Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 8- The Heavenly Demon Can't Resist Variety Shows Either (1)
The dorm renovations were finished.
I and the Heavenly Demon moved all our things into the dorm.
I brought my old things, but the Heavenly Demon's luggage was all new, paid for one by one by the CEO.
The CEO still didn't seem to know about the incident with Shin Tae-eul.
I didn't say anything first either.
It wasn't because Shin Tae-eul told me to act as if nothing happened, but because I didn't say anything, fearing I'd be reprimanded for poor management if he found out the Heavenly Demon broke the SNS ban and beat someone up.
The Heavenly Demon agreed to keep his mouth shut in exchange for taking him to Anyang Malatang.
…Is this guy actually the Gluttony Demon, not the Heavenly Demon?
“The CEO said he had so much money it was rotting away, it must have been true. To readily give up an 18-story pavilion.”
“We are only using this place on the 7th floor.”
“How petty.”
The Heavenly Demon's evaluation of the CEO changed frequently like that.
“But it seems someone is already living here?”
“Ah, Jun. Namgung Jun. This dorm was originally used by all the Gupailbang members.”
“He said he has so much money, so why did he not prepare a separate house?”
“I wonder, I’m disappointed about that too.”
Since the CEO is a martial arts fanatic with a suspicious amount of money, I naturally thought he would gift the Heavenly Demon a luxurious house.
The dorm arrangement was unexpected for me too.
“Still, with this size and three people… well, it’s not satisfactory, but it seems we can use it comfortably.”
“Of course. If you sit, I will unpack the luggage.”
“Aye.”
The Heavenly Demon lay down on the sofa and started watching N-tube.
Is this the heart of a parent raising a teenager?
I wish the Heavenly Demon would just put his smartphone down.
I started unpacking the Heavenly Demon's luggage first, but something… was strange.
There was a bunk bed in the room.
It's been there since before, so it's not actually strange, but.
Since they said it was renovated for the Heavenly Demon's arrival, I naturally thought they would have put in one double bed per person to match the number of people.
I went to the other rooms, and they all had one bunk bed each.
Three rooms, three bunk beds.
I felt a sense of deja vu at the strangely familiar number.
Moreover, they all seemed newly bought.
-Heuek~
An ominous ringtone sounded.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind.
Don't tell me…….
No.
Gupailbang is a 6th-year group.
They wouldn't do that kind of variety show that only rookies do now.
…No way.
As I didn't open the door readily.
Beep beep. The door opened with the sound.
“Surprise~”
The one who appeared, smiling brightly, was Ju Jaha.
Behind Jaha, I could see the other four members standing there, smiling awkwardly.
And the carriers they brought.
I got a feeling.
This is a dorm variety show.
“They said they're coming to install the cameras tomorrow. They won't install them in the rooms, just the living room and kitchen.”
The Alliance Leader briefly briefed us on the dorm variety show schedule.
“A dorm variety show? This is the first I'm hearing of it.”
The CEO was here this morning when we moved the luggage, but he didn't say anything.
“The CEO-nim told us to make it a surprise.”
“Ah, Hyung! We also heard late last night. It's not the CEO's style to decide things so suddenly, right?”
Ah. This is that.
The day I went to eat molecular gastronomy with the Heavenly Demon, he kept calling me for some reason.
This is revenge for me eating delicious food with his bias, alone, and with his card.
Once the dorm variety show starts, I'll have to manage it so nothing strange is filmed.
But, as is the case with all idols who debuted at a young age, the Gupailbang kids don't know much about the world.
Even when not filming, I'll have to take care of various things while we live together.
That CEO bastard…….
Unlike my feelings, the members who returned to the dorm after several years seemed to be reminiscing.
“It's been a while since I've been to the dorm.”
“Wow, they really renovated it properly.”
While Taegeuk and Jaha were looking around the changed dorm, the Alliance Leader spoke to Namgung Jun, who was standing there like a fish out of water.
“It must have been uncomfortable living here since it was old, but thanks to Jun managing it well, we get to film a variety show.”
“Ah, not at all. It's thanks to you, Hyung, stopping by occasionally……”
Namgung Jun, perhaps burdened by the members' nostalgic atmosphere, looked around and slipped into his room.
Nahan naturally followed him in, settling the roommates.
