The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 153
Well, anyway.
“Phew…”
Kim Chunyong looked once at Jeong Yeon Woo, and again at Lee Se Ryeong, who was about to call his name, then let out a long breath.
When he was on the survival program previously, Chunyong had seen his debut path clearly thanks to Se Ryeong’s track, “Diving.”
A trippy, performance-heavy piece full of Se Ryeong’s signature psychedelic sound—“Diving” had been a perfect fit for the team of Son Jae Ha, Kim Chunyong, Seo Bin, and Lee Chae Hyuk.
‘If I can get the dance break again in ‘Diving,’ that’d be even better. I’ve done it once already, so the pressure would be lower, and I could invest more time in tracking down Liu Wei’s fiancée.’
Right now, he needed to catch two rabbits with one throw. There couldn’t be a more optimal direction.
“Then… I’ll choose trainee Kim Chunyong. My song this time really emphasizes dance again.”
‘Yes!’
Right after Jung Da Eun had chosen Liu Wei, Lee Se Ryeong called out with her usual clear tone, and Kim Chunyong instinctively clenched his fist.
‘Everything’s been a mess lately with nothing to show for it. Let me have something go my way for once.’
Thinking that, Chunyong walked forward with a bright smile—
“…Huh, wha…?”
Only to find that, along with the white handkerchief from Lee Se Ryeong, a black one had also landed in his outstretched hand.
There wasn’t a single person here who didn’t recognize the owner of that black handkerchief.
…Jeong Yeon Woo.
“This is something! Trainee Kim Chunyong just got chosen by not one, but two senior artists! Jeong Yeon Woo seonbaenim, can we ask why you picked him?”
“Yes, well. I heard the trainee gets to choose when this happens… and I’m not the type to pass up a good broadcast moment.”
Shrugging at Choi Gaon’s excited outburst, Yeon Woo glanced at Chunyong’s stunned expression and added—
“And this trainee, Kim Chunyong… he just kind of…”
Alcohol.
Doesn’t he seem like the type who’d be a good drinker?
“I’m sort of drawn to that kind of image. Makes me a little greedy.”
‘The hell. What is this lunatic even saying right now?’
Siren alarms went off in Kim Chunyong’s head like crazy.
A flood of thoughts, weighing every possible option.
And at the top of the list—
The terrifying possibility that Jeong Yeon Woo… knew he had regressed.
‘Otherwise, there’s no way he’d say something like that to a trainee he’s never met before!’
And the second thought: just how much this would throw off his plans.
Kim Chunyong had a lot on his plate for this round.
He needed to find Liu Wei’s fiancée and expose the truth—and if that failed, he had to be ready to convince Li Ming Shen.
In the middle of all that, there was absolutely no reason for Chunyong to give up Lee Se Ryeong’s “Diving”—a track he’d already nailed a great stage with—to go out of his way and pick Jeong Yeon Woo.
‘I’ll figure out what’s going on with him later. For now, stay calm.’
Quickly sorting out his thoughts, Kim Chunyong schooled his expression and put on a friendly smile, and opened his mouth to say ‘While I appreciate your choice, I’d like to join the team of Lee Se Ryeong—whom he’d been a fan of for a long time. Or more precisely—he was about to say it.
“I’d really like it if you chose me, actually.”
If it weren’t for what Jeong Yeon Woo murmured while basically wrapping the black handkerchief around Chunyong’s hand.
“Sorry? What… did you just say…?”
“Haha, don’t act like you didn’t hear. I’m saying, pick me. I mean, I’m not forcing you. But still.”
Because that would—
“Help you out more, Kim Chunyong.”
“…….”
Their eyes met.
Jeong Yeon Woo had thrown this kind of line at Chunyong before.
“Rex, if you just acted a little smarter, maybe there’d be fewer of those articles.”
“Smarter? Not sure what you mean.”
“Yeah? That’s too bad. Maybe it’s because you’ve drunk yourself dumb? I don’t remember you being quite that bad.”
“Well. Even if you say that, what can I do? Dumb is what I’ve become.”
“Maybe. Still doesn’t make it any less of a waste.”
As if trying to tell him something—or maybe not. As if he knew it all—or maybe not.
Listening to that voice, like every solution was already sorted in his brilliant head, it always felt like… maybe he really could help.
“…….”
Looking between the black handkerchief from Jeong Yeon Woo and the white one from Lee Se Ryeong, Kim Chunyong slowly opened his mouth.
“I….”
* * *
And now, a week later.
I wiped the sweat running down my jaw and tried to catch my breath.
“Ah… it’s a tough decision. But still, I’ll… join Jeong Yeon Woo seonbaenim’s team!”
So yeah. That happened.
“Yes! Trainee Kim Chunyong, making his very first team selection! Wow, can we ask why you chose Jeong Yeon Woo seonbaenim?”
“Haha, I’ve always respected him, and also… I thought maybe Se Ryeong seonbaenim’s song might be a bit too high for my tone!”
“Ahh! But I could’ve adjusted the tone for you. That’s a shame!”
“Can I promise you a next time, seonbaenim?”
“Oh my, if you debut, Kim Chunyoung, of course. I’ll be waiting~”
Even in this dying, exhausting state, remembering that exchange made me feel slightly wronged.
“Too high for my tone,” my a*s. Se Ryeong seonbaenim had already adjusted everything perfectly for me during “Diving.”
And if I’d done “Diving” again, I wouldn’t have needed to build new choreography from scratch or drill every little detail like this.
But still—
When Yeon Woo hyung said that choosing him would help me more… I just happened to see someone’s face.
“You’ve done well. I didn’t expect this much detail for verse one already. Thanks, Dasol.”
“…It’s just the job… Also, we have some really good trainees in this team….”
“Haha, no. Especially Kim Chunyong and Li Ming Shen. The synergy in your dance break is really solid. Looks great as a two-top system.”
Right.
Yeon Woo hyung’s type—the all-rounder with good potential, even if their rank wasn’t high.
That included Li Ming Shen, too.
After that team selection, running into Li Ming Shen had been close to impossible.
Different rooms, different schedules, and if I tried to call him out—he’d show a wary face.
But now that we were in the same team, training together… things were different.
“…Thanks, Chunyong.”
“No big deal.”
I grinned and answered the slightly flushed Li Ming Shen.
Anyway, I’m the one who should be thanking him for the Liu Wei situation.
“Whew.”
Ending my brief conversation with Ming Shen, I shifted my gaze to Yeon Woo hyung, still sitting quietly in the chair in front of the mirror.
“…….”
Whether he’d been watching me the whole time or not, the moment I glanced over, our eyes met instantly.
He smiled, soft and calm, and mouthed something at me.
‘You have something you want to say, don’t you?’
Seeing that composed face, I let out a short, dry laugh.
Yeah. I did need to talk to him.
About every single one of his actions, his tone, that look in his eyes—
Whether he actually knew something, or what exactly made him choose me.
There’s no alcohol here. And I don’t plan on drinking again anytime soon. But still…
Maybe it’s time for one more reunion with my love-hate drinking buddy.
kcyfan1000
Tension tension… (I need to update the info doc, the names are confusing me again ;;)
Thanks for the translation <3
rollingbananaaa
omg, you have one? I can drop a name guide in the discord server sometime this week ^_^ Even I get confused, sometimes.