WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

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

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Chapter 14

Creak— Creak—

‘Isn't this place pretty eerie?’

9 PM.

Normally, I would now be lounging about after dinner, scrolling through some actors' social media to find something that could bring in some views.

Instead, I found myself at a church in XX City in Gyeonggi-do, a place I had never been to before.

The chapel doors were wide open, but there wasn't a single soul inside.

“It's so cold……”

“Who are you?”

“Uwargh.”

Startled by that unfamiliar voice I turned around.

What was that? A penguin? A penguin was walking towards me.

……N-no. On closer inspection, it was just a man in a black padded jacket.

“Ah, Erm, I’m……”

I gulped nervously. Introducing myself still felt kind of awkward.

* * *

Upon further investigation, I found out that Tae Oh had some special circumstances.

I found myself searching through LiveJet, even skipping dinner.

Born in LA, and attending a middle school there, Tae Oh had moved to Korea for some reason.

The exact reason was never shared with the fans. Perhaps he didn't want anyone to know.

He moved to Korea when he was about 15 years old, far too young to live alone, but his parents couldn’t come with him to Korea due to work related issues.

So, a Korean acquaintance heard about Tae Oh’s situation and introduced him to a church pastor.

The pastor then allowed Tae Oh to stay in a dormitory attached to the church.

Said pastor, sitting right across from me, seemed a bit hesitant after hearing my story.

“So, you’re asking me to tell you where Tae Oh is right now…… is that correct?”

I quickly opened the shop.

[<Magnetic Heart> : Makes the other party 50% more inclined to help you! - 30 Points

(tip: try to be sincere ♥)]

[Would you like to use it?]

Why even ask?!

“U-urgh.”

“Are you alright?”

Wait, what was this item doing……?

“Urgh, hic…… please, help me. I can’t reach him at all… I really need to find him, sob.”

This is dangerous. Tears started pouring out of my eyes uncontrollably.

Wait, wouldn’t this be perfect to use when acting?

“Uhm, yes, well……”

The pastor, who had maintained a calm expression, had his eyebrows furrowed in concern now.

It was only 50%, but the effect was certainly noticeable.

“Well……”

Come on, hurry up!

“I’m sorry, but Tae Oh left after saying goodbye to me around lunch time today. I think he went straight to the airport.”

……Dear Lord.

I might be seeing You soon for real.

“I let my guard down……”

I was mistaken to put my absolute faith in the bookmark.

<Published on 04.12.21 at 15:20

Title : WEEKANIZ’ Tae Oh, departing today (the 4th) …… taking steps towards ‘Withdrawal’?>

The date, December 4th, wasn’t wrong.

The problem was the time.

The article wasn’t marked as breaking news.

Which meant…

It was quite possible that the departure time was in the early morning hours on the 4th.

As long as it was on the 4th!

“Hyung, the flight to LA starts just past midnight at 12:25.”

“Argh!”

Chae Ire, who was sitting in the passenger seat, kindly informed me of the Incheon Airport’s schedule.

Our current time was 10:20 PM.

The estimated time it would take us to reach the airport was 1 hour and 30 minutes.

We would arrive at 11:50 PM……

……At that point, Tae Oh would have already entered the gate.

Even if I buy a ticket and rush in to get him, it would be useless.

Shop!!

[<Idols are the Robin Hoods of the 21st Century!!> : Increase movement speed by 50%! - 30 Points

*Note: 10% chance of an accident happening]

A 10% chance of an accident? Dying this way or that way, it would be all the same anyway, so what difference would this make?

[Purchase Complete]

Unlike the stamina recovery items, this one didn’t have an immediate effect.

The speedometer still showed 100km/h.

But……

The GPS indicator on the navigation system was moving ridiculously fast.

Chae Ire didn’t seem to notice anything unusual though.

“Ire…… Don’t you feel like something’s strange?”

“Oh, did you see it too, Hyung?! There’s a flock of migratory birds flying outside!!”

Right…… This kid had always been like this……

Despite the scenery outside zooming by at an incredible speed, Chae Ire was just casually talking about birds.

I just needed to focus on getting us there as quickly as possible.

If we were 50% faster, that would mean that the time we would take was cut in half.

We could arrive at the airport at about 11:00 PM

My mouth was as dry as the desert. Please!

There were only a few people in the Incheon Airport at night.

Thanks to my quick thinking, we managed to arrive in time. It was currently 11:05 PM.

“Ire, just in case, walk around the international departure area.”

“What about you, Hyung?”

“I’m going to look for him inside.”

This area was too vast to just search aimlessly, but what could I do? We had to look for him.

The departure board indicated that the flight to LA was currently boarding.

“……I should’ve let Ire stay with me.”

There was a problem.

I wasn’t that familiar with Tae Oh.

I might not be able to recognize Tae Oh properly even if he stood right in front of me. 

So how was I supposed to recognize him at a distance?

Then a certain idea popped up in my head.

“Hah, that’s a bit much though……”

It's good…… to have ideas and all, but somehow they always end up being so extreme.

“Please, isn't there anyway? I really need this. Just this once, please.”

I shouldn't have used that tears inducing item earlier.

I cursed my impulsive nature.

But humans were slaves to stimuli.

Once an idea takes hold, more careful methods seem completely impossible.

“My sincerest apologies, but…… we can't broadcast for such personal reasons.”

The airport information desk staff member looked increasingly uncomfortable.

Sorry, ordinary citizen. This wasn't intentional.

“My passport is in my friend's bag. It probably got in there when we were unpacking our travel bags. He's not answering his phone, I mean, he always keeps it on silent anyway. He's about to leave, so I'm sure he'll hear this broadcast. Please, just this once, can't you help me?”

