Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: A Sticky Situation
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“I wonder if we took up too much of your time today, Min-jun?”
“Not at all. It was an honor.”
Min-jun felt that while the gathering wasn't quite over, it was the right time for him to leave.
“It seems you have more to discuss, so I'll be taking my leave.”
The division head took out two 50,000 won bills from his long wallet and spoke.
“That wasn't my intention, it's just getting quite late. You can't drive after drinking, so take this for a designated driver.”
It was a clear dismissal, but he made it seem as considerate as possible, so Min-jun wasn't offended.
“I won't refuse. Thank you very much.”
“See you again soon?”
Min-jun bowed to the division head and the CP, then turned to PD Im Ji-hoon.
The PD shook his hand with the same expression he'd had from the beginning.
“I'll see you again next time.”
“Let's do that.”
Min-jun left, feeling a strange sense of rivalry.
“…PD Im, do you not like him?”
“I apologize if I was too obvious.”
“What? Hahaha!”
The remark could have been taken as arrogant, but the division head laughed as if he genuinely found it amusing.
“May I ask why you dislike him?”
“It's not that I dislike him specifically, but rather I'm not fond of people in that industry. The detailed reasons are a sensitive matter, and I'm too embarrassed to dare speak of them to you, Division Head.”
Im Ji-hoon spoke confidently, his face full of conviction, and the division head watched him with a pleased expression.
“That's why I chose you. But you know, there's always a point of compromise. Everyone acts for their own safety and benefit, and those people are just doing their best for their own.”
“I'll keep that in mind, Division Head.”
* * *
In the room where Ji-yoo of Savage Girls and her friends were drinking beer and whiskey, the excited cheers from outside could be heard.
“What's that? Did a celebrity show up or something? Why is it so loud?”
“Isn't our Ji-yoo the queen of this place?”
At the male idol's words, Ji-yoo's expression soured.
“Hey, asshole, why are you provoking me?”
“Provoking? What are you talking about? If Ji-yoo goes out there, it'll be a massacre of the common folk.”
The male idols snickered.
Ji-yoo downed her straight shot of whiskey and stood up.
“Ooh, the slayer of this domain.”
“Hmph!”
As Ji-yoo walked out of the room with a smirk, full of confidence, shuffle dance music tickled her ears.
“Boom! Boom!”
A huge crowd had their hands in the air, lost in the excitement. Their gazes were fixed on two girls with similar hair colors, dancing in perfect sync.
“Whoa, what's this? Are they special guests?”
The friends who had followed Ji-yoo out exclaimed in awe.
“They look familiar.”
“Everyone here looks like that.”
“No... for a dance team, their faces are top-tier... Aren't they a girl group?”
As her friends showed interest, Ji-yoo, growing annoyed, descended the stairs that cut across the center of the stage area.
But the people, captivated by the two girls dancing in front of the DJ stage, didn't even glance at Ji-yoo.
‘These little…?’
Ji-yoo moved with even more exaggerated motions, heading for the personal stage where she had been dancing earlier.
Many people in her path gave her a curious look, but that was all.
Even after she got on stage, no one except those right next to her was watching her.
Even her friends on the upper floor were only looking at the two dancing in front of the main stage.
♪♬
Beep-beep-beerip-doom-chit, beep-beep-beerip-doom-chit
♪♬
Similar height, similar figures, similar hair color, similar hair length, and even white T-shirts with light-blue skinny jeans. At a glance, they looked like a single person dancing the shuffle reflected in a mirror.
‘Are those the girls I saw at the clothing shop?’
Seeing the two ash-blonde heads, she started to recall the junior girl group she'd seen at the shop.
‘The one who snapped at me?’
A puff of air from Ji-yoo's lips made her bangs flutter.
Ji-yoo, with her girl group experience, also began to move her body to the music.
But she couldn't bring back the crowd's attention.
A surge of competitiveness rising, Ji-yoo took off her leather jacket and threw it at a guard in the corner of the stage.
The guard, who had been focused on Seul-bi and Ro-si, was startled when the jacket slapped him in the face.
Revealing a top with a plunging neckline, Ji-yoo danced even more passionately.
Many people glanced at her for a moment, but that was all. Their eyes quickly returned to Ro-si and Seul-bi, who were dancing spectacularly.
“Boom! Boom!”
“Aargh!”
The moment the crowd cheered for Ro-si and Seul-bi, Ji-yoo let out a frustrated scream.
* * *
“Woooah!”
“Wheee!”
The shuffle music changed to hip-hop, and as the two stopped dancing, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Seul-bi and Ro-si came down from the stage, their faces flushed with elation and their breathing heavy.
Choi Yoo-jun, whose excitement hadn't subsided just like theirs, stood before them.
But he didn't even need to make way, as the crowd parted for them, cheering.
“Our artists are the best! My heart is still pounding! That was so cool!”
Choi Yoo-jun shouted over the massive club sound, and Seul-bi and Ro-si grinned.
“I'll be waiting!”
Seul-bi and Ro-si went into the restroom.
As the noise subsided, Ro-si spoke.
“I feel strange whenever I'm on stage. It's like some kind of mysterious power just comes out of me.”
“Right? The crowd's reaction is fun, isn't it? It's different from a regular event, right?”
Seul-bi, feeling a vicarious satisfaction from Ro-si experiencing the same joy, was all smiles.
“I don't know. It was like that during the event, and it's like that here too. Suddenly, it feels like my body isn't my own.”
“I find that strange too... Maybe it's an adrenaline rush or something?”
The two tried to make sense of this inexplicable feeling.
“Anyway, it's fun, isn't it?”
“…A little.”
“See? We were born for the stage.”
When Seul-bi and Ro-si came out of the restroom, the first person to greet them wasn't Choi Yoo-jun. It was Ji-yoo from Savage Girls, standing with her arms crossed and a venomous look on her face.
Ro-si was startled and about to greet her, but Seul-bi quickly grabbed her and tried to walk past.
“Stop right there.”
“...”
“Hey!”
Ji-yoo grabbed Ro-si's shirt.
“Yikes!”
“What do you think you're doing!”
A startled Choi Yoo-jun pulled Ji-yoo's hand off Ro-si's stretched shirt.
“That bastard from back then? ...No, it's not him.”
Ji-yoo, who had mistaken Choi Yoo-jun for Min-jun, turned her gaze to Seul-bi.
“Hey! You see your senior and don't even greet her? Are you asking for a beating?”
“...”
“…I was afraid you wouldn't recognize us, Seonbae-nim.”
Ro-si made an excuse on behalf of the silent Seul-bi.
“Follow me.”
“Go where? If you're a celebrity, act with some decency. There are a lot of people watching.”
Choi Yoo-jun said, glaring.
“Oppa. We'll just go. Wait here for a moment.”
“Seul-bi…”
“Just wait. Do I look like someone who'd get beaten up?”
Choi Yoo-jun, who knew of Seul-bi's strength, gave a wry smile and nodded.
“If anything happens, call me right away. I'll be right here.”
Ji-yoo led the two to the lockers.
“Fuck. Who does a mere roadie think he is, telling me what to do...”
“Pfft!”
Seul-bi and Ro-si couldn't hold back their laughter.
“…Are you two crazy?”
Ji-yoo's tirade began.
Choi Yoo-jun, who was watching from nearby, became even more furious than Seul-bi and Ro-si, who were being cursed at.
‘I can't just go and hit a woman.’
Mulling over how to get back at Ji-yoo, Choi Yoo-jun went to the bar.
“Do you have anything smelly and sticky?”
“Excuse me?”
the employee asked, bewildered.
“A cold coke and an orange juice, please. In cups.”
“...”
The employee hesitated before serving the coke and orange juice in large paper cups.
Taking the paper cups, Choi Yoo-jun returned the way he came with a wicked grin.
The more Savage Girls' Ji-yoo spoke, the more irritated she became.
It was because she could see from Seul-bi's expression that her words were going in one ear and out the other.
“Kneel.”
“...”
“You're not going to kneel?”
Finally at the end of her patience, Seul-bi's eyes hardened.
“What exactly did we do wrong for you to act like this?”
“Have you lost all sense of decency?”
“You already took the clothes you wanted.”
“This little bitch.”
Ji-yoo's hand flew toward Seul-bi's cheek but cut through empty air. Seul-bi had swiftly dodged it.
“Whoa! Move it, move it!”
At the urgent shout, Ji-yoo turned around just as Choi Yoo-jun threw himself forward as if he were falling. The contents of the two cups splashed all over Ji-yoo's upper body.
“Aah! It stings!”
Ji-yoo was momentarily disoriented by the stinging sensation of the cola on her skin.
“Oh my? What should I do? I've ruined your precious clothes.”
In an instant, the stickiness seeped through to her underwear, and a sour smell wafted up, making Ji-yoo furious.
“You crazy bastard!”
Enraged, Ji-yoo slapped the taunting Choi Yoo-jun.
“Oof!”
Choi Yoo-jun was only grazed by the slap, but he threw himself back as if he'd been hit hard, slamming his head against the metal lockers.
