae Pa-sung whispered that perhaps Seo Ho-yoon had achieved enlightenment after collapsing and awakening, joking that he might abandon the secular world entirely.
Whether he knew of this or not, Seo Ho-yoon wandered through the company with dark circles under his eyes and a hollow expression.

“At this rate, he’s actually going to kill himself, isn’t he?!”
“W-well, it’s good that he’s working hard….”
“He’s going to burn out at this pace.”
“No, he doesn’t seem to get it….”

Even as the Management Team’s managers and road managers huddled together, worrying about my condition, I paid them no mind whatsoever.

I also seemed to be avoiding getting into cars lately.
There wasn’t a single employee at Dae Pa-sung who didn’t know about my past, but since I’d been riding in vehicles just fine and then suddenly changed my behavior, everyone’s attention had zeroed in on it.
After all, there were plenty of people in the world who found entertainment in observing others’ changes.

On top of that, I’d begun obsessively collecting activity records and plans for every idol out there.
What had succeeded, and what had failed. I categorized and reviewed everything meticulously.
As a result, it was only natural that my meetings with Lee Ji-hyun from the Planning Team increased.

“…Lee Ji-hyun really is pitiful.”
“How unlucky to have gotten stuck with Seo Ho-yoon….”

And so another person joined the ranks of those sporting dark circles down to their jawline.

An eerie atmosphere befitting the end of October.
This felt like the calm before the storm.

Meanwhile, Noeul fans were already getting excited, spotting Halloween teasers being scattered everywhere by other idols.

[Please let this not be serious
Especially those bastards Kang Yi-chae and Jung Da-jun
I wouldn’t even be surprised if they suddenly showed up with their entire bodies painted yellow, claiming they’re doing Pokémon’s Pikachu and Ash]
[Don’t be so unfilial
(My teeth are chattering right now because I’m anxious
I don’t want them to paint their entire faces white so their original faces aren’t visible…]
[You guys, drop the desire to be funny]

“What should we do about this? It seems like they’re expecting a lot—should we hold a Halloween event?”
“Hmm… wouldn’t that be pushing it this time?”
“There’s not much time to prepare from now on… and Seo Ho-yoon was even hospitalized. If we rashly jump in and get more criticism, what do we do?”
“How about we just let this year pass quietly?”
“What?!!”

Dae Pa-sung, still operating with many ad-hoc methods, had been too preoccupied managing the aftermath of Seo Ho-yoon’s collapse to prepare anything for Halloween. That’s why someone suggested quietly letting the occasion pass under the guise of his hospitalization.
At that moment, Lee Ji-hyun, who had been slumped across the desk looking half-dead, suddenly bolted upright.

“Halloween, along with April Fools’ Day, is famous as a holiday for otaku! And you’re just going to skip it?! Isn’t that a bit much?!”
“…Ah, um, I apologize!”
“Ji-hyun… I’m sorry.”
“You need to reflect! How could you even think of skipping such a major event?! This is sacrilege!!”

The Planning Team Staff Members working in sync with Lee Ji-hyun were all newcomers. They all listened intently to her opinions and worked diligently.
However, they still lacked the devotion of a true otaku compared to Lee Ji-hyun.

In the end, The Dun’s Halloween preparations began in a rush.
Lee Ji-hyun argued that revealing costume designs as a surprise would give fans the thrill and joy of anticipation, while Seo Ho-yoon pushed for a voting system where Noeul fans would directly choose what they wanted to see, believing the response would be better when they witnessed their preferred look firsthand.

“Everything sounds good, but why voting?”
“Do you know what drives South Korean people crazy?”
“What is it?”
“Voting.”

That anxiety that if you don’t vote, your pick gets ruined.
There was a reason people went mad watching survival programs.
Still, seeing Lee Ji-hyun deliberate, Seo Ho-yoon added one more thing—to think of it in terms of a game he enjoyed playing.

‘That’s… actually right!’

Lee Ji-hyun, who had been carefully weighing whether it would be better to have various random gacha chances to pull game characters, or a guaranteed gacha for one specific illustration he’d been wanting to see, soon had no choice but to surrender.

“Well, it’s better than getting nothing, right?”
“…Pardon?”

Seo Ho-yoon tilted his head, not understanding Lee Ji-hyun’s remark.

[Thorough Democracy Idol The Dun!
Vote for your pick!]

Through this process, the Halloween voting was posted on SNS.
Without a single deviation from expectations, The Dun’s fans rushed in like madmen.

[Those crazy Dae Pa-sung bastards… voting on this kind of thing
I mobilized all my SNS accounts and cast my vote for Jung Da-jun’s outfit]
[Sung Ji-won’s Prince Diary—who the hell voted for this kind of thing for a male idol?
But I voted anyway]
[Teacher, if it’s not rude, please cast your vote for Kim Sung-hyun’s American Quarterback]
[Kang Yi-chae please make the shaman outfit happen please please please please please]

The Planning Team had thrown this event for the fans to enjoy, but the burning determination of the Noeul fans to get their chosen outfit worn by The Dun had caused things to heat up a bit excessively.
As the voting progressed, time flew by in an instant, and the Halloween special filming day drew near.
The Planning Team carefully checked the voting results.

