The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 169
The fast-moving stage lights made it hard to see clearly, but—
‘You think you’re the only one who wants this that badly?’
Spoken deliberately in Korean, by Kim Chunyong, fully aware Liu Wei wasn’t fluent.
Like he was teasing him.
“……”
Turning the words over slowly in his mind, Liu Wei uncrossed his arms and stared straight at Kim Chunyong.
The spotlight dropped on the trainees onstage.
And then—on Kim Chunyong.
The first thing seen was a red bomber jacket, goggles dangling at his neck.
Leather pants hugging long legs.
– Ride, pick up the speed
So those lights disappear
I know, this isn’t reality
Real or fake
Or somewhere in between
And as if none of that mattered, Kim Chunyong moved to the vocals of Si Woo and Jin Woo, swaying in sync—
-Step on the sky
Look at the ground
Round and round
Our Theme Park, poorly built
You and I inside it
…flashing bright red hair.
Just last week, his hair had been a neat, jet black.
Now, standing center stage with his dyed look, the crowd below erupted with screams.
It wasn’t just the hair.
– Warning, Groggy
Warning, Groggy
Coz’ dizziness Coming
Groggy, Groggy
You’re gonna lose your head
You’ll be so dizzy
Right after the husky high note in the chorus, he dashed across the stage with Li Ming Shen in choreography that threw their legs into motion.
A dazzling smile. Sweat catching the lights.
Sweeping the floor with his knees without hesitation, lifting himself from a reclined pose with a flick of his waist.
Raising the mic in his hand, to Liu Wei, Kim Chunyong looked truly…
“Liu Wei.”
Liu Wei, who had gritted his teeth without realizing, slowly turned at the sound of Son Jae Ha’s voice.
“我在看舞台(I was just watching the stage.)。”
Son Jae Ha, dressed in a silk costume similar—but not identical—to Liu Wei’s, wore a peculiar expression.
“Mmh, right. You do look like you’re really watching the stage. That’s why I almost didn’t call you.”
But you might want to see this.
Black pupils, like his hair. Pale makeup for the “Diving” concept. Son Jae Ha raised a hand slightly.
In it—a phone. The kind of thing the crew had explicitly told them not to bring backstage.
“Well, it’s against the rules to bring it back here. But you’re not really the type to follow rules, are you…?”
It’s your business.
“Wouldn’t it be strange if you didn’t know?”
“……”
Liu Wei took the phone from Jae Ha’s hand and read the small screen that barely filled half his palm.
Read it.
Read it again.
[Half-Chewed Receipt @QORHVMEK
(photo) (photo)
Liu Wei’s fiancée
#LiuWei #LiuWeiFiancée #TargetingStar #TATA]
That didn’t make the post go away. It didn’t get deleted.
But on the screen, Liu Wei saw photos of his childhood uploaded by Gao Xiumin.
Sweet captions written underneath them.
Thousands of reposts and hearts. And right beside them—his name trending in real time.
Meanwhile, Kim Chunyong was still tearing up the stage with his teammates.
– Warning, Groggy
Warning, Groggy
Coz’ dizziness Coming
Groggy, Groggy
You’re gonna lose your head
You’ll be so dizzy
Those lyrics lodged in Liu Wei’s brain like a nail. He couldn’t deny it.
Expressionless, he handed the phone back to Jae Ha and turned back toward the Groggy stage.
Chunyong in the center, the four danced in break formation as the performance reached its peak.
And after this, it would be time for the “Diving” team to take the stage.
“Thank you, that was Team Groggy!”
Thunderous applause and cheers followed by evaluations from the mentors and special judge.
“Chunyong hyung—uh, where are you going?!”
“Me? Just, uh… bathroom!”
“Wait, is your stomach acting up again—hey!”
Kim Chunyong shoved a yakgwa into Jang Si Woo’s mouth and bolted for the restroom.
It had been two hours since the first scheduled post went up.
Time for the second one.
Ding!
– X: Hey hey, maybe skip that second post?
– X: I think earlier—
As if X finally realized the “ding” sound might kill Chunyong’s social life, their messages flooded the screen just as he arrived at the bathroom.
But Kim Chunyong didn’t have time to look.
‘What’s happening right now? Did it really post?’
With trembling fingers, he opened the SNS app, and thankfully, like the rumor about him once had, this one was catching fire too.
[Liu Wei has a fiancée? What even is this? Who gets engaged from childhood in this day and age?]
[⎿ㅇksl How the hell did that Chewed Receipt account even find her]
[⎿⎿That’s what I’m saying ;; FBI? CSI?]
Kim Chunyong wasn’t the FBI, and certainly not CSI, just a scandal-ridden member from the future, but still.
The reason he hadn’t handed this over to the tabloids wasn’t just because he thought he could spread it better.
They moved for money.
If AG matched whatever number they had in mind, there was always a chance they’d keep it under wraps.
But posting it directly on SNS was different.
SNS was where people wanted proof of a rumor, where others scrambled to find that proof just to chase clout.
‘Looking at the real-time trends, yeah. People are fully paying attention now. Once that second post goes up…’
Ding!
Like the universe was smacking him out of his thoughts, another message came in from X.
– X: i d i o t
– X: I said don’t bother with the second one
– X: That one’s already dried out, okay ㅡㅡ
– X: ugh never mind I’ll just send you the link smh
“…W-what the hell.”
The second post Kim Chunyong had queued up was a screenshot of his DMs with Gao Xiumin, under the name of the ‘KaoYongYong’ company.
He’d edited the photos to dodge questions like “What even is KaoYongYong?” and had it ready to go in two minutes—
But after opening the link X sent him, he shut his mouth and deleted the scheduled post.
[ㅇㅇ @GLAEMFEK
(photo) (photo)
Found out who that #LiuWei_Fiancée person is
At first I thought it was fake but turns out she went to the same elementary, middle, and arts high school as Liu Wei…]
[⎿This is insane, who goes that far to dig stuff up?]
[⎿⎿I just DMed her and she got all excited telling me everything lol]
[⎿⎿Bro wtf I DMed her and she literally told me everything
She really said she is Liu Wei’s fiancée ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Move over Kim Chunyong rumors! This one’s the real deal]
The snowball was rolling, and rolling hard from a direction he never even expected.
Even better, it was rolling straight toward the exact outcome he’d hoped for.
Sylver
Liu wei is meeting a bih called karma
Randomusernamepls
Hehe. Deserved!
kcyfan1000
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
I’M SO HYPED I’M SO HYPED I’M SO HYPED I’M SO HYPED
Thanks for the translation <3
Bees
Not Kim Chunyong having the same problem than children superhero cartoon characters: being accused of intestinal issues due to going too much to the toilet.