K-Singer-Songwriter

A few days ago, the future message I had received flashed through my mind.

-["Mr. Kim Dong-hoon, did that NutTube channel of yours blow up or what? I heard the average views are nearly two million. Just how much are you making from ad revenue alone?"]

Kim Dong-hoon. He had once been called the nation’s MC and enjoyed immense popularity. But after the agency he had ambitiously founded ran into a cash crunch and went under, he disappeared from public view for a while.

Was K-Singer-Songwriter really Kim Dong-hoon’s comeback project?

Now that was interesting.

As the situation continued to unfold, my lips slowly curved upward.

Just then, Producer Hwang let out a long sigh and began to complain.

"I begged the director until I was blue in the face, but he keeps saying we have to go with Mr. Kim Dong-hoon. Looks like he’s trying to make room for him out of old loyalty or something, but why does it have to be our show...?"

Without thinking, I blurted out, "Looks fine to me."

"...Huh? You’re saying Kim Dong-hoon is fine with you?"

"Yes. Mr. Kim Dong-hoon was famous for being great at hosting, and coming back now will make headlines too, so I don’t think it’s a bad choice."

Producer Hwang’s expression turned awkward.

"Uh... well, I suppose you could look at it that way."

"When is Mr. Kim Dong-hoon joining?"

"He’ll probably come for a rehearsal before the main broadcast, so I think he’ll be here then."

I filed that away in my head. Producer Hwang, who had been watching me carefully, opened his mouth hesitantly.

"Team Leader Kwon, are you perhaps interested in Mr. Kim Dong-hoon?"

"Oh? Did I seem that way?"

"Well, to be honest, there aren’t many people who would speak up for Kim Dong-hoon."

Producer Hwang shrugged.

"When the company went under, there were a lot of junior comedians and entertainers who had joined the agency because they trusted him, and he turned around and vanished after stabbing them in the back."

I nodded slowly. As Producer Hwang said, Kim Dong-hoon’s reputation was far from good.

He abandoned the people who followed him and ran.

If those rumors were true, bringing Kim Dong-hoon on board would be difficult.

A NutTube channel pulling two million views was tempting, but not enough to make me swallow a controversial MC whole.

That said, I’m not about to give up just because of a ten-year-old reputation either.

For all that controversy, I hadn’t actually heard a single name of someone who said they’d been hurt by Kim Dong-hoon.

You’d think at least one or two people would have come forward to criticize him directly. It was strange.

So I decided to see for myself first.

There’s probably some story behind it. After I find out what it is, I can decide what to do with Kim Dong-hoon. No need to rush it.

Having sorted out my thoughts, I put on a light tone.

"I’m not contacting him directly. I’m just curious. No matter what anyone says, Mr. Kim Dong-hoon was an enormous star once, right?"

Producer Hwang nodded without much thought.

"That’s true. In his prime, he really was something."

"Still, thanks for the advice, Producer Hwang."

"Oh, don’t mention it. You already backed the article for us, so I’m grateful enough as it is."

Producer Hwang smiled warmly and bowed his head.

"I should head off and get ready for filming. Good luck out there, Team Leader Kwon."

"You too, Producer Hwang. Good luck with the shoot."

After finishing my talk with him, I took Ga-eul and headed for the contestant waiting room.

Even then, K-1 was staring holes through me and Ga-eul.

At that gaze, I let out an inward laugh.

No need to create a scandal by stepping into the main broadcast.

The suspicion was already solid, and the culprit had been identified.

From my point of view, there was no reason to take a risk just to film K-Singer-Songwriter.

I stopped walking and said to Ga-eul, "Ga-eul, I’m going to take a quick call before going in. You go ahead."

"Yes, Team Leader."

After sending Ga-eul into the waiting room, I pulled out my smartphone.

After a few rings, a familiar voice came through.

-What, Chief Kwon? It’s been way too long since you called me!

"Sorry. Work’s been a bit hectic, so I haven’t had time to reach out. In that case..."

My lips slowly lifted.

"How about we grab a meal sometime, Reporter Seo?"

The filming of K-Singer-Songwriter was over.

After dropping Ga-eul off at the dorm, I headed straight to Konkuk University Station. The university district looked as chaotic as ever, even after all this time. I barely managed to cut through the crowd and step into the Japanese-style pub where I’d agreed to meet Reporter Seo, when a familiar voice called out from one corner.

"Chief Kwon, over here!"

