Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 146

< Chapter 146. Life is Full of Double Standards >

To others, it might still have looked like proselytizing [attempting to convert someone to a religion or belief], but it was effective for Jo Sa-yeon.

Perhaps it was because the rally had been just yesterday, so she was feeling guilty.

However, hiding her true feelings, Jo Sa-yeon laughed it off, saying, “What religious talk?”

“Let’s talk while sitting down.”

Rembrary answered nonchalantly and asked the employee,

“Is it going to be a while before my order is ready?”

“Should I bring out what’s ready first?”

“Yes, thank you.”

The employee handed over the two drinks they had made, and Rembrary held one in each hand as he went to sit at the empty seat.

Then, a small scream erupted from nearby.

Joo Min-seo sighed and walked over there.

“Min-seo.”

But as Min-seo was about to walk away, Jo Sa-yeon subtly called her, avoiding the camera.

When Joo Min-seo turned around, Jo Sa-yeon asked in a voice as low as possible,

“Did you really talk about religion?”

She wanted to confirm whether Woo Yeon-woo knew something and brought it up, or if it was just a coincidence.

“Yes? Yes. That’s all he kept talking about.”

‘So, he just likes that topic?’

‘He didn’t bring it up knowing something?’

Jo Sa-yeon tried to reassure herself with Joo Min-seo’s answer.

And looking at Woo Yeon-woo, who was happily alternating between a condensed milk latte and a cappuccino, she thought once again.

‘Right. There’s no way a simpleton who only knows how to eat would know about me.’

Soon, Jo Sa-yeon, with a friendly smile, naturally went to sit across from Woo Yeon-woo.

‘Okay, let’s just consider the topic of religion a coincidence.’

‘What’s important now is the filming, and what’s important in this filming is the relationship between Joo Min-seo and herself.’

‘Woo Yeon-woo is just a stepping stone to move this story forward.’

‘A stepping stone should act like a stepping stone; it shouldn’t steal the spotlight or derail the story.’

Jo Sa-yeon forgot about the religion and adopted the mindset of a rival celebrity competing for the spotlight.

And as Joo Min-seo hesitantly sat next to her, she deliberately turned her body to the side, not even glancing at Woo Yeon-woo, and started talking only to Joo Min-seo.

“I was so surprised to see you with some strange guy.”

“Why is that surprising? It could happen.”

“Yeah, but it was surprising. Why do you think that is?”

“Oppa [term of endearment for an older brother or male friend] is dating someone else, so I should start dating too. How long can I keep looking only at Oppa?”

“Hey, you’re a graduate student; you should be studying, not dating.”

“Oppa should be working, but you’re dating.”

“Is that the same thing?”

“If it looks different, it’s a double standard.”

“Are we having a romance right now?”

“…Why is the conversation going that way?”

While chatting in a virtual dating show atmosphere, Jo Sa-yeon subtly checked on Woo Yeon-woo.

She wondered what Woo Yeon-woo was doing, completely out of the spotlight.

She was a little concerned that she had excluded him too obviously…

Woo Yeon-woo was taking selfies with a straw in his mouth.

‘No, why is that guy taking selfies when he came to film a show?’

Seeing that, Jo Sa-yeon coldly asked, feeling angry that she had been unnecessarily conscious of Woo Yeon-woo and had been doing useless things.

“Can you focus over here?”

At the cold voice, Woo Yeon-woo put down his phone and looked at Jo Sa-yeon.

But his expression was a bit strange.

“Why? Why are you looking at me like that?”

A strange expression makes people feel awkward.

Jo Sa-yeon also felt a bit strange and asked, and Woo Yeon-woo carefully asked as if he didn’t want to commit a faux pas [social blunder or mistake].

“Is it that?”

“?”

“Do you want me to watch you two dating?”

“Excuse me?”

‘Is Woo Yeon-woo doing this because he knows that his cautious attitude makes the other person even more annoyed?’

