Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 287

A banner hung in the boxing ring-style SF set.

The phrase ‘Winter and Tree Quiz Show’ was written in a flamboyant font. Too much. Way too much.

What is that? It’s the kind of quality you’d see hanging in front of the town hall when a kid who lived in a rural village for a long time gets into Korea University. It’s too much compared to the quality of the set…….

“I designed that myself. So much effort, right?”

“Beautiful.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, it’s avant-garde.”

It’s aesthetically worthy of study.

“Wow, everyone around me said it was terrible.”

“Many artists become famous after they die.”

“Sometimes when I look at you, hyung [older brother or close male friend]…….”

He trailed off. Let’s not bother guessing what he was going to say.

“So, why are you so confident about the quiz?”

“Hyung, you tend to underestimate me a bit, but I’m pretty smart.”

A confident expression.

I know you’re smart, so that’s enough. You must have picked a field that you know better than I do. There’s no way you could be so confident otherwise.

Despite grilling Jin Han several times, all I got was a slight hint: ‘It’s good to study fields you don’t know well!’

I guess that was a hint to prepare for this quiz show.

Thanks to that, I’ve been cramming fields that Mok-hwa knows but I don’t, as much as possible.

Slang, the culture and memes of today’s generation, entertainment industry issues, the history of the entertainment industry—anything is fine.

Cramming can be pretty good if you do it efficiently. I’m at the cutting edge of how people enjoy language these days.

I asked with a bit of bravado.

“What’s the category?”

“General knowledge quiz.”

However, Mok-hwa threw a completely different answer at me, who was expecting something like new slang.

What the heck? This can only be seen as arrogance.

“Mok-hwa.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m worried if you’re having a hard time these days.”

Then Mok-hwa immediately tilted his head back arrogantly.

“Since when did my brother only fight with words?”

“I always say violence is wrong.”

“Hyung, I heard everything from Lee-deun hyung.”

“…Oh dear.”

Come to think of it, Ryu Lee-deun exchanged words with the PD [Producer Director] and was suddenly appointed as a referee during the arm wrestling match.

I don’t know what that damn dog is doing, coming to hand out coffee.

I took a sip of warm Americano to soothe my throat. Mok-hwa also relaxed leisurely.

A truce of only a few tens of minutes, started with a cup of coffee.

“Lee-deun hyung looks good in a referee uniform after all.”

“…After all?”

After all? Did you imagine something like that before?

I turned to Mok-hwa with an uneasy feeling.

“Why?”

“I expected you to wear a referee uniform.”

“Of course. Because I asked him to.”

Slurping, the sound of drinking coffee.

“It was originally in the script, Lee-deun hyung received it in advance.”

…Oh my god. I felt like I was losing strength in my hands. I hadn’t heard anything from Ryu Lee-deun.

Mok-hwa smiled brightly as he saw my stiff face.

“Hyung, how can you trust the other members so much? I heard everything about you studying from the debut year of old celebrities to trendy words.”

This time my body stiffened. Mok-hwa’s words are translated but not understood.

So, that dog betrayed my trust. That’s an absurd sentence.

“My brother has changed a lot, hasn’t he? He used to live like the only people you can trust in the world are the dead.”

Mok-hwa leaned back in his chair like an old man feeling the changes of the times, taking another sip of coffee.

And Ryu Lee-deun, who was watching us from over there. He seemed to realize that everything was exposed when he saw my expression.

“…Oh my god.”

A dog that doesn’t recognize its owner is useless to raise.

No, maybe the problem is with the owner who didn’t realize the dog had done something wrong.

* * *

“Okay, today’s special guest! Surprise guest! Ryu Lee-deun, who came to hand out coffee and is now the referee!”

Ryu Lee-deun shouted with the booming voice unique to MCs [Master of Ceremonies]. He didn’t stumble on a single word, as if he had devoured the script.

Son of a bitch.

An undignified curse swirled in my mouth, but I mustn’t forget to smile in front of the camera. When today’s filming is over, I will carry out the Ryu Lee-deun assassination plan with Chae Ha-min.

If I turn my gaze slightly, I can see Mok-hwa standing proudly behind the heavily decorated podium, smiling.

And me, standing quietly on a slightly shabby podium.

I felt malice towards me on the set.

Even Mok-hwa’s podium was installed slightly above, forming a vertical relationship between my position and Mok-hwa’s.

Well, wouldn’t this be a little more suitable for a trial than a quiz show, Mok-hwa?

“Okay, then the rules of today’s quiz show are simple! I’ll pick one of you and give you a question, and you just have to answer it correctly. For example, Dong-hwa! What is the name of this book, widely known as Korea’s first novel?”

Without much thought, I wrote ‘Geumo Sinhwa’ on the screen on my desk. Opinions differ among scholars, but this is the most widely known.

“Yes, but when Dong-hwa gets it right like this, does Mok-hwa just stand still! No.”

“Wow! Do you perhaps predict whether Dong-hwa hyung will get the answer right or not?”

“That’s right! Wow, as expected of Dong-hwa’s younger brother, you’re sharp!”

What a load of crap.

“Mok-hwa, did you predict?”

“Yes!”

Mok-hwa pressed something that appeared on the screen. Maybe there was an O and an X.

“Then, shall we check?”

The screens installed on both sides of Ryu Lee-deun displayed my answer and an ‘O’ mark, respectively.

“In this case, it’s 1 point for each other. Because you got the answer right and the prediction was correct.”

Then this time the O mark changed to an X.

“In this case, Dong-hwa gets 2 points. If you get the prediction wrong, you give the other person 1 point.”

Next, my answer changed to blank.

