Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 58

58.

Another peaceful day at the dorm. Chae Ha-min declared he would master the difficult skill of ‘cooking’ and headed into the kitchen.

And, not forgetting the flour-filled spectacle from last time, I sat at the table, keeping an eye on Chae Ha-min.

“What are you making, Ha-min?”

“Hmm, I feel like eating seasoned mushrooms today!”

Hmm, it would be hard to fail at a dish that only involves blanching and seasoning.

“But since you don’t like mushrooms, I’m going to make braised spicy chicken.”

…Oh, dear. That would be an excessive insult to the butchered chicken.

“Desecrating a corpse is immoral, Ha-min.”

“Dong-hwa, I’m so hurt, really.”

Hearing that, Ryu Iden’s eyes sparkled as he sat down at the table.

“Oh, should we show Ha-min cooking on the W app [a live streaming platform]?”

“…Is it okay to broadcast the abuse of food?”

There might be some environmentalists watching.

Chae Ha-min glared at me with an incredulous look.

…What are you looking at? You conjured eyes out of flour.

“Dong-hwa, I’m disappointed. I’ll definitely succeed this time and make you kneel!”

Chae Ha-min washing his hands overlapped with the image of a child left by the river.

Chae Ha-min was burning with competitive spirit, and Ryu Iden shouted even more enthusiastically.

“Then I’ll get permission from the manager and team leader and turn on the W app!”

* * *

“So, today’s Blossoms’ W app! It’s Blossom Food Club.”

I put on an ill-fitting suit, sat at a desk covered with an equally ill-fitting cloth, and looked at the camera.

…Ryu Iden, you crazy bastard.

“Today’s invited gourmet is Mr. Ji Dong-hwa, who has no dislikes except for Wiener Schnitzel and mushrooms!”

“…Hello, Luminas [Blossom’s fan base]. I’m Ji Dong-hwa, here to accept this poisoned chalice today.”

“It’s not poison! I’ll show you a taste of perfection.”

…I don’t think that’s how that idiom is used.

“And the chef who will challenge Mr. Ji Dong-hwa today, as you saw on the reality show, is the alchemist who created snow from ordinary flour, Mr. Chae Ha-min!”

“To the Luminas who are laughing right now! I’ll make you all regret it with my skills today!”

…Don’t say that while holding a kitchen knife, you rabbit.

In that state, Chae Ha-min smiled brightly and said,

“Today, I’m making braised spicy chicken. It’s my mom’s ultimate recipe!”

Ultimate… I should apologize to the cotton [used to absorb the potential mess].

After that, Chae Ha-min began to break down the chicken with insane concentration, with the same excited expression he had when he was the climax center in the second half of ‘Cloudy Blue’.

“Now, while Ha-min is performing his alchemy, shall we communicate, Dong-hwa?”

“…Um, the Luminas seem to have a lot of questions about this self-produced content.”

“Ah! That’s right. That was Dong-hwa’s idea. A worldview that magically preaches philosophy!”

Shut up.

The idea of creating magic-like power by constructing philosophy with logic is mine, but I wish you wouldn’t talk about that bizarre video as if it were entirely mine.

“…I wrote the script, but the idea itself was conceived together.”

“That’s true. But Dong-hwa is really good at writing, Luminas. The planning team added some meat to the episode Dong-hwa wrote, which was originally intended to be one episode, and made it into about four episodes, right?”

I nodded and looked at the comments. And there…….

―Idea!

A flood of countless ideas. Ha, given Ryu Iden’s personality, he’ll definitely…….

“We have to do it for you, Dong-hwa!”

“…Prepare to go into the food waste bag with the braised spicy chicken Ha-min makes after turning off the W app today.”

“Dong-hwa! It’s going to be really delicious. The ultimate recipe!”

Eventually, I shouted Idea without CG [computer graphics] and reached the peak of shame, and Chae Ha-min sat down at the desk next to me.

“Now, all I have to do is boil it! What were you talking about, Dong-hwa?”

“…What philosophy you will preach, and what philosophy Iden *hyung* [older brother/male friend] will preach.”

“Ah! I’m in the other person…….”

