The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 389

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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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389

[Seriously… they really used The Dun as a ratings machine]

Before the Kang Yi-chae controversy erupted.
The Dun, High Five, and Min Ji-heon received participation trophies from the Green Music Awards—the kind that meant nothing. Each posted photos holding them on their official SNS accounts, but the fans couldn’t contain their anger. Naturally, suspicions about the Green Music Awards results flooded in.
They each posted photos holding it on their official SNS accounts, but Fans couldn’t easily contain their anger. And as expected, suspicions about the GMA Awards win flooded in.

[Did our WH representative stab someone from the Green Music Awards production crew? Or did Dae Pa-sung? What in the world is happening?]
[Even for a trashy awards show like this, this is ridiculous. It’s so obvious—everyone from WH got completely cut out. This deserves an investigation.]
[At this point, I’m more curious how much money LV paid off. Every single Grand Prize went to LV. This is infuriating.]
At this point, I’m actually curious how much money LV has been eating up. Like, everything is LV right now lol. Ugh, this is really frustrating.

[Please bring your predicted score ㅅㅂ Obviously, when I was voting on the website, ㄷㄷ and ㅎㅇㅍㅇㅂ were going back and forth.

…Actually, it’s not funny at all.]
…honestly, not funny

Even Min Ji-heon couldn’t pinpoint a single target, so the public was equally bewildered by the result.

Look at how the actors’ eyes went wide and they couldn’t control their expressions back then… Of course, the person who didn’t win the award was Min Ji-heon.

└└What’s sad about it? Ha Seo-yeon totally benefited. She said thank you in her acceptance speech and came down.]
└└No, honestly Ha Seo-yeon’s level is good enough to win. Didn’t you see her expression harden? She must be frustrated too.]
[No, honestly, Ha Seo-yeon’s skills aren’t at a level where she can’t pull it off. But didn’t you see her face stiffen? She must be frustrated too.]

The idol side was vicious—they just barely didn’t draw weapons.
The atmosphere between the Idol and the others was so tense it was like they were about to draw weapons on each other.

Proud featured artist Lavish^^ (feat. waiting area asking “Who is Lavish?”)

└LV, feel ashamed…]
└Meanwhile High Five and The Dun didn’t change their expressions at all. Everyone was shocked but they didn’t flinch once and just clapped.]
Meanwhile, Ha-pa-rang and The Dun didn’t change their expressions one bit lol while everyone else was shocked, they didn’t even flinch and just clapped.
└└Idol skills lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol]

As the team name was called and Ravish rushed forward in joy, the faces of the singers—painted with bewilderment, shock, and alarm—were captured on screen in their entirety and edited into a brief clip that spread across various video content platforms. Below it, the comments section overflowed with mocking remarks.

[My kidsㅠㅠ Our Ravish… I’m so proud of you. Congratulations on winning the grand prize singer♡
Likes(494) Dislikes(5184)]

Moreover, since the fandom itself was dominated by High Five and The Dun, it wasn’t easy for Ravish to sway public opinion or treat the matter as if it never happened.
However, up until this point, everyone was quietly venting their frustration behind the scenes rather than openly clashing.
That precarious peace truly shattered the next day, when a new controversy involving Kang Yi-chae surfaced.

【Green Music Awards The Dun Reaction Direct Cam (THE DAWN Performance Reaction)】

A substitute photographer had uploaded footage of the entire waiting area at the GMA for YouTube views, and within it, Ravish was caught pointing and giggling at The Dun’s performance.
As the video spread rapidly, Ravish fans felt a chill. Simultaneously, they rushed to damage control.

Ah, looks like you’re in a good mood after hitting the target! The kids’ laughter is overflowing haha. You all made this happen!!

[If you look closely, isn’t Ravish pointing their fingers?;;

└If you’re interested, you can point while talking, damn it So are you going to point with your toes? The level of The Dun fans is showing, seriously
I’m not even a fan of The Dun.. lol;; why are you so mad?

