Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 229

Fair compensation for fair labor.

How much debate and how many historical counterexamples exist around this simple proposition? Jung Kyung-woo closed the sociology book he was reading.

Dong-hwa appeared in his dreams again tonight. ‘What is this? It can’t be unrequited love,’ he thought.

Since that day, Jung Kyung-woo gradually realized that Ji Dong-hwa ‘knew something.’ There’s no way a person who knows nothing could tailor a conversation perfectly to Jung Kyung-woo’s situation.

Looking back now, Ji Dong-hwa’s facial expressions at that time seemed… off. It was an appearance that couldn’t be believed to be that of someone making casual small talk.

Numerous questions followed, but they were in an area that Jung Kyung-woo couldn’t solve himself. Questions like, ‘How did he know? Is he connected to someone higher up?’ constantly came up, but he couldn’t find the answers. What became a bigger problem for Jung Kyung-woo than that was something close to guilt.

“It feels like guilt has taken on a human form…”

He recalled a media analysis lecture he took in college. They said that a specific scene is much more appealing than abstract figures. ‘Is this that?’ he wondered.

‘Maybe there’s a reason why the role of ‘Death’ exists in some musicals. The effect is certain. This feels exactly like Roland Barthes’s *Mythologies*,’ he mused.

‘Clearly, it’s covering up the mistake of a trainee who was trolling.’

He confidently thought he would quit immediately if he was offered vote manipulation, and even kept his resignation letter in his pocket. But what he did—the act of positively editing someone’s request—was no different from vote manipulation in practice.

The thought that this was okay compared to vote manipulation was completely washed away. It was as if his true colors, hidden behind the flimsy shield of a resignation letter, had been revealed.

‘I just rationalized it. I know it’s wrong, but if it’s not vote manipulation, and if I edit it favorably, his ranking will be stable, so I might not even get asked to manipulate votes… Then I secretly thought I wouldn’t have to submit my resignation letter either…’

How pathetic, thinking that this much is okay, or that if I grant this small favor, it won’t go as far as vote manipulation.

In any case, as a result of being consumed by guilt in the form of Ji Dong-hwa, he sought even more fairness in the editing process.

As he tried to be transparent rather than intentional, and to include the facts as they were as much as possible, the assistant director jokingly said, ‘It feels a bit like a fake documentary now. Because it’s objective. I like it better now.’

The dark circles under his eyes were getting darker. Yesterday, in a dream, Ji Dong-hwa was checking the pulse of Park Eun-gu, who had collapsed for some unknown reason, so he asked why.

Then Ji Dong-hwa smiled and replied in a tone that praised him for killing him and being proud of it.

“Ah, ah…”

Jung Kyung-woo covered his head. ‘Don’t commit sins, and if you do, take responsibility,’ he thought.

* * *

[Hey, where did all the bastards who were bashing Eun-gu go?]

(Azeong backstage video, D group stage preparation behind-the-scenes cuts, contains a sentence saying it was deleted due to the amount of content, but it is questionable whether it is right to delete it in terms of content.)

The official statement is out? I saw you guys trying to kill someone with your brain farts. Eun-gu has a strong mentality and is doing a good job as a team leader, so you’re just cutting him down.

Comments:

―Please use a screen name.

└Why? Are you a Waffle stan [ardent fan]?

└Ah, lololol. When you’re ruining someone else’s pick, you make a fuss with ‘speculation,’ but when you share the official statement, you’re being a jerk, lololol.

―If you look at this, Eun-gu just conceded and moved on, so why does Waffle need to be bashed?

└The atmosphere is so fierce? If it were me, I’d think, ‘Ah, if I don’t give in, these guys will lynch me.’

└It’s too much to bash only Waffle. You have to tie up everyone except Eun-gu and beat them.

―No, how can this be edited out of the main episode? In the main episode, they portray Eun-gu as a socially inept idiot, lololol.

└But that’s a fact, lol.

‘How rude of me to say that to someone who is socially inept,’ Jung Kyung-woo thought.

