The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 145

The KBC Music Festival was prepared in quite a different atmosphere from KIMA.

After all, the latter was hosted by KNet, which is also called CENTIX’s home base, and since it was conducted overseas, overseas fans’ attention held relatively more sway than domestic fans.

The former is a year-end festival of Korea’s representative public broadcasting station and boasts overwhelming domestic fan attendance rates and attention.

Being aware of how much the burden increases when the term ‘public broadcasting’ comes up, we steeled ourselves with even more solemn resolve and concretized Yu Ha-woon’s ‘differentiation’ idea.

As many MILLENNIUM seemed to have already noticed.

The most effective method for showing a differentiated image at year-end award ceremonies was the idea of ‘making every stage different.’

Preparing different partner songs for the title track 〈Chronic〉 each time.

Arranging the songs’ atmosphere differently from the original versions.

As the finishing touch, we ground our teeth and practiced part changes, individual member solo dances, and utilizing backup dancers to maximize the enjoyment of watching and listening.

Wasn’t it tough, you ask?

Is that even a question?

Even if the company handled arrangement-related work, the overall composition of the stage spawned from our minds.

By repeating those complex stage movements and entrance timings hundreds of times, satisfactory harmony was created.

Fortunately, the fan reactions from the current KIMA to the KBC Music Festival were better than expected.

So perhaps because of the timing, we had been thinking of holding a small party on Christmas to finish the remaining 2 year-end stages safely.

“Guys, how about we do gift exchanges on Christmas? Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Gift exchanges?”

“You know, when you look at people’s SNS posts, at year-end parties friends deliberately give each other useless gifts. I think it would be hilarious if we tried it once too.”

Kang Seon-woo’s opinion that came up a few days before Christmas passed by unanimous vote for some unknown reason, and a Christmas gift exchange ceremony ended up being held.

So currently our dorm was filled with gentle carols playing through the Bluetooth speaker and the greasy food smell that our manager brought after allowing us a cheat day for one day.

……Along with a bit of alcohol, of course.

“Ah, drink up, drink up!”

“Brother Si-hwan. Is Brother Seon-woo weak with alcohol?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never drunk with him before.”

“No matter how I look at it, I get a bad feeling about this.”

Next to me, Chae Ha-ru, who had already cleared an entire chicken by himself, looked at the grinning Kang Seon-woo with anxious eyes.

Something about managing his blood alcohol concentration to minimum levels for a day like today.

Quietly drinking water and thinking about it, I really hadn’t drunk alcohol since reincarnating.

‘Before appearing on 〈ISL 2〉, I was busy memorizing songs and dances for a month. Obviously couldn’t drink alcohol on set. Even after debut was confirmed, I never thought about drinking because of condition management.’

The excuse of it being for my body also played a part in my current alcohol-free performance.

But honestly…… it’s been so long since I consumed alcohol from the real world that I don’t know what kind of drunk behavior I might display.

I don’t think I was that good at drinking in my previous life either.

Kang Seon-woo must have also been steadfastly enduring for his own management, but today seemed like he wanted to unseal himself.

“But wait, thinking about it, this is strange, right? Why am I the only one drinking? Ryu Si-hwan, aren’t you drinking?”

“If I drink, I’ll gain weight.”

“Don’t you know the saying that if you eat deliciously, it’s 0 calories? Don’t you know?”

“I don’t think alcohol would taste particularly good.”

Blocked by my firm defense, Kang Seon-woo immediately changed targets.

“Hwi and Si-hyeok aren’t drinking either? On a day like today when this blessed medicine is allowed, you’re not drinking?”

“I, I get flushed really quickly even with just a little alcohol. So I almost never drink.”

“To be honest, I prefer soju over beer. You only bought beer today, right? So you can drink it all by yourself. I’m fine.”

One is alcohol trash and one is a soju person.

Now that drinking companions for beer had all run out, Kang Seon-woo looked at Chae Ha-ru with hollow eyes.

“……Our Ha-ru needs to become an adult quickly.”

“Just wait one week, brother. Let’s have a beer together.”

“As expected! The only one who thinks of me is Ha-ru!”

It was a moment when I had a premonition that the things I’d need to clean up would double once the new year dawned.

I got to the main point before Kang Seon-woo could pull Chae Ha-ru’s cheeks any more.

“So, you said let’s exchange gifts. When are we doing that?”

“Oh, right! We gathered to exchange gifts! I completely forgot!”

“……Ha-woon.”

“Yes?”

I gave a short order to Yu Ha-woon, who was frantically inhaling pizza even in this noisy situation.

