Naturally, Jin-ah didn’t even come close to topping the charts. However, she achieved something far more valuable than first place.

“W-Wow. President Kang, the internet’s going wild.”

“Such a way with words.”

“No, really! It’s weird seeing so many articles! We only did one music show! And the number of views on the music video and the music ranking are going up fast! This is nuts!”

Leaning back on the sofa, she stared at her phone. Her face flushed with excitement, reflecting the impact of the broadcast.

One small ripple from the show’s performance spread through social media, forums, and articles. It slowly built up momentum and in just one day, her song had climbed dozens of spots and was now 41st on the charts.

It became a hot topic as netizens debated between ‘There’s no way that was live’ versus ‘It’s unbelievable, but it was live.’

Ironically, the end result made such a lasting impression that it became a trending topic even though she performed with pure skill.

“Hey, look at this. ‘The choreography is on another level,’ ‘The choreography is amazing.’ All thanks to me, you know that, right?”

Yoon-jung proudly showed off the comment section on her phone. Next to her, Yumi rewatched Jin-ah’s performance with her jaw dropped.

“Seriously, are you crazy? How did you pull this off? Wow, no wonder people are arguing over this. I can tell it’s a live performance just from hearing it, but my brain keeps saying there’s no way it’s live.”

Jin-ah ignored Yoon-jung’s phone and scooted closer to Yumi instead.

“Ahem! You know, there are just some people with unbelievable talent in this world. I hid it all this time because I didn’t want to crush everyone else’s spirits. But, you know, it’s like having a hidden underwear up your sleeve.”

“A hidden talent! It’s talent, not underwear! Why would you have underwear up your sleeve? Are you a pervert?”

(T/N: The pun is that the Korean words for “underwear” and “talent” are similar.”)

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud as I watched them. Jin-ah looked at me with a pout but quickly turned back to Yumi, giggling again.

Was she really that happy? Of course, she was. Actually, I was just as excited but was trying not to show it. I decided to share one more bit of good news.

“You’re going to be super busy from now on. Gigs will be pouring in, there’ll be variety show offers, more music shows, and appearances on YouTube channels. You might not even have time to sleep.”

If she were a typical celebrity, she would probably sigh at this. Jin-ah’s eyes only sparkled.

“Let’s go right now!” 

Now she was saying all kinds of things. The fact that this part of her gained popularity on variety shows amazed me.

“We have to actually get the invites first, you know.”

“Go hustle! Are we getting offers just by sitting around?!”

“Excuse you!” With a grin, I added, “Team Lead Na is working hard on that right now. We’ll hear news if you wait patiently.”

“Oh! You mean THAT Team Lead Na! From Team 3!”

In her excited state, her reactions to everything were just priceless. Watching her made me want to throw in a few more words. However,  I shifted my focus to Yumi instead since I thought we would waste too much time at this rate.

“The cover will be out in about a week. Let’s post it then.”

“Okay!”

This time, I looked over at Yoon-jung. Before I could say anything, she spoke up.

“President Kang, I have something I want to try.”

“Hm? What’s that?”

With a mischievous grin, Yoon-jung glanced at Jin-ah. Jin-ah’s expression turned from curiosity to dread.

“Don’t!” Jin-ah shouted in shock.

“But I will.”

“Don’t!”

I was clueless about what was going on, but Yoon-jung’s next words cleared up my confusion.

“I will. I’m going to show the original choreography, too. It’d be nice for people to see.”

“No! Absolutely not!”

In a desperate attempt to stop her, Jin-ah — who had been glued to Yumi’s side — tackled Yoon-jung.

“Aak! Get off!”

“I said don’t do it!”

Ignoring their tussling, I mulled over it and reached a conclusion.

“Sure, why not? Go ahead. You’re both popular right now anyway, and it’s a nice way to highlight that you’re in the same group.”

“Yes!” Yoon-jung pumped her fist in victory while Jin-ah looked at me, devastated.

She alternated her gaze between me and Yoon-jung. I chuckled softly.

“I feel like you’re worried about being compared, but you know that’s a silly concern, right?”

“What do you mean?! Don’t you know how good Yoon-jung is at dancing?!”

