Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 38

38. A Name Dragged Along

Rembrary’s cry of being “too much” left Yuri Hye and the dance instructor staring at each other, bewildered.

Considering Rembrary’s inability to dance, almost all the difficult moves were assigned to Yuri Hye.

Taking into account that he was an idol, the level of the dance was lowered, and physical contact was minimized.

But was even this much too embarrassing?

“Does it look difficult?”

At the dance instructor’s question, Rembrary shook his head.

“It’s not that…”

It certainly didn’t look difficult.

In fact, Yuri Hye was doing almost all the dancing.

The choreography cleverly concealed the dance instructor’s strategy to hide his clumsiness.

However, as a high priest who avoided contact between opposite sexes even more than idols, even this level was embarrassing for Rembrary.

“Haha. You’re more innocent than I expected.”

Yuri Hye thought Rembrary was just shy and burst into laughter.

“It’s okay. Just don’t think of it as contact. Think of it as me helping you keep your balance so I don’t fall backward.”

Was that as easy as it sounded?

Rembrary sighed inwardly but nodded for now.

“Yeonwoo, should we show you the dance one more time?”

“No, I’ve memorized it all.”

“Wow, already?”

“Yes.”

After a few words of caution, the dance instructor played the music.

As the sound of the drums rolled three times, Yuri Hye danced and approached seductively, just like before.

And the moment she wrapped her hands around Rembrary’s neck.

Rembrary unknowingly made a turtle neck and shrugged his shoulders.

The dance instructor turned off the music and scolded.

“What is that, a sexy turtle? It’s not sexy at all to anyone! Straighten your neck!”

The music went back, and Yuri Hye approached with a more playful smile than before.

But instead of completely wrapping her hands around Rembrary’s neck, she deliberately left a slight gap and leaned back as if she were falling.

And then she fell backward with a thud.

“Hey, Woo Yeonwoo!”

The dance instructor shouted.

“I’m sorry.”

Rembrary was flustered and helped Yuri Hye up.

“I’m really sorry.”

Yuri Hye reluctantly laughed and got up.

She had tried to give him some space, thinking her partner was very shy.

But this meant Rembrary had to hold Yuri Hye more firmly as she leaned back.

In the original choreography, Yuri Hye would have been able to balance herself even if Rembrary made a mistake, but she couldn’t do that with her hands slightly off.

However, Rembrary reflexively hunched over again and failed to support Yuri Hye’s waist.

The dance instructor frowned and scolded.

“That’s dangerous! You could get hurt, be careful!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Haha… It’s okay this time, but don’t do it again.”

A vein clearly popped out on Yuri Hye’s forehead as she smiled.

Rembrary apologized repeatedly, and the dance instructor played the music again.

Fortunately, this time, Yuri Hye wrapping her neck and Rembrary supporting her waist went smoothly.

Although Rembrary had a wooden expression while Yuri Hye danced like a swallow, the movements were correct.

The dance instructor thought regretfully.

‘There are people who dance well but can’t memorize the moves.’

‘That guy memorizes the moves perfectly but can’t digest them at all, it’s so frustrating.’

Meanwhile, the dance was almost over, and Yuri Hye bent one leg and leaned back again.

The dance instructor was nervous, but this time Rembrary supported Yuri Hye in one go.

As the music ended, Yuri Hye nestled into Rembrary’s arms.

‘3 out of 10. Partnership 0.5 points.’

The dance instructor thought to himself, but offered a carrot [a reward or incentive] and smiled.

“This is pretty good for the first time. Let’s do it again.”

* * *

“It’s hard to have such bad chemistry.”

After two hours of practice, the dance instructor clicked his tongue.

But Yuri Hye had a schedule, so he couldn’t keep her any longer.

Kesh also needed to practice, and Rembrary had to learn his solo part more, so the dance instructor said goodbye to Yuri Hye, promising to meet tomorrow.

On the other hand, Rembrary sighed in relief as Yuri Hye left.

“Hey, Yeonwoo, you can never do dramas later.”

“Drama? Are they offering me one?”

“Since you have the looks, the CEO might put you in as a supporting role.”

“I see.”

“If you go into a drama, there will be kiss scenes and stuff, what are you going to do?”

“Kiss… Oh, God.”

“Is this something to call on God for?”

The dance instructor asked, dumbfounded, but before Rembrary could answer, Kesh entered the practice room.

Rembrary, who had some free time, went to another practice room alone and practiced the choreography for about 30 minutes, then came out, reminded of Hye Gyeol’s situation.

‘Is she okay?’

He asked the staff and they told him Hye Gyeol’s location.

She seemed to be in the lounge.

He took the elevator to the lounge, and sure enough, he saw Hye Gyeol sitting on a bench, drinking an ion drink [a sports drink containing electrolytes].

Jongwoo was standing opposite her, saying kind words.

“The company will release a statement today, so it’s okay. Most people who spread rumors like that stop when you come down hard on them.”

“…Yes.”

“Right. Don’t bother looking up the internet while things are calming down.”

“Yes.”

“You can learn from Yeonwoo in this regard. Look at his mental strength. He doesn’t budge no matter what people say.”

Hye Gyeol found Rembrary standing behind Jongwoo and smiled weakly.

“Yes.”

Jongwoo, who belatedly saw Rembrary, smiled awkwardly.

“Hey, if you’re here, you should make a sign, why are you just standing there.”

“I just came.”

Rembrary answered nonchalantly, approached Hye Gyeol, and patted her on the back.

* * *

Was the agency’s announcement effective?

The person who claimed that Hye Gyeol was a perpetrator of school violence and that she was the victim was quiet that evening.

Thanks to this, people who unconditionally criticized Hye Gyeol also calmed down a bit, and there was even talk that it was just a rumor.

