The Great Stone Face Calls In

It was the first time in Young-hoon's life that he had ever appeared on a broadcast of any kind — TV, radio, or otherwise.

Seated in the greenroom for guests, he turned the matter over in his mind carefully. Nothing about it seemed particularly daunting. His face wouldn't be revealed; only his voice would go out. He made more than a hundred phone calls on a busy day as it was — there was no reason to work himself up over this.

And right at that moment, his phone rang.

Young-hoon took a deep, long breath and answered calmly.

"Hello. This is Great Stone Face — the one with the 100,000-won bounty on his head."

The radio booth erupted into commotion all at once, and listener submissions began flooding in over the internet.

"No. That's not the issue here. I'm genuinely grateful that so many people have taken an interest in us, and that they've shown such deep love for our Five Girls members. The problem is that my bounty is simply far too small. So I'm calling in the sincere hope that whoever put a price on my head will raise it substantially."

"Hmm. Well, if Hye-in's offering 300,000 won, I suppose I'll stay hidden nice and tight."

After a bit more light banter, the curtain fell on Five Girls' radio appearance and Young-hoon's surprise cameo. The aftershocks, no doubt, would be seismic.

PD Jang Won-seok's original plan had simply been to invite Five Girls onto a segment of 'Pleasant 2 PM' called 'Watch This Song.' But ever since the songs were unveiled at the pre-production press conference for the MBS drama 'Love After Separation,' their explosive popularity had forced him to bring them onto the radio show instead as special guests.

They were still sitting comfortably in the upper ranks of the real-time search rankings. 'A Loving Heart' had held the number one spot in music downloads for a full week now. Every time a promo for the broadcast went out, listener submissions came pouring in. Convinced the website's servers might actually crash under the load, he'd had the capacity expanded — and the servers went down anyway. The text-message requests flooded in so relentlessly that the show reportedly set the all-time record in the history of Korean radio.

The MBS drama 'Love After Separation' had been etched into the national consciousness before a single episode had even aired. Thanks to the OST revealed on today's broadcast, ratings north of 20 percent were all but guaranteed. PD Lee Hyo-young, it seemed, was a man blessed by fortune itself.

The production teams of 'Love After Separation' also paused filming mid-day to listen to Five Girls on the radio. While the stirring songs still lingered in their hearts, the drama promotion followed close behind. The press conference had already generated an explosive response, and with 'Love After Separation' being mentioned yet again, the advertising effect was enormous — the drama instantly claimed the top spots in real-time search traffic. As far as the production staff was concerned, Five Girls deserved endless gratitude.

CEO Joo Young-ki in particular was so pleased he could have carried Five Girls around on his back without minding a bit.

"PD Shin Hye-yoon, shouldn't we be giving Five Girls a bonus about now? This is a complete monster hit — it's working better than a proper TV commercial."

"I know. The response was so explosive it took the radio ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠station's website down entirely. And they broadcast overseas too, so this has really put us on the map internationally. I think we need to move on recovering the overseas distribution rights, and quickly."

"Right. Lawyer Cha, how soon can we get the overseas rights back?"

"Hmm. Since MBS's 2.5-billion-won investment was returned yesterday, we should be able to recover the overseas distribution rights through a renegotiated contract by early next week."

"So we're just ceding the domestic rights, then?"

"Yes. That much is unavoidable."

"Fine. Let's do it that way. And Shin PD — reach out to the Five Girls members and Mr. Kim Young-hoon, and try to set up a dinner."

"Five Girls have been awfully busy lately, though. I hear they're running five or more events a day. After this broadcast, it'll probably get even worse. I'm not sure they'll have the time, but I'll give it a try."

"Don't just try — tell them there's about 100 million won in it for them. That'll bring them running. We were planning to pay a bonus anyway, and thanks to Chairman Jang, the production budget has plenty of slack."

"Understood. I'll make the attempt."

Hye-yoon hadn't been able to get Young-hoon on the phone since the pre-production press conference — there simply hadn't been any special occasion to. She was living each day at a breakneck pace herself, but that stone-faced man was hardly idle either. Left as things were, who knew when they might see each other again. So she'd decided this dinner was the perfect excuse to poke at him once more.

PD Lee Hyo-young had been uneasy of late, and every ounce of that unease traced back to Kim Young-hoon.

If he partnered with screenwriter Lee Na-yeon on a drama, even the worst flop held ratings in the 10-percent range. So he'd persuaded the MBS executives to invest 5 billion won, securing the domestic copyright and half of the overseas distribution rights. He'd calculated that even domestic ratings in the 10s would yield a 50 to 100 percent return on investment through advertising sales, internet downloads, and overseas rights deals.

Then Kim Young-hoon's OST had turned the entire situation upside down. Midas Jang, having heard the songs at the press conference, injected an additional 10 billion won, and Five Girls' music went viral across the internet. 'Love After Separation' was riding the wave too — with three full weeks still to go before broadcast, word of mouth was already spreading. He felt a powerful conviction that this would be a runaway mega-hit.

And that was precisely what made Midas Jang's extra 10 billion so problematic. Unless the Sinabro Production executives were fools, they couldn't possibly fail to see this drama was going to be a smash. They had offered to return 2.5 billion of MBS's 5-billion-won investment in exchange for giving back the overseas rights. Hyo-young had attended the meeting and shouted that it was absolutely out of the question — but the executives snapped up Sinabro's proposal without hesitation. The 2.5 billion had been recovered yesterday, and once the new contracts were signed Monday, Sinabro Production would hold 100 percent of the overseas distribution rights.

