“Ouch, my head…….”
Thanks to a habit ingrained in my body, I opened my eyes early in the morning, and my whole body felt unbearably heavy.
I muttered to myself, “Like hell I’m ever drinking again”, and rubbed my eyelids hard with the back of my hand. Then I tried to sit up, but it was no easy task with the two fools clinging to me on either side like some kind of emotional support dolls.
‘There are more than enough rooms, so why are they all sleeping in mine?’
I rolled my eyes around the room. It was spacious enough for one person, but a bit cramped for for several. And yet, all the members, except for Lee Hwayoung, were huddled together, sound asleep. Lee Hwayoung had always disliked sleeping with others, so it was no surprise he’d opted out of this zombie nest. As for the rest of them, every single one was right there beside me.
‘The maknae, Lee Danbi, is sleeping so maturely on his own, so why the hell are these guys clinging to me?’
“…Smells like alcohol.”
I frowned at the subtle but unmistakable sting of alcohol on their breath.
These chicks I’d known since they wore school uniforms were now passed out drunk, completely wasted. Seriously, could anything be more shocking than this? To be honest, even then, these guys still looked like kids to me.
I recalled that I’d taken a pretty big mental hit even when Jay first started drinking. I guess I was the kind of person who never managed to make any progress. With that thought, I slowly turned my head and quietly stared at their faces.
‘Snot-nosed brats…….’
It was truly strange, but just looking at their faces didn’t feel like a waste of time. After staying like that for a while, I raked my hand through their hair a couple of times. Then, I gently traced their furrowed brows with my fingertips, smoothing out the wrinkles formed in their sleep.
‘What’s with all that drool while sleeping?’
It was a real relief that the content was being produced by the agency and not a broadcast station. If it had been a regular station, that flood-soaked pillow and the puffed-up, unairable face would’ve all made it on air.
‘Is it because of the ramyeon that they’re so puffy? Normally, even after eating that much, they didn’t get this swollen.’
Creak.
Just as I let out a small smile at the peaceful scene, the PD gently opened the door and crawled into the room, camera in hand.
The moment I heard a whispering voice say, “Gooood morning”, I quickly pulled my hand back as if I hadn’t been doing anything. The PD, smiling warmly, pointed the camera my way and made a patting gesture in the air, as if to say, ‘Come on, just do it a little more for the camera.’
Fed up with him, I eventually wriggled my way out of their clutches. Then, the PD, pretending to be disappointed, started waking up the rest of the members.
“Everyone, it’s time to go home.”
“Ughhhhh…….”
When the PD poked Do Yuda in the ribs, he let out a strange sound and twisted his body. Then, spotting the camera, he hurriedly pulled the blanket over his head and shouted.
“Ah, hyung! Please edit that out!”
“Why? You’re handsome. The most handsome of all.”
“You’re making fun of me right now, aren’t you? The really handsome guy is right here next to me! I know everything! You think I’m a fool!”
“If we edit all of this out, you’ll regret it? If you see what I just filmed here, Yuda-ssi might even be bowing down to me.”
I wasn’t going to pay attention to their petty bickering, but when the PD dropped the bombshell that he’d show what he filmed, I immediately turned to him and shook my head in panic. In return, all I got was an exaggerated, annoyingly fake reply, “I don’t know, I don’t know, this PD knows nothing.”
Seriously, why are all these production team guys like this?
‘That guy does seem especially eccentric, though…….’
“Hyung, what did you do?”
Noticing the unusual war of nerves between the PD and me, Do Yuda blinked his sleepy eyes and asked me what was going on. But I knew perfectly well that if he found out what I’d been doing, he’d definitely tease me with something like, “Hyuung, you like us that much?”, so I just turned my head away without a word.
Then, my eyes met Woo Kangwon’s, who was staring intently at me.
‘Ah.’
Come to think of it, I wasn’t the only one in our group who woke up unusually early. Wait a second … had he been watching the whole time? The sudden thought made me grit my teeth in unease. Meanwhile, Woo Kangwon shyly rubbed the back of his head and kept sneaking glances at me.
‘Ahhhh!’
