Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 276

“Waaaaaaaugh!”

Chae Hamin let out a scream that couldn’t be expressed in text messages.

She brought her hands to her face, trying to block her eyes, but realizing her eyes were already covered, she sat down in her seat.

“This is too! Too scary! Ugh, please don’t open your mouth! I’ll give you food!”

“…This is a video, Hamin.”

There’s no way the shark would understand anything. What’s the point of talking to a shark that’s just moving according to the footage, whether you’re scared or not?

“Dong-hwa! Save me!”

“No, I’m telling you, it’s a video, Hamin.”

You just need to take off the VR headset. I’m wearing one too, so I can’t take it off for you.

“Shark! Shark!”

I just smiled silently.

You can’t suddenly enlighten someone by reciting scriptures to a rabbit. Animals must have their own truths, and I was being too human-centric. Sorry, Fisher.

* * *

The origin of the incident goes back a little earlier. It started with the PD’s unbelievable lie about a ‘vacation’.

“Last time, we disguised it as an interview and did some research to find out what the perfect vacation is for you all.”

Nod.

“Dong-hwa and Hyun-jae said they wanted to rest in a quiet place, and the other three said they wanted to go to a new place and have fun. It was difficult because the requests were completely opposite, but we found a solution.”

Nod.

“First, we prepared various experiences according to the opinions of the three of you. I can’t tell you in advance, though.”

Chae Hamin cheered and clapped her hands loudly.

Her tension is high even though we’re not filming yet; she must be excited about the thought of going on a trip.

“But then we can’t fulfill the wishes of the two who want a quiet place.”

Adding two quiet places to the schedule would solve the problem.

“So, during this trip, you can’t let your voices exceed a certain decibel while you’re having new experiences. Whether you go to a haunted house or ride a roller coaster, your voices must be quiet. There’s something called the ‘Quiet Sign,’ and when you see it, decibel limit! So, basically, you can enjoy yourselves by screaming a lot!”

“…Pardon?”

Since I’m the only one who can talk back to the PD [Production Director], I voiced my doubts on behalf of everyone.

The PD, seeing my expression that said, ‘What kind of vacation is that?’ smiled and nodded.

“We’ll create the perfect vacation for you.”

Ignoring me has become a habit, PD.

“If you’ve packed all your luggage, shall we go by car?”

The PD turned around, and after seeing the sign that the filming was cut, Ryu Ideun opened his mouth very quietly, in a voice only I could hear.

“…I think that person is really strange.”

“Didn’t you notice while watching my program?”

That’s even more surprising, Ideun.

“I understand the intention of the program planning, but the look in his eyes when he speaks……”

“I know what you mean.”

It’s the eyes of a scientist obsessed with something.

“Let’s go!”

However, Chae Hamin jumped up from her seat, not realizing something.

A happy face. A portrait of a human who has abandoned all the worries and sorrows of this world.

No matter how I look at it, it feels like it’s going to be far from the happy trip that Chae Hamin is expecting; I don’t know if it’ll be okay.

“Well, what big deal could there be? I think Hamin would have fun even if you just gave her some pebbles.”

“…Yeah.”

Ryu Ideun and I got up from our seats, trusting in Chae Hamin’s optimism.

* * *

When we arrived in front of the bus, the PD stopped us for a moment.

“Now, everyone, can you see this sign?”

A staff member held up a large wooden sign that said ‘Quiet.’ The letters were written in a formal script, making it look serious.

“You mustn’t shout loudly or anything when this sign is present.”

The PD was speaking next to the camera in front of the bus.

While he was talking, the bus door opened, making a noise. My eyes naturally turned towards it since it was next to the PD.

“For example.”

And when the door opened completely, a person was standing with their back to us.

Then, they arched their body backward like a bridge, glared at us from the stairs like a beast on all fours, and then, with a leap, they stepped onto the ground in that state and rushed towards us.

A scene that could only be seen in horror movies.

I don’t know how they can run in that state, but it gives the impression of looking at the joint structure of a feline creature. It feels like their whole body is twisted.

I even felt a pain in my shoulder.

Chae Hamin immediately screamed and fell over, and Ryu Ideun and Seok-joon didn’t fall, but they screamed as well.

Even Lee Hyun-jae was surprised, letting out a strange exclamation, a thick, short ‘Ugh.’

The person who had reached Chae Hamin, who had fallen backward in a contorted state, twisted their waist, straightened their body, and waved their hand.

“…A-Are you, are you not in pain?”

Chae Hamin, who habitually waved her hand back, asked carefully with a look of astonishment.

“I’ve always been a fan.”

Then, they arched their body again and ran away on all fours, disappearing from our sight.

“Ugh!”

Chae Hamin was startled again and quickly moved her body backward while sitting down.

That damn PD, I knew it.

“If you scream like that! You have to perform a penalty!”

Then, a staff member brought four animal ears in their hand and handed them out to each of the other members except me.

“Please wear them until you pass the next sign.”

“No, wow, that person, how. Oh, their shoulder! 180 degrees!”

Seok-joon, who had been carefree because it wasn’t his area of interest, threw away his usual leisurely attitude and trembled as he looked at the direction the contortionist had left.

“They’re a professional, so you don’t have to worry.”

“…This is, a vacation.”

As I muttered, the PD smiled brightly.

“It’s a new experience! You hardly ever get to see such acrobatics, do you?”

