Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 157

157.

After the shoot, Gyeong-woo put his arm around my shoulder and said,

“Dong-hwa, we’re having a company dinner tonight, would you like to join us?”

It sounded like he was hitting on me. If he wasn’t known for his clean private life, I would have rejected him immediately.

“Actually, I already got permission from your manager, but your opinion is the most important.”

Then, Ryu Ideun ran up from behind and nodded his head right away.

“Hey, sunbae [senior colleague], of course, we’d love to have him!”

“Oh, really? That’s a relief. I was worried it would be a bit empty since Jin-hwa and So-young can’t make it today.”

“Ah, that’s too bad. I haven’t gotten close to Jin-hwa sunbae yet.”

“That’s strange. I don’t think he has any schedule today.”

Ah, how amusing. He must be in a bad mood today. Is it thanks to Ryu Ideun and me tormenting him so much? Maybe he didn’t grace that disgusting bar with his presence.

“Anyway, Dong-hwa! You! I lost the game, but I won’t lose at drinking!”

Oh dear, I’m pretty confident in that area too.

“Our Dong-hwa is amazing when it comes to drinking.”

* * *

“Ah, so you teamed up right after the rules were shared?”

“Yes! Dong-hwa said he’d team up with me, so I just went along without thinking.”

“…So, Dong-hwa, you planned it all out from the beginning? You’re a scary person.”

“I told you, he did something similar even in Detection…”

I casually ignored the voices I heard. Han-ho and Gyeong-woo were pouring soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] and handing it to me.

“If it gets too hard, you have to stop drinking. Even if a sunbae offers, you have to say no, you have to say it.”

Gyeong-woo emphasized.

“Yeah, if you drink too much now while your body is good, you’ll crash when you get to my age. You have to know how to refuse drinks from your sunbaes. And don’t like alcohol. You know why, right?”

…Ryu Ideun created a small misunderstanding. I was perceived as too much of a drinker. But I don’t really enjoy alcohol that much.

“Ugh, now tell me. Why did you fall for capitalism?”

Gyeong-woo muttered after drinking a glass. He seemed a bit hurt.

“I’m used to being betrayed, but I didn’t expect it from our hoobae [junior colleague]!”

It’s all because of the prophecy. The condition for changing the future set by the prophecy is that not a single grain of gold should go into Jin-hwa’s hands. Rather than me messing around and opening up the possibility of him winning in the final vote, I thought this was the surest way.

However, I can’t say that. So…

“…Gold is always a good investment.”

That’s all I can mutter.

“That’s true.”

“Right. When you’re anxious, gold is the way to go.”

As expected of elders, they nodded and sympathized.

“Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with liking money.”

“Gyeong-woo, you were pretty greedy for money at that age too.”

“Hyung [older brother/male friend], am I really going to cry?”

I let out a soft laugh at their conversation.

“You two, have you known each other for a long time?”

“Yeah. How many years has it been, Gyeong-woo?”

“About 15 years?”

“Why are you counting that? You’re such a creep.”

“You asked.”

Another toast. These people, perhaps because they’re so experienced, their glass rotation speed was fast.

“By the way, Gyeong-woo’s claim of being a heavy drinker is a lie. He can only handle three bottles.”

Um, isn’t that still considered above average?

“…What about you, sunbae?”

“Me, well…”

Han-ho picked up a piece of meat and ate it.

“I don’t really know.”

Han-ho said with a smile. It’s said that the immortals in Eastern philosophy drink alcohol like water, so I’ve obtained a piece of empirical evidence. Although immortals probably don’t exist.

“You said you don’t know either. Should I check it out today?”

Han-ho’s gentle suggestion. But it was clearly a tone asking if I was someone who could keep up with him until the end. …I don’t have an obligation to, and I don’t want to, but I was grateful to Han-ho for many things during today’s broadcast.

“…Please take care of me.”

[Warning! Refrain from it!]

…Wait, what is this again?

* * *

Chae Ha-min was unusually happy today. Just talking with the others without drinking a single glass, considering her alcohol tolerance, was enough.

