Chapter 28
[Title: Death Match is Shocking]
‘I already knew the broadcasting station bastards were cruel
But who the hell are they going to eliminate there?
No matter what, Lee Juha was 1st place in the photo mission.’
â””There’s no way Choi Taeri would be eliminated, right?
â””Then Lee Juha gets eliminated?
â””Honestly if it’s Choi Taeri vs Lee Juha, Lee Juha gets completely destroyed
â””Is Choi Taeri a god?
â””Not a god but god-tier
â””Agreed
[Title: Choi Taeri dug Lee Juha’s grave for him]
‘That’s not a variety show, it’s a funeral company…
Lee Juha will die the moment he gets on stage.’
â””Ahhhh ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ I shouldn’t be laughing but ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹
â””Lee Juha won’t be eliminated. If they eliminate him I’ll report it to the Blue House petition site
└└Crazy, is the Blue House Lee Juha’s agency or what
â””What did Choi Taeri know when he did that?
â””Right now the most dumbfounded must be Lee Juha. It’s unfair enough that a bull charged at him, but now he has to death match with the bull.
└└Stop making me imagine things in this situation ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Title: You guys know this, right?]
‘The death match results are already out.
But would Choi Taeri really be eliminated, humanly speaking?’
â””Here comes the nonsense again
â””Sick of this shit
After scrolling through the posts, Juha felt bitter.
He thought he could gain something from today’s broadcast and monitoring, but all he gained was frustration.
Almost no one expected Juha to win in this death match. Anyone could see that Choi Taeri was superior to Lee Juha in all aspects. Even thinking he might be able to beat Choi Taeri made him feel self-loathing. As Niki said, it was time for a character transformation.
But he didn’t want to cower timidly either. To grasp at straws, he needed to objectively examine fan reactions to today’s broadcast.
‘There must be something to salvage.’
Juha shook off the post he just read and looked at the next one.
[Title: “Thank you for saving me” ã… ã… Are we going to eat you alive?]
‘I think I’m completely hooked on Lee Juha.
In episode 1 he was so stiff I thought he was a wooden block, but first I got hooked after seeing that decadent king photo, though I was in denial about becoming a fan, but in episode 2 I finally decided to admit it.
With that kind of looks, “Thank you for saving me” is too harsh.
Who made you cry, who hit you… ã… ã… ’
â””Honestly I got a bit emotional at that part too.
└ㅇㅇ I could feel the mindset of someone who practiced for 6 years and went home
â””I want to make him cry and hit him… ah, that’s enough.
└└I hate myself for nodding at this comment…
â””Our Your Majesty is not a wooden block ã… ã…
â””If he asks to be saved, shouldn’t we save him? I thought that was how it worked ㅇㅇ
â””With those looks, if he asked to be saved even Japanese police would save him
└└Don’t cross the line
Below that were several posts about becoming Lee Juha’s fan.
The fact that the “Lee Juha” mentioned in the posts was himself didn’t feel real at all. This time too, some posts had slight maliciousness or sexual harassment, but it was tolerable.
It felt strange thinking that harsh comments were better than no comments.
At least thanks to placing 1st in the small mission, he seemed to have definitely left a face impression.
Posts about Juha continued.
[Title: Hey hey, what’s Lee Juha’s nickname? Ah I can’t remember]
‘What kind of bastard was it
Something about going around seducing people
What was it, oo-bastard’
â””You’re not talking about Overlord Bastard, are you?
└└Fuck ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ Are you crazy? It’s probably Overlord Aura
└└Don’t you know about charisma? It’s aura, not bastard or asshole
└└I’m ashamed that I have to stan Lee Juha along with people like this
└└I never said I stan Lee Juha
└└You’re already hooked, what are you talking about…
“……”
Next.
[Title: Hey but Lee Juha is an overlord after all]
‘He turned the mighty Choi Taeri into a puppy fetching balls
If he was born in the Three Kingdoms era, he would have unified the three kingdoms before anyone else
Before the Tang-Silla alliance came’
â””Are you perhaps preparing for a Korean history exam?
└└ㅇㅇ
└└Me too ㅎ
â””At that level he’d unify China too
â””At that level he’d devour Genghis Khan too.
â””At that level he’d devour Alexander the Great too.
â””At that level… I should stop.
“Lee Juha.”
Not realizing Taeri had smoothly approached, Juha was concentrating on his phone.
“Huh? Yeah.”
Juha hurriedly closed the screen. He couldn’t show Taeri the posts that were getting increasingly explicit about him.
Unaware of his flustered feelings, Taeri took off his glasses and slowly rubbed his face against Juha’s shoulder. Since sleeping in the same bed had become familiar, this kind of contact wasn’t awkward either.
“Hmm, not sleeping? It’s late…”
Taeri asked.
“I should sleep.”
Juha put his phone on the nightstand and turned toward Taeri.
When had he ever been such a cold, handsome guy? Choi Taeri was quite affectionate. That appearance was like a tiger tamed only for him, making Juha feel good.
Juha lay using Taeri’s arm as a pillow and caressed his face. A pleased “mmm…” flowed from Taeri’s mouth.
“But don’t you check reactions?”
Juha asked.
“It just makes me restless for no reason, so it’s better not to look. If there’s something special, the company tells me separately.”
“I see…”
Choi Taeri wouldn’t need to fluctuate with reactions.
Taeri hugged Juha tightly while using his arm as a pillow.
“Why? Is there something special?”
“People seem to be pairing you and me too much. I’m worried they might misunderstand.”
Juha spoke hesitantly.
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“A little…”
Juha mumbled and brushed off his words. With his old personality, he would have scolded “you can’t keep your head on straight in front of cameras,” but looking at the current Taeri, harsh words wouldn’t come out.
After struggling for 6 years, it bothered him that Juha was only seen as aiming for variety show chemistry with Taeri on camera. Both Choi Taeri and Lee Juha came out wanting to become idols through competing with skills, but it was inevitable to feel disappointed that the public only focused on their chemistry.
“Should we be careful when there are cameras?”
“Yeah.”
Since perceptive Taeri brought it up first, Juha felt secretly relieved.
“Then when there are no cameras, you’ll have to love me more, is that okay?”
Taeri cutely threatened while stroking Juha’s shoulder.
“More than now?”
“It’s far from enough. Lee Juha keeps making people desperate. Look at me. Do you think there’s been anyone who made me this frantic?”
“…I don’t really want to know about your past.”
At Juha’s words, Taeri firmly closed his mouth. Juha hadn’t believed Taeri’s answer that ‘that night’ was his ‘first time’ anyway.
Juha had no idea why Taeri liked him so much. Throughout Juha’s trainee life, he had received many love letters at school, but the reasons written there were hard for Juha to accept.
Since they weren’t particularly close friends, they just confessed based on appearance or fragmentary glimpses, so Juha hadn’t had time to deeply consider what his real charm was.
But now, before the first stage, finding an answer to ‘what charm do I have?’ was more important than anything for Juha.
Like Choi Taeri had said ‘try seducing me,’ if he knew that reason, couldn’t he also capture the public’s hearts?
It would mean Lee Juha had enough charm to seduce a Choi Taeri-level man.
“What do you like so much about me?”
Juha asked in a nervous voice.
Then Taeri smiled wickedly and slowly traced Juha’s chest with his finger. Ticklish goosebumps began to rise on his body.
Cute guy. He never missed an opportunity anyway.
Juha smiled contentedly as he watched his seduction.
I’ll allow it. I need to hear the answer.
“Everything. Everything’s good. Face, body, personality, habits. All of it.”
An unhelpful answer came back. Juha gathered himself again and asked.
“Specifically when?”
Taeri pretended to think while gently rubbing the center of Juha’s chest with his index finger.
Seriously.
Before the teasing got deeper, Juha grabbed Taeri’s wrist.
“Won’t you answer?”
Taeri reluctantly took his hand off his chest as if disappointed. While Juha waited for his answer with a sensitive expression, Taeri propped his arm on the pillow, rested his chin, and looked at him.
“Hmm… when you snap irritably and curse while being annoyed?”
“This crazy bastard really…”
Juha bolted upright and grabbed a pillow.
“Like right now.”
As if getting cursed at was such a good thing, Taeri laughed heartily.
Juha let out a hollow laugh and put down the pillow he was holding. With him laughing like that, he couldn’t bring himself to hit him even with a pillow.
“Answer properly. So I can reference it for the next stage.”
At Juha’s words, Taeri put away his playfulness. Lee Juha’s stage was also Taeri’s stage.
“I’m not joking. When you suddenly do that with such a gentle, pretty face, it’s kind of exciting? It’s unexpected if anything.”
“…”
Juha listened quietly to his words.
“You know those people. Perfect self-management, thorough with others too, everything needs to come into my hands according to plan, but they can’t be caught so they seem sharp. When you curse, I get that feeling and you look kind of sexy.”
“I’m not that much…”
He was sensitive, but he wasn’t particularly perfect or thorough with self-management. However, he often heard that he seemed difficult because of his high walls toward others.
On stage, Choi Taeri was a step above Juha. As Niki said, what Juha needed now was character rather than skill.
So what the public wanted was also not Lee Juha’s true self but the processed character called ‘Lee Juha.’
‘What were the fans’ reactions?’
Juha fell deep into thought.
At first there were many comments like ‘borrowed barley sack’ and ‘wooden block,’ but after the decadent king photo and episode 2 airing, public opinion completely changed.
Lee Juha who made the difficult number 1 Choi Taeri into a dog fetching balls.
Usually so blunt he can’t even say ‘I love you’ to fans, but when filming starts, suddenly transforms into an overlord bastard, no overlord aura person.
Perhaps like Taeri, fans were also focusing on Lee Juha’s ‘unexpectedness.’
After organizing his thoughts, Juha looked at Choi Taeri lying next to him.
Choi Taeri’s first impression was clearly a cold handsome man to anyone. The man who was so perfect he seemed arrogant and difficult was now acting cute to Juha and craving love.
‘What was Choi Taeri’s character on stage?’
Juha recalled Taeri’s dance lines when practicing.
When dancing, Choi Taeri overflowed with power like a roaring beast that no one could touch. Even Dance Master Niki would have difficulty producing that level of dancing. So no matter how much strength Juha put in, he’d only be a kitten in front of a tiger, a mixed breed dog in front of a mastiff.
‘That Choi Taeri is doing this now.’
Juha looked once more at Taeri holding him tightly. Even while hugging Juha close, he was busy looking for more spots to cling to.
What can tame a tiger isn’t a bigger, stronger being than the tiger. What trains them and makes them kneel with just eye contact and gestures without beating them is a human who weighs less than half the tiger’s weight.
Bluntly speaking, in reality too, Choi Taeri was a beast who might pounce on Juha at any moment if not tamed.
‘A control-freak trainer facing a fierce beast.’
He found the answer for his stage character. Just imagining this concept sent thrills through Juha’s body.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
