Chapter 49
“Huh?”
Thud, my heart sank.
No way, no way.
“No, why are you curious about that? You didn’t eat the food in your fridge anyway.”
“But still, I’m worried-”
PD was laughing as if he knew something.
“What, did you poison the food? Why are you so scared?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you so nervous?”
PD chuckled.
“With such a small liver, how long will you last in the entertainment industry?”
“PD.”
Writer Kang once again gave PD a stern look.
PD just shrugged his shoulders.
“Even if you poisoned it, it doesn’t matter. There’s no evidence.”
?
A chill ran down my spine.
What does this mean?
“No, we also wanted to watch the video, so we opened the camera.”
PD glanced at Writer Kang.
“But strangely, there was no memory card inside!”
“Huh…?”
“I don’t know, our youngest is such a blockhead that he might have turned on the camera without inserting a memory card. The blockhead who forgot to turn off the camera, how much of a proper blockhead would he be?”
“Stop scolding the youngest now. If he quits, it’s my job to find a new youngest. I’m already busy enough. If she runs away, PD, you find a replacement.”
“What are you saying? I’m busy.”
PD shrugged his shoulders.
“Anyway, so what. You’re saying there’s no video.”
Jo Hee-on, feeling cold, couldn’t say anything.
It was definitely a good thing.
It was a relief.
Why am I so anxious? I couldn’t understand. But my intuition was telling me.
This was a signal that I couldn’t be happy about.
“Sis, you’re sweating cold.”
Ryu Bo-ra, who had been quietly watching her, spoke.
Ryu Bo-ra wiped the sweat that had formed on Jo Hee-on’s neck with her sleeve.
Jo Hee-on was startled by the touch and looked at Ryu Bo-ra.
Ryu Bo-ra’s eyes were also cold.
As if she could see through everything.
But it must be my imagination. How would Ryu Bo-ra, who had been sleeping innocently, know?
Jo Hee-on took a deep breath to shake off her anxiety.
“Okay, it would be better to take the camera and go out. Decide how to shoot among yourselves.”
PD waved his hand as if he was annoyed.
“Excuse me.”
Kyunga raised her hand quietly.
“Is Cheong coming today?”
“If I knew, I would tell you, wouldn’t I?”
You old fart.
Kyunga held back her irritation.
“Did you get a call from Cheong-”
“Ah, I don’t know such trivial things, so just go out for now. Are there only you trainees here? Don’t steal other team’s time. Hee-on wasted all the time listening to useless talk.”
I would have said it earlier if I had time to grumble.
The three trainees had the same thought for the first time and left.
***
Broadcast station women’s restroom.
There was someone who caught Kim Ryeo-yu’s wrist as she opened the door and came out.
“…What?”
“You, did you hear?”
“….”
Kim Ryeo-yu looked around.
Fortunately, there was no one.
But I couldn’t be relieved. This was a broadcasting station. There were so many eyes and ears here.
Kim Ryeo-yu sighed and shook off Jo Hee-on’s wrist.
And she dragged Jo Hee-on to the emergency stairs.
“You, you heard. You knew. That there was no memory card inside.”
Jo Hee-on was more upset than she thought at Kim Ryeo-yu’s calm reaction.
You knew and didn’t say anything?
You know how anxious I was?
“Yeah, I knew.”
Kim Ryeo-yu looked down at Jo Hee-on with a clearly mocking look in her eyes.
“But I only found out a little while ago. I just heard it.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me-!”
“Hee-on. Please grow up.”
Kim Ryeo-yu looked at Jo Hee-on as if she was pathetic.
“Aren’t you rehearsing now? You left your team members, your self-cam, the staff, and came all the way here to argue about that? It’s the day of the main stage today, and you’re still sitting there worrying about that?”
“…!”
“I thought PD would tell you in due course. What, is your life going to change if you know 5 minutes earlier? It’s already resolved, what am I doing talking so much? So you didn’t hear? You heard. If you heard that, that’s it, why do you keep arguing and arguing.”
Kim Ryeo-yu checked the wrist that Jo Hee-on had grabbed, annoyed.
If there were any fingerprints or nail marks left, it would be a scandal.
These days, people who live on the internet look everywhere.
Where do you think you’re putting your hands, huh?
“Practice your part one more time, please. No matter how much my uncle said he would debut you, if he debuts a hopeless kid, he’ll get scolded. Don’t you know about idol upward leveling?”
Kim Ryeo-yu laughed at Jo Hee-on one last time and went up one step.
But at that moment.
“I, I’m just going to tell everything.”
“…! Are you crazy?”
Only then did a crack begin to appear on Kim Ryeo-yu’s perfect face.
“Yeah, as you said, what’s the point of me debuting so pathetically? I’m just going to prepare for college. Frankly, my ranking is ambiguous. I have nothing to lose.”
Jo Hee-on’s eyes were full of a determination that had never been seen before.
“But you’re not. You’re really, just a little more and you’ll debut. You could become the most rising rookie of a large agency. Not just an ordinary member, but a main member. But what if I expose everything?”
Oops.
Kim Ryeo-yu realized then that she had underestimated Jo Hee-on too much.
She had provoked Jo Hee-on’s last rebellion too much in her anger.
‘Ambiguity’.
Ambiguity sometimes drives people crazier than having no hope at all.
That’s why Jo Hee-on was more desperate.
The hope that she could reach it if she just reached out a little more drove Jo Hee-on crazy.
Kim Ryeo-yu did such a thing out of half inferiority and anger towards Yoon Cheong.
So she had no regrets. She was scared for a moment, but soon she became arrogant.
Anyway, it was well resolved.
But not Jo Hee-on.
Jo Hee-on did it forcibly with the single-minded desire to really debut.
Yoon Cheong wasn’t good, but she wasn’t bad enough to do such a malicious thing.
But now that Kim Ryeo-yu has come out like that, all she wants to do is give up.
“I’d rather tell everything. Then at least I’ll feel better. Debut? I just don’t want to. Is there any job in the world other than this?”
In fact, it was half a provocation.
Jo Hee-on, who wouldn’t give up that time and effort so easily, wasn’t like that.
Kim Ryeo-yu knew that too.
Kim Ryeo-yu came down one step again.
Just bow down for a moment.
“So what do you gain from it? Yeah. I was a bit harsh. I’m also sensitive now and the stage is right in front of me. I admit it. But you too, huh?”
Kim Ryeo-yu suddenly got annoyed.
Why do I have to do this with her here?
“Let’s talk later. You go to rehearsal quickly.”
“Then apologize.”
“What?”
“Apologize.”
“You really…!”
Kim Ryeo-yu let out a ha, ha, and a hollow laugh.
“I don’t want to. Do as you please. So what, do you think Yoon Cheong will forgive you? Do as you please. You can’t live a normal life and you’ll be scolded for the rest of your life.”
“At least she’s a better kid than you, so she’ll forgive me!”
“She won’t forgive.”
“!”
An unfamiliar yet not strange voice.
The two turned around.
“Can someone explain at which point I’m supposed to forgive?”
***
Meanwhile, in the audience seats.
Among the colorists, that is, the fans of ‘Make a New Color’, a sinister rumor was circulating.
“No, sis. Did you hear the news?”
“…Cheong was taken away?”
It was a conversation between the descendants of the love for Colors.
Old Colors all-fan.
Current Menucol light-fan.
The favorite is of course Yoon Cheong, and the second favorite is Kim Geum.
And these days, she’s occasionally swayed by Ryu Bo-ra, a color-otaku.
“I wonder if Cheong is okay? We can’t hurt Bo-ra….”
“Hey.”
Color-otaku was choked up.
She’s sick and she’s sitting there thinking about her favorite.
“We should support each other as teammates. You only see things that way when a member is in pain? Your child can still perform on stage. But our child is in a situation where we don’t even know if she can perform on stage.”
“…No, what…. It’s not that serious.”
“What, are you a doctor? Are you a doctor? Have you personally seen Cheong’s condition? Spreading rumors without evidence could lead to serious consequences.”
Related person, that is, an abbreviation of a related person.
“No, this is reality… How can you get a PDF?”
“I can get it by scanning your face. Shh.”
“Talk too much….”
“And if Cheong doesn’t come out, it’s a benefit for your kids, right? The amount of parts increases. I’m already so upset, really. Will you get a color?”
“No…. Why are you so aggressive? Wow wow. Color, I’m sorry. Calm down.”
Ironically, the biggest enemy of Colors fans was Colors.
If Colors fans swear….
Color hair, color hair, color sons of bitches, did you color, color diarrhea, etc. were to that extent.
“Our Cheong is a strong kid, so she’ll come out. I believe. Even if she doesn’t come out, there must have been a good reason. It’s definitely because those Colors bastards overworked her vocal cords, made her diet excessively, or stressed her out with devil’s editing. These bad guys. I wonder if they’re feeding our kid three meals a day….”
At this point, just say you hate Colors, sis….
At the reaction of Color-otaku, the representative of the strong Yoon Cheong faction, Ryu Bo-ra’s personal fan quietly backed down.
[You’ve waited a long time.]
Then.
The deep yet melodious voice that came through the microphone.
Do Hee-young, the host and mentor of Make a New Color, came out.
It was the start of the third mission main stage.