Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 44

44. I Want to Be Famous

“What? An attention seeker?”

Maeng Woo-shin asked, dumbfounded.

“You’re calling me an attention seeker?”

He asked again before even hearing an answer.

“This punk, calling his respected senior an attention seeker?”

Maeng Woo-shin repeated the question three times, then gaped before clutching the back of his neck.

It wasn’t like there weren’t rude juniors in this industry, but no one had ever outright said, ‘Senior, you’re an attention seeker, right?’

“Wow… wow, seriously, wow… I can’t even hit him, wow.”

Rembrary wasn’t particularly quick-witted, but he wasn’t so dense that he couldn’t recognize his mistake when the other person reacted like that.

‘Is ‘attention seeker’ not a job title?’

Rembrary inwardly clicked his tongue, recalling the note Jung Seo had written with a star next to it.

It seemed the word Jung Seo had written with that neat face was a curse word.

But even if he said now that he didn’t know it was a curse word, it didn’t seem like Maeng Woo-shin, who looked furious, would accept it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was a curse word.”

He added it just in case, but as expected, Maeng Woo-shin looked even more menacing, as if saying, ‘What nonsense is this?’

However, he didn’t seem like the type to be swayed by emotions, as he soon smiled coldly and asked.

“Junior, aren’t you the last person who should be calling someone an attention seeker? Who’s the one trying to get attention with all sorts of bizarre behavior?”

“Who is it?”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No?”

It seemed Maeng Woo-shin was very offended by the word ‘attention seeker’.

Faced with his constantly provoking attitude, Rembrary calmly tried to have a conversation this time.

“The group you joined, senior. I didn’t bring it up to threaten you.”

“Look here, junior? I haven’t joined any group that I could be threatened by, okay?”

“I want to join.”

“!”

“I want to join that fun group too. I want to become a cultist.”

The word ‘dumbfounded’ seemed to appear on Maeng Woo-shin’s face. He looked like he was thinking, ‘What is this guy?’

But when Rembrary looked at him seriously, he soon let out a hollow laugh and waved his hand.

“I don’t know where you heard some strange things. Forget it. Just go.”

Although the other person showed an attitude of not wanting to deal with him, Rembrary firmly believed in Jung Seo’s investigation and asked again.

“I’m being serious. I want to join that group too, senior.”

Maeng Woo-shin raised his eyebrows.

Then, he frowned for a moment and nodded, saying, “Ah.”

“Come to think of it, Jung Seo was in the same group as you. Did you hear something from him?”

“No.”

“No, my foot. That’s exactly what happened.”

Rembrary, who had said “No” just in case, carefully watched Maeng Woo-shin’s expression.

However, this time, Maeng Woo-shin didn’t tell him to get lost right away.

Instead, he stroked his chin as if he had something to think about, crossed one leg, and stared into space.

He seemed to be considering Rembrary’s words more seriously than before.

How long had he been like that?

“Ah, you’re not it after all. You’re not good enough.”

Maeng Woo-shin shook his head, said this, and got up from the sofa.

“I have to leave since you’re not leaving. Enjoy the show and goodbye.”

It was a nuance that other people could enter, but Rembrary couldn’t be let in.

Understanding that nuance, Rembrary followed behind Maeng Woo-shin and asked.

“Why can’t I join?”

He didn’t expect to get an answer right away, but Maeng Woo-shin surprisingly answered readily.

“You’re not high-class enough.”

“Class?”

“There’s a cut-off line here too.”

A cut-off line?

Leaving behind hard-to-understand words, Maeng Woo-shin caught the elevator that had just arrived and went upstairs.

Instead of following him, Rembrary went down to where Jong-woo had been earlier.

Jong-woo was gone in the meantime. Instead, there was a text message saying, ‘I’m on the 3rd floor ㅇㅇ’.

Rembrary went up to the 3rd floor and sat on a bench in the hallway, searching for the words ‘class’ and ‘cut-off line’.

Before long, Rembrary was able to understand what Maeng Woo-shin meant.

‘It seems like I can’t join the group he belongs to until I succeed as a celebrity?’

Two hours later.

Jong-woo came out of one of the many rooms in the hallway.

Jong-woo was talking to someone as he came out, but when he found Rembrary, he hurriedly finished the conversation and approached.

“Why are you here instead of texting me?”

“I didn’t want to disturb you.”

“If I thought it would be a disturbance, I would have turned off my phone.”

“But Jong-woo. There’s something I want to ask.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Does the word ‘low-class’ mean not famous as a celebrity?”

At Rembrary’s question, Jong-woo flinched and glared.

“Who said that? Did Maeng Woo-shin tell you that you’re low-class?”

“He said my class doesn’t meet the cut-off line.”

“What?”

Seeing Jong-woo glaring but only huffing and puffing in place, it seemed that the group Maeng Woo-shin was a member of could only be joined after achieving a certain level of success as a celebrity.

Rembrary said in a low voice to Jong-woo, who was cursing Maeng Woo-shin while lowering his voice as much as possible in case someone heard.

“I want to be famous, Jong-woo.”

* * *

What on earth did that annoying Maeng Woo-shin say…

Jong-woo couldn’t take his eyes off Rembrary the entire drive.

Rembrary kept what he and Maeng Woo-shin had talked about a secret.

But he had a gloomy expression, as if he had heard some harsh words.

Besides, the guy who had been consistently taking the ‘mountains are mountains, water is water’ attitude [Zen-like acceptance of things as they are] since losing his memory was suddenly saying he wanted to be famous.

In fact, Rembrary was just expressionlessly blank, but there’s no expression as open to interpretation as a blank one.

‘He must have completely ignored him.’

Jong-woo clicked his tongue inwardly, turned the steering wheel, and eventually offered words of comfort again.

