Save a Failed Idol’s Life

“Are you going?” Yugeon threw his phone on the sofa and lay down, hugging a cushion.

Brrr-.

His phone kept ringing, as if it wouldn’t leave him alone.

This time, it was a call from his manager.

[Manager (Park)] Be ready, I’ll be there in 15 minutes. 10:24 AM

He had arrived home around 6:50 AM, so after taking a shower and tidying up, he had only slept for two hours.

He had been told to cut down on his personal schedule and stick to the group schedule. Last week, he had slept less than 20 hours in total.

His lifestyle was so irregular that it was pointless to talk about his daily routine. He had never slept more than four hours.

‘I have time to spare, so I can go to the club and have fun.’

He would join the other members around noon and finish the group schedule by 8 PM. Then, he would have to appear on a late-night variety show.

Would it have been easier to endure the tough schedule if he had gotten along with the members?

Yugeon looked at the TV screen that was accidentally turned on and replaying [My Doll Stage].

He felt like he could hear the main PD’s voice clearly from the screen.

“Trainee Kang Yugeon, can I talk to you for a moment? Your father has an unusual background… I have something to propose to you.”

“I’ll guarantee you an A grade or higher from the first evaluation, and a rank of 20 or higher. Can we do a special episode about your father when we air the show?”

Yugeon had declined the offer, and what he got in return was an F grade and 87th place. 

He was in danger of being eliminated.

Only trainees who were independent or from affiliated agencies could participate in My Doll Stage.

It might have seemed like a normal treatment for an independent trainee without an agency, but he had the skills to expect a B grade or higher if it weren’t for his father’s issue.

Was it because he was underrated for his skills? 

He still remembered vividly how people sighed in pity when his grade was announced. 

In the final broadcast, it was all edited to sound like jeers.

‘I won’t forget. How they treated me.’

Yugeon closed his eyes for a moment, but soon opened them wide at the sound of someone knocking on the door.

‘You’re not close, are you? You and the members?’

The conversation he had with Cheonise had been haunting him. 

Was it possible to maintain a friendship in a survival program?

Please, just mess up his lyrics once, please make him forget his choreography, please put him in a bad spot. I don’t care if it’s school violence, drinking, family issues, or anything.

Yugeon was a chess piece on a board that he had set up to survive by raising his rank.

The world was cruel to the trainee ‘Kang Yugeon’, and kind to the Floss ‘Kang Yugeon’.

It was a realm that he would never understand as a lord who didn’t go through the survival.

“Yes, I’m going.”

Click, the door opened and Yugeon smiled leisurely, hiding his fatigue.

***

“Wow, this is amazing.”

As soon as they got out of the mini van, their honest impression was,

‘Can people live here?’

“Should we pitch a tent in the yard and sleep there, or clean this place up first?”

The door looked like it was about to fall off, as if to prove that no one had lived here for a while.

The main camera that started filming from inside the house scanned the faces of the members who were shocked by the house.

“The inside should be cleaned up a bit, so there’s no trash to throw away. The water and electricity are still working.”

Kyunghwa crossed the yard and stepped onto the wooden floor. He didn’t even take off his shoes, and I wondered what he was thinking.

Every time he moved his foot, the dust marks were clearly visible from afar.

“Let’s get the vacuum cleaner out first.”

Thanks to Kyunghwa’s warning that there would be a lot of dust, they had brought a wireless vacuum cleaner from the start.

“Ah~. It would have been nice if this was sponsored.”

Ye-jun chuckled and held the vacuum cleaner over the floor and turned on the power button. The floor that was covered in grayish-white dust quickly regained its original color.

“Let’s hurry up and clean up. We have to change all the lights before it gets dark.”

Kyunghwa muttered as he read the mission card he had received from the PD while coming down to the countryside.

This was the place they had to visit every Wednesday and Thursday for about six weeks.

At first, they suggested filming everything in a week and uploading it by week, but…

‘The fans want to see your reality, don’t they? Are you okay with that?’

The PD had suggested an unexpected idea at the planning meeting. Reality? What did he mean by that?

Floss was not a top idol, and they were almost rookies who were unknown. He said it was better to show them some friendliness.

And they were in a non-active period, so they didn’t have many channels to show what they were doing in real time.

He said it would be more familiar to show them an updated look every week, rather than showing them what they did a few weeks ago in a week.

They got busier as they started preparing, but the fixed schedule of Climax was still empty.

‘Then, let’s set a day every week to film, and edit and post it within 3-4 days of filming.’

I was worried that it was a bit too demanding, but they only had a separate filming director during the day.

At night, they used self-cams or observation cams to edit and use their staff as efficiently as possible.

“PD, where do we install our observation camera?”

Seon-woo held the home cam he had received as a sponsorship in both hands and headed towards the floor. It wasn’t much of a help, even though it was a sponsorship.

They only got the product for free, as long as they didn’t cover the logo. It was my personal plan that cost me a lot of money, even though I had to mark [Paid Advertisement] on the top.