.
.
.

“…It’s a school uniform?”
“Yes!!!”

Everyone else got something flashy, so why do I get a school uniform?
Well, it’ll be easy to style, at least.

“By the way, Seo Ho-yoon, this is XX High School, right? We did manage to get the uniform, but… how is it that there’s not even a single sighting or anecdote about you? Your agency never blocked anything.”
“Ah, yeah.”

I offered an awkward smile.
It was because all my memories before age twenty had been erased when I came to this place.

“I kept a low profile.”

That’s a lie.
I never did anything illegal, but there’s no way I could have lived quietly given my personality.
Lee Ji-hyun, seeing my expression, shrugged and said as long as there were no controversies, it was fine, then went to check on the other members.

Soon I received the school uniform from the costume manager and put it on. With my bangs down, it looked natural and fitting even to my own eyes.
The feel of my alma mater’s uniform, worn for the first time in over a decade, felt strange.
After adjusting my outfit several times, I stepped into the hallway ahead of the other members to head to the practice room where we’d be filming the choreography video.
As I passed down the corridor lined with posters of celebrities from Dae Pa-sung,

“Wow, what?”

A familiar voice reached me from behind.
When I turned my head, I saw Min Ji-heon.

“Why are you wearing a school uniform? You look so young?!”

This was the first time I’d seen him since I collapsed.
Since there was nothing to see on him but his face, despite looking haggard and gaunt, he shone brilliantly.
He circled around me, making a fuss over my appearance.

“Are you acting? Is your character a high school student? Ah! Did you go back to being a high schooler this time?”
“Do you attend that nonsense academy?”
“Aha, it was next to the academy your brother attends, didn’t you know?”

His personality seemed unchanged.
Seeing his pitiful condition bothered me a little.
The last time I saw him, Min Ji-heon was coughing up blood too.

“But can’t I just take one photo of you, hyung? I want to send it to my brother~.”
“No.”
“Ugh.”

I ignored Min Ji-heon as he whined about keeping it for his personal collection, when Min Ji-heon’s Manager called him from far away.
Min Ji-heon signaled with his hand that he understood, then looked at me.

“You didn’t text or call after that. I was dying to know your reply.”

Had he asked what I saw there?

‘I saw my younger brother.’

But I had no intention of telling him.

“I died. The accident you showed me was the accident where I died.”

I stripped away all the supplementary details and conveyed only the most crucial fact.

“But you already knew that.”
“…!”

Min Ji-heon’s eyes widened as he listened in silence.

“…What are you talking about?”
“It shows.”

Without my phone, languishing in the hospital gave me more than enough time to think. In truth, if I’d only looked deeper at the situation from the start, I might have understood the problem earlier.
The way Min Ji-heon treated me when we first met—like I was someone distasteful—and how he said my existence was confusing. It all made sense now.
His restless attitude had always bothered me, but if I were a being that had already died, everything clicked into place perfectly.

“I wasn’t certain, though….”

Min Ji-heon turned his head away, his gaze slipping to the side.

“Ever since I severed your lingering attachment, something felt off. I don’t have the ability to expose someone else’s trauma like that… I was curious what it meant.”

He exhaled deeply, then looking embarrassed, he glanced at me cautiously before asking.

“But besides that, you didn’t see anything else?”

I stared at him intently, then smiled softly instead of answering.
In an instant, Min Ji-heon’s expression hardened completely.

“Ji-heon.”

Calling his name gently, Min Ji-heon shuddered and stepped back three or four paces.

“I’m sorry. I’m not sure what I did, but I’m really sorry.”
“I was truly grateful this time.”

After all, I survived because of Min Ji-heon, so I’m thankful.

“But do you know something?”
“No, I have no idea.”

I hooked my arm around Min Ji-heon’s shoulder—who looked thoroughly disgusted—and widened my smile further.

“I never let a good mark slip away.”

The guy who’d uttered such ridiculous words shook off my arm and spoke.

“…I’m sorry, but you’re a bit much for me to handle.”
“Bear with it.”
“….”

Just as the guy clamped his mouth shut and was about to leave, the sound of thundering footsteps echoed through the hallway.
I didn’t even need to turn my head to know who it was.
See?

“Ho-yoon! Senior!!”

Of course—our group’s youngest member.

“Ugh… that one’s a bit much too….”

Min Ji-heon’s face went pale the moment he glanced back and confirmed it was Jung Da-jun. He began inching his way backward, using my body as a shield.

