The Bet
I was burning up inside, but I kept my face under control and knocked on the door of the head director’s office.
"Team 5's Kwon Chan reporting in, sir."
"Ah, come in, Kwon Sil-jjang."
I opened the door carefully and saw Ma Seok-du, who had already arrived and was waiting there.
So CEO Baek Ji-won isn’t here.
Small mercies, I guess.
I took the empty seat as discreetly as I could.
Park Yu-hyeon, the head director, opened with a friendly smile.
"You both saw the article, right?"
Ma Seok-du answered right away.
"Yes, Head Director. You mean Director Kim Jang-hun got fired..."
"Well. If all he got was fired, he should count himself lucky. I’m sure the penalties were enormous too."
"...Haha. Is that so?"
"Of course. Do you have any idea how much money went into To.Any’s debut?"
Ma Seok-du let out an awkward laugh.
Park Yu-hyeon’s gaze shifted to me.
"How are the To.Any girls holding up, Kwon Sil-jjang?"
I didn’t know.
To be blunt, after that first meeting, I’d left them in Lee Ye-ji’s hands and hadn’t met them since.
But I couldn’t say that outright, so I dressed it up a little and answered.
"They were confused at first, but they seem to be doing well now."
"Do a good job reassuring them. For something this big to happen right before debut is too much."
Park Yu-hyeon crossed one leg over the other.
"I didn’t call you in today because of Director Kim Jang-hun. I brought you here to talk with Team 5 about To.Any."
This was something I needed to listen closely to.
Except I couldn’t focus.
The spam message I’d just seen wouldn’t leave my head.
"It’s good that Team Leader Ma and I prevented a major disaster, but... To.Any’s debut schedule itself has been completely thrown off."
I’d completely forgotten about the international text from an unknown number for a while.
It couldn’t be helped. The incidents that had happened were far too shocking—far too jarring to leave room for anything else.
Even now, with all the looks being thrown my way inside the company, I was half dead from the strain.
And then the international text I’d forgotten about came flying back in.
"Everything’s already been scheduled, and even if it gets pushed back, it’s only by a month or two. If the debut timing gets messed up here, To.Any might not even be able to debut. But you can’t debut a girl group after the center visual and main vocalist have been cut, can you?"
Why? What for? For what reason?
At first I could have brushed it off as a coincidence, but not anymore.
It was obvious now that someone with a clear purpose had sent me that spam message.
This is already a problem, and now what the hell is this?
The picture attached to the spam message showed digital music chart performance.
To.Any’s digital chart performance, even though they hadn’t debuted yet.
Is this bastard insane? He’s fabricating the chart results for a girl group that hasn’t even debuted and sending them to me?
It was too far to dismiss as a prank.
Just as a chill ran down my spine and my palms went damp, Park Yu-hyeon’s next words pierced straight through my mind, which had been trapped on that spam message.
"You do realize Team 5 can’t really be said to have no responsibility in this situation, right?"
My mind, which had been wandering in circles, snapped back to reality.
Feeling my expression harden, I raised my head.
Park Yu-hyeon was still wearing that genial smile.
"Honestly, wasn’t there still time to prevent this incident in advance? Team Leader Ma?"
My mouth twisted slightly.
***
It was a pretty trivial comment.
"Delete Park Gyu-ri’s part now that she’s been removed, then rerecord it... Ah, and the music video will need re-editing too, right? Team Leader Ma, talk with the new director and set up an internal evaluation schedule."
And yet for some reason, those words kept rubbing me the wrong way.
You know Team 5 can’t really be said to have no responsibility.
Right.
We couldn’t exactly be said to have no responsibility.
But did he really have to put it like that?
To be fair, wasn’t this the kind of problem that would have blown up even bigger if it hadn’t been us dealing with it?
That one little remark kept chipping away at the smooth edges of my mood.
And in the middle of that, I remembered what Park Yu-hyeon had said before I came into the office.
If To.Any’s schedule gets thrown off, how are they going to pin it on Team 5?
Would we end up taking the blame in the same way Director Kim Jang-hun had?
The head that had been hot from the spam message was cooling down fast.
Feeling my runaway reason slowly come back, I muttered,
I’m way too sensitive right now.
No, sensitive was exactly right.
I was so on edge that even a throwaway line could irritate me like this.
The spam message. That’s the problem.
I erased the spam message from my head.
The effect was immediate.
I could feel myself becoming more rational than I had just moments ago.
"You probably know this too, Team Leader Ma, but Team 5’s recent results haven’t been great, right?"
Right.
Until I heard Park Yu-hyeon say that, I had been rational.
"So since Team Leader Ma threw a fit and took To.Any last time, you should take responsibility for it no matter what, shouldn’t you?"
"..."
"The overall debut schedule, the timing, everything for To.Any. Team 5 will take responsibility and draw it up, then report back. Mistakes from here on out will be truly fatal, so pay close attention."
Responsibility.
That one word set my nerves on edge again.
So, without realizing it, I blurted out,
"What would be the right way to take responsibility, Head Director?"
"...?"
"If you tell me, I’ll do my best to shoulder it."
One minute.
For a full minute in the head director’s office, not a single word was exchanged.
Ma Seok-du finally shouted, a beat too late.
"Hey, hey! What the hell are you saying, Kwon Sil-jjang!"
