Idol Hides His Military Service

"Lee Sion?"

The expression on Park Soyeon’s face twisted when her eyes met mine.

‘That one felt similar to Kim Musik, and now it turns out she does the same kind of crap.’

From the moment I first met Park Soyeon when I was promoted to A grade, I hadn’t had a good feeling.

Afterward, listening to Suyeon and Shinyu’s stories, I’d learned that Park Soyeon was even # Nоvеlight # worse than I’d thought, but I didn’t know she’d do something this gloomy and rotten without hesitation.

"This is between me and Shinyu, just the two of us. Can you not stick your nose in and go?"

"Yeah, fuck off."

"What?"

The only time I don’t get involved just because something is “between the two of them” is when the bottom lane is fighting in Legend of Valley.

"Who told you you could move your hands around like that?"

I was dumbfounded.

Even back in my past life as an army officer, I had never used violence on the kids.

Whenever I saw brats whose heads weren’t even dry yet letting their hands fly before their mouths, heat rose to my head and made it burn.

"You don’t know because you don’t have an agency, but this is our UI Entertainment’s business."

"Take that ridiculous excuse home and tell it to your mom."

Of course, my own mother, Madam Kim Sukja, wouldn’t listen, so I couldn’t use that excuse anywhere.

And maybe because my words left her speechless, Park Soyeon glared at me while huffing.

‘Honestly, this is better.’

Before, she had tried to manage her image, smiling sweetly even when we crossed paths, but now that she was showing her real face, it was better this way.

"You think just because the judges like you, you’ve got the whole world in your hands?"

"Then who’s looking at you in a good way that makes you act like this?"

"You fucking bitch!"

Unable to hold back her anger, Park Soyeon finally raised her hand and charged at me.

Nineteen years in my current life.

Honestly, I’d lived my whole life doing nothing but breathing exercises, but even so, the memories of my past life as an army captain weren’t just for show.

Tak!

Just as Park Soyeon’s arm was about to touch me, I lightly turned my body and slid my right foot out.

Udangtang-tang, quang!

Her foot caught, and the sound of Park Soyeon falling and rolling across the floor like a scene from a comic rang out pleasantly.

Taekwondo certified 3rd dan

Hapkido black belt

Judo black belt

Special forces martial arts 1st dan

Believe it or not, in my past life I was known as the Kim Duhan of Haandong.

I had no need to defend against the punch of a punk whose angles didn’t even come out properly.

"You··· you touched me just now?"

"If you’ve got a problem, quit flapping your mouth and come in."

I crooked my finger at Park Soyeon, who was sprawled pathetically on the floor and huffing.

But maybe even she felt the difference between us, because she only huffed and showed no sign of charging at me again like before.

"Let’s go, Shinyu."

"···Yes!"

I spoke to Shinyu, who had been pressed against the wall, and she answered brightly, her expression returning to its usual lightness.

Just like that, stepping past Park Soyeon — who looked less like a tragic heroine and more like a cockroach squashed under a slipper — Shinyu and I returned to the main dorm building.

‘Do they not practice like they’re supposed to and just wander around looking for places like that?’

The Idol Ground 100 dorm was bigger than expected, so the places actually in use were basically the building with the practice rooms and the building that held the cafeteria and the dorms.

But the place where Park Soyeon had dragged Shinyu was some remote, secluded spot with no cameras, so if it hadn’t been me, no one would’ve found her before something happened.

— Does your military service end if you hide out here?

A company commander’s daily routine was never anything special.

Giving work orders, squeezing in paperwork, then patrolling the work sites to check if everything was running smoothly — that was the main duty.

And when I went to the sites, I often found different personnel arrangements than the ones I’d checked during morning roll call.

‘Ah··· Sergeant Kim Sihun is just, um, on a different task today···.’

Instead of the person who should’ve been there, some other guy would sweat bullets trying to make excuses, but in the end, it all meant the same: he ditched.

