The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 400

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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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400

Seo Ho-yoon, who had been softly humming English lyrics, let out a quiet chuckle at the stream of questions coming his way.

“What song is this?”

He answered that it was a pop song by an overseas artist, and when someone requested that it would be nice to have a bass accompaniment, he rose from his seat and retrieved a bass from the corner of the work studio. He then connected it to an amplifier, sat back down in his chair, and plucked the strings.

【—If you kiss me, I just melt away
If you smile at me, it feels like a movie】

[Singing]
[Suddenly pulls out bass]
[Wow, this is so good]
Lol, it’s seriously so funny how everyone’s just observing and making comments one by one. What, is Ho-yoon some kind of pet or something?
[Welcome to Ho-yoon’s forest.. feels so healing]

Unlike when he showcased dazzling performances under brilliant stage lights, the sight of Seo Ho-yoon relaxed and gently whispering his hum in the dimly lit work studio created the sensation of gazing upon a scene from a film.
Just as the song reached its crescendo, the door behind Seo Ho-yoon suddenly burst open.

“Hey, Seo Ho-yoon, what about lunch….”

It was Kim Sung-hyun’s intrusion.
Kim Sung-hyun, who had casually invaded the space and begun speaking, froze upon witnessing Seo Ho-yoon’s current state—playing bass while singing—as though he’d stumbled upon something he shouldn’t have seen.

“Hey there, our Hyun-sung?”

At that, Seo Ho-yoon offered the Leader of The Dun a bright smile.
Kim Sung-hyun’s eyes narrowed further as he scanned Seo Ho-yoon from head to toe. His gaze first landed on the crisp white crewneck sweatshirt, then moved down to the light blue jeans and the white sneakers beneath them. Recognizing the full picture, Kim Sung-hyun quickly grabbed the doorknob.

“Take care.”

With a farewell devoid of any hesitation, he shut the door and fled.

[hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha]
Kim Sung-hyun, why are you leaving right away lol
[This is the look of someone who instinctively sensed danger lolololol]

“Good grief.”

Seo Ho-yoon laughed with a deflating wheeze, set his bass down on the floor, and slipped out of the work studio before dragging Kim Sung-hyun back by the scruff of his neck. After forcibly seating him in front of me, I picked up the bass again and launched into a private concert—one performed exclusively for Kim Sung-hyun.

【love is not that far away…】

[Seonghyun-ah, aren’t you really bad at managing your facial expressions hahahahahahaha

└He looks like he hates it so much and wants to get out of this place as quickly as possible hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha good legs.

[“This concert is for you, Kim Sung-hyun. For you alone.” He’s about to deliver a line like that

hahahahahahahahahaha
Hahahaha no way!!! So in the end you actually performed your own serenade lolol I’m dying hahahaha Seo Ho-yoon you’re seriously hilarious lmao

After about ten minutes had passed and three songs had been performed, the main dancer’s cheeks had hollowed out before the lead vocalist finally seemed satisfied and ended the live performance.

[Is he insane? Why is he suddenly acting like this? Did Seo Ho-yoon hear some news about getting cast for The Dun somewhere? What’s gotten into him?]
[No matter how much Ho-yoon acts coy in front of Noeul, he’s never been like this;; He genuinely looks happy]

[Every time Noeul isn’t around, you walk around with that “What the hell are these bastards so happy about?” expression…

[Hahahahaha, it’s such an inappropriate expression for an Idol, but it’s incredibly accurate. There’s no better description than this.]

And a few hours later, sightings of Seo Ho-yoon at a certain department store began popping up all over SNS.

[Hoyoon, did you buy a lot of gifts for your girlfriend? Are you in a good mood because it’s your anniversary today? LOL #TheDawn #SeoHoYoon #SavingNoEul]

Malicious posts flooded in as well, but those who had been part of The Dun fandom for years didn’t feel particularly moved by them.

[Seo Ho-yoon going to a department store is actually surprising]
[Right? That guy only ever went to the neighborhood convenience store]

Because trust built up over years already existed.
Upon checking the details, it was only natural that the items Seo Ho-yoon had purchased were hardly suitable as gifts for a girlfriend.

