The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 251

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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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251

“The final YuYu Bank of the year! We’re down to just announcing first place!”

The year-end season overflowed with music festivals and award ceremonies.
Once early December rolled around, most music broadcasts had wrapped up their annual programming.
And at certain intervals throughout the year, special MCs were occasionally invited to host.
This year was no exception—Joo Woo-sung and Han Chae-ri, both riding high in popularity, had been invited once again.

‘Who on earth came up with this pairing?’

Watching my ex-lovers standing right beside me, grinning professionally and gazing into the camera, left me utterly speechless.

“Ah, Chae-ri. I’m so incredibly excited to see who takes first place!”
“I know, my heart’s racing too~! So who will be the champion? Let’s reveal the results!”

Album sales, broadcast points, advance voting and live voting, online music scores—all were tallied in sequence.

“Now, combining all the YuYu Bank chart scores, this week’s number one is~?!”

I didn’t need to do any math to know who’d won first. The score gap was overwhelmingly decisive.

“The Dun—! Congratulations!”
“Congratulations!”

Boom!

The moment Han Chae-ri and Joo Woo-sung offered their congratulations, confetti burst into the air.

“The Dun, congratulations!”
“Thank you.”

Joo Woo-sung handed me the trophy and patted my shoulder. I responded with a light smile, conscious of the camera, and Joo Woo-sung—catching on immediately—let out a quiet chuckle.

“Noeul fans, thank you so much!”
“Noeul, Merry Christmas!”

The MCs descended from the stage, and the members remaining for the encore were absolutely elated.

【Christmas Again
The sound of carols drifting through the air
Christmas Again
White snow touching the back of my hand】

Even while bouncing and singing, my live vocals remained rock-solid and unwavering.
The music show first place was an expected result, but seeing the hardworking Noeul fans so happy….

【Christmas Again?】

Honestly, I felt good too.

“Please be careful on your way home.”

After finishing the song, I deliberately waved my ring-adorned hand, and the cheers grew louder. I brazenly brought my lips to the ring and pulled away, closing out the encore.

“Go straight home and make sure to eat properly.”

If I’d known matching rings together would make them this happy, I would’ve done it ages ago.

“See you all again!”
“Merry Christmas~.”

After reminding the fans one last time to be careful heading home, I returned to the waiting room, exchanging congratulations with every artist I passed.

“Senior, congratulations!”
“Congratulations, Da-jun.”
“Oh, yes yes, thank you!!”
“Kang Yi-chae, could we talk for a moment?”

Watching that bustling scene felt strange.
Just a year ago, I received far more wary glances than friendly ones.
Now there was no one trying to provoke me at all.
Once The Dun’s recognition rose above a certain threshold, everyone became cautious with their words and refrained from reckless actions.

‘It feels a bit… boring, doesn’t it?’

No gossip. No sarcasm. No one sneering.
I muttered to myself and pushed through the crowd.
The members being held back by people would be rescued by the Manager or Road Manager soon enough.
I turned the corner at the end of the hallway, heading toward the waiting room,

“Oh, Senior!!”
“Hmm.”

My eyes locked with a trainee who had been hovering nearby, glancing at me nervously. I recognized him from Rising Rookies, where Kang Yi-chae served as a mentor.
I’d heard that the debut members had been decided when the broadcast ended not long ago.

“Congratulations on your debut.”

I offered a warm greeting.

“Wow! You, you know about me! Thank you so much. I’m Jung Hae-yoon!”

Now that I thought about it, his voice sounded familiar.
He seemed to be one of the trainees who had been aggressively talking about how scary Kang Yi-chae was on the broadcast station stairs.

“I’ve debuted! Thank you for your support!”

Before their official activities began, he appeared on a music broadcast stage to showcase the performances from Rising Rookies and introduce himself.
Given the nature of survival programs, it seemed he’d built up a decent fanbase.

‘Nothing to worry about, it seems.’

“Actually… there’s something I wanted to tell you, but you looked so busy….”
“Haha, me?”
“I….”

I smiled in a deliberately friendly way and looked at him. Jung Hae-yoon hesitated, glanced around, then bowed his head.

