There Are Four Top Idol Uncles - Chapter 229

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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 55
* * *
The next day at lunch, at the Wisteria Shelter on school grounds.
“…I’m really sorry!”
Yewon handed Hyuk an apple juice and bowed her head in apology.
She couldn’t bring herself to look up because of the shameful display her uncles and father had put on yesterday.
“Ah, no. There’s nothing to apologize for. Your uncles and father had every reason to be concerned.”
Hyuk waved his hand quickly.
…Of course, he’d felt a brief threat to his life yesterday, but thinking about it from the other perspective….
If some guy like that Yoo person or whatever had gotten that close to Yewon, he probably wouldn’t have found it easy to stay calm either.
“No way. What crime did you commit? You’re only guilty of picking me up.”
But Yewon, unable to read Hyuk’s thoughts, could only sigh.
“I told my uncles and dad not to do that again. There won’t be any more incidents like that.”
“Understood.”
Hyuk smiled slightly and accepted the apple juice.
“Can you give me a ride home today too?”
“Huh?”
At Hyuk’s gentle question, a certain scene suddenly flashed through Yewon’s mind.
“…You’re such an important person to me, Yewon.”
…Why am I remembering that now?!
Yewon hurriedly turned her head away and tried to clear her mind.
“Um, um… If you do that two days in a row, won’t it look like I’m being defiant…? I, I don’t mean I hate getting a ride from you…. It’s just… I have to think about my dad and uncles’ feelings too….”
“I’m just kidding, kidding. Ha ha.”
Hyuk said that and gently ruffled Yewon’s hair.
Again.
Again, her hair. Yewon looked at Hyuk with a strange feeling spreading through her.
“Then I won’t take you all the way home—I’ll drop you off one alley before, so no one finds out. That works, right?”
“Huh?”
“We have to start doing extra practice together from today anyway. If we stay too late, everyone will worry. So I’ll just take you that far.”
How does that even work out?
No, wait—I don’t remember agreeing to do extra practice starting today…. I didn’t refuse either, though….
Things were flowing in a strange direction, but since doing extra practice would definitely help, Yewon tilted her head uncertainly before finally nodding.
…Well, it’s for the production!
“But then I feel too sorry. I’m just taking advantage of you.”
“Then do you want to go see a movie with me this weekend?”
“What?”
“You know movies well, Yewon. I’ll show you a film, and afterward you can explain it to me and teach me how to critique it.”
“…?”
Yewon narrowed her eyes and looked at Hyuk.
Something seems off…?
“If I’m repaying a debt, I should be the one showing you movies. Why would you show me?”
“How could I ask you to spend money on me? My dad didn’t raise me that way. I can’t budge on this one. No way.”
“But still….”
“If you want to repay the debt, I get to pick the movie. Then you have to watch it whether you like it or not.”
How is that repaying a debt at all…?
Yewon couldn’t help but laugh, letting out a small snort. She was starting to catch on to what Hyuk was really up to.
“You know, I’m really grateful you helped me get back into the Film Production Club.”
“Huh?”
“That’s why you’re doing this, right? Because you were grateful that I cheered you on back then? I knew it. I knew it. Now that you got back into the club, your whole expression changed. You look happy.”
“What?”
“You pick the movie. I’ll tell the others. Just buy my ticket. I’ll buy the other kids’ tickets. I’ll tell them you’re treating.”
“Uh, um, uh…?”
Hyuk stared at Yewon with a dumbfounded expression.
This… this isn’t what I meant…?
“Oh, lunch period’s ending. I need to get ready for my next class, so I’ll head out! See you later!”
And with that, Yewon flashed a bright smile and left, leaving Hyuk standing alone at the Wisteria Shelter.
“……Sigh….”
He dragged a hand down his face and let out a long breath.
How on earth could he ever break through that high, impenetrable wall of hers…?
Just getting her to see him as a real “man” instead of “that slightly older friend” felt impossibly difficult.
Hyuk sighed deeply and stuck a straw into his apple juice.
He couldn’t let Yoo Eun-o be seen as a man before him….
For now, when Yewon looked at Eun-o, she seemed to see him as a ‘talented director’—which was a relief, at least….
But if what Yewon felt for Eun-o wasn’t ‘admiration’ but something else….
Ah.
That was truly….
Hyuk squeezed his eyes shut.
He didn’t even want to imagine it.
For the first time, he understood the desperation that had driven the adults yesterday—the ones who’d chased Eun-o away with blazing intensity.
But there was one thing Hyuk didn’t know.
Namely….
‘That guy’s been acting really weird lately…!’
Yewon’s ears, as she turned to walk away, had flushed a faint shade of red.
* * *
Ju Chaejeong, a third-year in the Film Production Club, was universally recognized as the Hothead of Hyungbong Arts Middle School.
Despite her listless appearance, she’d explode at anything—anything that didn’t go right, anyone who talked nonsense—a Hothead through and through.
Senior or junior, it didn’t matter; the moment someone on set dragged their feet or wasted time, she’d blow up, and the nickname had stuck thanks to that fiery temperament.
Sung Jiwon had quietly said, “At least Hothead. Half the kids would call you worse…,” but Chaejeong paid no attention.
What could she do? If you wanted to survive, you’d have to endure standing next to that lunatic Yoo Eun-o.
You had no idea—no idea how humiliating it was to be treated by someone like Eun-o as talentless, as a regrettable case lacking skill.
