Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 276

276. What Exactly Was Their Relationship?

Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri are both going overboard. They conveniently ignore my calls but immediately fawn over Rembrary. Besides, Jang Tae-ri hasn’t even met Rembrary in person, yet he’s already bending the rules at the crack of dawn! Does that even make sense?

Absolutely not. After finishing his meal with the director, Woo Yeon-woo returned to his room, unable to contain his anger and frustration, pacing around in circles.

If we had fought and our relationship had soured, it wouldn’t be so infuriating. But without any real conflict, he’s subtly distancing himself from me, making this situation even more upsetting.

What on earth is the problem? Woo Yeon-woo, unaware that Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri dislike Nak-ru, or of the sad story involving Nak-ru and Jang Tae-ri’s twins, was simply consumed by anger.

‘Is it because they knew each other beforehand? Did they get to know the Sloth side [referring to Rembrary’s original, less proactive self] first, so they feel alienated towards this version? Like how Hyung [older brother] felt alienated towards the Sloth?’

Woo Yeon-woo bit his lip tightly.

‘Either way, I’ll absolutely prevent them from getting close.’

But how to do that?

* * *

After much deliberation, Woo Yeon-woo decided to sabotage Rembrary’s chances of graduating with honors. If his skills appear subpar, President Jang and President Shin will lose interest. After all, in this industry, skill is paramount.

No, other hunter companies will also lose interest in Rembrary. Then, he could easily bring that guy to Nak-ru and keep him under his thumb, ensuring he couldn’t threaten his position.

Having finalized his plan, Woo Yeon-woo asked the director for the interview videos of the new recruits. He carefully scrutinized each one, singling out a recruit who was fiercely competitive and plagued by a strong sense of inferiority, but possessed weak morals.

“Wow, Woo Yeon-woo.”

The recruit emerged when Woo Yeon-woo called his name, but even as he approached, he seemed to doubt, ‘Is Woo Yeon-woo really calling for me?’ He was visibly surprised as soon as he saw Woo Yeon-woo in person and muttered to himself.

“Hello.”

However, the power dynamic was too significant. After bowing politely, the recruit was completely bewildered, unsure of what was happening. He had expected others to be present, and he grew anxious when he realized he was the only one summoned.

Woo Yeon-woo thoroughly checked several times that no one was within earshot before addressing the recruit.

“Hello, Gu Byeong-in. I was impressed by your interview, so I called you.”

“Yes? Ah. You saw that……?”

“Yes.”

Gu Byeong-in couldn’t recall what he had said during the interview and was flustered. He didn’t believe there were any particularly memorable questions. Was there something impressive he’d said? Trainees are often unaware that they inadvertently reveal their true feelings to interviewers, so Gu Byeong-in was embarrassed and felt inexplicably uneasy.

“To be direct, Gu Byeong-in, do you want to join Nak-ru?”

Gu Byeong-in, who had been preoccupied with his impressive interview, was startled and repeated the question.

“Yes?”

Nak-ru?

“Don’t you want to?”

“I, I do. Of course, I do. Why wouldn’t I? It’s the best hunter company in the country. And it has many affiliated foreign hunter companies.”

“You want to. Then, are you confident?”

“Yes?”

“Do you always repeat questions?”

“I am!”

When Woo Yeon-woo clicked his tongue as if disappointed, Gu Byeong-in shouted confidently without thinking, then realized his mistake a beat late and quickly corrected himself.

“Actually, I’m not confident. Nak-ru and Worldboom are famous for not hiring people easily.”

“You’re honest.”

As they spoke, Gu Byeong-in remained uncertain about Woo Yeon-woo’s intentions, so he continued to scrutinize Woo Yeon-woo’s expression.

“If you do me a favor, I’ll get you scouted to Nak-ru regardless of your grades. Are you interested in that kind of deal?”

When Woo Yeon-woo mentioned the scouting offer, Gu Byeong-in was taken aback and took a half step back.

“Really?”

Scouting out of the blue?

“If not, forget it.”

When Woo Yeon-woo checked the watch on his wrist as if he were pressed for time, Gu Byeong-in quickly replied, “I am! I am interested.” Others might doubt it, but Woo Yeon-woo’s offer of scouting seemed believable.

But this time again, he hesitated a beat late after speaking and asked.

“But what kind of favor comes with such good conditions……?”

The other person held a position of trust, but receiving something so valuable and advantageous for free usually meant there was a catch.

However, seeing the curiosity he couldn’t conceal despite his wariness, Woo Yeon-woo was convinced that he had already taken the bait. Woo Yeon-woo suppressed a smile and asked.

“Do you know Rembrary?”

“Yes. He’s a fairly well-known classmate among us. Ah! Are you perhaps trying to persuade Rembrary to join Nak-ru……?”

“Prevent that trainee from graduating with excellent grades.”

Gu Byeong-in, who had been smiling, froze, his expression unchanged.

“Yes?”

Gu Byeong-in studied Woo Yeon-woo’s face. Rembrary was known, but he was just a trainee. On the other hand, the person in front of him was a national hero recognized by everyone in the country. He couldn’t fathom why he was doing this.

“Are you…… acquainted?”

“He was a trainee at our company when I was a celebrity.”

“Ah. Ahh. So that’s why the face.”

“But he bullied me a lot.”

“A trainee bullied a debuted idol?”

“The company president favored him. I didn’t become famous quickly. As you can see, he has a face that would make him an instant hit.”

“Ah ah…… I see.”

