Save a Failed Idol's Life

Chapter 250:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 250

“Ah...”

His voice was so loud that he felt embarrassed and his face turned red in an instant.

“Did you skip lunch?”

I didn’t want to talk about Kang Yu-geon. We had a lot of interactions, but it was different to think of him as a fan, a rival, a colleague, and an employee I had to take care of.

“Uh, yes. The time was a bit awkward earlier.”

There was not much time left until dinner. I glanced around and saw a few more guys who seemed to be friends with the one who talked to me, occupying the bunk beds and gathering together.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you, you’re not a bully, why are you bothering someone who’s just sitting there?”

The student who came to me retorted with an indifferent tone that they threw among themselves.

“Oh, I’m not bothering him. I’m just happy to see him.”

To feed this many boys... I had to prepare twice as much as the Climax kids ate.

Except for Yi-jun, they were mostly light eaters or ate moderately for weight management, so I couldn’t compare their food intake with ordinary teenagers.

“Is there still some time left before dinner?”

“Uh, I guess so?”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression as if to ask why I was asking that. I got up from my seat with my laptop bag on my shoulder.

“I’ll go ask if I can use the kitchen for a while.”

It wasn’t hard or time-consuming to make something if I had the ingredients.

I knocked on the kitchen door and a volunteer who was taking a break greeted me.

“It’s not dinner time yet. Do you want to come back later?”

I might look like a nuisance. I hesitated for a moment and looked down at the kind-faced volunteer and asked carefully.

“Can I make something for myself? I’m confident in cooking because I’ve been working part-time at a restaurant for a long time.”

Then the volunteer’s eyes widened as if he heard something unexpected and then narrowed again.

“Food? You’re going to make it yourself?”

“Uh, yes. If it’s not possible...”

I trailed off and the volunteer laughed heartily and patted my back.

“You’re a funny kid. It’s the first time I’ve seen a male student ask to make something for himself while I’ve been volunteering here, so I was a bit surprised. Sure, what do you want to make?”

“...!”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a negative reaction. I entered the kitchen through the entrance that the volunteer opened and washed my hands first.

“I’m going to make tteokbokki and kimchi fried rice first, do you have any frozen pork cutlets or cold noodles?”

As I quickly found the cooking utensils of the right size and placed them where I needed them, the volunteer’s expression changed to astonishment again.

“You’re going to do all that by yourself?”

Well... 20 minutes might be difficult. But if I organized my movements well, it would be possible in 30 minutes.

“Yes. I’m not going to eat it alone, I’m going to share it with the kids in the dormitory.”

Then the volunteer asked me with a worried expression.

“The ingredients are all there, so you can use them. But can you do it by yourself?”

It was a question that touched the pride of my 20 years of food service experience. Of course, the volunteer didn’t mean to ask me that.

“Yes. Just sit down and rest. I’ll do everything.”

I smiled broadly and answered.

“Wow! Did you really make all this yourself?”

Exactly 20 minutes later. I hadn’t had to prepare food for almost 10 people in such a hurry at the restaurant lately, so my hands might have been a bit slow, but I was so motivated by Pilseung’s order earlier that I finished much faster than I expected.

“Yes, it doesn’t take much time if you have the ingredients.”

It was practically the same environment as the restaurant, so the kitchen was optimized for fast cooking. I also shared some with the volunteer and spread it out like a banquet on one side of the cafeteria, and the other students also glanced at this side.

‘I made a lot, so maybe they can come and eat more?’

I didn’t care about that family anyway. But that was because I had a lot of scars and became numb, and ordinary people couldn’t do that.

So I made this place for the kids who couldn’t get help from their families even though they had them.

‘I didn’t expect to stay here myself.’

And I was surrounded by the kids who really needed this place, having a trivial conversation. It was a different feeling.

“I know what you mean. They curse you for being annoying when you’re at home, and then they curse you for leaving when you’re out.”

“I hate it. What do they want me to do?”

They all seemed to have similar stories, and they kept moving their hands to the plates. Soon, the food disappeared as if it had been washed.

“Ah, I really enjoyed it.”

“What now?”

As they moved the dishes to the rest area one by one, someone shouted after looking at his phone.

“Hey, Jaemun is busking today. Let’s go see.”

I didn’t know who Jaemun was, but it seemed like he was performing.

“Oh, that’s today?”

“Yeah. Are you going or not?”

“Of course. Let’s go and troll him from the front row.”

“You’ll get beaten up again.”

They giggled as they showed each other their phone screens, and one of them asked me.

“Do you want to come with us? You can get there by taking one bus from here.”

Where? I tilted my head and frowned. The tallest one among them laughed out loud.

“If you need to save your transportation card, I’ll pay for you. You gave me something delicious.”

What are we going to see? I looked at the screen he handed me, and there were kids dressed like idol trainees around the amp.

No... I... I’m not completely uninterested, but I don’t have time for that. I had to call Yu-geon as soon as the recording was over.

He took my lack of refusal or positive reaction as a weak yes, and he grabbed my arm.

“Come on, don’t back out. Let’s go together, bro!”

I was dragged to a place near where we had hastily performed a busking stage to promote Drink Me, our previous activity.

‘There must be a lot of amateur shows here.’

Even though people hadn’t fully come out to the streets yet, there were quite a few groups that caught my eye, securing their spots.

They wanted to get the best places, I guess.

“Over here, this way!”

A male student who seemed to know the group that brought me here waved his hand and shouted at us.

“What’s this? Why are you all coming in a swarm?”

He looked embarrassed as the group teased him.

“Why, are you scared already? How are you going to dance then?”

“Hey, I’m not scared, okay?”

They were really annoying. While they bickered among themselves, the students who looked like a dance crew, wearing matching outfits, started to check their moves.

“It’s going to start soon, so sit in the front.”

“Okay.”

I also sat down in a place that was separated like a seat, and felt a twinge in my heart.

“Is the sound okay?”

“Yeah, it’s connected.”

When I did the stage myself here, I was so afraid that I would die like this that I couldn’t enjoy the stage fully.

It was the same now, even though I came here to watch, not to perform.

No, at least then I had some hope that I could live. Now, I just wanted to finish everything as much as I could before I disappeared.

As the bitter thoughts pierced my mind, the first song soon started to play with a thumping beat.