Jaha and Taegeuk, who are the closest among the members, will naturally share a room, so the Alliance Leader will probably use the same room as the Heavenly Demon.
“Brother Heavenly Demon, we're housemates for the time being! Are you happy?”
Jaha asked in an excited tone, and the Heavenly Demon sat up from the sofa and frowned.
“Everyone get out. It's cramped.”
“What, this was originally where we lived.”
“How can six people live here?”
“It’s seven, including Brother So-ui.”
At Jaha's statement of fact, the Heavenly Demon sighed deeply.
“The CEO deceived me. He said he had a lot of money, but he makes this master live in such a cramped place? How infuriating.”
“Well, we’ll move out again after we finish filming the variety show.”
“This… The CEO holds a grudge.”
“Aww, what reason would the CEO-nim have to hold a grudge?”
“…There is something.”
Was there a reason for the CEO to hold a grudge against the Heavenly Demon?
Since there were only three bunk beds, I suddenly thought I'd have to sleep on the floor.
But it turned out they had cleared out what used to be a utility room to make one more room for me.
My room had a proper double bed, so it was actually better than the members' rooms.
Moreover, even though it was a single room, the size was not smaller than the other members' rooms.
I soon found out the reason.
“Hyung, there's nothing to eat in the fridge.”
“Groceries will be delivered later.”
“Hyung! Can't you order this for me?”
“What is it. …A height-increasing supplement? Go to sleep.”
“Sorry to bother you while you're resting. Can I borrow the pad?”
“Sure. Passcode is 9191.”
“Manager-hyung, um, Nahan is not moving with his eyes closed, I don't know if he's okay……”
“He's meditating.”
“Hyung……”
“Manager-hyung.”
“So-ui hyung.”
“Hyung!”
…That's right.
They made it spacious from the start because these guys would be in and out all the time anyway.
No, wait, wasn't I the Heavenly Demon's dedicated manager?
Why does it feel like my job is still the same as the general manager?
Why hasn't the CEO bastard, who said he'd be the general manager, shown his face at all?
The Heavenly Demon, who was lying on my double bed watching N-tube, snorted.
“Do those wretches not have hands or feet?”
“Do you not have a room, Cheonma-nim?”
“Your bed is wider.”
“……”
If only it wasn't for the triple salary…….
It was too much money to just walk away.
I squeezed myself into the spot next to the Heavenly Demon and tried to sleep.
Jeilgeom, having borrowed the pad from the manager, left the dorm.
Two households lived facing each other on the 7th floor.
Jeilgeom pressed the doorbell of the opposite house without hesitation.
“It's the Alliance Leader.”
The one who opened the door from the inside was.
A man with a pale face and black hair roughly swept back.
It was K-tsch's CEO.
“Did the move go well?”
“Yes. Brother So-ui is very efficient.”
“That's right. There are three things I like about Mr. So-ui. He does what he's told even if he doesn't want to. He takes good care of his own rice bowl. And he turns a blind eye to things he doesn't want to know.”
When Jeilgeom held out the pad, the CEO took it and unlocked it naturally.
“He still hasn't changed the password. I like his consistency, too.”
What he opened was the search history on the green window.
The CEO slowly scanned the list of search records from the bottom up.
– Heavenly Demon debut
– Wi Hwajin
– Smartphone addiction treatment
– Molecular gastronomy
– Insuta
– Gupailbang members who left
– What are Gupailbang members who left doing
– Shin Tae-eul
– Yuk Jongnam
– Yu Ami
– Mun Sa-il
– Kim Tae-heo
– Oh Jeok-ha
– Bokma-geom
– K-tsch CEO
– K-tsch CEO rumor
– K-tsch CEO wealth
– K-tsch CEO cult
– K-tsch CEO cult sponsor
“Ahaha, what is this.”
As the CEO laughed while looking at the search history, the Alliance Leader tilted his head puzzledly.
“It's nothing. Just that Mr. So-ui's line of thinking is cute.”
As the CEO returned the tablet, the Alliance Leader took it politely, then hesitated slightly and asked.
“Then… it wasn't a big problem?”
“No, no. You were surprised by such a request, right? Sorry.”
“Ah, not at all. …But, is it possible to know what it was about?”
“Ah… You know that Cheonma-nim and Mr. So-ui went to a restaurant, right?”
