Idol Hides His Military Service

Ding-dong.

"Who is it?"

Kim Sukja.

A completely ordinary Korean housewife, raising one daughter with her husband, who was an ordinary office worker.

Recently, her only daughter had left home saying she was going to become an idol, so Sukja was living through the most relaxed period of her life, and while she was preparing dinner like usual, she headed to the front door at the sound of the doorbell and called out.

'Who could it be at this hour?'

She hadn’t ordered delivery, and it wasn’t like any packages were coming, so Sukja wondered who would be showing up at this time in the evening as she peered at the intercom screen.

"Lee Sion?"

"Open the door."

What Sukja saw on the intercom screen was her daughter, Lee Sion.

"Did you forget the passcode? No, but what is it all of a sudden? Did you get some time off again or something?"

"Hey now, you sure talk a lot. If your daughter came home, you should hurry up and open the door."

Snap.

Sukja could hear the sound of her rationality cutting off.

Just now, in that short moment, Lee Sion had created three separate reasons she deserved to get beaten to death.

First, even though she knew the passcode, she rang the doorbell anyway and made Sukja go through extra trouble.

Second, she didn’t answer what she was asked.

Third, she spat out something rude to Sukja’s face.

Sukja lightly loosened up her hands and moved to open the front door.

'Since she’s quick, I have to grab her in an instant so she can’t run, then smack her right on the back—'

Running a Lee Sion simulation in her head and thinking about how many hits to land on her back, the moment Sukja opened the front door—

"Lee Sion, are you out of your—what is that?"

"Have you heard of a Chanel bag?"

"...Why are you holding that?"

Sukja couldn’t carry out her plan.

The second the door opened, as if she’d predicted Sukja would yank her in right away, Lee Sion was holding something up at face height.

Sukja knew exactly what it was.

-This? It’s nothing. So, you know my daughter, right? I told you she got into Samsung? Well, she got a year-end bonus and bought me a gift. That little brat, what money does she even have to buy something like this? I want to chew her out, but she says it’s a gift, so I—

A friend who had once held up a Chanel bag in front of Sukja and bragged for a solid thirty minutes.

Sukja, who had to sit through thirty minutes of her friend bragging about her daughter—half envy, half jealousy—couldn’t forget that day.

-Sukja, what did you say your daughter does again?

-Uh? That’s... so, I mean...

All of a sudden, Sukja couldn’t answer a single thing.

-I’m lying down watching TV because I’m waiting for my time. Mom, you know Zhuge Liang? Zhuge Liang’s nickname was the Crouching Dragon. It means a dragon lying down. Just like me.

Sukja couldn’t bring herself to tell her friend about her daughter, who’d said she was “waiting for her time” when Sukja asked what she was going to do after bombing the college entrance exam.

To be honest, Sukja didn’t have big expectations of her daughter.

No—rather than “expectations,” she’d always believed that kids were fine as long as they ate well, grew up well, and didn’t cause trouble.

And just like Sukja hoped, Lee Sion grew up just fine.

The problem was, she only ate well and grew up well.

-You can’t evaluate me with grades, Mom.

Even after getting an average of level 5 on the college entrance exam, Lee Sion had the nerve to rake at Sukja’s insides, saying there were things more important than college, and there was a day Sukja finally exploded.

-Someone else’s daughter bought her mom a Chanel bag as a gift! Did I ask you to buy me Chanel, or even give me allowance?! You brat!!! You have to have a plan for your future!

-No, seriously, nobody has a future plan as thorough as mine!

-Die! Die, you little—!!!

That day, Lee Sion got kicked out of the house in pajama pants.

But you really never know how life will turn out.

Because thanks to that, Sion ran to her aunt’s house, joined Idol Ground 100, grabbed first place, and now she was a proper idol.

And now—

-It’s 5,990,000 won. I hugged it tight the whole way here because I was afraid it might get scratched.

-What? Are you insane?! Luxury bags like this are lambskin—if you hug it tight, it’ll get crushed!

-How would Madam Sukja know that?

-Good grief! Didn’t they tell you how to store it at ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) the store? Give it here!

-They explained it, but... was it really that important? You can’t even hug the bag?

-Expensive bags have different materials! You have to know things like this too!

She was suddenly showing up with a Chanel bag and shocking Sukja.

"A little more to the right."

"Okay."

Sukja, massaging Lee Sion’s shoulders, and Lee Sion sitting there leaning back on the living room sofa, acting smug—it didn’t feel real.

-This is for you.

It was hard to believe reality: Sion, who wouldn’t hesitate to call her own daughter a little delinquent, had actually come home with a Chanel bag as a gift.

At first, Sukja wondered if she was dreaming.

But shockingly, it was real, and it wasn’t a fake either—there was even a department-store warranty slip attached to it. A real Chanel bag.

"I spent the last month running events all across the country. Ms. Sukja, you oppressed me, but like I always said, once I decide to start running, giving Mom an easy life? I can do that fast."

"I know! Mom always believed our daughter would do well."

"Really? Then for someone like that, the massage pressure isn’t satisfying. Make it more relaxing."

"Okay!"

Ms. Sukja.

