Chapter 19 - Conditions For Becoming a Kind Idol Leader - Episode 19

[Article 65 │ A perfect idol must be careful of the eyes that watch at all times and from everywhere.]

[Article 18 │ A perfect idol does not speak or act carelessly just anywhere.]

He hadn’t said a single word yet, hadn’t done a thing, and already the status window was dropping area damage on him out of nowhere. What the hell.

Even as Go Young-in searched for something to say, the staff member kept talking without pause.

Why are you coming here and doing this instead of going to Cheon Sa-yoon? Didn’t he say he’d take good care of you?

That was, of course, bullshit.

Either way, it didn’t seem like he’d come with any especially pure intentions. Had Cheon Sa-yoon’s words seduced him? Cheon Sa-yoon was a complete bastard, sure, but he didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d lie over something like this.

The status window had lost its mind. What the hell kind of bullshit was this? Of all the messages it had thrown up today, this was the weirdest by far. There was no way he was a real fan. Was it seriously reacting like this over one line of dialogue? He glanced around, wondering if maybe someone else nearby had been listening, but there was nothing unusual. If there had been, the status window would’ve told him.

“…Did it seem like that?”

“No! Not that much! Don’t twist my words. That’s just my personal opinion.”

Seriously, what was this? There had to be a reason he was acting like this. Right now, he was more curious about why the status window was glitching out than why the staff member was being so strange. What the hell was going on?

And yet the man even made a long preamble of it. He looked like he was curious about what had happened earlier, but why on earth was he curious? It felt like he was deliberately stretching the conversation out.

Go Young-in rolled the bottle in his hand. Come to think of it, this was supposed to be something the man had given him…….

“Jae-ho isn’t exactly, um, overly nice when he talks to me, either, right? And Sa-yoon too—ah! We agreed to talk casually, so. Ahem. Anyway, Sa-yoon at least is a good kid, but……”

He was even voicing thoughts Go Young-in hadn’t cared about answering in the first place, as if he were desperate to impress him with how clever he was for guessing that much.

But the thing was, it wasn’t wrong, which made it annoyingly hard to refute. It was such a transparent third-rate attempt at sowing discord that it was almost funny. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

[Article 6 │ A gentle idol leader has the breadth of heart to embrace even a member’s flaws.]

So even the status window thought that counted as a flaw. Ha. Was there something the staff member had to tell him only because he was Ju Dong-yun—Ju Dae-yoon, maybe? But for all that, he hadn’t said anything with any nutritional value at all.

“Dong-yun.”

“Yes?”

“Sorry, but could we finish this later? I’m sorry. I’m still a little dizzy.”

So he made the excuse that he was tired. Surely the man wouldn’t be clueless enough to cling to him after that.

“Oh…….”

Right, I’ll just mention the drink once and that’ll be that.

“I’ll enjoy the drink you gave me, though.”

“Oh, gosh, I’m sorry! Ah, did you already drink it? You’re holding it, I see. Is it okay? It’s getting hotter and hotter now that it’s summer, so I just brought something simple. Looks like you took it well, then. Haha.”

The moment Ju-whatever brought up the drink bottle in his hand, he dropped all the nonsense he’d been spouting and shifted gears so fast it was almost athletic. The topic change was Udyr-level. He should’ve done this from the start.

“Yes. It’s cold.”

“That’s a relief. I made sure to think about Zero ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠One when I got it. Since I’ve checked, then that’s good. Please enjoy it. And be careful, all right?”

“Thank you.”

“Yes… Ah! And, um, if it isn’t too much trouble, could I maybe get an autograph…?”

Go Young-in stared blankly, thinking that the man had never once asked for anything like that the entire time they’d been working together. Suddenly? It wasn’t a difficult request, but… When he looked at him with clear suspicion, Ju Dong-yun gave an awkward smile.

“My younger sister’s a huge fan of yours, Young-in. Just write ‘Jin-hee’ next to it.”

Didn’t he just say he was my fan? Last time he was acting like he was Cheon Sa-yoon’s fan…….

Still, more than anything, he just wanted to get rid of him and be alone.

When he said okay, Ju Dong-yun’s delight became almost absurdly overblown. Something about it made him feel cheated. Damn it.

After he signed it and sent the annoying staff member away, the area became far too quiet. The manager who’d supposedly been on a call was the same. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember actually hearing what the person on the phone had been saying at all.

“Manager-nim, what about the call?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. I hung up.”

The manager awkwardly slipped the phone back into his pocket. After that, he didn’t say much either, just kept watching him with caution. Had he always been the type to keep quiet and read the room?

Just then, he spotted the members still shooting near the sea. Kyeon In-woo and Lim Se-bin.

Pyo Jae-ho was standing beside the director, not taking his eyes off the monitor, and Cheon Sa-yoon was chatting happily with some staff member. Somehow it looked like that might be the same employee he’d been laughing and talking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with before, but he couldn’t be sure.

Watching from this far away made him feel like some outsider who couldn’t quite mix in. Or maybe the silence just felt more pronounced because a loud, obnoxious person had come through and left it behind.

After that shoot, nothing else changed much. Even the self-pitying gloom he’d fallen into on his own settled back down again. The staff member had come and gone with an unpleasant mouth, but nothing had actually happened.

A few days later, during the music video ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shoot, he wasn’t nearly as tense as he had been for the jacket photos. Maybe he’d simply grown numb from doing it over and over. He’d improved so much that he could barely remember why he’d been so scared at the beginning. On top of that, he’d thrown every scrap of concentration he had into getting it finished as quickly as possible so they could get out of there entirely, and somehow they wrapped earlier than expected.

Then, two weeks before the comeback.

The official account released the comeback date along with a teaser, and two days later the first batch of concept photos—the ones they’d suffered through and shot with blood, sweat, and tears—were unveiled in order.