The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 241

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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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241

Lee Ji-hyun shuddered and took several steps back from me, her skin crawling.

“Seo Ho-yoon, are you living your life a second time or something?”
“Huh?”

Her words had struck a nerve, and I asked back while hiding my surprise. She simply shrugged.

“You plan and execute everything so flawlessly, like some web novel protagonist.”
“…What?”
“I read a lot of web novels, and I keep thinking of you. Those characters who are regressors or possessed—you know, people living their second life or who know the future—they ignore their own health and push forward with their plans recklessly…”
“…”
“…No, I’m sorry.”

Lee Ji-hyun muttered to herself, “What am I even saying to someone half-asleep,” and awkwardly scratched her head.
Under normal circumstances I would have played along, but ninety percent of what she said at times like this was incredibly difficult to understand.

“Ahem, well. What I mean is that you’re amazing, Seo Ho-yoon. And regarding the Noeul fans’ reactions—I suspect you already know, but I’ll tell you anyway. Since there have been occasional mentions of your health before, the fans are quite worried.”
“Ah, I see.”

She glanced at my reaction and added a few more words.

“We’re worried too. The company prioritizes numbers above all, but ultimately you know that a person needs to be healthy to do anything, right?”
“It seems like you’re working less these days, Ji-hyun. You even have time to worry about company people.”
“…My sense of humanity, I suppose?”

It was manageable and not difficult. No, there simply wasn’t time to feel the difficulty. The fact that a day had only twenty-four hours felt like a waste.
I chuckled softly and stood up from my seat.

“If we want to make the picture beautiful, there won’t be time for that now.”

I left the Planning Office, leaving Lee Ji-hyun looking exasperated.

‘That’s one thing handled.’

Within a few days, I’d likely receive a call about casting for “Perfect Singer.”
Appearing on the program’s first broadcast would draw considerable attention, and as long as I maintained the right amount of charm, the whole thing would work out fine.

‘Jung Da-jun’s cooking is….’

I fell silent for a moment.
It should be fine. We’ll manage to eat and survive.
After organizing my thoughts about The Dun’s activities for next year, I headed to the practice room. I planned to run through some basic dance moves a few times on my own before heading back to the dormitory.
Kang Yi-chae was working on music production in the work studio, Sung Ji-won was receiving vocal training, and Kim Sung-hyun and Jung Da-jun had stopped by their family homes and were scheduled to return in the evening.

I connected my phone to the speaker and started playing music, moving my body. Without the members chattering noisily around me, my mind filled with wandering thoughts.
Like the warmth of Seo Ho-jin that I’d felt in the unconscious mind….

“Ugh.”

This was getting pathetic.
I stopped dancing and turned off the music. Then I flopped down on the practice room floor and waved my hand once.
It was something I’d often done when alone since the System Window had disappeared.
Then,

Ding!

A familiar notification sound rang out.
I jolted upright immediately.

[Seo Ho-yoon

Singing: A+
Dancing: B+
Entertainment: A+
Acting: A-
Charm: A0
???: ???]

‘Damn, nothing went up at all.’

What caught my eye first wasn’t the System Window reappearing, but that particular detail.
I wanted to lodge a complaint with my dance instructor about it, but I had to admit it myself at this point. I truly had no talent for dancing.
The others improved steadily, even if only slightly, but my stats had plateaued long ago—and it took forever just to reach this level.
I swept back the long bangs that had fallen over my eyes.

“How much longer are you going to stay silent?”

The System Window, with its stats listed out, gave no response—just emitting a faint blue glow.

This bastard had too many secrets.
Until now, I figured I didn’t need to know everything, and the System Window seemed to have limitations anyway, so I let it slide.
But tampering with my memories—that crossed a line.
The only things that made me “me” in this place were Seo Ho-jin and my memories. The moment those are touched, my foundation crumbles.
Worse, this thing had already deleted my final moments from the previous world—how could I know what else it’s done without my knowledge?
At this point, Min Ji-heon was more trustworthy.

‘Still, I should be able to use the Item Shop.’

