Chapter 79
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Legend of the Peacock Lord
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The Legend of the Peacock Lord
"Oppa!"
She must be busy at this hour.
Yet, oddly enough, I got a call from Mi-so while she was working.
"Yeah. What's up, Mi-so?"
"Um, our CEO wants to meet you, Oppa."
"Huh?"
Her CEO? The head of her agency?
Why would the agency CEO want to see me?
Because of that incident last time?
"You didn't tell him, did you?"
My voice naturally dropped lower.
"No? He wants to apologize for what happened and ask you a separate favor."
"For what happened?"
"When you collapsed, Oppa."
"Ah. That's fine, no big deal."
The CEO had yelled at Mi-so back then, and it might've contributed to my collapse, but it wasn't really his fault.
If anything, I was the one who caused all the fuss and should be apologizing.
"He also has a business-related request."
"That's even weirder. What business could he possibly have with me?"
"Don't worry, Oppa. Our CEO looks like a bandit, but he's a good guy. Really."
Hmm.
If Mi-so's vouching for him this much, it should be okay, right?
He's not going to eat me alive or anything.
I don't know the CEO, so I can't trust him, but I trust Mi-so.
If it was something that'd hurt me, she wouldn't have called in the first place.
"Got it. When and where?"
D.S. Entertainment CEO Choi Dae-seung.
He's a powerhouse in the entertainment industry that everyone knows.
A former singer himself, he founded his agency, but he's more recognized for his idol producing skills than his singing talent.
Besides Mi-so's group Spring, he has several top-tier idol groups under him.
He built the company named after himself into one of Korea's top three agencies.
What kind of business could a guy like this have with an ordinary person like me?
He said the sooner the better, so we set up a meeting that very afternoon.
I arrived 30 minutes early, tense as hell, but CEO Choi was already there waiting.
"Hello. I'm Jin Sun-hu."
The meeting spot was the executive floor lounge at a famous hotel—EFL for short.
I figured he'd summon me to some agency office, but he booked a place like this.
What on earth does he want to talk about?
"Hello. I'm D.S.'s Choi Dae-seung."
The man, easily twice my age, bowed deeply in greeting.
Caught off guard, I bowed back.
"I'm sorry about last time. I snapped at Mi-so without looking into things properly."
"No, it's only natural to scold an idol from your agency for stepping out of line. If anything, I'm relieved you're taking good care of our Mi-so."
Damn, words like that just flowed out of me so smoothly.
Since when did I get this good at talking?
"Please, have a seat first. Do you drink?"
"No, water's fine for me."
He's being unusually polite.
Makes sense in his line of work, but to someone like me with zero social experience, it felt incredibly awkward.
"To get straight to the point—would you consider joining our agency, Mr. Jin Sun-hu?"
"Me?"
I'd assumed it was something about Mi-so, but this was a recruitment offer.
Me? Why?
"I don't think I'd make an idol."
I can't sing or dance. Piano? That's amateur level at best, nowhere near pro.
I'm too old, and I don't have any real skills anyway.
What idol could I possibly be?
"We cultivate internet broadcasters like YouTubers too, not just idols."
"Ah."
Internet broadcasting, huh.
I could probably do that without pianist-level skills, but doesn't that require a whole range of talents?
I don't think I'd be any good at it.
"More than forcing you into a specific role, think about collaborations like with Spring this time—revenue splits become an issue. It's easier for us to ask favors if we have a contract with some payment involved, rather than always doing it for free."
Hmm. Is that it?
I'd help Mi-so for free if it helped her. My skills aren't even worth paying for.
But the appeal of steady income is real.
I can't keep living off allowance from Mom and Noona forever.
I might suck at it, but an offer from a major agency like this is a rare opportunity, isn't it?
"...I'm sorry, but could I discuss it with my mother first before giving you an answer?"
"Your mother—Actress Im Shin-hye?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... She'd probably oppose it."
I think so too.
Truth be told, I brought up Mom as an excuse to turn it down.
This is a huge chance for me, no doubt.
But it felt too off.
A big agency deliberately recruiting an amateur like me.
What do you really want?
Mi-so? Mom? Noona?
I can't accept unless you tell me the truth.
"Hmm..."
CEO Choi pondered deeply, tapping the table.
Then, as if he'd made up his mind, he spoke.
