I'M A GENIUS IDOL BUT MY PASSIVE IS SUNFISH: Chapter 56

 TL by Miru

I'm a Genius Idol but My Passive is Sunfish: Episode 56

A chilling silence fell between them.

Even Minsung, who tried to mediate between the two, froze in his tracks.

Meanwhile, the Sunfish, without realizing it, had lashed out. In fact, the Sunfish was now trembling inside.

 

'I've messed up.'

 

He hadn't meant to shout, but the frustration he had been holding back just burst forth.

He struggled to survive amidst the constant fear of not knowing when he might die, every day since he had been synchronized here.

Everything felt like a reason for his demise, including this very moment.

 

[BAD ENDING]

[Death due to discord with a member!]

 

It wouldn't have been surprising if such a notification had popped up. Baekya had accidentally vented his frustrations meant for the system on Yulmu.

 

'Why am I crying like a fool?'

 

Baekya wiped his tears with the back of his hand and said in a shaky voice,

 

"I'm really sorry about today. I know everyone's already having a hard time with the activities."

 

Baekya left the room, saying he would try harder than he currently was, and hid in the bathroom. He locked the door, turned on the shower, and crouched down underneath it, burying his face in his knees.

 

"I miss my big sister."

 

The tears finally broke free. Amidst the sound of falling water, Baekya's sobbing could be heard.

 

"Damn it."

 

Yulmu ruffled his hair and flopped down onto the bed.

 

"Na Yulmu, why were you like that?"

 

Yuyeon took the shocked Chung out of the room, leaving only Yulmu, Minsung, and Jihan in the room.

 

"Sorry. The atmosphere became unnecessarily weird because of me."

"You should apologize to Baekya, not us," Jihan spoke with a serious tone.

"Please, stop saying you're sorry." Minsung looked like he was about to pull his hair out in frustration.

"Why did you even do that? Normally, you're laughing around like you're missing a screw." At Minsung's words, Yulmu clammed up. After hesitating, he looked down and answered,

"It's just... because I was scared."

 

Seeing this side of Yulmu for the first time, Jihan stared at him intently.

 

"What are you scared of? That he might leave?"

 

Baekya's potential departure.

Of course, that was a frightening thought. Without Baekya, DASE would likely have collapsed.

 

"That's scary too."

"Don't joke around."

 

The atmosphere remained heavy.

Was it now Jihan and Yulmu's turn to be in the spotlight? Minsung, who self-professedly had a weak mentality, faced them with a look full of fear, attempting to mediate once more.

 

"Just stop it. If you guys fight too, I'm really going to cry."

"Ugh."

"Cry then."

 

While Yulmu looked disgusted at the idea, Jihan suggested that it was okay to cry if he wanted to. Minsung looked at them with an enlightened expression.

 

"Yeah, it's about time there was a fight. Honestly, expecting six energetic guys to always get along without any conflict is just me being greedy, isn't it?"

"You know it well."

 

Jihan responded, leading Minsung to act like he was crying, accusing Jihan of being too cold-hearted at times.

 

"It's not about being greedy..."

 

Yulmu trailed off, looking embarrassed, but then spoke up again.

 

"I was afraid he might jump off."

 

Yulmu's gaze remained fixed on the floor.

 

"Who? Baekya?!" Minsung asked in surprise.

 

"When we first moved into the dorm, the balcony railing was broken. It looked dangerous, so I just covered it up with a trash can, but then he was looking at it..."

 

Yulmu ran his hands through his hair again, making it even more disheveled.

 

"The kid never used to show it when he was struggling, but suddenly he started crying, making mistakes he never used to make."

 

Yulmu was sure there had been a change in Baekya's mood.

 

"How did you know that? Did Baekya tell you something?"

 

Jihan asked, and Yulmu hesitated before answering.

 

"I'm not sure when it was, but I saw him one night when I went out to drink water."

 

Yulmu had seen Baekya crouching on the balcony, looking down.

 

"I thought he might be smoking or something, so I went to check, and he was mumbling something like 'I wonder if it hurts to die.'"

 

That day, all Yulmu could do was pretend he hadn't heard anything and just get Baekya to come inside. Hearing this, Minsung and Jihan also became serious.

 

"So I told Namkyung hyung right away the next day. I said he seemed anxious."

"Well, it's hard to figure out what kids like Baekya are thinking."

 

Was Jihan trying to describe himself? Minsung looked at Jihan with eyes full of things to say.

 

"So you did that because you thought he was going to jump?"

"Yeah."

"Eih, surely he wouldn't..."

 

Minsung forced a laugh. Now that he thought about it, hadn't Baekya looked rather wistfully down the balcony when they were talking?

Baekya was now suddenly classified as emotionally high risk. It was a well-known fact that people in this industry often suffered from depression... but usually, it's the celebrity disease that hits first, right?

 

"Namkyung hyung also told me to keep an eye on him. He might be depressed."

 

Jihan added fuel to Minsung's confusion. He clasped and unclasped his hands, visibly anxious.

 

"I, I should talk to hyung, right?"

 

Fortunately, ID Entertainment had a resident professional psychologist. Catching it early and setting things straight was always best, so maybe it was still possible to bring Baekya back to his old self...!

It was at that moment.

The door slightly opened, and Baekya reappeared. His eyes were a bit swollen, but no one mentioned it.

 

"Um..."

"Hey, Baekya, what's up?"

