Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Pretty Fresh?
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Pretty fresh, huh?
"Waaaaaaaaah!!!"
"Plea! Plea!"
The concert hall brimmed with scorching heat.
In that place so packed with countless people that there wasn't even room to stand,
I was watching her, just as always.
Then.
"There you are."
"…"
A familiar voice reached my ear.
When I turned my head to the side in response, my eyes fell on one person.
Plea’s manager,
Yoo A-ram.
She was one of the most precious people to Plea, who had grown up without family.
She gave a small bow toward me and said,
"This time… thank you. Without you, this performance wouldn't have gone smoothly."
"No need to thank me. It wasn't anything special."
"It was special. We almost gave disappointment instead of joy to everyone here. And for that girl, it surely would have left a deep scar."
"…She could have overcome it. She's… Plea is a strong person."
"I'm envious that you can say that. You know everything… yet how can you stay so steadfast? It's truly amazing."
"Haha…"
Yoo A-ram's words carried genuine sincerity, not sarcasm.
In response, I answered with a quiet smile and turned my head back toward the stage before me.
The goddess shining brilliantly on stage.
The world star Plea, basking in the cheers of countless people.
Yet as I watched her stirring joy in the hearts of thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of millions,
The face of Plea’s manager Yoo A-ram, who was closer to her than anyone in this world,
held not joy or delight, but relief.
And I felt the same.
At a glance, Plea seemed brimming with confidence and joy.
But,
we knew all too well how arduous the path had been to reach that moment, how utterly grueling the process.
A swan must paddle endlessly beneath the surface to float gracefully above it…
No matter how painful,
she had to endure it to keep from sinking.
And so, as two people who knew the star's pain all too well,
we shared a quiet empathy and watched her today as well.
Finding solace in our hearts from the star's song, feeling joy in it.
Then.
A-ram, who had been quietly enjoying the performance, asked me cautiously.
"…How long do you plan to keep this distance? You know it, don't you? That girl wants you to come a little closer…"
"Getting greedy like that will only lead to trouble. The distance I can approach is exactly here. Any closer would end badly for me, for her, nothing good."
"Personally, I don't think so."
A-ram spoke in a quiet voice to my firm reply.
Right then, fireworks burst with explosive sounds and wild cheers erupted.
"You're a good man. In that girl's eyes. And… in mine too…"
I couldn't hear the last words from her mouth,
nor did I ever afterward.
Because that was the last conversation
between me from my past life
and her.
And.
Right now, this moment.
"Hoee…?"
Before my eyes,
stood the girl in question, looking quite a bit younger than back then.
The exact opposite of the stiff first impression from our initial meeting in my past life.
She evoked the image of a girl with sparkling eyes.
'This is… pretty fresh?'
*
The elevator ascending quietly.
Inside it, the woman named Yoo A-ram kept stealing glances at the girl standing right beside her.
'What do I do, what do I do. It's really Big Brother Han-seo…'
A woman with striking looks maintaining a calm expression in silence.
Chae Soo-jeong.
Though a rookie actress,
to A-ram, who had avidly watched The Queen Dowager, Sovereign of Deception and Reply 1989,
especially as one of the many viewers who had suffered emotional wounds from adoring 'Han-seo',
this situation felt like heart-pounding excitement upon seeing a world star right in front of her.
'But… why is Big Brother here? No way… he's joining our agency… No… right?'
She vaguely recalled hearing that actress Chae Soo-jeong didn't have an agency yet.
But even as a rookie without one, wasn't Chae Soo-jeong someone who had already embedded massive recognition in the public?
There must be lines of entertainment agencies eager to sign her.
Among them, giant firms incomparable to the virtually half-bankrupt ASD.
In this situation, assuming she chose this place just because Chae Soo-jeong was here seemed…
'Y-Yeah. No matter how I think about it, it's impossible… Yeah, impossible. Why would someone at the peak of popularity join a dump like this?'
