Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 54

54. An Idol’s Ideal Type

Jongwoo, who had been groaning, urged.

“Yeah, it’s okay in front of me. But don’t say that in front of the camera.”

“Understood.”

“Seriously. If someone asks you something like, ‘Why hasn’t Wild Animal’s performance been good so far?’ even if you feel bad, say it’s all your fault. Even if it doesn’t seem like your fault, say it’s your fault.”

“Understood.”

“Hoo…”

“What about the opposite?”

“What?”

“If someone asks why Wild Animal’s performance is good, what should I say?”

“The performance would have to be good for them to ask that. There’s no way they’d ask that when we haven’t had any success yet.”

“But what if someone asks anyway? A similar situation might come up.”

“Say it’s thanks to the members. If a similar situation comes up, always give credit to others.”

“Understood.”

*Why does that answer not sit well with me?* Jongwoo glanced at Rembrary and urged him once more.

“Seriously. Give all the credit to others.”

* * *

I was really happy to be cast in the drama by the esteemed Director Kim Wol-soo and Writer Shim Kyung.

It was also an honor to meet actors Maeng Woo-shin, Lim Yu-han, and Ki Seon-in, who are among the best in acting, and it was great to see their performances up close.

I was satisfied with doing my best in a small role, but…

There are people who start acting so easily in this world.

They take up twenty or thirty minutes by themselves because they’re so bad at acting. Why are they even acting? If I get close to them, I want to ask them sincerely. Why did you come here when you don’t have the skill, will, or passion?

#IdolBadActing #IdolActing #OhMyGod #DidTheCompanyPlugYouIn #EveryoneIsActing #Nuisance #MaengWooshin #LimYuhan #IWillWorkHard

Love*** Who are you calling a nuisance?

Ojun*** Sounds like he’s talking about Woo Yeon-woo.

Phsi*** Always supporting you! I’ll be sure to watch the live broadcast!

Kons*** Seriously, I wish they wouldn’t cast idols in acting roles.

Pxej*** Adding idols to a perfectly good meal.

* * *

“Wow, this son of a bitch.”

Jongwoo, who saw a small article at the end, hissed.

Rembrary was preparing for the next competition with Hyegyeol when he stopped briefly after hearing the curse.

“What’s wrong?”

He asked, wiping away sweat. Jongwoo gritted his teeth, scrolling up and up on his phone screen.

“Some of the cast members at the script reading are openly criticizing your acting.”

“How do those people know if I’m bad at acting or not?”

“Exactly! Based on four lines of dialogue!”

Jongwoo couldn’t stand to watch anymore, so he just turned off the screen and put his phone down.

He thought there would be talk one way or another, but he thought it would come out after the premiere. He didn’t expect the other cast members to act like that after just one script reading.

Annoyed, Jongwoo gestured for Rembrary to keep practicing.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it and practice. Making a good stage will be beneficial when the album comes out later.”

Rembrary nodded and stepped up his practice again.

Hyegyeol also started acrobatics again.

Since ‘lip-sync stages’ usually emphasize performance, and Rembrary is weak in performance, Hyegyeol was brought in to compensate for this.

Hyegyeol had previously helped Rembrary clear his name from being falsely accused as a school bully, and since showing her face on TV would be helpful to her anyway, she did her best to prepare for the competition together.

But it was while they were performing on stage.

This time, the phone rang loudly, interrupting the practice. It was Jongwoo again.

Jongwoo mumbled an apology and quickly grabbed his phone, leaving the practice room.

Then, he returned in less than five minutes and shouted.

“Yeonwoo, you have to appear on a variety show tomorrow!”

Rembrary, who was stretching, asked, “What?”

He had heard that they would go on variety shows as a group to promote the album when it was released, but suddenly alone tomorrow? It was unexpected.

Jongwoo excitedly explained.

“It’s a program called ‘Daily Rail.’ Sometimes they do crazy things, but usually it’s a variety show focused on exercise. It won’t be too much of a burden for you.”

“Exercise?”

“If you draw a card from the card case, there’s a mission like ‘Do XXX with someone who is XXX’? Then the cast members find someone who fits ‘someone who is XXX’ and become partners to complete the mission. The person who was originally supposed to appear injured their leg. They’re asking us to fill in for them tomorrow.”

“Fill in…”

When Rembrary made a dumbfounded expression, Jongwoo patted him on the back, asking what was wrong.

“They liked how you imitated a sloth on a music show before. This is great!”

There seemed to be no choice.

* * *

Friday. Sagamjae stayed at the agency with the other members, and Rembrary went with Jongwoo to the designated meeting place to record .

“I’m not bad at exercising, but I’m not very good either. I don’t know if it’ll be okay.”

Before getting out of the car, Rembrary clicked his tongue, seeing the staff already gathered.

“It’s okay. In variety shows like this, it’s fun if you’re bad at exercising.”

Jongwoo patted Rembrary’s shoulder and smiled brightly.

Since it was a variety show that used the body rather than talking, he seemed less anxious than usual.

Rembrary nodded, understanding. *Well, if Jongwoo was like that, he could just relax.*

Fortunately, the atmosphere was good when he got out of the car and greeted the staff and cast members.

In particular, the MC [Master of Ceremonies] and PD [Production Director] were grateful that Rembrary had agreed to appear on short notice, so they treated him as kindly as possible.

The other cast members also greeted him with smiles, and the atmosphere was pleasant throughout.

When they heard that today’s filming location was an amusement park, everyone was as happy as children going on a picnic.

Jongwoo was relieved.

But in the car moving to the amusement park, hardship struck Jongwoo’s cheek.

“I heard Woo Yeon-woo is also appearing in the drama ‘Oh My God’ this time?”

The assistant MC asked with a smile.

