Articles were pouring in, and the trending searches were completely taken over. Why? All because of our very own Son.

“Sonny has some serious influence.”

The office was in a good mood all day. None of us had ever met Heung-min Son. We had never even talked to him. He didn’t know we existed, but that didn’t matter. We were still over the moon.

(T/N: In the original Korean, Son’s name is slightly changed but I’ll use his real name here since the other players’ real names are used.)

[Heung-min Son, De Bruyne, and Salah spark ‘boyfriend material’ craze in Adidas commercial!]
[Heung-min Son’s commercial takes over YouTube! Trending everywhere!]
[Sonny’s killer wink melts soccer fans.]

The moment the commercial dropped, people across the country rushed to watch it. Laughter filled the air. Everyone was loving it.

– Yeahhhhhhh!!! This is what I’m talking about! Woohoo! Top 3 of the EPL right here!
– Korea represent XD Adidas knew what they were doing with Sonny LOL
– Sonny’s too cute I’m actually dying omg

Most comments were like that, but the song in the ad got attention too.

– I don’t love. I don’t love anything. This song is stuck in my head now.
– This track was made by a YouTube genius producer lol
– You don’t know Yumi? Of course she’s Korean. But foreigners are fighting over it like she’s not. So dumb.
– If you haven’t seen her comments since she went hip-hop, you’re behind. No one even cares about nationality anymore.
– Only hardcore fans even know this song lol. The moment you recognize something, you all freak out.

Jung-han grinned ear to ear.

“Hyung! Team Lead Na! At this rate, it’s going to blow up in Korea, too! Tons of Koreans are on YouTube!”

Team Lead Na burst out laughing and waved him off.

“That’s nothing compared to how it’s blowing up overseas! Europe got wind of how Daft Punk recommended her, and they’re going wild over it.”

I knew it would do well in Korea. A commercial was a great promotional tool, especially when the model was Heung-min Son. He was loved like no one else. Some folks even closed their shops just to watch him play.

Still, I hadn’t expected it to do this well. The biggest reason was because of his over-the-top acting. His performance was a comedy goldmine. People couldn’t get enough.

It would obviously become big in Europe. After all, all the EPL stars were in one commercial. Over there, soccer wasn’t just a sport. It was practically a religion. Of course it went viral.

‘We need to ride this wave.’

Originally, the plan was to wait. Let Jin-ah wrap up her promotions, then launch Hee-yeon’s. After that, we would introduce a Korean rapper and finally reveal Yumi’s identity.

Right now, though, everything was lined up just right.

‘Sonny, you legend.’

When momentum hit, you couldn’t waste it. Now was the perfect time to kick off Yumi’s career. That meant we needed more manpower.

I glanced around the office.

‘If we squeeze in two more desks, this place’ll turn into chaos.’

Then again, how often would we even be here? Pretty soon, everyone would be too busy running around. I would be sure to make that happen.

“Team Lead Na, Jung-han. Should we bring in Manager Jang and Manager Shin now?”

Team Lead Na practically leapt out of his chair, grinning. He marched over and grabbed my shoulders.

“Call them! It’s time to start Yumi’s promos. Yoon-jung will be swamped now that she’s teaching Sung-ah choreography AND doing routines. This is perfect timing! Great thinking, really.”

“Haha! Seeing you this happy, I take it this has been on your mind for a while?”

“You don’t think? I don’t even have to ask to know those two have been dying out there since I left. Director Park and the new Team Lead must’ve been working them to the bone.”

That’s what I liked about Team Lead Na. He genuinely cared about his people. It was that part of him that got me to where I was today. He taught me so much.

I didn’t waste another second. I pulled out my phone and typed a message. A text to two very important people.

[Are you two free to meet tonight?]

Manager Jang replied right away.

[I can hand in my resignation now, right?]

He was practically waiting for this moment. Manager Jang had already knew what I was planning, just from one message. It was like he could read my mind. 

All I asked was if he was free tonight, but it seemed like he had always been one step away from calling it quits.

Then, right on cue, came Manager Shin’s reply.

[Can I crash into Director Park on my way out? If not, forget it.]

“Pfft, hahaha!”

“Why are you laughing?”

“What did they say?”

I held up my phone for them to see, and they all burst out laughing. Team Lead Na clapped my shoulder and murmured.

“If you give the green light for Manager Shin to go off on Director Park, he’ll do anything you ask. Think about it.”

Respecting your boss only worked when your boss earned it. I shrugged and replied to both Manager Jang and Manager Shin.

[Feel free to piss on Director Park’s head on your way out.]

That night, we all met outside a pub in Gangnam. The moment Manager Shin and Manager Jang saw us, they threw their arms up.

“WOOOOOH!”

“You’re our boss for life now!”

I didn’t bother asking what happened at their old company. Their faces said it all. They looked like kids walking into Disneyland. Their expressions lit up with new life. That was all the explanation I needed.

“I’m counting on you both from now on.”

“Hell yeah, President Kang! We wrapped up our handover in a flash!”

“We’ll never forget this. Seriously, thank you!”

Just like that, we welcomed HS Entertainment’ Team 3 into our crew.

***

Team Lead Na and Hee-yeon were out for a photoshoot, which left just me, Yumi, Jin-ah, and Yoon-jung at the dorm. We were halfway through demolishing two whole fried chickens, waiting for the commercials to end.

Tonight was the premiere of 〈 Tomorrow’s Idol 〉. Online reactions were already heating up, but since Jin-ah and the other idols weren’t appearing in the first episode, we were watching with a relatively relaxed mindset.

