Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Chapter 159:

The video of the dance A unit, which was as perfect as the stage, followed.

[- Did Cheon Ise do all the directing for this?]

[- I think the staff or the company must have helped]

[- I get that the rest of the members got on the bus]

[- But the driver is so good at driving by himself that the freeloaders just got onㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[- At first, it seemed like they were showing up, but Cheon Ise worked so hard by himself that they just stretched their legs wherever they could find a spot]

[- They did follow the choreography well…]

[- You wouldn’t even imagine that they got on the bus if you only saw the stage]

[- They’re so mean, seriously]

[- But Jo Eunseong, that guy has always been talkativeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- Aren’t the members all the ones who had attitude controversies at least once?]

[- It must have been hard for the production team to even edit it like this]

Some people also mixed in the response that they knew it would be like this when they saw the line-up, since they were not very diligent from before.

Now there was only about two minutes left of the broadcast time. The screen didn’t end with me sighing in relief after the stage ended safely.

Immediately after, a short interview with Vesper B, who was the hardest to see during the practice period, followed.

[Q. How do you feel after finishing this mission?]

[Uh… I feel a bit relieved… I think I came here comfortably thanks to them, but I feel a bit sorry that I couldn’t show you my personality much.]

[- I can’t help but laugh because it’s so ridiculousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- Talk about being shamelessㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- The reason why your personality didn’t show: you didn’t show up]

[- Wow… and he acted like he was working hard on SNS]

[- If you only look at SNS, he acts like he does all the art by himself]

The interview with Vesper B was the last, and then a teaser that highlighted the ups and downs of the dance B and rap AB units followed.

[We’re going to take off the idol title and show you what real rappers are!]

[A passionate declaration of war!]

[Well… Do we really need to deny that we’re idols? I just want to show you a stage that you can all enjoy and have fun with.]

[A hot effort to present the best stage!]

[We’re confident that we can show you our charm with this stage!]

[Let’s win, guys!]

[K-POP boy group’s ultimate pride showdown!]

[We’ll show you what it means to be anti-idols.]

The broadcast ended with the confident statement of rap A group.

[- /Sarcasm removal mode]

The live chat also ended with the intense chat.

The fact that they edited it like this after the results came out… It must be a plan to stimulate the empathy level of the fans who supported rap A group later.

After watching the last intense teaser, I looked at my phone and there were messages and missed calls from my manager.

I didn’t even finish checking the phone notifications when the manager called me again.

“Shouldn’t you answer the phone?”

Seon-woo, who was sitting next to me, looked at me and my phone with a worried expression.

This was definitely the unit members urging me to contact them. I hated it. I couldn’t help being a bit childish this time.

They always ignored or left me on read when I contacted them, but I couldn’t do the same? I felt spiteful and resisted for a while, but I couldn’t ignore the persistent calls. I sighed and pressed the answer button.

“I’ll be back after a quick call.”

I hoped it wouldn’t be a long conversation. I had a small hope as I went into the room and closed the door.

“Yes, what’s up, hyung?”

As soon as I calmly answered the phone, the manager, who was still in charge of delegating the work until the corporate restructuring was completed, raised his voice with excitement.

“How could you do that to another group?”

Was he blaming me for being the first to do it? I clicked my tongue and replied.

“I had no choice because they didn’t cooperate. They should have known that the broadcast would be edited from the videos we filmed during the practice period, but they kept being irresponsible. I thought they were willing to accept the consequences.”

“But still, they’re not trainees, they’ve already debuted. How can you do that to them… What about the future cooperation with other external staff, and I know you’re angry, but…”

I thought I had to draw a clear line here.

The manager had been taking care of Climax since their debut, so he wasn’t completely indifferent to this group.

But maybe because they were so obscure, and they had been treated poorly for too long.

He didn’t seem to know what was the most important thing in his job as a manager.

“Hyung, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time.”

“Huh? Uh…”

When I interrupted his words with a low voice, the manager stuttered in confusion.

“Hyung, which group’s manager are you?”

Then he answered with a silence that seemed like he didn’t expect that reaction at all.

“What kind of nonsense is that, of course I’m your manager.”

Yeah, if you’re our manager, you should act like our manager. You shouldn’t just say you’re our manager, you should do your job like our manager, right?

Even now, when your supported artist was insulted and ignored by the other side, whether they contacted you through their connections or not, don’t you think you should cut them off?

There was a limit to understanding him as being indecisive and kind.

“Then are you calling me to scold me now?”

“No, what are you talking about, why would I scold you! I just wanted to smooth things over…”

“It’s too late to smooth things over now. I have to deal with the situation where I only appeared twice out of seven practices. I never missed a single one.”

The manager seemed to be at a loss for words, and he barely spoke with a faint sigh.

