Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 5

“Dong-hwaaa, the cold wind feels sooo good.”

“Shut up, you rabbit bastard, it’s humiliating.”

What am I even doing right now?

A certain philosopher said that rational thought becomes possible when humans can view themselves objectively.

So, let’s follow that logic. How did I end up in this situation?

1. Cha Ha-min surprisingly got drunk after just one beer.

2. Cha Ha-min could barely stand on his own after we left the restaurant.

“Dong-hwa, whyyy do you make songs so well……. If you record them laterrr, send them to mee too…….”

3. I’m shorter than Cha Ha-min, so even supporting him from the side, I currently want to die.

“Dong-hwaaa, the ground is sooo soft……. I wanna sleeep hereee…….”

4. No, should I just kill Cha Ha-min right here and now…….

Let’s stay calm. Killing someone isn’t something a civilized person should do.

With great difficulty, I dragged Cha Ha-min into my house. I threw Cha Ha-min onto the bed and took out a bottle of water from the fridge, drinking it all at once. I briefly considered throwing the bottle at Cha Ha-min, who was flailing on the bed, but I stopped myself. Good thing I bought a sofa for the living room.

‘But will he be okay not telling anyone he’s staying out? Should I call his house…….’

…Shut up, Ji Dong-hwa. You’ve done your duty as a human being by letting Cha Ha-min sleep here.

I tried to ignore it and was about to leave the room after only taking off Cha Ha-min’s coat.

Yes, I was about to leave… but I saw ‘Home’ written on Cha Ha-min’s phone. If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t care. Damn it.

I took a few deep breaths and answered the phone.

“Young Master Ha-min, where are you?”

‘…Young master?’

* * *

While Cha Ha-min was suffering from a hangover from just one beer on my bed, I received a message from Nietzsche Entertainment.

‘Congratulations! You have passed the final audition.’

It seems the decision was made quickly, probably because the other trainees weren’t very good.

And with that message, a notification popped up.

[Quest ‘You Can’t Run Away Anymore!’ Completed!

You were on the verge of homelessness due to unpaid rent, but now you are completely free! Of course, if you do your best in the survival show.

Reward: A total of 5 million won [approximately $4,000 USD] in cash for the overdue rent and two months’ rent]

…If I had failed the audition, I would have been sued. I need to pay the rent first.

[Warning! Rewards can be revoked at any time, so you must do your best to prepare for the stage!]

‘…I know, you damn creature.’

I did this because I didn’t want to be in debt, but why do I feel like I owe 5 million won? …How dirty.

Anyway, for that reason, Cha Ha-min decided to shower at my place and go together…….

‘…….’

As a result, I had to feel suffocatingly burdened. His eyes have been the same ever since he woke up.

“…I told you, you don’t have to feel sorry.”

Did his intelligence regress to the level of a rabbit after drinking? Why doesn’t he listen even when I tell him?

“Thank you for saying that, at least…….”

“…I’ve said it’s not just words, several times.”

“Oh, right. But there’s a record of calling home yesterday, but I don’t remember talking to them, so did you answer it?”

“…Yeah.”

And I realized that you come from a family that employs servants, at the very least.

Well, let’s just forget about that. No matter what his family is like, he’s just a kind but stupid rabbit.

“So, I caused another inconvenience……. I don’t think I should drink anymore, right?”

“…Their house also has delicious apple juice.”

Cha Ha-min seemed to feel better at those words, abandoning his gloomy expression and grinning again.

I don’t know why he’s happy that I indirectly told him to abstain from alcohol.

Ha, whatever. Let’s go take a shower first.

I think while standing under the cold water. Why is this bizarre intellectual creature so desperate for me to participate in the survival show?

‘Creature. Show me the main quest one more time.’

[Main Quest ‘Encounter!’

Completion Condition: Form close relationships with four people, including Cha Ha-min!

Reward: ???]

It’s definitely suspicious. The quest target is 4 people, and the total number of survival show debut members is 5. …It’s too perfect to be a coincidence.

That bizarre creature recommended that I complete this quest to find out the reason why I’m in this messed-up situation.

That means the reward for completing the quest will inevitably be a clue… I don’t know why the quest condition, ‘Become close with 4 people,’ bothers me so much.

