There Are Four Top Idol Uncles - Chapter 179

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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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Part 2, Episode 5
Hyun Siuu couldn’t tear her eyes away from the rounded back of the girl’s head standing a couple of steps ahead of her.
A ponytail of transparent, ash-tinted brown hair—the kind that could never emerge from mere dyeing.
The cheek that peeked into view curved upward in a smile, as though she’d never known sorrow.
Though her face wasn’t visible, she must have been smiling—the kind of smile that would never wilt, just as it had been on television.
…Why did Aunt dislike someone who shone even from behind like that?
Everyone around her had said that the adults regretted not being able to give her everything….
The moment her thoughts reached that point, her mouth felt inexplicably dry.
She envied her.
A life where she was loved by everyone without even trying, where everyone scrambled to give her things.
But I… I have to thrash endlessly just to have even a little.
When had it started? When had Yewon made herself the cornerstone of Siuu’s heart and then become her idol standing upon it?
By rights, Siuu should have hated her—someone from the perspective of her rival—yet she couldn’t.
The more she tried to hate her, the more she studied her… the more keenly she felt just how brilliant Yewon was.
Aunt had made Siuu watch not only Yewon’s entire filmography, but every documentary about her.
It was her way of instructing Siuu to analyze how Yewon had won over Mrs. Ju, known for her exacting and cold nature, and to replicate it.
At first, when Siuu had watched the dramas and films Yewon appeared in, she’d felt little impression. But after watching the documentary about her daily life, she became completely absorbed.
[PD: Compared to your peers, Yewon, you’re incredibly busy. Don’t you wish you could play around like your friends do?]
When the PD asked that question, Siuu had thought Yewon would give a textbook answer.
Of course she would—she lived like a textbook, so her answer would be the same.
But it wasn’t.
[Yewon: Hmm…. No! I’ve never thought about it like that.]
[PD: Really? Why is that? Don’t you find it fun to play like your peers do?]
[Yewon: I haven’t really had the chance to play like my peers. I’m not sure if it’s fun or not.]
[PD: That sounds… like it must be very hard….]
[Yewon: My uncles and father worry the same way. But I’ve never once thought it was difficult.]
[PD: How can you possibly feel that way?]
She still remembered Yewon’s expression when the PD asked that.
An expression she’d never shown before, not once until then.
[Yewon: Because it’s a path I chose. Not something forced on me—just having the chance to walk a path of my own choosing is so fun to me. Everything is.]
At those words, Siuu felt as though she’d been struck in the head.
That was when it started.
That was when Yewon became Siuu’s idol.
From then on, whatever Yewon said felt different, and whatever acting she did seemed special.
Had she felt Yewon was someone she could rival, it would have been jealousy. But she was so utterly beyond reach that it became admiration instead.
Just then.
An exclamation escaped her lips.
Perhaps feeling the gaze, Yewon turned to look behind her.
Siuu hurriedly shook her head and quickly turned her eyes toward the stage.
There she saw a boy, bright as if drawn by an artist’s brush, ascending onto the podium.
* * *
Just as the staff introductions and school song came to an end.
“…?”
Yewon turned back without thinking, sensing the piercing gaze she’d been aware of all this while.
But she saw nothing remarkable.
What was that about? Was it just her imagination? For a moment there, I felt like someone was glaring at me….
Have my nerves become too sharp? Yewon turned forward again with an unbothered expression.
Then a boy in a neat school uniform ascended onto the stage.
“…!”
The moment Yewon saw him, her eyes widened slightly.
She’d never seen him before in her past life. After all, she hadn’t enrolled at Hyunbong Arts Middle School in that life.
Yet there was a reason she was startled the moment she saw him….
‘He’s incredibly beautiful.’
He was the most beautiful boy Yewon had ever seen among her peers.
‘At that level, I’d think he would have debuted as a child actor long ago….’
Perhaps he wasn’t interested in child acting?
Yewon tilted her head in curiosity.
Hyunbong Arts Middle School had art, music, and dance departments alongside the Department of Drama and Film, but… Yewon didn’t even consider the possibility that the boy on that stage belonged to any of them.