Our Younghyuk seems to really like Kang Yi-chae lolol, maybe because they’re at similar career levels he wants to get closer, he can’t take his eyes off him.

└How does that look like eyes that want to get closer?
└└222
└└3333 He’s sneering
└Looking at Yi-chae’s eyes, he also has that murderous gaze, so where are you pointing out eye contact and making a fuss
└└22
The comment section is so messy, everyone’s going out to fight.

[It could happen to a junior The Dun isn’t even a senior..

Suddenly a generous person appears lol
└└Would you stay quiet if a senior looked at you like that? Not say anything and just do what the senior tells you? Because they’re a junior?]

“Ugh, I’ve been holding this in for so long, but Lavish totally deserves an award, you know?? Those Fandom people are spouting nonsense about them embezzling money without any evidence, and it’s just ridiculous, honestly lolol. Well, even so, our girls are still the targets~”

└So who exactly is Ravish??
└I’m genuinely curious—did they even have any activities this year…?
└ Nim, please take a look at the predicted scores. No matter how high the judges’ scores are, they are completely eliminated in the fan vote. If this isn’t evidence, then what is it? Haha.
“So Noel and Hairy are having some kind of party? Then go to the Police Station and whine about it~ Tell them you came because you’re upset about your singer not winning an award lol”

While The Dun’s fans’ blood pressure was skyrocketing in response to Ravish’s defenders, a Noeul fan who had been a proxy photographer repeatedly watched the footage and discovered something. Right before the Green Music Awards’ closing shot, Ravish’s main rapper glanced at Kang Yi-chae while accepting the Artist of the Year award, whispered something to another member, and smirked with one corner of his mouth raised.

[But doesn’t his attitude seem particularly strange toward Kang Yi-chae

└ㅇㅇㅋㅋ I feel it too..]

Sensing that something was definitely off, Noeul immediately began digging and surprisingly found the connection without much difficulty.

[See this? The kid who smiled when looking at Kang Yi-chae turned out to be a Rising Rookies trainee]

One of the trainees who appeared on Rising Rookies, where Kang Yi-chae had served as a mentor last year, was Jang Young-hyuk’s Younger Brother, Ravish’s main rapper.
In the early episodes of Rising Rookies, he had drawn attention with the title of “active idol’s younger sibling,” but throughout the program’s broadcast, he displayed an insincere attitude and ultimately failed to achieve good results, having to return home.
Upon discovering this, Noeul uploaded a post on SNS along with an edited clip from Episode 6 of Rising Rookies, hoping people would judge for themselves.
The relevant scene was when trainees, divided into teams and assigned mission songs, showcased their performances to the mentors before taking the stage.
However….

【…Well, you see.】

Unable to accept the evaluation given to them, Jang Young-hyuk’s Younger Brother tried to remain composed, but picked up the microphone with a visibly dissatisfied expression.

【We simply didn’t have enough time…. Our team was at a disadvantage too. We didn’t even have a team member who had done rap before, and every idea we came up with was shut down, and we couldn’t even get clear advice from the mentors….】

With each word added, the surrounding trainees’ expressions crumbled and filled with shock.
Kang Yi-chae, who had been listening quietly, asked softly with a calm gaze.

【And then?】

At that, Jang Young-hyuk’s Younger Brother’s lips pressed shut.

【….】
【What’s the conclusion?】
【…That, that is….】

As if he hadn’t prepared an answer up to that point, he hesitated, and Kang Yi-chae leaned his upper body slightly forward with a small smile.

【Why won’t you finish your sentence? There are people listening.】

Though he was smiling, his upturned eyes and soft tone belied the chill that had crept into his voice.
Intimidated, Jang Young-hyuk’s Younger Brother couldn’t muster another rebuttal and hung his head in silence.
Kang Yi-chae exhaled a deflated sigh and rose to his feet.

