The Maknae Has to Be an IdolVolume 113

This 𝓬ontent is taken from 𝐟𝐫𝗲𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗯𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝐨𝗺

[Mission success.]

[Reward will be given.]

[Control over Insight has increased.]

[Please beware as there may be temporary pain.]

As it had always been, my reward was followed by a piercing pain, and I braced myself. I thought I would be used to this pain by now, but...that wasn’t the case.

‘Hmph!’ It hurt as much as when I first got the Insight ability. At that time, it felt as if a nervous system that I hadn't been aware of was punctured with holes, but now, it felt as if that punctured path was getting slashed all around. Fortunately, I had prepared myself beforehand, and I lowered my head not to show how pained I was and bit my lips. I held onto anything next to me and endured. I was grateful that the broadcast was over, as it would’ve caused a huge fuss otherwise. Everyone in the chat box would’ve been asking if I was crying and so on otherwise.

Sigh. I slowly breathed in and exhaled. The pain subsided gradually and the sensation that felt as if my body was getting slashed disappeared.

“Haaa.” I breathed in and out once more and the pain dispersed.

“Please let go of my arm now, Mr. Tae-Yoon.”

“...Huh?”

I looked up and saw Kang Hyun-Sung talking to me. It was then I realized that what I had grabbed to endure the pain was Kang Hyun-Sung’s arm of all things.

‘I can’t believe it...’ I thought.

“My blood isn’t circulating,” he told me.

“Ah, I’m sorry.” I loosened my grip and pulled away. After feeling that each of my fingers was stiff, I realized that I must have grabbed Kang Hyun-Sung’s arm extremely tightly. Yet, Kang Hyun-Sung remained calm without much change of expression. I didn’t know whether he was numb to pain or he endured it, but I was about to apologize when Kang Hyun-Sung asked. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝘸𝑒𝒷𝘯ℴ𝘷𝑒𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝑚

“Are you feeling sick?” Kang Hyun-Sung asked first.

“...No.”

“You seemed to be in pain.”

“...No, I just become like this sometimes when my blood pressure is low,” I just made up any excuse that came to my mind. There was no better excuse than low blood pressure for a perfectly fine person to suddenly falter and grab a nearby person’s arms.

“You should monitor your blood pressure well. It can become serious later.” f(r)eenovelkiss

“...Yes, thank you.” I had planned to apologize, but the conversation ended with Kang Hyun-Sung expressing his worries about me.

“Good job on your live broadcast~”

“Good job~”

Then while cleaning up the site, the Showcase staff announced, “Episode 5 is going to air today so please watch it at that time~”

Hearing this, I realized, ‘Oh yeah. Today was episode 5’s release date.’ I had been so focused on the shooting that I forgot about it. The current time was 5:30 p.m.

‘There’s only thirty minutes left until the show airs.’ Half an hour was an ambiguous time to do anything. The shooting site today took place in Gyeonggi-go and it would be difficult to arrive at our lodging place in such a short time whatever we did.

‘I guess we should watch it on our way to our place in the car,’ I thought and also packed my belongings.

“Should we watch the episode altogether?” Yeon-Hoon then suddenly proposed.

“Oh!”

“Sounds good!”

“That’s great!”

“Since we don’t have any more things on our schedule, wouldn’t it be good for all of us to watch it together?” Yeon-Hoon said and all the Only One members and my group members agreed. I thought Do-Seung wouldn’t like stuff like this, but he seemed to be looking forward to it too.

‘What?’ Everyone appeared so eager to make friends that I wondered how they had been able to hold back until now.

“Since there isn’t enough time before the episode airs, should we watch it together here?” Yeon-Hoon suggested.

“But don’t we have to empty out this shooting site?” I asked. Our shooting site was set up to look like a classroom. It was only right for us to clear the area when our time of use was over.

It was then, Park Soo-Chul suddenly approached us and asked, “Are you all going to watch the show together here?”

“Ah, yes! I thought it would be good since we are all here!”

“Then, why don’t you all use this space to watch and go? Since I reserved this space until night-time 12 am, it will be fine.”

“Really? Thank you!”

“No problem~ I hope you all have fun~” Park Soo-Chul said and left, leaving a place for all of us to watch the show together.

“This is great. Don’t you think so, Tae-Yoon?” Yeon-Hoon asked me with a bright smile on his face, and I replied after a pause. “...Yes, it’s nice.”

I thought I could watch the show comfortably on my way back home, but it appeared I had no choice but to uncomfortably watch it here. I could become more uncomfortable because of the show’s content or because of this entire environment where we would all have to watch the show together.

‘It feels like everyone wants to make friends except for me,’ I thought. Though I wasn’t pleased with the situation, I didn’t want to ruin the mood just because of me.

And thus, we went to get permission from Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna first.

“So, you all want to see the episode here together?”

“Of course, you can~ Then, we will go eat somewhere nearby and come back. Do you want us to buy you guys anything?”

“No, we will just find things to eat ourselves.”

“We will contact you both right after the show ends!”

We got our permission without many problems. But when the Only One members went to their manager to ask if they could stay to watch the show, they got quite a different response.

“Ah, I said no! Why do I have to repeat myself! Why do you guys have to annoy me so much?”

Unlike us, who easily got permission, the Only One members heard quite an earful from their manager.

‘Are they fighting?’ Park Young-Ho, who went to ask the manager as the representative of the group, seemed to be just getting one-sidedly scolded. Though my members and I were shocked by the loud scolding, the one who seemed to be the most upset was Only One. They were probably surprised to hear their request get denied after thinking it would easily get accepted.

