Chapter 236
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 236
While Seo Ho-yun was still hospitalized, there was a lot of buzz surrounding Rising Rookies, the show where Kang Yi-chae appeared as a mentor.
[This isn't worth the license fee.]
Naturally, the buzz was negative.
It was all because the pre-release performance of the trainees was absolutely abysmal.
*
[Title: Is this season of Rising Rookies for real?
LMAO.
Sigh... dammit, let me just laugh for a second.
Actually, it’s not even funny.
The level of the trainees this time is just...
I know there are a million survival shows with this format, but shouldn't they put a little more effort into it? Or at least pick better trainees...
I have a reasonable suspicion that they just cast the first hundred random people they saw walking down the street.
Trainee_Intro_Stage.mp3
Why are they suddenly blowing hearts when it doesn't even fit the song?
Current_Trainee_Level.jpg
And why is he flailing around so excitedly in this part?
People were saying the guys singing at the karaoke room next door would be better, and they weren't lying...
Mentors_Dying_Expressions.jpg
The mentors' faces = My face.
└ I was wondering why Kang Yi-chae was even on this show.
Man... I see why now...
└└ LMAO, for real... Imagine seeing these guys after looking at The Dawn members every day. The reality check must be insane...
└ In the middle of all that, Kang Yi-chae was actually paying attention.
└└ I would've totally understood if the mentors just played on their phones, but Kang Yi-chae... I'm re-evaluating him. Respect.]
[Title: But Kang Yi-chae’s mentoring is terrifying.
Yi-chae was watching them practice while spinning his pen, and then he asked, "This is what you call 'practicing,' right?" I almost peed myself...
└ Jeong Da-jun once said Yi-chae looks like the kind of person you'd want to walk past with your eyes down... I totally... get it now...
└ I'm re-evaluating the trainees for not peeing themselves.
└└ LMAO, holy shit, help me! Hahaha!]
*
Even amidst the flood of mockery, as is the case with most survival programs, there was at least one diamond in the rough.
A few viewers began to talk about the very small number of trainees who seemed likely to survive.
[The Daepasung kids are actually not bad, lol. I had zero expectations, but their personalities are decent and they work hard.
It’s just sad because they’re stuck in that 'suffering group project leader' role...]
[At this point, Daepasung’s casting director needs a massive incentive... Even if The Dawn carried the agency's recognition on their backs...]
└ How the hell did Daepasung even find The Dawn members?
└└ Truly one of the eight wonders of the world... lol.]
Just as people’s interest in Rising Rookies was beginning to wane because there was so little worth watching—
[‘Rising Rookies Pre-release’ Mentor Performance Stage]
A video of Kang Yi-chae’s performance was uploaded.
It was a blatant attempt to grab the public's attention again by any means necessary.
[Holy shit......]
And that tactic worked perfectly.
【Perhaps I was too kind】
[Is Kang Yi-chae actually insane????]
Anyone with even a passing interest in the idol world knew that Kang Yi-chae was a powerhouse on stage. But this time, he went beyond just being "good"; he looked almost superhuman.
*【I want to stain you with my colors
Can I bite you a little?】*
[Ah!!! This is so refreshing, it cleared my soul!!!!]
[Kang Yi-chae is so sexy it’s actually confusing me....
└ Wipe your drool.
└└ Sorry, my salivary glands are broken;]
The Nutube video was flooded with timestamped comments, mostly focusing on the moments Kang Yi-chae was on screen.
There was the moment he rested his combat boot on the stage speaker, and the second he let one side of his leather jacket slip off while doing a body roll. But above all, the most "liked" scene was this one:
【This is a warning, not a joke】
The exact moment Kang Yi-chae looked toward Seo Ho-yun.
The moment the tip of his eyebrow twitched, and his playful expression turned cold and predatory.
[2:53 Oh my god, I’m sorry.
Likes: 5,124]
That vivid, piercing intensity was felt clearly even by those watching through a screen.
[LMAO, the comment saying "I'm sorry" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What did you even do wrong? ㅠㅠㅠㅋㅋㅋㅋ
But honestly, I looked down immediately while watching Nutube too.
└ Hahaha, I think I'm gonna throw up from laughing so hard ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Kang Yi-chae’s facial acting is insane, I’m so scared ㅠㅠ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
It wasn't acting; it was an expression filled with Yi-chae’s genuine feelings at the time.
*【I want to stain you with my colors
I have no time to cherish you】*
[Seeing this mentoring stage connect with The Dawn’s lyrics is making me punch the air. I’m losing it.]
[Kang Yi-chae’s rap absolutely devoured, he looked like a Hollywood star... insane star quality.]
[Hey trainees~~~ Even YOLO Kang Yi-chae lives this hard, god, please get it together.]
This stage, along with his rap performance from the Shining Star Season 2 unit face-to-face ceremony, became a legendary video that would be cherished by Kang Yi-chae’s fans forever.
[The greatest output of this program is Kang Yi-chae’s performance video...]
The Dawn’s fans tried their best to restrain themselves out of respect for Seo Ho-yun’s hospitalization, but they crumbled before the provocative video dangled in front of them.
On the other hand, they were on the verge of exploding because they hated how Daepasung was handling things.
[Right, Ho-yun is sick... let's be patient...
Patient my ass.
I'm going to kill Daepasung.]
[Is it normal that I want to go to the Daepasung lobby and just lie down like a total nuisance?
But what is up with the people taking this chance to bash Seo Ho-yun? The crazies really do crawl out at any time, lol.]
[Read the room, dammit... I'm in the mood for a fistfight right now.]
[I hate this so much...
I know Ho-yun is great at ignoring the antis (honestly the best out of all the idols I've stanned), and his personality is perfect for Pop-Pop messages... but I only want to show my baby good things. ㅜ]
[Even now, Ho-yun isn't showing that he's in pain.. ㅠㅠ I just pray for his happiness.]
