Chapter 81 of "The Idol's Technique That Never Fails"

“Minjo, what are you doing?”

When I asked the Min Jihoo who was feeling depressed due to the concert's aftermath, he said,

“...Drugs are bad.”

“What?”

“I feel like this after using them.”

Oh, my heart sank...

I barely managed to swallow the curse that almost burst out.

“Get up and take a shower first.”

“Hyung.”

“Yeah.”

Min Jihoo finally got up, sat down, and took a deep breath before asking,

“I’m already this depressed, but were you okay, Hyung?”

“I don’t remember. I can’t recall it.”

It’s not a lie; I really can’t remember. I don’t even want to think about it. Strangely, last year’s events feel like they happened in a distant past.

I helped Min Jihoo get up.

“Take a shower first, and let’s order some late-night snacks.”

“Really? Will you eat with me?”

“Yeah.”

Sure enough, the mention of late-night snacks immediately brought back his energy. I pushed him towards the bathroom and said,

“Anyway, never take drugs, and if you ever feel tempted, tell me...”

While brushing his teeth in the crowded bathroom, Hwang Saebi spat out the toothpaste and said,

“You’re talking about others. You’re the most dangerous, man.”

“What do you mean?”

“Judging by your mental state and the situation. Songwriters might try to get you to use them to see if it helps with your songwriting.”

“My people around me don’t do that.”

The members looked serious at my words. Then they all crowded around and said,

“That’s the most dangerous thought!”

“You shouldn’t trust the people around you, Hyung.”

...Do these new friends think I’m a fool because I was in the room for two years?

Feeling a bit uncomfortable with their intense gazes, I replied,

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Hwang Saebi looked at me as if I were a rebellious teenager and said,

“Don’t take anything anyone gives you, and don’t follow strangers.”

“...Are you joking?”

“What part of that sounds like a joke? Tell me, it’s that important.”

“I won’t do it, okay?”

While I was talking, Min Jihoo, who had started removing his makeup, said,

“Hyung, talking about drugs makes me want to eat drug rolls.”

What kind of thought process is this? But I suddenly craved them too.

“They probably won’t sell it now. I’ll look up how to make the sauce.”

Hwang Saebi will make it. Hehe.

I found the recipe for the drug roll sauce on my phone. When I looked up from my phone, their suspicious gazes hadn’t changed. It wasn’t so much unpleasant as it made me more cautious.

If I had to choose who among the seven members of First Light is most likely to get addicted to drugs, honestly, it would be me.

After realizing this, I told the members,

“If any of us take drugs, let’s cut off our fingers.”

Then Shin Jiun replied,

“With the team ring on.”

“Yeah! We won’t do it anyway, so let’s do it, let’s do it.”

Min Jihoo chimed in, and Han Hyoseok nodded and pointed out,

“But, idols shouldn’t cut off other people’s fingers, so we should do it ourselves.”

Everyone agreed. They are really extreme. They accepted this...

An Joo-won took a blank piece of paper and wrote “Drugs = Fingers (+Team Ring)” in a needlessly stylish way. Park Sunjae said from the side,

“Hyung, put parentheses around fingers and add +Team Ring.”

“Okay.”

Thus, the poster “Drugs = Fingers (+Team Ring)” was stuck on the wall. Now we can’t film in the dorm.

* * *

The concert was intense, and all the members had lost an average of 4-5 kg over the two days. But most of them recovered after the late-night snacks we had that night. They ate enough to recover.

I was shocked by how much they ate, so I took a screenshot of the menu we ordered on my phone. The most shocking part was that we ordered from the same restaurant three times. We ordered again because we felt a bit disappointed after eating, and then one more time because we still felt something was missing. The owner even called to confirm if the third order was real.

From the next day, we started preparing for the awards ceremony and the demo for Big Blue’s Lee Jun-hee. It was already the 26th. We completed the year-end music program of KQS, which was our last schedule for the year. The program was heavily focused on The Rising, as they were having a great year.

And the next night, we were scheduled to film a variety show on the KQS YouTube channel. It was an escape room-style program where celebrities took turns appearing, and today’s episode was to be uploaded as a New Year’s special. KQS was subtly showing us some favor because we won The Rising.

When we arrived at the filming location, it was a two-story house surrounded by trees with a spacious yard. It felt a bit eerie arriving at night.

Anyone could see it.

“Today’s filming is going to be really scary...”

Park Sunjae clung to my arm and muttered, and An Joo-won looked around at the members and said,

“Anyway, it feels really empty without one person.”

Today, Shin Jiun was doing a pre-recording for a year-end concert by his former agency, which was handling his solo activities. He was just there out of courtesy since he did all his singing activities with TRV.

We agreed with his words and headed to the filming location.

* * *

Shin Jiun came out of the Tike Entertainment practice room after finishing the pre-recording for a duet stage. As expected, an actor management team member was waiting outside.