Every bit of this chaos traced back to Kim Young-hoon. His songs had been so striking that they'd completely reshuffled the production landscape.

He had lost the overseas rights, yes — but PD Lee Hyo-young couldn't bring himself to resent Young-hoon for it. He'd already promised that one day they would join hands and create something together. The immediate loss stung, but his expectations for the future had only grown firmer. When that day came, the whole world would probably be stunned. Until then, he had to pour everything he had into 'Love After Separation.'

Utterly unaware of the breathless maneuvering above his head, Young-hoon headed for Sinsa-dong, the promised meeting spot with President Lee Jae-man. When he arrived at the specialty coffee shop, Lee Jae-man and the Five Girls members were already there.

The moment they spotted him, the members of Five Girls came charging over like a pack of starved puppies — apparently payback for his surprise radio appearance that had startled them all. Young-hoon was bowled over by the girls' enthusiastic reception.

"Hey, hey — this is a public place. What's gotten into you all?"

"Obviously we're happy to see you, oppa! It's been ages!"

"Do you dislike this, orabuni?"

"Oppa... I missed you."

It was pure pandemonium. Young-hoon finally wrestled himself free and calmed the girls down.

Before long, a man who seemed to be an employee came over and asked for their autographs. One could feel just how sky-high Five Girls' popularity had climbed these days. While the members signed with practiced ease, the man approached them, visibly moved.

"Five Girls came to do a morale performance back when I was serving in Cheorwon, and I've been a fan ever since. But you disappeared from TV about three or four years ago, so I honestly thought you'd disbanded."

The man turned his bright, shining eyes over the members one by one and went on.

"Ah — and this latest 'A Loving Heart' and 'After Farewell' were truly wonderful. I'm no expert in music, but I'm certain they're destined to join the ranks of the beloved masterpieces the whole world cherishes."

Hye-in, the leader, spoke for the group.

"Thank you so much. May we ask your name?"

"It's Kim Gi-hyun."

Gi-hyun clutched the signed paper bearing his own name and walked back to the counter grinning from ear to ear.

Once the little commotion had swept past, Young-hoon finally greeted President Lee Jae-man.

"Sorry I'm late, President Lee. So the office location is around here somewhere?"

"Ah, yes. It's the seven-story building behind this coffee shop. We'd be taking the sixth floor and one basement level."

"Then we can head over in a bit. And what about the dorm?"

"The dorm is about a ten-minute walk from the headquarters too. Let's take a look at both today while we're at it."

"Sounds good. By the way — you girls don't look tired at all? You must have four or five schedules a day. You're really okay?"

"Oh, come on, oppa. What do you take us for? This is nothing — it's gum."

"That's right, orabuni. Compared to all that time we spent resting, every single day like this is a happy one."

"...Not tired at all."

"Hehe, it's been less than a week, so we've still got stamina to spare. And if we get worn out, we just replenish with meat, right?"

"Well, if you say so... Still, your bodies are your livelihood, girls — take care of your health, always. And Kyeong-hwan, don't you go speeding just because you're pressed for time."

At that, Su-min, Five Girls' resident cutie, shot out of the pack.

"Oppa, you sound like a mother-in-law. Nagging just like Hye-in unnie."

"Hey. When have I ever nagged like that? By the time you're my age, you're the Great Demon King of Nagging."

"You little...!"

Young-hoon clutched his head under the concentrated barrage of teasing from the Five Girls members. But there was nothing unpleasant about it in the least. If anything, he was grateful for how warmly they treated him. The stress that had built up at the office felt like it was melting away on the spot.

After a long stretch of pleasant chatting, President Lee Jae-man suggested they head over to see the office. It was the moment Young-hoon had been waiting for, so he and the members of Five Girls rose from their seats at once.

The building looked clean from the outside — an understated white that didn't stand out at all, which made it look just right for office space. A tour of the sixth floor revealed that the space itself was generous. There was more than enough room to lay out the work area, the president's office, and the conference rooms, and Young-hoon gave his okay on the spot.

Then they made their way down to the basement practice room that would serve Five Girls. It came fully equipped with a practice space, lounge areas, and shower facilities — nothing was missing. According to President Lee Jae-man, another agency had been using the space before, and when that company relocated its offices, the listing came up and they'd decided to lease it.

The members of Five Girls wore satisfied expressions all around. Since there hardly seemed to be any need to look at other places, Young-hoon made his decision right then and there. When he asked how soon the move-in could happen, he was told it would be possible by November 25th at the latest. With President Lee Jae-man assuring him that all the interior work and so forth could be finished in the meantime, they set D-Day for Sunday, November 26th.

With the practice room inspected, the party next set off to see the dorm the girls would be using. A ten-minute walk away, the dorm was a two-story Western-style house tucked into a residential neighborhood. The living room was a comfortable size for five people, and the kitchen was remarkably spacious — it looked just about perfect for Joo-yeon to show off her cooking. There were two bedrooms on the first floor and three on the second, so each member could have her own room. They'd sort out the room assignments by seniority among themselves, leaving Young-hoon with nothing to interfere in.

Like the office, the dorm needed a bit of repair work, so they scheduled the move-in for November 26th to coincide with the headquarters relocation.

The second act of Girin Entertainment was, at long last, rising onto the stage.