The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

My aunt received my call.

—Hello.

I took a deep breath while clutching my phone. My aunt probably didn’t know who was calling since after I left home, I immediately changed my number and didn’t tell her my new number. She was the only person I could call ‘family’ among the people who were left; of course, it was not a family out of love and affection but merely by blood. My heart beat in a frenzy as this was something that I had never done even before I regressed. I had never contacted my aunt after I left home, but it was now a necessity.

—Who is this?

I heard my aunt’s voice from across the line. It was only natural she asked as I said nothing for a while. Seeing how her voice softened slightly, she sounded like she was scared. I supposed she got frightened that she received a phone call from a number she didn’t know, and the caller wasn't saying anything.

I took my time to say, “It’s Bong Tae-Yoon.”

Was it because she heard my name? Her breathing immediately relaxed–no, rather than relaxed, it sounded like she was even a bit excited. I could predict what she would say next. It was probably—

—Ah, this fucking bastard, you’re finally calling me.

As expected, she swore at me. I held the phone a little tighter.

—You called at just the right time cause I was about to go and find you anyway. You should know your place. Do you think you’re a celebrity now or something?

My aunt had always been like this and showed the same reaction whenever I told her I wanted to be an idol. She said an idiot like me had no chance, and I should live quietly inside the house and do as I was told. After that, she would always tell me—

—How can a bastard like you, who killed your parents, wander outside so shamelessly like that?

Without fail, she always told me that I was the reason my parents died. Was it because I hadn’t heard it in a while? I made a hollow laugh, not because I felt insulted, but because of how ridiculous her words were. I had heard these kinds of words from my aunt ever since I was young. Every single word had burned me to the core back then, but now—

“Aunt, be careful.” Rather than hurting me, it didn’t even faze me in the least.

—What? Are you crazy?

“I told you to be quiet.”

—You’re the one who should shut up! How dare you talk to me like that! I can rip that trainee contract or whatever into shreds whenever I want!

Just because I told her to be quiet, my aunt was furiously going overboard to threaten me. Since I was still a minor, I couldn’t make a contract without the consent of a legal guardian, my aunt. Thus, when I was signing a trainee contract with WD Entertainment, my aunt had to be present.

However, she was now threatening that she would tear up this contract. Although she had said all kinds of swear words and insults at me, she was now spitting out anything she could to break me down just because I talked back to her once.

This was how ugly and pathetic her true nature was, and she had been like this since I was a child. She had made me do all kinds of strenuous and laborious work and cursed me to the heavens when I didn’t want to follow her every order. At that time, I didn’t know much. I thought everything my aunt said was right.

Since she gave me food and provided a place for me to sleep, I thought I had to do everything my aunt told me to do in return for her favor. Starting from completing housework, I received corporal punishment that was closer to torture, which was done only to vent out her anger. Now that I reflected on it, it seemed apparent that she had some mental problems and wanted to play a power game with me beneath her. But now I had no need to listen to her.

“Whether you destroy the contract or not, do as you please. I’ll be an adult in a few months anyway. I can sign the contract again then.” To be honest, if my aunt canceled the trainee contract now, things could get quite messy as The Showcase 2 competition ended in early April.

If we won first place then, a joint venture would be established between Jaeil Group and WD Entertainment. Our present contract had to be transferred to the joint contract, but I wouldn’t have a contract to transfer to. However, if I explained my circumstances, I could probably go through it. Jaeil Group would do anything to resolve my contract issue and debut our group as we were a group who had already garnered fame in a popular TV show.

‘But it’s safest to have a contract left.’ I thought having a contract would be the best scenario.

“Rip the contract. I’ll sign it again later.” But of course, it was better for me to act strong in front of my aunt.

—You think I can’t do it if you tell me?

“I told you to rip it.”

—How dare you act so cheeky! How dare you act so ungrateful when I gave you food, clothes, and a place to sleep!

Since I didn’t budge at the words that she was going to tear up the contract, she began yelling in a different direction. ‘Food, clothes, and a place to sleep…’

“Did you forget what you fed me, what clothes you gave me, and where you forced me to go to sleep?” I found her words ridiculous.

—Do you not know how hard it is to raise another person?

“Yes, it’s hard to raise a person, but you never raised me.”

—What?

“What you did was abuse. It’s more than enough for me to sue.”

—What? Abuse? Hey!

I moved a bit away from my phone for a bit as she yelled at the top of her lungs to the point that my ears hurt. Even after many years, she remained the same. I hadn’t called her to fight like this, but it was thrilling to clap back at her ridiculous remarks after years passed. However, I needed to get to the main point.

“Why don’t we meet up soon?”

—What? Meet up? Just think about coming home right now! I’m going to tear apart the contract and tell everyone your parents died because of you!

When I asked her to meet up, she threatened me with the same repertoire.

Sigh.

“Do as you please. Then I’ll sue you too.”

—Ha. Sue? Who the hell is going to believe what a little shit like you says?