In the end, unable to withstand his sparkling gaze that made my face feel ticklish, I woke up the innocent Zen and pushed him into the bathroom.
“I, Nagi Zen, haven’t, haven’t done anything yet! This is a setup!”
“The camera’s rolling now, so go wash your face properly. Do Yuda, you too!”
“Waaah.”
Then Woo Kangwon also clumsily got up, scooped Do Yuda into his arms, and sent him off for a morning walk before he could even wake up properly. Not long after, Lee Danbi, who had woken up on time by himself, stared blankly at the now-empty room and asked, “…Was there a mission?”, but that was just a minor incident.
‘…There’s no way they’d show that whole scene from earlier on air.’
It was no use complaining about the unfairness.
Because I held the highest authority in this group.
***
The MT finally wrapped up after filming the scene where all of us rushed to a dwaeji gukbap1 restaurant first thing in the morning to cure our hangovers. The production team, who were just ordinary office workers, smiled broadly at the relief of finishing a grueling overnight shift and then headed home, while we returned straight to the dorm.
“Hyung, you’re way more of a lightweight than I expected. Who gets that drunk after just a few drinks? I was totally shocked.”
“I also only found out yesterday that my alcohol tolerance is just that much. I’ve never drunk with this body until now.”
“Ah, right! That makes sense!”
When I said, “I’ve never drunk with this body until now”, Do Yuda only then seemed to remember that I wasn’t the original owner of this body and showed a bit of an over-the-top reaction. Then, jokingly, he said, “Hyung, you’re normally a heavy drinker, right? I know that well.”
“Where on earth did you hear that from?”
“It’s just a rumor I heard. They say you can drink five bottles of soju and never, ever get drunk.”
First of all, that rumor was false.
My original body did have a fairly high alcohol tolerance, but it wasn’t that much of a heavy drinker.
‘I’m not Choi Jeokhyeon…….’
It wasn’t hard to guess the source of this ridiculous rumor.
I often went to bars with Choi Jeokhyeon, and every time we got up to leave, our table always seemed to be piled high with empty bottles he had finished. But paparazzi shots always only showed me, with a perfectly sober face, walking Choi Jeokhyeon out, so it was no wonder that the rumors kept getting more and more exaggerated.
‘It’s all because of that crazy bastard.’
“It must’ve been quite a hit to your pride, getting that drunk after just a few drinks, right? I had four bottles, by the way.”
“And then you threw up. You’re seriously gonna end up dead if you keep going like that.”
I half-opened my eyes and just ignored Do Yuda, who was teasing me. Then Woo Kangwon, who had been quietly watching us, lowered his gaze and fidgeted with his coffee cup before softly asking me a question.
“…Do you remember what you said yesterday? After all the staff had left.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t say anything and just went to sleep, didn’t I?”
When I replied in a grumpy voice, Woo Kangwon let out a small laugh as if he expected it and said, “I guess you don’t remember.”. Then he briefly exchanged glances with the other members. It was probably an attempt to avoid being noticed by me, but there’s no way my rather sensitive nerves wouldn’t catch on.
Feeling a bit anxious, I asked, “Did I do anything that could cause trouble?”. He slowly shook his head as if to reassure me, and then started to talk.
“No. You were really quiet. Your face just turned red, and you kind of spaced out without saying much. You didn’t even seem that drunk until the cameras were gone. Besides, even if you had done something, it was just us, so it’s fine. Don’t worry.”
“…You guys were acting like something had happened. I thought I might’ve said something weird or something…….”
When I finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing his words, Woo Kangwon went silent for a moment, then murmured, “I’d rather you had said something.”. Hearing that, I became certain I must’ve done something to trouble them, and I deliberately raised my voice as I replied.
“Still, I think I was able to get some rest thanks to you guys. I can’t even remember the last time I just sat around doing nothing ……. and I laughed a lot too.”
And then, since all the members were gathered together, I took the opportunity to bring up something that had been weighing on my mind from a while back.
“I’m sorry that the group’s name kept getting brought up in a negative light because of Han Seungbeom’s family issues. I’m also sorry for worrying you all. You guys must’ve been really tired too.”
