The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol

This chapter is generously sponsored by Soah.

[Title: Today’s Failed Surprise! After finishing the fansign event, The Dawn held a sudden V-live…

(Kang Ichae: Today’s surprise guest is~ none other than Hoyun-hyung!

Seong Jiwon: Ahaha, I’m looking forward to his surprised reaction since he’s usually the calmest one)

They had no idea what the future held…

They even set up a camera in the living room to focus on Seo Hoyun’s reaction

(Seo Hoyun: You guys are expecting a lot from a mere stand-in criminal…

Kang Ichae: You’re the one who’s going to kill him~)

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ They’re always like this, so freaking cuteㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hoyun is still holding a grudge against Ichae for exposing his aegyo, but then Hoyun tries to change his clothes. Wow, this guy… only half-unbuttoned his shirt, but his abs… and muscles were… there… I couldn’t help but swear (I’ll hold back)

(Kim Seonghyeon: Ahhhhhhhhh~ (making kimbap))

The best excuse!

The leader strives with all his might!

(Seo Hoyun: You did something wrong.

Kim Seonghyeon: (Feeling wronged)ㅠㅠ No… I didn’t ㅠㅠ

Seo Hoyun: Spit it outㅋㅋ)

Hoyun was about to scream in earnest, this guy’s sense of humor is no joke

But then, they suddenly find the camera!

(Seo Hoyun: …??)

The members enter with innocent expressions!

(Jeong Dajun: Did you two… fight over kimbap?!)

A chaotic ending due to misunderstanding!

(Seo Hoyun: Was it recorded?

Members: (Nodding)

Seo Hoyun: … Live broadcast?

Members: (Nodding…))

Hoyun’s expression at this momentㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The ultimate highlight (Manager: Surprise~!)

Unending innocence and deadly silence…

Hoyun sighs, turns off the V-live, and comes back

The V-live title after that: >>>We apologize to you, dear fans. <<< I never thought I’d see such a title in the V-liveㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are they controversial YouTubers or somethingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

(Seo Hoyun: Now, apologize to the fans)

The members all bow their heads

(Seo Hoyun: Apologize to me too.

Members: We’re sorry!)

~Surprise Fail~

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why do they always film hidden camera pranksㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└They’re so harmless when they playㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└Hoyun’s real-life speech is showing in the midst of thisㅋㅋㅋㅋ Are they really close friends?

└The manager shouting “Surprise~!” without noticing is so funny I almost threw up

└But they don’t seem to feel sorry at all, especially Jeong Dajun. Jeong Dajun tries to sneak some cake onto Hoyun’s noseㅋㅋㅋㅋ, but when Hoyun glares at him, he quickly crouches down

└└How can our golden retriever be so cute]

I almost caused a huge mess.

Cold sweat dripped down my back. If I had let slip what I was thinking, I would have been scolded.

If I had called Kim Seonghyeon a “bastard,” I would have been cursed at, and if I had said, “Why do fans like me?”, I would have been accused of playing the pity card and garnering all sorts of negative attention…

After barely fixing things up, we ended the V-live, and I smacked each of the other members once.

“Ouch!”

“It hurts!”

“Sorry…”

“…?”

I let Kim Seonghyeon off the hook. Feeling wronged, Kang Ichae jumped up and pointed at me.

“What! Why are you letting Seonghyeon-hyung off?”

“He at least had some human decency.”

“True, I did my best.”

It was because he had covered me with a blanket. Looking back, Kim Seonghyeon was just as pale as me.

They must have been dragged into it by the younger members.

“Phew, I need to go to the company for a bit.”

“Are you going to… kick us out?”

“Stay quiet before I change my mind.”

Leaving a frustrated Jeong Dajun behind, I went down to the dormitory parking lot, thinking about the manager who had sneakily escaped earlier.

If he had already left, I would have had to take a taxi to the company, but fortunately, the manager was still in front of the van, having just finished a call.

“Manager, can we go to the company?”

“Uh, yes…”

“Let’s go together.”

“What are you up to?”

