Idol Hides His Military Service

“I think we need an explanation for how this happened, don’t you?”

I was screwed.

The Bang! Bang! Love team members were closing in on me, tightening the encirclement, radiating murderous curiosity.

Individually, each one of them didn’t have much combat power, but with all six gathered, their momentum was almost on par with Madam Sukja.

“W–wait! Give me a chance to explain!”

“Right. We should at least give you one last chance to speak.”

“Boss, I’m literally shaking right now from the fury of betrayal!”

“Same here! Sion unni, this time you have to explain yourself!”

I asked them to give me a chance to explain while trying to see if there was any gap to break through, but unfortunately, the teammates surrounding me weren’t letting their guard down in the slightest.

‘I walked right into it again!’

This whole crisis was my aunt’s fault.

Just thirty minutes ago, the mood in our team had been perfectly warm and friendly.

Of course it had. After watching episodes 3 and 4 of Idol Ground 100 back-to-back at Yunkyung’s family theater, we’d happily gone to the karaoke room following her lead.

And up to that point, my teammates and I had genuinely been having a great time.

It was already amazing that they had a karaoke room inside their house,

I remembered Yoo Jihae freaking out when she saw the speakers set up in the karaoke room.

Later, when I quietly asked, she’d told me the price was in the hundreds of millions of won range, or something like that.

Anyway, we’d had a blast in that karaoke room.

—Brothers who run across the fields on the path of heroes. Harsh trials and tribulations await them ahead! But what is there to fear, as long as they’re together with their brothers!

Expensive speakers really were different.

Hearing the grand sound that I’d never been able to get out of my TV at home, I nearly teared up while singing the opening theme of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The others grumbled at first, but did they eventually come to understand the charm of the song?

—Under the peach trees they swore to become sworn brothers~♬

By the high point of the song, everyone was singing along.

On top of that, there was Yoo Jihae singing May Girl’s songs, and the trot show from Yunkyung and Shinyu—there was no shortage of things to watch during our fun time at the karaoke room.

The problem started once we left the karaoke room.

After we’d played to our hearts’ content and our stomachs started feeling empty again, we were chattering about what to eat for dinner as we headed back toward Yunkyung’s room.

With that one line Yunkyung’s agency mate Kim Nayeon muttered while looking down at her phone, we all panicked and hurriedly pulled out our own phones to search the internet.

And then—

—Sion is my niece.

My teammates and I ended up watching my aunt’s shocking press conference live.

Once the broadcast of my aunt’s press conference ended, my teammates turned to me, demanding I explain what the hell was going on. That was the situation I was in now.

“Explain yourself, Lee Judas.”

Ryu Ayeon pressed me, as I hesitated to answer.

There was no way I didn’t know what that “Judas” nickname meant when attached to a Lee. It was a merciless line of attack.

Normally, I would never have let that slide and would’ve shot back right away, but since I actually had a crime to my name this time, all I could do was endure the humiliating, soul-crushing nickname.

“First of all··· it’s true that the main PD, Kim Miyoung, is my aunt.”

“Wow, it really was true?”

“I always thought the main PD looked as pretty as a celebrity!”

“So Sion’s good genes must come from her mom’s side?”

My teammates started murmuring among themselves at my words.

They began talking among themselves, saying there must be something special in my maternal DNA.

‘The hell?’

Their reaction was so different from what I’d expected that I was a little thrown.

Honestly, I’d already steeled myself to get chewed out by my teammates if my relationship with my aunt ever came to light.

After all, I’d totally blindsided them with it, so I thought it was only natural if they got mad.

But—

“Hey··· I’m serious, I really am aunt and niece with PD Kim Miyoung.”

“We heard you.”

“Are you bragging or something right now? Showing off that you’ve got a powerful connection at your back?”

“So that’s the backing that let Lee Sion run wild like that···.”

They just teased me without showing any real serious reaction at all.

At this point, I was the one getting frustrated.

“Wait, isn’t this the perfect timing to start grilling me about collusion or favoritism or something?”

Pff.

At my words, Kim Nayeon let out a disbelieving snort.

“Favoritism? And what favoritism exactly did you get?”

“Huh?”

“I’m more scared of your aunt, honestly.”

“Agreed! The fact that she could use her own niece this hard just for the sake of the show! The professional world really is brutal!”

“If you’re her niece, she could at least have edited out the drumstick fight.”

“Right. But thinking about it, our boss caused so many incidents there probably wasn’t anything she could edit out.”

The way they all flatly declared that there had never been any favoritism was almost enough to tick me off.

So I seriously tried to think back on whether there had been any special treatment at all, but—

‘There really wasn’t, huh?’

