Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 90

< 90, Requesting Assistance >

Jongwoo needed to get his makeup done immediately, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop the stylist. He figured this behavior was her way of being considerate.

Instead, Jongwoo cautiously observed Rembrary.

He couldn’t help but be cautious. No one would remain calm upon hearing they weren’t their parents’ biological child.

Even if they realized their parents loved them no differently than their own child, and managed to calm the confusion, it would still be shocking.

“I see. I was suspicious when I saw the photos. I’m handsome, but my parents aren’t.”

Jongwoo could hear Woosungwoo’s brother swearing over the phone. He seemed to be saying something about an ungrateful bastard… Honestly, Jongwoo thought this reaction was understandable, so he pretended not to notice and looked away.

Whether he had managed to calm down or not, Woosungwoo’s voice lessened and became inaudible to Jongwoo again.

However, the unease didn’t diminish. Just because Woosungwoo’s voice quieted down didn’t mean the secret of his birth that he had just learned would disappear. Jongwoo looked up at Rembrary again.

But Rembrary, the person in question, had a rather nonchalant expression. He tapped his foot, looked in the mirror, yawned, and checked his watch. He even mouthed, ‘Isn’t it almost time?’

He didn’t seem shocked at all that he was adopted and that his brother was also adopted.

Was it because he had no memories? Did the loss of memories also reduce his affection for his family, so the secret of his birth didn’t feel like a shock? Jongwoo was unsure whether to be relieved or worried by Rembrary’s calm reaction.

It was at that moment.

“Hngh.”

Rembrary, who had been yawning again, suddenly made a sound as if he were exhaling a held-back breath, and his face contorted.

“Is it true, hyung [older brother or male friend]?”

And with the burst of a tearful voice, Jongwoo was so surprised that he lowered the hand that had been propping up his chin.

***

Woosungwoo was even more surprised than Jongwoo.

Woosungwoo was initially shocked that he wasn’t their biological son, then secondarily shocked by his brother’s nonchalant attitude. When his brother, who had been replying indifferently, suddenly teared up and asked a question, Woosungwoo received a third shock.

“Are you kidding me? You heard everything, why are you acting like this now?”

– Hyung, are we really not biological brothers?

“I’m not in the mood for jokes.”

– Neither am I. Who told you? Did Mom say that?

“What?”

– Hngh, did Mom really say that?

Listening to the voice trying hard to hold back tears, Woosungwoo asked with a sullen tone.

– Is it Yeonwoo?

Not only did his tone suddenly change drastically, but his voice, his voice was slightly different. It was because the divine power naturally present in Rembrary’s voice was gone, but Woosungwoo didn’t know the reason. However, he could tell that his voice was slightly different.

– Hey, did Mom say that or not! I’m asking!

“Yeonwoo-yah!”

Woosungwoo jumped up, and the colleague who was stitching up Woosungwoo’s torn wound next to him glared.

Because he stood up when the needle was halfway through his skin, the wound widened, and blood was flowing from it.

The colleague glanced at Woosungwoo and quietly picked up a gauze to wipe away the blood.

Fortunately, Woosungwoo was so focused on the call that he didn’t notice the situation on his thigh.

“Yeonwoo-yah! Is that really you, Yeonwoo? Did you get your memories back?”

– Is my memory the problem right now!

“Then what is the problem if not your memory!”

Woosungwoo shouted and ran to the window with his phone. As if he could see Yeonwoo if he went there.

– The problem is that I have a shoot soon.

However, the voice that came as soon as he went to the window was calm again.

“What?”

– Hang up. I’m busy.

“Yeonwoo-yah? Yeonwoo-yah!”

Woosungwoo hurriedly called out to his brother, but there was no sound other than the disconnected tone. He stared at the phone screen that read ‘Call Ended’ with his mouth open, then let out a hollow laugh.

“What the hell is going on?”

The colleague quickly threw several blood-soaked gauzes into the trash can and said.

“What’s wrong? What did your brother say? Is that your brother? The one who’s always trending online these days. That… the one with the unique… personality.”

When Woosungwoo glared at him, the colleague hurriedly made excuses.

“No, there’s an idol I like, and there’s a rumor that they’re dating a member of their group. But your brother is in that group, so I looked it up a bit. I definitely didn’t investigate you.”

