As the day filled with the team-building game of Cops and Robbers, intense song selection, part distribution, and personal interviews waned, the exhausted multinational roommates began trickling back to their dorm.
“Phew…”
“Oh, Gao Yan! You’re back? Good job tod… Euh!?”
Ryota, who had just finished his shower and was languishing in bed, greeted Gao Yan as he entered but was startled mid-sentence.
“Gao Yan, what happened? Your face looks like Ao Oni* from ghost stories, not an idol trainee!”
(T/N: An Ao Oni is a blue demon in Japanese mythology. In traditional Japanese art, they’re often ugly or ghastly in appearance. There are other tropes and stories related to oni colors, but it doesn’t seem to have any particular connection to this discussion.)
Although it might sound a bit harsh, Ryota’s comment was on the mark.
Gao Yan, with a face that seemed both irate and miserable, shook his head in dismay and opened his mouth.
“Ryota. Today, I have come to realize the truth.”
“All of a sudden? Hmm… What truth have you discovered?”
“Being an idol is hard.”
And for someone who normally boasts high self-esteem to make such a statement, there must have been some serious issues.
Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Ryota quickly patted Gao Yan’s shoulder as he sat him down on his bed.
“Gao Yan, was practice very tough today? Did you eat all the energy bars you got from the raffle?”
“I ate four. Right now, they are dancing in my stomach. Ironically, they dance a dance I cannot perform to.”
With a loud groan, Gao Yan grabbed his head and soon began muttering something frantically in Cantonese.
Even if Ryota didn’t understand everything, he could tell it was cursing.
“Uh oh? Is this okay? There’s a camera here!”
But in that moment, the room housed only Ryota and Gao Yan. Kim Chunyong, who usually played the role of mediator, was still washing himself in a steamy shower.
Ryota knelt down and clutched his hands together, desperately hoping for the return of their other international roommate, Logan.
‘Logan! Come back quickly! I can’t calm Gao Yan down by myself!’
However, upon Logan’s return, Ryota realized his judgment was off.
“God, it’s a complete mess…”
“Why is Logan like this too!”
Had Ryota compared Gao Yan’s face to that of Ao Oni earlier? Logan looked even worse.
His expression was sad, and his gestures conveyed a sense of injustice.
Though they didn’t speak the same language, Gao Yan, understanding Logan’s feelings perfectly, embraced him, sharing their emotional turmoil. While their hearts were agitated, for Ryota, who was an observer in the chaos, thought it was a sudden disaster.
“I was just… trying to do well.”
“Me too. I just wanted to lead my team in a better direction!”
“What in the world happened to you two…”
“Ryota!”
“Ryota!”
“Ugh, don’t call my name with such weight! It makes me nervous!”
Caught between a shouting Hong Konger and a Brit, Ryota was trembling when suddenly a click sound seemed like the gates of heaven opening.
“…Are you guys tormenting Ryota right now? You know there’s a camera, right?”
Well, it was Kim Chunyong, who could calm the situation down, freshly showered and stepped out of the bathroom, looking soft and fresh. It was something similar to that.
“Chunyong Anikiiiiiii!”
Ryota was the first to run to Kim Chunyong, tears streaming down his face as he approached, soon followed by the other two joining in.
“What? Why? Why are you all like this, huh?”
Effortlessly dodging the pitiful lot, Kim Chunyong, unable to hide his perplexed expression, sat them down on the floor.
“Stay away from me if you haven’t showered. Even if you’ve showered, no crying near me. What’s going on? If you’re people, speak like people, kids.”
“That’s cruel!”
“Right, it’s cruel!”
“And isn’t it cruel to rush at someone who’s just showered with your sweaty clothes? That’s funny.”
The robust trio of male trainees sat on the floor staring at Kim Chunyong, their scene perfectly captured by the camera, and later, producer Ju would praise Chunyong with applause, saying, “This guy really knows broadcasting.”
Though Kim Chunyong hadn’t planned his actions with that in mind, what’s good is good.
“Logan. Are you ready to talk now?”
“Yea. A bit, just a bit.”
Logan, somewhat calmed down, made a straight face and glanced at Gao Yan, then started speaking first.
By now, he seemed more aware of the camera and chose his words more carefully, showing he had gotten the hang of the survival show dynamics.
“Hey, bro. Well, you know…”
As Logan slowly spoke in his awkward Korean, Kim Chunyong raised an eyebrow and scratched his cheek.
* * *
After mumbling and spitting out a few words, Logan’s words were simple to summarize.
“Guys, from what I’ve heard, I think this song is the best.”
He recommended the song he felt he could produce the best, picking the one he believed he could arrange most effectively from Lady Swan’s tracks, and recommended it to the members.
He thought that with a song he was confident in, good results would naturally follow.
But…
“Are we really okay with this one?”
“Um, I kind of… want to select a different song.”
The other trainees were lukewarm in their responses.
“Ah, of course, Hwa Sung said it was good. But it still didn’t go well. Probably because we haven’t actually heard the arranged song yet.”
Logan glanced at the camera and trailed off, but I could roughly guess what had happened behind the scenes.
Somewhere off-camera, someone probably told Logan, “If this doesn’t work out, it’s your fault.” Having never faced such hostility in his life, Logan must have been quite dumbfounded.
How do I know these details of an unseen situation so precisely? Because I’ve been in Logan’s shoes before.
“With Leopold, of course, the choreography is intense and cool. Let’s go with a recent song…”
“Rex, wouldn’t that just highlight the dance members too much?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, I like the idea. But, can you teach us all the dance?”
“Me? A-all the choreography?”
“No, I didn’t mean to pressure you. But since you brought it up, I thought maybe you were prepared. And…”
When things went south.
‘Can you take responsibility for it?’
YOU ARE READING
TMMIB!
Random**Story not mine** Title: The Malicious Member is Back! Nicknamed the worst malicious member in idol history, called 'Trash-Rex.' Stage name Rex, real name Kim Chunyong. As he was urgently arrested, with only the entertainment world waiting for him...
