Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 57

< 57. Surprisingly Good Selfies >

“Hey, Woo Yeon-woo!”

Jong-woo was startled and shouted. But Sa Gam-jae already had a line of blood on his forehead.

“Why are you really doing this? You’re not the type to bully people, are you?”

Jong-woo, now angry, used his handkerchief to vigorously wipe Sa Gam-jae’s forehead and huffed.

“Are you going to keep acting like this? Huh?”

However, Sa Gam-jae, whose forehead was cut by Yeon-woo’s blood, was calm. He even smiled.

Belatedly noticing Sa Gam-jae’s expression, Jong-woo opened his mouth, feeling awkward.

He was getting angry for him, but the very person who had been cut by Yeon-woo was smiling, making him feel embarrassed.

Rembrary watched Sa Gam-jae intently and clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘No reaction.’

It didn’t mean he was ‘absolute evil,’ but it made it even more difficult to figure out his true nature.

Sa Gam-jae’s lips curved even more distinctly.

“What were you expecting?”

* * *

After the recording.

The members took the demo tape to their dorm and further spurred their singing practice.

Since Rembrary, who wasn’t even in the vocal line, was achieving good results in the competition, expectations were high: ‘If Woo Yeon-woo is this good, how well do the two vocalists sing?’

Since the pitch would inevitably waver when adding group dance and performance later, they had to practice in advance to meet the public’s expectations.

Whether it was effective or not, Tae-in kept cracking raw eggs and eating them, and Keshi kept drinking bottled water.

Rembrary used his divine power to manage his voice relatively conveniently.

But it was when they were engrossed in practice. The doorbell rang.

“Is it Jong-woo hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

“Isn’t it Gam-jae hyung?”

“Go check it out.”

Everyone was too lazy and waited for someone else to go, but eventually, Rembrary, who was confident that he was the most mature, got up.

“Who is it?”

Rembrary asked and put his eye to the peephole. But there was no one standing in front of the door.

He felt a sense of déjà vu. Hadn’t something similar happened before?

“Who is it?”

“No one.”

Rembrary slowly opened the door. As expected, there was no one in front of the door, only an envelope lying there.

“Jung-seo.”

When Rembrary called, Jung-seo immediately approached.

“That…”

“It looks like the letter I received when I was alone before.”

“The razor letter?”

“Yeah.”

The other members also approached, wondering what was going on.

“What’s wrong?”

“What is it?”

“Is that the threatening letter Jong-woo hyung mentioned?”

The members leaned forward and looked at the letter lying in front of the door.

Hye-gyeol jumped back and shook his hands.

“Is it a stalker?”

As Jung-seo picked up the letter, Rembrary said he would open it and asked for the letter.

Before, there was a razor blade inside, and he got hurt as soon as he opened the letter.

He would be careful this time, but even if he got hurt, he thought it would be better for him to get hurt, who could be treated immediately, than for Jung-seo to get hurt.

“Oh, just open it quickly.”

“You open it.”

Of course, it would be better for Keshi to get hurt than for him to get hurt, so Rembrary readily handed the letter to Keshi.

But Keshi carefully opened the letter and didn’t cut his hand.

“Ugh.”

Short screams erupted from around him.

This time, too, a razor blade was attached to the envelope.

Keshi took out the letter paper, shuddering.

Inside the letter paper, there was only a smiling face drawn again, without any words.

– ^^

“Ugh, it’s creepy.”

Hye-gyeol cursed and made a strange shape with his mouth.

Even the usually calm Jung-seo frowned, as if this was the first time he had experienced something like this.

He had heard the story from Rembrary, but experiencing it firsthand was even more chilling.

“I’ll tell Jong-woo hyung first.”

While Jung-seo was taking out his cell phone, Hye-gyeol deliberately shook his arms and legs to try to shake off the unpleasant feeling.

Keshi grumbled and cursed, then washed his hands in the sink.

“Hyung, it’s Jung-seo. Yeah. You know that letter you mentioned before.”