Then I’d take a walk and patrol the barracks and surrounding area to catch the ditchers.

And after doing that for a year, the company commander developed a sort of superpower.

‘Strangely enough, kids doing bad things always hide in the same kinds of places.’

Whether they passed down those hideouts or just naturally found them, I didn’t know, but now even in unfamiliar places, I could roughly see where wrongdoing was likely happening.

"Sion unni, you seriously looked like some martial arts master earlier!"

"Hm··· it’s a bit much to say myself, but if you nitpick, I suppose you could call me a master."

Now that she’d regained her energy, Shinyu looked up at me with sparkling eyes, excitedly describing how cool I’d been.

"Then why do you always get hit by the other team members and Ryujin unni?"

A sharp point.

Of course, if I really used my full strength, there was no reason for my back to stay red all the time.

Like that character from a certain comic with the alias ‘Red Leg’, my back these days was always red — morning or evening.

Chalsak.

Starting with Seo Ryujin, who smacked my back like it was a daily quest, and with Nayeon, who still seemed to hold a grudge from our F class days and often attacked me.

Lately, Suyeon and Gahyeon were the main culprits keeping my back red.

Come to think of it, my back had always been public property.

Starting with my mom, even in school, friends and teachers would frequently put their hands on it.

‘Does my back have some sort of charm that draws people in?’

In comics or novels, reincarnated people usually get perks.

"Status window!!! Huh? Is that not it?! Status!!!"

Those were the first things I tried when I learned to speak.

But unfortunately, I didn’t have a status window, and looking back now, maybe my back was my reincarnation perk.

+12 Enhancement Red Back That Summons Hands.

Like that.

"Shinyu, great power always comes with great responsibility."

"Huh? Isn’t that a line from a movie?"

"That’s not what’s important. I don’t use my strength recklessly like they do. Only when needed, like just now."

"That’s so cool!"

"Right, so if something like this seems like it’s going to happen again, don’t hesitate. Just come to me."

"Eh?"

"We’re a team."

"···Thank you."

A faint sheen of tears appeared in Shinyu’s eyes.

If I kept looking, it would just get more embarrassing, so I looked straight ahead and pretended not to notice.

‘But why does it feel like even if I fought Seo Ryujin seriously, I’d lose?’

Honestly, I was too embarrassed to tell Geum Shinyu, but somehow, I couldn’t imagine myself beating Seo Ryujin even in a real fight.

***

"This is insane, seriously!!! Why is there so much to do today!"

Jiyeon frantically hammered the keyboard, repeatedly checking the time on her monitor.

21:57.

In three minutes, Episode 2 of Idol Ground 100 would air, but Jiyeon was still busy spreading posts across SNS and communities.

‘Why can’t I rest even during winter break!’

For Jiyeon, vacations used to be precious stanning-only periods.

But now that she was about to become a senior in high school, under her parents’ sharp gaze, she had no choice but to enroll in a famous cram school.

Even so,

[Ah, seriously, people calling Sion the fixed variety clown already is ridiculous.]

[It’s okay. Once Episode 2 airs today, all that talk will disappear. Everyone saw the Music Count stage, right? Sion is definitely going to be promoted to A grade.]

Using whatever free time she had left to chat with people stanning together with her made Jiyeon happier than anything.

Since the first broadcast last Friday, Sionism’s membership had exploded, reaching twenty thousand in a single week.

‘Is this the fan café for the kid who sang Pink Spell?’

Right now, Lee Sion was more famous under the nickname ‘that Pink Spell kid’ than her real name.

Of course, with her many years of stanning experience, Jiyeon knew that not even ten percent of the twenty thousand new members were actual fans.

‘I can’t miss this opportunity!’

To recruit the newcomers, she edited and uploaded only the cuts where Sion looked somewhat normal, flooding the boards with gifs.

And maybe her efforts were paying off?

Now a real Sion fanbase like Jiyeon herself had formed, and today, they all gathered in the admins-only chat to watch Episode 2 together while chattering.