Yoo A-ram tried to view the situation coldly like that… but still,
the lingering emotion called 'what if' expectation in a corner of her heart wouldn't fade.
Then.
"…Hee-hee."
"Eek!... U-um…"
Chae Soo-jeong gave a gentle smile while looking at her.
At the same time, Han-seo's visuals shone through.
Even though she was clearly a woman,
despite the obvious difference starting from the pair of breasts right before her eyes,
for some reason, her captivating aura made A-ram want to call her 'Big Brother'.
Having taken that heart-wrenching sight from the screen straight to the face up close,
A-ram was suddenly seized by dizziness and a crushing feeling.
'Haaah… This… up close like this… she's insanely handsome. Like charm is just oozing out…'
Even just standing there silently, the vividly felt aura,
and the intense allure that made resistance seem impossible.
As an entertainment agency manager,
and as a woman(?), feeling her so irresistibly attractive, Yoo A-ram unconsciously swallowed hard.
In that atmosphere where she couldn't even muster the courage to speak, the elevator finally reached the top floor.
Afterward, Yoo A-ram walked down the familiar hallway,
but with the awkward silence persisting, the hallway felt utterly unfamiliar.
And for good reason—the woman in question,
Chae Soo-jeong, was walking silently right beside her.
'N-No way, is she also heading to the president's office…? That would mean…'
Her expectations swelled in real time as the destination drew near.
Though trying to stay rational, her mind was already overheating too much for logical judgment.
She'd thought several times to just ask and confirm,
but every time she looked at her face, tension sealed A-ram's lips.
Then.
"!"
"Oh my?"
The next moment, one person appeared before them.
The instant A-ram saw the person emerging from the president's office, her buoyant mood plummeted.
Jang Se-hwa.
She seemed to have just formally announced her contract termination in the president's office. Seeing her, A-ram felt herself deflate involuntarily.
Meanwhile,
actress Jang Se-hwa approached without a glance at A-ram.
At this moment, her gaze was fixed solely on the person before her,
Chae Soo-jeong.
"This is unexpected. Never thought I'd run into the hot new star here of all places."
Se-hwa spoke in a seemingly friendly voice with a thick smile.
In response, Chae Soo-jeong maintained her calm smile and replied quietly.
"You're actress Jang Se-hwa, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Chae Soo-jeong."
"I know. I've been enjoying the dramas you've been in lately. For a rookie with little experience to deliver such acting—truly impressive."
"Thank you for the kind words."
Greetings continued with outwardly warm smiles.
However, A-ram, watching, could tell.
Jang Se-hwa's mouth smiled, but her eyes did not.
Having been her manager for quite some time, A-ram could sense the chill beneath.
An emotion one might call hostility.
Then.
"Anyway… what brings you here? Surely not to sign a contract… Some errand? ZTBC can't be that strapped for help."
Jang Se-hwa subtly dissed ASD, ZTBC, and even Chae Soo-jeong while inquiring about the situation.
But A-ram couldn't openly retort.
In her view too, the chance Chae Soo-jeong was here to sign was very low.
No reason for someone like her to join a failing agency like this…
"I'm here to sign a contract. With ASD, formally."
"…What?"
"!?... Yes?"
Chae Soo-jeong's utterly serene words.
Yet the impact they delivered distorted the expressions of not just A-ram, but even Se-hwa, for a moment.
It was true she didn't like Chae Soo-jeong's frightening momentum as a rookie.
But put differently, it meant Jang Se-hwa herself acknowledged Chae Soo-jeong's skills to some extent.
Especially now, facing her in person rather than through a screen, that conviction solidified further.
The opponent before her was no one to underestimate just because she was a rookie.
For someone like this, agencies must be lining up to recruit her,
yet choosing to sign with this virtually half-bankrupt place defied Se-hwa's common sense.
Meanwhile, the culprit who had stunned the two.
Chae Soo-jeong clicked her tongue softly inside while looking at Se-hwa before her.
'Tsk… If only you'd toughed it out a little longer… You're gonna miss the jackpot here too.'