Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 85

85.

Lee Ji-hyun was in a good mood. Her spirits had soared so high the previous night, reaching a high she imagined people probably sought through drugs.

Basking in that exhilarating feeling, Lee Ji-hyun arrived at the Gat Entertainment building at 2 PM for a meeting, having been informed that the other members had already gathered for the scheduled 2:30 meeting.

The moment she opened the conference room door, a palpable chill filled the air. The planning team leader, the management director, and several others were bowing their heads in front of Director Kim.

‘Hmm… what’s going on?’

She knew she needed to tread carefully around Director Kim, who, unlike her father, supposedly didn’t favor her. The only reason she could get away with her antics was thanks to Director Lee, who was connected to her father.

But why? Why were the director’s eyes fixed on her with such a sharp glint?

“You’re here, Ji-hyun.”

…What the hell? A chill ran down Lee Ji-hyun’s spine.

The gazes of the other members were also starkly divided.

Except for Ho-yeon and Yoon Sung-ho, the others wore expressions that practically screamed, ‘She’s screwed.’

Yoon Sung-ho, on the other hand, looked at Lee Ji-hyun with pity, while Ho-yeon, uncharacteristically, displayed an emotion of disgust on his otherwise indifferent face.

“You’ve really outdone yourself. Making us wonder if we should just throw the project our company invested in into the trash.”

The tablet in his hand displayed footage from a club.

An hour later, Lee Ji-hyun found herself confined to her dorm under the pretense of self-reflection, missing the meeting entirely. The members’ expressions twisted slightly as they looked at her, their blaming gazes obvious. It was ridiculous, considering they were the ones who had reached for the drugs first in the end.

…This is a disaster.

Lee Ji-hyun muttered as she lay on her bed.

The company didn’t even bother trying to find out who sent the video. Instead, she was on her way back from hearing from Director Lee, whom she had trusted, that she should stay quiet and not make a fuss, or her position might become precarious.

…What the ××, what’s going on? Why was there a camera in my father’s club?

That room was a VIP room her father had specially prepared for his son, so how could there be one there?

After all the pessimistic thoughts about her situation, Lee Ji-hyun came to one conclusion: she needed to contact her father.

Lee Ji-hyun hurriedly picked up her phone and speed-dialed ‘1’. He was the one who had always resolved any problems she had!

The phone rang. Lee Ji-hyun swallowed hard, feeling her mouth dry.

And the moment she told her father everything, a booming voice erupted.

―You ××××! Was it you! I was wondering why the ×× police came into the business!

* * *

Ryoo I-deun sat down and looked at Ji Dong-hwa, who was sitting at the living room table with Lee Hyun-jae, discussing a poem.

On his phone, the unfolding drug scandal involving his sister was slowly gaining traction.

The strange list that Ji Dong-hwa had given to his sister as a gift through him. His sister stalked an actor on that list who was rumored to frequent the FFF club, and the result was the current news articles.

“Dong-hwa hyung, then isn’t this interpretation also possible? Because the archetypal symbolism of water is at play!”

“Hmm… that’s plausible enough. Let’s interpret the next verse in that way.”

Ryoo I-deun was starting to get confused as to whether Ji Dong-hwa was just bold or something, considering how calm he was despite causing a storm in the entertainment industry.

According to the plan… Lee Ji-hyun’s father would gradually find it difficult to help Lee Ji-hyun because of the people who received drugs from him, starting with that actor.

Unless Lee Ji-hyun completely fell apart, if she maintained her job as an idol, she wouldn’t be able to directly harm Yoon Sung-ho because of the public attention.

In the end, even his sister’s actions after receiving the list were predicted and were acting as part of Ji Dong-hwa’s plan.

Ji Dong-hwa’s plan stated:

# Route A, Sub-item 13: If Lee Ji-hyun informs her father about this matter (89% probability of realization)

―In this case, the matter is most likely to be resolved smoothly. There is no additional work to be done for the results we are aiming for. The reason will be explained later.

1. Person F will not be helped in avoiding police investigation even if it is known that his direct descendant is a drug offender.

2. Person Y is likely to be intimidated by his father’s anger rather than protection, and it is also presumed that Y’s close associates will feel resentment towards Y. This resentment will act as a cause to control Y’s actions.

3. According to what I heard from the rabbit’s uncle, the agency’s protection of Y is due to a specific director. Because of this, the director’s position is likely to be jeopardized, so the agency will also control Y.

4. If such control occurs and privacy is managed, the protected person A will not have the idea of publicizing Y’s drug use. Because prevention is in progress.

―Conclusion: Therefore, skip the intermediate process of Route A and move to A―5 2.

‘…More than that, Ha-min is so naturally written as a rabbit in the plan.’

His own name was replaced with a puppy in the plan, so was it possible that the members were being replaced with animals in Dong-hwa’s head? Even though he himself was a cat!

Anyway, Ryoo I-deun was getting goosebumps from Ji Dong-hwa.

The option of revealing the fact that Lee Ji-hyun was doing drugs to realize justice, or the option of revealing the fact that Lee Ji-hyun’s father was a drug offender, did not exist anywhere in the contract.