‘…So this is what it means to like the atmosphere of drinking parties, not the alcohol itself.’

“Thank you so much for today! I really felt like it was okay to be this comfortable on a broadcast…”

“Hey, save it. It reminded me of my old days.”

Kang-hee sunbae said with a smile. She used to be an idol. She disbanded and is now living as a broadcaster, but she still seems to miss those days a lot.

“No, if you say it like that, it sounds like I was just trying to get something out of you?”

“Wasn’t it? This noona [older sister/female friend] has a huge network. Make sure to get a lot out of it.”

A friendly atmosphere. The atmosphere felt completely different from the opposite table.

“…It feels like they’re having a deathmatch over there.”

“There’s someone who can keep up with that oppa [older brother/male friend]’s drinking speed. Amazing.”

“I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to Dong-hwa today. What kind of person is he?”

At Kang-hee sunbae’s question, Chae Ha-min pursed her lips. What would be the best way to describe him? There are many words to describe Dong-hwa, but, um…

“…My best friend?”

“That doesn’t explain anything, Ha-min.”

Kang-hee and Do-hee laughed. But, there’s no better way to explain what Dong-hwa is to me than this.

“Actually, I don’t have that many close friends.”

“I know. You were a trainee for a long time, right?”

Kang-hee nodded in agreement.

“Doesn’t being a trainee for a long time mean you make friends?”

“…It depends on the person. It depends on the company. If you see each other every day, one person can ruin the atmosphere. Or, if there’s someone like that, they might just get rid of them.”

When running towards the same goal, there were often cases where people recognized those around them as competitors. Sometimes the company itself created that kind of atmosphere. If someone couldn’t fit into that atmosphere, they might be ostracized.

Of course, Chae Ha-min didn’t have few friends because of that kind of problem.

“Anyway, that’s why the members are like, really precious friends… Dong-hwa is a good person!”

Kang-hee sunbae nodded with a complicated expression.

“I miss it a little too. We still meet up after disbanding, but there’s no strong bond like that.”

“…When you disband, is that how it is?”

I suddenly felt flustered and sad. I was able to glean a lot of knowledge while talking to Dong-hwa, so isn’t this what they call induction or something? I don’t remember exactly, but there are roughly cases. When cases gather, they become the truth.

If Ji Dong-hwa heard that, he would hit me on the head, saying, ‘How can induction be established with just one case?’ While saying, ‘Don’t be sure when you don’t know well.’

“It probably depends on the team too? That’s how we were.”

Kang-hee sunbae’s team wasn’t an unpopular group. It’s just that only Kang-hee stood out in variety shows, and the others didn’t.

“Will we… be like that too?”

“Well, maybe…”

“Hey, you.”

Do-hee sunbae, who had been listening quietly, picked up a glass and hit Kang-hee sunbae on the head. Pretty hard.

“Are you making our kid cry? Are you even human?”

I haven’t cried yet. I plan to cry when I get home.

“Ah, no. No! Don’t you know case by case? Hey, what do you mean it’ll be like that!”

Kang-hee sunbae strongly slapped her own mouth and hit her head on the table a few times.

“It’s, it’s okay.”

“Atonement is done with actions, not words.”

Saying that, Do-hee sunbae got up from her seat and immediately punched Kang-hee sunbae, who was sitting next to her, in the stomach.

“It’s! Okay! Really! Even if we disband!”

Oops, slip of the tongue. Because I spoke so hastily, the okay point came out wrong.

Thud—

However, a threatening sound was heard. The sound of something being put down forcefully.

Chae Ha-min turned to look at the seat next to her. There, against the backdrop of the next table, where bottles of alcohol were piled up like the Great Wall of China, Gyeong-woo was slightly gaping as if he was sleepy, and Ideun hyung and Han-ho sunbae had surprised looks on their faces.

“…It’s not okay, that’s not okay.”

Dong-hwa’s voice. But it was a bit unfamiliar. Something… unleashed?

