Chapter 88:
Chapter 88
What do fans matter…
(I felt like I couldn’t reach the end I wanted, no matter how hard I tried. I was tired, and so were my parents.)
(…)
Tae-woo opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and poured more alcohol into Yong-min’s empty glass.
(You know how it is. Every time we try to do something, something goes wrong somewhere.)
(The comeback that fell through…)
We were so confident back then, but we got scattered by Jung-min-joon’s reckless marriage. I still feel regretful when I think about that time. Tae-woo and Yong-min sighed together.
(If you think about it, there was no guarantee that we would do well even if we had a comeback then.)
(But the song was so good… It’s a shame.)
The PD who was listening to their conversation asked, ‘Can you sing it for us once?’
(Do you remember the lyrics?)
(Of course.)
Tae-woo and Yong-min sang their planned comeback song without hesitation. Even though a lot of time had passed, they didn’t forget a single line of the song they loved.
(You still have it. You should do trot.)
(What are you talking about? You should use this song for your album. What’s wrong with it not being trot?)
(Let’s do it together.)
(What?)
(Let’s do it together. Again.)
Yong-min said with a relieved smile. Next to Tae-woo’s serious expression, a caption said ‘loyal friend’.
(I’m better off doing what I’m doing now. I don’t want to be dragged down by you.)
(I’m fine…)
(You have to think about your fans, even if you’re fine.)
Yong-min had long lost his attachment to the entertainment industry. But his face darkened when he thought of his fans. Even in that unpopular group, there were people who liked him.
The PD caught Yong-min’s inner feelings from his expression.
(Then, what about the fans from your Diamond days? Do you have anything to say to them?)
(Um…)
Yong-min scratched his head. He had retired from the entertainment industry without any news, and he didn’t know what to say now.
(I’m sorry for disappearing without a word.)
Yong-min held his trembling hand.
(Thank you for liking me.)
The broadcast recorded a whopping 18.3% viewership rating, despite being on a cable channel.
It was because of the cast of ‘The Man of Trot’. And Diamond ranked third on the real-time search, and Yong-min ranked ninth.
It was something they couldn’t achieve during their peak.
‘Nice to Meet You, Friend’ The deep idol story that made you cry
‘Nice to Meet You, Friend’ Who was Diamond?
‘Nice to Meet You, Friend’ Tae-woo, loyal friend confirmed… Diamond’s breakup story revealed.
After the broadcast, articles poured out, and Diamond’s few fans unlocked their dormant accounts and wrote posts on SNS.
-Crazy agency screw them??????
-TA Media bastards???
-Come to think of it, isn’t Jung-min-joon insane? He ruined the group and now he’s living as a celeb on a parenting show?
└He has no conscience, such a shameless guy
-I’m glad Tae-woo is doing well???? But Yong-min is such a waste???He could do well as a singer again??
└He said he’s not coming back to the entertainment industry????
└But he would have done well if he did a duo with Tae-woo
└└Tae-woo has opened his golden path with trot and he’s going to do activities with Yong-min lol
└└└What are you ?? get lost with your aggro
Of course, Jang Min-hee, who had been Yong-min’s longtime fan and now became Ian’s fan, also watched the broadcast live.
“Honey, are you crying?”
“Huh…? Just… feeling sorry for him?”
“No, you were his fan, right? Do you want a tissue?”
Jang Min-hee blew her nose with the tissue her husband gave her.
She still loved him even though she was fangirling over someone else.
It was just that her feelings were piled up in a corner of her heart.
‘You suffered a lot…’
She had left her account for Yong-min untouched when she made a new one for Ian’s SNS fangirling. She couldn’t delete it because she couldn’t bear it.
‘Now I’ll really… really let you go.’
Jang Min-hee opened her notepad.
DragonMint @DragonMint_YM
(Photo)
CLOSE.
Ian, who was searching for Yong-min after being mesmerized by the broadcast, saw Jang Min-hee’s account being activated by chance.
‘Close…? Does that mean she’s closing it?’
He zoomed in on the attached picture. It contained the words that he couldn’t fit in one message due to the character limit.
