Chapter 203: The Reason the Scandal Broke Out
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 203: The Reason the Scandal Broke Out
I contacted Kkotbi right after.
Hearing my question about whether she could talk, Kkotbi, as if sensing what I’d seen, asked if we could meet in person to talk.
Ahyu and I immediately agreed, and so we were on our way to the dorm of Chae-eun, one of Kkotbi’s fellow idol group members, to meet her.
The reason we were going to Chae-eun’s dorm instead of Kkotbi’s was simple.
Her place was swarming with reporters, so she had taken refuge at Chae-eun’s.
“Oh, what do I do? Domi-oppa, my heart is pounding.”
Just then, Ahyu, who was in the taxi with me, spoke while taking a deep breath.
She seemed even more nervous than the day she confessed to me.
Looking at Ahyu, I reached out and pulled her cheek.
It stretched out long, like a sticky rice cake.
“Mmph.”
Ahyu glared at me as if to ask what I was doing, so I let go of her cheek and leaned back against the armrest.
“Just because.”
Seeing me, Ahyu was silent for a moment, then her eyes narrowed slightly as if she’d realized something.
Then, with a somewhat mischievous grin, she scooted closer to me.
“What’s this? What’s this? Are you jealous right now, Domi-oppa?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. So you get jealous too, Domi-oppa? Hehe.”
Looking at Ahyu’s sly smile, I started to feel a little annoyed for some reason.
So, I smiled back at her, wrapped my hand around her side, and pulled her closer.
“You just wait. Next time, I won’t stop even if you beg me to.”
“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean….”
Ahyu looked at me, confused, before her face slowly started to turn bright red.
“Ah, w-wait a minute, Domi-oppa?”
As I stared at her silently, Ahyu, her face now red as a beet, hurriedly grabbed my collar.
But when I didn’t answer and just turned to look out the window, Ahyu didn’t know what to do.
Then, she suddenly shrieked next to me.
“That’s what I was hoping for! You’d better not be the one to regret it, Domi-oppa!”
Knowing full well what Ahyu was like, I just snorted to myself.
After all, she was all stamina and not much else.
While Ahyu was still fuming, the taxi soon arrived safely in front of Chae-eun’s house.
Thankfully, there were no reporters there.
It seemed that since the news broke today, they had all flocked to Kkotbi’s place.
“…Really? …Are you really going to go all the way?”
Ahyu kept looking at me anxiously from the side, her face still flushed, but I ignored her and called Kkotbi.
[Ah, oppa.]
“Kkotbi, we’re here. Can we come in?”
[Just a moment. I’ll open the gate for you.]
As Kkotbi said that, the gate of the mansion in front of us opened.
It seemed to be automatic.
As I opened the mansion gate and stepped inside with Ahyu, she became nervous again.
Kkotbi might have been her favorite, but she was also a huge fan of the other Blackstar members.
“Ha-chan-oppa. Ahyu.”
As we walked up past the stone steps and garden, the front door clicked open.
Peach-colored hair peeked out from inside.
Kkotbi, dressed comfortably since she was at home, met my eyes, tidied her bangs a little, and smiled.
As she smiled at us in welcome, I raised a hand in greeting and approached her.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other in person.”
“It really has.”
As she said that, Kkotbi looked up at me quietly with demure eyes.
I could feel her light pink eyes sparkling as she looked at me.
I could keenly feel the delight in her eyes, so I gave an awkward smile.
Maybe I should have seen her more often when I had the time.
While I was thinking that, Ahyu peeked out from behind my back.
“Yua.”
“Ahyu, you’re here?”
When Kkotbi smiled and spoke, tears suddenly welled up in Ahyu’s eyes.
Then she threw her arms out and pulled Kkotbi into a hug.
“I’ll take care of all the slanderers!”
“Ahaha.”
She’s getting way too emotional.
I pulled Ahyu off Kkotbi by the waist and asked.
“We’re going to talk inside, right?”
“Ah, yes, of course. It’s not my house, but please come in.”
Kkotbi said, opening the front door wider and stepping inside.
Following her in, I saw an entryway filled with many pairs of shoes.
They were all women’s shoes, and I had a vague idea of who they belonged to.
‘This is…’
I felt like I’d walked into a bad situation.
For some reason, a chill ran down my spine.
But Ahyu paid no mind to the shoes, taking off her own and striding inside.
“So this is Chae-eun’s house….”
Such an idol fan.
I watched her back for a moment before taking off my shoes and stepping inside.
The moment I did, I sensed the presence of several people inside.
Someone at Ahyu’s level might not have noticed, but I, who no longer missed such presences, thought, I knew it.
“Heok!”
Ahyu, who had reached the living room first, let out a scream.
Hearing her scream, I gave a bitter smile.
Because there were three other women there besides us.
All the members of Blackstar were at Chae-eun’s house.
And all of their gazes were fixed on the two of us who had just entered.
No, let me be more precise.
All of their gazes were fixed on me.