‘I should be grateful that the company allowed me.’

As I looked at the house that seemed older than Im Hyun-seong with a soulless eye, the PD came up to me.

“Are you not doing anything, Ise?”

I answered cheekily.

“I was thinking. We’re going to be coming and going for over a month… I wonder if it would be better to paint it anew.”

“That sounds good. We’re going back to Seoul tomorrow, and it’ll be a week before we come back.”

Ye-jun sucked up the dust on the floor and opened the sliding door to the living room.

“Let’s clean up first and then talk.”

Kyunghwa pressed his mask firmly over his face as dust clouds rose from inside the house.

The house was well-furnished, but it felt cold and lifeless, as if no one had lived there for a long time.

The ivy vines that covered the walls of the house didn’t give a gardening vibe, but rather added to the bleakness.

“Let’s clear out the inside and then tear off the vines outside.”

“What if the house collapses when we pull them off?”

Seong-won narrowed his eyes and glared at the wall, annoyed by Ye-jun’s joke.

“It’s a joke, don’t take it so seriously.”

I slapped Seong-won’s shoulder lightly and he rubbed the spot where I hit him.

“No, it’s just… it seems possible.”

It was a rare moment when Seong-won agreed with Ye-jun, but now was not the time to dwell on that.

“Three of us should be enough to clean up the house. Why don’t two of us go to the field and check the condition?”

Hoo, Kyunghwa took off his shoes and went inside, wiping off the dust that piled up on the furniture.

“Seong-won and I will go.”

Seon-woo and Kyunghwa had already taken off their shoes, and Ye-jun was also on his knees, vacuuming the floor.

By process of elimination, only Seong-won and I were left.

“Please follow us with a camera.”

Following the PD’s instructions, the youngest PD with a rather tough-looking face followed us.

“Have you ever lived in the countryside, Ise or Seong-won?”

I was about to reflexively say no, but then I opened my eyes wide. I didn’t, but I didn’t know about Cheonise.

“No, I’ve always lived in the city since I was young.”

Thankfully, Seong-won answered the interview for me, so there was no silence.

“Didn’t you ever go to your grandparents’ house when you were young?”

“My relatives on both sides are from Gyeonggi-do, so I was always amazed by the kids who went far away.”

I thought he was a broomstick who couldn’t say a word and stuttered when we went to ‘School Kitchen Attack’ last time.

It was just that he had no confidence in himself. He wasn’t completely incompetent as an entertainer.

I took advantage of the gap that Seong-won gave me and called the system.

‘System.’

Then, poof, the system read my mind and printed out a neat explanation.

[Due to repeated requests, there is a 10pt charge for viewing past records.]

[Do you want to pay 10pt to view past records?]

[Yes/No]

[※As of today, points will be deducted without additional confirmation]

Aargh. I keep accumulating points and don’t use them well, so they use these cheap tricks.

Give them back to me someday. I was unhappy, but I answered in my mind.

‘Yes.’

[Cheonise’s grandparents on both sides are from Seoul, and he has never visited rural areas in Korea, even for tourism.]

Great, thanks for making me cry. 

The youngest PD asked me a question at the right timing.

“What about you, Ise?”

“I’m also new to this, I never had a chance to visit.”

I answered with a light smile, and then he asked me another question.

“Ise, you seem very skilled at handling ingredients, I think you’ll do well in the field work too.”

Maybe it was because of ‘My Hometown Today’. 

I had a bit of that image because I actively participated in the harvest in the filming.

“I’ve never done it before, so I’m much clumsier than you think. I only know how to eat, not how to grow.”

“I’m sure you’re better than me.”

As the smell of grass from the field grew stronger, Seong-won’s expression gradually became more bored.

‘That was a huge hit on My Hometown Today.’

I remembered the reactions that poured out to Seong-won after My Hometown Today aired.

[-A male idol who runs away from bugsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[-Ah ㅠㅠㅠㅠ why are you running with it, don’t show me]

[-They’re really best friends, they look so closeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[-These days, male idols look like they’re pretending to be friends, but they’re really close]

[-He looks like he’ll grab his collar as soon as the camera turns offㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

If a man is afraid of bugs… I thought he would be more disliked than liked. 

That was a mistake.

People don’t hate men who are afraid of bugs. 

They hate ugly men who are afraid of bugs.

Seong-won’s cute running away from bugs made the comments cheer.

‘People love handsome men who are afraid of bugs this much.’

I was reminded of the idol fandom’s double standard of cruelty.

Should I make Seong-won run away from bugs again this time? I was distracted for a moment as we arrived at the field.

‘This is… this is a mess.’

From the vegetables that had rotted on the vines after missing the harvest time, to the weeds that grew as tall as a person. There was more than one or two things to deal with.

“Let’s figure out how to clear the grass first.”

I calmly stepped into the field. Then, I saw something that looked like human clothes between the dense corn leaves.

“Huh…?”

Oh no, I felt a chill down my spine from the ominous feeling.