Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 82

StormStudent

 

“Hey. I saw Unha hyung today.”

 

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? Stop saying weird stuff and just close the door and get out. Mom! Oppa is–!!”

 

“No! No! No! Lee Unha. Lee Unha from Idol Classism. I’m telling you, I really saw Unha hyung!”

 

“Stop talking nonsense and get lost. Seriously… Mom! Oppa is bothering me again!”

 

“I got his autograph and took a photo with him! I’m serious! Look at this.”

 

“What? Is this real?”

 

“I told you it was real.”

 

“What the. It really is him? Huh? It’s… it’s actually him? Where… where did you see him?”

 

“Just like it says there, on the subway. He was sitting by himself. Anyone could tell it was Unha hyung, so I talked to him for a second. And then he told us to follow him. So my friends and I all took photos with him and got autographs.”

 

“It… it was actually real? Why—why would he do that for someone like you… wait, more importantly, you saw Lee Unha on the subway?”

 

“Yeah! Well….”

 

“Wait? That shouldn’t be possible. Aren’t they supposed to be in the dorms? Did Unha get eliminated or something?”

 

“No. I checked everything… it looks like the other trainees went home too.I don’t really know what’s going on, but he definitely wasn’t eliminated.”

 

“Ah….”

 

“Anyway, the important thing is that I met Unha hyung. Everyone else there got autographs and photos too. Later on, so many people swarmed him that he had to leave… didn’t you already know? I figured there would’ve been posts from people who saw him. Oh! Come to think of it, I heard some guy named Baek Suhyeon was with him too… Apparently they ran off together.”

 

“Ahhh. Since when did you start looking all that stuff up? Anyway, where’s the autograph? You got it for me, right?”

 

“Nope. I’m keeping it.”

 

“What do you even need it for?”

 

“I decided to become an Unha hyung fan starting today.”

 

“What are you talking about? And why do you keep calling him ‘Unha hyung’ like you’ve known him forever?”

 

“Unha hyung personally told me to call him ‘Unha hyung’. He also asked me to take care of him and support him.”

 

‘Is this guy… has he lost his mind?’

 

I couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

 

‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’

 

Watching my twin brother’s face flush with excitement as he bragged about meeting Lee Unha made me wonder if he was actually the sibling I knew.

 

‘Suddenly calling him ‘Unha hyung’ and being all gross… you didn’t even care about idols before.’

 

Literally, my twin brother was the stereotypical middle school boy. A muggle who didn’t care about boy groups, let alone girl groups. He was just an ordinary middle schooler who liked hanging out with friends, joking around, and was only interested in games, soccer, and playing.

 

But then….

 

‘Why Lee Unha all of a sudden?’

 

Of course, it wasn’t strange that he knew who Lee Unha was. Whenever I turned on the live broadcast or a rerun, he’d wander over and claim a spot on the sofa next to me. Crucially, the fact that Lee Unha’s self-introduction rank evaluation had become a meme probably helped.

 

You couldn’t scroll through NewTube Shorts for more than a few seconds without seeing Lee Unha’s Charming Charming, so the impact was undeniable. As I said, it wasn’t weird that he knew him, but….

 

‘Why… why is he this obsessed?’

 

The fact that he’d suddenly transformed into someone who looked ready to devote his life to him was another matter entirely.

 

“…….”

 

‘Was the fan service that good?’

 

“…….”

 

‘Or is he just excited because it’s the first time he’s met a celebrity?’

 

If that was the case, he’d probably lose interest soon enough. There was no way he was sincere. He’d probably just have a bit of interest like usual and then cool off quickly.

 

“Whatever, it’ll only last a little while anyway. Give me the autograph when you get bored of it.”

 

“Bored? Who? I’m keeping this for the rest of my life.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, sure you are.”

 

“I’m not joking, I’m serious this time. Unha hyung is really kind. You should have seen it. All my friends said they’re going to support Unha hyung too… we made a blood oath to vote for him until Idol Classism ends.”

 

“Yes, yes. You do that. Oh! And if you do end up voting later, vote for Wooyoung too while you’re at it.”

 

“What? Joo Wooyoung?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Why would I vote for him?”

 

“What do you mean why? Lee Unha has the best chemistry with Joo Wooyoung. Oh. Is it because of this latest episode? The auction?”

 

“Yeah. Anyone can see that Joo Wooyoung is just using Unha hyung. Isn’t that right?”

 

“Ugh. You pathetic bastard.”

 

“Why? Honestly, Joo Wooyoung ruined the auction. It’s so obvious he’s trying to ride Unha hyung’s popularity.”

 

“I’m not even going to talk to you.”

 

“Besides, if I vote for Joo Wooyoung, I can’t vote for Unha hyung.”

 

“What on earth are you talking about? At the beginning, you don’t just get one vote. I guarantee they’ll give at least five. You get to vote directly for the debut lineup you want.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I don’t know how Idol Classism will do it, but in most idol survival shows, it’s common sense to give the number of votes corresponding to the number of members in the final group.”

 

“Oh, is that how it works?”

 

“And I don’t know what you’ve been reading… but you’re clearly being brainwashed by the community posts trying to drive a wedge between Lee Unha and Joo Wooyoung. That’s all the work of fans of other trainees. I don’t know what will happen later, but right now, Joo Wooyoung and Lee Unha are a package deal! A community of destiny! That’s the basic consensus! Have you even checked the Lee Unha Gallery or the Joo Wooyoung Gallery?”

 

“N-no….”

