Save a Failed Idol’s Life - Chapter 118:

‘Why are they so startled?’

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the Floss leader who had fallen back with a thud, his mouth full of foam.

“Are you okay?”

Then Naru, who had been hiding behind Hwijin’s back, made a strange sound and ran away like a scared rabbit.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

I asked as if I had no clue, and Yu-geon answered with a very weird expression.

“Look in the mirror.”

“Mirror?”

I turned around without thinking and checked the mirror next to the warehouse entrance.

“Oh…”

Anyone could see that I looked like a girl, or a suspicious person, with my large figure glaring at me.

I was holding a hook in my hand tightly.

“It’s not ‘oh’. What’s with that outfit?”

“Outfit?”

“You look like a weirdo who’s hiding in some rural corner.”

Yu-geon shook Hwijin awake and lightly slapped his cheek.

“Hyung, snap out of it. You… go wash up or something.”

“Aah, yes!”

Seon-woo nodded his head before I did. The home cam installed on the porch silently captured our noisy commotion on the screen.

“I’m sorry for the late introduction. I’m Climax Cheon Ise.”

A while later, the rest of the members came back with a pile of groceries in their arms, and Seon-woo and I had a midday bath and finally settled the situation.

“Ah, I’m sorry for showing you such a pathetic sight earlier. I’m Floss Hwijin.”

Although they were only a part of them, this was the first time I faced the Floss members in their complete Climax state.

Ah. Except for Kang Yu-geon. He had already met us several times.

I had already uploaded a cookie video showing off my friendship with Yu-geon when I uploaded the vacation episode.

The reaction was… mostly positive, since it was Yu-geon, who had already been involved with us in the salad incident.

[- 21:34 Wow, you really met him after asking him to cook for you???]

[ㄴ But why did you meet him at a vacation spot of all placesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[ㄴ I guess they were resting during the Floss hiatus and he got caught by someone he knewㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- Wow, Yu-geon posted a lot of selfies on SNS that day saying he went on a vacation, but it was also a filming day for Climaxㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- So when are you going to cook for himㅋㅋㅋㅋ? Did you already do it??]

There were quite a few curious people, so I thought it was time to show them.

I wanted to take this opportunity to gather the ones who were willing to cooperate and act friendly with them.

‘They were so scared by a mere charcoal mask.’

They seemed to have a weak nerve for someone who had endured the harsh world of survival.

“Are you usually scared… I mean, easily scared?”

I had to treat him consistently, since I had already called him hyung without hesitation during the leader interview.

“Uh, no? I was just a bit surprised, that’s all.”

Just a bit surprised, yeah right. He had fallen back with a foam in his mouth and a bean-sized nerve, just like Kyunghwa.

“Really? There’s no need to be shy. We have someone like that in our team too. A kid who gets scared by just hearing the ghost’s initial sound.”

As he said that, he glanced at Seong-won, who immediately frowned and retorted.

“Who said I get scared by just hearing the initial sound?”

I answered cheekily.

“Oh, didn’t you say you’re the main vocalist of Climax?”

“Stop joking around.”

Seong-won stuck his tongue out and diligently attached the bubble wrap to the window.

It was supposed to be a winter house repair, but it was more like making a house that could survive the winter wind for twenty-something guys who grew up nicely in the city.

After leaving it empty for about a month and a half, we dusted off the furniture, installed the electric blanket, and moved the winter bedding. It took several hours.

“Seong-won, are you bad at watching or listening to scary things?”

Yu-geon, who had been silently carrying thin paper and looking for a place where the wind wouldn’t blow in, opened his mouth to keep the audio from being silent.

Except for Shim Naru, who had been making a face that he didn’t know why he had to suffer here.

Yu-geon and Hwijin seemed to have some willingness to cooperate with the broadcast, so they did their share.

“No, not at all.”

Seong-won kept his expression stiff as usual, even in front of the camera.

Then, Yi-jun jumped in as if he couldn’t miss this fun opportunity.

“Oh, you look confident. Your leader Hwijin said he’s not very scared either, right? Then there’s no one here who can’t stand scary things?”

Yu-geon, who got along well with Yi-jun, chuckled and followed up.

“Is that so? Well, since we’re sleeping in the same room for once, how about we have a ghost story session or something?”

And at the same time, Hwijin’s face changed from before.

“Hey, do we have to? We’re going to have a campfire later, and the Climax guys must be tired from working since morning…”

He looked like someone who was scared. Then Yi-jun asked innocently, curling his lips.

“Are you chicken?”

Oh…

It was a question that crushed Hwijin’s pride, which he had boasted many times in various shows after surviving the harsh military life in the remote mountains of Gangwon-do.

“How can I be? I’ve seen and heard so many things while I was in the military.”

He should have warned him not to deal with him like that. It would only make him more stubborn. But it was too late.

Simnaru, who had been slacking off all day, ran over with his eyes shining.

“Scary stories? I’m in! Wow, it would be really scary if we turn off the lights and light candles!”

