Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 20 The Guardian’s Heart

“Are you here?”

As I opened the door to the single room that was as well-maintained as a decent hotel, an old man who was not yet seventy brightened his eyes.

In front of the old man, there was a caregiver sitting and cutting fruits into squares.

“Yeah~. Grandma, this is our team leader. It’s the first time you meet him in person, right?”

We had been working together for five years, but it was the first time I met his family who lived with him.

Even though we weren’t that close, I was surprised that he had maintained such a random relationship until now.

“Hello, I’m Cheon Ise.”

I naturally bowed my head and greeted him, and handed him a mango that I bought at the fruit shop in front of the hospital.

The quality was not bad, but the price was so dirty that I would never have bought it if I were ‘Lim Hyun-seong’.

At first, I thought it would be better to buy apples or grapes for the old man, but Oh Yi-jun casually picked up a mango.

‘Our grandma likes expensive fruits~.’

I was a bit embarrassed when he said that earlier, but I understood when I came to the ward.

No matter how much insurance money came out, it was a luxury ward that would be hard to afford even a week’s hospitalization if it was an ordinary house.

“What’s the occasion today? You brought all your friends without even contacting me?”

“They helped me feed the kids. I thought you’d like it if I showed them to you on the way.”

“Oh, you’re so annoying. Why did you ask them to help you with that?”

Then Oh Yi-jun laughed brightly and answered.

“I didn’t force them to help me and bring them out! Hyung really likes cats.”

I reflexively twitched my eyebrows at the lie that came out of Yi-jun’s mouth without saliva.

‘Me?’

I didn’t hate animals, but I hated having fur beasts near me.

Woof-!

Did you see everything I was thinking even though the status window wasn’t on?

I heard the sound of Pposili barking like a ghost, but I didn’t care.

“Really? I didn’t know that Chairman’s Cheon youngest was a friend who likes cats.”

Huh?

A word that popped out of my ears as I sat still and tried to play along.

“Do you know my father?”

When I was living as Lim Hyun-seong, I used to shake my tongue at Chairman Cheong, who was involved in various political scandals.

Why are you so greedy when you have so much, and why are you going to court when you’re old?

I felt a little hot in my chest when I proudly called him my father.

But now he’s my father anyway.

When I asked with a somewhat bewildered expression, the old man chuckled lightly and laughed.

“I know him. I’ve been retired for a while, so I don’t see his face these days. But until about 10 years ago, I had to bump into him more than once or twice.”

I reflexively recalled Yi-jun’s behavior at the dorm. Come to think of it, none of the things he used or wore were cheap products.

When I was in the dorm, I thought he was a celebrity and got some sponsorship, but it looked like he was more likely to have paid for it himself.

“Ah… I see…”

“Seeing your face and greeting you like this, how nice. Come and play with Yi-jun often.”

“Yes, I’ll come by often.”

At that moment, I remembered a comment I saw while searching for the climax.

[They’re a group of golden spoons, so they don’t have to worry even if they fail.]

I thought it was because of Cheon Ise’s background, but it wasn’t just because of him.

“That’s enough, grandma. We’re busy. We’ll start preparing for the comeback soon.”

Then the old woman stabbed me with a smiling face.

“You guys are just a bunch of losers who make excuses and act cute. Tsk tsk. Don’t just act cute when I’m sick, but treat me well all the time!”

It was unreal to hear the word ‘loser’ from the old woman’s mouth.

It seemed like the caregiver felt the same way, as he shrugged his shoulders and tried to hold back his laughter.

“No, I’m not a loser, okay? This time, it’s really going to be a hit.”

“How many times have you thrown a promise like that? I’m not in a position where I can’t support you with anything you want to do, but what’s wrong with being a loser?”

It must have been a witty and affectionate cheer for the old woman, but the loser felt bitter in his chest.

“This time, it will be different. I’ll work hard to not embarrass you.”

As I chimed in, Yi-jun shrugged his shoulders and said.

“Did you hear that? Grandma, please look forward to it a lot.”

“Oh my. Yeah, yeah. Let me see you guys do well and make me proud.”

As they bickered, they looked affectionate, and I felt a little envious.

This is what a real family is like, I thought.

We ate fruits and talked about this and that until dinner time, and before I knew it, time had passed quite a bit.

“Grandma, I’ll go now. I’ll come again tomorrow, so don’t worry about the kids starving.”

As I bowed my head and greeted him, looking at the sunset outside the window, the old man grabbed my hand tightly.

“Since Yi-jun was young, he lived with me without his parents, so he was originally a bit immature. You must have had a hard time, but I’ll have to ask you for a favor in the future.”

Then I felt the close relationship between Yi-jun and his grandmother.

His parents either died in an accident, divorced, or had no time to take care of him because they were working.

