Idol Hides His Military Service

"Don’t ever contact me again!"

Beep.

The call cut off along with an enraged voice.

Bang!

At the same time, Agaragi’s fist slammed down onto the desk with a thunderous sound.

"You stupid bastard! You couldn’t even handle one simple thing properly, and you made things turn out like this?!"

Agaragi was dumbfounded.

No matter how anyone looked at it, he was clearly the one who should be angry right now, yet Takashi, who had ruined the job, was instead shamelessly getting angry at him and hanging up after telling him never to contact him again.

-What? Takashi passed out after getting hit with a dropkick and an elbow drop? What on earth are you talking about?

-It seems there was a bit of an accident during the broadcast···.

Oshaberi, the talk show that was Iam’s official first Japanese activity.

It had been a miracle secured with enormous effort, as if to prove Unibex’s will to seize the initiative in Japan’s K-POP boom once again.

Iam’s appearance on Oshaberi had been so unprecedented that even inside the company, people were saying they were pushing too hard.

But if their image were damaged there instead of promoted, it was obvious that Iam’s future activities in Japan would be put on the brakes.

That was why Agaragi had thrown out a dangerous gamble, asking the hunting dog Takashi to attack Iam—a gamble that, if discovered, could not only cost him his promotion to director, but even get him kicked out of Unibex.

Since it was obvious Haruto would steal the momentum if he just sat still, it was a gamble he had no choice but to make after already committing to it.

But that entire gamble had turned into foam.

"He says he’s embarrassed he got beaten by female idols, so he’ll just let it pass as a variety-show bit!"

Takashi, who had been instigated by Agaragi, had said that at first, he had properly bitten into Iam according to plan.

Takashi had attacked Iam at such a high intensity that even Agaragi, who had only heard a rough account of the content, was shocked.

But what had been unexpected was the reaction from the Iam members who received that attack.

-Shine! Kuso jiji!

The moment Takashi’s attack ended, Kurosawa Yuri flew out with a dropkick and instantly laid Takashi out on the floor.

Clap.

And then, as if baton-touching, she slapped palms with Lee Sion, and this time Lee Sion—

-Do you know why ancient people had better manners than modern people?

-Kugh···what are you saying! Say it in Japanese!

-Because back then, if you weren’t polite, your head got smashed.

Bang!

No one in the studio could possibly have expected her to show off a decisive elbow drop on Takashi while he was lying on the ground.

Afterward, Takashi, who had briefly passed out, woke up and at first flew into a rage, screaming that it was an act of violence, but soon returned to the recording site without another word and had no choice but to quietly finish filming.

Would he become an ugly middle-aged man who said rude things to female idols, got beaten up, and passed out?

Or would he become a middle-aged man who had been doing prearranged variety from the start, but accidentally took the bit too hard and passed out?

Of the two choices, the latter was the only one Takashi could choose.

That was because even though he hated Iam for knocking him unconscious, if he truly took it all the way with a “you die, I die” attitude, Takashi had more to lose.

If the whole truth of this incident came out and interfered with Iam’s Japanese activities, it would be unfortunate for Iam, but they could simply go back to Korea and continue activities excluding Japan.

But in Takashi’s case, not only would the stubborn, venom-tongued commentator character he had built up until now disappear, in the worst case, the broadcasting stations might also judge him too dangerous because of the abusive remarks he had spat out this time and stop using him altogether.

Takashi had far too much to lose to self-destruct together with Iam.

Thanks to that,

"I heard the PD over there was happy, saying today’s Iam Oshaberi recording looked like it would turn out fun?"

"Even after causing an accident like that, there’s no issue at all. Groups that are meant to make it really are different somehow."

"It’s a good thing. Once Oshaberi airs and they start going around music broadcasts and fan sign events from now on, the response should really come up."

"At this rate, won’t they really hold a concert the next time they come?"

"Maybe. K-POP fans’ concert power is no joke either."

Inside Unibex, positive reactions about Iam’s future activities were coming out.

Even now, outside Agaragi’s office, he could hear employees excitedly chattering about Iam.

"Hoo···."

Agaragi wanted to open the office door right away and yell at the employees not to loaf around and to work.

However, with superhuman patience, he held that back, took a brief deep breath, and calmed himself down again.

'It would’ve been nice if this ended here, but in the end, do I have to use even the second method?'

The best-case scenario had been Iam’s image being ruined on Oshaberi so Unibex would no longer push Iam and Haruto.

But Agaragi already knew that not everything in the world flowed according to one’s wishes.

A seasoned hunter never set only one trap.

The first attempt had unfortunately failed, but Agaragi had long since laid out a second scheme as well, just in case.