The colleague, who explained even the parts that Woosungwoo didn’t ask about, as if a thief was caught red-handed, picked up the medical thread and needle and put them in the disinfectant box and stood up.

“But what are you going to do, going straight to work as soon as your dispatch is over? Wouldn’t it be better to rest a bit?”

“There’s no rest in our line of work.”

“No, but still…”

“I had to come here once anyway because of Yeonwoo.”

Woosungwoo said coldly, put his phone in his right pocket, and folded the palm-sized knife on the sofa and put it in his left pocket.

“That Saint guy might be related to the entertainment industry. It’ll be easier on my mind if I take care of it before asking Yeonwoo.”

***

After ending the call, while the stylist came back in and did his makeup, Jongwoo hurriedly sent a text to CEO Lim.

[CEO, ㅠㅠ Yeonwoo is switching again ㅠㅠ]

He received a reply almost immediately.

[Why suddenly?]

[Yeonwoo and Yeonwoo’s brother are adopted?]

[Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?]

[I don’t know ㅠㅠ Yeonwoo’s brother called and said that ㅠㅠ And after talking for a bit, Unicorn Yeonwoo came out for a moment ㅠㅠ]

[And now?]

[He switched back during the call…]

The texts stopped for about 5 minutes after that.

He seemed to be trembling between cigarettes and candy.

After a long while, CEO Lim sent a text again.

[I’ll look for that doctor with the tight lips. I’ll have to ask him to look after him unofficially.]

[ㅠㅠ]

[Stop crying]

In the meantime, Rembrary had finished his makeup and was getting up from the chair. The stylist still seemed shocked by the secret of his birth and glanced at Rembrary, but Rembrary calmly checked the time and called out to Jongwoo.

“Isn’t it almost time to leave?”

“Why are you so concerned about the time today, of all days?”

“If there’s time, I want to eat a slice of pizza.”

“You ate some earlier, didn’t you?”

“Maeng Wooshin took it.”

“He has a truckload of pizza with his name on it, and he took yours?”

“I don’t understand that sunbae [senior colleague]’s intentions at all.”

“I know. I don’t understand either.”

“Then can I bring the pizza?”

Before he could even ask why the conclusion was pizza, the FD [Floor Director] came in and told them to stand by, then left without looking back.

***

The fact that ‘Woo Yeonwoo’ was adopted didn’t shock Rembrary in the slightest.

Whether Woo Yeonwoo was adopted or not, he was still that family’s son. And as long as he occupied Woo Yeonwoo’s body, Rembrary couldn’t help but feel sorry and uneasy towards Woo Yeonwoo’s parents.

Rather, Rembrary was more concerned about the memory that had been briefly interrupted during the call with ‘Daeju,’ who had sent the earrings through Maeng Wooshin.

“What are you thinking about? Focus.”

“My pizza that sunbae [senior colleague] is digesting.”

Despite promising to introduce him to Daeju, Maeng Wooshin was still being difficult.

‘What an incomprehensible person.’ Rembrary clicked his tongue and checked the script.

‘Huh?’

For some reason, today’s scene only featured Im Yu-han’s Yang Heung and Rembrary’s Im Seo.

It was a scene where Im Seo went to retrieve something Deung Baek had left at the dentist, and they walked side by side for a moment. According to the script, Yang Heung realizes he likes Deung Baek in that scene.

“Wow, finally a two-shot with Yeonwoo.”

Sitting on a folding chair and checking the script, Im Yu-han grinned at Rembrary and playfully shook his upper body as if dancing.

“Sunbae [senior colleague], you can’t dance either.”

Rembrary smiled, shared his thoughts, and approached to look at the script.

After a short rehearsal, the director explained the blocking, and Rembrary nodded in agreement.

Finally, filming began.

***

“What do you usually do, Deung Baek?”

“I pray.”

“What do you usually eat, Deung Baek?”

“I eat cereal.”

“Doesn’t suit you.”

“…”

“What kind of music do you listen to, Deung Baek?”

“I listen to Moonlight.”

“Deung Baek… are you going to be a priest forever?”

Yang Heung, after exchanging meaningless words, blurted out a question and looked surprised himself.

Im Seo looked at Yang Heung with a nonchalant gaze, as if asking, ‘Why are you asking that?’

Yang Heung stood blankly for a moment, then frowned and asked,

“Why does it matter to you?”

