The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol

“Let’s eat a heart-thumping salad.”

It was a song recently trending among the general public, set to the theme of an old animation.

The special characteristic of this song was that it emphasized cuteness without fail.

[?????]

[Guys??? No way??????]

Everyone rushed over in a frenzy.

Clicking on the video, Kang Ichae, Jeong Dajun, and Seong Jiwon appeared standing in a row with their eyes closed against a kitchen backdrop drawn in cute, pastel-colored cartoon style. As the intro music started, they opened their eyes and began to sway, hands on hips and heels lifting and lowering in rhythm.

“Squeeze some lemon!

How tasty it’ll be, my heart is thumping!

My lovely salad!

Squeeze some grapefruit!

How fresh it’ll be, my heart is fluttering!

My super tasty salad!”

Despite being three tall and robust men, they matched the song’s cute lyrics perfectly, pretending to drizzle dressing and mime eating.

Angelic Seong Jiwon with perfect features, roguishly charming Kang Ichae, and the youngest gangster mouse Jeong Dajun with an old anime opening song? It was a sure-win combination.

[Aaaahhhhhh]

[Cute to the point of kijul][1]

[Oh my God, are these the same guys from “Kill the Lights”?? Why are they so good???]

All danced cheerfully without a hint of embarrassment, especially the youngest, Jeong Dajun, who seemed to be flying.

[Ah, Jeong Dajun ah!!! So cute]

[He must have really watched this anime, feels like a front-row enthusiast

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Thinking about it, Dajun’s age fits perfectly]

Everyone watched him fondly, and then, with the last verse of the first stanza, the three pointed to the side with their index fingers and grinned, hinting at something more to come.

[Oh no, could it be]

Indeed.

[The hyungs too?!?!]

They set up the first verse with members who fit well or were shamelessly confident to catch viewers off guard, then deliberately handed over the second verse to the two least suitable members. As the interlude played on a black screen, fans erupted in reaction.

[I’m not expecting anything, whatever comes is fine, I’m not expecting at all]

This time, Seo Hoyun and Kim Seonghyeon stood against a background of cute, colorful flowers, taking deep breaths.

[Ack, I was actually expecting a lot!! Thank you!!!!]

[Kijul]

Dressed in white sweatshirts, they stood with serious faces, mismatched with the cutesy melody, then (finally) started bouncing their feet on the first verse.

[Hoyun-aaah!!!!!]

[Ah, Kim Seonghyeon Kim Seonghyeon Kim Seonghyeon]

“Mix the salad in a bowl, mix and mix!

Crush the avocado, crush it!

If it’s a bit bland, sprinkle some salt~

Cheer up, your gloomy mood will fly away!”

Kim Seonghyeon’s ears turned bright red, and Seo Hoyun kept looking at the ground, occasionally taking deep breaths.

[Ah, crazy, Kim Seonghyeon’s ears are red, that means marriage, right, got it]

[Seo Hoyunㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ His deep breathing is really funny ah ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└It’s getting more shameless with time

└└His increasingly confident movements…]

Of course, by the end, they boldly stared into the camera, overacting as they mimed sprinkling salt.

“The magic of salad, jingle!

Let’s all be happy, my heart is thumping!”

[Ah, so cute, shit, so cute, ah, so cute, ah]

[I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

The two, who managed to keep smiling till the end, buried their faces in their hands and pretended to wash their faces as the screen faded to black.

[I can’t believe it… I am… someone who laughs a lot…]

[I thought I was watching quietly, but when the screen went off, I realized I was grinning with my gums showing]

As everyone was stunned by this new side of The Dawn they had never seen before, an alert for The Dawn’s V-Live popped up.

[Thumping Dawnkies are here (V hand sign emoticon)]

This is…!

This was a sure bet.

Everyone lit up and rushed in. Entering V-Live, the members were waving their hands against the background of the practice room.

“Hello~!”

“Hello!”

