Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 226

< 226. The Bait Has Been Cast >

For a moment, the members glanced at each other, sizing up the situation.

They puffed out their chests to prove they weren’t the culprit, their eyes darting around to find the real one. But in reality, they weren’t sure if they were truly innocent, creating a strange atmosphere where no one dared to speak.

Then, Rembrary was the first to raise his hand and confess.

“I consulted with Seonwoo Sil.”

Emboldened by that, Keshi also hesitated for a moment before relaxing his shoulders and blurting out,

“Actually, I consulted with Yulli too.”

Following them, Hyegyeol mumbled in a barely audible voice,

“A friend.”

Jeongseo avoided eye contact and said,

“My mom.”

Everyone fell silent. Not a single person had kept this a secret.

Rembrary spoke up again first.

“Seonwoo Sil *sunbae* [senior colleague] might manipulate photos, but he doesn’t manipulate his conscience.”

Not wanting to be outdone, Keshi quickly defended Yulli.

“Yulli knows this industry inside and out, so she’d never leak something like that. I haven’t told anyone what you guys said, even now……”

“But Keshi *hyung* [older brother/male friend] usually talks about us a lot, doesn’t he?”

Hyegyeol narrowed his eyes and questioned him, causing Keshi to stop defending Yulli and shut his mouth. But soon, feeling wronged, he flared up and retorted to Hyegyeol.

“Hey, you said you told your friend too!”

Hyegyeol tried to bring Jeongseo into his defense but couldn’t bring himself to mention talking to his mom, so he closed his mouth again.

Jeongseo stepped in to defuse the awkward atmosphere.

“There’s no need for us to be like this with each other. It was something the staff all knew about too, not just us.”

“That’s true.”

Keshi quickly agreed.

“It could have spread from somewhere else. There are so many people.”

Everyone accepted that, as it was a valid point. Statistically, that was much more likely.

However, the attempt to move on smoothly was short-lived. Everyone fell silent and sighed. Nothing had been resolved. Taein still wanted to leave. The discord rumors had already exploded.

Just then, Hyegyeol, who had been constantly clicking the refresh button on the internet, mumbled, “Oh.”

“The company released a rebuttal article.”

* * *

Topic: Which Wild Animal member do you think wants to leave?

I’m betting on Woo Yeonwoo. Honestly, I don’t know what Wild Animal has done for Woo Yeonwoo. I bet he doesn’t know either.

―Member A who wants to leave is obviously Woo Yeonwooㅠ

―Obviously Woo Yeonwoo? I never thought it was Woo Yeonwoo?

ㄴIsn’t it Jeongseo? Some director interviewed said Jeongseo is good at acting. Maybe he wants to leave to act? His movie is coming out too.

ㄴSeems like Keshi. He said before that he wanted to go solo.

ㄴㄴSolo? Solo? The first one to get a couple is going solo? LOL

ㄴㄴㄴYou devilㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Keshi fans are cryingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Woo Yeonwoo is the only one losing out by being in the team, so of course, Member A is Woo Yeonwoo.

Why is Woo Yeonwoo losing out by being in the team? Isn’t his personality weird, so being in a team makes him less noticeable?

ㄴㄴIsn’t that losing out though?;

ㄴPersonality has to be somewhat unique. Woo Yeonwoo’s image is relatively better because he’s in the team.

―Honestly…… If I were Woo Yeonwoo, I’d want to leave. If Woo Yeonwoo wants to leave, they should let him.

ㄴ222

ㄴ33333

ㄴNo matter how you look at it, Woo Yeonwoo’s position in Wild Animal right now seems like only tankingㅠ

ㄴHe draws all the *aggro* [attention/hate] and takes all the hits to raise recognition and popularity, but all he hears is that being in the group helps him look good and stuffㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ ㅅㅂ The other members should be shining Woo Yeonwoo’s shoes every dayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Isn’t Woo Yeonwoo the one carrying the whole group?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

―Putting your name under Woo Yeonwoo and getting paid one nth of the earnings is honestly a sweet dealㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴYou can’t think like that. Isn’t it that everyone takes risks together and comes out as a group in a situation where you don’t know which member will become popular? If Keshi became popular instead of Woo Yeonwoo, would Woo Yeonwoo not get paid?

―I’m a Yeonwoo personal fan and…… I hope Yeonwoo doesn’t renew his contract…… But I also think that if Yeonwoo leaves the group now, his image will only get worseㅠㅠ

―There’s not much time left until the contract renewal anyway. Just stay.

* * *

Rembrary was lying in bed, reading people’s reactions to the recent article.

A text message popped up with a ‘ding’ sound, automatically opening on the front screen.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why isn’t anyone predicting Taeinㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

The sender was Seonwoo Sil. Seonwoo Sil was also curious and looked up people’s reactions. He seemed dumbfounded that everyone was only talking about Rembrary.

