The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol

Chapter 193

– Jeong Dajun: Hehe~^^

As a result of eating, sleeping, practicing, and endlessly attending schedules in the practice room like a madman…

– Jeong Dajun: We’ve displayed the trophy~~~~~~!!!!!!

– Kang Ichae: Clap clap clap~~!!

…We achieved five crowns.

I skimmed through the group chat, swiping past a selfie of Jeong Dajun and Kang Ichae flashing V-signs and beaming in front of five trophies lined up in the company lobby.

– Kang Ichae: Dajun, why don’t you use this emoji ^ᆺ^ these days??!

– Jeong Dajun: I’ve matured

– Kim Seonghyeon: Sure…

[Quest Complete!

Achieve a triple crown on music shows!

Congratulations! You’ve scored not just a triple crown but five crowns.

Reward: 3,000 points.]

Even through the text alone, I could feel Jeong Dajun bouncing with excitement.

I looked at the quest window that displayed the message “Quest Complete” with a satisfied smile.

We had achieved five crowns in our second year—or third, if you counted from our debut.

Everything is progressing smoothly as planned.

I snapped my fingers to pull up Kim Seonghyeon’s stats on the system window.

[Accessing Kim Seonghyeon’s stats.]

[Kim Seonghyeon

The light of this era, our hero!

So good that even Seo Hoyun would envy him…]

Was this a joke?

[Singing: B0

Dancing: S0

Variety: C0

Acting: D0

??: ???

Charm: A-]

Kim Seonghyeon’s dance stats had reached S0.

As expected, it gets harder to improve the higher you go.

It was a little disheartening that my dance stats hadn’t improved yet.

But with Kim Seonghyeon’s improvement and visible results, I was somewhat satisfied.

“Ah~, we did it, didn’t we?”

“Hm~?”

As I flopped onto the bed and lifted my phone, Seong Jiwon, who was next to me, laughed softly.

“Because of the five crowns?”

“That too.”

I chuckled and opened The Dawn’s official SNS.

[We couldn’t keep it to ourselves, so here’s a release of some B-cuts]

It was a B-cut from Seong Jiwon’s photoshoot that graced the cover of a famous fashion magazine.

This achievement of five awards was entirely thanks to the fans’ support, so Lee Jihyeon contacted the magazine for permission to release the photos.

Comments poured in, not just in Korean but in all sorts of languages, saying things like, “Why is this a B-cut?” “Seong Jiwon, you’re my spring,” and “I want to lick the spot where the snot is.”

Management is handling things well this time.

The title track?

It was doing well.

The other tracks?

They received incredibly high reviews.

While we were focused on dance practice, Seong Jiwon and Jaewoo were always singing.

As a result, the improvement in Seong Jiwon’s ability to express emotion through singing was palpable.

Especially since it was the first time we performed the included songs on stage during this promotion, Kang Ichae firmly set the mood, and Seong Jiwon’s heavenly vocals nailed it.

The Dawn’s popularity wasn’t just a bubble, and at this stage, no one could match our skills.

Every time we took first place, Yoon Heeyeon couldn’t even manage his expression, making it clear just how much effort he had put in.

When Kim Seonghyeon was giving his acceptance speech, Seong Jiwon, who had been quietly standing by, exchanged glances with Yoon Heeun and smiled brightly, which made me feel a bit strange.

“Yeah, even our kid is an adult.”

I turned to look at Seong Jiwon.

Seong Jiwon, flipping through a book, met my gaze and reflexively flashed a gentle smile.

“What?”

“But how do you end up being disliked by someone like that?”

I looked at Seong Jiwon’s innocent face.

“…Well, that’s.”

When Seong Jiwon first joined Daepaseong, he was reportedly in a terrible state.

So much so that Kim Seonghyeon was terrified of him.

In other words, it seemed he had a hard time at his previous agency.

I wanted to honestly dig into what happened back then and how it related to me, but—

—I decided to take a different approach.

“Let’s eat.”

But it was like Seong Jiwon was drawing a picture for me.

