Crisis Into Opportunity
I scratched my chin slowly, thinking it over.
"So I raise the stakes..."
Stripping away instinct and looking at it purely with reason, the answer was obvious.
To.Any was a textbook flop-idol girl group.
'The main visual and the member in charge of vocals were both sunk by a sponsor scandal, and the general director went down with them.'
Even if the god of music had descended in person, saving a girl group like that would not have been easy.
And yet I was about to do exactly that.
Youth Travel, the song sent by the future message.
With that track, I intended to turn flop-group To.Any into a chart-topping girl group.
After reaching my conclusion, I took a breath and muttered, "Yeah... this should be enough."
Wouldn't it be fine to get greedy in my wager with the vice president?
No.
Wasn't I supposed to get greedy?
'The logic lines up, too.'
The situation was plausible enough.
This chance, right now. Even by a rational calculation, I would be a fool not to take it.
'The problem is how I raise the stakes...'
I couldn't just go in and ask them to increase my performance bonus out of nowhere.
After turning it over in my head from every angle, I finally clicked my tongue.
"I think I need to watch this a little longer."
It was still too early.
In other words, the board hadn't been set yet.
But from the way things were moving, it seemed I might not need to prepare that board myself.
The opportunity would come on its own. I would just have to seize it when it did.
"Right, then... let's leave it at that for now."
What mattered most at the moment was To.Any.
Having sorted out my thoughts, I turned and headed back to Practice Room 3.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I shoved the door to Practice Room 3 open.
Inside, To.Any was in the middle of dance practice.
"!"
The four girls all flinched at once and froze.
When their eyes naturally met mine, I thought, 'So they're not happy to see me... more like uncomfortable?'
Well.
My face was hardly the sort that invited warmth.
My skin was dark, and the corners of my eyes tilted up slightly, giving me a sharp overall look.
Besides, since I hadn't seen them face-to-face since the first day, it would have been stranger if they had greeted me eagerly.
The awkward air hanging between To.Any and me was obvious, but I put on a thick face and said hello.
"We met before, right? Us?"
We were going to be bumping into each other for a while, and we didn't need to be close, but we couldn't afford to stay awkward forever.
Fortunately, one member seemed to understand the effort I was making.
A girl with a bob cut and piercings in her ear raised her hand.
"Chief Manager?"
"Yes, that's right. I'm Kwon Chan, the manager-in-charge under Lee Ye-ji."
After giving a brief introduction, I asked To.Any, "Could you introduce yourselves? Start from that side."
The bob-haired girl who had spoken to me first answered energetically.
"I'm Nova!"
"Stage name?"
"Yes, that's my stage name. My real name is... I'd rather not say it. It's embarrassing!"
Piercings, bob cut, Nova. Noted.
I turned my head toward the brown-haired girl next to her.
"Hello."
Without meaning to, I tilted my head.
This brown-haired girl... her speech was a little awkward.
"I-I'm Rei, from Osaka, Japan...!"
Ah, she was Japanese?
'Japanese, brown hair, Rei. Noted.'
The fastest way to remember a name was to connect it to a trait.
After fixing Nova and Rei in my mind, I looked at the remaining two girls.
"My stage name is Ga-eul, and my real name is Park Ga-eul."
The one with wavy hair and round glasses was Ga-eul.
Her name and stage name were the same.
"I'm Seol Chae-i."
The girl with long straight black hair and a chupa chups in her mouth was Seol Chae-i.
After I naturally learned the members' names, I thought, 'Her visuals really are good, even now.'
I'd felt it before, but they hadn't been given the title of Baekhak's last girl group for nothing.
Even with the center visual, Park Gyu-ri, gone, the girls were still all above average in looks.
'If only that center visual, Park Gyu-ri, had stayed... the whole picture would have come together.'
But that girl was probably... well. I'd likely never run into her again in this industry as a girl-group member.
I erased Park Gyu-ri from my mind and gestured toward the seats.
"Shall we sit and talk for a bit?"
The four girls sat down gingerly, clearly watching my every move.
I shrugged off my jacket as well and jumped straight into the opening I'd already prepared.
"It must have been hard, right?"
"...?"
"A member of the same group and the director having something like that happen... it'd be strange if it hadn't been hard."
"!"
Rei, the brown-haired Japanese girl, covered her mouth in surprise.
The bob-haired Nova stared at me with wide blinking eyes.
The other two looked just as shocked.
Well, I supposed they hadn't expected me to bring up the sponsor scandal right from the start.
But it was something we had to talk about at least once.
