I Became An Idol To Pay Off My Debt

Boo-woong!

After finishing a simple treatment at the hospital, I got into Sang-gu’s car, heading to the company.

Since I wasn’t going to school anyway, I could have just rested at home, but…

‘There’s no one at home anyway, so what…’

With no one around and nothing to do at home, I decided to head to the company.

I had tight bandages wrapped around my ankle to stabilize it.

I seriously doubted I’d be able to practice dancing like this, so while frowning at my ankle, Sang-gu, who was driving, spoke up first.

“…Ye-rin.”

“…Yes?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised.

Sang-gu, who usually kept to himself, hardly ever spoke first.

And today, his tone was…

“……I’m sorry.”

It was filled with regret.

“…It’s all because of me.”

“No, I really don’t think it’s your fault at all, Sang-gu.”

Honestly, I didn’t believe Sang-gu was responsible for the Namgung Soo-ho incident at all.

Even though he had urgent matters, he insisted on dropping me off right in front of my house.

I was the one who had coaxed him into stopping to let me off in the neighborhood.

However, seeing him frown slightly, he cautiously asked me,

“…I saw you flinch when the doctor wrapped the bandage around your foot earlier.”

“……”

“…Are you afraid of unfamiliar men now?”

Sure, when that guy grabbed my ankle to wrap the bandage… it did remind me of him approaching me and made me flinch a bit.

But…

“Not really… I think it was just a surprise since it’s been a while since anyone’s touched me like that.”

“……”

“It’s not serious, really. I mean it.”

Like Sang-gu worried, it wasn’t to the level of trauma or PTSD.

I’d be fine with time.

“So, Sang-gu, please don’t think weird things or be sorry. I’m always grateful to you for taking care of me.”

“…Right.”

Hearing that, Sang-gu’s eyes sparkled for a moment, as if he was moved.

Then, gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter, he said resolutely,

“I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again next time. If any bastard tries to approach you with ill intentions, be it a CEO, congressman, or even a president, I’ll take them down.”

Puhuhut.

Of course, he was joking, but the seriousness on Sang-gu’s face made me laugh genuinely for the first time in a while.

It was amusing and reassuring to see him so determined.

I wasn’t the only one who said they’d protect me.

Arriving at the company a bit earlier than usual, I found Ji-woo rushing in right away after hearing the news…

“Huuhhh… Ye-rin… Huhhhh… What kind of bullying would dare touch this tiny thing… Huhhh… Sure, I’m 10cm shorter, but anyway… Huuhhh… Ye-rin, I’ll protect you from now on… Huhhh… The moment I see that fan from hell, I’ll stab him with a real knife… Huuhhh…”

“…Ji-woo, just calm down for a second.”

With her tear-streaked face, she wouldn’t let me go.

“Huuhhhh… Ye-rin, what about your ankle? That bastard, that son of a gun, what the hell… just crash and die already. Huhhhh…”

“…It’s just a sprained ankle…”

“Ughhhh… Ye-rin… Huuhhhhhh…”

After what felt like a long hug of mutual consolation, Ji-woo began pulling various things from her backpack.

“Huuhhh… sniff sniff… Ye-rin, take this quickly…”

“…What is all this?”

“…As soon as I heard about you, I ran around buying things at dawn.”

They were all…

A three-section staff, self-defense spray, self-defense knife, whistle, etc… a variety of self-defense items.

“Huuhhh… Sigh… If I could, I’d want to get you a gun, but I couldn’t find one, so this is all I managed… Huuhhh, Ye-rin, you must carry all this when you go outside… Huuhhhh…”

“……”

“What am I, a weapon master? If I carry all this around, I might easily get misunderstood by the police.”

However, I couldn’t ignore Ji-woo’s heartfelt gesture in preparing all this, and refusing would likely make her cry even more, so I nodded.

“…Thank you, Ji-woo. I’ll use them well.”

There were actually quite a few I could use, so I grabbed a few to try out.

Swish.

Especially the three-section staff.

“Oh.”

It was compact and portable, yet opened smoothly, making me feel like I could take down ten guys like Namgung Soo-ho with this.

‘This seems like quite a high-quality item…’

Even though it was a bit exaggerated, I could feel Ji-woo’s concern and love for me, so I hugged her once more.

“Thank you, Ji-woo.”

“Huuhhhhhh! A sweet girl like you! Huuhhhh!”

After that, Ji-woo’s overprotectiveness began.

“Ye-rin… I brought you an ice pack. I’ll be sticking with you 24/7 to ice your ankle, so just relax…”

“Ye-rin… Aren’t you bored? Want to watch a movie with me? What genre do you like? Just stay put. I’ll pick some movies that suit your taste…”

“Where are you going, Ye-rin! What? The bathroom? If that’s the case, tell me earlier! I’ll carry you! I’ll safely take you to the bathroom! What? You’re fine? What’s fine…! Huuhhhh… Your ankle is in terrible shape, how can you be fine…!”

