The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 107
As they flipped the papers, the screen revealed the competition songs in full.
[Vocal: Serenia – Musica
Rap: Sledix – Aniri
Dance: Gaon – Crucial Boy]
It was expected that there would be a song from Serenia since their members were featured on the screen.
However, what caught my attention was the designated song for the dance position, Choi Gaon’s debut track Crucial Boy.
“Oh… this is… I didn’t know either!”
Even though it was his own song, and he could have reacted more, Choi Gaon glanced between his cue sheet, the screen, and the production crew, looking visibly flustered.
A clear NG (no good) cut to anyone watching.
“―Let’s take a short break!”
The slate was dropped, and the head writer rushed over to Choi Gaon.
At that moment, I realized what was going on.
My head wasn’t clouded with alcohol like during my troublesome days, so the reasoning came easily.
When I was appearing as ‘Rex,’ and now…
…The song had suddenly changed.
Previously, only the rap position changed, but now both the rap and dance positions had been altered.
The original song for the dance position wasn’t Crucial Boy but another foreign pop song.
But for Choi Gaon to make an NG at this exact moment, just because of a single song change?
Choi Gaon is known for being a professional, someone who never makes an NG over something so trivial.
There’s no way I’d forget the rare NG he made when I was on the same show.
“We’ll take a 10-minute break! Trainees, hydrate yourselves!”
During that short break, my gaze naturally shifted to the two people I was most focused on—Logan and Liu Wei.
First, Liu Wei.
“……”
Liu Wei, with an unreadable expression, covered his mouth with his right hand.
Whether he was smiling or frowning, it didn’t matter.
What mattered was…
Liu Wei already knew how to perform Choi Gaon’s Crucial Boy perfectly.
Since his debut with Arrows, Liu Wei had performed Crucial Boy in nearly every self-introduction he gave.
And behind Liu Wei stood Director Shin Ki Ho, AG’s China expert.
“Hey, Chunyong. Do you want some water? Your face is really pale.”
“…Oh, thank you. I guess I was just surprised since I’m a fan of the Serenia seniors.”
I casually accepted Yu Chan hyung’s kindness and discreetly wiped the cold sweat from the back of my neck.
Then, I shifted my attention to Logan.
“Logan, which position do you want to take?”
“Of course, Vocal. I’ve listened to Serenia’s music before!”
Of course.
He’d do well at it.
With a smile like that, I’d bet anything that he’s going to be assigned to the rap position instead of the vocal position he’s confident in.
“Logan, you’ve been assigned to… Oh! Not vocal, but the rap position! That’s quite the unexpected assignment!”
“Huh? R-rap?”
Just like last before.
The vague puzzle pieces that hadn’t fit together until last night suddenly clicked into place.
Adjusting positions just to take away buzz from Logan, who was expected to leave soon.
Changing songs right before the shoot to benefit Liu Wei, whose ranking was lower than expected.
Director Shin was being more blatant than I had anticipated.
‘Which means….’
My thoughts became muddled, then cleared, finally leading to one simple conclusion.
A direction I hadn’t dared to consider before, thinking it was too far-fetched.
Could it be that Director Shin is the one behind Logan’s forced departure from the show?
If that’s the case, Logan isn’t leaving voluntarily.
He’s being dropped without even knowing it.
“…Haha.”
“Why are you laughing all of a sudden? Are you really exhausted? Get it together, Chunyong.”
At my unexpected burst of laughter, a few of the trainees’ gazes briefly landed on me before drifting away.
But there was one person who didn’t look away and held that gaze.
“…….”
Liu Wei, who had been covering his mouth and staring at the screen, had his indifferent eyes fixed on me.
Since my return, there hadn’t been a direct confrontation with Liu Wei.
We hadn’t competed in the same mission, shared the same room, or even crossed paths during the competitions.
“…….”
But if I wasn’t mistaken, right now we were more aware of each other than we had been during our Arrows days when we debuted together.
It was a bit odd that he seemed more concerned with me than Logan, the one about to be forced out.
But what did it matter right now?
He was staring at me like that—how could I not notice?
I smiled broadly at him and waved my hand.
Officially, this was our first interaction.
“…Ha.”
Liu Wei raised his eyebrows briefly at my greeting, then turned his head away as if he didn’t notice me.
That attitude wasn’t much different from how he’d been during our Arrows days.
Still, how could I not greet him?
From now on, we’d be doing everything we could to ruin each other’s plans, so a greeting was only polite.
If Logan had been forced out because of Liu Wei and Director Shin, and if there was someone else at AG paying attention to Logan and supporting him, giving him a chance to stay, then maybe I had at least one card I could play too.
A Joker, in poker terms.
“We’ll start shooting again soon! Please check your makeup!”
“Excuse me, writer.”
“Huh? Trainee Kim Chunyong? Is there something wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong right now. I just wanted to ask… could I request a meeting?”
“A meeting? With me?”
“Oh, not with you, writer….”
At my words, writer Lee Hyeon Jeong’s eyes widened, but she quickly nodded as if understanding.
“…I’m not sure if it’ll happen right away, but I’ll pass on the message.”
“Thank you!”
With Lee Hyeon Jeong’s positive response, I nodded with a friendly smile.
Given Targeting Star’s rising popularity, if my hunch was correct, ‘that person’ wouldn’t avoid my meeting request.
And I had a good excuse to use publicly if needed.
Sigh.
Before I returned, our relationship had been so bad that I’d tried to avoid any contact. But…
sometimes, finding a way to get close when necessary is one of the options.
Besides, with my contract with X, my family’s safety, and my atonement toward Arrows on the line, this wasn’t the time to pick and choose.
Clenching the fist I’d waved at Liu Wei, my eyes wandered as I organized the conversation I’d have with my meeting target after the shoot.
No matter what happens, I wasn’t going to let things go the way Director Shin and Liu Wei wanted.
