I Became An Idol To Pay Off My Debt

[This week’s Music Boom Boom No. 1 is none other than Rookies’ [Eternal Rookies]! Congratulations!]

“Woooooah!!!”

This time, Rookies’ activities were not digital singles like last time, but album promotions.

Thanks to that, with overwhelming music show sales, we quickly achieved the No. 1 spot without any issues.

Because there wasn’t a group that could stop Rookies from claiming the No. 1, the activities went very smoothly.

And the reason there was no group to compete with Rookies was…

[YW Planning Drug Scandal? Related investigations on affiliated entertainers reported…]

[Black Night’s comeback cancellation reason: related to drug incident?]

[YW Planning “…we have no comment yet.”]

It was also because of the drug scandal.

This time, due to the drug scandal that hit YW, Black Night, which was considered Rookies’ biggest nemesis, canceled its comeback.

“……”

After finishing the music show schedule and heading back to the dormitory, I searched for YW Planning’s drug-related articles on my phone.

While I was gravely reading the news article…

“Uh… you’re looking at that too, noona. YW really blew up this time, right?”

Seo Yoo-jin chimed in while peering at my phone screen.

Once Seo Yoo-jin threw the ball, the other members sitting in front also responded.

“I heard this drug incident is about Black Night from YW…”

Na Han-na said, nodding, and Yoo Seol replied.

“My friend is a dancer for YW and said the one who got caught is Si-woo from Black Night?”

“…What?!”

As soon as Yoo Seol mentioned the name Si-woo, the members jolted.

And for good reason…

Recently, Si-woo had openly shown interest in me and had ranked as Rookies’ top rival.

“That crazy bastard! I knew it!”

Among the bewildered members, Park Yoo-jung was the first to snap back to reality and shouted as if it was refreshing.

“Now that I think about it, his eyes were weird! The way he kept bothering Ye-rin felt pervy!”

To Park Yoo-jung’s words, the other members nodded and shouted.

“Exactly! I felt something off about him from the start!”

“Being in the same profession as that guy is embarrassing.”

“Ugh, let’s just ignore him since we’re not involved with that creep. Don’t even mention his name!”

With Seo Yoo-jin’s proposal, we decided to stop talking about Si-woo.

I felt the same.

‘That crazy bastard better get what he deserves.’

Si-woo.

The one who tormented Seo Yoo-jin in the past, leading Rookies to an early disbandment.

That crazy bastard’s attention had shifted to me this life, but with the help of Brotherhood Planning’s family, I was able to shake him off.

Right now, Si-woo’s predicament due to the drug incident was likely thanks to the people from Brotherhood Planning.

‘Brotherhood Planning…’

A place that saved me when I was living in a pitiful existence.

After a year of activities with Rookies, the memories of Brotherhood Planning had faded a bit…

‘President Kang, Older Brother Sang-gu, Teacher Ji-woo, and the other uncle brothers… I miss them all.’

Still, in the center of my heart, a strong nostalgia remained for them.

Just as much as I like the Rookies members, I like the people from Brotherhood Planning.

In fact, Na Ah Ah and Rookies were only stepping stones to become idols of Brotherhood Planning, and now the time to be with them was approaching.

Of course, before that…

[Rookies’ concert [First and Last Rookies] sold out all 30,000 seats!]

[Website system error caused many inconveniences…]

As a member of Rookies, I was determined to do my best for our final memories together.

Meanwhile, in an apartment in Gangnam.

[Seven missed calls from the CEO.]

“Fck…, fck…!”

A man tossed and turned on his bed, plagued by a relentless headache.

It was Shin Si-woo.

“F*ck…!”

Days after Si-woo passed out after meeting Ha Ye-rin at the broadcasting station, the results of his drug test showed up at YW Planning.

From then on, drug rumors began to circulate in the entertainment industry, and the police started targeting YW, perhaps after receiving information from that thug.

It was only natural that Si-woo’s position within YW began to shrink.

His actions had poured cold water on YW’s rising success, and his colleagues didn’t view him favorably.

Even the connections he boasted couldn’t come to his rescue.

The board members of YW scolded him, and in the worst case, there were discussions about terminating his contract and letting him go.

What tormented him the most was the feeling of anxiety.

There was still a situation where the police and media did not know exactly who had done drugs outside of YW.

The moment his name spread, everything he had achieved would vanish into dust.

