The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol

Chapter 56



This chapter is generously sponsored by Jaynne.

If there had been subtitles, it would have been something like “Why is she coming out here…?”

Yu Jia, with an indifferent expression, recited the lines that she obviously received from the production crew and walked towards us with long strides. Her acting was truly outstanding.

“Um, that is…!”

“National hip-hop star, Yu Jia!”

“Long time no see, everyone.”

Not knowing what to say and not wanting to speak, I closed my mouth, but Joo Woosung glanced at Yu Jia and asked.

“Sunbae, what are you doing here?”

At that moment, the ceiling suddenly opened, and a tray fell on Joo Woosung.

Thud!

“Ahh!”

“…What, what’s going on?”

Joo Woosung looked up at the ceiling, groaning.

This wasn’t some kind of tray music room… At the same time, a screen came down in front of the blackboard, and huge captions appeared.

[Production Crew: Joo Woosung’s failure to immerse himself!]

“Over-immersion?”

“Why did I get hit…?”

As Joo Woosung mumbled dumbfoundedly, Yu Jia giggled and tapped her head.

“There are rules to follow in this ‘world’.”

Why did she say that?

Why did she emphasize certain keywords?

“If you fail to interpret your character or over-immerse yourself, a ‘punishment’ comes flying.”

So why…?

“Snicker.”

Yu Jia snickered. Even though it was a variety show, being able to immerse herself like that was truly the reason for her success.

[Production Crew: Over-immersion in character settings will raise your score!]

Ding!

[This must be crazy…]

Even the system window seemed bewildered.

I’ve never seen anything like this before. I quickly scanned the instructions on the screen and skimmed through my character settings.

“Seo Hoyun. One of the four heavenly kings. Cold-hearted and the brain of the group… Has a painful past.”

“Yeah. And I’m in the cool category.”

Yu Jia said it herself. Joo Woosung, forgetting to immerse himself, felt too embarrassed by my “brain” character and got hit by a tray for the second time.

“…You’re really amazing.”

“I don’t want to be bound by the standards you set.”

“…”

Don’t get caught up. I didn’t want to get hit by a tray falling from the ceiling like Joo Woosung.

Joo Woosung was visibly flustered by his role as a playboy with a light but painful past. It seemed to have struck a chord.

“Hoyun! Is it true that you caused a scandal last time?”

My partner, who had risen from the floor and sat back in his seat, blurted out.

A scandal…?

“…Which one?”

I couldn’t grasp it; there were too many. Yu Jia admired my sincere response.

“Seo Hoyun is really shameless. How can you accept that?”

“It seems like he’s really confused.”

Yu Jia and Joo Woosung whispered to each other and got hit by a tray.

[Production Crew: Yu Jia and Joo Woosung, both fail to immerse themselves!]

“…So, Hoyun! Even though life is tough, you know you’ll win first place in this exam, right?”

“Exam?”

My partner seemed to be slightly swayed by my shamelessness but professionally carried out the role assigned to him.

What’s this?

At that moment, our homeroom teacher entered as if he had been waiting.

“Alright, kids, let’s take a test! Put your books away.”

“A test?”

While Joo Woosung asked in surprise, I quickly racked my brain. There were new instructions on the screen.

[Seo Hoyun, if you get 1st place, we’ll give you extra immersion points! ^_^ But there’s a penalty if you fail!]

“Come on, pass the test sheets around!”

A penalty?

I took the test sheet with a bewildered feeling.

As I picked up the pencil and skimmed through the test sheet, I felt a slight dizziness. The test was a college entrance exam from the national test center.

It’s like they’re telling me to fail.

“Hmph.”

As I wondered what to do, Yu Jia suddenly stood up and flung the classroom door wide open.

The surprised teacher opened his eyes wide and shouted.

“Yu Jia! Where are you going?”

“This isn’t for someone like me, who can go anywhere with the wind and the sky.”

“Yu Jia! Hey!”

[Production Crew: Yu Jia’s “free spirit” immersion success!]

Wow.

She managed to slip out.

Yu Jia only said what she needed to and disappeared. Even the homeroom teacher didn’t stop her, so that must have been Yu Jia’s “immersion.”

Joo Woosung was lost in thought for a moment, resting his chin on his hand, and then he promptly folded the exam paper into a paper airplane and sent it flying towards the homeroom teacher.

