Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 22

22. The Photo Is a Little Strange

Sunwoo Shil asked with a dubious expression.

“Suddenly, a monk?”

*There’s a limit to how much a career can change.* Going from idol to monk seems like too drastic a shift, doesn’t it?

Of course, there’s no law saying an idol can’t become a monk, but…

“There’s something I want to find out.”

And seeing that he has a purpose, it doesn’t seem like a devout reason.

“Something you want to find out?”

“I want to meet a god.”

“……”

“Or at least hear a voice.”

*Wow, he’s got a bit of a quirky side.* Sunwoo Shil genuinely thought.

But this was a goal that Rembrary had come up with after much deliberation.

The first clergyman he met here, the priest.

That person didn’t know how to meet God.

When he said he wanted to meet the Pope, that was also difficult.

So, naturally, he thought of another famous religion, Buddhism, as the next option.

But when he looked into it, he found out that in Buddhism, you can become a god if you diligently cultivate yourself?

He hadn’t looked into the details yet, but that was the gist of it.

So, if he becomes a monk and cultivates himself halfway, wouldn’t he be able to see a god or hear a voice?

That was Rembrary’s calculation.

But Sunwoo Shil, unaware of these circumstances, thought of him as a truly bizarre junior and casually cheered him on.

“Yeah. Make sure you meet them.”

“Yes.”

“But.”

“?”

“When you’re in the secular world, work hard at secular things.”

“Yes.”

* * *

Sunwoo Shil clearly thought of alcohol as some kind of fuel.

After pretending to be a good senior for a few hours, he drove Rembrary even harder the next day.

Rembrary was mentally distressed, but thanks to—or because of—his divine power, he managed to handle the constant practice from morning till night.

Was it because the manager, Jongwoo, went to Keshi [likely a personal errand or meeting] today?

Sunwoo Shil didn’t even give him proper breaks and pushed Rembrary relentlessly.

His desire to achieve the best results was almost fanatical.

When Friday came and it was time for his solo photoshoot,

Rembrary felt a slight relief.

Sunwoo Shil’s passion wasn’t a bad thing, but forcing that passion onto others was exhausting.

He knew he had to get good results since he participated in the competition, but he wanted to focus on something else for a few hours.

“Did you say today’s concept is ‘Good Me and Evil Me’?”

“Yeah.”

“Are we stopping by the shop today?”

“No, they’ve already called the beauty team here today, so you can just go with a bare face. You didn’t put on sunscreen, did you?”

“I didn’t.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Rembrary went to the designated studio with Jongwoo.

Eunseon was even there, especially.

It was Jongwoo’s idea that showing the photoshoot might help change his image a bit.

“Wow. You’re completely bare-faced right now?”

Eunseon, who had arrived early to check the cameras, was slightly impressed when she saw Rembrary.

“You look amazing even with a bare face.”

“Thank you.”

“Seriously, Wooyeonwoo is the most handsome celebrity I’ve ever seen in person. It’s such a waste.”

Rembrary, confident that his original self was even better than Wooyeonwoo, honestly denied Eunseon’s words.

“The most handsome, no way.”

“Really?”

“Really, no.”

Eunseon took Rembrary’s words as modesty and smiled brightly.

Even though they’re all the same contestants, she can’t help but become attached to the contestants she’s in charge of since she’s marking them one-on-one.

The same was true for Eunseon, and she wanted Yeonwoo to achieve good results in the competition.

A modest attitude would greatly help Yeonwoo achieve good results and survive in the entertainment industry for a long time after the results.

But feeling embarrassed to say these things in detail, Eunseon simply said,

“We’ll start filming now.”

And lifted the camera.

“Okay, I’ll go in.”

Jongwoo took Rembrary into the studio and greeted everyone loudly.

Rembrary, who had learned the atmosphere of broadcasting stations and filming locations to some extent, also greeted everyone, following Jongwoo.

It’s because he realized that people here value greetings very much.

“Ah, you’re here.”

As he was doing that, the reporter who had requested this shoot approached.

Rembrary tried to greet the reporter, but the reporter stopped Rembrary and Jongwoo with his hand and grumbled.

“Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for ages.”

