The Birth of a Star Manager

Protagonist.

The live broadcast of Star Observation! began amid fans’ worry and anxiety.

After about an hour and a half ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of airtime, To.Any’s fan café, Together, burned up all over again.

Attention from the public naturally shifted toward Park Ga-eul, To.Any’s leader, who had come down with a bad cold during the filming of Star Observation!

And with that, public interest shifted toward Park Ga-eul as well.

In a slightly different sense from the fans.

The manager who deftly stopped an idol member from falling down the stairs just as she was about to collapse from a bad cold.

This exquisite single frame spread quickly through every community and across social media.

As public attention gathered, abnormally written filler articles began to pile on.

Before long, attention began to focus less on the girl group To.Any itself and more on a single perfectly timed meme born from the live broadcast of Star Observation!

And then came the article that pushed that attention to its peak.

The birth of a star manager.

It was the first moment Kwon Chan’s name was branded into the public mind.

To.Any’s response to Star Observation! was hotter than I had expected.

But... that hot attention veered in a direction I hadn’t expected.

"?"

The public’s attention had gone not to To.Any, but to me.

More precisely, it had piled onto the meme of me catching Ga-eul, who had nearly fallen because she was sick.

...I couldn’t hide my confusion.

It was a perfect meme, that much was true.

But this meme... did it really deserve this much attention?

"Is this seriously happening?"

My common sense couldn’t make sense of it.

But contrary to what I thought, more and more attention kept pouring into that image.

Even so, my commute time eventually arrived.

When I got to headquarters, I went straight up to the rooftop smoking area and lit a cigarette.

The colleagues around me greeted me as they passed.

"Oh? Manager Kwon! I watched you on TV yesterday. Nice work."

"Man... the article made you sound like Superman."

"The reaction’s intense, isn’t it? At this rate, you might really become a star manager, just like the headline said."

...Damn it!

An embarrassment I couldn’t even explain in words washed over me.

Right. A single viral meme hadn’t actually changed my life.

To the public, I was just the manager who saved an idol member from a fall.

The real problem was my social dignity.

From the lobby of headquarters all the way up to the rooftop smoking area, everyone I met kept calling me a star manager!

I fanned my burning face and muttered, "Ha... I’m seriously dying of embarrassment."

What the hell is a star manager anyway...

A star manager.

Who the hell came up with that?

The reporter who uploaded such an absurd clickbait headline?

Should I file a complaint call?

At the same time, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something had gone wrong.

This meme had scattered the attention that should have gone to To.Any.

A faint, unidentifiable wrongness crept up the back of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my neck.

I stubbed out the cigarette and, out of habit, started checking To.Any articles.

Even now, the neatly caught image of me and Ga-eul was drawing far more attention than To.Any itself.

That was when one comment caught my eye.

"!"

The shock hit me like a hammer to the back of the head.

"...People are seeing the meme like that?"

So I looked at it again...

Without the context before and after, it was more than enough to see it that way.

Ga-eul’s flushed face, red from her fever, could easily spark strange imaginations.

At that instant, the fine hairs on my forearm stood on end.

So that was it.

That was the source of the wrongness I’d felt.

I’d wondered why people were so obsessed with this image, and now I understood.

I felt my expression harden as I muttered, For now it’s just comments, but if an entertainment reporter sinks their teeth into this bait...

A simple episode could turn into an accident.

Realizing I couldn’t sit around any longer, I moved at once.

I called Ye-ji, who was probably out on schedule with To.Any by now.

"Ye-ji, are you with the girls?"

"Yes, yes! We’ve got a stage today, so we’re on the move right now!"

"How are the girls holding up?"

"No problems at all. They’re full of energy!"

Without meaning to, I let out a thin sigh of relief.

"Since they’re getting attention in all sorts of ways, please tell them not to look at the community or social media reactions."

"Yes, yes, understood!"

"And thanks for handling things, Ye-ji."

"Yes. But, Manager...?"

"?"

"Hehe... after watching yesterday’s live broadcast and the comments that came in afterward, people were calling you Superman, and then the star manag—"

I cut the call off cleanly before she could say anything more useless.

At that very moment, as if waiting for it, an unfamiliar number called in.

It was an entertainment reporter whose name I couldn’t even remember from the business card we’d only exchanged once.

After sending the temporary response that I couldn’t take the call right now, I frowned.

How do I handle this?

If I’d responded on day one, maybe I wouldn’t know, but now it felt a little late to clean this up.

At this point, asking them to pull the article down would be difficult, given how much attention this meme had already drawn.

My head started spinning from the sense of crisis crawling up my spine.

How could I settle this?

