Idol Hides His Military Service

“When calling a restaurant employee, what should you do?”

“Oi! Oi oi! This is right, isn’t it?”

“···No. That is an extremely rude expression, so usually, it is replaced with the expression sumimasen. Aside from that, it is similar to when you call a restaurant employee in Korea, so you only need to be careful with the word.”

“Hoo, so oi oi was a rude word?”

“You didn’t know?”

“Yeah, I sometimes used it when calling my dad and mom too, but from now on, I’ll be careful to use it without getting caught.”

A conference room located on the fourth floor of the KJ Entertainment building.

In the place they usually used when there was an important meeting or when guests came from outside for a meeting, the Iam members were holding notebooks and writing tools and listening diligently to the lecture.

‘This is an idol?’

And Daehun, who had taken on the role of teaching the Iam members Japanese and Japanese culture, had cold sweat flowing down his forehead despite it being the middle of winter.

-I’m teaching idols?

-Yes. We won’t be able to do much, but for about two days, we’d like you to teach them simple Japanese expressions and pronunciation, and cultural differences they should be careful about in Japan, over a short period.

The Japanese training for Iam, which KJ Entertainment had contacted him directly about a few days ago.

When Daehun first received the offer, he accepted it without hesitation.

That was only natural, because just being able to see the members of Iam, the hottest idol group lately, in person was appealing, the pay was good, and on top of that, teaching idols was something he could use as career experience too.

But right now, he was rapidly regretting the hasty choice he had made then.

“Sion-chan, how do you only know Japanese that sounds like a gangster?”

“Kisama! Are you insulting me?”

“Listen carefully. I’ll teach you real native Japanese.”

The Iam members had stopped listening to the lecture and were excitedly chattering among themselves.

“What is it?”

“Watashi wa hentai idol desu!”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, I am a genius idol!”

“That’s perfect for me, though?”

“Right?”

Among them, as Daehun listened to the exchange between Yuri, the Japanese member, and Lee Sion, he felt like he was losing his mind.

‘That is not what it means!’

Even if it was a joke, he could not help being horrified at seeing her teach a member of the same team the phrase, “I am a pervert idol!”

On top of that,

“As expected, it’s reassuring having Yuri here. Sion, when you go on Japanese broadcasts, make sure! you use that as your introduction line.”

“I feel like that line really doesn’t suit me, whose motto is humility and sincerity?”

“No! Japanese people like people overflowing with confidence. I think that line will work well.”

“Is that so?”

Producer Raon, who had come to observe the members’ lecture, was not stopping them, but instead was helping Yuri’s prank along, so it was enough to drive him insane.

There was no way Raon was doing that because she did not know the meaning of the Japanese Yuri had said.

‘You’re good at Japanese!’

In fact, Raon possessed Japanese skills so outstanding that she could take over the Japanese lecture in Daehun’s place.

On top of that, since they even had a native Japanese member, it would have been enough for the two of them to handle the training, so he had wondered briefly why they had called him.

But he was quickly able to realize that a lecture would be impossible with those two in the first place.

“Teacher! Then can Japanese be interpreted with different meanings depending on pronunciation, even for the same word?”

“That’s right! A representative example is ame, and if you place the accent on the front, it means rain, while if you place the accent on the back, it means candy.”

“Wow, that’s fascinating!”

“I have a question too! About the pronunciation you mentioned earlier···.”

“In that case, that pronunciation is···.”

If there was at least one fortunate thing, it was that not everyone was insane, and a few members were showing a normal attitude as students.

Even now, Im Yunkyung and Geum Shinyu were listening to the lecture in exemplary fashion, asking Daehun questions about what they had learned.

‘From now on, my biases are those two!’

Before coming to today’s lecture, if someone had asked which Iam member he liked the most, Daehun would have chosen Kurosawa Yuri without hesitation. But he decided to change his favorite members to Im Yunkyung and Geum Shinyu.

Besides them,

“Why do Japanese people have different greetings for morning, afternoon, and evening?”

“Isn’t that the same as Gahyeon’s weight being different morning, afternoon, and evening?”

“Die! Just die already!”

There was Lee Gahyeon, who had overflowing motivation but was showing the image of a typical student who could not study.

“Can’t we just leave Japanese to Yuri? I don’t think everyone needs to be good at it.”

And there was Ryu Ayeon, whom he had seen for the first time today, but for some reason reminded him of a friend from his school days who sat by the window in the back of the class and gave off a rebellious air during every class.

-It probably won’t be easy to teach the members.