“Yeah, I know you worked hard, I know, but…”

“If you know, then you should have just answered them appropriately and told me that you did, instead of contacting me like this. You called me to scold me after talking to them, right? Is your priority as a manager to protect your artist or to cooperate with the outside? It doesn’t seem like you’re from Vesper or AtoX.”

Unlike Cheon Ise, who used to throw tantrums and lie down on the floor, demanding that her parents pay for her work and do whatever she wanted, this time I had a valid argument.

The manager wouldn’t satisfy me with any excuses he made. I had enough of trying to get along with him.

The label separation work would be finished soon. He had to decide whether he would keep going with me or not.

I didn’t listen to any more explanations and cut off the call.

“Think carefully. Who do you want to work with and how?”

I wasn’t going to let things go as they were now that I had the upper hand. I pressed the end call button and looked at the screen that was flooded with all kinds of message notifications.

The messages that I could confirm with a quick preview were terrible.

Sorry, but did you have to screw them over like that? How do you feel seeing the whole nation hate you?

I chuckled lightly and entered the internet community centered on entertainment. The top 10 of the real-time hot posts were occupied by ‘Boys Be Ambitious’.

They really nailed the buzz. I expected the PD’s mouth to be hooked to his ears.

The community was on fire with topics that were not one or two. As I scrolled down the real-time rankings, it was all about Boys Be Ambitious.

[Real-time HOT Talk]

How to elegantly feed the freeloaders in a group project (feat. Bobyam) (+341)

The hopeful side of the group project (+192)

Original vs. Glass mentality (+213)

Did they edit this? (+675)

People who don’t watch Bobyam (+60)

…

Official news from Chanhyung and Yu-geon came up (+376)

Shim Naru not being a visual hole is not a day or two (+882)

I was in the same class as Jo Eunsung in middle school (+proof)

(+179)

There was no place where a fight didn’t break out among them. As I went down, I saw a familiar name that made me happy.

Baby piggy who is updating his beauty every day♡ (+54)

Compared to other conflict posts, the firepower was low, but still, to see a pitiful post in this burning community…

I felt good that Seon-woo, who was lacking in buzz compared to his visuals, had become a fairly noticeable position.

As I was feeling pleased, I got another message from the freeloaders.

[□] Are you really not going to answer, hyung? 11:45 PM

They were persistent until the time was almost midnight. I finally put my hand on the keypad without checking all the piled up messages.

I had to think carefully and speak. Now that I had spilled the contents of the meeting chat and delivered it to the production team, they had to think that they could send it to the outside as well.

[Me] Sorry, I was so busy today that I checked late 11:56 PM

[Me] You guys must have been worried a lot at this late hour. I didn’t know you would send me so much interest like this, so I was very flustered 11:57 PM

Then AtoX A immediately retorted. The text was so fast that I was out of my mind, but to summarize, it was ‘No matter what, you went too far.’

So it was okay to screw me over with an insincere attitude while preparing?

They stretched their legs according to the place to lie down. On the first day, they saw that I could do well by myself, so they thought that if they just did the main stage perfectly, they wouldn’t edit and send it out like this.

There was no injustice. There was nothing more to listen to. I cut the message short.

[Me] The aired part can’t be taken back, so… If you show me a more sincere and grown-up appearance in the remaining missions, the fans will keep cheering for you 12:02 AM

[Me] I wanted to do well together, so I worked hard, but I’m sorry that the result turned out like this 12:04 AM

[Me] I hope we can share the stage together in a better opportunity next time. It’s almost time to turn off the lights at the dorm, so I don’t think I can see my phone. It’s late, so don’t push yourself and go to bed soon 12:05 AM

I got goosebumps as I said only good things until the end, but what I wanted to say was the same.

I didn’t want to answer even if they contacted me again, so I set the group chat room to block reception.

This way, they wouldn’t know if I blocked them on their side, but I could completely erase the related notifications, pop-ups, and chat room previews from the screen.

I should have done well. I was not the kind of person who would give two or three chances to someone who had bitten me once.

I didn’t know when it would be, maybe in the next life. I lay down on the bed, imagining their possible evil words as an orchestra.

‘Revenge is futile…’

I didn’t feel relieved after making them eat dirt with someone else’s help.

But futile revenge was better than being a fallen angel with a soft heart.

‘Of course.’

I didn’t blame people who lacked skills. What I really hated was people who could do it but didn’t, and shifted the responsibility to others.

This time was no different. If things went well, he was the bus driver, but if they failed, he would have taken all the authority and blamed me for the failure.

So I had to make him pay for avoiding his duty until the end.

If I had let him go, he would have created more victims and encouraged them.

Well… the PD must have been happy with the buzz he created. Let’s find some meaning in making someone happy.

At that moment, a status window popped up.

[Sub Quest – ‘An Eye for an Eye, a Tooth for a Tooth’ has been cleared. Congratulations. Reward points +20]

Oh. I had finally achieved victory, so now it was time to enjoy the reward.