Caught in the Eyes of a Genius
Oh Yuri looked at my face, making no effort to hide her tension as she spoke.
“That person’s goal is to get me into the debut group for Girl 100—specifically the final eleven. If the votes are being manipulated, they probably think it’s possible to slip me in there too.”
That wasn’t something Ban Seongcheol could accomplish just by deciding to do it. The collusion between Kim Seonye, Mnet, and the eleven agencies ran far too deep and solid.
“I don’t agree with the vote-rigging theory you mentioned, Yuri, but even if we assume it’s true, something still feels contradictory.”
“Contradictory?”
“Yes, contradictory. According to what you said, the final eleven is already set, right? In that case, even if Ban Seongcheol tries to lobby with things like entertainment, it would be difficult. If the votes are being manipulated, that means not just Producer Kim but Mnet itself is involved. And Mnet wouldn’t have set up the board so sloppily that it could be overturned with just a little money.”
She nodded at my words before answering.
“You’re right. It wouldn’t be easy to interfere with a board that the broadcasting station itself built. But it becomes possible if they create an opening.”
Oh Yuri stood on her tiptoes with the board marker in her hand, circled the name written in seventh place, and said,
“Manager Ban is planning to get rid of her—Lee Bom, who reached seventh place in the fifth round of voting.”
As far as I remembered, Lee Bom was just one of the trainees who had been selected for the final eleven only to have her entertainment career abruptly end amid the manipulated-vote scandal. I didn’t know what happened to her later, but I recalled that she didn’t have any criminal record serious enough to warrant dropping out mid-broadcast.
“How exactly does he plan to get rid of Trainee Lee Bom? I remember her record being clean.”
“If there’s no problem, they’ll just make one. …For example, school violence allegations. Prepare one whistleblower, silence a few mouths, and you’ve got the easiest way to stir up controversy.”
I let out a low sigh and said,
“So it doesn’t matter if it’s not even true.”
“Exactly.”
The picture formed clearly in my head.
“Even if Lee Bom pushes back or files a defamation lawsuit, by then Girl 100 would have already responded.”
“Whether there’s a reevaluation later or not, the important thing is to keep her from making the debut group.”
“So the entertainment request you mentioned—is it to create that empty spot? Or to secure it for yourself?”
“Both, as far as I know. That Ban Seongcheol guy seems to be connected to some dangerous people.”
“Dangerous people? As far as I know, Ban Seongcheol is a gold spoon whose parents run a business.”
Oh Yuri shuddered as if getting goosebumps and said,
“…That business is a room salon kind of place.”
“….”
In the previous round, Ban Seongcheol—despite his strong pride and tendency to show off—had avoided directly mentioning the company his parents ran. The only reason I even knew his parents owned a company was because a senior with a bad personality had gotten drunk and snapped, “That bastard’s a gold spoon!” while cursing him out.
Hearing Yuri’s words, that past suddenly felt deeply suspicious.
…I really didn’t know anything about Ban Seongcheol.
And the fact that I had once trusted him now felt incredibly stupid.
I stroked my freshly shaved chin, finished my moment of regret and reflection, and asked her,
“Then what’s your goal, Yuri?”
“My goal?”
“Do you want to judge Ban Seongcheol for doing illegal things like sponsorship deals? Or do you want to transfer to a safer agency?”
If it was one of those two, I was willing to help. I even felt a sense of responsibility in this situation.
But Oh Yuri’s next answer came from a direction I hadn’t expected at all.
“I’m going to bring down Girl 100. I’d like you to cooperate with me.”
…What about Ban Seongcheol?
Feeling awkward, I scratched my head and asked,
“If your goal is just to avoid shady requests like entertainment offers, do you really need to go that far? Gathering evidence, reporting it, and moving to a normal agency should be enough, shouldn’t it?”
I didn’t know how deeply involved Ban Seongcheol was with Flower Entertainment, so simply exposing his crimes might not be enough to guarantee Yuri’s safety. A powerful decisive blow to cut out the roots might be necessary. But destroying the show called Girl 100 went far beyond the realm of a decisive blow.
…It was like using a napalm strike to kill a cockroach. That was beyond overkill.
I didn’t hide that question.
“Even if all your assumptions are correct, you know it won’t be easy, right? For starters, I’m a staff member on Girl 100 and the manager who has to push Gyeoul. That means I have every intention of stopping any shady actions you might take. That’s also why I’m recording this conversation and planning to send the data to Producer Kim. In a situation like this, you want to bring down Girl 100? …I don’t know about that.”
At my half-threatening words, Oh Yuri trembled as she spoke.
“C-couldn’t you think of it as saving one person and cooperate? Or… I-I’ll give you money!”
“I’m not the kind of person who would be satisfied with a middle schooler’s pocket money. And no matter how much it is, I’m not the kind of person who would make a choice that harms Two Bear or Gyeoul. Right now, leaving you alone when you’re threatening Girl 100 would itself be a harmful action.”
