Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 115

< 115. 100 Keywords (1) >

[Trouble?]

[Are you available to talk?]

Rembrary grabbed his phone and headed up to the rooftop. After closing the door behind him, he called Sajamjae.

Previously, Woosungwoo’s boss had taken a call in the hallway, prompting Jongwoo to follow him outside. Learning from that experience, this time Rembrary went all the way up to the roof to ensure privacy.

After a few rings, Sajamjae answered.

“What is it?”

As Rembrary spoke, Sajamjae’s voice came through the receiver, accompanied by muffled background noise.

– The place I found him is practically on the doorstep of the underworld.

“Is he dead?”

– He’s alive. Some kind of evil spirit that had latched onto the song dragged him away, but because he was so full of life force, it seems it just hung him on a tree at the entrance to the underworld while it made its escape.

Rembrary clicked his tongue, picturing the dark and gloomy entrance to the underworld that no one in their right mind would want to visit.

Bizarre trees jutted out at odd angles. And the guy was hanging from one of them.

“Is he hurt?”

– He’s not seriously hurt. Draining life force from a living person is difficult, but replenishing it is easy. Now that he’s back from the underworld, his life force will recover on its own.

“It’s a relief you’re useful for something. Bring him back quickly.”

-…

“Why haven’t you hung up yet?”

– No… it’s nothing.

Sajamjae hung up, but Rembrary couldn’t bring himself to go straight back downstairs.

He was worried.

Evil spirits could attach themselves to things that exist in a nebulous way, like songs or dances.

These evil spirits were much weaker than those with clear forms, but because they lacked a physical presence, even the most skilled priests had difficulty locating them.

The summer song that Hyegyeol had received this time didn’t feel right either. It seemed like an evil spirit had seeped into it…

‘Is she okay?’

The problem was that since it was an evil spirit that had seeped into the song, it would repeat its actions even if someone other than Hyegyeol sang it.

The best course of action would be to discard the song entirely, but would the people in the office, who were so impressed with how well the song had turned out, be willing to throw it away just because an evil spirit was attached? They’d probably look at him like he was crazy and be completely dumbfounded at the mere mention of an evil spirit.

As if reading his mind, Sajamjae sent a text message 15 minutes later, asking:

[I’m in the parking lot. But about the song, how about Wooyeonwoo singing it himself? That would be the safest option.]

Rembrary clicked his tongue and replied:

[If I sing that song in the middle of all this, I’ll really look like the biggest jerk ever, Jamjae.]

***

August 15th

I found Hyegyeol. She’s unharmed and safe.

Thanks to that, everyone at the company is relieved, and Mr. Sajamjae, who brought Hyegyeol back, has become a hero.

I wonder if the people who were whispering that Hyegyeol ran away because of me will finally stop now?

Everyone was worried because Hyegyeol disappeared, but Jongwoo hyung [older brother or close male friend] and Jungseo were especially concerned because the blame suddenly fell on me.

People are strange. They were saying that Hyegyeol, who is alive and well, had committed suicide, and in the midst of all this, they’re strangely speculating about the cause… Wait. I just got a call from Mr. Shin Jo-woon.

Three in the afternoon.

I just hung up.

Mr. Shin Jo-woon sounded worried for some reason, and he kept asking me if I was okay.

I told him that I was fine and that Hyegyeol was fine, but he said that he saw on the news that Hyegyeol was fine, and asked me again if *I* was okay.

His attitude was suspicious, so I asked, “Do you feel guilty about something towards me?” and he hung up, saying that I seemed fine. People are so strange.

August 17th

I will be appearing on a variety show as a guest with Mr. Shin Jo-woon.

The name of the variety show is *100 Keywords*.

They prepare 100 word cards, and the staff chooses five keywords that correspond to the guest. The audience looks at the keywords and tries to guess the 출연자 [performer].

If more than half of the audience succeeds in guessing correctly, they get a 10-minute talk segment centered on the keywords. If they don’t guess correctly, they just say hello and leave… Jongwoo hyung emphasized that no matter how famous a star is, if the audience doesn’t guess correctly, they really do send them away.

When the purpose is to promote dramas, movies, albums, etc., they sometimes come as a team, and when it’s a team, they tell you that it’s a team.

I don’t know why I’m not on a team with Ms. Jang Tae-ri but with Mr. Shin Jo-woon, but that’s just how it is.

In my opinion, it seems that the dating show production team deliberately set up this schedule to calm down the rumors that briefly circulated after Hyegyeol’s disappearance.

…I just got a text from the PD [Production Director].

He says that’s right. Mr. Shin Jo-woon arranged the schedule.

But, PD-nim? Are you watching this in real time?

Five in the afternoon

Mr. Shin Jo-woon called and said this:

“You know you’re going on a variety show with me, right?”

When I said I knew, he said this next:

“Our keywords are easy, so we’ll definitely get to the talk segment. So let’s practice a little beforehand.”

Why do we need to practice when we can just say whatever comes to mind? But when I voiced my opinion, Mr. Shin Jo-woon said that we need to practice because we *can’t* just say whatever comes to mind.

I asked if he was afraid of making a mistake, and he chuckled while saying that he was afraid, although the subject was different.

I think it’s a curse word as he laughs. I don’t know what he means. But because I am wise, clever, and gentle, I didn’t ask what it meant.

Anyway, in order to be considerate of Mr. Shin Jo-woon, I said okay and asked him exactly what he wanted to do.

Then, Mr. Shin Jo-woon said without hesitation, not even for a second:

“Don’t call me Whale Anchovy. I won’t call you Pig either.”

