ID Chapter 15

“Hello, senior!”

“Oh, you’re here. Endorphin is diligent as always.”

Thanks to arriving two hours earlier than the preparation time, they received praise from their seniors and staff. Han-sae also woke up at dawn today. This was because ‘Gib Mi Idol’ was the number one idol variety show on weekdays in terms of viewership ratings.

They went into the waiting room and skimmed the script. Album introduction, first live performance, individual talents, game. Second live performance, mukbang, game, game, game…

“What? Why are there so many games? Hyung, are we doing two episodes?”

“Ah, yes. They said we’re getting two episodes worth of content especially.”

“Wow… Endorphin has grown so much. Hehehe.”

Han-sae laughed hideously. But I also found myself laughing hideously along with him. Endorphin really has grown a lot.

While reading the script, my phone rang. I picked one out from among the constantly flashing group chat rooms.

Kwon Su-han [Are you free today?]

[Nope, tomorrow.]

I sent the reply and hesitated for a moment. I wondered how the car seat had been handled. Since I was earning a decent amount of money, I asked Mun, who loves cars, about taking responsibility for what I did.

“Hyung, how much would a 00 brand Electin series car seat cost?”

“Well, it’d probably be ten million won. Why?”

“…No, just curious.”

I guess I should pretend I don’t know…

No reply came, so I turned off the screen. Just then, the managers appeared, their hands full of bags.

“Alright, here are the lunchboxes from Ommaebulmun. Eat up, get your energy, and do well on the recording.”

For today’s recording too, Endorphin’s fans sent lunchboxes. To be exact, it was Mun’s fan page. The menu was different for each member; mine was galbi-jjim with an apple salad for dessert. It clearly showed their intention to make me eat somehow.

“The fans are so thoughtful. They packed lunchboxes according to each of our tastes and with healthy options.”

“Right. Hyung’s fans are the best. Let’s take a proof shot!”

Han-sae gathered the members. He smiled brightly holding his lunchbox. Click. After taking the photo, I got up.

“Ira, where are you going again? You never sit still when it’s mealtime.”

“I’ll eat later. I can’t eat before filming.”

Is that punk Jae-yi just watching me all the time lately?

“Just eat something, even if you force it. You look so frail, like you’re about to collapse.”

“Are you picking a fight, you punk? Just eat your own food.”

“Alright, Jae-yi, stop it. Forcing yourself to eat will just upset your stomach. Ira, I’ll put your lunchbox aside for you.”

“…Yes, Yong-jun hyung.”

Jae-yi clicked his tongue but didn’t follow. I leaned against the door, sighed, and headed to the convenience store on the first floor.

While picking out kimbap and cup noodles, my phone rang.

Kwon Su-han [Have you eaten?]

Kwon Su-han had been monitoring my three meals a day since morning. I took a picture of what I was eating and sent it to him.

Kwon Su-han [After five attempts, you finally send a picture of cup noodles? Are you trying to ruin your health?]

[Are you my health trainer? LOL]

Kwon Su-han [Chew thoroughly. Twenty times per bite.]

How do you chew ramen twenty times per bite? Instead, I decided to leave Kwon Su-han’s message on read.

While I had my phone in hand, I went online. The page I’d added last to my favorites welcomed me.

<I want to put him in my pocket and carry him around, why isn't he a chick O.>

Heh heh. I laughed. My heart felt warm. This feeling of fullness was indescribable. I even captured the screen and saved it to my album. I had also saved all the composite photos of me and chicks. My nose quickly tingled, and I felt like crying.

With the cute message about wanting to carry me around displayed on the screen, I ate my ramen, treating it like a side dish. I ate cup noodles so often that I should have been tired of them, but they still tasted good. Well, there’s nothing in the world that isn’t delicious, anyway.

As I slurped down the noodles, I ran into the MC senior. He seemed to have come with his manager.

“Ira, what are you doing alone? Eating?”

“Ah… Yes. What about you, senior?”

“I came to buy a pack of cigarettes. Didn’t your fans give you lunchboxes today? We ate those lunchboxes, you know.”

“Oh, I ate all of that and got hungry again, so I’m eating more. Did you enjoy yours, senior?”

“Haha, thanks to you, I ate well. You’ll grow tall, Ira.”

The senior ruffled my hair and left, saying he’d see me later.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was a nervous moment. I wondered if I should have come up with a different excuse. I was worried I might be caught for not eating the lunchbox.

…….

The cup noodles and kimbap, still half-eaten, looked like the most unappetizing food in the world. My mouth was sore, my appetite completely gone, so I threw away all the leftovers.

After finishing the first title track, a break was given. Looking at the time, an hour had already passed since the recording started. My throat was dry, and I went to drink water, only to realize I’d left my tumbler, filled with purified water from the dorm, in the waiting room. The writer did bring some bottled water, but…

“Hey, Jae-yi. Can I drink yours? It feels like a waste to open a new one.”

