Idol Hides His Military Service

"Die! It wasn’t even Lee Sion, and you were the one who abandoned me!"

"Ack! Unni! That was a strategic choice···."

"Don’t give me that! I saw your eyes while I was falling! You looked thrilled!"

"···."

Lee Gahyeon’s revenge began the moment they got back to the dorm after filming.

Ryu Ayeon, the founder of the crocodile bait strategy, was currently being grabbed by Gahyeon and thoroughly smacked across the back.

She desperately argued that it had absolutely not been a personal decision but one made for the greater good, but that didn’t work on Lee Gahyeon, who had been sacrificed by that cold hand in the name of the greater good.

Thanks to that, Ryu Ayeon achieved the great feat of becoming the first member Gahyeon physically attacked who was not Lee Sion.

"Shinyu, why are you standing so far away?"

"I think I need to revise my evaluation of Sion unni."

"Shinyu unni, have you finally opened your eyes too? The captain is a devil! How do you throw me to the zombies, grab only the key, and run away?"

"The zombies that came over looked at me with pity! Sion-chan isn’t even human!"

Of course, Lee Sion, who had sacrificed the members right alongside Ryu Ayeon, was also being met with icy stares.

'Shinyu too?'

Even Shinyu, who usually believed anything Sion said with unwavering faith, seemed pretty shocked by what Sion had done this time.

Crocodile Bait Nos. 2, 3, and 4 were glaring coldly at Lee Sion.

Sion was avoiding those looks by using her trademark way of acting distracted and looking away whenever she got flustered.

"Ugh."

Ryujin looked at the members and snickered, then stretched.

As she did, she felt the stiffness all over her body loosen a little, and a groan slipped out before she knew it. It seemed like fatigue had piled up from how much they’d had to use their bodies during this shoot, including full-out sprinting.

'I was too out of it to notice while we were doing it, but aren’t I going to be sore tomorrow?'

While they were actually filming the content, Ryujin had been so completely absorbed in it that she hadn’t even realized it was tiring.

"Seo Ryujin! You dare throw your unni like that too?"

"I couldn’t help it. So why did you show up as a zombie?"

"Team Leader Hakyoon was standing next to me, egging me on, asking if I didn’t want revenge···."

"How can you fall for that just because somebody eggs you on! And come here."

Whoosh.

It seemed Gahyeon was done punishing Ryu Ayeon, because she came over to Ryujin and started demanding how Ryujin could have thrown her so mercilessly too. Ryujin grabbed her by the forearm and pulled her in.

Soon Gahyeon, whose strength was weak compared to her big frame, was pulled along like an inflatable doll, and Seo Ryujin took out the cleansing tissue she had set beside her and started wiping the back of Gahyeon’s neck.

"What? I still had makeup on?"

"Yeah. Seriously, how carefully did they do it?"

"A special effects makeup expert did it. I heard they specially brought somebody in just for our content this time."

"The quality was seriously way too good for something so unnecessary."

As Ryujin wiped off the bits of makeup Gahyeon still had on, the vivid zombie makeup from today’s content suddenly came back to mind.

Those high-quality zombies that had startled all the members because they looked so real, even though they already knew the zombies were wearing makeup.

'Was that why it felt so immersive?'

KJ Entertainment had always been the kind of place that spared no expense if it was for content or for the Iam members.

Ever since Iam debuted, the company had treated them like top idols, starting with the dorm, making sure they had absolutely no discomfort in daily life.

'They even went all the way to New York to film a music video.'

And they never held back on investing in albums or stages, either.

Because of that, people in idol fandoms had even started saying other companies should be more like KJ Entertainment.

Even today’s content, titled Iam Laboratory, must have cost a fortune, from the location to booking the cast.

It was amazing enough that they would invest like this in in-house content instead of an official variety show.

"Still, today’s content was fun."

"It really was. I think it’d be fun if we went to an escape room café together later."

"They said the company is going to give us a vacation once university festival season ends this time! I think it would be nice if we all went out together then!"

Was that why?

Even though today’s shoot had definitely been work, right now it felt less like work and more like she had gone out and had fun with friends, just like the members who were excitedly chattering about how much they had enjoyed it.

"I hope we can keep promoting together like this for a long time."

Maybe because Yunkyung had picked up on how Ryujin felt, those words slipped out of her mouth all of a sudden, and the noisy dorm instantly went quiet.

Even the one who had said it seemed to realize it had been a mistake, because Yunkyung hurriedly shut her mouth and started nervously checking everyone’s reactions.

"···I’m sorry."

And seeing how quickly Yunkyung’s face fell at her own apology made Ryujin’s feelings complicated.

It didn’t seem like Ryujin was the only one, either. The other members were also pretending they hadn’t heard Yunkyung, joking around and changing the subject in an effort to lighten the mood again.

'There’s not even half a year left now.'

Iam’s fate, which they kept forgetting because they were always together.

