Chapter 420
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 420
[Jeong PD: It’s not set in stone yet, so don’t get your hopes up too high.]
I was casually typing a reply to the text when I looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Seo Ho-yun, you worked hard today.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
I gave a bright, beaming smile to the staff member, whose face was etched with worry. After finishing and sending the text, I stepped out of the studio.
Ju Woo-seong had long since vanished. The moment the broadcast ended, he was the first to disappear, humming a tune to himself.
I pressed the elevator button and stood there with my arms crossed, idly organizing my thoughts, when I felt someone’s presence beside me. Turning my head, I saw Lee Ji-hyeon standing there awkwardly.
“Ahem, cough.”
After a few forced, awkward coughs, she glanced left and right as if checking the coast was clear before cautiously speaking up.
“Do you have a moment?”
“Why?”
“Well… how should I put this…?”
Lee Ji-hyeon hesitated, seemingly choosing her words carefully as she stroked her cheek with her palm.
“The thing is… our office is currently in an absolute state of chaos because of all the casting requests.”
“And?”
“Every single one of those emails starts by mentioning your name, Seo Ho-yun. So I was wondering… if you might be directly involved in this situation…?”
Though she phrased it indirectly, she was essentially asking if I had gone out and done the sales work myself.
Since the concert tour ended in February, I’d had the occasional individual schedule, but my calendar was practically empty. Waiting around for time to pass wasn't going to change anything.
In the end, I decided to take matters into my own hands, starting my offensive by targeting the PDs first.
Even if they belonged to different broadcasting stations, everyone in this industry knew each other through one or two degrees of separation. A PD’s radius of activity was also predictable—they practically lived in and around the editing rooms.
The start was simple: loitering in areas where my target PDs frequently appeared and feigning a chance encounter. I’d naturally bring up topics related to interests I’d discovered through prior research to build rapport, then smoothly secure a future meeting.
That part wasn't particularly difficult.
[Oh! Ho-yun, you want to head out to the sea?]
The only problem I realized too late was that most PDs had outdoor hobbies.
I’d spend all day struggling to keep up with a film shoot, then grit my teeth to follow daily revisions of choreography drafts. Just when I’d find a moment to catch some shut-eye, the phone would ring like a bolt of lightning, summoning me outside.
Though I clicked my tongue in annoyance, I’d immediately grab my keys and drive a car packed with hiking gear, fishing rods, and camping equipment to the address I’d been given.
“Oh, welcome!”
“Whoa, you came today too? I really didn’t think you’d last this long, Seo Ho-yun. Seriously.”
When I nonchalantly sat down beside them, the PDs would tease me while puffing away on cigarettes as if they were side dishes.
It would be strange enough for a nobody to do this, but seeing a well-known idol show up day after day with such a thick skin to talk their ears off seemed to genuinely pique their interest.
“I’ve never seen a kid who knows this industry as well as you do. If you have time, come on our program sometime.”
Thanks to that, a few of them had even handed me their business cards.
—Ding.
The elevator arrived. As soon as the doors opened, I took a step forward and flashed a thin smile at the suspicious Lee Ji-hyeon.
“Who knows?”
“…….”
“Maybe they just took a liking to how I usually carry myself?”
Lee Ji-hyeon hurried after me, her brow furrowed. The wrinkles on her forehead seemed to scream, ‘Yeah, right.’
“…Right, well, putting the process aside. Looking at the details, they’re all preliminary meetings, not confirmed appearances… and the management team isn't exactly feeling positive about the casting calls.”
She let out a small sigh, unable to hide her troubled expression.
“I don’t know why they’re trying to decline the offers, but the atmosphere at the company has been so restless lately….”
“Lee Ji-hyeon.”
I cut her off as I pressed the button for the floor where the practice room was located.
“Aren’t you busy?”
“…Pardon?”
“Is it okay for you to be standing here? You said the office was blowing up. I get what you’re worried about, but go back and take care of your business.”
Lee Ji-hyeon blinked a few times before scratching the back of her head. She was likely just frustrated and had probed me on the off-chance she could get some information.
“You haven't just been playing around for the past few months, have you?”
“I have a mountain of projects sitting in my shared drive….”
“Then you’ll be pressed for time just trying to polish them up.”
“What?”
The elevator stopped to the sound of Lee Ji-hyeon’s bewildered voice. I stepped out and looked back at her.
“We can’t let them go to waste just because we missed the timing to release them.”
Whether she understood the meaning or not, the doors slid shut, swallowing Lee Ji-hyeon, who was still nodding slowly with a dazed expression. I walked lightly toward the practice room.
Just as I was about to grab the black knob and pull it open—
“Hyung—!!!”
Suddenly, a thunderous shout and the chaotic sound of thumping footsteps erupted.
I leaned my upper body to the side to dodge. At that exact moment, Jeong Da-jun tripped and went rolling down the hallway three times. As he fell, he braced himself with his right palm, using his arm as a support to tumble. By the time he picked himself up, Kim Seong-hyeon and Seong Ji-won, who were following slowly behind, began to applaud.