“Joo Woosung! Are you taking this test as a joke?”

“Teacher.”

Woosung abruptly stood up from his chair.

Then, he took large strides with his long legs, approached the teacher, and locked eyes with him. The teacher, flustered, stepped back, but Woosung leaned in, supporting himself with one arm on the blackboard.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“Teacher, why do you always wear the same shirt?”

“Huh? No, that’s not true.”

The flustered teacher tried to explain that he just started wearing the shirt today, but Woosung covered the teacher’s mouth with his index finger and winked, raising the corner of his mouth.

“Cutie~.”

“…”

Seriously, these people…

By the way, the teacher was an ordinary middle-aged man who could be seen in any neighborhood. Chuckling at his own lame jokes, Woosung snickered, and the teacher regained his composure and scolded him.

“Hey, hey! Stop messing around and hurry…”

“It’s not a joke.”

Woosung interrupted, lowered his eyes slowly, and slightly raised the corner of his mouth as if he knew when he looked charming.

“When does today’s work end?”

“…”

[Production team: Joo Woosung successfully immerses himself in the “playboy” role!]

Really crazy… a ruthless bastard…

Not just anyone could become a top idol…

“Alright! Hoyun, I’m going first.”

As the teacher stood speechless with his mouth wide open, Woosung checked the screen, waved his hand, and left the classroom humming a tune.

The remaining actors in the classroom stared blankly at the spot where Woosung had left, their faces tired.

I was the only one left.

“Se-Seo Hoyun! What are you doing? Hurry up and solve the problems!”

“I don’t do such trivial things.”

“Stop wasting time and solve it quickly.”

“…”

Evidently, it’s better to get hit first, and it seemed right to take the challenge first. The impact had diminished after Yu Jia and Joo Woosung had their turns.

“Ugh…”

I sighed and picked up my pencil. I had no choice but to solve these test problems according to the concept of a genius.

I glanced through the questions.

So it’s a college entrance exam for English. Fortunately, I still remembered how to solve it to some extent. But…

I’m a bit worried.

Should I try my best? Or not?

If I establish an intellectual image here, how much attention will I attract in the future? Or, in the worst-case scenario, would it make things worse?

It’s good to attract attention, but how much buzz will it create?

…To not lose to those ruthless people, I have no choice.

After weighing various conditions, I nodded my head.

I twirled my pencil, wrote my name, and began to solve the problems one by one from question.

***

“Wow, this is really difficult.”

PD Choi looked at the submitted test papers with Yu Jia, who finished earlier. Seo Hoyun was talking to Joo Woosung after handing in the test paper.

PD Choi chuckled slyly.

“Right? It’s a college entrance exam from two years ago.”

“How can you expect us to solve this?”

“Ahaha, do you think I brought it for you to solve? I brought it for you to receive a penalty.”

“That’s too targeted at Seo Hoyun.”

“Seo Hoyun is a variety show rookie. He has to go through the initiation. How about this for a penalty: stick a fake mustache and write his name with his butt?”

“For an idol…?”

“How cute, right!”

Has he lost his touch?

PD Choi winked. Yu Jia glanced at Seo Hoyun.

She had felt it when she saw him in the Shining Star, but he was an unusual junior. He was unusually calm, and PD Kim Heeyeon treated him kindly as if he were a sore finger.

He has a strong mentality, he’s shameless, and he has good eyes. He seems to be quite good at acting too.

Yu Jia sipped her coffee and stealthily observed her junior. It didn’t matter if her junior ended up wearing a fake mustache or not, but she tried to gauge his potential.

It was subtly intriguing whether the thick-skinned Seo Hoyun had any plans to try acting in the future.

Should I ask him sometime, even though it’s none of my business?

“PD! PD Choi!”

“Oh, did the results come out?”

The staff member who had gone to grade the submitted test papers rushed back, panting. PD Choi was excited at the thought of discovering a talented rookie idol after a long time.

“How many points did Seo Hoyun get? If he guessed, did he get at least 30 points?”

“No, that’s… ”

“Why? Is it worse? If it’s too bad, we’ll just edit the score. Being ridiculed for being ignorant is the worst look for a celebrity.”

Then why on earth did you make him solve a college entrance exam English question…?

Although the staff member grumbled inwardly, that was not the important issue.

