Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 246

Standing before the corpse, I briefly retraced the day’s events in my mind.

First of all, from the beginning.

We were all dressed like thugs—Junseong, my senior, commented that I looked the most innocent. Junseong, for his part, was sporting the real deal: tattooed sleeves, a gold watch, a gold necklace, and a loose-fitting T-shirt. Strolling through the city, we found the address written on the request form.

“…Wow, what is this place? It’s a really old building.”

A shabby commercial building located two blocks from the main street. A typical sight in the city center.

“Wow, it’s amazing that a building like this still exists. It’s like a traditional Korean house [hanok] from our childhood.”

Senior Hanho gazed at the building with nostalgic eyes. It was indeed hard to believe that a large traditional Korean house still remained in the back alley.

When Senior Kanghee knocked on the gate a bit hastily and received no response, Senior Gyeongwoo shouted.

“Hello?”

Silence again. We made eye contact and shouted simultaneously.

“Hello!”

Then, with a creaking sound, the door opened.

“Who is it?”

“We’re here to find your cat, ma’am.”

The problem was that Senior Gyeongwoo’s attire wasn’t much different from that of a loan shark.

“Ah! Ah, you’re those good-for-nothings. I heard you pulled Grandma Kim’s hair and got pocket money before?”

Oh, this broadcast is so real that it reflects the settings we created among ourselves.

“We call it a request fee, ma’am.”

Gentleman Gyeongwoo.

“If you call it a request fee, it makes us look too low-class.”

Senior Kanghee neatly interjected.

“…Alright, enough.”

“Actually, you’re right, maknae [youngest member].”

Senior Junseong and I wrapped up the short banter.

“Come on in.”

“Ma’am, what is this place? Are you treating it like an antique from some era?”

Following her inside, bizarrely shaped tombstones were erected throughout the yard.

Like Senior Hanho’s question, I had no idea what era they were from.

“I don’t know what era it is. I just buy them as they come, sell them as they go, and that’s how it is.”

I looked around the surroundings besides the yard. Until entering the building, an eerie atmosphere that couldn’t be considered urban lingered.

“It’s much wider than expected. Did traditional Korean houses originally have multiple buildings?”

“They consist of an inner quarters [anchae] and a detached building [sarangchae], things like that.”

As the oldest, Hanho stepped up to explain.

“The structure varies slightly depending on the family’s circumstances, but wealthy families all had large ones. After passing here, we’ll be in the inner courtyard.”

“Oh, you know a lot. How old are you?”

“Forty-seven, ma’am.”

“You’re twelve years apart from my grandson?”

Following the elder into the inner quarters, unlike the outside, the interior was decorated in a very modern style, with a space displaying numerous dishes, earthenware, and necklaces.

On one side, there was a serene reception room with a dining table and teacups.

“Sit down. I’ll show you the cat’s picture.”

The grandmother handed over teacups and a teapot, then turned around and fiddled with the drawers several times.

“Wow, look at that. How much would something like that cost?”

“Hyung [older brother/senior], get married before you get old and start collecting things like that.”

“Second, are you ignoring those who are against marriage?”

“Hyung isn’t against marriage, you’re just unmarried. You asked me to set you up on a blind date last year.”

“I gave up this year. I’m not destined to marry.”

As the firstborn’s self-deprecation unfolded, the grandmother suddenly shouted in an irritated voice.

“Ugh! That grandson of mine, I’ll have to beat him up when he comes in.”

“Why, what’s wrong, ma’am?”

Senior Kanghee, seemingly the most faint-hearted, stuttered while spilling the tea he was drinking.

‘That kid… I’ve told him repeatedly to watch his mouth.’ A curse word burst out from Senior Hanho’s mouth, but everyone suppressed their laughter.

“No, he keeps changing the password to my drawer without my permission, it’s infuriating.”

Oh dear, they don’t seem to be on good terms.

“Please solve this. The kid just throws hints like this, and in the end, I can’t solve it, so when he comes home, I have to grab him by the collar and threaten him to solve it. The cat’s picture is in here, geez.”

