WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

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

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Chapter 11

“Hyung, weren’t you not good with driving?”

“I overcame it.”

“When?”

“Yesterday.”

I felt Baek Gyeom’s sharp gaze from beside me.

Whatever, it was too tiring to get my story straight.

“Can we really go by ourselves without the manager?”

“You think Sanho consulted our manager before starting the live broadcast?”

Baek Gyeom, who was fastening his seatbelt in the passenger seat, was silent for a moment before muttering softly.

“You’re really scary, Hyung.”

“What?”

“You seem like a different person. Did you meet the King of the Underworld or something?”

“Something like that.”

“Tell me about it later.”

“Sure.”

Fortunately, it was afternoon on a weekday, so we could get there pretty quickly.

Before long, Baek Gyeom had his arms crossed and had slightly reclined his car seat as he dozed off.

I felt slightly annoyed by that……

But this was a lot better than him asking a million questions or staring at me with his sharp eyes.

We were about 20 minutes away from Sanho’s family home, as Baek Gyeom had informed me.

While waiting at a red light, my phone buzzed briefly.

[@week_sanho has started a live broadcast.]

……?

“Hey, hey, hey, Beak Gyeom, Gyeom.”

“U-urgh…… Yes. I’m not sleeping.”

Beak Gyeom, whose face was all shiny, mumbled as if still sleeping. 

“Yeah, you look tired. Quickly, turn on Sanho’s live broadcast.”

“How can I turn it on when it’s already deleted?”

“He just started another one.”

Beak Gyeom sprang up.

“Turn up the volume to the max.”

“Yoon Sanho is outside?”

―Hello there, yes, yes, Hello. I’m on a walk right now. It’s a bit less cold today……

“Good luck, Yoon Sanho.”

“Is this near his house?”

Comments in both foreign languages and Korean were being posted in the chat at similar speed.

└Sanho, did you eat?

└sanhoT.T

└So, is WEEKANIZ really disbanding?

Hah, what should we do about this kid……

[@gyeomeee has joined the live broadcast]

└Sanho, answer your phone.

Huh? What phone call?

Wait a second, that username……

“……Is that you?”

“Yup.”

Beak Gyeom, this broken eight-ton truck of a lunatic……

He joined Yoon Sanho’s live broadcast and demanded he answer the phone.

“Can you please tell me what you’re doing?”

“Summoning Sanho.”

Yoon Sanho was visibly flustered as soon as he read Beak Gyeom’s comment.

└OMG, it’s Beak Gyeom

└Beak Gyeom……?

└Beak Gyeomㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

└What are you two doing?

The chat went wild over Beak Gyeom’s four-word comment.

Of course, they did.

Idols usually didn’t handle extremely sensitive matters such as disbandments themselves after all!

└Sanho, let’s talk face-to-face. Answer your phone.

……And Beak Gyeom’s face as he calmly typed these comments was eerily serene.

└Wow, what am I seeing right now?

└OMG lolololololololololol

└What happened

In the end, the live broadcast ended within three minutes.

<’Answer your phone’ said to another member…… WEEKANIZ discord rumors ‘buzzing’>

I bet articles like that would soon pop up again.

“Baek Gyeom, why are you doing this?”

My voice betrayed my shock.

No poker face could cover up my distress.

“I thought this might make Sanho come out……”

“Holy……”

Sigh…… What can I do?

I grabbed the steering wheel again.

“Since it’s come to this, you should make a call, Baek Gyeom.”

“Aye, aye.”

After about three rings, the call was picked up with a click.

Maybe Beak Gyeom’s unexpected move actually worked.

It seemed one had to put in that much effort to get a response, huh?

“Yoon Sanho? It’s Beak Gyeom.”

―……Hyung, are you crazy?

“Geez.”

……These WEEKANIZ guys. Did they undergo some training to be so rude?

[Warning! Your conversational skills are lacking. If you don’t respond immediately, the call will end!]

Fine! I was the real guilty one here.

