The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 264

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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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264

I often thought my life was easy.

“Seo Ho-yoon! Damn it, you’re living your life all on your own again.”
“Ho-yoon~ What are you doing tomorrow?”

A reasonably affluent household with a family that got along well enough.
My grades were always good with minimal studying, friendships came without effort, and my face wasn’t something to be ashamed of.
So I thought earning people’s favor was nothing special.
At least, until I turned twenty.

“Ah… Seo Ho-yoon, you don’t have parents?”

Living without parents in South Korea was truly difficult.
The relatives who had been close to me turned their backs first. There was never any help given out of pure goodwill.

I couldn’t bring myself to touch the insurance money, thinking of it as the price of my parents’ lives.
I threw myself into rehabilitation with desperate intensity and struggled to earn money by any means necessary.
When I came to my senses, I was already twenty-four.

“Seo Ho-jin.”

My body and mind, which had been like a worn-out rag, had recovered somewhat.
I could finally breathe a little easier, and only then could I properly face Seo Ho-jin. His condition seemed strange.
It had been a while since I’d heard Seo Ho-jin complain, so I asked if there was anything I could buy for him. The young Seo Ho-jin I remembered from back then was usually straightforward about what he wanted.

“Is there anything you want?”
“Um, no. Not really.”

But this version of Seo Ho-jin only said he was fine.
He completed his studies without complaint, even though he used to whine about not wanting to study. He no longer asked for Mom and Dad.
He seemed to be trying hard to act mature.

‘Where did things go wrong?’

When all the relatives were pressuring Seo Ho-jin by bringing up insurance money? When the relative I’d trusted told Seo Ho-jin that his brother had abandoned him?

No, no….
When I left Seo Ho-jin with that bastard….
Damn it, I threw a fit with every curse word imaginable and tore the house apart before leaving, but honestly, it still wasn’t enough.

‘I have to do this so well that he doesn’t feel even the slightest gap.’

I attended every event related to Seo Ho-jin and tried to do whatever I could so he wouldn’t feel the absence.
But every time I went to school, what I heard from Seo Ho-jin’s homeroom teacher was always the same.

“Ah, so you’re Ho-jin’s older brother?”

The kid seemed mature because he was watching his hardworking brother, the teacher said.
Though it was meant as a compliment, my sensitive and sharp ears at that time found it grating. After all, I thought it was being said with the underlying premise that his parents were gone.
And even without wanting to hear it, the moment I turned my back, people’s whispers would flow out.

“Poor thing. It’s really tough to live without parents, isn’t it?”

A hollow laugh escaped me. I wished Seo Ho-jin wouldn’t realize he was the same as me.
So I moved to a different neighborhood.

“Hey. Seo Ho-jin. Never let it show that you don’t have parents.”

I said it very firmly.
Society was a place that would exploit even the tiniest flaw as a major weakness.

“Yeah, I got it.”

The young Seo Ho-jin of that time nodded firmly as if making a great resolution.

When was it again?
Once, I came home late in the early morning after working overtime, and Seo Ho-jin, who had just started university, was sitting on the sofa waiting for me, completely drunk.

“Hyung.”

At that time, I was gradually establishing my position at the broadcasting station. It was also around when the fact that I’d had a major accident and lost my parents had begun to spread a little.
That day, I saw Seo Ho-jin’s tears again—now faded in my memory.

“I hate how people talk about Hyung however they please….”

I wasn’t crying out loud like I did when I was younger, but the memory of my face from those days overlapped faintly in my mind.

I didn’t want Seo Ho-jin to be mentioned negatively to anyone.
I wanted him to appear as though he’d grown up abundantly, showered with nothing but love.

[He’s really your brother? Not just a friend?]
[The way people just assume he’s your real brother because you share the same character in your names… lol that’s so ridiculous]
[I don’t really like how celebrities’ family members keep getting mentioned, but this guy’s gonna keep coming up lol]

I hate it too—people talking about you.
But Seo Ho-jin’s personal information had already spread.
Tangled thoughts churned through my head.

Tick, tick, tick.

I shook my head slightly to scatter the distracting thoughts, then punched in the entrance door code and swung it open.

“—Oh, hello, I’m Seo Ho-jin, an unexpected celebrity.”
“….”

And there was Seo Ho-jin, sprawled diagonally across the sofa in sunglasses and a mask.
I kicked off my shoes immediately and strode over, snatching the sunglasses from his face.

“Ow, easy, Hyung. Why do you look so fierce?”
“…What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Your popularity’s been skyrocketing lately, so I figured you’d need sunglasses or something.”

Seo Ho-jin grinned with a sly expression.
I thought he might be flustered or at least reading my mood, but he seemed perfectly fine.

‘…Actually, he even looks like he’s in a good mood?’

“Hyung, how did you get here?”
“Taxi.”
“Really? I could’ve picked you up.”
“Since when do you know how to drive….”

Following Seo Ho-jin as he rose from his seat, I moved into the kitchen, where the dining table was laden with so much food that the table legs seemed to bow under the weight.

“What is this? You ordered all of this thinking we could actually eat it?”
“Come on, hyung. This is what flexing is all about. I used the card well.”

Playing around with Kang Yi-chae seemed to have made him quite bold.
I watched Seo Ho-jin shamelessly claim his seat first, then sat down across from him.
As he pushed plates toward me and rattled off explanations about what was good at this place and what the main dishes were, I asked directly instead of picking up my spoon.