Then, Yu-geon, who had been quietly joining in teasing Hwijin, stiffened his expression.

“No, you…”

“What? I really like scary stories.”

Why was he like that? Yu-geon looked awkwardly embarrassed. And he was so confident until just before.

I didn’t know why, but it was nice to see.

“Then how about we do it for a while before we go to bed?”

Kyunghwa, who I thought would back off, calmly sorted out the situation,

Adding a sentence that would hurt Seong-won and Hwijin’s pride.

“Those who are scared can go to the next room. There’s one there.”

What was going on? Kyunghwa, who seemed to be as scared as Seong-won, surprisingly took the lead and controlled the situation. Well, it worked out better.

The PD would be happy if we could get one more content out of this.

“We’re not running away! Let’s do it!”

Hwijin declared resolutely with a face that anyone could tell was fed up. Seeing that, Seong-won nodded his head reluctantly, thinking that he couldn’t back out now.

That’s how the night schedule was added, and after we finished the house repairs, it was time for dinner.

The sun set quickly in the countryside, and it got dark all around.

“Wow, it must be scary to live here alone.”

Yu-geon looked at the streetlights on the road that was 200 meters away and sighed, admiring briefly.

“Is that so? We’re always together, so we’re more used to it than scared.”

I answered as if I didn’t know well, and Seon-woo chimed in with a bright smile.

“It’s dark, but I don’t think it’s scary when we sleep together.”

“Honestly, the scary thing is your kicking.”

I pinched Seon-woo’s cheek and stroked his head.

“Oh, right. This guy has a terrible sleeping habit. You’d better avoid sleeping next to him.”

Yi-jun joked and added. Then Kyunghwa snorted incredulously.

“Are you in a position to talk about others?”

If we were to judge by the sleeping habit, Yi-jun was no better. He not only stole other people’s blankets, but also pushed Kyunghwa and Seong-won aside and took their spots.

I was in better shape than Kyunghwa and Seong-won, so I managed to endure it while sleeping.

Did this look too weak? Hwijin asked curiously.

“Do you always sleep together? You look very close.”

What a big deal. We prepared the accommodation based on the original seven-member group, so we had more rooms than we needed.

“No, that’s not it. We’ve been filming Crisis House for months, right? The other room doesn’t have air conditioning, so we had to sleep here.”

Hwijin muttered as if he had something to say, but stopped abruptly.

“Anyway, let’s fill our stomachs first. You must have worked hard today, but I asked you to do something right away. We were late to treat our guests.”

Crackle, crackle. The firewood that Yi-jun had diligently piled up burned well in the oven that Seong-won had made.

“Bring the potatoes quickly.”

“Don’t you have hands?”

“I’m fanning right now.”

“Ah, you’re good at ordering things.”

Hwijin watched Yi-jun and Seong-won bicker in front of the fire and glanced at Yu-geon and Naru.

Naru was playing with his phone, unaware of anyone’s gaze, and only Yu-geon seemed to catch Hwijin’s eye briefly.

“Do you two have something to talk about?”

But that was soon blocked by Kyunghwa, who had to pass between them.

The dinner menu was grilled meat with charcoal flavor and baked potatoes with cream cheese and butter. It smelled so good that I couldn’t concentrate.

Maybe it was because we worked so hard all day. The potatoes and the ingredients were ordinary, but they tasted so good that my eyes rolled.

“Wow, this is so delicious. Your grilling skills are amazing.”

Hwijin forgot to use honorifics and speak with proper distance and concept as he stuffed his stomach.

Just like Yu-geon, the idol members who looked so refined were eating meat like crazy in our yard (?) and it was a surreal scene.

“Ugh… Well… It’s edible, I guess.”

That’s what Shim Naru said, while munching on a large portion of food. He had been acting uncooperative ever since he arrived, making me wonder why he even came.

“Help yourself, I brought a lot of stuff today.”

We had a feast, thanks to the cheese that the landlord grilled for us. I decided to forget about dieting for a while and stuffed myself with dessert. Soon, one by one, we started to lie down in our rooms, feeling full and satisfied.

But then, Yi-jun came out of the storage room with a candle in his hand, his eyes sparkling.

“You didn’t forget what we talked about earlier, did you?”

Was he really serious about that?

“If you’re scared, there’s a blanket in the next room. You can run away there~.”

Yi-jun teased us, but no one seemed brave enough to go to the other room in this situation.

“Then, let’s brush our teeth and get started, shall we?”

Kyunghwa rummaged through the shelf where he kept some random tools and looked for a lighter. There was no smoker in our team, so the lighter didn’t work at first.

“La… Ah.”

Hwijin almost blurted out, “Do you want to borrow my lighter?” but managed to stop himself. He must have thought that it wouldn’t be strange for someone his age to smoke. But it was a different story for an idol to reveal that he smoked.

“I lit it. Who wants to go first?”

Kyunghwa pushed the blanket to the side and placed the candle in the middle. Then, Yu-geon glanced around the room and pointed at me.

“Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but… What’s that supposed to be?”