Survive! Foolish Bottom!

 

“Why do you think noona acted that way, hyung? You must know!”

 

“Your noona….she’s always been like that. Like a golden musca—no, tortoise, more than…”

 

Seongjae, holding the script in his hands, stumbled awkwardly over the lines. Haeun, sitting across from him and trying his hardest to push through his wooden delivery and immerse himself in his role, finally grabbed his head in frustration.

 

“This is driving me crazy. Why the hell are you bringing up muscat grapes here?”

 

Asking Seongjae to be her practice partner was a mistake in the first place.

Where the hell is my actual co-star?

He had no other schedules but was still nowhere to be found.

 

With Ilhyun away from the dorm, he’d been left with no choice but to ask either Seongjae or Junwoo. Between the two, only Seongjae had shown any willingness to help. Junwoo claimed he had no interest in acting and wasn’t particularly eager to read lines. Seongjae, despite having no talent or interest in acting either, said he could at least read the script.

 

But compared to his enthusiasm, his skill was abysmal. Honestly, Haeun was starting to think an AI assistant on his phone would make a better practice partner. At least the AI wouldn’t mispronounce words or spout nonsense.

 

“Even the tortoise doesn’t make any sense, to begin with!”

 

Watching Seongjae insist on defending himself without giving an inch, Haeun shook his head. Then, with a sigh, he simply flopped onto the couch.

 

“What are you doing? Are you not practicing? So lazy.”

 

“If you practiced with you as a partner, you’d turn out like me too.”

 

Haeun muttered as if bored, then suddenly rolled over to face Seongjae.

 

Practicing alone was a habit he needed to develop anyway, so it wasn’t like having a partner was essential. Still, something else had piqued his curiosity, and he decided to ask him about it first.

 

“What kind of person lets someone who tried to harm them off the hook? I mean, they’re not someone powerless or obscure without any proof—they have solid evidence. They could easily retaliate if they wanted to, but they choose to do nothing. What’s going on in their head?”

 

It was about Kim Gyowon.

 

After what had happened in the restroom that day, Kim Gyowon seemed to have let Lee Jaewoon off the hook completely, making no moves since. Lee Jaewoon also continued strutting around the set as if nothing had happened. 

 

Sure, he flinched visibly every time he encountered either Kim Gyowon or Haeun—especially in front of Kim Gyowon, as if he’d seen a ghost—but that alone hardly felt like enough of a reckoning.

 

If it had been Haeun in Kim Gyowon’s shoes, he would’ve made sure the whole world knew about it, getting Lee Jaewoon kicked off the drama and ruining his reputation. But Gyowon chose to stay silent. Why? He didn’t seem like someone who’d forgive and forget out of the goodness of his heart.

 

Seongjae became confused by the sudden and vague question and responded with a baffled tone.

 

“What are you going on about all of a sudden?”

 

“Ah, just answer me already.”

 

He couldn’t explain the full context, so he brushed his question aside. 

 

Truthfully, he had wanted to spill everything to his bandmates since the day it happened. 

 

Listen to this—today on set, I ran into this famous idol group member, and guess what the guy did…!

 

 

But Kim Gyowon, who was the direct target, had chosen to stay quiet, and Haeun, though indirectly involved, felt it would be strange to spread the story on his behalf. Even if he only told his bandmates, once something was said, there was no predicting where it might go.

 

When Haeun clamped his mouth shut, Seongjae seemed to assume the question was related to acting. He furrowed his brow and thought deeply, rubbing his chin for a moment before finally speaking.

 

“Maybe it’s a pride thing?”

 

“Really? How does pride even factor into this?”

 

“Like… maybe it feels like tattling on someone?”

 

It was the kind of reasoning you’d expect from someone like Seongjae, who hated losing and even more so hated exposing his vulnerabilities to others. If it were Seongjae, he would have immediately agreed. But this was Kim Gyowon they were talking about.

 

At that moment, Junwoo, who had been quietly doing his own thing on the side, chimed in unexpectedly. Haeun had assumed he wasn’t paying attention to their conversation at all, but it seemed he had picked up everything.

 

Just wait. Once this is over, I’ll ask him if he agrees that Seongjae’s acting is as bad as it seems. 

 

With that in mind, Haeun turned his attention to what Junwoo was saying.

 

“Maybe he’s holding onto the dirt now to drop it later when it’ll have a bigger impact.”

 

Objectively, this theory made a bit more sense. Still, it was a very

Yoon Junwoo

thing to say. Each of them had answers

so reflective of their personalities, it was almost funny. 

 

Though Kim Gyowon wasn’t someone Haeun could directly approach about something like this, maybe confronting him was still the only way to get a proper answer.

 

“Maybe… Junwoo, what do you think about Seongjae’s acting skills, though?”

 

Pointing at Seongjae, who was still passionately defending himself as a worthy practice partner, Haeun posed the question. Junwoo, wearing his usual indifferent expression, shrugged casually and responded.

 

“Well, Seongjae hyung isn’t planning to make a living off acting, right? As long as he sings well, it’s fine.”

 

“Are you kidding me?”

