Chapter 292
“Jun-woo, do you think you can win?”
“I will definitely avenge the senior idols who came before me.”
Kim Jun-woo casually treated the previously defeated idols as if they were dead.
“Am I some kind of villain?”
– You could say that.
In response to the commentator’s enthusiastic reply, Kim Jun-woo pointed at me with a chicken drumstick, which he had brought for reasons unknown.
“In the name of justice, I won’t forgive you, On Raon!”
– Why is Jun-woo holding a chicken drumstick while saying that?
– Why did he bring that drumstick?
– Did none of the members stop him…?
My thoughts exactly.
For someone who was supposed to have a fairly normal image, he wasn’t quite right in the head.
By the way, the smell of the chicken was making me hungry.
Kim Jun-woo held a new drumstick that looked neat and appetizing, as if he had been called out just as he was about to finish eating one leg and start on the other.
– Raon can’t stay still.
I received the microphone handed to me by the production crew.
“If you leave that drumstick behind, I’ll spare your life.”
“!”
Realizing that I was after the drumstick, Kim Jun-woo quickly hid it behind him.
[You’re not normal either… Kim Jun-woo is burning with competitive spirit. Kim Jun-woo’s favorability +0 Current favorability +54]
What on earth?
– Wow, it hasn’t even been a minute since he asked if he was a villain, and now he’s saying things a perfect villain would say!
– Actually, Raon is extremely hungry right now…
– Will the starving Raon achieve his 6th consecutive win? Or will Jun-woo create a new legend! Let’s watch and find out.
– Ready…
Jun-woo and I closed our eyes.
With my eyes closed, all I could see was the chicken.
– Start!
When I opened my eyes, I saw Jun-woo’s face, and I felt disappointed.
“Ugh…”
Like the other idols who had faced me, Jun-woo made a strange noise the moment our eyes met, and his gaze wandered far off, but he didn’t close his eyes, so the game continued.
The commentators made a fuss, praising him for his experience.
This won’t do.
“Actually, I fell for you at first sight.”
Cheers erupted from the audience, who had been busy eating.
– Wow, Raon is suddenly acting!
– Jun-woo is holding on better than expected, so this is a crisis.
Though they were spot on, I continued acting without showing it.
“I don’t care if the whole world points fingers at our forbidden love. As long as I can have you.”
Kyaaaa!
An even louder cheer erupted than before, in response to my ridiculous line.
– Everyone, I’ll go next.
– I know you’re envious of Jun-woo, but calm down, Mi-ri.
– Ah, Jun-woo is in trouble. He must resist laughing. He can’t lose to those words.
As the commentators exchanged lines, Jun-woo, barely suppressing his laughter with twitching eyes, finally spoke.
“Why… why are you doing this…?”
“Because… I love you.”
“But! We can never be together!”
“Ah, I loved you…”
Seeing Jun-woo tremble and inadvertently blink as he suppressed his laughter, I finished my line.
“Miss Chicken…”
“!!”
[Kim Jun-woo, who had fallen for your confession, feels betrayed. Acting skill +1]
“Puhaha!”
“Darn it…”
– Ah, Jun-woo fell completely for Raon’s beauty trap.
– And so, Raon achieves his 6th consecutive win!
Kim Jun-woo, who had been clutching his head in despair, took a step back, startled by my suddenly stern expression.
“Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
Grabbing Jun-woo’s arm, I declared.
“This drumstick is now mine. I can eat it as I please.”
I slowly brought the delicious-looking chicken drumstick towards my mouth.
“Daaaaarumstick!”
After that, Kim Jun-woo, who had been deprived of the chicken drumstick by me, returned to his seat with a sad face.
I, too, negotiated with the MC, saying I didn’t want to continue the staring contest, and after finishing the eating broadcast with the chicken drumstick (which had been Kim Jun-woo’s) in front of the camera, I returned to my seat and could finally eat my share of the chicken.
Ha, making money is tough.
* * *
From lunchtime onward, unlike the morning where I had to be with my team members, a relatively free atmosphere formed, allowing us to wander around more freely.
“Hey guys, you see that passage over there? Go up there and chat with the fans for a bit.”
Thanks to the consideration of the Blue Team seniors, I spent some time playing with the Aeris who had been cheering for us diligently since morning.
“Raon, if you come to my house, you can eat ten chicken drumsticks every day.”
“Eating only chicken is a bit much… Can you cook better than Ji-woo hyung?”
“Right. Everyone, are you better cooks than me? Better at cleaning? Better at doing the laundry…”
“What’s this guy seriously competing for?”
Fortunately, among the Aeris who came today, there wasn’t anyone better at cooking or housework than Kang Ji-woo, so I could neatly refuse all the cohabitation invitations.
And now, it was okay to go play with another team.
When I went over to the Black Team, I quickly found Yoon Myung-soo shaking his head as if telling me not to come over.
Just then, Go Kyung-yoon was nowhere to be seen at his seat.
I confidently and boldly walked over to the Liftin side, pretending not to see anything.
“Hi!”
“Raon hyung!”
Xiao, who was sitting and eating snacks, lit up.
I handed the chicken drumstick that I had packed separately to Kim Jun-woo.
“Hyung, eat this.”
“Ay. You didn’t have to give me this.”
