The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 319

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

319

【Popular Male Idol’s Current Status – Finally a Cold Shoulder Ending?!】

A distorted robotic voice emanated from the YouTube video.

News photos and SNS reactions followed.

【However, Seo Ho-yoon hasn’t appeared on Pop Pop for over two weeks now, and even as this video is being produced, he remains absent. The other members of The Dun are also silent.】
【All the group photos posted on the official SNS account are from the past.】

The comments below were filled with sarcasm directed at Seo Ho-yoon.

[Where did all those people go who kept praising Seo Ho-yoon for perfect attendance? Your oppa has been completely silent for ten days now]

[You guys kept defending Seo Ho-yoon as a filial son, saying he attended Pop Pop well except when Shas 2’s family drama blew up..

└Now Seo Ho-yoon only sends messages once a month so he doesn’t have to give refunds
└└Then you guys go crazy saying ‘don’t blame him, he’s sick!’
└└Man, making money is so damn easy!]

The Dun’s fans who saw this were simply fed up with the cyber bullies’ method of piecing together trivial details and inflating them for the sake of criticism.

[These anti videos are seriously consistent…
That bastard analyzing group photos and selfies by their clothes to determine if they’re recent is so creepy]
[For real… when are those assholes who upload this stuff finally going to jail?]
The other Members just quietly go about their schedules so I’m not sure exactly what’s going on… but something seems to be happening with Ho-yoon… I’m really worried…
[There were sightings of the members near the hospital lately, is that real??]

[Why hasn’t Kang Yi-chae said anything? It’s been forever since he last posted too

└He never posts updates anyway + Fans don’t make a huge fuss calling him a dutiful son whenever he does post
└└Ugh, so posting updates before was a mistake?]

Of course, criticism wasn’t the only thing circulating.
Rather, most fans were genuinely worried that something had happened.

[Ho-yoon, have a wonderful day today!!]
[Ho-yoon~ The weather is so nice today hehe I’m suppressing my murderous urges toward my boss and heading to work!! Wish me luck!!]
[Please don’t tell me you’re sick somewhere… If that’s the case, I’ll go strip my pants off in front of WH]
[Our baby~!!! Eat something delicious today, and definitely get yourself a sweet Frappuccino~~]

Just as the Noeul fans waited with bated breath, barely concealing their anxiety for Seo Ho-yoon,

[Ho-yoon: Hey]
[Ho-yoon: What are you up to?]

Pop Pop messages arrived at the top of their phones.

[Ho-yoon!!!!! I missed you so much]
[Bunny what were you doing!!!]

As if understanding exactly what the fans felt, just as they were about to ask if he’d been sick, a photo of him eating appeared, and the moment they were about to say they’d missed him, a video was posted.

[I’m grateful to the world, thank you world]

The fans were reassured by his bright smile and healthy appearance. After that, casual conversations flowed through Pop Pop.

[Why are you contacting us in broad daylight?? You usually message early in the morning or at night]

To one fan’s curiosity, Seo Ho-yoon’s response was this.

[Ho-yoon: Why did I contact you at this hour?]
[Ho-yoon: The weather was nice… just because]
[Ho-yoon: I just wanted to check in with Noeul]

The fans burst out laughing at Seo Ho-yoon’s rare, unguarded moment.

[hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]
[Ho-yoon, it’s Pop Pop here… not a text…]
Hahaha oh my god that’s so funny lol
[Someone please teach Seo Ho-yoon how to use Pop Pop instead of texting]

Messages teasing Seo Ho-yoon streamed in endlessly.

.
.
.

“Damn it.”

I should have read it over once more before sending.
I rubbed my forehead sheepishly.
After sending a correction message and letting out a sigh, the Manager, who’d been glancing at me through the rearview mirror, struck up a conversation.

