Chapter 83: Star Manager (7)
TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir
“This is W&U’s PR Team.”
The female employee received the call with a face, which still contained traces of the aftermath of the long weekend.
-I wanted to ask for the contact information of the person in charge of Neptune to cast them on an IBC broadcast.
“Yes, please wait.”
-I would like Manager Jung Sunwoo’s number, who appeared on the Lunar New Year’s Special. It’s an entertainment show on parenting.
After telling him Jung Sunwoo’s phone number, the female employee hung up and said,
“There really are a lot of people looking for Mr. Sunwoo.”
“He’s a new face in the industry for a change. The reactions of the public are good too. Since cases like this heat up quickly before cooling down, they want to milk what they can out of it.”
The male employee shrugged. The female employee said,
“Either way, Neptune’s popularity rose because of this. The company should give Mr. Sunwoo a bonus.”
“It looks like he might even get promoted. Since they lack personnel once Neptune members have their own schedules, Chief Kim Hyunjo said that he should recruit another manager under him.”
The female employee, who had been tapping her chin with her pen, turned her head. Beyond the partition, Team Leader Park was looking at her monitor while drinking hot coffee. She asked Team Leader Park,
“Team leader, does Mr. Sunwoo have any thoughts on going on any more entertainment shows?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like it? He probably wouldn’t have done it this time as well if it wasn’t for Neptune.”
“That’s a bit of a shame.”
Just as the female employee licked her lips, a middle-aged man entered the PR Team’s office. He wore a scarf and a coat, and his body was round like a Russian nesting doll. His balding head looked especially cold in the winter. He was the director.
Receiving the greetings of the employees, the director immediately asked Team Leader Park,
“Team Leader Park, did you hear? IBC’s Wednesday-Thursday drama, Time Slip. Apparently, the director had an affair with the writer, and his wife came to the film set and caused a fuss?”
“Of course, I did. That’s why they hastily got another writer to work with their B Team director.”
“Lucky Charm was the one who brought information about how there was something going on over there, right? Just where did he hear it from?”
The female employee, who had been listening to their conversation, poked the male employee’s side with her elbow.
“Cat Guardian Ghost, Mermaid out of Water, Time Slip. What Mr. Sunwoo told us in the beginning came true. This is a great story, but if Mr. Sunwoo went out on entertainment shows and talked about it… no one would believe him, right?”
The director glanced at the female employee and said,
“Of course. Right, I heard the reactions from Lucky Charm appearing on the entertainment show were good?”
“Did you not see the broadcast? Culture critics and reporters picked him as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Lunar New Year’s Specials.”
“Oh, wow. He was that good? He wasn’t the funny type though, was he?”
“No. From an outside perspective, he looks like someone who is a bit distant from entertainment shows, but once his character was established in that way, this gap was rather entertaining.”
The female employee slowly raised her hand.
“Should I show you? I saved a few clips that were floating around.”
The director, male employee, and Team Leader Park immediately gathered behind the female employee’s monitor. When she showed them clips regarding the lie detector and Neptune and Jung Sunwoo imitating each other, the director chuckled.
While clicking on the last video, the female employee said,
“I found this to be the funniest. While watching the broadcast, I choked on my water when this part came up.”
It was the scene where they exposed their managers’ dark past. Im Seoyoung shouted about how they might lose like this. This was followed by Jung Sunwoo, whose makeup made him seem more unfriendly-looking, trying to stop her by saying he would buy her the beef set.
When the MCs egged her on, Im Seoyoung opened her mouth.
{It was in the past. It was early in the morning so everyone was taking a nap in the van. I was the only one awake when I heard Sunwoo oppa say, ‘What should I do if aliens invade?’}
{Aliens?}
The puzzled faces of the MCs and cast were reflected on the screen. Even Jung Sunwoo didn’t look like he knew what she was talking about.
{So when I asked him, ‘Why aliens all of a sudden?’, then oppa, in a completely serious way, said, ‘Then do I have to save the Earth? Do I?’ Later on, I figured out he was talking in his sleep.}
The studio erupted into laughter. The screen once again captured Jung Sunwoo in a closeup. Although he didn’t look like he was very flustered, when the camera closed in, they could see his eyes were trembling.
{When I asked, ‘Oppa, how are you going to save the world?’ he said, ‘It’s a secret,’ before saying, ‘Hmm. I’ll never wear a Spandex suit.’}
The director burst into laughter.
*
The festive mood heated up.