A form of address Sukja would never let slide under normal circumstances, but today was different.

'Younghee, that woman is about to get it!'

Now, when Sukja met her friend Younghee—who bragged about her daughter for thirty minutes every single time—Sukja could finally crush her spirit.

So she could tolerate even a Lee Sion in “one hundred times ruder” mode.

Of course—

"Coke."

"Coke?"

"Ah... you don’t know? That is called cola, Ms. Sukja."

"...I see? Our Sion wants cola? But we don’t have any cola at home."

"If we don’t have it, is your military service over—no, is your role as a housewife over? To not have cola stocked for a daughter who could show up any time... this hurts my heart."

"Mom will go to the convenience store."

"Good."

Sukja decided to endure it.

-Save me, Mother!!

When she’d done something wrong, it was “Mother.”

-Mom, your daughter’s wish. If you invest in a gaming laptop, you won’t regret it, seriously!

When she wanted something, it was “Mom.”

-Tsk. Why is there no meat, Madam Sukja?

Normally, it was “Madam Sukja.”

-Ms. Sukja, my kindergarten teacher said I should try the gifted education center.

When she’d done something well, it was “Ms. Sukja.”

Who would believe Lee Sion had been using these forms of address on Sukja since she was five?

Anyway, the moment Lee Sion put “Ms. Sukja” in her mouth, her rampage got incredibly powerful—but she also had a ghostlike sense for timing, so at times like this, Sukja had no choice but to go along with it.

Sukja rummaged around, putting on her outerwear to go buy the cola Lee Sion demanded.

"Oh, right! Then, Mom, while I’m out, I’ll do some grocery shopping too."

"Huh?"

"Last time when you were on break, you kept running around so much I couldn’t cook for you, and it keeps bothering me. Mom will make dinner tonight, so wait a bit."

"No, no! Wait, Mom!"

"Should I stop by the mart—what should I buy? Hmm... oh, I just thought of something good. I need to hurry and shop."

"Stop! Mother! Stop!!!"

"Wait, I’ll be right back."

"I’m fine, Mom!!!"

Hearing Sion desperately trying to stop her like she was worried Mom would find it annoying, Sukja felt proud, wondering when her daughter had grown up like that, but—

'Still, I have to feed her.'

Even if it meant putting up with the trouble, Sukja felt even more strongly that she had to show off her cooking for her daughter for the first time in a while.

Click.

At the same time, Sukja pulled out her phone and called her husband.

"Hello?"

"Don’t make plans today no matter what, and come home."

"Huh?"

"Come home and eat. If you eat with your friends again, I’ll smash you to pieces."

"Honey! What is it now?"

"Just shut up and come home."

"Honey!"

It was a day the whole family would eat together, for the first time in a while.

***

"What is all this?"

"Put it away. I made sure you won’t feel slighted."

"Are you out of your mind?! Did you get a settlement or something?"

"You catch on like a ghost, ma’am."

"I’m not a ma’am, okay?!"

"Fine, miss."

When I changed the word a little to calm my aunt down after she bristled at what I said, she finally reset her slanted eyes back to normal.

Then she checked the pile of gifts I brought, and for some reason, her expression looked uncomfortable.

"What? It’s not your taste, Aunt?"

"No... isn’t this too expensive?"

"It was expensive."

The moment I got leave from CEO Kim Sanghyeok, I went straight to New World Department Store.

-That place is the best for getting items.

Born-to-be bourgeois Yunkyung’s family! I went to boost the department store’s sales and buy gifts for my parents, my aunt, and my teammates, and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

'Korea has a ridiculous number of rich people.'

Honestly, this was my first time buying things in this price range, so my hands were shaking.

My heart wanted to run away immediately.

But—

-Excuse me, are you Lee Sion?

-Huh?

-I’m a fan, so... I’m always cheering for you!

Because a store employee recognized me, it was awkward to just run out, so I figured, screw it, and bought the luxury goods with my eyes squeezed shut.

For Mom, a shopping bag. For Dad, a watch. And for my aunt, a wallet and a scarf.

-I recommend this product. Considering the age range of the person receiving it, a classic design fits better than overly flashy decorations or patterns.

-Then I’ll take that.

-Yes, I’ll package it for you.

-Ah, for the bag, I’m going to carry it as-is, so just package the rest.

To be honest, I had no idea what was what, so I bought what the employee recommended, and next time I came to a place like this, I felt like I needed to bring Yunkyung with me.

Anyway, seeing how Mom and Dad looked insanely happy even though they didn’t show it, I guess I chose well.

'Man, they could just accept it happily, is all.'

My parents and my aunt weren’t just pure happiness as they took the gifts I handed them.

-Sion, Mom already looked at it enough, so go return it.

-Are you insane, Madam Sukja? This is a Chanel bag!

-I know. I’m grateful, and Mom likes it too, but it’s money you earned by working hard, so buy what you want too, save too, and all that.

-I have enough for myself.

-Sion, Dad thinks the same. Dad doesn’t need a watch this nice. Dad has a Galaxy Watch.

After a dinner where my stomach worked hard for the first time in a while, Madam Sukja and Dad brought up the Chanel bag again, trying to hand it back to me.

