Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 268

Seeing the majestic beast burying its nose and rolling around for some unknown reason stirred a sense of pity deep within me.

“…Why is he doing that?”

Turning my head, I saw zookeeper Hong Heon-min, wearing his gown and looking dejected.

“It’s been a while, Professor…”

The zookeeper shattered the wall between broadcast and reality with just one sentence.

It shouldn’t have been long since I saw him as a professor, but he seemed too exhausted to think deeply.

“Simba, for some reason, doesn’t want to leave this spot today. Originally, the goal was to meet him after driving over.”

“Is he sick?”

Memories of the past resurfaced, and I asked cautiously.

“No. He’s incredibly healthy. I even checked his health this morning because he was acting like this.”

Simba, who was beyond the glass, seemed to have recovered somewhat from his distress and was now looking at me and the zookeeper, his paws on the glass.

Goodness, he’s cute. Even though his paws are rough, their shape is adorable.

However, it’s clear that this apex predator is looking at us, so let’s speculate.

“Could he be hungry?”

Realistically, wouldn’t we look like meat to Simba?

Like a stranger going crazy in the eyes of a child, even if the parent is feeling a lot of emotions.

“Our research center doesn’t starve its animals! He eats better than I do.”

“I see.”

I moved a little closer to the glass and sat down cross-legged.

Simba took his paws off the glass, comfortably resting his neck as he looked at me.

“We’ve been showing him Dong-hwa’s videos since he was a cub, you know? He probably hasn’t forgotten your face.”

The zookeeper, with slumped shoulders, turned and pulled up a chair, offering it to me.

Only then did I realize that I had been sitting inelegantly on the floor.

“Thank you.”

As I stood up to sit in the chair, Simba put his paws back on the glass.

…I don’t want to be presumptuous, but whether he sees me as a lunchbox or feels affection, one thing is certain.

As soon as I sat down, he put his paws down again and rested his face on them.

…Damn it, he’s cute.

“It’s been a while since you two met, so I’ll leave you to spend some time together!”

I was admiring Simba’s majesty and contrasting cuteness when the zookeeper suddenly shouted.

“…Pardon?”

Reluctantly turning my gaze away from Simba, I looked around and noticed that everyone on the production team except the zookeeper had already left.

“Share your thoughts. I heard you can communicate with animals.”

“…Could you just pick one [stick to one concept]?”

Whether I stick to the concept or not, I think my ego will be confused. It’s like naming a tiger Simba.

“I don’t know much about broadcasting… Simba is a big fan of ‘Mental Class,’ so I think it would be great to have a conversation!”

The zookeeper quickly said his piece and immediately headed for the door.

Bang, the door closed, and as the air that had trembled once settled, a heavy silence descended.

Perhaps because it was a space connected to the enclosure, I found myself sitting face to face with a tiger, separated only by glass, in an empty room.

* * *

#Ji Dong-hwa’s Mental Class Edited Version

Ji Dong-hwa, who had been silently looking down at Simba, got up from his chair and plopped down on the floor.

He sat close enough to lean his head against the glass, silently and soundlessly running his eyes over it.

Simba tapped the glass with his paw.

It seemed to express his dissatisfaction, as if asking what was preventing him from rushing over right now.

Ji Dong-hwa also tapped the glass with his fingertips.

‘…You’ve grown so much.’

The screen had no background music. His voice didn’t break the silence but simply melted into it.

‘I was still quite early in my debut back then.’

The caption “Ji Dong-hwa / Current Idol” flashed by, and a small screen silently showed a scene of Ji Dong-hwa reading a book next to a sick Simba.

Simba lifted his head and made eye contact with Ji Dong-hwa.

What value could three days spent with a human have in the brain of an animal?

Why was he so friendly to me from the start?

Such questions were pieced together in Ji Dong-hwa’s eyes.

However, Simba’s eyes showed no such concerns. He simply seemed to feel that the creature in front of him was familiar and comfortable.

‘All time is reconstructed based on the present, so the idea that the past is a frozen form is wrong. Then the present must be too.’

The caption ‘???’ quietly appeared.

‘Simba’s grown-up present also looks like a vibrant past.’

Then, the phrase ‘Sorry, Professor. We’re moving too fast’ was written very small in the corner of the screen.

Ji Dong-hwa quietly muttered things that only he understood, and Simba listened calmly, lying comfortably.

Ji Dong-hwa smiled and leaned his head against the glass.

‘Since it’s probably going to be edited out anyway, should we talk a little more?’

The moment Ji Dong-hwa declared that he would massacre the footage, Simba coincidentally made a ‘grrr’ sound.

‘Professor, it’s break time?’

A short caption flashed, and the cut was switched.

* * *

It’s hard to recognize the passage of time.

We clearly recognize a day by seeing the sun set and rise, but for longer periods like a month or two, or even a year, the word ‘passed’ is more fitting than ‘passes.’

It seems plausible when words like ‘before we knew it’ and ‘when I came to my senses’ are often used with the phrase ‘a year has passed.’

Sometimes, we don’t even realize that time has passed without a special occasion.

