Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: A Wise Investment
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Chapter 90.
“Hello, Seonbae-nim. We’re Safety, the rookie group from GSP Entertainment.”
“Oh?”
While Ro-si and Yi-na simply smiled at the rare greeting from their juniors, Seul-bi was different.
“Aigoo! Our dear juniors. So pretty. Who wants some toast?”
At Seul-bi’s sudden words, the staff member making toast and the members of Safety wore puzzled expressions.
“Unni, you go rest. I have to make toast for our pretty juniors with my own hands!”
“Ah… oh? Should I, then?”
An elated Seul-bi gently pushed the staff member who had been making the toast.
“But we’re on a diet…”
The Safety members said, glancing behind them.
Seul-bi let out a chuckle as if she knew everything.
“That’s when it tastes the absolute best.”
As Seul-bi went to make egg toast, the Safety members’ eyes lit up.
“Wow… but you’re all so beautiful, Seonbae-nim.”
The compliments directed at them lifted Ro-si’s and Yi-na’s spirits as well.
“Safety is full of pretty girls too, you know?”
“Hehe! No, no!”
Pleased by Ro-si’s words, the members of Safety grinned from ear to ear.
Sizzle.
As Seul-bi started toasting the egg bread, all of Safety’s heads turned in her direction.
“Is Safety’s manager a guy?”
“Yes.”
They turned their heads as they spoke, their gazes anxious.
“I’ll keep an eye out for him, so eat up.”
Ro-si stood up and blocked the open entrance of the lounge with her body, and when Yi-na stood beside her, the view to the outside was completely cut off.
“What are you two doing? A spot just opened up.”
“Just three minutes, sir.”
When Yi-na put on a cute act, the staff member looked into the lounge, chuckled, and walked away.
As soon as Seul-bi finished toasting each slice, the Safety members devoured them as if they had been starving for days.
“Is it good?”
“Yes! It’s our first time eating toast here!”
“Isn’t it cool that the shop has toast?”
“Yes! It’s awesome!”
“Heh. Wipe that sugar off your lips. You’ll get caught by your manager.”
Seul-bi recalled the harsh verbal abuse she had suffered from Manager Park in this very place and gave a bitter smile.
“I saw you at the public audition a while back, Unni! Your dancing is so cool.”
“Really? I’m the main act this week, so make sure you watch, okay?”
“Gasp! Don’t tell me you won?”
“Shh!”
Seul-bi playfully covered her lips.
“Daebak, daebak!”
The Safety members rejoiced as if it were their own victory.
“Cargo joggers, black shirt!”
Ro-si said urgently.
“Ah! That’s him!”
Safety stuffed the remaining toast into their mouths in one bite and wiped the sugar from each other’s lips.
Seeing this, Seul-bi smiled warmly.
“For some reason, I feel like you guys are going to make it.”
“We’ll work hard, Seonbae-nim!”
The title ‘Seonbae-nim’ made Seul-bi’s shoulders square with pride for no reason.
A manager who looked like a mountain bandit, who had been glancing around, strode toward the lounge and glared at the Safety members.
“…What did you eat?”
“……”
Seeing her juniors frozen in fear, Seul-bi quickly stepped in.
“I was the one eating.”
The manager shrugged as he saw Seul-bi picking up a piece of toast and eating it.
“Ah, I wasn’t asking you. Let’s go.”
‘He’s clearly a disrespectful punk.’
Seul-bi thought as she licked the sugar from her finger.
“Girls, let’s meet at the top, okay?”
“Yes! We hope you hit it big, Seonbae-nim!”
Safety left in high spirits, and the members of Answer also departed with bright faces.
***
I returned after a call with Reporter Shin Dong-min.
A subtly awkward atmosphere, mixed with the faint scent of coffee, hung in the planning office.
“Tsk. Well, that was short-lived.”
“Still, it was a wise decision.”
“I guess I’ll have to get a refund too?”
“Yes.”
