Chapter 46
-I’m going on an adventure. Will you come with me?
-Of course. If you’re going, I’m definitely following you.
I blinked.
When I opened my eyes, the movie’s dialogue was already cutting straight into my ears.
“...Huh.”
Apparently I’d fallen asleep without realizing it.
I’d been focused until around two in the morning, but after about three, I had no memory at all.
I must have dozed off little by little and slipped all the way under.
It’s ten now, so... still, that’s a solid amount of sleep.
I got up, working the stiffness out of my body from having slept on the sofa.
“Huuahh-!”
I stretched until my joints popped, and the sleep finally started to peel away.
Yeah, this really is different from when I was younger.
Back in my twenties, missing the last train often meant staying up all night at a PC bang or drinking with friends until the first train home, and getting by on three or four hours of sleep the next day was no big deal.
Now, even if I try to pull an all-nighter on purpose, it doesn’t work.
And it wasn’t even like I was out at a club or running around. Even lazing about alone in the workshop wore me out.
Still, I do have more money in my pocket than I used to.
There was at least the comfort of being able to buy a recovery drink when I was tired.
I pulled one from the fridge and gulped it down.
“Haaahm-.”
I walked on with a long yawn.
-Hey, how long are you planning to sleep? Hurry up and catch up!
The movie dialogue somehow sounded like it was talking to me for sleeping in, and a laugh slipped out of me.
Come to think of it, talents really are something else.
Not long ago, if there were no subtitles, I couldn’t even bring myself to watch an American drama.
Besides, anything that required subtitles always felt like a burden because I’d be missing the visual beauty while reading the text.
Now I can turn my back and still have the dialogue slam right into my ears.
At this point, it felt practically like Korean.
And it wasn’t just that I no longer needed subtitles.
When I watched translated works in Japanese, Chinese, or English that I’d learned through interpreting and translation, there was always that lingering two percent of disappointment that got lost in the process of adaptation and literal rendering, no matter how skilled the translator was.
I’d always hated missing the emotions that only came through if you understood the culture and history woven into the language, or the details hidden in wordplay and subtle shifts in nuance.
But now I understand everything perfectly.
Interpreting and translation let me feel not just the slang, but the emotional currents of native speakers, too.
Expensive, but worth every won.
If I could, I’d like to learn a few more European languages someday.
Come to think of it, the cooldown has probably already come back, hasn’t it?
[Interpretation and Translation]
-Reading ability: 40,000,000 won.
-Speaking ability: 60,000,000 won.
-Comprehensive ability: 80,000,000 won.
※The cost doubles every time you unlock a new rank.
“...Oof.”
Just looking at it made my breath catch.
“Eight hundred million is a bit...”
It was practically approaching a billion won.
If I were in a position where I was raking in money through side jobs, maybe I’d think differently, but at this rate it was less “a little heavy” and more “painfully hard to justify.”
[Side Job Account]
-Balance: 75,692,400 won.
So I’m short on money after all.
Even though nearly ten million won in profits from Scholar-ticon had been deposited just the other day, I still hadn’t reached eighty million.
Honestly, if it were just a matter of spending eighty million, I wouldn’t even have the courage to look at it.
Still, if I’m trying to sort out my tax issues, there’s nothing better than this.
The money spent on learning languages could be treated as an expense, so there was a tax-saving effect to it, too.
Let’s take this slow and choose carefully. If possible, something with broad use.
For now, though, I was planning to hold off.
Language abilities weren’t urgent yet.
And right now, increasing my auxiliary talents was more cost-effective.
[Auxiliary Talent Keywords]
(1) Fragrance: Unlocked.
(2) Coffee.
(3) Cocktail.
(4) Frying.
(5) Fermentation.
Since I was already getting a lot out of fragrance, I’d started paying attention to the new auxiliary talents, too.
I’d like to learn the talent for cocktails or frying, too.
They might not have the same wide range of applications as fragrance, but within their own fields, they’d surely go deep.
More than anything, I liked the fact that they’d expand what I could enjoy doing in the workshop.
Let me think a little longer.
If no new main talent appeared before the company’s pop-up store project ended, then I’d unlock one more auxiliary talent at that point.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Assistant Manager Kang. Are you busy?”
