Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 239

[Final Debut Roster for AZEGONG]

(Image file: Chae Hamin’s one-pick, Eun-gu, proudly ranked 3rd.)

Yep, my pick made it ^^.

Comments:

―Starting a fight…?

└lololololol This writer needs to apologize, seriously. Such a show-off lololol

―I’m holding back the harsh words as much as I can right now… You should praise me.

―I’m so happy, seriously. I was so anxious watching last night, ah.

―Ah… I’m miserable… I was so anxious watching last night… Ah…

The program, Idol Production Workshop, was a hot topic in the idol scene.

On the day of the final debut under the name ‘Kinetica’ (Kinetic-A) (I have no idea whose idea it was, and nobody could pronounce it when it was first revealed), some cried and some laughed.

Even though their debut was confirmed, the buzz didn’t die down so easily. Replays were being actively shared under the name ‘Hot Clips.’

Some were burdened with controversies that would follow them for life, and others were devastated by their elimination.

And among the coaches, there was one person who visited the practice rooms the most, gave mostly harsh evaluations, and was subtly jovial when with the trainees.

[Ah, seriously, Ji Dong-hwa is so funny]

Watching AZEGONG replays

(Clip of subtly enticing trainees to stay up all night)

It’s not like he’s forcing them, but he’s just quietly sparkling his eyes and looking at them with a slightly mournful expression, asking if they’re leaving already lololololol It’s just like my lesson teacher lololol

Resting is… up to you and I respect that… but the teacher… would like it if we did it together? That’s how he expresses it with his eyes.

Comments:

―Honestly, he was so sweet to the kids, so no one said anything lololololol If he had been even a little more forceful, there would have been complaints for sure lololol

―He… just liked practicing with the kids…

―Professor Ji smiles sadly as he watches the departing trainees.

―The way he smiles brightly at the mention of practice… Isn’t that just like our professor…?

The notorious professor meme.

That long journey, starting with mental lessons, reached its climax with Idol Production Workshop.

Moreover, the fact that two trainees from his own company debuted became a subject of curiosity.

Amidst many questions and stories people wanted to hear, news broke that Ji Dong-hwa had started a W-App [a fictional social media app] live broadcast.

* * *

What is this? No matter how I look at it, there are more people than usual.

The number of people who tune in when I turn on W-App is easily surpassing the average. …An incident.

I looked at Seok-jun, who was sitting next to me, as surprised as I was.

Did this guy cause some kind of accident? I haven’t done anything recently that could cause controversy, so if that’s the case… our group’s fourth member…….

“Hyung-nim?” [Korean honorific for older brother or male friend]

But you can tell by his innocent face.

This is the look of childhood, where he wouldn’t even know if he did something wrong.

Just as the protagonist of The Little Prince doesn’t understand adults, the opposite is also true, and the proof is right here. Seok-jun looks like a child who has come to the river [a Korean idiom for someone innocent and naive].

Seok-jun stared into my eyes and smiled softly with his eyes.

“These people all have questions for Hyung-nim.”

Oh dear, I must have caused an accident. I must have been a child who came to the river to someone.

“Um, just a moment, I’ll read the comments.”

Ah, it’s because of the Idol Production Workshop that ended last time… I wonder what they want to ask.

“There’s a question asking how I felt when I was making them practice.”

How did I feel? I didn’t feel anything.

[Liar.]

“I wanted to help them a little more because I could see everyone’s efforts.”

[Seeing those who should be stuck in the practice room unable to sleep made me feel hopeless about their future.]

“It’s also true that I paid more attention to those who practiced arrangement with me.”

[I wanted to make sure that at least the trainees I influenced became decent people.]

Shut up, Gi-saeng [a Korean term for a female entertainer, used here as a derogatory term for his inner thoughts]. You’re being very noisy.

Then the notification windows that had been covering my eyes quickly disappeared. At times like this, I can only resent my eyes for quickly reading whatever text is in front of them.

However, when Gi-saeng quieted down, Seok-jun, who had been listening quietly next to me, suddenly opened his mouth.

“I— know, Dong-hwa hyung-nim is— a little happy— when he makes others practice.”

“…Um.”

“When he teaches me composition— he’s happy inside without showing it.”

The dinosaur is gradually speeding up [referring to Seok-jun’s slow speech pattern]. A person who is always slow when he’s not interested is suddenly like this.

“He seems to enjoy— watching me suffer.”

[Bullseye! They say pure children can see inside, and it seems more accurate than my analysis!]

“…No, everyone.”

“If Hyung-nim says no, then it’s no.”

I think I’m going to miss the days when you were a little scared of me, Jun.

There’s no malice in the words ‘If it’s not, it’s not,’ and I can even feel the conviction that it can’t be true because hyung says it’s not, but I’m afraid they’ll misunderstand me as a dirty adult.

“Ah, practice anecdotes—”

Seok-jun smiled brightly, then became gloomy, and soon opened his mouth.

“It’s a bit long, is it okay? It might be boring.”

Jun.

For a long time, Jun worked hard to describe my appearance in the studio at a fairly fast pace.

It’s scarier when there’s no intention to tease. If Ryu Iden were to tell such an anecdote with the intention of teasing me, I could laugh and bring up even more embarrassing stories.

But when Seok-jun does that, I know that he’s purely reminiscing about memories, so I can’t say anything.

