Idol Hides His Military Service

“Since it’s a superstar’s autograph, keep it as a family heirloom for life.”

“Yeah! I’ll definitely keep it!”

Swoosh.

When I dashed off a stylish autograph on the paper the fan held out, a bright smile rose on the waiting fan’s face, like a child who had received a Children’s Day present.

“Sion! I brought this to give to you!”

“Ahem! I told you so many times that I do not accept personal gifts!”

“This is limited-edition Kongming Three Kingdoms merch! I got it from mainland China!”

“···Don’t tell me it’s the Battle of Red Cliffs humidifier that just came out?!”

“You knew? The competition for this was seriously fierce. I barely got one too.”

The moment I took the gift box the fan handed me, my hands started trembling.

The Battle of Red Cliffs humidifier, a masterpiece merch item made through a limited lottery of 500 people by the immortal masterpiece production Kongming Three Kingdoms.

It was a humidifier shaped like a burning ship, and on top of the ship, it even came with a figure of Cao Cao kneeling with a look of despair, a merch item that boasted astonishing quality.

'How did this fan get this?'

Of course, I had also naturally entered the lottery to obtain this Battle of Red Cliffs humidifier.

But even though I entered with the voluntary cooperation of not only Mom and Dad, but also the members and company staff, there was the sorrowful memory of being pushed out by the insane quantity offensive of mainland Chinese Kongming Three Kingdoms fans and ultimately failing to win.

Since the item I had been debating whether to buy later even by paying a premium was right in front of my eyes, there was no helping the way my hands shook.

“Ahem···maybe I’ll accept just this?”

“I don’t need it anyway!”

Accepting gifts from fans was originally something I made a principle of not doing. But how could a person live only by principles?

As you lived, you also needed a little flexibility.

And so, right before my hand accepted the Battle of Red Cliffs humidifier the fan was holding out,

Smack!

“Lee Sion, your eyes rolled back again just because it’s Three Kingdoms! You were the one who said we shouldn’t accept fans’ gifts because it burdens the fans!”

But Lee Gahyeon, who had been watching me, slapped me on the back as if asking whether I had gone insane, then started dragging me toward the inside of the departure area.

“The sincerity of a fan···!”

“Stop talking nonsense and move! Our departure time is almost here!”

“Gahyeon is right. We’ll be in trouble if we’re any later, so hurry.”

“Keugh···.”

The Battle of Red Cliffs humidifier that only grew farther away, and the face of the fan holding it with a regretful expression.

It was frustrating, but right now, Lee Gahyeon and Raon were right.

Our departure time was almost here, so if we wasted any more time here, the disaster of missing our plane might occur.

“Why do you always schedule departures so tightly? It’d be nice if you left us a little room.”

“That’s right! You always book us business-class tickets, but we haven’t even been to the lounge once!”

Maybe I wasn’t the only one disappointed by the tight schedule, because Shinyu and Yunkyung also stopped their fan service toward the fans gathered at the airport and hurried after us, voicing their disappointment.

That made sense. Rather than arriving at the airport with time to spare and preparing for departure, our schedule had us move immediately under tight timing the moment we arrived, so it was disappointing that there was almost no time to respond to the fans who had gone through the trouble of coming all the way to the airport.

“There’s no helping the tight schedule.”

“Why?”

“It’s good that you girls think of the fans, but the more you do, the more fans will crowd into the airport. Then it’ll get congested, and the chance of an accident happening will be higher, right?”

“Ah···.”

But once Raon’s explanation continued, Yunkyung, who had been voicing disappointment, had no choice but to close her mouth.

“It’s a schedule arranged with the security guards who protect you and safety in mind, so don’t complain and follow along.”

In the end, the members and I quietly followed Raon into the departure area.

“Sion, don’t be too sad. You’ll get another chance to find that weird-looking humidifier.”

“Sluggish Ryujin, please don’t call me by name. Call me Lee Sion like usual···.”

“Why, between us! That makes us look cold.”

“Kkieeek!”

And so, after we entered the departure area and were waiting briefly before boarding the plane, Seo Ryujin stuck close to me and started tormenting me.

“What’s wrong with Seo Ryujin since yesterday?”

While I was suffering under the friendly behavior of Seo Ryujin, who normally should have been the first to step forward and persecute me, Ryu Ayeon, who was watching, voiced her question with a frown as if she had seen something she should not have seen.

“You didn’t know? Ryujin is totally obsessed with Sion right now!”

“I know that much, but I don’t know why. Did she eat something wrong?”

“It’s because of the self-produced content she filmed with the Commander.”

“The one that went up yesterday?”

“Yes!”

At Ryu Ayeon’s question, Yunkyung explained in detail why Seo Ryujin was clinging tightly to me and acting meekly right now.