“Maknae!”

“Yes?”

“Use your brain!”

“I guess… I can’t resign.”

I got up from my seat and stood in front of the drawer. And immediately frowned. What is this scent? It’s the kind of scent you get on your hands after touching rusty iron.

“Excuse me, ma’am, is this rusty?”

“Huh? No. I bought it not long ago.”

* * *

#Troubleshooting Office Jidonghwa Personal Interview

‘There was a fishy smell, a scent like you get on your hands after touching rusty iron. So, I briefly thought about when I got my tetanus shot.’

Jidonghwa touched his nose, seemingly a bit unpleasant as he thought about it again.

‘Tetanus shot?’

‘Yes. They said they’d accept my resignation if I died, but I’m still young.’

Jidonghwa paused for a moment, thought carefully, and then smiled.

‘It also smelled like blood.’

* * *

Frowning at the unpleasant scent, I politely received the paper that the grandmother handed me.

“Hyungs, let’s solve it together.”

“Ugh, we can’t do things like that, kid!”

Senior Kanghee shouted annoyingly, and Senior Hanho quickly struck his Adam’s apple.

Amidst the rough coughs, Senior Gyeongwoo and Senior Junseong raised both hands and cheered.

“Give it here, our Junseong is a college graduate too?”

“Of course, not Korea University though!”

“Junseong’s department had fierce competition!”

“It was the Department of Practical Music, and it was an entertainment major though!”

“Entertainment major? Was the fourth hyung an entertainer?”

“Ah, right. Let’s go with the concept of… that. A fallen idol.”

I placed the paper on the table. There was a short text on it.

—Hint: 26=47, Move only the numbers excluding 4 to change it correctly.

“This is rude, what kind of grandson does this to his grandmother……”

“He’s not in his right mind either. Let’s hire him at our company and nag him all the time, first hyung.”

“Um, is that perhaps the reason I passed the interview?”

“Oh, no. You passed because Junseong said we should hire someone to make coffee.”

“…That’s even more miserable.”

Anyway, as Senior Hanho said, even though it’s a variety show, the grandson doesn’t seem to be in his right mind. Whether the grandmother can solve it or not, what is he doing being so obnoxious.

Anyway, the answer is ‘7 squared = 49,’ so the password must be 7249.

Fixing 4 was a clause to clarify the order, so even if the grandson lacks manners, it’s not like he wants to make it completely impossible to open.

And then, the PD’s request flashed through my mind. ‘Please pretend you don’t know.’

I silently pretended to look at the problem for a moment.

“No, why is he giving hints like this? Why not something like our house address?”

“Hyungs, I’m in the practical music department, so I’ll step out for a moment.”

“I’m a high school graduate.”

“Then I’m a middle school graduate.”

“I’m a high school graduate too.”

“Unfortunately, our maknae has to solve it!”

“…Yes?”

These trash-like hyungs. If this were real, I would have grabbed them all by the collar. This is an excessive workload.

Moreover, no matter how I look at it, Senior Hanho and Senior Junseong seem to have already solved it themselves but are acting like this. Whether they’re trying to secure screen time, maintain the concept, or are just annoyed.

“If you change 7 squared to 49.”

“There’s no 9?”

“Yes?”

I unconsciously retorted to Senior Kanghee’s words.

But thanks to having experienced it once before, I could smile leisurely and teach him.

“You can flip 6. Moving it doesn’t mean you can’t rotate it.”

“…Wow, wow! That’s right! Our maknae is amazing! They say college graduates are different!”

Many people could solve it even if they weren’t college graduates……. Moreover, the other two people next to hyung seem to have solved it too.

However, everyone cheered and shook their bodies to praise me. I hate the maknae position.

“Young man, did you figure out the password?”

“Yes, I’ll open it for you now.”

I got up from my seat again and turned the dials to match 7249.

From behind, the words ‘What if we’re all embarrassed if it’s wrong after all this?’ briefly flowed out, but as if answering those words, the lock clicked open.

Cheers and the grandmother’s relieved sigh, as if all her pent-up frustration had been resolved.

