Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 374

Mok-hwa patted his full stomach contentedly as he walked.

Being a trainee, huh? That was years ago.

Honestly, I don’t remember it well; it’s hazy like a distant memory, but it’s a word that evokes memories.

Why did he suddenly ask about that?

What I can be sure of is that Hyung [older brother or close male friend] dropped something.

It’s a natural conclusion since the only ones who know about it in this world are the brothers.

So, I asked him, and he just said,

‘I’m playing with Lee Hyun-jae right now.’

It’s frustrating because he doesn’t say anything else after saying such nonsense.

There’s another aspect. For convenience, I call the Hyung I first met ‘Little Hyung,’ and the Hyung who is currently enjoying his life as a nerd at university ‘Big Hyung.’ They look the same, but there are times when they are subtly different.

“…Perhaps.”

He’s planning to let me know directly. Is the goal to make me think it’s strange by dropping hints?

No wonder he said something ridiculous like, ‘If Hyun-jae comes today, can you tell him that Hyung looked healthier when he danced?’ again.

I expected it from then on, but his taste is bizarre.

He seems to enjoy seeing if I’ll notice when he gives me some hints.

Crazy Big Hyung, his personality is subtly more twisted.

Little Hyung would have hesitated several times before telling me the secret, but Big Hyung didn’t show even a hint of such hesitation.

Besides, using that as an excuse to make Lee Hyun-jae live in the house, what is it, really?

What’s the difference? Really. No, to be precise, what’s his ulterior motive?

It can’t be purely for fun. If it is, he’s really out of his mind.

“Mok-hwaaaaa, what are you doinggggg!”

Kim Hyun-jin suddenly popped out and smacked Ji Mok-hwa’s back.

It’s a tiresome relationship, really. I never asked Hyung to do anything, but why are we all in the same high school?

“Get lost, please.”

“Thanks for the morning blessing. I’ll take it. I was hungry anyway.”

“……Ha.”

He’s got a terrible personality too. Why are there only strange people around me?

“Ah, the student council is accepting first-year students too, do you want to join together? You need to build up your resume.”

No, I know the student council president from my past life, and he has a terrible personality.

“It’s not like you can just join if you want to.”

And the student council is just a facade; there’s no real autonomy. All you get is a few lines in your student record, but our school makes you work like crazy.

Even as a trainee, I heard about it from my friends in my past life.

“Oh, sorry.”

“……Why so ominous.”

Kim Hyun-jin started running as he was.

From before, more than half the time I got caught up in an accident, it was because of that bastard.

I was going to keep my distance this time, but that bulldozer-like thug barged in without giving me a chance.

Ha, what should I do, really.

“……He must have submitted the application.”

It’s okay. Korea still respects free will. I can just say I don’t want to join.

Anyway, what is Hyung doing? He said he was going to school with Lee Hyun-jae; I wonder if something interesting will happen.

Mok-hwa thought peacefully.

Not knowing that Jin-han, who is insidious and knows how to see people properly but pretends to be innocent on the outside, would think, ‘Oh, it would be convenient to befriend him. He seems like he’ll do a good job.’

* * *

It’s hard to believe possibilities or anything like that, no matter how much I say directly.

Ji Dong-hwa has built up the reputation of ‘Dong-hwa wouldn’t say such things for no reason’ through his efforts, but it’s not an easy task for me.

Ji Dong-hwa has been continuously sharing his daily life, bound together under the name of an idol, but that’s impossible for me.

‘Actually, I can manipulate space-time like clay. I’m blocking it myself right now, but when I die, I’m going to go back to doing that job.’

How can I say such a thing?

Even if I skillfully decide what to hide and what not to hide, it’s still the same. In the end, the fact that this is our second meeting is strange in itself.

So, let’s leak it little by little. Information from a time that isn’t now.

The person who directly uncovers a secret feels responsible for it, no matter what kind of secret it is.

Even if it’s a secret like ‘I hate kimchi but I’m eating it against my will,’ once you know, and if you want to become close to that person, you’ll make the consideration of avoiding kimchi stew when choosing lunch.

So, what would happen if he directly discovered the records of a time that has disappeared, scattered throughout the house?

Lee Hyun-jae will discover, one by one, things like household ledgers, impossible photos, or books that I wrote myself with publication years in the future, in that room.

Lee Hyun-jae will show it to me or hand it to Mok-hwa, but unfortunately, I’ll react as if to say, ‘Why is this here?’ and Mok-hwa really won’t know.

It will be proof that I’m the only one who remembers the previous possibilities.

The old household ledger is the easiest to manipulate, so I left it out early on, so Lee Hyun-jae must have seen it without thinking, and Mok-hwa will be puzzled by the records of an academy he never attended.

I’m so glad there was a household ledger in the used market that hadn’t been used except for the first page.

[Is that really fortunate?]

‘I guess, having the intention to use it means that you have a severe impulse to spend, but you don’t have enough self-control to suppress it.’

Anyway, maybe he already asked Mok-hwa and fell into the misunderstanding of ‘Why is he lying?’, but time will solve that.

Lee Hyun-jae is rational, so he’ll suspect me, but when he gets caught up in the thought of ‘This guy keeps manipulating ridiculous things!’, I’ll have to confess all the secrets.

Actually, we knew each other before.

He is dependent on me in terms of food and housing.

At the same time, the complex of not being recognized by his parents remains, and he’ll harbor the endless question of ‘Why is he being so nice to me?’ in a corner of his mind.

Continuous favors and reading him as if he knows him well, and occasionally finding memos in the house that write about things that will happen in a few months. Even the most realistic person would be shaken.

[……You have a terrible personality.]

