Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Chapter 70 The Worst Timing

“What’s going on?”

As I raised my voice at Ye-jun with the door open, Seon-woo, who had woken up from his sleep, asked from inside the room.

“Oh, nothing much. I just thought we could have breakfast a bit early.”

I didn’t want to cause any trouble today, when Seong-won had an important broadcast, and a live one at that.

I gave Ye-jun a wink, telling him to be quiet, and he made a playful face, as if he understood.

He still didn’t look completely refreshed, as usual.

He seemed proud of his work, since it was his first commercial arrangement.

People who had jobs that involved creating and showing their products to others were inevitably affected by the feedback they received.

‘If the label attached to his first commercial work was that he stole a song from another group, it would be hard to restrain himself.’

But this was not the time. It was a situation where he had to hold back his anger.

“Where’s Seong-won hyung?”

Seon-woo came out to the living room, tidying up the blanket he had slept under.

“He’s still sleeping.”

“I’ll help you with the breakfast preparations.”

The three of us ate a delicious breakfast, and then Seong-won opened the door with a groan.

“What’s this? So early in the morning.”

He frowned as he looked at us, sitting side by side on the sofa.

“Do you want some breakfast?”

“Nah. I’ll just have a salad for lunch and go.”

Seong-won, who was part of the cast, said he had to go two hours earlier than us to prepare for the rehearsal.

We, the staff audience, decided to move as a group in the manager’s car two or three hours later.

“You have to eat something to have energy and voice, right?”

“You know I’m not a big eater.”

Seong-won passed me by with a sullen look and went into his room after washing up neatly.

“Wow, the ice princess is gone. The accommodation has become royal.”

“Royal?”

Seon-woo tilted his head as if he didn’t understand what he meant, and Ye-jun answered jokingly.

“You’re a baby crocodile and he’s an ice fondue.”

“Huh?”

Seon-woo still looked confused and couldn’t understand at once, and Ye-jun gave up explaining.

“Never mind. Sorry for teasing you.”

“Why, what are you apologizing for?”

Seon-woo looked at me as if he had done something wrong. I sneaked a glance at the two guys and backed off.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about either.”

As Ye-jun and I ran into the room, Seon-woo was left alone in the living room.

“Why are you the only one left?”

Seong-won’s voice asking Seon-woo came from beyond the thin wooden door back to the living room.

“I don’t know either.”

“…? If you don’t know, who does?”

I could clearly see what kind of expression Seong-won was making without looking at him.

I suppressed a laugh and slapped my cheek lightly, as if to cast a spell on myself and snap out of it.

Then I checked the timeline of my subscription account, where only good stories were posted, to gain some strength.

[- Last week, the Crisis Shelter was so cute when they ate everything saying it was Chuseok ㅠㅠㅠ]

[Picture]

[ㄴThe one who takes the oil out of the Severe is better than our big house]

[- Seong-won is getting used to the bugs so funnyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He screamed like he was going to faint when he saw Tinkerbell, but now he calmly calls Seon-woo]

[ㄴHe’s so cute, right?ㅜㅜㅜ Seon-woo goes and catches the bugs when he says go, not even PocketX]

[ㄴIt was so funny when the yard cats were playing with a moth and he freaked outㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It’s like the rule of the jungle, he would quit in 10 minutes if he went out thereㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[- Our squirrel went to the FE crew leader’s birthday party and it was so hip, really… Will he not release a self-composed song in the next album ㅠㅠㅠ He seems so talented]

[- These days, he’s on a lot of variety shows and the Crisis Shelter is doing well, so I think he’ll make a comeback soon, but I’m already looking forward to it]

[- At the beginning of the Crisis Shelter, he just cried and sent them away, and he was so worried about the cats being sick and stuff, but he seems fine now. He shows a lot of real friend tension with the kids, which is nice.]

I couldn’t help but talk mostly about the Crisis Shelter, since it was my only regular activity.

The views had dropped a bit since the cat incident, which had sparked a lot of interest, but I felt like the loyal viewers had increased.

It was not too stimulating, but comfortable and mildly fun, so even non-fans liked to watch it while eating or before going to bed.

I couldn’t outright refuse to send them away in episode 2, but I showed enough displeasure, which paid off.

‘I had a few run-ins with the PD after that.’

After a few clashes, they seemed to realize that it was no good to mess with me.

‘To be honest… I still have a cold relationship with Chairman Chun, so I don’t have to kiss up or suck up to him.’

I stretched out after gathering some positive energy, and heard Seong-won getting ready to leave.

I would see him in the waiting room anyway, but I had to say goodbye.

I opened the door and saw Seong-won stuffing a salad into his mouth with wireless earphones in his ears.

“Eat only when you eat. You’ll get sick if you do that.”

Seong-won glanced at me and shook his head.

“I feel better listening to it all the time. I have to sing the original version, not the arranged one, or I’ll be in trouble.”

I didn’t want to pick a fight with him, who was facing a big stage. I nodded and patted his shoulder lightly.

“Okay, do whatever you want. Just don’t mind others and show them everything you want to show.”