He skimmed through the post and closed his laptop. Ryu Iden, who was sitting next to him, giggled and applauded.

“It’s a success!”

“…How can this be?”

It’s absurd. How can it be resolved so easily?

“No, you, you were aiming for this, right? The PD-nim [PD-nim is a Korean honorific title for a producer or director] just thought about it alone and released the behind-the-scenes cuts.”

“Ideally, that’s what I wanted.”

Who sincerely believes that the ideal will succeed? It’s possible in terms of probability, so it would be nice if it happened, that’s all I thought.

“I think our Ha-min and Jun-i would be like that. Hmm, I wonder if the current them even have the concept of the ideal in their heads. Maybe not?”

Hmm, what is this feeling? I completely agree with Ryu Iden, but there’s something I don’t like.

“You need to fix your habit of observing people.”

“You shouldn’t say that, Dong-hwa hyung [hyung is a Korean term used by males to address older male friends or brothers].”

Mirror therapy, I don’t think it’s good.

“Anyway, isn’t this over now?”

Ryu Iden was cheerful.

“What is?”

“Everything’s been resolved.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Of course! Just think that way and let’s play board games with Ha-min!”

I threw a brick cushion at Ryu Iden and took out my phone.

“After I contact Hwa-yang.”

Ryu Iden was hitting himself on the head with the brick cushion, shouting, ‘Why did I say that!’ Even if Ryu Iden hadn’t said it, I probably would have gotten angry seeing the way it was edited, but anyway.

I unfold the plan I had memorized in my head. The physical copy has already disappeared thanks to the shredder Chae Ha-min gave me as a gift, but it’s vividly alive in my head.

“Sometimes I don’t know why our Dong-hwa goes this far.”

A look of pity. Ryu Iden asked, waving the brick cushion around.

“This time, it’s not even that related to you, is it?”

That’s right. It’s actually irrelevant. He mutters about getting fair compensation and what morality is, but I believe that the safety of the members comes first.

Ryu Iden may not be as extreme as I am, but he’s that kind of person. He’s the kind of person who can throw away everything else as long as he doesn’t cross the line that he can’t cross as a human being.

Honestly, our members and family come before others. Unless you’re planning to move into a silver town [retirement community] in the future, there’s no need to help anyone.

So the reason why I’m doing this crazy thing today can only be seen as a completely different cause than usual. A very simple reason. The traces of Ryu Iden or Chae Ha-min, or perhaps Seok Jun.

“…I just want to cause a ruckus.”

I just want to make a scene.

To put it in a metaphor, it’s like a dog digging up the ground because it doesn’t like the dirt in the yard.

In fact, it doesn’t matter at all, and you don’t have to step on the dirt you don’t like when you go inside the house, but just… For some reason, the squirrel living in that dirt catches my eye, and I think I can improve the dirt if I push myself a little.

On top of that, the squirrel is struggling to survive somehow, so as a dog, I feel pity.

“Our Dong-hwa is so lovely.”

“…What.”

The following words were about to continue but stopped. It’s not easy to swear when you have the job of an idol.

“To call yourself a dog. We’re the same species.”

“Shut up.”

To want to be classified as the same species as me, the lord of all things, how can you be so shameless?

Ryu Iden handed me the brick cushion and quietly stuck out his head.

“Hit me.”

A chuckle escaped. I lay down on the sofa, using the cushion as a pillow. Ah, what am I doing, coming to work after my schedule?

Ryu Iden, who raised his head, nodded with a smile.

“Okay. If it’s what you want to do, I’ll just cheer you on.”

How noisy. I threw the cushion at Ryu Iden and reorganized my thoughts again.

‘Plan I (Idea, 이데아 [the Korean spelling of Idea]),’ a prediction of how the situation will unfold when PD Jung Kyung-woo is tormented by guilt and places weight on the fairness of the editing.

He won’t be fired, and he won’t quit because he’s relieved his guilt, but conversely, if a specific trainee is put in danger due to fairness, there’s a high probability that they’ll even ask for ‘manipulation.’