While they were barely suppressing their boiling rage, a Pop-Pop notification from Seo Ho-yun popped up.
[[Ho-yun] A message has arrived!]
It was some time after Seo Ho-yun had been discharged.
Fans rushed to check it and found a message with a photo of him wearing a white sweatshirt.
Unlike his usual selfies, the corners of his mouth were slightly turned up.
[I'm here.]
[I missed you.]
He looked as if he felt a little sorry for the fans he had worried.
*
'It feels good to do this after a while.'
Watching the flood of affectionate messages from the Noeuls, Seo Ho-yun smiled contentedly.
He hadn't been allowed to have his phone even after being discharged, but he finally got it back yesterday. It had been weighing on his mind that he couldn't reassure the fans sooner, so he was glad he could finally share some news.
"What's up? You look happy."
"Yeah, well."
As Seo Ho-yun gave a half-hearted reply, preoccupied with his phone, Ju Woo-seong shook his head. Despite leaving in a huff before, Ju Woo-seong had carved out time from his busy schedule to come help when asked for practice assistance.
"Good grief..."
Seo Ho-yun, who had been collapsed on the floor motionless as soon as practice ended, suddenly sat bolt upright and started snapping selfies.
Ju Woo-seong, who had seen the whole thing while gulping down water, grew curious. He slunk over to Ho-yun’s side and craned his neck to peek.
A moment later, he was horrified.
"You crazy bastard, is this how you talk to your fans??"
"Why? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? You're asking what's wrong? Do you have a split personality or something?"
Ju Woo-seong, scowling deeply, shoved his own phone screen in front of Seo Ho-yun’s face.
"This is how you talk to me!"
[Crazy Bastard: Yeah]
[Crazy Bastard: K]
[Crazy Bastard: No]
"Excuse me. You saved my name as 'Crazy Bastard'?"
"You said you saved mine as 'Sucker.' Forget that and look at the content, the content!"
[Crazy Bastard: Ju Woo-seong where r u]
[Me: I feel like I should be grateful you didn't just call me JWS at this point]
[Crazy Bastard: JWS where r u]
[Me: You son of a bitch you did it immediately]
"Wow, how friendly."
"Ha, I swear, there isn't another junior like you in the world."
"And there isn't another junior who goes to eat Kimchi Fried Rice with you, either."
"...Well... that's true."
Ju Woo-seong seemed to accept that reluctantly. He packed his bag and raised his middle finger as he walked out.
Even so, it was obvious he’d come back to help whenever his schedule was free.
Chuckling at him, Seo Ho-yun flopped back down onto the practice room floor.
"This is actually pretty good."
His physical condition wasn't bad.
He had rested well and eaten well.
He had even forced Seo Ho-jin to take his midterms.
He had spent his time binge-watching popular shows while sucking on red ginseng extract.
Since all that was left was to build up his skills before resuming activities, he had even asked Ju Woo-seong for help and was practicing hard.
'But are my stats even going up?'
The system window was silent.
Because of that, he couldn't even check his stats.
'Well, if I keep practicing, something will come of it, for better or worse.'
Deciding that he’d rather dance one more time than hang onto stagnant worries, he started to get up when the practice room door rattled open.
It was Kang Yi-chae, walking in while sucking on an ice cream bar.
"Why are you here?"
"……."
His sharp gaze hadn't faded yet.
As Ho-yun was picking his words to respond awkwardly, Kim Seong-hyeon and Jeong Da-jun, who followed behind, quickly covered for him.
"Ho-yun just came by for a second to pick something up!!"
"R-right!!"
"Aha~."
It was a tear-jerking display of support.
"Right, you said you were resting well at home, didn't you?"
The retort 'When did I ever say that?' rose to the tip of his throat, but Ho-yun pushed it back down and just let out a long sigh.
Seo Ho-yun was still unable to participate in official group practices.
"Yeah, I'm heading back to rest now."
Whatever. As time passed, an opportunity to mess with that red-haired beast would surely present itself.
And there was a third person watching the two of them while clutching his head.
It was the maknae of The Dawn, Jeong Da-jun, whose birthday was coming up on October 22nd.
.
.
.
"Happy birthday, Da-jun!"
"Happy birthday, Jeong Da-jun."
"Haha! Thanks, hyungs!"
At that moment, Jeong Da-jun was busy formulating a plan in his small head.
"HBD."
"Aw, Ho-yun hyung. Say something a bit longer~."
"Kang Yi-chae, can't you stop with that formal speech already?"
Seo Ho-yun was his usual self, and Kang Yi-chae had also returned to normal—except for the formal speech—but the atmosphere between the two was subtly different.
'That's the problem.'
Da-jun diligently scanned the mood.
Just then, Yi-chae, who was standing next to him, put an arm around his shoulder and grinned.
"Our maknae, what do you need? Should hyung buy you something~?"
"I want a house!"
"...You've been infected by Ho-yun hyung."
'I wonder how much houses cost these days...' Yi-chae muttered in a fairly serious tone.
"No, just play with me today."
"Oh~?"
Having finished organizing his thoughts, Da-jun quickly changed his tune.
Yi-chae was particularly soft on him. Da-jun knew this well.
And the fact that he had recently been inspired by shows like There Are No Bad Dogs in the World and Golden Child Counseling Center was the start of this whole situation.
'Let's work hard for Ho-yun hyung and our team!'
Having lived ten months past his twentieth birthday, Jeong Da-jun had gained that much more intuition and was overflowing with ambition.
"Celebrate my birthday properly, okay?!"
'There are no bad Kang Yi-chaes!!'
That was Jeong Da-jun’s grand birthday plan.