While that suffocating feeling tightened in my chest and deep lines formed between my brows, something suddenly came to mind: To.Any’s chart ranking.

"..."

I lifted my eyes sharply and checked the music chart ranking at once.

The crisis running down my spine turned into a small shiver.

"Second place."

Public attention had drifted in a slightly odd direction, but...

To.Any’s Youth Travel had climbed in the music rankings.

Whatever the direction, this was proof that public attention had gathered around To.Any.

In that instant, my mind, so packed with stimulation a moment ago, cooled rapidly.

"..."

Reason slowly returned.

And inside that calm, I started doing the math in my head.

We can’t suppress the incident anyway.

That meme was already spread across social media and online communities.

It was too late to clean it up now.

So instead of cleaning it up, what if we made the incident bigger?

If I could turn that public attention back toward To.Any...

Wouldn’t that be the best kind of promotion?

At that moment, the tangled situation opened up all at once, and I began to see what I needed to do.

"...Yeah."

If there’s an issue, you bury it with another issue.

And I had a card right now that could bury this one.

"Youth Travel lyricist and composer, Park Ga-eul."

Turning on my heel, I ran down to the publicity team.

I arrived at the publicity team, breathless.

True to its reputation as the busiest department at Baekhak, every seat in the publicity office was already full.

After steadying my breath, I looked for the head of publicity.

"Manager Kwon."

"!"

"What is it? What’s happened so early in the morning?"

I turned in surprise and saw the publicity team leader standing there behind me, a coffee in hand and a blank look on his face.

"So early in the morning... Ah!"

A mischievous smile spread across the team leader’s face.

"Heh... come to think of it, I used the wrong form of address. It’s star manager Kwon, right?"

Damn it.

At this rate, that really ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was going to become my nickname.

I brushed back my bangs, soaked with sweat from the run, and said, "Do you have a minute, Team Leader?"

"A minute? Hmm... Yeah, I can spare a little. Why?"

"I wanted to ask you something."

"You do? Is it something we need to talk about alone?"

After a brief hesitation, I answered, "Is there an empty meeting room?"

"Wait a second."

The team leader checked the meeting-room schedule on the whiteboard and waved me over.

"Meeting Room 2’s open. Let’s go."

I followed him into Meeting Room 2.

After we sat down, the publicity team leader tilted his head.

"What’s so urgent you came running in sweating? Is it really because of the article that broke this morning?"

His question sent me into thought for a moment.

The half-formed keywords still drifted around in my head.

Calmly. Steadily.

I gathered those keywords and turned them into a sentence.

"Team Leader."

"Yeah?"

"Did you know Ga-eul wrote and composed Youth Travel?"

The team leader’s eyes widened slightly.

"Youth Travel? To.Any’s Youth Travel?"

"Yes. That Youth Travel."

"...Oh. Right. That was the song one of the To.Any members wrote and composed, wasn’t it?"

My eyes widened a little in turn.

Right. There was no way the publicity team leader wouldn’t know that.

Then why hadn’t he turned that into an article?

An idol member who could write and compose was absolutely the sort of thing that could become a hot topic.

That was when an unexpected name came out of the publicity team leader’s mouth.

"Chief Director Park Yu-hyeon told us to keep that source buried for now, so we didn’t run it."

"!"

"What was it... He said it would be a waste to pop it off now? So we had a rough time with it! The composer’s name and the member’s name were both sitting there in plain sight, so fact-check calls kept coming in nonstop, and we nearly died trying to deny it was true."

My eyes flew wide open.

"Chief Director Park Yu-hyeon really said that?"

"Yeah. That’s why we kept it under wraps, but why? Is the chief director saying to release it now?"

"..."

My expression turned strange.

In that gap, the publicity team leader slid a question toward me.

"Hmm... judging by your face, this must be urgent."

"...Sorry, but could you connect me to Director Park?"

"Huh? Now?"

"Yes. It’s pretty urgent. I’ll take responsibility."

The team leader grinned and gave my shoulder a light shove.

"You owe me one, Manager Kwon."

He called Director Park Yu-hyeon on the company landline.

I watched, feeling my pulse start to race, and then Director Park’s voice rang through the meeting room.

"Publicity team leader? What’s going on this early in the morning?"

"Yes, hello, Director. It’s about something else entirely..."

The publicity team leader explained the situation, then handed me the phone.

I took a short breath and answered.

"Director. This is Manager Kwon from Team 5."

-Yeah, Manager Kwon. You said you had something to say about Youth Travel?

"Yes, Director. I heard you instructed everyone to keep quiet about Ga-eul being the lyricist and composer of Youth Travel. I’m calling to confirm that point."