Having just lost a single contract worth 55 million won, CEO Park Jae-yong was in no mood to be pleased.
Even I felt the sting when I thought about the money.
“The remaining ones are in the same industry, so we can only pick one… damn…”
We all sipped the coffee Manager Ji had brewed. The heater warmed our upper bodies, but it couldn’t quite reach our feet, so the warm coffee was a comfort.
“It’s still cold, but it’s an ice cream commercial. Not even coffee.”
“The coffee ad lineups are already set. Winter is their peak season.”
The director replied seriously to my casual remark.
“They have to shoot the ice cream ads before winter ends so they can market them from spring to early fall.”
“That makes sense.”
I knew that much, but still…
We looked over the proposals while drinking our coffee.
###Smile Ice Cream
1-year contract: 35 million won
Concept:
Sweet Healing.
Theme:
Blue skies and grassy fields.
Pastel-toned outfits and hats.
A picnic showing off pure beauty.
Healing while eating sweet ice cream in a peaceful, grassy field.
###Latte Ice Cream
1-year contract: 50 million won + bonuses
Additional terrestrial broadcast: 20 million won per ad
Additional web content: 15 million won per piece
Additional photoshoot: 5 million won per shoot
Additional voice recording: 10 million won per recording
Concept:
Bursting with vitality.
Theme:
A vibrant city backdrop.
Jeans, short skirts, summer outfits.
Dynamic activities and confidence.
An ice cream that provides a quick solution when a meeting hits a wall.
The Smile proposal was good for image-making, creating a pure, goddess-like image in a peaceful atmosphere. Latte, on the other hand, was about injecting vitality into a stifling society, but the unrealistic depiction of society left a bitter aftertaste.
“We should obviously go with Latte Ice Cream, right? We can pull in even more with the options.”
CEO Park Jae-yong said, looking at me.
But I, with my ‘Sixth Sense’ trait, had a much better feeling about the Smile Ice Cream contract, despite its lower fee.
That was because Latte Ice Cream’s options also included CFs for other food products from their parent company.
“I suggest we consider this more carefully.”
“…What more is there to see? They’re offering 15 million won more upfront, plus all those options.”
Manager Ji and the director watched me with curious eyes.
“You’re saying we should go with Smile, which caps out at 35 million, when we could pull in hundreds of millions with the options?”
Even with the experience I had as Kim Sung-hoon, I couldn’t understand the reactions of the people in power.
Had they just been focusing on producing and letting the ad agencies call all the shots until now?
But why were Manager Ji and the director just looking at me without saying anything? It was as if they were expecting something.
It made me afraid of overstepping and being wrong.
I laid out the two proposals and cautiously shared my thoughts.
“Smile is a company that only manufactures frozen desserts and dairy products. That’s a huge difference from Latte, which produces and sells almost every kind of food, from frozen desserts and dairy to various beverages and confectioneries.”
“So?”
“There’s a clause prohibiting promotions for competitors in the same industry, which I believe is a major poison pill for us.”
The three of them waited for me to continue, saying nothing.
“If we sign with Latte, they’ll have Answer appearing in multiple ads for snacks, chocolates, ramen, and more. We might make a lot of money in the short term, but it would drastically reduce Answer’s future options, and I believe we’ll lose out on significant opportunity costs for a group with unknown growth potential.”
“Oh?”
CEO Park Jae-yong’s lips twitched as if in surprise.
“But with Smile, which only does frozen desserts and dairy, our options for other CFs remain wide open. I think it’s a much better choice than Latte, which presents many potential problems both contractually and ethically. Of course, we’d have to upgrade the contract terms.”
“Hmm… besides that, is there any other reason we should choose Smile?”
CEO Park Jae-yong rested his chin on his clasped hands.
“…Latte will try to squeeze every last drop out of them. The simultaneous ad exposure will severely dilute Answer’s image. Appearing in too many commercials will tire out viewers and fans.”
“Summarize it for me.”