Though they sometimes appeared individually on V-Live (with titles like ‘Hello, it’s Jiwon’ for Seong Jiwon or ‘Cuteness has arrived’ for Kang Ichae), a V-Live with all five members of The Dawn was different. They waved their hands while looking at the chats, which were flooding in almost instantaneously.

But today’s content was somewhat different from usual.

Right from the start, the fans were completely flipping out.

[Guys, let’s eat a heart-thumping salad]

Fans who didn’t want to end with just one video begged fervently.

[Do the heart-thumping salad again, please]

[Just one more time… ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

[Oppa Please I beg you]

“Heart-Thumping salad?”

“Ah, let’s eat a heart-thumping salad!”

[Yes, yes, yes, please]

[Please]

The Noeuls were hoping for the members to perform even just a verse or a small hand movement… but The Dawn, true to their quirky and cute nature, always exceeded the fans’ expectations.

“Shall we show them one more time?”

Then, Kang Ichae, smiling, pulled out a box from the corner. As the chat filled with question marks, everyone stood up energetically.

“Let’s go!”

“Yeeaahhh!!”

Ingredients for salad, including lettuce, sugar, and lemon juice, and a large salad bowl.

All prepared exclusively for “Let’s eat heart-thumping salad.”

[Aaaahhh crazy]

[Kinda knew they’d do it today in the practice roomㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[This is what idols are about, damn it]

“Squeeze some lemon!”

“Squeeze!!”

Seo Hoyun and the rest of The Dawn were in a mood to do everything the fans asked.

With a choreography to match, one hand holding a large bowl, and the other making salad, their practiced moves were evident even in that short time.

“If it’s a bit bland, sprinkle some salt~”

“Cheer up, your gloomy mood will fly away!”

“Wait, wait. Can you put that much salt??”

Kim Seonghyeon, shaking his hips in sync, was shocked at the endless amount of salt being poured. But the youngest line was very, very steadfast. In the end, they all gathered together to eat the salad they made, critiquing each other.

“Ew, salty! Hyung… didn’t you put too much salt?”

“To be happy~.”

“I knew it was too much.”

“…Gasp. Guys. Try Hoyun’s, it’s really tasty.”

“How did you make it tasty in that moment?”

Having a slight idea of what fans expected, Seo Hoyun shrugged nonchalantly. Kang Ichae chuckled and then pretended to feed the salad to the camera.

“Let’s all be happy, our Noeuls too~.”

“Be very, very happy always!”

After The Dawn’s V-Live ended, having reenacted the trending challenge in reality, Seo Hoyun’s fans who had been fighting off negative comments were contentedly sharing their thoughts on SNS.

[My beloved idols forever]

[Give me life energy forever]

[I will never look away, even if scouted~!!!]

The reaction was great, not just from Seo Hoyun’s fans, but overall.

[This group is full of wit and charm]

[I’m keeping this V-Live video till I’m eighty

No?

What’s eighty in this era of longevity? I’ll keep it till I’m 120]

Inspired by this video, The Dawn’s fans actively shared on various SNS. The original “Let’s eat a heart-thumping salad” challenge from TikTok, paired with The Dawn’s song, sparked a new trend of actually making and eating salads. Soon, other idol groups also started posting their versions.

[Refined heart-thumping salad challenge]

[High-five heart-thumping salad challenge]

[Let’s do the heart-thumping salad challenge together<3]

Even Joo Woosung, who had recently come to his senses, tilted his head in confusion seeing the fast-rising requests for the heart-thumping salad challenge during his Star Live.

– “Hear-Thumping salad? What’s that?”

After viewing a link someone posted, Joo Woosung, who had fixed his phone to one side and was watching on his computer, burst into laughter seeing The Dawn’s heart-thumping salad challenge on Youtube.

– “Hey, Seo Hoyun, what are you doing there??”

Forgetting he was working, Joo Woosung chuckled and laughed at Seo Hoyun’s shamelessness, then professionally stood up from his chair.

– “Alright, alright, I’ll dance for you. Just a moment~.”

Being an idol’s idol, and a member of one of the few groups currently considered the best, Black Call’s Joo Woosung managed to dance impressively after watching the dance just once.