If a problem had to be solved anyway, I preferred to deal with it quickly.
"So I heard you were worried the debut might be canceled."
Ga-eul, the one whose real name was also Ga-eul, raised her hand.
"Th-then... is our debut canceled, Chief Manager?"
"No."
"Th-then?"
"I'm here to tell you the debut is confirmed. It's been delayed a little, but the debut itself is set, so don't worry too much."
"!"
To.Any's eyes shook violently.
"... Haaah."
Nova, the bob-haired one, let out an incomprehensible sigh and collapsed in her seat.
Seol Chae-i, across from her, dropped the chupa chups from her mouth.
Rei's eyes turned red, and she looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.
Then the fallen Nova sprang back up and grabbed Ga-eul by the shoulders.
"... Amazing."
"...."
"Amazing!! Ga-eul!! We're debuting!"
Ga-eul struggled to keep the sour look off her face. "I heard you the first time... could you let go of my shoulders?"
"How can I let go? We're debuting! Debuting! Aaahhh!"
Nova hugged Ga-eul and screamed at the top of her lungs.
I quietly shifted my gaze to the other members.
"U-unnie!"
Seol Chae-i, who seemed to be the youngest, was also looking at Ga-eul, and Rei was looking at her too.
It was only our first meeting, but it was easy to see the members leaned on Ga-eul.
'So Ga-eul's the leader, then.'
I still needed to check their ages properly, but for now my personal pick was Ga-eul.
At that moment, Ye-ji, the rookie road manager who had gone to the cafe, came back.
"I'm back! Coffee! Cake! Anyone want some!"
To.Any swarmed Ye-ji and shouted all at once.
"Unnieeee! Our debut's been confirmed!"
"What!? Seriously?"
"Yesss! Totally, completely, absolutely confirmed! We're really debuting soon!"
"Kyaaah! That's great, girls!"
One truth of life was that if you were pretty, you could be forgiven for almost anything.
The girls bouncing up and down in delight made for a picture all by itself.
'I should tell Ye-ji to keep this kind of stuff on camera later.'
These days, fan service mattered most for girl groups.
Someday, when To.Any's fandom looked back at this exact moment, they'd be overjoyed.
Then Ye-ji lifted the slice cakes she'd brought in an armful.
"Let's have a cake party instead of a meat party! I picked up a little of everything, so help yourselves..."
I raised a hand to stop her runaway enthusiasm.
"Could I see you dance once before we eat the cake?"
"...?"
"It's harder to move once you're full, so I'd like to see it before we eat."
At my words, the mood froze solid.
I could feel To.Any's gazes drifting away from me, but... there was nothing I could do.
'I'm getting tired of this, too.'
I wanted to get today's work done before my energy gave out.
Fortunately, Ye-ji stepped in and lightened the mood at the right time.
"R-right, girls! The Chief Manager is busy, so let's show him the stage before we eat cake."
To.Any shot to their feet.
After straightening their clothes, they quickly began organizing their positions.
"Nova, move a little farther left... Chae-i, fix your hair a bit. It's a total mess. Rei, come over here a little more."
Under Ga-eul's lead, who shared both her real name and stage name, they snapped into place quickly.
As I watched the whole process with interest, Ye-ji shouted, "I'll start the MR, girls!"
A hard-driving beat echoed through the practice room.
It was To.Any's title track, Attention.
- Attention, all eyes on me,
Attention, in this moment I am the lead.
When the shining spotlight lights me up,
Attention, I'm the star in your heart.
Retro and Newtro.
Set to the strong pulse of the genre that was currently all the rage in the idol market, To.Any moved with crisp precision.
The addictive hook had me nodding along without meaning to.
- Don't let this night end,
Feel this moment, you and I.
Take my hand, come closer,
A moment we'll remember forever.
The highlight section had its own charm, too.
Even with the main vocal missing, Ga-eul's bright, refreshing tone as the apparent sub-vocal tickled at my ears.
That was why I couldn't help tilting my head.
'What is this?'
Was I just tone-deaf?
This song, Attention, as performed by To.Any...
It was better than I'd expected.
No.
Come to think of it, the song Attention wasn't the thing that was good.
'Look at this.'
These To.Any girls...
For a girl group, their fundamentals were way too solid.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The stage itself was rough.
With one member suddenly missing, there were obvious holes in the formation and in the distribution of parts.
But even factoring all that in... it was pretty good.
First of all, To.Any's basics were rock-solid.
Considering how badly today's girl groups were struggling with live singing, they were more than worthy of being compared to a first-tier group.