Chae Hamin’s mouth opens wide. An expression of betrayal that makes my skin crawl.

Unfortunately, she confirmed the reality of that PD before her eyes and became convinced that the word ‘trip’ was not what she had been expecting.

As if enjoying that betrayal, the PD smiled brightly and gestured to the animal ears.

Chae Hamin accepted the animal ears but couldn’t erase the expression of ‘How! Such!’ from her face.

“I guess it was too much to expect even Dong-hwa to be surprised.”

“So, I told you to do something more extreme. Dong-hwa would ask a murderer why they’re grabbing his shoulder without being surprised.”

“…Should I have detonated a bomb?”

“I think he would have calmly shouted to evacuate.”

The staff members whispered among themselves in a small voice.

Familiar faces. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to have this conversation in front of Chae Hamin, who has collapsed from shock.

It’s a great research example that the morality of a group is lower than the morality of an individual. [Reinhold] Niebuhr, you were right.

The other members accepted the animal ears with a dazed look, well, Ryu Ideun is faking it.

“PD, I trusted you.”

Chae Hamin, sitting down, put on the rabbit ears. She looked like a beaver whose carefully built house had collapsed.

I avoided Chae Hamin and approached Ryu Ideun. He was wearing a hideous golden retriever ear headband.

“Is it your taste, by any chance?”

Ryu Ideun looked at me with surprised eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter.

“I thought it would be better if you were the only one not surprised, visually.”

“…Okay.”

“Then everyone, shall we go eat as you are? We’re going to walk. About 20 minutes. Unfortunately, it’s a restaurant that buses can’t access.”

Logically, they should take us near the restaurant along the main road, but they just want us to walk through the crowd in this state, get photographed, and feel ashamed.

“And I heard there’s a pressure point path on the way, so I’d like you to experience it for your vacation.”

Um, well, that’s a bit like a vacation. No, is it convalescence?

* * *

Finally arrived at the restaurant.

A familiar place. It has a visual that looks like it would serve grilled mushrooms after saying it sells Sardinian food.

And by the time we arrived here, Chae Hamin had been subjected to all the PD’s tricks and was wearing not only rabbit ears but also rabbit paws.

I’d rather they give her the whole body; it looked more embarrassing because it wasn’t unified.

She really looked like someone who thought she was an animal, a bit.

“…PD, you’re bad.”

Chae Hamin, who had finally turned dark.

“Dong-hwa says he’s always been like that.”

Ryu Ideun, who doesn’t know shame, pretended to be surprised with Chae Hamin so as not to embarrass her. Thanks to that, he looked one step further away from human dignity.

Seok-joon and Lee Hyun-jae were enduring it with just the headbands.

“I heard the sound of photos being taken several times.”

“Only Dong-hwa hyung, you’re being unfair―.”

“How can you walk on that pressure point path without making a sound once……”

I turned my eyes back to the restaurant. This is a high-end restaurant.

I closed my eyes tightly, anticipating the future, and opened the door.

“…Wow, you’re really bad.”

As soon as I opened the door, Chae Hamin muttered quietly.

Inside the restaurant, everyone was dressed in suits, eating formally in accordance with the restaurant’s luxurious atmosphere, and only the largest table in the middle, where everyone could easily see, was empty.

“Hamin, it’s okay.”

That guy, he wouldn’t keep this stance until the end, would he?

Maybe by nighttime, he’ll put out content that’s really suitable for a vacation. He must know how to adjust the pace.

Chae Hamin nodded, listening to my quiet explanation.

And a brave step.

She walked into the crowd of people in suits in a half-rabbit state.

“If you really don’t give us vacation time, I’m really going to……”

And as soon as she entered, a waiter approached. It’s the person I met last time.

“Five people, I’ll guide you.”

I was planning to grab the PD’s collar if they served mushrooms again this time, but the meal was composed of a menu that clearly understood the members’ tastes accurately.

Just by looking at the dish with mushrooms next to Chae Hamin and the Wiener Schnitzel [Viennese cutlet] in front of me, I could tell.

Surprisingly, Chae Hamin ate with great praise, saying it was really delicious, with no trace of the anger from before.

“Now that you’ve finished eating, all the animal-related penalties are over!”

He’s a human who tries to tease as much as possible until right before a person is blinded by anger.

* * *

And back here again.

As we entered the VR experience center, that scene from earlier was reenacted.

Among them, what we chose was the ‘Deep Sea Submarine’ experience, at Seok-joon’s strong request.

Sitting in seats that moved up, down, left, and right, we experienced the illusion of riding a submarine and gradually descending into the deep sea through VR. Then, a shark suddenly appeared and shook the submarine, causing Chae Hamin to be startled and scream.

In the meantime, in the corner of her vision, there was an octopus holding a sign that said ‘Quiet’ and swaying.

I really wonder how much money they spent on this useless stuff.

Every time, I realized that we had grown.

As we descended deeper into the deep sea, the glowing lights of the squid and the anglerfish’s lantern spread out, and the beauty of the light, which felt clearer because it was dark, unfolded, Chae Hamin kept exclaiming next to me.

She must not have seen that ‘Quiet’ was written on the body of one of the anglerfish.

I followed Ryu Ideun’s example and exclaimed loudly along with Chae Hamin. Because shame is halved when shared.

Really, what a great program. What kind of penalty are they going to give us this time?