Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 182

I hurriedly moved to Lee Hyun-jae’s side and patted him on the shoulder. But why is he crying? The thought suddenly crossed my mind.

He looks too sad to be just happy. Tok, tok, my mind raced to the rhythm of the pats on his shoulder. …Ah.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Lee Hyun-jae nodded vigorously.

“And it’s not your fault at all, even if you messed up, Hyun-jae.”

This time, he shook his head violently. Where else would you find someone as foolish as him? Korea University’s standards are seriously low, really. It’s driving me crazy with frustration. Is there anyone else in the world as concerned about what others think as he is? He’s still like a child. Even if he seems mature, he’s still like a child.

Dding―!

[It really does seem like he ‘still is’ !]

Ignore.

“Now you’ve taken the first step.”

“…Hng, of what?”

“Becoming like me.”

The head buried in his hands popped up. So dynamic.

“D-Did you tell hyung [older brother or male friend] about that?”

Yeah, I said it almost in my sleep.

“Wow, seriously.”

Lee Hyun-jae squirmed all over in shame without making a sound. He must not have known I told him. I’ve got one more thing to tease him about now.

Right after Lee Hyun-jae’s college entrance exam, it’s now awards season.

Starting with the rather large BMW (Peach Music Awards ― they committed the atrocity of using the second letter as an abbreviation in ‘Award’ to avoid being cliché), the year-end atmosphere was in full swing.

In other words, preparations for all sorts of special stages had begun. I have to do a lot of nonsense like arranging ‘Excitement’ and ‘The Time Waiting for You,’ and so on.

On top of that, I might have to do nonsense like collaborating with other groups, participating in group songs, or covering other groups’ songs.

“…It’s so annoying.”

I like being on stage and working, but collaborations are a different story. There’s the mental burden of having to get to know strangers.

“Try to get a little closer to them.”

I just shook my head at Ryu Iden’s words.

This time, there’s a planned stage where girl groups cover boy group songs and boy groups cover girl group songs. Usually, they gather one member from each group to form a unit, so that means I have to do that nonsense again like last year.

Damn Fighter. Thinking about those cheesy lyrics still makes me feel regretful.

“There are a lot of people who want to get close to you anyway, so everyone you collaborate with will like you, right?”

I don’t know why they want to get close to me, but the problem is that I don’t really want to get close to them.

We are currently reading BMW’s proposal. And the problematic ‘Girl Group Collaboration’ section. The goal is to film everything from the unit’s formation to the practice process and upload it to X-Tube [parody of YouTube]. So, ‘pretending to be close’ is an essential part of the content.

“Seriously, this is so annoying.”

“Hyung [older brother or male friend] needs to meet people too. You’ll become miserable if you’re only in the studio.”

“Have you given up on becoming like me?”

“…….”

Lee Hyun-jae immediately lowered his gaze and pretended to focus on the text. I’ve definitely learned one way to control my annoying tutor. I can keep him in check for a few months with this.

Anyway, the problem lies with the unit members. The letters ‘D.Key’ are so heartbreaking.

“They’re pretty much guaranteed to win the Rookie Award this year.”

“That’s right. Unless there’s a natural disaster like last time, Hoppin will get it, right?”

“Aren’t you happy to be working with the leader of such a promising rookie group, Dong-hwa hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

“Quiet.”

A strong premonition of annoyance washed over me. Seeing him last time, he seemed like a snake, so I’m very worried about filming content with someone like that.

* * *

“Senior, it’s been a while. Do you remember me? Your cute junior, Jin-han!”

Shut up, junior. Is it even possible for a human being to introduce themselves like that? Who introduces themselves like that?

“Of course.”

“See, everyone, it’s true. We’re so close, Dong-hwa sunbaenim [term of respect for a senior].”

The camera is filming us. Wow, how exciting. The thought of my every move being filmed makes me want to die of joy.

“And, I heard that they formed the unit with people who seemed like they’d be close from the start.”

Jin-han smirked.

“Just between us, I heard you were having trouble because you didn’t know who senior was close to.”

That’s probably true. According to Lee Hyun-jae, if you were to pick the ‘idol with the fewest officially known friends,’ I’d usually be mentioned.

Squeak.

“That’s why I came. To cheer up the friendless composer. It’s been a while, Dong-hwa?”

“…Yes, Yae-Eun sunbaenim [term of respect for a senior], it’s been a while.”

It’s definitely not been a while. She came to my studio and bought me coffee just a few days ago.

“Isn’t this something that groups who haven’t debuted for very long usually do?”

I asked in a small voice so the camera wouldn’t pick it up. They’ll cut it out, right?

“Well, yeah. Usually.”

Yae-Eun smiled slyly. Her voice was loud and uninhibited, even with the camera rolling. She’s throwing my consideration into the trash.

“But, I made a fuss about wanting to do it. No one at the company could stop me.”

Rumor has it that Yae-Eun, who can now do whatever she wants, really does whatever she wants without hesitation. On top of that, Jun-sung is ‘unconditionally on Yae-Eun’s side,’ so you can see her as a runaway truck with broken brakes.

“It’s a pretty important opportunity. It’s not every day you get to be on stage with your life’s benefactor. And if I come out, Dong-hwa, you’ll get some views too. Win-win!”