Jin-ah detached herself from Yoon-jung and shuffled over to me on her knees. I was standing by the sofa, but now I felt like the bad guy in a cartoon all of a sudden.

Before she could grab onto my pants and turn this into a comedy skit, I quickly moved away, causing her tsk in disappointment.

“President Kang! Aren’t you taking this joke a bit too far!”

“What joke? You’ve seen the reactions. How many people do you think can pull off what you do in Korea, or even the world? No one!”

“?”

“You’re in a league of your own. No one else can pull off that choreography, that song, and that performance like you. Besides, Yoon-jung’s will just be dancing.”

Jin-ah stared at me blankly. Even Yoon-jung, who looked a bit hesitant, gave a reluctant nod.

“Yeah, of course it’s just the dance. I just wanted to show people the original choreography.”

“See? It’s great for promoting the song, and it’s a nice reminder that you’re in the same group. Win-win.”

Jin-ah bit her lip, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. She was pleased. Anyone could see that.

“Yoon-jung, why don’t you go ahead and collaborate with ALTO? It’s about time for another collab, right?”

Yoon-jung nodded eagerly and grabbed her phone, typing away.

“I’ll contact them now. Can we schedule it as soon as possible?”

Jin-ah squeezed her eyes shut as if to suppress her emotions, unable to hide her expression. Still, her cheeks were twitching. Clearly, she couldn’t hide her excitement.

Curious, I asked, “You’re obviously thrilled, but can I ask why you’re reacting like that?”

“Sometimes… you know, there are moments when you want to laugh but need to cry, or when you want to cry but need to laugh. A true pro laughs when they’re sad. By that logic, a true pro cries when they’re happy.”

“Right.”

We decided to leave it at that. I would have to rethink whether to put her on variety shows. I was starting to wonder if I misunderstood the intel I had gotten before my regression.

“But hey, why hasn’t Hee-yeon arrived yet?”

“She’s practicing, remember?”

“I know, but she should be here by now.”

Just then, we heard the electronic beeps of the keypad door lock. Hee-yeon came in, froze when she saw me, and didn’t move. The door shut and locked with a beep! Hee-yeon stayed still.

“Hee-yeon? What’s wrong?” As I watched her face closely, a soft smile began to spread across her features.

“President Kang. I’m ready now.”

“Really?!”

“We don’t have much money at the company right now, do we? We’ve hardly been able to hold events because of our growth, and there hasn’t been much advertising or media exposure.”

For a moment, I was thrilled. However, Hee-yeon quickly snapped me back to reality with a reminder of the current situation.

“I can earn the money! I’m starting my activities now!” Jin-ah said.

“I know. That’s why I’m saying this. We can take things slowly.”

Hee-yeon briefly looked at Jin-ah before turning back to me. Her gaze showed no sign of impatience, only a steadfast confidence. I wondered why I felt assured when I saw the look in her eyes.

“I’m confident in this song. There’s no need to rush, so when you feel financially comfortable, you can do it slowly. Other companies also do things one step at a time.”

I began to wonder how these kids saw me. Before rehearsal, Jin-ah had reassured me. Now, Hee-yeon was doing the same. It almost felt like I was the one being cared for, and it stirred an unusual feeling within me.

“President Kang, thank you for believing in me and waiting.”

Just as I was feeling that peculiar sensation, she expressed her gratitude in a way that felt genuine. At first glance, she tended to seem a bit awkward with emotions. When she did express herself, though, her hesitation disappeared.

When she did express herself, it was usually to convey her gratitude. I felt my enthusiasm rekindling.

“Alright. When you’re ready, I’ll make sure to give you the right push.” I grinned.

Once we gathered enough funds, I would make sure to promote them with everything I had. After all, they always exceeded expectations if they were given a little extra support.

Then, only a few days later…

My frugal, growth-focused investment strategy paid off with impressive results. Our company’s wallet had gotten much fatter.

***

After releasing Jin-ah’s BTS video and making several music show appearances, we did a YouTube livestream. She became the center of attention in the music industry after proving that she performed 100% live.

The calls requesting her appearance poured in so rapidly that I barely had time to feel surprised. I spent my days sorting out schedules and debating which invitations to accept.