Wow, am I the main character here?
Finding it hard to bear the stares of idols I’d only ever seen on screen, I quickly grabbed Ahyu’s shoulder and pulled her in front of me.
Ahyu shield.
“Hk, hic.”
A strange sound escaped from Ahyu.
It seemed she was still like this, even though she’d talked with the Blackstar members before thanks to Kkotbi.
“You’re Ha-chan-ssi, right? We spoke last time. Do you remember?”
Just then, the member Chae-eun spoke to me with a bright smile.
Her eyes, which had a strong impression due to their slightly upturned corners, looked extremely interested in me.
“Yes, of course, I remember.”
Back then, I had been bombarded with all sorts of questions from the Blackstar members.
And those questions were mostly about my relationship with Kkotbi.
“So what do you think of Yua now!”
Just then, Mimi abruptly raised her hand and asked.
She, who usually wore her hair in pigtails but now had it down comfortably, had a very cute face.
In fact, she was the youngest member of Blackstar and had a very affectionate personality.
“Mi, Mimi!”
Kkotbi, her face bright red, tried to stop Mimi’s question.
But the question wasn’t a difficult one, so I smiled and answered.
“I like her. Yua is a good person.”
“That’s a very generic answer.”
Mimi acted disappointed, but Kkotbi couldn’t lift her head.
Thanks to that, Chae-eun and Mimi got even more excited and showered me with questions.
Thankfully, the last member, Joy, only stared at me quietly and didn’t ask any questions, so I was able to escape.
“So, Yua, can you tell us what happened?”
The outside world was in an uproar over the scandal between Kkotbi and Shin Jong-hyeok.
So when I asked Kkotbi about the situation again, she smoothed her hair once.
“Well. That is….”
“It’s because of me.”
As Kkotbi was hesitating over how to explain, the answer came from none other than Joy.
When I looked at her, Joy was staring at the floor, her dyed blue hair falling over her face.
“Yua just got caught up in my business by accident.”
“So that means.”
Realizing the situation from her words, I looked back at Joy.
Then, on her face, which had a somewhat cold impression, tears slowly began to form.
“I’m the one dating Jong-hyeok. I was being careless, and Yua stepped in for me and got her picture taken instead.”
“J-Joy is dating someone!?”
Just then, a shriek came from Ahyu, who had been frozen until now.
Seeing Ahyu about to foam at the mouth again, I grabbed her and handed her over to Kkotbi.
“Cover her ears for me.”
“Here, Ahyu, are you okay now?”
“Hng.”
Kkotbi then hugged Ahyu and gently covered her ears.
Maybe it was because Ahyu was a little shorter than Kkotbi.
Seeing them like that, they almost looked like sisters.
“Yua, why did you do that?”
I asked, looking at Kkotbi patting Ahyu’s head, and she gave an embarrassed, awkward smile.
“Because the damage to me is relatively less.”
Kkotbi had built up a certain image through her work as a hunter and other things, so the very idea of her dating an S-rank hunter like Shin Jong-hyeok wasn’t a huge problem.
In fact, there were even quite a few people who supported it.
Her image of saving and dedicating herself to countless people was such that some even called her a singing saint.
Since Kkotbi had an overwhelmingly positive image among idols, the damage to her image from dating would certainly be minimal.
The reaction was more along the lines of, “People need to date, too.”
“Joy’s image is far from the dating type.”
Ahyu glanced at Joy, as if she now understood why things had turned out this way.
As Ahyu said, Joy’s image was quite different.
With a stronger, colder image compared to the other members, she was seen as far removed from romance.
Since idols live and die by their image, the moment that image shattered, it would be a huge blow to Joy.
Ironically, the reaction that “people need to date” was a distant story for Joy.
Because Joy’s fans didn’t want her to date.
‘So some are allowed, and some aren’t.’
It struck me again what a difficult job being a celebrity was.
“Besides, even if I can’t work as an idol anymore, there are many other things I can do.”
“Yua, please don’t say that.”
Joy said, looking at Kkotbi and biting her lip tightly.
For Joy, who was an ordinary person, her idol career was everything.
But Kkotbi was a returnee.
If need be, she could work with the World Returnee Association or work as a hunter.
‘In the first place, as members of Blackstar, a top global idol group, they probably wouldn’t have any trouble making a living in the future.’
But you never know what might happen, and more importantly, their work as idols was probably a source of joy and happiness for them.
After all, Blackstar was famous for always giving their all in their performances.
That was something they could only do because they themselves enjoyed it.
So even though Kkotbi said that, honestly, it wouldn’t be without its impact on her.
For her, being an idol had been her dream even before she was swept up in a dimensional shift.
As if sensing my gaze, Kkotbi looked at me and averted her eyes slightly.
“…And to be honest, I was more worried that you might misunderstand, Ha-chan-oppa.”
Kkotbi blushed slightly, looking down shyly.
She looked exactly the same as she did on the day she confessed to me.