Holy Idol

chapter 3: Noise marketing

(T/N: Noise Marketing: Similar to the English term ‘buzz marketing’, marketing through word-of-mouth, or a “publicity stunt”)

“These lost lambs are my parents?”

(T/N: He was priest so he call people lambs because God compared people to lambs on the bible)

Rembrary murmured absent mindedly.

“We don’t even look similar though? How did these faces produce this face?”

Rembrary’s absurd remarks convinced the young man wearing glasses and CEO Im.

This guy has really lost his memories.

From calling his parents lost lambs, to muttering things that seemed to mean ‘How could these ugly parents give birth to a handsome son like me?!’. It was an absurd remark that cannot be made if he did not lose his memories. Although he was a weirdo, he loved his parents very much. It is true that Yeonwoo-nie is very different from his parents but he would never say that unless he’s out of his mind…

“Jongwoo.”

After sighing, CEO Im instructed the young man in glasses.

“You said he hit his head, didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Take this child to the hospital quickly.”

* * *

‘That young man in glasses is named Jongwoo.’ Rembrary remembered the young man’s name
clearly.

‘Until I find a way back to my original world, I have to stay in this world. I have to memorize everything I saw and heard in order to adapt living here somehow.’

When Jongwoo brought Rembrary to a strange-looking white building that they call hospital, he hastily looked around. Then, he saw a surprising sight.

There was a thin, wide box hanging on the wall, and from inside the box, he could see himself, the exact same body that he is in, inside there. In the box, the same music he heard on the stage played. Young men on the stage together dance hard. While he was the only one standing straight.

When the scene ended, the screen suddenly changed, and he saw a man and a woman standing on the stage. They were both dressed gaudily and wore something weird around their heads.they were smiling and talking awkwardly.

Yes, that was Wild Animal’s stage.

Haha. Their choreography is… unique?

Yeah, it was unique, right?

Instead of looking at each other while talking, they glanced at the paper that they were holding .

‘Is it like a video device that plays a video recording?’

While staring blankly at the box, he could feel the people’s eyes looking at him strangely. Rembrary took his eyes off the box and looked around. People sitting nearby were glancing at him.

Then I heard a short person say, “Isn’t that him?”.

They did not ask Rembrary, but he still replied with a smile.
“You’re right, that’s me.”

However, Jongwoo, who came out of nowhere, covered Rebrary’s mouth so he couldn’t say anything anymore.

“No. He’s not that Woo Yeonwoo, he’s a different Woo Yeonwoo. Haha.”

Jongwoo said, obviously lying, and dragged Rembrary somewhere. He thought he was going to be dragged somewhere, but the door wasn’t that far.

“Please go in… Woo Yeonwoo-ssi.”

When the person standing at the door looked at Rembrary curiously, Jongwoo laughed exaggeratedly and dragged him once again.

When he came in, the door immediately closed. There is a big desk inside the room, and a long hanger across it. A white gown was hanging on the hanger. In front of the desk is a person who seems to be the owner or the white gown.

“Welcome, Woo Yeonwoo-ssi. Are you hurt anywhere?”

The person asked as soon as the two came in, but Jongwoo answered instead, helping Rembrary sit on a small round chair next to the desk.

“Are you?”

“Yes. But after this… you, I don’t know if you’ve seen the news, but you have to keep this conversation a secret…”

“You can rest assured, I have talked with CEO Im-nim.”

Jongwoo continued his story with a sigh of relief.

“He lost his memories after he hit his head. I thought he was joking, but he really can’t recognize his parents.”

The tired-looking woman raised her eyebrows and asked with seriousness evident in her voice.

“Woo Yeonwoo-ssi, where exactly and when did you hit your head?”

“I hit my head In the bathroom…”

“There are various places in the bathroom.”

“I hit my head on the marble bathtub.”

When Rembrary told his own version of the story, Jongwoo, who was next to him, started to lament.

“Look at this. We don’t have a bathtub, let alone a marble bathtub, miss. He seems to be in a serious condition.”

“There’s no bathtub in the bathroom?! Is that true? If there’s no bathtub in the bathroom, why is it a bathroom?”

After Rembrary asked this shockingly, the woman stiffened

“This…”

And murmured.

“What’s sure is that he either has mythomania or amnesia.”

(T/N: mythomania: an abnormal or pathological tendency to exaggerate or tell lies.)

An inspection that lasted nearly three hours followed suit.

Rembrary has realized that the sunken-looking person is a doctor, and that the person standing at the door is a nurse.

And that there are no priests in this place.

The hospital here is not connected with the temple, and the doctor said that the treatment is not done directly by a priest. Doctors diagnose diseases and treat mild colds. Rembrary was astonished when he learned this fact.

And it was already weird when he occupied a different body.

A world with no priest.

However, no matter how surprised Rembrary is, the inspection still continued. After the inspection ended, he went back to the room where he first came in.

The doctor, who had been waiting while holding a strange piece of white paper, seriously said to Rembrary and Jongwoo who just came in.

“He’s very healthy.”

Jongwoo asked, surprised.

“Healthy?”

He then touched Rembrary’s head with his hand.

“Over here too?”

“Yes, there is no bruise. The same goes for other places.”

Jongwoo’s eyes got bigger.

“If he’s perfectly normal, then how did he lose his memories?”

