The Trashy Pd Has To Survive As an Idol: 문찐 [139+]

"It really is a great world for conning gullible idiots."

Ever since he realized as a child that everyone has a hidden side, Kim Jaeyeon found joy in uncovering those secrets.

He sometimes got criticized and called names, but as a paparazzo who digs into people's lives and makes good money doing it, his job satisfaction was pretty high.

However, recently, there was someone who kept making him question his own expertise, and that had him troubled.

"Tsk."

An idol, of all people, who seemed just as well-versed in this kind of stuff as he was.

"What the hell is this guy??"

He was young too, and no matter how much Jaeyeon tried to dig into him, the kid seemed totally detached from this kind of shady, murky lifestyle.

He had looks that rivaled top-tier actors and mental toughness that could compete with the most seasoned veterans in the cutthroat entertainment industry.

One day, while flipping through TV channels, he happened to catch Seo Hoyun being all sweet to his group members on a variety show (obviously faking it, or so he assumed) and had thrown the remote in shock.

The group didn't seem to have bad relationships, but…

Was it genuine or all for the cameras?

[No point dragging this out.]

Remembering that moment, he frowned. Just then, Seo Hoyun's voice came through his phone.

On his computer screen was a capture of an Instagram account supposedly belonging to Yoon Hee-eon's rumored significant other—one that had been nearly impossible to find until Hoyun passed it along.

"How did you even find this? I mean, you said it existed, but still…!"

[Oh, it just sort of happened.]

Kim Jaeyeon's pride took a major hit.

Hoyun didn't explain further, clearly showing his disinterest, and after tossing over a few more files, he hung up, saying he was busy.

Jaeyeon began scrolling through the captured posts, noting a few of them were displayed in black and white.

He didn't know what that meant exactly, but it was definitely a gold mine.

"Creepy."

He organized the relevant info and dates, then moved on to the message captures. Again, several parts were blacked out. One message in particular stood out—it had no profile photo or name.

The username was @h__X18313n.

The message only contained the name of a certain high-security restaurant favored by celebrities, a day of the week, and a time.

"Wait… this is Yoon Hee-eon's burner Insta, isn't it?"

He searched the accounts on his own phone, but all he got was the locked symbol on both.

Unable to dig any further, Jaeyeon smacked his lips in frustration and combed through everything Hoyun had given him, comparing it with his previous investigations.

Once the analysis was mostly wrapped up, Seo Hoyun contacted him again.

"I think we can leak this as is."

[What are you talking about? That'll just cause a little stir, and then they'll pretend to reflect and be back in action in no time.]

A sigh and the sound of a tongue clicking followed.

[Let's give this a bit of polish.]

While reviewing the stacked-up scenarios in his head to determine the best approach, Hoyoon's voice came again.

[Returning the favor exactly as it was given is always best, right?]

The plan he laid out after that sounded strikingly similar to Scenario #17—Jaeyeon's personal favorite—an eye-for-an-eye strategy.

Details might differ slightly, but the gist was to hit Yoon Hee-eon with the same kind of betrayal he had inflicted on Seong Jiwon.

"Man..."

Once they agreed on the method, things progressed easily.

Jaeyeon had always known that fansites and stalker fans (sasaengs) shared info through secret open chatrooms, but they were highly discreet and secured, so he'd never been able to access them.

Fortunately, one of the messages Hoyun had provided included the address and password to such a chatroom. He followed the link and was redirected to another mobile messenger platform.

There was initial suspicion from the members at this unfamiliar face, but since getting there required several steps, an invite, and a password, the skepticism died down quicker than expected.

Jaeyeon took great care.

He'd experienced too many times what happens when you act clumsily—you get nothing.

Pretending to be an information broker, he tested the waters and began mixing in carefully curated lies with traces of truth.

Scandals about bad relationships with women, sponsors, two-timing, and so on.

At first, no one bit. But soon, a few began to express doubt. Jaeyeon seized on those comments, fanning the flames and releasing "evidence."

Like a photo of Yoon Hee-eon entering a hotel parking lot on a day he supposedly didn't meet up with his fansite lover.

The rumors picked up speed quickly.

"Will this actually work?"

Nervously monitoring the situation for days, Jaeyeon finally saw the result he'd been waiting for.

[EXPOSING YOON HEE-EON'S TRUE COLORS]

An anonymous post with that title appeared on a well-known open forum popular among idol fans

[He said he was going to see his parents after a trip to Jeju, but I saw him heading straight to a hotel.]

It wasn't his parents—he was meeting a sponsor.

[He told me, "You're different from other girls," and "There's only you," and I fell for it for half a year. I poured money into him… God, I'm such a fool.

He made up horrible lies about juniors or idols he didn't like.

[I only believed him because I loved him so much. Now I realize I was just a pathetic pushover.]

While the post left out any details unfavorable to the poster, Seo Hoyoon said nothing.

He probably knew it would all come out eventually anyway.

From that point on, everything moved fast.

