Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 13

13. Can You Handle This?

Rembrary, caught off guard, reverted to his original manner of speaking [his natural, less formal way of speaking].

“Putting the boasting aside, why is your lover also *my* lover?”

Cashy tapped her lips with a finger, signaling ‘watch your mouth,’ and said sullenly,

“I don’t know. I didn’t write the lyrics. I didn’t sing the song either.”

“···”

“There are songs that excessively brag about themselves in this style.”

Rembrary earnestly requested,

“Please play the music one more time.”

As Cashy played the music again on her phone, Rembrary listened even more intently than before.

He clearly heard the lyrics, but the melody itself didn’t suggest such words.

Rembrary pondered for a moment and then said,

“I’ll do it in a choir style anyway.”

Jongwoo put his hand to his forehead but didn’t stop him.

Singing a swag-filled song full of slang in a choir style is absurd, but at least it will be a hot topic again.

* * *

A week was barely enough for arrangement, practice, and competition preparation.

Because of this, Jongwoo said they would just continue filming, and Eunseon and Cashy’s cameramen followed them into the agency with their cameras.

Rembrary followed Jongwoo straight to the practice room.

The other three members were practicing their choreography in the practice room, and they were flustered when they saw the two people with cameras, exchanging glances.

“They’re from Sing Survival.”

Jongwoo quickly explained, and the members cautiously bowed.

Cashy naturally explained to her assigned camera,

“These are our group members.”

Although they were idols, Wild Animal was unfortunately not used to cameras.

They were more accustomed than Jongwoo, but still awkward compared to idols who casually throw jokes.

As a result, the atmosphere became awkward after the greetings.

Eunseon, who could talk but couldn’t lead the conversation, kept glancing at her watch, and the other three members only looked at each other, aware that this wasn’t their main program.

Cashy was busy checking something on her phone.

Eventually, Eunseon, unable to watch any longer, asked a light question to ease the atmosphere.

“By the way, why is the group name ‘Wild Animal’?”

Cashy quickly answered,

“The CEO gave it to us. To run wild in the music industry.”

“Ah, I see.”

As Eunseon nodded, Hyegyeol, who originally had a bright personality, naturally chimed in and said jokingly,

“We also have assigned animals.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yes.”

“What are the animals? Can you tell me?”

Eunseon’s question was both to break the awkward atmosphere and to give the two contestants an opportunity to promote their group.

The members quickly took the bait and explained the animals they were assigned and the reasons for it.

Taein was a tiger, Jeongseo was a deer, Hyegyeol was a hamster, and Cashy was a dog.

Eunseon listened to the members’ explanations and enthusiastically agreed, then looked at Rembrary last.

Since she had heard about this from Jeongseo, the leader, Rembrary calmly answered,

“I am a unicorn.”

Eunseon burst into laughter and asked,

“Why are you the only mythical animal? You stand out too much. What’s the reason? Why a unicorn?”

As soon as Rembrary heard that his assigned animal was a unicorn, he studied what a unicorn was on the internet, so he spoke without hesitation about the prominent characteristics of a unicorn.

“It falls asleep when it pillows on a woman’s lap.”

“Eeeaaack!”

However, as soon as Rembrary said ‘lap,’ Jongwoo screamed and blocked the sound, then grabbed Rembrary’s mouth and dragged him out.

Rembrary, not knowing why, looked at Jongwoo after being dragged into the hallway.

Looking at him wondering why, Jongwoo curled all ten fingers as if scratching a chalkboard and said,

“Are you crazy? What is an idol saying right now! Don’t talk about your fetish so proudly, you jerk!”

“Isn’t that why I’m a unicorn?”

“No!”

“Then?”

“It’s because you dyed your hair white, you jerk, because your hair is white! You’re the visual center, so they just made it something cool!”

“Ah…”

“Next time the topic of symbolic animals comes up… say a sloth.”

Jongwoo said the most peaceful animal he could think of, then told Rembrary to go in first.

“What about you?”

“I’m going to contact a music production company we have a cooperative relationship with. We need to arrange it, whether it’s a musical or a choir style. But there’s no one in our company who can arrange it.”

* * *

Since the composer said he didn’t have time today, Eunseon and the other cameraman decided to come back tomorrow.

However, before leaving, Jongwoo pleaded with them to delete Yeonwoo’s unicorn remark and overwrite it with another interview.

It went like this.

“Woo Yeonwoo-ssi, you decided to sing in a choir style, right? Is it because you’re Catholic?”

“No.”

“Huh? No? But you’re singing a choir song?”

“Because I sing it the best.”

“…Even though you’re not Catholic?”

“I sing it often.”

“?”

They looked sullen, as if they thought the unicorn remark would be more newsworthy, but they were both softer-hearted than PD [Production Director] Kim Murok.

Jongwoo thought it was fortunate and repeatedly thanked them, then followed them out of the office to say goodbye.

And as soon as he returned to the office, he started scolding Rembrary.

However, Rembrary calmly accepted Jongwoo’s nagging with high mental fortitude, and eventually Jongwoo gave up and stopped nagging.