Jo Sa-yeon opened her mouth slightly and answered, feeling dumbfounded.

“It’s not that; it’s because we’re sitting together, but you’re the only one doing something else.”

“I’m also sitting together, but you two are the only ones doing something else.”

“…”

He’s a simpleton, but he’s subtly logical, which made Jo Sa-yeon feel bad, and she frowned.

Meanwhile, people were watching with sparkling eyes, wondering if the two participants were fighting.

Noticing the attention, Jo Sa-yeon cleared her throat and managed her expression.

Anyway, since the conversation has gone in this direction, she had to pretend to talk to him so that people wouldn’t say she was ignoring him too obviously.

Jo Sa-yeon asked in a reluctant tone.

“But didn’t you say you wanted to talk to me about something earlier?”

Rembrary finally took his eyes off his phone and answered indifferently.

“I do.”

“What is it?”

“Actually, I was suspecting that you took something.”

Jo Sa-yeon’s expression reflexively crumpled again.

‘Wasn’t he going to talk about religion?’

‘What is he talking about all of a sudden? I took something?’

The onlookers whispered, wondering if he would say, “Joo Min-seo’s attention.”

“I took what?”

As soon as she asked the question, someone whispered, “Isn’t he saying you took his feelings?”

Jo Sa-yeon became uneasy. Could it be…

‘Could it be that he’s really going to say here that I took his feelings?’

‘Don’t do it. Don’t do it.’

Fortunately, Rembrary had no intention of doing that.

Rembrary was thinking about what Dae-ju had said about the use of the brush.

He hadn’t heard exactly how to use it, but judging from the nuance, the brush Dae-ju mentioned seemed to be able to sweep away not only his own feelings but also those of others.

But Jo Sa-yeon might not be the real culprit, so it was difficult to ask questions with such specific examples here.

The real culprit who watched the broadcast would be wary of this.

But he didn’t want to say ‘my feelings’.

Even if Jo Sa-yeon was holding the brush, no, even if someone else was holding the brush, he knew that they couldn’t touch Rembrary’s own face.

So, he had to say that she took someone else’s feelings…

Come to think of it, wasn’t there someone who played the role of a lover with Jo Sa-yeon on this program?

He should say that person’s name!

Rembrary finished calculating and answered.

“Caitlin.”

The people who were expecting Rembrary to say ‘my feelings’ all thought at the same time, ‘Wrong name!’

“Is he trying to drive a wedge between them?”

“He mentioned Caitlin in front of Joo Min-seo…”

“Isn’t he saying, ‘I know you’re dating Caitlin, so don’t do anything stupid? If you cheat with Joo Min-seo, I’ll tell everything’?”

People were amazed at the tremendous double standards of a guy who was two-timing trying to stop a guy who was trying to transfer relationships.

Anyway, cheating is unpleasant.

Besides, Woo Yeon-woo’s two-timing was a future-oriented relationship happening with mutual consent, so the situation was a bit different.

On the other hand, Joo Min-seo, who was the target of the transfer, hardened her expression.

But she was also admiring him inside.

He seemed to be talking nonsense. But he was somehow matching the original story, it was because of a misunderstanding.

When you’re having a transfer relationship, you need opposition from the surroundings.

In Joo Min-seo’s eyes, Woo Yeon-woo was playing that role right now.

That wasn’t Woo Yeon-woo’s original role, but anyway.

In the meantime, the employee brought five new drinks and placed them in front of Rembrary, then left exhausted.

Rembrary pushed each of the drinks in front of Joo Min-seo and Jo Sa-yeon, probing Jo Sa-yeon.

“Jo Sa-yeon. Trying to move other people’s feelings arbitrarily is a bad thing. Don’t you think so?”

While speaking, Rembrary carefully watched Jo Sa-yeon’s pupils, the corners of her lips, and her facial muscles.

The moment Jo Sa-yeon showed even the slightest gap.

