Chapter 113
It was true.
The recording site of <Top of Idol> was beyond chaotic.
“Unnie. My eyes aren’t wrong, right?”
“Nope.”
Kim Geum quietly held Yeon Juhong’s hand as she tried to poke her own eyes.
And for a good reason.
Just twenty steps away, there was Kim Ryeo-yu.
Right in the middle of the studio.
On a panel chair.
This meant that Kim Ryeo-yu was a participant in <Top of Idol>.
“No way. Why is she here? She hasn’t even debuted yet?”
Since there had been no prior notice during the program’s pre-meeting, all the participants were visibly surprised.
“Amazing. Truly amazing. Like a mosquito that keeps popping up.”
“Don’t insult mosquitoes.”
The three members of the younger line were speechless at Kim Ryeo-yu’s appearance.
However, the two members of the older line had somewhat expected it, so they remained silent.
***
“Cheong.”
“Yes.”
“Ryeo-yu is going to be on the survival show we’re filming tomorrow.”
Early yesterday morning.
At a time when everyone was asleep, Seo Baek-young sat on the bed opposite me and spoke.
“…Ah.”
“You knew?”
“I had a hunch.”
“Really?”
“That announcement, whether it was an explanation or an apology, the timing was too perfect. I figured they were going to slot her in somewhere. Given that <Top of Idol> is partly funded by Colors, Director Kim had the perfect opportunity to place her.”
It wasn’t the cotton fluff that informed me.
That guy had been completely out of contact lately, with no unnecessary notifications.
But I could guess this much without the fluff’s alerts.
Perhaps because I’ve met so many socially harmful people, I’ve developed some learning ability.
I could roughly see their behavior patterns.
“So what should we do?”
“There’s no way to remove her. We just have to face her head-on with our skills. We need to make it clear that she can neither beat us nor blend in with us.”
Seo Baek-young looked at me with worried eyes.
“Cheong, are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You were the biggest victim. I’m more worried about your feelings than anything else.”
To be honest, I was fine.
I didn’t think much of it.
It was just like a fly buzzing in front of my eyes.
But if I acted indifferent, it would look strange in its own way.
“I’m okay. In fact, I think it’s good. I feel like I can tie up the loose ends.”
“Cheong. You don’t have to tie those ends. Just take it easy—”
“It’s because of Juhong.”
“!”
Seo Baek-young’s eyes widened with surprise, then narrowed with concern, and finally sank with sadness.
“The reason Juhong still constantly watches others is because she thinks she only got in by luck, ranking 6th. The thought that she didn’t come in fairly is holding her back. Sometimes she even watches the other members’ reactions.”
“Her self-esteem seems to have dropped a lot…”
She wasn’t like that originally.
When she first started Menucal, how was she?
Yeon Juhong was the slightly crazy youngest member who always said what she wanted with her big eyes wide open.
That was her charm.
But now, she had become so downcast that she couldn’t even say what she wanted to.
In the long run, it could prevent her talent from blossoming.
We needed to resolve it now.
“There’s no reason for that, actually. The only reason Kim Ryeo-yu got the 5th place ranking was because PD Oh and Director Kim edited the footage entirely in her favor. In survival shows, there’s almost no way to beat a trainee who’s being deliberately pushed, especially for someone fighting fairly.”
“Yeah. Because of that… we all struggled.”
“But even if we tell Juhong this now, it’ll just sound like a typical consolation.”
When a person’s self-esteem is chipped away, even the truth sounds like a comforting lie, even though the truth itself is born from love.
Yeon Juhong knew she was loved, but she didn’t think she deserved it.
I understood that feeling.
I had felt the same.
But there was one thing she didn’t know.
Love doesn’t just fall from the sky.
She was loved because she deserved it.
“So we need to prove it.”
“Prove it…”
“We need to show her right in front of her eyes that Kim Ryeo-yu is nothing. Let’s see if she still doesn’t realize how amazing she is. I’ll make her handwrite ten pages of the second volume of the fan dissertation.”
At my words, Seo Baek-young smiled broadly.
What are you looking at?
If I look like someone who has another fan dissertation prepared, you’re correct.
Let’s give her a real lesson.
“But, unnie.”
“Yes.”
“Where do you keep getting all these updates?”
“!”
Yeon Juhong was Yeon Juhong.
Seo Baek-young, you’re another issue.
There was another problem to solve here.
“Just keep your distance, don’t show any hostile reactions. Manage your expressions.”
Steel Blue’s waiting room.
Thankfully, each team had been given their own private waiting rooms.
I had been worried that we might have to share with another team.
“Can we do that?!”
Yeon Juhong spoke, still fuming.
“The moment I saw that unnie, I almost went ‘Wow’ right to her face out of rage!”
“That’s why, just treat her like she’s not there. Avoid getting involved with her. Being overly friendly isn’t good either. Treat her purely on a business level.”
“Business? How do you do that?”
Kim Geum asked with a serious look in her eyes.
Please put down the ice cream you’re eating before asking that.
“Treat her like you would a male idol.”
“Understood.”
Everyone seemed to have grasped the concept clearly.
“That person over there isn’t Kim Ryeo-yu, and not even a person. Just think of her as a human-shaped prop. If you break it, you’ll have to pay for it, so don’t touch it. Just be polite. Steel Blue.”
