How to stop my idol group from disbanding

“You’re not Kang Moon, are you?”

Kang Moon’s pupils trembled slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. No matter how certain the other person was, what could they really do if he insisted he wasn’t? He would already laid the groundwork by claiming memory loss, so not knowing something would not count as proof.

“What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t I be Kang Moon?”

It wasn’t exactly a lie. He might not be that “Kang Moon” Whi-geon was talking about, but he was “Kang Moon”, just a different one with the same name. Besides,he is the protagonist now, at least on the outside.

“Really?”

Hwi-geon stepped in closer, narrowing his eyes. the corners of his mouth were slightly raised in a mocking manner.

“Then it’s one of two things. Either you have completely forgotten about me, or you have simply decided to play dumb about everything. Damn impressive, huh?”

At those loaded words, Kang Moon’s gaze flinched. He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but it was clear that something had happened between Hwi-geon and the original protagonist. And judging by the tone, it wasn’t anything pleasant.

Kang Moon was racking his brain for the most natural response when, accompanied by a tense sound effect, Hwi-geon’s movements froze.

Unexpected situation! The two had a falling out due to an incident in the past. Gather information about Park Hwi-geon.

“Information…?”

Reading the translucent text floating in front of him, Kang Moon furrowed his brows slightly. This is not some kind of detective game now and Why did he need to gather information…? Honestly, it was kind of a hassle.

He was just about to reject the prompt, thinking this kind of thing might be optional, when he noticed a line written in smaller text at the bottom.

(Warning: Refusing the quest will prevent your favorability with Park Hwi-geon from increasing beyond a certain level.)

[Accept] [Decline]

So refusal is possible but it comes at the cost of a limit on affinity. He hadn’t expected an out-of-nowhere favorability system that wasn’t even in the original novel, and a groan of frustration almost escaped his throat.

If this were a dating sim with multiple capture targets, he might’ve had some room to maneuver but that wasn’t the case for kanga Moon. In order to maintain solid relationships with the members and successfully lead the group, overall favorability management is essential.

In short, they were offering a choice but only one real answer.

“So basically, just shut up and do it.”

Kang Moon let out a deep sigh and tapped the Accept button.

The prompt disappeared, and everything returned to normal. Hwi-geon was still looking down at him with that mocking smile, and Kang Moon was still perched on the edge of the bed, looking up at him. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Sorry I don’t remember.”

His voice, intentionally dispirited, made one of Hwi-geon’s eyebrows twitch. Kang Moon didn’t miss the moment and turned his gaze aside, letting his eyebrows droop.

“To be honest, I’m not even sure how much I’ve forgotten. I just said that so no one would worry.”

By laying out this setup in advance, he could later earn some sympathy if needed. And if he added just one more line…

“So please keep it between us. Don’t tell the others. Please.”

Kang Moon dropped the corners of his eyes like Puss in Boots, looking up at Whi-geon with wide, pleading eyes. No matter how much of a hard-ass Park Whi-geon was, he wouldn’t be able to push any further after this.

“Are you acting right now? Or is that real?”

But Hwi-geon wasn’t easy opponent. Arms crossed and posture tilted, his eyes were still full of suspicion. It was almost puzzling how strongly he was reacting. What on earth had the protagonist done?

“Would you fake something like this? We’re about to debut.”

Still, Kang Moon wasn’t the type to give up easily. When sympathy didn’t work, provoking the other person sometimes worked better.

Kang Moon glared at Hwi-geon with an expression that said, “How could you say that? I’m hurt!”

Hwi-geon sighed and reluctantly dropped down next to him. Kang Moon had half-expected to see a real-time favourabilty bar rising above his head like in other games, but was dissappointed that there no such function.

“Kinda feels empty. After everything we went through for years…”

Hwi-geon murmured softly, barely audible. His shoulders slumped, weighed down by dejection. Considering how hard he’d worked to prepare for debut, only for it to be half for nothing, it made sense he’d feel hollow.

Don’t worry, kid. I swear I’ll make you a top-tier idol.

Seeing that, Kang Moon felt a strange sense of responsibility and inwardly fanned the flames of his passion. Honestly, it might’ve been better if he’d possessed the company CEO or a producer instead of the main character.

“You really don’t remember anything? At all?”

His voice, now noticeably gentler, sounded even more attractive than it had in the living room. Kang Moon almost let out a laugh of admiration without thinking but caught himself in time and silently nodded.

“Sigh… I don’t know whether to believe that or not.”

Hwi-geon murmured with a face still shadowed by doubt and frustration. There was clearly a reason he couldn’t trust so easily. That quest earlier was probably designed to uncover that reason.

“Hey…”

Kang Moon carefully picked a question that could give him some clue about their past without putting too much pressure on the situation.

“You said earlier—about me pretending not to know. Did I maybe do something wrong to you?”

He didn’t miss the brief flicker in Hwi-geon’s eyes. He didn’t know what it was, but something definitely had happened.

