The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 184

The episodes aired before the live broadcast of Targeting Star mostly showed the trainees’ daily lives at the trainee facility, contrasting their glamorous performances on stage.

Even though countless conflicts lurked beneath the surface, idol survival programs typically wrapped things up warmly to minimize controversy.

“Minho hyung, look here. I’m not lying, if you open your mouth wider, your pronunciation improves! It’s not a joke. Ah, you don’t trust me? Trust in our friendship, just once!”

“H-how wide? Like this…?”

Click!

“Yes! Got a perfect shot.”

“Hey, Ji Hwa Sung! You said you were helping me record!”

“Of course, I’ll help. Think of this as payment. Payment for eternally making me smile whenever I look through my gallery.”

“You little—delete it! Delete it now!”

Scenes of trainees cheerfully recording songs and practicing choreography in the practice room.

“Thanks to the card tricks Logan taught me, I finally beat Tsubasa from the room next door. He never noticed that I hid an ace up my sleeve while shuffling!”

“Brilliant! I still vividly remember when I took all your chocolate bars with a full house in the beginning, Ryota. You’ve grown up splendidly!”

“Hmph. If I’d known Logan was cheating back then, I’d have learned it much faster.”

“Ryota, I’ve told you countless times, it wasn’t cheating, it was bluffing!”

“Logan, in East Asian countries we call that cheating! I refuse to hear your excuses!”

Scenes of roommates bantering happily and reminiscing about their time together.

And to top off this heartwarming atmosphere, a special video call segment with family and loved ones.

– “Son, Mom knows how hard Seong Won Hyeop has worked all this time. So just do your best until the very end and perform without any regrets.”

“Mom…”

– “Hey, don’t cry! Why are you crying? I can’t even pat your back from here. Make sure you have the ginseng I sent after this call ends. Remember, your health is always the most important thing.”

“…Yeah. I’ll really give it my all. Thanks, Mom.”

While Targeting Star had previously set up public phone booths occasionally for trainees to call their families, usually to spotlight individual stories.

This segment clearly aimed to tug at the viewers’ heartstrings by pretending to be just another mini-game before surprising trainees with face-to-face calls.

– “Mom, Dad, and Unnie definitely voted for you, oppa. Honestly, I was gonna vote for you too. I mean, you’re my brother. But… the little kid inside me ordered me to debut the cat called Jang Si Woo.”

…Or so it was supposed to.

I lightly wiped the cold sweat dripping down my neck and carefully asked my younger sister, dressed neatly in her school uniform and speaking in a nonchalant tone.

“…You know this is going on air, right, Kim Nari?”

– “Of course.”

However, Nari didn’t budge at my question.

No, actually, it was more than just not budging.

– “Unnie said this would air, so she made me put on the uniform properly. See? I’m wearing everything I need to! I never wear it like this normally. Ugh, it’s already uncomfortable.”

Instead, she firmly brushed back her hair to proudly show off the cute cat badge pinned onto her uniform pocket.

Knowing that the badge was unofficial merch created by Si Woo’s fans, I couldn’t help but place a hand on my forehead.

I always knew Nari was stubborn, but this… this was on another level.

Should I have realized it when she said, “Mom and Dad both have dinners tonight, so I’m filling in”?

“…Pfft.”

The assistant director, who’d been watching everything unfold, suddenly burst out laughing but quickly straightened his expression when our eyes met.

He pretended nothing had happened, but I already saw everything.

“Haha, haha…”

– “Hey, what’s up? Why are you laughing? Did I look weird on camera? Should I have put on more makeup? My friends did this for me. Does it look bad?”

Reacting to my helpless laughter, Nari fired off a rapid series of questions.

Usually, these calls involved the family members warmly encouraging the trainee, but my sister, far beyond ordinary, acted as if such conventions meant nothing at all.

Well…

In the end, this conversation would probably air as comedic rather than touching if it ever got broadcast.

“…No, you look fine. Anyway, did you eat? Don’t you have to go to cram school later?”

– “I had twenty thousand won ^[1] worth of malatang earlier. But it didn’t feel like enough, so I’m gonna have ramen before going to cram school. I have a test today.”

“Eating ramen right after will upset your stomach. Just grab a chocolate bar or something. Don’t complain later that your stomach hurts during the test.”

– “Oppa, why are you scolding your sister’s eating habits on air?”

“Haha. Well, if you still wanna eat after eating that much, what else can I say…”

Honestly, it was a genuinely comforting video call for me.
Preparing for performances, preventing Logan from dropping out, the nerve-wracking face-off with Liu Wei, and finally deciding to hand over the memory card from the courage test mission to the PD.

Ever since returning, I hadn’t rested properly for even a single day, just running forward like crazy.

Was this really okay? Was my decision to choose Logan over Liu Wei the correct one?

Beyond the question of becoming the greatest idol in K-pop history…

Could I really debut with Arrows again after all this?

I kept running, ignoring all those questions swirling in my head.

In the midst of all this…

– “Anyway, Oppa, are you eating well? Looks like you’ve lost weight.”

“…Is it that obvious?”

– “People usually look puffier on TV, so I thought you would too. But you look like a stick. Could probably skewer some tanghulu on you.”

“Ahahaha! What kind of analogy is that, seriously?”

The brief, comfortable exchange with my younger sister momentarily erased many of the questions that had been tormenting me.

Honestly, that alone was enough for me, but…

– “Well, anyway. I voted for Si Woo instead of you at the midterm voting, but… I did tell my friends to vote for you. I originally wasn’t gonna tell them my brother was a trainee, but Unnie told me to go ahead. I’ll tell them properly again during the live broadcast too.”

“Yeah. Thanks. The five minutes are almost up, so you better start getting ready for cram school. Don’t make mom get a call because you’re late.”

– “Ah, sh—ugh, I shouldn’t swear. It’s already been five minutes? Why does time pass so quickly… Well, anyway.”

“Hm? What’s wrong with you now?”

T/N:

^[1] ↩

roughly 14 USD (reference: Wise for July 25, 2025)