“Ah, yes. Cheonma-nim was bragging about it so much……”
He couldn't not know, as he was asked if he'd eaten molecular gastronomy every time they met.
That restaurant was one Gupailbang frequented, but the Alliance Leader had told a white lie that he hadn't tried it.
But was going to that restaurant the problem?
“When I went later, there was a button dropped there.”
“A button…?”
“This kind of button.”
The CEO pointed to his own shirt cuff button.
A button elegantly engraved with the brand name glittered gold.
“It’s a button that only comes from this brand.”
“Ah… Cheonma-nim also wore this brand, right?”
“As expected, Mr. Ilgeom has a good memory. That's right. A brand-name button wouldn't just fall off, right? Unless something happened.”
“That's… true……”
But is that a reason to ask him to bring Brother So-ui's tablet?
As the Alliance Leader looked a little uncertain, the CEO added.
“I heard Mr. Tae-eul was also at that restaurant that day, so I looked into it, wondering if there was a physical fight. I'm a bad CEO, right?”
“Ah. Not at all. It was worth worrying about.”
To say he was just worried, the fact that he searched the restaurant and found a button that isn't even easy to spot.
And the fact that he made him secretly fetch the tablet.
It was unsettling, but his CEO was not normal to begin with.
Therefore, the Alliance Leader decided not to think deeply about it.
“Then I'll… be heading back, CEO-nim.”
“Okay. Good work. Do well in the shoot tomorrow, and keep it a secret that I live here for the time being, okay?”
“Yes. See you next time.”
The Alliance Leader bowed and opened the dorm door to go back in.
The CEO's face, which had been smiling as he watched, turned slightly cold.
‘It seems he heard something from the Zhongnan Sect… but he just went back because the Heavenly Demon was there, perhaps.’
As far as the CEO knew, Gupailbang's general manager, Jeom So-ui, was a person who hated getting deeply involved in anything.
It would be good if he just stayed an indifferent manager.
The CEO closed the door and went back inside.
Today is the day the observation cameras are installed in the dorm.
And it's the day of the Heavenly Demon's first variety show appearance.
The first schedule caught before the dorm variety show starts.
It was Gupailbang's regular appearance program, .
Even though the program name is like that, it's a good program for rookie idols to get their faces known.
This is because the MC, Namgung Ryeo, is a seasoned entertainer, so every kid he sends out, he produces and sells "stan points" for them.
Because of that, we had to prepare for the appearance.
To the point of making the newly hired hair designer and coordinator feel useless, the Heavenly Demon didn't require much work.
Skin that didn't need makeup and eyebrows that looked like they were drawn with a brush.
Black hair that shone with a green tint even without brushing.
By the CEO's order, the Heavenly Demon's variety debut outfit was a flowing, sleeve-flapping, martial arts-style attire.
It took a little manpower to dress him in layers.
Usually, rookie idols don't know what to do when someone else dresses them, but the Heavenly Demon just held out his arms as if familiar with it.
“Did you read the expected interview answer sheet?”
“No.”
“Cheonma-nim……”
“But I studied in my own way.”
“What kind?”
“I avidly read N-tube comments to see what words would get a good reaction.”
“What's gotten into you?”
“Why is your speech getting shorter?”
By the time the Heavenly Demon was all ready, a black van arrived in front of the shop for him.
“Before we go to the filming location, there's one place to stop by.”
“Anyang Malatang?”
“No……. Your ad is up at the station, Cheonma-nim. We just need to go, take a proof shot, and leave.”
Originally, the Beggars put up an ad for a new member before their debut stage, but the Heavenly Demon's debut was too sudden, and it was a shameless act of freeriding on the last broadcast, so it was delayed.
The Heavenly Demon frowned slightly.
“What about Anyang Malatang?”
“…Let's stop there on the way back.”
Only then did the Heavenly Demon look satisfied, cross his arms, and lean back against the seat.
Perhaps because it was a weekday, the inside of the station was quiet.
Even so, the Heavenly Demon's attire was too conspicuous.
As soon as he got out of the van, a few people recognized him and followed.
As the Heavenly Demon also said, there is no one in Korea who doesn't know Gupailbang.
Their concept is too absurd to live in ignorance of.
The Heavenly Demon stood in front of his subway ad with a commanding gait.
It was an ad made by cropping the part where the Heavenly Demon levitated on his debut stage.