Even though they all knew this project group would only promote for a single year, everyone had been trying to look away from that fact.

And maybe because she had sensed that mood, Yunkyung, who had gone quiet, spoke again.

"I want to keep promoting as Iam with all of you. Can’t we all renew our contracts?"

"Im Yunkyung, stop."

"But I’m not the only one who feels that way, am I?"

"The choice belongs to each person. You can’t force it."

"I heard the staff talking! They said the captain renewed too."

"···."

Lee Sion tried to stop Yunkyung when she suddenly brought up contract renewals, but instead Yunkyung mentioned Sion’s own renewal and left everyone stunned.

"Lee Sion, you renewed?"

"Our staff really do have loose lips. I should go scold them tomorrow—"

"Stop changing the subject!"

"I did, I did."

At Lee Gahyeon’s question, Sion answered like she couldn’t help it and admitted she had renewed.

"Why didn’t you tell us?"

"Because I knew you’d make dumb faces like you are right now."

"What?"

"Just because I renewed doesn’t mean I’m planning to force our members to do the same. Everyone has their own circumstances."

"···."

Ryujin couldn’t say anything in response to Sion’s words.

But apparently the other members weren’t the same.

"I want to keep promoting as Iam too··· with Yunkyung, and with all of you."

"Like anybody doesn’t···."

Geum Shinyu and Lee Gahyeon each muttered a line and added that they wanted to keep promoting as Iam too.

The only ones staying quiet were Ryu Ayeon, who looked deep in thought about something, Kurosawa Yuri, who wore a more serious expression than usual,

and Ryujin.

'Today was fun.'

And not just today.

Would anyone believe her if she said that from Agbaek until now, every moment she had spent with the members, including Lee Sion, had genuinely been fun?

Ryujin knew very well that meeting members who made exhausting practice feel less tedious, and let them laugh off hard and difficult things like jokes, was a miracle she could hardly believe.

But still—

-Ryujin unni, are you not going to debut with us?

The members were precious to her, but when she thought of the younger trainees at Logic who had endured that hard trainee life with her, Ryujin couldn’t bring herself to say out loud that she wanted to keep promoting as Iam.

No, more than that, she thought it was right to tell the members in advance.

"···I can’t continue promoting as Iam."

"What?"

When Ryujin finally spoke after a brief hesitation, Yunkyung stared at her with startled eyes.

"I heard Logic is preparing a girl group. But I’ve been told that if I’m not in it, it could get canceled."

"How can they do that! That’s too much···."

"Even if it is, there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s already a huge gamble for the company to debut a girl group at a time like this."

"What?"

The rookie girl group war that began with Iam, LYNX, and VYNNIA.

The girl group market, which had already been active to begin with, had exploded because of it.

Even agencies that would normally have postponed a debut were hurrying to push out rookie girl groups one after another, as if they had sensed some kind of sign.

Among them were groups like DARE; ON, which had members from Agbaek and had posted meaningful results by timing their debut well during the recent lull from major girl groups.

So in a situation like this, for Logic to debut an unplanned girl group was a huge decision for the company too.

That made it even more impossible for Ryujin to step away.

If she wasn’t there, the company would lose its reason to debut a rookie girl group at all, and it wouldn’t be strange if they canceled the debut.

"I’m sorry···."

Ryujin felt uncomfortable, as though she had just poured cold water over a renewal conversation that had only just come up.

But she didn’t regret the decision, because she believed it was /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ better for everyone to say it now than to wait until the end was close.

Tap.

"Ryujin-scrub."

"Lee Sion."

As silence settled after Ryujin’s confession, Lee Sion suddenly popped up, put a hand on her shoulder, and spoke.

"Right. A person’s got to have loyalty after all. Ryujin-scrub may be pathetic, but she’s got loyalty."

"What?"

"It’s okay. Even if you debut in another group later, that doesn’t mean you stop being Iam."

Ryujin couldn’t say anything to Sion’s words.

"If Logic debuts you and things get hard, sneak away and come running back. If you say, 'Lee Sion, please just take me in one time,' I’ll make a special exception and take you."

"Are you insane?"

"All right! We’ve still got a long way to go before this project ends. So enough with the complicated talk. We don’t have any schedule today, so let’s throw a party!"

"Sounds good!"

"Agreed!"

"A party? Then Yuri wants pizza!"

"I want chicken!"

"I want chicken too."

In an instant, the dorm returned to its usual lively atmosphere.

Watching the members excitedly listing the foods they wanted to eat, Ryujin could feel the heaviness in her chest lighten again.

'Yeah, let’s stay true to the present. Even if we separate later, right now I’m still Iam’s leader.'

Just like Lee Sion had said, there was still a long way to go before their promotions ended, and the best thing Ryujin could do for the members in the meantime was give her all to Iam.

"So Sion-chan is paying today?"

"Nope, Ryujin-scrub is paying!"

"What? I never said I was paying."

But she was only lost in sentiment for a moment.

