The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 157
Right after the mid-evaluation, just before personal interviews.
“Phew…”
Li Ming Shen tried to calm his pounding heart and slowly regulated his breath.
When he first decided to appear on Targeting Star, he hadn’t expected to gain anything from it.
He kept telling himself: everyone who’s meant to debut is already predetermined.
His job was just to make sure Liu Wei made it safely, and then head back to China.
So throughout prep for every stage, he’d only worked hard enough not to drag anyone down.
Even if he gave his all, he wouldn’t debut here. One Chinese member was enough.
With everyone’s attention glued to Liu Wei, even if Li Ming Shen did end up making it into the debut lineup, it’d only cause problems.
Then came the team composition for “Groggy.”
Jang Si Woo, Ahn Jin Woo, himself—Li Ming Shen.
And the one person who made him uneasy: Kim Chunyong.
“……”
Li Ming Shen remembered the words Kim Chunyong had said to him right after the break.
“We can help each other out. I have to debut this time.”
It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t tempted.
If that offer could actually come true, it would definitely benefit them both.
The problem was, Li Ming Shen knew better than anyone else exactly where he stood.
“You probably know what you need to focus on better than anyone.”
“R-right.”
“Then stop thinking about useless things.”
“Sorry… sorry, Liu Wei.”
After spending so much time with Liu Wei, he already knew how Liu Wei would react when it all came crashing down.
“Oh my, trainee Li Ming Shen? You got such good feedback, but your face doesn’t look so happy.”
“Ah, h-hello!”
Startled, Li Ming Shen quickly straightened his expression and bowed to the woman entering the interview room.
It was main writer Lee Hyeon Jeong, who sat across from him looking quietly amused.
“You should be happy, no? That kind of praise?”
“R-right, of course…”
“Okay, then look at the camera. One, two—”
At her prompt, Li Ming Shen took a deep breath and immediately felt his heart race all over again.
In a way, it made sense.
Unlike all his previous stages, where he’d only put in just enough to not be a burden—
today…
“I heard that Team ‘Groggy’ got the best feedback from the mentors today. Let’s start by asking how that felt.”
He’d done his best without even realizing it.
“How I felt…”
Rolling the Korean off his tongue with smooth pronunciation, Li Ming Shen clicked it once and sighed.
“No one… got overshadowed. I liked… that.”
“You looked like one body made up of four people? Seems like Mentor Jin Dasol really enjoyed it. Ah, maybe it would’ve looked even better with something other than practice clothes. Oh well, it is a mid-evaluation.”
“I’ll take a closer look again during the next vocal direction, but honestly—it was good. All of it.”
“Gosh, I can’t wait for the actual performance. Great song, great chemistry!”
Seriously.
“…It was fantastic.”
The words slipped out without thinking, and Li Ming Shen flinched, clapping a hand over his mouth.
Did I really just say that? That it was fantastic?
He’d prepared so many stages up until now.
Not just for Targeting Star.
Back in art high school in China, and during his time at drama academy after graduating.
‘I must’ve done at least a few dozen stages by now.’
And every time, Liu Wei was by his side. Naturally, every time, the spotlight was Liu Wei’s.
But today was different.
The mentors’ gaze fully directed at him. The clear trust from the people he was performing with.
It was the first time he’d felt—I’m really preparing for a stage.
“What’s with the surprise? It’s okay to think it was fantastic. I thought so too, actually.”
“…Huh?”
“When you’ve got the right teammates, a day like this is bound to come. Everyone knows Team Groggy worked hard. Especially you and trainee Kim Chunyong—your chemistry was incredible. No one expected the two of you to sync that well.”
“……”
For a moment, Li Ming Shen forgot he was even in the middle of an interview, his eyes visibly flustered.
Sure, I practiced hard. But this is the first time I’ve thought… ‘I did well. I want to do even better.’
Despite his confusion, Lee Hyeon Jeong simply tapped the armrest with her finger and continued the interview.
“I’m curious—what did you think of the other teams’ performances? Could you share?”
“The other teams… ah, you mean the rest of the groups?”
Other teams, he wouldn’t know about.
Normally, he would’ve paid close attention to how well Liu Wei performed.
But for some reason, today—
“I was so focused on our own team… I don’t think I remember much of the others.”
“Oh, so this time you really felt like your team was the best?”
“I guess… you could say that.”
“Hmm…”
Lee Hyeon Jeong, who had considered pushing a bit more for a good editing angle, eventually shook her head lightly and clapped her hands once.
“That’s it for the interview.”
“…That’s it?”
“Yup. Your face looks like it’s still dreaming, so I don’t think we need to talk much more.”
“You look good.”
“……”
“Better than any expression I’ve seen on you so far.”
Leaving the interview room, Li Ming Shen walked slowly down the hallway, turning over those final words in his head.
He even touched his cheek once for no reason at all.
‘Just this one stage… maybe it’s okay to do well.’
His current ranking was far from debut range anyway, and even if he did well, it wouldn’t threaten Liu Wei’s chances.
So for the first and last time, rather than just being someone else’s shadow…
‘…Maybe I can shine a little, too.’
However, Li Ming Shen’s thoughts couldn’t last long.
“—Ack!”
“静一下。(Quiet down.)”
Because Liu Wei appeared out of nowhere, grabbing his shoulder hard.
“Alright, it’s good, but… it feels like there’s no emotion. Big movements are fine, but shouldn’t there be some facial acting?”
“Right? The blank expression kind of kills the mood of the song.”
Liu Wei, who had received some notably harsh feedback today for his performance of Lee Se Ryeong’s song Diving, had cold eyes sunken deep.
“跟我来。(Come with me.)”
Would it be strange to say Li Ming Shen felt not just pressure, but also a bit of resistance toward that face?
Even knowing Liu Wei disliked speaking Korean when they were alone—
“…No.”
“什么？(What?)”
“I said no.”
He meant it. And this time, a bit of irritation slipped out with it.
Randomusernamepls
Oooh..! The roads are twisting??
YoshiK
Li Ming Shen! Li Ming Shen!
kcyfan1000
YES STAND UP TO THIS BIATCH!!!
Ah, lowkey need more of YongYong and Shen
Thanks for translating <3