Rather, he even asked his sister to keep the secret about Lee Ji-hyun in exchange for handing over the list. Of course, he even took pictures yesterday in preparation for an emergency.

What Ji Dong-hwa chose was not ‘punishing the wicked.’ What was written in the last part of Ji Dong-hwa’s plan, the epilogue, was ‘the survival of Gat-A.’ However, only cutting out the possibility of Yoon Sung-ho being in danger.

Ryoo I-deun recalled the conversation he had with Ji Dong-hwa after reading all the plans.

‘…Um, but Dong-hwa hyung, what if Lee Ji-hyun falls back into drugs again?’

‘That can happen. The repetition of mistakes is inevitable without proper education.’

‘Then what if Sung-ho is in danger at that time?’

Perhaps at this time, Ji Dong-hwa didn’t like being called Lee Ji-hyun, so he used the word ‘human’ when he said it out loud.

‘…The situation will be different. Without Sung-ho directly revealing the human’s drug use, she will go down to hell on her own.’

In the end, according to Ji Dong-hwa, if Lee Ji-hyun is properly ‘educated’ through this incident and changes, Yoon Sung-ho will be able to work as Gat-A, although it may not be smooth, but if not, Lee Ji-hyun will collapse alone, and Gat-A itself may collapse from that starting point.

‘Isn’t that the situation you wanted…?’

‘…It was the most likely case. The possibility that Yoon Sung-ho could continue his activities as an idol.’

Ji Dong-hwa said that and showed a certain expression. It was the same expression that his mother used to make when Ryoo I-deun was young and got hurt when he was alone at home… an expression of guilt.

He was just having precognitive dreams, so why did he show such a guilty expression for a moment?

Perhaps there was something he didn’t know, but Ryoo I-deun just nodded, thinking that there was nothing he could do.

Ryoo I-deun got up from the table and lay down on the sofa behind the two sitting at the living room table.

“Guys! Let’s play with hyung!”

“…Hyung, it’s a sacred learning time right now!”

Lee Hyun-jae said in a sharp voice when his reading time was disturbed. Ji Dong-hwa seemed to give up, closed his poetry book, and leaned back on the sofa. He had a sleepy, languid expression.

“Hey! Don’t be like that!”

“…Hyun-jae, do you want to learn how to play Korean chess [Janggi]?”

“Why Korean chess all of a sudden?”

“It’s fun to play again after a long time.”

“Hyung, I don’t like Korean chess at all……”

In the living room where the sunlight was peacefully falling, Ryoo I-deun helped Ji Dong-hwa solve the problem while sitting still after a long process.

Therefore, Ryoo I-deun just hoped that the current peace would last a little longer. Ryoo I-deun hoped that the peaceful daily life would be repeated without any special events.

* * *

Just before the comeback, we came to the salon for the final styling. We also trimmed or dyed our hair during the MV shoot.

Anyway, I was just trimming my hair length, so I didn’t need any special work and just sat still.

“Ugh, eugh, groan.”

This is the sound of Chae Ha-min groaning in pain while applying some medicine to her hair.

“Dong-hwa! My head is burning!”

The target of her appeal was completely wrong.

“I felt like I was going to die when I bleached my hair before the last music video shoot, and now again!”

How painful is it to bleach the roots? I don’t know because I’ve never experienced it.

It seems that Chae Ha-min is planning to have silver hair this time. Silver hair, a color suitable for an animal with a legend of living on the moon.

Of course, next to her, Lee Hyun-jae, Seok Jun, and Ryoo I-deun are sitting in order and dyeing their hair. Among them, Chae Ha-min and Lee Hyun-jae, who bleached their hair in the last album, are suffering from bleaching. The other two are very peaceful.

But… um, it’s not that I feel envious or alienated, but why am I the only one left with black hair?

“Dong-hwa, you have to go with neat black hair as much as possible.”

The salon director sits next to me and hands me orange juice.

“…Is that so? Is it because of the fans again this time?”

“No, this is my stubbornness. Something similar to craftsmanship? You should do a blue color even if you do, but if that’s the case! It’s better to maintain jet-black hair.”

…The modifier ‘jet-black’ reminds me a bit of that thing called middle school syndrome [cringey phase many go through in middle school].

“Anyway, your black is black enough to look slightly blue when you receive light, so it’ll be okay, right? The fans’ reactions?”

In fact, there’s not much of a problem as long as the fans like it.

“Ah, wait a minute! Director, my hair is burning?”

Lee Hyun-jae’s plea, followed by a scream that he barely suppressed, came to my ears.

Oh dear, that’s unfortunate.

“Is Hyun-jae bleaching his roots with blonde?”

“That’s right. I-deun is re-dyeing his roots with brown, and Jun is re-dyeing his roots with blue. Only you have become a little free.”

“I like this kind of time.”

I took out the book I had brought, enjoying the time I could sit alone for the first time in a while and the screams of the members that I could hear as background music.

Being and Time, a classic I’m reading after a long time.