[It’s starting!]

[That preview last time still has me so nervous I’m dying.]

[Ah, that crazy evil edit! Seriously that damn PD did it to milk buzz off Sion’s popularity!]

[Not “damn PD guy”, damn “PD unni”.]

‘Huh?’

Jiyeon looked at the last chat and checked the nickname.

‘Let’sDebutLeeSion’

It was a common nickname for a fan café, but Jiyeon remembered the person using it.

Naturally — this was the member who had posted a vivid rare photo of Sion that even Jiyeon didn’t have.

‘How did they even take a picture of Sion? Did they sneak a camera into Music Count?’

The photo uploaded by ‘Let’sDebutLeeSion’ was of Lee Sion right before going onstage for the live broadcast.

— Wow, insane! Looks like it was taken with a broadcast camera!

— For real, but the bag checks at broadcasting stations are strict these days. How did they take this, seriously bb.

— Sion looks best when she’s expressionless like that.

There was no way Jiyeon would overlook someone like ‘Let’sDebutLeeSion’, who had posted a photo so high in quality that it had set Sionism ablaze.

She immediately promoted ‘Let’sDebutLeeSion’ to café admin, and now they were watching today’s broadcast together.

‘He was a guy, right?’

As the café owner, Jiyeon could see basic info on members, and she’d been a bit surprised to learn ‘Let’sDebutLeeSion’ was male.

In idol fandoms — boy groups aside — even girl group fandoms were more than 70% female.

A male fan who not only joined the café but also shared precious photos like these was extremely rare.

‘But that doesn’t matter right now.’

After thinking briefly about ‘Let’sDebutLeeSion’, Jiyeon refocused on the monitor.

Episode 2 of Idol Ground 100 had just begun.

It opened with scenes of trainees practicing by grade.

[What the, don’t tell me heating’s only off in the F class practice room?]

[Has the production team lost its mind? Discriminating with this crap?!]

[Maybe they had a reason?]

‘Reason, my ass! They’re just using the F class kids for broadcast fodder!’

Thinking that Sion — who got F grade from Pink Spell — had been practicing in a room without heating made anger rise in Jiyeon.

[But seriously, the grades aren’t split for nothing. A class looks like current idols.]

[Well, when skilled kids gather, practice is bound to go well.]

[But why aren’t they showing F class! They didn’t edit them out, did they?]

The Sionism admin chat waited for Sion’s appearance.

[There she is!]

Finally, the F class practice scenes they had been waiting for appeared.

— I think it’d be better if someone with a bit of experience takes center.

Like the other classes, they showed them picking a leader, then starting practice.

[Uh··· is that real?]

[Exactly. I don’t know if it’s because the formation is bad or their skills are bad, but it’s kind of meh.]

[But Sion shines even in F class.]

Clearly lacking in basic skills, F class’s practice process was rougher, and it was obvious through the broadcast.

Even so, the chat was satisfied because Sion got plenty of screen time.

— Your formation is way too off. Why don’t you try changing it?

— This won’t do. The A class kids practiced for the exact same amount of time. Go watch them and see the difference yourself.

And maybe the episode’s focus was F class, because the scenes continued to show them being harshly scolded by Lee Jungyoon and Hyeryeong.

[Lee Gahyeon’s mentality is totally shattered. But honestly, I’d break too.]

[But Sion was definitely on the top floor with A class during the live stage, so what happened?]

[That’s probably the highlight this episode.]

Even though F class members were getting brutal evaluations and losing motivation, the chat remained calm.

Because the Sionism admins had already clearly seen Sion on the top A-class level during the live broadcast.

Same for Jiyeon.

‘She must’ve stood out with her talent and effort and been promoted to A class! Ah, I want to see it already.’

The solid feeling of holding a winning lottery ticket.

And finally, the broadcast screen captured Lee Sion.

A solo shot of her, her expression like she’d made some kind of decision.

Something.

Something was definitely about to happen.