The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 156
The fact that Yeon Woo hyung gave gifts to the trainees spread through articles even before the teaser for the next Targeting Star episode aired.
[Why did Jeong Yeon Woo take over the Outgram feeds of all trainees on idol survival show <Targeting Star>? ‘Thank you, seonbaenim’]
[Why Jeong Yeon Woo dropped 4 million won at an electronics store_jpg]
[SLEDIX’s Jeong Yeon Woo showers <Targeting Star> trainees with gifts… trainees’ eyes ‘sparkle’]
Not only did he gift the latest smartwatches to his “Groggy” team members.
Trainees from other teams also received high-end fitness bands, so really, there was no way the press wouldn’t pick it up.
I could still clearly picture the way Yeon Woo hyung smiled as he handed out gifts, one by one.
“It’s nothing, so don’t feel pressured.”
“Th-thank you!”
“No need for that. Just wear it well.”
Giving gifts only to his team might’ve come off poorly, so he made sure to give something to the other trainees too.
That alone would’ve been more than enough to maintain his image.
But what made Jeong Yeon Woo truly exceptional was that… all those electronics were products from the company he currently models for.
Trainees have no reason not to wear something gifted by a legendary senior. The company, meanwhile, gets some incredibly natural product placement from their brand ambassador.
Of course, it probably made the Targeting Star production team’s heads ache over indirect advertising guidelines… but that was the production team’s problem.
“…Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue lightly as I looked down at the silver metal smartwatch on my wrist.
He’s not wrong when he calls himself clever.
Beep!
[New Message! Sender – Jeong Yeon Woo]
Did he know I was thinking about him just now?
When I saw the sender’s name pop up on my watch, I couldn’t help the way my face went pale.
I’d picked the same model as everyone else without thinking twice, but who would’ve guessed his contact was already synced into it?
No wonder all the internal settings were already prepped.
And now that we’re filming, I can’t exactly take it off without risking weird rumors—
which was probably part of his plan, too.
“He’s smart in the most unnecessary ways…”
“Chunyong aniki, what was that?”
“Ah—nothing. Just talking to myself.”
My words had slipped out on their own, and Ryota tilted his head with a suspicious look before clapping his hands.
“Ah! It’s a concept, right?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“Hmm… If it’s a concept, I respect that. I should pay attention to these professional details too, if I want to make it in K-pop…”
“Hey, no—it’s not like that!”
“Ah, don’t be shy! I’ve seen and heard enough to—mpph!”
Ryota only stopped teasing after I rubbed his face with my palm like kneading dough.
His face, now squished like a steamed bun, looked thoroughly offended—but hey.
That’s karma.
Who told him to mess with a hyung in Confucian Korea?
– “After breakfast, each team will have their mid-evaluation shoot. Please be in practice clothes!”
“Eek…”
It had already been a few months since I started living with these multinational roommates.
Now, before we knew it, the mid-evaluation for our final pre-live stage was right around the corner.
I still had to recover my ranking and deal with Liu Wei, but time was slipping by like water through my fingers.
“…Phew.”
While I sighed from a touch of urgency, a cheerful emoji grinned at me from the corner of my smartwatch screen.
– Jeong Yeon Woo: Trainee Kim Chunyong
– Jeong Yeon Woo: Practice hard ^^
Three days.
Since that night in Yeon Woo hyung’s SUV, I’d been getting a message a day via my smartwatch.
– Jeong Yeon Woo: It’s me
– Jeong Yeon Woo: Don’t block me ^^
At first, I was caught off guard.
We weren’t drinking buddies anymore.
He was a top idol, and I was just a trainee, so why was he contacting me like this?
But whether I replied or not, Yeon Woo hyung kept messaging.
From everyday topics to vague, cryptic lines that took forever to decipher.
Most of them turned out to be nothing once you figured them out, which was annoying, but also… hard to dismiss.
Beep!
– Jeong Yeon Woo: I hope what I said helped
– Jeong Yeon Woo: You haven’t forgotten, right?
…Right.
Messages like that showed up too, sometimes.
“That’s your question for me, trainee Kim Chunyong? How to win people over?”
“No, that’s not exactly what I said…”
When he told me he’d help if he could, I’d asked:
“How do you get what you need from someone who doesn’t want your help?”
Now that I’d ended up on Team “Groggy,” I finally had the chance to get closer to Li Ming Shen, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Since I was already getting wrung out by Yeon Woo hyung anyway—figured I might as well get some juice out of it too.
“So that’s it. What… is he seeing someone? Still just a trainee, that’s impressive.”
“What? No! It’s not like that!”
“I know. I saw the statement your sister posted. I was just teasing.
Also, your reaction just now confirmed it’s definitely not a girl.”
“……”
“Ah, you’re a little mad, huh. Because I brought up your sister out of nowhere. That it?”
“…Haha. seonbaenim, if you have nothing else to say, maybe we should head back to the dorm. That stuff is really heavy—”
“Alright, I’ll stop teasing.”
“Oh? So now you’ve remembered what you wanted to say? Wow, and here I was, about to drag us back with my weak little arms, totally clueless.”
“……”
“Yup. Whining all the way.”
“Well, that person said they didn’t want help from trainee Kim Chunyong, right? So then the method would be…make it so that they start wanting something from trainee Kim Chunyong.”
The way he said that person and immediately clarified with trainee… it really made me think he might know something.
“Hey, Chunyong hyung! We need to go soon. Breakfast time’s almost over!”
“Yeah yeah, just a sec—I’ll be right there.”
Snapping out of that memory, I quickly changed into my practice clothes and re-checked the current situation.
What had Li Ming Shen said again? If I needed help, I had to find a way to get it without being obvious.
“Hahhh…”
His request made me sigh instinctively, but—
As I tugged the hoodie over my arm, I smiled just a little.
The one thing working in my favor?
After today’s mid-evaluation, Li Ming Shen and Liu Wei’s relationship would definitely get worse.
kcyfan1000
things are heating up…
Yeon Woo is really like KCY’s personal Cheongryeo, huh? Bastard
Thanks for translating <3
Bees
The funniest part is that if Jeong Yeon Woo didn’t go back in time, then he just saw this random trainee and imprinted into him for no other reason than “this dude looks hella anxious”.