“I don’t need you to tell me that, I’ll do well on my own.”

“Yeah.”

All I could do was cheer for him, so today the best thing was to praise him.

“Go go go, fighting.”

I raised my fist lightly until Seong-won left the dorm. He used to be startled when I said ‘go’ with an ‘a’, like an old lady, but now he smiled as if he was confident.

“Don’t be nervous, it’s not like you’re going to die.”

I felt relieved when I heard his usual sarcastic reply.

I just had to get through today. Just today. I made a vow and waited for the manager who was supposed to come in two hours.

I had nothing to do, and the person who would take care of the cat with the alias Aeyong hadn’t arrived yet, so we were all lying on the sofa.

“Wow, I really brought some amazing news!”

The manager, whom I hadn’t seen properly in a while, came in with a fuss.

“What’s going on?”

Kyunghwa, who was reviewing the script for next week’s Crisis Boys in his room, came out to the living room, startled by the commotion.

Seon-woo had been looking at his phone in the living room as usual, and I was preparing snacks for the waiting room in the kitchen.

“What’s going on?”

Ye-jun asked, casually eating the leftover fruit scraps from making the snacks.

“They offered us a spot as MCs for Music Safe!”

Oh. Music Safe was a terrestrial music show that aired every Friday. It had a 40-year history, and the MCs over the years were called the lineage of top idols.

It had to be Kyunghwa for the MC position, right?

We all got ready to congratulate Kyunghwa, thinking of the various radio, variety, guest, and web shows he had appeared in.

“Wow, really? That’s awesome!”

Seon-woo looked at Kyunghwa with a bright smile and a happy face.

None of the members seemed to think that anyone other than Kyunghwa would be offered the MC spot.

That’s when the manager dropped the nuclear bomb with a cheerful smile.

“You got the materials from the company, right? Prepare well. You’re going on as MCs starting next month!”

“Huh?”

Seon-woo looked back and forth between the manager and Kyunghwa with a bewildered expression.

“Not Kyunghwa hyung?”

The manager glanced at Kyunghwa and answered Seon-woo’s innocent question.

“Huh? Why would Kyunghwa go? It’s you. Seon-young is leaving after the first week of October and they’re replacing her with another MC. They’re going to do a special episode with you and Na siblings that day.”

“…”

The atmosphere was chilly. Somewhere, a kitten’s fang flew and stabbed me in the ankle.

I felt like tears would well up in my eyes from the pain, but I couldn’t scream in this situation.

“Uh…”

Seon-woo stammered, caught off guard by this situation.

His head was confused like a computer that hadn’t booted up yet, and he didn’t know what to say.

“It’s really me, not Kyunghwa hyung?”

“Why do you keep talking about Kyunghwa? They’re starting with you and Seon-young as a special.”

The manager drove the nail in, and Seon-woo looked more confused as his eyes spun around.

“Can I, can I do it?”

I thought it was impossible. The first live broadcast he had flown around was thanks to his skill.

He had gained some confidence since then and his attitude wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t at the level to be the main MC.

Seon-woo was diligent, but he learned slower than the others and was slow to react.

If he had been in an environment that required strict group life rather than an idol, he would have lived with a 100% reputation.

‘He’s really, really nice…’

And then everyone would have added, ‘He’s a bit of a torturer.’ He was the most cruel person in the world who unwittingly tore apart other people’s pride and wounds.

When an incident or accident occurred, Kyunghwa was the type to deal with it flexibly with the maximum mind control.

“Uh… uh… why can’t Kyunghwa hyung do it instead of me?”

He made things worse by saying things he didn’t have to.

“…”

I and Ye-jun, caught in this awkward atmosphere, kept quiet and held our breath.

From where I was sitting, the door was blocking my view, so I couldn’t see what kind of face Kyunghwa was making.

And Ye-jun felt the same way.

‘Shit, what do we do with this atmosphere?’

I tried to communicate with Ye-jun with my eyes, but he looked away with a gloomy expression.

That’s when Kyunghwa opened his mouth calmly, with a much lower tone than usual.

“That’s great. Since Seonyoung noona has been the MC all along, she can teach you a lot of things. Don’t worry about me and do your best.”

I glared at Ye-jun with resentful eyes. Why did he have to torture the kid when he could have just passed him in one go during the recording!

I don’t know what Ye-jun was thinking, but he caught the resentment towards himself and shook his head as if he was wronged.

‘What do you mean, no!’

Ever since Kyunghwa reluctantly gave up half of his part to Seon-woo, the air between them was not good.

Of course, Seon-woo was clueless and didn’t know anything, and he was just cheerful, while Kyunghwa was burning with anger inside.

Everyone except Seon-woo knew that Kyunghwa thought of himself as untalented.

But that wasn’t true. They all had their own strengths in different areas. Kyunghwa was talented in many things.

But he didn’t seem to feel that way. That’s when Seon-woo poured gasoline on the fire.

“I really don’t have any confidence… Can’t you ask the manager to switch me with Kyunghwa hyung?”

As if. 

Seon-woo was crushing Kyunghwa’s pride without any malice.