She should never have stepped foot into the film world. Why on earth had she walked into this circus that drove people insane, hoping for some kind of glory?
This was what Chaejeong thought about twenty-four hours a day.
But lately….
“Ju Chaejeong, are you crazy?”
Not anymore.
“What?”
“Why are you grinning like a lunatic? It’s freaking me out—please stop smiling like that.”
“Sure. I’ll bare my teeth and smile for you.”
“You’re insane….”
Chaejeong flipped the middle finger at some third-year from the Department of Drama and Film who was shaking his head at her in disbelief.
What did he know? What did any of you know about the heart of an assistant director finally getting some breathing room? You’re not even in the Film Production Club—you’re a traitor who suddenly got hooked on music and switched to the Musical Club.
“Chaejeong’s been thriving lately. Leave her alone. Let her enjoy this brief moment of peace.”
Sung Jiwon laughed quietly from beside her.
“Why’s she thriving? Did she win the lottery? No way—she doesn’t even buy lottery tickets.”
“She won something better than the lottery…. The Yewon jackpot….”
Jiwon muttered softly beside her.
Normally, Chaejeong would have snapped back: “That’s funny. I’m Eun-o’s lottery ticket, I’m the Film Production Club’s lottery ticket, you bastards”—but instead she just kept grinning.
“Yewon? Why her?”
“Whenever we need something, we just ask our junior.”
“Ehhhhhhh?!”
The Musical Club friend jumped to his feet. Was this some kind of cheat code?
“Wait, seriously? How? Does she give you money?”
That was it. That was the reaction she was looking for.
“Money? Friend, let me tell you something. There are greater things in this world than money.”
Chaejeong grinned.
“…?”
“And that’s Yewon.”
“…….”
“The other day, our cinematographer came to me begging on his knees—I mean really begging—for a camera. He said shooting night scenes with what we have now doesn’t give him the texture he wants. He’s so worried about meeting Eun-o’s aesthetic standards, he’s already in despair, and he’s pleading to at least upgrade the equipment. Which isn’t wrong, really—all our cameras are old, so if he wants anything decent he’d have to rent it.”
“So?”
“So I told him no. We’re already short on budget.”
Chaejeong, who also happened to manage the Film Production Club’s budget, told him, “Okay, fine—at least tell me what specs you want.”
The eager cinematographer then rattled off the best camera currently on the market, and casually asked if they could swap out the lens too while they were at it.
“Could we?”
“How could we?”
Did he think the Film Production Club’s budget materialized like magic? Chaejeong smirked at the thrilled cinematographer: “Do you have some hidden slush fund stashed away somewhere?”
But since it’s true that results depend on equipment, to convince Eun-o—who would normally be kept on a tight leash—Chaejeong pulled out a cost estimate and shoved it directly in Eun-o’s face.
‘The kids are asking for it. This is the only way to satisfy your eye.’
‘You shouldn’t be thinking of covering up insufficient skill with equipment. You should be thinking about building actual skill.’
It was the response she’d anticipated exactly, so Chaejeong turned to leave without hesitation.
But then, at that very moment.
His savior, his lifeline Yewon, slipped quietly into view.
‘Would it… be all right if I took a look at that list too?’
she’d asked.
After that, everything moved at lightning speed.
Yewon mentioned she knew a rental agency quite well and said they’d likely give them a good price, then introduced them to the company.
The agency responded with “If Yewon recommended it, we’ll do anything,” and agreed to rent out all the expensive equipment the Director had mentioned at prices that seemed almost too good to be true.
“Wow. No way.”
“Yeah. Not no way—it’s reality. Maybe it’d be no way in your Musical Club, but this is real.”
Behold, you traitor. Blessings fall upon the faithful.
Ju Chaejeong grinned and adjusted her glasses.
“Anyway. Whenever there’s a problem, I just casually mention it to Yewon, and suddenly the path opens right up. These days I’m just thinking, ‘Ah, so this is what life is. Everything before now was a lie.'”
…….
Whether Sung Jiwon beside her looked at Ju Chaejeong with pitying eyes or not, Chaejeong simply kept smiling.
“Seriously, it’s crazy. Can’t I borrow that junior of yours too…?”
“Friend.”
Ju Chaejeong placed a hand on her Musical Club friend’s shoulder.
“Get in line. There’s already a hundred million people ahead of you.”
“Come on, stop exaggerating for real.”
“It is exaggerated, right?”
Ju Chaejeong smirked and gestured to him. Look out the classroom window, she mimed.
“…?”
Looking more carefully, there was indeed Yewon out there.
But what was the point of that?
The Musical Club member raised an eyebrow.
“What am I supposed to be looking at?”
“Look carefully at everything around her~”
At that, the Musical Club member squinted and looked out at the playground again.
Then.
“Huh?”
He spotted several boys lurking (?) about ten meters away from Yewon.
“What… what is that…?”
“That’s the group of ill-intentioned guys that showed up after it got out that she’s an angel.”
“Huh?”
“Those kids aren’t just one or two—they’re the ones sizing up a shot at Byeolsuta right now.”
“Wow.”
The Musical Club member’s jaw dropped.
“Don’t they know what the headmaster’s like…? How are they gonna cover this up…?”
“It won’t even have to go that far.”
Ju Chaejeong said so and pointed to another direction.
There—
Yoo Eun-o was gesturing to Yewon.
“Ninety-nine percent of it will get sorted out at his end anyway.”
Ju Chaejeong chuckled, her face saying this was the funniest thing in the world.

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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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