Woo Yeon-woo felt inexplicably uncomfortable that Gu Byeong-in immediately accepted the plausible lie, so he quickly concluded the fabrication.

“Well, that’s what happened.”

“He’s a bad kid.”

Gu Byeong-in said that, but he seemed a bit uneasy. If he were competing directly with Rembrary, he would try to win even by interfering without guilt, but he didn’t feel comfortable being manipulated by someone to interfere in a situation like this.

Woo Yeon-woo threw out another lure as if he anticipated it.

“This time, Nak-ru is only planning to take one new recruit. In the current situation, they’ll probably take Rembrary. It’s not good for me. I don’t know about you, though.”

“!”

“You don’t have to interfere if you don’t want to. But you can’t come here either.”

* * *

Like the saying, ‘Walls have ears,’ someone overheard the secret conversation between the two.

‘Wow. What’s going on?’

Mori pressed himself against the wall, his mouth agape.

He was in a hurry to use the restroom, so he ran to the nearest one, which he didn’t usually frequent. But this turned into an opportunity to overhear such a conspiracy.

Mori continued to hide in that spot, enduring for a long time even after the voices and footsteps faded away, and only emerged from the bathroom stealthily after almost an hour. He had to be careful. If Woo Yeon-woo discovered that he had overheard this conversation, he might also face disadvantages in graduation.

After thoroughly ensuring that no one was around, Mori went straight back to the room he shared with Rembrary.

“Hey, Remb. Remb.”

Rembrary was glued to the computer, searching for questions like ‘Why has the world become like this?’ He quickly tapped the keyboard and turned around. But the screen remained on, so Rembrary was unaware that Mori had seen it and asked innocently.

“Why do you ask?”

Mori thought, ‘What is he doing?’ while glancing at the screen, but the question wasn’t a big deal, so he quickly relayed the story he had just witnessed.

“Do you know Woo Yeon-woo? Were you a trainee there?”

He wasn’t a trainee, but an idol. But since his ‘body’ was neither a trainee nor an idol, Rembrary vaguely answered.

“I don’t know. It’s a bit ambiguous and vague…… Why do you ask?”

“Woo Yeon-woo told one of the new trainees to prevent you from graduating with good grades.”

“How absurd.”

“Absurd? Hey, do you know who that new student is? It’s Gu Byeong-in, the one who came in with pretty good grades, though not as good as you.”

While speaking, Mori carefully observed Rembrary’s reaction.

In fact, Mori had two reasons for telling Rembrary this. One was pure goodwill. He wanted to help the junior he was in charge of.

But the other was that he was still suspicious of Rembrary’s strange side that he had witnessed during the entrance test. That chilling gaze. He had encountered monsters before, but he had never felt that much fear from any monster.

That’s why Mori wanted to see how Rembrary would deal with ‘an enemy who is not a monster but will definitely interfere with him.’ If he observed that, he would discern whether this junior was simply someone with a peculiar personality or a monster masquerading as a human.

However, Rembrary was merely uttering phrases like ‘How absurd’ even after hearing about the conspiracy, even the conspiracy orchestrated by the renowned Woo Yeon-woo, so his heart as a senior became even more frustrated.

“Hey, think seriously. It’s possible that Woo Yeon-woo didn’t just give those instructions to Gu Byeong-in. No, he might even say that to the instructors.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! Is that all? What are you going to do if they keep targeting you even after you become a hunter later?”

“Even so, it’s nothing.”

At the indifferent response, Mori pounded his chest in frustration. But one thing became clear.

“What exactly is your relationship?”

“Hmm?”

“Looking at it, it seems like he unilaterally hates you. What kind of relationship makes a hero hate a newly entered trainee that much? He said you were a trainee at his company……”

Mori looked at Rembrary’s gentle expression with a slightly bitter look and added.

“Looking at it, it doesn’t seem like that either.”

Rembrary, who was about to say that they had no relationship, paused for a moment when he saw that Mori was not easily backing down, and then answered.

“A relationship where we were one body?”

Mori was so surprised by the unexpected answer that his eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“We were always one body. That’s why he’s acting like that since we separated. He’ll be fine someday when his anger subsides. Don’t worry.”

“You mean you were always together……?”

“Don’t you know what one body means?”

“!”

Mori, who had been considering various possibilities such as rivals, love rivals, childhood friends, school bullies, and Rembrary unintentionally causing Woo Yeon-woo to spill his water, was startled by the one-body story and dropped his jaw. If he didn’t have joints, his jaw would probably have fallen to the floor.

“I, I don’t really know……”

“I stayed inside him, and we did a lot together.”

“!”

“But a great person with the ability to melt the opponent with a single touch appeared, and we ended up separating.”

When Mori stepped back, Rembrary smiled gently and asked, “Why do you ask?”

“Uh……”

Mori rolled his eyes, covered his ears with both hands, and shouted as he hurriedly went outside.

“Sorry. I didn’t hear anything.”

Why is he doing that? Rembrary, who was wondering why Mori suddenly apologized and left, closed the door that he had left open himself. But the expression that had been so calm and smiling a moment ago was now a little stiff as he was alone.

‘Woo Yeon-woo and the new guy named Gu don’t matter much……’

Something else was bothering him. Shin Jo-woon, the president of a hunter company, and Woo Yeon-woo, who is famous in Nak-ru, come and go to the training center. Why doesn’t anyone from Redrine come?

‘Are Worldboom and Nak-ru the only ones who can specially come and go to the training center? Or is there another reason?’