Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 183

183. Why a Duet?

“Do you know who the celebrity you were investigating was?”

The detective asked, scribbling something in his notebook.

The cameraman’s sister frowned. Her brother didn’t often talk about work. But he had mentioned in passing a few times that he was investigating someone… Who was it?

The detective waited without pressing. Pressuring her wouldn’t help her remember, especially in a tense situation.

“Um… who was it?”

“Was it a famous celebrity?”

“Probably. I’m not very interested in celebrities, but as soon as I heard the name, I thought, ‘Ah, that guy!'”

“Male or female?”

“Male. An idol or a singer, I think. You know, famous for having a strange personality…”

“Woo Yeon-woo?”

“Ah, that’s right! That’s the name!”

Memory finally returned. The sister nodded again with a relieved expression.

Woo Yeon-woo… The detective’s hand moved busily again. His eyes darted back and forth across the notebook.

“So, your brother was only digging into Woo Yeon-woo?”

“Yes, there’s a reporter on his team, oh, the one who was at the scene with him. The two of them were pulling all-nighters.”

“Is it possible that Woo Yeon-woo knew about this?”

“I don’t know. But the investigation wasn’t making much progress…”

“So, there was nothing to retaliate against, because he hadn’t found out anything yet?”

“Yes. Shouldn’t you check his camera or phone…?”

The detective remembered that there was no camera at the scene.

“Does he always carry a camera when he’s reporting?”

“Yes, that’s his job.”

The detective’s eyes narrowed. The victim was reporting when he was attacked. So, there’s a high probability that someone hid the camera… But who?

* * *

Rembrary saw on the news yesterday that the person who was attacked by a monster in the middle of the night had died.

‘So, he died after all.’

Actually, he didn’t remember the dead man’s face very well. It couldn’t be helped. The monster that was dealing with Woo Sung-woo suddenly ran off at high speed to a strange place, and a scream erupted from there. When he rushed over, he was just about to attack another person.

After that, it seemed like people who heard the screams would gather, so he couldn’t properly identify the victims’ faces.

Still, he thought it would be noisy for days because the method of the crime was so bizarre. Especially since this world strangely doesn’t find it odd even if they see something a little unusual. But…

“It’s quiet.”

Perhaps hearing Rembrary’s mutter, Keshi asked from the front seat, “What?” Rembrary answered no and turned his head to look out the window.

“Why? What is it?”

But Keshi kept pressing. Rembrary was about to scold him, thinking, ‘You’re persistent!’ but changed his mind. Unfortunately, Rembrary himself was not yet accustomed to the values of this world. Although he was trying, he often disagreed with the members and was told, ‘Are you crazy?’ Well, it’s only been a year since he entered this body, so it’s understandable.

“About the dead person in the news recently.”

Anyway, in this situation, could even the foolish Keshi be of help?

“One or two? Who are you talking about?”

“The person who died from a shoulder injury.”

“Ah. What about that person?”

“I thought it would be very noisy, but the news only came out in a corner, and everyone hardly talks about it.”

“Ah.”

Keshi, who was looking at Rembrary with his head sticking out over the seat, seemed to have lost interest in the trivial words and sat down properly again, answering.

“It’s a strange way to die, but it’s not strange enough to become a huge topic.”

“In this quiet world with no class system?”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Besides, even if it becomes a topic, who would talk about that all day long? It’s scary to even mention it. And why does the class system come up here?”

“Is that so.”

“If you have the mind to think about such scary things, think about how to film the commercial.”

It’s not like I’m deciding on the concept, so what’s the point of telling me to think about it? Rembrary was puzzled, but he didn’t want to argue, so he just kept his mouth shut.

And a few hours later.

After filming one of the twelve commercials for half a day, he returned to the van and slumped down. Jongwoo’s face was brighter than usual.

Whenever Jongwoo makes that expression, Rembrary feels uneasy, so he moved as far away from Jongwoo as possible and sat in the back seat. What is he going to make us do again with that expression?

When the members were all in the car and Sajangjae [CEO] started the car, Jongwoo finally revealed the reason he had been smiling all along.

“Guys, you’re going to the year-end awards ceremony!”

Except for Rembrary, who didn’t know what that was, the members were surprised and asked if it was true.

“Which awards ceremony is it?”

“We’re not going to several places, are we, hyung [older brother/male friend]?”

“Is it music? Or acting?”

“Music.”

As soon as Jongwoo answered briefly, the members burst into cheers.

Seeing that other people were happy, Rembrary quickly realized it must be a good thing and clapped a few times along with them.

But as he was about to lean against the window and look at his phone, he felt a strong gaze. What kind of look is this? Rembrary looked up.

It was Jongwoo. He had already changed seats, moving from the passenger seat to the front seat.

“Why are you doing that?”

When Rembrary asked with a sullen face, Jongwoo opened his mouth, saying, “Actually…”

“You and Keshi have each received a request for a collaboration stage with another singer?”

“Ah, is that so? But why? Is it because Keshi might make another mistake?”

