The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 290

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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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290

The day of the university festival event.
I spent the morning at the Company Practice Room, then headed to the Shop for makeup when the event time approached.
Just as the Members’ hair styling was wrapping up, I was waiting for the Manager, who had stepped out to bring the Van around early.

“Behold, the beautiful con artist has arrived!!”

From behind me, Kang Yi-chae—with a diamond-shaped blue jewel affixed beneath his eye—stretched both arms wide and called out playfully.
Yesterday he’d been so exhausted he’d meekly let me buy him ice cream, but today he was back to his usual antics.

“Hey, did my bank account arrive?”
“Wow, you didn’t say a word.”

Sung Ji-won tilted his head slightly at the sight, puzzled, but quickly shifted his attention to the paper with the stage directions. He was a bit on edge because of the university festival stage we had to perform on without a rehearsal. Kim Sung-hyun and Jung Da-jun were too busy searching for videos related to the university festival, their excitement getting the better of them.
Kim Sung-hyun and Jung Da-jun were absorbed in excitedly searching for videos related to the university festival.

“Lately, my brothers don’t seem to care about me at all…”

It was pure crocodile tears.
It was completely crocodile tears.

“…Right.”
“…Okay.”

As we cut through the crowded streets toward the university, Jung Da-jun’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
As Jung Da-jun made his way through the crowded street toward the University, his eyes sparkled brightly.

“Is the train station always this far away from here??”

Back in my day, you had to hike for about 30 minutes just to barely reach the entrance, but they’ve built a new train station nearby.

“Oh, only that spot is shiny and gleaming?!”

A building I’d never seen before.
Whether it came from the students’ blood, sweat, and tears.
Money had materialized from somewhere.

“Wow, what’s that hideous statue?”

That statue—the one every student who’d ever passed through this school found equally grotesque….
Unable to voice it aloud, I could only sigh internally before the weight of reality crashed down on me, and I pressed my forehead with my hand.

“Brother, are you hurt??”
“My stomach hurts, my stomach….”

Watching the familiar scenery drift slowly past the car window only made my mood stranger.
Throughout university, I’d juggled part-time work while maintaining grades and preparing for job interviews simultaneously. And taking care of Seo Ho-jin too.

It had been nothing but grueling hardship….
We crossed the familiar campus and entered the athletic ground, now transformed into the festival performance venue.

“Welcome!”

Under the escort of security guards, as we headed to the waiting room prepared by the university, several Festival Committee Students greeted us warmly.

“Welcome!!”
“Hello!”
“Thank you so much for coming today.”

Immediately, we checked information about the previous performance and whether there were any additional changes.
With little time left before taking the stage, everyone was busy with final confirmations, but my gaze kept drifting suspiciously toward a figure in a rabbit costume mask mixed among the students.

“Oh, the rabbit’s cute.”
“Looks incredibly hot though.”

The members seemed momentarily interested but didn’t pay much attention.
Given that the security guards and managers weren’t stopping them… the identity check must have already been completed.

‘Suspicious.’

“Hey, Ho-yoon!”

While a Staff Member adjusted my clothes and hair one more time and I fitted my earpiece, I carefully examined the rabbit mascot costume in the gaps between preparations, and Jung Da-jun clung to me with his usual frivolous energy.

“What?”
“Everyone who goes here is seriously smart, right?! So that means Ho-jin is too, but when did he suddenly start doing so well in his studies?!”
“I don’t know.”
“Our Ho-yoon is so cold-hearted.”

Well, the kid had always been sharp since childhood.
Even when I consulted with Seo Ho-jin’s Homeroom Teacher, I only heard that he was kind and diligent, so I never worried much about his grades. I simply assumed he’d do well on his own and moved on.
Part of me also thought it didn’t matter much since I’d always be by his side.
However, after the college entrance exam ended and he even did the preliminary scoring, when I asked if he’d failed since he didn’t report anything,

“No, I just did okay.”

That was all the answer I got.
That bastard’s going to retake it. I immediately caught Seo Ho-jin’s signal and started looking into academies here and there, but when I came home exhausted from work as usual and sprawled on the Sofa, Seo Ho-jin thrust his college entrance exam score report in front of me.
When I saw he’d only gotten one problem wrong in mathematics, I doubted my own eyes.

‘I was so proud of him back then….’

I turned my head and glared intently at the rabbit mascot costume.

“….”

It hesitated as it tried to approach me stealthily, then pretended to look away.

Waaaah—…!

Just then, a massive roar erupted from outside.
At the same time, a Festival Committee Student who was communicating via radio shouted.

“The Dun is entering!”
“Roger.”

I took the Stage with the Members. As summer drew near, the days had grown noticeably longer, and the surroundings were still bright.
Bowing repeatedly to the cheering crowd, we moved into our starting positions in time with the first song we would perform.
Soon, the intro to Connected began to play.

.
.
.

“Did you enjoy it?”

After greeting the audience and engaging in brief talk, I performed a total of four songs including the encore we’d discussed beforehand, filling the entire thirty minutes allocated to The Dun.