Only after hearing his frantic voice did I realize I’d messed up.
The irritability that had been simmering in me dropped back down to its usual level.
Ah... what the hell did I just do?
What kind of nonsense had I just said to the head director?
A delayed sense of crisis rushed up my forearms.
Then Park Yu-hyeon spoke.
"You’ll take responsibility and handle it?"
I steadied my voice and answered.
As politely as possible.
"Yes. If you give me a direction, I’ll handle it to the best of my ability."
Park Yu-hyeon folded his arms and tilted his head.
"Kwon Sil-jjang, you really do have a unique style."
"?"
"At the last meeting, you looked like someone desperate not to stand out. But now you’re practically burning with enthusiasm for whatever you’ve got your teeth into."
"!"
I was a little stunned.
He thought I’d been full of enthusiasm just now?
I just blurted it out because I was angry, though?
While I was still processing that, Park Yu-hyeon rested his chin on his hand and went on.
"You asked me to give you a direction, right? Let’s see..."
"..."
"Come to think of it, during the internal evaluation this time, you both know To.Any’s early debut result is supposed to land them in the top five on the digital charts, right?"
Ma Seok-du jumped in immediately.
"Y-yes, we know, Head Director!"
"But because of the incident, the girl who handled the center visual and main vocal parts is gone, so aiming for the top five on the charts seems a little unrealistic, doesn’t it?"
"Th, that..."
Park Yu-hyeon’s eyes snapped to me.
"Kwon Sil-jjang, take responsibility and get To.Any into the top five on the digital charts."
"!"
"If you get them into the top five, I’ll speak directly to the CEO and see about handing out bonuses."
My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
He wants me to make To.Any’s debut performance land in the top five?
An impossible target.
To.Any no longer had their main vocalist or main visual.
Even if you brought in the best director in the entire industry, making a girl group like this land in the top five would be impossible.
And yet, for some reason, I felt like that impossible target could be met.
To.Any’s "Youth Travel."
If the photo in the spam message wasn’t fabricated... then To.Any’s debut result wasn’t number five on the charts. It was number one.
In other words, the top-five goal Park Yu-hyeon had proposed wasn’t the real issue.
At that moment, a strange chill climbed up my arm.
Buzzing... tingling...
I still didn’t fully understand what was going on.
But one thing seemed clear.
The crisis had become an opportunity.
And before I knew it, my mouth opened on its own.
"I’ll do it, Head Director."
My voice came out without hesitation, and even to my own ears it sounded far too forceful.
As if I were trying to hold back the shaking and excitement surging up inside me.
Maybe he sensed it too.
Park Yu-hyeon’s brown eyes flickered with interest and anticipation.
"I’ll trust you, Kwon Sil-jjang."
"...Thank you."
"You’ll have a lot to do, so go on out. Ah, and..."
Trailing off, Park Yu-hyeon handed a thick envelope to me and Ma Seok-du.
"This is a bonus from the CEO for handling the incident well."
He smiled with genuine warmth.
"I put plenty in there, so take the team out for a meal or something. You two worked hard."
He wasn’t just saying it.
The envelope Park Yu-hyeon handed over was shockingly thick.
***
As soon as we left the head director’s office, Ma Seok-du dragged me toward the emergency staircase.
"You little lunatic!"
"..."
"Why the hell did you talk back to the head director? If that had been any other department head, you’d be writing up a disciplinary report right now, punk!"
I let half of Ma Seok-du’s lecture in through one ear and out the other.
My head was full of what had happened in the head director’s office, so nothing else could get in.
What is this?
The situation lined up too neatly, too frighteningly well.
The spam message that had suddenly arrived.
The unusual edge in my own temperament.
The head director’s abrupt proposal.
Separated into pieces, none of it connected.
And yet those pieces had fit together to create an opening.
Seriously, what is this?
It wasn’t something I could explain with common sense.
But one thing was certain.
It was the same when the first message came.
The instant I thought I needed proof, the spam message arrived carrying that proof.
A predetermined future? Or some kind of precognition? What the hell is it?
I still couldn’t make sense of it.
It felt like some massive current was forcing me along.
Which should have made me tremble with fear...
But right now, I was enjoying the frightening situation.
Amused by myself, I let out a short laugh.
Jesus.
Yeah.
It was insane, plain and simple.
I let out a rough breath and opened my mouth.
"Seok-du hyung."
"?"
"That spam message that came from an international number. Is there any way to trace it?"
Ma Seok-du, who had been lecturing without pause, flinched hard in the shoulders.
"...What the hell are you talking about now?"
"I’m serious. Don’t brush it off."
"How the hell are you supposed to trace a spam message from an international number? Did you sign up for some betting site or something?"
So there really was no way to track it?
Rubbing my chin, I turned around.
"Team Leader Ma. I’m going out on external business this afternoon."
"Hey, Kwon Chan!"
"I’m going to Sangam Training Center, so write that in the afternoon log."
I could hear Ma Seok-du shouting something after me, but I ignored it and headed for the parking lot.
I fastened my seat belt and started the engine.
"Right... first things first."
Everything else could wait.
What mattered now was checking whether the picture in that spam message was real.
The number-one song, "Youth Travel." Let’s confirm whether this song really exists.
With my destination set, I drove toward Sangam Training Center.
---