“I’m truly sorry.”
“Sorry?”
“On the broadcast station stairs… you might not have seen me, but I shouldn’t have spoken carelessly about seniors behind their backs. I wanted to apologize, and even though you must be busy, I was bold enough to stop you. I’m really sorry!”
“Ah~.”

Is this some kind of provocation? My heart, which had been racing, sank back down with a thud.
I scanned the junior sweating profusely as he scrambled for excuses,

“Nah.”

My sharply-tuned radar—honed by thirty-four years of accumulated experience—didn’t react at all.

“It’s fine. These things happen.”
“…!”

So I gave a hollow, perfunctory response, and the junior looked genuinely moved, hands covering his mouth.

“Senior, you’re unexpectedly kind…. I mean, Kang Yi-chae senior was really so damn… I mean, incredibly scary, but you’re actually a good person.”
“Did Yi-chae treat you well?”
“Yes! I respect my mentor so much!!”

Now that the conversation was getting interesting, I leaned in to listen.

“Even though I trained as a trainee for a while, there was a habit I couldn’t shake when singing, but after hearing Kang Yi-chae mentor’s advice, I kept practicing it repeatedly and it actually changed!”
“Oh, there’s nothing to gain from praising our member like that….”
“I’m serious!”

Perhaps because Rising Rookies had treated Kang Yi-chae as a fearsome figure, Jung Hae-yoon stood with the rigid posture of a fresh recruit under strict discipline.
I still couldn’t understand it.

‘Isn’t Kang Yi-chae actually pretty mild-mannered and kind?’

“Ha, thanks. You keep working hard too, Hae-yoon.”
“…!!”

There was no useful information to extract and no worthwhile move to make.
I was about to send the junior on his way when a familiar voice pierced through from behind.

“Wow, look at our little tinkerer—now you’re oozing seniority.”

An idol among idols had arrived.
As Joo Woo-sung walked over, every eye in the vicinity locked onto him.
Even Jung Hae-yoon, standing in front of me, stared at Joo Woo-sung with a half-dazed expression.
Seeing myself treated with such reverence felt oddly uncomfortable.

“Senior, hello!!”
“Oh, hey.”

The guy who usually avoided people actually responded to the junior’s greeting. That was unusual.

‘What’s gotten into him?’

I studied him carefully, wondering if this was really the same person I knew, and Joo Woo-sung grinned, leaning his arm against my shoulder as he spoke smoothly to the junior.

“Don’t get too friendly with this guy. He’s kind of a bad person.”
“….”
“You’d be better off impressing someone good like me.”

Ah, so he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to bad-mouth me in front of the junior.
I watched this ridiculous display unfold, and sure enough, Jung Hae-yoon seemed to accept it for a moment, nodding slightly.

“Right?”
“Yes! No, wait!”

He glanced at me sideways and quickly denied it, but his face already screamed ‘If you’re in the same group as mentor Kang Yi-chae…!’ This kid really couldn’t read people.

“Your stage was great today. Fighting!”
“Thank you so much!!”

…What?
Jung Hae-yoon, moved by encouragement from his idol, bowed repeatedly and headed toward where his group members were.
I caught the sound of him muttering, “Joo Woo-sung is seriously shameless….”

“Who is that? Do you know him?”
“Who is he?”

…He said he watched the rehearsal?
Joo Woo-sung added that he couldn’t remember names of unremarkable kids, then pointed at me and spouted nonsense about how ‘the shock of watching you work so efficiently made it impossible to forget.’ I considered enlightening him about our true first meeting through that photo, but being the good person I am, I held back.
I was about to enlighten you about our true first meeting connected through photographs, but being the good person I am, I decided to hold back.

“Thanks.”
Thank you.

As we followed Joo Woo-sung’s footsteps, fewer people came into view, and we arrived at a secluded and quiet corner within the Broadcasting Station.

“Ah, well, seeing you does ease my mind a bit.”
“…What are you…?”
“I wish everyone would ignore me appropriately like you do.”

This guy really does have strange tastes, doesn’t he?
While I was taken aback by the first-tier member’s self-satisfied remark, Joo Woo-sung pouted his lips.

“Look, whenever people see me, they either avoid me like I’m contagious and whisper behind my back, or they wait for some small crumb to fall and act fake-friendly. I even have to put on an act of getting along well with the members….”
“But you said you’ve gotten closer with the members.”
“…That’s just what I’m saying. Obviously we’re doing great.”