*Clang*
“Kuh! Uwaah! Savage Girls is beating someone up!”
Choi Yoo-jun's slick acting only enraged Ji-yoo further, but passersby started to stare with serious expressions.
Infuriated, Ji-yoo tried to stomp on Choi Yoo-jun, who was rolling on the floor, but Seul-bi grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
“Shouldn't you stop?”
“This… Let go.”
Ji-yoo was known for being one of the strongest among girl groups, but she couldn't easily shake off Seul-bi's grip.
“I said, stop.”
As Seul-bi's threat burst out, Ji-yoo's expression hardened even more.
“Guards! MD!”
As the atmosphere between Ji-yoo and Seul-bi grew hostile, Choi Yoo-jun stealthily got up.
“It's my fault, please don't do this.”
Choi Yoo-jun made Seul-bi let go of Ji-yoo's wrist.
Having committed the act, he started to worry that Answer might suffer because of it.
“Do you have any idea how much this outfit costs? Your annual salary wouldn't even cover it!”
At Ji-yoo's words, Choi Yoo-jun swallowed hard.
Seul-bi was about to get angry again.
“…How much is it?”
Ro-si, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, leaving Ji-yoo even more flabbergasted.
“Wh-what?”
“It's not even a new Hermed model. It's from two or three years ago.”
“Pfft!”
The gathered crowd laughed at Ji-yoo.
“…What is she saying…”
Perhaps embarrassed by the onlookers' reactions, Ji-yoo's voice had shrunk, and Seul-bi and Choi Yoo-jun looked at Ro-si with surprised faces.
“Annual salary? It's 3 million won at most. And the skirt... is it a fake?”
Ro-si's deadpan words pierced Ji-yoo's heart like a knife.
“Kekeke, she said it's a fake. A fake.”
“And she was going on about annual salaries. How embarrassing.”
“Looks like the club fangirl met her match today.”
“What a bitch. Serves her right.”
“And she calls herself a singer. Kekeke.”
The crowd started to openly mock Ji-yoo, and her face turned bright red.
“Bullshit! Guards!”
Having nothing left to say, Ji-yoo shouted for the guards.
Ro-si's eyes were sharp, and Ji-yoo was certain that staying any longer would only lead to more humiliation.
Finally, hearing the commotion, large, bulky guards approached, their bodies jiggling.
“What's the problem here?”
“Call the police. These people vandalized my clothes and tried to run off.”
“Let's do that. Call the police! I'll pay for the clothes, so I'm going to sue you for assault.”
Realizing the clothes were cheaper than he thought, Choi Yoo-jun raised his voice.
“You started it!”
“What did I start? Weren't you the one harassing our innocent artists?”
Choi Yoo-jun retorted to Ji-yoo, lifting his chin defiantly.
“This... little! Do you not know who I am?”
“Who? I don't know, and I'm not settling, so do whatever you want.”
“Gyaah!”
Ji-yoo let out a murderous scream at Choi Yoo-jun's taunting, but there were too many eyes on her to do anything more drastic.
“You, just you wait. I won't let this go.”
“Didn't ask? Don't care?”
At Choi Yoo-jun's relentless taunting, Ji-yoo bit her lip so hard it started to bleed.
Ji-yoo shot one last venomous glare at Seul-bi and Ro-si.
“Look forward to it.”
In response, Seul-bi and Ro-si just snorted.
“The shower room!”
“This way, ma'am.”
Ji-yoo walked away, holding the sticky, sour-smelling clothes with her fingertips to keep them from touching her body.
“No wonder she's so obsessed with pretty clothes. Did she not get paid properly? Looks like she doesn't even have money to buy clothes.”
At Seul-bi's final jeer, Ji-yoo's body trembled as she walked away.
Sticky drops of the drinks were still dripping from the hem of Ji-yoo's short skirt.
As the Answer crew focused on Ji-yoo's retreating back, someone suddenly ruffled Choi Yoo-jun's hair.
“Sheesh.”
“Ack! What the... Hyung?”
“Oppa!”
Choi Yoo-jun, Seul-bi, and Ro-si exclaimed with happy faces.
“You punk. Who goes around pouring that stuff on a woman?”
Min-jun scolded him, looking at the cups rolling on the floor, and Choi Yoo-jun deflated.
“…Did you see everything?”
“…Artists, are you done having fun? Let's go.”
Min-jun ruffled Choi Yoo-jun's hair once more and headed for the exit.
As Min-jun led the way, his face was filled with trust and satisfaction in Choi Yoo-jun.