-Is that so?

-When that happens, try doing this.

However, as if he had expected this kind of attitude in class, Sanghyeok had given Daehun instructions in advance on how to teach each member.

“Gahyeon, do you happen to like Japanese food?”

“Japanese food?”

“Because of my job, I go to Japan often, and sushi eaten locally in Japan really is different. Especially the desserts are incredibly well developed, so for people who like sweets, it’s a place like heaven.”

Gulp.

“Really?”

“Of course. Then, shall we learn the Japanese mainly used when ordering food or buying things?”

“Yes!”

The moment he brought up food, Lee Gahyeon’s eyes went round and began to shine brightly.

After capturing Lee Gahyeon like that, Daehun next began attacking Ryu Ayeon.

“One part people misunderstand a lot about Japan is dance.”

“Dance?”

“Korean idols dance well, but in fact, the country in Asia where street dance is most developed is Japan. Maybe because the population is large, it’s famous for having many high-level dancers even in minor genres.”

As Daehun’s words flowed out, a vitality that had not been there until now appeared in Ryu Ayeon’s eyes, and if left alone, she looked ready to kick back her seat and rush toward Daehun.

“But when I see singers on Japanese broadcasts, most of their dancing looks awkward···.”

Of course, perhaps she had not been completely won over yet, because she slightly questioned Daehun with a suspicious look.

“Have you heard of hidden masters?”

“Hidden masters?!”

“In Japan, the people who are truly good at dancing don’t appear on broadcasts like they do in Korea. They gather among themselves and work there. I saw it once too, and they really were good.”

Clatter.

At Daehun’s words, the desk where Ryu Ayeon was sitting rattled and shook.

Like a puppy with a snack in front of it, she looked ready to leap out at any moment.

“But even if you go to Japan, if you can’t communicate, it would be hard to share stories about dance, wouldn’t it?”

“What should I do, Teacher!”

“Then, shall we now look into conversation used in everyday life?”

“Yes!”

Seeing Ryu Ayeon change from a delinquent student into an honor student in an instant, Daehun could only admire it.

‘So this is the level you need to be a company CEO.’

He remembered the old story from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Zhuge Liang handed Zhao Yun, who was escorting Liu Bei for his marriage, three pouches containing strategies.

He had told him to open them one by one whenever a crisis came, and inside those pouches were strategies that were exactly necessary, as if they had predicted future situations.

As if that Zhuge Liang had reincarnated in modern times, KJ Entertainment’s CEO Sanghyeok clearly saw through how the members would come out and how they needed to be handled.

But,

“Well, when I go to Japan, Japanese fans might tremble when they see me.”

“Why?”

“Because my ancestor is King Taejo Yi Seonggye, who made the Japanese pirates flee in terror around the Gyeongsang-do region six hundred years ago.”

“Wow!!! Really? Then Sion-chan is royalty?”

“You know how to grasp the core, Yuri.”

When he saw Lee Sion and Kurosawa Yuri chattering excitedly, Daehun’s chest grew stuffy again.

-Ryujin is basically exemplary, so you probably won’t need to pay separate attention to her.

-Yes, I’ll try it during the lecture the way you told me. But is there no separate measure for Sion and Yuri? Are those two exemplary like Ryujin too?

-No. There is simply no measure.

-Ah···.

Even Sanghyeok, who had given him one-on-one coaching on how to draw interest in the lecture from each member, had said there was no way to handle Lee Sion and Kurosawa Yuri.

Back then, Daehun had thought Sanghyeok was worrying too excessively, but now he could clearly understand why he had said that.

“I know that one, Sion-chan!”

“The greatness of our Jeonju Lee clan?”

“No! Long ago, I saw it on the internet, and it said eighty percent of Korean surnames just copied famous surnames at random!”

“What! Are you insulting my family now?”

“No! I’m insulting Sion-chan.”

“You wicked Japanese pirate!”

“Are you being racist right now?!”

Seeing the two exchange lines as if performing a comic routine, then Yuri launch a dropkick and Lee Sion counter it, Daehun felt like he was losing his mind.

***

“If people hear you using the word konoyaro, it could become a major problem for your image, Yuri.”

“Sumimasen··· I absolutely won’t use it outside.”

“You must not use it inside either.”

Seeing CEO Kim Sanghyeok, as befitting an educated person, sternly scolding the wicked Kurosawa Yuri made me feel once again that justice was alive in this world.

“And Sion.”

“Yes.”

“The same goes for the word Japanese pirate. If you used that word in Japan, you would have to give up on ever promoting in Japan again.”

