Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 176

176. Unnecessarily Kind

As Rembrary stared intently, Keshi acted all confident, saying, “What. What.”

Rembrary said with a smile, “I just thought of the perfect word to describe you yesterday.”

“What is it?”

“Opportunist.”

“Hey!”

A clear blue vein appeared on Keshi’s forehead. He seemed to be clenching his teeth.

“So. Is that a no, or are you going to do it?”

“Can I be honest?”

“How shameless. Have you ever once asked for permission before being honest?”

“Then I’ll do as I always do. I don’t have a choice about who I film commercials with.”

That was true. He really wanted to know who the blackmailer was. If he had a choice, Rembrary would choose not to do the commercial, rather than singling out one member to film with, as if to tease them. Of course, if the target he *could* pick on was Jungseo, it would be a slightly different story.

‘Either way, it seems there really *is* a blackmailer.’

Even though the members weren’t on good terms, they were *so* openly not on good terms that he began to doubt if there really was a blackmailer. But seeing Keshi act like that, there must be someone blackmailing him.

Keshi grumbled.

“So, are you going to take my offer or not?”

Rembrary was about to say, ‘It’s not about taking or not taking the offer, I don’t have a choice,’ but he stopped himself. Just now, a brilliant idea struck him like lightning.

“Good job.”

“What? Are you going to take my offer?”

Rembrary jumped up and ran to the living room. Keshi chased after him, not knowing what was going on. Without even answering yes or no, Rembrary’s face suddenly brightened, and he had no idea why.

In the end, Keshi watched Rembrary’s antics and shouted, “Fine, forget it!” before storming out.

“Jongwoo?”

Rembrary went straight back to his room and called Jongwoo.

[Hello? Yeonwoo? Oh, why? What’s wrong?]

As soon as Jongwoo answered, Rembrary quickly said,

“I won’t film a commercial unless it’s with all the members.”

[What?]

Rembrary was amazed by the idea he had just come up with. What a wonderful excuse. *I* won’t accept a commercial unless it’s with all the members! Therefore, I won’t film the commercial!

If he refused the commercial with this excuse, people would think, ‘Wooyeonwoo really cares about the members. Wild Animal must have a good atmosphere between the members,’ and *not* think, ‘Wooyeonwoo is doing noise marketing again’ or ‘Wooyeonwoo is going to ruin the team atmosphere.’

‘Everyone will be amazed by my mercy.’

[What nonsense are you talking about?]

“I’m serious. My fans also want the atmosphere between the members to be good. And I can’t stand seeing the members feeling down.”

The other side of the phone went silent, probably because he was taken aback. And he would be. Even after losing his memories, Rembrary worked hard when he was told to, whether he did well or not. So, it must be unexpected for him to say something so firmly.

[Yeonwoo. It’s nice of you to think that way, but do you really have a choice? No, I’m not trying to be mean. Really.]

“I’m going to write it on social media.”

At Rembrary’s firm declaration, Jongwoo dropped his phone.

* * *

Although he said it strongly, Rembrary didn’t know if Jongwoo had told the advertisers. Anyway, this seemed like the only way to escape the trap disguised as a flower path [a path of success and good fortune], so he had to push forward.

If he rejected the commercial for no reason, he would seem irresponsible, but if he brought up the members, wouldn’t it be better? It’s not like he’s breaking a contract; it’s a condition he’s setting *before* signing the contract, right?

Rembrary hoped that the twelve brands connected to Nakru would be disgusted by this proposal and back out. Unless their hobby was ruining businesses and gobbling them up, they would also consider various factors when choosing a commercial model, not just blindly following Nakru’s orders.

While Rembrary made his first demand to the company, Jongwoo conveyed it to CEO Lim, and CEO Lim ate twelve candies in a row while deep in thought. Meanwhile, the title track of the new album was slowly climbing up the music charts through word of mouth.

Even though it was slowly climbing, it was already stuck in 6th place, so even going up one spot would be 5th. By the end of the day, the song had climbed to 3rd place. It was an achievement that would normally have everyone excitedly chattering.

However, the awkward atmosphere still lingered, drifting through the dorm like a persistent fog.

Eventually, as they all stood in front of the dorm waiting for Manager Sagamjae to bring the car, Jungseo, unable to watch any longer, scolded them in a stiff voice.

“Can’t you guys pull yourselves together? How long are you going to sulk like three-year-olds? No, even little kids would make up faster. Stop it already. Did Yeonwoo steal a commercial that was meant for you guys?”

Still, the members only looked in other directions and said nothing. Since they weren’t actually ‘angry’ at Rembrary in the first place, they didn’t want to talk to Jungseo about this topic. Seeing their frustrated expressions, Jungseo sighed.

“It’s not like the company pushed Yeonwoo to promote him; Yeonwoo earned it himself while getting hate. Anyway, thanks to Yeonwoo getting popular, our buzz is up and we’re seeing spillover benefits. We even got first place on a music show last time, and today we climbed to 3rd place. It’s inevitable to feel envious, but do you have to show it in such a bad way?”

It was a long lecture. But as soon as Jungseo finished speaking, Hyegyeol, who had been quiet the whole time and wasn’t on bad terms with Rembrary, mumbled sullenly.

“What’s the point of having buzz and high rankings? Either way, besides a few Wild Animal fans, people will only know Yeonwoo *hyung* [older brother or male friend] in our group.”

Before Jungseo could say anything, Taein sneered this time.

“Forget it, there’s no way he’d understand even if you told him. Hey, Han Jungseo. You should be the one to soothe the atmosphere, not us three. Like you said, even if Wooyeonwoo earned his recognition and popularity while getting hate, you’re the CEO’s favorite and get special care, right?”