In the end, the conclusion of the remaining plans A~F is also that there is a high probability that they will even ask for ‘manipulation.’ About three weeks. Or a month. Until people’s opinions change. And until there is a change in the rankings due to this.

In the first place, if you’re someone who has benefited from editing, the more fair the editing becomes, the weaker your power will inevitably be.

“Our Dong-hwa is very smart.”

“Smart people don’t go through this kind of trouble.”

“Our Dong-hwa is very stupid.”

“…Shut up, hyung.”

Not being smart doesn’t mean you’re stupid. You being stupid means you’re not smart.

* * *

Hwa-yang never knew she would suffer like this when she got older. It’s all because of that sly guy.

“…Ga-eul, what on earth did you give birth to?”

She took a deep sigh as she looked at the photo she had put in her wallet. It wouldn’t be difficult if he just asked for money. Investment recovery has been really good recently.

Information, persuasion and threats, and investment—all of this is a beautiful story that boils down to money.

“Sly guy.”

He’s very shrewd. He’s not interested in money at all. It would be easy to give him a house, but everything he asks for is picky.

She got out of the car without much thought and stood in front of the Waffle Studio building.

“A minor curiosity, or is it confirmation?”

The secretary nodded smoothly.

“Even if it’s not, it will be.”

“Good.”

‘Oh my gosh, how can such a cruel thing happen?’ she thought. Giving back money to the broadcasting station people and asking them to manipulate things so that their trainees can definitely debut.

To make matters worse, the broadcast is a hot issue in Korea, so what are they going to do if they get reported before they can cut off the tail?

And on top of that! Committing embezzlement (whether it’s true or not is unclear, but it will be soon). How can they be so heinous?

Hwa-yang’s pure mind cannot understand it at all. If you want to maintain the title of CEO of a company while committing these illegal acts, you have to pay the price.

“Um, Sung-yong.”

“Yes.”

“Where are we going after here?”

“You have dinner with the young master, and then a short drink with the director of the HBS entertainment department is scheduled.”

“Oh my, what should I do? Wasn’t that person in danger of being demoted? There was a rumor that he was being cut off from Director Kim’s line.”

The secretary paused for a moment and replied in a low voice.

“…That will happen.”

“Oh my, I’m getting old and forgetting the order of time. It was supposed to happen after we went there. Oops.”

Hwa-yang tapped her head with an exaggerated gesture. It’s an undignified act, but it was tame as an expression of satisfaction for successfully making an absurd deal.

Even though she has spread her web throughout the culture, she doesn’t know how much she lost for this. ‘I really wish he had just asked me to buy him a house!’

“You don’t know how much I suffered, you sly guy.”

How many cards she threw away among the ones she had, and how much money she spent.

A few games of Go won’t be enough. I have to set aside a whole day to play Go, so that sly guy won’t deliberately lose.

I was so embarrassed that I was so happy that I had really won at first because he lost so subtly that I was so happy that it didn’t suit my age.

What Ji Dong-hwa asked for was simple. “I don’t like dirty things touching the broadcast I’m on.”

Then he says he never asked me to do it, so I feel like hitting him on the head.

“By the way, what is our Dong-hwa doing?”

Hwa-yang suddenly turned her head and asked the secretary. What is he doing, making me suffer like this?

“He said he went into a mental training meeting.”

Ah, that crazy program, it’s not over.

“He said he didn’t want to do it?”

“I don’t know the details.”

“Yeah, I’ve been a little busy lately.”

It’s right to give him a generous incentive. Hwa-yang smiled as she looked at the bright sunshine. I feel like taking a walk.

“Then let’s go.”

The secretary nodded silently to the bodyguard.

“Oh, I’m so upright that I’m scared to go do things like this, really.”

A lie. The secretary hid the many words that were rising as she looked at the smiling Hwa-yang. A dangerous person, but a warm boss to her family. Money is so sweet.