“What are you curious about?”

Seong Jiwon, who had already caught onto something, asked with a slight smile around his eyes.

“…When you met Yoon Heeyeon, what did you say?”

“Hmm?”

“He was shaken up.”

It was more of a question to deflect than genuine curiosity.

I recalled Yoon Heeyeon saying, “He was pretty sharp-tongued too.”[1]

“Ah… that.”

Seong Jiwon deliberated for a while before displaying a wall-like smile.

“Do you really need to know, Hoyun?”

Suddenly, I remembered the “Ocean Train” MV shoot when Seong Jiwon caught the staff badmouthing us.[2]

Seong Jiwon, in turn, got caught by Kang Ichae and me, and he had that exact smile back then.

I raised an eyebrow and turned my attention back to my phone.

“No, I don’t.”

“Right.”

Thud!

The sound of Seong Jiwon closing the book reached my ears.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“There are so many strange and bad people in this world.”

Wait, was that about me?

I lifted my gaze and looked at Seong Jiwon again.

“People who can’t stand seeing others succeed and enjoy when others are unhappy.”

Wasn’t this fucking about me?

I kept my mouth shut tightly, sensing that if I said something wrong next to a person with good character, it might not end well for me.

“There’s no need to pay attention to people like Yoon Heeun, and the more you listen to what they say, the more you lose. People don’t change easily anyway.”

Seong Jiwon, who had gotten up from the bed, continued speaking as he placed a book back on the shelf.

“There’s already not enough time to spend with the people you like and care about.”

Seong Jiwon felt a bit unfamiliar.

I had expected him to say that even bad things could change with enough effort.

“…”

“Right now, I’m dealing with those damper.”

Seong Jiwon turned his body and looked at me.

I avoided his penetrating gaze.

“What if someone you thought was good turns out to be a bastard?”

“Hmm?”

“It’s a waste of effort, according to you.”

“Hahaha, me?”

Seong Jiwon tilted his head slightly, as if he found the situation amusing.

“It’s okay because it’s a highly subjective standard.”

Seong Jiwon stretched and then tapped my shoulder before starting to tidy up the bed.

As I watched him, I received a message from the manager telling me to come down for my personal schedule. Only then did I fix my long bangs and sluggishly move my body.

At that moment, Seong Jiwon suddenly turned around with a serious expression.

“But, Hoyun, I’ve had something on my mind these days too.”

“What is it?”

“I’m getting greedy for comedy.”

“Just spit it out.”

Seong Jiwon’s eyes swept over me with a look of betrayal.

Instead of comforting him, I put on a cap and slipped out of the dorm, climbing into the waiting van.

Is it my turn now?

Regardless how it may have started, thanks to it, Kim Seonghyeon’s stats increased, and we even snagged five crowns.

Now it was time to fulfill Chae Jeongwoo’s request.

Honestly, it was unexpected.

I didn’t know Chae Jeongwoo would care so much about a hoobae.

High Five was already being referred to as a second-tier group even before appearing in Shining Star Season 2.

Although they couldn’t achieve the first-tier status expected by WH Entertainment, they were pushed by the agency and gained some domestic popularity, which could have naturally elevated them to first-tier status.

However, WH Entertainment chose to make High Five focus on the U.S. over domestic activities.

Recently, thanks to the group’s steadily rising YouTube channel, they’ve naturally gained recognition overseas and was able to enter the U.S. market, earning them a tremendous amount of foreign currency.

No one could tell if anything anomalous existed, but there were opinions that the agency, seeing this, got greedy and sent High Five prematurely overseas.

Well, in the end, it wasn’t a huge success, but it didn’t fail spectacularly either.

They made a decent amount of foreign currency.

But it seemed like their domestic recognition was gradually decreasing, and their reputation was being chipped away.

The schedule I was heading to now was likely intended to refresh the image of Kang Yeonhu or High Five.

It was a variety show prepared with a lot of money.

[Wanna Sing with Me?]