“Senior!!”
“Y-yes!!”
“I’m sorry about last time! I didn’t know you disliked it… Huh? Where are you going?! Would you like me to escort you??”
“No, no, it’s fine! My manager is over there!”
“W-well, I’ve been practicing cooking a lot since the variety show… when would you like me to cook something for you…?”
“No!! It’s okay!! I just order delivery!!”

Min Ji-heon frantically rejected every single one of Jung Da-jun’s offers. It seemed he’d suffered greatly at the youngest member’s hands during that brief variety show filming.

‘The maknae is impressive, though.’

He’d preemptively blocked Min Geu-ro.
Min Ji-heon, who’d been using me as a human shield to maintain distance from Jung Da-jun, alternated his gaze between us before shaking his head in disbelief.

“…This group is definitely going to make it big. There’s not a single person here who’d lose a battle of wills.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“It’s not a compliment, Seo Ho-yoon.”

With that, Min Ji-heon laughed as if exasperated and patted my shoulder before passing by.

“No news is good news.”

That was something I agreed with as well.
As I raised one corner of my lips and flicked my eyebrow, Min Ji-heon hummed a little tune and disappeared in the opposite direction from where I was heading.

“Hyung, hyung!”

Jung Da-jun habitually clung to my arm.
I twisted my body away with practiced ease and looked at him.

“Hyung, what were you talking about with the senior?!”
“That’s not something you need to know.”

When I drew a clear line, Jung Da-jun pouted his lips.

“But you showed up at quite the perfect timing, didn’t you?”

As I moved my steps back toward the Practice Room and asked, Jung Da-jun grinned and winked at me.
His gesture was remarkably similar to some group’s red-haired rapper.

“Well, the timing just worked out perfectly! Min Ji-heon senior is the senior I respect most in the world—.”
“….”
“—Not really! Just joking, joking!! The person I respect most is Ho-yoon hyung! Really, don’t look at me like that.”

This kid—all my affection for him was wasted.

“But last time, Yi-chae hyung said that! He was so grateful that you took hyung to the Hospital, so he told everyone to treat Min Ji-heon senior well!!”

Our innocent maknae seemed to have accepted Kang Yi-chae’s words exactly as they were.

‘So that’s how it is.’

I thought it had passed more generously than expected.
It was a kind of warning.
To Kang Yi-chae, Min Ji-heon must feel like quite an eyesore right now. He hadn’t heard anything properly, but an unrelated person had gotten tangled up in it.
Though he’s pretending his mood has improved, he’ll probably keep a sharper eye on me from now on.

‘A guy I can’t let my guard down around….’

What kind of life had he lived to possess such keen awareness at merely twenty-two years old?
As someone who believed people should live in accordance with their age, I found it somewhat unsatisfying.
I clicked my tongue softly and gently stroked Jung Da-jun’s head as he chattered away with sparkling eyes and unbridled enthusiasm.

“Bangbang, keep growing just like you are now.”
“…But I’m already fully grown?”
“Sure, sure.”

Furrowing my brow, I pressed my finger repeatedly against Jung Da-jun’s forehead as he thrust his face forward, demanding to know what I meant by that.

‘Time to begin our activities.’

I—no, The Dun—still had a long road ahead.

***

[I’m literally trembling so much right now
More than my master’s thesis results, I’m losing my mind
Obviously
My master’s thesis doesn’t depend on Kim Sung-hyun’s quarterback position

└You should prioritize your master’s thesis]

[How do I see the voting results?? ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ Where is my cap font Jeong Da-jun? ㅜㅜㅜㅜ]
Haha, whatever comes out is fine~
(Those carefree days sipping coffee were short-lived)
(Crunching paper cup crunching crunching)]

October 31st.
The Noeul fans paced anxiously back and forth.
Not even a teaser had been released yet, and given that Dae Pa-sung was a mid-sized entertainment company, the general sentiment was that nothing Halloween-related would be posted that day. Still, everyone clung to hope, hovering around The Dun’s SNS accounts and YouTube channel.
Then, a YouTube subscription notification rang out.

[It’s up]
[Running so fast my eyebrows fell off]
[Oh, of course it’s natural for Kang Yi-chae to be an expert, right? LOL There’s no way this can’t work, right?]
[Woohoo woohoo woohoo woohoo]

Everyone rushed to YouTube in an instant and clicked on the video.

[????]

The moment the opening notes played, it was unmistakably that famous anime theme—the one that instantly conjured the image of a figure’s toes tapping delicately upon flower petals. Simultaneously, several cards and an ornate magical staff rendered in crude CGI flashed across the screen.

[????????]

The Noeul fans, uncertain whether their eyes had deceived them, rubbed their eyes several times before composing themselves and facing the screen anew.
Yet nothing had changed.

[??????????????]

“I really, really~!”

If anything, it escalated further—a figure clad in a black sailor uniform top and white shorts, crowned with a white beret, wielding a pink magical staff adorned with delicate wings—.

“Love Noeul~!”

—Card Captor Kang Yi-chae had made an appearance.

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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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