From there, Ji-woo treated me like a fragile glass piece and didn’t hesitate to play the servant.

If I rejected her, she’d burst into tears, so I had to accept her pampering like a princess.

Even…

“Ye-rin, are you hungry? You should eat something sweet when you don’t feel good; should I order something?”

“…No, I’m full. I just ate…”

“Huuhhh…”

“…Alright, Ji-woo. Let’s order.”

“Huuhhh… I’ll order donuts and cake, so you have to eat without worrying about calories today…”

Insisting I needed sweets to feel better, she ordered me all sorts of sweet treats.

“Ji-woo, isn’t this too much?”

“Huuhhh… You would’ve eaten this much back in the day, right…?”

“……”

At least I was more of an average 19-year-old teenager when it came to eating, and since I liked sweets, I managed to eat the donuts and cake Ji-woo ordered without much issue.

But that’s where the problem started.

“……”

Seeing me handle sweets so well, it seemed to click in Sang-gu’s mind, and he quietly went outside…

“…Ye-rin, here are some rice flour donuts and twisted pastries…”

“……How many are these?”

“…About 100,000 won worth.”

“……”

“…Eat a lot.”

He brought back an insane amount of rice flour donuts and twisted pastries.

There were so many that I thought he’d stolen the whole cart from the donut vendor.

If it had ended there, maybe they just cared for me, but the Brotherhood Planning team didn’t understand moderation.

“Ye-rin-!!”

“Ah… guys.”

I didn’t know all their names, but I recognized the faces of Kang Hyung-man’s crew, who often greeted me.

My situation must have spread through the Brotherhood Planning, because one by one, they started to pop into the monitoring room to check on me.

And…

“…What is all this?”

“I bought some snacks on the way.”

“I heard girls like this kind of stuff these days?”

No one came empty-handed.

Macarons, cookies, churros, potato chips, etc…

Thanks to them, the monitoring room, which already had snacks piling up, began to resemble a snack avalanche.

‘Even if Big X or Jamman X came, they couldn’t finish this…’

Just when I wondered if people in this line of work always had such big hands, Kang Hyung-man returned after dashing out.

“Ah, President.”

He had been out since morning due to various work duties. I thought he’d come back empty-handed and not add any more snacks to the snack mountain, but…

“Welcome back… oh?”

Druhrk.

Behind Kang Hyung-man was a man wearing a cake hat, dragging in a three-tier strawberry cake that looked like it belonged at a wedding.

“……”

“……”

As everyone stared blankly at the ultimate dessert, Kang Hyung-man spoke awkwardly.

“I was having a meeting at the hotel, and Ji-woo asked me to bring back something sweet, so…”

“……”

In the midst of everyone’s stunned silence, Ji-woo was the first to break the mood with her outburst.

“President!! Are you kidding right now?!”

“No, you asked for the most expensive one. So…”

“That’s not it! I told you the mango bingsu is famous! Where’s the mango bingsu?!”

“…It’s really popular, and you have to wait an hour to get it.”

“Huuhhh… Ye-rin, look how uncaring the president is… He couldn’t even wait an hour for you… Huuhhh…”

“…I’ll go get it.”

“Wait a moment…!”

It seemed he genuinely intended to go back, and I frantically grabbed his sleeve.

“It’s okay, President. Really, it’s enough.”

“But the mango bingsu…”

“No, I swear it’s fine. And…”

Could anyone looking at this scene even believe this was a gang company?

The Brotherhood Planning office, usually filled with men in black suits exuding testosterone, had turned into a dessert buffet that day.

I felt like the piled-up snacks were all expressing worry and affection for me…

“Thank you…”

“……”

“Really, I can’t thank you all enough…”

I was tremendously grateful to everyone who took the time to comfort me.

And this turned what had been a nightmare of a day into a nice memory.

That day, I spent time in the Brotherhood Planning office, munching on snacks and lounging around.

The reason I stayed at the Brotherhood Planning office, unable to practice due to my injured ankle, was because…

“It’s almost 10 o’clock.”

Today was the day Na Ah Ah was airing on Fridays.

Na Ah Ah was just two competitions away from ending.

Every little detail would significantly influence the final voting results, so I was on edge, eager to see how the production team would edit this time.

And then…

“…Huh?”

“…Wow.”

Ji-woo and I gasped the moment we saw the opening scene of Na Ah Ah.

It was no wonder…

[We sincerely apologize to the contestants and viewers hurt by the excessive editing of the production team in Episode 5 of My Idol Academia.]

The once proud and arrogant Na Ah Ah production team, acknowledging their mistakes and bowing deeply as the broadcast began.

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