The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 7

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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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07

“Is this really where Joo Woo-sung lives?”
“Yeah, I saw him going in last time….”

As I sat planted in the cafe, whispers drifted from the nearby tables.
Judging by the way they’d spread out Joo Woo-sung’s photo cards and were causing a commotion, they were clearly sasaengs. The way they kept nervously glancing to the side and checking their phones every few seconds only confirmed my suspicion.

“But they say he’s really hard to meet. Joo Woo-sung hates this kind of thing….”
“Still, if we wait a week, we might at least catch a glimpse of his face with a mask on.”

They really were sasaengs.
I drained my grapefruit smoothie and picked up my phone again. Messages had poured in.
Not from Lim Hyun-sung, not from the Manager, not from Seo Ho-jin.
But they glanced over at me.

“Hey, is that guy a celebrity?”
“I don’t recognize him from anywhere….”
“Is he a trainee?”
“Maybe he’s a backup dancer they threw in with some singer?”

Well, I’m not a trainee—probably more of a half-baked idol. I didn’t make it to the showcase, but I’ve already recorded my debut song, from what I heard.
Either way, all the effort I’d poured into clearing Quests had paid off. My charm stat went up, and now people were reacting to me.

[Character: Seo Ho-yoon.
Trait) Excessive Self-Consciousness]

‘I’m dying.’

The System Window was mocking me.

‘Can’t be helped. Today’s an important day.’

[Quest Arrived!:
‘System Window’s Curiosity.’
Why did the arrogant Seo Ho-yoon suddenly put on an act?
Satisfy the System Window’s curiosity.
Success: Nothing.
Failure: System Window’s sullenness.]

“You’re really abusing it?”

I ignored it. I’d find out the reason soon enough anyway. The System Window must have genuinely taken offense—no more notifications appeared. That binary brat was throwing quite the tantrum.
My phone buzzed. I picked it up to find a massive catch on the line.

[??: Who are you?]
[??: I’m asking who you are.]

A bumper crop, indeed.

[Me: Haha]
[Me: If you’re curious, come by the cafe]

I sent the message and checked another messenger app.

[Manager: Ho-yoon, think about this one more time. I don’t know what you’re thinking right now, but you can’t put on airs like this. If you come back now, the members will accept you too, so just… (omitted)]

I left the Manager’s message on read.
Next was Lim Hyun-sung.

[Lim Hyun-sung: Yoyo yoyo yoyo]
[Lim Hyun-sung: Seo Ho-yoon]
[Lim Hyun-sung: Ho-yoon lol]
[Lim Hyun-sung: Insane lol the song is so good]
[Lim Hyun-sung: So good]
[Lim Hyun-sung: Lol am I actually a genius lol]
[Me: Just send it already.]
[Lim Hyun-sung: You’re seriously annoying]

It was the morning after I’d coerced Lim Hyun-sung. She was bragging about how well the output turned out, so I ignored her. I’d throw her a compliment sometime in the afternoon.
And then, returning to the protagonist of that first message.

[??: Wait.]

Yes, that’s right. I smiled contentedly.
Amid the chaos of messengers, there was only one thing I needed right now. And anyone with sharp instincts would know exactly who I was texting at this moment.
I was skimming through the messenger when the Cafe Owner suddenly handed me a cake. What was this? As I stared at it blankly, the Cafe Owner chuckled.

“It’s on the house.”
“Ah, thank you.”

I was about to chat away with a grin on my face when the cafe door swung open with a sharp bang—perfect timing.
Really, not a soft creak but a sharp bang. A resounding bang.
He must have been in quite a hurry.

“Huff, huff….”

A man completely cloaked in black.
The man in a hat, mask, and sweatsuit was breathing heavily as if he’d rushed here, and everything about him from head to toe screamed luxury brands.
He’s here.
Our next mark.

“Huh? Is that….”
“Could it be.”

The fans stiffened at the sight of him. The man ignored the startled Cafe Owner and glanced around the shop.

“Isn’t that Joo Woo-sung?”

Joo Woo-sung, member of South Korea’s top idol group Black Call. Backed by a major entertainment agency, with overseas renowned composers and California dancers—a group that succeeded by pouring everything into capital.
But right now, he’s just my mark.
I slowly raised my hand. Then, smiling broadly, I called out to him.