Dong-hwa, who had 벌떡 [with a jolt] gotten up from his seat, came up to me and shook my shoulders.

“It’s not okay. Who said we’re disbanding. We’re never disbanding.”

His pupils were also slightly…

……Could he be drunk? Our Dong-hwa’s drinking habit is finally revealed!

“If I’m your best friend, then of course you’re my best friend too.”

But why is his speech so clear? Doesn’t your pronunciation get slurred when you’re drunk?

Chae Ha-min tilted her head, comparing it to her own drinking habits. She was doubtful if he was really drunk.

“Why are you tilting your head? Don’t you believe me? Bunny.”

……Wait a minute, Dong-hwa. Don’t call me by animal names when you’re saying such touching things.

“I’m best friends with Bunny.”

“Dong-hwa! Me! Me!”

Ideun hyung asked with an excited voice while filming.

“Shut up, dog. I’m in the middle of an important conversation.”

The deflated hyung quietly filmed with the camera at Dong-hwa’s cold voice.

He’s really drunk. It’s the first time I’ve heard him say ‘shut up,’ and it’s also the first time I’ve heard him call Ideun hyung ‘dog.’

“Forever, until I die, until I enter another dimension, you have to be friends with me.”

What is this strange feeling where emotion and fear come at the same time? Chae Ha-min couldn’t understand. Does he usually think and talk about death already?

“O-of course, we have to!”

“Promises are heavy, Bunny. Give me your hand.”

Dong-hwa held out his pinky finger. Chae Ha-min inadvertently hooked her finger onto it.

“Until one of us dies, if one of us betrays the other.”

‘Dong-hwa, is that like a curse?’

I’ve had many opportunities to encounter Western mysteries while studying tarot, is this one of those things?

“May they die at the hands of the other.”

“D-D-Dong-hwa! That’s a curse!”

“It’s a resolution to be friends forever. Curses are superstition, so murder is more rational.”

That’s true. When I think about it, it wasn’t a curse, it was a murder notice that he would come and kill me if I broke off the relationship. It was even more serious.

“May we be together.”

Chae Ha-min felt a momentary dizziness at the sight of Dong-hwa, who was holding her pinky finger tightly and praying. This is pretending to be touching, but it’s a threat.

“Dong-hwa, are you okay? Are you drunk?”

“Yeah, I’m drunk.”

Don’t say it in a tone that doesn’t sound drunk at all! It’s scarier!

“I like our members.”

“M-me too!”

“Me too, me too!”

“So, forever. Until we die, we’re one.”

Y-yes! Dong-hwa, if that’s what you want! Chae Ha-min nodded brightly, thinking that.

“Yeah, we’re one.”

“You promised, right?”

Ji Dong-hwa glared sharply and brought his face a little closer to Chae Ha-min. Chae Ha-min recalled the weight of the ‘promise’ that Ji Dong-hwa had said earlier.

“Yeah. I promised.”

‘I won’t kill Dong-hwa, and I’m even less likely to break off the relationship.’

Dong-hwa hugged Chae Ha-min tightly as if he was satisfied with her answer.

“Our Bunny, you’re amazing.”

A compliment that you can only hear if you’re prepared to die, how valuable!

* * *

I woke up. The events of yesterday were still vivid in my mind.

Yeah, my drinking habit is honesty, that’s it. I completely understood. The reason I broke the mirror while drinking in the past was all because of that habit.

I took a deep sigh and quietly called out a name in my mind.

……Gi-jisaeng [a parasitic being in his mind].

[I warned you. Why do you keep teaching me the emotion of shame so often? I want to learn other emotions!]

Shut up. You should have stopped me.

[To be honest, I thought it would be fun, so I pretended to stop you but encouraged you!]

You’re also learning the emotion of fun, you’ve grown so much.

I got up from my seat and stretched. Chae Ha-min, who was lying next to me, 벌떡 [with a jolt] got up and smiled at me.

“Stop.”

“I haven’t done anything yet.”

“Shh, Ha-min.”

“You can call me Bunny!”

“Quiet, please.”