“Well, even if they don’t believe me, they’ll believe the evidence.”

—Evidence?

“You want me to show you?”

I sent an image file to my aunt’s number. They were bruise marks from being hit by her. “I have more. Do you want me to show you more?”

—…You don’t have proof that I did that. How dare you threaten me with just pictures!

“I also have evidence that you were the one who hit me. Want me to show you that too?”

—…What?

“When I called you in the past, you cursed at me for running away from home just for a few beatings, and you threatened me, saying that I’ll get hit more if I ever come back home.”

—…

“I recorded all of that too.” Phones these days were great as they allowed me to record calls, and the first phone I used also had a call-recording function.

“By the way, I’m recording this call too.” Of course, my current phone also had a recording function. I continued, “So let’s meet and talk face to face. I’ll let you know the place and time.”

—…I’ll fucking kill you if we meet again.

“Ha, seriously.” My aunt was going to kill me. “…How scary. Haha.” How could threats sound so unintimidating? Now that I saw it, my aunt was not just a vicious person but a pathetic and cowardly human. I couldn’t believe I’d been stepped on and bullied by such a pathetic person for so long; this very fact felt like a disgrace to me.

“Then goodnight, aunt.”

—You fucking ba—

Tap.

I hung up before my aunt cursed me more. Then I blocked her number right away in case I got a call again. My ears felt sore from hearing her shout so much.

Sighhh.

I sighed deeply and rubbed my ears. I wondered if this might lead to hearing loss…

“…Tae-Yoon.” I heard someone call out my name from the corner of the living room; I didn’t realize that there was someone there. It was Woon.

“…Woon.” I had no idea how long he had been there and wondered if he heard my call with my aunt.

‘He probably…heard it.’ There was no way he didn't since my aunt’s angry voice must have rang out in this quiet, living room.

“Um, did you hear…”

“Ah, um, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I came out to drink water and ended up hearing a very little bit…”

A very little bit. ‘Even if he heard a little bit, she cursed from start to finish.’ It would be enough for Woon to realize that the person I was talking to was not a sane person with a normal thought process. But the problem was—

“…Did you just talk to your aunt on the phone?” It seemed that Woon heard that the person who poured out curses was my aunt. I wondered what I should do. I hadn’t planned to tell the members about my family history as there was nothing good to say about it.

“Ah…yes.” However, I couldn’t stay silent in this situation either. If I didn’t say anything, Woon would think that considering my personality, he must have asked something he shouldn’t have and returned despondently to his room.

“…I was talking to my aunt.” My mouth moved on its own, and Woon’s expression darkened.

“Are you okay, Tae-Yoon?” He slowly walked towards me.

“Yes, it’s all right. I’m used to it. Really…”

But before I could finish, Woon came up to the sofa and hugged my head. “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

It was a pretty surprising development. He calmly patted me on the back with his palm. I had been fine until the end of the call. Since my aunt had always cursed at me, I had no intention of lamenting about my circumstances after all this time. But I didn’t know why I suddenly felt so emotional. I clenched my fist.

“It’s all right. I don’t know what happened, but you’re with us now.”

I bit my lips in his arms. I had no intention to cry, and I thought this was nothing to cry about. But…

‘I don’t know.’ I must have actually wanted to be comforted from the bottom of my heart. The warmth that touched my skin, the hand that patted my back with a rhythmic beat, and his gentle voice that told me it was okay—all of these touched my heart as if I had been waiting for them for a very long time. Considering my usual personality, I would have pulled myself out when he hugged me, but today—

Squeeze.

…I hugged him back a little harder today. Only the sound of the second hand of the clock rang out in the silence. Perhaps deep inside my heart, I had been a bit frazzled as no matter how many times a person listened to insults, they seemed to have the power to chip away a person’s heart every time one heard them. My startled heart was finally calming down again. For a long time, I sat on the sofa in the living room and hugged Woon.

“…Shall we go and sleep now?” When my breathing seemed to have calmed, Woon asked carefully.

“…Yes,” I calmly replied.

Woon and I went into the room and lay down.

“Good night. Sleep peacefully and cover yourself with a blanket up to your neck.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“No, it’s nothing. See you tomorrow, Tae-Yoon.”

I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep until late today. I had a lot of things to think about, so I thought I should organize my thoughts all night. However, a strong sleepiness wafted over me.

“…” My hands that were holding the edges of the blanket gently spread out, and without my intention, I fell deep asleep.

* * *

The next morning arrived.

“Ah, damn it.” For the first time since I regressed, I overslept.

“Aghhhhhhh!”

“No, we’re in trouble!”

“Ughhhh!”

“Noooooo!”

“Why did all of us wake up late?”

However, the problem was that it wasn't just me, but everyone overslept, and today was the first day of training camp.

RedBird's Thoughts

Andie: Not me just realising that there's actually a Korean boy group IRL called OnlyOneOf. They debuted in 2019 D: