Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 139

< 139. Alone on a Holiday >

[I woke up early and took a short walk.]

Rembrary used his wit to quickly make up an excuse.

However, Woo Sungwoo was quick-witted. Even though Rembrary made up an excuse without hesitation, he seemed suspicious and immediately questioned him.

[Perhaps… is the person who attacked my colleague related to you?]

[I don’t know what you’re talking about.]

[Or maybe it’s you?]

Like when he suspected me of being his younger sibling before, he was truly a quick-witted person.

Rembrary glared, even though there was no one in front of him, and said.

[What are you talking about! I am a saint who loves and protects peace. I would never do such a thing!]

[A saint?]

However, his desperate excuse backfired, and nonsense came out. Rembrary, realizing his mistake, tapped his mouth and added.

[An adult, an adult.]

[Who said anything?]

[……]

[Anyway, it’s not you?]

He was momentarily startled, but fortunately, Woo Sungwoo didn’t seem to associate ‘saint’ with ‘holy man.’ Rembrary replied with relief, “Yes.”

[But why are you lying?]

However, Woo Sungwoo was truly persistent. Since he wouldn’t just let it go, Rembrary eventually frowned and retorted again.

[Do I have to tell you my entire schedule?]

[I’m your brother.]

[You don’t tell me your entire schedule either.]

[What are you curious about in my schedule?]

[What did you eat today?]

[Cake?]

Rembrary wasn’t the kind of strange person who would get angry just because someone else ate something delicious. However, since he urgently needed an excuse to end the call with Woo Sungwoo, he deliberately sent a text message pretending to be very angry that the other person had eaten cake alone.

[You’re my brother? How dare you call yourself my brother after doing that?]

He wondered if he was looking too much like a glutton, but well, he was his brother.

[Don’t text me!]

Rembrary quickly sent the text message and immediately put his phone down on the sink.

***

“What is it?”

Woo Sungwoo looked down at his phone, dumbfounded. What is this……

He knew that his memory-loss brother was becoming famous for his gluttonous image, but still, wasn’t this a bit too much?

He was so taken aback by the sudden anger that he was beyond dumbfounded. He didn’t even remember the CCTV incident anymore.

Is the agency starving him too much? As he was suspecting this, the team leader passed by and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh?”

“He’s angry because I ate cake.”

Woo Sungwoo still couldn’t understand it, so he started to retrace the conversation from the very beginning.

“He must be sulking because I didn’t tell him it’s my birthday. He’s much cuter than his broadcast image!”

However, as soon as he heard the team leader’s exclamation, he stopped his busy thumbs.

Woo Sungwoo looked at the team leader, wondering, ‘Is that so?’ The team leader kept muttering, ‘Cute, cute!’ repeatedly.

Woo Sungwoo thought about it carefully and concluded that the team leader was right.

Then, he suddenly felt touched. This kid…… he should just say it.

Feeling a bit shy and awkward, Woo Sungwoo flipped his phone over in his hand a few times before texting Yeonwoo again.

[I didn’t tell you because I thought you’d feel burdened.]

At that time, Rembrary was rolling up his sleeves to wash his face, rubbing cleansing foam on his hands.

***

Just as he was about to wash his face, he heard a ‘pop’ sound and saw the name ‘Woo Sungwoo’ and frowned. He thought the texting was over, what is it now?

After washing his face, Rembrary wiped his hands on a towel and checked the text message. Then, he raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

He didn’t care if Woo Sungwoo ate cake alone or not, but after receiving this text message, he actually felt a bit upset. Saying he didn’t tell him because he thought he’d feel burdened meant that he originally intended to eat together…… Could it be that the cake was originally received with the words, ‘Eat it with your brother’? Otherwise, there was no way he would send this kind of text message in this context.

[? There’s no way I’d feel burdened]

Let’s pretend I don’t know and reply. Woo Sungwoo texted back like a knife.

[Are you that upset?]

Rembrary was half-convinced. Could the cake have been sent by Woo Sungwoo and Woo Yeonwoo’s parents? To eat together during the holidays? But he ate it alone?

If he assumed that, Woo Sungwoo’s text messages made sense.

And if he assumed that, Woo Sungwoo was a really petty person.

Rembrary frowned and protested.

[How could you eat cake alone without calling me? Did it go down well?]

***

“Wow…… look at this kid.”

“What’s wrong?”

“He must be worried that I spent my birthday alone.”

Woo Sungwoo kept making strange expressions on his face.

He had been feeling unfamiliar since he lost his memory, but seeing this, it seemed like some traces of his original younger brother remained.

Woo Sungwoo wrote and deleted the text message several times before answering more kindly than usual, though awkwardly.

***

[I ate it with other people. Don’t worry too much.]

That kind text message made Rembrary even more annoyed.

Wasn’t this really a bad brother?

He teased him for eating a cake alone that he was supposed to eat together, and then what? He ate it with other people?

He wondered if they were really brothers, his personality was so messed up.

[I’m not worried]

Rembrary clicked his tongue and sent the last reply, then decided not to reply to whatever he said next, and put his phone on silent before leaving the bathroom.

***

“This punk, is he embarrassed? He’s acting all awkward like a kid.”
The team leader, who had come to Woo Sungwoo’s side and looked at the text messages together, once again exclaimed, “Wow, cute!”

