Save a Failed Idol's Life

Chapter 173:

“Cancelled?”

I opened my eyes at the unexpected word.

“Ugh… this is giving me a headache.”

I got up from my seat and went to the living room. Soon after, Kyunghwa and the other members came out with grim expressions. They must have received the same message.

“Did you guys get the text too?”

Seon-woo was still sleeping soundly, and I heard some noises from behind the closed door of Seong-won’s room. He must have just woken up.

“Yeah. I thought we would only miss Floss today, but then they suddenly cancelled the whole thing. It’s a bit shocking…”

Of course, this mission was not a simple matter of coordinating the cast. It was a collaboration stage, after all.

We were lucky to have idol members who were related by blood. Some other teams had tried to do something different and invited veteran trot singers.

They said they would pay the collaboration fees separately, but what about the schedule if the recording was postponed?

Did the production team not think of that? They explained that if the recording resumed, they would arrange the schedule by team.

‘It would be better to just record without Floss today…’

As I was thinking that, Seong-won, who was in his room, shared a suspicious post that had been uploaded at dawn.

[Title: Do you know there are more groups that will be exposed?]

[Body]

(Picture)

I was a staff member of My Idol

This will cause more chaos if it gets out lol

The one that got busted today is nothing

They have been the undisputed top group until now, but once it starts, it will come out one after another

You better sell your goods and quit the fandom before the price drops. They will be hated in a few days haha

[Comments]

[- How can you make up stories with just one picture and no proof?]

[? It’s up to you whether you believe it or not, but I’m telling you, you should sell your 10,000 won photo card before it becomes worthless]

[? This guy couldn’t get Jiyeong’s second album photo card and is doing this. I won’t sell it to you, go away with your lies]

[? Don’t cry next week lol I told you~] The picture attached to the short post was a pre-agreement contract signed by the My Idol stage cast and the production team.

The fans might not be able to tell, but we could recognize it at a glance, having managed various contracts so far.

That seal was not fake.

Was the quality deliberately lowered? The small letters were unreadable, but I could easily guess that the contract did not have only honest contents.

“Things are… getting bigger, aren’t they?”

My timeline, which usually only talked about the climax all the time unless there was something special, was noisy with the exposure posts and the exposure previews.

[- I’m going out for a while because I’m uncomfortable with the idol scandal on the timeline]

[- It seems like there’s more to come, and don’t you all have a pretty good idea of what’s going to explode lol It was weird that it didn’t come out until now with the angel’s editing]

[? MJY I quit watching after the fourth episode lol I saw them giving more screen time to a certain member and got biased, and then they debuted like that and I was shocked]

[? Me too lol They were obviously pushing them, but the fans were blind and deaf and said no]

[- My Idol is also going to be rigged… It’s been almost two years, but it seems like debuting honestly is the best way.]

[? I came here by searching, but please don’t spread rumors and delete your post. There’s nothing confirmed yet.]

[? Wow, the fans are even silencing us???????? Why should I delete it? If they didn’t rig it, it will be revealed soon. I’ll delete it then.]

It gave me a headache just looking at it. I shook my head and turned off the phone screen.

“So today we are… just resting without any schedule?”

“I guess so.”

While we were murmuring, the phone rang from the PR team.

“Ah, yes. I got the call. This is Cheon Ise.”

“Yes, yes, Ise! You got the text, right?”

“Yes. Is it not just Floss that got canceled, but the whole schedule?”

“Yes, probably the main recording will be delayed too, so they said we’ll take a break for a special episode. We’re also looking into the situation right now, so we’ll report back to you as soon as we have any updates.”

Many people were suffering from the sparks that fell out of nowhere since dawn.

“I understand. You must be having a hard time. We’ll just wait at the accommodation for now.”

“Yes, thank you. I’ll contact you again later!”

The short call ended and everyone who got a sudden break lay down on the sofa with a dumbfounded expression.

I envied Seon-woo, who was sleeping soundly in his room without knowing anything.

“…”

It was a relief that the controversy ended with Floss. What if there was a pre-contract that we didn’t know about for Boys Be Ambitious as well as My Idol?

Floss had something we didn’t know about, for sure. It was more of a loss than a gain for us, so why did they force us to appear on Bobby Am despite the members’ opposition?

‘The production team must have something to worry about too, so they stopped filming.’

As I was organizing my thoughts in the silence, Kyunghwa opened his mouth with a tense expression.

“Just in case… if anyone has something that would ruin them if it gets out, confess now.”

His expression was so stern and serious that we burst out laughing in the midst of being intimidated.

“Pfft.”

We barely held back our smiles, but the one who laughed out loud was none other than Yi-jun.

“Don’t laugh, you’re the most anxious. You know?”

Kyunghwa reached out his hand to pinch Yi-jun’s cheek, but Yi-jun shouted against violence and slid down from the sofa to the floor.