The content was to select a few of the currently popular idol groups—even if not top-tier—and organize a music festival together.

What Chae Jeongwoo requested was to take good care of Kang Yeonhu, as it was his first time appearing solo on a public broadcast variety show.

It’s understandable.

It was quite challenging—no, very challenging to pass off the first experience on a public broadcast variety show as nothing.

First peculiar point.

I took out my phone and accessed SNS.

Then I searched for the name of the variety show.

[Heyㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Wanna Sing with Me? What is this?]

This plan, you see…

It got leaked.

“Haha.”

A laugh naturally came out.

Leaks were one of the most useful and my favorite controversies in my arsenal.

Existing fans seemed to have exploded with anger, as posts and replies poured in even though it wasn’t a private account.

[Wanna Sing with Me?

No, wanna kill me]

[Ah fuck, and it’s so baseless ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Why are they coming out with such an absurd combination? It’s not even long since the end of ShiStar? Does WH Entertainment have no brain???]]

Even this time, High Five’s fans seemed angrier at WH Entertainment than The Dawn’s fandom.

The Noeuls weren’t entirely without complaints either, but having taken first place in a survival program, appeared on a solo reality show for a week, wrapped up with a live concert, and even swept five crowns with the title track of their mini-album, their sense of replaceability subtly kicked in and kept things relatively quiet.

[Can we kill WH Entertainment?]

Fans, who had cherished and raised them dearly, were now seeing them being pushed into a program that didn’t quite fit.

Add the fact that although their overseas recognition did increase, they were immediately rolled into the U.S. like a rice cake.

At a time when the team should be deciding things together, they sent only Kang Yeonhu to a variety show.

From the fans’ perspective, it must have seemed like a complete mess.

[Come back to Korea, you bastards

[Fuck… really… Even the group disease that appeared in ShiStarㅋㅋㅋㅋ My blood pressure is risingㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

The Noeuls, having already experienced a series of similar situations several times, just quietly blocked the opponent.

Since their subsequent actions were completely opposite, the two groups currently showed different patterns, making it difficult for the fandoms to get along.

[Title: The recently leaked variety show

Why?? Why can’t we do it?

Answer: It’s like having the Asian Games between Korea, Japan, and China, and not picking representatives from the South Korean, Japanese, and Chinese teams, but telling them to eat the team instead

Chosen answer: Ah…. I understand ㄱㅅ]

There was a second peculiarity, but that was for later.

As I roughly organized the situation in my head, I arrived at the filming location.

I bowed to the staff and moved to the waiting room.

– Jeong Dajun: Seong Jiwon… you are my “Spling” and “Lomance.[3]

– Kang Ichae: Your English is good.

– Kim Seonghyeon: I heard that.

Such intellectual beauty was dripping.

Looking at Seong Jiwon’s B-cut photo and the nonsense full of affection being spewed in The Dawn’s group chat, I raised the corners of my mouth as I saw the polished face that must be rotting inside.

“Let’s just get straight to the point since we know everything.”

“Let’s take care of what we need to and get out there.”

“Pfft!”

That was a direct hit.

I quite liked this aspect of Kang Yeonhu.

“Do you have anything in mind?”

A plan that would firmly establish my image while highlighting the individual charms of The Dawn members, quell controversies, and, oh, also boost Kang Yeonhu’s recognition.

“It’s a bit vague. How to do it? Do you have a method, Seo Hoyun?”

I had thought of such a method.

I gave Kang Yeonhu, who was looking at me with his arms crossed, a captivating “charming participant’s alluring smile” as I approached him.

At the same time, I brushed off the dust on his shoulder and whispered softly.

“Oh, Kang Yeonhu…”

“Who are you talking to right now?”

Of course, most participants, for various reasons, would come at me the day after the broadcast, cursing, “You fucker, how did I fall for your trick back then?”

But what could be done?

“Just trust and follow me.”

It was their fault for trusting me.

[1]Episode 128.

[2]Episode 59.

[3] That’s how Dajun literally spelled “spring” and “romance.”