“Jiun, can you read the script once?”

“Ah, I came to do the stage to avoid hearing that.”

“Is it a big deal just to read it? And, what, they’ll cast you just because you read it? You only brought the script, you still have to do the audition.”

“If I read it, they’ll make me do the audition.”

Since each member had their own former agency, Shin Jiun could imagine that the others were also being pressured like this.

No matter how well First Light did, it was just a successful idol team for the former agencies that benefited from their personal activities. The better the team did, the less time the agencies had to push their own artists’ careers. Everyone was grinding their teeth, waiting for their contract periods to end.

Park Sunjae and Hwang Saebi were continuously receiving musical training, and Han Hyoseok and Shin Jiun were receiving acting training. Even An Joo-won, who started with TRV, was being prepared for acting by the company. While he could only take on limited roles now due to his age, the companies were almost certain he would naturally transition to acting in his mid-twenties.

Shin Jiun sighed and said,

“Hyung, I’m only going to look up as an idol.”

“Yeah, if you only look up as an idol, when will you work with us?”

“Eventually.”

“If you answer like that, I’ll be the one to break you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Shin Jiun suspected that the other members were also politely refusing their former agencies.

Fortunately, on the way, he ran into Lee Heese, who had been the MC of The Rising. Lee Heese was also there for a solo stage.

Although we were from the same agency, she was such a senior that even when we met at the company, we only exchanged greetings. But today, she called Shin Jiun over after assessing the situation.

“Hey, Jiun.”

“Nuna, are you going to practice now?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Heese was now almost exclusively active as an actress, not a singer. She said,

“Since First Light is doing well, the company keeps calling you, right?”

“...Tike is like that.”

“Exactly what I meant.”

Tike Entertainment, known for its idol expertise, had a particularly strong image of “Tike artists.” Shin Jiun was a case the company hadn’t seen before, and it seemed he hadn’t adapted yet.

As if in a hurry, Lee Heese left, saying,

“You guys are going to have a tough time.”

It was a warning disguised as a joke. The complex situation arose because the relationship with the former agencies was maintained when First Light was formed.

Immediately after the concert, each member started receiving personal schedules. Except for Jung Hae-won, who was busy in the studio. But even he would start getting personal schedules soon. It was a mixed bag. The members individually having such high abilities was also a source of conflict.

First Light had about a year and a half left on their contracts.

While he wanted to stay with these members, whether the others felt the same was uncertain. Having seen a team break up so easily once, he wondered how hard it would be to do it again. Even if their will was strong, the agencies would likely fight over them after the 18-month contract.

It wasn’t just the agencies. VMC would also subtly push for the reunion of “The Boys” starting with Bemmu.

There were things he wanted to talk about openly, but there were still some topics they avoided. For example, Jung Hae-won had kept his six-month contract a secret from the members until the news broke.

When Jung Hae-won first joined, it felt like the team was complete, but the betrayal he felt when he realized it was only a six-month contract was indescribable. Given Jung Hae-won’s unstable mental state, he couldn’t get angry and just let it go.

Although Jung Hae-won seemed to have forgotten, seeing him hyperventilate and collapse in front of him made it hard to push him too hard. The other members probably felt the same way.

Once lost, trust is hard to regain. For that reason, Shin Jiun was waiting for 12:00 AM on January 1st.

He planned to use the power of alcohol to have a sincere conversation as soon as he turned 20.

* * *

“Should we block Shin Jiun?”

When I said this seriously, An Joo-won, who was looking at my phone with me, replied,

“Give him a chance. He really hates being alone.”

Shin Jiun was making the group chat noisy.

[Shin Jiun: Don’t start filming without me]

[Shin Jiun: Everyone, lie down]

[An Joo-won: Then the staff will have to wait too]

[Shin Jiun: If that’s the case, we’ll tell the staff to go home and we’ll film on our own]

[Shin Jiun: If you don’t know, don’t do anything]

[Shin Jiun: Please]

[It’s noisy, just come quickly]

When I sent that, Shin Jiun replied,

[Shin Jiun: And let’s drink a lot as soon as it’s January 1st]

We decided to gather and have a drink to celebrate the two of us turning 20. An Joo-won and Shin Jiun both seemed like they would be heavy drinkers. January 1st would be tough.

[Shin Jiun: And let’s have a sincere conversation about the direction of First Light]

[Min Jo: Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Hwang Saebi: Let’s do it]

[Han Hyoseok: Sure]

[Youngest♥: Me too!]

Everyone responded incredibly quickly. Did they have a lot to say about the direction of First Light? They usually talk so much...

I thought about it and turned back to the script. I was reading the script for my MC role. I guess I was chosen because I’m less scared compared to the others. Well, I’m a bit nervous about the filming atmosphere too...

While I was checking the script, a message came from the TRV management team.

“...Oh. A fashion magazine photoshoot.”

My first photoshoot and first personal schedule.