Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 103

< 103. Message >

“Wow, Yeonwoo hyung [older brother/male friend], you’re number one in the celebrity buzz ranking chosen by entertainment industry insiders,” Hye-gyeol said suddenly, as if he had been distracted from the game for a moment.

Rembrary, who was reading a dictionary while munching on a green apple with its skin, raised his head at Hye-gyeol’s unexpected words.

“What are you talking about?”

“Just like I said, hyung is number one. Yuhan Lim is second, and Wooshin Maeng is fifth.”

Jeongseo said with admiration from the side.

“I guess it’s because had good viewership ratings for its first episode, and it’s been getting higher and higher.”

Hye-gyeol also nodded.

“I think so too. Looking at the members who came up as they are. Wow. Yeonwoo hyung is now the top in terms of buzz, isn’t he?”

Rembrary shrugged and went back to munching on his apple.

Cashy scoffed, as if he didn’t like it.

“Isn’t it because of Yuhan Lim’s suicide attempt?”

Hye-gyeol clicked his tongue.

“It wasn’t a suicide attempt, okay? And it’s funny. Cashy hyung is always picking on Yeonwoo hyung, so why are you trying to live with him?”

Rembrary, who had already heard the answer, continued to focus on eating his apple.

Cashy answered with a grumpy expression.

“Do you think I want to live with him because I like him? It’s because the fans say our chemistry is good.”

“Jeongseo hyung and Yeonwoo hyung are also popular with Tomato Care [fans who like to see them together]. There are a bunch of pictures of Jeongseo hyung taking care of Yeonwoo hyung with tomato juice.”

“Anyway, officially, our chemistry is the best. They say it’s an antagonistic chemistry.”

“You should take the ‘chemistry’ out of antagonistic chemistry, right?”

Cashy frowned again at Hye-gyeol’s words as he clicked his tongue.

Rembrary also sighed along, stopping his apple-munching.

In fact, the reason why the group’s fans called Rembrary and Cashy ‘antagonistic chemistry’ was largely Rembrary’s fault.

He openly said on the show that he didn’t get along with Cashy, but people seemed to take it as irony.

The fans understood it as, ‘If they really don’t get along, they can’t openly say they don’t get along. That means they’re very close.’ It was a truly positive mindset.

But thanks to that, Cashy came out like that…

Jeongseo, who had been quietly watching the situation, asked Jongwoo.

“What do you think we should do, hyung?”

“The best thing would be for you guys to come to a consensus. But you guys don’t agree at all…”

“It’s a headache.” Rembrary calmly advised Jongwoo, who was muttering.

“Then just pick one for us.”

“I wish I could. But the roommate issue needs to be taken seriously. If you guys fight, it could affect the whole group. Even if three of you get along, if two of you don’t get along, the overall atmosphere will deteriorate. Besides, members who don’t get along can become friends while living together, but they can also become complete enemies, so I can’t just split you up as I please.”

It was true, but thanks to that, the matter of the dorm was left unresolved again today.

It was then. A cheerful music rang from Jongwoo’s cell phone.

Jongwoo told them to wait a moment and went out of the practice room, and Rembrary focused on eating again.

About 10 minutes passed like that?

Jongwoo came back in.

But the expression on his face was strange.

It wasn’t a happy face, but it wasn’t an angry face, and it wasn’t a sad face either.

It was a complex and subtle, bizarre expression.

“What’s wrong, hyung?”

When Jeongseo asked, Jongwoo cleared his throat awkwardly, saying, “Ah. Um,” and looked at Rembrary.

Rembrary, with an apple in his mouth, raised his eyebrows at Jongwoo. As if asking, ‘Why me?’

Jongwoo scratched his cheek.

“I just got a call from PD [Producer] Song Yoonbi.”

“Is that so.”

“It’s not really about living together completely. He’s asking if you, Jang Taeri, and Shin Jo-un would like to live in the same house for a show?”

Taein, who was drinking water, choked and coughed.

Jeongseo patted Taein on the back and asked.

“Are you really going with that… concept?”

“I don’t know either. That’s what I asked him.”

“So what did he say?”

“The PD said the reaction to the three-person household is better than expected.”

Rembrary, still crunching on his apple, thought that if the three of them lived together, it would be pizza for lunch and pizza for dinner.

“What did Jang Taeri say, Jongwoo?”

“Jang Taeri said it would be fun, and Shin Jo-un said he didn’t mind either.”

“Then why do you have that expression on your face?”

Hye-gyeol explained instead from the side.

“One way or another, CEO Shin is a CEO in the same industry. It’s a bit much from Jongwoo hyung’s perspective, right?”

That seemed to be the case.

Jongwoo sat blankly for a while, then got up, saying he had to talk to CEO Lim first.

“Are you leaving already?”

“You guys eat moderately and start practicing soon. The dance teacher will be here soon.”

“Okay.”

“Oh, and Yeonwoo?”

“What is it?”

“You know there’s a Madeleine autograph session tomorrow, right? Don’t eat too much.”

“Okay.”

***

The autograph session was hosted by Madeleine, which hired Rembrary and Oh Jeongshin as advertising models, and it was an event where if you brought the product they were promoting, they would sign it for you.

It’s not that if you buy one, they’ll both sign it for you, but if you buy the product, you get a signature from the product’s advertising model.

Since the popularity is clearly visible, Oh Jeongshin’s fans shouted in anger, ‘This is intentional!’ but they couldn’t help but rush to buy Oh Jeongshin’s All-One White Sun Cream when the schedule came out.