Just as she was about to tell Lee Sion she had no intention of paying after Sion passed the cost of today’s party onto her without even asking—

Whoosh.

"What card is that, Sion unni?"

"It’s Seo Ryujin’s card, catch!"

"Why do you have that?!"

"I just swiped it!"

"Are you insane?! Give it back!!!"

"I’ll hold her off! Go swipe it with this, Shinyu!"

"Understood!"

Lee Sion tossed Ryujin’s personal card to Shinyu at her side—who knew when she had stolen it—and stepped in to block Ryujin.

"I blocked zombies. Do you think I can’t block one Seo Ryujin?"

"Let go! Hey, I’m seriously low on spending money this month!"

"Traitors are punished with the card!"

Before long, the other members joined in too and tied Ryujin up tight, leaving her completely unable to do anything.

With her mouth, she was yelling at Lee Sion and the others to stop, but the corners of Ryujin’s mouth were turned up.

***

[Three Kingdom final competition results (spoilers)]

(A ranking chart showing Iam in 1st, VYNNIA in 2nd, and LYNX in 3rd)

⤷ So Iam won the whole thing in the end

⤷ This is crazy, honestly I thought they might even come in last

⤷ fr even if they debuted through a survival show I never thought they’d beat girl groups from the Big 3 agencies

⤷ Wasn’t that final guerrilla concert kind of biased? No matter how I look at it, Seoul Forest seems way more advantageous

⤷ It’d only be controversial if the gap were somewhat close, but it was practically a double score so there’s not even room for excuses

⤷ Iam really is the trend of the moment

"Hmm··· no matter how I look at it, it’s still a shame."

The man reading the post uploaded to an online community on his smartphone screen couldn’t hide his regret.

The final episode of Three Kingdom, which had aired yesterday evening.

When the broadcast revealed that, astonishingly, Iam had taken the final victory in Three Kingdom, which had come out with the shocking competition format of a guerrilla concert,

online communities were currently in an uproar.

Normally, programs with idols only became topics in fan communities and barely got mentioned in general communities, so this level of buzz was absurd.

[Use of cars is prohibited]

(A screenshot of Iam promoting while carrying a palanquin)

「Then just carry a palanquin lol」

⤷ Damn, never thought of that, thanks for the life hack

⤷ To beat the palanquin, should they have been pulling a rickshaw or something?

⤷ lol they were good on stage too but promoting with a palanquin and hypnotizing people was definitely the god move

⤷ Who would’ve expected a girl group, not even a boy group, to do something like that

⤷ VYNNIA and LYNX should just think of it as a good learning experience

⤷ Why is Im Yunkyung so good at blowing that horn bugle? I got weirdly focused listening to it

Of course, by this point it was almost tiring to even explain that Iam stood at the center of all that buzz.

"I should’ve pushed harder back then."

For an idol group, it was incredibly difficult to capture both the general public and a fandom at the same time.

Usually they leaned to one side, and only idols who truly defined an era could manage to seize both.

But seeing Iam, who had secured not only public appeal but also a solid fandom just half a year after debut, Choi Hyunwoo, the CEO of Logic Entertainment, couldn’t help feeling regret.

Logic, the agency he headed, had originally been the one slated to handle the project group activities of Idol Ground 100.

But midway through the program, KJ abruptly changed course and decided to establish and operate its own agency, and it all came to nothing.

In truth, back then Logic hadn’t objected much, because among the major agencies nobody had wanted to take it on, and Logic had only accepted it reluctantly because of its relationship with MPlay.

But now that Iam wasn’t just getting on track, but looked like it was about to soar beyond the universe, it would have been a lie to say he didn’t regret that decision.

'Still, it’s okay.'

The one comforting point was that one of Iam’s members, Seo Ryujin, who was part of that skyrocketing group, belonged to Logic.

Recently the girl group landscape, represented by Iam, LYNX, and VYNNIA, had been undergoing a seismic shift, and Logic saw this as an opportunity instead.

That made sense, because after those three girl groups, girl group fandoms had noticeably grown, and the company believed that if it debuted a girl group now, it could ride that wave.

In that sense, for Logic, having one member from Iam, a group currently in the middle of a perfect run, was an incredible opportunity.

After all, in the idol industry it was almost a rule that once the frontrunner opened the path, the ones who came later benefited from it and went on to even greater success.

That was why Logic Entertainment was now busily moving to create a brand-new girl group that hadn’t even been in the plan.

"Sir, it’s time to leave."

"All right, let’s go."

CEO Choi Hyunwoo knew perfectly well what KJ Entertainment’s invitation meant today, gathering all the original agencies of the Iam members.

'They’re going to try to extend the contract.'

As far as KJ Entertainment, still a new company, was concerned, Iam was too valuable a result to let go, so it was obvious they would try to negotiate with the original agencies and extend the contracts.

Of course, Hyunwoo had no intention of agreeing to that.