Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 71

< 71. Your Scent Is Nice >

“Our Yeonwoo, he might lack common sense, but he’s not a bad kid. Right?”

Jongwoo, who had witnessed everything up close, awkwardly chuckled and replied.

“That’s right.”

“You did well too. You immediately reported it to 119 [emergency services number in South Korea] and kept following the person who collapsed, giving them your location, right?”

“It’s only natural.”

“You did a great job. I’m so proud.”

Jongwoo was embarrassed and stared even more intently at the tablet PC on his lap.

Today’s incident dominated the news.

Although it wasn’t particularly moving for saving one person, it completely overshadowed Yeonwoo not attending the first-place announcement.

In fact, people who had criticized Woo Yeonwoo for not attending the announcement quickly quieted down or changed their tune when they learned he couldn’t attend because he was saving someone.

Oh Jeongshin’s fans criticized, saying, ‘It wasn’t Woo Yeonwoo who saved him, but Woo Yeonwoo’s manager and cat,’ and ‘Bringing a cat to an injured person is incredibly ignorant,’ but the general public’s reaction was, ‘It’s bewildering, but it’s a good thing.’

Moreover, testimonials about how Woo Yeonwoo’s ‘virtue’ had healed them, what Woo Yeonwoo said before San Sora collapsed, and so on, became hot topics again.

In fact, this kind of attention would usually be something most popular idols would hate. But CEO Lim was satisfied with just this much attention.

Before losing his memory, Yeonwoo had no recognition at all, and after losing his memory, Yeonwoo’s image was too bad.

He’s still considered a unique and bizarre oddball, but it’s better than being treated as 100% pure trash. Definitely.

Moreover, this incident had even better results the next day.

The title track, which had been stuck at 7th place as if there was an obstacle, jumped to 5th place.

Not only that, but Yeonwoo’s solo song, which was lower in the rankings, jumped to 2nd place.

* * *

“Mr. Sagamjae, I heard you’re colleagues with Mr. Sajikjae. Is that true?”

Tuesday.

While Rembrary was at the studio for the shoot, Jongwoo left his seat, leaving them alone in the waiting room. He immediately seized the opportunity to ask Sagamjae.

Sagamjae, who was pouring hot water from a thermos, glanced at Rembrary.

Rembrary was leaning back on a cot, staring intently at Sagamjae.

“Did Jikjae tell you that?”

“Yes.”

“Work colleague… that’s right.”

“But isn’t your workplace here, Mr. Gamjae?”

“Ah, well.”

Sagamjae answered vaguely and poured water again. It was clear he didn’t want to answer.

Rembrary, with one leg comfortably extended, watched Sagamjae’s every move.

Pale. No color. Actually cold. Seeing this far, he’s either a vampire or a zombie.

He controls his appetite well for a zombie. He walks around well in the sunlight for a vampire. Above all, he doesn’t suffer from Holy Power.

‘He can see and touch souls… a demon?’

Rembrary didn’t know that Sagamjae was also scrutinizing him, thinking similar thoughts.

* * *

Just as the intense time of mutual exploration was passing.

The FD [Floor Director] came and told Rembrary to come to the set and wait.

Rembrary put down the water bottle and went to the set.

While checking the script and the filming site, he made eye contact with Lim Yuhan, who quickly winked at him.

Rembrary smiled awkwardly, but Sagamjae said, “You’re going to get scolded,” so he quickly managed his expression.

But he thought being an idol was really uncomfortable.

It’s an opportunity to just become friends with good people, but if the other person is of the opposite sex, you have to stay away…?

When he was a priest, he wasn’t allowed to have lovers, but there was no rule that he could only be friends with the same gender. But isn’t this world a bit too much?

Meanwhile, the director, who had finished one scene, gestured for Rembrary to come over.

When Rembrary approached, the director explained today’s filming scene.

“A couple who are enemies start attending the parish church, and people praise them. They say they’re so kind they can’t even kill a bug, so good they don’t need laws. They actually do volunteer work. From Deungbaek’s point of view, it’s frustrating, right?”

