The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 335

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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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335

After finishing the Hawaii vlog shoot, the moon had set and the familiar crimson dawn broke anew, yet Joo Woo-sung still had his mouth hanging wide open.

“I’m going to report every single one of those old workshop videos and yesterday’s footage the moment they go up….”
“What did you say?”
“…No, our junior here is absolutely a broadcasting genius.”
“Thank you.”

You should be grateful I didn’t edit it.
If I had, your broadcast would’ve ended that very day. Done.
I clicked my tongue silently. The guy who’d been hunched against the large suitcase, grumbling away, slowly straightened his back and looked down at me.

“Anyway, I’m heading out now.”

Despite not even doing Black Call activities, he was busier than The Dun.
With his schedule packed solid, even at this early morning hour, he was dressed head to toe in luxury brands for which he served as an ambassador. Only one thing didn’t match—the black hat he kept spinning around on his fingers wasn’t from that brand.

“Yes. It was really an unusual schedule, but take care on your way, and let’s try not to see each other in Korea from now on.”
“I mean it, really. I hated it too, you know? When are your members coming?”
“Probably tomorrow?”
“So you’re alone today?”

I answered with a casual shrug, and Joo Woo-sung rubbed his chin with his hand before bringing up something completely out of the blue.

“Make sure you look after your members’ mental state.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a feeling if the workshop-related content comes out properly, they’re going to get some hate.”

What.
Because of you and me?

“We already expected that would happen if we appeared with Joo Woo-sung.”

Unless Black Call’s popularity reached such an astronomical level that it transcended all boundaries, idols remained inseparably bound to their fans—their affection was an essential element—so even trivial matters could spark gossip. I was naturally sensitive to any whispers, no matter how minor.
The company’s directive for additional filming meant, in any case, that my relationship with Joo Woo-sung had yielded more gains than losses.

So when I couldn’t understand why this translated into a directive to look after the members’ mental state, I narrowed my eyes, and Joo Woo-sung exhaled a deep breath.

“Not me.”
“Then who?”
“Don’t you remember? What Lee Ji-hyun said the day before yesterday.”

High Five?
Joo Woo-sung nodded slightly at my expression and continued.

“Even around my first year, competitive dynamics formed and things got incredibly tense. Looking back now, it’s just a memory, but the atmosphere was pretty brutal back then.”
“Did people actually fight?”
“Hey, that’s violence. You’d end up at the police station. Still, it was really serious. Things have gotten much milder recently. Back in my day, I was terrified just leaving the apartment. You should prepare yourself to take some serious verbal abuse.”
“I see.”

I snatched the hat from Joo Woo-sung’s hand.
There was no way he’d need to wear it after finishing his hair styling—he was clearly trying to give it to me.

“Yes, I understand.”
….
“I’ll take the abuse and live a long life.”

As I pulled the hat down firmly over my head and replied, Joo Woo-sung scrunched his nose and burst out laughing as if exasperated.

“You’re really remarkable in some ways.”

He tapped the brim lightly with his fingertips, then waved his hand, pulled his luggage, and left the hotel.

‘I don’t have time to worry about such things.’

I’d rather spend that time practicing or running through schedules. I adjusted the disheveled hat and returned to my room alone.

‘I’m a bit tired.’

I headed straight to the sofa, buried my face in the cushions and lay sprawled out, then after a moment, I rose and made my way to the veranda. As I opened the door and stepped outside, the ocean view—which had become somewhat familiar after seeing it for several days—unfolded before my eyes. Draped across the wooden table where I’d enjoyed breakfast with Joo Woo-sung, I closed my eyes quietly, using the sound of waves as background music.
Perhaps it was because a spare moment had opened up.
The memory of being alone in “Unknown Actor Tycoon” suddenly surfaced.

“Hey.”

I slowly lifted my upper body and called out to the System Window.
As I tapped the table a couple of times with my index finger,

Ding!

[Long time no see!]

Along with the familiar notification sound, it appeared with static noise crackling throughout, as if something was wrong.
I stopped my moving finger and asked the question I’d been wanting to check on all along.

“Show me my points.”

[Points: 174,000]

Numbers were displayed on the new window that appeared, overlapping the blurry rectangle.
The compensation for the error and the points I’d earned from “Unknown Actor Tycoon” had accumulated quite nicely.