“Right now, move all the beer next to Kang Seon-woo outside the room.”

“Ah, no way, boss! Why are you doing this, I’m not drunk—.”

“Quickly.”

“Yes!”

I wanted to store them all back in the refrigerator without leaving any, but it seemed too heartless, so I let him keep one can.

After various twists and turns, we were able to return to the original purpose of the Christmas party.

“Now, as I said earlier, today is a day for exchanging ‘useless’ gifts! I’ll be watching how creative you all are!”

“But honestly, I don’t really know the standard for useless.”

“Me neither.”

“Even though it’s Christmas, I thought some practical gifts would be fine……”

“……Don’t tell me I’m the only one who prepared something really weird?”

Kang Seon-woo scanned us all with ruined eyes.

His severely trembling pupils looked so pitiful that I felt like patting his back.

Still, Yu Ha-woon, faithfully fulfilling the youngest’s role, tapped the table while brightly encouraging him.

“Hey, Brother! Nobody knows what others prepared! Let’s just try exchanging once and see how it goes! It’s fine, it’s fine!”

“Ha-woon, you little……”

“Yes?”

“Earlier you listened to Ryu Si-hwan and completely took away my beer, and now you’re giving me medicine after poison!”

“Don’t blame me, blame Brother Si-hwan who gave the orders! I did nothing wrong!”

Before this could devolve into more chaos, I hurriedly brought out the pre-wrapped gifts.

When I placed the various sized gift boxes in order, Cerberus, who had been lying down comfortably chewing a dog treat, walked over flaunting his short legs.

{Master, want to trust my instincts for once after a long time?}

‘Suddenly?’

{I was listening earlier, and except for that silver hairtail guy, it sounds like there are some pretty decent gifts. How about it, isn’t picking gifts trusting my nose kind of appealing?}

I thought about it for a moment.

If nothing else, luck-related fields are still not my specialty. This has been verified by countless trials of fortune and probabilistic roulettes. Thanks to KNet.

And providing content to Cerberus, who must have been bored, didn’t seem like a bad idea either.

“I’ll decide by having Cer choose.”

“Oh, that’s pretty novel.”

“Shouldn’t you win rock-paper-scissors first before saying that, Ryu Si-hwan? If you get last place, there might not be any gifts left for Cer to choose.”

As a result of playing rock-paper-scissors for gift selection order, I came in second place after Ma Si-hyeok.

Meanwhile, Kang Seon-woo, who lost to Seong-hwi until the very end, poured down the remaining beer while lamenting.

“Ah, why did I bring up the last place thing to Ryu Si-hwan?”

“Brother, words become seeds, you know.”

“They say people who are unlucky break their noses even when falling backwards.”

“When Ha-ru says such proverbs, I feel so pathetic about myself.”

First up, Ma Si-hyeok chose the largest gift after much deliberation.

I held Cerberus in my arms and looked around at all the gifts.

‘Can you tell by smell?’

{Of course! I’ll sniff each one slowly, so wait a bit.}

‘……I feel a bit guilty like I’m cheating by myself.’

Then Cerberus’s tone became very playful.

{Come to think of it, Master.}

‘Hm?’

{Am I on your side, or on the other humans’ side?}

‘Hey. Don’t tell me you—.’

{Isn’t it most fun when you get hit by the axe you trusted!}

I was too flustered to make a proper retort.

Meanwhile, Cerberus tapped the gift in the middle with his short Yorkshire Terrier legs.

“Oh, Cer’s decision complete!”

“But I wrapped all the gifts in the same wrapping paper so you wouldn’t know which one I bought. This was Brother Seon-woo’s doing, right?”

“No, when I told the manager we were doing gift exchanges, he prepared it like this.”

Looking at it, our manager was more passionate about this kind of thing than us.

I was grateful for such dedication, but I also worried he might collapse from overwork someday.

Everyone finished randomly selecting gifts and now only the moment of truth remained.

I looked at Cerberus giggling in my arms with disapproving eyes.

‘If something really weird comes out, I’m not giving you treats tomorrow.’

{Hmph, even if Master doesn’t give me treats, the other humans give them to me anyway, so it doesn’t matter!}

‘……Tomorrow I’m making sure you can’t leave the practice room.’

{That’s too mean! You haven’t even checked what’s inside yet!}

Ma Si-hyeok opened his gift first.

The identity was a red scarf.

Yu Ha-woon, the gift provider, sent satisfied applause.

“Still, since it’s Christmas, something too useless wouldn’t be good!”

“I didn’t have a scarf, so this worked out well. Ha-woon, thank you.”