After putting on the seatbelt and looking forward, the manager kept glancing at me anxiously.

“Why, what’s up?”

“I get so nervous every time Hoyun says he’s going to the company….”

“Have I ever caused any trouble or accidents?”

“…”

After saying that, I hesitated for a moment.

“…Have I?”

“Hoyun! This time, please! Let’s get through this quietly!”

The manager’s nagging went on and on, but we arrived at the company in no time since it was close to our dormitory. As the manager said, I headed straight to the CEO’s office “quietly,” but as I approached the door, I bumped into someone leaving the room.

“Uh…”

It was Min Jiheon.

“Hello.”

“…”

Min Jiheon was silent for a while, then rubbed the back of his neck.

“Wow, I got confused for a moment….”

About what?

I couldn’t help but stare at Min Jiheon. He gave a faint smile and asked.

“You came up, huh?”

“Yes, well.”

Once again, I had a bad vibe about this person. However, this was the company, and it wouldn’t do any good to show my feelings, so I gave a non-committal response. Seeing his uninterested face, it seemed like he didn’t have any business either.

But against my expectation, Min Jiheon muttered,

“I told you to contact me if you come to Seoul…”

“…”

“I don’t even have your contact information…”

“…I’m sorry. If it’s urgent, you can contact me through the company.”

“Ah, that’s a bit of a hassle…”

What’s with this person…?

Min Jiheon, who had been sizing me up, obediently stepped aside.

“…Eh, never mind. It doesn’t seem that urgent now… Go ahead. Hello to you too, Manager.”

“Min Jiheon! Hello!”

“Yes.”

Min Jiheon, who still looked clueless, replied with a deflated tone and walked away.

No matter how you look at it, it feels uneasy…

Anyway, as we were about to move on, my manager made a fuss.

“Are you close with Min Jiheon?”

“Not at all.”

“But Jiheon speaks so casually with you?”

I shrugged my shoulders as if I didn’t know anything, and the manager tilted his head. It seemed that the manager was confused because he had seen a side of Jiheon that he was not familiar with.

Well, I had more important things to deal with. I needed to resolve the settlement issue before the members’ teamwork was completely torn apart because of resentment.

Now, how should I cook this up?

I knocked twice on the CEO’s office door and opened it. The CEO, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, had a radiant face as if he was enjoying a good life with the money they had earned.

“Oh, isn’t this our Hoyun!”

“Hahaha. Hello, CEO.”

Since when did I become your Hoyun?

I approached him with a business smile.

“It seems like a special day, with Jiheon first and now Hoyun.”

“Min Jiheon came and left.”

“Yeah, I called him over to talk. I don’t know what he’s thinking since he’s always so clueless.”

The manager placed the trophy he had brought on the table.

“Well, we’ll be getting a few more of these in the future.”

“Still, I have to see it in person once. We’ll display one in our CEO’s office. Who knew our The Dawn would grow this big… and do so well.”

Did you raise us?

While inwardly raising my middle finger, I outwardly played along and laughed.

“Our recent achievements have been quite good, right? Both in terms of music and variety shows. As far as I know, we’re still in discussion for a commercial deal.”

“Of course. We really hit the jackpot this time.”

“So, about that.”

As I leaned forward to bring up the main topic, my manager visibly tensed up. But before he could speak, the CEO raised his hand.

“Hoyun, I know what you’re thinking.”

“Huh?”

“There’s only one reason you would suddenly come to see me like this. You want to change the contracts, right? But we already revised yours…”

“Ah.”

I let out a sly smile.

“You’re half right and half wrong.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not my contract, but the members’ contracts.”

This had been on my mind for a while.

Contracts couldn’t be changed just by whining about it. My case was special. Back then, I brought a song from Blue Tiger and temporarily raised our recognition through the media, but the members hadn’t shown much.

However, with our Shining Star victory and first-place achievement, it was now a story worth considering.

If the teamwork started to crumble now that we were just taking off, it wouldn’t be good for the CEO either. It wasn’t a bad idea to bring it up, considering the timing.

