The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 406

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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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406

“Please… I’m begging you…”

Early in the morning, desperate pleas echoed through the lobby of the WH Entertainment Building. They came from Lee Ji-hyun, who had worked from home the night before, stayed up late, and forgotten her access card when she came in.
When she went to the reception desk for help, a burly employee—who could easily be mistaken for a security guard—firmly ordered her to wait while he contacted his superiors to verify her identity before she could enter.

“I can connect to the intranet on my laptop and show you my employee information. I really do work here.”
“I’m sorry, but I cannot let you through until I’ve confirmed with your superior.”

Why did he have to be so rigid about protocol?
She had already tried calling the Dae Pa-sung Planning Team Lead countless times, but he wasn’t answering. In desperation, she showed her business card, work laptop, and even her phone, but nothing worked. Lee Ji-hyun found herself breaking into a cold sweat.

“I’m really sorry, but I’m going to be late for the meeting. I can come back later and prove it to you…”
“Please wait.”

Lee Ji-hyun felt like she was going to lose her mind.
She was aware of the other Planning Team Staff Member who would be joining the meeting, but what worried her more was that The Dun was attending today.
Especially Seo Ho-yoon.
He was relatively lenient with her, but only when her conduct was impeccable. He was an extremely sensitive person when it came to even minor mistakes.
If she was late, he would definitely have something to say about it…

“Lee Ji-hyun?”
“Ah! S-Seo Ho-yoon?!”

Speak of the devil.
At the sound of Seo Ho-yoon’s voice from behind her, Lee Ji-hyun jumped in surprise. But she quickly realized that if she could overcome her initial fear, this encounter could be an excellent opportunity to resolve the situation.
Best case scenario, she could enter with him. Even if not, at least she could demonstrate that she had tried.

“H-Hello! I know I’m being a bother, but would you mind if I… Ugh!”

That attempt fell through immediately.
The moment Lee Ji-hyun’s eyes met Seo Ho-yoon’s, her visual cells recoiled in shock.

‘What…?’

Bright, sparkling eyes, skin that shimmered with a soft luminescence, a gentle smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
It was rare to see Seo Ho-yoon in such a good mood.
Whenever such moments occurred, a few employees who remembered the Dae Pa-sung days would say things like, “The Dun just became more relaxed as they gained stability,” or “He’s being careful now that they’re famous.”

“…Are you Seo Ho-yoon?”

But today was on an entirely different level.
Seo Ho-yoon raised his eyebrows and let out a soft chuckle.

“That’s right.”

Though nothing particularly dangerous seemed to emanate from him, Lee Ji-hyun instinctively stepped back.
Seo Ho-yoon, seemingly unbothered, strode toward the Reception Desk and asked.

“Did you lose your access card?”
“Oh, yes, yes… I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize.”

Leaning one arm against the Reception Desk table, Seo Ho-yoon tilted the corners of his eyes gracefully toward the staff member.

“Hello?”

After spending years together, Lee Ji-hyun had come to understand.
That was a bewitching smile that could drain a person’s very soul.
It was primarily the expression Seo Ho-yoon wore whenever he wanted something.

“Sorry to bother you, but could you issue a temporary access card for this person? I have a meeting this morning.”

I hadn’t expected much.
The staff member had virtually no flexibility whatsoever.
I was watching the situation with indifference when the staff member, who had been staring at Seo Ho-yoon, nodded.

“Yes.”

Seriously.
WH Entertainment’s security was the kind of place where even affiliated artists without access cards would be turned away, and if facial recognition failed at the secondary security checkpoint, they’d be sent back again. Seo Ho-yoon shouldn’t have been an exception, yet the staff member, utterly captivated by him, muttered, “I’m only letting this slide this once,” and immediately issued a temporary card.
Just moments ago, they’d been parroting that it wasn’t possible.
Stunned, Lee Ji-hyun followed Seo Ho-yoon without uttering a word.

“You left your access card behind. Were you busy this morning?”
“Yes, I was working from home all last night….”

Ji-hyun answered reflexively in a daze, then noticed an unexpected stimulus brushing against her nose and furrowed her brow.

“…Perfume?”

When she’d caught the scent in the Lobby earlier, she’d assumed it was the ambient fragrance of the space or someone else’s cologne, but now a sweet yet refined aroma emanated from Seo Ho-yoon. From someone who normally exuded only the faintest soap scent, this unfamiliar fragrance made Ji-hyun suspicious and her expression froze.
When an unfamiliar scent emanated from a person who normally only gave off a very faint soap smell, Lee Ji-hyun sensed something suspicious and froze up.