"Mr. Jin Sun-hu, have you heard of 'The Legend of the Peacock Lord'?"
"? No."
"Of course not. It's an old tale from my rural hometown."
"Pardon?"
What? Out of nowhere?
"It's about a man surnamed Joo who plucked a peacock's feathers, attached them to himself, and incurred the peacock's curse."
"Pardon???"
Suddenly, CEO Choi launched into an old folktale.
Plucked feathers? Peacock's curse?
I must look like a total idiot right now.
"I'll start from the beginning. It's a bit long."
The protagonist of this tale, a man surnamed Joo, was extremely ugly.
Naturally, women despised him.
Joo prayed to the mountain spirit.
He begged to be loved by women.
The spirit replied:
"Pluck the peacock's feathers and attach them to your body, and women will love you."
Thrilled, Joo caught the peacock.
He plucked its feathers alive and stuck them on himself.
The plucked peacock cursed Joo:
"You and your descendants will be loved by all women."
That was the peacock's curse.
"..."
Why am I sitting here listening to this?
Who am I? Where am I?
"So, CEO, are you saying I'm a descendant of that Joo guy from the legend?"
"...In our hometown, they used to call boys who died young 'Peacock Lords.' Know why?"
"..."
"A man loved by all women is nothing but an abomination to other men—a being that shouldn't exist. Being loved by all women means being hated by all men. That's why it's called the 'peacock's curse,' not a blessing."
"..."
"A lion leading a pride won't tolerate any male threatening his position, even his own cub—he'll bite it to death."
"..."
"Humans don't do that. We're rational, protected by law. But the curse makes us forget reason and law alike."
It was scary.
His words felt aimed right at me.
My whole life seemed explainable in one word: curse.
My abusive biological father.
My stepfather who hated me to the bone.
My stepmother who loved me.
Mi-so, Noona, all the women who treated me kindly.
And the men who showed me hostility.
All of it boiled down to one word: curse.
Mom's love sounding like it stemmed from the curse terrified me.
"If this peacock curse is real, what principle makes women love him?"
"...Pardon?"
"Exceptional looks, smarts, athletic prowess. But that alone can't make 'all women' love him. There must be something unscientific."
Tap.
He tapped the table, snapping me out of my daze.
"Who’s the most popular member of Spring?"
"Uh, Se-ah, right? Leader Se-ah."
Se-ah was Spring's eldest sister, the group's core.
By looks or talent, she was undeniably the best in the group.
Why bring up Spring all of a sudden?
"It's Mi-so. Your sister, Jin Mi-so."
Mi-so?
Mi-so was more popular than Se-ah?
"We wondered too—why Mi-so's the most popular in Spring. We originally planned the group as a trio without her."
That was news to me.
"We should've cut her, but oddly, we didn't. Her trainee skills lagged behind the others, she didn't work harder than anyone, wasn't desperate."
Oof.
No arguing with Mi-so getting trashed like that.
I knew best that she didn't train harder than the rest.
"Yet Mi-so debuted. We even changed the planned trio to a quartet for her. Know why?"
"...No idea."
CEO Choi let out a hearty laugh at my response.
"We don't know either! Why we debuted her! Why we didn't cut her! If I had to say, it was 'we just didn't want to let her go'!"
...What the hell is this guy trying to say?
"But after debuting? Mi-so's still lazy, not desperate, always scheming to run away—and yet she's the most popular! Why?"
"Must be her charm, right?"
"Exactly—luck!"
CEO Choi snapped his fingers.
"What's the most important thing in entertainment? Luck! No matter the talent, looks, without luck, you don't make it. With luck alone, even the deficient blow up."
I frowned at his words.
It sounded like Mi-so succeeded purely on luck despite her shortcomings.
Wasn't that denying her own efforts?
"In that sense, Mi-so was born with heavenly luck. Not the kind where you find coins on the street—this is cosmic energy."
Felt like chatting with a snake oil salesman, not a CEO.
"We wondered: why is the universe's energy pushing Jin Mi-so over our Han Se-ah?"
Our Han Se-ah?
"What Han Se-ah lacks but Jin Mi-so has. And what Jin So-young and Im Shin-hye have too."
CEO Choi pointed straight at me.
"You, Mr. Jin Sun-hu."
Finishing the long tale, he let out a deep sigh.
Thirsty, perhaps, he gulped down his water.
And me? I hadn't even touched my glass.