【…Come on, let’s give it another shot with some real effort, shall we?】

As if to smoothly gloss over the moment, Kang Yi-chae flashed a smile and patted the trainees’ shoulders before the footage cut.
Throughout episodes 1-5, Kang Yi-chae had frequently been shown offering generous guidance to numerous trainees, so when this segment aired on television, it only solidified his favorable image even further.
Upon seeing this through SNS, Noel and Hairy banded together and erupted in fervent support.

[Was he acting up because of his younger brother?]

[I’d rather avoid speculative comments, but there were some suspicious things before. I wasn’t interested since he wasn’t even a top candidate, so I didn’t know… but if you dig through past music show footage, you can see Jang Young-hyuk eyeing Kang Yi-chae and The Dun with clear disdain…]

└But isn’t that just reading too much into the situation? Please refrain from targeting the trainee who’s now a civilian;
└└What did the comment above say about a civilian? It pointed out that Jang Young-hyuk’s conduct is questionable
└└Jang Young-hyuk’s reputation for poor behavior is well-known… I was curious too and got into Ravish because of him, but I got so fed up I dropped them]

[Hairy’s girls are calling Ravish trash]
[Kang Yi-chae’s fans are calling them trash Ravish holy f***ing goddamn bullsh*t—ah, only a rapper fan could come up with rhymes that fire]
[This dawn fandom.. when they were enemies I found them so annoying, but they’re doing great now. Standing ovation to myself]
[We have to acknowledge Noel’s combat power]
[I’m suddenly starting to like Hairy
No… I can’t let my guard down]

Just as the two fandoms, having grown closer, were warmly acknowledging each other, a stray comment surfaced suggesting it would’ve been better to hand the award to a rival group than to some unknown group, but once it started getting quoted, it was hastily deleted in a minor incident.

.
.
.

After the Green Music Awards wrapped, I’d been holed up in the Training Room with Kim Sung-hyun for hours preparing for the year-end stage unit performance scheduled four days later. Sung Ji-won and Jung Da-jun were forming a separate unit, so they were likely practicing elsewhere.
I caught my breath in ragged gasps and checked my phone, splashing water on my face. The Dun and Kang Yi-chae were still trending in real-time on SNS.

‘The buzz volume is going to be absolutely massive.’

The Green Music Awards wasn’t connected to the main quest, and since this year’s award ceremonies had only just begun, I figured it was fine. But things unfolded in a completely unexpected direction.
I was relieved that we’d easily gain points this way, yet two things weighed on my mind.
Noel and Hairy, grinding their teeth and swearing they’d eliminate every last trace of Ravish and LV before the fire in their chests could cool.
And,

‘Kang Yi-chae.’

I’d inadvertently dragged him into this.
Since I wasn’t the type to pay much attention to others, I thought it wouldn’t matter—but he turned out to be surprisingly sensitive, so I felt a bit concerned.
I accepted the towel Kim Sung-hyun handed me and wiped the sweat from my face as I spoke.

“I’ll go find Kang Yi-chae.”
“Yeah. Drag him back. He needs to practice the unit choreography too.”

Kim Sung-hyun spoke gruffly, but his expression betrayed genuine concern for how Kang Yi-chae was handling being caught up in this controversy. I grabbed the back of his neck and pressed firmly once, then headed straight for the work studio.

“Hey, Kang Yi—….”

I punched in the door lock code with practiced ease and called his name as I stepped inside….

“Whoa! Brother! The pot’s burning!”
“Should I have added the egg first?!”
“No way! I should’ve put the noodles in first!”

Jung Da-jun and Kang Yi-chae were huddled over a 17-inch laptop, sweat dripping down their faces as they played a game.
When I closed the door, the two of them—about to replay—finally sensed something amiss and quickly lifted their heads.

“Brother??”
“Oh! Ho, Ho-yoon!”

As I drew closer, I could see a pink-haired character crying profusely behind the ‘GAME OVER’ text. It was unmistakably an old cooking game that had shut down ages ago.
How they’d even found it was a mystery.

“W-we weren’t slacking off instead of practicing! We were actually working!”