Instead of answering her greeting, I handed over a business card. Reporter Seo tilted her head, took it, and immediately cried out in surprise.

"Huh? Chief Kwon, did you get promoted?"

"Not exactly. I’m a temporary team leader."

Reporter Seo clicked her tongue.

"Temporary is practically the same as team leader. No, wait, you’re already a team leader? Isn’t that a bit fast?"

"That doesn’t sound like congratulations to me, Reporter Seo."

She laughed and said, "Ah, so you’re saying I should buy you a drink?"

"Well, it’s not exactly that..."

"You know what a reporter’s salary is, and you still want me to treat you? Fine! Dinner’s on me tonight, so eat as much as you want."

If she’s paying, there’s no reason to refuse.

After ordering a few side dishes and some cherry blossom sake that was supposedly popular with college students these days, we traded small talk for a while.

Then Reporter Seo, sounding impatient, prodded me.

"Let’s get to the point, Team Leader Kwon."

"Out of the blue?"

"Come on. You didn’t ask to meet me just to chat, did you?"

At that, I gave a short laugh.

She wasn’t just anyone. She was Reporter Seo. There was no need to test the water.

I went straight in.

"Hot singer-songwriter. Two-timer."

Reporter Seo, who had been wearing an eager expression, leaned forward.

"Oh, this time it’s a singer and a love scandal?"

"More or less. How’s that? Interest you a little?"

She smacked her lips.

"It does, but it’s a little bland. Like bibimbap without the gochujang."

Bibimbap without gochujang is not bibimbap.

I gave her exactly the kick she wanted.

"You know K-Singer-Songwriter, right?"

"Of course. It’s the variety show TAN is pushing hard right now, isn’t it?"

"The two-timer I just mentioned is someone who appears on that show."

Reporter Seo’s eyes widened.

"Whoa... so someone on a big show like that is cheating?"

"How about it? Starting to taste right now?"

"Perfectly. So who’s the guy cheating in this day and age?"

I answered lightly.

"K-1."

Reporter Seo stared at me with her mouth open.

"Huh! That K-1 is a two-timer?"

"Yes. And for the record, this is basically confirmed."

"Wow. With that innocent face? Hard to believe..."

"How’s that? Worth digging into?"

Reporter Seo slowly folded her arms.

"Mm, but isn’t he with SAG?"

"Yeah. He’s with SAG."

"SAG is strict about private life management, so digging up dirt won’t be easy... and as far as I know, K-1’s handler is..."

At a name I knew well, my eyes widened slightly.

"It’s probably Team Leader Kim Su-ji. That manager has a reputation for being exceptionally good at her job, so this one doesn’t look easy."

Kim Su-ji? If it was Kim Su-ji...

Was she talking about the Team Leader Kim Su-ji who, from the moment we first met, had bristled with a strange competitive fire and treated everything like a contest?

If there isn’t another Kim Su-ji at SAG, then yes, it’s probably her.

It wasn’t often that I heard a reporter call a manager good at her job.

So that wasn’t bluffing when she showed me that competitive streak from our first meeting.

But this time, her luck had been bad.

Her celebrity just happened to be a plagiarist and a two-timer.

I felt a little sorry for Team Leader Kim Su-ji because of that, but only a little.

"Still, you can definitely dig into K-1, right, Reporter Seo?"

It wasn’t that I felt more sympathy for Team Leader Kim Su-ji than irritation at the thought of K-1 creeping around one of my artists.

"...Heh. Of course. Why are you asking such an obvious question? How could I let a big story like this slip by?"

"If I get anything extra, I’ll funnel it to you too."

"Oh, that’d be a big help."

"And there’s one more thing I’d like you to look into..."

I let the sentence trail off and casually brought up the next topic.

"Can you also check on the rumors around Kim Dong-hoon, or do a little background digging when you have time?"

Reporter Seo tilted her head.

"Huh? Kim Dong-hoon, as in the Kim Dong-hoon I know?"

"Yes. Kim Dong-hoon, the nation’s MC."

"...Hmm. Did he, what, have an affair or something?"

At her words, my mouth fell open.

"Out of nowhere, an affair?"

"When you take an interest in someone, Team Leader Kwon, it’s usually because there’s an affair or drugs involved, isn’t it?"

"..."

My expression went blank.

"Is that really all I’m worth in your head, Reporter Seo?"

"Hey now, that was a joke."

"Your face says otherwise."

