In the world of esports, no matter how wild the achievements or shocking the drama, the mainstream press always acted bored. That was true for Yoon-jung’s latest stage, too.
However, it was a different story online. The internet was on fire about the UCK competition and Yoon-jung’s performance.
[Yoon-jung Hwang Skill Highlights (Warning: May cause heart failure)]
[Her UCK livestream the next day had me crying LMAO]
[Carrier.jpg powered up just from watching Yoon-jung]
Within two days, the fandom had already churned out edits of Yoon-jung striking skill poses with special effects slapped on like she was in an in-game cutscene.
Those who watched her performance swarmed to her stream. Viewers spammed the chat and cheered her on as she pulled off skill animations for her viewers and copied characters like she had stepped straight out of the game.
“President Kang! President Kang!”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Can I cosplay?”
With that, she poured gasoline on the bonfire.
“…Cosplay?”
She bobbed her head like an excited kid. Face glowing, voice bright, practically begging for permission to dump an entire tanker truck of fuel onto the flames.
“Yes, my fans told me if I’m gonna act like the character, I should do it right. They went crazy for the skill moves. Way more than I expected.”
Well. It was true that the fans loved it.
Still, was that really the only reason? Honestly, it just sounded like they wanted to see her dressed up, and ‘we want to see you do it right’ was the perfect excuse.
‘If she ever cosplayed a male warrior character… yeah, that would cause an actual riot.’
Anyway, it was hard to stop something once thousands of viewers latched onto an idea. When I snorted, Yoon-jung flushed bright red and hurried to continue her explanation.
“Not anything weird. Something cute.”
I nodded.
“Remember when we first talked about filming dance videos? I told you to try whatever you want. No makeup, full makeup, cosplay, whatever.”
“Oh… you did?”
“Yeah. So if you want to cosplay, go for it. Perfect timing, too.”
I raised a finger.
“But. We pick the costume together.”
Her eyes darted away as she mumbled, “…I told you, nothing weird. Cute stuff only.”
“Exactly. Cute. Who said otherwise?”
Turned out she already had a folder ready. She pulled up her PC and showed me her first choice.
“What do you think? I think it’s cute.”
“…Pass.”
“What?! Why? Wouldn’t this be okay? She’s an assassin,” she said with big, puppy eyes.
‘What’ was what I wanted to say. Let’s just say the vibe of the costume wasn’t exactly a heartless and lonely assassin, which was what the character’s image was supposed to be.
“Try something else.”
“…Fine.”
She sighed and flipped through more costumes, zooming in to the images and glancing back at me.
“Yoon-jung. Well… Hm. How do I put this.”
While I hesitated, she just kept scrolling. I clamped my mouth shut. I didn’t want to sound like a cranky old man, but… each person… was a bit different, right?
Like, some outfits just hit different depending on the person… It was hard to explain.
In the end, the one we agreed on (or, really, the one I pushed for) was ridiculously cute. No tight fit, no skin-baring.
“Good, right?”
“Yes! I love this one!”
Thank goodness. We somehow found common ground.
If fans had seen me vetoing outfits live, I might have been crucified in the chat as Public Enemy #1.
We ordered the costume in her size, and it arrived the very next day.
She disappeared into her room, then stepped out scratching her cheek, embarrassed.
“Does it look okay…?”
She wore a cone-shaped hat drooping to her shoulders. The bell-shaped tunic fell to her mid-thigh, and she wore black leggings and leather shoes.
I threw her a thumbs-up.
“Perfect.”
“The outfit’s cute, but… I don’t think it suits me.”
She peeked at me, clearly convinced that cute things didn’t suit her.
I grinned.
“It suits you perfectly. You know I’ve got an eye for this.”
“Really?” Her shy smile turned bright.
She went live right on schedule, and the second the stream started, the chat exploded.
However.
– Nooloo…?
– You’re kidding right? Right? haha. Say you’re kidding.
– Of all the female characters… you picked a non-human race??
– Nooloo’s kinda cute.. but still… come on.
– This joke went too far!!! :((((
Stop. Go back. Yoon-jung is too precious for this.
“Is it that bad? The outfit’s cute. President Kang picked it for me, you know,” she grumbled at their reactions, which were clearly different than expected.
“…!”
Wait, no. Why would you say that out loud?
– Get President Kang in here, NOW!!!
– Look here, Mr. President Kang!
– Didn’t think you were that kind of guy
– President Kang… you’re the villain here
I bolted from her room. Whatever. The cosplay stream was a massive hit anyway.
***
“Whoa. This is insane, insane I tell you.”
A male employee from HS Entertainment’s PR team gawked at his monitor. His female coworker leaned over the divider.
On screen was Hee-yeon Lee’s audition tape.
“They uploaded the auditions?”
He glanced at her and smiled.
“Yes. No wonder the film company was so confident even with the controversy surrounding her appearance. I thought posting this might backfire, but… wow.”
“Let’s see that again.”
She restarted the clip, then let out a low gasp.
“She’s really good.”
“Assistant Manager, wouldn’t this have been even juicier if they let the rumors spiral before dropping this?”
“The CEO of ‘Your Pictures’ is a veteran. He knows better. Clean reveal, no mess. They’ve already gotten enough hype over this anyway.”