Hye Gyeol was relieved and slowly began to calm down in the evening.

The next day, she was completely back to her usual self, talking about whose lyrics would be chosen.

“Taein’s lyrics are well-written, but they don’t fit the concept at all. Yeonwoo’s lyrics are too scary. I wonder if Jungseo, Kesh, or mine will be chosen?”

“I liked Yeonwoo’s the best.”

“Jungseo, are you serious? You know that’s a really biased statement, right?”

Except for Jungseo, who had lost his objective standards, most people thought that the lyrics would be chosen from Jungseo, Kesh, and Hye Gyeol.

However, when they arrived at the agency, the results were unexpected.

“The main title track lyrics will be Jungseo’s. Yeonwoo’s solo song has been decided to be Yeonwoo’s lyrics.”

At CEO Im’s announcement, the members as well as the staff were surprised.

Seeing their faces of bewilderment even after they had made the recommendations, CEO Im frowned and said,

“What is it?”

“Did you vote as a joke? Why do you all have that expression?”

“I recommended it, but I didn’t think anyone else would.”

“Me too…”

“Did a lot of people really vote for Yeonwoo’s lyrics?”

CEO Im was dumbfounded and laughed in disbelief.

“How can the people who voted ask that?”

“Who did you vote for, CEO?”

“Yeonwoo.”

“…”

As the staff stared silently, CEO Im cleared his throat and muttered.

“No, the lyrics are weird. But when I lay down to sleep, it kept ringing in my ears.”

The staff widened their eyes and shouted.

“Me too.”

“Should I say it feels like it’s whispering in my ear? I was lying in bed and my eardrums were tickling.”

“Me too. I couldn’t even fall asleep?”

“At first, people might say it’s strange, but if word of mouth spreads well later, it might go into reverse run [become popular after initially being unpopular].”

Rembrary looked at the staff who were speaking one by one and became bewildered.

It wasn’t because they were praising his lyrics.

It was because the words that it felt like whispering in his ear at night were strange.

That kind of addiction was one of the powers of the devil.

But that power only works when the devil speaks directly.

It was strange that they were saying that even though he had simply written it as a whispering text.

‘Why are they doing that?’

But the result had already been decided by a majority vote.

CEO Im hesitated for a moment but nodded and made a decision.

“Okay, even if the title song is a devil concept, it’s a bit bland. Let’s go a bit unconventional with the B-side.”

“It’s either a hit or a miss.”

“Instead, the level of the lyrics has to be lowered.”

CEO Im, who spoke firmly, handed over Rembrary’s lyrics printed on A4 paper and demanded.

“First of all, take out all the family insults here, and take out the parts that are too suggestive. Rewrite it in a more moderate way.”

* * *

After the meeting, Jungseo left the company with Jongwoo to meet the composer who had sent him the song that might become the title track.

Taein and Hye Gyeol were to receive vocal training like yesterday, and Rembrary and Kesh practiced for the competition.

“Isn’t there a variety show that picks out clumsy dancers? Yeonwoo, if there’s something like that, you’d be perfect if you went on it.”

The dance instructor despaired as he watched Rembrary dance a sexy dance, and Eunseon enjoyed filming the scene.

Kesh, who had performed a musical in the first competition, practiced dancing and singing smoothly.

At this rate, Kesh seemed likely to settle in the upper ranks.

After practicing like that for several hours, the two cameramen returned only when it was time for a late lunch.

Kesh received a lunch box from the cafeteria in place of Jungseo, and Rembrary took a breather and fluttered his sweat-soaked clothes.

Hye Gyeol did her finishing stretches.

“Look at this.”

But around the time Kesh came back with the lunch box.

Taein called Hye Gyeol and held out the phone he was looking at.

“What is it?”

Hye Gyeol sullenly took the phone, looked at the screen, and her face hardened.

The person who claimed that she was a perpetrator of school violence had posted a second article.

The person who wrote the article was even more resentful of the company’s strong response, and was venting even more anger than before.

“– I was really going to stop here and move on, but when I thought about it, I got so angry that I couldn’t.”

The person finished the article like this and released a leg diagnosis that he had received from the hospital several years ago.

Rembrary, who received the phone after Hye Gyeol, read the article and made an ‘oops’ sound.

Many people were already talking as if Hye Gyeol was a perpetrator of school violence.

* * *

“First, contact the person who posted that article.”

30 minutes later, CEO Im also checked the article and immediately gave instructions.

Instead of Jongwoo, who was away, a staff member from another team took on the job.

But after a couple of hours, an even worse article came up.

“– I’m verifying that LLL contacted me.”

The person who claimed that Hye Gyeol was a perpetrator of school violence this time revealed that he had been contacted by LLL Entertainment.

At the same time, he added, ‘It seems like they’re trying to shut me up. Oh, how scary.’

After that article, people’s reactions were even worse.

People thought that LLL had reacted because Hye Gyeol was the perpetrator, given that the agency had contacted them directly.

The public relations team and staff were mobilized to write opposing comments or articles pretending to be ordinary people, but it was useless.

This time, Hye Gyeol’s name began to appear in real-time search terms.

It didn’t cover the entire search window like when it was Yeonwoo, but the problem was elsewhere.

Compared to Yeonwoo’s personal recognition, Wild Animal or Hye Gyeol had weak recognition.

As a result, in order to gain views and reactions, reporters began to insert Yeonwoo’s name into all articles.

Of course, Yeonwoo’s previous actions were also dug up, and people debated whether ‘Wild Animal is really a group of only beasts’.

Two hours later.

To Jongwoo, who asked whether it would be better to take strong action, CEO Im coldly instructed.

“First, go to the graduates of Woongin Middle School and ask if that article is true or not.”