“Hyung!”

My mark!
I hated calling someone only twenty-five “hyung,” but what could I do? I’d regressed ten years and was now twenty-three.

[Quest Arrived!:
‘Do It Yourself’
Seo Ho-yoon, you’re quite capable even without a Quest.
Joo Woo-sung, try intimidating him once.
Success: Charm +10
Failure: Fame -100]

At my call, Joo Woo-sung slowly fixed his gaze upon me. Then his brow furrowed deeply, and he approached with long, deliberate strides.

“You’re the one?”
“Brother, you finally made it.”

Joo Woo-sung wouldn’t know me yet. But the moment I acted as though we were acquainted, his face twisted into an expression of pure bewilderment.

“What are you doing right now? No, who are you?”
“Come on, what kind of joke is this?”
“What?”

I laughed playfully and drew closer to him. Lowering my voice toward the still-confused Joo Woo-sung, I spoke.

“There are sasaengs around here watching you.”
“….”
“Play along, unless you want strange rumors spreading.”

Something struck a chord—Joo Woo-sung fell silent. Then his lips twitched upward into a smile.

“…Won’t you even take a joke, little brother?”
“Ah, brother! I’ve been waiting so long.”
“Sorry. Um… this place isn’t ideal. Should we head up?”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”

I rose with a grin, exchanging a light nod with the Cafe Owner.
As Joo Woo-sung and I moved to leave, the sasaengs scrambled to follow. Joo Woo-sung’s eyes narrowed, and he swiftly led us out of the cafe, losing them with practiced ease before we reached the apartment.

“That skill is no joke.”
“….”

Joo Woo-sung turned away from me. So this is what it means to have some experience in the idol industry.
The moment I stepped into the apartment, marble flooring stretched across the space—clearly he’d made some decent money.
Once we were alone, Joo Woo-sung’s wariness toward me became unmistakably apparent.
I trudged over and collapsed onto the sofa. My body had grown younger, but my nature remained unchanged—the sight of a sofa always made me want to sprawl across it.

“Nice place.”
“Who exactly are you?”

It was the same reaction Lim Hyun-sung had given yesterday.

“Why are you blackmailing me like this? Are you a journalist? Or maybe a con artist?”
“Your imagination is rather… impoverished.”

At least Lim Hyun-sung yesterday had possessed an endearing quality—her mind churning adorably. When I spoke my honest assessment, Joo Woo-sung clenched his teeth.

“Then what do you want me to do about this?!”

Joo Woo-sung thrust his phone toward me with a hiss. It was a photograph of him embracing another idol intimately. Though he’d turned his head to obscure his face, it was abundantly clear the two of them were living quite affectionately together.

Romance.
The cardinal sin of idols—bundled into the same category as drug use, drunk driving, and violence.
Nowadays public sentiment had improved, and casual fans were supportive, but the hardcore devotees were not.

“It was photographed quite beautifully, like a drama scene.”

Regrettable as it was, this was now merely excellent blackmail material for me. The photograph was remarkably explicit.

“Are you a paparazzo? I’ve never told anyone about this…”
“Something similar.”

I’d once planned a special segment on idol privacy for a documentary program. Someone had slipped me this photograph back then, never imagining it would be useful now.

“Who are you?!”
“Now, now. Let’s both calm down for a moment.”
“I’m calling the police.”

I called to him calmly. Sensing he wouldn’t settle down, I decided to suppress his momentum ever so slightly.

“The one who should be desperate right now isn’t me, is it?”
“….”
“One flick of this finger and the email gets sent. The press people are practically drooling over this.”

So what would happen then? I kindly laid out the reality for Joo Woo-sung.

【Joo Woo-sung’s Secret Date—His Partner: Pure-Hearted Girl Group Idol?!】

“So you’ll dominate the real-time search rankings tomorrow?”

And the internet reaction would go like this.

-Don’t tell me I’m just an ATM machine lmaooo
-Seriously this is infuriating
-Joo Woo-sung, you said last time that you were the only fan of your girlfriend haha. Was the ring you wore back then a couple ring? Fuck… .

“Well… it’s fine. Idols these days openly date pretty often anyway.”