On both sides of the Heavenly Demon, who had his eyes closed, was calligraphy as if dashed off with a single stroke, in gold.
– Hwajin-ah, we are grateful that we can see you!
It must be a line matched to the Heavenly Demon's opening line, ‘Be grateful that you can witness this with your own two eyes.’
The Heavenly Demon stared up at his ad for a long time with an odd look, as if fascinated.
As countless clicking sounds followed the Heavenly Demon's back, he turned to the people and said arrogantly.
“Shoot.”
“Come down.”
I had to stop him as he was about to sit in mid-air again.
On the broadcast, they'd assume it was a stage device, but if he levitates in a place like this… well, would they think it was a pre-installed device?
It was fortunate that modern people's imaginations are not that outstanding.
Among the people who followed, there seemed to be Gupailbang all-fans but no Heavenly Demon fans, but perhaps because of his performance skills or his facial power, a few students were screaming and taking pictures.
“Cheonma-nim, your hand like this.”
When I showed him the K-heart, the Heavenly Demon followed without difficulty.
I took a few photos of the Heavenly Demon with the telephoto camera the CEO had lent me.
If more people gathered, it would be a nuisance to the citizens using the subway, so we returned to the van without staying long.
The Heavenly Demon waved arrogantly to the people the entire time he was returning to the van.
As he got in the vehicle and fastened his seatbelt, the Heavenly Demon said out of the blue.
“This 'idol' thing is quite worth doing.”
I was a bit surprised by the unexpected words.
Before I could ask anything back, the Heavenly Demon crossed his arms and entered sleep mode.
A 1-month-old Beggar, WeTaxi nickname ‘MuhyeopDolIsWhatOtaku,’ was a late fan who had joined the fandom after seeing Namgung Jun's variety show.
As a result of lurking on Gupailbang's WeTaxi for about a week.
Namgung Jun fans, being the fandom of the member who joined last and having the smallest numbers, were no different from untouchables among the Beggars.
No, how can they divide the classes by the popularity of the member they stan, when they are all Beggars?
What's sadder is that it seemed her bias, Namgung Jun, was also of a class that had to watch others' moods within the group.
‘It was true that you go to hell if you stan an idol.’
Thinking such thoughts, Muhyeop10deok sat in front of the TV for the first time in a while.
It was because she had heard the news that Gupailbang's new member, Heavenly Demon Wi Hwajin, was appearing on , the variety show that made her join the fandom for Namgung Jun.
The reason she was trying to watch the live broadcast, even though it wasn't her bias, was because of the proof shot of the Heavenly Demon's subway ad posted on WeTaxi a while ago.
‘No, he’s too handsome.’
That, I don't know what to call it, light, flowy outfit and the long hair suit him so well.
Because of his unrealistic appearance, as if he popped out of a martial arts novel, there was even a rumor that he was a trainee hidden in the K-tsch building basement, raised until his hair grew long.
That's how good the visual reaction to the Heavenly Demon was, and his debut stage fancam had already hit 10 million views.
How can a person's hair flutter so elegantly?
‘Still, my bias is Jun…….’
Muhyeop10deok stared at the screen, muttering as if to steady her wavering self.
Just in time, a trailer for Gupailbang's dorm variety show was playing on the screen.
If it's a dorm variety show, it's a dorm variety show. Why add "martial arts"?
As she was having that thought, short interviews of each member played.
– Jeilgeom (Martial Alliance Leader / 26): As the Martial Alliance Leader who must protect the peace of the martial world, I judged that I needed time to get closer to the Heavenly Demon.
– Ju Jaha (Mount Hua Sect / 23): I'm confident in group living. Because at Mount Hua, I always lived in a dorm with my seniors.
– Lee Taegeuk (Wudang Sect / 25): I am a bit worried. Can the Heavenly Demon live in one house with us, the Righteous Faction…….
– Wi Hwajin (Heavenly Demon / 24): Is this going up on N-tube?
– Namgung Jun (Next Head of Namgung Family / 23): The Namgung Family has decided to support the entire cost of this cohabitation.
– Baek Nahan (Shaolin / 22): Namu Amitabul.
Ah.
It really is a dorm martial arts variety show.
As Muhyeop10deok was watching with slightly blurry eyes, the screen soon changed, and the opening cut of played.