Save a Failed Idol's Life

Chapter 136:

As soon as I sent the message, he replied right away.

[H] (emoji) 12:29 AM

Stop sending me those crying emojis. I reached the limit of my patience and pressed the call button.

After a brief ringtone, Hwijin answered the phone.

“What’s up?”

I skipped the usual greetings and asked him bluntly.

“I couldn’t stand being in the dorm, so I went out for a bit. I have a schedule tomorrow, so I have to go back soon, but anyway…”

“What’s going on?”

Did he have a fight with the others in the dorm? But I knew that Yu-geon had dropped out of the second mission group assignment before the production team gave us permission to go home.

“I know you’re having a hard time, but can you please tell me what’s going on?”

I suppressed my frustration and urged him to speak. Hwijin opened his mouth cautiously.

“…Yu-geon announced that he would quit his activities after today’s stage…”

“What?”

Quit his activities? What the hell was he talking about? I told him to face his problems and not avoid them, but did he take that as a cue to break through in a different way? I couldn’t understand the situation and my head went blank.

“He suddenly apologized for being selfish all this time, and I wondered what got into him… He said he would continue his personal schedule for the rest of the contract period, but he wouldn’t work as a group anymore. Do you have any idea why?”

Hwijin asked me, almost sobbing.

‘…’

Maybe that’s the reason. It was me.

But I didn’t tell him to quit his group activities. I just wanted him to deal with the situation where he was causing trouble to everyone around him and not telling the real reason. What kind of messed up mentality and logic did he have? I felt dizzy too.

“So, did he also drop out of the second mission group assignment?”

“Yeah… I’m going to talk to the manager and the company more, but he said there would be no more Floss activities…”

It was easy to guess that the situation was irreparable when the members had already come to blows.

‘That’s why I envy you. You can think that you can persuade them.’

I remembered what Yu-geon had said to me. His naive faith that his common sense would naturally be accepted by others.

I had no idea how Yu-geon had talked to the other members… But I could clearly tell that they were not the type to stick together after a small conflict like a climax.

“Did he say anything else about his personal situation?”

I asked him anxiously.

“No… He just said that he couldn’t do group activities anymore because of his panic disorder.”

That bastard only listened to half of what I said. I told him not to avoid the problem and explain the reason for his actions, but he only did the former and completely ignored the latter. My head hurts.

“What about his health issues…?”

“Well… The company said they knew…”

‘They knew.’ Did that mean they would let him quit his group activities as he wanted, or did that mean they would put him back in when he recovered? Only Yu-geon and the company would know that.

At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Floss leader suddenly shouted ‘Hey, you bastards!’ and cried on stage.

I understood why he said he couldn’t stand the gloomy and suffocating atmosphere and went outside.

“Is there a chance that he did it impulsively…?”

“I don’t know. He went straight to the hotel after it was over and left with his stuff… I don’t even know where he is… Ugh… Really… Why is he doing this to me…”

Hwijin’s emotions boiled over and he let out a stifled sound, exhaling a long sigh.

“He must have gone home. Don’t worry too much and get some rest. It’s not like you can stop him from making a mistake by talking to him.”

“Yeah…”

His voice sounded noticeably gloomy and it made me feel uneasy. What was he thinking?

I was planning to suggest that he could work as a solo idol under my management after Floss disbanded in six months, if things went well enough.

But he suddenly declared that he was quitting? I couldn’t sort out my thoughts and I sighed deeply, trying to calm Hwijin down.

“Go in and take a shower and sleep. It’s already done and it’s not your fault, so don’t worry too much.”

What’s meant to happen will happen anyway. Even if I had told Hwijin what I talked with Yu-geon yesterday, it would have been impossible to stop him.

So there was no point in tormenting myself with what-ifs, like if I had been more flexible or if I had stopped him earlier.

“I’m sorry. You must be busy with the audition right now, but I keep taking your time and asking you for favors…”

He was right. To be honest, I felt like they should solve their own problems internally.

But I was already involved. I couldn’t ignore their pleas for help or listening.

‘It’s my meddling that’s the problem…’

“No, it’s okay. I contacted you first because I was worried, so don’t mind it.”

But it wasn’t easy to not mind it. I nodded reluctantly and ended the call.

What was I thinking? I wondered if I should use the replay service again, but then I thought.

‘It doesn’t seem like there was any more trouble. Maybe it’s over with Yu-geon’s disappearance.’

Wait a minute, we have things to do too, why do I have to check and stress over other groups’ fights?

I suddenly felt wronged. I wanted to see only good things, only good things.

I wanted to get some hopeful and positive energy, not these gloomy guys’ stories of hitting and getting hit.

I lay down on the bed and logged into my SNS account for monitoring. The teaser video had been released a while ago, so the feed must have been crazy with the teaser reveal.