“Please change the members’ contracts to match mine.”

The CEO, slightly surprised, took a sip of tea before replying.

“I didn’t think you were that kind of person, but when did you grow so attached to your members?”

…Hmm.

“Or is it not about being attached, but are you worried about being cornered later because your contract conditions are different?”

They were spot on. As much as it was true, it felt shitty to hear it from someone else’s mouth, so I just laughed.

“You don’t have to be curious about my intentions.”

Just change the contracts.

Seeming to understand the meaning, the CEO’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Well, that’s true. Anyway… I was planning to bring it up myself. It’s easier if your conditions are the same.”

What’s going on? Was he actually doing his job?

The CEO wasn’t just a figurehead; he noticed this much.

It seemed to be going smoothly, but I couldn’t let myguard down until the contracts were completely changed.

“Thank you.”

“Next time we revise the contracts, let’s go over them with all the members.”

“Yes, please.”

It felt almost too easy, which made me feel uneasy.

At times like this, something would always blow up.

Sure enough, the CEO asked slyly,

“Hoyun, by the way…”

“Yes?”

“People should seize opportunities when they come. It seems to me that you have lots of opportunities. You have good visuals, vocal skills, and high recognition… I’ve received various contacts for you.”

These were nice words, but why did they sound so unpleasant when the CEO said them?

As I closed my mouth with a “get to the point” look, the CEO cleared his throat.

“Do you happen to…”

“I don’t.”

“… I haven’t finished talking yet.”

“I don’t plan on acting.”

“…Fine, just lay it on the line.”

He backed off after I sharply cut him off.

“Anyway, why don’t you want to? It’s an opportunity to raise your recognition a lot…”

“It’s time to focus on group activities now.”

“No, think about it again. We used to be an actor management company, right? If we put our minds to it, we can push Min Jiheon to the side.”

Don’t lie…

That fierce Min Jiheon from earlier was already a national actor. In terms of dramas, even the cold and objective Jeong Dajun praised his acting. He’s a textbook example of a “trustworthy actor.”

Although his strong personality is a flaw.

“I probably don’t have talent like Min Jiheon-sunbae.”

“That’s a shame…”

“I’ll postpone it to next time.”

When an idol’s activities, which have just begun, were going well, there’s no way not to attract attention if a recently debuted idol tried to stand out with individual activities.

These would be the clickbait titles.

[Seo Hoyun wants to act, but his acting is terrible.]

[If you’re going to do this, just say you wanted to be an actor from the beginning~ㅋㅋㅋ]

[Yep~ His expression was sour because he didn’t want to be an idol]

…It’s all too plausible.

When I imagined it, I saw my poor acting skills being uploaded on YouTube and community sites.

“Hmm… It’s a pity, such a pity.”

The CEO’s face showed great disappointment, but he reluctantly agreed and moved on since I strongly refused. That was the only good thing about this company.

Leaving me to handle things on my own.

The downside?

Everything else.

Lee Jihyeon was somewhat of a gem, though.

She’s so sharp and intelligent that I wanted to keep her around…

“I’ll be going.”

I bowed and got up.

But why suddenly bring up acting…? He doesn’t even know about my hidden trait.

It’s strange. No matter how I think about it.

Doesn’t Seong Jiwon objectively fit better?

Especially in terms of appearance, Seong Jiwon seems to suit acting better with his good looks, innocence, and ability to change his expression according to the role. I tilted my head but missed the timing to ask.

“Ah, I’m going to talk to Kim about this.”

“Yes.”

As expected…

He’d pretend to respect my decision in front of me and then send the manager to persuade me behind my back.

Well, that’s the manager’s job to handle.

Ignoring the manager’s desperate SOS signal, I left. As I walked down the hallway after leaving the CEO’s office, I ran into an unexpected person.

It was Min Jiheon, tapping his phone.

“Ah…”

Noticing me, Min Jiheon stuffed his phone into his pocket and asked,

“You came out faster than I thought?”

As if he had been waiting for me.

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