I quickly raised my hand and blocked his mouth.

“…Spoiler.”

―Ah, Dong-hwa, why are you so quick, really ㅠㅠㅜㅠㅠ

―Give us some spoilers ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅜㅜ

―Wow, you’re being mean ㅎㅎㅎ

―Do you have any follow-up song activity plans?!?!!

―It’s ridiculous that next week is the last week of Cloud Blue… Please, a follow-up song ㅠㅠㅠ

Whether the equation spoiler = follow-up song was completed in the Luminas’ heads, a question about an issue that the planning team had thoroughly kept secret came up.

This is what the leader has to solve.

“There is no follow-up song. But I think I can deliver good news in a week, everyone.”

In addition to the behind-the-scenes of the filming and the behind story of Ryu Iden’s ‘Cliff and Boy’ music video, Chae Ha-min brought a pot and placed it on the desk, as if the braised spicy chicken was finished. It’s finally time to die.

“…The scent is normal for now. The visuals are also good.”

“I told you I’d succeed this time.”

I carefully picked up a piece of chicken breast with chopsticks and placed it on a plate.

―Why is Ji Dong-hwa’s chopstick etiquette so polite…

―He’s killing me with politeness…

The moment I tore off the meat and carefully took a bite.

As if a sharp saw blade was moving on my tongue, or perhaps as if a bullet was piercing and penetrating my tongue, a stinging sensation spread.

…It’s damn spicy.

I quickly chewed and swallowed it, then opened my mouth and looked at Chae Ha-min.

Eyes full of anticipation. A conviction that it must be delicious. It was as if a child was drawing their parents’ faces, and their face was filled with the purity of wanting to be praised for drawing well.

…Ha, damn it.

“…It’s delicio, us.”

My pronunciation was slurred once in the middle because my tongue was tingling.

“Wow! Wow! Everyone! Luminas! Did you see! Did you see! I told you I’m good at cooking!”

“Dong-hwa, is it really delicious?”

While Chae Ha-min took the center of the camera and shared his joy with the Luminas, Ryu Iden quietly asked.

“…Don’t eat it. Let’s just let him be happy for now.”

Only then did Ryu Iden, who realized the seriousness of the situation, nod.

“Wow! Everyone, I’m going to be Blossom’s official chef from today. Please congratulate me!”

…Well, the bigger the dream, the better.

* * *

At the HBR broadcasting station’s waiting room, after finishing the pre-recording at dawn, we heard strange news.

“…Nominated for first place?”

As a leader, Ryu Iden, who is as calm as I am, muttered quietly, and even I, who was suffering between Chae Ha-min and Seok-jun, stopped.

“Yes, that’s right. I heard that the music score and video score increased significantly.”

…Oh, no, the tension is already engulfing the members like a plague.

“Ah, no, um, Manager Seung-won, maybe the, the reason, maybe?”

This time, Chae Ha-min, who was naturally nervous, slurred his pronunciation as if he had put candy in his tongue.

Well, isn’t the reason obvious?

“Um, I think there are two main reasons. The first is that Kyun-hwon sang ‘Cloudy Blue’ on the radio, and the second is, cough, heu, peuh, that, the academy video is, somewhat popular, ahem.”

…The manager doesn’t know that trying to hold back laughter can make others more miserable.

Lee Hyun-jae was in a daze and then laughed.

“…Blue Jack will win first place anyway, but I feel great!”

As expected, he is smart and realistic. Seok-jun is sitting blankly next to him, imagining what would happen if he won first place!

“But then shouldn’t we do something for our fans?”

“Um, that’s right. Actually, it’s all thanks to the fans’ *light* [love and support] that we’re in second place even though we’re rookies.”

For reference, ‘light’ is our inside term for fans’ love. It follows the ancient philosophy that ‘light = truth = goodness = good (love)’.

While we were thinking about how to repay the fans’ light, the base life [the system providing quests], which had been quiet for a while, sent an alert.

Ding―!

[Sub Quest ‘My Own Little Concert!’

You and your friends are currently one of the most prominent teams among rookies. Plan a street performance to secure more fans and make the Rookie of the Year award a foregone conclusion!