“…My opinion is that we should go with the Smile CF, which will help with Answer’s image-making, and continue to build their value by carefully managing their image for the future.”
A pleased smile spread across the faces of the three people looking at me.
What was this? Why did I feel like I had just been tested?
“Want to try negotiating the terms for the Smile contract?”
“Suddenly?”
The director asked.
“There’s a meeting this afternoon.”
“By myself?”
“Are you confident enough to go alone?”
“…I think I can handle the basics.”
“That confidence of his. Heh.”
Manager Ji said, shaking his head.
“Then Manager Ji will handle the Latte meeting, and Team Leader Min and I will go to the Smile meeting.”
“Understood, Director.”
“Team Leader Min, have Yoo-jun take over for Answer.”
“Yes.”
Involving me in the contract negotiation meeting… did this mean they intended to push me further into the spotlight?
“But… shouldn’t I go change my clothes?”
A long black padded jacket and a black hoodie.
Of all days, I had dressed way too comfortably.
***
I looked at myself in the full-length mirror, wearing a three-tone checkered mock neck sweater in shades of gray and black.
It was a good match for the dark gray corduroy pants.
“Answer’s manager, you have such a great build for clothes!”
The owner of the boutique said with adoring eyes.
“It has broad shoulders, so it looked loose on everyone else, but it’s finally found its owner. How can you look so sexy with no skin showing?”
“Unni.”
The director’s sharp tone made the owner pout in protest.
“It’s a compliment, what’s wrong with it? Right, Min-jun?”
It was better than not being sexy.
I just smiled in response.
The boutique owner moved to one side with light steps and brought over a dark gray coat.
That one looked similar to one I had at home.
“No, Unni. Give me the long coat.”
“This one suits him better!”
“I know. Just give me the long one.”
It was as if the director had read my mind.
As she looked at me in the coat, a small hint of satisfaction crossed her face.
“Unni, the bill.”
“No. I’ll pay for it, it’s my outfit.”
I tried to stop the director as she activated the payment app on her phone.
“Just accept it gratefully when someone offers to buy it for you.”
“Thank you, Director.”
“Pfft. Aren’t you giving in a little too quickly?”
The boutique owner watched us with her arms crossed, looking amused.
“Let’s just say I’m quick on the uptake.”
“Min-jun, I thought you were a serious person. You can be funny sometimes.”
The atmosphere around the director was unusually peaceful.
“Anyone would think you two were newlyweds.”
“What are you talking about! We’re almost twelve years apart!”
The director’s voice rose excessively.
“…Just ring it up already.”
“Yes, yes. My superstar client.”
The owner tapped on the calculator and spoke.
“The sweater is my gift, for giving my eyes a treat…”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. With a 15% friends-and-family discount, that’s 450,000 won total. 400,000 if you pay cash. It’s practically a steal.”
“Deal.”
The director put away her phone and initiated the wire transfer.
“Ah! Hello!”
As we left the shop, we ran into a girl group and a boy group from another agency, who bowed respectfully to the director.
“Oh, hey. Millie, you’ve grown a second chin.”
The director’s comment to a member of the other agency’s girl group made the girl jump in surprise.
“Th-thank you.”
A dry laugh escaped me.
What was she thankful for? The comment about her weight gain? Or the fact that she had recognized her as Millie?
“Being in the spotlight doesn’t last forever. Work hard now while you can, so you don’t have regrets later.”
“Thank you so much! I’ll work hard! And you’re so beautiful!”
How could one not respect a director who offered such humane words of advice even to an idol from a rival company?
The director and I shared a small chuckle as we got into the car.
“Director, thank you so much.”
“No need to thank me. It’s your lesson fee for teaching me how to edit.”
Such a tsundere, this director.
“Still, thank you.”
“Just do well in the meeting.”
“Yes! I’ll do my best to learn.”
“Are you really just going to learn?”
I wonder. I have a feeling I can do more than just learn.