But one person’s reaction was particularly strange.

It was Tae-in.

Jung-seo was seriously talking to Jong-woo, Hye-gyeol was acting all fussy, and Keshi was washing here and there as if he felt uncomfortable, but only Tae-in seemed calm.

Then, when he met Rembrary’s eyes, he frowned and said as if snapping, “What.”

When Rembrary shook his head, he glared at the letter on the table once and then went back to the sofa and picked up the paper with the sheet music and lyrics.

‘Does he know who sent it?’

Rembrary tilted his head, then recalled what Hye-gyeol had said when he was drunk before.

Woo Yeon-woo, the real Woo Yeon-woo, tried to stop someone before, right? Could that person possibly be Tae-in?

Maybe he was jumping to conclusions too much, but…

After Jung-seo finished the call. Rembrary pretended to prepare a late-night snack and subtly asked.

“Keep a close eye on Tae-in.”

“Why? Do you think Tae-in sent the letter?”

“Not really. It’s just that his reaction seems strange.”

Jung-seo glanced at Tae-in and replied quietly, “Okay.”

* * *

After that, time passed without incident, and Monday, when the results of the 5th competition were announced, arrived.

Rembrary and Keshi went to the shop early as usual to get their hair and makeup done, and then went to the studio.

But when they were about to get out of the car, there were more reporters than usual.

“Jong-woo hyung. Are we filming something else famous together today?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

Rembrary wasn’t very interested and just leaned his head against the window.

However, the moment Rembrary opened the door and went out. The many reporters all turned their cameras towards Rembrary at the same time, creating a spectacular sight.

Flashes popped and clicking sounds were heard from all directions.

As Rembrary was bewildered, several reporters approached Jong-woo and asked.

“Would it be okay to do a quick interview?”

“There’s still some time left, right? Just a few questions.”

Recently, he had become a hot topic with his mysterious image, and before that, he had become a hot topic for his ignorant behavior of claiming that Guan Yu was a game character.

In many ways, he was a hot topic, but since he had no schedule, there was no time to see his face.

Because of this, the reporters who wanted to ask Rembrary questions waited for today, which was a scheduled event, and gathered here.

“Later. Sorry, we’re almost out of time. No, there’s not enough time. There are senior artists gathered there, so we have to go quickly, we’re already late. Yes, sorry.”

Jong-woo refused the rushing reporters one by one and took Rembrary and Keshi into the studio.

His expression seemed tense and stiff.

But as soon as he entered the waiting room, Jong-woo’s expression quickly brightened.

“Good. It’s good to get attention without getting cursed at. Right?”

Jong-woo chuckled and patted Rembrary and Keshi on the shoulders.

“Let’s make this album a success. If it’s a success, you’ll get that kind of attention wherever you go.”

“I didn’t strike a pose, will it be okay?”

“If it’s not a photo zone, just say hello. If you do it, it might look like you’re showing off.”

Rembrary nodded, realizing that his popularity was increasing.

That feeling increased even more as time passed, and it wasn’t just the reporters who were showing interest.

Even the contestants who he had seen all along but hadn’t been close to, approached Rembrary and asked a few questions for no reason.

Although he was only in the middle ranks in the competition, Jong-woo was satisfied enough.

When the results were announced, Seonwoo-sil, whom he met in the hallway, teased him while chuckling.

“Hey, you said you wanted to become a monk. Did you really receive a revelation in your dream or something?”

On the other hand, Oh Jung-shin, who hated Rembrary, seemed to hate even the attention he was receiving.

Since the waiting room was right next door, they ended up facing each other right in front of them, and even though Rembrary was with Seonwoo-sil, Oh Jung-shin openly sneered.

“You’re doing all sorts of weird things because you want to be famous. If you have talent in that area, why don’t you quit being an idol and become a shaman?”

Rembrary silently raised his middle finger at him.

“!”

At that sight, Oh Jung-shin glared, and Seonwoo-sil was horrified and pressed down on Rembrary’s finger and hurriedly dragged him into the waiting room next door.