“The one who asked probably knows best.”

“That’s true. Pretend you didn’t hear it.”

“Understood.”

“Correction, ask for me instead.”

Im Seo glanced sideways at Yang Heung, thinking he was strange.

Yang Heung was now muttering to himself with a serious expression, “Ah, this isn’t right.”

In the meantime, they reached the end of the open space.

Yang Heung looked at Im Seo with a regretful expression and said,

“Tell him to come himself next time. Don’t make people run errands.”

“It’s not hard.”

“I want to see that person’s face one more time.”

“Why?”

“I wonder why?”

Thinking he was really strange, Im Seo bowed and turned around.

A person with a knife brushed past him as he walked away.

***

“Your filming is done for today.”

Jongwoo said, handing Rembrary a portable fan as he approached.

“It looks like they’ll be filming for about two more hours. Let’s go ahead and leave today without waiting.”

“Is that okay?”

“I think it’s better that way.”

“Why?”

“During the phone call earlier… don’t you remember? It seemed like that, uh, Yeonwoo No. 1 came out for a moment.”

“My memory was briefly interrupted.”

“Memory interrupted?”

“To be more precise, I was watching a spider the size of a car with twenty-two legs approaching.”

Jongwoo blinked and fell into confusion. When the personality switches, does the other personality go to hell? Is that a psychological expression of Woo Yeonwoo’s inner self?

People with emotional instability draw strange pictures when asked to draw, could it be the same context? Jongwoo scratched his head, gathering all sorts of miscellaneous information he knew.

However, before the two could leave, a lively reporter with a camera ran up and called out, “Just a moment!”

“What is it? We don’t have any interviews scheduled today?”

Jongwoo looked at the reporter with uneasy eyes, but stood still and waited.

The reporter, who was active in entertainment news programs, was quite well-known.

The reporter, who had come closer, was panting for a moment, and as soon as she calmed down, she looked at Rembrary and Jongwoo alternately with a desperate expression and asked.

“Um, if it’s okay, could I interview Maeng Wooshin and Woo Yeonwoo together?”

“Our Yeonwoo?”

He had heard that Maeng Wooshin would be interviewed on that program today. However, Jongwoo was surprised and asked back, as he knew that Maeng Wooshin was the only interviewee.

“Why Yeonwoo all of a sudden?”

“The chemistry between Woo Yeonwoo and Maeng Wooshin has been a hot topic since the first episode aired yesterday. Especially Woo Yeonwoo’s umbrella scene was the best! It was the best. I think the reaction would be good if you interviewed together. How about it…?”

“Will you tell us the interview questions?”

“Of course!”

When Jongwoo asked positively, the reporter quickly took out the script she had brought.

The answers were not there, but the questions were.

Thinking this was okay, Jongwoo said he would do it, and the reporter ran to Maeng Wooshin with relief.

“Do we have to do it?”

“That program is surprisingly popular. It will be helpful.”

“I’m not very motivated in the entertainment industry these days, Jongwoo.”

“I’ll order pizza if you do well.”

“Give me the script.”

Jongwoo texted with CEO Im, wrote answers to the questions, and handed them to Rembrary.

“You’re not suddenly going to find it fun while giving me the script; it’s just going to be a picture of you with Maeng Wooshin. You don’t have to feel pressured.”

Rembrary nodded and memorized the questions and answers.

Thirty minutes later, three chairs were set up in one corner of the set, and Rembrary sat next to Maeng Wooshin.

Perhaps conscious of the reporter and the camera, Maeng Wooshin wore a friendlier smile than usual.

Rembrary, who now knew well about celebrities’ on-screen image, thought it was natural and looked at the reporter with a benevolent smile.

A moment later, the interview began.

At first, it went smoothly.

Whenever Maeng Wooshin made a joke, the reporter laughed exaggeratedly, and whenever Maeng Wooshin and Rembrary had a friendly conversation, the reporter gave a thumbs up, saying that the chemistry was explosive.

Then, when the reporter brought the microphone near Rembrary’s mouth, asking him to tell her a little about what kind of senior [more experienced colleague] Maeng Wooshin was,

Woo Yeonwoo, who had been smiling gently, blinked a few times, then suddenly grabbed the microphone tightly with both hands and shouted in a frightened voice.

“Help me! A sloth is after my body!”

<90. Requesting Assistance> End