The spectators gathered on the field cheered. I saw quite a few older people shouting Neptune and the members’ names. I felt it was because of Star Manager. It raised their popularity in more diverse age groups.
There was only one song left in Neptune’s performance. When I looked at my wristwatch, it was almost the time I had expected it would be. While I was checking the path that I should take to bring the van over, an event agency employee I was familiar with came up to me and said,
“Mr. Manager, how is Neptune’s schedule these days? They are very busy, right?”
It was times like this when I felt that Neptune had truly taken off.
When the words ‘Mr. Manager’ came out the mouths of those who used to say, ‘Hey, manager’.
When the people who used to ask, ‘We cast girl groups even if they are unknown since they are good for heating up the mood at events, but don’t you have more revealing outfits?’ minded my reaction while asking if we were busy these days.
“Compared to before, we’re very busy.”
“Wow, you guys really grew suddenly. I mean, a few months ago when I said we booked Neptune to the event organizers, they would ask who they were. But now when I tell them we booked Neptune, they are happy.”
The employee, who had been smiling friendlily as if we were close, stealthily cut the chase.
“Mr. Manager, Neptune is going to release a new song soon, right?”
“We are in the middle of recording it.”
“We should book some events before then. If their new song becomes a hit, then we probably won’t be able to book them at the current price. Even if the price increases, please go easy on us about the price adjustments.”
“We’ll have to see whe- Ah, one moment.”
My phone rang while I was talking.
“Yes, this is Jung Sunwoo.”
-Hello. I am calling about appearing on a broadcast…
The writer explained quickly as if it was a rap. It seemed the event agency employee heard what we were talking about as he distanced himself from me while smacking his lips.
I took out my notebook and wrote the title, filming schedule, broadcast concept, and the expected date. A happy smile hung on my lips as I looked at the memo filled with casting calls.
The smile, which hung on my lips, soon came back down.
-So we were hoping Mr. Manager will be able to appear on the show with Neptune.
“Me too? Is this essential?”
-We are contacting you since we thought your team would be a great fit with us after watching Star Manager. Ah, of course, we will pay you separately for your appear-
After listening to the writer’s words, I said,
“I will call you back after we check our schedule.”
After hanging up, I clicked my tongue almost out of habit.
How many times was this? The aftermath was too strong considering I only appeared on one show.
When would those people who pointed at me, saying, ‘Ah, you’re that… that,’ or people who said nonsense like ‘Do you work as a manager full-time and save the world on the side?’ disappear?
Damn it. My damn sleep talking.
It probably began not long after I obtained my future foresight ability, during the time I was wondering why I obtained such a special ability.
There definitely was a time when I was worried that perhaps aliens would invade Earth and that someone would come and say, ‘Our abilities are for the protection of Earth! Let’s go protect Earth together!’
However, I didn’t know I talked in my sleep.
If it wasn’t for Im Seoyoung, I never would have known.
Shaking my head, I turned my gaze towards the traitor. Two girls, who looked to be middle schoolers, stood hesitantly in front of the traitor.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
The traitor asked with his special smiling face. The girl who seemed to be more forward of the two was about to say something before she looked in my direction. As soon as our eyes met, she dragged her friend and came over to me.
“I’ll talk to this person!”
The traitor frowned.
I tried to smile the best I could and looked down at the girls while thinking that I should accept their request if possible for making my mood slightly better.
“Could we get autographs of Neptune unnis later?”
“Wait for a bit. I’ll get you their autographs once they get in the van.”
“Thank you!”
The girl who looked relatively more well-mannered bowed deeply.
Also, the other girl, whose lips had been twitching as if she wanted to say something, said,
“When are you going to save Earth?”
“What?”
“But I don’t think a Spandex suit is good. When you see superhero movies, they look funny no matter how great their body is. When they don’t have any muscles, it looks completely awful!”
Then she glanced over my body.
I was speechless. Was I being sexually harassed by a middle schooler?
The well-mannered girl pulled her friend’s arm and whispered,
“Hey, stop it. He looks like he’s getting angry.”
“No, he’s not. I saw the broadcast and that’s his normal expression. Right? You’re not angry right now, right?”
“I’m angry.”
“I’m sorry!”
Their torsos folded like binders. Although I didn’t know what sort of expression I had on right now, it probably wasn’t good, seeing as the well-mannered girl was retreating as though she had just seen a heinous criminal.
Only after the girls left as though they were running away did the traitor strike a conversation with me.
