Is That Your Answer?
Is that your answer, CEO?
“Is the answer from the CEO I know that those arrogant PDs are offering to adjust the order, the set, and even provide styling support for Yerin’s appearance?”
Lee Ha-ri had relayed the news over the phone, and Kang Beom-jun let out a hollow laugh.
As someone who had once stood on a music broadcast stage himself, he understood perfectly.
Baek Yerin’s appearance.
Just how much the PDs had sacrificed for that single thing.
“Did you predict even this much?”
“?”
Kang Beom-jun tossed the question at me while I was absentmindedly eating snacks.
I answered with a puzzled look.
“No? I only said that because I didn’t want to make Yerin suffer. Honestly, even a kid knows how brutal music show filming is. I just didn’t want her to have to endure it for three straight days.”
“…Yeah. That’s exactly the kind of guy you are.”
Kang Beom-jun sighed, his eyes filled with exasperation.
In truth, appearing on music shows for three consecutive days might be considered a normal schedule for idols and singers.
But where in the world did anything truly “normal” exist?
There was no such thing—just as there had been no such thing as me returning to the past.
And for the current Baek Yerin, the very concept of time itself would feel scarce.
It was only right to give her even a little more time with the people she held dear.
At any rate, the reason Kang Beom-jun had called me in today was to discuss a certain problem.
“So what do you think would be best? The song Yerin should perform on the music show.”
On music broadcasts, each team could only perform one song due to time constraints.
Usually it was the title track.
But we had released the entire third album at once.
That meant there were a full three title tracks.
The original plan had been to split the three title songs across three days, but because of me that schedule had vanished from existence entirely.
Yet a question suddenly occurred to me.
“Is it all right not to ask the managers for their opinions?”
“We concluded that this part should fully respect the opinions of you, the composer, and Yerin, the singer.”
…What is this.
Lately it felt like the managers were pushing me forward far too much.
As that thought crossed my mind, Baek Yerin and her manager, Lee Ha-ri, arrived at the CEO’s office together.
“What were you talking about?”
Baek Yerin naturally took the seat beside me and asked.
“We were deciding which song you’ll sing on the music show. The CEO and managers said we should choose.”
“Hmm… Do you already have something in mind?”
“Rewind.”
I answered without hesitation.
It was the song that held the deepest meaning for me.
All the others were good too, but personally, I wanted to see Baek Yerin perform Rewind on her very first music broadcast stage.
“I see…”
However, Baek Yerin responded with a bitter smile and a strangely lukewarm reaction.
Finding it odd, I asked right away.
“Why? Do you want to sing something else?”
“Ah, no! I wanted to sing Rewind too!”
“Well… that’s a relief. Oh, and please get me one extra audience ticket.”
“Are you planning to come watch Yerin’s stage?”
“I have the right to, don’t I? Or would you like to go together? Honestly, I think you’d be curious too, CEO.”
“Oh… I’ll admit that. I’ll get the tickets myself.”
“There’s no need. I figured something like this might happen, so I already received a ticket from the PD in advance.”
“Wow, as expected of Manager Lee.”
While the three of them chatted animatedly…
“……”
For some reason, Baek Yerin was far quieter than usual.
On the day of the music broadcast.
Baek Yerin and Lee Ha-ri arrived at KBB’s broadcasting station at seven in the morning on Friday for the filming of Music Save.
“Is that the rumored genius singer? I heard the competition for audience tickets today was the most intense it’s ever been because of her.”
“Wow… I’m a total fan. Seeing her in person, she’s even prettier. Should I try talking to her later?”
Even among the crowd of celebrities, Baek Yerin was literally the center of attention.
And so, beneath those burdensome gazes, her first music broadcast filming began.
In truth, even though it was called filming, the nature of music shows meant the waiting time was far longer.
From dry rehearsal to camera rehearsal…
Once your team’s rehearsal ended, the structure forced you to keep waiting until the actual broadcast.
Usually, tight schedules allowed artists to squeeze in other appointments during those gaps, but that didn’t apply to Baek Yerin at all.
She sat in the audience section, watching the other teams’ rehearsals.
As she stared blankly at the process, time flew by, and at the same time she gradually began to feel a growing sense of unease.
Baek Yerin looked down at her right hand.
…For some reason, it was trembling violently.
It was then.
“Yerin.”
“Yes. Did you call for me?”
At her manager Lee Ha-ri’s call, Baek Yerin answered with her usual faint smile.
Not sensing anything strange, Lee Ha-ri continued.
“Aren’t you hungry? You skipped lunch earlier.”
“Ah, I’m fine. I think the timing is perfect right now.”
Lee Ha-ri smiled bitterly.
She spoke bravely, but sitting still for hours on end was not as easy as it sounded.
Especially for a newcomer experiencing it for the first time—it would be even harder to adapt.
“Ah, could I step outside for some fresh air? I’ve been sitting indoors the whole time and it’s starting to feel a little stuffy.”
“Hmm… We have to change into the stage outfit in forty minutes, so you should have about thirty minutes. Just don’t go too far.”
So Lee Ha-ri readily let her go.
