Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 326

326. Are You Joining Our Team Too?

Ardor sent a picture of a mince pie. Rembrary stared at the glossy pastry in the photo, pondering its purpose.

Is he going to make it for me when I get back? Is he going to buy it for me? Surely he’s not showing off. If I don’t know, I should ask. Rembrary put down the photo and opened his message box.

[Is this mine? Are you saying it will be mine in the future?]

However, before Rembrary could finish typing the message to Ardor, the phone in his hand suddenly started vibrating loudly.

He wouldn’t send another pie picture, would he? Or maybe corn. But this time it wasn’t a text; it was a call, and the caller wasn’t Ardor but Shin Jo-woon.

“What’s going on?”

Rembrary asked as he flopped onto the bed, and an answer came immediately.

[You were singing Redrin, Redrin. Did you really go sing a song?]

*I’m asking what’s going on, why is he talking nonsense?* Rembrary picked up an anchovy, dipped it in soybean paste, and brought it to his mouth, matching Shin Jo-woon’s nonsense.

“It’s an anchovy. I happen to be chewing on you.”

[The anchovy I sent? I guess you’re taking good care of yourself?]

Shin Jo-woon asked teasingly with a laugh. He still seemed pleased that he gave anchovies instead of meat. But soon he stopped laughing and asked coldly.

[Do you think I’ll fall for that?]

“I think you already fell for it once and came back around.”

[No, I didn’t.]

“Why did you call?”

Rembrary asked, not understanding why he was acting like this, and Shin Jo-woon asked stiffly.

[I heard you’re releasing an album.]

*That’s true, but…*

“How did you know?”

*I haven’t told Shin Jo-woon yet? How did he find out?* Rembrary asked, bewildered, and Shin Jo-woon asked back, even more bewildered.

[You said it yourself in front of the selfie camera.]

Rembrary recalled picking a song and then boasting in front of the selfie camera that he would release an album soon. That must be what he’s talking about.

*He always seems so free. Always.* Rembrary muttered to himself.

“So you were watching that too…”

But the reply that came back was still rigid.

[Did you go to Redrin to release an album? If that’s the case, our side would be much better.]

“I came to Redrin, so I’m releasing an album. The order is different.”

[Redrin is one thing. Why are you working on it at LLL?]

“How did you know that too? I didn’t say that to the camera?”

[So. Wouldn’t it be better to tell me directly?]

Of course, since they’re close, he might want to hear it directly. But it’s not like he should be angry because I didn’t tell him directly, is it?

“Why are you angry? It’s not something you should be angry about.”

Rembrary asked sulkily and chewed three anchovies at once. *I need to ask Ardor what that mince pie is, but Shin Jo-woon keeps bothering me, which is annoying.*

Shin Jo-woon was angry because he concluded that ‘LLL is related to Nakru’ since Woo Yeon-woo belongs to LLL and Woo Yeon-woo belongs to Nakru, but Rembrary didn’t understand the process.

And because of this, Shin Jo-woon was a little hurt. Knowing that he dislikes Nakru, how could he be so indifferent?

[You don’t know why I’m angry? You should know?]

“I don’t know such things.”

[What do you even know?]

Eventually, Shin Jo-woon couldn’t stand it and asked coldly, and Rembrary tilted his head, covering the case where he had put the trimmed anchovies. *What do I know?*

* * *

That was when Shin Jo-woon was waiting for Rembrary’s answer.

“Um, President.”

The secretary knocked urgently and came in, then lowered her voice and whispered.

“The camera in Rembrary’s room is on.”

“It’s not off?”

[Are you telling me to get lost right now?]

“No, not you, Pig [a nickname]. What’s on?”

“The camera. Your conversation with Rembrary is being broadcast as is, so it would be better to have private calls later.”

As soon as the secretary finished speaking, Rembrary sighed from beyond the phone and began to answer Shin Jo-woon’s earlier question.

[You’re right. I don’t know much here. I don’t even know when you’re going to tell Tae-ri about me. That’s why I’m worried. If Tae-ri hears about us…]

“Let’s talk later.”

[I’m not finished.]

“Let’s talk later.”

[This might be deceiving Tae-ri. Tae-ri also deserves the truth—Hello? Hello?]

* * *

-Did anyone see Woo Yeon-woo and Shin Jo-woon’s call earlier????? I didn’t mishear, did I? Tell me I’m not dreaming with my eyes open!!!!!

ㄴ We dreamed together ㅠ I tried to find it, but the video was taken down ㅠㅠ

ㄴ It must be Shin Jo-woon. The culprit is Mr. Shin! Mr. Shin took down the video ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-What is Woo Yeon-woo telling Shin Jo-woon to say? What did they deceive Jang Tae-ri about?

-Rembrary said ‘us’… that ‘us’… is that ‘us’ what I’m thinking of…

-Wow Shin Jo-woonㄷㄷ What about Woo Yeon-wooㄷㄷ Don’t the three of them hang out anymore?

-There was a rumor that Woo Yeon-woo and Mr. Jang and Mr. Shin grew apart and the two presidents only hang out together these days;; I guess it’s true;;

ㄴ ㅅㅂ Shin Jo-woon is really like a pine tree on Namsan Mountain [unwavering/loyal] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ As soon as Woo Yeon-woo knew about face and manners, he immediately switched to the crazy guyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-But Rembrary definitely doesn’t seem like a real cult follower. Seeing that he’s releasing an album as soon as he goes to Redrin, it seems like he just went to increase his recognition or something

-What are people who said World Boom runs by grinding its employees, and Shin Jo-woon bullied Rembrary so he left, going to say now^^ They’re so close^^^

ㄴ I knowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ There was so much speculation

ㄴㅅㅂ I said our Shin President wouldn’t do that and even got called a World Boom employeeㅋㅋㅋ I wouldn’t even be upset if I was a real World Boom employee

* * *

For the next few days, Rembrary was busy. He had to write the lyrics for the song himself, and he had to practice the song to match the lyrics, so he only had twelve hours to sleep a day.

