Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Translator: Penny
Chapter 33
It's not like I did anything wrong by having drinks with my hyungs. So why is that mutt staring at me like I've committed some kind of sin?
I ripped off the mask, cap, and glasses I'd worn to avoid being recognized, and tossed my bomber jacket onto the floor.
"Give me some water too."
I swaggered over and snatched the water bottle from Kim Dobin's hand.
As I flapped my clothes in the cool air from the refrigerator while searching for a cup, Kim Dobin frowned and kept twitching his nose.
His eyes darted around before fixing on me. "Hyung, did you have drinks?" he asked.
"Yeah, but I couldn't drink much because I had to watch my back."
Watch my back because of the System, you bastard.
Having failed to find a cup, I opened the water bottle and chugged the entire contents without letting it touch my lips.
As I put the bottle back in the fridge and turned to head to my room, Kim Dobin suddenly grabbed my arm. His face was uncharacteristically serious, and his voice heavy as he said, "Hyung, we need to talk."
"I'm exhausted right now. Can't we talk tomorrow?" I interrupted, rubbing my furrowed brow as I tried to walk past him. But Kim Dobin blocked my path, his eyes filled with determination.
"No. We need to talk today—no, right now. It's really important."
My overworked, exhausted body desperately wanted to collapse in bed, and this interruption of my rest was deeply irritating.
"This better be important."
Kim Dobin flinched at my low, menacing tone, but he didn't budge.
"A-about the sponsor..."
Shit. This is actually really important.
I immediately dragged Kim Dobin to the sofa.
Even though none of the other members were likely awake at this hour, it felt wrong to discuss such a serious matter while standing in front of the refrigerator.
Finally, this little mutt is trusting me enough to confide in me. I need to listen seriously.
As I gazed intently at him, a hiccup—or perhaps a sob—escaped Kim Dobin's lips.
Seeing him trembling uncontrollably and refusing to open his mouth, I spoke in the gentlest voice I could muster:
"What is it? Keep talking."
"Just a moment... I need to gather my courage... You can't get angry, Hyung."
Kim Dobin's voice trembled like a goat's as he stammered. I sighed deeply and patted his head soothingly.
"Dobin, am I going to eat you?"
Encouraged by the gentle pat, Kim Dobin finally seemed to find the courage to speak. He took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and asked, "Can't you stop taking sponsors now?"
My exhausted brain, functioning slower than usual, took longer than usual to process his words.
Didn't he say he got a sponsorship offer? Why is he talking like I'm the one who received it? No, his words make it sound like I'm the one who's been working as a sponsor...
Am I so tired that I misheard him? Did he actually say, 'Can you make them stop offering me sponsors?'
As the silence stretched, Kim Dobin's trembling grew more violent.
"What?"
"Huh?"
I cut straight to the point, addressing Kim Dobin, who replied with a nervous squeak.
"You're asking me not to get sponsored? Did the CEO make you an offer?"
"I'm still a minor! There's no way I'd get an offer like that!"
"Ah, so I heard right."
I chuckled and nodded.
Forcing a smile despite his trembling lips, the kid nodded along. I grabbed him by the collar, yanked him close, and snarled, "Why would I need a sponsor, you little brat?!"
Forbidden action detected.
Original Intent Score -1
A sharp pain shot through me, and I quickly released my grip on his collar.
"Hah... So it wasn't true? Then what about paying back the person who featured you today? And the perfume smell...?"
"You little brat! That's my connection! A hyung I know! And the perfume smell? The guy next to me reeked of his sister's perfume—he must have doused himself in it before coming here."
He huffed and raised his voice, then quickly lowered it when he realized everyone else was asleep in the early morning hours.
Kim Dobin, ever the disciplined one, cautiously asked, "So, all that talk about pushing your body to the limit and constantly leaving the dorm to find a way to survive, only to return at dawn...?"
"I was working on music. That track. Do you really think I could finish something like that in just two days?"
Seeing the realization dawn on Kim Dobin's face, he roughly swept his bangs back.
"Then what about all those complaints about how hard it was to deal with people's moods?"
"I had to buy the hyungs drinks and meals just to get feedback on my songs. Do you have any idea how much I suffered? Are you going to chip in half the money? Huh?"
Now, watching the guy practically spew exclamation marks from his face, I couldn't help but feel a wave of pity wash over me.
"So, that conversation about sharing the burden together..."
"You kept flinching every time you heard the word 'sponsor,' thinking I was offering you a deal! I told you to stop bottling things up and just talk to me, you idiot! Who could have guessed you were writing a whole melodramatic series in your head with me as the main character?"
As he spoke, his anger flared again, his voice rising involuntarily.
To cool down, he raked his hair with agitated fingers. Kim Dobin, who had been flinching with every movement, muttered in a dejected tone, "I should have listened to Jaehee..."
"Why are you bringing up Ryu Jaehee now?"
"Jaehee just told me to ask you directly, Hyung."
"Don't tell me you actually shared your ridiculous theory with the youngest member too?"
Kim Dobin, looking like a guilty mutt who'd just made a mess, rolled his eyes nervously before slyly glancing up at the ceiling to avoid my gaze.
Unlike Kim Dobin, who was so obviously avoiding me, our smart youngest member, Ryu Jaehee, had maintained a consistent attitude toward me. It seemed he hadn't bought into that bullshit theory.