No.

As expected, there was no justice in the world.

CEO Kim Sanghyeok was breaking my will when I had tried to protect KJ Entertainment against foreign enemies.

“CEO, what is more important than Japanese activities is protecting my deep-rooted bloodline···.”

“Do you know this, Sion?”

“Yes?”

“If you promote in Japan, you can earn ten times, no, if you properly gain popularity, dozens of times the amount you earn in Korea.”

Dozens of times what I earn now?

At CEO Kim Sanghyeok’s explanation, my mind went faint for a moment.

To be honest, I already boasted an enormous income, enough that I had surpassed the total income of my past life.

Dozens of times that amount. This felt like my common sense was collapsing.

‘If I buy Bitcoin with that money?’

For a moment, a scene flashed through my head of Lady Sukja massaging my shoulders and PD Raon washing my feet.

“Even if there is painful history in the past, racial discrimination is a bad thing. From now on, I will delete that hideous word Japanese pirate from my memory.”

Only then did CEO Kim Sanghyeok nod as if satisfied by my words.

“Commander! You said a person’s roots are their foundation, so you couldn’t give them up!”

“My roots include not only the Jeonju Lee clan, but also the Deoksu Kim lineage, so when I promote in Japan, I can swap them out.”

“That was detachable?”

“My ancestors will understand too.”

General Yi Seonggye, who must be watching over me from the heavens, would surely raise his thumb with a pleased smile if he had heard what we just said.

“Sion, was your maternal family the Deoksu Kim lineage?”

“Yes. Our Lady Sukja is the thirty-third-generation descendant of the Deoksu Kim lineage.”

“So that was why···.”

“Yes?”

In the middle of that, when CEO Kim Sanghyeok heard my maternal clan origin, he made a slightly surprised expression and said something meaningful.

“Did you know there is the Greatest Sword of Joseon among the Deoksu Kim lineage?”

“The Greatest Sword of Joseon? Isn’t that something that comes out in dramas?”

“No. There truly was someone named Kim Chegeon who received the title of the Greatest Sword of Joseon. He is famous as someone who crossed over to Japan after the Imjin War, learned old-school swordsmanship, and spread it in Joseon.”

“Really?”

The secret of my maternal bloodline, which even I had not known.

“Kim Chegeon’s son, Kim Gwangtaek, was also a famous warrior, enough to be called the Sword Immortal. When it comes to martial arts in Joseon, the Deoksu Kim lineage is known as the most prestigious family.”

As CEO Kim Sanghyeok poured out explanations about the history of the Deoksu Kim lineage as if he were Namuwiki, chills ran over me.

I had no idea how he even knew the history of someone else’s family, but should I say that only now could I understand a little why Lady Sukja had been able to show off such powerful martial strength?

“So Lee Sion wasn’t a monster for no reason.”

“The Greatest Sword of Joseon! Even the title is cool!”

“Commander, do you know how to use swordsmanship too?”

The members seemed just as surprised, and for a while, the atmosphere grew noisy.

Like that, for a while, the members all seemed to want to hear CEO Kim Sanghyeok’s explanation about their own family histories, and a barrage of questions followed.

Only after the history lecture had gone on for a while could CEO Kim Sanghyeok finally bring up the main point.

“I apologize for placing such a burden on the members, since the Japan advance is proceeding so urgently.”

“No, CEO. We’re grateful just that the opportunity came.”

“Thank you for thinking of it that way. I don’t know how much help the short training conducted over yesterday and today can be, but it is fortunate that Producer Raon, who knows the local circumstances well, and Yuri are here.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of the girls.”

“That’s right, trust Yuri, who has escaped foreign-laborer status!”

At Raon and Yuri’s answers, CEO Kim Sanghyeok nodded as if he would trust them.

‘This really is fascinating.’

I felt a fresh sense of emotion as I listened to the explanation that followed about our Japan activity plan.

First, after arriving in Japan, we would immediately appear on a Japanese music broadcast after a simple meeting.

After that, our schedule was to appear on several Japanese variety programs arranged by Unibex, our local partner company, and then hold a fan signing event in Tokyo.

“I still can’t believe we have fans in Japan too.”

As if I was not the only one, Lee Gahyeon said exactly what I had been thinking.

“What you have all done until now has worked in Japan too.”

And as if understanding how we felt, CEO Kim Sanghyeok quietly said his final words.

“Please dye Japan with Iam.”

Wasn’t a soldier someone who carried out orders once they were given?

I nodded vigorously.