“It’s nothing like that! Hyung, you don’t have to apologize. It’s not your fault. If anything, I should be the one apologizing for not being able to be of help to you.”2
Lee Danbi denied it, but I just gave a small shake of my head in reply, then continued, “…I’m going to take it head-on with my skills.”
“…….”
“Prism has overcome serious scandals multiple times before. From what I see, the reason they managed to do so is that Prism was a group loved for their skills. No matter how much trouble they faced because of scandals, the skills the public loved always remained the same. So, any fatigue from the scandals just faded into the background.”
Just as I was about to add, “I think we, too, can show that kind of outstanding skill”, Baek Kiryang, who was briefly checking his phone beside me, suddenly turned pale. When I fell silent, struck by a sudden sense of unease, that guy stared at me with trembling eyes before starting to speak in a shaky voice.
“Prism sunbaenims…….”
As soon as I heard Prism’s name, I jumped up from my seat.
Then, I quickly took the phone from Baek Kiryang’s hand and looked down at the screen.
[RH Entertainment’s Head, Kang Hyukwoo, Exposes, “Cha Woon has been stealing Seo Yutae’s works … I’m sorry for failing to stop him”]
[“Cha Woon doesn’t know how to compose songs, so Seo Yutae was forced to remain involved in Prism’s activities even after his departure.” YT Entertainment, “We are in the process of verifying the facts”]
[“Seo Yutae suffered from depression because of continuous plagiarism”, Is the Reason Behind Seo Yutae’s Extreme Choice Finally Coming to Light?]
I had, to some extent, anticipated that Kang Hyukwoo, having lost everything, wouldn’t just stay still. But this wasn’t just a simple attack; it was a strike that shook the very foundation of Prism.
‘He was the one who forced him to do it, and now he has the nerve to manipulate public opinion like this?’
Cha Woon felt so much guilt toward me, so he wouldn’t be able to confidently say ‘It’s not my fault’ in front of the public. After all, those guys believed that even my death was their fault.
Therefore, this was a perilous gamble and deception that Kang Hyukwoo could only attempt because he had spent a great deal of time with the Prism members.
‘…Kang Hyukwoo! You really won’t stop until the very end!’
Just as I was clenching my teeth in rising anger, my phone started ringing in my pocket.
I saw the name ‘Prism’s Cha Woon-sunbaenim‘ on the screen and picked up right away, but there was only silence on the other end.
“…….”
The call was definitely connected, but after a long silence, the anger that had been consuming my mind just moments ago suddenly died down like a splash of cold water, and anxiety quickly surged instead.
The call was definitely connected, but the silence lingered for a long time. It made the anger that had been consuming my mind moments ago suddenly die down, as if splashed with cold water, and anxiety quickly rose in its place.
“…Woon-ah?”
Feeling a swirl of emotions in my chest, I gently called his name, and shortly after, I heard a voice utterly consumed by panic.
“…Hyung, I’m sorry ……. I, I feel like I never properly apologized to you … I’m calling you now to apologize, even if it’s too late.”
Hearing the heavy guilt in Cha Woon’s voice, I felt a sharp pain, as though a knife had cut me.
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Translator’s Corner:
WE’REEEEEEEEEEEEE SO BAAACK #Drama #Family
It suddenly crossed my mind, but if you translated the abbreviated title only (just like how DoD is more well know as DoD than its full title “If I Fail to Debut, I’ll Get a Killer Disease”), you could call it “Top Idol’s Revenge” … remind me again why I kept this full long, unattractive title … Top Idol’s Revenge sounds bland, but at least it’s neat … I’ll use it to call this novel from now on …. you guys can use it if you’re too lazy to look up the kr name …. it’s direct translation of the abbreviated title anyway
Anyway, I think I already said before that my laptop’s battery is long dead, right? It will turned off right away if I don’t plug in the charger, and the battery indicator stayed at 0% not charging the whole time for months. BUT TODAY IT SUDDENLY SAID 255% ??????????? I;M SCARED ???? IS THIS THE SIGN IT’S GOING TO EXPLODE ?// should I take out the battery ….. omg it wont explode right … where did 255% even came from ,,,,,
Thank you Khairin Atikah Noordin for the lightsticks!
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