“Yes.”
Since it seemed like they had roughly understood, I decided to stop my nagging there.
“One more thing.”
I now had to bring up a rather awkward topic.
“About our MC.”
“Oh, we won’t get involved with male idols.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
I was seriously worried.
“Don’t even stay in the same space with that person, and don’t give him any chance to be alone with you. Whenever you need to go somewhere, move in groups of two or three. Don’t act alone.”
“…Unnie, are we going to meet a serial killer?”
“You need to think of it almost at that level.”
He’s practically a girl group serial killer.
I had wondered where he had crossed paths with Pia, but seeing Pia among the contestants of <Top of Idol> explained everything.
Shin Yuhwa had met both Pia and Jo Hee-on here.
I looked around at my members.
He would know he couldn’t touch the three minors.
Trying to exploit minors in the media would only turn him into trash.
He might try probing a bit, but he wouldn’t go too far.
So, the real danger was—
“Baek-young unnie.”
“Yes.”
“You need to be especially careful, twice as much.”
“Me? Why?”
“Because you’re too pretty.”
“Wha… all of a sudden?”
Seo Baek-young, you are too kind and pretty.
People who know Seo Baek-young would understand that her clear eyes are those of a clear-eyed maniac.
But to those who don’t know her, she just looks like a shining, sparkling person.
“Wait a minute, Cheong.”
Yeon Juhong narrowed her eyes.
Oh no.
Did I say something suspicious?
“Why do you think you’re safe?!”
“?”
“Right. The three of us are minors, so that’s understandable. But like Juhong said, you’re in danger too, Cheong!”
“Huh?”
The members surrounded me, closing in slowly like they were tightening a noose.
“We need to form a guard unit.”
“…What guard unit?”
“Juhong, Juhong!”
“Geum, Geum!”
After shouting their own names, Yeon Juhong and Kim Geum stared intensely at Ryu Bo-ra.
“…Bo… Bo-ra….”
“Cross!”
“We are the Cheong-Baek Guard Unit!”
… I can’t take it anymore.
Just kill me instead.
I suddenly realized how young my team members were.
***
Even after that, Kim Geum and Yeon Juhong kept their eyes wide open, following me and Seo Baek-young around to protect us.
In the end, I went outside with Yeon Juhong in tow to visit the convenience store within the broadcasting station.
I went to buy sandwiches for the members.
Then.
“Cheong-ah!”
A voice called out to me from behind.
Who could it be?
“It’s been such a long time. I’m so glad to see you!”
A familiar yet unfamiliar face.
I racked my brain to remember Yoon Cheong’s memory, and then I realized.
She was one of the members of Hi Hi Ho.
Her name was… Lumi, right?
Hi Hi Ho had a total of four members.
The visual and center member, Pia.
The main vocalist, Lumi.
The main rapper, Nari.
The sub-vocal, Jina.
She was Lumi, the main vocalist of the group.
The title of “main vocalist” of Hi Hi Ho explained a lot.
Originally, Yoon Cheong should have been the main vocalist of Hi Hi Ho.
Which meant that this girl was the one who pushed Yoon Cheong out.
“What’s this, Cheong? You don’t seem happy to see me?”
Of course, I wasn’t happy to see her.
She was one of the people involved in the allergy incident.
Actually, not long ago.
I had sent a message to Jo Hee-on.
**Jo Hee-on**
**Hey**
**Why…**
**Who mentioned the allergy back then?**
Because the public casting group list for <Top of Idol> had been released.
Honestly, I wasn’t particularly interested in Hi Hi Ho.
I knew they were spreading my information, but they were such small fry that I didn’t have the time to bother with them.
However, it was different if we appeared on the same program.
**Jo Hee-on**
**Ah…**
**That… it was Seorang unnie, but she’s a civilian now**
**Really?**
**But I was never close to that unnie**
**How did she know about my allergy?**
**I heard she heard it from someone else**
**You know who, right?**
Hi Hi Ho…
They were talking behind my back, and that’s how it happened.
Of course, it wasn’t that Lumi had intentionally spread the news about my allergy to torment me.
She was just gossiping thoughtlessly, and it led to this.
Still, I didn’t feel good about it.
“Oh, hello. Long time no see. How have you been?”
I answered roughly and tried to leave.
Even though she was speaking informally, I didn’t want to lower my speech.
After all, she was a senior, and I didn’t want to give her any reason to pick on me.
“Hey.”
However, Lumi didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go.
“Now that you’ve gotten a bit famous, look at you. You look soulless. Seriously… you’ve grown a lot, Yoon Cheong.”
I had planned to deal with her moderately and move on.
But if she started off like this, I had no choice but to—
“Wow. Who are you?!”
“?!”
Huh?
“Judging by the fact that you know our Cheong unnie… are you a staff member?! Were you a manicurist?!”
“…What?”
Lumi’s eyes, full of sarcasm, now looked ready to explode with anger.
I could only gape at the sight of Yeon Juhong, who I hadn’t seen in a while.
Right….
“Who are you to call our unnie disrespectful? Who’s really the disrespectful one here? I have a different opinion.”
She was a gangster too….