“You’re welcome!”

And one person who couldn’t enjoy this harmonious atmosphere alone tapped his empty beer can with his finger while grumbling.

“You guys didn’t secretly conspire without me, did you? You didn’t all agree to buy practical gifts except for me, did you?”

“No way, Brother!”

“Come on, let’s quickly open Brother Si-hwan’s gift.”

With Seong-hwi’s quick progression, the gift Cerberus chose was also revealed.

I was worried something really weird would pop out.

“Oh, it’s my gift.”

The extra-large dog food that Chae Ha-ru prepared appeared, which was quite worthwhile.

“Ha-ru picked something relatively useless. If someone who doesn’t have a pet got it, it would be completely useless.”

“Come to think of it, didn’t Cer choose this knowing there was food inside?”

“Huh?”

“Right……”

At Kang Seon-woo’s words, everyone’s attention focused on Cerberus.

Cerberus, who had been enjoying this one-sided attention lately, puffed out his chest proudly.

“Isn’t Cer a genius dog?”

“At this level, shouldn’t he appear on TV Animal House?”

“Can smell through wrapping paper? Even the food isn’t opened, it’s sealed. Cer really seems more developed in terms of smell than other dogs.”

“Call the planning director right now! Tell them our animal variety show appearance is totally possible!”

Everyone’s energy went crazy in an instant.

I dragged the food bag to the kitchen with both hands while chuckling.

‘You knew there was food in there from the beginning and threatened me.’

{Ahem! Of course! No matter how much I want to see Master floundering, I wouldn’t pick the worst option on purpose!}

‘Yeah, fortunately. I’ll give you treats tomorrow, buddy.’

{Yay!}

Next, Yu Ha-woon got my fountain pen.

And when Chae Ha-ru won Seong-hwi’s hamster body pillow, Kang Seon-woo’s expression became visibly worse.

“Wait, at this rate Brother Seon-woo might get his own gift?”

“Is it even possible to win your own gift?”

“It’s luck, you know. If Hwi and Si-hyeok pick gifts, that’s automatically what happens.”

“No, this would make me look like a real weirdo, you guys? Guys! It was supposed to be a useless gift, the theme! Huh? Was I the only one who was serious?”

Mutters with the nuance of “Still, since it’s Christmas……” quietly echoed through the living room.

Seeing the devastated Kang Seon-woo made everyone burst into laughter.

And as expected, the variety god in the sky consistently pushes their favorite.

“Ah, this is how Hwi takes Brother Si-hyeok’s gift and it becomes dramatic!”

“Ahaha, nice. Si-hyeok, I’ll use the muffler well.”

“Si-hyeok and Hwi both won scarves and mufflers.”

At my quiet observation, the two roommates immediately checked the gifts in their hands.

“It really is fate. Right?”

“……I can’t deny this one.”

“Ahaha! Hey, let’s take some photos wearing these.”

And on the other side, CENTIX’s behind-the-scenes power Yu Ha-woon was innocently opening Kang Seon-woo’s gift.

The beautifully fluttering wrapping paper and Kang Seon-woo kneeling in despair reminded me of the ending scene of a comedy program.

“What on earth did this guy order to act like this since earlier— Oh, ahaha! Really, brother? You bought this?”

“What is it.”

“What, what.”

At Yu Ha-woon’s laughter, the remaining members crowded together.

The identity of the gift revealed in the box was……

A drinking helmet commonly seen on variety programs.

‘It really is useless.’

While I was making dry observations internally, the quick-acting Seong-hwi disappeared somewhere rapidly.

Soon he came back with both hands full of drink cans.

“This worked out well, Brother. You can wear that hat and drink beer all day today.”

He kindly inserted beer and cola into the drink holders attached to the helmet while flashing a bright smile.

Having accepted his fate, Kang Seon-woo opened his eyes wistfully while bringing the straw to his mouth.

“Yeah, since it’s come to this, let’s just drink big and die.”

“Ah, wait. Stay just like that.”

And I couldn’t let this precious scene just pass by.

I took out my phone and seriously aligned Kang Seon-woo’s face in the grid, and the younger members on both sides also went into photo mode all at once.

“This is definitely worth saving.”

“Brother Seon-woo, stay just like that!”

“This guy’s face is really amazing. He definitely looked handsome in the music show thumbnails, but sitting like this, he’s exactly like a comedian.”

“……I’m filming a video right now.”

“Ma Si-hyeok, you’re the worst!”

And so, as everyone expected, CENTIX’s first Christmas passed chaotically.

Time flew by quickly and the new year arrived.