[Keshi’s name is coming up, and Jeongseo’s name is coming up, but Taein’s name isn’t thereㅋㅋㅋ]

[Hyegyeol’s name isn’t there either >ㅅ<] [Are you close with Hyegyeol?] [Closer than with Taein] [Then keep that to yourselfㅠ Don’t show it to himㅠ] [Like Seonwoo Sil *sunbae’s* [senior colleague's] pre-edited photos?] When there was no reply from Seonwoo Sil, Rembrary waited for his reply, then interpreted that he was out of things to say and started looking at people’s reactions again. “Isn’t it better not to look at that?” As he was doing that, Jeongseo came into the room and asked. He seemed worried, knowing that people were pointing out Rembrary as the runaway member and saying all sorts of things. Rembrary put down his phone and smiled calmly. “To think they’re so seriously concerned about someone else’s business. Isn’t that truly fascinating?” Jeongseo was inwardly impressed for a moment. People were gossiping about Wild Animal and Woo Yeonwoo, using them as fodder for conversation, but Woo Yeonwoo was observing those people with interest. He understood why Jongwoo was always muttering about Yeonwoo’s mentality. “Sometimes you seem like an alien.” “Alien?” “Yeah. Someone from another world. So you look down on Earthlings, observe their behavior patterns, and find it fascinating.” “!” While Rembrary momentarily faltered at Jeongseo’s surprisingly accurate guess, Jeongseo thought for a moment and then mumbled. “But when it comes to group matters, it’s not someone else’s business to our fans.” Whether the alien remark was just a passing thought without much meaning, Jeongseo soon lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. As always, he falls asleep so easily in any situation. Rembrary stared intently at his profile for a moment, then let out a short breath of relief for no reason. * * * “*Hyung* [older brother/male friend], what are you doing?” The next day, Hyegyeol, yawning as he came out, was curious when he saw Rembrary sitting at the table, staring intently at something, so he approached. “Looking at photos.” “What photos?” “Photos of our agency’s trainees.” “Why are you looking at that? No, where did you even get that?” Hyegyeol was taken aback but looked at the photos Rembrary was looking at. “Wow, he’s handsome. Why is he in our agency? He should go to a bigger one. What a waste.” “What about him?” “Oh, he’s cute too. But the photos…… They’re all male trainees?” Hyegyeol looked at Rembrary with a dubious expression. “But seriously, why are you looking at this?” “I was thinking that if Taein leaves, maybe a new member might come in.” Hyegyeol was startled by Rembrary’s statement and asked back. “They’re picking a new member?” Keshi, with a toothbrush in his mouth, walked over like a sleepwalking zombie, his eyes widening at the sound. “Then I want to see too! I want a vote too!” Then, holding the toothbrush like a weapon, he ruthlessly eliminated trainees with similar images to himself. “He’s no good. He’s no good either. He’s no good. He’s better. He’s an image we don’t have in our group.” “No. If he comes in, he’ll stand out too much. The group’s color will change.” Everyone was sharing their opinions so passionately that Rembrary couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘I was just looking. *Sajangjae* [CEO] left it with me.’ Besides, when he came to his senses, Jeongseo had joined in too. Just then, someone slammed the refrigerator door shut with a bang. While they were mindlessly choosing a ‘new group member,’ the other members were startled and looked up. Taein was looking at them coldly. The members smiled awkwardly, and Taein sneered. “You guys are so happy that I’m leaving, huh?” * * * “Wow, what did you guys say to persuade Taein?” The next day, Taein had left with *Sajangjae* [CEO] for his solo music show schedule, and the other members were all in the dorm. Jongwoo came in and asked excitedly as soon as he entered. Hyegyeol looked at Jongwoo while playing a head-to-head game with Keshi. “What?” Jongwoo smiled, placing the unidentified basket he was carrying next to the entrance. “Taein said he’s staying in the group? He said he wanted to be next to you guys after seeing what you were doing.” At Jongwoo’s innocent words, Hyegyeol and Keshi simultaneously gave awkward smiles. “Just, you know.” “Isn’t it because he changed his mind after seeing people’s reactions?” As Hyegyeol and Keshi awkwardly brushed it off, Jongwoo found them strange, but he didn’t press further, as the situation was reassuring. He thought that maybe the members had fought a bit in the process of persuading him. Even so, they were all adults, so he couldn’t ask them one by one what they said and fought about. Hyegyeol quickly changed the subject. “Then Jongwoo *hyung* [older brother/male friend], does that mean Taein’s thing is just all gone?” Keshi pointed his chin at Rembrary, who was sitting at the table. “Almost everyone believed that he was leaving.” “We have to release a rebuttal article saying it’s not true.” Jongwoo muttered, looking at the handfuls of chocolate ice cream going into Rembrary’s mouth. He wanted to tell him to stop eating so much. After the incident where Rembrary made a strange remark and went to the cliff, he couldn’t stop him from eating as much as he wanted. “Jongwoo *hyung* [older brother/male friend]?” “Ah. Uh. And Taein said there were conditions for him staying here.” Keshi frowned. “Conditions? He did? What conditions?” * * * “Return my share that was reduced as Yeonwoo’s share of the song increased.” In front of the members, Jongwoo, and the Wild Animal A&R department staff, Taein stated clearly what he had thought of in advance. A&R department team leader Yoo nodded, pretending to be peaceful while muttering, “Okay. Share.” Inwardly, he was unhappy with the current situation, but he didn’t express these feelings. He also secretly hid his suspicion that Taein had leaked the discord rumors to reporters in order to create discord and a sense of crisis so that the company would listen to his opinions no matter what. “Okay, we’ll take care of the share, right? It’s not difficult. Taein sings well.” Team leader Yoo spoke to Taein in the most affectionate voice possible, trying to appease him. “And what else? Anything else? And you know, Taein-ah. Let’s just tell Jongwoo-*ssi* [Mr.] in advance. Okay? Don’t create unnecessary anxiety by saying you’re going to leave or whatever.” However, Taein’s conditions didn’t end there. “There’s more?” Team leader Yoo momentarily flared up and showed his true feelings, then quickly made a smiling face again and waved his hand. “No, tell me. Let’s get it all out. What else?” < 226. The Bait Has Been Cast > End