The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 257

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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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257

Late January.
With all the award ceremonies concluded, The Dun had left behind legendary performances of “Falling” and “Christmas Again.”

[This is absolutely insane]

The stages from half a year ago had been incredible, but the newly rearranged performances they unveiled now were breathtaking.

[Insane.. is there even room for them to improve further?]
Kang Yi-chae’s facial expressions are insane, and did the choreography details change too? That’s crazy, it’s so good.

[These guys could nail their positions with their eyes closed lol they must practice like crazy]

└???? Really?
└└Yeah, during a live broadcast, Jung Da-jun joked that he could do it with his eyes closed, and then Sung Ji-won, the practice machine, got fired up and suggested they actually try it blindfolded lol
https://www.neotube.com/watch?v=tHe_dAW!n_s1Ngi_BAngG!
That’s it.
└└Wow no way]

Following the YouTube link, I could see The Dun with black blindfolds and cloth covering their eyes in the grainy live broadcast quality.

“Can you see?”
“Um… I can’t see anything. Can you start the music?”
“Okay.”

Once the Staff Member started the song,

“Let’s go!”

They performed Second Chance and Christmas Again flawlessly.
The timing of turning around and shifting positions, the choreography of pulling each other’s arms—everything proceeded with perfect precision, not a single millimeter out of place.

[Are those transparent blindfolds?]
[What the heck, how are they even seeing this??;;]

The Noeul fans sheepishly rubbed their noses at the flood of genuinely admiring and favorable comments praising their skills.

[The blindfold…
Black cloth…
This seriously feels like a test of my patience

└hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I was thinking the same thing hahahaha]

While The Dun’s fans were endlessly rewatching Seo Ho-yoon near the end of the video—removing the blindfold, leaning close to the camera with a smirk—a post about The Dun’s airplane seat information began circulating on the community.

[Title: Is The Dun going to the United States?? Is there a tour announcement?

I saw on SNS that some people were selling The Dun’s airplane seat information..
Do you know what that’s about?

(The Dun THE DAWN
Seoul > Los Angeles (airplane emoji)
DM please)

└??
└No, they’re not going
lol why are the kids going to the United States right now, it’s not like they announced a world tour or anything, but they’re uploading content so hard right now
Lol, you believe that… looks like Jung Kyou is preparing for it right now
└└Oh really? Sorry for the inconvenience. I just did something.
└└ㅇㅇ There are still reports of sightings around the company lol Lee Chae is dying with his compositions these days.. It would be better to delete this post]

Of course, most dismissed it as nonsense.

Ugh, what the hell are you talking about lol
[Ugh, are there still people buying this stuff?
Report it ㄱㄱ]

[The guys are basically living in the practice room these days..
Even during live streams, it’s the practice room
All the photos they upload to Pop Pop have the practice room as the background
Even eating is in the practice room
When you ask where they are, it’s the practice room
They’re like a bound spirit to that practice room

└So it’s like my video call background lol, I thought it was photoshopped
I’ve seriously never seen kids glued to the practice room like these guys
└└When I see them practicing like pre-debut trainees, it’s both heartwarming and lol
└In Kang Yi-chae’s case, just swap practice room for work studio
Kang Yi-chae seriously has no friends
└└lollollollollollollollollol oh my gosh, so cute I love you Kang Yi-chae..
└└The Noeul fans slowly hoping Kang Yi-chae makes a friend is hilarious.. it’s like watching Joo Woo-sung who had no friends except Chae Jung-woo.. déjà vu…]

Just as I was about to dismiss it as passing gossip,

《IRIX and Dae Pa-sung Entertainment’s The Dun agree to proceed with K-POP collaboration》

An article released by Dae Pa-sung’s promotion team appeared.

《—…
In one week, the track produced through the collaboration between IRIX and The Dun will be released as both audio and music video.
Simultaneously, they are scheduled to take the opening stage of the Rix Cup finals in the United States.
With this, The Dun has become the first K-POP star to collaborate with IRIX.
…—.》

[IRIX? IRIX?? The same IRIX I curse at every single day?????]
[Wait, hold on
one second]

No matter how many times I read through the article, the content was simply unbelievable.
Not only did the article come from Dae Pa-sung’s promotion team, but official articles soon appeared on the IRIX homepage and from overseas outlets as well.

《IRIX confirms the collaboration with K-pop star ‘The Dun’》

[What did you say?????]
[Out of nowhere???????]

The Noeul fans were left completely stunned, as if they’d been hit from behind.

[I was watching lives and self-cams thinking I’d give them hell the moment Jung Kyou appears
and it’s IRIX??????]
[Yo, this doesn’t seem like a joke]
[lollollollol wow lollollollol wait, is this real???? For real?? There was zero mention of this, how the heck did this happen lollollollol]

And so The Dun’s fandom ignited like a festival ablaze.