Rembrary, who had been waiting for Jongwoo to stop talking, quickly asked Jongwoo in that gap,

“I have to sing a choir song, so I want to go to church.”

Jongwoo flatly refused.

“Listen to it online. There’s a lot online.”

“But wouldn’t it be different from listening to it in person?”

“It is different. If you listen online, you can listen to the world’s leading choir songs, so it’s better.”

However, Rembrary steadily persuaded Jongwoo.

The reason he said he would sing a choir song was because it was the song he sang best, but the reason he wanted to go to church was not to listen to choir songs.

Rembrary’s reason for going to church was to meet the priest of this world, whom he had not met before.

He was sorry for bothering him, but he had no choice but to keep pushing.

As Rembrary continued to ask, Jongwoo eventually grumbled but allowed it.

“Okay. But! You have to go with me this time.”

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

* * *

Since they had to start filming again tomorrow when the composer came, Jongwoo took Rembrary straight to the church.

Rembrary anxiously clasped his hands together, slightly losing his composure.

Whether he could find a way to return to his original world depended on this, so even the broad-minded Rembrary couldn’t help but be nervous.

Fortunately, this time he was able to meet the priest here.

The priest here is called Father, and he was watering flowers outside the church.

Moreover, when he saw Rembrary,

“Oh!”

He even recognized his face.

“Wild Animal’s that…?”

Rembrary also succeeded in leaving Jongwoo behind and talking to the priest alone.

But things went smoothly only up to this point.

“Father, I have a request for you.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“I want to talk to God, can you convey my words?”

“Pardon?”

“It’s okay to talk face to face, so you can call me.”

“…Pardon?”

The priest did not understand Rembrary’s words.

He knew from the internet that there were no people who used divine power in this world, but he had some expectations because he had seen relics that reacted to divine power.

Rembrary sighed in disappointment.

The priest’s expression was no different from Jongwoo’s or the members’ expressions.

‘What is he talking about?’ expression.

Eventually, Rembrary proposed a complicated but second-best option.

“Then I would like to meet the Pope.”

However, the priest was even more flustered by Rembrary’s words and asked back.

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me why…?”

“I have something to ask.”

“Pardon?”

They continued to exchange conversations like that, but the two people’s words continued to spin in circles.

In the end, the conversation was not very fruitful, and Rembrary left the church powerlessly.

Jongwoo, who was waiting for Rembrary in the parking lot, was surprised when Rembrary, who had run excitedly, walked weakly and approached him.

“Why? What went wrong? Didn’t they show you the choir?”

“I can’t see them easily, and even if I do, I can only look at them from afar.”

“The choir members?”

“……”

Rembrary, who had become depressed, obediently got into the car.

Jongwoo, who did not go to church, tilted his head because he did not understand Rembrary’s words, but Rembrary did not reveal anything more than that.

That evening.

Rembrary was disappointed that his expected meeting with the priest here was useless, so he blankly stared out the window.

Who on earth sent him here?

Was it a black magician or a demon king? Or a subordinate of the demon king?

What kind of power did he use to create such harmony?

This place had different ways of dealing with gods, as well as people’s civilization and values.

The god in the place where Rembrary lived was very close to people.

But this place was not.

There was definitely a god, judging by the relics that reacted to divine power.

Rembrary was so frustrated because he couldn’t actually see that god.

Besides, they said there was no magic here…

‘There were stories about demons and such, though.’

Rembrary searched for demon summoning methods on the internet.

This internet, which was a treasure trove of information, had no information about god summoning methods, but strangely enough, there were many stories about demon summoning methods.

There were god summoning methods too. At first, he was surprised and tried to try it, but Hyegyeol told him it was a game, which made him feel so let down.

Anyway, most of the methods that came out were demon summoning.

But as a high priest, he couldn’t try to summon a demon.

What if a real demon was summoned?

‘…Let’s just think about the competition for now.’

After worrying all the time, Rembrary eventually turned on the competition songs one after another and memorized the lyrics to clear his head.

* * *

The next day, at 10 a.m., the two people with cameras came, and at 11 a.m., the composer came.

The composer didn’t seem to be interested in the cameras, and didn’t even look at the camera side, and called Rembrary and Cashy.

“You’re doing it as a musical. You’re doing it in a choir style.”

Having already heard the story from Jongwoo, the composer immediately said that and asked.

“Musicals and choir styles have completely different atmospheres. Have you thought about what kind of way to solve it?”

Before Cashy could say anything, Rembrary asked first.

“Can I rewrite the lyrics?”

The answer was given by Eunseon, who was holding the camera.

“No. You can only rewrite a male singer’s song for a woman, or a female singer’s song for a man to match their gender.”

The composer asked Rembrary sharply.

“Why? If you can’t rewrite it, are you going to change to another style?”

“No.”

Rembrary answered as if reading a book, and handed over a piece of paper that he had been writing all night.

“What is it?”

The composer inadvertently took the paper that Rembrary handed him.

“I want to sing it like this.”

He glanced through the contents and looked at Rembrary in surprise.

“Can you handle this?”