Yu Jia, who was next to them, absentmindedly drank her coffee and then spit it out when she heard the staff’s words.

“Seo Hoyun got 97 points! He got only one 3-point question wrong!”

“…What?”

“He’s in first place! Even among the extras, he’s first!”

PD Choi, who had been momentarily frozen like a buffering computer, quickly snatched the paper and checked the name neatly written in the top right corner.

[Seo Hoyun]

“…??”

As PD Choi was looking at the test paper with a disbelieving face, Seo Hoyun and Joo Woosung, who had been chatting in the corner, stealthily approached.

“Can I see it too?”

“…Se-Seo Hoyun.”

Even after seeing the written score of 97 points, he remained calm and, after briefly glancing at the back of the paper, just smiled awkwardly.

“Ah, I got this one wrong. That’s a shame.”

“….”

“It was difficult.”

At that moment, everyone at the shooting location had the same thought in their minds.

What the hell is this guy…?

***

“Seo Hoyun, shouldn’t you be going to college now instead of being an idol? How about studying?”

Joo Woosung seriously asked, annoyingly sulking, as I raised one eyebrow and met his gaze.

“It’s okay.”

I’ve already been there.

“What! What a waste of your brain.”

“I just guessed well.”

“Wow, even being so humble… it’s annoyingly cool….”

Did you know how hard it was to pass the PD recruitment exam…? I studied so hard that I thought my head was going to explode. It had been over ten years, so it made sense that I would have forgotten, but as I solved it, the memories came back.

It’s ridiculous to label oneself as a genius for answering one college entrance exam subject well, but when an unexpected person does it, it became a hot topic.

“Seo Hoyun, did you prepare for the college entrance exam by any chance?”

“Even you, sunbae, why are you doing this?”

Seeing even Yu Jia asking with a serious expression, it seemed that the story was too well-received. Joo Woosung kept nagging beside her.

“How high did you rank in your school when you were studying?”

“Stop asking, is it a holiday now?”

“Go to the Making People Speechless competition.”

Even though Yu Jia and Joo Woosung were making a fuss next to me, I only glanced at PD Choi.

It seemed like I secured airtime.

***

[Title: New Variety Show Over-Immersive Captain Clip “Can Go Anywhere with Wind and Thousand Dollars? ( ˘ ³˘)”]

Yu Jia: “This isn’t for someone like me, who can go anywhere with the wind and the sky.”

Seo Hoyun: (hollow laugh)

Joo Woosung: (shocked) (got hit by a tray again)

Who will be the most immersive?

└I divided it into three because of the adhesion (like 2195)

└└Real embarrassment, deep breathing while watching

└└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└└PD Choi seemed to have sharpened his knife after the last failure, this variety show is really innovative and funㅋㅋㅋ

└└It seems Joo Woosung carried the show just by being so cute…

└Yu Jiaㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋescaped the exam like a ghost with wind and a thousand dollarsㅋㅋㅋㅋI never saw her like that, but now she just became a friendly unnie image (like 313)

└Joo Woosung can’t immerse at all, I thought his laughter was too low, but he screamed when he made a good comment (like 1283)

└└Let’s start with our high laughter slowly]

[Title: Over-Immersive Captain Clip “I didn’t see Seo Hoyun like that, but he’s a scary person….”]

(Solving college entrance exam English with the Four Heavenly Kings)

PD Choi: “Hoyun, what should be your punishment?” ㅎㅎ (a moment later…)

PD Choi: “97 points…?”

Seo Hoyun: (glances) “That’s a shame.”

PD Choi: “???”

Seo Hoyun: “It was difficult” ㅎㅎ

Staff: “?????”

(※Attached is a photo of the test paper Seo Hoyun solved)

(※I swear there was no cheating/script/pre-mention, if not, I’ll submit my resignation)

└Seo Hoyun… I didn’t see him like that, but he’s a scary person

└Number one video not to show to parents (like 3041)

└└??: Celebrities can study like that while earning money! Huh?

└└Ah! That’s a script~

└Seo Hoyun, a man who has it all – looks, skills, and brains… But as the 24th descendant of Kim Gyeongju, I, Kim Je Eun, couldn’t have it (like 411)

└└Kim Je Eun, go wipe your feet and sleep

└I got mad at the video, so I sulked, fuck

└└I’m so envious, I hope it’s scripted]

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