She lowered her voice.
“And it’s not just the film. This is about Hee-yeon Lee, too. I bet he talked it through with Hyuk Kang. It’s like they’re letting us know.”
“Ah… Hyuk Kang, that person.” The guy sighed. “Such a shame, though.”
“What is?”
“I heard Hyuk Kang and Blue Sherbet were all part of this company before. Before I joined.” He clicked his tongue in regret.
She scoffed.
“You only know half the story. If they’d all been here, we’d be buried in work. Forget breathing.”
A gruff voice cut in from behind.
“You know two things, but not the third?”
They whipped around with their breaths held.
“T-Team Leader!”
He chuckled.
“If Hyuk Kang had stayed? Yeah, we’d have been busy. But no headaches. Back then, we just rowed straight ahead, and I never felt uneasy.”
Relieved he wasn’t angry, the female employee asked a question.
“Then… Their company must be swamped right now, right?”
“Probably. But their oar’s short. They don’t have a PR team. Still, with winds that strong, maybe they don’t need one.”
The male employee asked another question.
“And tomorrow’s the big one, right? It’s Sung-ah Kim and the cast recording. They did a reality show and got attention that way. They probably won’t need much push, right?”
“Doesn’t matter. We’ll have to stir things up anyway. It’s Sung-ah Kim.”
“…Working over there would be so chill… Urp!”
He slapped a hand over his mouth, too late. She glared, but the team leader just laughed.
“I-It’s thanks to you keeping things relaxed that it’s much nicer working here. I heard that the most important thing is meeting a good boss instead of having a lot of work.”
“Right you are. If Hyuk Kang had had a good boss… Well, never mind that. Back then, everything was good. No matter who he met, he would have built his own company either way. He’s got ambition and the skills to back it up.”
By the door, a man who had been leaning against the wall slipped out silently.
‘Yeah. Back then, everything was good. We pushed and pulled each other forward. I gave him everything I had.’
Director Park walked to the smoking area.
Hiss—
“Phew…” Smoke and a sigh escaped together.
It was when Yumi’s identity was revealed that deep down, he already knew he lost. Hyuk Kang was simply better.
– I told you to have some restraint. Instead, you go and show the whole world how incompetent you are.
Exective Director Kim’s words still rang in his head. If he hadn’t already acknowledged his loss, Director Park would’ve raged.
After admitting defeat, however, those words cut differently.
Especially the next part. They were words that pierced like a blade.
– Tsk. Think about the advantages of your position. You lose perspective whenever it comes to him.
His position. Head of management at HS Entertainment, a giant in the industry.
‘I was small-minded.’
Pride. Stubborn pride.
He had tried to win alone, forgetting that his ‘position’ was a weapon in itself. If he had looked forward instead of trying to push down, maybe things would have worked out.
Lately, he hadn’t poured real effort into nurturing and managing artists. If he had, he could have competed fairly. He had allies everywhere.
‘It’ll be different now.’
The artists Hyuk Kang discovered, the ones he raised — they were still here. Not only that, the trainees kept coming.
‘It’s time to play to my strengths.’
Director Park’s eyes gleamed.
***
On my right, Yumi’s jaw dropped as she watched the video.
She lowered her phone and turned to Hee-yeon.
“…”
She sat stiffly to my left and stared straight ahead, her earlobes tinged pink.
Even though she must have felt Yumi’s gaze on her, she sat unmoving. From her perspective, there was nothing but recording gear and glass.
Just where was she looking?
“Unnie, you’re really good at acting.” Yumi’s voice brimmed with awe.
She had probably replayed the audition twenty times since yesterday, and every time she said the same thing. And every time, Hee-yeon reacted the same.
She would turn her head slightly and say, “Not at all. I’ve still got a long way to go.”
“What! You’re amazing. The comments online are blowing up. I’m curious about the movie now, What kind of character is she?, Is she a genius?, like, everyone’s praising you.”
“…Really?” She asked like it was her first time hearing that.
Hot dog! I almost burst out laughing.
“Yes! Even our members didn’t know you were that good. Of course people are surprised! I’m excited for the movie, too.”
“The script is fun.”
Yumi kept gushing, and Hee-yeon accepted the praise with fake modesty.
I sat between them, struggling not to laugh, and finally spoke.
“All right. Break’s over. Let’s wrap this recording and head back.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah, let’s.”
It was a song featuring the four actresses, including Hee-yeon and Sung-ah.
The song’s name was ‘Mistake,’ and was the first song in the album.
Tentatively titled, 「Can I Borrow a Little of Your Luck?」
The recording was scheduled to be wrapped with Hee-yeon. The others weren’t bad singers, but one voice was so strong it made the rest fade.
Honestly, even pro singers would have struggled to match her.
“President Kang, what time’s tomorrow’s session?” Yumi asked on the way back.
“F.M.P.? It’s scheduled for 1pm at CEO Yoo’s studio.”
“…Then even if I eat now, the puffiness’ll be gone by then. Can we celebrate today’s producing with tteokbokki?”
I glanced through the rearview mirror to see her eyeing a snack stand outside like it was treasure.
I pulled over.
If Yumi wanted tteokbokki, she would get it.
Still, what was ‘celebrating today’s producing’?
That was a new one.
—