Reporter Seo burst into laughter.

"Maybe half a joke? Think about the scale of the cases you ask me about every time you get involved with me!"

"Fine, I’m offended. I’m leaving."

"Hey, hey, I’m kidding! I’ll investigate both of them first. Kim Dong-hoon and K-1. If I dig anything up, I’ll call you right away, Team Leader Kwon."

A few days passed after my meeting with Reporter Seo.

Now that editing was done, Black Bride was slowly entering promotion and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠marketing.

Since the release date for the preview screening hadn’t even been set yet, only a few simple teaser articles were being posted.

But the lead actress was none other than top-tier star Lee Ha-eun.

-Real-Time Entertainment News Ranking

[1st: Lee Ha-eun]

[2nd: Black Bride]

[3rd: K-Singer-Songwriter]

[4th: TAN New Variety Show]

...

Articles about her next project quickly climbed to the top of entertainment news search rankings.

-Ha-eun!!!

-What the hell... our Ha-eun is finally coming back?

-Lol, so after Queen it’s a nun this time?

-Lee Ha-eun’s visuals are insane T_T

-They said she started filming her next project in summer, and now she’s back in fall, just like promised. Thanks, my love Lee Ha-eun.

-Long comments... are a bit much.

-Does anyone know where Lee Ha-eun got those earrings?

-She’s still unbelievably beautiful after all this time, haha.

-I love you, Lee Ha-eun T_T

The response in the article comments was hot.

Maybe it was because she had moved straight into another project without a gap after Queen of Joseon, but the public reaction toward her was still overwhelmingly favorable.

"Black Bride only needs a release date now."

All right, that side was handled.

The thing I needed to focus on now was K-Singer-Songwriter. And even here, there wasn’t much for me to worry about, because it was already drawing a hot response before airing.

-[Exclusive] New first-quarter variety show K-Singer-Songwriter builds anticipation through NutTube shorts!

Baekhak’s PR team and TAN’s variety marketing team had joined forces and flooded the public with promotional articles.

NutTube, Instagram, every kind of social media, online communities.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they had spread K-Singer-Songwriter-related content across every platform that could support virality.

At that point, it was fair to say they had done all the promotion they possibly could.

So now all that’s left is to wait?

Time passed, and then, sometime in the late evening.

I didn’t leave work. Instead, I settled into the Baekhak monitoring room.

When I slowly turned my head, I saw Lee Ye-ji and the To.Any members gathered together for the first time in a while.

"It... it’s starting!"

"Ah... I’m, I’m so nervous, damn it."

"Ga-eul unnie, you did well, right? Right?"

Amid the members’ restless commotion, a flustered Lee Ye-ji shouted loudly.

"It’s, it’s starting!"

With that cry, familiar text appeared on the monitoring room TV screen.

K-Singer-Songwriter.

At last, the first episode of this quarter’s hottest variety show was being unveiled.

Baekhak monitoring room.

On the 24-inch TV screen, TAN’s first-quarter variety show, K-Singer-Songwriter, was airing.

To monitor this show, in which To.Any’s leader Park Ga-eul was appearing, the To.Any members and Lee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ye-ji had gathered in one place and were watching the screen.

"It, it’s starting...!"

"My heart is pounding."

"I’m so nervous. Is this normal?"

"Uh, when does unnie come out?!"

"You guys, quiet! It’s started!"

With Lee Ye-ji’s cry, the TV screen showed a flashy studio.

-["A gathering of Korea’s singer-songwriters. Who will be the best singer-songwriter to move viewers’ hearts!"]

Along with the subtitle, someone walked out from among the studio seats.

It was a fairly famous male vocalist from the band music scene.

"It’s senior Lee Chan-woo!"

"No way. He’s on this too??"

"That’s cheating! Senior Lee Chan-woo is here from the very first appearance!"

The To.Any members made a scene, while Lee Ye-ji bit her lip hard.

Kwon Chan looked at the TV screen with a relaxed expression, then stood up.

Park Ga-eul, who had been watching the TV, abruptly turned her head and looked at Kwon Chan.

"Team Leader. Where are you going?"

"Oh, I’m just going to take a quick call."

Park Ga-eul nodded at Kwon Chan’s answer and turned back to the TV.

Then Rei shouted shrilly.

"Unnie’s out!"

At Rei’s cry, the mood in the monitoring room heated up in an instant.

"What, Park Ga-eul? Why does she look so pretty??"