He had been watching the show a lot recently. He seemed to like Woo Yeonwoo back then.

Woo Sungwoo put his phone down next to him with a proud feeling and asked.

“It seems like Yeonwoo didn’t see anything on the 8th. Did you ask Cheonri about it?”

“I asked too. But they don’t know anything.”

Woo Sungwoo muttered with a serious expression.

“Is it Lunar after all……”

If it was Cheonripung who did it, it would have been easily resolved. Their relationship had been good recently, so he would protest a bit, but that would be fine. Since it was clear that the other party’s target was the demon beast, Nakru had nothing to worry about.

However, if it was Lunar, another suspect, who did it, it was really dangerous. Getting involved with them wouldn’t end with just getting hurt, but with completely disappearing. It wasn’t a matter of protesting or anything.

The atmosphere in the hospital room instantly became serious. Everyone looked at each other silently.

At that moment.

“Hey, but.”

Eon Dooshin, who they thought was sleeping, raised his hand with the IV drip halfway from the bed.

“I’ve been thinking about it carefully. I don’t think it’s Lunar.”

“What do you mean?”

The team leader asked.

“Well, isn’t it obvious.”

Eon Dooshin scratched his head roughly, and when blood flowed back through the IV line, he quickly lowered his hand and continued to explain.

“If Lunar attacked, they wouldn’t have left the two of them alone in the first place. They kidnap us as soon as they find us, right?”

Unfortunately, it was a statement that speculated the situation even worse.

“Then does that mean there’s another enemy besides Lunar?”

***

The next day, Rembrary went to the agency with the members and received the hanbok [traditional Korean clothing] that the agency had prepared in advance.

“Wear this and come out, and let’s take a cut of you guys putting your hands together and greeting over there, a cut of you guys waving your hands together, a cut of you guys making a heart, and a cut of you guys bowing. And one solo photo each.”
The members each received hanboks of different colors, changed their clothes, and came out.

It wasn’t like they were filming in a studio. A temporary filming set had been set up in the waiting room.

“Jongwoo.”

“What.”

“There’s a problem.”

“What is it? Is the clothes torn? Are you sick somewhere?”

“I don’t bow to anyone.”

It took a little time because Rembrary flatly refused to bow, and it took time again to figure out how five people could make a heart, but somehow they managed to create a formation and start filming.

Jongwoo stood behind the photographer with the public relations team staff, monitoring whether the members looked attractive and nodding his head.

After about 30 minutes, the photographer smiled satisfactorily, as if he had gotten a picture he liked, and took his face off the camera.

Since they heard that they could go home after taking the pictures, the members also thought, ‘We’re going home now,’ and quickly scattered.

“Ah, wait a minute.”

However, the public relations team staff called the members back.

Wondering why, the five of them gathered, and the public relations team staff turned on the notepad on his phone and said.

“Can you each say a short word you want to say to the fans? I’m going to add a short line with color at the very end of the article.”

Always say thank you. Say that you’re always energized thanks to the fans. Say that you’re looking forward to the new album this time. Say you love them, etc. Taein, Keshi, Jungseo, and Hyegyeol gave flawless greetings in turn.

The public relations team staff quickly moved his thumb and wrote down all the words, then finally asked Rembrary as well.

“Yeonwoo?”

“Tell any believer who is confident in verbal or physical combat during the Holy War to send me a personal message on SNS [social networking service]. And also wish for God’s blessing.”

The public relations team staff stared blankly at Rembrary for a moment, then bowed his head and completely self-edited Rembrary’s greeting.

“……I’ll write ‘Have a happy Hangawi’ [Korean Thanksgiving].”

“I see. Then I’ll do something else.”

Rembrary hurriedly stopped him because he didn’t like that. The public relations team staff sighed and advised bluntly.

“Don’t joke around this time, and say it.”

“People who don’t have a religion or want to change it, people whose faith is wavering, send me a message on SNS”

“I’ll write ‘Have a happy Hangawi’.”

There was a slight trouble over Rembrary’s greeting, but this time again, they somehow managed to compromise, and the holiday greeting filming ended safely.

The members exchanged greetings with the staff, CEO Im, and Jongwoo, and then scattered happily.

You could see that they were floating with the thought of going home or to their hometown.

Having lived as unknowns for a long time, they had received worries, sympathy, and ridicule from their relatives every holiday, but now that they had begun to make a name for themselves, their parents’ shoulders would be straightened and they could avoid the nagging bombs from their relatives. It was their first holiday after becoming famous, so it was natural to be excited.

‘……It’s going to be a bit lonely, though.’

Only Rembrary, who returned to the dorm and was left alone, felt a little depressed and sat alone on the sofa.

It hadn’t even been 30 minutes since he was left alone in the dorm.

It wasn’t because the members had scattered separately. It was because hearing the members talk excitedly about their homes reminded him of his own home.

There were holidays there too, and one of them was Rembrary’s birthday. Believers often visited Rembrary even on normal days, but the frequency was even higher on his birthday.

He missed that teeming crowd.

To shake off his longing, he searched for Chuseok [Korean Thanksgiving] food photos on his phone, but the depressing feeling deepened because of the ancestral rite table photos dedicated to the ancestral gods.

‘I used to receive a lot of this in my original world too.’

In the end, Rembrary felt lonely and took out his selfie camera and turned it on.

< 139. Alone on a Holiday > End