Entertainment journalists wrote like mad, pounding out article after article until it seemed like their fingerprints might wear off.
At 9 p.m., Journalist Woo-jin Kim looked at his paper cup that had three packs of instant coffee mixed in. He tiredly took a sip.
“Sunbae, you’re about to go home but you’re drinking coffee again?”
His junior looked at him with equally tired eyes.
“My blood wants it. It’s a habit.”
“Looking at your face, it doesn’t seem like you want it though.”
“You just haven’t been working long enough yet. There are things in this world you hate doing but have to do anyway.”
“…I guess so.”
Journalist Woo-jin Kim looked at his junior.
“Your dark circles look like they want coffee too. Even makeup can’t hide them.”
She let out a big sigh.
“It’s a problem when there’s no news, but it’s also trouble when there’s too much. How long has it been since ‘Tomorrow’s Idol’ ended?”
“Hehe. I can’t even remember how many articles I’ve written about ‘Tomorrow’s Idol.’ Jin-ah Choi was really amazing. And you know what else? Even before that, there were tons of articles. Hee-yeon Lee’s rock song, Yoon-jung Hwang, Sung-ah Kim’s video, too. This time it was Crescendo’s interview and social media stuff, and then it was Yumi Cho. The weird thing is, all these big stories somehow connect back to K-Management.”
“I guess President Hyuk Kang is like our archenemy now. But you know, he did look pretty clean-cut on the show.”
Journalist Woo-jin Kim shook his index finger.
“Archenemy? He’s our meal ticket.”
“…Still, this time was too much. It feels like taking an open-book test at school. How could they drop a bomb like Yumi all of a sudden? I had to write about ‘I Don’t Love Anything,’ talk about Daft Punk and the overseas reactions, mention how she was called useless until now, write about the bullying rumors… Sigh. Looking at the list, I really did write a lot.”
“That’s why I said he’s our meal ticket. The thing just exploded, and now the song’s number one on the charts.”
“Oh! I wrote that article, too. Just finished it.”
Journalist Woo-jin Kim drank all his coffee in one gulp. Watching him, his junior made a disgusted face like she had drunk it herself.
He filled the empty paper cup with some water and rinsed his mouth with it.
“You know that guy?”
“…Who?”
“Hyuk Kang. President Kang.”
“Oh, yes.”
“How is it that everything he touches does well? Doesn’t he really seem like he has the golden touch?”
“He’s been like that since HS Entertainment. Not that suprising, is it? Oh, and Blue Sherbet’s debut failed, remember? Looking back on it… it’s really unbelievable. How did it fail? Even if there was some interference, still.”
“That was on purpose. It was strategy. Don’t you get it yet? When one side of Blue Sherbet does well, the other side gets a boost in value. It’s like a chain reaction. It’s a new strategy. One step back for a hundred steps forward.”
She stepped back from his bitter coffee breath.
“Then, will this movie succeed too? President Kang picked that one.”
“Sung-ah Kim and Director Min-woo Sung? Well. That’s hard to say. The Blue Sherbet girls aren’t in it. Yoon-jung Hwang is just filming a video. Maybe he already got everything he wanted from that.”
“I see. I wonder if Sung-ah Kim’s movie is going to flop again.”
“Who knows. We just have to watch and pick up the pieces. But still… if it’s President Kang, something we never expected will probably happen again. Like, maybe he’ll make one of the Blue Sherbet members act.”
His junior burst out laughing.
“No way. The members are already too busy with just music. If they want to act on top of that… they’d have to spend time away from music activities, so it would have to be worth it. That means they’d have to be really good at acting…”
***
“So much for trying to help.”
Kid looked down at his phone, a faint smirk tugging at his eyes.
“Putting aside the bullying thing, I really did think the lack of talent was real.”
In reality, she had been steadily and rapidly raising her value behind the scenes. That was why they never bothered to respond.
