Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 678

678. Jongwoo is Jongwoo

“What’s wrong?”

Rembrary stared at his phone as if it were a strange creature. Daeju, noticing this, quickly asked.

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Rembrary answered, then found Jang Taeri’s phone number and tapped the call button.

“Myeolchi [Korean word for anchovy, often used as a nickname] isn’t answering calls or texts.”

“She must be busy.”

Daeju knew that Shin Jo-woon and Worldboom had been looking for Rembrary until recently, so he kept his answer simple.

“Well, Myeolchi is always busy.”

Rembrary agreed. Then, hearing a familiar voice saying “Hello?” from the receiver, he quickly shouted.

“Taeri-ssi!”

—Daeju-nim?!

Perhaps because the call was made to Daeju’s phone, Jang Taeri asked back, sounding disgusted, “Daeju-nim?”

—Why are you suddenly acting so friendly?

“Taeri-ssi…….”

*Has she even forgotten my voice?* Rembrary was gaping in shock when a bright laugh finally burst from the receiver.

—I’m kidding. I knew it was you, Rembrary-ssi.

“Taeri-ssi!”

—I kept calling Rembrary-ssi’s phone, but it kept saying it was turned off.

“It’s not charging. It’s charging now.”

Relieved, Rembrary walked around the room with his phone.

Daeju figured the call would be longer than expected, so he grabbed Ardor, who was suffering from envy and jealousy, and led him out of the office.

Ardor sobbed as he was dragged out.

“Stop pretending to cry. It’s embarrassing to be next to you.”

“I don’t want to share Rembrary-nim’s trust with anyone.”

“Do you want the High Priest to be isolated? Stop talking nonsense.”

“If he’s isolated and I’m the only one left by his side……!”

*This is a dangerous human.* Daeju stared at Ardor in disgust and took him to the cooking room.

“If you really care about the High Priest, make his favorite food. The High Priest praised your cooking skills the whole way here.”

In fact, he had only praised him twice, but Daeju exaggerated a little to divert Ardor’s attention.

Fortunately, Ardor perked up at those words and immediately brightened.

“That’s right. I should. Rembrary-nim likes the heretic Jang, but he likes food more than the heretic Jang. That means if Ardor the cook appears with food, he’ll like me more than the heretic Jang!”

“…….”

He couldn’t agree with anything he said from beginning to end, but Daeju didn’t want to talk any more, so he just left Ardor there and came out.

Meanwhile, Rembrary was excitedly talking to Jang Taeri.

“So, I ended up not eating patbingsu [shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings] and came up.”

—That’s too bad. You should have let me eat patbingsu.

“I know. But it’s good to hear Taeri-ssi’s voice after coming up.”

—I’m a little angry.

“But you’re not angry anymore after hearing my voice, right?”

—A little. I’m still angry.

“It’ll all be resolved when you see my face, Taeri-ssi.”

—No, you have to ask me why I’m angry.”

“Why are you angry?”

Rembrary was puzzled when he heard a sigh from the receiver.

“Aren’t you not really angry?”

—I am!

“Why?”

—Rembrary-ssi is… too selfish.

“That’s right.”

—Don’t agree. I’m angry right now.

“I’m not selfish.”

—Don’t deny it either.

*Then what should I do?* Rembrary stared blankly at the clock.

As he neither affirmed nor denied, Jang Taeri, who had stopped talking for about 10 seconds, asked in a heavy voice.

—Rembrary-ssi, of course, Rembrary-ssi did those things for everyone’s sake, but did you ever think about what would happen to the people if you left alone with everything?

“No.”

—Why? Shouldn’t you have thought about how hard it would be for the people who like Rembrary-ssi if Rembrary-ssi left like that?

“Yes. I was too busy.”

—Busy… Ah, of course, you were busy.

Jang Taeri’s voice, which had been serious, became high and rough.

Rembrary was puzzled because he didn’t understand the reaction. He could hear Jang Taeri grumbling over the phone, but he didn’t know why.

As he stood there blankly, Jang Taeri snapped.

—Even if you’re busy, think about it! How many minutes does it take to think about that! It would have taken 30 seconds!

“What… Taeri-ssi is like Myeolchi too.”

—I mean, don’t do that in the future.

“…….”

—The actions that Rembrary-ssi took for everyone’s sake don’t make everyone happy. It’s better to overcome the crisis together, even if it’s a little more difficult. We would have liked it better if Rembrary-ssi was by our side.

Rembrary listened blankly and then laughed.

Even if the same situation came up again, he wouldn’t make a different choice, but he was happy to feel the concern.

—Where are you now?

“I’m at Redrine headquarters.”

—I’ll go there right away.

As soon as Jang Taeri hung up, Rembrary excitedly called Woo Yeon-woo this time.

Woo Yeon-woo had heard the news about Rembrary from somewhere, and as soon as he answered the phone, he urgently asked first.

—Daeju-nim! Are you calling because of Rembrary?

In fact, it had been two years since he had left his seat based on Earth’s time, but it wasn’t that long for Rembrary’s standards.

However, Rembrary was delighted to hear the other party’s warm welcome and shouted.

“Yeon-woo-ya, it’s me!”

However, as soon as he heard his voice, Woo Yeon-woo hung up the phone.

“?”

Puzzled, he looked at his phone, and after a while, text messages began to flood in instead of a call.

[Idiot]

[Bad guy]

[Son of a bitch]

[Wicked bastard]

As he stared at the pouring abusive texts, he called again, and Woo Yeon-woo screamed.

—Why are you only showing up now!

Unlike when he first answered the phone, his voice was stuffy, so Rembrary realized that Woo Yeon-woo had hung up the phone because he was crying.

“Did you cry?”