“…Fine, drink it.”

Feeling a bit uncomfortable for some reason, I drank Jae-yi’s. Jae-yi stared at me, then quickly turned his head when our eyes met. I unconsciously let out a chuckle, but then my eyes met Mun hyung’s, and I awkwardly stiffened. Mun hyung sighed and shook his head.

The recording resumed. It was individual talent time, where we had to perform all sorts of impressions, but truthfully, at Endorphin’s level, we didn’t have to go all out. As long as Han-sae, who was in charge of variety shows, imitated a few celebrities…

“Don’t the other members have anything? It’s always Han-sae doing everything~~”

Sometimes, when they asked for more, Mun hyung would just make a trumpet sound…

“Aw, you’ve done that elsewhere! Give us something new. Jae-yi and Yadan and Ira, too, try something~~”

Occasionally, they would be so persistent. In such cases, I would always step forward to protect Jae-yi’s and Yadan’s images.

“I can do some vocal imitations.”

“Do you have anything besides the usual Mr. Piadi and Mr. Gang-gim?”

“Oh, not those two? Heh heh. How did you know I happened to have developed another one~~”

It was an impersonation that I had practiced hard for while preparing for this album and had even been acknowledged by the members.

“I’ll try just one verse of ‘Missing Me’ by Lee Su-mi sunbaenim.”

“Oh, a man doing a woman’s voice? That’s fresh, isn’t it? Go ahead, quickly.”

I confirmed that the camera light was on, cleared my throat, and then sang. When I sang the sorrowful and wistful lyrics in a voice I had practiced countless times, even the staff members exaggerated their exclamations of admiration, making me quite embarrassed.

“Oh my~ Ira sings so well. It’s not just that it’s identical; he just sings so incredibly well. I almost cried.”

“Right. We also teared up a little when we first heard it.”

“Isn’t it really identical? He sang it in the original key.”

“Yes, it’s identical. But it also seems sadder than the original. Ira sings songs very sadly.”

“When Ira sings, everything becomes sad, doesn’t it? Haha.”

The conversation continued without me even being able to say thank you. I just smiled, happy that my individual skill was a success.

“Hey, Yadan, do you have anything? Your older brothers are working so hard, the maknae.”

It seemed like this senior was determined to get everything out of us today.

Yadan performed tumbling, backflips, and an abs reveal sequentially, and finally even showcased push-ups while doing a handstand. Still, not a single drop of sweat appeared. Motioners are truly amazing.

The senior tried to get Jae-yi to do something too, but Jae-yi was an iron wall.

“Can’t you show us that acting you did for D Broadcasting Company just once?”

“Watch the replay.”

“An abs reveal, like Yadan!”

“Watch the MV for our 1st album.”

“Just show us a sword dance~~”

“Watch the stage for this album.”

It wasn’t just an iron wall; it was an incredible iron wall. The senior seemed to give up.

“Jae-yi, just one aegyo.”

To ask Jae-yi for aegyo…

“Han-sae is in charge of aegyo in our team.”

Jae-yi quickly tossed it over. The senior probably thought, “Let’s just see the aegyo of the member Jae-yi tossed it to.”

“No, it’s Ira. Aegyo equals Ira. Ira’s nickname is ‘I-gyo’.”

Han-sae, that bastard?

“When it comes to aegyo, it’s always the maknae. Maknae, aegyo cue!”

As I winked, Yadan seriously said.

“Our oldest hyung is actually an aegyo master.”

It would have been nice if it ended with Mun hyung making a sacrifice for everyone… but no! Because of the senior’s intense persistence, everyone except Jae-yi had to show aegyo. I also imitated a crazy rabbit, puffed out my cheeks, and did “bbuing bbuing.” I worried that Endorphin fans watching TV might throw up. I could already hear the sound of the many anti-fans increasing exponentially. Damn, I shouldn’t monitor the broadcast of this…

After that, the filming continued, and about half a day later, it was finally the last game. The five of us had to strike a group pose from a specific photo, and we succeeded in just 3 minutes. The senior was impressed that we did it so easily. The prize was domestic beef. We’ll grill it at the dorm.

“Even though there are two Motioners, you did it too easily. From my perspective, this is all because of Ira.”

“Me??”

“Because you’re so light, the kids below didn’t even waver. This is actually a really difficult pose, but with Ira at the very top, it’s practically cheating~~”

“Haha… But the prize is ours!”

“Putting Ira on top was all strategy. Heh heh.”

“How much do you weigh, Ira? Are you over 50?”

He suddenly poked a sore spot. I was startled.

“Oh, of course I’m over 50~~~ I have height, after all.”

“You’re short.”

Jae-yi, that bastard.