[Saw another account where he was buying pens at the store. Who gives their girlfriend a pen as an anniversary gift? I mean, it’s possible, but isn’t that way too cheap for an anniversary present???]
[And besides the pen, the other thing he bought was men’s sneakers lololol. They put them in the same shopping bag, but his girlfriend got… honestly, might as well say it’s a bigger deal than South Korea]
[Wow, is Seo Ho-yoon becoming such a celebrity that he’s even attracting this kind of attention lololol]

The Noeul fans, unbothered by the trivial matter, enthusiastically reposted the comments. Eventually, they started jotting down their daily to-do lists in the quote section, and the original post was buried beneath the replies.

Meanwhile, the fact that Seo Ho-yoon, having just finished shopping and returned home instead of the dormitory, burst into laughter while checking live reactions as he stuffed groceries into the refrigerator—that was a secret no one would ever know.

.
.
.

‘Ah, this is nice.’

The luxury brand beauty line fragrance advertisement meeting scheduled for early morning had wrapped up far quicker than expected, leaving me with plenty of time to do a live broadcast for the fans and still make it to evening practice. Thanks to that, I’d been able to stop by the department store and prepare a congratulatory gift for Seo Ho-jin’s acceptance.
I placed the fragrance and diffuser I’d received at the meeting on the living room shelf, and my gaze naturally drifted to the family photo displayed beside them.
Crouching down, I tapped the meticulously maintained frame with my fingertip and smiled.

“How about that? I really raised you well, didn’t I?”

A scholarship, top of his class, and even acceptance to Law School.
I’d promised to raise him without any shortcomings, and that resolve had held true—in what felt like the blink of an eye, my younger brother was transforming into an independent adult capable of standing on his own two feet.
Feeling the joy anew, I hummed a little tune, drew back the curtains, and stepped out onto the balcony, opening the window wide. I’d already contacted Seo Ho-jin, so I expected him to arrive soon. I wanted to gather my thoughts while looking out at the view.

‘I should at least take a look first.’

I couldn’t just blurt out to the company that my uncle seemed suspicious and ask them to investigate. I needed at least some evidence to justify asking them to handle it.
It wasn’t uncommon for relatives to latch onto successful celebrities. From the few times I’d faced off with the Legal Team over malicious comments before, I’d learned that WH Entertainment was already well-versed in handling such situations.
Moreover,

‘I need to confirm what that bastard knows and how much he knows.’

If he’d never caught my attention, it would be one thing. But now that he had, I had no intention of letting him live comfortably.
The sharp sting in my palm made me realize my fists were clenched. I relaxed them, staring at the deep nail marks etched into my skin, and let out a sigh.
The memory from that time was unpleasant and repulsive just to recall.
To shift my mood, I ran my fingers through my hair, and just as I looked down at the street below, an alarm suddenly blared and system windows flooded my vision.

Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!

As if some crisis had just erupted.

“….”

I shifted my gaze away from the System Window and rolled my eyes to find the source. There, on a bench near the entrance of the Apartment Complex, I spotted a familiar male profile.

“…Wow.”

His head turning anxiously back and forth, his legs trembling uncontrollably as he sat.

“Ha, ha ha, ha….”

Right, I’d been wondering why he hadn’t shown up here.
A wave of anger crawled through my veins from my fingertips, and I let out an involuntary laugh.

“Geez….”

At this point, should I thank him for coming to find me on his own?
Seo Ho-jin was just entering the complex.
At this rate, they would definitely run into each other.

Without hesitation or calculation, I immediately pulled out my phone from my pocket. Even as my fingers dialed the number with practiced ease, my heart pounded wildly.

[Hello? Brother?]
“Hey, stop.”

Seo Ho-jin’s footsteps slowly came to a halt. Then he looked around.

[…Why, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me. Brother, are you already home? Why aren’t you—.]
“…Did you bring a cake?”

Since this situation had come out of nowhere and I hadn’t prepared any proper excuse, I just blurted out whatever came to mind.

[What?]
“I told you I wanted to eat something.”
[…When exactly??]

I glanced toward the bench and back again, speaking slowly.

“…Get me a pumpkin cake.”

I hung up without waiting for a response.
Seo Ho-jin stared at his phone for a moment before finally turning and leaving the apartment complex. The floor was high enough that I couldn’t see his face, but he was undoubtedly wearing an expression of disbelief.
I closed the window, went into the living room, grabbed the coat I’d thrown on the sofa, and rushed out through the entrance.

‘Two weeks to sort things out? That’s bullshit.’