“…How many points did you say were needed for the partial reset to restore Seo Ho-jin’s memories?”

Then, as if it had been prepared in advance, the answer appeared quickly.

Partial RESET
An opportunity to initialize a specific section
Required Points: 300,000

Looking at the wavering blue window, my throat suddenly felt parched.
I pretended it was nothing, wiping the back of my neck with my hand as I asked,

“Have you lost interest in me lately? Why aren’t you giving me quests?”

[No, why are you talking like that?]

Ever since I’d confirmed Seo Ho-jin’s safety after having a conversation with Min Ji-heon at the workshop, I’d been constantly thinking about the System Window.
Quests had been sparse recently, but after returning from “Unknown Actor Tycoon,” they’d stopped entirely. I didn’t understand the reason for this sudden void, and it left me feeling oddly uneasy.

[To be honest, I’ve been struggling.]
[To explain more specifically, I’ve had an absolutely enormous amount of work to do since coming back from there.]

“Because of Kang Yi-chae?”

There are moments when silence—the absence of any expressed intention—feels like an even stronger affirmation.
And this was precisely one of those moments.

[…It was something I hadn’t anticipated.]

As I swallowed hard and let my gaze drift downward, the notification chime sounded again with a soft ding.

[Just because I’ve constructed the framework here doesn’t mean I can control everything.]
[The only advice I can offer you is not to forget what happened with Sung Ji-won. There’s nothing beyond that.]

Was this advice or a threat?
I lifted only my eyes, staring intently at the text.

[It’s already overwhelming just filling the inevitability of the current idol ‘Seo Ho-yoon’. If that gap widens further, I don’t need to spell out who will suffer—you already know perfectly well.]

The answer was painfully obvious.
Either me, or whoever it is that’s making the sacrifice.

“Yeah, well….”

I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck.

“I wasn’t planning on that anyway.”

That made no sense.
I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. Fatigue crashed over me like a wave, weighing down my entire body.
Seo Ho-jin’s memories, Kang Yi-chae’s suspicions, The Dun, Joo Woo-sung’s advice, competition, targets….
As I delved deeper into these tangled threads, my thoughts spiraled toward what would happen if I ended the game.

“….”

Troubled by several unsettling possibilities, I pressed my lips together, pushed myself up, and moved forward.
Only the sound of the window sash closing followed behind me.

.
.
.

“―…Ho-yoon’s sleeping so deeply―.”
“Yeah―. He must be tired―….”

I’d only closed my eyes for a moment, but somewhere along the way, I’d drifted off. My mind was still shrouded in drowsiness, yet my keen hearing awakened first, catching the sound of whispers nearby.

“He really does sleep well on the sofa.”
“Shh, shh. Don’t wake him.”
“Come on, Ji-won! What do you take me for? I’m not the type to wake someone who’s sleeping peacefully~.”

Then came the impact.

“…was a lie!!”
“Oof!”

Weight pressed down evenly across my entire body. It was Jung Da-jun, who had slid onto me like a sack of potatoes. As I lay pinned beneath him, groaning, Da-jun—now weighing as much as an elephant—greeted me with a bright smile.

“Good morning, Ho-yoon!”
“Get off, you bastard….”
“Yes!!”

Da-jun, who’d just eaten a fresh curse, cutely blinked his eyes and immediately rolled off. Then he whined about how I’d been treating the maknae too harshly lately. His expression was so eerily reminiscent of a certain rapper that I couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
Wondering if I’d slept so long that the members had already arrived, I checked my phone for the time—it had been only a few hours since Joo Woo-sung left the hotel.

“Weren’t you guys supposed to come tomorrow?”
“We came a day early! As a surprise!”

Sung Ji-won said this with a cheerful laugh.

“…Like that?”

Sung Ji-won tilted his head slightly, wondering what was wrong, and behind him came Jung Da-jun, Kim Sung-hyun, and even Kang Yi-chae in a line—all with flushed faces, wearing Hawaiian shirts and flower garlands. While the others could be excused for being new to this, Kang Yi-chae was clearly just doing it because he found it amusing.

“Don’t come near me.”
“Huh~? Why?! I was planning to stick right next to Ho-yoon!”
“It’s embarrassing. You all need to walk about 10 meters away from me.”