It would be absurd for someone with that face not to pursue entertainment!
Yet.
“Hello. I’m Yoo Eun-o, a third-year Film Major in the Department of Drama and Film at Hyunbong Arts Middle School, and the student body president of Hyunbong Arts Middle School.”
“!”
So it really is the Department of Drama and Film, but… Film Major, not Acting? Really?!
So then, a directing major?
Startled, I glanced at Jeongyun standing in the row next to me, and she’d clearly had the same thought—her mouth fell open as she turned to look at me.
‘Seriously? With that face?’
That’s what her expression was broadcasting.
“…Oath. As a proud student of Hyunbong Arts Middle School, I pledge to respect and care for one another.”
Every syllable, every breath was controlled to perfection—even the recitation of the oath sounded like an act he couldn’t help but perform!
I raised one hand and repeated after the president.
‘I really thought he was the kind of talent we should bring to the company. What a shame.’
I was thinking that very thing, mentally smacking my lips in regret.
By then, his speech had already ended, and he was stepping down from the podium.
But then.
‘…?’
Wait—just now… did our eyes meet?
‘Is it just my imagination?’
I felt a flicker of unease.
Just now, he’d looked at me with what felt like… deep contempt.
But I’d never met this person before in my life. Why would he look at me like that?
I puzzled over it for a moment, then decided to shake off the thought.
The entrance ceremony must have made me really anxious today.
The feeling that someone’s staring straight through me, or that someone I don’t even know dislikes me—
Both are common mistakes people make when they’re overly nervous.
‘Pull yourself together!’
School life wasn’t that important anyway.
* * *
The most chaotic entrance ceremony in the world finally ended.
I slumped my shoulders with the most exhausted expression in the world.
“Phew. Yewon. You okay? You look seriously worn out.”
My friends had clearly noticed, because worried voices came at once.
“Oh, yeah! No, I’m fine. I think I’m just a little tired.”
“Makes sense. You only got back yesterday. That’s understandable….”
“Just showing up at school is a miracle, a miracle.”
“Shouldn’t you leave early and go home?”
At the warmth of their concern, my forced smile melted away and a real smile rose to my face.
“No. I can’t leave early on the first day of the entrance ceremony. But… aren’t we supposed to line up by classroom and go together?”
“Right. The homeroom teacher said earlier that anyone who needs photos should take them quickly and meet in the classroom.”
Right.
Looking around, some students were taking photos with their families, while others were gathered in small groups with friends, taking pictures together.
“Aren’t you guys taking photos with your parents?”
I was planning to see Uncle and Dad after school, but it looked like the other kids’ parents had come earlier.
“Yeah. We’re not in elementary school anymore. We’ll see them later.”
“That’s right.”
“Your parents don’t feel hurt…?”
I asked, taken aback, and my friends quickly shook their heads.
“No! Not at all!”
At fourteen, friends were starting to matter more than parents.
‘Hmm, maybe they have a point…?’
I felt uncertain but didn’t press further.
And so the four of us walked—with Baek Yun trailing along a step behind—arm in arm, laughing and giggling our way up to the classroom.
“Did you see the student body president earlier? Total visual legend.”
“…He’s definitely handsome.”
Even Harin, who had notoriously harsh standards about anyone’s appearance, had admitted it—that said it all.
I laughed quietly.
My friends were always “wow”-ing at pretty girls, but gasping over a handsome guy was genuinely rare.
“He’s almost at the level of Uncle Doha in terms of looks. It’s such a loss for humanity that he’s not doing idol work, just directing. Absolute tragedy for K-pop.”
Jeongyun smacked her lips in what looked like genuine regret.
“He’s not quite that level, though.”
Baek Yun, trudging along behind us, grumbled in a distinctly flat tone.
The three girls stopped in unison and turned to look at Baek Yun. (Though, if Yewon was being honest with herself, she’d only followed along when the others turned.)
“Pfft.”
That was Jeongyun’s brief reaction.
“Hmm.”
And that was Harin’s response—one that seemed to come from genuine sympathy.
“??”
Yewon, meanwhile, simply stared at her friends with a puzzled expression.
What was that all about?

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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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