Chapter 195: Chapter 195

[- Yeonri (Lea Purple): I’ve always wanted to perform on stage with you!]

“Yeonhu-hyung, you said you always wanted to perform on stage with me?”

“Me? I did? When?”

[- Guchan (Mars): We haven’t had many opportunities. I’m really looking forward to performing together soon…]

“We haven’t had many opportunities until now.”

“No, I mean, since when…?”

“Aren’t you excited?”

[- Yeonri (Lea Purple): I’m so thrilled that my heart is racing!]

“I’m excited.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

I intercepted all the lines written in the script.

Everyone, including the cast and staff, looked at me with surprised eyes, but it had been ages since I knew what embarrassment or shame was.

Except for one person.

“Wow! What’s with this energy~?”

“Haha, should we do it again?”

Only the PD clapped happily.

When I cheekily took the lead, he shook his head.

“No, no. I like it just the way it is!! Absolutely perfect!! The friendship between rivals! This feeling of mutual recognition!”

Then he tapped the megaphone, instructing us to wrap up as the rental time for the restaurant was ending.

The PD was someone I had never worked with before, but I had heard enough stories to know a bit about him.

He had a reputation for ruining shows one after another until he worked with a writer who meticulously wrote scripts.

After achieving some moderate success, he became a script devotee ever since.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Whether I liked it or not was secondary.

Everyone had different working styles, but the essence of a PD was the same.

If it’s entertaining, it’s all good.

That’s why my spontaneous ad-lib was allowed.

As I got up to head back to the van, the maknae of Lea Purple, whose eyes had been darting left-to-right from a few steps away, bowed deeply.

“Hoyun, thank you for your hard work today!”

“Thank you for your hard work, sunbae.”

Even after the greeting, the Lea Purple member lingered around me, then cautiously called out to me from a few meters away.

“Totally! Thank you for today too!!”

She gave a thumbs-up, and as if that distance wasn’t enough, she quickly moved further away, making me smile slightly.

At least I’ve secured one insurance.’

Mars’ vocal saw this and seemed slightly overwhelmed.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, waving goodbye as he left for his next schedule.

At that moment, the assistant director approached to check the schedule once more.

“—then we’ll inform you of the additional filming schedule with Kang Yeonhu through your manager! Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The AD, seemingly pleased to have captured usable scenes, left with a wide smile.

A little distance away, High Five’s manager and Kang Yeonhu were having a conversation.

I greeted the staff goodbye and headed to the underground parking lot.

Our manager had already gone ahead to start the van and bring it around.

Half out of habit, I opened the item shop.

As I scrolled down the still mostly empty slots, the item I had been eyeing before glittered brightly.

[Good deeds spread through word of mouth ~!

You can leak your good deeds to the outside world as if someone else spread them.

Seo Hoyun, let’s do good deeds and create a positive image together!

※ The target of the good deed is limited to a third party unrelated to the player, and the standard of goodness is based on general consensus.

※ The designated good deeds are automatically exposed to random individuals in different forms.

Usage Points: 1,000 points]

My image was fine as it was, but…

This should wrap things up neatly.

I read the system window’s text carefully once more as I got on the elevator.

Just as the doors were about to close, a hand slipped through the gap.

“Excuse me, Seo Hoyun.”

It was Kang Yeonhu.

I straightened up from leaning against the elevator wall and smiled brightly at the person I had been waiting for.

“Hello.”

“Not so great.”

Kang Yeonhu stepped into the elevator and closed the door.

“What are you thinking?”

During the shoot, he was somewhat flustered, but it seemed he regained his composure as soon as it ended.

“Hey, hyung, what are you talking about?”

“Stop it, it’s creepy. Since when were we close enough for you to call me ‘hyung’?”

Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction at his appearance, as if he were bristling with his fur puffed up in anger, Kang Yeonhu spoke with a frown.

“Someone as clever as Seo Hoyun should know that if you’re not careful, you might provoke a backlash from the fandom.”

He must be referring to the time during Shining Star Season 2.

Since we were clearly competing for the top two spots back then.

I scratched my neck indifferently and looked straight ahead.

“Seo Hoyun, I’m getting déjà vu here.”

“From where?”

“From Shining Star. I know you deliberately raised Jeong Wonha up only to cut him down, all because of Jeong Dajun.”

“Oh, really?”

It would be stranger if he didn’t know, especially after I made a joke about it in front of Seong Jiwon.

– “You have reached the fourth basement floor.”

Kang Yeonhu pressed the close button again and turned his body completely to look straight at me.

“No matter how slick your words are upfront, I have a rough idea of what you’re up to behind the scenes.”

“Hmm.”

“I don’t care what you do to others, but don’t think of using me.”

Seeing Kang Yeonhu’s disgusted expression somehow amused me a little.

It wasn’t like what he said was wrong.

Kang Yeonhu, he’s quite sharp.

As he was about to leave the elevator after saying his piece, I grabbed his arm.

