Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: Setting the Stage
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"...*Hoo*. Alright. You can go now."
"...Aren't you leaving, Oppa?"
"...It still smells like kimchi."
"Ah..."
The Director, remembering the budae-jjigae meal kit stored in the CEO's office, let out a chuckle.
"Min-jun."
"Yes?"
The CEO called out to me subtly.
"Still, thanks for that budae-jjigae. It's been a while. I love a hearty stew packed with that much ham. It's a different vibe from the refreshing Uijeongbu style, and it's been a long time since I had it with soju..."
I had a bad feeling.
And just as I expected...
"But did you know? Why the Tulip ham in there is so chewy, just like real meat?"
"Honestly, if they're going to use a half-decent Spam-type product, I'd rather they use the springy gimbap ham that has a better texture..."
CEO Park Jae-yong's rambling went on for several minutes, but since he was praising the food that Answer and I had gone through so much trouble to buy, I didn't find it boring.
It wasn't until the Director sighed and pulled me away that I was able to leave the planning office.
"Isa-nim, how do you get information about auditions?"
"Auditions? Not the Smile meeting?"
The Director, who had naturally assumed the Smile matter was my priority, asked with a surprised expression.
I'm a busy man who has to juggle multiple things at once.
"Yes. I need to get some audition information."
The Director's eyes lit up with interest as she began to speak.
"Sometimes proposals come directly to us, but there's also a dedicated information site."
"Then I can just look there."
"Yep. Some information is only available to full members, but of course, we're full members."
I took the address and password from the Director and logged in.
My jaw dropped at the sight of a website that covered the entire entertainment industry—movies, dramas, plays, venue rentals, performances, academies, models, and even general jobs related to stage production.
"...You should have told me sooner."
"You've been busy. The only people with time to look at this are me and Siljang-nim Ji."
I thought the flood of unexpected information would make it even easier to come up with new ideas.
"Ro-si's training isn't even finished yet. Isn't going for an audition first a bit much? Once her training is done, she could land a decent supporting role."
"I found a role that suits her perfectly, and I remember hearing somewhere that a script like that existed."
I described the synopsis of a drama I had enjoyed watching in my first life to the Director.
"The acting Ro-si showed when we were looking up the SJ shareholder list seems like a perfect fit for that script."
The Director seemed to recall the scene I had described to her a while back, and a smile touched her lips.
"Now that you mention it, that's true. There aren't many people who are native English speakers and also fluent in Korean. It's even harder to find someone with the right visuals to match."
The Director nodded, as if she could picture it too.
"I'll keep it in mind and let you know if any similar audition notices pop up. You can focus on your other work."
One task down. In that case, should I collect the reward for a quest I received a while back?
"Then, starting now... I'd like to schedule something for Answer next Thursday."
"...You want an incentive if you book a schedule?"
This is why I like talking to the Director; she gets it right away.
When I gave a small smile, the Director chuckled.
"You have plenty of money..."
"I have a lot of hang-ups about money."
"For someone who says that, you seem to spend it pretty freely."
Was she talking about the necklaces I had made for Answer?
"I'm kidding, don't look so serious. A reward is only fair."
I wasn't looking serious...
I dialed a number I had saved earlier.
-This is Lee Jeong-ah from the marketing team.
"Yes. I'm calling to propose an urgent ad campaign."
Ten days was too short to go through an ad agency, so I was trying to connect with them directly.
I had planned a reality TV promotion to create an environment where Seol-ah and her younger brother, Ye-jun, could play freely. The idea was to provoke the second-place amusement park, whose gap with the number one spot was significant despite its large investment.
But securing an ad deal directly with less than ten days' notice was, as expected, a tall order.
I talked for a while, even getting transferred to the marketing team leader, but the result was unsatisfactory.
They were receptive to the proposal itself because of Answer's name recognition, but the atmosphere they described was one of taking a bunch of concept shots, not the free-and-easy environment I wanted for Ye-jun and the Answer members.
I had expected this to some extent.
"I understand. I'll call you back."
After I hung up, Director Lee Sun, who knew about the amusement park story with Ye-jun and Answer, asked casually.
"...It didn't work out?"
"They're interested because it's Answer, but they can't create the picture I want."
It seemed the Director had been listening in while pretending to do other work.
"What kind of picture do you want?"
"A warm family."
"Huh?"
The Director, who didn't know the exact details of Seol-ah and Ye-jun's situation, looked baffled.
I immediately scanned the broadcast appearance offers that had come in for Answer. I had already rejected them, and the timeline was tight for planning, but since I was creating the overall picture, it wasn't impossible.
If the reaction after the broadcast was good, the theme park might even make a counter-offer. For now, I'll create the picture I want first.
I contacted the PD of "Let's Live Together," once the most popular reality show.
It had since been pushed down by several other programs, falling from first to the top five, but it still had enough power to occasionally climb back to second place depending on the cast.
Since Answer hadn't shown much of themselves on variety shows outside of "Best Idol," it was clear the PD's interest would be higher than any other program's. It was also certain to help with Answer's image-making and public recognition.
-Hello, PD Ki Young-jun. This is Min-jun, Chief Manager for Answer at JD Enter. If the offer you made last time is still on the table, I'd like to call you back in about 20 minutes.
Broadcast station PDs could be quite old-school, even the younger ones, so I always had to be polite. For now, the popular Answer had the upper hand, but you never knew what form of retaliation might come back later.
*Vzzzt.*
As expected, a call came right away.
"Hello, PD Ki Young-jun. I'm enjoying your show."