“Wow, I’m shorter than you, but I’m not that short, you know?”

“You’re 172.”

“So what!! I’m not short???”

“Well, I do wish you were a little taller.”

What is he saying? That Jae-bastard…

“Now, now, height isn’t important, what’s your weight? You seem too thin.”

“Ira, hmm… at the beginning of his debut, was it 58? It must have been 57 or 58.”

Does Mun hyung know all the members’ profiles? I was surprised he got it exactly right.

“Now, he definitely doesn’t look over 50. Right?”

“It’s 50, 50.”

Actually, I wasn’t over. I lied, but no one seemed to believe me. The senior had a genuinely worried expression.

“You’re so thin it’s hard to believe you’re 50. You look like you’re in your 40s. You’re too thin and look unhealthy.”

“I went on a diet. I was a bit chubby when I debuted.”

“Aren’t you dieting too severely? If you keep that up, you’ll suffer when you’re my age. Do you know what osteoporosis is?”

“Hyung, please say more. Ira needs to stop that diet.”

“Please scold him thoroughly.”

Han-sae and Jae-yi, far from taking their fellow member’s side, fanned the senior’s comments. The senior chuckled and said.

“Now that I think about it, earlier you ate a packed lunch, kimbap, and cup ramen. That’s a lot to eat for someone on a diet, isn’t it?”

“Ah,”

“Are you just someone who doesn’t gain weight easily?”

Ah. I unconsciously glanced at Jae-yi. Jae-yi was frowning as if he couldn’t understand what he had just heard. Mun hyung tilted his head, and Yadan blinked repeatedly. Han-sae stared at me with surprised eyes.

“Cup ramen? Ira ate cup ramen and kimbap? Earlier?”

“Uh… why are you guys so surprised? I ran into Ira at the convenience store earlier, and he was eating by himself. He said he had already finished his packed lunch and was hungry…”

“…….”

The senior, perhaps sensing the suddenly chilling atmosphere, fell silent.

Wow… it’s a good thing this was just before the final greetings for the shoot; if it had been in the middle, filming would have been halted.

As soon as we barely finished filming and arrived in the waiting room, I got thoroughly scolded. Yong-jun hyung, knowing the reason, just watched, but everyone—the hyungs, the noonas, the members—scolded me. Mun hyung in particular grilled me with burning eyes.

Why didn’t I eat the packed lunch and went to the convenience store, and why did I lie about eating the packed lunch?

My answer was, “Sometimes I crave cup ramen and kimbap, and today was one of those days, and I lied because I was afraid fans might misunderstand if I didn’t eat the packed lunch they gave me and ate something else instead.”

Simple Han-sae responded with “Oh, so that’s what it was~~”, but the other members didn’t seem convinced at all. Jae-yi, in particular, was really scary. His eyes glinted so fiercely, it felt like lasers might shoot out.

“Don’t think you can get away with such a shitty excuse. Tell me the real reason clearly. Spill everything I don’t know.”

“Jae-yi, stop it. For now, we need to go to our schedule… And he might have just wanted to eat ramen…”

Mun hyung actually didn’t seem convinced by my excuse either, but because Jae-yi was so angry, he ended up taking my side instead. Jae-yi raised an eyebrow, seemingly frustrated with Mun hyung.

“So what, you’re saying we should just let it go? Did you ignore what I said last time, hyung?”

Gulp. Jae-yi talking back to Mun hyung startled Han-sae, me, and Yadan. Honestly, I wondered if not eating the packed lunch and going to the convenience store was really something to get this angry about. Mun hyung also seemed quite surprised.

“That’s not it, Jae-yi…”

“Hey, let’s go to the schedule first. We’ll talk again later at the dorm. This doesn’t seem like something to discuss here.”

“Damn it…”

Unable to watch any longer, I grabbed Jae-yi’s arm to stop him. As my hand touched him, he couldn’t bring himself to lash out, instead roughly running his other hand through his hair. The fact that I found him sexy even then meant I was seriously far gone. Jae-yi growled in a terrifying voice, saying he’d see me at night, then stomped out of the waiting room. My heart pounded.

He’s getting so terrifyingly angry… Should I just… spill everything, using this as an excuse? Can’t I just tell them everything? Won’t Yong-jun hyung understand, at least? Jae-yi is so scary.

Yesterday, Jae-yi caused some kind of trouble during a recording, I don’t know what, and CEO Shin Dong-woo called today. All the members and I secretly listened in, perking our ears, but Jae-nim instead barked that if such remarks weren’t allowed, the company had no value, and CEO Shin Dong-woo whimpered and hung up. How could I possibly win against Jae-nim, who even the company’s boss couldn’t defeat?

Even if I made a post-hoc excuse, saying “I tried, but I couldn’t overcome Jae-yi’s persistence,” wouldn’t they understand? For a moment, such a hope bloomed.