Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 121

< 121. I'm a King, Too >

“This is troublesome…”

PD [Production Director] Ki Hyo-won scratched the back of his neck, looking displeased, while writer Kim Sung-chae peeled a green apple nearby, clicking his tongue.

“Tsk, tsk. I told you not to drink so much.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you talking about your hangover?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind.”

Kim Sung-chae replied casually, then took a bite of the peeled apple and sat across the large conference table from PD Ki Hyo-won.

PD Ki Hyo-won glared at Kim Sung-chae for eating the apple alone without any consideration, but Kim Sung-chae was oblivious.

Oblivious, Kim Sung-chae kept eating the apple, ignoring PD Ki Hyo-won’s glares. Another staff member subtly nudged him, trying to give him a hint, but he didn’t catch on at all.

Seeing this, PD Ki Hyo-won sighed and muttered again,

“There’s a problem here, a problem there.”

Only then did Kim Sung-chae ask, as if understanding, “Ah.”

“Jang Tae-ri and Shin Jo-woon still aren’t backing down? They both insist on being the king? It’s exhausting trying to bring in the CEOs [Chief Executive Officers].”

“Not only that, but Woo Yeon-woo also wants to be the king.”

“Huh? Wasn’t he going to be a eunuch?”

“He says there’s a difference between not using something and not having it at all, so he doesn’t want to be a eunuch. He wants to be the king.”

PD Ki Hyo-won scoffed, finding it absurd, and Kim Sung-chae chuckled, replying, “No way.”

“Did his manager say that? I don’t think the idol himself would say that.”

“It’s his own words. He texted me directly in the early morning.”

Kim Sung-chae choked on the apple he was eating. He looked as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Seriously? Woo Yeon-woo texted you in the early morning?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve heard of objecting, but this is the first time I’ve heard of insisting.”

The staff member next to him chuckled and added,

“Woo Yeon-woo is famous for being crazy anyway. A crazy person with morals.”

“Right. He really does everything that isn’t forbidden by law. A text to the PD in the early morning. Well, just put him wherever you think he fits, PD.”

PD Ki Hyo-won glared at Kim Sung-chae.

“If I could, I would have done it my way.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Shin Jo-woon is the CEO of World Boom. Do you want me to be openly hostile to the CEO of World Boom?”

“Then Shin Jo-woon can be the king, Jang Tae-ri can be the queen, and Woo Yeon-woo can be the eunuch.”

Jang Tae-ri was a self-made chaebol [a wealthy business owner], but not in a field that influenced broadcasting. Woo Yeon-woo was popular, but just one of the rising idols. So, Kim Sung-chae was suggesting a reasonably biased choice, favoring the influential Shin Jo-woon.

“That’s true, but…”

However, PD Ki Hyo-won didn’t answer easily and tapped the table with his finger.

“The visuals won’t come out right…”

There seemed to be a better composition, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.

Anyway, since they were bringing together the three most talked-about people, they had to get a good amount of footage.

These three people were highly newsworthy just by having a conversation.

If they failed to capitalize on the buzz, people would surely say that PD Ki Hyo-won lacked competence.

As he was thinking, PD noticed the three slices of apple that Kim Sung-chae had cut. The apples were lined up like twins.

The moment he saw them, a good composition came to PD Ki Hyo-won’s mind.

“We can do that.”

“Yes?”

PD Ki Hyo-won jumped up and shouted,

“We can do that!”

* * *

Title: Anyone see the time machine keyword for the week after next???

I rubbed my eyes.

I rubbed them again because it was still there.

Isn’t this crazy?

The setting is a virtual Joseon dynasty palace,

and the base setting is insane.

“Rumors began to circulate among the Joseon people that there were three kings.”

For reference, those three kings are Jang Tae-ri, Woo Yeon-woo, and Shin Jo-woon.

The setting is that the three are doppelgangers.

Does that make sense?

Even with 0.1 vision, you can tell them apart.

