The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 105
After finishing their first mission shoot and returning to the dorm, the multinational roommates were all excited for various reasons.
“I have something to say!”
Especially Gao Yan, who had just completed his “Korean PC Bang Tour” on his bucket list, barged into the room with an excited face.
“From today on, I have two brothers. I could say they’re my sworn brothers, not related by blood. Actually, I think my sworn brothers are even better.”
As always, he said ridiculous things with a solemn expression.
“Oooh, an interesting topic. Who are they, Gao Yan?”
“I was waiting for that question, Ryota! One of them is, as you know, Chunyong hyung.”
“I already knew about Chunyong aniki! He’s also my aniki. But who’s the other one?”
“It’s… Yu Chan hyung!”
Gao Yan, as if deeply moved, placed his hand over his chest, took three deep breaths, and then shouted quickly.
“Yu Chan hyung is the god of RoR. This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone in Diamond 1 rank in real life. Yu Chan hyung is a literal hard-carry. God-tier. GOAT. My god. That’s how it is.”
…Should I tell him that in Korea, there are players ranked beyond Diamond, like Master, Grandmaster, and even Challenger?
I’m pretty sure if I did my placement matches around this time, I’d come out as Platinum.
Sigh.
“…What about you, Ryota? Even though it was a shoot, it was a day where you got to do what you wanted. You must’ve enjoyed it, right?”
I scratched my cheek awkwardly, deciding to steer the conversation in that direction instead of deflating Gao Yan’s excitement.
No need to rain on his parade, even though, hey?
I’m pretty good at gaming too.
Make a mental note of that for later, Gao Yan.
In response to my question, Ryota’s eyes sparkled as he began to rattle off excitedly.
“Ah, Chunyong aniki, I really enjoyed it too! I climbed a mountain and put a wish lock on it.”
“A wish lock? Oh, that thing….”
“Yes. I wished for us to debut! That was my main purpose. Mmm-hmm. So romantic. I felt like I was the protagonist of a K-drama.”
“Ah, that must’ve been nice.”
Let’s not mention that there are lots of places where you can put wish locks without climbing Namsan.
Anyway, they both seemed happy, so that’s good.
Since these two are so unpredictable, I just needed to check if the outdoor shoot had gone well.
As long as my roommates returned safe from the shoot, there was no need for me to worry about the content.
…I needed to focus on the other problem at hand.
“Ugh.”
“Chunyong aniki, are you sick? I heard a sound like you were dying.”
“No, you idiot. I’m perfectly alive.”
I quickly reassured Ryota, who was making a serious face like the male lead of a K-drama, and pulled the blanket over my head.
Though, to be honest, it did feel like I was dying.
As if handling my own issues wasn’t exhausting enough, now I had to deal with the interference in the debut of a giant puppy-like member.
Boing!
Unfortunately, there was only one person who understood my feelings and whom I could consult with.
– X: Oh man, this is insane
– X: Runaway? A runaway teenager?? A young master from an elite British family runs away to Korea to avoid going to university as his parents wish, and wants to be an idol???
– X: Dude, if someone wrote a story like this, they’d get roasted for it, haha.
“I know, man….”
“No matter how much I think about it, I think Chunyong hyung is sick. He’s even talking to himself. No wonder he keeps going to the bathroom to throw up. He needs urgent treatment.”
“Gao Yan, I’m not sick! I just went to the bathroom because I needed to!”
“Oh. I didn’t think you’d hear that. The plan to treat Chunyong hyung will proceed secretly, Ryota.”
“I can still hear you, idiot.”
I quickly shut down Gao Yan’s nonsense, sighed deeply, and refocused on the chat with X.
– X: So, what are you gonna do now? Shouldn’t you be looking for someone else by now??
– X: Yeah, his singing and songwriting are dope, but what right do you have to stop a runaway teen from returning home?
X was right.
I had no way to stop an arrogant runaway British teenager from going back home.
With my reputation as the troublesome member, what could I possibly do?
As if mocking my situation, X’s messages kept flooding in.
– X: Dude, I’d recommend finding another trainee to focus on now.
– X: As much as I’m your ♡ fairy♡ or something to help you, I can’t stop a runaway teen from returning home. ㅜㅜ
– X: Sure, you joked earlier about using the skill you got as a reward from the surprise mission [But Listen to This (D)] to persuade him.
– X: But your skill level is too low, right? You probably need it to be EX-level for that to work.
– X: Or maybe if his affection level towards you was higher? But considering who you need to persuade, LOL good luck with that.
“Agh….”
I closed the utterly unhelpful chat window and closed my eyes, rubbing my throbbing temples.
After finally feeling certain that I needed to debut with him, I had run into this massive obstacle.
In Arrows, the group I needed to atone for, we absolutely needed Logan, who had not only songwriting and composing skills but also a star quality.
Logan himself wanted to stay in Korea and debut through Targeting Star, if possible.
However, now that AG knew Logan had come to Korea as a runaway, they wanted to send him back to prevent any mishaps.
“Wait a minute.”
…How did they know?
A sudden realization hit me, and I jumped up from my seat, kicking the blanket aside.
“Oh my god, Chunyong hyung must’ve remembered something deeply embarrassing from his past!”
“I said no, you idiot!”
I threw a pillow at Gao Yan’s face, my lips moving in silent frustration.
Right.
“Um, my parents are always busy traveling abroad, so I lived alone with my grandmother. She’s the one who helped me come to Korea.”
Logan had mentioned that his parents were so busy traveling that he only saw them around New Year’s. As a result, most of the school-related communication was handled by his grandmother.
So, with Logan’s grandmother staying silent, Logan’s runaway was essentially a perfect crime.
How in the world did they find out?
Moreover, with Logan’s potential, wouldn’t they try to hold onto him instead of sending him back?
The one piece of the puzzle hidden in the fog felt like it was just within reach.
“Oh, when do we have to go back to shooting? So busy, God.”
Logan, fresh from the shower and dripping water from his hair, interrupted my thoughts, causing them to vanish completely.
“…. Yeah, seriously, man!”
“Oops, ouch, Chunyong hyung!”
“Stop whining.”
I slapped Logan on the back again, annoyed by his exaggerated reaction, and clicked my tongue.
Time wasn’t going to wait for me anyway.
The third round of the competition.
Logan’s final performance before quitting was fast approaching.
