Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 327

327. A Surprisingly Fair Person in Some Ways

If I upload the song as it is, I’ll definitely be mistaken for a Redrin follower, just like the devil said. 100%.

But if I don’t upload the song, Rembrary will release it, and people will be captivated by his voice and turn their attention to him.

Even though the ‘Redrin-nim! [Referring to the deity Redrin]’ part at the end is a bit much, everyone who needs to know already knows that Rembrary is crazy. Besides, those who need to know also know that he joined Redrin. Rather, people are likely to just laugh it off even if Rembrary shouts like that.

‘No way.’

Woo Yeon-woo fidgeted anxiously.

There was no other choice. He overlapped with Rembrary in too many ways. In reality, the two had almost nothing in common, but as celebrities, they were different. They were in a position to share the same pie, and ‘to others,’ they had many similarities: excellent singing skills, a captivating tone, admirable looks, a crazy personality, and qualifications as a hunter [individuals with special abilities who combat monsters].

The things that made ‘Woo Yeon-woo’ famous were exactly the same as the things that made ‘Rembrary’ famous. In other words, Rembrary could become his replacement at any time.

“You can just upload it, excluding the problematic parts.”

In the end, Woo Yeon-woo decided to upload it.

“You can’t upload the whole song on social media anyway.”

“People will listen and wait for the full track to be released. What are you going to do about that? You can’t sing like that, can you?”

“!”

A devil who subtly gets on people’s nerves. Woo Yeon-woo hid his shocked expression and glared at the devil, who crossed his arms and pretended to be seriously contemplating.

“What should I do?”

* * *

“Woo Yeon-woo, are you crazy?!”

Jong-woo shouted as soon as he burst through the front door.

Hye-gyeol stopped playing her game and stared at Jong-woo with wide eyes. After Woo Yeon-woo regained his memories, the number of times Jong-woo raised his voice had decreased significantly. But for some reason, he was yelling as soon as he came in.

“What’s wrong, hyung [older brother or close male friend]?”

Jong-woo waved his hand, signaling Hye-gyeol that it was none of her business, and opened Woo Yeon-woo’s door without hesitation.

Woo Yeon-woo was sitting in front of his computer, and even though Jong-woo shouted and opened the door, he didn’t even turn his head and asked,

“What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? Are you asking because you don’t know, you little punk?!”

“I have a hunch.”

“You should! Unless you’re a psychopath! What happened?!”

“What do you mean, what happened? Didn’t hyung see it and come here?”

“You…….”

Jong-woo pointed at Woo Yeon-woo, then stopped talking, his mouth just gaping.

A couple of hours ago, he went to the music distribution company, and an employee smiled at Jong-woo, saying, “Woo Yeon-woo’s song that’s being prepared this time is the best!”

“Is it a solo track, or a Wild Animal double title track? It’s not a B-side, is it? The song is so good.”

Wondering what he was talking about, he asked back, “Excuse me?” The employee asked with a puzzled look.

“The one Woo Yeon-woo uploaded on social media. Isn’t it from the album you’re preparing this time?”

The feeling he had when he immediately went to Woo Yeon-woo’s account and checked the short song… just thinking about it makes him shudder again. He was so surprised to see Rembrary’s song uploaded to Woo Yeon-woo’s account under Woo Yeon-woo’s name.

However, Woo Yeon-woo remained calm, still fixing his gaze on the monitor.

“Why? Everyone liked it. It would be a hit if we released the album as it is. Although we can’t really release the album because of the weird slogan at the end.”

“You little punk, how can you say that now……!”

Jong-woo looked at Woo Yeon-woo, then pounded his chest in frustration.

“Woo Yeon-woo. What’s wrong with you? Are you crazy? You’re not usually like this. Why are you suddenly like this?”

But the answer that came back was still nonchalant.

“I was always like this. Aren’t you mistaking me for someone else?”

Jong-woo was dumbfounded and opened his mouth wide.

“Who would I mistake you for?”

To be honest, Jong-woo had once mistaken Hye-gyeol for another idol. But he swore he had never mistaken Woo Yeon-woo for someone else.

“Who else? That hunter trainee that hyung says reminds you of me every time you see him.”

“What? When did I say that?”

“…….”

“No, I wouldn’t even be so upset if you were actually mistaking me for someone else! You’re really not usually like this, what’s wrong with you?”

Woo Yeon-woo seemed annoyed by Jong-woo and started taking out cherry tomatoes from the kitchen, but Jong-woo stubbornly followed him around, continuing to nag.

As he did so, Tae-in passed by and casually threw out a word.

“What are you talking about? He was always like that, hyung. He’s always been good at threatening and taking things away.”

Woo Yeon-woo stared at the pointed remark, and Tae-in quickly shut his mouth, took a juice bottle from the refrigerator, and went back.

Jong-woo fanned himself and repeatedly adjusted his breathing.

“You’re really weird these days. You strangle perfectly fine people, steal other people’s music…….”

“He did it first. He poked my eyes first. Don’t you even remember that?”

“Of course that was a dangerous action too. But he didn’t actually stab you, he just pretended to. You strangled him hard enough to kill him!”

“It may look funny to others, but it was a threat to me!”

“What about the music? Are you going to say he did that first too?”

“Yes! He stole it first!”

“What did he steal?”

“Hyung doesn’t know anything!”