He was going to tell Dae-ju that Jo Sa-yeon was suspicious.

Jo Sa-yeon felt like she was being questioned and answered indifferently, “I guess so.”

But soon, feeling like she was playing a worse role than Woo Yeon-woo, who was two-timing, she frowned and retorted.

“But isn’t it worse to aim for a position that isn’t yours?”

It was a sarcastic remark meaning, ‘I’m transferring, but you’re two-timing, isn’t two-timing worse?’

Rembrary took the words as they were and asked.

“Are you going to do that bad thing, Jo Sa-yeon?”

“Huh?”

Jo Sa-yeon shook her head, thinking that this wasn’t it.

But her expression became a bit more crumpled and more wronged than before.

Carefully observing Jo Sa-yeon, Rembrary asked the last question.

“A good sheep shouldn’t do that. So, if you have no intention of playing with other people’s feelings arbitrarily, how about handing over the initiative to me?”

“Initiative?”

“That thing.”

“That thing?”

“The long thing.”

“!”

* * *

―Woo Yeon-woo was flirting, though I don’t know with whom.

―Isn’t he telling her to hand over Caitlin to him?

ㄴWoo Yeon-woo is a pro at two-timing ㄷㄷ [sound of disapproval];;

ㄴIt sounded like he meant to hand over Joo Min-seo

ㄴIsn’t he telling her to hand over both?

ㄴWhat are you talking about, he’s telling Jo Sa-yeon to come over

ㄴㅅㅂ [expletive] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ [sound of laughter]

―But what is Woo Yeon-woo’s religion?

ㄴIt’s a temple. He said he was going to become a monk before.

ㄴI heard he’s not going to become a monk anymore?

ㄴStill, it’ll be a temple.

ㄴBut do temples originally proselytize like selling things?

ㄴMaybe they do at the temple Woo Yeon-woo goes to. A short-term one-month course focusing on enlightenment, a course to escape reincarnation that ends in 3 weeks…

―I wonder if it’s effective. I want to go if it is. Even if it’s not effective, I want to go if I can spend a month with Woo Yeon-woo.

ㄴDon’t do that… if you see him up close, a demon will come… this distance is the most appropriate ㅠ [crying emoticon]

* * *

While Jong-woo was suffering while looking at people’s comments.

Rembrary was convinced that Jo Sa-yeon hadn’t stolen the brush.

She was flustered when he brought up the topic of feelings, and she didn’t understand at all and floundered when he brought up the topic of the brush, so it was certain.

Rembrary sent a text message to Dae-ju saying [It wasn’t Jo Sa-yeon.] and then.

He took a selfie cam and went to the bathroom to film a video diary.

* * *

September 16th.

The members all returned to the dorm.

I thought I would rest a bit in the dorm even after that.

But the day after returning, I went straight to the agency office for the next album concept meeting.

The meeting agenda was two things.

One is about our next album, and

The other is about the special solo album that each member releases once a month.

I was expecting the next album because there had been some talk about it before.

I don’t know how absurd it was to hear that we would release a special album once a month.

Not me, but the other staff.

I had no thoughts.

Anyway, the special album was a story that CEO Im brought up, and he said he came up with the idea after going to see a fortune teller during Chuseok [Korean harvest festival].

That is to release an album every month with the concept of constellations.

After doing all 12 months, if the response is good, he said he would release an album every month next year with the concept of birthstones…

Instead, music show activities and music video filming will not be done for every album, and after releasing teaser photos and sound sources first, music show activities will only be done if the sound source enters the top 50.

Jong-woo hyung [older brother] and the A&R [Artists and Repertoire] department team leader said that the fans would be in an uproar, but CEO Im didn’t seem to want to change his mind.

Anyway, that’s how it is.

Our concept for this regular album is middle school syndrome [a phase characterized by dramatic emotions and rebellious behavior, often associated with early adolescence].

< Chapter 146. Life is Full of Double Standards > End