A Failed Idol’s Rise to Bottom

Sugyeom, having recalled what image of himself the fans liked, pouted his lips as he swallowed the words he couldn't say.

Seeing him like that, Igyeom smiled helplessly, trying to suppress his laughter that almost leaked out unknowingly.

"Thank you. That's enough. You can stop massaging."

"Get up."

Igyeom got up first and reached out his hand. Sugyeom took his hand and got up with an ‘umph.'

His legs were still tingling, but fortunately they didn't seem to be as numb as before.

"Your hands are so warm."

"It's just that your hands are cold."

Sugyeom smiled pleasantly at the warmth he felt from holding Igyeom's hand. Igyeom clicked his tongue and smiled slightly.

"Let's hurry back to the accommodation. Everyone must be waiting."

"Ehm."

"Cha Igyeom, let's buy ice cream on the way. Since it's cold, I want something cold."

"Didn't you crave it when it was hot?"

"No tackle. No tackle."

(Note: No tackle means don't point out what was said.)

Sugyeom said bluntly as he made a big X on his head with both arms. Seeing him behave as such, Igyeom shook his head.

Igyeom was displeased, but eventually took Sugyeom and stopped by an ice cream shop that had 31 flavors. He didn't forget to buy two tubs of ice cream in the largest capacity for Sugyeom, who had a weakness for ice cream.

* * *

[Announcement: U-PITE's Fanclub Naming Contest Result

Author: DP Entertainment

Hello, all fans who love U-PITE. It's DP Entertainment.

Here are the voting results for U-PITE's official fanclub.

Juno and Orbis competed fiercely, but ultimately, Orbis won the most votes.

Therefore, U-PITE's official fanclub name has been decided as Orbis.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated.

Also, we're currently preparing the first phase of Orbis' fan recruitment.

At the earliest maintenance, we'll say hello through the first phase recruitment of Orbis.

Thank you.]

"Orbis…Orbis."

Sugyeom muttered to himself after having read the notice countless times.

Orbis, or shortened as OrB, was U-PITE's fanclub.

In his previous life, he would say ‘our OrB' like it was a habit. Precious people he thought would be with him forever.

U-PITE and Orbis. It was a relationship seemingly closer than anything else, but it was also a relationship that had ended in vain.

He had naturally played a big role in the matter. It was him who had stubbornly ignored the words of those who were sincerely worried about him.

As such, he had vowed to not repeat the same mistake in this life.

After resolving himself again, he repeated the name of the fanclub several times.

"What are you looking at?"

"Ah, I was looking at the name of our fanclub."

Taewon had appeared shaking his wet hair after having just finished taking a shower. Sugyeom made it easier to see the notice by dragging the part marked Orbis with his mouse.

"Oh, it's Orbis. I voted for Io."

"Eh, hyung did?"

"Of course. You didn't?"

"Ehm. I didn't."

Sugyeom awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

He had already known Orbis would win due to the memory of his previous life. As a result, he didn't even think to vote.

In his previous life, he had naturally put his heart and soul into voting. At the time, he had used all three of his IDs to vote for Juno in full force. However, it still ended up losing to Orbis.

As he smacked his lips at the bitter memory, Taewon's phone began to ring loudly.

"Hyung, I think someone is calling you."

"Yeah. Who in the morning would…Oh, it's Minseong-hyung."

Taewon muttered to himself when he saw the caller's name.

It was Minseong, their manager. Considering it wasn't their promotion period, Sugyeom who had wondered why he would call this morning, smiled unknowingly at a memory from his previous life.

* * *

"What's going on? Taewon-hyung, did you hear anything?"

"No. I'm here because Minseong-hyung told me to bring you guys."

The members had anxiously gathered in Seonuk's empty office after they were called to the company early in the morning. Everyone was nervous except for Sugyeom.

"Song Sugyeom, what do you know? How can you relax by yourself?"

"No. I don't know anything."

Sugyeom shook his head when questioned by Igyeom. He could have told him the truth, but everyone would find out soon anyway. It was better to pretend he didn't know because it would be strange if he knew beforehand.

"Suspicious."

"Taewon-hyung, he's being mean to me."

Sugyeom attached himself to Taewon sitting next to him and accused Igyeom. Taewon was used to it, so he just patted Sugyeom's round head without saying anything.

"Hey, how am I being mean to you?"

"You're mean, of course."

"I'm not being mean. It's a reasonable suspicion."