[Ahhhhhhhh!
Kang Yi-chae did it!!!!!!!!!!]
Hahahaha… That man, Kang Yi-chae, who kept insisting he wasn’t serious about IRIX…
He’s the type who follows through when he commits to something]
[Hey, Kang Yi-chae, isn’t this basically a win at this point?
I mean, there’s no way he’d cry
I’ve never seen him cry even once
But okay, I’m just stating my hopes here]
Hahaha welcome back, Yi-chae! Hahaha

Above all, now that everyone knew Kang Yi-chae was genuinely invested in IRIX, they all rushed to Pop Pop and sent him messages.
Then Kang Yi-chae appeared, posting selfies with his fingers making a V-sign under his chin, another with heart-shaped hand gestures on his cheeks.

[IRIX, thank you, thank you, thank you]
[I’ve never once been grateful to IRIX for making that crazy game, but I’m literally bowing right now]

The Noeul fans eagerly devoured every photo.

[Yi-chae: Hehehehe Noeul~♥]
[Yi-chae: Did you see it?? The article’s up
I was so careful not to spoil anything that my lips were itching]
[Yi-chae: Ho-yoon really helped me out a lot]
[Yi-chae: Noeul, I’m just stepping out for a bit]
[Yi-chae: You gotta cheer me on♥]

Watching Kang Yi-chae’s messages, the fans smiled warmly.

[You said you weren’t serious about IRIX…
You said you could even delete your account…

“Haha, you said you were deleting your account??”
└└Yeah, but he can’t do it. He’s been saying he’d quit for five years now, so it’s honestly ridiculous]

[Kang Yi-chae being excited is so cute, he’s always been like that, but he’s overflowing with aegyo]
[Kang Yi-chae was so excited that he spoiled everything I was asking about, but Kim Seong-hyun must have freaked out and stopped him haha. He said he was sorry and was leaving now hahaha.
You’re spoiling so much lol

[What Kang Yi-chae mentioned
The members meeting directly with the producer
Behind-the-scenes from the US self-content dropping
Music video coming out
Finals stage live performance
Returning to Korea before Seo Ho-yoon’s birthday

This fox bastard probably just pretended not to know and told me anyway lol

[Title: Male idol who gave a presentation directly in front of the producer because he loves IRIX—current status

Collaborating K-pop with IRIX
Performing at the Rix Cup
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Kang Yi-chae..
He’s a man who does what he says he’ll do..]

While Noeul fans were buzzing excitedly about The Dun, negative opinions began creeping in once more.

[Lol, you actually believe that?]
[Haha, the members go and give presentations, and everything like that is contracted in advance.]
Do you even know The Dun fans? Never worked a day in your life? You’re running your happiness circuit and doing great at it lolol

The fans dismissed it as merely another step toward reaching the first tier, paying it no mind.
Then a video appeared on YouTube, and its view count began skyrocketing as the algorithm picked it up.

[The Dun Lip-sync Tier 1]

The Dun had been featured on a cyber-attack channel notorious for tearing down celebrities over the most absurd nitpicks.

[0:44 Haha, this is actually real AR]
[1:31 Why are they pretending to be good at live singing?? Genuinely curious..]
At 2:35, it’s just silence here~ lol, is this even a singer?

The video resurrected the controversy surrounding The Dun’s live performances that had been quietly surfacing since last year, claiming that when the MR was removed, their vocals were barely audible, and raising suspicions of lip-syncing. The channel had even pinned comments expressing similar sentiments to the top.
They even pinned a comment with a similar opinion to the top.

[And as soon as they go up a bit, the haters show up]
[Didn’t you see the kids-like encore on stage? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Since his debut, he had a reputation for being really good at live performances, but suddenly…]
[Bringing a Music Broadcast comeback stage that’s famous for having all performers lip-sync or heavy audio correction just looks like muddying the waters]

[Someone bring me a compilation of our Dang-dang’s lyric mistakes

That’s real live proof lol
└└Our Da-jun is so creative with his lyrics]

The Noeul fans felt their blood pressure spike from the back of their necks.
Just watching The Dun’s youngest member, Jung Da-jun, creatively ad-lib his lyrics whenever he forgets them on Music Broadcast live stages was proof enough that it was live.
But it was hard to laugh it off when similar videos started pouring out one after another.

[Lately when I see fans who remove AR/MR from live performances and praise The Dun’s CD quality, I feel kind of.. sorry for them. What are they gonna do if they ever do a raw live performance later…]
[If you put in a breathing sound, they all think it’s live.. haha. I’m really blinded haha. Why don’t people who proudly say that they became addicted to The Dungeon after fanning for a long time not know that?..]
If I go to the United States, I’ll seriously get my ass kicked lolololol

The Dun’s fans diligently reported comments and, while documenting some of the more excessive statements, thought to themselves.