Yerin wasn’t the type to cause trouble, and she appeared to be in fine condition.
But exactly thirty minutes later, Lee Ha-ri would instinctively realize how wrong that judgment had been.
3 p.m.
RT Entertainment CEO Kang Beom-jun stepped out of the company in disguise.
He was on his way to watch Music Save with Ryu Won.
He had driven all the way to the middle school Ryu Won attended, planning to pick him up after class, when—
—CEO! It’s an emergency!
Lee Ha-ri’s call came through urgently.
Kang Beom-jun instantly realized the situation was serious.
The veteran manager’s voice was thick with panic.
“Ha-ri, calm down a little and tell me what’s going on.”
—CEO… Yerin has suddenly disappeared.
“Yerin suddenly disappeared?”
Lee Ha-ri explained the full story.
Baek Yerin had said she wanted some fresh air and gone for a short walk. Since then, she had not returned to the filming site.
—The phone connects normally. But for some reason she isn’t answering my calls.
“I understand. I’ll try contacting her myself.”
—Yes, please. I’ll search around the station as best I can.
Click—
Lee Ha-ri hung up immediately.
“Hoo… Was I missing something?”
With those self-reproaching words, Kang Beom-jun dialed Baek Yerin.
And shortly after, he heard this from the other end of the line.
"The number you have dialed is not available. After the beep, you will be connected to voicemail and a charge will apply. Beeeep—"
As expected, Baek Yerin did not pick up Kang Beom-jun’s call either.
This was clearly…
“Not an ordinary situation.”
The call connected normally but she wouldn’t answer. In cases like this, there were only two possibilities.
Either the phone was on silent and she genuinely hadn’t noticed the call, or she was deliberately ignoring it because she didn’t want to speak to the person on the other end.
Kang Beom-jun’s instincts told him the latter was far more likely.
Whatever the reason, the priority right now was finding Baek Yerin.
But how?
He racked his brain for a solution, yet ironically the deliberation ended quickly.
He stared blankly at his phone.
What if…
Really, what if.
‘Would you have predicted even a situation like this?’
As if possessed, Kang Beom-jun dialed the boy who had come to mind.
It was almost an instinctive choice, and in a way, perhaps the most rational one.
“Hello?”
Ryu Won.
His calm voice came through the receiver.
Kang Beom-jun asked urgently.
“Ryu Won. Do you have any idea what’s happening right now?”
“If you don’t give me a hint, how would I know… but I can hear the urgency in your voice. Did something happen to Yerin?”
“…Yes. She went out for some air but hasn’t returned to the filming site. The calls connect fine, yet she’s not answering mine or her manager’s.”
“Then she definitely won’t answer mine either.”
“What…?”
“CEO. Please listen carefully to what I’m about to say and answer me thoughtfully.”
Suddenly Ryu Won’s tone changed.
To be exact, the atmosphere grew deadly serious.
When Kang Beom-jun considered the talent Ryu Won possessed, it seemed like a rather modest dream.
No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t feel like something worth staking one’s life on.
But as he listened to the next words, he realized the weight behind them was on an entirely different level.
It would naturally turn to nothing.
His youth, his effort, his dreams—none of it would be properly rewarded.
For Ryu Won, it would surely be a heartbreaking, bitter experience equal to losing the meaning of life itself.
Yet Ryu Won already knew that.
“……”
“On the other hand, what about you, CEO?”
Ryu Won understood better than anyone how much effort RT Entertainment had poured into preparing for Baek Yerin’s debut.
But if the fruit of all that labor vanished in an instant…
If she couldn’t overcome the pressure placed on her and declared she was abandoning the path of a singer, what answer would you give?
Ryu Won was asking Kang Beom-jun exactly that.
And to the boy’s grave question, he could only reply:
“I’m human too, so of course I’d get angry first. This isn’t some child’s game you can start or quit whenever you want. But I would never resent her. After all, debuting Yerin was my decision, and failing to notice the burden she carried would ultimately be my fault.”
“Is that your answer, CEO?”
“Yes.”
After that, the conversation halted for a moment.
Ryu Won simply smiled, as if he had heard a deeply satisfying reply.
Only then did he share his plan with Kang Beom-jun.
“CEO, meet up with Manager Lee and stall for as much time as possible. The Music Save production team must be quite flustered right now too.”
“That… suddenly?”
“Yes. You’re good at that sort of thing. In exchange, I will definitely bring Yerin there.”
“You’ll bring Yerin? How?”
“That’s a trade secret. However, as I said before, I will respect Yerin’s wishes to the fullest. Please don’t resent her too much after hearing what she has to say.”
“…All right. I understand.”
Ryu Won ended the call immediately after hearing the CEO’s answer.
In truth, Kang Beom-jun had no better option.
From the start, was there any choice more trustworthy than Ryu Won in this situation?
That was because…
‘Could you really give up on your own dream so easily?’
Kang Beom-jun knew.
He knew all too well.
From everything he had witnessed so far, the boy named Ryu Won was not someone who would abandon his dream that easily.
Clinging to that small hope, Kang Beom-jun hurried toward the KBB broadcasting station.