Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 47

47. The Person Who Doesn’t Want to Expect, The Person Who is Expecting

“We filmed the whole preparation process, how can this be happening? It’s obvious who copied who, isn’t it?”

Jongwoo asked, dumbfounded and chuckling in disbelief.

Eunseon’s face darkened.

“That’s…”

Seeing her expression, Jongwoo also felt a sense of foreboding.

“Don’t tell me… they’re not planning to reveal who started filming first on the show?!”

Eunseon lowered her head instead of answering.

Jongwoo was so angry that he almost cursed at PD [Production Director] Kim Murok, but he barely managed to hold back.

But in the end, he couldn’t hold back and called PD Kim Murok directly to argue.

However, PD Kim Murok just laughed it off as if it was nothing, even as Jongwoo argued.

– Why are you doing this now? We agreed to give him the villain role from the start and even included Kesh, didn’t we?

Jongwoo glanced at Rembrary and then went out into the hallway to retort.

“The villain role is just about having a bad personality, this is different!”

– I’m not going to say Yeonwoo copied it. I’m going to properly show that Yeonwoo came up with the idea first. I’m just trying to make it seem like the person who came later coincidentally did something similar.

“That’s biased! The person who came later copied it, and you’re protecting them even though you know that?!”

– Isn’t it obvious that I’m being biased, considering how much screen time Yeonwoo is getting? Haven’t you thought about that?

“!”

– Do your best. If it’s the same concept, the more talented one might stand out more.

“Who’s the opponent?”

– You’re shouting at the top of your lungs, do you think I’m going to tell you?

This person…? Jongwoo grabbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes.

Heat rose to his forehead, as if steam would burst out.

“What’s wrong?”

Rembrary asked, peeking out with his head half-open through the door. Jongwoo waved his hand and went straight to CEO Lim.

CEO Lim’s expression also twisted after hearing the story.

Letting an accident happen and deliberately creating an accident were different stories.

“It seems like Yeonwoo is more docile than they thought, so they’re trying to create buzz on purpose.”

“What should we do?”

Jongwoo asked worriedly.

“Should we pull out the articles we sent to the press in advance? Like, we were surprised to see that they planned something similar right after the competition, something like that?”

“That’s not bad. It’s not bad, but if we do that, PD Kim might completely erase our kids’ screen time afterwards.”

“Even so, would they really retaliate like that… they probably would.”

It was common for even huge top stars to have their screen time disappear or their reputation worsen after fighting with the director.

The staff would naturally side with the director, not the celebrities who they only work with once, and it’s easy to find weaknesses since they’re filming all the time.

Since people can’t smile 24 hours a day, it was easy to create weaknesses if they didn’t exist.

If a top star belonged to a large agency, they could retaliate a little by not sending their celebrities later, but even if that happened, it was useless.

There were so many competing celebrities who wanted that spot, and they would see this as an opportunity and flock to the director.

Fighting with the director was always a losing battle.

“You know Yeonwoo is going to be in a public broadcast drama as a supporting role soon, right?”

“Yes.”

“For now, prepare the articles just in case. And after monitoring the broadcast, if his image is damaged because of this, then be prepared to pull the kids out and release them.”

“Yes.”

After the meeting with CEO Lim, Jongwoo returned to the waiting room.

Rembrary was talking with Eunseon, but Rembrary seemed calm while Eunseon looked anxious.

Jongwoo asked Eunseon with a dark face.

“Eunseon, would you mind just going back today?”

Eunseon had a liking for Yeonwoo, and they had become a little closer while filming ‘Sing Survival’, so it was okay.

But she didn’t have the authority to cut and paste the footage.

He was trying not to film at all, even if it meant less screen time, because he didn’t know how things would go wrong again after today’s footage went to PD Kim Murok.

Eunseon looked embarrassed but eventually agreed.

Before Eunseon left, Jongwoo asked if the concept overlapped with anyone.

“That’s… Oh Jungshin.”

“What?!”

“But maybe Oh Jungshin didn’t do it directly. Looking at the previous footage, Oh Jungshin seemed to just prepare for the stage as set up for him.”

Jongwoo cursed inwardly.

Oh Jungshin’s fans were famous for being violent.

They were already grinding their teeth at Yeonwoo because of the punishment.

If the concepts were similar and this side did well, they might try to tear him apart no matter what.

If this side didn’t do well, they would create and spread memes comparing the two.

After Eunseon left, Jongwoo asked Rembrary.

“What are you going to do? The concepts overlap, are you still okay with it?”

“Who said they copied it?”

“Oh Jungshin.”

“Million Anti?” [Referring to a large number of anti-fans]

“Yeah. It’s a headache. If it were another contestant, it would be okay if this side did well. But if Oh Jungshin is the opponent, people will talk even if we do well.”

Rembrary thought for a moment with his arms crossed.

“I guess we can’t change the concept now, can we?”

Jongwoo sighed.

He had no choice but to do what he could.

But unexpectedly, Rembrary said something unexpected.

“I was wondering if I should change the concept.”

Jongwoo frowned.

“Hey, you did it first, why are you backing down? You’re the original and they’re the fake, why?”

Rembrary shook his head with a smile.

“I’m not backing down.”

“No matter how I look at it, you’re backing down.”

“Actually, I had another idea, but I was staying still because it seemed difficult to change it halfway.”

“What?”

“The idea came to me a few days ago.”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to do a sad song.”

“A sad song at a carnival?”

“A carnival of one’s own.”