‘Ha, I guess I have no choice but to play along with its intentions for now. It’s also true that I’m curious.’

If it doesn’t tell me the reason for the space-time 이동 [transfer/shift], just you wait.

That thing doesn’t seem to be a being from this world, so I’ll start space-time research that day and go find it myself.

* * *

“Hello! I’m Jang Hae-jin, the team leader of Planning Team 2, who is in charge of this survival show. We met at the audition yesterday, right?”

When I went to the conference room at Nietzsche Entertainment’s building, the planning team leader greeted us. Just by looking at her, I could tell she was skilled in business.

She reminds me of the editor I used to work with.

“First of all, congratulations on confirming your participation in the survival show. And since the concept is that the audition is nominally made up of internal trainees from Nietzsche Entertainment, I think it would be good for both of you to sign a contract with the company, even if it’s temporary. Would you like to take a look?”

I received the contract and quickly skimmed through it.

‘The only trainee contract I can compare it to is the one from God Entertainment, which was full of loopholes, so I don’t know if this is good or bad.’

I had no choice but to wait for Cha Ha-min to speak… Wait a minute. I think I read something strange.

“What does it mean here, ‘If the program is harmed due to the trainee’s personal issues, damages will be compensated’?”

“Um, you know why we recruited additional survival show participants, right? So, this is a newly added clause. We didn’t have enough time to do individual background checks on both of you.”

“Then it would be appropriate to specify it more concretely. As it is now, it’s too vague, so it seems like damages could be claimed for almost anything. It’s unlikely, but according to this clause, they could argue that ‘harm’ was caused to the survival show due to a lack of skill.”

Team Leader Jang Hae-jin looks at me with a flustered expression. She looks like she didn’t expect this. Is it rude for trainees to challenge contract clauses like this, perhaps?

I don’t know the idol scene well, so it’s full of troublesome things. I should set aside a day to study it later.

“We just added this clause… so it might seem that way. Then we’ll limit the ‘personal reasons’ mentioned in the clause to illegal activities. Like school violence.”

I nodded in satisfaction and looked at Cha Ha-min.

Then Cha Ha-min mouths ‘Good job.’

I didn’t look at you to be praised, you crazy rabbit. I was asking if there was anything wrong.

The guy who smiled back at me after I cursed him with my eyes looked at Jang Hae-jin and opened his mouth.

“According to the contract, I can stay at Nietzsche Entertainment even after being eliminated from the survival show, right?”

“Yes, isn’t that a good opportunity for both of you? We’d hate to let talent go.”

Not at all. I don’t know about Cha Ha-min, but there won’t be a second time for me.

“Dong-hwa, even if we get eliminated, we don’t have to go looking for a place to be a trainee, right?”

If you say it so happily, I’ll feel a little guilty.

“…I guess so.”

Yeah, who knows what kind of service they’ll provide in words.

“We’re done with the contract for now. Just in case, do you have any issues like school violence or anything similar?”

“No!”

Cha Ha-min answers confidently. If Cha Ha-min did something like that, there would be no one left in the world to trust.

I opened my mouth to answer, following Cha Ha-min… but I hesitated.

I don’t know anything, do I?

Ding—!

I reflexively turned my eyes to the direction of the sound.

[Ji Dong-hwa’s past, compared to your current self, has no major changes except for the addition of trainee life.]

In other words, I was probably bullied in school too. Ah, no. I wouldn’t have been good at studying because I was a trainee, so there’s no reason to be bullied, right?

‘Tell me this too, intellectual creature, if you would.’

[There were no acts that could be called bullying.]

Input complete. By the way, this doesn’t seem to be treated as a private conversation. I should use it wisely.

I made eye contact with Jang Hae-jin again and said. Perhaps because of the approximately 4 seconds of silence it took me to read, Jang Hae-jin had a slightly nervous expression. Feeling sorry, I smiled slightly and said.

“…There weren’t any particular problems.”

“That’s a relief. Then, since you’re here at the company, would you like to say hello to the other participants in the survival show?”

Ha, with my trash-like social skills, can I meet and talk to 8 new people?

“Sure!”

Yeah, I trust you, Cha Ha-min. I nodded in response to Cha Ha-min’s answer.