It must have been one of the three.

Actually, I didn’t think Cheon Ise had done much effort until then.

I nodded my head naturally and smiled.

“No, I have to ask Yi-jun for a favor. I’ll do my best to show you a good result until the end.”

With a bow, the short or long visit to the guardian (?) was over.

As the door closed and I came out to the hallway, Yi-jun smiled at me.

“How was it? Our grandma is a fun person, right?”

All I heard was your swearing, but I swallowed the absurd laughter that was about to come out and answered.

“Just… I think your personality didn’t just fall from the sky.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Yi-jun casually wrapped his arm around my neck and acted friendly.

“Mom and dad passed away in an accident, and it was hard for grandma too. But since I was young, she raised me without letting me feel the empty space. She sometimes speaks harshly, but you just have to think that she’s always like that.”

He casually spat out his dark family history, but there was no shadow on Yi-jun’s face.

“I guess… you had it hard too.”

“It was hard. But I don’t remember it anymore, so it doesn’t matter. I wasn’t completely alone without a guardian.”

With that, he cheerfully left the hospital lobby.

I knew well how harsh it was to grow up in Korean society without your parents as your main caregivers.

Even though he said that, he must have had a lot of difficulties.

It was fortunate that he seemed well-off financially, but… there were things in the world that money couldn’t solve.

“Ah. I’m hungry. Are we going to eat and go? I feel like my stomach is stuck to my back.”

The mood didn’t sink for a moment, and he quickly bounced back with his lightness. I ended up laughing.

“Yeah. But what we ate is a secret from Seon-woo.”

I felt a little closer to the type I thought I would never get along with.

***

After filling our stomachs at a famous pork cutlet restaurant near the hospital, the sun had set.

I wanted to take a taxi right away, but Yi-jun suggested walking to digest our food.

It wasn’t a long walk, so I nodded willingly.

“Hyung, you seem to have changed a bit.”

Of course, since the contents had changed. But it was something only I could know, so I answered vaguely.

“Maybe you feel that way because my mindset has changed.”

“How should I put it… You seem more communicative than before. Like you don’t draw lines as much…”

What?

I raised a hundred question marks in my mind and pretended to be nonchalant as I walked ahead.

“I wish I had gotten closer to you sooner if I knew I could talk to you like this.”

I felt a strange feeling at Yi-jun’s regretful voice.

“At least we have a chance to hang out separately before the group disbands. That’s a relief.”

The original Cheon Ise was already dead.

Even though I became close friends with Cheon Ise who had changed to Lim Hyun-seong, he was fundamentally different from the original Cheon Ise.

I probably couldn’t tell this secret even after the quest as Cheon Ise was over.

Then all I could do was to go along with it. I tried not to be awkward and answered.

“Don’t talk nonsense. I’ll torture you so you can’t say that when we start preparing for the comeback.”

He was excluded from the center candidate, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t use him.

It was unrealistic that they hadn’t used a member who could produce his own songs properly until now.

If I didn’t achieve a good result here, my revenge would also go down the drain.

I had to use everything I could.

“Don’t scare me because you’re embarrassed.”

“I told you not to talk nonsense.”

Yi-jun smiled and showed his white teeth. He had a face that was annoyingly handsome, not as much as Seong-won or Seon-woo.

And then he jumped ahead of me with a light step to the dorm entrance.

It was getting to be the real summer.

The night air was moist and damp.

The season that would determine the fate of the climax and my revenge had begun.

***

Time passed and the day of the first concept meeting came.

In the meantime, Seon-woo had lost another 2kg, and I was on my way to the agency office with Kyunghwa.

“How much more does Seon-woo have to lose?”

Kyunghwa, who was sitting in the back seat of the taxi, asked with a tense expression.

“I think he’ll be in the early 70s if he loses about 15kg more.”

“Considering the speed he’s losing weight, he should be able to do it in a month and a half, right?”

Hmm… He looked very anxious because this was the last time.

I decided to answer him as positively as possible.

“He can lose enough if he doesn’t yo-yo. I’m making sure he doesn’t by controlling his diet, so don’t worry too much.”

Seon-woo, who had lost a child’s weight in a month, had definitely changed his outline.

He still looked far from slim, but…

He had also lowered his body fat percentage and became healthier according to the indicators.

I thought he could definitely regain his original appearance by the time of the comeback.

“Seon-woo is doing his best in his own way. We just have to do our job well.”

It was a polite thing to say, but there was nothing else I could do to comfort him right now.

Hoo, hoo.

Seeing Kyunghwa breathing deeply and calming his mind behind me, I thought I had to pull myself together too.

At that moment, something I should have asked before the meeting popped into my mind.

“By the way, how did you end up becoming an idol?”

He dropped something in the back seat with a clatter at my question that pierced the root without blinking.