Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Reviving Idol Dreams
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The conversation naturally drifted to the hot topic everyone was buzzing about lately—that incident from her trainee days.
She said the company had reached out to her.
For starters, the whistleblower in question had been fired from the company.
“And then she called me, begging me to come back. Guess what I said?”
Joo Yerin propped her chin on her hand, gazing out the window with a haughty smile.
She looked in a great mood.
“Did you accept?”
“Nope, of course I turned her down.”
Somehow, I felt disappointed for her.
K Entertainment was one of the top agencies in Korea.
“You’re really giving up on becoming an idol? This could be a chance to check out other agencies.”
“No need.”
She cut me off sharply.
“As glamorous as it is, the shadows behind it run deep. The group I was in was huge even before debut, packed with contestants from all the big auditions—it was stacked.”
I knew which girl group she meant.
They’d been massive even pre-debut, and they kept riding high after.
“Maybe it was the cutthroat competition, but everyone was so sensitive and sharp. Looking back, I was the same.”
“Must hurt seeing your friends on TV, doing their promotions.”
“...Not like it doesn’t sting a bit.”
Yerin seemed to reminisce for a moment, then glanced at me.
“Honestly, I don’t want to go back to those days. It was so lonely, and I realized I wasn’t as sociable as I thought. Couldn’t control my impulses either.”
She said it like she had no regrets, but I remembered how much Abyss had struggled all this time.
I’d watched her lose her dream and wander in the game.
Silence settled over the table.
I wondered briefly if it was okay to bring this up with someone who claimed to have zero lingering attachment to showbiz.
Then Yerin panicked.
“Unnie, sorry! Did I kill the vibe with something so heavy?”
“It’s just idle talk, so feel free to brush it off.”
“Huh?”
“Want to try going on a show?”
Her eyes went wide.
The second the words left my mouth, alarms blared in my head.
No takebacks!
No takebacks!
Shut up.
“Honestly, you’re gorgeous, great voice, and from watching you game, you’ve gotta dance well too. It’d be a waste to live so ordinarily.”
My reasonless mouth started spewing nonsense.
Grab.
“?!”
Yerin flinched in surprise, staring down at my hand.
“You’ve got real talent.”
I held her hand and said it seriously.
“Become the billboard idol promoting my—our Fullminak. I know zilch about the industry, but for you, I’d do anything.”
“U-Unnie...”
“We’ll pioneer the first generation of hunter idols!”
We’ll do it! We’ll do it!
My voice echoed in the cozy little café.
It was a slow time, no other customers, but I could feel the owner’s odd stare.
I was a regular here, so I’d asked him to keep quiet earlier.
“...”
My sanity returned.
Only after saying it did I realize I’d spouted some grand nonsense to a girl with no interest in showbiz.
Oh god, embarrassing.
“Ahem, sorry. I got carried away—”
I tried to slip my hand free, but it wouldn’t budge—instead, she gripped tighter.
Her trembling eyes welled up in an instant.
“Okay, Unnie...”
“?!”
“The truth is, I wanted to debut so bad! Watching those girls who did, I was like, how! Much! Better! I could’ve done it! But now I’m too old, the industry creeps me out just looking at them, and group activities? Hate it!”
Suddenly, Yerin burst into sobs right in front of me.
The café owner gawked at us, eyes bulging, but I had no room to care.
I grabbed some tissues with my free hand and offered them.
Finally releasing my hand, Yerin wiped her tears and said,
“Just tell me what to do. If you say go, I’d follow you to the ends of hell.”
“...I want to take you to heaven, not hell.”
“!”
Overwhelmed, Yerin burst into tears again.
“Waaah! Unnieee!!”
A wave of responsibility hit me late, but seeing her so happy still felt amazing.
I really wanted to make it work for her.
* * *
After crying her heart out, Yerin was too embarrassed to stay in the café, so I brought her to Kim Je-hyun’s place.
“It’s not my house, though.”
More like the home of my temporary slave.
Creak—
The door swung open, and Yerin gasped in awe.
“Wow! This place is amazing!”
With Kim Je-hyun back at work, the house was empty.
“Want to poke around a bit? I’ll go dig up that guitar my relative stashed away somewhere. Game room’s over there—come join when you’re done.”
“Okay, Unnie.”
Kim Je-hyun had bought a ridiculously expensive guitar back when he fancied learning it, and it was somewhere in this house.
I’d sell it in a heartbeat, but he’d kept it instead of tossing it.
I rummaged forever, thinking it was in storage, but the place was too big—I couldn’t find it. Finally, I called him.
[“Huh? What’s up?”]
“Where’s the guitar?”
[“Oh, that. Probably in my bedroom drawer. Why the sudden guitar interest?”]
“Brought a friend over. She wants to try playing. And she’s got an awesome voice.”
[“Who is it? Good at guitar? Sing for me, and maybe I’ll gift it?”]
I froze.
“...”
This guy didn’t even play anyway—might as well give it up.
But it was pricey.
After a moment’s thought, I replied,
“I’ll ask my friend and send a video. Give me your thoughts on the singing too.”
[“Sweet! Boy or girl?”]
“Girl.”
[“Kyah!!”]
Chuckling at his over-the-top excitement, I headed to his room and unearthed the dusty guitar.
Zero signs of use.
I didn’t know instruments, but it screamed expensive.
Pretty thing.
You’re Yerin’s now.
I’d wasted so much time hunting for it in this huge house that Yerin was already in the game room by the time I got back.
True to her Bipa main status, she was glued to Imperial Station, then spotted me.
“Hey, Unnie! This!!”
“Aren’t I the best?!”
“Eek! It’s so cool!”
I spun around Imperial Station with the guitar, humming a little happy dance, and Yerin cracked up.
I dragged over a chair and a small sofa, setting up a spot.
“This belongs to the owner of this house, a relative of mine. Super expensive, apparently.”
“Ahaha! H-hey?!”
Yerin, who’d been laughing so hard she was doubled over, took the guitar and froze.
“This is a really good one!”
“He bought it to learn, never touched it. Said he might give it if you sing for him. What do you think?”
Her mouth dropped open at my words, then she slowly covered it with both hands.
She nodded quietly.
“...”
Like a damn commercial.
No wonder brands throw money at pretty, handsome faces—everyday life turns into a photoshoot.
I fired up my phone camera to record.
Oh yeah, Gilgamesh had told me to bring Yerin to the ad shoot.
“Yerin, you free Thursday?”
She was tuning the guitar meticulously as she sat, and answered right away.
“Yeah, I’m unemployed that day.”
“Same here.”
She laughed.
I wasn’t up on her latest, but her jobless streak was long.
Around the time she caused that scandal at the agency, her parents divorced, and after getting kicked out, she battled depression like crazy.
That’s when she started Bipa, she’d said.
I remembered first meeting Abyss—Yerin—in the game.
She tried to kill me on sight, true to her rep of murdering anyone who looked at her wrong, but when I didn’t drop easily, she huffed off in a tantrum.
Next time, she approached me first.
‘...Are you really a girl?’
I never revealed my gender in-game—it was a rule—but for some reason, I confirmed it that day.
Abyss lit up visibly.
‘I-I’m a girl too...’
That’s how it started.
With nowhere to lean, Abyss opened up fast just knowing I was an older same-sex player, spilling her whole story.
Knowing her situation, I’d sneak extra cash her way during raids to help.
She found out later and refused.
That’s why, despite her constant clashes with guildmates, I always dragged the Rank 2 powerhouse along.
Raids meant official payouts.
Twang. Twang.
As Yerin plucked strings to tune, she suddenly asked me,
“Unnie, you know this?”
“Hm?”
“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even be here right now.”
Twang.
The guitar smoothed into a simple, gentle melody, and the singing began.
A famous song.
It sank in deep from the first verse.
As expected—she sang with a stunningly pretty voice, and shockingly well.
Seeing this pain hidden behind her thorny personality made her tender, honest delivery hit right in the chest.
The voice and guitar singing teenage angst echoed softly, painfully.
Maybe because I knew her life story too well.
It hurt so bad.
How tough had it been?
How did that Joo Yerin, who’d lost everything in those dark days, endure?
Yerin looked up.
Our eyes met.
‘If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even be here right now.’
Feeling the silent message through her body, a fierce shiver ran through me.
You, covered in wounds, could become a light moving and healing countless people with that voice rising above the pain.
Just like her song was healing me deep inside right now.
Drip.
“!”
Startled by my tears, Yerin stopped singing and looked at me, but at my gesture to ignore it, she continued.
She finished with an even softer, clearer voice.
The song ended.
“...”
Silence flowed.
Her hands fidgeted on the guitar.
Yerin looked at me, smiling shyly—and happily—after finishing.
Recording stopped.
“...You’re really good.”
At my short praise, she beamed, then glanced around hurriedly and pulled out tissues for me.
I laughed.
“Ah, embarrassing. Guess today’s the day we take turns crying, huh?”
“...What do I do, Unnie.”
She said it as she wiped my tears.
“I’m so happy, I’ll never forget this moment.”
“Happy and crying?”
“You’re too good to me.”
Before I knew it, tears streamed from Yerin’s pretty eyes too.
We stopped crying and burst out laughing together.
I opened my arms quietly for a hug. She froze in surprise, then carefully hugged back.
Pat pat.
“You’ve been through so much.”
“...”
“You really suffered alone all this time, my Yerin.”
From now on, only flower paths.
I’d make it happen somehow—definitely. Let’s walk flower paths together from here.
Squeeze.
Yerin clutched my back, then sobbed into my chest.
* * *
Kim Je-hyun’s reaction to the video I sent:
[Kim Je-hyun: Who is she??? A celebrity??? Ask if she’s into sweet, cute chaebol guysㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Yu Ga-hyun: Sweet my ass]
[Yu Ga-hyun: She’s 21, you thief]
[Kim Je-hyun: What?!!!! You said friend earlier, liar!!!!]
[Kim Je-hyun: But why does a kid sing so sadly..... My heart’s shreddedㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Kim Je-hyun: She hates young-looking guys?? Huh???]
[Yu Ga-hyun: Asked just in caseㅋㅋㅋ She likes me moreㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Yu Ga-hyun: Feels good]
[Kim Je-hyun: ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[Kim Je-hyun: You evil girlㅠㅠㅠ Stealing my love every timeㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
What nonsense.
I messaged Gilgamesh for quick video editing advice, then created the Fullminak channel for the first time.
Registered for royalties.
For a guitar performance, just trim the length, he said, so I uploaded lightly.
Yerin and I watched the views explode like a big bang on YouTube—she who’d even promoted it on SNS, on pins and needles. She got the full experience.