Manager Han Su-a tapped the partition.
“SYK Entertainment just called. Can you take it?”
“Ah, yes. I can.”
“Right. I’ll put the call through.”
Ring-ring-ring-ring-!
The moment the phone rang, I picked up the receiver.
“This is Kang Seo-jun from Planning Team 3.”
-Goodness, it’s been a while.
From the voice, it was the division head I’d met at the last meeting.
“Yes, I hope you’ve been well. What can I do for you?”
-Nothing serious. I just wanted to ask whether you’d settled on the fragrance for the pop-up store yet.
“Actually, I’ve been looking into things related to the FineStar members.”
I’d come to the conclusion that for the pop-up store, it would be better to go beyond simply pleasing the general public and instead infuse it with a scent that could express the group’s character.
That was why I’d been continuing my research, trying to design colors and notes that fit both the image FineStar’s fans pursued and the image the group itself represented.
“Nothing’s been set in stone yet.”
-Glad I called at just the right time, then.
The division head laughed heartily.
-I spoke with the president as well, and we thought it would be best to clearly tell you what we want on our end.
“Yes, that would be easier for me too. Please go ahead.”
I picked up a sticky note and pen, ready to jot everything down.
-First, you know FineStar’s overall concept is pure and high school, right?
“Yes, of course.”
Aside from the center and leader, all of the members were still teenagers.
And their main fandom was mostly made up of uncle fans.
-It would be nice to emphasize that admired popular-student feeling from school, while still giving off a friendly vibe that makes people feel like they can get close.
Just hearing that gave me the immediate intuition that this would not be easy.
Admiration and friendliness were pretty much opposites.
-And you know our center, right? Song Ji-na. That girl has a pretty great body. She’s got that glamorous charm, so we’d like to add a sexy element, too.
“Division Head, mixing pure high school and sexy isn’t easy. And there are younger members in the group, too...”
-I know. That’s why I’m calling you and asking, isn’t it?
He chuckled and went on.
-Anyway, you get what I’m saying, right? Please take good care of it.
“...”
I couldn’t answer right away.
Even if they were the client, what they wanted seemed hard to match.
-Oh, would you maybe need a chance to observe FineStar more closely?
“That would help.”
It would definitely be better for my senses to see them in the flesh once, rather than just searching for material online.
-Can you make time tomorrow?
I wondered if they’d give me fan meeting tickets or at least observation access when they recorded a specific broadcast.
Seeing them in person any way I could would help.
“Yes. I can make it.”
But the answer I got went beyond my expectations.
-Then maybe you can try being a one-day manager.
“...Pardon?”
-I’m not actually asking you to be our errand boy. I mean, follow the schedule for the day, observe the members, meet the fandom, and so on. Wouldn’t that be better?
“Uh...”
It sounded like the scale was getting bigger than I’d expected.
Still, yeah, that’s better than wandering around fan sites halfheartedly and wasting time.
There was something you could only feel by seeing celebrities, especially a girl group, with your own eyes.
“Understood. Where should I go?”
-If you can come to Yeouido by four a.m. tomorrow, that should do it.
“...Four?”
-Yes. The schedule starts then. I’ll send you the exact location by text. I can send it to the number on your business card, right?
“Yes...”
Damn.
This was going to be one exhausting day.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
3 a.m.
Ugh...
I let out a long sigh, turned off the alarm, and sat up.
Because I had to be at work at dawn today, the company had been considerate enough to let me leave early yesterday, but that didn’t mean I could just come home and collapse into bed right away. My whole body was packed with fatigue.
Just when it seems like I’ve got a break from my side jobs, my main job gets busy again.
It was probably because Manager Han Su-a had come to Planning Team 3.
The next one, I should handle with Assistant Manager Park.
That guy was good at picking the sweet projects, the ones with low difficulty and a generous prep period.
As usual, I drove my ten-year-old Accent, which I normally didn’t bother taking to work, and headed to Yeouido.
I parked at the destination and waited a while before rubbing their eyes and emerging in a cluster of five members with their manager.
On screen, they were obviously a girl group.
Probably because it was so early in the morning, I didn’t feel much of a jolt.