“That’s why I’m asking you to tell me! How can I know anything or even a little bit if you don’t tell me? I don’t understand you at all in this state!”

“You don’t need to understand. Just be my manager and take care of that bastard! If you want to take care of that bastard, quit being our group’s manager and go away!”

Woo Yeon-woo, who shouted angrily, couldn’t control his anger and eventually stopped arguing, stomping loudly back to his room.

But it was only a second after slamming the door hard enough to make it fall off that he opened it again and stuck his face out, shouting through gritted teeth.

“Just try leaving! Don’t go!”

Then he closed the door again and became quiet this time.

Jong-woo was dumbfounded and stared blankly at the closed door, then covered his eyes with his palm.

“Ugh. That’s one thing. But how am I supposed to face Rembrary?”

After hesitating, Jong-woo eventually went out to the veranda and called Rembrary directly. He didn’t have the courage to talk to him, but since that jerk didn’t seem like he would apologize himself, he had no choice.

As soon as Rembrary answered the phone, Jong-woo poured out apologies. He felt like he could endure Rembrary sticking his finger out of the phone and poking him in the eye without saying a word. Of course, that wouldn’t happen.

However, Rembrary, who he expected to be angry, surprisingly replied calmly.

[Ah, you mean that. I was a little surprised. But it’s okay.]

“There’s no way it’s okay. I’m really sorry. He’s usually never like that, I don’t know what’s wrong. He must be under a lot of stress these days and acted impulsively. I’m really sorry. I’ll talk to the CEO and get a really good song…….”

[Jong-woo.]

“Yeah.”

[It’s really okay, so you don’t have to apologize anymore. And you don’t need to give me a new song.]

Jong-woo, who didn’t expect the other party to react like this, was rather flustered and talked incoherently.

“Why? Your voice is a real gem, a gem, a diamond. It’s a waste to just bury it.”

[That’s right.]

“Huh?”

[My voice isn’t going anywhere. I can record a hundred or a thousand songs just like that. But how many more times can Woo Yeon-woo steal it? Two times? Three times? No, it’ll be difficult even once now. Because I’ve decided not to borrow your strength anymore.]

“!”

[So you don’t have to feel sorry. It’s not your job to apologize anyway, is it?]

Even after the call ended, Jong-woo couldn’t put his phone in his pocket and just stood there holding it. Something… it was an unexpected call in many ways.

‘He’s more kind than I thought. He talks like a complete crazy person. He has no manners. But he’s really kind. Won’t he lose out if he’s this kind?’

His heart felt even more sorry because the other party had accepted the apology, and Jong-woo fiddled with his phone for no reason. He thought that he should still pick out a good song and give it to him, even though he said that.

At that moment.

“Rembrary, you son of a bitch!”

Woo Yeon-woo’s voice was heard from inside the room. Hearing that voice made the two even more contrasting, and Jong-woo frowned and burst through the door, scolding him.

“Why again? Stop looking for him. Leave him alone. I just talked to him, and even though you took his music, he was going to let it go this time too. Let’s leave him alone, okay?”

However, Woo Yeon-woo shouted even louder.

“Let it go? How can he let it go and release this?”

“What did he release?”

“Look for yourself!”

Woo Yeon-woo played a video on his computer, and Jong-woo grumbled, ‘What’s he looking at?’ and bent down. The video showed Rembrary dipping anchovies in soybean paste [a common Korean side dish] and eating them.

“What is this?”

“Keep watching.”

As he continued to watch, a person holding the camera, whose face was not shown in the video, said to Rembrary, “You seem to be in a good mood today.”

[The song will be released, the song. It’ll be out tomorrow or the day after.]

Then Rembrary smiled contentedly and replied. It seemed like he didn’t know that Woo Yeon-woo had stolen his song yet, judging by the timing.

‘Why is he making me watch this?’

Jong-woo still didn’t understand, but he continued to watch anyway. Woo Yeon-woo fast-forwarded the video a bit, and a little later. This time, Rembrary was frowning as he looked at his phone. Woo Yeon-woo’s upload of Rembrary’s song could be faintly heard from the phone.

And above it, a caption appeared: ‘Rembrary seems to have something on his mind. It’s unlike him, who always smiles… what’s wrong?’ Then the person holding the camera asked again, “Why?”

However, Rembrary did not answer. He looked at the camera and tried to say something, but hesitated for a moment, then closed his mouth and went into the room.

Jong-woo still didn’t know what the problem was and looked at the back of Woo Yeon-woo’s head. I really want to hit him……! What’s wrong with this! I just feel more guilty watching the video!

At that moment. A caption suddenly appeared against the background of the empty living room.

[Huh? That song just now?!!!]

Then a black screen appeared with the caption ‘A few days ago,’ and this time only voices could be heard. But the voices were Jung Seo and Rembrary’s voices. Voices sharing opinions on which song to choose. Among them was the song that Rembrary finally chose, and Jung Seo’s admiring voice.

[It’s good. It suits you well. What are you going to do with the lyrics?]

The lyrics that Rembrary muttered as he thought of them were different from the final completed lyrics, but there were still similar parts.

“Kim Mu-rok, that real hyena [a derogatory term for someone who is opportunistic and ruthless]……!”

Jong-woo immediately knew that Kim Mu-rok PD [Production Director] had uploaded this video and gnashed his teeth, but the video had already been uploaded, and the number of views was rapidly increasing every time he refreshed the page.