The Conditions for Becoming a Kind Idol Leader - Chapter 98
[PM 09:55]
When he checked the computer clock, it was already edging toward night.
A tray with coffee on it sat atop the sofa table. On the notepad attached to the tray, someone had written, “I’m heading out first. Take it easy.”
Pyo Jae-ho had long since left, and judging by the fact that producer Cha Sung-hwan had disappeared at some point, he must have slipped away after saying it was getting late.
Go Young-in popped a handful of supplements from the studio drawer into his mouth, closed the MIDI program he’d been working in, and logged into the radio streaming platform.
It was to monitor the member’s individual schedule in real time, just in case anything came up.
The members’ schedules were part of Zero One’s activities, after all. He had to keep an eye on them.
He used to leave those guys’ personal schedules to themselves, but then again, back then they hadn’t had this many individual or group schedules around this time of year.
Kyeon In-woo was appearing as a guest on a late-night K-pop idol audio show broadcast through a major company’s livestreaming service, alongside DTD’s Kang Ji-ho.
Watching Kyeon In-woo sit in the radio booth with the live chat scrolling alongside him, and seeing the familiar faces gathered there, he glanced at the time.
When the broadcast time came, the ON AIR sign above the radio booth lit up, and the live audio show began.
[Tonight’s guests are In-woo from Zero One and Ji-ho from DTD, the same group I’m in.]
[I’m Ji-ho! I’ll have a great time here!]
[Yes, indeed—Zero One’s Kyeon In-woo is here.]
[I’m special one-day DJ Park Ha-un of DTD. I’ll do my best today in place of my senior.]
It had originally been a radio program hosted by one of the senior idols on a regular basis, but due to a sudden dip in their condition, the slot had been handed over to Park Ha-un, the leader of the junior group DTD from the same agency, for a special one-day stint.
The broadcast had invited Kyeon In-woo and Kang Ji-ho for an idol rapper special, but once Park Ha-un—who was on friendly terms with both of them—became the DJ, the whole thing naturally took on the atmosphere of a friends special.
[By the way, In-woo… wow, it gives me chills just using honorifics with this guy. Ha-un said booking him was very difficult, right?]
[Yes, that’s right.]
[Me? What about me?]
[What do you mean, what about you? When do you ever agree to this kind of favor?]
[Hey, show some respect, will you?]
[Ugh.]
[…He’s not the kind of friend who says yes to a favor easily.]
Listening to them, it was clear they really were close. The conversation kept flowing without a break, each one trying to outdo the others.
At this point, Kyeon In-woo seemed closer to those two than he was to Zero One.
Go Young-in’s fingers, which had been tapping lightly on the desk, began to move faster.
[What are you talking about? He came as soon as we called, didn’t he?]
[That’s why we’re surprised. He came out way too willingly. So what’s your goal? Since we’re on the subject, why not tell us openly here and now?]
[You noticed?]
Ahaha. Even while saying the most pointless things, everyone’s laughter stayed light and cheerful.
This side of Kyeon In-woo—the Kyeon In-woo who wasn’t the sharp-tongued brat he usually dealt with, but a guy goofing around normally with friends his own age—felt strangely unfamiliar. Or was it familiar?
So this was how Kyeon In-woo talked and laughed when he was really at ease with someone.
Maybe because they were all on good terms, the broadcast had settled into a comfortable late-night mood. They chatted lightly, asked after each other, and even sang a line or two of songs in turn.
They knew how to keep their boundaries, so there didn’t seem to be any need to worry. Just as he was beginning to relax and thinking he should stop focusing on the radio and get back to work, the host moved on.
[Next is our phone connection corner. You’ll call someone who seems like they know a lot about our guests and give them a quiz from the list. The one who gets the most right will have their song chosen as the ending track.]
[At this hour?]
[Yes, at this hour.]
[That’s right.]
Kyeon In-woo knows a lot of people, so that shouldn’t be too hard.
He was, after all, the most social one in Zero One.
Come to think of it, if he hadn’t gotten tangled up with me, he’d probably be getting along with far more people than he is now.
[Anyone come to mind as a call recipient?]
[Ah, well. There is someone, but… hmm, not sure.]
[Not sure?]
[For a lot of reasons. No, more than anything, at this hour he—]
[Wait! Hold on. Isn’t that a little unfair to In-woo?]
[Why would it be unfair to me?]
[You know Young-in, right? You’ve been friends since middle school—doesn’t that count as a cheat code?]
Fuck. At the sudden mention of his name, the hand resting on the mouse slipped.
Why is my name coming up over there?
Length of acquaintance and closeness weren’t proportional.
On the screen, Kyeon In-woo folded his arms and blew his bangs up with his mouth.
[That’s true, but at this hour he’d probably be in the studio. I don’t know if he’d answer. Young’s the type to get so focused he doesn’t notice anything around him.]
That bastard’s like a ghost. How did he know I was in the studio?
He was sitting in front of the MIDI desk, monitoring the broadcast, so he felt weirdly exposed.
[Sounds like you’re putting in overtime even in the early hours of the morning.]