Every day, a new woman claiming to be Yoon Hee-eon's girlfriend would come forward.

Photos together, couple rings, date spots—it just kept coming. At first, people were skeptical, but soon, they started to believe.

Meanwhile, the identities of the accusers were being exposed one by one.

[LOL it's a full parade of girlfriends]

[This isn't even cheating, it's a whole damn centipede of girlfriends ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[I read through the exposés.

They all talk like pitiful victims, but even those girls are now getting exposed too LOL they must've trashed other male idols before.]

[This is the biggest K-pop disaster of the year, no cap.]

All Jaeyeon did was light the fuse, but it exploded like fireworks.

"…Seo Hoyun really is something else."

Sure, it took a lot of prep to even reach the fuse, but if they had leaked the info outright, it never would've had this much impact.

[Selling my Yoon Hee-eon photocards.

Actually, no—trashing them. This guy's beyond recovery. Even foreign fans won't want this.]

[Ughhhh my Hee-eon plushie TTTTT

The male idol hatred is REAL

Meanwhile, your group uses media play to bully juniors, this is comedy gold.]

Jaeyeon checked SNS and forums, watching Yoon Hee-eon burn to ashes.

Then he looked up The Dawn.

[What do you think of a male bunny named "Seo…"?]

Peaceful as ever.

"What do you know about a guy like Seo… being in sasaeng fan ecosystems?"

He'd apparently been a hot topic on a variety show recently, and YouTube was overflowing with clips about him.

Every time Jaeyeon saw Seo Hoyoon acting fake, it made his skin crawl.

"Seriously, why is he even doing this?"

If Proof Of was the setting sun, The Dawn was the rising one.

A guy like that—who didn't seem like he'd bleed even if you stabbed him—couldn't possibly be doing this just to protect a fellow member.

"Seong Jiwon, is it good?"

Seeing Seo Hoyoon on the computer screen, smiling gently with his eyes curved like a crescent moon, sent a chill down my spine.

"As if he's crazy enough to do that."

There was no way.

---

"All this for Seong Ji-won—what a pointless mess I got myself into."

That night, I clicked my tongue as I watched YouTube flood with videos about Yoon Hee-eon, all with provocative titles.

Once something cracks, it's only a matter of time before it breaks completely—why do people insist on doing things that are bound to get exposed?

> [Why didn't you do it yourself? Would've been quicker.]

"Well, I'm innocent, remember?"

[…] What?

Kim Jaeyeon looked at me, dumbfounded, but I meant every word.

I mean, how could an idol possibly do something like that?

I skimmed through the reactions and, without hesitation, put down my phone.

"It's over."

Fan clubs were already releasing official statements and calls for his removal were gaining momentum.

Getting kicked out was only a matter of time.

And even if he wasn't, coming back from this would be nearly impossible.

Does Yoon Hee-eon even realize it?

That what's happening to him is exactly what he used to do to others?

I stared at the ceiling for a moment and then placed a hand over my chest.

"Hoyun, let this be a lesson, let's keep living righteously from now on."

> [The hell? Are you insane?]

The system window, usually quiet, had been grumbling throughout this whole mission, nagging about how I was using my items.

Naturally, I didn't care one bit.

"You've done well, Hoyun… fragile heart and all…"

> [Ugh.]

The system window, still grumbling, disappeared slowly like it was sighing—only to pop back up again.

> [But seriously, try to be a little more careful from now on. Things are really rough lately.]

Rough? What is?

As I raised an eyebrow, the system window offered a bit more explanation.

> [Originally, we're supposed to give you the quests, not have them custom-built just for your needs. And each quest is supposed to come with appropriate rewards and consequences. Honestly, this one was practically handed to you on a silver platter, with your desired outcome already in mind.]

"Silver platter? What do you mean? Didn't you see how much I suffered because of Joo Woosung?"

> [That's exactly why we gave it to you. We wanted to see that.]

What a spiteful bastard.

> [The loans, the Shining Star Season 2 incident, and now this—things have been so unstable lately that even we can't predict what might happen anymore. And that's not good for a player either, you know.]

"Hmm."

I rubbed my chin, listening to the muffled noise leaking through the door, then flopped down on my bed.

"Just don't give me weird quests."

Now that everything was sorted out, I planned to diligently complete my quests from now on. I figured a warning like that wasn't a big deal.

The only thing I regretted was that I didn't get to see Yoon Hee-eon's completely screwed-over face in person.

I should've at least mocked him once, just like I did back during Today's incident. Then I could've enjoyed a peaceful daily life.

"What a shame. Seriously."

"Hyung! Ten minutes till Jiwon hyung's birthday!"

Just as I was thinking that, the door flew open.

It was Jeong Dajoon.

"Did you think of the fish?"

"Fish?"

"That joke was so bad I'm pretending I didn't hear it."

Jeong Dajoon chattered excitedly about how he bought toe socks with hair on them to give to Seong Jiwon as a birthday gift. He said they should both wear them and post a pic on Stargram since fans would love it.

