WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 10

“Hyung…… You’re alive?”

“Huh?”

What was with these ominous words?

‘What the hell? What’s with this ‘shouldn’t you be dead?’ vibe?’

“……I guess I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t alive, right?”

Baek Gyeom didn’t even look at me, when he muttered something in a low voice.

“Oh, I see, wow, that’s a relief. When I heard about what you did, I almost jumped after you, Hyung.”

Did that guy like me that much, or was he being sarcastic……?

His way of speaking was so incomprehensible.

Come to think of it, I had seen Baek Gyeom’s name pop up a few times in the ‘WEEKANIZ Controversy’ section of the <Idol Wiki> website because of his way of talking.

Well, he was just a kid.

“So, since I’m alive, you can stay alive as well. Please unpack your stuff again.”

“Wow…… Hyung, what do you mean?”

Baek Gyeom finally looked at me properly.

He gave off a deep impression with sharp eyes and an elegant jawline.

This definitely was the Baek Gyeom I had encountered a few times during my career.

“What? I heard everything from Ire. He told me you came to pack your things.”

“Well, yeah. I thought the group would seriously fall apart after what you did, you know?”

“Fall apart? We’re still under contract though.”

“……Seeing you talk about that contract in this frustrating situation, it seems like you’re really Yuyoung-hyung.”

“What?”

“The way you talk is strangely unlike Ahn Yuyoung.”

“What are you talking about……?”

Baek Gyeom’s dark brown eyes stubbornly followed my gaze.

Why was this guy so quick on the uptake?

“You just seem a bit different. Hyung, I’m going to order some kimbap, do you want some?”

“Huh? Sure.”

To be honest, I kind of forgot that I hadn’t eaten anything since last night because I was busy interacting with the fans.

Now that I had realized that I was hungry, I felt like I was starving.

“Hyung, it’ll be fine if I remove the pickled radish from the tuna kimbap, right?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Ah, I should get going then. You won’t be able to die even if you jump from here, so just stay put.”

“Got it.”

Then Baek Gyeom rushed off again.

“What a weirdo……”

That was my first impression of Baek Gyeom after talking to him.

How could someone talk so casually about this to someone after they heard that they tried to jump into a river?

Could it be that this guy had some major personality flaws or something?

After Baek Gyeom returned, we awkwardly ate the kimbap, and I took a look at his status window.

[Name : Baek Jinwoo (Baek Gyeom)

Age : 23

Affiliation: WEEKANIZ

Position: Producing

Stamina : 50/80

Vocal : B

Appearance : B

Composing : A

Notoriety : 89

Notoriety Keywords: Hiatus]

He had a Composing state which I didn't have.

“Do I need to keep looking for black suits?”

“Hey, how can you still say that after what happened……”

“What's that?”

“I mean…… Things could have ended badly.”

“And whose fault is that? That was your choice, wasn't it?”

“No one threatened you or made you do it, so why do you feel wronged?”

Baek Gyeom, slowly chewing on his kimbap, looked up at me.

……No, he was glaring at me.

For someone who was talking a lot of nonsense, he had quite the backbone.

[Eloquence slightly decreased! You have been overwhelmed by your opponent.]

“What was it that you said to me when we ran into each other that day, Hyung?”

Erm…… I have no idea, you punk!

……I couldn’t say that though.

I was pretty confident that I wouldn't lose when it came to verbal fights, but I sure didn't know how to defend myself over something I hadn't personally said. Surprisingly, I was also pretty weak against people's gazes. Baek Gyeom's gaze was chilling, but the emotions within it didn't seem to be anger.

“You said all that to me and then just walked away…… How am I supposed to understand.”

No, wait, it was anger.

“Hey, that's……”

“Yeah. Go on. Speak.”

Wow, he actually gave me a chance here? Usually, these types of people wouldn't even give you a chance to speak up in dramas.

“……No, I have nothing to say. I'm sorry.”

I should just fold for now. Let's just retreat.

“If you want to die, just write a will and do it. Don't bother others with your nonsense.”

That jerk……

Ah, I'm screwed.

Throwing a boss mob at me from the start.

“Fine, I'll write one. I won't bother you anymore.”

“Don't actually write one. That would be a flag.”

……How did Ahn Yuyoung put up with this fake tough guy?

Even though I answered calmly, Baek Gyeom pushed up his glasses with a displeased look.

Did my answer displease you, Your Highness?

“……I won't do such foolish things anymore.”

“Hmm.”

[Eloquence slightly raised! You managed to convince the other party.]

“So don't pack up your stuff.”

“Why?”

“Shouldn't we restart our activities together?”