As if he had heard the voice, Keshi shouted from the front seat.

“Hey, why are you dragging me into this!”

But unexpectedly, Jongwoo shouted towards Keshi, “What do you mean dragging you in? I have something to say to you too, so wait!” Then, he spoke to Rembrary again.

“I’ll tell him something later too. I’ll start with you first.”

“Okay. I understand… But why are you hesitating so much to say it?”

It’s strange that he’s not saying it right away. It’s nothing much, Jongwoo muttered and said.

“They want you and Yulli to do a duet dance.”

It was enough to be a big deal, so Rembrary, who had been sitting calmly, dropped his phone. The square machine rolled silently on the footrest a few times.

“What? Dance?”

From somewhere, Keshi shouted again.

“Ah, hyung! Why does Yulli have to dance with him!”

“Do you think I arranged it? Do you think I set it up?”

As soon as Jongwoo grumbled, Keshi unfastened his seatbelt and hurriedly moved towards Rembrary and Jongwoo. His eyes were flashing, as if he didn’t like this situation. Keshi already had a fantasy of articles lined up in front of him, such as ‘Yulli and Woo Yeon-woo, an unexpected chemistry!’

Rembrary asked, not entirely agreeing with Keshi’s words.

“Yeah, why me when Keshi is here?”

“Because you and Yulli both can’t dance.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they want to show a different side from your usual image to increase the buzz. But I don’t know because I’m not them.”

Jongwoo, who mumbled that he wasn’t confident in using his head in this area, called Keshi this time and asked.

“Hey Keshi, you too…”

However, Keshi jumped the gun before Jongwoo could finish speaking.

“Does Yulli have to do it with him? Can’t he rest because his leg hurts? What about me? What came to me?”

Jongwoo calmed Keshi down and answered.

“You also got a request to do a duet. Just listen. Let’s talk.”

“Wow. A duet?”

“Yeah. You too with Yulli. It’s a proposal from another broadcasting station.”

Hye-gyeol, who had been listening to the conversation from where Keshi had been sitting, sighed, “Wow.” Keshi had turned into ice.

Even though they are dating semi-publicly, Keshi and Yulli had not yet acknowledged the dating rumors. Although not as much as before, both of them had seen their individual fans rapidly decline due to the dating rumors. But why Yulli… Moreover, another broadcasting station wants Yulli with Yeonwoo…

Taein muffled his laughter.

Meanwhile. Jongwoo took out his phone and handed it to Rembrary, telling him to take a look at this.

“Take a look at this in advance.”

“What is it?”

“An example. A year-end performance video.”

Rembrary, who turned on the video and watched it, was horrified a moment later.

He was already worried to death that he and Yulli, who both couldn’t dance, would be dancing together.

“Why do they dance so intensely?”

“Because it’s the end of the year.”

“Is there even a law that you have to dance intensely at the end of the year?”

“There isn’t… Because it’s the end of the year?”

* * *

That night, Rembrary was tormented by the news of the upcoming year-end awards ceremony.

The reporter went to the crime scene. The police line was still there, but there was no one around.

Well. Since this is where such a terrible thing happened, probably no one living nearby would want to come near here even after the sun goes down.

Besides, the cameraman, whose shoulder was torn off, kept muttering, ‘Monster, monster…’ while being carried away.

‘In the first place, I didn’t hide the camera here.’

The reporter hid the camera in a place slightly away from here, near an old house. The reporter found a car there that had been gathering dust from not being used and hid the camera in it.

Fortunately, the car was still in its place. The reporter took out the hidden camera and put it in his bag. The camera that the cameraman was filming with until the very end.

‘This should be enough.’

Turning around, he hurried out of the place and went straight back to his car.

Even after getting in the car, he drove away from the vicinity and entered a large road with a lot of people passing by.

It was a place full of bars, restaurants, cafes, etc., on both sides of the road. People who were drunk or intoxicated by the atmosphere were laughing and chatting as they walked around.

The reporter parked the car and quickly took the camera out of his bag.

‘What kind of content is in it?’

He turned on the camera and played the last day’s footage. A car appeared on the small screen.

At that moment. Someone knocked on the glass door.

The reporter jumped and looked to the side. He hurriedly hid the camera under the seat and quickly lowered the window halfway.

“Who is it?”

Then, he asked curtly on purpose. But when he saw the person standing beyond the window, his curt expression quickly hardened.

‘Damn it.’

The person who knocked on the window… was a face he also knew. A detective. The detective in charge of this case.

And the reporter answered the detective, who asked where the camera that the cameraman always carried during the coverage was, that he didn’t know anything.

But why now…

“What’s wrong?”

Still pretending to be calm, he asked, and the detective smiled and pointed inside the car with his finger.

“That, you forgot to submit it, didn’t you?”

The reporter’s eyes wavered.

* * *

Several hours later.

The detective came back with the camera.

“Oh? Detective Park, what’s that?”

“A camera. The camera the victim was carrying.”

“Didn’t he say he didn’t have it?”

“I guess he pretended not to have it.”