"Hey, hey, is that really the time? Check the comments. How are the viewers reacting?"

"It’s been less than a minute since the broadcast started. What kind of reaction do you expect!"

The To.Any members couldn’t take their eyes off the screen, and Lee Ye-ji immediately started hammering at her laptop to check real-time viewer reactions.

-Wow, K-Singer-Songwriter is really old-school.

-It’s just the standard competition variety formula lol.

-Not fresh, but it has that familiar taste, so it’s not bad.

Lee Ye-ji kept scanning the comments.

-Oh, K-1’s on lol.

-Wow... K-1’s voice still kills.

-Huh? Kim Hyun-ah is on this show too?

-Whoa... they really got just about every singer-songwriter they could.

-But who’s that short-haired girl?

Lee Ye-ji’s eyes widened.

-Isn’t that the girl who sang Youth Travel?

-Oh... if the girl group that sang Youth Travel is here, doesn’t that mean they’re a skilled group?

-Probably. Their live stage videos were seriously good.

-I don’t know about the singing, but the visuals already blew me away.

Lee Ye-ji let out the breath she’d been holding.

The reaction isn’t bad.

No, it was much better than I had expected.

Seol Chae-i’s center visuals were overwhelming, sure, but Park Ga-eul’s looks were still good enough to rank in the upper tier even when measured against an entire girl group average.

Maybe it was because of that appealing face.

The audience’s first reaction to Park Ga-eul was far more positive than Lee Ye-ji had predicted.

Still, there was no room to relax yet.

With competition shows, praise like this could turn into malicious comments at any time.

Lee Ye-ji swallowed hard and kept her focus on the monitoring.

Meanwhile, the other To.Any members kept their eyes glued to the TV and concentrated on monitoring K-Singer-Songwriter.

Time passed, and Nova, who had kept her lips tightly shut, slowly spoke up.

"...Huh."

Nova looked dazed.

"More of Ga-eul’s screen time than I expected..."

At that, Seol Chae-i answered while looking at the TV.

"Yeah. It looks like she’s getting almost as much screen time as K-1."

"Right!? They keep showing even the little stuff, don’t they? I’m not imagining it, am I?"

Rei shouted while hugging Ga-eul.

"Unnie! What is thisss! You’ve got tons of screen time!"

At Rei’s words, Ga-eul’s face turned blank.

"...Really. Why do I have so much screen time?"

"Huh? Unnie, how can you say that?"

At Rei’s words, Ga-eul glanced to the side.

The call was running long, and Team Leader Kwon still hadn’t returned to the monitoring room.

Ga-eul clicked her tongue with a slightly disappointed look, and just then Nova let out a groan.

"Ah, what? The broadcast ends right when the singing battle starts?"

"Wow... that’s devil editing."

"Ye-ji unnie! What are the comments saying!"

At Rei’s shout, Lee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ye-ji, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the laptop since the broadcast started, answered slowly.

"...Good."

"Huh? Good?"

Lee Ye-ji said in a low voice.

"Yeah, really good! Ga-eul’s reaction is hotter than we expected!"

At that, the other members cried out in surprise.

"Really? People are talking about Ga-eul a lot?"

"It’s not full of hate comments, right?"

"Show me too, unnie!"

As the members crowded around Lee Ye-ji, the monitoring room door, which had been firmly closed, opened and a cool-looking man appeared.

Lee Ye-ji and the To.Any members shouted at once.

"Team Leader!"

"No, where did you go?"

"K-Singer-Songwriter just ended!"

At their cries, a faint smile touched Kwon Chan’s lips.

"Really? How are Ga-eul’s reactions?"

At Kwon Chan’s question, Lee Ye-ji stepped forward and answered.

"First of all, viewer reactions seem much better than the data we expected, Team Leader!"

"Good better, right?"

"Yes, of course it’s the good kind!"

At Lee Ye-ji’s answer, Kwon Chan nodded slowly and said, "So it blew up, then?"

"Huh? What do you mean, all of a sudden?"

"I just talked to Producer Hwang. He said the ratings came in really well too."

At Kwon Chan’s words, Lee Ye-ji and the To.Any members ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all widened their eyes.

"Peak metropolitan-area rating, 8.8 percent. National rating, 8.1 percent."

Cheers erupted through the monitoring room.

"Average first-episode rating, 6.3 percent. They say K-Singer-Songwriter posted the highest premiere rating for a variety show in nearly three years."