Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: TrueDetective
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: 22. Five Great Families (3)
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I hadn’t expected Paeng Habuk to know Namgoong Jun.
Come to think of it, Namgoong Jun had been a trainee for just as long as Dang Sacheon, so of course he’d have connections in the industry.
Dang Sacheon knew Paeng Habuk, so Namgoong Jun knowing him was a given.
But.
‘Does Paeng Habuk not know that Namgoong Jun has a twin brother?’
Unlike Dang Sacheon, who had spotted right away that Namgoong Mu was the younger twin while impersonating Namgoong Jun.
Paeng Habuk had looked at Namgoong Mu like he was staring at a criminal or a doppelganger.
Which meant he had no idea about the twin’s existence at all.
They might not have been close enough for family history chats...
But judging by his sharp instincts in sensing that the guy in front of him wasn’t Namgoong Jun and probing about it, they’d probably been pretty tight.
That left only one possibility.
Namgoong Jun had deliberately hidden Namgoong Mu’s existence from Paeng Habuk.
Why hide his brother from Paeng Habuk, of all people?
‘...But how does Dang Sacheon know about Namgoong Mu?’
No, that could wait—I’d ask later.
“What the hell are you?”
Paeng Habuk’s tone had turned a bit rough.
We settled on a clichéd excuse—clichéd enough to actually be believable.
“What? Amnesia?”
Paeng Habuk blinked in shock, echoing the word.
We’d moved to a secluded spot behind the emergency stairwell.
Namgoong Mu nodded awkwardly, sticking to our prepped story.
“Yes... I lost my memories in an accident right after debuting.”
Taiji had said Namgoong Jun seemed like a different person, so we figured others might notice too.
That’s why we’d coordinated the amnesia cover with Namgoong Mu.
Instead of revealing he was Namgoong Jun’s twin brother.
The fewer people who knew about Namgoong Mu, the better.
The CEO couldn’t find out the real Namgoong Jun had summoned the Heavenly Demon and vanished.
Paeng Habuk swept both arms up and took a step back at Namgoong Jun’s stiff reply.
“Hey, drop the formal speech. It’s creepy.”
“Haha...”
“If that’s true... then I’ve been misunderstanding you this whole time.”
“Misunderstanding?”
I asked what he meant, and Paeng Habuk scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“You went radio silent right after debuting, so I thought, ‘Ah, this guy debuted with Gupailbang and totally changed.’”
“...”
He wasn’t wrong about the change.
He’d become a completely different person—that was the problem.
Paeng Habuk continued, his face dawning with realization.
“No wonder it felt off.”
Namgoong Mu tilted his head.
“Off how?”
“You know? He was never great at singing, but his dancing and variety skills were top-notch. Then after debuting, the dancing got weird, he was stiff on shows, barely showed up on air, and had no fun factor! Turns out it was all because of amnesia. They must’ve kept his schedule light on purpose because of his condition.”
“...”
From what I’d heard, Namgoong Mu had been giving his all every moment to avoid dragging his brother down.
Namgoong Mu’s face darkened, like he was about to spit blood.
Paeng Habuk looked genuinely sympathetic, somehow.
“You wanted to be an idol so bad, and then amnesia hits a week after debut. You worked your ass off to join Gupailbang, and you didn’t even get to show what you could do...”
From the stories I’d heard, the real Namgoong Jun had desperately wanted to be an idol.
Even the Namgoong family had opposed it.
To have his dream come true only to vanish right after...
Paeng Habuk seemed truly saddened, so maybe the amnesia excuse was a good call after all.
“…No, wait. Why are you part of the Five Great Families? You’re already in Gupailbang.”
“Ah...”
Namgoong Mu glanced at me, as if asking if it was okay to say, and I gave a small nod.
“Um... you might’ve heard, but when we move to Brother Ox’s agency, the excommunicated disciples are planning a full Gupailbang comeback. I’m set to join the Five Great Families with Dang Sacheon.”
“Everything’s fine, but talk casually, man.”
“Ah, yes. Er, no, uh... yeah?”
Paeng Habuk looked a little choked up at Namgoong Mu’s awkward response.
“No way... can amnesia really change a person this much?”
Paeng Habuk seemed to just be lamenting out of pity, but it hit a nerve—Namgoong Mu hurriedly changed the subject.
“My amnesia... it’s a secret. I’d appreciate if just you knew.”
Paeng Habuk nodded as Namgoong Mu forced out the casual speech.
“Got it. Even if you say amnesia, your fans’ll think it’s a concept anyway. My lips are sealed.”
“Th-thanks.”
Paeng Habuk gazed at Namgoong Mu with pity, then shifted to Dang Sacheon.
He hesitated a moment before speaking.
“…You’re a better guy than I thought.”
“What’s that supposed to mean all of a sudden?”
“No, you knew about Namgoong Jun’s amnesia, right? When you suddenly quit training and became Gupailbang’s assistant manager, I thought lightning must’ve struck you or something. With a face like yours, you could’ve debuted somehow unless you poisoned the CEO’s coffee. But you gave it up... and helped Namgoong Jun, who beat you in the final debut battle.”
“...”
This Paeng Habuk guy... he was weirdly close to the truth.
He wasn’t just tight with Namgoong Jun—he knew Dang Sacheon well too.
That’s why he figured Dang Sacheon was the type to poison the CEO’s tea and deserved a lightning bolt to end up as an assistant manager.
Dang Sacheon wore a strange expression, then brazenly said,
“Hoo... you’re right. Though we were rivals, Namgoong Jun was my dear friend. I couldn’t just leave him struggling with amnesia...”