“You should take your hand off the box before saying that…”
Kim Jun-woo spoke in a small voice, looking both happy and worried to see the returned chicken drumstick.
“But the managers told us not to hang out with you guys.”
“Do you not want me to come?”
“Who said I didn’t want you to come?”
“As long as it’s not you who hates me, it’s fine.”
“Still…”
“It’s okay. I’m fine.”
If they don’t like me getting along with their kids, they should come and chase me away.
“Where did Ji-oh go?”
“He got a slight scratch, so he went to get treated.”
Ok Do-yoon answered.
“You came to see him, not us?”
“No?”
I deliberately came when that guy wasn’t around.
“But what kind of person is Ji-oh? His personality, his usual behavior… stuff like that.”
“Aren’t you close with him?”
Kim Jun-woo looked puzzled as to why I was asking him.
“We’re not close, but he pretends we are.”
“You guys look close.”
“I said we’re not.”
“You look cl…”
I playfully punched the younger Jing Xiao who was trying to tease me.
“?”
Jing Xiao smiled brightly, thinking I was only pretending to hit him.
[The difference in physical stats is too great, rendering physical attacks ineffective!]
[In reality, your punches are not even soft punches but fluffy cotton punches.]
[You shouldn’t have ignored the inefficient training. Intelligence -1, Wisdom -1, Strength +1]
“What the…”
I almost swore, but held back because there might still be a camera filming my mouth movements from somewhere.
Yoon Myung-soo, who had been watching us bicker, finally spoke up.
“You’re asking what kind of person Ji-oh is?”
“Yeah. I have a rough idea, but he keeps wanting to get closer, so I got curious.”
To backstab him later.
“Hmm…”
After a moment of thought, Liftin leader Yoon Myung-soo gave a surprisingly generous assessment.
“If he’s on your side, he’s reliable. Even though Kyung-yoon, no, Ji-oh, is much younger than me, it feels like he’s sharing half of the weight and responsibility I bear as a leader. I’m grateful.”
Kim Jun-woo added.
“Ji-o is an incredibly diligent type, as you know, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You can understand what he’s going to do next, how he’s going to do it, and why he’s doing it without thinking too deeply about it. But even knowing that, I just don’t want to go that far. Honestly, it’s impressive, and I get tired just watching him.”
Jing Xiao, who had been munching on snacks with Nagase Ritsu, gave his own answer.
“He’s the kind of boring guy that even Yoon-jae hyung or Yo-han hyung wouldn’t be interested in, even if he were brought in and put to work. Just like our Myung-soo hyung. It’s like he just naturally passes by unnoticed~”
“Oh….”
I was impressed.
Jing Xiao’s Korean had now reached a level where he could smoothly use sophisticated vocabulary that combined words not found in the standard Korean dictionary, mixing Korean and English seamlessly…
Just a while ago, I noticed that Nagase Ritsu’s Korean had improved significantly compared to before, too.
We should give a hefty bonus to their Korean language instructor at that company.
“Xiao….”
“Oh, sorry Myung-soo hyung! Were you here?”
“Here, what do you mean! I was here from the beginning! You wouldn’t do this to Kyung-yoon….”
There was no trace of the leader’s authority here.
“Anyway, people who don’t understand those who work so hard, don’t understand? They ignore them? It’s not intentional… they’re just not interested? Ugh, I don’t know how to put it.”
As Jing Xiao struggled with his word choice, I signaled that I understood, and he continued with a relieved expression.
“There was a hyung who practiced really hard during Pick Heart too. Do you remember how Yo-han hyung just passed by him like he was an ordinary tree on the street? It’s exactly like that feeling. I don’t remember who it was, though.”
“Wow, I remember that, I remember.”
“Right?”
“By the way, that was Jun-woo hyung.”
“Oh….”
Kim Jun-woo, who had been listening without knowing it was about him, looked hurt.
“Sorry, Jun-woo hyung.”
“Apology accepted….”
“To be honest, you can’t compare Jun-woo hyung to Ji-o hyung at all.”
“Hey!”
Jing Xiao, who gave an apology and an insult at the same time, seemed to be even more energetic after debuting, as if his reins had been loosened.
“But Jing Xiao.”
“Yeah?”
“Why do you talk as if it’s not about you?”
From my memory, he was one of the kids who used to play beside those who practiced hard with Ban Yo-han and ended up getting dragged by me.
Unlike Ban Yo-han, who at least learned to dance decently, Jing Xiao remained clumsy, unable to escape from the profound world of dance, and his sin was heavier than Ban Yo-han’s.
Jing Xiao, who made eye contact with me, laughed awkwardly as if he didn’t expect me to remember such details.
“Don’t laugh. It makes me attached to you.”
“Raon hyung, you’re really funny.”
“And Xiao, in those cases, it’s not ‘bring and throw away’ but ‘leave.'”
Ok Do-yoon corrected Jing Xiao’s words.
“Yeah. I know.”
“You know?”
“Yeah.”
In response to his shameless “Yeah,” Yoon Myung-soo calmly asked.
“…Are you sure you don’t want to throw away me and Kyung-yoon?”
“….”
“You don’t…right?”
“Hee~”
“Xiaooo!”
Leaders and managers must be having a hard time here….