 

“They’re already talking about exchanging votes even before the show’s really started. Just take a look and you’ll see.”

 

“Wait? There’s such a thing?”

 

“Joo Wooyoung and Lee Unha… and Jung Taehee, who is close with Lee Unha… Well, we’ll have to see the upcoming episodes to know for sure, but it’s standard for fans to trade votes for their bias’s friends. People are already saying things like who’s a guaranteed debut member and who’s done what. At times like this, you can’t let yourself get swayed.”

 

“No, but even so….”

 

I let out a quiet sigh at his face, which still looked unconvinced.

 

“Whatever, do what you want. So, if not Wooyoung, who are you going to vote for?”

 

“W-well…. I haven’t thought about it… but… Joo Wooyoung and Lee Unha might not actually be close. It could just be the editing….”

 

“Don’t you see the photos on SNS… wait, look at this—oh?! They’re doing a live stream!!!!”

 

“Huh?!”

 

“No way! Because of you, I completely missed the start of the livestream! Look! Lee Unha and Joo Wooyoung are streaming together!! They’re close, okay?! Stop letting yourself get swayed?!”

 

“Oh….”

 

“And… wait?! Baek Suhyeon is there too? What. Was Suhyeon close with them too?!”

 

“…….”

 

“They’re having an all-night pajama party! Whose house is this? This is crazy! Amazing!!”

 

“…….”

 

“Suhyeon actually looks so cute like this! Oh my god!! Look at the comments! What!!! Baek Suhyeon and Lee Unha were in the same agency!!! Oh, they’re telling stories now!!!”

 

On the screen, Lee Unha began to speak.

 

— Ah… Suhyeon and I were originally close! This isn’t the first time I’ve been to his house! I used to come over often during our trainee days.

 

“So they were close?!”

 

— We couldn’t meet for a while because our paths didn’t cross! But yes! We’re very close! Suhyeon used to buy me lots of delicious food…. These pajamas were actually a gift from Suhyeon!

 

“Whoa!!!”

 

— Wooyoung hyung? Ah, I invited Wooyoung hyung! It turns out they hadn’t really talked much before. I thought it’d be nice if they became friends through this opportunity! You’ll get along with Suhyeon, right, hyung?

 

— Yeah, of course.

 

— Ah! We ate so much delicious food today too. What did we eat again?

 

— Let’s see. We had ice cream… Do I like mint chocolate? Why mint chocolate all of a sudden?

 

— Ah! I really love mint chocolate!

 

— Unha, so you like toothpaste?

 

— Ah, don’t be like that, hyung! Mint choco is seriously delicious! Why doesn’t anyone appreciate how amazing mint chocolate is? Suhyeon, you like mint chocolate too, right?

 

— I think mint chocolate should be illegal….

 

— Calling it illegal is a bit much….

 

“Oh my god! Our boys are so cute! Look at this! Hey! Are you watching?!”

 

“…….”

 

“They have even better chemistry than I expected! See?! Wooyoung and Unha really are close! What nonsense have you been listening to? All those things floating around on those forums… they’re all fake posts made by fans of other trainees pretending to be Unha fans! Seriously! Hey! Unha likes mint chocolate. You said you were going to support Unha, so write that down.”

 

“…….”

 

“Hang on, I’m going to watch this with my friends… Wait, what? They said they’re going to keep streaming as long as they have time today? What is this?! They’re going to keep going until they go to sleep! My goodness! Our boys are making me so proud… Meanwhile those other idiots are out there causing scandals doing stupid things… Hey, did you hear? You know Park Jiseok, right? He got caught sending DMs to a fan. Can you believe it?”

 

‘Wait. Why isn’t he saying anything?’

 

I looked at my twin brother, his mouth shut tight as if he was unhappy about something.

 

“…….”

 

I couldn’t tell if he didn’t like the three of them being close, or if he still hated Joo Wooyoung’s auction tactics, but his face was scrunched up as if he were angry.

 

‘To be fair, the auction really was something.’

 

Dumping everything he had into Lee Unha and then taking the leftovers… it was a decision that was hard to understand. There had been plenty of criticism about it…

 

‘But judging by how close they seem now, he obviously didn’t ruin the mission.’

 

It was true that it would be hard to expect a polished performance, but it would be enough to end the current controversy. Because it was the combination of Joo Wooyoung and Lee Unha.

 

“Hey. Seriously, don’t worry. Looking at the atmosphere right now….”

 

I was about to say something to my brother.

 

When Joo Wooyoung, Lee Unha, and Baek Suhyeon on the screen suddenly became busy.

 

— Really? It’s up now?

 

— Huh? Seriously? It’s really out?

 

— Wait a second. I’ll check right now. Wow! Everyone! The voting dates are out! Voting officially starts in 10 days! We got lucky! I didn’t know the notice would go up today. Let’s see… we can vote for a total of 7 people!!! I don’t know what to say because I’m afraid I’ll spoil something….

 

“…….”

 

— Anyway, please give one of your precious votes to me, Wooyoung hyung, and Suhyeon!! Wait, instead of just talking, let’s dance or something! Wh-what should we do? Everyone, what do you want to see?

 

I nodded while watching the stream. On the 21-inch screen, the three of them looked visibly nervous at the sudden announcement.

 

I felt like telling them, ‘You don’t need to be nervous.’

 

I don’t know if they realize it….

 

But the real war was going to take place inside this 21-inch screen anyway.

 

<Idol Classism> D-10 Until First Official Vote

Voting Rights: 7 Tickets