It was definitely an expensive gift, but I realized my thinking had been shallow when I assumed they would just be happy.

Still, it wasn’t like I’d spent money thoughtlessly.

'I already steadily bought Bitcoin with half of it.'

I’d bought Bitcoin with half of the settlement, and I’d already decided the remaining amount would go to gifts for my parents and the members.

Riiip.

-Lee Sion! What are you doing?!

-The receipt is gone now. Adios.

Thinking they might secretly go to the department store and return it, I ripped up the receipt, and my parents stared at me in shock.

After that, there was a miracle incident where I gave Mom the Chanel bag as a gift and got smacked on the back, but it couldn’t be helped.

Once I decided to give it, the gifting had to proceed.

Anyway, even without the receipt, there was a guarantee card proving it was genuine, so there was no issue with its value.

"So just accept it nicely, Aunt."

"You’re the same as ever. This is why your mom doesn’t stop worrying about you."

After I explained what happened at home and did the receipt-deletion show in front of my aunt again, my aunt finally sighed and took the gifts.

'There were plenty of times I thought she was awful, but... I did debut thanks to my aunt, too.'

The part about using me was still on my revenge list in my head, but I couldn’t deny my aunt’s help was big.

-Sion is my niece.

My aunt’s teary acting, still floating around the internet.

Right before she spoke, when she bowed her head, I was sure she poked herself in the eye to squeeze out tears, but to everyone else, that press conference looked like she was confessing the truth.

Thanks to that, I could keep going on the show.

Even after she left the program, she quietly helped me here and there, and a while ago, she even directly took charge of Iam’s reality program that aired on MPlay, so I was grateful.

-If it’s PD Miyoung, it wouldn’t be strange if she took a bigger program, honestly. It really feels like she took it to help her real niece.

I suddenly remembered what I’d heard from Lee Hakyoon, the content team lead who worked at MPlay with my aunt—saying that reality variety stuff was usually for rookie PDs, and it wasn’t the kind of thing my aunt, who made Agbaek a hit, would normally take.

"Is the fruit of betrayal sweet?"

"It’s not betrayal, it’s changing jobs."

"Now that you’ve crawled out of KJ’s warm embrace, it’s hard, isn’t it?"

"Not sure? I actually like it because it feels freer than when I was at MPlay. But maybe because of your YouTube, SY recently formed a content team too. Even today, they came to me and got content consulting."

Oh?

Hearing precious intel from inside the enemy’s home base was interesting.

"Got anything even more interesting?"

"I’m not SY Entertainment, I’m under SY Production, so it’s completely different. Find out the details yourself."

"Tch."

I tried prying for something more interesting, but unfortunately, she said she didn’t know the details because her affiliation was different.

'The company seemed super worked up about it, though.'

VYNNIA and LYNX, whose schedules overlapped ours right before this comeback.

The company seemed like it was going nuts over that, but honestly, I thought it sounded kind of fun.

'Head-on is what’s cool.'

Last time was a strategic win for us, but this time, I wanted to win properly, once.

So it would’ve been nice to get something useful from my aunt, but it seemed SY’s security wasn’t soft enough to leak important info to a traitor.

"Are your comeback preparations going well, at least?"

I shot a quick glare at SY’s lackey trying to squeeze info out of me.

"Trying to steal our info? Whose orders are these! Lee Seyoon? Yoo Hyunsoo?!"

"You really can’t say anything you can’t!"

Smack.

Maybe I hit the nail on the head, because my aunt smacked me on the back.

'My aunt’s hand is sharp too, in its own way.'

I’d already gotten hit by Mom before coming to my aunt’s place, and getting hit in the same spot again actually hurt pretty bad.

Compared to Madam Sukja, she fell short, but my aunt was still high on the combat-power scale.

"Our side is going fine. Everyone’s working hard."

"And you?"

"Me too. I’m improving like crazy."

"You talk well."

It wasn’t a joke.

I was probably the practical type.

After debuting and running nonstop stages, and then having the company train me from the basics up, it felt like I could physically tell my skills improving day by day.

"Come to think of it, you’re scheduled to come back in July, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you have variety shows picked out yet?"

"How would I know that."

"Hmm..."

At my answer, my aunt frowned with a meaningful look, thinking hard about something. freewebnoveℓ.com

It felt like she was plotting something suspicious again, but that wasn’t the important part.

"Order chicken first."

"What? You didn’t eat dinner?"

"I ate, which is why I’m telling you to order it."

"Ah... you ate home-cooked food."

Tomorrow I’d have to go back to the company, and I couldn’t end my surprise vacation like this.

If I at least ate the chicken my aunt ordered and rolled around on my aunt’s sofa for the first time in a while before going back, I’d feel a little less cheated.

'Those little punks are going to love it, huh?'

Just thinking about giving the surprise gifts I prepared for the members on today’s shopping trip made me suddenly want to hurry back to the dorm.

"How many do I order? One chicken?"

"Two!"

But at the dorm, the manager and the members would ban chicken, saying we had to manage our diet before returning for the comeback, so I pushed my return back to tomorrow, after eating chicken.