[That’s how he always is. Well… I’ll call, then.]
Damn Kyeon In-woo. Normally you’d give someone a heads-up and hand them a script, wouldn’t you? Was this really live?
[As soon as Young-in answers, we begin.]
[It starts right away? Don’t give him time to think. Everyone, this isn’t staged. It’s really real—live, in real time.]
No sooner had he finished speaking than the phone started ringing.
No, call someone else, why take this kind of risk? You know roughly what my situation is, so why are you doing this?
Setting everything else aside, why was there any need to raise the difficulty on purpose?
Kyeon In-woo had already said he didn’t know whether he’d pick up, so just before Go Young-in started wondering if he should ignore it, a status window appeared.
Thanks to that, his dilemma vanished. It was a sound he’d always found oddly comforting. Damn it, the status window.
And just like that, the ending song was gone. At this point, then…
Since he could barely remember anything properly anyway, he decided to go with the strategy of, “Of course I know the answer, but I’m deliberately getting it wrong.”
He lowered the computer volume and armed himself with a voice full of fake cheer and shameless ease.
“Yeah, In-woo.”
─…
Go Young-in waited for Kyeon In-woo to respond. But the line stayed silent.
By now I should be hearing his voice from both the phone speaker and the monitor speaker…?
“In-woo?”
─Uh, um…
Instead of Kyeon In-woo’s voice, a hesitant, timid one came through, sounding flustered.
Go Young-in froze, lowering the phone from his ear and checking the screen.
?On Call 00:34
XINX Vincencio
─I-it’s me, Y-young-in, I… I’m Sio… Vincencio….
It was Sio, a member of XINX, who had appeared alongside him on Who’s the K?
In other words, he’d answered the wrong call…
[What? You’re on a call? Who’re you talking to at this hour?]
Kyeon In-woo’s irritated voice was floating from the monitor speaker.
I thought it was obviously going to be In-woo. That was careless.
“Ah… Sio sunbaenim. I’m sorry. I answered without checking the number…”
─Ah, n-no, it’s my fault for calling so late…
“You don’t need to apologize. What is it?”
─Uh, um. I’m on a live with my fans right now……. We were doing a game where we randomly picked someone from our contacts to call……. I was told to do it as a surprise! I’m really, really sorry. There wasn’t anyone I could call except you. Ah, I mean, sorry for calling you hyung. Why do I keep saying things to apologize for? I must have called without thinking… But can I call you hyung? They say honorifics are important in Korea, but it’s nicer to be close, right? Uh, um. Just kidding. I’ll call you that if you give me permission. I was just happy to hear from you. Anyway, it’s really okay, right? You can tell me honestly. I mean, I’m asking if we can keep going. Oh, right… come to think of it, didn’t I call you by the members’ names earlier?
And after several minutes of listening comprehension torture, the purpose finally came out.
With his native-language filter removed, Sio talked a lot.
Even hearing it again, the amount of dialogue was insane. Didn’t he run out of breath? How had he survived all this time being so pent up?
Anyway… after barely stopping Sio, who seemed ready to apologize himself into the earth’s core the moment he went quiet, Go Young-in answered whatever damned quiz it was and ended the call.
“……”
He stared down at the phone and let out a sigh. He’d been on the call for nearly fifteen minutes.
Haah… Now what? Even if he called back, the segment was already over.
Usually with these things, they called it reality but gave you a heads-up in advance, didn’t they?
By then, an internet community post was already up with a title about a leader participating in a cross-group phone quiz instead of a member phone call.
Fortunately, everyone seemed to think it was a funny little mishap and was laughing about it, but it still left a bad taste in his mouth.
Go Young-in made a call to Kyeon In-woo and watched the video-radio broadcast in real time.
[Hold on. In-woo, breaking news.]
Instead of Park Ha-un, who had been about to stop Kyeon In-woo from reading the viewers’ comments as they came in, Kang Ji-ho chuckled and kept talking.
[Our manager just told us something. Apparently the merciless Young-in made a phone call?]
[Now?]
[That’s right! What should we do with this? Pick up or don’t pick up?]
[You should answer. He’s waiting.]
[If he answers right away, there’s no impact.]
[He made time for you while he was working. It’d be rude not to answer.]
[Why are you two deciding that?]
[Then don’t answer?]
[What exactly am I supposed to do?]
[The quiz, the quiz. Just ask the question written there. If you’re ready, answer it, yeah?]
Kyeon In-woo held up the question sheet and nodded.
At the same moment, the signal tone cut off.
─Hey, hey, hey, Go Young. What’s my hobby?
[Hey, hey, hey, Go Young. What’s my hobby?]
Kyeon In-woo’s voice poured from both the phone speaker and the monitor speaker at once.
* * *
[PM 11:50]
After ending the phone call and listening to the rest of it, it was already nearing midnight.
The year hadn’t ended yet. Tomorrow would be even busier, so Go Young-in decided to head back to the dorm early.
He could check everyone’s reactions tomorrow.
After tidying up the studio neatly, he switched off the lights and went home.