[Looks like there’s been a lot of new influx lately
There’s been unusually a lot of drama]
That guy really seems to have a lot.
The kids probably blew up from variety shows, and their album’s selling like crazy so people are rushing in like mad]

[The blood of a spicy chicken is boiling

Let me take the fishing boat out once and come back.
I’m unable to translate this as it doesn’t contain recognizable Korean words or meaningful text. It appears to be keyboard characters or symbols rather than actual Korean language content.

As the fans accumulated their internal anger, every provocative post that appeared led to brilliant keyboard battles.

[Title: Honestly, the idol live performance controversy this time is so obviously fake..?

Fans just say they like it, but..
I wasn’t feeling it.. There are other idols with insane skills out there, but calling them skilled performers at that level and liking them just doesn’t sit right with me
They just slapped a “skilled artist” frame on him for coming up from a mid-tier company, and it seems like the album sold well this time because of it lolol

└Are you jealous?
└└?? ㅜㅜ I don’t know what you’re talking about.
└└(Reported comment)
└└(Reported comment)
└└(Reported comment)
└└(Reported comment)
└└OP, run away quick…
└└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ야ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ진짜ㅋㅋㅋㅋ관종을 불쌍하게 여길 정도의 노을의 흉흉함
└└lost it, that person was someone who’d been in a keyboard war for fifty years
This is absolutely fucking fascinating.

With a flourish of their fingers, the Noeul fans departed without hesitation.
They harbored no concern for their idol.

Time heals all wounds.

They believed that once The Dun took the stage in America—where raw acoustics made live singing the standard and performing with a handheld microphone was the norm—the truth would be revealed.

[Come back and show us what you’re made of]

And The Dun had never once disappointed them until now.

.
.
.

“We’re in America!!”

Unlike Korea’s January, the air here carried a refreshing coolness against my cheeks.
Palm trees lined the streets, and low buildings blended seamlessly with towering skyscrapers—this was Los Angeles.
We were taking today to adjust to the time difference, and starting tomorrow, rehearsals and behind-the-scenes filming would commence.
Jung Da-jun, thrilled to be in a new place for the first time, was too busy chattering away while clinging to Kang Yi-chae with his beanie pulled backward.

“Hyung, hyung! Take a picture of me over there!!”
“Okay!!”

At this point, I couldn’t imagine any member whose mental state would be shaken by such controversy, but it seemed the Management Team had decided not to mention anything related to the live performance.
Since everyone had checked YouTube and fan reactions, it didn’t seem like they were completely unaware of the situation. Of course, except for our maknae.

“Ji-won! Come take a photo with me here! Look, how does this broken heart pose feel?”
“Sure.”

Da-jun, who had dragged Ji-won into this, was dead serious about taking photos to upload to StarStar.
Yi-chae diligently captured the shot—Ji-won forming a large heart with his bent arms, and Da-jun making a small heart with his hands.
It looked good.

‘Besides, the maknae doesn’t need to see any of this.’

While they were at it, I approached our team’s water dumpling—the one who had just finished talking with the Manager.

“Kim Sung-hyun.”
“Yeah?”

He had been assigned the flashy opening for this collaboration song with IRIX. His appearance and the aura he radiated matched perfectly, as if the game had been brought to life.
I grabbed his shoulders and turned him around, then asked.

“How are you feeling? Think you’ll be okay with the live performance?”
“Huh? What do you mean okay?”

Kim Sung-hyun slightly furrowed his brows and spoke calmly.

“…Are you worried about the lip-sync controversy?”

He looked perfectly fine.
When I raised my eyebrows, Kim Sung-hyun looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it,

“Hey, Seo Ho-yoon.”

and burst out laughing.

“Are you seriously checking on my mental state because of that?”
“…”
“In the past, maybe. But with you right here, why would I worry about anything else?”

I understood what he meant—basically saying he’s fine as long as I’m around.

“Geez…”

You certainly gave him an excellent early education.
I looked at Kim Sung-hyun and threw out a comment, knowing full well he’d hate it.

“I’m so excited.”
“Ha….”

Kim Sung-hyun swallowed a curse and gazed up at the sky, muttering to himself, “What on earth did I do wrong in my past life….”
Having been in a good mood lately, I put my arm around Kim Sung-hyun’s shoulder and grinned.

‘Well, whatever. Kim Sung-hyun said it was fine.’

The live performance controversy?
I wasn’t worried about it.

“Let’s give it our all on stage.”

This was the birthday gift I’d been waiting for since October.

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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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