'You say they’re blessed by heaven? Fine, then let’s see what they can do if it’s something luck alone can’t solve!'

Originally, this was where he should have backed down, but Agaragi could no longer stop.

***

"Good job."

"I always do well, so I don’t know what you’re praising."

"You little—when I’m actually praising you!"

"Ahem! Please lower your hand. There are many eyes watching right now. Do you want to be labeled with the image that Korean producers are violent?"

"···Lee Sion."

Raon felt her blood pressure spike when she saw Lee Sion’s brazen attitude and sly expression.

'I never thought the day would come when I understood what it meant for the back of your head to throb.'

While producing Iam, Raon had learned that when a person became truly furious, it was possible to feel the blood vessels toward the back of the head.

"Sion, that was a cool elbow drop."

"You had a good dropkick too, Yuri."

Whether they knew how Raon felt with the back of her head throbbing or not, Lee Sion and Kurosawa Yuri were praising each other for being cool.

"I think Yuri and Sion did well this time too!"

"Right. If we’d stayed still after hearing things like that, I would’ve been so mad I couldn’t sleep."

"But I didn’t expect Yuri to be the first one to jump out instead of Lee Sion."

Of course, it was not only the two of them. Even after causing a massive accident by knocking out a famous Japanese geinin, the Iam members were calmly chatting as if nothing had happened.

'I don’t know whether to call this boldness, or whether they’ve reached the level where they don’t even feel an accident is an accident anymore.'

When Raon heard about what had happened at the recording site from the local Japanese manager, she had nearly fainted at first.

-Un, unconscious?!

Takashi was a famous veteran Japanese geinin even Raon knew, so when she heard that Takashi had been knocked unconscious by a dropkick and an elbow drop, Raon had unconsciously searched for return flights to Korea.

Then, while she was wondering how she should kill Lee Sion, once she heard the full story of why it happened, Raon could only loosen the fist she had clenched.

'They’re still doing things like that?'

Because Raon had entered Japan fifteen years ago, before Iam, she knew better than anyone the contempt toward Korea that was deeply rooted in the Japanese entertainment industry.

After she later rose to the top, it had disappeared as if it had been a lie, but until then, Raon had suffered terribly because of discrimination carried out openly and subtly.

From sexual harassment to ridicule that was closer to mockery, all sorts of things casually happened there, far beyond what could be accepted as cultural difference. That was the Japanese entertainment industry.

Pat.

"You should’ve punched him in the jaw like you usually do."

Was that why?

As a producer, even if the other party had been in the wrong, she ought to have scolded Iam sharply for solving the problem through violence.

But she did not want to.

Instead, Raon patted Lee Sion’s back and told her she had done well.

'I couldn’t do that.'

The Iam members had actually shown what Raon had only imagined in her head but had never dared to do during her own activities, and she simply found them admirable.

"I wanted to, but Yuri flew out first, so there was no opening to punch him."

"Yuri, what got into you that you stepped forward first?"

When Raon tried to praise her like that, Lee Sion passed the credit to Yuri.

"Yuri could not tolerate injustice."

"Hm?"

Then Raon saw Yuri with her hands on her hips, nose raised high, showing off as she said she could not tolerate injustice.

'Suspicious.'

Raon did not dare say it out loud, but she knew very well that Yuri was not such a righteous character.

If Lee Sion was a beast like a tiger who pounced first as long as something looked fun, Kurosawa Yuri was the wolf type who quietly waited for the right moment while observing, then rushed in at the perfect timing.

Leaving the danger to Lee Sion and the other members while only taking the fruit for herself was, in a way, the clever side that represented Yuri.

So for Yuri to take the risk and throw a dropkick first was definitely suspicious.

"Why is everyone looking at Yuri like that!"

Apparently Raon was not the only one who felt that suspicion, because the Iam members also began looking at Yuri with narrowed eyes.

"The mystery has all been solved."

"What?"

And Lee Sion, who had been watching it, stepped forward in front of everyone while pushing up imaginary glasses with her middle finger, as if she had finally realized every secret.

"The reason Kurosawa Yuri threw a dropkick. It was probably because she didn’t like that old man trying to ruin her glorious return to her hometown!"

"Yuri, is that true?"

"There’s no way that’s true!"

"That’s right, Commander! Yuri was angry because he said things that insulted us."

At Lee Sion’s words, the waiting room stirred.

The members looked at Yuri as if there was no way that could have been the case, but—

"···Since we came to Japan, let’s have sushi for dinner, sushi."

Yuri was rambling while looking away with lost eyes.

But perhaps unable to withstand the members’ continuing sharp stares,

"Fine! Since he dared try to interfere with Yuri’s triumphant return home, I had no choice but to dispose of him!"