And the long and rambling anecdotes.

Every single one of them said that I’m a studio ghost, that I can’t stand sleeping at home, and that I don’t play with them enough, so they’re sad, and so on and so forth, until Seok-jun came to a conclusion.

“So, Dong-hwa hyung-nim does Jewelcrafting with me when I go to the studio.”

“That’s the conclusion?”

“Yes. So I’m happy these days.”

“…Okay.”

“I’m happy from an hour before I go to the studio.”

“…You.”

You’re like a crazy person. I swallowed the words I couldn’t bring myself to say because it was a W-App live broadcast.

Seok-jun, who was quietly reading the chat after finishing his words, suddenly answered.

“The member I talk to the most these days is— Dong-hwa hyung-nim—”

Certainly, that seems to be the case.

“It’s because of the radio.”

“That’s right! We talk about radio topics— and we talk a lot about Jewelcrafting—”

Please don’t say such embarrassing things on W-App.

I’m still weak, Jun, and I don’t have the courage to reveal that two grown adults are talking about Jewelcrafting.

“And— this!”

Seok-jun proudly took out a notebook.

“I found it again—”

As soon as they saw it, the people who were writing comments understood my feelings and quickly burst into laughter.

“It wasn’t that Dong-hwa hyung-nim lost it—”

That’s right.

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh as I remembered what had happened at the broadcasting station a few days ago.

* * *

“…Um, Dong-hwa-ssi [Korean honorific], is this perhaps the notebook you mentioned last time?”

I almost dropped the coffee I was holding. What is this, why is it here?

“Can I take a look for a moment?”

“Of course!”

I flipped through it, comparing it to my memory. It was definitely Seok-jun’s damn notebook. The one that made me exercise.

“…Um, it seems that a child who came for a job exploration from elementary school stole it.”

“Oh dear.”

I have a small wish that the guardian would definitely teach social rules. You have to learn the basic rules before going out into society.

“A friend who went to school with them secretly told us, so we just found out, we’re really sorry……. We should have taken better care of it. We told them to manage it properly since they’re elementary school students, ha…….”

The custom of grieving for not being able to prevent natural disasters should have ended in ancient or medieval times.

“Thank you so much. Jun will be happy.”

I channeled Chae Hamin and smiled as brightly as I could.

For a moment, the sunk costs of ‘exercise time’ and ‘bread money’ came to mind, and I almost fell into anger, but I held back because sunk costs shouldn’t be considered when making any decisions.

However, one question remains: how did that elementary school student pick my bag to steal? They’re not a professional thief, so they wouldn’t just be stealing here and there.

I sat in the waiting room and showed the notebook to the rapper who was happily humming and tapping to the rhythm.

At first, Seok-jun just turned around with a welcoming face, but soon a myriad of emotions flashed across his face.

“Wow! Waaah! Waaaaah!”

A reaction like receiving a gift on Christmas.

Aware that he was in a broadcasting station, he soon lowered his voice and covered his mouth.

“My, my children…….”

A multi-child family, Jun. How many are there? You’re diligently contributing to the prosperity of the dinosaur species.

Seok-jun received the notebook with trembling hands, as he had done before.

“My children…….”

Then he hugged it tightly and sat down, sobbing.

The fans said that he would fight with his mother if his fan merchandise box disappeared. Seeing that he forgave me despite that, Seok-jun must be really kind.

“Where, were, they?”

Seok-jun muttered with tearful eyes.

I squatted down in front of him and began to explain slowly. Summarizing only the simplest facts as much as possible.

“Sorry. I should have taken better care of it.”

Looking back, I should have put it in my inside pocket instead of my bag.

“…They stole it?”

“Yeah.”

“How…, how do you steal someone else’s things?”

Amazing, it’s like he doesn’t have the concept of stealing in his head.

Even if you don’t actually steal, you would have imagined the situation of ‘stealing something’ at least once.

“I know, I don’t even know how they knew it was in my bag.”

Do I look like I’m into Jewelcrafting? Wow, that’s a bit off-putting.

But surprisingly, Seok-jun, who heard my words, was startled and opened his mouth wide.

“…I think I told them.”

“Um?”

“I went to the bathroom, and some kid— was holding a Jewelcrafting sticker, so, uh, uh.”

Seok-jun had a look on his face as if the sky had fallen.

“I jokingly said that I had entrusted everything most precious to hyung…….”

Oh dear. He must feel betrayed.

Without saying anything, I lifted Seok-jun from his seat and immediately sat him on the sofa.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, hyung-nim worked hard…….”

To be honest, I want to say, what does it matter, isn’t it just that the seed of a young thief sprouted early, but saying that is something that a mental lesson professor cannot do.

“It wasn’t hard work.”

If it were the old me, I would have tried to persuade him first. I would have explained step by step how irrational Seok-jun’s thoughts were.

But unlike the other members, there is a more effective method than persuasion for the beast called Seok-jun.

“Not at all.”

I realized that this is better than showing off pessimistic thoughts that a thief will steal anyway, after spending a long time with the members.

“I had fun collecting stickers with you, I did.”

Seok-jun stopped all movement and stared blankly into my eyes. He’s clearly trying to see if I’m serious.

And surprisingly, I have nothing to hide because there’s not a single lie.