[Are they insane? lololol]

「(Seo Ryujin and Raon eating banana peels)

What kind of crazy agency uploads a hidden-camera prank where its own artist and producer eat banana peels?」

⤷lololol Raon’s expression is hilarious

⤷That’s the face my dog makes when taking heartworm medicine

⤷Does Lee Sion have no tomorrow? How did she pull off a prank like that

⤷You can’t conquer Haan-dong if you think about the future!

⤷What kind of demon realm is Haan-dong that a monster like that lives there?

⤷For real, Lee Sion’s face when she was planning the prank with the content team was the brightest expression I’ve ever seen from her

Iam’s self-produced hidden-camera prank content, which had gone up yesterday.

-Did you see?! This is Lee Sion! You don’t have Lee Sion, do you?

The reaction to our self-produced content, which had gone up after a period when we had neglected it because of comeback activities and year-end stages, was explosive.

It had only been a single day since it was uploaded, but not only was it already close to a million views, articles related to it were also pouring out by the dozen.

Thanks to that, there had also been a minor incident where content team leader Hakyun screamed with joy at the company, only to be subdued by Raon after her disgraceful state had been revealed to the world.

[Dropping Raon (viewer discretion) pics]

「(Raon appearing on a stage screen in a black-and-white photo)

(Raon collapsed from exhaustion during the Paldo Man special)

(Raon furious in New York after Lee Sion swapped her card)

(Raon locked in a storage room, taking the hibernation pose Lee Sion ordered her to take)

Watch carefully. If Raon catches you, you might die」

⤷Ah...this is too cruel

⤷These are rare pics I never even saw during her active career

⤷Did you know all these pics were generated by one person?

⤷As expected of Great Sion! She shows no mercy whether it’s a senior or a producer

⤷Other people only have one or two humiliating pics, but she collected this many for her. As expected, only a disciple would do this

⤷Like if you’re Raon and want to beat Lee Sion to death lololol

The humiliating scenes of Raon and Seo Ryujin contained in the self-produced hidden-camera prank content uploaded this time.

-You said you’d edit it out!

-The press must be free, Producer!

-Die! Just die!!! You sold out your colleagues for views?!

Apparently, at some point without my knowing, she had asked content team leader Hakyun to edit them out, but it was a pointless effort.

'If the views come out, the team leader would probably sell out even the CEO.'

There was no way such a shallow edit request would work on Hakyun, who had worked under Kim Miyoung, the demon of ratings.

There was no way what he had learned from that cold-blooded beast, who would sell out even her own niece if it meant ratings, had gone anywhere.

And so a second round of punishment followed from an enraged Raon, and since the main culprits of the incident, Hakyun and I, had expected that too, we calmly accepted the punishment.

That was because if we could do something that fun for the price of one beating, it was cheap.

However, one thing I had not expected was,

“Sion, aren’t we doing another hidden-camera prank?”

“What on earth made you like this, Sluggish Ryujin!”

“People said it was fun! Let’s do another one!”

The fact that Seo Ryujin liked it instead of getting angry.

“What if I trick you this time?”

“You?”

“I feel like I can do it! I just have to do it like you, right?”

Seo Ryujin stuck close beside me, apparently excited about something, and began pouring out the hidden-camera prank ideas she had thought of.

“We arrive in Japan, and I pretend I lost my passport!”

Starting from pretending she lost her passport after arriving in Japan, all the way to suggesting that we film a prank where she and I suddenly got into a fight, listening to her made me feel like my mind was being gradually contaminated.

'How is every single thing she thinks of unfunny?'

Every plan Seo Ryujin rattled off like rapid fire was so uniformly unfunny that it sent chills down my spine, and now, beyond fear, I was starting to feel something almost like awe.

“Go easy on her. It’s the first time Ryujin has been praised for being funny.”

The members, rather than stopping Seo Ryujin’s rampage, were watching her with warm expressions instead.

“That’s right! Ryujin is so happy. I’d feel too bad stopping her.”

“People are all saying they’re seeing Ryujin in a new light right now!”

“This is the first time I’ve seen Seo Ryujin be funny too, so imagine how it must be for other people.”

And that made sense, because after this hidden-camera prank self-content was uploaded, Seo Ryujin had been praised by people as funny for the first time.

[Why is Seo Ryujin so funny lololol]

「(A gif of Seo Ryujin praising Lee Sion with her face bright red)

I had no idea Seo Ryujin had this side to her」

⤷She always only showed that sharp, competent side, so she wasn’t fun, but it’s funny seeing her fall apart like this

⤷It’s so entertaining because someone who doesn’t seem like she would falls for everything Lee Sion does and does whatever she’s told

⤷Wasn’t it just scripted? There’s no way any agency would really carry out a hidden-camera prank like this

⤷This bastard didn’t watch the video. If that was acting, Seo Ryujin needs to quit being an idol right now and go to Hollywood

⤷For real, only people who watched it know. It was a new discovery of Seo Ryujin

⤷If she was this funny, why was she only telling no-fun jokes until now

Was it because Seo Ryujin, who normally played the leader role and showed an image on broadcasts and self-content where she did not easily let herself be ruined, had been ruined to the fullest?