Rembrary, who had arrived an hour early, couldn’t understand what he was saying.

But it was just a meaningless nitpick, and the reporter immediately got to the point after that complaint.

“You have to get makeup done twice, so we need to proceed quickly. We’ll shoot the ‘Good Me’ concept first, and then the ‘Evil Me’ concept.”

“Yes.”

“When I say good, I don’t mean like, all innocent like an elementary school student. That’s not why I called you. You know? I watched *Sing Survival*? Do it with the stage vibe from then.”

“Yes.”

“For the evil me, do it like that someone, what was their name. Anyway, Son Writer. Ah, Song Writer. Do it like in Song Writer’s portfolio. Something a bit decadent.”

“Yes.”

He was a very fast talker.

And he seemed impatient, waving his hands as soon as he finished speaking, telling them to quickly go get makeup done.

When Rembrary went to the place where he would get makeup done, the beauty team, who had been preparing in advance, quickly rushed over, sat him in front of the dressing table, wiped his face with cotton pads, and started dabbing cosmetics here and there.

Almost an hour and a half passed before Rembrary could open his eyes and look in the mirror.

Almost nothing had changed, making him wonder what they had been doing for an hour and a half.

Except for his hair.

But there was no time to observe his appearance in detail.

This time, the stylist came over and urged him to change his clothes.

And since the outfit wasn’t even decided, she told him to change again, saying it didn’t feel right after he put it on.

Only after putting on and taking off about half of the outfits hanging on one hanger did the stylist finally say she was satisfied and that Rembrary could go.

‘Is that why they rushed me for being late?’

The preparation time alone took almost two hours and fifteen minutes.

If a simple bread hadn’t been provided as a snack, he would have been very hungry.

When Rembrary went out, the baby’s breath flowers had been cleared away in the meantime.

Instead, a set that looked like a tomb had been moved in.

‘First a coffin, now a tomb.’

Whether the tastes of the people in this world are strange, or whether it’s just a coincidence.

Rembrary clicked his tongue and went to stand in front of the tomb.

“Wooyeonwoo, like a vampire. Act like a vampire!”

As Rembrary stood by the tomb, the photographer demanded very specifically.

‘Vampire? Are there vampires here too?’

There were vampires in the world Rembrary lived in.

He hadn’t seen them often, but he had been close to them a few times due to various circumstances.

As long as they didn’t go crazy at the sight of blood, they were very gentlemanly.

They were very interested in fashion and trends, and they were convinced that they were very elegant.

In Rembrary’s view, they were a bit narcissistic.

Rembrary recalled them and struck a pose.

If they saw Rembrary now, they would have laughed their heads off, but fortunately, there are no vampires here, right?

“Amazing!”

It must have helped that he imitated them while thinking of real vampires.

The photographer was impressed by Rembrary’s pose.

“Very demonic!”

‘······’

Then, for a while, flashes were bursting.

“Huh?”

The photographer suddenly took the camera away from his eyes and tilted his head.

Rembrary also stopped posing, wondering what was going on, and looked at him.

“What is it?”

The photographer kept staring intently at the camera.

“What’s wrong? Did our Yeonwoo make some kind of mistake…?”

Jongwoo, who was watching the filming next to the reporter, rushed over and asked, looking anxious.

The reporter who hired this filming team and Eunseon, who was walking around with a small camera, also approached.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?”

The photographer raised his eyebrows and muttered, “That’s…”

Then he looked up and stared at Rembrary.

Then his gaze shifted slightly to the side, looking over Rembrary’s shoulder.

The photographer looked down at his camera again and tilted his head.

“Something’s strange.”

*Why is he being like that?*

His face was genuinely puzzled, so Rembrary also quietly came down from the set and approached him, asking.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, that’s…”

The photographer glanced at the set where Rembrary was standing and at Rembrary’s shadow as he approached, and answered.

“It looks like there’s one more shadow in there.”

“A shadow?”

The reporter looked bewildered, and the photographer went to the computer where the photos he had taken were immediately displayed.

As people followed him, the photographer drew a circle around the background of the photo he had just taken with his finger and said.

“Here.”

Jongwoo inhaled slightly.

As he said, there was another unidentifiable shadow behind Rembrary.