Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 224

< Declaration >

Originally, the Scorpio concept prepared for Rembrary was taken over by Taein.

With Rembrary, who had the busiest schedule in Wild Animal, focusing only on one variety show and drama filming for the time being, overall activities naturally decreased.

Due to this situation, the agency put all their effort into preparing Taein’s special album.

Taein also locked himself in the practice room, dedicating himself to preparations to the point where it was hard to even see his face.

“Take a break while you work. You’ll ruin your vocal cords at this rate.”

Keshie clicked her tongue and advised him for overworking himself, but Taein didn’t listen.

“Depending on the results of this album, it will be decided whether Wild Animal becomes a one-top group centered around Woo Yeonwoo, or a successful group that started with Woo Yeonwoo.”

They had won first place on music shows and filmed commercials, but the public still only knew ‘Woo Yeonwoo,’ and Wild Animal was just the group with Woo Yeonwoo. He was pointing this out.

“Well, that’s true.”

Keshie reluctantly agreed, as it was a bitter reality.

Jungseo had finished filming the movie, but it hadn’t been released yet, and even if the movie did well, the possibility of it helping Wild Animal was slim.

“You’ll do well. You have a strong mentality.”

“I have to do well.”

* * *

January 15th.

Taein’s album is coming out soon, everyone.

It’s a Scorpio concept, and he prepared very hard.

I heard it briefly, and the song was very good, so please give it a listen.

This is like a gift that Taein prepared for his fans.

That’s what the manager told me to read.

You can edit it out, PD [Production Director].

*

January 16th.

8 AM.

Hanging around because I don’t have a schedule.

No drama filming today.

The Woo Baekyeon role I’m playing is currently…

Ah.

I can’t say this.

*

2 PM.

Jongwoo *hyung* [older brother or male friend] sent me a strange photo via text, saying it was Taein’s concept photo.

Then he asked for my opinion, so I replied that it looked like a Scorpio, just like the concept. He asked again, telling me to answer seriously.

So I seriously said it looked like a Scorpio, and he told me to answer even more seriously.

So I said it looked like cooked shrimp, and he called me and got angry. He asked why I’m so half-hearted about everything.

I asked what kind of answer he wanted, and he said to answer whether the photo was cool or not.

I said if there’s someone who admires cooked shrimp as handsome, they’d admire this photo too, and he hung up on me.

*

5 PM.

Jongwoo *hyung* sent a photo with a slightly lighter color than before and called me 5 minutes later.

He asked if it still looked like cooked shrimp.

I said it looked like undercooked shrimp, and he got angry again and hung up.

So picky. I don’t know what he wants. Do you guys know?

*

January 17th.

Jang Taeri and Shin Joowoon have been acting strange lately.

Before, I noticed they would occasionally go out to eat without me.

But these days, they call almost every day and insist on going together.

Actually… I have an idea why.

Not very recently. It’s because of something that happened less recently than that.

The two of them misunderstood something because of that incident.

Even when I say it’s not true, they don’t listen, so I’ve just been leaving it alone these days.

Actually, when Jang Taeri and Shin Joowoon come to see me, they bring food as an option, so it’s not annoying.

* * *

― Is the option the food or the bosses? Let’s get the order right.

ㄴ Of course, the bosses are the optionㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The food is the main thingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

― Yeonwoo pig is cuteㅠㅠㅠㅠ If I bring food, will I get to meet Woo Yeonwooㅠㅠ

ㄴ Butㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Woo Yeonwoo doesn’t go through the manager and meets people directly, and he’ll even eat with youㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

― Is something wrong with Woo Yeonwoo?

ㄴ 22222 Is something wrong? What’s the thing that happened not very recently but less recently?

ㄴ A car accident? Didn’t they get into an accident after going to see the sunrise together?

ㄴ Wasn’t Jang Taeri in a dangerous situation then? From what Yeonwoo is saying, it sounds like Jang Taeri and Shin Joowoon are worried about Yeonwoo?

ㄴ The album that Taein is preparing was originally being prepared by Yeonwoo, but it was changed in the middleㅇㅇ

ㄴ Wow, it sounds like something happened;;?

ㄴ People are confidently spreading rumorsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴ It’s not spreading rumors. Woo Yeonwoo has actually been excluded from group activities recently

ㄴ Is it because people said it was unlucky after the car accident and the accident on set?

* * *

“Yeonwoo *hyung*, Yeonwoo *hyung*, have you listened to Taein *hyung*’s song?”

Hye Gyeol burst in, striding in and squatting in front of the bed where Rembrary was lying, immediately holding out his earphones.

It sounds like a question, but the action was practically a forced recommendation.

“Are you telling me to listen?”

When Rembrary asked hesitantly, Hye Gyeol nodded, eyes sparkling.

“Yeah! Yeah! Listen! Listen! Awesome! It’s really good!”

Rembrary reluctantly reached out. As soon as he put the earphones in his ears, sweet music flowed out.

“…….”

Rembrary listened to the song and was impressed.

“Taein sang this?”

Hye Gyeol waved his fists in the air and asked back.

“The song is really good, right? Amazing! Much better than you thought, right?”

