The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 11
Joo PD-nim chuckled as he spoke.
“The incidents you committed in the past, they’re all good material for ratings for me.”
Yeah. It was because of a person like him that I had a hard time.
A person who would do anything for ratings.
He was the one who featured my malicious member behavior in a special segment on another entertainment news program he was in charge of.
He might have even sent out a short video clip of me furrowing my brows under the spotlight with a title like ‘An Idol Who Hates Fans,’ perhaps.
I grit my teeth at Joo PD-nim trying my best to conceal my disdain.
Unaware of my gaze, he continued to hum casually, with an air of arrogance.
“If there’s someone who gets kicked out like that, it’s even better for me. It’ll become a hot topic. I might have to write an apology letter saying sorry for not knowing in advance, but is that enough? With such an incident, a thousand more people will watch my show, right?”
Joo PD-nim swept his hair back from his forehead and continued,
“Don’t you want to create some buzz by appearing on the same program as them? With a clean and pure image as trainees, you might even get more votes from the viewers. Let’s all be happy together, that’s what I mean.”
The seminar room was as silent as a graveyard.
Words declaring our thorough use for broadcasting.
For the young trainees who had dreams of debuting through this survival, these words were harsh to hear.
Of course, not for me.
If I lined up all the hate comments I received while acting as the malicious member, I could encircle the Earth twice. So, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Therefore, it was my duty to break the silence first.
“Excuse me, PD-nim.”
“Yeah?”
As I raised my hand to speak, Joo PD-nim raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Why? Do you already want to quit?”
“No, it’s not that… Can we do the interview right after we finish writing this?”
At my bold remark, Joo PD-nim made an incredulous face, touching his glasses.
“…Geez. Did you already sign this? Did you even read about the penalty issues?”
I quickly interrupted Joo PD-nim’s words.
“If we haven’t done anything wrong, there’s no need to read it, right?”
Upon hearing those words, I lingered in this seminar room for a while, contemplating whether I had done something wrong or not. And that only resulted in wasting practice time.
This time, it wouldn’t work.
Of course, you could argue that spending time on a short 1-minute interview was a waste, but…
“Can I do the interview first?”
To become the greatest K-pop idol in history, every minute and second of practice time was too precious to waste.
And it wasn’t just because Joo PD-nim’s words were cutting; the clear fact was, if you hadn’t done anything wrong, you had nothing to fear.
My school days were clean—school, practice, home, school, practice, home. I didn’t even have any friends at school.
The only deviation was skipping practice once and secretly going to a PC room to play games. And everyone here had probably done the same.
Among those who appeared on <Targeting Star>, there wasn’t anyone who went home first due to school violence.
“…”
Joo PD-nim , who stared at me as if trying to pierce through me, spoke while tapping the youngest writer.
“Ha Joon, send me the signed pledges in order. And you, the trainee with your hand up right now?”
Joo PD-nim’s eyes sparkled.
“Yeah, you. Let’s do the interview first. Follow me.”
I soon followed PD-nim to the office next to the seminar room.
It wasn’t until I saw the cameraman standing in front of the fixed camera, the main writer, and the coolly written logo of <Targeting Star> that it really hit me.
I’m really here again for the debut survival.
… I really came here again to debut with Arrows.
Setting aside my emotions, I moved to the office with PD-nim.
After wiping his hands and checking my personal information, PD-nim, who was standing in front of the fixed camera, caught my attention by flicking his fingers.
“So… Your stage name is Rex? It says Rex in your personal information. Is that correct?”
“Ah, I’m Kim Chunyong. Please introduce me as Chunyong in the broadcast.”
I am a different person from the previous Trash-Rex.
So, this time, I won’t use a name like Rex that doesn’t suit me.
“What’s Rex, seriously. I’m not even a dinosaur, you know.”
Hearing my words, Joo PD-nim rolled his eyes and scratched his cheek.
“… Can you really go out with that name? Didn’t you discuss this with the CEO?”
“It’s okay. I’ll explain later, so please use Chunyong.”
PD-nim, who locked eyes with me for a while, nodded.
“Well, let’s do that then. Kim Chunyong, Chunyong. The name is rustic, well… it’s unique, so it might go viral.”
PD-nim poked the camera next to him and said,
“Since this is a 1-minute pre-interview, there won’t be anything on the broadcast. It’s just like camera testing. After I clap, briefly introduce yourself and talk about your aspirations for the broadcast. Got it?”
“Yes.”
PD-nim’s words were half true and half fake.
It’s just not going on the broadcast.
This pre-interview will be uploaded on the official <Targeting Star> YouTube channel shortly after the first broadcast, almost unedited.
“Okay, then, one, two—”
Clap!
“To all <Targeting Star> viewers, hello! Nice to meet you like this. I am Chun! Yong! Chunyong, here to capture your hearts! Nice to meet you!”
I went to the salon at dawn for this, you damn PD-nim.