“At least the results came back good, Ho-yoon.”
“Yeah, well. But the health checkup takes up so much time…”

When I’d opened my eyes, more than ten days had passed in this place’s time.
In that situation, the Company insisted that health was the absolute priority, so they scheduled every possible test available at the hospital and wouldn’t let me do anything but rest. They were even stricter about it than the Members were.
Getting diagnosed by the Doctor, receiving reports from Lee Ji-hyun, getting my schedule from the Manager. After discharge, there was even the upcoming Album Meeting.
Days disappeared in an instant. Only now did I finally have a moment to catch my breath and check on Pop Pop.
I was carefully scrolling through the mountain of mischievous messages from fans when my phone screen went black and switched to a call display. It was Min Ji-heon.

“What.”

[….]

“I’m busy.”

Last time I’d called him, he’d just said he was busy and that he’d contact me again later, then hung up right away.

[The weather’s nice today… so I wanted to call you.]

Hearing him spout nonsense in that gentle tone made my skin crawl. I immediately hit the end call button.

“Is this guy seriously insane?”

Goosebumps erupted across my arm as I reached for my phone, and Min Ji-heon’s name flashed on the screen again. I wasn’t particularly eager to answer, but since I had things to discuss with him as well, I forced myself to pick up.

[Ugh, why’d you hang up so fast? You’re breaking my heart.]

“Are you a stalker?”

[I’m your biggest fan.]

Stop messing around.
The Min Ji-heon I was talking to now—the one from this place—was relaxed yet shameless.
I’d verified multiple times how differently he spoke compared to Hyung at Pop Pop, thinking things like, “So acting is just his daily life, that’s why he’s so good at it.” After a string of his rambling, I was about to hang up again when Min Ji-heon suddenly got to the point.

[Don’t be too upset that I couldn’t visit you in the hospital. I was overseas and things were absolutely hectic~.]

I glanced at the Manager, who was focused on driving, then lowered my voice to ask.

“Do you remember the person who was with me when I collapsed?”

[Yeah.]

An uncertain answer came through the speaker.

“Do you know where they went?”

[Well, I’m not entirely sure… Honestly, I was out of it back then too. I took Hyung to the hospital and when I went back to look, they were gone. It felt like I’d seen a ghost or something…]

I had some doubts about whether Min Ji-heon truly knew nothing, but there was no way to verify it right now either.
Should I dig into this myself?
I tapped my phone with my finger, organizing my thoughts, when I heard Min Ji-heon laugh.

[Hey, don’t do that.]

“…What?”

“Whatever. Look, as someone who actually has experience in this kind of thing, I’m giving you some advice… Just treat it like you stepped in shit and move on. Otherwise, before you know it, you’ll end up ruining yourself and your family.”

“Our family’s been ruined for a long time already.”

“That… sorry. Anyway, you’re not hurt anywhere, right? My younger brother was so worried about his brother that he couldn’t eat… well, he could eat, but he was really, really concerned. By the way, Jiheon couldn’t sleep because of his brother~.”

The conversation suddenly shifted direction.
This bastard would abandon me the moment something came up, yet his tongue never stopped wagging.

“Forget it. Tell your brother I appreciate him worrying about me.”

[Huh?]

Noeul had been my fan no matter where I went.
I ended the call before Min Ji-heon could respond. The van was already pulling into the company parking lot anyway.

‘At this rate, I won’t be able to find Jung Chung-yeon.’

I’d still search, but something told me I wouldn’t see her again.
I exhaled a long sigh and stepped out of the stopped vehicle.
With a backlog of schedules to get through and a comeback just weeks away, I was swamped. I’d stopped by the company during this brief window because Kang Yi-chae had finished revising the recorded tracks.

‘Has he gotten better at all?’

I headed toward Kang Yi-chae’s Studio, leaving my Manager to head to the Management Team, saying he’d see me in a bit. Every employee I passed greeted me warmly.

“Oh my, Ho-yoon! It’s been so long. I heard you caught a cold?”
“Right? They say even dogs don’t catch summer colds.”

Just as I was smiling and responding appropriately,

“Oof!”