I’d hypothesized hundreds of ways to return quickly while minimizing penalties, point loans, and overload—only to demolish each theory.
Talent and effort alone weren’t enough.
It required incredible luck aligned perfectly with timing.

‘There has to be some way, though.’

Regardless, this life I’ve been given is still an opportunity.
It brought me back from the dead and promised to send me back to where I belonged if I played my cards right—so thanks for that.
I’ll bring Seo Ho-jin with me somehow—

“Sigh.”

I stopped dwelling on the same dead-end thought and sprang up from my seat.
Rather than obsess over an unsolvable problem, I might as well practice.
Before opening a song on my phone, I opened the messaging app first. I skimmed past hundreds of unimportant messages and entered The Dun’s group chat, sending a message.

[Me: Anyone want to practice the medley?]

A reply came immediately.

[Ji-won: Me!!!]
[Me: A]
[Da-jun: Did you guys not see the message above about eating kimchi stew together??]
[Da-jun: Hyung, didn’t you skip dinner?]
[Me: I ate]
[Kim Sung-hyun: Hey, should we grab sandwiches?]
[Kang Yi-chae: I’m not really into sandwiches]

What could I do if Yi-chae wasn’t interested?

[Me: I’m down for it]

I still had one backup file in my hands.
About five minutes after my message went through, Yi-chae uploaded a photo of sandwiches to the group chat.

[Yi-chae: (photo)]
[Yi-chae: Slave departure!!!]
[Kim Sung-hyun: Wow… this is the first time I’ve seen him do this…]
[Da-jun: Poor Yi-chae, you’re pitiful…]

Since I didn’t have much appetite anyway, I was planning to throw a tantrum about not eating them if they brought them, then toss them to Yi-chae to eat instead.
Just as I was about to close my phone satisfied, a message came from Seo Ho-jin.

[Little bro: Hyung]
[Little bro: I haven’t eaten yet, did you eat? Wanna grab food together??]
[Me: Yeah]

Suddenly, Seo Ho-jin’s midterms came to mind, so I added a comment.

[Me: After finals, bring your report card]
“Little bro: Haha, I’ll just eat it alone”

I could vividly picture what kind of expression my little brother was making right now.
I chuckled and sent him money through the banking app, then added more nagging about making sure to eat properly.
Only after confirming his reluctant response did I turn on the music.
The song that was always pinned as the first track on my phone’s playlist began to play.

[Give me, Give me, Give me Second Chance
Say it once more, we are the beginning]

My debut song, Second Chance, which I’d heard hundreds, thousands of times.

[I will come back everytime]

“Geez….”

[Give me, Give me, Give me Second Chance….]

The lyrics carved themselves into my ears anew, as if for the first time.
I rubbed my forehead with my fingers, bewildered, and let out a small laugh.
An abrupt rejuvenation, an unexpected idol career, and a newly given life overflowing with variables.

“…Was my debut song worth doing?”

[Give you, Give you, Give you Second Chance….]

Wasn’t this my second chance?

Chuckling to myself, I resumed practice.

After several similar days had passed, I received word that an appearance on the Perfect Singer program was possible.

***

The day of the Perfect Singer filming.

“Hyung, have a safe trip!”
“Should I come too?”
“Get lost.”

I brushed off the members whining about whether it was really okay for me to go alone and climbed into the van.
Still prone to getting anxious in cars, I deliberately searched my name and the program name together on SNS to distract myself.

[Seo Ho-yoon filming today what’s he doing?? sighting reports sparse]
[Huh?? Seo Ho-yoon??]

Then reactions poured in abundantly.

[That’s a bit unexpected… I mean, he seems like he’d do well, but I always thought Sung Ji-won would definitely appear if there was a song program like this]
[But it’s better not to question programs that Seo Ho-yoon appears in
Everyone was dead set against it when Seo Ho-yoon said he’d act, but it ended up being incredibly successful, right?]

[Oh, Cabu was a huge hit
I had some doubts about doing variety shows with Kang Yeon-hu at first, but it ended up working out really well lol
Back then there were literally truckloads of people who wanted to imitate Seo Ho-yoon…
Let’s stop reminiscing
Thinking about it back then makes me tired again

Hahahahaha me too lol hahahahahaha

By the time I’d checked the Community and Portal Website news, I arrived at the Broadcasting Station.
As I entered the filming set, I wore a bright business smile and greeted everyone who stood out, when I spotted a familiar face.

