Top Idol
High Entertainment.
In almost no time at all it had grown into the agency that turned out every top-tier idol and actor currently reigning over South Korea, and the street outside was always packed with fervent fans.
"That was no way to welcome a guest. I'm sorry..."
"I never imagined the timing would overlap like that. Are you all right, Director Im?"
"...Yes. So long as the Chairman is safe, I'm fine."
"Well, I'm not."
Fans lining up outside an agency to catch even a glimpse of the celebrity they loved, timed to the schedule, was simply unavoidable. And as luck would have it, an idol group under the agency had been heading out for a broadcast the moment I arrived. The crowd surged, and the cuts scattered across Director Im's face were something I had no choice but to file under natural disaster.
"We warn them, we really do, and they still figure it out somehow and set up camp right out front..."
Seeing the state Director Im was in seemed to make Sieun feel even worse. She had been watching the two of us with a worried face for a while now.
"First... the two of you must have things to discuss in private. Shall I take him and see to those injuries?"
"Yes. Please do."
The woman at Sieun's side, who looked every bit the secretary, had offered the suggestion carefully. The moment Sieun gave her leave, she led Director Im out the door.
"Still, no matter when I come, this place is something."
Work had brought me here a few times before, but it never lost its shine: furniture in white, designed as if it had arrived from the future, and at the center of it all the mistress of the room — Sieun, in an off-the-shoulder black dress.
"Well... it is an entertainment company, isn't it? Looking toward the future, leading the culture... we were trying to express that sort of thing, and this is what we ended up with."
She drew a cup from the coffee machine beside her and held it out to me.
"You wear lavender perfume, don't you?"
Standing this close, I caught the cool, distinctive scent of lavender on her.
"What, you picked up on it just like that? Usually only our kids who wear perfume all the time notice."
"It's a scent I've always liked."
"Yeah? That's a relief, then."
As if it hardly mattered, Sieun set her own cup on the desk and sat back down.
Favorability Rating has increased.
…Right.
I had decided not to spare another thought for whatever standard made that number climb. Whether or not she sensed the tangle in my head, Sieun cleared her throat once and began.
"All right. We need to think about what comes next. That Park Namil — the very next thing he'll go after is our new-product showcase."
The new product High Group had poured so much into was the smartphone I was using even now.
"People have been waiting on it, so we didn't push the schedule back. That's why our stock hasn't fallen all that hard."
The stock is in fact on an upward trend, buoyed by anticipation.
A new product launch was always as good as a verdict on a company's fate. This showcase, though, was not only the company's.
"And we can't step back from it either."
Quite apart from whether I held on to this seat, my life itself was riding on that showcase.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Now that the funeral's over, I mean to go all-in on promotion... but Park Namil will play the press with every connection he's got. No question."
"Hmm... so who's handling that promotion?"
"The person with the highest brand value at the moment, of course..."
It hit me a second too late. Among the celebrities who could stand as the face of a product that was practically a symbol already, the one whose value stood highest was—
"You confident?"
None other than an idol signed to this very High Entertainment, whose president was the woman smiling at me now as if the whole thing amused her.
"No matter how I persuade that girl, she won't shoot a single ad. She won't even go on a variety show if she hears there's product placement."
And yet a clear voice and remarkable singing had made her the top vocalist in the country. She didn't appear on music programs, and the mystique only left people more desperate to put their campaigns in her hands.
"...We have to try something, don't we?"
"Oh? Pretty confident, aren't you? Because it isn't your first time meeting her?"
And, surprisingly, it wasn't. If anything, we already knew each other's faces.
"It's not exactly because of that..."
Sieun's younger sister, one of the owner family — a woman with no interest whatsoever in management, who had climbed to the top on her gift as a singer. Lee Garam.
"But I like that about you. Come on."
Still laughing as if she were enjoying herself, she caught my arm and started to pull.
"Uh... where are we going?"
"Relax. I'll take you somewhere even better than that bastard Park Namil!"
"What?"
Dragged along behind her, I arrived somewhere that could be called nice, if one were inclined to be generous: a restaurant set high enough that all of Seoul lay open beneath it.