Like when I saw Mok-hwa again, and I realized how much time had passed.

So, looking at Simba in front of me, I feel the passage of time.

Meeting this tiger for the first time when he was still a cub and reuniting with him now that he has claws to protect himself, I realize my own time within Simba.

“I’ve been doing well. I’ve become closer with my friends.”

Toc toc, Simba still moved his paws as if he was dissatisfied with the glass.

Suddenly, this glass feels like a mirror.

“My fans also cherish me, and the results of my labor have been recognized.”

A feeling of relaxation.

I’m only realizing this now, but I think I like animals. I also have a sneaking suspicion that if my father had been a zookeeper, I would have naturally followed in his footsteps.

“There’s a dog named Ryu I-deun, and he was happy that we were somewhat successful.”

Simba gave up on tapping the glass and lay down lazily again.

“How have you been, in this quite long time?”

When we look back on time in the present, the past is often reconstructed.

We give meaning to accidental events, exaggerate events that had a big impact on us, and downplay those that didn’t, reconstructing the past.

We define the meaning of the present based on that past. So, the past and the present can’t help but be vibrant in real-time.

When I was confiding secrets to someone, Simba was probably walking through a fairly large forest, and when I was working hard in the studio to compose the next title track, Simba would have grown another inch.

In front of Simba, who is time itself, I accepted negative emotions, enjoyed positive emotions, and retraced the path I had walked as a human.

And I define the meaning of the present.

“…I think I’m happy.”

So much so that it feels undeserved.

I think this is the first time I’ve said it out loud.

“How about you, Simba?”

Dding.

[To help you, Simba is also doing well and happily greeting you after a long time. It’s amazing how only 3 days of memories can be so strongly imprinted.]

…There was a major in Animal Communicating here.

[Unfortunately, it’s Philosophy.]

* * *

One hour, the PD [Program Director] of Mental Class looked at his watch and nodded.

“Shall we go in soon?”

Thanks to the human named Ji Dong-hwa, he was able to produce a fairly successful program, so the PD wanted to give him some rest time as a gift.

He couldn’t easily answer the question, ‘What would be restful for him?’

His hobby is cat’s cradle, but that’s more like killing time, so it’s ambiguous to call it rest, and he says he rests in the studio after filming, but no matter how he thought about it, it felt like another form of labor.

Then, he finally came up with a plan like today.

Like being lost in thought while sitting in a museum, staring at a huge black canvas!

Realizing the sublime by seeing a tiger he had seen before become huge!

Originally, the plan was to see a tiger in nature, so it’s true that things went awry, but he easily guessed that Ji Dong-hwa, who lives a complicated life, would fall into contemplation on his own.

If it were someone else, they might feel like it was punishment to sit face to face with a tiger for an hour, but he was sure that our Dong-hwa, who is half-crazy, would rather enjoy it.

“Zookeeper, I think you can go in now. We need to film you feeding him too!”

“Yes!”

As the zookeeper got up from his seat, the FD [Floor Director] next to him quietly spoke.

“…His heart rate is completely calm.”

“Hey, that’s enough! Today is healing! We can mess with him next time!”

And in the first place, Ji Dong-hwa’s heart rate has rarely exceeded the standard.

“No matter how I look at it, I don’t think the tiger will bite Dong-hwa, which is a shame.”

“PD-nim [Director], that’s crazy.”

“When has our program ever been normal?”

Of course, the PD isn’t really crazy, so it’s something he wouldn’t do even if it were possible.

While chatting, they arrived back at the door.

After knocking and filming the zookeeper entering, the PD laughed cheerfully.

Ah, I hope Dong-hwa is happy and renews our program contract.

And when he took a step forward.

“Shh.”

A small but sharp sound flew like an arrow from inside the room.

“San-gun-nim has fallen asleep.”

Ji Dong-hwa was sitting on the floor in front of the glass, leaning comfortably against it, and the tiger was sleeping soundly beyond the glass.

How can a tiger sleep so well next to a human? A moment of shock filled him.

No matter how insignificant it may seem, sleeping next to another creature….

“Wow, I think Dong-hwa has the makings of a zookeeper, which is a shame.”

Listening to the zookeeper’s muttering, the PD was satisfied with the peaceful atmosphere.

“Amazing.”

“Tigers don’t usually kill zookeepers unless they have a reason to, so sleeping next to them like that isn’t common.”

The question of whether it’s okay to say such things so easily when his own life is at stake reached the tip of his chin, but he held it back.

“Professor.”

“Yes, PD-nim [Director].”

“Please tell me honestly. Can you really talk to animals?”

“…Yes, I can.”

At Ji Dong-hwa’s lowered voice, the PD also laughed silently.

Ah, the most fun part of this show is that ‘Professor Ji Dong-hwa’ creates a bizarre image of himself.

The PD saw the stable expression on Ji Dong-hwa’s face and realized that he had provided a proper rest time.

Hmm, a peaceful and warm feeling.

“…How about a real Casu Marzu [a Sardinian sheep milk cheese that contains live insect larvae] next time?”

“Next time, I’ll take action too.”

Of course, that warm time didn’t even last 3 seconds.