“Yeon-woo.”

“What is it?”

“This album will do well. Don’t pay attention to what that guy said.”

“Ah. I’m not really paying attention.”

“Seriously, don’t pay attention. That guy is famous for his harsh words.”

“Is there anything else he’s famous for?”

“Huh?”

“Besides harsh words, is there anything else he’s famous for?”

“I don’t know?”

“I see…”

Rembrary nodded and silently looked out the window again.

* * *

The next morning.

Jong-woo, who came before they even had breakfast, spoke with a dark face.

“I checked the CCTV [closed-circuit television] installed in front of the main gate, but it’s hard to recognize because the face is cleverly covered.”

“Then can’t we catch the culprit?”

“It might take some time. There were no fingerprints left on the blade either.”

Jong-woo said that and then worriedly suggested.

“I’ve already sent texts to the other members. Real crazy fans sometimes leave the dorm and go after individuals. And let’s stay at the dorm together today.”

As if it wasn’t just a suggestion, Jong-woo had even brought a large bag.

When asked what was inside, Jong-woo slyly took out a baseball bat from the bag.

“Just in case.”

Then he asked if he had eaten.

“Not yet.”

When Rembrary answered, Jong-woo said they should eat first, took out the baseball bat, and then took out triangle kimbap [Korean rice ball wrapped in seaweed] and several kinds of drinks from inside.

“What about chicken breast?”

“Let’s eat comfortably on holidays.”

Rembrary obediently ate the kimbap Jong-woo handed him and drank the drink.

But after he finished eating everything, he said something Jong-woo had never thought of.

“If it’s okay, I want to go to the practice room and practice. Is it okay to practice on holidays?”

At Rembrary’s words, Jong-woo almost dropped the kimbap he was eating.

“What?”

Even after losing his memory, he wasn’t that passionate, but even before losing his memory, Woo Yeon-woo didn’t show much interest in idol activities.

That’s because Woo Yeon-woo was originally an aspiring actor.

But he was voluntarily giving up his holiday to practice.

“Hey… what on earth did Maeng Woo-shin say to you?”

Jong-woo was convinced that Rembrary had definitely heard something extremely harsh. There was no way he would act like that unless he had been greatly shocked.

Rembrary didn’t bother to tell the truth and instead benignly smiled, leaving Jong-woo’s misunderstanding unchecked. There was no need to say that he was poking around all the places related to gods to find a way to return to his world.

“Is it okay?”

“It is. No, it’s very good.”

* * *

Rembrary, who went to the agency in Jong-woo’s car, went straight to the practice room.

However, there was no dance teacher or vocal trainer in the practice room. They also had their own schedules, so they didn’t expect anyone to come on a holiday.

Rembrary awkwardly operated the speaker as he had learned from the dance teacher before and began to practice the choreography of the previous title song alone.

However, no matter how much he moved his body while looking in the mirror, Rembrary’s body only creaked.

‘Even if I look in the mirror myself, it’s this bad, so it must look even worse when others see it.’

Rembrary sighed inwardly but continued to dance.

How many times had he repeated it? There was a knock on the door.

When he turned around, CEO Im was standing by the window.

Wondering what was going on, he went closer and opened the window, and CEO Im slowly scanned the empty practice room and asked.

“You said you wanted to be famous to Jong-woo.”

“That is so.”

CEO Im looked at Rembrary’s forehead and neck, which were soaked with sweat and damp, and smiled with satisfaction.

He had expressed it as not managing his image or being a disposable card, but Rembrary was still surviving and catching up on his own.

No, to be precise, he was running ahead alone, leaving the group behind.

In the midst of all this, he was pleased that Rembrary himself was showing a willingness to engage in entertainment activities, unlike before.

Anyway, a useful card was better than a disposable card.

CEO Im instructed.

“Do that again, the one from earlier. Properly.”

‘Why is he doing this?’

While wondering strangely, Rembrary repeatedly danced, and CEO Im stared intently at the scene.

Then, around the time the music was halfway through.

As if there was nothing more to see, he went into the practice room, turned down the volume of the speaker, and asked.

“If you prepare a new song, practice for competitions, and even practice solo, a day won’t be enough.”

“?”

“So, I was saying. You said you were going to practice on holidays, right? Then, would you like to get some acting practice in the meantime?”

“Acting?”

Rembrary raised his eyebrows at these unexpected words.

CEO Im nodded.

“Acting.”

“Acting all of a sudden?”

The dance teacher had mentioned acting while talking about kiss scenes. Still, wasn’t it too out of the blue?

At Rembrary’s question, CEO Im answered as if it were natural.

“Good mask, good voice, good pronunciation. He’s good at singing but not good at dancing. If he’s just moderately good at acting, it would be good to go in the direction of acting and singing OSTs [original sound tracks].”

In fact, he hadn’t told Jong-woo yet, but a famous drama writer who was close to CEO Im had once said that he wanted to use Yeon-woo as a supporting actor.

The male lead of the drama that was newly preparing to air this time had the job of a priest, and he needed a role that the priest would take with him all the time.

[Acting skills? Ah, it’s okay. Just do the bare minimum. There are hardly any lines. He’s revealed as a psychopath in a twist later, so he doesn’t even have to do facial expressions. But there are many scenes next to the male lead, so the frequency of appearance is as high as the main character’s. ······Ah, yes, yes. I’ll be honest. I need a flower vase with an amazing atmosphere.]

The writer had seen all the pictorials Yeon-woo had taken and liked that unique, reverent atmosphere very much.

However, Yeon-woo was only in charge of topicality for CEO Im and was half a disposable card, so he was wondering if it would be better to entrust this case to other members or trainees.

But now that he seemed to be showing quite a bit of motivation, he was asking this.

“You said you wanted to be famous.”