Director Park Yu-hyeon paused briefly before answering.

-Hmm... that’s right.

"!"

-If we dropped it right after debut, I thought the impact might be too weak, so I held it back.

Director Park gave a low chuckle.

-It sounded so good to my ears that I was willing to wait because of whoever it was.

"...!!"

-The fact that you called means, in your opinion, now’s the time to release it?

My throat bobbed hard.

"Yes, sir. That’s right."

-Then do it.

"!"

-I left To.Any’s schedule to you, Manager Kwon, so give it a good shot.

"!!"

At Director Park’s words, I clenched my fist tightly.

"I’ll do my best, Director."

-I’m looking forward to it.

After hanging up, I barely managed to keep my mouth from curling into a grin.

Director, I love you!

Now that I understood the situation completely, there was no reason to hesitate.

I immediately showed the publicity team leader the comment I’d seen a moment ago and explained the situation.

The team leader glared at my phone, then scowled hard.

"It’s true? No, it literally says her face turned red because she was sick, so how can they spin that into this kind of fantasy?"

At his anger-filled voice, the corners of my mouth lifted.

"Then let’s bury it."

"Huh? With what?"

"With the source that Ga-eul wrote and composed Youth Travel."

"!"

The team leader’s eyes widened.

"Bury one issue with another?"

"Yes. That meme is getting me attention too, but Ga-eul is drawing her share as well."

"...Hmm."

"Let’s pour oil on that attention. An idol genius who can write and compose..."

The voice spilling out of my mouth was hot.

Proof that I was excited.

"Using that title, let’s flip the issue around and make a star out of her. What do you think, Team Leader?"

The publicity team leader stared at me for a moment, then smiled.

"Deal. I’ll get the work started right away."

The publicity team of the entertainment industry elite went into motion.

The next day.

Just as promised, the publicity team began pouring out articles about Ga-eul.

It wasn’t the flow I’d expected, but either way, To.Any had been drawing public attention through their music-chart rank and through Star Observation!

Now that the public learned that To.Any’s Youth Travel had actually been written and composed by leader Park Ga-eul, that attention shifted.

Baekhak’s publicity team steadily grew that attention.

All the while, they were uprooting the first signs of anxiety.

Like a wave crashing in, Baekhak’s promotional articles pushed the existing issue aside.

That enormous current felt as though it were announcing the birth of a new star.

In the midst of it, Ga-eul and my meme slipped away from public attention as if it had all been a lie.

Baekhak’s publicity team had successfully redirected the public’s gaze.

And so, the day after the near-accident was averted, I checked the music charts.

The corners of my mouth lifted.

"Got it."

To.Any’s Youth Travel had finally reached No. 1 on the music charts.

The next morning.

After sleeping soundly for the first time in a while without any particular worries, I woke in peak condition.

Maybe that was why the usually hectic commute felt unusually leisurely today.

Using that calm, I ate breakfast for the first time in nearly a month, then took a shower in cold water.

I could feel summer slipping away and autumn arriving, but the weather was still muggy.

Feeling the last trace of sleep leave me, I opened my closet.

"Hmm..."

What should I wear on a day when I felt this good?

For once, I gave serious thought to my fashion.

My hand pulled out a pair of black slacks and a neat short-sleeved shirt.

They were the cleanest clothes I had for summer.

Just as I was about to dress and head out, I happened to notice the resignation letter sitting in the open drawer.

Without thinking, I tapped the letter with my finger.

"Life really is full of surprises."

The guy who had once raged so hard about quitting now couldn’t seem to wait to get to work.

With a snort of laughter, I turned around.

I went to work in the Benz the company had given me.

As soon as I stepped into the main building lobby, countless eyes locked onto me.

In that moment, I thought I felt like the protagonist.

To be honest, because of the nature of a manager’s job, opportunities to receive this kind of attention were rare.

No matter how hard you ran around and secured schedules, the celebrity always took all the glory in the end.

But...

For this one moment, it really did feel like I was the main character.

To.Any had hit No. 1 on the music charts, and attention and interest were pouring in from all around me.

It was all so thrilling... and so much fun!

Holding back the grin threatening to spill out, I threw open the door to the management department.

At that moment, Team Leader Ma Seok-du shouted, "Manager Kwon! The president is calling for you-!!!"

At that shout, the anticipation I’d been deliberately ignoring exploded with a bang.

Calming my pounding heart, I thought, As promised, I got us to No. 1 on the music charts.

What kind of gift had President Baek Ji-won prepared for me?

To find out what that gift, waited on for three months, would be, I turned my steps toward the president’s office.

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