Meeting Choi Kang-san and Lim Yu-jin had already worn down some of the distance I’d felt toward celebrities.
And maybe because they just looked like ordinary young girls, about the age of nieces, I actually felt less pressure.
“Hello. I’m Kang Seo-jun, and I’m the one who’ll be joining you today through the division head.”
I walked up to the manager and greeted him.
“Ah, yes. Assistant Manager Kang. I got the message. I’m Chief Manager Choi Jae-wook.”
The man who seemed to be the chief manager among the two managers came forward warmly, shook my hand, and then told the members behind him, “This is the person who’ll be with us today. You remember what I said, right?”
“Hello, we’re FineStar! Please take care of us!”
I startled.
Just a moment ago they’d still looked half-asleep, but they delivered the greeting in perfect unison.
“Ah, yes. I’m Kang Seo-jun.”
The manager smiled and gestured to the car.
“Please get in this way and come with us.”
“Yes.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
It felt like I was watching an idol documentary on location from the crack of dawn.
At four in the morning, before the sun had even risen, they stopped by a salon and spent two hours getting makeup done, then headed to the broadcast station.
They did the pre-recording for the music show, circled another waiting room to greet their seniors, and then, in the chicken coop of a waiting room, they sat blankly waiting for the next cue.
“So once rehearsal is over, all that’s left is to go on stage once and wrap up, right?”
“Oh, no. There’s still a long way to go before we’re done.”
Chief Manager Choi laughed and waved a hand.
“In a bit, we’ve got the morning radio schedule first.”
“Ah...?”
“For the record, the stage you just saw was only the personal rehearsal. After we finish our schedules, we still have to do another camera rehearsal. Around lunchtime, we’ll eat salad lunch boxes, film a few challenge videos, do the dress rehearsal and live rehearsal, and then finally the real stage.”
“...”
“After that, we’ll greet the fans and chat with them briefly, and then there’s an event in the evening, so we have to go to Paju. After that, there’s a drama cameo, so we’ll head back to Ilsan and just shoot one cut. That’s the whole day without a late-night shoot, so we’ll get out a little early. Maybe around eleven when we get back to the dorm?”
Starting at four a.m. and ending at eleven p.m.
Just hearing it made my head spin.
“By the way, I heard you were working on perfume-related planning?”
“Ah, yes. For this pop-up store, we decided to center the concept around fragrance.”
“Ah, I see. But you can’t exactly use the smell of the kids’ sweat, can you?”
“Of course not.”
I’d come here not to sniff FineStar’s scent, but to read the atmosphere.
“Honestly, this is all new to me, so I can’t quite get a feel for it yet. Please let me know if there’s anything you need.”
“Yes, thank you.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
10:30 p.m.
I’m dead...
I wasn’t physically exhausted so much as mentally worn to a nub.
Still, at least it ended well.
It had been a murderous schedule, but somehow we’d made it through, and that alone was worth being relieved about.
Man, the entertainment industry really is a small world.
What caught me most off guard was that when I accompanied them to the studio for the cameo shoot that evening, there he was again.
And shockingly, it was...
“Choi Kang-san, you again?”
“Oh! Hyung-nim. We meet again like this?”
“...How are you everywhere?”
“Isn’t that proof enough that I’m a top star? Hah-hah!”
I ran into the guy again.
“Hearing you say that about yourself really is cringe.”
“Isn’t this the age of self-promotion?”
“...You could at least not say it out loud.”
“The more successful you are, the harder you have to work. That’s how you survive in this business.”
“Fair enough.”
I was glad to see him, but we’d met by chance while each of us was in the middle of our own business, so there wasn’t time for a long conversation.
“Hyung-nim, I’ll come by and visit soon. I’ve got something to tell you, too.”
“Sure. Let’s talk again.”
“Yep!”
11:15 p.m.
Today’s schedule finally ended just a hair later than planned.
“Assistant Manager Kang. About that interview you mentioned earlier, would one person be enough? If you need more, we can arrange it.”
“No, that’s fine. I’m just asking a few short questions about FineStar. Better to get it done quickly so the members can rest.”
“Ah, then would you wait in the car? I’ll go call her over.”
“Yes. That works.”