As if Kang Yi-chae would be shaken by something like this.
There he sat, calmly boiling ramen without a care in the world.
At my narrowed gaze, Jung Da-jun was the first to rise from his seat, quietly trying to slink away.

“Is Ho-yoon in a bad mood today—.”
“….”
“—What am I saying out of turn?! Hmm! Ah, since I came to the work studio, it seems I was looking for Yi-chae! I’ll step aside so you two can have a deep conversation!”
“Wow, Da-jun, you’re really leaving your brother here alone?”
“See you! I’m going to do unit practice with Ji-won!”

Jung Da-jun abandoned his comrade-in-arms from their shared culinary battlefield online and bolted away without hesitation. Kang Yi-chae, who found this amusing and giggled at the sight, turned to look at me.

“Why does our Ho-yoon have such a deeply furrowed brow? It’s not like Da-jun and I weren’t working—we were just taking a moment to draw inspiration from the ramen broth, you see~?”
“Got nothing to say?”
“Huh?”

Kang Yi-chae tilted his head slightly to the side before asking.

“…What did I do? Is it because I pestered Ji-won about making a bet on dishwashing today?”
“No.”
“Then is it because I fooled around with Da-jun when Hyun-sung asked to practice?”
“Nope.”
“Then what is it?”

Exasperated, I clicked my tongue softly and stared at him while sitting on the sofa. He then spun the chair he was sitting in round and round, muttering “What did I do wrong?” for a while before snapping his fingers.

“…Ah, Yi-chae, correct answer. Ravish.”
“….”
“Right?”

When I gestured for him to continue, Kang Yi-chae, realizing I wasn’t bringing up his mistakes, unwrapped a candy and leaned his upper body deeply against the backrest, striking an arrogant pose.

“I heard they mocked me… but so what. That’s just how life goes sometimes.”

The guy who didn’t seem to regard others as human beings answered that way. Then he let out a snort of laughter and added some nonsense.

“Why, did you come to see if Yi-chae was crying?”
“I came to watch how good you are at that ramen cooking game, that’s why.”
“Pfft.”

The guy who was giggling stretched his feet toward the table in front of the sofa, placed his heels on it, and pulled himself closer to me with force.

“Honestly, there’s someone more impressive than me right in front of you here, so how could my attention be drawn to trivial things?”

Ah, I see.
I tried to ignore him, but Kang Yi-chae flashed a mischievous smile and added more.

“But it’s surprising. I thought you’d be more hung up on not winning the award than something like that. You made it pretty obvious.”
“….”
“Ho-yoon, instead of worrying about me, you should be looking at yourself.”

I cast my gaze downward for a moment, then took a deep breath and kicked Kang Yi-chae’s chair with my left foot.
The wheels rolled smoothly as he was pushed helplessly into the opposite wall, letting out a yelp of pain.

“Good, you’re fine. Let’s go.”
“Owww, it hurts. Sob sob.”
“Stop being so dramatic. Stand up straight.”

I grabbed Kang Yi-chae by the scruff of his neck and dragged him straight to the Training Room, where I offered him as a sacrifice to Kim Sung-hyun.
Our Leader welcomed him enthusiastically, launching into a barrage of nagging: “Do you know how difficult this unit concept is?!”, “You need to practice this way more!” and so on. Of course, between the scolding, he seemed to be checking on Kang Yi-chae’s mood as well.
Kang Yi-chae, who keenly sensed Kim Sung-hyun’s soft heart, narrowed his eyes like a fox and deliberately whined even more.

“But I didn’t want to practice… whimper whimper. Sung-hyun, you don’t know, but Ho-yoon is glaring at me so fiercely~.”

I stared at him for a moment, then blurted out.

“So, Kang Yi-chae. What’s your conclusion?”
“….”

It was the exact line Kang Yi-chae had used as a mentor in Episode 6 of Rising Rookies. He twitched his eyebrows and grumbled, “This is why I hate people with good memories.”

‘Yeah, I have a good memory. So don’t worry about revenge.’

People with good memories never forget grudges either, and I’m second to none when it comes to being petty.

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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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