“Jungseo gets special treatment because he’s pretty!”

When Rembrary flared up and stepped forward, Taein burst out laughing.

“Oh yeah, why don’t you two pretty boys hold hands and release a duet?”

“I’m against it. I don’t want to.”

“Hey Keshi, are you trying to protect your rice bowl [livelihood] in the middle of all this? Shut up and take our side at times like this!”

“Who the hell are you calling Keshi? And am I going to kick away my rice bowl in the middle of all this, you idiot? I’m going to ride on Wooyeonwoo even if he’s trash, okay?”

When Rembrary and Jungseo both stared at him, Keshi’s face turned red and he confidently stuck out his stomach, saying, “What!”

“Anyway, we’re still a team!”

“Ugh, that line is so cheesy…….”

Hyegyeol turned his head because he was more embarrassed, and Keshi kept protesting alone, saying, “What! What! What!” until he seemed to have a mental breakdown from being ashamed of what he said, and slumped down like a toy with its batteries removed, bowing his head.

In the meantime, Manager Sagamjae finally arrived in front of the dorm with the car. Rembrary was the first to get into the car, sitting in the innermost seat and fastening his seatbelt.

[President Jang Taeri, Yeonwoo-ssi [term of respect], you’re a huge superstar ><] [Sunwoo Senior congrats congrats. I've posted a detailed congratulatory message on social media.] [Shin Jo-woon I'll pay your penalty fee, so come to our agency?] When he opened his phone and checked, there were three text messages that he hadn't seen because he was washing up, getting ready, and arguing. [Thank you >ㅅ<] [I'll check it out later, *Sunbae* [senior/mentor].] [No, thanks.] As Rembrary sent replies in a row, the two people sent replies back in a row. [President Jang Taeri, pizza to celebrate after a long time? ㅎㅎ] [Shin Jo-woon why don't you want to?] Rembrary sent Jang Taeri a reply saying, [Should we? >ㅅ< Just call me anytime >ㅅ<], then decided that he didn't need to reply to Shin Jo-woon's text and closed his eyes for a moment. * * * Since there were no schedules, all five members came to the agency's practice room today without stopping by the shop. In a few days, they would have to go on music shows for the second week, and since they had a performance the day after that, they wanted to refine their group dance as much as possible. Fortunately, whether they were grumbling or not, the members were focused on practicing today, as if they had sorted out their feelings a bit. But it was around the time they had to go back to the dorm in the evening after spending the day when someone knocked on the practice room window. "Who is it?" The dance teacher frowned, wondering if it was a trainee playing a prank, and opened the window. CEO Lim was standing there. "Oh my, CEO!" The dance teacher changed his tone and greeted him happily. CEO Lim pointed to the practice room with his finger and asked, "Can I come in for a bit?" "Of course." The dance teacher answered and quickly moved aside to open the door himself. "Gather around here." As soon as CEO Lim entered the practice room, he called the members together. 'Why did the CEO come here himself? He probably came to see Yeonwoo again. Is he here to say that Yeonwoo will definitely film the commercial?' The members gathered with similar thoughts in their heads. "Hey, you guys look like ugly chicks when you're gathered like this." As the members gathered, CEO Lim smiled and said something that was hard to tell if it was a joke or not. The members' expressions crumpled. 'Did he call us here just to insult us……?' "You guys heard that Yeonwoo received twelve commercial offers, right?" 'He's definitely here to insult us, isn't he?' Taein and Keshi's expressions soured. They had already had a group argument about that this morning. Did he really have to bring it up after calling them all together? "Yes." "How could we not know? Anyone who uses the internet already knows." "Is it confirmed?" Still, they weren't about to fight to the point of raising their voices in front of the CEO, so they all tried to answer calmly. CEO Lim chuckled inwardly, thinking, 'I can see right through you guys,' but pretended not to notice and nodded with a smile. "Yeah." The members muttered 'congratulations' with reluctant expressions. The word 'congratulations' itself was sincere. It was just that envy, jealousy, and self-loathing were suppressing that sincerity. "You guys are going to be incredibly busy now. You need to go on a diet." So the members didn't notice the subtle nuance mixed in CEO Lim's words. Except for Jungseo. "'You guys'?" Only after Jungseo asked the question did Taein, Hyegyeol, and Keshi all look at each other, bewildered. In fact, Taein and Hyegyeol hadn't even heard what CEO Lim had just said. They were too busy looking at the ground. CEO Lim grinned. "All of you need to go on a diet." "Why?" "Why do you ask? Because the advertisers said they want to film the commercial with the 'Wild Animal' group, not just Yeonwoo alone." "……." The practice room fell silent at the unbelievable news. The dance teacher, who was listening to the story, also opened his mouth and widened his eyes. The members were still dazed, not even sure what they had just heard. CEO Lim patted Rembrary's shoulder. "Our Joodeongi [a playful nickname] may be prickly on the outside, but he thinks about you guys a lot. He insisted that he wouldn't film the commercial unless it was with you guys." He didn't exactly insist. He just warned them with social media and his unfiltered fingers. CEO Lim, who heard that from Rembrary through Jongwoo, thought that the advertisers would never accept that proposal. The agency had already tried to push the other members in, but they had made it clear that they only wanted Wooyeonwoo. But as soon as he said that Wooyeonwoo was being difficult by insisting that they all had to do it together, the advertisers surprisingly accepted the request right away. In just one day. All twelve advertisers. The members belatedly exclaimed and opened their mouths. But they were too surprised to say anything, so they just stared at each other, only moving their mouths. Rembrary also opened his mouth in a different sense and covered his face. ‘No!’