“……Hyung, didn't you watch the live stream yesterday?”

“What live stream?”

“Yoon Sanho did a live stream. He announced that he would leave.”

“……What?”

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

Guys, couldn’t you just lay off the solo activities for a bit?

* * *

There’s a saying that strong denial was in a way strong affirmation. It meant that going overboard to hide one’s true feelings would end up revealing them.

In my opinion, that was exactly what Yoon Sanho was doing.

The Yoon Sanho that I had met a few times during showcases was quiet, only smiled subtly, and had a certain air of arrogance about him.

Well, since he was the designated visual member officially introduced by the team, there was no need for him to talk much, but back then, I just thought that he was shy.

But now? He announced his departure from the group on a live stream? What kind of nonsense was that?

Didn’t he have any reputation to uphold?

If I did something like that, I felt like my notoriety would immediately rise up to 100, which would kill me then and there.

……First, I had to check out that damn live stream.

In general, idols often made extensive use of LiveJet as a live streaming platform. The reason for that was that they provided replay services and were linked to many major company pages, ensuring plenty of traffic. 

However, Yoon Sanho had used the live broadcasting function of his personal social media profile, so there weren’t any traces of it left.

That was when the skills I had honed as a reporter in the entertainment sector came in handy.

Searching for articles using the keyword ‘Yoon Sanho live’, I found several using similar keyphrases.

Just by collecting all these would give me a general idea about the intro, his reasons for starting the broadcast, and its core content.

Then, I was off to Pings.

No matter how obscure the group was, the K-pop craze was still going strong.

There were always some international fans.

Each tiny little breadcrumb was precious to overseas fans, so they often translated entire live streams to get some information.

Searching for ‘211120 sanho live’ multiple threads appeared, as I had expected.

Roughly translated, it read as followed:

<Sanho said he doesn’t see any hope for WEEKANIZ. He complained that opinions were converged in very unfair ways and his opinion would always end up getting ignored.>

It seemed like this guy must have been seriously unhappy with the way CEO Kim handled things.

<He also said that this group would always be reeling because their center can’t stand straight.>

……That was clearly aimed at Ahn Yuyoung.

I had thought that Ahn Yuyoung might have been somewhat wishy-washy, but it seemed like that was actually causing dissatisfaction within the group.

Then there were short clips of about 20-30 seconds.

There was one in which Yoon Sanho had his head lowered with what looked like a tearful expression.

Even though he was there to announce his departure from the group, he looked like a scolded little kid.

‘Then pick up your damn phone!’

None of these guys were answering any calls or texts as if they had collectively blocked my number.

“He’s gonna cry, he’s gonna cry.”

Baek Gyeom, who was watching the clips of Yoon Sanho with me, chimed in.

That was when I asked him something.

“Do you know where Sanho is right now?”

“Well, home, I guess?”

“Where was Sanho’s house again?”

“Hyung, do you have amnesia? He lives in Chungnam. Chungcheongnam Province, XX City. The whole Yoon family clan lives together there, he’s their precious youngest son.”

“A-ah~…… Right.”

Getting to Chungcheong would take me an extra two hours.

“……Let’s go to the office and get the car.”

“Are we picking up Sanho?”

“We have to.”

“Hyung, remember when we went to get Sanho at Incheon Airport and you almost fell down the escalator and cracked open your head? Where are you planning to fall off this time?”

“Hah……”

Why did that happen back there, Ahn Yuyoung?

“But well, Yoon Sanho is the type to easily fall for these kinds of things. Even now, he’s probably burying his head in his pillow blaming himself for you jumping, Hyung. He’s the type to cave if you poke at him enough.”

“……That’s it.”

“What do you mean?”

“What you just said. Let’s do that.”

“Hyung, are you actually planning on threatening Sanho?”

“Since he threatened me first, isn’t it only fair to give him a taste of his own medicine?”

Baek Gyeom burst into laughter at my words.

“Let’s go.”

“To Chungcheongnam?”

“Did you expect I would just let you loaf around the dorms? Get up.”

“Ah, you’re seriously acting weird.”

Even though he said that, Baek Gyeom obediently got off his butt.

Fortunately, he seemed to have taken the bait.

“Hyung.”

As I was diligently putting on my shoes, Baek Gyeom suddenly spoke in a firm voice.

I turned around, feeling tense, afraid that he might run off again.

“……Can’t we finish the kimbap before we go?”

“……Alright.”

I noticed that Baek Gyeum’s eyes were a little puffy.

I had only noticed that as he shoved the leftover half-eaten kimbap into his mouth.

[Main Quest Checkpoint Reward!

Karma Points +30]

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