Rembrary’s fans, knowing that they were outnumbered by Oh Jeongshin’s fans, worked harder to cover the numbers, and agreed to buy at least two or three Black BBs each. Because if you’re a fan, you don’t want the idol you’re supporting to be embarrassed in front of people.

Rembrary, unaware of this overheated atmosphere, went to the autograph session with a lighter heart than the fans and was surprised.

The atmosphere of the fans approaching with the products seemed very serious. The same was true for Oh Jeongshin’s fans, but when Oh Jeongshin smiled professionally and eased the atmosphere of the fans, Rembrary glanced at Oh Jeongshin and straightened his posture.

After that, the event itself went smoothly.

It was a way of signing the product when a fan brought it and then saying a word of blessing, which was familiar because there were many similar events in the original world.

“Stay healthy.”

“God bless you.”

“God bless you – oh, you’re Christian? Yes, amen.”

“Your liver doesn’t look good, you should go to the hospital.”

But it was in the middle of the autograph session.

“Um… hello.”

A couple hesitated and brought a young child forward.

The child was wearing a thick hat that was not suitable for the weather, and his complexion was pale and his lips were bluish.

The couple showed the purchased product and asked.

“If you don’t mind, instead of signing, could you please say a word of blessing to this child, wishing him to get well soon?”

It was a request I used to hear all the time in the original world. But it’s the first time in this world. Rembrary stared at the couple with wide eyes.

The child’s mother said shyly but earnestly.

“I’m sorry for the sudden request. But I saw a post by the father of a child who had a similar illness before. He said his child was cured thanks to Woo Yeonwoo…”

Rembrary answered in a sad voice.

“That’s an exaggeration. I can do it, but I’m worried you’ll be sad if it doesn’t work.”

Oh Jeongshin’s fans, who were glancing at Rembrary, and Rembrary’s fans, who were lined up, were startled by the sudden change in Rembrary’s tone.

Regardless, Rembrary looked at the sick child because he really felt bad.

It was so upsetting to see a small child sick and wheezing weakly, and the parents looking worried.

But there were many eyes watching. If he treated him, it would be rumored to be a miracle.

It’s already difficult for rumors to spread. There’s also a group called Nakru who are trying to kill the saints here.

After much deliberation, Rembrary only gave a blessing without using divine power.

“…God bless you.”

The child’s parents thanked him repeatedly and disappeared with the child.

But in the end, Rembrary was worried, so after signing a few more autographs, he said he needed to go to the bathroom and chased after the couple.

Fortunately, he was able to see the child’s mother near the bathroom. She seemed to be waiting for the child’s father, who had gone to the bathroom.

“Woo Yeonwoo?”

The child’s mother called Rembrary with a bewildered expression as Rembrary strode up to her.

Rembrary approached the child, bent down slightly on one knee, and said, making eye contact with the child.

“I couldn’t bless you with all my heart because there were so many people earlier.”

“Yes? You came because of that?”

“This time, I’ll do it with all my heart.”

The child’s mother still had a bewildered expression.

“But.”

Rembrary raised his head, made eye contact with the child’s mother, and asked.

“Even if this child gets better, you must keep this a secret that I didn’t help him get better. Can you promise?”

The child’s mother nodded hastily. Her face was a mixture of expectation that a miracle would happen, disbelief that such a thing existed, and hope that it might.

Only the child seemed unaware of the situation, staring blankly at Rembrary’s face.

Rembrary reached out his hand to shake hands with the child.

When the child reached out his small hand, Rembrary shook the child’s hand lightly a few times and whispered with divine power.

“May you not be sick anymore, God bless you.”

The child’s mother instinctively teared up at the sight of him looking so sacred.

She brought him here with the feeling of grasping at straws, but she didn’t have high expectations.

Her heart was touched by the sight of him worrying about the child so sincerely.

Rembrary infused enough divine power, finished shaking hands, stood up, and patted the child on the back.

“Oh? Woo Yeonwoo?”

The child’s father, who had just come out of the bathroom, saw Rembrary and called out in surprise again.

Rembrary pretended to be on his way to the bathroom and quickly entered the bathroom where the child’s father had come out.

After counting 3 minutes, he returned to the venue and started signing autographs again.

But after doing about six more people.

A tall man put a large envelope on Rembrary’s front table when it was his turn and asked.

“Do you sign as many as I bought?”

“I will.”

Rembrary answered and looked up at the man.

The man’s hair was snow-white, and the atmosphere was like ice.

“There are twenty.”

The man said that and took out the cosmetics one by one from the envelope and placed them on the table.

He must have received three more as a service for buying so many. There were twenty-three.

Rembrary said he would do twenty-three and picked up a pen, unfolded the paper, and asked.

“What should I write?”

“You said you were busy?”

What does this mean? Rembrary wrote it down as it was, even though he was puzzled.

And when he unfolded the next page and looked up, the man said again.

“I’ve been waiting.”

This time, he wrote that down as well.

When he took out the next piece of paper. The man said again.

“Do you know who I am?”

It was an ambiguous statement, whether he was getting an autograph or starting a conversation.

Still, after writing down what he said, it was when he took out the fourth piece of paper.

“I saw you healing the child.”

The man muttered in a voice so small that others couldn’t hear him.

Rembrary was startled and looked at him. Did he see it earlier?

There was clearly no one nearby, and he deliberately lowered his voice.

From a distance, it would have looked like he just shook hands with the poor child one more time.

But he said he saw him healing him?

When their eyes met. The man’s eyes curved long.

“Don’t worry. I’m on your side.”

“Should I write that down too?”

The man shrugged, then leaned over slightly and whispered in a small voice.

“I came to wait first to assist you. There is a message from Redrin.”

< 103. Message > End