Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 192

192. The Unexpected Person

“I just went because hyung [older brother or a respected male figure] told me to,” Rembrary replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He seemed completely devoid of thought, his face a blank slate.

Still, Shin Joong-woon was suspicious and pressed him again.

“You listen that well?”

That didn’t seem like him…….

“There are things you have to do even if you don’t want to.”

Shin Joong-woon was taken aback by the surprisingly normal response. *Does* he even talk like that?

Come to think of it, he was good at imitating the Demon King when others weren’t around. Maybe that *was* his real self, and the clueless act was just a facade. Of course, personally, I hoped the clueless glutton was the real deal and the Demon King imitation was just an act.

“Anyway, you didn’t *want* to meet the monster, but your hyung told you to go, right?”

From Rembrary’s perspective, that was correct. From the start, he’d been forced to join Nakru, even if only temporarily. Rembrary answered nonchalantly.

“Yes.”

Shin Joong-woon interpreted that answer slightly differently.

*’He didn’t join Nakru of his own volition.’* That’s how Shin Joong-woon saw it.

And for good reason. Rembrary didn’t seem to have deep thoughts about ‘that kind of thing,’ and judging by his Demon King imitation, his values seemed different from Nakru’s. He must have just joined, following his hyung like a little chick.

“Piggy, don’t just follow anyone who says they’ll buy you candy.”

“Who falls for that?”

“Someone like you.”

“If someone was going to give me candy, they would have given it to me *before* asking me to follow them. I don’t fall for that.”

Rembrary’s answer wasn’t the kind of cleverness Shin Joong-woon was expecting, but it still sounded like he wouldn’t be easily fooled.

Relieved, Shin Joong-woon returned to the original topic.

“What about the video? Have you made a decision? Are you going to release it?”

* * *

The video issue was a difficult decision for Rembrary as well. Like Shin Joong-woon said, other people with ‘eyes’ would be able to see the monster in the video. They would immediately find it strange as soon as they saw the video.

In the end, Rembrary couldn’t make a decision and returned to the dorm. He left the camera with Shin Joong-woon.

“If I send you a text, please give this to reporter Hong Hae-joon.”

“Are you sure it’s okay to entrust this to me?”

“Of course. I trust you, Shin Joong-woon. Even though you’re a *myeolchi* [멸치, Korean slang for someone skinny like an anchovy].”

“……I’m a little touched.”

“Have you finally accepted that you’re a *myeolchi*?”

“You’re good at taking back the *gamdong* [감동, Korean for ‘feeling touched’ or ‘moved’] as soon as you give it.”

Anyway, after returning to the dorm, Rembrary spent all day agonizing over his decision.

‘It’s okay. My fight with the monster wasn’t filmed anyway.’

It seemed that people with ‘eyes’ didn’t reveal themselves here anyway. He had gotten rid of the ghost attached to Shin Joong-woon when filming the Three Kings variety show before, so it seemed like there wouldn’t be a big impact this time either.

Having finished his assessment, Rembrary first called the reporter. After a few rings, reporter Hong Hae-joon answered the phone.

[I heard you’ve been having a hard time lately. Are you okay?]

The reporter immediately asked worriedly as soon as the call connected. Since he worked in the media, he seemed to have heard a lot about the sponsor rumors surrounding Rembrary and was more concerned about people’s reactions than Rembrary himself.

Instead of saying he was okay, Rembrary immediately got to the point.

“The video you filmed. I got the original.”

[You got it? How?]

The reporter asked in surprise.

“I got it back.”

[Yes? How? Did the detective give it to you? Did he give it to you willingly?]

Rembrary didn’t remember whether he gave it willingly or not, so instead of answering, he just asked.

“I’ll send it to you. Can you make the sponsor rumors disappear completely?”

*’How did he get it back that so many words are omitted?’* The reporter was puzzled, but he answered definitively.

[Of course!]

“Then I’ll send it.”

* * *

―ㄷㄷ;; What is that

―He just screams and suddenly collapses?

―Is that real footage? Not a still from Woo Yeon-woo’s movie?

ㄴReal footageㅇㅇ

―I heard on the news a few days ago that someone died with their shoulder torn off. It’s that person.

ㄴㄹㅇ?

ㄴㄹㅇㅇㅇ

ㄴㄷㄷㄷㄷ Scaryㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

―The person who leaked the video about Woo Yeon-woo’s sponsor in the first place is crazyㅋㅋㅋㅋ ㅅㅂ He took out all the highlights and only cut out the conversation parts that have no importance at all

ㄴ222 Was Woo Yeon-woo possibly having a sponsor more important than someone dyingㅉ

ㄴ33333 Just two reporters suspecting Woo Yeon-woo and chasing after him. There isn’t even a scene where Woo Yeon-woo meets or receives a sponsor. The person who was walking around with Woo Yeon-woo was obviously Woo Yeon-woo’s relative. Only editing a few seconds of sponsor conversation from hereㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It seems like the person who obtained the video was trying to screw over Woo Yeon-woo.

―Woo Yeon-woo isn’t the problem right now? What’s going on? If there wasn’t news about someone dying, I would have thought someone was joking. But I heard the person who filmed this died after filming it?ㅠㅠ

ㄴI think Woo Yeon-woo is also a problem……

ㄴDon’t create rumors ㄴㄴ

ㄴNo, not rumors, but really. Besides the sponsor stuff. Woo Yeon-woo always makes 실수 [mistakes]? A bit of a crazy personality? Isn’t there always something a bit mysterious about him?

