Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 193

When Bong-ju shouted in a shrill voice, everyone’s attention turned to him. But as the teacher had told us from the beginning, Bong-ju and the others were only temporary students. Either the other kids weren’t interested, or they were too overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of new faces to pay attention.

Chae Ha-min immediately squatted down and patted Bong-ju’s head, looking sympathetic.

“Yes, the teachers have to go back to their original jobs now.”

“Wh, what jobs?”

“The teachers are singers! Didn’t you know?”

“No… no one told me.”

*Oh my god*, Ha-min, you should have hurried a bit more. The friend next to him, who was good at playing the piano, tapped Bong-ju on the shoulder.

“Hey, I told you yesterday!”

“I thought you were joking…….”

“Here, a free album for each of you from the teachers!”

Chae Ha-min smiled and handed out the albums he had bought to the children one by one. Bong-ju held the album in his hands and began to shed tears from his big, round eyes. Chae Ha-min hugged Bong-ju and patted him.

“And, that teacher over there who’s quiet but actually wants to be friends with you the most has also prepared a gift!”

I took out the box I had brought. I had simply observed the children, figured out what they liked, and prepared gifts that weren’t too extravagant.

Chae Ha-min was amazed at how I knew, but there are things you can only know when you watch from afar. These days, delivery is so fast, it’s amazing. How can it be here in just one day… it’s all capitalism…….

“Teacher.”

Bong-ju was standing in front of me, shedding tears like raindrops, as if it was his turn.

“Here.”

Three piano scorebooks. I hope he can have fun for a while. I’d like to buy him a keyboard, but no matter how I think about it, that’s too much. His father will come to return the money in person.

“Can’t you, can’t you teach me piano again?”

“I’m not a piano expert.”

Bong-ju drooped his head in disappointment.

“But, I’m an expert at going to performances as an audience member.”

I patted Bong-ju’s head a few times. And in a small voice, I handed him a piece of paper. It was a piece of paper with my email address on it.

“If you ever play, be sure to contact me.”

I lifted Bong-ju up and gently held him in my arms, feeling his small frame.

Neurosis. Sensitivity. Insomnia. Loneliness. Anxiety, and worries filling my head. When I feel like I’m falling behind the speed of the world, all of that gets mixed up.

When all of that gets mixed up, I can’t gain weight even if I eat. But in the first place, I can’t eat well.

“Let me hear you play the piano well sometime.”

I hope you can bury yourself in piano scores like I tried to forget everything by burying myself in books, Bong-ju.

“I, I’m going to go to a music academy. My dad said it’s okay.”

“Me too, with him!”

“Yeah, that’s great.”

I patted his head one last time. Okay, take care.

* * *

“It’s strange, our Dong-hwa.”

“Shut up, dog.”

“Our Dong-hwa has no secrets from Iden *hyung* [older brother/male friend]. If you keep doing that, Iden *hyung* will be hurt and in pain, you know?”

“…Where did you learn that kind of *mal-tu* [speech pattern]?”

Ryoo Iden leaned back in his chair and put on a rotten smile.

“I was practicing to give the furniture-like kids a stern word.”

“…You failed.”

It’s not stern at all, it’s so gentle that my grandmother would praise you for giving a good massage if you hit her on the back.

“Yeah, they said I sound like an old man. Anyway, what’s wrong?”

“What.”

“You’ve been strange since yesterday.”

“I feel strange.”

A burst of laughter escaped.

“It’s not that I’m in bad condition, but that I’ve been treated.”

Even though my memories were bursting like that, strangely enough. Even though the hardest days came to mind.

“Iden.”

“Add ‘*hyung*’ to it, my beloved Dong-hwa.”

“So, there’s no need to worry.”

“…Really?”

Ryoo Iden stroked his chin as if it was new.

“I’m glad you’re on the same team as me, Dong-hwa.”

“Did you hear what I said?”

What you said and what I said are too different to say ‘me too,’ you crazy human.

“I know everything, Dong-hwa. What do you take your *hyung* for?”

…Yeah, whatever.

“Ah, more than that.”

I played the recorder I always carry with me.

—I, I! I used the playground when I was young without any gratitude! I’m trash! Dong-hwa, torment me! I can’t stand being such trash!

Ryoo Iden’s expression hardened in an instant and gradually turned to astonishment. He wouldn’t have said whatever came to his gaping mouth, would he? And Ryoo Iden wouldn’t be able to break his word, given his personality. If it were me, I would have somehow hacked into his phone and deleted the recording, but Ryoo Iden is the type to carry it out diligently.

“*Hyung*, should we go straight to the studio after Ha-min’s cheering, as promised?”

“…You’ve already finished the song you were supposed to give me.”

Oh dear, he’s grasping at straws. Too bad, my heart is so desolate that not a single blade of grass grows. I wish he would fall off a cliff, the cliff and the boy.

“We have to finish our next song too.”

I leaned my whole body against the car. Ryoo Iden, who had been acting up for a long time until the manager warned me to be careful, trembled between the anger of ‘I hate being taken advantage of by you’ and the obligation of ‘But helping with feedback is necessary for the team.’

“I, I really, Dong-hwa, love you…….”

He said through gritted teeth, so I smiled leisurely.

“Me too.”

“Please, I love you so much that I hope you collapse someday so I can imprison you again.”

“Me too, I want to mummify you in the studio forever and make you a bio-feedback machine.”

Feeling relaxed in a comfortable place, I blurted out a vivid word without filtering it through my brain, and Ryoo Iden was shocked. He covered his ears, let out a faint scream, and trembled slightly.