“…We just didn’t get along. Before we joined the company.”

Kang Moon had figured Hwi-geon wouldn’t explain it easily and he was right. Still, at least now he knew when things had soured, which was something.

“We’ve known each other since elementary school.”

“Oh…”

It finally made sense to Kang Moon why Hwi-geon had been so suspicious. They were childhood friends who’d known each other long before becoming trainees, but he was acting like he was meeting Kang Moon for the first time. No wonder it raised red flags.

“But things are okay between us now, right? I mean, I know it’s weird to ask when I’ve forgotten everything…”

He really was just curious, but Hwi-geon looked genuinely surprised.

“You seriously don’t remember…”

Hwi-geon slowly nodded. A faint smile lingered on his lips. it looked kind of lonely, but also cool somehow. Kang Moon felt a strange pang in his chest.

“Sorry… I forgot everything. You must feel awful.”

“Well… not exactly.”

“Huh?”

Maybe it was just his imagination, but Hwi-geon’s expression looked oddly relieved as he said that, and he could not help but tilt his head in confusion.

“No, it’s nothing. Do you have any other questions?”

He was clearly trying to change the subject, and pressing further would only hurt their newly mended rapport. Kang Moon didn’t want to undo all the goodwill he’d just earned.

“Then… Could you tell me about the others?”

There wasn’t a time limit on the quest, so he decided to dig into Hwi-geon’s past later and gather info on the other members for now. Aside from their names and faces, he didn’t know anything yet. He needed more useful info than something like, “Lee Si-chan secretly eats ramen.”

Seeing that Kang Moon was ready to listen, Hwi-geon adjusted his posture. Kang Moon then began mentally organizing the brief intros that came from Hwi-geon’s mouth.

First, the youngest and rapper, Lee Si-chan, is nineteen year old, still a minor. Contrary to his cute, outgoing personality, his rapping is surprisingly intense. He loved to eat, but whether it is because he is still growing or just lucky, he doesn’t gain weight. Like many kids his age, he can be immature at times, but it is charming rather than annoying. Not only the protagonist, but everyone doted on him endlessly. Apparently, he’d actually joined the company first and had even gotten caught secretly dating a classmate, so he is someone to watch.

Next, fellow rapper Kang Ho-jae, unlike Si-chan, specialized in soft singing-rap. He and Cha Yul has just turned twenty. He is the quiet, get-things-done type, comfortable to be around, but prone to bottling things up, which can be frustrating. However, he isn’t exactly cold or uncommunicative, just more serious than most his age. Surprisingly, he is super passionate about food, which made him and Si-chan a great duo. He usually acted normal but will occasionally go totally off the rails but if he sleep a little, he will be fine on his own.

Cha Yul, the same age as Ho-jae, is a Korean-German who got caught a sight during a short visit to Korea. A manager gave him a business card after falling for his voice during a spontaneous park busking performance. Though his Korean comprehension is fine, but boot good at speaking, so they recommended him to learn through dramas and thank to that now he speak fluently. Unfortunately, it turned him into a historical drama fanatic. His speech is constantly peppered with archaic expressions, and the manager deeply regretted that advice. No one could get him to stop, so they all gave up. If he mixed in his native German on top of that, it became downright hilarious.

“…”

After finishing those descriptions, Hwi-geon suddenly fell silent. Kang Moon didn’t push, he simply met his eyes and waited.

Hwi-geon bit his lower lip slightly and let his gaze drop to the floor.

“And I… I just followed you because I liked watching you sing. That’s all.”

That’s all? You followed him that seriously for that reason?

Anyway, it is a clear signal that Hwi-geon didn’t want to talk much about himself. Kang Moon now firmly believed something very unusual had happened between them.

“You were the best singer I knew.”

The words didn’t match his sulky expression, and Kang Moon reflexively opened his mouth slightly then closed it again. The wrong reaction could ruin the fragile peace between them.

He was about to mumble a generic thanks, when Hwi-geon suddenly looked up and smiled shyly, raising the corner of his eyes.

Am I… am I looking at an angel right now?

They say handsome people are just built differently but seeing Hwi-geon’s ridiculously good-looking face smiling like that… It felt like a one-way trip to heaven.

“It’s fine. It can’t get worse, right?”

“Hwi-geon…”

What was this familiar feeling? Could it be… love at first sight?

From that moment, Kang Moon silently swore that Park Hwi-geon, not the protagonist, was now his baby. Then, clutching the shattered remains of his heart, shattered from the impact of that *bias accident, he whispered in his heart:

[t/n: 덕통사고 (deok-tong-sago): A slang term in K-pop fan culture meaning “bias/fan accident”. When someone falls for an idol unexpectedly and hard.]

I swear I’ll make you a massive success. Our Hwi-geon is destined for the money path.

With invisible conviction, his fists clenched tight. Sorry, protagonist. But that’s how it goes when you meet your ultimate bias.