Or maybe Ryu Jaehee wasn't actually smart—maybe Kim Dobin was just clueless, pointlessly imaginative, and plain stupid.
But then...
"Now that I think about it, this feels really shitty..."
At my chilly mutter, Kim Dobin, who had been pretending not to listen, seemed to finally grasp the gravity of the situation. He immediately lowered his head and averted his eyes.
"So you were thinking of me as some kind of sponsor or... whatever, something like that, right?"
"N-no! Absolutely not! I've never thought of you that way, Hyung!"
"Shut up."
With just one word, Kim Dobin, who had been spewing denials like a machine gun, immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"You're not dismissing the results of my backbreaking effort as mere byproducts of sponsorship, are you?"
After I've gone back seven years, avoided the path of becoming a flop idol group, and worked my ass off to make us A-list, you think I achieved all this just by using my body?
My gaze turned instinctively fierce.
Kim Dobin, flattened on the floor, began sobbing uncontrollably. Who's the one who wants to cry right now?
"Hwaaaah, Hyung, I'm sorry! Please don't hit me!"
"Are you kidding me? When have I ever hit you?"
"Hyung, your eyes are... sniff... they're completely crazed!"
Kim Dobin, crouched before me, lifted his tear- and snot-streaked face and pointed an accusing finger.
Looking at his miserable expression, my urge to scold him vanished.
"I'm dying of curiosity. Just one question: how on earth did you jump to the conclusion that I was involved in sponsorship deals?"
"Well, on the very day I started suspecting you, I happened to see... sniff... an idol web novel where the protagonist's rival group gets exposed for receiving sponsorships and... sniff... collapses."
I grabbed the top of his round head in my hand and squeezed hard.
"Lay off the anime already."
"It's not anime, sniff, it's a web novel..."
"Anime or web novel, just lay off it. Damn it, you're turning someone who's been diligently managing the team into some sponsorship-peddling scumbag."
I pressed down firmly with my fingers on the crown of his head.
This wasn't violence; it was a scalp massage for the Fourth Member, whose head had been heavy and muddled lately.
A groan of relief escaped him, signaling that the massage was soothing.
The System seemed to sense my concern for the members, as it didn't deduct from my Original Intent Score.
The door burst open, and Gyeon Hajun, his face still half-asleep, poked his head out.
"Eden, why are you grabbing the kid in the middle of the night...?"
"You could hear that far? Sorry. Go back to sleep."
"You should come in and sleep too..."
Gyeon Hajun waved me in and retreated into his room. Kim Dobin stood before me, looking like a puppy whose food bowl had just been snatched away.
His expression was so pitiful that I released my grip on his scalp and patted him on the back.
"Go get some sleep. You need to rest for tomorrow's dance practice."
"Is tomorrow's dance practice... my last one?"
"Want me to make it your actual last one?"
"N-no! Good night!"
I watched Kim Dobin scurry back to his room before yawning and heading to my own.
It's a miracle the agency hasn't stormed in here yet, considering I offered a sponsorship to a minor. Seriously, that damn mutt.
"Dobi! Water!"
"Dobi is a free house-elf!"
At my shout, Kim Dobin immediately rushed over and politely offered me a glass filled with ice-cold water.
"What, you little brat? Don't wanna do it?"
"It's just a house-elf thing..."
Ryu Jaehee clicked his tongue at the dejected Kim Dobin, who was muttering under his breath.
"See? I told you to ask him earlier. I told you it was nonsense, Hyung. If it were a real sponsorship, Eden Hyung would have already thrown a fit and left, and our group would be ruined by now."
"Stop talking nonsense and do the dishes, youngest member. They're piling up."
"Isn't it your turn to do the dishes this week, Hyung?"
"Who got you Seo Raon's signed album again?"
At my crooked smile, Ryu Jaehee silently trudged toward the kitchen.
Leaning back comfortably on the sofa, I grinned as Gyeon Hajun picked up the empty cup I'd left on the floor and headed to the kitchen, calling out to me as he went, "Just don't overdo it, okay?"
"Don't worry so much. I'll only work him for about a week."
From the kitchen, Ryu Jaehee immediately retorted, "A week is way too long!"
"Be grateful I'm not making you my errand boy for a day per album, Jaehee," I shot back. "If that were the case, you'd be my lackey for twelve days straight, you little brat."
I handed the cup to Ryu Jaehee, who was washing dishes, and turned back to Gyeon Hajun, who had returned to sit beside me. "Oh, I saw the KICKS teaser dropped."
"What'd you think?"
"It looked pretty good. We'll have to hear the full song to really know, though."
Seo Yehyeon, who was sitting on the floor using the sofa as a backrest, clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"They're making their comeback in the second week of November, and we're coming back in the third week, so our promotions are definitely going to overlap. Since we're both still rookies, we'll probably even share the same dressing room."
"Just thinking about having to listen to their snide remarks makes me so annoyed."
I gently patted Seo Yehyeon's shoulder as he scratched his head vigorously.
"Exactly. Let's go all out to win on the music charts and music show stages, even if we lose elsewhere. That's the best way to shut them up."
"What have we lost to them? The number of people with terrible personalities?"
"Actually, we're losing right now."
I opened the ongoing voting results for the Rookie of the Year category at the 20xx Awards and showed him the screen:
1. KICKS: 541,345 votes (43%)2. Reve: 337,985 votes (31%)
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny