Surprisingly Good at Selfies
"Hey, Yeon-woo!"
Jong-woo shouted in shock, but a line of blood was already streaked across Sa Gam-jae's forehead.
"What is wrong with you? You're not the kind of person who goes around hurting people!"
After scolding him, Jong-woo dabbed at Sa Gam-jae's forehead with a handkerchief, huffing and puffing. "Are you going to keep being mean like that, huh?"
Yet Sa Gam-jae, whose forehead had just been sliced open by Yeon-woo, was perfectly calm. He even seemed amused.
Only belatedly noticing that expression, Jong-woo faltered, his mouth hanging open.
Here he was, getting angry on Sa Gam-jae's behalf—while the very man who'd been cut was standing there smiling. It was embarrassing for everyone involved.
Rembrary studied Sa Gam-jae closely and clicked his tongue inwardly.
There was no reaction.
That didn't mean Sa Gam-jae was not absolute evil—but it made pinning down what he actually was all the more difficult.
The corners of Sa Gam-jae's mouth curled up even more distinctly.
"What were you expecting, exactly?"
After the recording ended, the members brought the demo tape back to the dorm and threw themselves even harder into practicing the song.
Rembrary—outside the vocal line—kept pulling off strong results on the survival show, which had only fed expectations: if Yeon-woo can do that much, how well must the two main vocalists sing?
Once the group choreography and performance were layered on, their pitch would inevitably waver, so they had to practice ahead of time and live up to the public's ballooning expectations.
Whether it helped or not, Taein cracked raw eggs one after another, and Cathy kept gulping down bottled water.
Rembrary, for his part, used his Divine Power to care for his throat, a rather convenient arrangement.
Then, just as everyone was deep in practice, the doorbell rang.
"Is that Jong-woo-hyung?"
"Not Gam-jae-hyung?"
"Someone go check."
Too lazy to move, they all waited for someone else to answer the door—until Rembrary, confident in his own superior maturity of character, finally rose to his feet.
"Who is it?"
As he asked, Rembrary pressed his eye to the peephole. But no one was standing at the door.
A sense of déjà vu washed over him. Hadn't something like this happened before?
"Who is it?"
"No one's there."
Rembrary slowly opened the door. Sure enough, there was no one—only an envelope lying on the ground.
"Jungseo."
At Rembrary's call, Jungseo came over at once.
"That's..."
"I believe it's the same letter I received back when I was alone here."
"The razor blade letter?"
"Yes."
The other members, wondering what was going on, gathered around as well.
"What's wrong?"
"What is that?"
"Is that the threatening letter Jong-woo-hyung mentioned?"
The members craned their necks to look at the envelope lying in front of the door.
Hye-gyeol hopped backward with a jolt and shook out his hands.
"It's not a stalker, is it?"
When Jungseo bent down to pick up the letter, Rembrary held out his hand, saying he would be the one to open it.
Last time, there had been a blade taped inside, and he'd cut himself the moment he tore it open.
He would be careful this time—but even if he did get nicked, he reasoned, he could heal himself on the spot. Far better than letting Jungseo get hurt.
"Ugh, just hurry up and open it already."
"I'll do it."
Of course, Rembrary figured that if anyone had to get cut, better Cathy than himself, and he handed the letter over without protest.
Cathy opened it with great caution—and managed not to slice his hand.
"Ugh."
Short gasps erupted around the room.
Taped inside the envelope was another razor blade.
Looking exasperated, Cathy fished out the letter paper.
Just like before, it contained no words at all—only a single smiling mark.
- ^^
"God, that gives me the creeps."
Hye-gyeol swore under his breath, twisting his mouth into a strange shape.
Even the unflappable Jungseo furrowed his brow—this kind of thing was a first for him too.
He'd heard the story from Rembrary, but experiencing it firsthand made it that much more chilling.
"I'll call Jong-woo-hyung first."
While Jungseo picked up his phone, Hye-gyeol flapped his arms and legs about, trying to shake off the filthy, crawling feeling.
Cathy grumbled a stream of curses, then went to wash his hands at the sink.
"Hyung, it's Jungseo. Yeah. You know the letter you mentioned before?"
But one person's reaction was distinctly off.
Taein.
Jungseo was on the phone with Jong-woo looking grave, Hye-gyeol was flailing every limb in disgust, and Cathy was washing his hands here, there, and everywhere because he felt gross—yet Taein alone seemed calm.
Then his eyes met Rembrary's, and he scowled, saying "What?" in a tone that pressed down like a threat.
When Rembrary shook his head, Taein shot one glance at the letter on the table, then went back to the sofa, sat down, and picked up the papers covered in sheet music and lyrics.
Does he know who sent it?
Rembrary tilted his head, then remembered something Hye-gyeol had blurted out once while drunk.
Yeon-woo—the real one—had apparently tried to talk someone out of something, hadn't he? Could that someone have been Taein?
It might have been a leap too far, but still...
After Jungseo hung up, Rembrary pretended to prepare a late-night snack and quietly made his request.
"Keep a close eye on Taein for me."
"Why? You think Taein sent the letter?"
"I don't think that. But his reaction seems off compared to everyone else's."
Jungseo stole a sideways glance at Taein and answered quietly, "Okay."
After that, time passed without incident, and Monday arrived—the day the results of the fifth round of the competition would be announced.
Rembrary and Cathy stopped by the salon as usual to get their hair and makeup done before heading to the studio.
But when they moved to get out of the car, there seemed to be more reporters than usual.
"Jong-woo-hyung, is there some big shoot with someone famous today?"
"Not that I know of."
Rembrary, uninterested, leaned his head against the window.
But the moment he opened the door and stepped out, a remarkable scene unfolded: every single one of those reporters swung their cameras toward Rembrary at the same time.
Flashes popped with a burst of light, and the clicking of shutters came from all directions.
As Rembrary stood there bewildered, a few reporters approached Jong-woo.
"If it's not too much trouble, could we get a quick interview?"
"You still have some time, right? Just a few questions."
Lately, Rembrary had been trending for his newfound "mystical" image—and before that, for the sheer audacity of insisting Guan Yu was a game character.
He made headlines in all sorts of ways, yet with no scheduled appearances, the press could never catch sight of him.
That was why the reporters itching to ask their questions had all waited for today's fixed schedule and converged here.
"Later, please. I'm sorry, we're almost out of time. No, there isn't enough time. The senior artists are all gathered there already, we have to hurry—we're late as it is. Yes, I'm sorry."
Declining the swarming reporters one by one, Jong-woo shepherded Rembrary and Cathy into the studio.
His expression had been tense and strained the whole way in.
But the moment they stepped into the waiting room, Jong-woo's face lit right up.
"This is good. Getting attention without getting hated—can't beat that, right?"
Beaming, Jong-woo clapped Rembrary and Cathy on the shoulders, rat-a-tat.
"Let's make this album a hit. Do that, and you'll get that kind of attention everywhere you go."
"Should I not strike a pose? Would that be unwise?"
"Unless it's a photo zone, just wave and move on. If you do more, it might come off like you're showing off."
Rembrary nodded, realizing just how much his buzz had grown.
That feeling only intensified as the day went on—and it wasn't only reporters paying attention to him.
Even contestants he'd seen around constantly but never grown close to came up to Rembrary and struck up conversation, asking him needless questions just to have something to say.
He'd only landed middle-of-the-pack rankings on the show, but Jong-woo was more than satisfied.
After the results were announced, Sunwoo Sil, whom they ran into in the hallway, snickered and teased him.
"Hey, didn't you say you wanted to become a monk? Seriously, did you receive some revelation in a dream or something?"
Oh Jung-shin, on the other hand, despised Rembrary so thoroughly that even the attention Rembrary received disgusted him.
Their waiting rooms were right next door, so they came face to face at close range—and even though Rembrary was standing there with Sunwoo Sil, Oh Jung-shin openly sneered.
"You'll really do any ridiculous thing to get famous, won't you? If your talent's in THAT direction, why not quit being an idol and become a shaman?"
Saying nothing, Rembrary raised his third finger at him.
"!"
Oh Jung-shin's eyes bulged, and Sunwoo Sil recoiled in horror, slapped Rembrary's hand down, and hastily dragged him into the adjacent waiting room.
From behind them came the shout, "Wow, that lunatic is insane!"—but Sunwoo Sil had already shut the door, asking:
"What was that? Are you actually trying to declare war on Oh Jung-shin?"
"I saw a movie."
"A what?"
"When people were shown this gesture, they all got angry."
"Of course they got angry! It's a curse, you idiot!"
"Ah."
"I'm telling you, you're a certifiable nutcase."
Sunwoo Sil clicked his tongue, then laughed.
But since the insult hadn't been directed at him, he quickly forgot all about Rembrary's middle finger and changed the subject.
"Oh right, you said you were working on a new song."
"Yes."
"Tell me when the album drops. I'll post something supportive on my SNS."
"Thank you."
"Yeah... right. And give me your SNS handle. I'll send you a friend request."
"I don't have one."
"You don't? Hey, what kind of idol doesn't have SNS? Being an idol IS communicating with fans?"
Rembrary vaguely recalled Jong-woo talking about SNS from time to time.
But he hadn't been particularly interested back then, so he'd rarely asked about it.
There was exactly one occasion when he had—and Jong-woo had thought for a moment before deflecting with, "It's good to have one, but... maybe it's better if you don't make one?"
Now that Sunwoo Sil declared SNS to be basic equipment for any idol, Rembrary found it puzzling.
"Make one."
"How does one make it?"
"You don't know?"
When Rembrary shook his head, Sunwoo Sil clicked his tongue and held out his hand for Rembrary's phone.
Then he pulled up the social media platform most popular among idols and tapped the sign-up button.
In the blink of an eye, Sunwoo Sil was setting up Rembrary's account for him.
Shouldn't I be asking Jong-woo about this? Rembrary thought to himself, but stayed quiet for now.
I can simply ask Jong-woo once the account exists.
Having an account alone shouldn't be a problem.
Jong-woo had definitely added that it was "good to have one," after all.
Meanwhile, Sunwoo Sil raced through several fields and then asked:
"Hey, what's your phone number?"
"I don't know it."
"Then your email address?"
"I don't know that either."
"What? Did you come from some other world or something?"
"!"
In the end, Jong-woo had to be summoned to read out Rembrary's information for him.
A short while later, Rembrary accepted the phone showing his newly created account and blinked at it blankly.
Turning on the internet and typing a name or a word into the very first search box that appeared—that was the absolute ceiling of Rembrary's internet prowess.
And now, out of nowhere, social media. He couldn't grasp what it was at all, let alone how it was meant to be used.
As he stood there dumbfounded, Sunwoo Sil said, "Take a photo," and mimed snapping a selfie.
"Pardon?"
"It'd make a good profile picture. A photo of you."
"Ah."
"Let's put up one of us together, too."
Sunwoo Sil's words were brimming with consideration, but to Rembrary they might as well have been an alien language.
What is this man saying to me right now? Flustered, Rembrary looked to Jong-woo.
Jong-woo, who had quietly hoped Rembrary would never discover the world of social media, sighed.
But with a senior as revered as Sunwoo Sil taking such care to look after him right there, it felt too blunt to say, "Our kid doesn't do SNS."
In the end, Jong-woo decided to grant Rembrary conditional access to social media.
His mouth was a problem, sure, but his face was gorgeous—surely posting only photos would be fine?
Who knew—maybe a face with no sound attached could reel in a few fans, too.
Right. He'd just lay out a few ground rules, and it would be fine.
— The End of Chapter 57: Surprisingly Good at Taking Selfies —