“Is that so? Thank you, really.”

But, please explain to our junior over there, who seems to be misunderstanding something terribly. Because of that damn benefactor word, he’s looking at me with eyes that say, ‘As expected, a strategy to put others in debt!’

“So, we have four members in total, right? Who’s the last one?”

“…Didn’t you read the proposal?”

“Nope, I only came after seeing that you were on this team. That’s all I need to know.”

Crazy person.

As soon as she finished speaking, the door opened, and one person walked in.

“Ahhhhh, Anda. God A!”

“Ah, hello, sunbaenim [term of respect for a senior]!”

Haha, even Lee Ji-hyun. I don’t know why this unit is made up of people who have had some kind of strange relationship in the past or present. I wonder if this is part of the broadcasting station’s plan to assassinate me, damn it.

“…Th-That, uh, hi?”

I’m not doing well. Thinking about working with you makes my stomach a little sour. Watching Lee Ji-hyun wave her hand at me awkwardly, I feel like stomach acid is rising from my empty stomach.

But I didn’t show it and forced the corners of my lips up.

“It’s been a while.”

Really, it’s been a while.

We sat in a circle. An awkward atmosphere filled the air. But Yae-Eun, seemingly not feeling the awkwardness at all, was lying on the practice room floor, laughing innocently.

“Let’s decide on a team name. I was thinking something like ‘Ji Dong-hwa and Friends’.”

“…We’re being filmed.”

“Hahaha.”

Are you trying to bury me based on a small misunderstanding, you crazy person? Anyone who sees this would think I’m bossing my senior around. I hope it gets edited out. Any editor with common sense would edit it out.

Lee Ji-hyun and Jin-han awkwardly responded to Yae-Eun’s nonsense with laughter.

“From my point of view, they had to put Dong-hwa in the unit somehow, but since he doesn’t have any close friends, they gathered all the people who have been mentioned even briefly. Right?”

“I think so too. I’ve never met the two of you before, except for Dong-hwa sunbaenim [term of respect for a senior].”

“Me too…….”

Jin-han nodded politely, and Lee Ji-hyun nodded dejectedly.

“In other words, a team gathered around Dong-hwa! So let’s go with ‘The Middle of Winter’! It means Ji Dong-hwa is the center!”

“Sunbaenim [term of respect for a senior].”

I opened my mouth to stop her, but it was drowned out by Jin-han’s loud voice almost simultaneously.

“Oh, I like it. It sounds cool. The Middle of Winter, it sounds like a novel title!”

The snake flattered me. What’s so good about it? Naming the team after me is too harsh for someone who has never even run for class president because he didn’t want to wear a hat.

“I, I like it too!”

I could feel the corners of my lips twitching. Ah, I need a brick.

“…How about we decide later, Yae-Eun sunbaenim [term of respect for a senior].”

“Sure. Good idea.”

Yae-Eun’s smile, she probably doesn’t sincerely mean those words. Was she trying to break the ice? Since the three of them don’t know each other, and I’m the only one who knows them, she must be trying to ease the awkwardness by teasing me like this.

It has to be. I don’t want to have a unit name like The Middle of Winter.

* * *

After the suffocating ice-breaking time ended, the filming crew came over and handed us a small container.

“Everyone, we’ll start filming the song selection! Just pick one of the balls in the box.”

“Okay.”

Yae-Eun, the oldest, went forward and rummaged through the container.

“A lot of girl group songs came out this year, what would you like to do?”

“Ooh, I want to try Aesthetic sunbaenims’ [term of respect for a senior group] song. A strong feeling!”

“All the songs are good, so it’s a shame to pick just one.”

“That’s right, that’s right. There are only good songs.”

Yae-Eun stopped rummaging through the container and smiled slyly.

“Still, I want to cover Uni-Clipse’s song, who debuted around the same time as me.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she lifted a ball. Yae-Eun opened it without hesitation and held out the paper inside for us to see. Usually, wouldn’t you check it yourself first?

I shook off my random thoughts and read the letters written on the paper.

‘Uni-Clipse ― Eclipse’

Oh my god. My mouth slowly opened, and I looked at Yae-Eun. My eyes were probably filled with a mixture of embarrassment, surprise, and worry. I even had a hunch.

“See? That’s what you call intuition.”

Not only me but the other guys were also shocked by the surreal situation.

“Wow! What is it! I want to learn too! How, wow…….”

Jin-han made exaggerated gestures, and Lee Ji-hyun was just surprised without saying anything. My mouth was itching, but I couldn’t say it publicly, so I just opened and closed my mouth.

“I knew it without even looking.”

After checking the paper herself, Yae-Eun nodded as if it was expected. What is it, it’s all over.

[It’s really over. It’s a coincidence!]

Is that even possible by chance, G-Seung [character name]? When she showed the paper, that human was full of confidence.

[I know, right! Amazing! This is the emotion called surprise! It’s my first time.]

“I’m just loved by the world, you know.”

Yae-Eun was smiling brightly. Really, amazing.

* * *

“So, why did you want to do this?”

In the gap when the camera was turned off, we were chatting to get to know each other. Of course, I didn’t want to get to know them, but Yae-Eun and Jin-han’s opinions were strong.