My expectations began to rise a little, and To.Any started to look different to me.
By then, the girls had finished their performance and were panting as they looked back at me.
Chief Manager or not, I was still just a manager in the end, but there was still fear in the way they looked at me.
Before I knew it, a bit of mischief kicked in.
"Hmm..."
I deliberately let the words trail off.
At that, the girls' shoulders twitched and trembled.
This was... kind of fun.
Suppressing the corners of my mouth as they tried to lift, I gave my verdict.
"It's good."
"!"
"Honestly, I was a little... surprised. The song is good, sure, but your dancing and singing were much more solid than I expected."
Nova, the bob-haired one, cried out in shock.
"Huh? Wait, was this supposed to be a mock evaluation?"
"No? I just watched it."
"...Really, Chief Manager?"
"Of course it's real."
Nova's eyes narrowed.
"Tell me the truth. This was a mock test, wasn't it? The look on your face makes it seem like a test."
"Why would a manager be giving tests? I just watched the stage since I'm going to be in charge of all of you from now on."
I explained, but they didn't seem to believe me.
So I decided to let it go.
Instead, I brought up the most important reason I'd visited the practice room today.
"I'd like to see Youth Travel as well, if that's possible."
Ga-eul, the one whose real name was also Ga-eul, tilted her head and raised a hand.
"Youth Travel is... a vocal song, Chief Manager."
"Ah, right. A vocal song. Can you go to the recording room and sing it now?"
"..."
Ga-eul's expression wavered sharply.
The other girls also stared at me with widened eyes.
'Huh?'
I tilted my head at the completely unexpected reaction.
'Something's off.'
Was there some problem with singing Youth Travel?
Ignoring the rising unease, I asked, "Is it maybe a song you can't sing right now?"
This time Ga-eul answered again.
"... We can sing it, but..."
"But?"
"Um... could we do it tomorrow, Chief Manager?"
"Is there a reason?"
"It's a vocal song without choreography, and we've practiced so much today that our voices are completely shot."
"So you want to sing it when you're in better condition?"
Ga-eul nodded hard.
I swept my messy fringe back with a hand.
'This isn't the real reason.'
There was something else.
I wanted to press further, but... reading the room, it didn't seem wise to push them too hard.
'Maybe this is enough for today.'
If I pushed recklessly, the girls might end up feeling uncomfortable.
Besides, if they could do it tomorrow, then it didn't seem like a serious problem.
So I stepped back and started wrapping things up.
"Good work, everyone. I'm heading out now, so what about you, Ye-ji?"
"I'd appreciate a ride, Chief Manager!"
"Good. Let's go."
While Ye-ji was saying goodbye to the To.Any girls, I headed for the smoking area.
- Sshh.
I lit a cigarette and drew a deep pull from the filter.
"Man... I'm dead."
Smoking didn't wake me up so much as drag sleep down on top of me.
Yawning, I stared blankly at the sky as the sun began to set.
Ten minutes passed like that.
After finishing her farewells with To.Any, Ye-ji appeared.
"Chief Manager, I'm here!"
I snuffed out the cigarette and stood up.
"How are the girls getting home?"
"They're waiting in the practice room until their parents come pick them up."
I nodded and headed toward the parking lot.
Now that it felt real that I was leaving work, the fatigue hit me all over again.
Damn, I wasn't going to nod off at the wheel, was I?
Please, let my brain hold out until the moment I clocked out.
"By the way, Chief Manager."
"Yes?"
"Why did you ask about that song Youth Travel earlier?"
Why had I asked?
Because it was the song that would take To.Any's debut results to number one.
But I couldn't say that outright, so I sidestepped it.
"The title was a little unusual. But why?"
"Oh, it's nothing major..."
Ye-ji trailed off with a grin.
By then I had my hands on the steering wheel.
"Ga-eul's been really worried about it."
Ga-eul was worried?
Why would she be?
And more importantly, I'm really tired.
Should I just close my eyes and call a designated driver?
"The song Youth Travel... Ga-eul wrote the lyrics and composed it."
My hand on the wheel jerked hard.
... Huh?
What had I just heard?
"So when Ga-eul heard the words Youth Travel come out of your mouth, I think she got scared."
Sleepiness that had been creeping over me vanished in an instant.
When I turned sharply, the rookie road manager, Ye-ji, was shrugging her shoulders.
"She apparently thought you were going to cut the song, or something. It's so girl-brain of her. Right, Ga-eul?"
My mouth fell open slightly.
Youth Travel... was a song written and composed by a girl-group member who hadn't even debuted yet?
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