“Ah, I see… You’re actually using it so diligently that the advertisers must be thrilled… But you don’t have any official schedule today, right? Do you have a live performance planned?”
“Yes, technology has advanced so much these days that fragrance can be transmitted through screens too.”
“Please stop being sarcastic….”
“Please stop being sarcastic…”

And that wasn’t even the strangest part. If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, the disposable cup in Seo Ho-yoon’s right hand was currently sloshing with ice and dark liquid. He normally wouldn’t even glance at non-sweet beverages, let alone ones with caffeine.
Faced with this utterly unbelievable sight, Ji-hyun hesitated for a moment before asking a question.
If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, the disposable cup in Seo Ho-yoon’s right hand was filled with ice and pitch-black liquid sloshing around.
“…Is that anchovy sauce??”
Unable to believe what she was seeing, Lee Ji-hyun hesitated for a moment before asking a question.

“…Is that anchovy??”

“Uh… The workload is heavy, but… why are you asking that suddenly?”

“Was working late nights really difficult for you?”
Ji-hyun, who had been struck by Seo Ho-yoon’s merciless jab delivered with a smile, closed her mouth. As they resumed walking moments later, Seo Ho-yoon, who had been sipping his Americano through a straw, casually added:
“Yeah, because he was talking nonsense.”

Ji-hyun, who had been struck by Seo Ho-yoon’s merciless teasing and laughter, closed her mouth.
When they arrived at the Conference Room, fortunately no one was there yet. As Seo Ho-yoon and Ji-hyun were actively discussing content ideas for the new year, Jung Da-jun entered. Along with his greeting, Seo Ho-yoon handed Jung Da-jun his Americano, which he hadn’t drunk much of.

“I also need this kind of thing every once in a while. When I need to come to my senses.”

When he arrived at the Conference Room, fortunately, there was no one there yet.
Seo Ho-yoon and Jung Da-jun were in the middle of discussing content ideas for the new year when Da-jun walked in. Ho-yoon handed him an Americano that wasn’t particularly full, along with a greeting.
Ji-hyun turned her head away from Seo Ho-yoon and Jung Da-jun, who were about to speak.

“That’s it, let me stop being interested in Seo Ho-yoon.”

To him, Seo Ho-yoon was a precious idol who had made him who he was today and a bonus-generating machine, but on the other hand, he was also a true abyssal presence that had planted deep-rooted trauma in him since his rookie days.
Deliberately ignoring the conversation between Seo Ho-yoon and Jung Da-jun, Sung Ji-won and Kim Sung-hyun appeared in succession. Finally, Kang Yi-chae entered with a prolonged yawn, and The Dun was complete.

“Heyyyy.”
“Yi-chae bro, good morning~.”
“You here?”
“Yi-chae is sooo tired.”

Kang Yi-chae naturally took a seat beside Jung Da-jun and playfully mussed the maknae’s fluffy silver hair. Whether Jung Da-jun was annoyed or not, Kang Yi-chae giggled and didn’t stop his antics.
Seo Ho-yoon’s gaze lingered intently on the two, but as staff members began arriving one by one and the meeting started, Lee Ji-hyun tuned out.

***

Two days ago—the day I confessed everything to Seo Ho-jin—I broke quite a sweat.

“I’m sorry.”

Even after consoling him for quite a while, my younger brother wouldn’t stop crying.
After about ten minutes, my legs ached and my damp shoulder felt uncomfortable, pushing my paper-thin patience to its limit.

“Hic… hic…”
“…”
“Sob… sniff… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

I patted his back gently and spoke softly.

“When are you going to stop?”

Seo Ho-jin, who had been sniffling, glared at me with bright red rabbit eyes.

“…You really are my brother, aren’t you? Yeah. People this cold and indifferent aren’t common.”
“So what?”
“No, just saying…”

I chuckled and straightened Seo Ho-jin up. Apart from squeezing out tears like a broken faucet, he seemed otherwise intact. As I guided him to sit on the sofa, he rolled his eyes hesitantly, then swallowed hard before asking a question.

“…So, what exactly happened? Why was I in this state?”
“Hmm.”