“Huh? You crazy bastard!”

It was Lim Hyun-sung.
In an industry where popularity is power, Lim Hyun-sung didn’t bother hiding her rough manner of speaking despite the crowd of people around.

“Wow, you’re alive? I was going to visit you in the hospital, but I happened to be overseas. You got discharged way faster than I expected.”
“I’m fine. Why were you overseas?”
“Just, you know. I went to hang out with Yoo Ji-a for a bit.”

I figured she’d been to California or somewhere.
For someone who’d just been out having fun, her face looked worn out.
The way she was dodging the subject made it clear she didn’t particularly want to tell me about it.

“Well, anyway, you’re a smart one. This program is basically made for you.”

Considering the format, I had to agree.

“Plus, if you get first place, you keep coming back. How long are you planning to do this?”

Looking at Lim Hyun-sung, who took first place for granted as if it were obvious, I lifted the corners of my mouth.

“Until Christmas.”

While I may not have vocal prowess equal to Sung Ji-won, nor star quality as radiant as Kang Yi-chae’s.
I was thorough when it came to what I did well.
As if my confident demeanor was distasteful, Lim Hyun-sung raised her middle finger and left, saying she was heading to her waiting room.

After my brief exchange with Lim Hyun-sung, I greeted the production crew and staff members first alongside the Road Manager.
Then I made the rounds through the waiting rooms, and most cast members gave me subtle looks.
Perhaps because there were other famous singers among the guests, none of them seemed to have high expectations for my singing. I was merely there as a ratings buffer.
Some guests even openly sneered at me.

“Oh, you’re Seo Ho-yoon from The Dun, right? I’ve enjoyed watching your variety shows. I thought you were a panelist, but you’re competing instead. I’m looking forward to it.”
=Are you confident, you punk?
“Haha, thank you.”
lol

Light verbal sparring was one of my specialties.
I flashed an even wider smile and returned to my assigned waiting room.
The constipated expression on their face when I didn’t react as expected was a work of art.

“Oh!! Seo Ho-yoon!”

After receiving an explanation of the mission and doing a final check of my outfit, I was putting on my in-ear monitor behind the set when someone approached me.

“Now, Seo Ho-yoon. Let me brief you one more time.”

It was Lee Yu-ji, a PD who had been under me during my PD days.
I was already surprised to see her name on the production staff list from the information I’d received beforehand.
Back then, as the youngest, she used to get teased relentlessly by her seniors whenever April Fools’ Day or any special occasion rolled around.

‘She’s become quite sharp.’

The last time I saw her, she was dozing off in a corner of the Music Broadcast Studio, but it seemed she’d grown enough to become an Assistant Director on a program.

“There will be a mission in the middle. Don’t be surprised—just stay calm, complete the mission, and finish singing the song.”

Even after finishing what she had to say, Lee Yu-ji didn’t leave. Her eyes were slightly downturned, as if she had something on her mind.

‘It’s written all over her face.’

The PD had been about to tell Seo Ho-yoon to fix how his thoughts showed plainly on his face, but decided against it.
That he shouldn’t be too kind, either.
Probably the PD was being this way because it wasn’t like Seo Ho-yoon was famous for singing well—he was just an idol with moderate recognition—and the PD worried he might become the broadcast’s sacrificial lamb.

“Seo Ho-yoon. We’re being a bit… a bit ruthless. The last season didn’t go well, and this time we absolutely have to succeed, so we won’t hold back.”
“Yes.”
“If you’re anxious about anything at all, you can just stay quiet. Then I’ll make sure to edit things so you don’t look bad.”

From far away, I heard a staff member calling out “standby.”
I watched this PD—eyes darting nervously, fidgeting, yet speaking with crisp precision—and let out a quiet laugh.
Still, the maknae has really grown a lot.

“I’m not scared.”

He’s even throwing words like that at me now.

“Without that guts, I’d be a corpse.”

So I figured I might as well show him something fun.

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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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