“It’s a request from Chae Jeongwoo-sunbae.”

“…!”

When I spoke honestly, Kang Yeonhu froze in his tracks and turned to look at me.

“Why is Jeongwoo-hyung involved?”

“Well, I owe him a bit, so I’m paying it back.”

As I released his arm and stepped back, Kang Yeonhu seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.

I didn’t know what kind of relationship they had, but at least I understood that Chae Jeongwoo looked out for Kang Yeonhu’s well-being, and Kang Yeonhu trusted him quite a bit.

“Yeonhu, I don’t lie that often. You can trust me.”

“And you said that to Jeong Wonha too?”

“Maybe?”

“…”

“I’m joking.”

I chuckled, and Kang Yeonhu frowned sharply.

“Well, there might be some backlash, but isn’t it better than wasting time filming something as boring as sticking to a rigid sunbae-hoobae script?”

“…”

“And after this program ends, let’s see what the reactions are. Let’s see how much your image changes.”

I recalled the item I had purchased earlier and smirked.

“I’ll pick something especially delicious for you, so just sit back and enjoy.”

“…Ha.”

Kang Yeonhu ran his hand through his hair with a deep, confused sigh.

He had been a trainee for a long time and thought he could handle anything with ease, but getting involved with someone like me seemed to have thrown everything off balance, leaving him with mixed feelings.

Well, it’s not my concern.

High Five was doing well.

They had stumbled a bit recently, but since they were still a card that a major entertainment company hadn’t discarded, this minor slip-up would quickly be rectified after a few broadcasts.

Even now, Kang Yeonhu himself was the one feeling the most anxious, restless, and insecure.

The fact that the senior group happened to be Black Call, combined with the lingering fear of momentarily veering off his successful path and being dragged back to his past, seemed to haunt him.

It’s the plight of a long-term trainee.

The label of a dropout was deeply ingrained in his bones.

In that moment, I also recalled Seong Jiwon, who had the same experience as him, and my mood suddenly soured, but I immediately erased it from my mind.

“Sunbae.”

When I called his name to interrupt the unpleasant thoughts that Kang Yeonhu was endlessly ruminating over, his slightly wavering eyes met mine.

“You seem to be deep in thought.”

I was meticulous when it came to calculations.

If I suffered a loss, I made sure they suffered a bigger one.

And If I owed a debt, I repaid it no matter what.

But since we were all adults, responsibility was each person’s own.

“You know what to do when the camera is rolling, right?”

Regardless of whether Kang Yeonhu had a dumbfounded look on his face, I grinned and stepped out of the elevator first.

I swear on the banana I ate this morning: this guy, Kim Yeonhu, before rolling around in the big league for ten years, was 100% Kim Seonghyeon.

.

.

.

“Wow! So, this is Daepaseong!”

“Yup.”

“I hear there’s talk these days about changing the name to DPS!”

It seemed Daepaseong had finally realized that the company’s name was lame.

After two additional shoots with Kang Yeonhu over the past week, we moved on to Daepaseong for music work.

I was casually discussing today’s schedule with the assistant director when Kang Yeonhu got out of the van.

“You’re here?”

Since our conversation in the elevator, every time Yeonhu would look at me, the corners of his mouth slightly twitched downward.

I stifled a laugh that was threatening to burst out and waved my hand lightly.

“Ah…”

“…”

“Uh, uh, uh… Hel…”

“Hmm?”

Muttering as if his stomach was terribly upset, Kang Yeonhu finally gave a greeting.

“…Hello, Hoyun.”

Who would think we were close seeing us like this?

His acting was atrocious.

Ding!

[Really pathetic…]

Was it because I was the one he was dealing with?

Well, it’s not really an important issue, so I let it go and guided the staff inside the building.

“Let’s start with the music work.”

“Oh! Are you working with Kang Ichae? Most of The Dawn’s songs were composed and written by Kang Ichae, right?”

“Come to think of it, he’s really famous!”

“Is our member that famous?”

As we entered the lobby, the staff’s words made my shoulders involuntarily tense up with pride.

“Of course! He’s turned down all the offers.”

Well, that was just because Kang Ichae did whatever pleased him.

But I also highly regard Kang Ichae as a genius.

Even his charisma was rated as an S-.

Being on par with Joo Woosung said it all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I was confident that if he whipped up a few pieces, the buzz for this program would increase significantly.

Start with Kang Ichae, then showcase Seong Jiwon’s vocal talents.

“Haha, is that so?”

While pondering how to best highlight each member’s unique charm, I led everyone to the recording studio.

I thought that the scene would turn out quite well if it captured Kang Ichae working with his headset as usual, so I opened the studio door.

“…Eek?”

I was met with the sight of Kang Ichae, perched on a chair with his feet up, spinning around by himself, wearing the pineapple hat I had worn during the concert.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The staff fell silent.

I quietly closed the door.

I had to use up all my patience for the day to resist the urge to rush in, grab him by the collar, and shake him while shouting, “I told you I was coming today!”