Explaining the “Unknown Idol Tycoon System” had some minor side effects—nothing too serious—in a way that didn’t seem dangerous and without unnecessary descriptions took quite a bit of time.

“Ha, this is driving me crazy… Is this some kind of insane world?!”

Seo Ho-jin, who had been shouting excitedly, was nibbling at his chapped lips when he suddenly jumped to his feet.

“Wait a minute… Could that time I got sick and went to the Emergency Room be related to this? …Don’t tell me hyung went through something like that too—.”
“It didn’t happen.”

I cut him off sharply, and he murmured “Really?” before flopping back down onto the sofa. Seeing him flicking his nails suggested his mind was quite tangled up.
I took Seo Ho-jin’s hand and lowered it, cutting off his spiraling thoughts.

“Anyway, it’s fine.”

What mattered was that we’d returned to where we started.

“There’s not much time left now. We just need to win the award.”

One awards ceremony that fit the Main Quest had already slipped away, but there were still several award shows remaining in January.
If we could just win at one of those, this long story would finally reach its conclusion.

“…What happens when we win the award?”
“This game will end.”

Almost.
I left the word that followed unspoken.
Kang Yi-chae’s scenario Quest remained, but there was no need to mention it and burden Seo Ho-jin with more worry.

“Then, um, after that….”
“We’ll just go back to normal together.”
“Ah, uh… uh….”

He opened and closed his mouth several times before lowering his gaze and murmuring.

“…I see.”

For some reason, he looked conflicted.

“Your brother will handle it, so you just focus on doing your part.”
“Mm….”

I figured he couldn’t help but be confused by the sudden truth thrust upon him.
I stood up and ruffled Seo Ho-jin’s hair affectionately.

“Brighten up. I’m heading out.”
“Already?”
“I have practice.”

With a slightly lighter heart, I walked toward the entrance, and Seo Ho-jin trailed after me.

“…But hyung, you’re amazing too. Thrown into the idol world, and yet you’ve climbed this high.”
“As you know, without my charm, I’m just a corpse.”
“Ah… yes….”

His expression turned cold and stiff for a moment, then a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth. And then he started chattering away without pause.

“How are the kids doing these days? They look even more dazzling on TV than before.”

The members were the type who could survive on a deserted island and find their way back on their own.

“I had fun when I saw them before. I want to see them again.”
“Hey, stop it.”

What a terrible thing to say.
Because you and Kang Yi-chae were in contact, I inherited the penalty you were bearing, and when I went into hiding at Min Ji-heon’s Apartment, I got caught lying that I was going home to look after my younger brother. I suffered so much because of that.

“Stop hanging around with them. You’ve told Kang Yi-chae all sorts of things about me.”
“Huh? Me, what did I?”
“What do you mean what? Why did you tell him that I’ve been editing family videos since childhood?”

It was the day my third fan-made music video was released and Kang Yi-chae turned twenty-three. I was so shocked when he suddenly brought this up.

“Me?”

But Seo Ho-jin had a blank expression, as if hearing it for the first time.
I clicked my tongue, wondering if this too was an aftereffect of his previous memory loss, and added a brief remark.

“So you’re still saying you were good at editing back then.”
“…Me?”

Still unable to grasp the situation, Seo Ho-jin played dumb.
I pressed my index finger firmly against his forehead and spoke seriously.

“…Did my younger brother become an idiot?”
“What are you talking about!”

Seo Ho-jin swatted my hand away and bounced indignantly.
His deeply furrowed brows looked genuinely wronged.

“It wasn’t me. Until just recently, my memories were scattered and childhood incidents were all jumbled together…. Same with the whole thing about my maternal uncle.”

As Seo Ho-jin’s explanation continued, a subtle sense of unease crept over me.

“I’m sure of it. I never said anything like that to Yi-chae.”

I hurriedly retraced my conversation with Kang Yi-chae.
It was roughly half a year ago, in Hawaii where we’d gone as a workshop reward.
In the late afternoon as the sun was setting, Kang Yi-chae, drenched in seawater, wiped his face with a towel and asked with a mischievous grin.

“Hyung, didn’t you used to edit family videos often back in the day?”

Had I affirmed when Kang Yi-chae cast that bait?

“…He said that?”

Distracted by the fact that Seo Ho-jin still retained such a memory, I finally opened my mouth after an excessively long silence.

“…Ah, damn it.”

I’d stepped on a massive landmine.

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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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