“President Kang, you said Jin-ah’s performance was almost half the show, right?” Yumi asked as she tore her chicken wing apart.

Before I could answer, Jin-ah spoke first. Her mouth was still full of radish pickles and fried chicken when she spoke.

“It’s like that because they liked my performance. Not that I really get why. But hey, if the public loves me, I guess I can’t complain.”

Yoon-jung scowled at her.

“Ugh. Why are you bringing up the public right now? They probably just picked your performance because it was easy to copy. And could you PLEASE finish chewing before you talk? Or at least cover your mouth.”

“It’s fine as long as I don’t spit anything out!”

Honestly, it was impressive. Despite having a mouth full of food, not a single crumb escaped. Kind of like how she never looked greasy no matter how long she went without washing her hair. How was that even possible?

Yumi seemed like she had more to ask but ultimately decided against it, going back to her chicken wing. She kept sneaking glances at Jin-ah’s mouth, like she was afraid of witnessing something disgusting if she pushed for more answers. Smart move.

By the time we finished half the chicken, the commercials ended, and the show began. A significant number of the trainees covered Jin-ah’s performance, only to receive scathing critiques from the judges.

The mood quickly turned grim, and the cameras even caught Jin-sil’s voice during break.

– Producer Park! Bring Jin-ah Choi on the show! She’s got a great sense of humor, too! You should book her while you still can. She mentioned she wouldn’t be doing many shows while she’s still promoting!

The screen cut to black before a caption appeared in bold, white text.

[And so, we invited her.]

The footage then switched to a slow-motion clip of Jin-ah on stage, intercut with the judges’ and trainees’ reactions. They were blatantly hyping her up.

That was just how it worked. When someone only slightly better than you got showered with praise, it indirectly made you look better, too.

Producer Park’s goal was obvious. By over-glorifying Jin-ah, he was making the harshly criticized trainees seem not that bad in comparison.

Audition shows thrived on the trainees’ skills and charm to drive viewership and engagement. Since he couldn’t edit out the harsh critiques, this was his best play.

It was drama without resorting to manipulative editing. Producer Park’s brilliance showed in these ways, too.

“I didn’t expect them to be this transparent about the format change.”

I assumed that they would disguise it as if the idols were always meant to be teamed up with trainees, but I was dead wrong. You could say that Producer Park’s decision was absolutely the right one. For viewers, this was far more engaging and dramatic.

‘I thought I could just casually watch and monitor later, but this is too gripping.’

I wiped my hands and pulled out my phone to check articles, social media, and online communities.

– Performing like Jin-ah Choi is actually more impressive than it looks
– lmao those poor trainees, they got knocked down from their high horse
– I thought the trainees did great, but I guess the experts see something I don’t?
└ Go watch Jin-ah Choi’s live performances. Not just music shows. Check her YouTube live performances. They’re on another level.
└ I did. Are these trainees serious? How do they look so proud after that mess?
– Omg! This is a new era for audition shows. Idol fandoms are gonna go to war over this lol. Pure entertainment gold.
– The producer made a smart call. If voting was public, objectivity would tank. Casual viewers would drop off, and ratings would tank. Keeping it internal was the right move.

Before the show aired, Jin-ah’s song was sitting at #7 while Hee-yeon’s had climbed to #5. It turned into a mini chart battle between group members. The fans were loving it. We were loving it. And once the show aired, Jin-ah’s ranking was bound to shoot up.

As Blue Sherbet continued to be the center of attention, another topic was circulating the online forums. One that only our team found amusing.

– What’s Yumi even doing? She’s the only one with zero updates.
– So I guess we can forget about a full-group comeback. If they ever release one, it’ll be massive.
– Ugh, Yumi’s the problem. I just wanna see Yoon-jung, Hee-yeon, and Jin-ah promoting together.
– She’s useless, that’s why. Total drag on the group. The other members are just too good.

Yet, they had no idea that Yumi was actually getting the most attention right now.

“President Kang! The internet is going nuts! This is all anyone’s talking about!”

As soon as the episode ended, the preview for an upcoming episode featured a lineup of top-tier idols. Even though the episode wasn’t airing until the week after the next, people went crazy on the internet.

That was the power of big-name idols.

Then, my phone rang. I glanced at the screen. It was Producer Park. I answered.

“Hello. Congratulations, Producer Park. You really left an impact.”

– Hahaha! The moment the idols agreed to appear, I knew we had this in the bag! I can’t tell you how lucky we were to have Jin-ah on this episode. If she hadn’t come, we probably would’ve had to cut all those harsh critiques. And then the first episode would’ve felt way too bland.”

“Not at all. I think we should be the ones thanking you. You made Jin-ah look great.”

I had a feeling this wasn’t the real reason for his call, though. Sure enough, his voice lit up as he got to the point.

– Episode 1 peaked at a 9% rating!

A 9% rating without the big-name idols appearing yet. Of course, a huge part of it was that their participation had already been announced.

“President Kang! I made it to #5! #5!! Hee-yeon’s at #6 now! Hell yeah! I finally caught up!”

Hee-yeon had been bumped from #5 to #6. As her boss, congratulating Jin-ah felt… complicated. So instead, I just patted her head. Then, my hand froze mid-motion. She washed her hair today, right?

“Why’d you stop? I did wash it today, okay?! I had a whole event earlier, you know!”

She read my mind. Sharp little thing. No, wait. Did that mean if she hadn’t had an event, she wouldn’t have washed it?

I didn’t know.

She would probably take care of it.

—

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