“By the way, ma’am. Does your grandson still do things like this even though he’s thirty-five years old?”

“Yes. No matter how many times I tell him to come to his senses, he doesn’t even pretend to listen.”

“Let’s kick him out. He’s old enough to fend for himself.”

“But how can I do that? The kid is pitiful. Even if he says something different in his heart, his body moves first when I ask him to do something.”

Senior Gyeongwoo nodded as if he understood that feeling. Unfortunately, I wish they would have fostered some independence, but oh well.

I pulled the cabinet, lost in 잡스러운 [miscellaneous/trivial] thoughts.

Pause. The scent intensifies. An unpleasant sight.

“…Fourth hyung.”

“Why, maknae.”

Senior Junseong got up from his seat at my call and looked into the cabinet.

One, two, after a time to count the numbers, Senior Junseong screamed.

“What is it! Why!”

With a thud, I fell over trying to grab Senior Junseong, who had fallen backward, perhaps due to the difference in physique. The sudden commotion was surrounded by silence in the traditional Korean house.

I got up from my seat.

“There’s a rat corpse. In the cabinet.”

I wasn’t very surprised because I knew it was a model, but it seems it wasn’t for Senior Junseong. That’s probably because the rat was a model impaled on a large nail, so it’s no wonder he was surprised.

Senior Junseong clutched his surprised heart and rolled around in place several times.

As I got up from my seat to grab Senior Junseong’s hand, the grandmother’s serious expression suddenly caught my eye.

Not surprised, just serious.

* * *

#Troubleshooting Office.

Jidonghwa and Junseong’s interview scenes are cross-edited.

‘I was suspicious that she wasn’t surprised.’

‘Isn’t it strange not to be surprised?’

And then Jidonghwa and Junseong’s words came out in order again,

‘The grandmother didn’t show any signs of surprise at all.’

‘Donghwa called me calmly without being surprised at all.’

‘At that time, I felt strange for a moment.’

‘What is Donghwa? That’s what I thought.’

* * *

The situation was sorted out, and the grandmother hurriedly put the rat corpse in a bag, cleaned it up, washed her hands, and approached us.

“Oh dear, my grandson must have played a prank.”

“Does this happen often?”

I immediately put the question I felt from the expression just now into words.

“…Haa, it’s embarrassing. Sometimes. He sometimes does that.”

Senior Gyeongwoo, who values etiquette, had a rotten expression. He had the expression of a philosopher who had heard something unbelievable.

Senior Hanho clicked his tongue and sighed, muttering ‘rotten bastard.’

On the other hand, Senior Junseong buried his face in my shoulder and muttered the last words, ‘You, you, on purpose, you did that on purpose, maknae?’

‘I wanted to share memories with hyung,’ I whispered briefly. It’s a coping method I learned from Ryu Ideun.

“Anyway, here’s the picture.”

“Ah, is this Sebastian that we’re looking for?”

Senior Gyeongwoo jumped up from his seat and received the picture.

It’s a very cute picture of a white cat sleeping soundly.

“Where did you last see him, ma’am?”

“I saw him at home. Sebastian sometimes goes out. But today is the first time he hasn’t come back after a day……. I’d like to look for him myself, but I’m old, so my knees aren’t very good.”

“Ah…….”

So, we have to find the cat without any evidence.

“He often goes to a few places, so should I point them out? I’ve looked for him too, but it might be different if several people look together.”

…Having recalled my thoughts up to this point, I opened my eyes and looked again at the very realistic corpse at my feet.

The first place the grandmother pointed out, we entered a factory in a remote location and found it.

We were all speechless. We were happy until we came here, but after discovering the hint and the key, we, who were preparing to welcome Sebastian with joy, encountered a corpse.

“…Murder?”

“It’s murder. Look at the knife stuck in his back.”

“Gyeongwoo, what should we do? Should we report it?”

Normally, we would have reported it without touching anything, as Senior Hanho said, but we must not forget that this is a variety show.

Of course, there must be some clue left.

Yes.

“There’s a recorder over there.”

Something like that.