I know. But what can I do?

I don’t have the talent to make him believe anything I say while living in the same house.

I couldn’t help Lee Hyun-jae’s dreams, and I can’t beat his parents to a pulp, so I can’t be his benefactor.

Even if I wanted to tell him everything, he wouldn’t listen as it is.

[……Um.]

Maybe you have something planned, but stay still, you strange guy. I’m excited to be alive and well for once.

“Oh, Dong-hwa Hyung.”

Lee Hyun-jae is waving his hand this way, walking over on his own two feet.

We talk and go to the cafeteria together.

While continuing to chat until Chae Ha-min and Ryu I-deun arrive, Lee Hyun-jae clapped his hands with a ‘Ah!’ sound.

“That’s right, but, Mok-hwa, have you ever been a trainee or anything?”

This is an important moment. Show a little embarrassment, and then quickly collect yourself.

Just enough for the current Lee Hyun-jae to notice, even if he can’t read expressions well.

“No, Mok-hwa has always wanted to be a lawyer.”

It’s not a lie. This time, he really did.

Isn’t that why I’m working so hard now, after seeing the law school tuition fees?

“Ah…, is that so?”

He’s smiling innocently, but I know. Those eyes contain the academic passion to know.

Academic passion is a hard-to-explain desire, but it’s similar to obsession, so when Lee Hyun-jae is like that, he always finds out the answer, even if he uses strange means.

You can tell just by the fact that he secretly found out information about my younger sibling in the past.

“…I see.”

He must think I’m hiding it because we’re not close. Usually, people feel sad when they feel this distance, but not Lee Hyun-jae.

He’s probably keeping his distance because he himself is only a month into the relationship.

But since he’s already come into this house on his own, he must have come to the conclusion that ‘This Hyung is someone I can rely on,’ so he’ll rather try to get closer.

Or, he might slowly approach by putting his secrets out in front of me, telling me to quickly tell him my secrets too.

“What are you two doing? You look so cold. Did you bully the youngest?”

Ryu I-deun sat next to Lee Hyun-jae and put down his bag.

“No, not at all.”

“Oh, really? I didn’t expect you two to get along so quickly. Dong-hwa doesn’t say a word even on X-Talk [online messaging platform], so I thought he would need more time to adjust.”

“Well, we live together. I’m boarding at Dong-hwa Hyung’s house.”

“……What? That’s possible?”

“Ah, yes. There’s a spare room in the house.”

It’s fun to tease Lee Hyun-jae, but I’ll have to do it later.

“Wow, boarding…, that sounds fun.”

“I’m sorry. There are no more rooms available.”

Thump, something fell.

“Dong-hwa…, you do boarding at your house?”

A voice filled with shock.

“You should have told me sooner. It was hard to commute! And how much our driver suffered!”

Don’t use the word ‘driver’ carelessly, you crazy bastard. That’s not common in Korea.

His sense of reality is broken here and there, so I’m worried, Ha-min.

“I’m sorry. I just happened to get caught by Dong-hwa Hyung while I was sleeping on the streets.”

Hyun-jae, is that something to be proud of?

“What? No, what are you talking about again? Why were you sleeping on the streets?”

“I wonder. Why did I do that?”

Then he glanced at me.

Look, you know a secret that I value, and you’re planning to get away with it without offering anything in return?

The intention is so clear that it’s funny.

“I wonder, why did you do that.”

I naturally took it over. Chae Ha-min, who was sitting next to me, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He must have come now because he didn’t have a morning class, considering he came with the driver.

“You didn’t take the car today?”

“Ah, yeah. I had a bit of a fight with my father.”

Oh, a familiar plot.

“I guess he was so shocked that I said I’d do it myself. You know the stage I mentioned before? He must have heard that I refused it now. He got angry, asking why I refused, and how much it would help my career.”

And a completely opposite character.

Father, you’ve changed so much. You were ready to beat him to death if he became a celebrity before.

“I might run away from home for a while.”

“Are you a high school student?”

Lee Hyun-jae replied coldly. He looked like he was saying, ‘Why is he acting the same as his friend when he’s all grown up?’

“No, my father is so overprotective of me that running away from home is the best bargaining chip.”

Shut up, Ha-min. Using your own safety as a weapon.

“…Well, you can run away from home at our house for a day or so.”

Then Lee Hyun-jae looked at me with eyes that said, ‘This Hyung really hates people sleeping on the streets.’

“Oh? Is that okay?”

“As long as I get permission from Mok-hwa and Hyun-jae.”

Because it’s our house.

I looked at Lee Hyun-jae. A sign that I would respect his opinion, the best way to get closer to Lee Hyun-jae.

Lee Hyun-jae looked slightly surprised for a moment, then teased Chae Ha-min, saying, ‘What should we do?’

It’s a pleasant meal, really.

* * *

After finishing the meal, on the way to each of our classes.

I moved towards the College of Social Sciences to attend a class on child psychology.

Chae Ha-min, who followed me because his elective was nearby, was waving his hand while looking at the cats on the street.

What should I do with him? I wonder if he’ll change until he tastes the bitterness of society.

“……Huh?”

“Why?”

Chae Ha-min’s gaze was fixed on something.

“Isn’t that, someone collapsed?”

A gently raised finger, pointing to a person collapsed on the hill.

Even in the midst of all that, he was wearing a pink t-shirt with the famous princess of Wizney [likely a play on Disney] drawn on it.

……Wizney?

Chae Ha-min and I carefully approached together.

He was lying on the field as if he were dead, and a cat that roamed this area as its territory was sitting on his head as if coiling up, enjoying a sunbath.

“……What the.”

It’s Seok-joon.