At that, Sung Ji-won gently scratched his cheek and carefully added to Kang Yi-chae’s words with a faint smile.

“This is my first time in Hawaii too…!”
“…Yeah. The flower suits you well.”
“Wow! Wow! Why is your reaction different?!”

As I watched the members chatter away excitedly, buzzing with anticipation at having arrived in Hawaii, my phone vibrated. A text from Joo Woo-sung had come through.

[Joo Woo-sung:
https://moonjin.co.kr/article/G18550130
]
[Joo Woo-sung: Aren’t you embarrassed?]

《The Dun Group Departs ‘Already Catching the Scent of Hawaii’》

The article featured a raw photograph of The Dun members at the airport before departure, their feet neatly clad in sandals and flip-flops, grinning widely as they waved their hands.
What were those three lines on Kim Sung-hyun’s cheek?

“Let’s go get some acai bowls!”
“No.”
“Seo Ho-yoon, you experienced it beforehand by yourself, didn’t you!”
“How petty, how petty~!!”

I brushed off Jung Da-jun and Kang Yi-chae, who were protesting loudly with their hands raised high, and flopped back down on the sofa.
But the members wouldn’t leave me alone. They circled around me, whining incessantly.

“Were you satisfied hanging out with Senior Joo Woo-sung!”
“You don’t even care about The Dun members anymore!!”
“Seo Ho-yoon, who enjoyed Hawaii alone, awaken! Awaken!”
“Ugh!! Fine, I’m going! I’m going!”

10 meters. I’d make sure to keep at least that distance from these guys.
Reaffirming this resolve, I reluctantly hauled myself up.

***

Hey guys, The Dun is going to Hawaii too lol
[Ah, these guys are really… what is it? Hahahaha aren’t you guys on a break right now? Why on earth? Is there another album coming out? Did you film the music video?

└But for something like that, there are way too few staff members…
└└But their expressions are so excited that it’s hard to say anything
Lol Kim Sung-hyun’s heart is racing too]

[You guys should do a lot of hotel livestreams when you go overseas. It’s basically the rule for boy groups abroad

└Have a safe trip
└Someone made a composite of Ho-yoon like a school trip photo
└└Ah hahaha, the expression was composited with a rotten expression. It’s so cuteㅜhahaha]

Ho-yoon joined us, and a photo of all five of us huddled together eating acai bowls and making V-signs got posted on Pop Pop! You guys really have such a great relationship lol

└Ah, it really looks like they sent a photo of their nephews having fun playing
Auntie here~!!! ^^!! Get in touch!]

The news that all of The Dun’s members were going to Hawaii spread rapidly across SNS and online communities.

[The Dun group overseas + a bit of downtime = legendary content. This is basically the rule]
[Plus they’re going around their debut anniversary. Something big is coming, mark my words]
[Wow, isn’t there a fan song coming up? It is given out once a yearㅠ]

Just as fans’ anticipation was ripening thick, a teaser appeared on The Dun’s official YouTube channel as if on cue.

【THE DAWN – Name This Feeling(self-cam)】

It was a short video, roughly twenty seconds long.
Guitar sounds that resembled the blue dawn of summer.
A crystalline voice that harmonized with it.

【Yes I’m asking you】

Lyrics that brazenly borrowed from “Will you go to prom with me.”
Kang Yi-chae and Jung Da-jun spreading their arms wide to draw a heart in a plaza bathed in brilliant sunlight.
Kim Sung-hyun lying on the grass in a baseball jacket of white and blue, smiling brightly.
Sung Ji-won turning around against an orange sunset backdrop, beaming with a radiant smile.

As if the members had filmed it themselves, their fleeting emotions and youthful essence seemed to be preserved intact in every frame.

【When you smile, my heart trembles】

The screen transitions,
and the camera draws close to Seo Ho-yoon, who sits crouched in a dimly lit street where sparse lights scatter across the pavement, a lollipop in his mouth as he gazes at his phone.
With a soft smile playing at his lips, he takes the candy in his hand and begins to sing, his gaze tender and direct.

【How do you name this feeling
Tell me, you know what this is】

‘Name This Feeling’
It was the third fan song, created solely for Noel.

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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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