Completion Condition: Secure 1000 additional fans through street performances

Reward: A trivial piece of the future]

I quickly scanned the notification window with my eyes.

Giving me this quest at this point, of all times, is a transparent act with a clear intention.

I slowly began to analyze the intentions of the base life.

First, if it’s a normal street performance, it’s impossible to secure an additional thousand people, so there’s a subtle suggestion to film it and upload it. This is something that can be suggested to the planning team, so it’s okay.

And second, let’s pay attention to the name of the quest. The fact that it uses the term ‘concert’ here is related to the meaning that the scale must be larger than a typical street performance. Hmm, does that mean renting an outdoor stage, even if it’s small?

…I think I understand roughly. I’m also curious about that trivial piece of the future.

“How about a street performance to commemorate the first place nomination?”

“Street performance?”
Ryu Iden takes the words.

“Since there aren’t many opportunities to see the Luminas up close, let’s do it like our own little concert.”

“Oh, then do we select a setlist like a concert? That’s good. We’re too small to have a concert.”

Ryu Iden nodded positively, and Chae Ha-min added.

“Many fans want to see some of the old survival stages again, so how about doing those stages again?”

Well, wouldn’t that be disrespectful to the eliminated trainees?

“…Um, if we’re going to do it, shouldn’t we invite the people who were eliminated, Ha-min?”

That means let’s not do it. It’s awkward to invite them, and it’s also funny to make the stage entirely ours without inviting them.

“Ah, come to think of it, Hyun-jin joined a new agency. Diony Entertainment.”

…The place where Mok-hwa is?

My head starts spinning quickly. 1. Kim Hyun-jin is a talented trainee who is likely to debut. 2. Mok-hwa is my sister. 3. They are likely to debut in the same team.

I say quietly.

“…How about a special ‘Horizon’ stage?”

It was 10 seconds ago that I said let’s not do it, but logical contradictions are nothing for the sake of my sister.

* * *

After completing the plan to borrow an outdoor stage and perform for about an hour as a reward for the fans’ light, and then edit it and upload it to the official account, we had nothing to do, so we sprawled out in the waiting room. If an old person who is used to hand washing came, they would probably beat us with a *fulling stick* [used to beat clothes while washing].

“…Come to think of it, this week is the last week of ‘Cloudy Blue’.”

“It seems to have pa―ssed by so fa―st. It really feels like a dream.”

“…It feels like it was just yesterday that Dong-hwa was the ending fairy [the member who gets the final shot]. He was so flustered because his ears turned red because he was the only one on screen for 10 seconds.”

…Shut up, Ha-min. Don’t stimulate my trauma.

In the waiting room that resembled a laundry place, someone knocked and then came in.

…Yoon Seong-ho.

“Everyone! Congratulations on being nominated for first place!”

He’s a human being who has at least some manners in that he hasn’t dropped honorifics, even though he’s dropped honorifics with everyone except me.

“Seong―ho *hyung*, you ca―me at the right ti―me.”

Seok-jun smiled and welcomed him, then made room for him inside.

“Oh? But is it okay to come alone, Seong-ho?”

Then Yoon Seong-ho smiled awkwardly and said,

“Actually… I wanted to come with all the members to congratulate you, but everyone is a little…….”

Hmm, why does the drug offender group hate us so much?

“They’re a little jealous because you’re more popular than our team? Something like that.”

Yoon Seong-ho is trying to sugarcoat it, but the nuance that they didn’t want to bring him because they didn’t want to see his face is wafting around.

“So just! I came alone. Really congratulations. It seems like you’ll be completely successful soon.”

Yoon Seong-ho shouts confidently, and the other members respond.

…And I am seized by an ominous feeling. Probably something similar to guilt.

I probably already guessed it, but I was trying to ignore it because I thought it was someone else’s business.

If Chae Ha-min is removed from God’s Eye, will the possibility be realized as it is, or will it be realized differently if a new person fills that position as a result?

[We will answer assuming you have used a question right.

Answer: If the personality of the new person is similar to the personality of the existing person, it is highly likely to be realized similarly.]

Ha… Damn it.