The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 142

During my Trash Rex days, my way of dealing with the endless malicious rumors and stares was simple.

It was just…

“Hey. Rex, you made it into another article yesterday.”
“Article? What article? I haven’t checked the portal in ages, so I wouldn’t know.”
“They said you just did the rehearsal and went home, or, uh, something like that.”
“…And what about it?”
“No, I just… thought maybe it was because you didn’t take your meds. You’re keeping up with your prescriptions, right? I’m asking because I care, man.”
“Oh. Hey, I stopped giving a damn about that a long time ago. No need to tell me about every single one, just drink with me.”

Pretending not to care.

If you pretend not to care about things that don’t really matter, you eventually stop caring for real.
That’s what life was like as a hated, problematic member of a group.

And that wasn’t any different now that I was Kim Chunyong, a survival show trainee.

For instance, even now—when all kinds of malicious rumors were spreading about me the day after they broke.

“Um, Chunyong hyung.”
“Oh, Logan. What’s up?”
“…Is it okay to talk about something for a sec? I, uh. I kinda want to say something.”

Pfft….

I barely held back my laughter and answered smoothly.

“Hmm, if we talk now, we’ll be late for morning practice. How about after training?”
“Oh… Okay! Got it!”

Logan hesitated at my completely normal response but soon gave a big nod and left the room first.

The reason for his behavior was obvious.

“God, this is unfair. This is Chunyong hyung’s family! I was right there with him.”

Seeing someone who had helped him going through a mess, he must’ve felt the urge to return the favor.

And since he had been there at the time, he probably thought he could be of real help.

“Haha….”

Still such an earnest Liverpool boy, still trying to repay the favor.

It’s kind of cute, honestly.

And Logan wasn’t the only one acting like this.

Gao Yan suddenly came up to me earlier and went, ‘Chunyong hyung isn’t as cool as me, but he is pretty cool.’
Ryota handed me a pile of snacks he had brought from Japan, claiming he had been saving them.

“Hm…”

I popped one of Ryota’s chocolate biscuits into my mouth and shrugged.

Back in my Trash Rex days, I only pretended not to care, but this time, I really didn’t mind all that much.

I’d seen plenty of rumors that just died down when ignored.

Ding!

– X: You’re amazing. Your rank just plummeted to 8th, congrats.

– X: You know what? The title “Trash Rex” is actually way too grand for you.

– X: A real problematic member would’ve gone live by now, yelling ‘It’s not me, you X-bastards!’ and losing their s**t.

– X: Forget it. I’m not watching anything of yours until this gets fixed.

“…He’s sulking.”

I scratched my cheek a few times while staring at X’s messages, then casually walked out into the hallway.

The other trainees were concerned, but I responded as if nothing was wrong.

I just needed to get through the mid-ranking reveal, the next stage, and the Liu Wei situation.

That’s what I thought.

I really thought that.

“—Chunyong-ah!”

That is, until Yu Chan hyung suddenly grabbed me right before my basic choreography practice.

“…Oh, Yu Chan hyung. Isn’t your vocal lesson later?”
“Ah, yeah, it is. But since my major is vocals, I finished up a bit early.”

I came to see you.

I chuckled at that, thinking of something from the past.

Hyung, I’m not gonna sue you this time, alright?

Suppressing the thought, I casually shrugged.

“What’s up? All of a sudden?”
“All of a sudden? Do I need a reason to check in on my fellow trainees?”
“No, not really. But I think I know why you’re here.”

Resting his arm naturally over my shoulder, Yu Chan hyung whispered just low enough to avoid the hallway cameras.

“Well, your guess is probably right. You’ve got… some bad stuff going on. Figured you wouldn’t be feeling great. Thought I’d help clear your head a little.”

“I’m really fine. These are all fake rumors that’ll fade away if I ignore them….”

“And, I’ve got some good news for you.”

“…Good news?”

What the hell is he talking about?

Unless the rumors suddenly vanished or Liu Wei announced he was dropping out, I couldn’t imagine what it could be.

The confusion must have shown on my face because Yu Chan hyung burst out laughing before dragging me over to the vending machine corner.

“Here, look at this.”

What he showed me was none other than—

[Son Jae Ha @Sonjaeha_TT]
(Video)
“Aiming,” the routine we practiced last break (laughs)
Thanks for helping me out! @Springyong_TT

Jae Ha hyung’s Outgram feed.

“W-What…”

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