The production team is crazy.

Gue1: LOLOLOL Stop doing weird things LOLOLOL

Gue2: Their faces are all different LOLOLOL

Gue3: I just looked up all three of their faces LOLOLOL Are you crazy? If you can’t tell those three apart, you have a problem with facial recognition.

Gue4: Is the base setting that the people can’t recognize faces as a group? LOL

Gue5: Does Woo Yeon-woo make the setting weird, or does Woo Yeon-woo go into settings that are already weird?

Gue1: LOLOLOL I just applied as a general applicant LOLOLOL

ㄴ gue2: Are they accepting applications now?

ㄴ gue1: They’re accepting them for 3 days starting now

ㄴ gue2: TYSM [Thank you so much]

Gue6: I applied too LOL If you apply, you get randomly assigned as a court lady, eunuch, civil official, or concubine, and they’re not accepting young children this time. You can apply from age 17. Here’s the link (http://*** *** ***) It’s free, so it might be fun to try if you have time

Gue7: Woo Yeon-woo’s fans are going to flock there.

ㄴgue6: It’s okay. The participants in this program are randomly assigned jobs, but the selection isn’t random. They pick people with similar age ranges and genders to match the ratio. If you’re not a similar gender and age to Woo Yeon-woo’s fans, it doesn’t matter if all of Woo Yeon-woo’s fans come

ㄴgue7: I’m a Woo Yeon-woo fan ㅠㅠ A light fan ㅠㅠ

ㄴgue6: Then it’s going to be really tough. Good luck.

* * *

“I’m a king?”

At that moment, a post on a community site threw Woo Yeon-woo’s fans, the viewers of the double-crossing team, the viewers of , and even people who didn’t watch into confusion.

Rembrary was overjoyed to hear the same news from Jongwoo.

“Still, even so, what’s with three kings?”

Jongwoo grumbled, but Rembrary was satisfied and replied proudly,

“Still, being a king is better than being a eunuch.”

“You should have let the other two be kings and you be the eunuch. That way, you’d stand out.”

“I like being a king even if I don’t stand out.”

Rembrary was so happy that he started to dance.

“How can you be so bad at dancing even when you’re dancing…”

Jongwoo sighed as he looked at Rembrary, but he didn’t care at all.

Rembrary really, really didn’t want to play the role of a eunuch.

Hye-gyeol, who was sucking on a konjac jelly, listened to the conversation and added with a grin,

“If the setting is a virtual Joseon, then you’ll have to use Joseon-era 말투 [style of speaking]… Ah. Hyung [older brother or male friend] already uses that 말투. You don’t have to study the king’s 말투.”

“Did Joseon kings speak like me, too?”

“Well, I don’t know if it’s historically accurate. But that’s usually what people think? Just lower your voice a bit more.”

“Like this?”

“More dignified!”

“Like this?”

“That’s it!”

“Ahem. Ahem. I am the king. I am the monarch. Ahem, I am the monarch. Rap. Rap. I’m a rapping monarch. A monarch, not a eunuch.”

Hye-gyeol clapped, saying he was doing well, and Tae-in clicked his tongue as he watched the two of them.

“Those idiots…”

Instead of being cynical like Tae-in, Keshi joined the conversation and started giving advice.

“You have to study the words, too. They’re famous for not giving out long scripts there.”

“Oh, is that so? Do they give out as much as ?”

“I don’t watch the script, so I don’t know.”

“Yeon-woo hyung. Keshi hyung is right about this. Even if it’s a virtual Joseon, it’s still a Joseon setting, and if you use English, people will think you’re really ignorant. Let’s study the words, words.”

Keshi, who had been giving advice in good faith for a moment, changed his mind and started teasing Rembrary.

“He can’t speak English anyway. He only uses a few frequently used words.”

“Ah. That’s true. Yeon-woo hyung can’t speak English anyway.”