“What’s ‘빡’ [Bbak]?”

“Going crazy.”

“What’s ‘야마’ [Yama]?”

“How I feel right now. No time for jokes, Yeonwoo.”

I didn’t joke. Rembrary muttered inwardly and closed his mouth. The director continued the explanation in a fast voice.

“Anyway, Deungbaek goes to an orphanage to volunteer, and the couple who were his enemies in his past life go there too…”

Deungbaek tries hard to hold back his anger and not show it, but it’s not easy. He keeps thinking about what Limseo said, that their sin isn’t from a past life but from this life.

Still, he tries to act as indifferent as possible, but eventually, when one of the couple asks Deungbaek to bring them something, his anger bursts out.

– Why don’t you do it yourself?

The volunteers around them are all embarrassed by Deungbaek’s words, but in the midst of this, a child who adores the enemy couple scolds Deungbaek, saying, “What kind of priest is that?” and calls him a bad person instead.

Normally, he would just think it’s childish nonsense and move on, but the person the child is unknowingly comparing him to is the person who drove him and his lover to their deaths, so it’s hard for Deungbaek to hold back his anger.

Deungbaek looks at the backs of the enemy couple standing with the child on the stairs and momentarily thinks, ‘I want to push them,’ and feels disgusted with himself for having such thoughts.

Eventually, Deungbaek returns to the church, saying he’s sick, and confesses his feelings to Limseo there.

Until now, Rembrary hadn’t been with Deungbaek because Deungbaek was out volunteering, but from this scene on, Rembrary had to follow Deungbaek around again.

‘I know from the script.’

Rembrary wondered why the director was summarizing and explaining this to him, but the director looked at Rembrary with an unreliable face, explaining Limseo’s emotions in detail.

“There’s a lot of dialogue today. Are you okay?”

“I’ve memorized it all. I’m not stupid, Director.”

“Of course, Yeonwoo isn’t stupid.”

When the director’s explanation was over, Rembrary went to the set, which was decorated like an assistant priest’s room.

Meng Wooshin was already there, and when he saw Rembrary, he made a blatantly sulky expression.

But the director didn’t bother touching Meng Wooshin’s expression. He knew that no matter what his original feelings were, Meng Wooshin would immediately change his expression and even his emotions when he started acting.

As expected, when the director said, “Ready…” Meng Wooshin’s expression quickly changed.

Rembrary also stood in the spot that the staff had designated in advance, wearing his usual benevolent expression.

Finally, the filming began when he heard the sound of “Go!”

Meng Wooshin, who had been looking sullen, immediately puffed up with anger.

It was clear from his expression that he was so angry he couldn’t breathe properly. He gritted his teeth and tore at his hair, then later made a small groaning sound.

Rembrary stared blankly at the scene.

As he was doing so, Meng Wooshin eventually let out a small scream, and with a face that seemed to have collapsed, he looked at Rembrary and said.

“Limseo. Imagine there are some sons of bitches you really, really, really hate.”

“I like dogs, Senior. I like puppies even more.”

“Then not dogs. Just some bad… bastards you hate.”

Rembrary put his heart into the line and clicked his tongue.

“A priest swearing.”

Meng Wooshin seemed to bristle for a moment, but it was only for a moment.

Rembrary approached him, smiling, and said.

“It’s sacrilegious.”

“Don’t joke around.”

“Is this what you call a joke?”

“What would you do? Limseo, if there are people you want to kill… but you can’t kill?”

Meng Wooshin swallowed hard at the ‘want to kill’ part. As if he was afraid that just saying these words would be a sin.

Seeing that, he seemed like a junior priest who was really in trouble, so Rembrary’s expression of a very benevolent high priest naturally came out.

“I’d kill them.”

But the line was cold.

Meng Wooshin paused, then asked again.

“Ha. You’re not serious, are you? You can’t hate someone enough to kill them, can you?”

The character of Deungbaek was really annoying. If he was thinking that, why would he even ask that kind of question in the first place?