Since the advertisement offers were still minor, I passed on those. Variety shows could boost her name value, so it was better to hold off for a while. Events, for the same reason, were also skipped. Unfortunately, no offers came in for magazine shoots…

I would have to keep that a secret from Jin-ah.

“Only variety shows are left.”

The list of places that wanted Jin-ah was a long one. I started a happy deliberation, tapping my fingers on the desk.

Jin-ah fit the image of an all-round entertainer. It meant she could adapt to any format and thrived on the variety scene.

Of course, that was something she achieved with her experience in the future. Though, it didn’t seem beyond her now, either.

“We can discuss this together. She should get to do what she wants.”

I called Jin-ah into the office. The three of us, including Team Lead Na, reviewed the list I had initially filtered.

“I want to do this one!”

“No travel shows. We’ve got music shows, too, and every day counts financially right now.”

“Then why did you put it on the list?”

“Well… because the ratings are good?”

“Then let’s do this one!”

“No.”

“…”

Finally, after a peaceful fair and democratic discussion, we settled on three variety shows.

Jin-ah seemed mostly satisfied while Team Lead Na and I spent the night talking to the production team about the cast, theme, and concept, monitoring and researching everything.

We didn’t usually go to such lengths, but we had no choice since we had a clear opponent and it was Jin-ah’s first variety appearance. Better safe than sorry.

Then, two days before the variety show shoot…

“Boss! The reactions to Yoon-jung’s video are really good!” Jung-han’s cheerful voice resounded in the office.

He was referring to the original choreography video we filmed with ALTO. The response was as positive as we expected.

“Oh, really? Are they mentioning Blue Sherbet a lot?”

“Yes. There’s a popular post about wanting to see the group perform together. And…”

“And?”

Jung-han hesitated, looking a bit grim.

“Well… there are also some nasty comments suggesting they should perform without Yumi.”

I couldn’t help but scoff. To the public, Yumi seemed almost invisible. We knew better, though. We knew that Yumi’s popularity would explode with a big bang.

It was just a matter of time. In fact, she might even be the first to reach the top.

“Huh..? Uh… what? Is this… huh?” Jung-han suddenly started mumbling in disbelief with his face glued to his computer screen.

The ridiculous look on his face made me chuckle as I watched, but then he muttered something strange. Something unbelievable.

“Did Daft Punk… share… Yumi’s song…?”

It had to be a lie. A while back, a fairly well-known EDM artist had shared Yumi’s ‘I Don’t Love Anything’ on SoundCloud, which helped the song extend its reach on both YouTube and SoundCloud.

That was only recently. Now, he was saying something happened again? Not too long after her new song ‘About Us’ was uploaded? And not just by anyone, but by Daft Punk? One of the most iconic superstars in the world?

“Boss, you might want to take a look at this.” His voice was small and uncertain, like he still couldn’t believe it.

I was sure it couldn’t be true, but my body moved on its own and inched toward the monitor. I stared at the screen and analyzed every detail as my brain struggled to process what I was seeing.

I refreshed the page, went back and forth, and even restarted the browser. The result was always the same.

“Wooh!” A shout left me before I knew it.

“Whoahh my goodness.”

And another.

“Woooh!”

It felt like my brain had short-circuited. My head was hot, and my heart was pounding.

“Boss… this is really happening, isn’t it?”

“Woooooooh!”

Just minutes ago, Daft Punk had shared both of Yumi’s songs ‘I Don’t Love Anything’ and ‘About Us.’

A flood of people started following Yumi’s account after hearing her music on Daft Punk’s profile. With each refresh, her follower count shot up.

“This is unreal…”

It felt like a surge of adrenaline was coursing through me. I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t tell if this was a dream or reality.

I never imagined in my wildest dreams that Daft Punk would not only listen to Yumi’s songs but also share them with their followers.

Images of countless music stars who rose to fame through SoundCloud flashed through my mind. Rap stars, rock stars, R&B, pop, EDM artists — all of them.

At the end of that list, I carefully added the name ‘Yumi.’ Then, that evening, while we were out grilling pork belly together, Jung-han delivered yet another piece of shocking news.

Adidas wanted to use Yumi’s ‘I Don’t Love Anything’ in a European advertisement.

—

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