“…As expected, I’m finished.”
Yuri looked like she had nothing more to say and simply stared at the floor. I heard her sniffle. Then tears began to fall, plopping onto the ground.
I let out a small sigh and asked her,
“Why are you trying to cause such a huge incident?”
She wiped away her tears, glanced around hesitantly, then gave a crooked smile and said,
“…Because I don’t want to just let it go.”
“If it’s not just that?”
“I believe that Manager Ban Seongcheol, who created this kind of situation, the manipulated broadcast, and everyone who took the lobbying—they all need to be punished. If I can do it, I should make it happen. That’s what my grandmother taught me. …That’s all.”
“And that sense of justice is why you threatened me?”
“Honestly, even though I threatened you, I never intended to ask you to do anything that would harm Team Leader Sun. …I’m still sorry.”
“…Sigh.”
For a middle schooler to take on all this risk, a sense of mission, justice, and revenge seemed like strange motivations. Still, there was no need to nitpick. It wasn’t impossible to understand.
“….”
Through the conversation up to this point, the general picture had formed. If what she said was true, it didn’t seem entirely impossible for Oh Yuri to make it into the final eleven. But my questions hadn’t disappeared.
“Why did you choose to tell me all this, Yuri?”
“What do you mean, ‘all this’?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to talk to someone with more ability and influence than me about something like this?”
In truth, there was no one better suited than me to dig into this matter. With regression, a status window, and a clear purpose, I had the perfect combination. But that was only from my perspective. From Oh Yuri’s point of view, I was just an ordinary manager.
So I was curious why she would go so far as to use threats to demand cooperation from someone like me.
“Because Team Leader Sun made a deal with Producer Kim Seonye.”
“I keep telling you I didn’t make any deal with the producer…”
“It’s a hypothesis! Just a hypothesis! Since my life is already ruined, I’m not planning to threaten you again, so just go along with it for now! Otherwise the story won’t progress.”
“…Fine, whatever.”
Since she called it a hypothesis, it seemed Oh Yuri was convinced that I had made a deal with Kim Seonye. But since I was the only one recording here, I figured it was okay to play along to some extent. I could always edit out any parts of the recording that might be disadvantageous to me later.
“To explain in more detail, Team Leader Sun made the deal later than the others, which is why I came to this conclusion.”
“What do you mean?”
After nodding at me, Oh Yuri took out the board marker again and began drawing a simple diagram as she explained.
“The fact that you made an additional deal while the broadcast was already underway means your starting point was completely different from the existing agencies that had already formed a cartel. In fact, your treatment was probably on the worse side.”
“How can you be so sure?”
She grouped the trainees on the board by skill level as she spoke.
“During the first recording, the attitude of the other writers and the number of cameras—pairing you with three members of Counter who possess top-tier skills—can be seen as evidence. That kind of personnel arrangement is the perfect setup for a character meant to be stepped on for entertainment purposes. It means Winter Unnie was considered a very low-priority asset within the broadcasting station.”
The Oh Yuri who had shown off middle-schooler cuteness and given a charming greeting during that first recording had apparently been collecting and analyzing all that information in her mind. Who would have thought a middle schooler could show such initiative and reasoning? She really was an incredible kid.
“But once actual filming began, the picture changed completely.”
Oh Yuri drew underlines beneath the first and second round voting results she had written earlier. There it was—the miraculous rebound where Gyeoul, who had been ranked 94th in the pre-broadcast vote based only on her existing fanbase, shot up to 17th after just one episode aired.
“This means that both Team Leader Sun and Winter Unnie deviated from the roles the broadcast had assigned you. And Producer Kim Seonye might have seen that as betrayal. …No, she definitely did. From what I saw, Producer Kim is the type who wants to control every single thing about the broadcast.”
Oh Yuri drew an arrow between the name Han Gyeoul in the first-round vote and the same name in the second-round vote, then crossed it out with a large X.
“She would have drawn her sword. She would have made an example out of the chess piece that escaped her control—and out of everyone else. Malicious editing, pressure, suggestions to quit, blacklisting—Producer Kim Seonye has far too many cards she can play. And even one of those cards would be enough to destroy both Team Leader Sun and Winter Unnie.”
Then Oh Yuri smiled faintly and erased the X in one swift motion.
“But Team Leader Sun completely flipped that board over. You turned the victim who was supposed to receive penalties into a beneficiary protected by vote manipulation in a single move. With what I assume was one decisive deal. …This is… this is truly incredible.”
Oh Yuri rubbed her arms with both hands as if she had gotten goosebumps.
“Team Leader Sun, you just asked me, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to talk to someone with more ability and influence than me?’ right?”
“…I did.”
“I’ll state it clearly. Among everyone involved with Girl 100, I don’t know about influence, but when it comes to pure ability, there is absolutely no one more capable than you, Team Leader Sun. Because no one else could have done something like this.”
Oh Yuri looked at me with her red eyes filled with a strange heat and said,
“Even if no one else knows it, I do.”