“Sanho. It’s me, Ahn Yuyoung.”

I called out to Yoon Sanho as kindly as I could.

“Let’s meet and talk. We’re almost at your place.”

―What are you talking about? You came all the way from Seoul?

“If meeting at your house isn’t convenient for you, come to a nearby cafe. You know EE Coffee, right? We’ll be there.”

―……Alright.

The call ended with another click.

I felt drained even though we hadn’t even started talking properly yet.

“That’s the only way to get him to crawl out.”

Beak Gyeom, seemingly unaware of my great frustration, just chuckled leisurely.

* * *

Beak Gyeom and I arrived first and squeezed ourselves into a corner on the second floor of the cafe.

Soon, a tall man slowly came up the stairs.

Yoon Sanho, who slumped into the seat across from us, kept his mouth tightly shut like a clam.

Since it was our first meeting, I decided to check his status.

[Name: Yoon Sanho (Yoon Sanho)

Age : 22

Affiliation: WEEKANIZ

Position: Sub Vocal

Stamina : 110/120

Appearance : S

Dance : C

Vocal : C

Notoriety Level : 89

Notoriety Keyword: Hiatus]

This guy. It seemed like he must have eaten and rested well at home. His stamina was so high.

His appearance was S ranked, something I had never seen before.

He really fits the role of the visual member. Even while wearing a hat and mask, his good looks shone through.

“Sanho, let's go back to Seoul.”

“……”

“Gyeom also said he'd keep staying in the dorm. Ire will be there too.”

“I haven't decided yet. I'll have to see the majority vote results first.”

Baek Gyeom, sipping his iced Americano, added casually.

“……If you come with us, Gyeom said he'd stay at the dorm as well.” 

“Since the majority agrees except me, shouldn't we have one more person?”

“Gyeom, let Sanho speak for a moment.”

It wasn't until I expressed a bit of irritation that Baek Gyeom's local commentary stopped.

“……Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

Yoon Sanho lowered his head as he murmured softly.

It was a bit surprising to see him like that.

I had sensed a bit of hesitation in his broadcast yesterday, but still……

If he was bold enough to announce his withdrawal during something like a surprise broadcast, I thought he would have at least some level of courage.

But now, he seemed timid. Too timid.

“Was it…… because of me?”

“Huh?”

“Was it because of me?”

Yoon Sanho looked up, his face contorted with emotions.

“Was it because of the live broadcast I did three days before you did that?”

Huh, I didn’t know that.

I figured out why Yoon Sanho was so excessively withdrawn.

I had no idea exactly what he said during that broadcast, but it must have been something that might have triggered Ahn Yuyoung’s drastic actions.

In that case, this current situation was playing in my favor.

“……Honestly, it would be a lie to say it had no impact at all.”

Yoon Sanho’s pupils trembled.

“But it’s not just because of that. So lift your head.”

“……Are you forgiving me for what I said?”

“Tell me exactly what you feel you said wrong.”

“I said I thought our group could do without a leader……?”

“Sigh……”

……Ahn Yuyoung absolutely deserved to be pissed at that.

[Warning! Your rapport with the other party is decreasing. Take initiative in the conversation!]

“……Apologize.”

“If you apologize, I’ll forgive you.”

“I…… I’m sorry.”

“What’s with this conversation? It’s oddly childish but somehow still satisfying.”

Baek Gyeom applauded our absurd exchange.

“Anyway, Hyung. I can’t continue to be in this group. I’m sorry for what I said, but……”

“No? I came all the way here to take you back. We’re going to get all the members back together and then we’ll make a comeback.”

“……Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to quit everything?”

Yoon Sanho, with his thick eyelashes casting shadows over his eyes like curtains, seemed at a loss at my sudden determined demeanor.

“What will you do after you quit being an idol?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll become a streamer.”

“Wow, you’d definitely be popular with your looks, Sanho.”

Baek Gyeom added another unnecessary comment.

“Isn’t being an idol cooler than being a streamer?”