“…That’s too much. You can’t do that to a human!”

“So, that means I love you so much that I transcend species.”

“Yeah, I’m used to it now. Not even treating me like a human. I’m really going to sulk.”

Saying that out loud makes me want to beat him up, what do you think, Iden?

* * *

“Dong-hwa, Iden *hyung*!”

Chae Ha-min’s drama set. This work, which Ryoo Iden and I carefully selected, will be in charge of ‘this’ in ‘What, is this the only thing to watch on TV?’ in the upcoming storm.

Lee Hyun-jae and Seok-joon, who went to appear on the radio, were supposed to come a little later, and we were planning to come in advance to greet the staff.

“Ah, my father sent a huge coffee truck today.”

“Ha-min’s father is surprisingly full of sincerity. He bought something for the fans when we made a comeback, too, constantly.”

“He’s a son-fool [a parent who dotes on their child].”

Chae Ha-min’s outfit looks like a college freshman. A cardigan, shirt, and jeans. I remember there were a lot of kids like that in college.

This drama is a very typical campus romance genre. It’s not innovative enough to be considered a masterpiece, but it’s a work that won’t fail at least. So it was secretly fun to make the OST [original soundtrack].

“It’s fun working on the OST.”

“I… didn’t find it fun.”

“Why? We had fun.”

“Fun is only felt when you have the *yeoyu* [leeway/time] to enjoy it, *hyung*.”

Chae Ha-min was listening to our conversation with interest, then let out a sigh full of satisfaction, as if he had been fulfilled. Then he came to my side and sat down on the chair as if collapsing.

“…Ah, comfortable. I feel stable when I hear you two fighting.”

Bullshit.

“Wow! Is this Dong-hwa? I loved listening to the OST!”

“Thank you. I also had fun working on it.”

Ryoo Iden and I bowed ninety degrees to the PD [production director]’s words, whom we met while walking around to say hello.

“Ha-min was polite too, this team is all like that. It’s very nice to see. I saw Dong-hwa’s acting was really good too, so I was going to cast him once, but it fell through because of budget issues. I wanted to see him wearing a nerdy checkered shirt and research outfit next to Ha-min.”

I don’t know why you want to see that, but I respect your taste.

“I wanted to mix in twists and turns, like a love triangle, boom! But it wasn’t enough for a minor role. Ah, it’s a shame.”

How can there be twists and turns *in* a love triangle? It’s the most common material.

“Anyway, thank you so much for the OST. I’m even considering putting it in as the main theme!”

“Then we’d be honored, PD-nim! Ha-min also made it easy to act in the dorm after meeting PD-nim, and also…….”

“Oh, really? Oh, I’m embarrassed!”

Listening to their conversation makes me feel disillusioned with social life. Ryoo Iden was praising Chae Ha-min by vividly telling stories that he had never even said, and the PD was listening with an expression of ‘A little more! I like praise!’ unlike his words of being embarrassed. This is a masquerade, the *persona* of modern society.

“Oh my, there are some cute juniors here too.”

While watching their social skills lecture firsthand and writing a script for how I should speak if I were in Ryoo Iden’s position later, I turned my head at a voice I had heard before.

Ah, the actress that Nesquik likes the most.

“I wonder if you remember, we met at the movie theater.”

Wouldn’t saying it was a premiere block misunderstandings?

“Hello, actress Jung Soo-hyun, I enjoyed your recent ‘Blue Occasion’.”

Of course I didn’t watch it. I only memorized her recent activities because she was here today. Isn’t it one of the few good habits I picked up because of Ryoo Iden?

“Oh, really? That’s a complete flop.”

“Especially in the last scene, the detailed emotional lines felt in the actress’s tearful performance were impressive. Even though she succeeded in taking revenge on her betraying lover, I think the something that was stuck in her throat was well conveyed.”

“Oh… so I was right, Jane said you’re crazy.”

Ryoo Iden, Chae Ha-min, or Seok-joon might be, but I’m perfectly normal. Isn’t it common to leave this kind of review after watching a drama?

“It’s obvious you’re being insincere.”

Oh dear.

“…I was caught. I’m sorry.”

Knowing that there was not a single hint of playfulness in Soo-hyun’s eyes, I immediately agreed. She’s not someone you can lie to. Soo-hyun looked at me with a dumbfounded look, then burst into laughter.

“I have experience in acting. I can’t distinguish insincere words. Especially you, if you’re not interested, half the life disappears from your eyes. You’re not interested in me at all, are you?”

It’s true that I’m being insincere, and it’s also true that I’m not very interested because I’m not coming here as an actor. Besides, I don’t have any intention of going into acting, and I’m more like a parent coming to ask you to take good care of Chae Ha-min, so I paid more attention to my behavior than my interest.

Do you develop that kind of sense after being an actor for a long time? I’m worried about whether I should stop or encourage Chae Ha-min’s acting activities.

No, more than that, including Ye-eon or Jin-han, why are there only people in the entertainment industry who are trained in things like sensing and understanding other people’s feelings? If I had debuted alone, I would have been weeded out. If Ryoo Iden hadn’t been in our group, I would have gradually been buried.

“Oh, but I’m a little sad. I’m a successful actress, but I wonder if it’s okay for my juniors not to care about me like this. If you’re going to be insincere, learn from him. He’s really good at it?”

“He’s the pride of our team.”

“Yeah, it’s reassuring to have someone like that as a leader. You won’t get caught doing anything wrong.”

Then Jung Soo-hyun clapped her hands.

“That’s right. Since he made it fun for me after a long time, should I tell you a rumor that’s going around among the actors?”