Not only fans, but also the general public had reacted positively to seeing Seo Ryujin clumsily fall for the hidden-camera prank.

And the person in question was,

-I’m...funny?

After receiving praise from people as funny for the first time, she was not in her right mind.

I remembered how Seo Ryujin, who right after the video was uploaded had tried to kill me together with Raon, changed as if she had been possessed after seeing the comments people posted afterward.

-Sion, eat this.

-What are you doing! No matter how angry you are, you shouldn’t mess with food!

-I bought this myself to give to you.

-···What?

When she held out food to me, I thought she was finally trying to poison me, but Seo Ryujin, with a bright smile on her face, said it was warm pudding she had just bought and even tried to feed it to me herself.

After that, I had been tormented until now by the hidden-camera prank ghost who stuck close to me and asked to film another prank.

“Stop talking about hidden-camera pranks and hurry up, it’s boarding time now.”

Even now, from the moment we took departure photos at the airport, Seo Ryujin had been clinging tightly to me and whispering about hidden-camera pranks. At Raon’s words, she finally moved away with a disappointed look, and only then could I let out a sigh of relief.

“Sion, let’s talk about the rest on the plane.”

“Please!!! Stop!!!”

But as if announcing that it was not over yet, Seo Ryujin whispered as she passed by me.

***

“Shameless bastard. Clinging to Koreans and throwing his weight around. Isn’t he embarrassed?”

“Director, please calm down. There are many eyes on us right now.”

“Are you saying I have to watch that arrogant Haruto bastard’s mood and the Koreans’ too?”

“That is not what I···.”

“Tsk.”

Agaragi clicked his tongue as he looked at the subordinate who did not know what to do at his words.

'As if anyone can even hear what we’re saying anyway. So timid.'

The airport arrival hall was already filled with a sound so thunderous that their voices did not amount to even a handful, so his subordinate’s pointless worry seemed pathetic.

“Waaaah!!!”

“Iam!”

“Yuri! Look over here!”

The sound of cheers centered around young women.

There were men mixed in here and there too, but the ones now screaming loudly enough to make Agaragi want to cover his ears were women who looked to number easily in the hundreds.

“Everyone, thank you for coming to see Yuri!”

“Kyaaaak!!”

At the center of the women sending off enthusiastic cheers as if some pop star had arrived, seven girls walked in, leisurely waving and smiling.

-Go personally to greet Iam when they arrive in Japan today, Agaragi.

-Me, sir, instead of Division Head Haruto?

-It seems Haruto has a previously arranged meeting with broadcast officials, so he doesn’t have time. We need to show sincerity on our side as well, so it would be best if you went, Agaragi.

-···Understood.

Those girls were none other than the Korean girl group Iam, entering Japan for their Japanese activities.

'That Haruto bastard is lucky, that’s all!'

Unibex was currently facing a slump among its affiliated artists, and on top of that, even the K-POP idols that had once been practically their exclusive domain were being taken by competing agencies.

In that situation, when Haruto, Agaragi’s rival, crossed over to Korea again and succeeded in signing a contract with Iam, a girl group recently gaining popularity, the mood in the company began flowing strangely.

-They say the response to that group called Iam you brought in this time is good?

-They haven’t even started activities properly yet, but they’re already popular. If they promote properly, they’ll probably rise in no time.

-Division Head Haruto pulled it off again after all. Does this mean Division Head Haruto will be the next director promoted?

-All the artists Director Agaragi was pushing are in bad condition, so if Iam produces results this time, there’s a high chance he’ll be pushed out.

Currently, at Unibex, Haruto, the overseas business division head, and Agaragi, the artist business division head, were fiercely competing over the next director seat at Unibex.

Like every company, the number of positions available for promotion was fixed, and employees of the same rank had no choice but to fight over them.

Because of that, Haruto, who oversaw overseas business, and Agaragi, who supervised artists’ activities within Japan, were fighting over the one director promotion seat.

Until recently, after the split with SY, their recent partner company, Haruto’s overseas business had fallen into crisis, and Agaragi had been the leading candidate for promotion.

'It was right in front of me!'

But like a cockroach, Haruto tenaciously returned after somehow succeeding in signing another contract with a new Korean idol group.

If Iam, the group he had contracted this time, showed good results, there was a high chance Agaragi’s promotion would go up in smoke.

“You must have had a difficult journey, everyone from KJ Entertainment.”

“Thank you for coming all this way to greet us!”

“Not at all! The chairman instructed us to escort you politely all the way to the company. This way, please.”

That was why Iam was, to Agaragi, an object of resentment just as much as Haruto, but he pressed down those inner thoughts and greeted Iam’s producer Raon with a smile.

'Hmph. You Koreans. It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. Blame your own choice to join hands with Haruto.'

Since he had already prepared an elaborate scheme to ruin Iam’s Japanese activities, he was fully capable of wearing a mask beforehand if it meant making his enemies let their guard down.