But here’s the thing.

“Except you change partners every three months. Last time it was four months, before that two months, and before that three weeks.”

That’s right.

“Looks like you’ve dated pretty much everyone who appears on music broadcasts?”

Joo Woo-sung was a philanderer.
Not a two-timer exactly, but his speed in cycling through girlfriends was practically LTE-grade. White Cherry wasn’t the end of it. The idols and actresses he’d dated were literally a truckload. The idols and actresses he’d dated were literally a truckload.
If that became public, Joo Woo-sung’s pristine image would be completely, utterly, finished.

“And then, one by one, two by two, three by three… when Joo Woo-sung’s entire list of exes slowly gets exposed on the internet?”
“….”

As I slowly laid out the facts, Joo Woo-sung’s complexion turned deathly pale.
It would blow up then. Soon.

-Closing down. Goodbye to my scorching summer.
.
-Getting the hell out. Crazy bastard.
-Permanently shutting down. Check Twitter for refund forms.

Whoosh—the fans departed.

-This lunatic actually dated around the whole time lololol
-Wow omg lololol I can’t believe I liked that asshole..
-How did he fool the fans for five years???

The final finale.

-Official: We demand Joo Woo-sung’s removal

“Where will the demand for Joo Woo-sung’s removal pop up first, I wonder….”

Joo Woo-sung clutched his head. After wallowing in despair for a long moment, he finally managed to ask.

“Money? Will money fix this?”

‘…How infuriating.’

I’d wanted to say that line myself.
A person who lost everything, including money, when entering a parallel world—I was genuinely losing my mind over how pathetic it was.

“How much should I—”
“….”
“No.”

The real issue lay elsewhere. I felt sorry for Joo Woo-sung, who looked ready to drop to his knees and beg, and for myself as well.

“Not money. Something else. I didn’t want things to go this way either. Honestly, what wrong did the Idol commit by dating Joo Woo-sung? She just picked the wrong man….”
“Stop. Then what? What do I have to give?”

I let out a hollow laugh. His imagination really was pathetically limited. At least Lim Hyun-sung had a sharper mind.

“Do you know who I am? You need to figure that out first.”
“Do I need to know that?”

Of course I do, you bastard.

“I’m Seo Ho-yoon. An Idol.”
“….”
“….”

Silence hung in the air. After a long moment, Joo Woo-sung’s parched lips twitched slightly.

“You… are you insane?”

[Choice Options
-Tehehe! (tilting head with a playful punch to the forehead_cute underline marks) I’m not crazy, I promise!
-Obsessed with success (star).
-Tried erasing and riding the waves]

I clenched my fists. Time slipped away dizzily.
My words spilled out uncontrollably, as always.

“Tehehe!”

No, it wasn’t just words. I tilted my head and gave myself a playful punch on the forehead.

“I’m not crazy, I swear!”
“….”

Damn it…,

“…You really are insane….”

Joo Woo-sung looked at me with genuine pity, as if I were a lost cause. I wanted nothing more than to bite my tongue and pass out right then and there.
I pressed my forehead and reflected on what I’d done wrong in my entire life. There were too many mistakes to even keep track of.

“Crazy junior, fine, I get it. I understand perfectly that you’re an Idol. I just didn’t remember because you’re so unknown.”
“That’s okay. You won’t be able to forget being threatened by an unknown junior like me now.”
“….”

Joo Woo-sung pressed his forehead, looking dizzy, then gathered his patience and asked.

“So what do you want? The fact that you’re holding up photos and going on like this means you want something.”
“Of course.”
“What is it if not money?”

This guy clearly couldn’t adapt like Lim Hyun-sung could—he was stuck in his original form.
I sighed and picked up a red pen to write out the answer for him. Joo Woo-sung watched me anxiously.

“What I want right now? It’s incredibly simple and easy.”

The moment I spoke in that measured tone, Joo Woo-sung shuddered visibly, rubbing his arms as if goosebumps had erupted across them.
Now that I thought about it, Joo Woo-sung had seemed to avoid me even back when I was a PD. Despite having no real connection between us.
What was it he’d said was unsettling? What was it again….
Why had he avoided me?

“Do you act well, Hyung?”

I’m still a good person, though.

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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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