The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 4
“W-What is this?”
And as if responding to my bewildered muttering, another message arrived.
– X: Oh, what’s this? We signed a contract, Kim Chunyong -.- This is reality.
– X: Don’t keep thinking it’s a dream!!
Reality? Where on earth is there such a dream-like reality?
– X: If you don’t believe it, why not search on your phone? Your name, or the group name at least. It’s okay to look at articles where you were getting criticized too, lol ;-D
I followed the message’s instructions and started searching on a portal site.
Our group name, my name, the insults against me, and the fact of my arrest.
“Um, they’re not here.”
There wasn’t a single one.
Not a single article.
Moreover, the only story related to me in the entertainment industry right now was a single matter.
[August Entertainment, Riding the Idol Survival Trend]
[AG Entertainment, Announces Its Own Survival Show. ‘A Fresh Breeze in the Entertainment Industry’]
[New Boy Group’s Debut? AG Entertainment’s Self-Produced Idol Survival ‘Targeting Star’]
[‘Madness Boy’ Choi Gaon, Selected as MC for ‘Targeting Star’ Idol Survival!]
Eight years ago.
Articles announcing the launch of the idol survival show, “Targeting Star,” which debuted after being cut from the idol group “QUINCE.”
As if I were possessed, I pulled the phone’s status bar down to check the date.
May 3, 202X.
Even the date was exactly one week before the first filming.
I almost dropped my phone.
I had never felt such bewilderment in my entire life.
“So, does that mean that all the auditory and visual hallucinations I saw at the police station because of the alcohol…”
Bing!
– X: Oh, it’s real!! I sent you back in time according to the time when you fainted due to too much drinking. Lol, it was specially prepared for you. Haha.
– X: Okay, okay, let’s proceed with the contract. There’s no time to waste now, right?
– X: Check the goal window in the menu tab and go for it!! If you don’t understand anything, just text me. Haha.
[Application will be updated automatically]
The unidentified messages stopped, and the strange app updated itself and indeed created a menu tab.
I grasped my spinning head and used my trembling hands to tap the one right in the middle, the “Goal Window.”
[Goal Window]
Current Goal: Survival Program <Targeting Star> Final 6 members (Progress 2%)
Ultimate Goal: Becoming the greatest idol in K-pop history (Progress 1%)
Failure: Return to the pre-contract situation
“Debut again with our group, become the greatest idol in K-pop history…”
As I forced myself to read the characters that were somewhat blurry in my eyes, I vaguely remembered seeing such stories on that blue screen back then.
And the part at the very bottom, “Failure: Return to the pre-contract situation.”
It meant going back to the moment I was urgently arrested.
To be honest, I didn’t mind going back to that time and paying for my sins all over again.
I was a cheap human after all. I deserved it.
But if it happened…
The funeral home where I was sitting alone. Countless journalists in front of it.
The expressions of the members looking down on me with pity, and the alcohol numbing my throat.
A completely ruined life.
When my thoughts reached that point, words unintentionally left my lips.
“…I have to do it.”
I must do it.
To atone for my sins to the others I’ve wronged, I have to become the greatest idol in K-pop history no matter what.
I jumped up from my seat, ready to go out. There was no time to waste, lying here like this.
Every minute, every single second of my return was precious.
***
“Ahhhhh…”
Kim Jieun, a part-time worker at Hanmaeum Private Practice Room, was writhing in extreme boredom.
She had been on a university leave of absence for three months.
It all began with her mother’s furious scolding, saying she should either study for the TOEIC or find a part-time job. But she had never realized that taking someone else’s money could be so excruciating.
Above all, Hanmaeum Private Practice Room…
“There are hardly any people here, damn it!”
It was a private practice on the verge of collapse.
If she was asked why she didn’t quit the job entirely, that was not an option either.
Out of the 8 working hours, she had to sit at the counter, stiff as a pole, for 4 hours, and then spend the remaining 4 hours wiping, cleaning, and tidying up empty practice rooms.
What kind of terrible balance was this?
[Bang Minji: But aren’t there sometimes good-looking or pretty people among the occasional visitors?]
[Bang Minji: I mean, like trainees or something, lol]
Jieun responded with a chuckle to her friend’s clueless messages.
[Kim Jieun: Good-looking or pretty people? What are you talking about;; Middle school orchestra ensemble members are the most frequent visitors….]
[Kim Jieun: Oh, but there are a few people with reservations today, which is unusual]
[Kim Jieun: But one of them has a really unusual name, lol. I had to check three times to see if it was real]
[Bang Minji : Oh, what’s the name then?]
“I made a reservation for a one-week pass.”
“Ah, yes. Your name is…”
Jieun lowered the message chat window she had been excitedly texting on and examined the face of the person standing at the counter.
“T-that’s crazy.”
Involuntary curses escaped her lips.
“… what?”
Jieun hastily slapped her mouth and stuttered, corrected herself, stuttering.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I made a mistake. I mean… your name?”
The man scratched his cheek awkwardly and replied with an uncomfortable tone.
“Uh, I’m Ch-uh, no, Kim… Kim Chunyong.”
“Chunyong… Mr. Chunyong. Alright. You can go into practice room number 8. Yes, room 8.”
“Oh? I made a reservation for practice room 3.”
“Practice room 3 is currently…uh, it’s out of order due to audio equipment issues. Room 8 is much better. Our facility in room 8 is the best. You don’t need to pay any additional fees. Just use it all week!”
“Oh… alright. Thank you.”
Jieun watched the man’s back as he walked towards the most expensive practice room, number 8, at Hanmaeum Private Practice Room, dumbfounded. Then, she hurriedly opened her chat window with her friend and typed rapidly.
[Kim Jieun: Hey, this is seriously insane, it’s crazy!]
[Kim Jieun: That guy I just said had a unique name is really, really handsome, kinda scary, but good-looking. This. is. Insane. But he looks familiar, do I know him? Seriously, he’s super handsome, my favorite kind of bad boy]
[Kim Jieun: Isn’t that person debuting somewhere? If he just debuts, I’ll get paid for my part-time job, tuition, everything.]
[Kim Jieun: F**k! F**k! I could die!]
Chunyong stretched his body as he entered the spacious room number 8, unaware that he had given Jieun a burst of excitement in her otherwise uneventful part-time job.
He muttered in a low voice.
“…Well, I’ve been an idol for seven years, after all.”
Even if he was labeled as a malicious member, an idol was still an idol.
Despite drinking and throwing up, he felt sorry for his fellow members and got on stage.
But he had never tried a debut survival show before.
He had to tear it apart, no doubt about it.