“We were The Dun, thank you so much!!”

Once the performance ended, contrary to my expectation of leaving school immediately, I found myself hurriedly returning to the waiting room. According to my Manager, so many people had crowded outside that we couldn’t get the car out. He suggested we wait here for things to settle down a bit.

“Your hair’s messed up here.”
“What about me?!”

While the members checked each other’s appearances, talking about taking photos to post on StarStar, I was sprawled out on the sofa, utterly exhausted.

‘These guys have incredible stamina.’

Holding a hand fan right in front of my face and rolling my eyes to look around, I didn’t see the rabbit mascot anywhere.
Then, I faintly heard someone talking outside.

“—Uh… What? Why aren’t you——? Oh, the kids are taking photos—— ——?”
“….”
“Seriously——, damn it…. ———.”

Not long after, the waiting room door quietly opened.
It was the Festival Committee Student who had greeted us first.

“Haha, thank you so much for coming today.”
“Oh, no. We should be thanking you for inviting us.”

Kim Sung-hyun and the student were both flustered, each insisting the other had more reason to be grateful.

“—Really, so many students at our school play IRIX! Or rather, you’re just so popular! In the survey we conducted while preparing for this festival, The Dun was the number one artist everyone wanted us to invite! We had such a tight budget that we kept cutting and cutting and cutting….”

That made sense. S University was already notorious among other universities for being dreary and boring.
It all came down to money.

“G… goooo~.”

I listened quietly to their conversation, but the more I did, the more their words trailed off in increasingly odd ways, veering into completely unexpected territory.

“Oh! I saw that Hyperfocus Master clip, and Seo Ho-yoon was absolutely incredible, haha! If you weren’t an idol, you would’ve come to our school, right?”
“Aha.”

Yeah, it is your school.
Though the class of ’10 would’ve been higher up.
I just smiled with my eyes narrowed.
But somehow, they seemed to be getting more flustered.

“Also… uh, this year’s festival was moved up a bit, but originally….”

Just as the Festival Committee Student was explaining which department’s booth was the most popular, a call came in from the Road Manager. The Manager who answered gestured toward the members.

“Let’s go now~.”
“Okay.”

At that point, I had a rough idea of what this student was scheming, but regardless, it was time for us to leave.

“It was nice talking with you, even if just for a moment.”
“Wait, wait! Huh??”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you!!”
“Just a second!! I’m sorry, really, really just one second!!”

As the flustered student shuffled their feet without being able to stop us, the Manager who had walked ahead and thrown open the Waiting Room door suddenly froze.

“A rabbit…?”

Stretching my neck to look, a rabbit mascot costume stood there, commanding attention.

“It’s here! It finally arrived!!”

A relieved voice leaked from behind.
The Festival Committee Student rushed forward and spoke.

“Ah, this friend is also part of our Festival Preparation Committee—they handle publicity! But they’re such a huge The Dun fan… especially! A Seo Ho-yoon fan…”
“I see.”

As expected.

“I’m your fan~”
“Yes! Yes! Could you just take one photo with all of us? Just for a second?! It’s this friend’s lifelong dream.”

Except for Jung Da-jun, who was fiddling with the rabbit mascot’s ears and tail, all the members’ eyes turned toward me.
I smiled brightly.

“…Well, why not?”

Of course it would come to this.
The moment my answer left my lips, the members huddled close and struck poses. The person in the rabbit mascot costume, however, simply stood there awkwardly, maintaining an uncomfortable distance.

“Alright, say cheese! One, two, three!”

The Festival Committee Student, who had taken the phone from the rabbit mascot, threw themselves into the shot with such passion they were practically rolling on the ground.

“Perfect! I’m busy, so I’m off!!”

Then they hastily tossed the phone back to the rabbit mascot and slipped away.
My gaze followed that familiar phone.
Yes, the phone.

“Hello.”

I blocked the path of the rabbit mascot, who had been about to follow the student who’d rushed off. They flinched in surprise and stepped back.

“Excuse me.”
“…”
“Excuse me?”

With each step forward I took, they retreated one step back.

“Are you really Noel? Hmm, are you shy? Or is it too hot in there?”
“…”

Still, there was no response.

“Our student… aren’t you going to answer?”
“…!!”

The moment I curved my lips into a smile, the rabbit costume’s head shook violently side to side.
Scanning the surroundings, I could only see the Manager checking his watch, the Members glancing over at me, and a Security Guard standing by with a businesslike expression.
I closed the distance in an instant and yanked the rabbit costume’s tail. As its center of gravity collapsed, it stumbled forward under my pull.

“But there’s something I’m curious about—is it okay if I ask?”

The rabbit costume reacted a beat too late, thrashing and trying to escape, but I was faster.
With my free hand, I grabbed the rabbit’s ears and ripped the head mask clean off, tossing it aside.

“Ahhh!!”

I cracked my neck and looked down at the person before me.

“Seo Ho-jin.”

Why was he here when he said he was going to the Library to study?

“Is this the Library?”

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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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