Amazingly, there truly wasn’t.

My aunt had been busy selling off my shameful dark history, but she hadn’t done a single bit of editing to boost me.

If a contestant like Seo Ryujin had been hit by this controversy, she might really have been in danger.

After all, only scenes cool enough to earn her the nickname Sluggish Ryujin had aired.

“In that case, how about we make Sion treat us to dinner?”

“Huh?”

“The emotional damage we suffered from being toyed with by Lee Sion, who had her family backing her, doesn’t feel like it can be healed any other way?”

Of course, that didn’t mean they were going to just let me off the hook.

108,600 won.

Kim Nayeon and Ryu Ayeon tied me up, Lee Gahyeon stole my wallet out of my arms, and then, using the card they’d taken, Im Yunkyung and Geum Shinyu went out and bought food for everyone.

‘I don’t actually feel bad about it.’

With that money, I could have bought a jersey I’d had sitting in my cart with my summoner nickname printed across the back, or half a Bitcoin, but strangely enough I didn’t really feel like it was a waste.

Outwardly, I acted all resentful, but honestly, I felt good.

For some reason, being with my teammates made me feel like, no matter what happened going forward, they would believe in me.

“Boss is staying over, and the other unnies are staying too, right?”

“Shall we?”

“Well, I can swing by home tomorrow and head back to the dorm from there.”

“I live alone anyway, so it’s nice being with unnies like this!”

After we finished demolishing dinner, Yunkyung told everyone to stay over.

Honestly, just the bed in Yunkyung’s room alone looked big enough to sleep about four people, but—

—Guest bedrooms are ready. Please call me whenever you wish to turn in and I’ll show you to your rooms.

To our surprise, the housekeeper said each of us could have a private room, and everyone frantically waved their hands to refuse.

The truth was, even the floor or sofa in Yunkyung’s room was more comfortable than the dorm, so we all decided to sleep together there.

But—

“I’m going to head out first.”

“Huh?! Ayeon unni, stay over!”

“I’ve got plans tonight, sorry.”

Saying she had plans, Ryu Ayeon told us she had to go and said her goodbyes.

‘Something’s off.’

I felt something strange about the way she looked.

Earlier, when she’d stepped out to take a call and then come back, her expression had looked quite serious.

It felt oddly similar to back when Geum Shinyu had been dragged off by Park Soyeon, so I wanted to pry and ask what was going on, but she said she had plans and was leaving. I couldn’t exactly grab her and force her to stay, so all I could do was let her go.

***

“Today’s your day off, so you should be resting. Sorry for calling you out, Ayeon.”

“It’s fine.”

Clack.

Ryu Ayeon tried to stay calm as she looked at the man handing her a cup of hot tea, but she could feel that the tension in her body still wasn’t loosening.

Honestly, it would’ve been stranger not to be nervous.

Because the man sitting in front of her right now was none other than Park Taesu. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The CEO of TSP, Ayeon’s agency, and as a singer, a legend in Korean music. It was harder to find someone in Korea who didn’t know his name than someone who did.

Of course, as a trainee at TSP, Ayeon had seen Park Taesu several times before, but this was the first time she was in his office, talking one-on-one, so it was only natural that she was nervous.

“How’s the program? Managing okay?”

“···Yes.”

“I thought you’d be unhappy about appearing on Idol Ground 100.”

“···”

At his remark, Ayeon tried not to show the flinch she felt inside.

Up until not too long ago, it would’ve been a lie to say she hadn’t been unhappy about being on Idol Ground 100, just like he said.

“This might sound like a cliché, but I recommended you for that show because I really wanted to see you change through it.”

“···Yes.”

Ayeon nodded slightly at his words to show she understood.

In the past, she would have written that off as a transparent excuse, but now she felt like she understood at least a bit of what he meant.

“Actually, I went to watch the Position Evaluation stages in person this time.”

“Huh? That stage?”

“Yeah. I watched quietly so I wouldn’t draw attention, and that choreography—you made it, didn’t you, Ayeon?”

“···I didn’t make it alone··· it was thanks to my teammates.”

At her answer, Park Taesu smiled.

“In the past, you would have answered without hesitation that you made it by yourself.”

“···”

Within just a short span of time, she kept getting hit in the bullseye by everything he said.

She knew all too well that the old her would have answered exactly the way he described: that she did it all on her own.

But now she didn’t.

‘That choreography came together because of my teammates.’

If it hadn’t been the Bang! Bang! Love team, she was sure she never would’ve come up with that choreography.

In the past, the idea of creating choreography not for herself or for the song, but for the people performing on stage, had never even crossed her mind.

