Chapter 117
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 117
“…Y-yes?”
“Kang Yi-chae exposed you exactly four seconds after the explanation ended.”
I knew it. I knew he’d do this….
Ding!
[…Is there even any point in measuring four seconds?]
My thoughts exactly.
Four seconds means he sold out a member the moment he heard the rules. No, wait. Maybe it took him those four seconds just to decide which TMI to use.
“T-this guy…!!”
Our innocent Puppy, Jeong Da-jun, dropped to his knees, whether out of genuine shock or just for dramatic effect. I clicked my tongue and pulled out a pouch of money.
“Hey, get up. You’re getting your knees dirty.”
“Seriously, isn’t Yi-chae Hyung too much?! How can a person be like this?!”
“I’ll read the tip exactly as it was sent,” the staff member said. “‘Jeong Da-jun occasionally wears whatever he finds in Ho-yun Hyung’s closet.’”
I paused while pulling out the cash and asked, “Is that even a TMI? I already knew that.”
“There’s an addition.”
The staff member added curtly, “‘He stole and wore his underwear last week.’”
“…….”
Sigh.
I guess that’s a TMI worth four seconds of thought, Kang Yi-chae….
I obediently handed over the money from the pouch and looked at Jeong Da-jun. He immediately made a tearful face.
“I was late on my laundry! Hyung, those were brand new and still in the packaging! I’ll wash them and give them back!”
“Don’t you ever give them back. Consider them a gift. Please, our maknae, just keep wearing them.”
“Huh? But they’re clean??”
I coldly brushed off the guy who was clinging to me, arguing about what the difference was between clothes and underwear since they both touch bare skin anyway (there’s a huge difference, damn it), and looked at the staff.
“Let’s do an extra game. You must have more money prepared anyway.”
“Of course.”
Lee Ji-hyeon probably expected it to turn out like this from the start. Since the members have a very broad but shallow friendship specialized in teasing one another, she likely had plenty of extra games ready.
Especially if she assumed Kang Yi-chae and I would be on opposite teams.
I smirked.
Prisoner’s dilemma, my ass.
“Let’s play the TMI Exposure Game.”
You want to go? Let’s go.
.
.
.
Protecting the members’ secrets? That was long gone. Now, it was a full-blown war of exposure.
Expose someone: plus 3,000 won. Get exposed: minus 5,000 won.
“A long time ago, Yi-chae Hyung broke his arm while riding a rice sack down a snowy hill with me!”
Plus 3,000 won!
“Kim Seong-hyeon once walked into a utility pole while drunk and asked me to keep it a secret!”
Plus 3,000 won!!
“Seong Ji-won sometimes practices rapping alone in the shower, but he’s terrible at it!!”
“…Wait, doesn’t everyone know that?”
“Oh….”
No plus 3,000 won!
After spitting out truly useless and uninteresting TMIs, I managed to gather about 20,000 won. To soothe Jeong Da-jun, whose anger still hadn’t subsided, I even bought him ice cream. Even while eating the sweets, Da-jun’s pout was still going strong.
“I mean, even if we do this, that team still has nearly 100,000 won, right? We only have 10,000 won left because we bought ice cream!”
“Tell me about it.”
“Aren’t those people afraid of being exposed? Oh, Hyung. Do you want to try this Mint Choco?”
“No.”
I smiled gently.
“Hyung is full just watching our Da-jun eat.”
“Whoa, what’s with the sudden sweetness…?”
Jeong Da-jun looked up at me with misty eyes, looking quite moved. Watching him mutter, “Mother said she didn’t like Jajangmyeon,”1) I decided to just play the role of the good older brother.
But during that brief moment of harmony, our money was suddenly snatched away.
“Deducting 5,000 won.”
“……Excuse me?”
Wait, what are you doing??
Kang Yi-chae was determined to bleed us dry by selling out the members until the very end.
And we only had 10,000 won left!
“Hey, this is crossing the line.”
“Agh!! I can’t take it anymore!!”
Unable to tolerate losing money, I was thoroughly annoyed.