Even though he’s the type to openly indulge in dating—something considered taboo for idols—he’d consistently maintained his activities without ever missing broadcasts or causing major scandals.
Otherwise, no matter how high his star quality, WH Entertainment wouldn’t have kept him around and covered for him the way they do, given how meticulous they are about profits.

‘That’s really strange, isn’t it?’

I knew he’d changed from the beginning….

“He’s making an effort….”

Even if he didn’t look as passionate as a newcomer, he seemed like a manager who was pulling himself together and mustering some spirit.
I was suddenly struck by how unfamiliar this side of Joo Woo-sung felt, when he finally removed his hand from my shoulder and stepped back—only to freeze when he spotted the ring.

“…Are you dating?!”

Am I you?
Why is he like this today?

“Damn it, what are you doing? Do you know how serious this is if your fans find out?”
“It’s a group ring.”
“…Huh?”

Joo Woo-sung’s momentum deflated.

“…Ah, right, it’s a group ring for the members? Then you should’ve said so.”

While muttering in a disinterested tone, Joo Woo-sung’s eyes kept drifting back to the ring.

“Wow… so you guys are matching things like this now?”

As if I’d never owned a single ring in my life. Yet here I was, adorned with rings dangling from every finger.

“What? You’ve never coordinated something like this before, senior?”
“I have! Uh… yes, I have. It’s somewhere. Probably.”

The guy awkwardly averted his gaze, scratching at his slightly reddened neck before quickly changing the subject.

“Anyway, so the collaboration proposal came through, right? The one with High Five.”

I smiled knowingly.

“It did.”

WH Entertainment had proposed a collaboration between The Dun and High Five.
The agency was originally known for being snobbish about these kinds of things, but it seemed the broadcasting station had pushed hard for it.
I’d gotten a heads-up from a broadcasting staff member I’d cultivated a relationship with beforehand, and confirmed it through Joo Woo-sung.
That’s why I was able to mention it to Lee Ji-hyun earlier.

Us, who’d boosted our mainstream appeal through various entertainment shows, and High Five, still riding high in popularity under Kang Yeon-hu’s leadership.
With a competitive dynamic formed through Shining Star Season 2 and similar levels of recognition, it was perfect for generating buzz.

‘You have to seize opportunities the moment they appear.’

“Chae Jung-woo asked how you knew. Are you perhaps affiliated with WH Entertainment? No, you planted a spy, didn’t you?”
“Yes, it’s Joo Woo-sung.”
“…You’ve left me speechless.”

Joo Woo-sung let out a low whistle before asking.

“But… can you really perform with Kang Yeon-hu on the year-end stage? It’s going to be absolutely explosive?”
“Why? Are you worried?”
“Worried… Ugh, why does it sound so cringey when I say it like that?”

Joo Woo-sung crossed his arms and rubbed his forearms.

“Don’t worry. I’ve performed with Lia Purple before, so this is nothing.”

And would I ever make a move without a plan?

“Seo Ho-yoon. I can see all your gears turning.”
“You know that and still act so unbothered?”

You’re already thinking about what comes next.
The guy, who only had good instincts at times like these, showed a slight distaste before curling his lips into a smile.

“Come on, hey. How about a collaboration with me instead?”
“Are you insane?”

That would burn me to ash in a way I couldn’t possibly handle.

“Pfft, cute. You bastard.”

Joo Woo-sung, deeply satisfied with my serious expression, waved goodbye and disappeared, saying he’d head out first.
Is that bastard still holding a grudge about the military comment and deliberately provoking me?

‘If I were a PD instead of an idol right now…’

I would’ve rolled him left and right across that mudflat.
I clicked my tongue inwardly and pulled out my phone.
There was a text from a name I hadn’t seen in a while.

[Kang Yeon-hu: What are you thinking about?]

Now that’s the truly cute one.
All those years as a trainee eating scraps of attention weren’t wasted. His instincts are that sharp.

[Me: Haha?]

I typed out a reply to Kang Yeon-hu’s text, which carried an edge of wariness.

Life gets bland without some provocation.

Why are you saying that in such a hurtful way?

If I create the provocation, that settles it, doesn’t it?

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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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