Rembrary nodded in agreement.

“It’s nice to listen to.”

He wasn’t just saying it. Rembrary was sharp about these things, so he was going to say it was bad if the song was bad. But the song Taein sang was actually sweet and nice to listen to. Unexpectedly.

“Listening to it like this, it’s better than grilled crayfish.”

Then, Rembrary asked Hye Gyeol, who was taking the earphones.

“Taein’s song is good. Why do you like it so much?”

Of course, as fellow members, if the other person does well, this side also benefits. But even considering that, the reaction Hye Gyeol was showing was very unexpected.

Hye Gyeol laughed and pointed to himself.

“Special album. I’m next in line.”

“Is that so?”

“Pay some attention. That’s too much.”

“But why is that?”

“If Taein *hyung*’s album does well, they’ll pay attention to the next album in line. Because the quality is good.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right.”

Hye Gyeol, who imitated Rembrary’s tone, stood up, still smiling, as if he was really looking forward to it.

As Hye Gyeol disappeared in high spirits, Rembrary recalled the song he had just heard and then lowered his gaze back to the book he was reading.

‘It would be good if it goes well.’

* * *

For the next few days, peaceful days continued. As if the storm of events that had occurred were a lie, everything was normal.

Rembrary was busy filming , which often took him far from the dorm, and Taein was busy gearing up for the final stages of album preparation.

Hye Gyeol also became very busy as he began preparing for his special album, which was next in line.

Jungseo was busy practicing acting to prepare for the next audition, and Keshie was busy dating.

And finally, the day the special album was released and the music was released.

Having not slept properly for days, Taein couldn’t eat properly and just stared at his phone.

“You need to sleep.”

“If this goes on, your health will deteriorate even if the results are good.”

But Taein stubbornly stared at his phone with wide eyes, and only fell asleep after confirming that the song’s entry ranking was relatively good.

“This is amazing for a solo song.”

“Yeah. We can keep climbing from here.”

But even after Taein fell asleep, the staff gathered and watched the music site’s graphs and trends together.

They didn’t show it because they were worried Taein would feel pressured. The staff was also looking forward to this album.

Then, when the graph trend went straight up, cheers erupted from all sides.

The staff quickly forgot their fatigue and became happy.

The main character was already asleep. The atmosphere was already like a party among the staff.

* * *

“The rifts? Have you investigated them?”

It was when he came out to eat with Sagamjae. Rembrary asked while unwrapping the ketchup packet. It was a question he had been asking for the past few days, and now it had become a habit to ask this question at least once.

After a large centipede came out of the rift. He guessed that something would burst out at any moment. There have been no changes yet. No other monsters have popped out.

However, the number of rifts was steadily increasing, so he asked this question periodically, as he couldn’t completely ignore it and live his life.

“We are continuing to investigate. It’s just that there are no results.”

“I have a question.”

“Yes.”

“What do grim reapers get paid with?”

“Why are you suddenly curious about that?”

“I was wondering if Lord Yama [the King of Hell in East Asian mythology] would regret it.”

“…….”

Sagamjae stared at Rembrary in disbelief for a moment, but Rembrary calmly put ketchup sauce on his bread.

Sagamjae didn’t protest, as he had often neglected Rembrary even while working as a manager as a side job.

But he didn’t want to be nagged about this topic, so he brought up Wild Animal.

“Taein’s song. I heard it went to number one on the music charts in just 5 days. That’s amazing.”

Rembrary nodded. He heard that, but he didn’t look it up because he wasn’t interested.

But the members in the agency were constantly talking about it, as if it was a better result than expected, so he couldn’t help but know.

“I’m a little relieved. It seems like everyone can do well without me now.”

“Why are you saying that?”

“No matter what, I’m going to leave someday anyway.”

“!”

* * *

Rembrary, who took a walk around the neighborhood with Sagamjae, decided to stop by the convenience store before returning to the dorm to buy drinks and snacks for the members.

Perhaps motivated by Taein’s success, Hye Gyeol was practicing singing these days, not even minding sleep like Taein before.

He couldn’t tell him to stop practicing, but he could tell him to eat while doing it.

But just as he was standing in front of the checkout counter looking for his wallet, his cell phone rang first.

“Hello?”

Rembrary put his cell phone between his shoulder and ear and took out his card from his wallet and handed it to the part-time worker.

―It’s me. Yeonwoo. I think it would be better for you to come in quickly now.

The person who called was Jungseo. Jungseo’s voice didn’t sound good.

“Why?”

―I’ll tell you when you come.

Besides, her voice was serious. Something must have happened.

Rembrary quickly finished paying and returned to the dorm.

When he opened the door and went inside, indeed. The atmosphere was unusual.

Rembrary looked around. Hye Gyeol was sobbing and glaring at Taein, and Taein was staring at Hye Gyeol with a blunt expression. Jungseo had a headache, and Jongwoo also had an angry expression.

“What’s going on?”

When Rembrary asked, Taein unexpectedly answered.

“I said I’m leaving Wild Animal.”

It was a calm voice, but the content was not ordinary. Rembrary looked at Taein in surprise.

“You’re leaving the group?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”