“In this case, only Mok-hwa gets 1 point.”

Finally, the X changed back to O.

“In this case, it’s 0 points for each other. Do you understand?”

My eyes met Ryu Lee-deun’s, and I nodded once, answering with my eyes. I will definitely kill you. I will drink your blood in a toast of victory, Lee-deun.

Ryu Lee-deun pretended to be nonchalant, but he was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

Yeah, I was crazy. I should have trusted the right person. Not Chae Ha-min, Ryu Lee-deun is a beast who is always joking around in these situations.

I need to think about the intention of this game. The fact that Mok-hwa put this forward as the final game means that he is confident in winning.

Basically, it will be a game of accurately guessing whether each other knows the answer. Guessing how much common sense the other person has, and getting hints from their expressions and conversations.

However, if the probability of the other person knowing the answer increases, it will eventually become rock-paper-scissors.

“Hyung, it’s a problem because you seem to know all the answers anyway! I can’t even use psychological warfare!”

When it is obvious that you know most of the answers, like me now, it becomes rock-paper-scissors disguised as psychological warfare.

When you deliberately get it wrong, the expected value is 1 and ―1. When you just get it right, it’s 2 and 0. Of course, just getting it right is economically rational.

“But hyung, there are some things I really don’t know? I can’t even use psychological warfare.”

I wonder if I can accurately guess how much common sense Mok-hwa has. If I just get everything right, if I make a mistake even once,

“How disadvantageous am I? Hyung knows everything, and I only know about half.”

“…Well.”

I think knowing might be more disadvantageous. You only have to worry about one thing, whether I’m cheating or not.

Mok-hwa’s face slowly hardened as he listened to my answer.

A complete blank expression. It was as if he was forcibly holding onto his facial muscles. A strong will to block his expression from being read.

“Then, shall we start? It’ll be over when you both answer ten questions each!”

I took a deep breath. Seeing Mok-hwa’s serious expression, I realized it again.

What are we doing, Mok-hwa.

Do brothers usually fight like this? Or are we just weird? I really don’t know.

However, if Mok-hwa is serious, I have to be too. Because I understood the one message Mok-hwa wanted to convey through arm wrestling.

I also put on a blank expression.

* * *

Ryu Lee-deun wanted to run away.

What is this? I clearly, clearly thought they were just brothers fighting playfully.

The story I heard when I first got a call from Ji Mok-hwa was simple.

‘Don’t you want Dong-hwa hyung’s old photos?’ Ryu Lee-deun answered ‘I want them’ without hesitation, and then he heard a desperate voice saying, ‘Then, please help me win against hyung once!’

I clearly thought it was just a cute younger brother complaining because he had never won against his brother, but what is this atmosphere?

They are both poker-faced, looking at each other, and all the usual warmth has disappeared, and only a cold energy is circulating.

‘Ah, what is it! Mok-hwa! You clearly said that brothers were just bickering lightly! You said it wasn’t a betrayal! You said they were just joking with each other! You said fighting like this was everyday life! And why are you telling me! You were supposed to keep it a secret!’

Ryu Lee-deun wanted to shout as if spitting blood from his throat.

I said it was a war or something, but honestly, Ryu Lee-deun wanted to help Ji Mok-hwa. Because he knows how it feels when someone precious to him doesn’t rely on him.

But still, I didn’t want to lose my life.

Seeing Ji Dong-hwa being so serious, it seems too obvious that I will die at Ji Dong-hwa’s hands when I go back today.

I wonder if I’ll be hit with his bare hands for the first time without bricks.

“Th-then, the first question! Dong-hwa, please answer!”

“Yes.”

‘He’s cold. I’m sorry. I was wrong, Dong-hwa. I think I crossed the line, I’m sorry.’

“What is the capital of Afghanistan?”

Ji Dong-hwa was moving only his wrist to write letters, not knowing what he was writing beyond the partition.

“Hyung, do you know the answer?”

Don’t talk with a blank expression, Mok-hwa. You’re usually so cheerful.

“…Well.”

“…I’m sure you know it, but I don’t know if you wrote it correctly. Look at my eyes.”

Eyes meeting. And silence.

Ryu Lee-deun bit his lip.

“Have you, uh, have you all written the answer?”

“Yes.”

“Th-then, Mok-hwa, please predict.”

“…Ha, I don’t know!”

Ji Mok-hwa let out a hollow laugh. An emotion close to resignation.

Even while watching that, Ji Dong-hwa didn’t waver even an inch. Ryu Lee-deun, who was confident that he could read Ji Dong-hwa’s expression well, couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all.

So Ryu Lee-deun suddenly realized how disarmed Ji Dong-hwa was in front of them.

“Hyung, do you know that?”

Ji Dong-hwa answering with his eyes without speaking.

“Hyung, you always make stable first moves. You don’t make gambling moves well. What do you think.”

“…Your chess skills have improved a lot.”

Ji Dong-hwa’s expression was slightly disturbed, and he smiled slightly. As if Ji Mok-hwa had finished choosing, he raised his hand and pressed the screen.

“Yes, the prediction is over, so let’s reveal it.”

At the same time, ‘Ka’ [for Kabul] and ‘X’ appeared on the screen.

“…The answer is Kabul, Mok-hwa gets 1 point.”

Ryu Lee-deun was a little dumbfounded. In the flow of the conversation, Ji Dong-hwa should have gotten the answer right.

“How did you know?”

However, Ji Dong-hwa was too cold to be a human who lost 1 point.

“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling.”

Ji Mok-hwa was too cold to be a human who was 1 point ahead.

And Ryu Lee-deun wanted to put down the microphone and run away as a human who was hosting the MC.