 

“It was supposed to be encouraging, geez…”

 

Seongjae playfully pretended to grab Junwoo by the collar, half-jokingly taking offense. Haeun burst out laughing, shaking his head at the scene. If he were honest, even he found Junwoo’s comment a bit annoying. But that was just the kind of guy he was.

 

“Alright, fine, whatever. You’re not much of a help for acting practice or even giving decent answers. I’ll just wait for Ilhyun hyung to get back.”

 

As he grumbled, Seongjae flared up, holding his hand out demandingly.

 

“What? Are you looking down on me? Just you wait. Hand over the script, now.”

 

“Why? You think reading it a few more times is gonna conjure up some acting skills out of nowhere?”

 

Haeun held the script out of his reach, ready to fire another sarcastic remark, but just then, the system’s notification popped up again.

 『Professional idols don’t pick fights with their members over bad acting! (๑ªัㅂªั๑)』 

Haeun froze. For a moment, he debated whether the notification itself deserved an argument. But alas, he sighed in surrender.

 

‘Even this thing thinks I should just let it go.’

 

…Hmm, maybe I’ve loosened up too much. Thanks to how close I’ve gotten with the members, teasing and picking fights with them felt completely natural now. And with my usual manner of speaking slipping in more and more, it was a wonder I didn’t get scolded by the system more often.

 

As Haeun was in the middle of bickering with Seongjae, the sound of the front door opening caught her attention. Ilhyun had returned. Seongjae was the first to greet him enthusiastically.

 

“Ah, hyung! You tell me—what do you think? Hey, what was it again?”

 

Seongjae turned to Haeun, asking for clarification.

Does he even remember what we were talking about? Why bother getting involved if he can’t even recall the question?

 

 

Still, Haeun was curious himself, so he decided to go along with it and began explaining.

 

“Ilhyun hyung, what do you think it means when someone doesn’t retaliate against someone who wronged them—”

 

“Is this about Kim Gyowon?”

 

Ilhyun cut him off with a voice heavy with exhaustion. He ran a hand over his forehead, looking so genuinely tired that Haeun stopped mid-sentence, taken aback. 

 

How did he know it was about Kim Gyowon?

 

Ilhyun sighed deeply, looking at Haeun with a mixture of weariness and concern, and then added:

 

“Haeun, you didn’t cause any trouble, did you?”

 「‘Law of First Love’ actor Kim Gyowon embroiled in major feud rumors with idol-turned-actor? Fans in shock」 Kim Gyowon, cast as the male lead in Law of First Love and making his long-awaited return to television, has found himself at the center of feud rumors. (…) Meanwhile, idol-turned-actors involved in Law of First Love include Gloomy’s Jaewoon (27) and Stone Cherry’s Park Ha (22).  Fans have responded with comments like, “I knew this would blow up eventually,” and “I hope this misunderstanding clears up soon.” 

“The article has already been taken down. It seems the other agency acted before we could step in. I don’t know how this made it past the initial filters and into the press in the first place, though…”

 

***

 

“The original article might have been taken down, but the situation is already beyond repair.”

 

Director Kim Miji and the CEO were engrossed in a serious conversation, with Ha-eun seated between them, utterly confused about what was going on.

 

“Yes, it’s already spread everywhere across online communities, so taking the original article down doesn’t really make a difference.”

 

It seemed that one single article had caused all this.

 

“We’re absolutely sure this isn’t about Haeun, right?”

 

“It’s not me! Of course not! Why would I ever start some feud rumor with a senior like that?”

 

“Then this must be about Gloomy’s Lee Jaewoon?”

 

“Well…”

 

Haeun was ready to confirm it on the spot but hesitated for the same reason as before. He wasn’t directly involved in the incident, so he wasn’t sure if he should speak up about it. Even though the situation might end up hurting him, he still found himself hesitating to reveal anything that might affect Kim Gyowon’s position.

 

Haeun wondered briefly why he was considering Kyowon’s situation at all, especially when he stood to lose the most. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.

 

“He says it’s not him. I just don’t get it. How does a random third-rate tabloid piece shake things up like this?”

 

Surprisingly, it was Seongjae who came to Haeun’s defense. The gravity of the situation had gathered all the members to discuss what was happening and how to handle it. 

 

Ilhyun remained silent, while Junwoo had his arms crossed, clearly deep in thought. Haeun sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands.

 

“What exactly is happening here?”

 

“Well… ah.”

 

The CEO looked uncomfortable, struggling to provide a clear explanation. Growing frustrated, Haeun finally spoke up.

 

“Let me go and check things out myself. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

 

Haeun ignored the hesitation and resistance visible in the faces of the CEO and Director Kim Miji. Without stopping, he unlocked her phone, opened the SNS app, and tapped the magnifying glass icon to search. 

 

The two, who seemed about to stop her, ultimately held back and turned away, perhaps thinking he needed to see it for himself.

 

There was no need to search for terms like

Stone Cherry

or

Park Ha

. Her name boldly occupied one of the lower ranks of the real-time trending topics.

 Trending in South Korea #StoneCherry_ParkHa_Apologize_Leave 849 tweetsHey guys, this is Flo!

The chapters are released every Sunday at 20:30 p.m. (GMT+8).

Make sure to support the author on ridibooks!❤️

Consider buying me kofi if you enjoy my translations~!