“Wow, kids who did judo really are different.”
“Da-jun, that was a perfect forward roll breakfall!”
Jeong Da-jun didn't react to his hyungs' praise at all and lunged at me again.
“Ho-yun Hyung! Why aren't you answering your phone?! Do you know how many times I ran up and down the emergency stairs looking for you?!”
“You do know… that the elevator was invented for a reason, right?”
“It was too slow to wait for—don’t change the subject!”
The maknae was always full of energy, but today, he was even more boisterous, fueled by excitement.
I pressed my finger against my ear, which was ringing from his loud shouting right next to me, but Jeong Da-jun clung to me again and shook me back and forth.
“Hyung, Hyung, Hyung! Ho-yun Hyung!”
“I’m not deaf yet.”
“Did you hear the news?! They said our schedule is booked! I heard the phones are ringing off the hook right now!!”
“It’s not confirmed yet.”
“Whether it’s confirmed or not—”
Jeong Da-jun stopped mid-sentence, suddenly pulling away and closing his mouth as he knit his brows.
“—…Wait. What is this uneasy feeling? Why are you so calm, Ho-yun Hyung? It’s like you already knew everything.”
“Didn’t Seo Ho-yun go out and do the sales work himself?”
At Kim Seong-hyeon’s guess, Jeong Da-jun tilted his head to the side.
“Huh? Wha—?! No way… was that stuff about fishing before…?”
That "no way" was exactly right.
Jeong Da-jun’s eyes gradually widened, and his cheeks flushed red.
Soon, a loud cry erupted.
“You guys knew about this?!!!”
“Well… Seo Ho-yun is obsessed with efficiency. It was obvious just by seeing him wander around outside.”
“I occasionally went with him,” Seong Ji-won added sheepishly, scratching his cheek.
Jeong Da-jun pouted sullenly. Kim Seong-hyeon placed an arm around the youngest’s shoulder as if to comfort him.
“We didn't know what kind of results he’d bring back, though. Seo Ho-yun, you’re something else. Wasn't it exhausting?”
“It was.”
The PDs smoked so much they turned every room into a raccoon den; it was incredibly hard to suppress the urge to smoke myself.
While Kim Seong-hyeon was left speechless by my blunt answer, Jeong Da-jun grumbled again.
“…Why didn't you tell me? Do you know how anxious I was?!”
“Why?”
“Th-that’s….”
The kid, who had been talking back so boldly until now, suddenly shrank back.
“I just….”
I clicked my tongue at the sight of Jeong Da-jun mumbling and avoiding eye contact.
I had only kept my mouth shut because I didn't think there was any need to worry the members, but it seemed that had only made him more anxious.
“Ah~.”
I squeezed both of Jeong Da-jun’s cheeks with one hand and teased him in a playful tone.
“Was our maknae worried about me?”
“I wasn't!”
Jeong Da-jun barked as he brushed my hand away, then hesitated for a moment.
“……Of course I was!!”
Snapping back a beat late, he narrowed his eyes sharply.
“Why am I so annoyed… ugh, whatever. I’m a man who knows how to coolly move past what’s happened.”
“Is that so?”
“But, I think Yi-chae Hyung—”
Just as he was about to start chattering again, Seong Ji-won let out a loud clap!
“Oh, look at the time! We have to go practice.”
“Huh? What??”
“Did you know? Da-jun is working really hard, but there are still thirty-two spots that need fixing.”
“That’s not what’s important right now! I still have so much to ask Ho-yun Hyung—”
“Yes, yes, later. Let’s talk after we make the choreography perfect.”
“Hyung! Hyuuung!”
I looked away from the maknae being dragged away by Seong Ji-won and turned to Kim Seong-hyeon. Kim Seong-hyeon, who had been watching the situation before trying to follow the two, stopped awkwardly when our eyes met.
“…Are you coming in to practice with us?”
“No.”
“Then did you just come to deliver the news? You must be busy, so don’t worry about us. As you can see, we’re doing fine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Seong Ji-won is even planning a dedicated practice curriculum so you can adapt quickly when you return.”
I don't think I really need that.
Perhaps my feelings showed on my face, because Kim Seong-hyeon pulled a chocolate bar out of his pants pocket and held it out as if to console me.
“You’re going to have a hard time when you finally come to the practice room.”
After a wide grin that made his dimples deepen, Kim Seong-hyeon turned around. I quickly lifted my right foot to block his path and tilted my chin.
“I came to see you.”
At first, Kim Seong-hyeon pointed at himself in confusion, but his expression quickly turned suspicious. He narrowed his eyes and slowly backed away.
“Ah… right. You’ve seen me, right? I’m going.”
“Kim Seong-hyeon.”
How is our leader’s intuition so good?
“…What.”
“Seong-hyeon-ah.”
“Damn it, what is it?”
I put on my kindest, most gentle smile and spoke nonchalantly.
“Hyung has a favor to ask.”
In an instant, Kim Seong-hyeon’s face crumpled into a grimace.