* * *

Why are their eyes like this? The place Jang Hae-jin took us was a dance practice room, and there were 2 out of 8 people there. The other 5 are coming soon.

Anyway, their eyes are cold. If I had to pick, one of them seemed wary of strangers, but the other one… is different. It’s understandable to be wary since it’s our first time meeting, but that’s more like… hostility.

As we awkwardly bowed and greeted them according to the introduction, Jang Hae-jin left to bring the others, and a chilling silence filled the air.

Cha Ha-min tried to break the atmosphere first.

“Hello! You heard it earlier, but I’m Cha Ha-min. I’m twenty years old. Dong-hwa next to me is my friend!”

And then, silence again. What is it, seriously? As we stood there quietly, the guy filled with hostility looked at me and said.

“Aren’t you going to greet us?”

Ah, it’s a power play. I understand now. Relationships between people often continue as they are initially formed.

So, in any kind of relationship, if it’s a relationship where you have to share interests with the other person, you have to suppress them at the beginning to make it easier to gain benefits.

They must want to suppress us, who just came in.

‘They could have done it in a more elegant way.’

I’ve only ever experienced elegant but meticulous power plays in debates, so this seems too crude.

To pick on the order of greetings and swear at someone in *banmal* [informal speech] on the first meeting.

Actually, I would have just ignored it usually, but seeing Cha Ha-min next to me not knowing what to do, I can’t help it. It’s frustrating.

“May I ask how old you are?”

Let’s first check if there’s a reason to be spoken to in *banmal*.

“Why, are you upset about being spoken to in *banmal*?”

“You look older than me, so why would I be upset?”

I was subtly calling him old, so I hope he understands.

“I’m just a little curious. How old are you?”

The guy looked at me, showing that he felt disgusted, and said bluntly.

“Is that how you talk to a senior trainee?”

Ha, he’s a kid. Seeing him make that excuse at this timing, he’s probably twenty at best. He doesn’t want to say it because he knows our age.

By the way, this is such an empty conversation. Like someone said, I’m not confident in winning with words because we can’t communicate. I’d rather just swear at him, but we might have to keep seeing each other’s faces, so, well. Yeah, this would be better.

“Senior, we’re a bit lacking. We’d like to learn a thing or two, so what field are you most confident in?”

It means let’s shut up and compete with skills. He has a brain, so he must know what I mean.

If he backs down here, that’s fine too. He’ll have to taste the subtle sense of defeat that he stepped back because he wasn’t confident in his skills.

“Dance.”

Okay, I choose you, Cha Ha-min.

“Ha-min, can you show the senior your dance?”

If you back down here, I won’t be friends with you, you rabbit bastard.

Fortunately, Cha Ha-min seemed to understand my intention, looked at me, smiled very faintly, and nodded.

“Then I’ll show you my dance! Please tell me what to improve.”

He’s good at matching my mood, even though I thought he was clueless.

Anyway, that’s it. Cha Ha-min will take care of the power play with his skills, so I just have to wait elegantly… No.

Come to think of it, if I back out here, he might bother me again.

“Then, while you’re evaluating, please evaluate my song too. I made a song yesterday.”

It’s a song that expresses the joy of eating Wiener Schnitzel right away.

Because of the Wiener Schnitzel I ate after a long time, my passion burned too much, and I stayed up almost all night to make a short song, but a very exciting funky song was completed. I’m glad I put it on my phone because it’s good to listen to.

Only then did they realize that things were going wrong, and they had slightly embarrassed expressions.

If I were them, I’d be a little embarrassed if I looked so confident in my skills.

Cha Ha-min, who suddenly had to dance freestyle next to me, also had an embarrassed expression, but he’ll do well on his own, so I’ll ignore it.

‘From now on, let’s make sure our friends use skills to make a power play.’

I’m already sure of victory. Originally, guys who lack things to show off rely on empty authority like seniority to demand obedience from others.

As I was preparing the situation and getting ready to play the song, Cha Ha-min came up to me and whispered.

“…Is the song the one you played at home today?”

“…Yeah.”

Cha Ha-min seems anxious about having to dance to a new song suddenly, and he’s busy drawing a picture in his head.

“…With your skills, there are only a handful of trainees who are better than you, so relax.”

Cha Ha-min looks at me with a touched expression.

“…Thank you.”