“?”

“I’m going to sing a breakup song wearing a crying mask, and then take off the mask and smile at the climax to create a short carnival atmosphere. The song keeps playing sadly.”

“!”

“I want to express the pretense of singing sadly but secretly enjoying the festive atmosphere behind the scenes.”

Jongwoo’s eyes widened and

“Could it be…?”

He muttered.

Rembrary nodded.

“Yeah. When I think about it, it seems like this will connect the story to our next album. What do you think?”

“Yeah. If we only create a carnival atmosphere at the climax, we won’t need to add a lot of arrangement.”

Jongwoo was stunned for a moment and then hurriedly picked up his phone.

“I’ll quickly scout a composer.”

* * *

“What? Who are you scouting?”

Meng Wooshin, after confirming his appearance on and signing the contract.

He was listening to the list of other significant cast members and asked his manager in disbelief.

“I misheard, right? I misheard, right?”

“What did you hear?”

“That crazy guy is coming out.”

“I heard Woo Yeonwoo is coming out, though.”

“He’s the crazy guy.”

“He’s the crazy guy?”

“He’s the crazy guy that the whole nation recognizes.”

“Well. I don’t know. There are so many rumors in this industry.”

“Is him saying nonsense during a live broadcast just a rumor to you, hyung [term used to address an older brother or male friend] ?”

Meng Wooshin glared at his indifferent manager and clicked his tongue.

The manager was acting like that because he hadn’t actually seen that guy.

He could still vividly hear the voice that asked,

“Are you an attention seeker, senior?”

Even the expression of widening his eyes as if he was more surprised was still there.

“Well. Seeing that, it seems like he’ll be good at acting.”

“Ah. Come to think of it, Woo Yeonwoo came here once, right? He was so friendly, saying he was a fan of yours, right?”

“Friendly… wow. Who told you that? Stay away from them. They must have something wrong with their eyes.”

Meng Wooshin coldly snapped and opened a can.

What he said about being an attention seeker was one thing, but what that guy said afterwards was also bothering him.

That guy acted like he knew something about Hong Woo Dae Dae.

It was about time to get new members anyway, but it was unsettling because there was also a story about a troublesome detective being attached.

Meng Wooshin tried to smile to suppress his unsettling feelings.

“Well. Still, he’s a supporting role, so I probably won’t have many scenes with him.”

“Didn’t you hear that you’ll be sticking together?”

“Even if we stick together, it’ll just be a few scenes together, right?”

“I heard there are fewer scenes where you’re apart?”

Meng Wooshin’s expression twisted like a crushed can.

“What?”

“The CEO was a little worried and asked why they picked a kid who’s never acted before. He asked if it would cause problems by sprinkling an idol into a finished meal. But they said his role needs a face, not lines. They said you’ll be saying all his lines?”

“Ah, damn it. What kind of bad luck is this?”

* * *

Around the time Meng Wooshin was making a fuss about canceling the contract he had signed.

Lim Yoohan, who had signed a contract as the female lead of , was also talking about Woo Yeonwoo.

Lim Yoohan’s agency is the same as Oh Jungshin’s agency, and since Oh Jungshin’s fans were bombarding Woo Yeonwoo, it became a topic of conversation.

“Those fans are really annoying. Making him do errands was a punishment, but they’ve been leaving malicious comments for weeks because of that. Right?”

Lim Yoohan lightly smiled at her manager’s grumbling.

The manager sighed heavily.

“Well, I guess that incident is also to blame for why their fans are like that. But they shouldn’t be picking on an innocent rookie. It was another group that caused the fuss with them. Right?”

Lim Yoohan smiled lightly again instead of answering, and just swiped through her phone screen.

The manager watched her quiet figure and asked out of curiosity.

“You’re very calm, aren’t you? Oh Jungshin and Woo Yeonwoo are going to have a bad relationship, what if Woo Yeonwoo’s fans show up on set and take it out on you? Conversely, what if Oh Jungshin’s fans pretend to take care of you and criticize Woo Yeonwoo? You’re going to be dying from being aware of everyone’s eyes during the drama.”

Only then did Lim Yoohan smile as she pressed the power button on her phone.

“Have you ever seen me being aware of others?”

“I don’t. I never do. That’s why I’m worried. I’m already scared.”

Lim Yoohan smiled softly.

Her perfect appearance, which had dominated real-time search rankings since she first appeared as a CF [Commercial Film] model, shone even brighter when she smiled.

Even the manager, who always saw that face, flinched for a moment.

However, after spreading that picturesque smile, Lim Yoohan’s action was to find a cigarette in her small clutch bag and put it in her mouth.

Lim Yoohan, who skillfully put a long cigarette in her mouth, leaned against the wall and smiled decadently.

“I like coming out with him, unnie [term used to address an older sister or female friend]. I wanted to meet him.”

“He’s famous for having a bad personality.”

Lim Yoohan raised her chin and folded her eyes long.

“That’s why I like him more. Those kids are really cute when they cry.”

After finishing her words, Lim Yoohan stretched out one hand, and the manager grumbled and took out a lighter from her bag.

There are entertainment programs that show the contents of celebrities’ bags.

The people on that program are always walking around the broadcasting station, so just in case, only one cigarette is hidden inside the bag, and the manager is holding the lighter.

As the manager lit the lighter, Lim Yoohan shrugged her shoulders slightly and smiled.

“I hope he’s cute in person too. Then can I play with him, unnie?”

“Are you crazy? Absolutely not!”