"Makina."
Yes, Chairman.
"Sieun noona seemed awfully excited earlier. I wasn't imagining that, was I?"
Yes. That's correct.
"Why?"
There is a high probability her mood has improved because she can finally land a real blow on Park Namil.
"...What on earth happened between those two."
I had never once seen them so much as standing together, not even at an event, and I hadn't realized their relationship was that bad.
"Sorry to keep you waiting?"
Sieun said something to the waiter, then took the seat across from me.
"Anything you won't eat?"
"As long as it isn't raw fish, I'll eat pretty much anything."
"Yeah? Good. This place is famous for its steak."
A moment later the waiter brought wine. She took it and poured into my glass, and there was not a flicker of hesitation in the motion.
"You come here often, I take it?"
"Once or twice, with the kids? Most of them barely get a proper meal while they're trainees, so I bring them once before debut."
"Then I suppose I ought to be grateful for the rest of my life, getting to see a place this precious."
"Hmm~? Finally starting to see how impressive I am?"
My answer seemed to amuse her. She held out the wineglass and looked at me with an interested smile.
"A woman brings you to a special restaurant only she knows, and that's all you have to say?"
"No, I—"
I had no idea what I was supposed to say. The Sieun smiling at her ease in front of me looked like a different person from the one whose face had gone red when I called her noona.
...For someone with no dating experience of her own, she certainly talks a big game.
Makina addressed me in a tone of pure disbelief.
What do you mean?
I mean she cannot distinguish personal interest in you, Chairman, from professional interest, and that is why she is behaving this way.
According to Makina, Sieun believed she was asking out of business interest — but in concrete terms, she was curious about me as well.
But was there any reason for her to take an interest in me besides business?
I have not been reporting the figures, but Miss Lee Sieun's favorability toward you, Chairman, is already over ten percent. More than enough grounds for personal interest.
I had no idea when it had climbed that high. Either way, I wasn't about to just sit there and take it. I steadied my breath.
"Of course I should be grateful. I only got to come somewhere like this because of you, Noona. Next time we meet, I'll invite you somewhere I've been thinking of."
"Hmm~ really? I'll look forward to it...?"
Only after she heard me say I would invite her did Sieun realize what sort of moment her own line was usually saved for — as if she had been the one hoping for a next meeting. She looked away and, for no good reason, started rubbing at her wineglass.
"Still, if you brought me all the way here, I doubt it was just to have lunch."
"Mm. Well, you're half right."
The change of subject seemed to suit her. She faced me squarely again and went on.
"A guest is going to join us soon."
"A guest?"
"You can look forward to it. She ought to be here any minute, but her schedule's running a little late...?"
Guest or not, I hadn't the faintest idea who. I had only been pulled here in the middle of talking strategy, led by Sieun's hand.
How long passed after that, I couldn't say. We were still making small talk when dishes that looked expensive at a glance were set down on the table.
"I'm not late, am I?"
A woman's voice, bright and clear. I turned. Maybe it was the restaurant lighting, but the long blonde hair seemed to shine even brighter as she came in, waving.
"Right on time. Come sit."
Sieun didn't even rise. She reached over and drew out the chair beside her so it would be easy to take.
"Oh, Sis, thank—"
That must have been the moment. The instant her eyes met mine, the bright smile turned awkward, and a heartbeat later the look became pure surprise.
"Ji... Jinwoo, op— no, that's not— huh? Huh?!"
She couldn't get a sentence out, as if something in her had broken. It wasn't our first meeting, so I didn't see why she needed to be quite that shocked — but she could hardly have expected to find me in a place like this, and maybe the reaction was only natural.
"Not your first time meeting, is it? You two. This is our agency's flagship idol, Lee Garam. And this is Lee Jinwoo, currently serving as chief executive in accordance with Grandfather's will."
Sieun introduced me, but Garam still couldn't string her words together, like something jammed.
"No... why? Why is oppa here..."
"Garam. Breathe. Relax."
Whether Sieun's voice reached her, or she simply came back to herself, she jerked with a sharp little gasp and lifted her face from its muttering.
"I-I'm so glad to see you again, oppa!"