‘Sigh…’

I took a short breath and checked the feed. Fortunately, the reactions were mostly positive, as expected.

[- I thought it was a mess when Leader Jo was so cold in the teaser, but I guess it’s not that bad?]

[? Don’t be fooled, those NBS bastards have tricked us more than once] 𝔣𝖗𝔢𝖊𝔴𝖊𝔟𝔫𝔬𝖛𝔢𝖑.𝔠𝔬𝔪

[? ???? The voice that keeps coming out at the end of the teaser, I feel sorry for him, he’ll probably be reused again and again]

[? My heart is empty…]

[- (link) If you haven’t seen this, you’re doomed to watch it 78237462436478 times]

[? When did this come out???]

[? It came out at midnight???? They said they count the views or something, sigh

… I’m just playing it over and over??]

[? What the hell, they’re not even streaming, they’re putting the views in the evaluation, crazy bastards?( ?’?益’?)? .?( ?’?益’?)? .?( ?’?益’?)? .]

[? ??????? It’s so close with the views right now, it’s fourth place, I want to raise it more?????]

Ah…

Because of that damn view count, I felt guilty again with the logic that ‘we’re too weak and we can’t give our favorite idol the performance we love.’

‘Why is there nothing good anywhere?’

I slapped my forehead and lay down on the bed again.

But I tried to squeeze out some positive energy.

I got up and refreshed my feed. There were some people who genuinely liked our stage video.

[- If you haven’t seen this, don’t talk to me]

[? (A picture of bleeding forehead from slapping too hard) Look at the other groups flexing their power and then look at our refreshing carol at the end. I’m going crazy…]

[? Whose idea was this ??????????? They must have edited the meeting too. If they cut even a second, I won’t forgive them]

[? I vote for Seon-woo??? He’s a master of moe sleeves. I’m impressed by the coordinator’s Milky Way-like bag strap length. It gives me the strength to live another day]

I knew what they wanted, but Seon-woo… No. There was no need to think about it. They would find out soon enough.

[- Seon-woo, your sister loves it when you exchange a bit of intelligence for a huge beauty ???????‵? ]

[? Who talks like that about a fool ??????????]

[- This is the carol of the year (link)]

[? If we watch the ending once a day, we’ll be rich by the end of the year]

[? Actually, it’s already the end of the year]

[? Shh, be smart?益?)]

[- Guys(0), can you please watch the ending video once for our loyalty? Of course, once you start, you won’t be able to stop, but let’s pretend this is the end of the year and just watch it once. Please (link)]

[? (Screenshot) I also liked it. Thank you for the next year]

[? Ah?????????? Thank you so much. I didn’t think you would??????]

[? I watched it and it was a good stage overall! I didn’t feel any obligation and I was like wow until the end. Can I ask the name of the blond half-tied guy?(shy)]

[? You’ve waited long enough. The star of the discovery who rides the rhythm with the beat, the king god majesty super general elegance gorgeous dangerous runner-up Son Seong-won (picture)]

[? Huh?????? So that’s him. He’s really handsome. I was curious about him because he seemed to compete with Mebo this time…S2 Thank you?]

The reaction to the stage video itself was not bad, and thanks to the teaser that made Sungwon a rival to match Shim Naru, we appealed to the viewers who didn’t know us well.

If Shim Naru was really a solid talent and no one could compete with him as the number one main vocalist, then they would have complained about him rubbing his ears, but…

[- Simjjang, why are you picking fights everywhere? You should be satisfied with your position that has nothing to do with Mebo]

[? This is… a fight that I can tell you’ve lost before it even started ?;′?? + ??? ]

[? I did embrace Simjjang, but this is not it… NOPE…]

[? NBS will save him with desperate editing VS preparing for public execution]

[? I bet Simjjang’s wrist on the latter]

[? Anyone can see that he was kicked out live, but winning the competition and dying of shame VS losing gracefully and dying honorably]

[? Our wish is the latter, but Simjjang seems to want the former…]

I searched for the nickname Simjjang and it seemed to be a nickname used to mock Simnaru. Even the fans who half-supported him used it.

If the keywords that came up when I searched for Shim Naru were heavenly memo, tone gangster, heartthrob killer, aegyo bomb, then the contents that came up when I searched for Simjjang were…

[- Simjjang, another too much day (picture)]

[- Did he not come to his senses after being ridiculed as Simjjang? (picture)]

[- Simjjang was so burdensome that I hated to see all the content that the Pluggies came out with, but as I watched, I started to feel a little bit of affection… Yeah, do more, more…]

[- Everyone mocks Simjjang as a (omitted) born of capitalism, but don’t say anything rash. He’s better than his fish eyes]

There was nothing wrong with this stage. But we felt the ridicule that came from his excessive self-appeal and professional consciousness.

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