The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 170
Kim Chunyong stepped out of the bathroom, trying hard to keep a calm expression.
Even though his heart was thundering like mad beneath it.
[ㅇㅇ @GLAEMFEK
(photo) (photo)
Attaching the DM screenshots… she blocked me toward the end, maybe she started to feel something was off? But still told me everything I wanted to know lol; now her Outgram account’s private and she’s gone completely silent]
[⎿Everyone knows now anyway lmao]
[⎿⎿RIP to the Liu Wei stans currently at the fanwatch party]
[What a shame… rolled up with pizza only to find the house on fire]
Thanks to Gao Xiumin, who’d been waiting for someone to ask about her, the snowball had started rolling all on its own. Even without Kim Chunyong posting anything else, SNS was already in chaos.
[Would you like to deactivate your account? After 30 days, all data will be deleted and login access will be disabled. Yes / No]
[Thank you. We look forward to seeing you again.]
The original ‘Half-Chewed Receipt’ account that sparked it all had done its job and was now deleted.
All that remained was to see how far this fire Kim Chunyong had set under Liu Wei would spread.
‘Li Ming Shen hasn’t even taken his first real step yet, but… it’s still a good start.’
Rumors were already leaking out of SNS and creeping into other communities. It was beginning to look eerily similar to when the rumors about Chunyong himself had first blown up.
‘…No, it’s not even similar. Mine were fake. His are real.’
Just recalling how he felt at that time made Chunyong clench his fists, and right on cue, ding! A notification chirped from his pocket again.
— X: Nice nice. Now all that’s left is seeing how Liu Wei reacts to that post you made!
— X: You crushed it on stage too, so if the edit turns out good, I think you’ll just barely make it back into 6th or 7th by the time of the live show!?
— X: You have to hit 6th if you wanna debut through Targeting Star, though lol
— X: But hey, if you succeed, it helps me too
— X: Kim Chunyong? You got this!
— X: This isn’t even the real start yet lmao
Even with X’s sarcasm, hidden beneath a cheer, Chunyong couldn’t bring himself to laugh.
There was the post-performance crash, the adrenaline. The emotional whiplash of finally taking the first step toward resolving something he’d carried for so long.
All of it hit him at once like a wave.
‘It’s not over until it’s really over.’
Neither Liu Wei being taken down, nor Chunyong’s debut.
Nor the atonement express he boarded the moment this started, which hadn’t once stopped running.
“Gah—!”
Suddenly, he stumbled, tripping over his own foot, and someone grabbed his arm to steady him.
“…Trainee Kim Chunyong, are you alright?”
“Ah, yes! I’m fine. Haha, guess the stage really took it out of me.”
Wiping the cold sweat trickling down his nape, Chunyong turned to thank the one who caught him.
Hound it was none other than the main writer, Lee Hyeon Jeong, who held his arm as the cast and other staff passed by.
Her face was slightly flushed, maybe from standing in the heat of the studio floor. But her expression as she looked at him was… a little unreadable.
“…Congratulations.”
It was a loaded statement. He had no idea what she was congratulating him for.
“…Sorry?”
“Ah—ah.”
As if she hadn’t meant to say it out loud, Hyeon Jeong quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, brushing it off.
“No, I just meant… your performance went really well, right? The hair color was a hit, too.”
“Oh, yeah. …Right?”
Especially since composer Jeong Yeon Woo, the guest judge, had specifically mentioned the hair on air, it had drawn a big cheer from the crowd.
“The stage… I liked everything about it. Maybe that’s how a songwriter feels, huh? I’ve only ever composed for my own team. And Trainee Kim Chunyong?”
“…Yes, seonbae!”
“The hair color—it looked good on you. But why red, of all things?”
“I picked it. I’m the visual mentor, remember?”
“…Ahh. So Mentor Moon Yun Ha chose it.”
“You don’t like it? That’s a problem. Wouldn’t that mean Yeon Woo’s styling perspective is narrow?”
“No, no. It’s fine. No need to say more, haha.”
Maybe it wasn’t the hair color that caused the cheer. Maybe it was just Moon Yun Ha’s signature chaotic way of talking, which had led to dozens of scenes being cut from Targeting Star’s broadcast.
‘Still, that didn’t explain why the head writer had congratulated me in the first place. The survival show’s still ongoing.’
Their eyes met.
“…..”
And then Hyeon Jeong looked away, as she thought of another man sitting in the special judge’s seat.
“…You should get back to the green room soon, Trainee Chunyong. The other stages are almost finished. You’ll be back up there soon, right?”
“Ah… yes, that’s right.”
Letting her shift the topic smoothly, Chunyong gave a slow nod and turned to walk away.
And as she watched that tall figure disappear down the hall, Hyeon Jeong’s gaze remained… strangely thoughtful.
“Producer Joo, why did you suddenly call Director Do Jae Chan here? Ha Joon sounded like he was about to cry.”
“Well, do you think I got chewed out by the executive producer for a whole week for no reason? Just trying to get what everyone wants, that’s all.”
“But what does that have to do with Director Do Jae Chan…?”
“Writer Lee.”
‘There’s no way Director Shin benefits from anything I produce.’
“……”
The furious Joo Cheol Yeong spoke every word with venom.
And now, standing before the special judges, having just wrapped their stage, was Liu Wei of Team ‘Diving.’
‘The comments on the trainees’ Outgram pages have all been disabled since the whole Kim Chunyong rumor incident, so things have been quiet, but… that post on SNS just now. That one really…’
Lee Hyeon Jeong, who had once viewed Kim Chunyong as a sharp and scary-looking trainee, now saw him as a student—still young, someone who needed protecting.
‘It must’ve been Producer Joo. Chunyong must’ve just stumbled on it, and since it reminded him of what happened to him, he was shocked…’
Yes, that’s what she believed.
She never imagined that it was Kim Chunyong who dropped the bomb about Liu Wei’s fiancée.
After all, the common sense was: “How could a trainee—who’s barely surviving in a survival program and has no connections—pull off such a massive stunt?”
As she carefully made her way back toward the stage, she murmured under her breath:
‘…I get it now. Why Joo PD brought Director Do Jae Chan to the scene.’
Her first assumption may have been off, but still.
‘He’s planning to cut a debut member.’
Her conclusion for why Joo Cheol Yeong called Do Jae Chan to the scene was correct, so she wasn’t completely wrong.
kcyfan1000
EHHHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHEHEHEHE
Thanks for the translation <3
Randomusernamepls
Hehe, wait till she finds out that Chunyong, in fact, WAS tye mastermind behind the genius stunt lol
Bees
Chunyong: *accurately plans the best way to ruin an idol trainee’s career with almost no sources*
Also Chunyong: *trips with nothing*