"I got you a pair too! Yours are a little different, but still—!"

I got up sluggishly, threw an arm over his shoulder, and pinched his unusually chubby cheek hard.

"Ack!"

"Do you have a motor in your mouth? You never stop talking."

"...Brrrrrrr."

He puckered his lips and made a motor sound in protest, making me chuckle.

I leaned more of my weight on his shoulder, causing him to whine about how heavy I was. I pushed his lips into a duck face with my finger before lazily wandering out of the room.

Just then, Kang Ichae, who was sitting on the sofa chewing gum loudly while looking at her phone, looked up and smiled brightly.

"You're here?"

I sat next to her and peeked at her phone screen. There was an article about Yoon Hee-eon. Conveniently, with Seong Jiwon's birthday coming up, the useless news had been pushed back, and the search rankings were getting cleaned up too.

he seemed to know it was my doing, but with the other members around, it wasn't a topic we could really discuss. So I changed the subject.

"Where's Jiwon?"

Now that I thought about it, I remembered getting a message from him when I was with Joo Woosung,he must've had something to say. But things had gotten busy with schedules and stuff, so it just slipped by.

"I'm here."

When I turned around, he was walking out of a room with Kim Seonghyeon.

Do you even know what I've done for you?

I had zero intention of ever saying it out loud, but internally, I was making all kinds of self-important fuss.

Then, Seong Jiwon stopped at the farthest point away from me.

'Huh?'

His gaze avoided mine in a weirdly deliberate way.

"—Still, without a cake, it feels a bit lacking."

Then he even turned his head away from me completely.

"Ah! There's some MongX and ChocoO in the cupboard, should I bring those?"

"Hyung, I brought candles!"

While I was still trying to figure out what felt off, Jeong Dajoon scurried to the kitchen.

We hadn't prepared anything in particular since Jiwon was scheduled to do a birthday live with the fans around 7 p.m. anyway.

Once Jeong Dajoon stacked the choco-buns into a tower, Kang Ichae stuck a "Congratulations" candle on top and lit it.

"28!"

"What's with starting the countdown from such an awkward number?"

Jeong Dajun, as if he had been waiting for this moment, began the countdown.

"24!"

"Doesn't this time not match? It's already 12:02."

"20!"

Even with the other members adding in their comments, Jeong Dajun was steadfast.

"5! 4! 3! 2! 1!!"

Boom! Fireworks exploded, and pieces of paper flew everywhere.

"Happy Birthday!"

August 31st.

What I thought was a blooming spring turned out to be a kid born at the tail end of summer.

"Hyung, make a wish!"

"I'll wish later."

"Ah, hyung~! You have to wish three times—morning, noon, and night."

At the youngest's urging, Seong Jiwon, who had been glancing at the others, quietly closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.

Kang Ichae grabbed my arm.

"Come on, hyung! You too! Give a big, heartfelt wish and go."

"Sigh…"

Hiding my slightly complicated feelings, I opened my mouth again.

"Alright, Seong Jiwon. Stay healthy and have lots of blessings. And don't forget to work hard while you're young, when your energy is still good. Make sure to earn plenty of money."

"Seong Jiwon, do your New Year's bow."

Kim Seonghyeon, who was next to me, teased with a comment that sounded like something you'd hear during the holidays. After a playful slap on the back, he continued.

"Happy Birthday."

Seong Jiwon, who had been avoiding my gaze, finally looked at me directly.

"…Thank you."

I ruffled the youngest's hair, who had stuffed a whole chocolate bun in his mouth, then walked back to my room.

'What the hell?'

Something felt wrong, and I was very uneasy.

As I retraced everything I had done in reverse, Seong Ji-won opened the door and poked his head in.

"Hoyun, are you asleep?"

"…"

Even though the voices of Jeong Dajun and Kang Ichae were loud outside, he whispered softly.

"Do you have some time today?"

"…No."

"…Really not?"

"…No, I do."

Earlier, he avoided me, but now he was coming closer again.

Not wanting to be alone with Seong Ji-won, who was acting so strangely, I thought about rejecting him. But seeing him hesitating in front of me made it hard to push him away.

"Good! Do you want to buy a cake?"

"The staff will probably buy it."

"Haha, I really want to buy it myself. There's no schedule today."

A gentle tone and nervousness in his light brown eyes.

The strange atmosphere sent an alarm ringing in my head.

'What's going on?'

After living together for over a year, I knew that Seong Ji-won wasn't the type to care about his own birthday this much.

And with his usual personality, if I had shown even a little annoyance, he would've immediately taken back the offer.

But now… why?

"…Where do you want to buy it from?"

Why is he being so insistent with me?

Seong Ji-won smiled faintly.

Maybe he was nervous.

"XX Hotel, first floor."

That was the hotel where Yoon Hee-eon had been coming and going.

This felt ominous.

Very ominous.

In my 33 years of life, I had learned that ominous feelings were never wrong.