“This was Kang Yi-chae, wasn’t it?!”
Jeong Da-jun, seemingly genuinely pissed, screamed without even using a title. The staff member replied calmly.
“No. It was Seong Ji-won.”
“……?!”
…Seong Ji-won?
“…Huh?”
Da-jun and I, who had been raging in the heat of the moment, blinked at the completely unexpected name. We locked eyes in confusion. Meanwhile, the staff member held up their phone and read the message verbatim.
“‘Ho-yun really hates Mint Choco. He sarcastically asked, “Why don’t you just brush your teeth while eating ice cream?”’”
“……!!”
A startled Da-jun widened his eyes, looking back and forth between his cup of mint-colored ice cream and me.
“…So.”
“…….”
“That’s why you were being so nice earlier.”
“No, that’s not it.”
I broke into a slight cold sweat. Da-jun muttered gloomily, “I see… so I’m currently brushing my teeth,” and continued to munch on his ice cream.
“Even though he likes that pine bud drink….”
Alright, I get it, I’m sorry….
I was looking at him with a troubled face, wondering how to soothe the maknae before he started a full-scale rebellion, when the bombardment continued without pause.
“Deducting 5,000 won.”
“Ha, who is it this time?”
“Forget it. Just give up and go brush your teeth, Hyung.”
“Stop sulking. I said I’m sorry.”
“‘Stooop sulking’?? Hyung, do you really think that’s a sorry tone?”
“What, do you want me to add a heart at the end?”
Whether Da-jun and I were bickering or not, the staff member reported stoically.
“This exposure is from Kim Seong-hyeon. ‘Jeong Da-jun yelled at Seo Ho-yun not to disturb him because he was studying for the CSAT, but then he went to a PC bang with Kang Yi-chae.’”
“……!!”
“‘He goes very often.’”
My jaw dropped… and my eyelashes quivered.
“…Jeong Da-juuuun.”
“Gah!!”
Creeeak. As I slowly turned my head to look at him, Jeong Da-jun waved his hands frantically, looking absolutely terrified.
It was too late.
“Hyung, Ho-yun Hyung. Wait, just listen to me. There was a really good reason for that…!!”
“I’m checking your workbooks the moment we get back to the dorm.”
“No, you can’t!”
Both teams continued to pour out TMIs until eventually, everyone’s funds were snatched away, leaving us all empty-handed.
“Alright~, the exposure war is over! Good job, everyone~!”
Only the planning team staff looked delighted. Their faces were beaming, likely thrilled at the thought of getting off work early after capturing such good footage.
On the other hand, we had no money…
And above all, the "trust" between members that Jeong Da-jun had been passionately preaching about an hour ago had vanished in an instant.
“Ah.”
As we trudged along, we bumped right into the opposing team.
“Hah, look at these heartless people!”
“Wow, Da-jun, you’ve been studying hard, haven’t you?!”
Perhaps because he’d actually flipped through a few pages, Da-jun showed off his suddenly expanded vocabulary as he pointed an accusing finger at the other team. Kang Yi-chae fired back, but I was just as displeased, so I crossed my arms.
“Was it fun?”
“Yeah, it was quite entertaining, wasn’t it?”
Even Kim Seong-hyeon, who had hit his forehead on a utility pole while drunk, seemed sulky as he spoke sarcastically. I know you asked me to keep it a secret, but did you really believe I would?
Kang Yi-chae, who had supposedly broken his arm while sledding, didn’t seem to care much as he chuckled and waved at the camera…
But as someone obsessed with food, I was genuinely pissed.
“…Hah, whatever. You’re not seriously going to let us starve, are you?”
= Cut the crap and feed the kids.
The planning team staff, perhaps fearing the verbal lashing they’d get from a fierce-eyed me if they ended it here despite the entertainment value, pulled out a new box.
“H-here is a chance for a revival round~! Please pick one of these five slips! You only get one chance, and whatever is picked will be provided to all members.”
“Oh? Can I take a look?”