“Just a moment...! Ji-na. Could you come here for a second?”
After hearing the manager’s explanation, Song Ji-na, the group’s leader and center, bowed politely and climbed back into the car.
“Honestly, calling it an interview is too grand a term. Just think of it as me asking you a bunch of things. We’re not recording anything, so don’t feel pressured.”
“Ah, yes!”
Song Ji-na flashed a bright smile, then stiffened as if something had just occurred to her and shrank back a little.
“Um, would it be okay if I moved a little farther away?”
“Ah, am I too close? Sorry.”
“No, it’s not that...”
Song Ji-na glanced down at her clothes, looking embarrassed.
“I couldn’t change clothes during today’s schedule, so I ended up sweating a lot. I was worried I might smell.”
“Don’t worry. You don’t smell.”
Once I said it out loud, I suddenly worried that maybe I had a stale middle-aged-man odor of my own, so I lifted my collar a little and sniffed.
Sniff sniff-.
Fortunately, I hadn’t sweated enough to smell.
This has become a real trauma.
Ever since that one time it had popped up in the status window, whenever I heard someone mention smell, or even saw someone inhale, PTSD kicked in and I ended up checking my own scent first.
“Anyway, shall we do the interview?”
“Ah, yes!”
I asked about all sorts of things.
The way she dealt with fans, the image she wanted to project to them, how she wanted to be remembered, and so on.
For the pop-up store, the company’s opinion mattered, sure, but I thought FineStar’s own thoughts were even more important.
Still, what I got back were the standard, by-the-book answers.
It was the kind of answer an idol should give, the kind a girl group would give.
That probably won’t help much for making perfume.
I made some rough notes in my notebook and was about to wrap up the interview.
But even in this exhausted state, seeing her smile brightly made me curious about something more personal.
“This isn’t me asking FineStar, but asking you, Ji-na. Today’s schedule was insanely packed. From what I heard, you guys do this kind of thing without even having a day off during the week. Doesn’t it get hard?”
Song Ji-na thought for a moment, then answered candidly.
“It’s hard. I’m tired. It’s intense. But... everyone does it like this.”
“...Really?”
“Yes. Not even one percent of idols succeed if they only sleep three hours a day and keep running schedules.”
That was true.
Out of tens of thousands of trainees, fewer than one percent ever debuted as idols.
And among that one percent, the ones who actually succeeded and survived would be few enough to count on one hand.
“Still, FineStar is already a successful girl group, isn’t it?”
“Even if we won first place recently, nothing lasts forever. The seniors above us are holding their ground, and beneath us there are powerful rookies debuting all the time... If we want to survive, we have to stay in the public eye even a little more. So we have to work hard.”
She gripped her collar tightly and added, as if every word came from the heart,
“I really want to succeed.”
“...Ji-na, you said you’re twenty-two, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
It wasn’t the kind of answer a twenty-two-year-old should have had ready.
I briefly wondered if she’d matured early, but that wasn’t quite it either.
It was just something she’d internalized from clawing her way through the entertainment industry to survive.
It felt strange.
Unlike a man like me, who’d been steeped in the routines of society for years, it was as though she’d carefully chosen only the hopeful, bright parts of herself and held them up for the world to see.
No, that’s not right. It’s exactly the kind of answer a young person can give.
The FineStar members were still only in their late teens to early twenties.
For me, today’s schedule was just labor to make money, so of course it was tiring and draining.
But for Song Ji-na, and for the FineStar members, it was a sacred process of running toward dreams and goals.
“Ji-na, you’re like a hot summer.”
The words that came to mind slipped out naturally.
“The way you work with such passion and never let the effort die out is really lovely to see.”
“Thank you.”
At that moment.
Summer...?
I felt it intensely.
It was as though a flash of lightning had streaked through my mind.
“I think we should go with summer.”
“...Pardon?”
“I mean FineStar’s fragrance. If we blend it with the color of youth, I think we can bring out FineStar’s identity in full.”
FineStar felt like summer.
In August, beneath the blazing sun.
Youth that knew it would never return, and so burned through everything it had.
“Thank you.”
I smiled brightly and added,
“I think this pop-up store will succeed because of you, Ji-na.”
---