<I know that you make a V-shaped eyebrow when you dance, and that you have a weird drink preference that others avoid. I know that you like the sound of rain, and the 80s ballad songs.
I think I know a piece of your life, but you don’t know most of mine.
Can this be called love, when it’s only one-sided like this? But I dare to think of it as love.
You were a jewel to me. So precious that I always kept you close.
Even if it was actually a broken bottle piece on the beach, I would have believed it was a jewel.
You were that kind of person to me.
It’s okay if you disappear without a word. It’s my fault for liking you on my own. I will gladly push your back for your choice.
Thank you for letting me know how it feels to like someone.
Thank you for giving me memories, Yongmin.>
[What a noisy withdrawal letter.]
‘Don’t call it a withdrawal letter…’
This letter was incomparable to those cheap withdrawal letters.
Ian gritted his teeth as he glared at Jin.
Jin snorted and disappeared like smoke.
Ian read Jang Minhee’s letter again and again.
He was happy that she still liked him even after his soul changed, and he also had a selfish wish that she would like Kim Yongmin until the end. But Jang Minhee didn’t forget Kim Yongmin.
‘She kept Kim Yongmin in her heart.’
In his previous life, he had given up on being an idol and switched to being an actor.
He was so thirsty for fame that he didn’t care about anything else.
Back then, he thought that his Diamond days were a waste, and that he was no different from a trainee who barely debuted.
‘There was no useless time…’
But no matter how much he was neglected by his agency and had no popularity, it wasn’t a useless time.
During that time, he was able to be an inspiration and a memory for someone. He suddenly felt that he had received a lot from someone who didn’t do anything for him.
Ian wiped his eyes with his sleeve. His sleeve quickly became damp.
‘It wasn’t one-sided, noona.’
He wanted to tell them that he thought of them more than they thought of him. But he couldn’t do that. Because now he was Choi Ian, not Kim Yongmin.
***
[Ian] Hello Awi-dum
Even if you like someone else later, or don’t like us until the end, I’m okay with it.
I just hope that you are happy in this moment when you like us.
Thank you for always liking us
Ian posted a message on Awi’s fan cafe with a calm mind.
He couldn’t do it when he was in Diamond, but now he wanted to tell his fans what he felt.
But about five minutes after he posted the message on the fan cafe, someone banged on the hotel room door.
“What is it? Is it another stalker?”
Park Jinhyuk, who had just finished washing up, put his ear to the door.
“Hey!”
“Choi Ian! Open the door!”
What? It’s the kids? Park Jinhyuk opened the door.
“What’s going on?”
“Hyung, where’s Choi Ian?”
“Ian is lying on the bed.”
“Hey!”
Jo Taewoong and Kim Juyeong passed by Park Jinhyuk’s side.
The members piled up on Ian before he could get up.
“Hey! What is it?! You’re heavy!”
“What do you mean!”
What kind of nonsense is this? Ian pushed away Kim Juyeong and Park Seodam and lifted his upper body. All the members were gathered in the same space.
“Hyung! Is there something wrong?!”
Park Seodam sounded like he had a voice crack.
“Do I have to have something wrong?”
“Why did you post such a weird message on the fan cafe? I thought something was wrong with you!”
You came here because of that? Ian laughed out loud.
It was a blessing to have members who would come running just because he wrote one different message than usual. He found these people fun and unbelievable. But more than that, he felt happy.
“Why are you laughing! We’re serious!”
“Why did you suddenly write such an emotional message? Are you depressed? Homesick?”
His laughter burst their buttons. Kim Hyun and Jo Taewoong slapped Ian’s back, but Ian didn’t stop laughing.
“Hyung, what should we do? Ian hyung must have something wrong.”
“Ian-ah. Don’t laugh, is there something wrong?”
While Park Seodam and Lee Juhyuk were talking seriously, Park Jinhyuk, who had belatedly checked Ian’s message, spoke with a serious face.
“Hey Choi Ian. Are you having a hard time…?”
They all looked worried and asked, and if he dragged it any longer, the members would suffocate from curiosity.
Ian took a breath and opened his mouth.
“Did you come here because of that? I’m fine!”
“Really?!”