When Kang Yi-chae approached, saying he was curious about the options before they were put in the box, the planning team handed over the slips without any suspicion.
“Let’s see. One is ‘Go to a fine dining restaurant,’ one is ‘Cup noodles provided’… the rest are basically duds?”
“Is grilled eel possible at the fine dining restaurant?”
“Always with the grilled eel….”
I muttered under my breath, but Kang Yi-chae just smiled brightly and acted chummy with the planning team. Eventually, unable to withstand the pressure, the staff member threw up their hands, and Kang Yi-chae grinned.
“Score~.”
Kang Yi-chae folded the slips he had opened, put them back in the box, and gave the members a fox-like smile.
“Is it okay if your favorite, Yi-chae, does the honors?”
“You can do it if you stop talking like that.”
“This humble servant shall pick.”
“……?”
That guy, Kang Yi-chae, looks like he’s up to something….
“Let’s see now~ Yi-chae’s hand is a magic hand~.”
Kang Yi-chae rummaged through the box with a contemplative face, then finally pulled out a slip and grinned.
“Drumroll, please… Ta-da!”
“Open it!”
“……Ooh!!”
“Hyung! No way! Fine dining~!!”
“Oh my goodness~!!”
What the.
How did he do that?
“Whoa, what…?”
The planning team was flustered when the best option was picked immediately. The other members, excluding me, were making a fuss as they crowded around Kang Yi-chae.
How could he pick the fine dining slip as if it were rigged, despite the one-in-five odds?
…Pure luck?
‘No, there’s no way.’
There had to be a reason. I slunk over to the discarded box to investigate and let out a hollow laugh.
…The corner of the slip that said [Go to a fine dining restaurant] was folded—just a tiny, tiny bit.
‘Is he crazy?’
He must have slightly creased the corner the moment he was inspecting the slips before putting them in the box. That way, he could tell by touch.
‘Is Kang Yi-chae really twenty-one??’
Is he a card shark or something? How does he even know these kinds of gambling tricks? And even if he did, how many people would be bold enough to pull that off in front of a camera (even if it’s for self-produced content)?
Did Kang Yi-chae get younger or something?
While I was harboring reasonable suspicions that he might be a case like me, the Planning Team Leader, who had joined them and knew nothing, muttered to himself.
“Wow, some people are just born lucky. Yi-chae must have been born under a lucky star.”
“Incredible….”
No, our main rapper wasn’t lucky; he was just a total natural. Kang Yi-chae strolled over and smirked when he saw my expression.
“Ho-yun Hyuuung~, let’s go eat grilled eel!”
“…Fine, let’s go recover some stamina.”
Just as the planning team, who had thought they could tease us until the very end, began packing up with sighs—never realizing they’d been played by Kang Yi-chae—Seong Ji-won’s phone rang.
“……!”
After checking his phone, he flinched and immediately shoved it into his pocket. Then, with a nonchalant expression, he walked toward the staff.
“I’ll help you with that.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“Should I move this over here?”
I watched Seong Ji-won as he spread his habitual kindness everywhere… then I immediately returned to the van.
After a brief conversation with the new road manager, I sank into my seat and fiddled with my phone before looking up.
“Oh, right. Manager, Seong Ji-won said he wanted to change his phone number?”
“Huh?”
The manager, who was busy organizing the schedule, tilted his head.
“When? This is the first I’ve heard of it….”
…Ah.
“Really? I must have misheard.”
“Tell him to let me know! I’ll apply for it right away.”
“Okay.”
The managers, who had been working efficiently lately, stepped out of the van for a moment to take a call. I rested my chin on my hand, lost in thought… then rubbed my eyes from fatigue and pulled a blanket over myself.
“…It’s what I think it is, right?”
[You’ve never been wrong.]
My mood sank further at the system window’s blunt confirmation.
Seong Ji-won has started digging a massive hole for himself….
And he’s not telling me a thing.
*
1) A lyric from the debut song "To Mother" (Nov 30, 1998) by the group god under JYP Entertainment.