-Yeah. Let's get straight to the point, I'm in a hurry. I won't have time to talk later.
"Yes. I'm calling because one of our events for next Thursday was canceled. If you already have plans, then it can't be helped..."
-We can, we can, we can.
Even if there was already a filmed episode, postponing it for a week or two was no big deal, and it wouldn't harm the other cast members. It was common for an episode scheduled for the following week to be pushed back a month or two.
"But I was thinking we could change the concept you proposed a little."
-How so?
"The leader, Seol-ah, has a much younger brother."
-How much younger?
"About a 17-year age gap."
-Whoa! Really? So he's about four or five now?
A hint of anticipation crept into the PD's voice.
"Yes, right around that age."
-Hahaha. I had no idea you had such great material. Is this a first reveal, by any chance?
"Yes. I don't think it's ever been specifically covered in interviews. If it has, it would have been passed over without much weight."
-Hahaha. You made a good decision to appear on the show.
The PD seemed to be in a good mood, imagining an episode that would surely become a hot topic.
But this wasn't enough.
"His name is Ye-jun, and Seol-ah made a promise to him. That she'd show him lions and tigers."
-Ah, I can see the picture. It fits our show perfectly. But when did you say? The available filming date.
"Next Thursday. That's the only day we have free."
-Oh boy, I'd better lock this down quick. So, the angle will be 'A girl group that made time in their busy schedule to keep a promise to their young brother.' That should work, right?
"Yes. I think we can get a great picture even if we go for a completely real reality show without any particular setup."
-That works out well, since we're short on time. Anyway, I got it.
This guy thinks he can just brush past it. No matter how low broadcast appearance fees are, you have to do some basic negotiation.
"But we haven't discussed our appearance fee and other options yet..."
-Come on. What do you take me for? I've been doing this for 15 years. The appearance fee is what it is, but I'll pull in some solid sponsorships for you, so don't worry.
"Thank you. Then I'll trust you, PD Ki Young-jun, and schedule it."
-Ha... Okay.
"Thank you."
The PD hung up, his voice full of energy.
For PDs, performance evaluation is directly tied to ratings.
In truth, next Thursday was a leftover day off where we couldn't really schedule anything other than a broadcast.
A shoot would end in the early morning that day, and another would start early the next morning, so there wasn't enough time to travel for a regional event. In that situation, just being able to shoot some promotional material through a broadcast-linked sponsorship was something to be thankful for.
The Director was watching me as I finished the call.
"...You got it?"
"Yes."
The Director casually entered the information into her computer as if it were a given.
High trust is a good thing, but high expectations can lead to big disappointments, which puts a bit of pressure on me. Even I can't pull this off every single day.
"Oh, right."
The Director looked at me again.
"When do you want to do the Smile meeting?"
It felt like I was naturally becoming the main driver of the company's business.
"We hold all the cards, so I'd like to postpone it as much as possible. That should help us negotiate better terms with Smile. And if a competitor makes an offer in the meantime, we can use that as a guideline to set our conditions."
"Should we do that, then?"
The Director, having left the decision to me, seemed a bit more relieved. She must have been under a lot of stress from having to make so many decisions on her own all this time.
"And... as I mentioned once before, now that Answer has a stylist to accompany them more often and their status has risen, I think it's time to upgrade their vehicle."
"I was already looking into a Sprinter."
"Thank you."
"That's not something you need to thank me for."
"Thank you, anyway. Then I'll go join Answer and head to KVM."
"...I was wondering why you were in a suit. Are you trying to meet the Division Chief?"
The Director said, looking me up and down.
"He's not an easy person to meet, but you never know."
My intuition told me to do it.
***
I arrived at the clothing shop where Choi Yoo-jun was dozing off on the sofa.
A blonde stylist wearing a beige A-line long skirt and a sky-blue satin shirt was helping Yi-na with her fitting.
"Yi-na, your measurements have changed a lot."
"I'm all grown up now, right?"
"*Pfft*."
The Answer members were so focused on their outfits that they didn't even notice I had entered the shop.
"Chae-ron-ssi."
"Hello, Timjang-nim."
"Oooh... Oppa looks so cool."
Yi-na said, looking me up and down in my suit.
Kim Chae-ron, who had started working at the clothing shop through my and the Director's introduction, had shed her rookie image and was now exuding the aura of a real stylist.
"Chae-ron-ssi, you've really become a professional stylist now, haven't you?"
"Don't embarrass me."
Kim Chae-ron's skills as a stylist were already slightly surpassing those of a chief stylist. It was incredible growth in just one year. Talent was part of it, but considering her young age, her future development was even more anticipated.
"You should study makeup in your spare time, too."
"Why makeup?"
Kim Chae-ron asked, curious.
"Because I think it's time for you to dream a little bigger, Chae-ron-ssi."
It would be mutually beneficial if she worked exclusively for JD Enter. I could help her grow.
There's no rule that a stylist can only do clothes. Having toughed it out as a trainee, Kim Chae-ron had a presence and ability that set her apart from ordinary people. If she accompanied Answer exclusively and made an impression on broadcasts, she could eventually earn an income comparable to that of a top-tier celebrity.
Of course, this was a vision of Kim Chae-ron's talent and future that only I, with my system, could see. Having the 'Starlight' system was a blessing, but it was also a small misfortune that never let me rest easy.
Everywhere I looked, there were people who would succeed if only my hand touched them.
While this was directly linked to my own benefit, these were people who, without me, would waste their talents, never knowing their own potential or the path to success.
To just watch that happen and walk away was not as easy as it sounded.