“Sunwoo. Why don’t you consider appearing on more broadcasts?”
“Just what kind of nonsense is that?”
“It’s a shame when people’s reactions are this good. You might become successful if you use this opportunity to pivot into that industry completely. It seems like it suits you?”
After the incident last time, the way the traitor treated me changed. His thick mask seemed to be slightly thinner in front of me.
While thinking about how I wanted to slap his smiling cheeks with a chicken skewer, I replied,
“I think you’ll make tons of money if you get in the pyramid scheme business, want to do it?”
I resisted calling him a scammer.
When I jokingly said that it would suit him, his expression turned strange. His mouth didn’t open again until Neptune came down from the stage.
Lee Songha came over while panting heavily. White steam spread in the air.
“I think today’s the coldest.”
“I turned the car heater on so quickly get inside and warm up.”
“Oppa should have waited in the car too. It’s cold out.”
We got the girls, who were cold as if they had taken an ice bath, into the van. Im Seoyoung, who was at the end, covered her face with both hands and tapped her feet.
“Euaaah, oppa! Cold air comes straight into our stage outfits! No joke! I thought I would freeze to death!”
“If you die, we can bury you alongside me. I’m already a corpse.”
“Di-did someone sa-“
When I nodded my head, Im Seoyoung looked like she was about to cry. She said that she would have never talked about my dark past and would rather sew her lips if she knew things would turn out this way.
After getting Im Seoyoung, who was slapping her lips, into the van, I looked around me. The girls from before were looking at me with anxious eyes from afar. When I gestured towards them, they hurriedly came over.
After leaving the girls, who were happy about receiving the autographs, behind, we left the festival event.
However, there were people gathering around us, saying that they wanted to see Neptune up close. This never happened before. Im Seoyoung readily rolled down her window and waved her hand. Cheers and sounds of pictures being taken erupted noisily.
Really, a lot of things were changing.
*
On the set of Mermaid out of Water.
The mood of this place was as depressing as a funeral. One couldn’t find a trace of leisure or a smile on the faces of the staff, let alone the cast of actors.
Everyone continued the shoot without rest as if they wanted to quickly end and get out of this drama that had fallen into the mud.
In the dressing room, Son Chaeyoung scolded Chief Jo,
“When is the CEO returning to Korea?!”
“I-I told you he’s arriving tomorrow.”
Chief Jo continued after licking his lips,
“Chaeyoung, don’t cause a fuss in front of the CEO and sit quietly like you don’t know. This is a deal that was organized by the CEO.”
“Without asking me?! It’s regarding the teacher! Oppa should have told me at least!”
“You don’t have to worry. The team 2 leader said to handle it so that Teacher Shim Kyungtaek never mentions your name. You just need to act like you don’t know…”
After glaring at Chief Jo, who was trying his best to comfort her, Son Chaeyoung looked down. Her phone in her hand was vibrating. Son Chaeyoung made Chief Jo leave the dressing room before answering the phone.
“Teacher, once the CEO arrives, I’ll try to fix this incident as much as I can-“
-Fix?! Do you think this is a problem that can be fixed?!
Teacher Shim Kyungtaek shouted as his anger had reached the top of this head. It was completely different from when he was fretting before. While Son Chaeyoung had stopped speaking, Teacher Shim Kyungtaek raised his voice again.
-Is CEO Baek Hansung really overseas?! Aren’t you trying to drag this on, saying that you’ll fix it, before dumping it all on me?! Do you know what sort of position I’m in? Even if my name hasn’t been mentioned in the articles, do you know many people called and asked if that was me?! It’s so embarrassing I can’t go out!
Son Chaeyoung didn’t reply and sat in the dressing room chair.
-The Lee Songha incident was all for you, but do you think I’ll take full responsibility for it?! You’re done if I start talking! If you don’t want your image to end up in the sewer, you personally go to that bastard CEO Baek Hansung and get him to pull down all the articles and restrict the press-!
“Don’t threaten me, teacher.”
Son Chaeyoung said while calmly smiling.
-Wh-what?!
“Don’t threaten me. Also, you didn’t do it for me, it was a trade.”
-You…!
“Although I don’t know what you heard from CEO Baek, I know better than you. I just need to reveal my medical history and hold a press conference. But, teacher, do you think you’ll be able to handle everything that comes out of my mouth?”
Taken aback, Teacher Shim Kyungtaek stuttered. Son Chaeyoung hung up.
Then she threw her phone on the floor.
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