Of course, the reaction to Joo Woosung was needless to say.

[Wow, really, Joo Seong is amazing ㅋㅋㅋ Just watched once and danced it all, and danced it most deliciously

└He seems like the best dancer among male idols these days

└└Even showing his skills in the heart-thumping salad challenge…]

[This guy has fucking talent…

└With just his face alone he’s already perfect, ha, oppa,]

With Joo Woosung’s (after heartily laughing at Seo Hoyun) heart-thumping salad challenge video going viral, the Noeuls were overflowing with pride that ‘The Dawn led the trend of a new challenge first.’

Thus, their fatigue from the aggro quickly dissipated.

Seo Hoyun, who had quickly adopted the heart-thumping salad challenge suggested by Lee Jihyeon, admired the entire process.

As long as the fans like it…

Convinced that it was all good as long as the fans were happy, Seo Hoyun poked at the salad in front of him with a fork. They had filled the fridge with greens for the heart-thumping salad challenge practice, so they had been in a salad craze for days.

Yet Jeong Dajun didn’t seem to mind, stuffing his mouth full of salad and chewing happily.

“Salad tastes good.”

“That’s good.”

Maybe living like Jeong Dajun was the wisest way, he thought, but even while busily eating salad, Jeong Dajun suddenly looked sullen.

“But what about the college entrance exam…”

“…”

Like Seo Hoyun, Jeong Dajun had his own worries.

.

.

.

“Whoa!”

Having barely calmed the atmosphere with the heart-thumping salad challenge, I was entering the location for Yu Jia’s YouTube shoot alone, when unexpectedly, I found Joo Woosung had arrived first. I thought I would be the first one there.

I was just about to greet him casually when…

“Hello….”

“Isn’t that our Hoyun??”

“……??”

…Joo Woosung was a bit strange today.

Our Hoyun? Why was he like this?

Normally, he would just dumbly say “Oh, hello” or, if he was pissed, he would grind his teeth and say “Did that fucking dog come?” But today, “Our Hoyun?”

His face almost glowed as he grinned from ear to ear, and I involuntarily took a couple of steps back without realizing it.

“…What’s going on?”

Whenever Joo Woosung laughed like this, it never ended well. Didn’t he laugh just like this when he won that damn archery competition?

Was it the heart-thumping salad challenge? Or some other aegyo? Please Take the Camera? I prepared for all possibilities and was on guard, but Joo Woosung just tilted his head.

“What’s up?”

But all Joo Woosung did was smile, not launch any attack.

“Our junior, you must be tired from coming here. Sit down! I prepared everything for you!”

I cautiously approached, making sure not to be overheard by the staff, and whispered quietly.

“What kind of trick have you prepared today?”

“Oh? You’re really too much?”

“…Wow, you prepared a lot.”

Judging from the way he built up the introduction. As I muttered, Joo Woosung shook his head.

“Hoyun, I’ve decided to be a proud and respectable senior.”

Uh-huh…

“I saw the heart-thumping salad challenge. Your acting in Please Take the Camera was really good too.”

I hesitated for a moment but couldn’t stop the words that burst out.

“…So?”

“…”

Joo Woosung, who had been speaking prettily, turned his head back for a moment and took a deep breath as if he was annoyed.

Regardless of what I had just said, personally seeing Joo Woosung after a long time since dealing with Min Jiheon felt like coming home. It was very comforting.

When he turned back to me, he only lowered his eyebrows slightly, pretending to be sad.

“Hey, is it okay to say something that makes people feel bad? I’m really doing well.”

“What’s really upsetting is the way Joo Woosung is speaking right now.”

“You cynical bastard, really….”

Seeing Joo Woosung quickly return to his usual self with just a little teasing, I nodded contentedly.

Yeah, that’s our pushover.

Joo Woosung dropped the buildup and returned to his original self, tilting his head and getting straight to the point.

“Hey, I had a great reaction last time, didn’t I?”

[1] “Kijul” is a slang that comes from “기절할,” which means “going to faint” or “about to pass out.”