“Are you doing okay? Nothing happened, right?”
“What could happen….”

Seo Ho-jin took a spoonful of dried pollack soup with eggs crumbled through it before answering.

“…Just. I figured it was finally coming.”
“What?”
“Actually, I think it turned out well, hyung. Honestly, I only see you a handful of times a year. I basically have to check if you’re doing well through the TV.”

After drinking a few more spoonfuls of soup, Seo Ho-jin set his spoon down on the table with a small sigh.

“Every time you come to see me, I can see you’re anxious. I’d just rather everything was out in the open so we could see each other more often.”
“People around you aren’t being annoying about it?”
“Not really. Anyway, from now on I’ll be buried in the library studying.”

Seo Ho-jin answered casually and pushed a plate toward me as I sat there quietly, then picked up his spoon again.

“What about your friends?”
“They asked if Seo Ho-jin was a celebrity and wanted my autograph. Crazy bastards….”

Seo Ho-jin hastily closed his mouth at that point.
Watching him nervously hold back his language to avoid getting scolded, I smiled slightly.

‘Looks like his friends are handling it okay.’

Seo Ho-jin, seeing me smile, relaxed his expression and crinkled his eyes along with me.

“And they said you’re incredibly handsome.”
“Yeah, thanks. Pass that along to them.”
“You’re shameless.”

Watching him complain while devouring the food with such appetite, something that had been lodged in my chest seemed to dislodge and fall away.
As I stirred the dishes with my chopsticks and scrutinized Seo Ho-jin, he finished his meal first, quickly cleared only his own bowls, and settled back into his chair.

“But you know, Hyung.”

At that cautious address, I set down my chopsticks—which hadn’t even touched my lips—and looked at Seo Ho-jin.

“I don’t know what you think, but I’m really okay with Mom and Dad’s situation now. Well, I’m not completely unaffected, but… I’m truly fine. I’m more worried about you, Hyung.”

He offered me a faint smile.

“What I have left isn’t my parents—it’s you, Hyung.”

Seo Ho-jin, who had grown so tall without my noticing, filled my entire field of vision.
And suddenly, I wondered if I had been worrying over utterly pointless things all this time.
I had thought these circumstances would reopen Seo Ho-jin’s wounds and turn them into deeper scars, but he had already healed himself, overcome it, and was moving forward.

“…Seo Ho-jin.”

Separate from my desire to make him happy.
I took a sip of water and spoke.
We had to leave.

“We need to move.”

The house held memories from all those years we’d lived together, so it was difficult to part with, but now that our address had been exposed, it was necessary for Seo Ho-jin’s safety.
Even at my abrupt words, Seo Ho-jin seemed to understand the reason and simply smiled brightly.

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

…The kid’s all grown up.

‘Maybe I was being too oversensitive about all this.’

Seeing Seo Ho-jin’s radiant face, I felt foolish for having taken everything so seriously all this time.
When I thought about it, I was an idol with a decent public image, and Seo Ho-jin was just an ordinary person. Even if curiosity was stirring now, it would soon die down—nothing more than a temporary fad.

“—Actually, the situation is better than it was when I was a PD at QBS.”

Perhaps my worries were unfounded—the PD no longer had a bad reputation, after all.

“…If you’re not uncomfortable with it, we could meet outside even if it gets a bit noisy.”

As I thought about it, my mood seemed to lift slightly.

“While we’re at it, I should also keep an eye on whether you’re eating well regularly.”

Suddenly, I found myself wanting to do everything for him that I hadn’t been able to do until now.
Whether it was a lack of money or a lack of time.
I wanted to slowly give him all the things I couldn’t provide due to my limitations.

“Even if it’s really expensive, it’s fine. I’ll buy it for you….”
“What are you talking about?”

At that moment, Seo Ho-jin, his brow deeply furrowed, interrupted me and asked.

“What?”
“No, you just said PD.”

Something strange crept over me.
That feeling I’d sensed from Seo Ho-jin before.

“Hyung, are you filming Please Camera Season 2?”

The conversation creaked and twisted awkwardly.
My lips stiffened in an instant.
I forced a smile.

“…Seo Ho-jin, that’s not funny. Stop it.”
“What?”

As if he didn’t understand, Seo Ho-jin’s head tilted slightly.

“Is filming the drama confidential or something?”
“Hey, damn it. Stop.”

I bolted upright, and the dining table I kicked clattered loudly.
Seo Ho-jin’s shoulders flinched.
I was barely clinging to reason by a thread—

“Don’t pull that pathetic crap on me right now. I’m on edge.”
“I, I didn’t do anything wrong?”

—and Seo Ho-jin shattered it.
Faced with his bewildered gaze, I found myself backing away involuntarily.
Something felt deeply wrong.

“…Hyung?”

I needed certainty.
Certainty that Seo Ho-jin was fine.
That he was the younger brother I knew—’Seo Ho-jin’.
Where we were, what mobile game he loved to play, what my original job was, and when our parents’ accident happened.

“…Hey.”

Words took shape but crumbled before leaving my lips, scattering into fear within me.

“You….”

Instead, I managed the safest question I could ask.

“―How much older am I than you?”
“…Huh?”

Seo Ho-jin blinked in surprise, his lips moving silently several times before he answered readily.

“We’re the same age.”

I stared at Seo Ho-jin without saying a word.

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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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