Jongwoo clicked his tongue, thinking that Keshi was a unique kid. They weren’t close, but they weren’t not close either. Watching them from the side, it was a bit erratic.

As he was thinking, Rembrary looked at Jongwoo and asked,

“Jongwoo. Do you have a Joseon-era dictionary? A thesaurus is fine, too.”

“I don’t think so? I don’t think I do?”

“Then how do you know the words to say?”

“…Just say it as it is. It’s not a serious drama, so unless you’re openly using English, I think the viewers will be lenient. If it’s a word that’s hard to replace with English, they’ll understand.”

“Is that so?”

“Um. Still, it would be good to look up a few famous words. Okru [jade girdle], something like that. I’ll find them and pick them out for you, so memorize them and use them.”

At that moment. Tae-in, who had been quietly looking at his phone, smiled mischievously to himself. A good idea came to him.

* * *

“He’s really diligent.”

A few hours later. Jongwoo, who had looked up words for historical dramas, printed them out, and came to the practice room, was impressed to see Jungseo sitting quietly leaning against the mirror, reading the script alone.

The audition was tomorrow, so she was particularly focused. No matter how much noise was around her, she didn’t even flinch and was working hard, which seemed really amazing.

“People like you should be successful. Sincere, diligent, capable, and hardworking.”

Jungseo smiled faintly on her expressionless face at Jongwoo’s compliment.

Jongwoo was even more impressed by the smile and repeatedly praised her with a satisfied expression.

“You’ll do well.”

“Thank you.”

Jongwoo patted Jungseo’s shoulder again and then looked for Rembrary to give him the materials.

But Rembrary was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, Jungseo. Can you give this to Yeonwoo later?”

In the end, Jongwoo handed the materials to Jungseo, who was closest to Rembrary, instead.

However, before Jungseo could even look up, Tae-in, who was next to her, quickly reached out and took the materials instead.

“Jongwoo hyung, I’ll give it to him.”

Jongwoo looked at Tae-in with a dubious expression.

“You will?”

Tae-in replied nonchalantly.

“Jungseo is busy. She has an audition tomorrow.”

Jongwoo almost said, ‘I’m uneasy because you, who don’t get along, are going to give it to him…’ but he didn’t say it because he thought it would be stirring up trouble between the kids.

Even so, he wouldn’t take it and not give it to him when all the members were there.

Besides, Tae-in didn’t get along with Yeonwoo, but he had never bullied him behind his back.

“Okay. Please give it to him.”

“Okay.”

“But where did Yeonwoo go?”

* * *

[Shin Jo-woon, I’m a king now, too >ㅅ<] [Failed castration, congrats] [There can only be one king.] [?] [I'm going to kick Shin Jo-woon out before the week is over >ㅅ<] [lol try it] After texting Shin Jo-woon, Rembrary proudly texted Jang Tae-ri again. [Jang Tae-ri, I'm a king, too >ㅅ<] [lol Just be a eunuch. Stick with me.] [I can stick with you even if Jang Tae-ri is the eunuch.] [LOLOLOLOL] He was texting back and forth with the two of them when it happened. One or two fluffy bugs began to appear in the air. Rembrary looked up and saw a cow's head peeking out the window, looking at him. When their eyes met, the cow's head carefully looked around and said with a dejected face, [I have something to say. I have something I want to say.] Rembrary raised his eyebrows and pointed at himself with his finger. 'Me?' And when he asked with his lips, the cow's head nodded and carefully opened the window slightly and cautiously came inside. But it didn't come close and stopped, keeping its distance so it could run away at any time. Then, with a very frightened face, it asked, [I'm quiet and I I listen well Moo Moo Why are you doing this to me Why are you doing this] Rembrary raised his eyebrows, wondering what this was all about, and the cow's head shrank even more and said, [Humans are holding hands. They're interlocking fingers. We have to hold hands to survive, too. Don't hate me. Don't hate me.] < 121. I'm a King, Too > End