“……It’s better than being a broke idol who leeches money from fans.”

“Who’s going to be WEEKANIZ Thursday if you’re gone?”

Yoon Sanho probably was Thursday, right?

“Yeah, if you just do streams on your own, it’ll just be Thursday, Thursday, Thursday every day of the week. That’s kinda lame.”

It was probably a mistake bringing Baek Gyeom along.

“And…… I apologize for causing confusion with my indecisive actions. I should have been stronger as a leader, right?”

I shall sincerely consider your feedback. Yoon Sanho’s eyes widened more than ever at these words. Those sure were some big eyes……

“But do we really have any hope left as idols?”

“Of course.”

“What is it?”

Yoon Sanho looked at me with moist eyes.

I gently stroked my chin before responding.

“……You?”

“You’re good-looking. You’re our hope. You have a solid core fanbase. Don’t you know better than anyone that we can’t do it without you?”

Baek Gyeom stared at me with a stunned expression on his face.

However, what I said wasn't entirely baseless. As a journalist, I was just stating the facts.

During my days as a reporter, I did some research on the WEEKANIZ members while covering some popular music.

From what I could remember, Yoon Sanho had a very clear position: Visual.

He was the guy who sang and spoke using his face.

His double eyelids were thin, and his eyelashes were so dense they extended to his lower lash line, giving him both a soft and intense impression.

His long, straight nose and modest cheekbones harmonized perfectly with his face.

His thin, wide mouth would open coolly when he smiled, evoking a refreshing image.

If he were coffee he’d be a warm cappuccino……, if he were an animal, he’d be a wolf cub with the soul of a rabbit and fawn.

Anyway, he was a boy who reminded one of a gentle sky blue.

But there was one problem.

Something that ruined that magnificent face of his……

Terrible hair, makeup, and styling.

In fact, there were few concepts WEEKANIZ hadn’t tried in their four years of activities.

The problem was they all looked very awkward and unconvincing.

No matter how beautiful his natural features were, strange filters made it hard for him to shine.

There were times when they gave him outdated smokey makeup.

There were also times when his eyelashes had been curled up like a girl group member’s, creating a sense of incongruity.

I knew that stage makeup could almost be like costume makeup, but…

Yoon Sanho often seemed thick and stifling.

Fans had expressed their dissatisfaction about this, so there was no way that Yoon Sanho himself was unaware.

Even at those few showcases I attended, Yoon Sanho was always introduced as the visual member.

I had seen how Yoon Sanho was outwardly acting shy when he was introduced like that but secretly smiled proudly.

Knowing he was good-looking but being nerfed like that……

He probably couldn’t just say ‘I don’t like this makeup’, and ended up feeling pretty frustrated.

Didn’t I just hear that he was some village clan’s youngest kid just now?

The more one was pampered and cherished like a prince or princess, the worse one took it when even a little attention slipped away from them.

That was what I was aiming for here.

“What are you going to do as a streamer with that face anyway? It’s such a waste. Streamers just sit alone in some room like shut-ins, talking to themselves to make money. Can you really do that? You haven’t even shown everything you can do on stage yet. Wouldn’t you regret it?”

[Eloquence increased! You have pinpointed the other party’s needs!]

Yoon Sanho’s pupils were shaking even more.

But, should someone so good-looking really be so easily swayed by being told they’re good-looking……?

Whatever, it was better for me if he was this soft. I could just wrap it up with this and take him back.

Now then.

“I’ll even help you release a solo album.”

‘Bullseye!’

Yoon Sanho’s head shot up.

His dark eyes were so clear and pure that I could see my own reflection in them.

……He seemed incredibly moved by my words.

I had noticed on social media that fans were constantly chanting ‘Sanho solo~ Sanho solo~’, so I just decided to throw this out.

“Let’s go back to the dorm, Sanho. Hyung has everything planned out.”

I actually didn't, but……

I would figure it out when we got there.

[ Main Quest Mid-Reward!

Karma Points +30]

Thank goodness.

One more step away from death.

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