Pests should be dealt with the moment they’re discovered to avoid complications later.
I repeatedly jabbed the button for the slow-arriving elevator, clicked my tongue in frustration, and headed for the emergency exit. As I descended the staircase, my mind was already spinning with ways to handle that bastard—ways that would be thoroughly satisfying.

Without clear physical evidence that would hold up legally, it would be difficult to file for a restraining order. Moreover, I still didn’t know what actions this version of Seo Ho-jin—who was my age in this world—had taken.

‘So the key is to handle this without going through official channels.’

As the old saying goes, old habits die hard.
If that Maternal Uncle hadn’t changed much from what I knew, even a light shake would surely kick up clouds of dust.
But then, a worst-case scenario began to take root in my mind.

‘What if he has no flaws at all? What if he just keeps circling around endlessly….’

Back when I was a PD, I didn’t even need to dig up dirt. Intimidation and threats were enough to drive someone away.
But now I couldn’t respond the same way.
The reason was simple. I was a public figure.

‘Damn it, this is really fucking annoying.’

I’d found the idol life inconvenient before, but I’d never been this irritated by the job itself.

“Hey. Come out.”

I slowed my pace and spoke toward the empty air.

“You’ve been getting alerts this whole time, so you already know what’s going on.”

I was speaking to the System Window.

“What did you do this time?”

Ding!

[What do you mean, what did I do?]

At my accusatory question, a bright blue light flashed as if it had taken offense.

“A relative who’s been silent all this time suddenly shows up out of nowhere? Doesn’t it feel oddly familiar to you? The pattern is too similar to when that problem erupted before….”

Before I could even finish speaking, the System Window displayed new text.

[No, I really didn’t do anything this time. I’ve even performed a format reset, but a system that’s already been corrupted can’t possibly operate normally. I’m doing my best to adjust it, but even the system can no longer predict what variables might emerge.]

I passed by the stream of text and descended to the next floor, asking:

“What do you mean you can’t do anything about it?”

[If that were possible, I wouldn’t have created this situation in the first place. …Never.]

The System Window, which seemed to have more it wanted to say, soon disappeared from view.
In truth, I’d provoked it partly to find a way to resolve this crisis easily, partly to confirm that the System Window hadn’t orchestrated this, and partly to verify whether my suspicions were correct.

‘No matter how I think about it, something’s off.’

The fact that we’d all been living our separate lives just fine, and only now, three years later, does this person appear.
My classmates from school, the connections I made with the PD, even other relatives who’d come running at the mention of insurance money—none of them showed any sign of this, so why is it only my Maternal Uncle, who’s been looking after Seo Ho-jin, who’s come to find me here?

This place was distinctly unusual in that every uncomfortable figure from my previous life had been erased from this world. The masses who’d hurled criticism at me, Jung Chung-yeon who’d spewed curses, the family members who’d called incessantly.

‘When the error occurred, Jung Chung-yeon’s memories momentarily awakened….’

If an error had occurred that I hadn’t managed to catch,
the System Window’s statement about not being able to operate “completely” and the phrase about how difficult it was to predict what variables might arise seemed to support my assumption.
If I could only erase the existence called “Maternal Uncle” from my life once more, I would gladly pay any price to do so.
In the end, it all came down to memory being the problem——.

“—Ah.”

My thoughts reached that point, and by the time I’d arrived on the first floor, the strength drained from my hand gripping the emergency exit handle.
…There was a way.
From having repeated it countless times, a single window appeared naturally with just a glance.

RESET
An opportunity to initialize a certain portion
Required Points: 300,000

A certain portion….

[With a partial reset, you can only revert a specified portion. For example, something like Seo Ho-jin’s memory. However, even the tiniest portion comes at a great cost. Because you’re restoring it to a complete state, after all!]

…And furthermore, the specified portion——.

‘—Reset.’

I’d thought of it only as a tool to revert Seo Ho-jin’s memory, but in reality, this was a ‘reset’—in other words, an ‘erasure’.
The System Window’s explanation used Seo Ho-jin as an example, but the target wasn’t limited to him.
In other words, if I paid the points, I could revert any specified portion.
…For instance.

“…Wow.”

Something like that bastard Maternal Uncle’s memories.

“That’s right. There was something like that.”

The corners of my mouth naturally lifted.
The more I mulled it over, the most realistic and tangible method it became.

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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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