“I will go to check the situation,” Kang Hyung-Sung said.

Kang Hyun-Sung clearly received different treatment. The manager, who had been sitting cross-legged, stood up straight, but his eyes looked more hostile than before.

“What’s the problem?” Kang Hyun-Sung asked.

“I already told you all that we needed to return to the dormitory after the shooting is over. Why aren’t you following the schedule?”

“Is returning to our rooms also part of the schedule? And will it be such a big problem for us to return after seeing the new episode?”

“Haa...Can’t you guys just not do it when I tell you ‘no’?”

“If you aren’t satisfied with the situation, you can leave first.”

“Then, what happens if you guys get into an accident or something? Are you going to take responsibility? Hm? Will you?”

I wondered why the two’s relationship appeared so strained, and the manager’s eyes were full of aggression as if he was brimming with pent-up anger. Kang Hyun-Sung spoke calmly, but his atmosphere was also cold, and he appeared clearly angry.

“Yes, I will take responsibility. I will also give you the taxi fee. You can leave after giving us the car keys.”

“No, how can I just trust you?”

“Then, what is it that you want?”

“I want all of us to leave by car. That was the plan in the first place.”

“It’s 5:30 p.m., right? According to the original schedule, the shooting was supposed to end at 8 p.m. If we are perfectly going according to schedule, we shouldn’t leave right now.”

“That’s because we came up with a long time frame with delays in mind.”

“That’s why I suggested you to leave first. I will give you the taxi fee.”

“That’s not the problem.”

The two’s relationship clearly didn’t seem normal between a manager and a singer. It was as if they were wary of each other and wanted to get into a fight. I wondered why they were acting like this when Only One had the final performance soon, and they should be supporting each other more than ever.

‘Ah, that’s right. Their situation is different from ours.’ I immediately understood why the manager was behaving like this. If Only One won The Showcase 2, their company will change from TH Entertainment into a joint company. From TH Entertainment’s position, they probably didn’t want Only One to win the show and were probably talking amongst themselves about what they could do to prevent that scenario.

Yet, since the Only One members seemed to have no intention of giving up the first spot, the company was probably angry at them; and as a result, Kang Hyun-Sung and the manager must have gone through some conflict over time. Though I understood the manager’s position, this was going too far.

‘Even if that was the case, there’s no need for the manager to show this kind of attitude. He’s crossing the line,’ I thought. ‘He’s just releasing his stress on them. This is a problem with his personality.’

“Ah, let’s just go. Quickly get in the car,” The manager said while taking the car keys and leaving the shooting set. With the car key in the manager’s hands, there was no choice but Only One to follow the manager’s words. Of course, there was still the option of returning to their place by riding a taxi but that would place them in unnecessary danger. If I were in the same situation as Kang Hyun-Sung, I would’ve been angry by the situation too. Maybe I would’ve cursed too if no one was looking.

‘But I guess he has to endure.’ One couldn’t just live according to their emotions. Kang Hyun-Sung stared at the manager, who was leaving for a bit and then, walked back toward us.

“Unfortunately, it seems like we can’t watch the show together. Good work on today’s shooting. Hope you guys have a safe trip back home,” Kang Hyun-Sung told us.

Tap. He was about to leave when I grabbed Kang Hyun-Sung’s arm without meaning to.

“...What are you doing?” Kang Hyun-Sung looked at me astounded.

“Ah.” Even I didn’t know why I was acting like this. I was the one who thought it was bothersome to watch the show altogether and felt uncomfortable by the situation. But now that Only One was leaving, I wanted to hold them back.

‘Maybe I am feeling a sense of camaraderie with them,’ I thought. Perhaps, I empathized with their situation of being stuck in a bad company too.

In the end, I said, “I forgot to say I'm sorry for grabbing you. Be careful on your way back.” Then, I let go of his arm. Kang Hyun-Sung looked at me strangely and took the rest of his members to the car. Thus, only us, Ms. Seung-Yeon, and Ms. Hyuna remained on the site.

“Wow, that was really scary.” Ms. Seung-Yeon was the first to speak.

“Yes, I didn’t know there were still people who worked like that these days,” Ms. Hyuna said.

“So scary...”

“I suppose even Only One has their problems.”

“It’s not easy.”

“That was frightening.”

My members also commented after Only One left.

“Then, should we also head back to our place?”

“We can watch the show on our way with our laptops.”

“Okay.”

“Sounds good~”

Thus, we got in the car with Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna. Only One seemed to have already left as their car was gone from the parking lot. And on our way back, I kept thinking about TH Entertainment.

‘Even in the future, I only heard bad news about the company.’ Frankly, I had no reason to worry about Only One since my members’ lives were on the line right now, and I had no leisure to care for others.

‘....But their future could change with my interference.’ Originally, Only One was The Showcase’s winner but now, it was unclear who would be the final winner. If we won the show, Only One would have to remain in TH Entertainment, and Only One’s future would change dramatically from the original future. My heart grew heavy, but my group members turned on their laptops and went into an OTT site.

“Did you turn on your computer?”

“Yes, I connected it to the hotspot.”

“Okay, let’s watch it~”

I also turned my head in the direction of the laptop screen. It was slightly over 6 p.m. now. The commercials had already ended, and the show was about to start.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“I wonder how we will appear this time.”

My members and I focused on the screen.

‘Only One...hm,’ but even then, I wondered what would happen to Only One if we won.