The question itself was not a problem.

It would be best if this fact was not mentioned until the broadcast, but some of the cast members had already posted all sorts of stories about Yeonwoo’s acting skills on their social media.

The variety show writer must have quickly collected information about Yeonwoo, so the recent issues would be the main focus. This kind of question was likely to come up, and Jongwoo was prepared for it.

“Yes.”

The problem was the next question.

“Aren’t you scared? There are a lot of people who are determined that if ‘Oh My God’ goes wrong, it’ll all be Woo Yeon-woo’s fault?”

Jongwoo was startled and looked at the assistant MC.

He was smiling, but it wasn’t a friendly question. It was malicious.

Whether it was because he disliked Yeonwoo or deliberately did it for the sake of hype.

But unlike Jongwoo’s worries, Rembrary answered calmly.

There was nothing difficult to answer. Jongwoo had told him the answer two days ago.

“Of course. If the drama does well, it’s all thanks to the other actors. If it goes wrong, it’ll all be my fault.”

“!”

Jongwoo pretended to be asleep, closing his eyes as if he hadn’t heard.

* * *

Rembrary had never been to an amusement park before.

Screeeeeeeeech

The first feeling Rembrary had at the amusement park was fear.

The voices of people terrified were heard from all directions.

But the other cast members seemed to like this place very much, chatting happily. Some said it was their first time in years, others said they had been there last month for filming, and others said the roller coasters in foreign countries were amazing…

Rembrary was넋 놓고 [넋 놓고 (neok nohgo) means to be absent-minded or to be in a daze] watching the things that repeatedly soared high into the sky and disappeared, but he properly focused on filming only after the MC called him over.

Although the details were different, there were many parts that were similar to what he had done in , so it wasn’t difficult to adapt.

First, the MC made jokes to the cast members, creating a fun atmosphere.

Then, the cast member put their hand into the box, took out a card, and handed it to the MC.

Then the MC read the card, and the cast member either liked or disliked the contents of the card.

After that, they had to find someone to carry out the mission on the card within 5 minutes.

“Ruwi, let’s see… Go to the haunted house with a man in a group of four women and one man!”

“Eek! That’s difficult!”

“No, if you look carefully, you’ll find someone. Okay, 5 minutes!”

“Agh, what should I do, what should I do!”

“Ready, go!”

“Agh!”

When one participant screamed and ran, falling with a thud, the cast members giggled.

The participant barely managed to find a grandfather to be her partner with 30 seconds left.

It was a grandfather who had come to play with his four granddaughters, and he was so enthusiastic that he quickly turned the participants into a sea of laughter.

However, when he heard that he had to go to the haunted house, he was terrified and ran away, and in the end, another round of laughter erupted.

Rembrary was next in line after that participant.

Since the previous participant had raised the atmosphere so much, Jongwoo watched Rembrary with a nervous heart.

It was important not to cause an accident, but it wasn’t good to come out and be told that he was boring.

But Rembrary calmly approached the MC.

There were many citizens gathered around the makeshift set to watch the filming, and he was in a good mood because he saw a familiar face among them.

Jongwoo had posted on ‘Wild Animal’s’ social media last night, just in case, that Rembrary was participating in , and one of Rembrary’s followers had seen it and come.

The MC made a few jokes to Rembrary, creating an atmosphere like before, and Rembrary stepped forward and put his hand into the box.

There weren’t many choices left since there were only a few cards left.

Rembrary picked up the bottom card and handed it to the MC.

“He was searching for a while, did he pick something like a roller coaster or a gyro drop?”

The MC teased with a chuckle, but when Rembrary, who didn’t know what a roller coaster or gyro drop was, didn’t react, he awkwardly flipped the card over and read it.

“Woo Yeon-woo… With the person closest to his ideal type! Ride the Viking! And sing a love song!”

Among the participants, there was an excited scream.

Jongwoo’s expression became serious. *Ideal type.* There was no topic as difficult for an idol as the topic of ideal type.

Moreover, Jongwoo firmly believed that Rembrary had a knee fetish, so he was even more worried.

But that was from a manager’s point of view. From the perspective of dealing with idols, there was no topic as easy to unravel as the ideal type.

The assistant MC, who had subtly provoked Rembrary earlier and been defeated, chuckled and asked.

“It must be nice to sing a love song with your ideal type. What’s your ideal type, Woo Yeon-woo?”

Jongwoo anxiously stared at Rembrary’s mouth.

Rembrary also found it difficult to answer this time.

As a high priest, he was forbidden from dating, let alone marrying. He had never been interested in the opposite sex, so he had no ideal type.

“I don’t have one.”

Rembrary answered honestly, but the assistant MC still insisted.

“Come on, you must have one. Even a little? Even a hint?”

Rembrary frowned, but the assistant MC didn’t seem to back down.

In the end, Rembrary seriously examined his ideal type.

As a high priest, he naturally loved Redrin the most, but he couldn’t dare to choose the existence of God as his ideal type.

Then what was his second ideal type?

“…”

Rembrary tried to recall the woman who had made his heart flutter the most recently.

Fortunately, there was a vaguely remembered scene.

Was it six years ago? It was a very dangerous day.

A demon who was after Rembrary’s power led a group of monsters in a surprise attack, and the paladins surrounded Rembrary and blocked them.

One paladin in particular was amazing.

She was freely wielding a long spear on a large red horse, chopping off the heads of the monsters.

A nostalgic smile appeared on Rembrary’s lips.

Come to think of it, a person with an image similar to that paladin appeared in the game that Hyegyeol had been holding onto all day yesterday.

Her name was…

“Guan Yu.”

“Yes?”

“My ideal type is a woman like Guan Yu.”

“Oh… Personality-wise?”

“No, just the external image.”

“!”