Pitiful expression, pitiful expression!

“Haah…… Alright, but I’ll only repeat it two times, no more than that.”

“Thank you so much!”

Ahn Yuyoung, you genius!

“But if he’s already inside the departure gate, there’s nothing we can do.”

The airline staff turned on the microphone.

―Attention please. Passenger Brian Oh, scheduled to board CC Airlines flight 342 to LA, please come to the information desk immediately. Once again, passenger Brian Oh……

Though the announcement was rather sloppy, it really felt like a godsend.

I hurried out of the information desk area, frantically scanning the area around it.

“Please, show up……”

Suddenly, Yoon Sanho and Baek Gyeom suddenly seemed like saints in comparison.

Unfortunately, even after five minutes passed, Tae Oh didn’t show up.

Stress and tension crashed down on me like tidal waves.

[Notoriety : 92

Notoriety Keyword : Disbandment]

Seeing that incredibly high number made me feel physically ill.

……Wait a second, didn’t I have that one item?

[<Shout out to the World> : The player’s voice can be heard by everyone in the vicinity!]

……It seemed like this might not be such a useless item after all.

I activated the item, took a deep breath, and looked around the wide open airport.

Then, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

“Tae Oh!!!”

After that, something unbelievable happened.

Everyone in my line of sight turned to look at me simultaneously.

This seemed so surreal, almost as if I was currently lucid dreaming.

It felt a bit eerie too.

I swallowed dryly before opening my mouth again.

“Tae Oh!”

“Isn’t that guy an idol?”

A few people started to recognize me.

By how much would this raise my notoriety? I couldn’t say, I wasn’t able to think straight right now.

Even if I were to die now, I felt like I would only be at peace after seeing that guy’s face at least once.

If he had already entered the departure gate, no item would be able to help me……

“Did he already go in……”

As I weakly lowered my arms feeling despair,

“Ah!”

Someone suddenly grabbed my wrist firmly.

“……Hyung.”

Yeah, that was Tae Oh.

1 am at the Incheon Airport, in the XX lounge.

It felt as if someone had arranged this situation, as there were only the two of us here.

[Notoriety: 93

Notoriety Keywords : Discord, Disbandment, Escape]

“Escape, my ass……”

“……?”

Shit, I was only thinking that, but it seemed to have slipped out of my mouth……

Even without looking I could feel Tae Oh’s gaze on me.

Let’s just look at Tae Oh’s status.

[Name : Brian Oh (Tae Oh)

Age : 24

Affiliation : WEEKANIZ

Position : Sub Dancer

Stamina : 130/150

Appearance : A

Vocals : C

Dance : B

Notoriety : 80

Notoriety Keywords: Disbandment]

His stamina was exceptionally high.

“You have good stamina.”

“Thanks. Is that a compliment?”

His pronunciation was a bit awkward, but it didn’t seem to hinder communication between us.

Despite his somewhat friendly greeting, Tae Oh’s expression soon hardened. It seemed like he had something to say to me.

“……I’m really upset because I don’t know you, Hyung.”

No, maybe it did hinder our communication a little……

He probably meant that he was upset for not understanding how I felt, right?

“That’s not your fault.”

Tae Oh lifted his head at my firm words.

Now his expression looked somewhat somber.

“I’m feeling down…… Hyung and I debuted together, and you said…”

Here we go again.

The pure but endlessly cruel memory test of the WEEKANIZ members……

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like Tae Oh intended to test me for real, considering that he soon continued.

“No matter what happens, we’ll stay together.”

“……”

“……You said that. But it didn’t work out.”

“Ah~ yeah……”

“I really, really liked what you said, Hyung. I thought I had a family in Korea.”

Ahn Yuyoung’s declaration of disbandment, WEEKANIZ’s disbandment.

For Tae Oh, all of this was literally the ‘Disbandment of his family’.

Now, I finally understood why he was running away, or rather leaving.

Having suddenly become an orphan left all alone in Korea, he had no reason to stay here any further.

“We won’t disband.”

“Really?”

“I was an idiot. I’ll never……”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. No self-deprication.”

He interrupted me with a firm voice.

Wait, how did he know a high-level word like ‘self-deprecation’?

[Eloquence slightly decreased! Please appease the other party!]

“……I swear to the Lord. I won’t blame you.”

“I don’t believe it. Haha.”

Even though he said that, I could see Tae Oh smiling more comfortably than before.

I barely managed to get Tae Oh into the car and took the wheel.

Fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks.

“You–young Hyung.”

Tae Oh pronounced Ahn Yuyoung’s name like ‘you―young’. 

“Yeah?”

I responded half-heartedly.

But I could feel his intense gaze from the side.

What now?

“Can we bring ‘that’ to the dorm?”

He threw in an unexpected mystery pronoun.

What was he asking for?

“That, the thing you bring back from Namyangju, Hyung.”

“……What was that again?”

“You know…… the long one. Scallion kimchi.”

Goddamn it.

I used a cash shop item to get all the way here, and it turned out that he could be swayed with just some scallion kimchi……

“I’ll get it for you.”

“Yes! Nice.”

[Main Quest Mid-reward!

Karma Points + 30]

……I should have just bought 2.000 won worth of scallion kimchi.

Despite these trivial thoughts coursing through my head, I couldn’t help but tighten my nerves once again

There was still this one unresolved question.

“……Tae Oh, by the way, I noticed there was blood on the cross in your room.”

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T/N: The cursive lines when Tae Oh is speaking are him speaking English

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