“It’s dawn right now. I just wrote it because I was feeling emotional. Huh? It’s two o’clock in the morning, the peak of emotion. I wrote it while practicing writing lyrics.”
“Is that true?! Hey, you scared me!”
“Puhahaha!”
Ian rolled on the floor, clutching his stomach.
Why is he like this when people are worried?
The members looked at each other in disbelief and decided to ignore him.
They piled on top of Ian, making a hamburger game.
The camera was floating above the chaotic scene.
[What’s so special about a fan…]
Jin muttered in a tone that he didn’t understand.
***
Kim Yong-min, who helped his parents with farming, received a call from an unfamiliar number that was not saved.
“Hello?”
(Yong-min, long time no see. Do you remember me?)
“Who is this?”
(It’s me, Choi Jo-hyun, the director of MI Entertainment.)
“Oh…”
He was the director who had put his nephew in Jupiter, the place where Kim Yong-min had been.
He had never spoken to him so friendly when he was a trainee at MI Entertainment.
‘How dare he call me?’
Kim Yong-min pretended to know him and Choi Jo-hyun spoke excitedly.
(The reason I called you is… Lim Tae-woo from T.Nam is doing well these days. Don’t you want to be a singer again? You seem to be close with Lim Tae-woo, you even asked him to do a show together… How about debuting again as a trot duo? I think it will go well.)
“Don’t do that.”
(What?)
“Don’t do that.”
He heard a flustered breath from the other side of the phone. Kim Yong-min laughed sarcastically.
“Why? Lim Tae-woo’s contract with A company is almost over, so you want to sell me off and make some money? Do you think he will sign with MI Entertainment if I persuade him?”
Well, he must have no shame to be a director at an entertainment company. Kim Yong-min kept laughing.
A company didn’t expect ‘The Man of Trot’ to cause such a syndrome.
That’s why the contract period specified in the contract was very short.
Lim Tae-woo was only affiliated with A broadcasting company for six months and after that he had no agency.
(Wh… what are you talking about? I was the one who accepted you at the audition…)
Who cares if you accepted me or not? Who was the one who kicked me out of the debut group by putting his nephew in?
“It’s no use trying to work on me. You bastard, you have no shame and call me. I want to twist your neck.”
Kim Yong-min lowered his voice and continued.
“Lim Tae-woo? He has no reason to go to your shitty agency. He already stamped another place.”
(Listen to me carefully, I was really sorry back then…)
“If you call me one more time, I’ll kill you for real.”
Kim Yong-min pressed the end call button and let out a sigh of relief.
***
“Do you want to come to our company after your contract with A company ends?”
Park Joo-min didn’t know what to do and eventually summoned Lee Byung-hun, the CEO. Lee Byung-hun opened his mouth when he saw Lim Tae-woo who came suddenly.
“Why our company all of a sudden… There are better companies out there.”
Lim Tae-woo, who ranked third in T.Nam, was as good as a big fish. In fact, other entertainment agencies were constantly sending love calls to Lim Tae-woo, who had not yet decided on an agency.
“I liked this company.”
Lim Tae-woo took a sip of the coffee that Park Joo-min brought him. Lee Byung-hun spoke calmly.
“No matter how much Ian recommended trot to you, just because of that…”
“It’s not just a word.”
“…”
“That kid’s word changed my life.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for saying that lightly. I misspoke.”
Lee Byung-hun apologized quickly. Lim Tae-woo smiled and said it was okay.
“But even if you have a special story with our kids, we are an idol agency, so we don’t have the infrastructure to support a trot singer.”
“It’s okay. The T.Nam fandom is almost similar to idols. The age range is just a bit higher.”
“…”
“And it’s more reassuring that you say this. Please accept me.”
Lim Tae-woo was no longer the loser from Diamond Days. His confident appearance showed no signs of worry or anxiety.
‘This big fish came in on his own feet…! Jo Tae-woong Choi Ian! These amazing guys!’
Lee Byung-hun’s inner feelings were already flying away, but his face was calm.
Lee Byung-hun shook hands with Lim Tae-woo, who reached out his hand.
“Okay. Even if we are a bit clumsy, we will do our best to support you. I promise.”
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