—Who!

He denied it, but it was clear.

“Your voice sounds nasal.”

As Rembrary burst into laughter, Woo Yeon-woo huffed and spewed out incomprehensible words before asking.

—Where are you?

“Behind you.”

—What?! Really?! I can’t see you? Have you become transparent?

“You’re still stupid.”

—You son of a bitch!

Rembrary laughed again as he heard the sound of sniffing over the phone.

—You really… Suddenly appearing, taking only the cake, leaving only the plate [idiom for taking the best part and leaving the rest]. Do you know how surprised I was? Where did you go?

“I went to where Lumena-nim is.”

—Why there?

He didn’t go there on purpose, but he fell somewhere between dimensions, and thanks to the passing Emperor Shin Jo-woon, he didn’t get lost and went there.

However, Rembrary was reluctant to tell the truth because he was worried that Woo Yeon-woo, whose heart was already the size of a rat’s tail [easily upset], would be even more shocked if he heard this story.

“Just. I was bounced out.”

In the end, he vaguely glossed over it, and Woo Yeon-woo muttered in relief.

—Whatever it is, I’m glad.

“And the cake was a little salty.”

—!

Woo Yeon-woo hung up the phone again.

“His personality is still bad. He’s a good kid, though.”

Rembrary sighed and tried calling Shin Jo-woon one more time this time.

However, Shin Jo-woon still didn’t answer the phone. Just as he was feeling a little disappointed, a reply finally came.

[Are you hurt anywhere?]

*Is it difficult to call?*

[Can’t I call?]

Rembrary asked considerately, feeling puzzled, and received the answer [A little].

Rembrary raised his eyebrows, unable to guess what ‘a situation where you can’t call a little’ meant.

[What are you doing?]

[Are you hurt anywhere?]

[There’s no way I would be]

[Then that’s good. Rest.]

[Myeolchi]

With those words, Shin Jo-woon’s reply was cut off again. Rembrary, who was slowly noticing something strange, called Shin Jo-woon in succession.

[Myeolchi?]

[Myeolchi Myeolchi?]

[Whale-ssi]

[Whale?]

[Myeolchi, I’ll buy you pizza]

However, even after saying all sorts of nice things and trying to coax him, there was no reply.

*Is he sick somewhere?*

As he was a little worried about his different attitude from before, someone said from behind.

“Oh, he’s not replying right away now?”

As soon as he heard the familiar voice, he turned around and saw Hwasaja craning his neck and looking down at the phone with him.

“When did you come?”

Rembrary asked, delighted. He was thinking of calling Hwasaja too, but he didn’t expect him to suddenly appear like this.

Besides, he was especially happy because he had been constantly ignored by Shin.

“I just came.”

“Your beard seems a little simpler. Only on the right.”

“My mom pulled out a handful.”

“Why?”

“The government regained control and sent official letters to the lords asking them to cooperate. I didn’t like it, so I tore up the official letter and it got pulled out.”

“I’ll replenish it.”

“Because when I go, she hugs me and cries, so my mom says this is also kind of cute.”

“I think she just said that out of pity, Saja-ya. To comfort you.”

While the Saja Lord, who heard those words, took off his mask and suspiciously examined his beard, Rembrary repeatedly went over what he had said earlier and asked.

“What do you mean by cooperation letter? Then have the lords disappeared now?”

Rembrary recalled that the place names on the signs on the highway had returned to what they were before the cataclysm. *Is this also because of that?*

“Yeah. The lords who cooperated became hunter civil servants… some high-ranking civil servants.”

“You too?”

“No. Only my mom.”

“You?”

“They investigated my actions when I was a lord and rejected me. I’m just grateful that they didn’t put me on the wanted list by rating me as a dangerous person.”

Hwasaja, who had become gloomy, put on the lion mask again.

“Who?”

“The Black Dragon.”

It sounds right if you only listen to the words, but the one who said those words was the highest-ranking demon, so Rembrary lost the strength to react.

No, more than that, is the Black Dragon still in the position of vice director? I knew he had been sealed and escaped, but I didn’t know he was still working.

“Then what happened to the lords who didn’t cooperate with the government?”

“They became dangerous people and are wanted. But where have you been and why are you only coming now?”

“I was in the place we went to before.”

“There where Yoomena was? Why there again?”

“It just happened that way.”

Hwasaja clicked his tongue.

“If you’re in a place like that, no matter how much I look for you, I can’t find you.”

“Were you looking for me?”

“Everyone came to me and said, ‘Let’s go here, let’s go there, let’s go somewhere.’ How busy was I? I was probably the busiest.”

As they continued to talk, Rembrary stopped talking at the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Rembrary now realized that Daeju and Ardor were not in the room, and thought that the two had returned.

However, it was Jongwoo who came in after opening the door.

“Jongwoo-ya?”

As Rembrary approached, pleased, Jongwoo smiled awkwardly and greeted him.

“Hello.”

*I heard that he was cooperating with LLL, but why did he suddenly come?* As he was wondering, Woo Yeon-woo pushed Jongwoo away and came in with a sulky face.

“Did you bring him?”

When Rembrary asked Woo Yeon-woo, Jongwoo answered, “No,” and handed over the file he had been carrying under his arm.

“I followed you when Yeon-woo was leaving because of this.”

As he took it, wondering what it was, Jongwoo explained with the serious and determined expression he had often seen in the past.

“This is an example of an interview script. I wrote it in a hurry. We need to add to this and prepare for a press conference.”

“Press conference?”

As he looked at Woo Yeon-woo, bewildered, Woo Yeon-woo answered grumpily.

“I don’t know either. He’s saying that we have to take the lead before the speculative articles are spread because the news of your return has already come out.”