He heard a shout from behind, “Wow, that crazy bastard!” but Seonwoo-sil immediately closed the door and asked.

“What are you doing? Are you really trying to have a war with Oh Jung-shin?”

“I watched a movie.”

“What?”

“Everyone got angry when I showed them this.”

“Wouldn’t they? That’s a curse word, you know?”

“Ah.”

“You’re such a crazy bastard.”

Seonwoo-sil clicked his tongue and laughed.

But since he wasn’t the one who was cursed at, he soon forgot about Rembrary’s middle finger and brought up another topic.

“Ah, you said you’re preparing a new song, right?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me when the album comes out. I’ll write a support message on SNS [Social Networking Service].”

“Thank you.”

“Uh… yeah. And give me your SNS address. I’ll send you a friend request.”

“I don’t have one.”

“You don’t have one? Hey, how can an idol not have SNS? Communication is essential for idols, you know?”

Rembrary occasionally recalled Jong-woo talking about SNS.

But at that time, he wasn’t very interested, so he hardly asked about SNS.

He had only asked once, but Jong-woo thought for a moment and then avoided the topic, saying, “It’s good to have one, but… I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to create one.”

But Seonwoo-sil said that SNS was essential for idols, so he was puzzled.

“Create one.”

“How do I create one?”

“You don’t know?”

When Rembrary nodded, Seonwoo-sil clicked his tongue and asked for his cell phone.

Then, he turned on the SNS that idols use the most on his cell phone and pressed the sign-up button.

In the blink of an eye, Seonwoo-sil was helping Rembrary sign up for SNS.

Shouldn’t I ask Jong-woo? Rembrary thought to himself, but for now, he stayed still.

‘I’ll ask Jong-woo right after I sign up.’

It wouldn’t be a problem just to sign up.

He had definitely added before that ‘it’s good to have one.’

In the meantime, Seonwoo-sil quickly entered a few items and asked.

“Hey, cell phone address.”

“I don’t know.”

“Then email address.”

“I don’t know.”

“What? Did you come from another world?”

“!”

In the end, Jong-woo was called and told Rembrary’s information.

After a while. Rembrary received his account that appeared on his cell phone and only blinked blankly.

Rembrary’s internet skills were at their peak when he searched for people’s names or words in the very first window that appeared when he turned on the internet.

But suddenly, SNS. He didn’t understand what this was at all, and he had no way of knowing its exact use.

As he was blankly standing there, Seonwoo-sil gestured to take a selfie, saying, “Take a picture.”

“Pardon?”

“It would be good to upload it to your profile picture. Your picture.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s upload a picture of us together too.”

Seonwoo-sil’s words were full of consideration, but to Rembrary, they were like alien language.

What is this person saying now? Rembrary was flustered and looked at Jong-woo.

Jong-woo, who didn’t want Rembrary to know the world of SNS, sighed.

But with a senior artist like Seonwoo-sil trying to take care of him so well, it was hard to cut him off by saying, “Our kid doesn’t do SNS.”

In the end, Jong-woo decided to conditionally allow Rembrary to use SNS.

His mouth is a problem, but his face is beautiful, so it’ll be okay if he only uploads pictures, right?

Maybe he can reel in some fans with his muted face.

Yeah. It’ll be okay if I just tell him a few precautions.

* * *

– ? Woo Yeon-woo’s picture lol Why does he look so kind?

– The angel of the outside and the trash of the inside coexist…

– ㅅㅂ [Korean slang for ‘fuck’] scammer lol

– Selfie fraud lol

– No, isn’t the problem not that he looks kind right now? Can’t you see something above his head?

ㄴ What?

ㄴ I see it. I kept looking at it because it was weird. Isn’t it a halo?

ㄴ It’s probably a light

ㄴ I think it’s a halo? The light is on the left.

ㄴ Huh?

ㄴ What is that really above his head?

< 57. Surprisingly Good Selfies > End

ⓒ Shinhwajin