“It’s not impossible because a person’s body is complicated, but…”
The doctor replied, glancing at Rembrary, who was poked at the skeleton model on the desk.

“First of all, the injury has not been identified.”

The doctor said while looking at Jongwoo’s eyes.

“Do you want me to link it to a different area?”

It was a way of saying that maybe it’s a mental problem.

Jongwoo shook his hand to dry it and took Rembrary to the changing room. Then he watched Rembrary as he changed his clothes.

“Huh?”

Then he suddenly discovered something strange and asked,

“Yeonwoo, didn’t you have a scar here?”

“What do you mean a scar?”

“On your side. A surgical scar. From a traffic accident.”

“I have lost my memories, you think I’d remember about a scar?”

“That’s not it…”

Jongwoo muttered while looking at him suspiciously.

“They said it was a scar that even surgery could not remove though…”

‘I guess my divine power naturally healed the scar.’ Rembrary felt a prick inside, but he hurriedly changed his clothes, pretending not to know anything.

Jongwoo looked at Rembrary’s side.

The memories disappeared along with the scar. The thought that maybe he’s Yeonwoo’s twin or someone who resembles him, popped into Jongwoo’s mind. However, it’s impossible to happen in that environment. The entry for the dormitory is strictly controlled. And when Rembrary was in the dormitory, he was immediately dragged by the members. Besides, it wasn’t the scar that mattered now. It was the head.

“Yeonwoo, stay here. Don’t go anywhere else, okay? Right here.”

Jongwoo took Rembrry to the company’s night duty room, told him not to leave, and then went to the CEO’s office.

CEO Im was nervously pacing around the room, and asked Jongwoo as soon he came in.

“How was he?”

He had received the test results from Jongwoo as soon as the result came out, but he felt like he had to hear them again.

“He’s healthy.”

“And his head?”

“If we’re talking about what the doctor said… yes, the head is also undamaged.”

“This is driving me crazy.”

CEO Im murmured in with a sigh of relief.

“Doctor Park suggested that we send him to a mental hospital.”

CEO Im hands trembled when Jongwoo carefully brought it up.

“No way.”

“But if it’s really a mental problem…”

“If you said that you lost your memories because of an accident, everyone will sympathize with you. Your mistakes will be covered up, and the people who used to curse you will feel sorry.”

“······”

“However, what if you lost your memories for no apparent reason? Do you know what they are going to say? They will say that you’re crazy. Do you not know what’s groundless rumors? If you have a scar on your wrist, groundless rumor would say that you tried to kill yourself!”

CEO Im groaned and twisted his body around.

He slumped down on the sofa and grabbed his head.

“And you do know how special mental illness is in our country, right?”

“That’s true.”

“There are only two mental illnesses that the public accepts. Depression and anxiety disorder.”

Jongwoo became silent.

Unfortunately, this is the reality of the current entertainment industry. If a huge star gets a mental illness, people probably wouldn’t care. However, if an unknown idol debuted with it, it definitely is a disadvantage.

CEO Im realized that what he said may have been a bit harsh. So he added, with a much more subdued tone,

“His face is now well-known, so if we revealed that he has a mental illness, once he quit being an idol, he will have a hard time getting a job.”

“…I understand.”

“Besides, he’s not that violent and uncontrollable that he had hurt another person,”

“Yes.”

After a long thought, CEO Im sighed and said,

“Let’s keep the fact that he lost his memories private in the meantime. And post an article saying that he just stood still because he’s not feeling well.”

“Will people believe it?”

“We have to release a statement even if they don’t believe it.”

“Yes.”

“Although it’s bad publicity, the name ‘Wild Animal’ would be stuck on people’s minds. Let Yeonwoo take a rest and for the member to turn around first. We will do some Noise Marketing.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll be honest and tell it to Yeonwoo’s parents. Settlement fee would come in anyway so even if he can’t do any promotion… Anyway, don’t act too disappointed and tell him properly.”

Although he felt sorry towards Yeonwoo, letting him rest is the best course of action CEO Im could think of. He sighed and instructed Jongwoo to go out.

But when Jongwoo was about to leave, a loud ringtone came out of a cell phone that Jongwoo had subconsciously put inside his back pocket. It’s a song that debuted at the same time, but it was sung by a different idol who is on the verge of succeeding.

CEO Im’s eyes turned cold, and Jongwoo quickly pulled out his cell phone and went out as he answered the phone.

“Yes, this is LLL Entertainment’s Lee Jongwoo.”

CEO Im laid down on the sofa.

Jongwoo went out, but CEO Im could still hear the phone call from the hallway.

CEO Im pulled out a candy, when he started to think that he wanted to smoke again even though he had quit smoking.

“Yes.”

“…”

“Yes.”

“…”

“Yes…yes?!”

But then, Jongwoo, who answered the phone while looking at his phone, and suddenly shouted.

CEO Im raised his upper body to see what had happened instead of peeling his candy open.

Suddenly the door burst open and the Jongwoo entered. Jongwoo still had his cell phone in his ear. When he was wondering why Jongwoo came in without hanging up, he deliberately said in a loud voice.

“Our Yeonwoo is a hot topic on social media and commu? Because of the words he shouted ‘I don’t know how to dance’?! You’re going to interview him?… You’re going to interview him and do a photoshoot?!”

Jongwoo shot CEO Im a look that asks ‘What should I do?’.

He quickly gestured.

‘Say yes! Say yes no matter what!’