The terrifying fear that everything he had could disappear in an instant. Along with that was the hope that perhaps this incident could blow over since his name hadn’t been revealed yet.

That was what drove Shin Si-woo insane.

At the same time, drug brokers, sensing the situation, stopped supplying cigarettes due to their information potentially leaking…

“F*ck….”

As withdrawal symptoms combined, his life became increasingly desolate.

It was truly hellish days.

How did everything turn out like this?

Amidst his spinning thoughts, Shin Si-woo reflected on his past actions.

And then…

“…I did nothing wrong.”

Eventually, he came to a conclusion.

The conclusion that he did nothing wrong.

What is the reason Shin Si-woo ended up like this?

…It was because of his love for Ha Ye-rin.

Love isn’t a crime, right?

Falling in love at first sight is not a mistake, right?

…Isn’t doing everything possible to win love not a crime?

That’s right.

He had only done his best for his love.

He simply left no methods untried to confess his feelings for the girl he liked.

And it was Ha Ye-rin who trampled on him, his love, and his innocence.

“You bad girl…”

Looking back, Ha Ye-rin had always been like that.

In what seemed to be a fateful encounter, she quickly found someone new, looking happy, and then stared at him with disdain as if he was lower than a bug…

After that, she couldn’t help but despise him, completely ignoring him, treating him as if he was not even human…

“I did my best, but why aren’t you…”

Shin Si-woo glared at the photo card in his hand as if he wanted to kill it.

Black-haired Ha Ye-rin and blonde Ha Ye-rin.

Ha Ye-rin from the time of Na Ah Ah, and Ha Ye-rin in different outfits for each season.

All her faces were lovely but equally filled him with hatred.

He hated the one who ruined his life.

The love he had for her was accompanied by unbearable killing intent.

If he couldn’t have her, then rather…

“…I want to just kill her.”

After all, his life was already ruined.

If he killed Ha Ye-rin and died himself, wouldn’t they be together forever?

“…Yeah, let’s kill her.”

From then on, Shin Si-woo began to think like a madman, or rather like someone possessed, about how to kill Ha Ye-rin.

Before, his mind had been too chaotic, but once he settled on one goal, his thoughts began to clear up rapidly.

“…First, it’s too risky for me to go directly.”

He was far too famous, and hadn’t he seen how the Rookies members and the NAS staff were on guard against him last time?

It was dangerous for him to go in person.

Then, he had to find an agent to go in his stead…

But finding someone to do that would not be easy.

Shin Si-woo pondered while surfing the internet.

And then…

[Yee-rin Su-ho]

“……”

He discovered a name obsessively clinging to Ha Ye-rin across various net forums and communities.

Time went on and it was the day of the Rookies’ concert.

In the meantime, Rookies had achieved all-kills on music shows and music streaming sites, and had appeared on major terrestrial and cable entertainment programs, raising their stock price.

It had gotten to the point where NAS Entertainment was seriously considering extending Rookies’ contract…

[Rookies will disband after this concert, NAS Entertainment states “an unavoidable choice…”]

Due to the differences in position between each member’s original companies, which could not be easily bridged, NAS announced that Rookies would disband as planned after this concert.

Now truly…, there was not much time left for Rookies activities.

As I lay on the couch of the waiting room, lost in deep thought while staring at the ceiling, Seo Yoo-jin entered with an excited voice.

“Noonas! A ton of our fans are outside!”

“What?”

The first to react to Seo Yoo-jin’s words was Yoo Seol.

“Yoo-jin, you… didn’t the manager tell you not to show yourself to the fans?”

“Don’t worry, I sneaked out, so no one saw me! But there are really so many fans outside, just like a cloud!”

Even though the concert was still seven hours away…

We hadn’t even done the rehearsal yet.

But there were already so many people gathered?

‘I’m curious…’

The other members seemed to think the same as I did, their eyes sparkling.

And noticing our reactions, Seo Yoo-jin grinned mischievously.

“You’re all curious, right? Let’s go take a peek!”

With a playful smile, she led us out, pretending we were going to the restroom.

We followed Seo Yoo-jin as we peeked our heads outside the dome.

What we saw was….

“Wow…”

Indeed, just as Seo Yoo-jin said, there were fans gathered like clouds.

People were gathering for Rookies’ first and last concert.

‘For us…’

After seeing the massive crowd, I started to truly realize what it meant to hold a concert.

I felt something welling up in my chest, and I remained dazed for a while.

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