Fortunately, Dae-ju agreed to take care of the album design, and Jong-woo introduced him to a place for distributing the music and recording, so he could sleep for twelve hours. If not, he probably would have only slept for eleven hours.

Still, Rembrary was able to proceed with the work so lightly and quickly because he wasn’t a real professional singer who had to put his career on the line and put in a lot of effort.

And finally, the day of the album recording arrived. Rembrary met Jong-woo and went to the studio with a thrilled heart.

Meanwhile, Woo Yeon-woo, with a shrunken heart, paced anxiously around the living room of the dorm, worried about what song Rembrary had recorded.

Jong-woo had openly told the members, “I’m going to help Rembrary with his album work,” so he couldn’t stand it since morning because he was so worried about it.

“No, it’s just a song for an event, why are you like this?”

“You hardly release albums these days anyway. You only focus on CFs [Commercial Films/Advertisements] and hunter companies. There’s no need to worry since he’s not going to compete with us.”

The members said a few words, but Woo Yeon-woo couldn’t calm down. How much time had passed? Jong-woo called and asked if he wanted anything to eat since he was going to buy food. Food or anything, Woo Yeon-woo hurriedly asked about the album first.

“How was the recording?”

There was a chuckle at that, and after a while, Jong-woo replied in a trembling voice.

[Um. It’s going to sweep the country. I’m sure of it.]

*How great of a song did he record for his voice to tremble like that?* Woo Yeon-woo’s hand trembled as he hung up the phone. Woo Yeon-woo was anxious and sent a text to his road manager, Oh-wan.

[Please do what we agreed to do.]

About 30 minutes later, Oh-wan came to Woo Yeon-woo and handed him a USB. Woo Yeon-woo put the small device in his hand and looked down at it with troubled eyes for a moment.

He asked to steal the USB on a whim, but now that he had it in his hand, he felt uneasy as if he had gotten something he shouldn’t have.

Oh-wan didn’t bother to encourage Woo Yeon-woo even though he was just rolling the USB in his hand. He had done the stealing, so now he wanted Woo Yeon-woo to commit the evil deed himself.

Then, when Oh-wan went to the kitchen for a drink, Woo Yeon-woo returned to his room, sat on the bed, and went to Rembrary’s SNS [Social Networking Service]. But as soon as he entered that account, all he saw were unpleasant words.

-Are Rembrary, President Shin Jo-woon, and President Jang Tae-ri hanging out like this now?

-Tell me what words President Jang Tae-ri would be upset to hearㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-Shin Jo-woon’s new pig…

-Why did Shin Jo-woon and Woo Yeon-woo grow apart?

Many people were joking or teasing, saying that Shin Jo-woon abandoned Woo Yeon-woo, who had become boring, and was now hanging out with Rembrary, asking for behind-the-scenes stories.

Most of the people who wrote those comments were joking lightly, but Woo Yeon-woo, who had quickly grown apart from Shin Jo-woon and Jang Tae-ri after regaining his original body, couldn’t laugh it off. Their words were like pricking his most sensitive weaknesses with needles.

“!”

Seeing that, Woo Yeon-woo was furious and quickly went to his own account and frantically posted a message.

-It’s been a while since I’ve come to you with a song >ㅅ< I'm going to release a surprise song! Originally, many people had favorited Woo Yeon-woo's account, so as soon as he posted, many people reacted immediately. Some people were stirring things up, saying, 'Is he releasing a song in response to Rembrary releasing an album?ㅋㅋㅋ,' but Woo Yeon-woo endured this much. *You won't be able to say that after you hear the song.* Since he couldn't upload an entire song to SNS, Woo Yeon-woo turned on his computer and plugged in the USB to cut out and upload only a part of the song. He wanted Rembrary to check the song uploaded to his account and react in some way, whether he was embarrassed or angry. It would be even better if that emotion was anger. When he played the song, Rembrary's voice began to be heard from the speakers. He wondered if it would be rap, but it was a surprisingly calm song. A song that whispers heartfelt love in a reciting voice. A song that anyone would fall in love with if they heard it. *He's good at singing after all.* Woo Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes and concentrated on the song, wondering which part to cut out and upload. However, while Rembrary's voice was confessing love gently and sweetly from the speakers, suddenly, there was a sound of slamming the piano keys all at once, and Woo Yeon-woo was startled and widened his eyes. But that was nothing. Just as he was thinking something was recorded wrong. -Redrin niiiiim! At the wailing cry that seemed to pierce through the speakers, Woo Yeon-woo widened his eyes. Following that, there was another thumping sound and a wailing cry of "Redrin niiiiim!" Woo Yeon-woo hurriedly pressed the stop button. *What? What is this?* Woo Yeon-woo stared at the monitor, breathing heavily. His heart was pounding and his hands were trembling because he was so surprised. *What the hell did Rembrary record?* The devil, who had already come from behind with a water cup, muttered in a voice with clenched teeth. "What should I do? It's a more religious song than I thought." Woo Yeon-woo asked with blue veins rising on his forehead. "Does it sound like it's just a little religious to you?" The devil shrugged and pointed to the phone with his finger. "But are you going to upload that song? I think you'll be misunderstood as a Redrin follower too?"