Namgoong Mu’s face soured.
He was probably reliving the moment I offered to debut them in the Five Great Families, and Dang Sacheon sold him out without a second thought.
“So I stuck close to help Namgoong Jun, but the clan head found out.”
“Found out what?”
“That Kichi is a shady agency!”
“What? Kichi?”
I wondered what he was going to say—turns out it was Kichi-bashing.
Kichi’s industry rep was solid.
The CEO didn’t skimp on his people, so their welfare was unmatched.
Paeng Habuk looked incredulous, but Dang Sacheon was dead serious.
“Think about it. They couldn’t even protect their artist from a major accident bad enough to cause amnesia, and then they make him keep working. Doesn’t that seem off to you?”
“No, but... he barely had any activities, right? Wasn’t that for artist protection?”
“Ha! Namgoong Jun’s sparse schedule had nothing to do with protection. His skills tanked after amnesia, so they shelved him!”
...Not entirely wrong.
It definitely wasn’t about protection.
Dang Sacheon was using this to paint Kichi as evil incarnate, giving their jump to the Five Great Families a noble justification to sway Paeng Habuk.
It worked—Paeng Habuk’s eyes shook at Dang Sacheon’s words.
If we played this right, we might even recruit him...
But then Dang Sacheon kept going.
“Got it? Our Brother Ox, despite the CEO’s patronage, is personally starting an agency to save us. Paeng Habuk, if you have any sense of loyalty, you ought to respect him.”
This guy could stop at one verse, but he always had to wreck it.
Paeng Habuk’s eyes went wide.
“Gasp... yeah, that tracks. Brother Ox has always been like that...”
Like what?
You’re buying this nonsense?
As Paeng Habuk seemed to nod along, Dang Sacheon pounced.
“Well? How about it? Join Brother Ox’s agency—the Hao Sect.”
“No.”
“Rejected flat-out?!”
“‘Bamboo Leaf Brew and Fish-Fragrant Pork’ got good buzz, but I still need to think about it.”
Dang Sacheon clicked his tongue.
“Aren’t you sorry for Namgoong Jun, living worse than a dimwit with amnesia?”
Namgoong Mu, who’d been listening quietly, shot him a dark look.
“Dang Sacheon... I’m right here.”
“That’s why I’m saying it. Don’t you feel sorry for the dimwit hearing it?”
“...Now I do.”
Paeng Habuk pitied amnesiac Namgoong Mu, but it wasn’t enough to join the Hao Sect.
We still had half a year, so no rush...
But it would’ve been nice to snag him now.
Paeng Habuk had the chops to debut as an idol but chose the dance scene instead.
Maybe he had a bad view of the idol industry itself.
Dang Sacheon shook his head.
“Tsk tsk. Why refuse to join the Hao Sect?”
“Because of you, that’s why! You!”
No way he was biased just because of Dang Sacheon.
...Please don’t let it be just because of him.
Anyway.
Thanks to Paeng Habuk buying the amnesia story, we wrapped up the honorary ambassador ceremony without a hitch.
Afterward, Hwangbo Yun looked more excited than anyone.
Unlike SNS star Paeng Habuk or Zhuge Ryang with his solid fandom, he was still a trainee who hadn’t tasted real popularity yet.
“I haven’t even debuted, is it okay for me to be an ambassador...? I mean, I did compose it all.”
I was getting used to Hwangbo Yun’s speech patterns now.
I checked the time and addressed the Five Great Families crew.
“Too bad we can’t grab a meal together—got evening schedules.”
“Ah, I’ve got plans too.”
“Me too.”
For some reason, Hwangbo Yun, Zhuge Ryang, and Paeng Habuk all had evening plans.
They’d managed to schedule stuff despite coming down to Tongyeong.
Only the Heavenly Demon seemed bummed about skipping dinner.
“Can’t we hit Eunja Rim for some Fish-Fragrant Pork on the way?”
“Eunja Rim isn’t Chinese food.”
“Brother Ox, you’re saying that because you haven’t tried Changhye’s Fish-Fragrant Pork. Since she’s a monk who avoids meat, she once made it with real fish...”
“It was amazing, right?”
“Exactly!”
“No chance. I’ll drive you.”
“Damn.”
“I hate the word ‘damn.’”
Zhuge Ryang muttered as he climbed into his van.
Paeng Habuk and Hwangbo Yun naturally hopped into ours.
“Your dinner plans aren’t in Tongyeong?”
“Nope, Seoul.”
“Where should I drop you?”
“Bukchon.”
“Bukchon, huh.”
They both said Bukchon at the same time and exchanged surprised looks.
I was just as baffled.
“...Weird. We’re heading to Bukchon too.”
Today was the day the Heavenly Demon and I were going to the CEO’s place.
The CEO’s house was in Bukchon.
“Looks like we’re all going to the same place...”
Hwangbo Yun fiddled with his hair awkwardly.
“I wasn’t the only one invited, huh.”
“I thought I was the only one and was kinda nervous.”
“...Invited?”
News to me.
Paeng Habuk and Hwangbo Yun pulled out their phones in sync, showing me a message card.
[★Heaven★Move-In Celebration BBQ Party★Demon★]
[I’d like to host a modest BBQ party at my residence.]
[Please grace us with your presence.]
[Simple games and small prizes will be prepared—hope you enjoy.]
[-Kichi CEO Wannabe♥-]
“...”
This guy actually threw a BBQ party.