Rembrary clicked his tongue inwardly and laughed as written in the script.

Meng Wooshin stared at Rembrary, then sat down on a chair and muttered.

“I used to pity you for not having emotions. Now I envy you for not having emotions.”

The position of the chair was exactly where the sunlight came in through the window, creating a window of light on the floor. It was positioned so that half of his body was in the light and half in the darkness, visually revealing his anguish.

Rembrary put down the book he was pretending to organize and approached Meng Wooshin on his knees.

Right up to where the light from the chair reached.

That position was in front of Deungbaek’s legs.

Rembrary stopped there, smiled at Deungbaek, and said.

“Then share it with me, Senior. That emotion.”

Deungbaek’s gaze reached Rembrary.

This line was a scene that writer Shim deliberately inserted for the chemistry between Deungbaek and Limseo, and it was actually a very unnecessary scene.

Anyway, Meng Wooshin, as writer Shim intended, even produced a very subtly trembling pupil, looking down at his junior who didn’t know emotions.

However, at that moment. Meng Wooshin burst out, suppressing Deungbaek. It was a side effect of looking at each other’s faces for too long without lines.

Meng Wooshin couldn’t overcome his anger and slapped Rembrary’s forehead.

Rembrary looked at Meng Wooshin in bewilderment and asked, “What’s wrong, Senior?”

Rembrary was also really surprised, not as Limseo, but just really surprised. This wasn’t in the script. And Rembrary had never experienced an ad-lib [improvisation] situation before.

Meng Wooshin also froze and looked at Rembrary.

He did slap him, but Meng Wooshin also hadn’t planned the ad-lib.

It just so happened that the title Limseo used to call Deungbaek and the title Rembrary used to call him were the same, ‘Senior,’ so he got annoyed with the constant ‘Senior, Senior’ and flicked him on his smooth forehead.

But the director, who he thought would immediately shout NG [No Good – meaning to retake the scene], was surprisingly still, so Meng Wooshin was also getting more and more embarrassed.

However, Meng Wooshin was a professional. Instead of showing his confusion, he immediately rubbed Rembrary’s forehead roughly and got up silently, sighing.

Only after seeing that did the director shout, “Cut!”

* * *

Rembrary, who had been following Meng Wooshin, or rather, Deungbaek, around throughout the filming, finally escaped from the set when it was the turn of the supporting actors.

As he sat down on a chair in the corner, a staff member brought him a large sandwich, saying it was a snack for Meng Wooshin.

After confirming that Jongwoo wasn’t there, Rembrary hurriedly tore open the bag and put the sandwich in his mouth. If Jongwoo came, he would take it away, saying he had to control his weight, so he had to eat it quickly.

As Rembrary choked on the sandwich, a white hand offered him a can of cider.

Rembrary took the cider, drank it, and looked to the side.

It was Lim Yuhan.

“Thank you, Senior.”

Lim Yuhan smiled instead of answering and sat next to Rembrary, asking.

“Are you and Wooshin on bad terms?”

“I think Senior hates me.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“I don’t know. There are hardly any people who hate me, so I’m a bit taken aback.”

“…Um. Have you ever heard that you’re oblivious?”

When Rembrary looked at him as if asking what he meant, Lim Yuhan smiled playfully, fluttered his long hair, and asked.

“But Yeonwoo, do you smell anything nice on me today?”

Rembrary sniffed and exclaimed, “Ah.”

There was a nice scent. This scent was definitely…

“It smells like Shiki.”

“Shiki?”

“The dog we raise in our office.”

Lim Yuhan raised his eyebrows. Smelling like a dog…

Well, it’s possible. The scent she sprayed was baby powder, and that scent was used so much everywhere.

Still, she came to seduce an idol by spraying a baby powder scent that wasn’t even her taste, and ended up being associated with a dog…

She was so dumbfounded that Lim Yuhan momentarily slipped into her original tone.

“I guess that son of a bitch uses baby powder scented shampoo.”

< 71. Your Scent Is Nice > End

ⓒ Shin Hwajin