The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 148
Targeting Star, Episode 6.
The night of the official mid-ranking announcement.
“Hey, hey. Aren’t you gonna eat?”
“I—I’m late!”
“Late getting home…? What are you talking about?”
“Anyway, I’m not eating! Unnie, just eat by yourself!”
Kim Jieun, part-time worker at Hanmaum Personal Practice Room, was rushing into her room, already scrambling to turn on her tablet.
“Boss! So, um. My graduation project shoot is in two days! I don’t think I can come in to work.”
“Jieun, didn’t you say you were on a leave of absence? That’s why you’re working here part-time. Besides, aren’t you a junior—”
“Ah, well, see! Film students start shooting their graduation projects a year in advance, during summer break! Because, well, movies—you know? You can’t just film them however you want!”
“…Fine, fine. I’ll cover for you for a bit.”
“Yes, yes! Thank you, boss! I’ll work twice as hard the day after!”
“Goddamn it! I barely managed to get out of work, and now Chunyong’s rank reveal is delayed by a whole week?! All because of those shitty rumors!”
Like Joo Cheol Yeong said— had the Targeting Star production team milked those nasty rumors against Kim Chunyong for viral marketing?
Because, for the entirety of last week’s Episode 5—
While the top 10 trainees only had short personal interviews, Kim Chunyong’s screen time was different.
— “Kim Chunyong… looking as if something is weighing on his mind….”
— “He lets out a deep sigh before disappearing from view….”
— “For a while, the vocal room where Kim Chunyong entered remained eerily silent….”
His screen presence was filled with pensive expressions, checking his phone during breaks— all of it caught on camera.
And that contrast—between Chunyong flawlessly finishing the Crucial Boy mission earlier in the episode and his withdrawn attitude after—was what captivated viewers.
The footage went viral.
[Looks like he saw the rumors? LOL. It’s the Outgram mission, no way he could’ve avoided them.]
[His expression’s off… Honestly, it’d be weirder if it wasn’t. He was rising in rank, but after those rumors, he dropped to 8th.]
[Wait, so they were all fake? LOL. <HowIsAnIdolTraineeNamedKimChunyong I think this is the first time I’ve seen his expression falter.]
[⎿Ah… I feel bad for him… Is this me… getting Chunyonged?]
Now that the rumors had mostly died down, sympathy was growing.
But there were still people adding fuel to the fire, saying useless things like,[There has to be something there, right? LOL.]
“Something?! My a*s! It was his sister! She literally posted a full explanation! And Son Jae Ha even uploaded a practice video proving it—what more do they need?!”
Jieun clutched her head, screaming in frustration. Her older sister banged on the door to tell her to shut up, but that was none of her concern.
If she had priorities, the real-time SNS posts from NBML_0000, blaring in her notifications, were higher on the list.
[NB @Bombangbom
Hurry up and announce the rankings already. The fact that Chunyong had to suffer through all that baseless b******t pisses me off.]
[NB @Bombangbom
Wait no—don’t announce it. If he’s really 8th place, I might actually cry.]
[NB @Bombangbom
Can’t both Liu Wei and Chunyong debut? Wouldn’t it be better to have two main dancers? Let’s go 7-member, no—8-member lineup!]
“Fifteen seconds, forty-two seconds, fifty-nine— woah. How the hell is she typing so fast on her phone? She must be on the internet a lot.”
Jieun, momentarily awed by NBML’s SNS speed, glanced at her own private account—with exactly 0 followers, 1 following— before stumbling upon a brand-new post.
[NB @Bombangbom
Holy s**t, it’s happening. This is fucking insane.]
“Wait! I’m not logged in yet!”
By the time Jieun scrambled into her OTT streaming app, the timeline had already descended into chaos.
Of course, the main crier was NBML, with her tear-streaked meltdown.
[NB @Bombangbom
You suffered the most, what are you talking about?! Kim Chunyong, humility has its limits!]
[NB @Bombangbom
Chunyong’s being composed, but I’m the one crying a whole damn ocean. If I’d just tried harder, he could’ve stayed 6th—f**k.]
“Wait. So… he’s really 8th place? How annoying. What the hell happened to his mission points? Chunyong’s YouTube clips had the highest views out of everyone. So how the hell did his score get calculated this way?”
As NBML’s SNS outbursts and Jieun’s real-life outrage overlapped—in the slightly delayed tablet livestream, Kim Chunyong was smiling as he calmly continued his interview.
“He must’ve been fucking exhausted— but he’s still smiling…. Guess I cried for him instead….”
A sudden swell of emotions overcame her—but in true stan fashion, Jieun’s next words came out as delirious fangirling.
“Yes, next up, trainee Kim Chunyong. You placed 8th in this mid-ranking announcement. Could we hear a few words from you?”
“Ah, yes. First, I really want to thank the fans who supported me… You all worked so hard. And, this isn’t over yet. I want to give it my all until the very end!”
“Ah, s**t—Chunyong’s trying to act like he’s fine, but you can tell he’s disappointed! Agh! Aghhh! Please, please! Just let me go back in time once! I swear I would’ve voted harder!”
Kim Jieun, who only realized too late how crucial voting was after seeing NBML_0000’s relentless reminders, now had her head in her hands, spiraling into panic.
[Always Spring Mir @NBML__0000
Everyone! You must vote! (*´⌓*) Once the mid-rankings are out, the vote consolidation effect starts kicking in! We need to hold our position so that live broadcast voting isn’t as tough ヾ( ·⌓´·)ﾉﾞ]
On her public account, she was polite, using cute emojis to encourage fans. But on her private, invite-only account was wildly different.
[NB @Bombangbom
For the love of god, just vote. Is Chunyong underperforming? No. So if you just watch and don’t vote, he’s not debuting.]
[NB @Bombangbom
“You know, with his skill, he’ll debut eventually!” B***h. When do you think he’s getting another debut chance? I’m still pissed about him getting kicked from QUINCE (a.k.a. that fucking agency), so just get him to debut now.]
Just watching Kim Chunyong through a screen was good enough for her. But now? The thought that he might not debut…
If he doesn’t make his debut on <Targeting Star>, we’ll have to wait and see when he does?
“If… if this was the final ranking instead of just the mid one… then Chunyong….”
For someone like Jieun, who only stanned fully debuted, established idols, this was pure agony.
– “Wow, you’re full of energy! Even I feel reassured! Exactly! And we still have two more performances—Round 4 and the live show! It’s not over yet, so there’s still time to bounce back. I’ll be rooting for you!”
– “Haha, thank you. I’ll really give it my all. Really. Because I have fans who are always watching over me.”
“…I’ll work hard too, Chunyong. I’ll make sure you debut. Even if I have to pick up extra shifts, whatever it takes.”
Clutching her tablet like a precious relic, Jieun vowed in a determined whisper.
Bees
[Just let me go back in time once! I swear I would’ve voted harder!”] Lmao.
Thanks for the translation.