The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 24
“Trainees, we’re going to move to the dormitory to finish filming, please get on the bus!”
I casually walked over to a seat by myself and grabbed Yu Chan’s shoulder as he was about to sit down, pulling him to sit next to me.
“Hyung, sit with me.”
“Oh? Sure, let’s do that!”
Before I came back, Yu Chan was often seen playing alone, unfamiliar with the camera, at the beginning of Targeting Star’s broadcasts, and he would get bad reactions like, [That f*cker You Chan, showing no signs of being social 😱* ] because he was seen alone without being familiar with the camera in the early episodes of ‘Targeting Star.’
(T/N: the novel said “ㄷㄷ” which is just like an emotion used to refer to shock, but there isn’t anything I can really translate it to without it being unnecessarily long, so I just put an emoji.)
In reality, Yu Chan has higher social skills than anyone here, so there’s no need to hear such comments again this time.
“Hyung, V-sign. V.”
“Oh, Chunyoung. Assertive, aren’t you? Okay. V—”
As the large tourist bus heading to the dormitory on the outskirts of Seoul departed, Yu Chan and I appealed to the camera.
Around that time, the large TV in front of the bus turned on.
– “Trainees, are you enjoying your move to the dorm?”
Choi Gaon, the host, appeared on the screen.
It seemed to be a pre-recorded video, and Choi Gaon, dressed differently from today, clapped his hands, looking cheerful.
– “The reason I’m appearing like this is… Some people know and some people don’t, but what is the reason for my appearance?”
“…Is it because of the room assignment?”
Hearing Yu Chan hyung’s mumble beside me, I quickly bent down and whispered to him.
“Yu Chan hyung, that’s also captured by the camera.”
“Oops.”
Embarrassed, Yu Chan hyung shoved his fist into his mouth, and as if he had been waiting for that, Choi Gaon on the screen started shouting again.
– “Yes, I appeared because of your dorm room assignments! Whistle, clap!”
The uncoordinated clap and clap of the trainees for the broadcast resonated on the bus.
Yeah. It’s so annoying and hard to film a show.
Wanting to debut is not synonymous with wanting to film 24/7.
– “Anyone would want a good room, right? However, from the moment your ranks are divided, even the dorm room is affected by your rank!”
“…I can’t understand. Speak in a human language.”
An aggressive remark from someone who wasn’t Korean burst out. However, Choi Gaon on the screen was unbothered by it.
– “There are a total of 5 rooms in the dorm. You will enter the rooms randomly in the order of the numbers you picked when you got off the bus. However, if the capacity of the room is full, the trainee with a lower rank must leave the room!”
It was cruel.
It’s heartbreaking to have a low rank, and now you can’t even choose your room freely. The survival ecosystem of the all-powerful ranking system was not easy to adapt to even after going through it twice.
Of course, I’m the one who once again threw myself into that awful ecosystem, so I have nothing to say.
I shouldn’t.
“Everyone, please get off and I’ll be setting the scene for drawing lots. Check your makeup.”
The bus, which had been running for about 20 minutes, came to a stop, and the youngest writer with a still gloomy face held out the lottery box one by one.
“Trainee Kim Chunyong, number 4.”
Ignoring the weak response from the youngest writer, I lowered my head and once again took in the sight of the second dormitory I faced.
The dormitory of ‘Targeting Star,’ renovated from a youth training center on the outskirts of Seoul.
This place, in addition to the corridor-style rooms on the second floor, was close to a comprehensive idol training center with vocal rooms, dance practice rooms, and private interview rooms below.
Viewers called it an idol canning factory, but the production team reportedly didn’t back down.
After all, a cannery and an idol training center are the same thing.
“Trainee Kim Chunyong, you’re going in.”
A moment later, I began to sweep through the rooms on the second floor, dragging my carrier.
Among them, some rooms might already be occupied, and others might be empty.
The trainees who entered in front of me were Liu Wei, ranked 2nd, Seo Bin, ranked 13th, and Lee Logan, ranked 7th.
Honestly, I don’t care who else is in the room except for one.
“Liu Wei, don’t you have anything to say to Chunyong?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Chunyong went through something not so great. So, something that could be comforting…”
“Don’t touch me.”
A coldly lowered face, a contemptuous expression.
“I have nothing to say to a guy who struggles with something as trivial as that.”
… A former member of Arrows who openly disliked me, even though we had been active together for a long time.
Liu Wei, the only Chinese among the top 3 in the first competition of ‘Targeting Star.’ Passed the AG global private audition. About 2 years of training. Liu Wei, who was the main dancer of Arrows, debuted with me and quickly withdrew after moving to a Chinese agency two years later.
After all, he was the one who set the stage for our team to fall apart.
And Liu Wei’s escape to China had nothing to do with my malicious behavior, making me even more uncomfortable.
…There’s no guarantee it won’t happen again this time.
Well, considering I was the member who used to argue with him, it’s pointless for me to say this.
“Whew.”
I stood in front of Room 203, took a deep breath, feeling a bit tense.
‘I still feel a bit weird about seeing Liu Wei’s face. If it were anyone else… No, if possible, excluding all our members….’
As I murmured to myself, slowly gripping the doorknob.
“Huh?”
Even before I turned it, the doorknob turned by itself.
“Wow, welcome, Mate!”
Then, unexpectedly, a face I hadn’t anticipated welcomed me with open arms.