I thought he was pretending to be calm even when I called him Whale Anchovy. He must have hated it too.

Anyway, I don’t like being called Pig either, so I agreed to that deal.

I really hate the sound of Pig. Ever since Mr. Shin Jo-woon called me Pig, Shin… 아니, [no,] fans keep putting hearts next to pigs and commenting under my SNS photos. I hope you guys don’t do that.

Jongwoo hyung keeps using that as an excuse to reduce my meals because I’ve gained weight.

PD-nim, please cut this part out and include it. If you really have to call me Pig, please call me Skinny Pig.

Ah, back to Mr. Shin Jo-woon.

Mr. Shin Jo-woon said that this was his condition and told me to state my requirements as well.

So, as I was thinking about it, I remembered the contents of a recent episode of *100 Keywords* that Jongwoo hyung showed me.

One of the MCs there asked the guests who came to promote the movie what the other person was usually like.

With this in mind, I asked Mr. Shin Jo-woon:

“If the MC asks me what I’m usually like, please say that I am truly intelligent and full of sexual energy.”

People keep calling me Dumbass Dumbass, but when I looked it up, it was a very bad word.

No. I am a very wise person.

There’s just… a reason why I don’t *seem* wise, but in fact, my head is full of wisdom.

But I can’t show this wise side of me for the time being, so I asked Mr. Shin Jo-woon for help. The evaluation of someone who knows you is the most accurate.

But Mr. Shin Jo-woon answered shamelessly, “No.”

When I asked him why, he said that if he said that, he would become a strange person.

I asked him if I seemed like *that* much of a Dumbass, and he chuckled while talking.

He’s really mean.

***

<100 Keywords> Filming Day.

Jongwoo took Rembrary to the salon early in the morning and asked them to make him look at least a hundred times more handsome than usual.

“You’re already one of the top five most handsome male celebrities in Korea, aren’t you?”

“Please make him look the *most* handsome for the next twelve hours. I’m going to be sitting next to CEO Shin Jo-woon on a talk show, so as a celebrity, he has to be more handsome than that CEO.”

“Ah.”

“Besides, it’s been noisy lately because of the bullying rumors. We need to make people focus only on his face.”

The makeup artist didn’t take it too seriously at first, questioning why he was so worried about that, but because of the bond they had shared since his days as an unknown, she really put all her heart into grooming Rembrary’s face.

After finishing the makeup, he looked like a truly stunningly handsome man, even though it felt a bit over the top.

But Rembrary, who was convinced that his original appearance was more handsome, didn’t admire himself even while looking in the mirror.

“You really have to thank your parents, kid. For letting you be born with that face.”

“Are you talking about the parents who abandoned me?”

“…”

While Jongwoo, who had praised him without thinking, was taken aback by the bluntness, Rembrary calmly got into the van.

As Sajamjae started the car, Jongwoo put his cell phone and tablet on his lap and started working on something.

It was morning, but there were many cars on the road, so traffic was heavy.

Rembrary quietly stared at the back of Jongwoo’s head, mentally rehearsing the lines that Jongwoo had told him yesterday about how to answer if a question about Hyegyeol came up.

Then, he suddenly became curious.

“You’re not telling me to watch my mouth today?”

He didn’t even know if he would get to do an interview on this program. It was a program where spontaneity was key, so there was no set script.

Of course, the concept was that they didn’t ask malicious questions because there was no script, but thanks to the nature of the program, where wit and spontaneity were important, people’s reactions to the guests were very clear.

But Jongwoo, who usually told him to watch his mouth, was unusually quiet, so he thought it was strange.

Jongwoo didn’t even look at Rembrary as he answered.

“Mr. Shin Jo-woon will be next to you. And it seems like people are getting used to your character, more or less.”

“My character?”

“A mouth without a filter.”

“…”

“But it’s still good to watch your mouth.”

About 40 minutes later, Sajamjae finally parked the car, and the three of them moved directly to the studio through the parking lot.

As they entered the hallway behind the studio, a staff member approached and told them the location of the waiting room.

“There are three teams of guests today. Wooyeonwoo and Shin Jo-woon are the first team, but they give out drinks and snacks to the audience, and the MC and fixed guests tell them the precautions and raise the atmosphere in advance, right? During that time, please wait in the waiting room. You can watch the broadcast directly on the TV in the waiting room.”

After explaining, the staff member briefly showed them the set inside in advance.

None of the guests had arrived yet, but the audience was already filling the seats, and the staff was busy moving around.

“You can’t show your face.”

When Rembrary was curious and tried to see more, the staff quickly stopped him.

After that, Rembrary went into the waiting room and waited for about 30 more minutes. Then, he was guided by the staff and entered a large box at the back of the studio.

It was a box about the size of two restrooms, with a thin, small monitor attached to the wall, and a hundred keywords were floating around on the monitor like name tags.

“Wait here and come out when the door opens later.”

“Just go out?”

Aren’t we practicing?

Rembrary, who was used to repeated practice and rehearsals at music broadcasts and drama filming sites, asked in embarrassment, but the staff smiled and answered, “Yes.”

They said they wanted a genuine reaction. It seemed like they were deliberately sending him out without any practice.

“If all the keywords are correct, this door will open and you can go onto the set. But if the keywords are wrong, the person who opened it now, right? This will open again.”

After the staff closed the door,

‘Is Shin Jo-woon in another box right now?’

Rembrary stood blankly in the empty box, staring blankly at the monitor full of keywords.

As he was doing that, one particularly annoying keyword immediately caught his eye.

‘Pig!’

Rembrary glared at it.

< 115. 100 Keywords (1) > End