“I have nothing, really. I barely went to school or trained separately since middle school.”

“What?”

Kyunghwa looked at Yi-jun with wide eyes as if he had just found out.

“I used different coaches and facilities anyway… I didn’t have much trouble with the seniors. There’s nothing to dig up.”

Yi-jun spoke calmly without changing his expression, and he seemed more composed than usual.

“Ah… maybe the last game before I quit will come up. But that wasn’t my fault either.”

As Yi-jun scratched his neck, we all ran out of words. Quitting his sports career meant… there was some negative reason behind it.

“Anyway, the problem is the hyungs I got close to while learning to produce. Don’t worry too much, I’m taking care of it if it looks weird.”

Yi-jun sighed uncomfortably at the awkward atmosphere and lifted his heavy butt to get back on the sofa.

“There won’t be any problems with my activities because of me.”

At Yi-jun’s confident confession, Seong-won also opened his mouth.

“Who did I ever talk to… more than three words after leaving school… It’s not a big deal if I didn’t bully or fight anyone, right?”

I could imagine what kind of school life he had from the sentence he barely uttered, sounding worried.

He would do what he was told, and if there was nothing to do, he would sit in his place, silently, and ostracize all his classmates by himself.

I only found out after I got used to him a bit, but the only ones he ever picked a fight with were O Yi-jun and me.

There was no chance of clashing with Kyunghwa, and Seon-woo was… the type who couldn’t understand even if I spoke plainly, so there was no need to bother confronting him.

I was worried about how he treated other people, but surprisingly, there was no big problem.

‘He just did what he had to do, and acted like he didn’t hear or see anything.’

He seemed to not feel any value in spending time with others. I thought. He must have realized that he couldn’t handle it if he acted like that outside too.

Kyunghwa followed up on Seong-won’s words.

“I’m clean of school violence or peer relationships too.”

It looked like it. He was the type who would get anxious and sick to his stomach if there was even a small problem around him. He must have lived by avoiding or solving problems somehow.

Then the problem was me… right?

From what I saw in the Human Theater of Cheon Ise, I didn’t seem to have fought or quarreled with anyone.

“I didn’t do anything that would cause trouble either.”

What worried me more was the arrogant attitude that started in earnest from the second or third year of Mangdol.

‘With the money from my family.’

That remark… If someone had recorded it, it could have been a problem for abuse of power.

I was a completely different person now, but it wasn’t that long ago.

‘Do I have to keep a low profile and work from now on?’

It would be troublesome if I apologized in advance and started a conversation, and then the problem got bigger because of the exposure flow.

As I was worrying about this and that in my head, Seon-woo opened the door and came out to the living room.

“Wow, I woke up so late…! I’m sorry, I’ll get ready quickly!”

He looked at the time instead of checking the text as soon as he woke up, and he was so flustered that his face turned pale. I laughed even though it wasn’t a time to laugh.

“Sigh…”

“No, before you get ready, look at the text first. Our schedule today was canceled.”

Kyunghwa quickly stopped Seon-woo, and he tilted his head with a confused expression.

“Why?? Isn’t today the day we have a pre-rehearsal?”

He looked completely unaware of the chaos that had been going on all night.

“It’s canceled, so hurry up and wash your face. I’ll explain it to you briefly.”

“Yeah…!!”

Seon-woo nodded his head vigorously and splashed cold water on his face in the bathroom, making a sound of pain.

That guy… He was 100% bullied, not a bully.

It seemed like everyone had the same thought in their minds.

We couldn’t do anything about it right now, so we had to wait for it to be sorted out.

We decided to enjoy a peaceful rest on the unexpected holiday.

Meanwhile, unlike the Climax dormitory, which was watching the fire across the river, the Floss dormitory was a mess.

“Who do you think posted this picture?”

No one answered Hwijin’s question and just looked at the floor.

It was 4 a.m. when the phone rang. It was my manager, calling to tell me that the incident with Chanhyung was not over. Someone had posted a message online, threatening a second round of attacks.

I was shocked to hear that my contract had been leaked. I hadn’t slept a wink since midnight, worried about the whole mess, even though it wasn’t my fault. I checked the link that my manager sent me and saw the document.

It was a pre-contract that the producers of My Idol Stage had made some of the contestants sign separately.

‘I never signed anything like this…’

When I decided to join My Idol Stage, my position was nothing more than ‘diversity’. There were too many high school students who looked like they came from the same mold. The producers needed someone different to make their debut candidates stand out.

So they looked for someone who had a unique character, some buzz, and a low chance of making the final cut. That’s how they ended up recruiting me from a small acting agency.

No one expected me to rise to the second place in the competition. I didn’t get a proper pre-contract, let alone any decent management. I was left alone to fend for myself.

Later, when we were preparing for our debut, I overheard some of the members talking about their pre-contracts. I had a feeling that some of them had signed them, but I didn’t know who.

I sighed and opened my mouth again.