―What is he screaming at? What is he running away from?

ㄴGhost?ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

* * *

As Shin Joong-woon and Rembrary expected, when the original video was released, people’s attention was focused on ‘something unseen.’

The person who filmed the video. The person who was so determined to dig up idol sponsor rumors and chased after him. The person who was fine all along. A healthy person who didn’t even sneeze or sniffle once, even though he said he was cold. What did this person suddenly scream at? What did he run away from? Why did that person suddenly die?

There was nothing visible, but there were definitely victims, so everyone was confused.

CEO Lim and the people at LLL Entertainment breathed a sigh of relief. The sponsor rumors were *that* devastating.

However, they also found Rembrary a bit strange after watching the original video.

The members felt the same way.

Jung Seo had seen Rembrary save Lim Yu-han before, so she seemed to think something similar had happened, but the other members were as curious about this as the general viewers.

In particular, Hye-gyeol seemed very curious about this and kept following Rembrary around, constantly asking.

“Hyung, hyung, hyung, what exactly happened?”

“I don’t know either. I didn’t even know the reporter was chasing me.”

“The person who filmed this screamed that it was a monster and ran away?”

“That’s strange.”

“Oh, hyung, what is it? Tell me properly. Huh? Huh?”

“You saw the video, didn’t you? I was that far away, and that person was over there.”

“But you must have heard the scream. You really didn’t see anything?”

As Hye-gyeol kept bothering him, Rembrary retreated to his room. He even locked the door and checked the internet on his phone.

As he had been doing for the past few days, most of the reactions were the same as Hye-gyeol’s.

However, Rembrary, the person involved, had one question that he was as curious about as the people who watched the video.

‘Who is it?’

The person who uploaded the first edited video, like people said. Why did that person cut out only the sponsor rumor story, leaving out so many other parts?

If it was a normal person who hated Rembrary, they would be shocked after seeing the latter part of the video, even if they obtained the video. Is there a reason why they had to cut out only the first part after seeing the bizarre video in the latter part?

‘They said they can catch the person who leaked the first edited version. Once they catch the culprit, I’ll know why they did it.’

Rembrary, who had been pressing hearts on every supportive message from fans on SNS [Social Networking Service], closed his phone and lay down on the bed.

‘This issue is important, but…… I really want to know when Woo Yeon-woo and the Demon King will come out.’

* * *

Not everything went as expected. One spark flew in a completely unexpected direction, and that was towards Madeleine Cosmetics, for which Rembrary was a promotional model.

The cosmetics company, which had declared that it would discontinue lines that did not have sufficient sales after the trial sale, kept its mouth shut and continued to release both Oh Jung-shin’s sunscreen and Woo Yeon-woo’s BB cream, as both had decent sales.

Rembrary’s sales were slightly lower than Oh Jung-shin’s, but in terms of objective sales, it was selling so well that it was too good to discontinue.

However, with this incident, the sales of the Black BB cream that Rembrary was in charge of far surpassed Oh Jung-shin’s sunscreen, causing a sell-out.

Mysterious image hiding secrets. Seemingly light on the outside, but heavy and serious on the inside. Mysterious and inhuman charm.

Through the released original video, Rembrary’s mysterious side was highlighted, and it became known that ‘come to think of it, he has had strange rumors since before.’

Then, beauty YouTubers, drawn to this, all tried makeup with the ‘Woo Yeon-woo concept’ once, and this became a trend.

People who watched the YouTubers’ makeup videos bought the products that Rembrary advertised, and Madeleine Cosmetics, which had been quiet, cheered.

As Shin Joong-woon had worried, people with ‘eyes’ became curious after seeing the video with Woo Yeon-woo, but this part was not immediately apparent.

As the suddenly burst sponsor rumors subsided, and Rembrary’s mysterious side was highlighted, one day when his mysterious side became the center of attention.

Rembrary left the dorm to make a cameo appearance in the movie Jung Seo was filming.

* * *

Unfortunately, the cameo role he took on was a ghost.

“Hello.”

When Rembrary appeared on the set, the expressions of the staff and cast became strange. The idol who was rumored to see ghosts was appearing to play a ghost, so…… it felt a bit strange.

“Just because he’s playing a ghost doesn’t mean a ghost will suddenly appear, right?”

One particularly timid staff member couldn’t help but call Jong-woo and ask him quietly. Jong-woo, who was also timid, turned pale and asked back.

“Th-then what should we do?”

On the other hand, the director clenched his fist and rejoiced. Of course, he didn’t actually *want* to see a ghost. But if a ghost appeared on the movie screen, that would be great. That alone would be noise marketing.

Of course, if this atmosphere continues, just revealing that Woo Yeon-woo is making a cameo appearance as a ghost would have a great marketing effect.

The director praised his past self for immediately accepting Woo Yeon-woo as a cameo.

“Woo Yeon-woo, this way.”

While the set was in a state of turmoil, Rembrary entered the makeup room to get his ghost makeup done.

As soon as he entered the makeup room, Lee Il-baek, who was already getting his wounded makeup done, flinched. His face turned pale, and he awkwardly greeted Rembrary first.

“Hello.”

Lee Il-baek was reminded of Rembrary’s question from before. That question about “Are you brave?” Along with the ominous rumors circulating about Woo Yeon-woo these days.