“The reason I went to see your stage in person was because I needed to make a decision.”

“A decision?”

“Did you watch Idol Ground 100 episode 4?”

“···Yes, I just watched it.”

“After I saw your team’s Group Battle Mission stage, I thought this: nothing has changed since before. If it goes on like this, Ayeon is going to break.”

Without realizing it, Ayeon nodded.

Back then, she’d been in an extremely unstable mental state.

After the shock of realizing for the first time that it wasn’t others but she herself who was ruining the team during the Group Battle Mission, she’d been ready to give up on everything.

“So I was planning to pull you off the program. I decided it would be dangerous to leave you on it any longer.”

“I··· I can do it.”

Startled by the revelation that he’d been about to pull her from the show, she blurted out that she could do it.

“I know. You met a good team, Ayeon.”

As if to calm her, he urged her to drink her tea.

Only after she took a sip and seemed to have settled down a bit did Park Taesu continue.

“Now, I’ll tell you the reason I called you here separately today.”

At his words—now to get to the main point—Ayeon straightened in her seat.

Earlier, while she was with her teammates, a call had come in from an unknown number.

Ever since she’d appeared on Idol Ground 100, she’d been getting a lot of calls from people who used to know her, so she’d considered not answering, but for some reason the call felt different, so she picked up—and it turned out to be from Park Taesu.

That was why she’d turned down Yunkyung’s offer to spend the night and come all the way to the CEO’s office. She was burning with curiosity as to why he’d called her here.

“Ayeon, do you want to join LYNX?”

Crash.

She dropped the teacup she’d been holding.

Even though it shattered loudly against the floor, her eyes didn’t turn toward it.

All she could do was stare at Park Taesu, eyes as wide as they could go.

LYNX.

The name that had just come out of his mouth.

It was the name of the group TSP ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) was preparing to launch as the next girl group—and the group whose debut lineup she had failed to make.

***

Brrrrrrr.

The shredder roared inside the office, chewing up paper.

“Damn it, this pisses me off.”

Shoving the stack of documents in his hand into the shredder, Park Sunwoong swore under his breath.

It was only natural. After all the backbreaking work he’d done over the last week to dig up material, he’d been just about to blow it all up into an article—only for it to become totally useless in an instant.

—Dad, can you do a background check on someone for me?

That was the first thing his daughter had said the moment she came home two weeks ago after a long time away.

To be honest, it wasn’t the first time.

Whenever something rubbed her the wrong way, she’d come to him and ask him to dig into someone—that was his daughter, Park Soyeon.

Because of that, he’d investigated several trainees at UI Entertainment, the agency she belonged to, and used those findings to pressure them into voluntarily leaving the company.

That was the kind of thing Park Sunwoong had done.

So for the last two weeks, he’d been digging into a trainee named Lee Sion.

‘Even if it hadn’t been for Soyeon, this would’ve been a target I couldn’t resist.’

Idol Ground 100, currently the hottest show in Korea.

And on Idol Ground 100, the contestant holding the number one spot in popularity rankings, drawing all the attention—of course someone like that would pique his interest.

Hot Issue Journal.

Park Sunwoong was the president of an online newspaper called Hot Issue Journal.

It was called an online newspaper, but in reality it was your typical yellow press outlet that spread rumors and gossip.

However, in this day and age when online news outlets were so common you could trip over them in the street, Hot Issue Journal still enjoyed a certain level of name recognition.

Thanks to the occasional genuine scoop reported exclusively by ex-major-newspaper-reporter Park Sunwoong, the outlet had a reputation as something people couldn’t completely dismiss.

And now, he had his hands on a massive bait fish named Lee Sion.

‘It’s a waste to just let this one go.’

He’d been investigating Lee Sion’s surroundings, partly as a favor to his daughter and partly because the topic had enough buzz. Eventually, he’d managed to dig up one juicy controversy.

It was her family relationship with the program’s main PD, Kim Miyoung.

Thrilled, he’d started writing his article.

But then, yesterday, Kim Miyoung’s press conference had blown up, and now all the painstaking material he’d gathered was meaningless.

Right now, attacking Lee Sion over her family connection would be beyond stupid—it’d be downright suicidal.

Every third-rate rag that had cluelessly published articles attacking her over it was currently being bombarded with something close to a terror campaign from the public.

So, as he fed his hard-won documents into the shredder, Park Sunwoong forced himself to calm down again.

‘It’s fine. There’ll definitely be more.’

From experience, he knew that incidents like this always came with at least one more huge story attached.

Which meant this was the moment to hold his breath and quietly start digging again.