A sharp blow struck my side.

“Ugh!”
“Brother!!!”

Our maknae—the elephant.

“Why weren’t you answering your phone!! Geez!”

Jung Da-jun, who’d tackled me, began firing off words like bullets.

“Brother, what did the hospital say?! Are you okay now? And did you eat?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank goodness!! But you know what? I’m planning to film a Reel today—!”

The staff, seeing me trapped in a flood of words, quietly retreated. I gestured for them to get back to work and matched pace with Jung Da-jun as we walked.

Ding!

[Jung Da-jun is really… hehe….]
[Quite the chatterbox….]

My thoughts exactly.
After returning to ‘Obscure Idol Tycoon’, the System Window had never shown itself—yet it popped up now. Despite how I’d tried countless times to summon it regarding Kang Yi-chae, it wouldn’t even show its face.

Still, while I found Jung Da-jun noisy, I also felt proud and fond of him.
I’d heard that over the past few days, all the members, including the maknae, had flawlessly executed every schedule without showing any signs of strain.
Throughout our walk, I quietly observed Jung Da-jun’s endless chatter. Then his rapidly moving mouth suddenly clamped shut.

“…What is it?”
“Why?”
“Your eyes look kind of…”
“Affectionate, isn’t it nice?”
“It’s like dipping a hot chili pepper in honey—makes me feel a bit queasy… Ow!!”

Jung Da-jun, who’d earned a flick to his forehead, rubbed his crown and glanced around before whispering softly.

“But Ho-yoon… when are you going to make up with Yi-chae?”

I wondered when this would come up.
I brushed back the long bangs I’d left down for styling and replied.

“Why? What did Kang Yi-chae say?”
“Nothing like that, but…”

I pinched Jung Da-jun’s nose between my thumb and forefinger and chuckled.

“Our little elephant, don’t waste time on needless worries.”
“…Could you call me your puppy instead? At least that’s cute.”

Jung Da-jun, who had swatted my hand away and complained about what an elephant was while covering his nose, added his thoughts.

“It’s just that Yi-chae hyung has been acting strange lately. He jokes around exactly like he normally does, and then….”
“And then?”
“His laughter suddenly stops, and when I turn around, he’s staring blankly into empty space.”

That does sound a bit unsettling.

“Thanks to that, I feel like I’m experiencing a horror show every single day these days.”

Jung Da-jun, who had stopped in front of Kang Yi-chae’s Studio, spoke to me.

“Anyway! Please, quickly, resolve this smoothly somehow! You know Yi-chae hyung is naturally a scary person, don’t you, Ho-yoon hyung?”
“Our Da-jun, you even know what ‘naturally’ means?”
“…Are you really mad at me?!”
“I get it, I get it. Let’s just go in.”

No matter what happened, I figured I’d just brush it off and try to soothe things over appropriately.
I scratched my ear and pushed the maknae’s back toward the door.
Jung Da-jun took a deep breath, grabbed the knob, and yanked the door open.

“Hyungs, we’re here—.”
“Today feels like I had LASIK surgery….”

The first thing that caught my eye was Kang Yi-chae tapping away at piano keys. He was even singing.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve finally seen the light~.”
“Please just stop… before I really start cursing you….”
“Including those washboard abs~.”
“Argh!!!”

The melody was a track that Lim Hyun-sung had recently worked on. Despite the sweet tone, the lyrics grew increasingly bizarre, and Sung Ji-won and Kim Sung-hyun were covering their ears and frowning.
As I strode in after Jung Da-jun, Kang Yi-chae met my gaze with a smirk.

“Look, that shameless bastard is walking toward me.”
“….”
“Pray tell me thy name~.”

As his voice grew louder, I clicked my tongue softly and raised my hand to my ear, but Kang Yi-chae playfully smacked his own forehead with a tap!

“Hoo-hoo… Oops, I got it wrong.”
“….”
“Hoo-hoo~!”

This bastard really….

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————