"Suspiciousness is mean. You need to be more trusting of your members."

As Sugyeom and Igyeom bantered harmlessly, the office door opened and Seonuk walked in. Even though it was early in the morning, he was well-dressed and his hair was neatly combed.

"You're here early."

"Minseong-hyung told us to come right away."

"Ah, well done."

Seonuk rubbed his forehead and mused to himself when Taewon answered. The members were speechless, unable to tell if they were supposed to come right away after Minseong had called them.

"Hey, what's wrong with the atmosphere? Why are you guys so stiff?"

Seonuk tilted his head when he sensed the strange atmosphere. However, it wasn't easily resolved by his question.

Except for Sugyeom who knew the situation, the other members were guessing that it wasn't a good thing that they were called to the office in the morning.

"Taewon, what's wrong with them? Did you catch them?"

"No. Why would I catch them?"

"Hmm, but they seemed very strange. Ah, Sugyeom. I heard you had one of your wisdom teeth taken out."

"Yes. I thought I was going to die of pain."

Sugyeom tearfully pointed to the side of his cheek where he had his wisdom tooth extracted. His slim index finger was poking his cheek, which made him look like he was doing the ‘cute pose' children did.

"It looked like that from the picture. But didn't you look cute after you had your wisdom tooth taken out? It suits you well. When is the next time you're going to the hospital to have another wisdom tooth removed? Let's mark the date. Then the one after that."

"D-director!"

Sugyeom raised his voice in anger at Seonuk's mischievous remark.

The pain he had suffered from his wisdom tooth was still vivid, so he resented Seonuk for playing such a joke. On the contrary, Seonuk grinned slyly at Sugyeom's reaction.

"Hahahaha, sorry, sorry. But I'm serious, so next time you have one of your wisdom teeth taken out, you have to contact me first. All right?"

Sugyeom glared at Seonuk as hard as he could instead of answering. Despite his fierce expression, Seonuk just smiled leisurely.

"Director, I wonder why you brought us here?"

Hansol interrupted the conversation between Seonuk and Sugyeom. Still smiling, Seonuk turned towards Hansol.

"This time, a horror experience program is doing a pilot episode, and they want to cast you guys as their first guests. If you do well, it might be permanent, even if not all the members remain. Naturally it's only possible if the broadcast is successful, and you have to do well to be regular guests. For now, if everything goes well, it was discussed that you guys will have the highest priority."

"Awesome!"

"Wow, wow. Really?"

Taewon and Hansol said in surprise. Igyeom and Yuchan didn't say anything, but they looked happy. Although Sugyeom already knew, he pretended to act surprised.

"Wah, that's amazing!"

Sugyeom deliberately said in a high-pitch as if he didn't know anything. Despite the exaggerated acting, the other members seemed to be too absorbed about the broadcast to notice.

In his previous life, the broadcast was successful in its own way, so it didn't end at the pilot episode and continued on afterwards.

Unfortunately, however, members of U-PITE weren't permanent casts. It was because they were burdened by the first entertainment show and were very nervous about the nature of horror experiences.

Sugyeom, who had resolved himself, vowed to make things right this time around.

Thinking that what was scarier than ghosts was the group falling apart.

"Also, the reality show I mentioned last time will air soon. It's the reality show's 10th anniversary, so you can think of it as preparing for our comeback."

"Yes!"

Everyone nodded.

"While you're here, I'll give you my card through Minseong, so treat yourself to something delicious."

"Can I eat Korean beef?"

Sugyeom asked with his eyes shining. Seonuk laughed and nodded as if he knew he would ask that.

"We can even catch a cow, so eat whatever you want."

"Wah, my heart just skipped a beat. I think I might fall in love with Director."

"Huh? You haven't fallen in love with me yet? This, I need to reflect on myself. I still haven't been able to buy Sugyeom's heart."

Seonuk said slowly. He didn't forget to stretch his lips and smile. Sugyeom also smiled brightly.

"Ahaha, but my heart is very expensive. I don't just give it to anyone. That's only natural."

"Really? I didn't know that. And here I thought you were just giving it to anyone."

"Eh, who do you think I am?! I'm not like that?"

Sugyeom said, waving his index finger gently. Seonuk looked as if he was dying of fun.

"Good, then I'll try my best to seduce you, so take care of that expensive heart."

At Seonuk's words, the eyes of the other four members immediately turned to him. However, even after receiving their gazes, he clasped his hands as if nothing had happened.