 

Judging it was too soon to leave Yulmu and Baekya together, Minsung hurried over. He subtly blocked Baekya from entering the room with his body. His tearful effort caught Jihan's sympathetic gaze.

 

"I have something to say..."

"What- what do you want to say?"

 

Baekya tried to enter, followed by Yuyeon and Chung standing behind him.

Why is he acting like this?

We don't know either.

The three people communicated with their glances, but Baekya's intentions were just as unclear to Yuyeon and Chung. They simply shrugged in response.

 

"I just don't think we should sleep on this. This week is our last music show."

 

Baekya's point made sense. If things continued as they were, it would surely be noticeable. It might not be noticeable if it was Yuyeon, Jihan, or Chung but if the usually cheerful duo were to look grim, even a passing dog would ask if they had fought. Baekya's insistence on talking further left Minsung with no choice but to step aside. Yulmu's gaze softened compared to before.

 

"I thought about it while showering."

"..."

 

Yulmu just looked at him silently.

 

'Why isn't there any reaction?'

 

Baekya's eyebrows twitched slightly, but he continued.

 

"Are you really not mad about my dance mistakes?"

"I've told you several times I'm not."

"Then why are you mad?"

 

Just a few exchanges, and the atmosphere turned tense again.

Oh, Lord. Minsung, not even religious, sought divine intervention when suddenly, the bomb was dropped.

 

"I was afraid you'd die."

"…What?"

 

Baekya was taken aback.

 

"Why are you surprised?"

 

His eyes darted about as if he had been caught hiding a secret.

 

'He's afraid I'll die? This guy... does he know something?'

 

The Sunfish darted looks at Yulmu, trying to gauge any signs in his reactions. Yulmu then became more certain.

 

"As I thought."

"No, what do you even know that you're saying this-"

"You were trying to jump earlier, weren't you?"

 

Huh?

Baekya looked dumbfounded.

But his collar was already in Yulmu's grasp, with Yulmu looking down at him viciously.

 

'Hah. This is already the third time.'

 

Baekya internally lamented that he was getting his collar grabbed for a lifetime's worth today. Annoyed, Baekya glared back.

 

"Let go while I'm asking nicely."

 

It was bad enough to feel upset, but feeling humiliated was even worse. I mean, he was only 10 centimetres shorter than Na Yulmu. What was he supposed to do if he was being lifted off the ground just because his collar was grabbed?

 

'Adlay Tea. You've insulted me.'

//TN: He literally calls Yulmu "Yulmu cha" which means adlay tea.

 

With his lips tightly pressed together, Baekya mentally counted to three in an attempt to calm himself. However, with Yulmu still holding onto the collar, the enraged Sunfish ended up violently shoving Yulmu away.

 

"Are you crazy?!"

"...What?"

 

The situation had reached a point of no return.

 

"Baekya, calm down."

"Both of you seem too heated. Maybe we should talk about this tomorrow-"

 

Yuyeon and Minsung each held one back, keeping them apart.

 

"No? I need to say this now."

 

Interrupting Minsung, Baekya declared that he needed to speak his mind.

 

"Why would I die, you lunatic? You think I'm insane?! To jump from there?!"

 

Baekya angrily pointed beyond the door, raising his voice in agitation. His tone became increasingly sharper in his agitated state. Yulmu, as well as the other members watching, were taken aback by this side of Baekya they had never seen before.

 

"Can you take responsibility for those words?"

 

To this, Baekya's eyes slightly crazed, hit back with a high note.

 

"Yeah! I'm sure of it!"

 

* * *

 

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WANT ME activities in the 4th week, monster rookies #DASE nominated for 1st place on public broadcast.

(1st place nominee DASE screenshot.jpg)

===========================

 

- It's the final broadcast today, at least turn on the U app

- I wanted to see them fulfil their 1st place promise, but the competition was too strong ㅠㅠ Still, good job guys~

- Putting stickers on their faces during the encore... how could they not be number 1 in my heart ㅠ

- During the 1st place announcement, Yulmu wouldn't leave Baekya alone ㅋㅋㅋ Kept playing around, but Baekya didn't budge

└ Feels like a playful puppy and a resigned catㅋㅋㅋ

└ But when going down the stage, Yulmu was a bit behind trying to catch the confetti, so Baekya took him and led him down ㅋㅋㅋ

- Is it true that the song entered the 3rd place on the chart and now climbed up 12 ranks?

 

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[DASE_Official]

Hello! It's DASE~

How did you find today's stage? It's already the last broadcast, time flies so fast ㅠㅠ And we're so honoured to be nominated for 1st place today! We'll work even harder in the future, so please keep watching us~!

Oh, and today's DASE dressing room theme is 'nerd'. But what exactly is a nerd? Someone with glasses…?

See you very soon♡

(Picture of DASE in glasses with droopy eyes and freckles.jpg)

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- Betting 100 won that our peachy baby wrote this. The post is super cute

- Ah! Insane. That group photo is legendaryㅠㅠ I don't even know what a nerd is but those droopy eyes ㅠㅠ Our kids are geniuses.

- Nerd! A geek who's good at math or computers! But they have to be crazy good at it

└ Exactlyㅋㅋㅋ If they're not good, it doesn't count as being a nerd

- Is the dressing room theme ending now? No, it's my joy in life...

└ Keep the dressing room open indefinitely

- Are the kids preparing for the KCON stage now? Looking for a KCON ticketㅠㅠ

└ With the year-end award season coming up, they might rest a bit and then do both, right?

- So when are they going to create the official fan club?