In the end, Yuri spilled her motive like the culprit in a detective manga.

"Sion, how did you notice that! Yuri was trying to image-make herself as an apostle of justice!"

"For Haan-dong Kindaichi, that much is child’s play."

Perhaps because she had exposed Yuri’s true feelings, Lee Sion’s shoulders rose as she swaggered proudly.

But,

"It’s obvious. Lee Sion and Yuri have the same thought structure, so she noticed."

"Was that it? Now that you mention it, what you two do is definitely similar!"

"Shinyu!"

"Shinyu!"

After Ryu Ayeon’s sharp analysis and Shinyu’s fact strike, the two reacted at the same time as if they shared one body and mind.

"Why are you upset, Sion? I’m the one taking the loss here!"

"Kieeek! I was born fair and square!"

"Then are you saying I’m cowardly? Die!"

"You little!"

After exchanging a war of words, Yuri immediately launched a dropkick, while Lee Sion tried to counter it with a clothesline.

Just as the two were about to begin wrestling in the waiting room—

"Have you all been resting well?"

"Division Head Haruto!"

The door to the waiting room opened, and Haruto appeared, instantly freezing Raon and the members.

"Hahaha, the Iam members are as lively as ever."

"I’m sorry! Our kids really caused trouble again···."

At Haruto’s words, Raon’s heart sank.

Even if it had ended well, Iam had caused a major accident on a program Unibex had carefully gotten them into.

'I have nothing to say no matter what he says.'

Even if the other side had provided the cause, it was no different from smearing mud on Unibex’s face after they had arranged a precious opportunity.

"It was excellent! You showed exactly the kind of appearance I expected from you all."

"Pardon?"

But unlike Raon’s expectation that bitter words would come out, Haruto instead praised Iam with a delighted expression.

'What is this?'

It was not the kind of praise with different meaning on the surface and underneath, like the so-called Kyoto way of speaking, but praise that seemed to come from the heart.

As if he truly had expected Iam to act this way, Haruto approached Lee Sion and Yuri with a bright smile and repeatedly praised them for doing well.

"What’s he saying?"

"He’s saying Yuri must have had a hard time because Sion was so pathetic."

"Fabrication is your daily life!"

Haruto looked warmly at Lee Sion and Yuri as they bickered without caring anymore whether an outsider was present or not, then soon turned back toward Raon.

"Starting tomorrow, for three days, fan sign events will be held while going around major bookstores in Japan’s Kanto region."

"Yes, we’ve already received the schedule."

"As you know, Producer Raon, unlike Korea, fan sign events in Japan are a little special, so I would appreciate it if you informed the members of the precautions once again."

"Yes, of course."

Japanese fan sign events.

The way they proceeded was not different from Korean fan sign events, but if there was one slightly unusual point, it was the venue and lottery method.

'Japan still has offline stronger than online.'

Unlike Korea, where fans who win through application tickets participate regardless of where they buy the album, in Japan, the major bookstores selling the albums select the winners themselves.

Because of that, fan sign events were often held in major bookstores rather than at separately rented venues.

For that reason, if they had to go around several major bookstores and hold fan signs at all of them, the schedule would be tight.

'Unibex’s power really is amazing.'

Since there were plenty of singers who wanted to do that but could not, they could not complain about the tight schedule.

"Once the fan sign schedule ends, music broadcasts and morning variety shows are planned, and while it won’t be quite a formal music video for the drama OST, I think we’ll need to film a light video for it."

"Understood. We’ll prepare according to the schedule."

Even in Korea they were rookies, but in Japan, Iam was no different from a group that had only just debuted.

This was the red carpet Unibex had laid out for them with everything it had.

'If it goes on like this, they really might be able to hold a small concert in Japan within this year.'

Normally, for a Korean idol group to hold a concert in Japan, they had to build recognition through activities for at least one year, or as long as three.

However, considering Unibex’s full support right now and Iam’s unexpectedly hot popularity, Raon had a feeling that timing might move up drastically.

"Lastly, there is a concert by one of our Unibex artists, and we would like the Iam members to perform there as supporting guests."

"Supporting guests? Which artist’s concert is it?"

After discussing Iam’s activities with Haruto for a while, Raon became puzzled when she heard a plan she had not been informed of in advance.

Performing as supporting guests at a concert was certainly good for promotion, but appearing at the concert of an artist they had no connection to could also make that artist’s fans dislike them.

"It’s a band under our Unibex called Tokyo Reverse. The company suddenly suggested it as a promotional activity, and since it does seem like the young demographic that likes bands and Iam’s fanbase will overlap, I think it’s a good opportunity."

After hearing Haruto’s explanation, Raon also accepted the supporting performance at the concert, thinking there was nothing bad about it.