Looking back now, it was almost laughable. When Manager Kang saw those articles and people saying that Yumi was useless, how hard must he have laughed?
“It could be that we were the ones getting in the way.”
“Oh, Executive Director Kim.”
The two met in a private room at a traditional Korean restaurant. Kim closed the door and sat down.
“Sorry. I promised to stop the article, but it came out anyway.”
“It’s okay. Everything worked out well in the end.”
Everything worked out well in the end? Executive Director Kim couldn’t think of it so lightly.
“Well. Maybe we really did interfere. What would have happened if the bullying rumors had come out before Yumi’s music release?”
“Hmm. The reaction might have become big like everything else until now, but there would have also been some people looking at her with some amount of suspicion, too. I can’t tell if it would have been good or bad.”
That was also true. Anyway, what was certain was that he couldn’t keep his promise to Kid.
“It turned out that I couldn’t repay anything to Kang,” Kim finished and picked up his chopsticks.
Kid also started to eat in silence, and the two of them didn’t say a word until they finished their entire meal, lost in their own thoughts. Only after they finished eating and the meal was over did Kim finally speak.
“So, what about the world tour?”
“I won’t do it. I want to release a new album,” he said firmly and without hesitation.
Kim slowly nodded.
“Right. The article I promised to stop came out, so I’m the one who broke the promise… I understand.”
A smile appeared on his lips. It was a clean acknowledgement.
Kid looked quietly into his eyes.
“What is it? Do you have something to say?”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“Haha. Really? What is it? If Kid is the one asking, how can I say no? It’s not a deal?”
Kid shook his head.
“I want to collaborate. On the album.”
“Huh? Not a solo album? Who do you want to work with?”
“Golden Tree’s Min-seok.”
“…!”
Kim leaned his head back and burst into loud laughter.
“Great! I’ll make it happen! This’ll be really interesting. Two people inspired by Hyuk Kang collaborating. An unstoppable pair in our industry, wouldn’t you agree?”
Nobody could beat them, Executive Director Kim added.
***
“First Masterpiece?”
(T/N: Originally in English.)
“Yes. It means the first great work. The English abbreviation is F.M.P. Haha.”
I tore my eyes from the proposal and looked across the table. There he was. A man who looked like he’d achieved enlightenment after a lifetime of torment. Or maybe I was just seeing things. For a second, I could have sworn I saw a halo.
I posed a question to him. And by him, I meant Producer Park.
“Let me ask you one thing first. Why you, Producer Park? ‘Tomorrow’s Idol’ just ended not too long ago, and this isn’t even a regular program. It’s a fill-in. You should be getting promoted, so what’s this about?”
“I understand your curiosity. I was very curious, too. My career history isn’t lacking, I hadn’t caused any problems, and I hadn’t hit any unexpected walls. It’s been smooth sailing.”
His voice felt so gentle and kind that it made me feel strangely calm.
He continued with the same gentle smile.
“The reason is very simple. Some cast members from a prime-time program caused some real trouble and they needed a quick fill-in. Then I, who achieved an amazing 13% rating, happened to be free. Haha. Since I achieved 13% with a short hit-and-run program, the higher-ups think I can do it again this time! Hahaha! Was that a good explanation?”
“Didn’t you get better offers from other…”
“They said they’d give me a nice bonus. You don’t need to worry about that part.”
I guess the end of all worries was money. Here was a man who forgave all things for money.
I listened carefully as he continued his explanation.
“Now that Yumi’s in the spotlight, wouldn’t this be the right time to start working on Blue Sherbet’s first full album?”
He tapped on the proposal with a finger.
“Blue Sherbet’s recognition and media presence are at their all-time high, strong enough to justify a reality show about their album production in a prime-time slot. It’s not even part of a regular program. I think it could be a win-win for both sides.”
It really was a good proposal. That was, if that had been our plan.
‘Unfortunately, our plans are a little different.’
Yumi was still growing musically, and Hee-yeon needed to start learning acting now.
Maybe we could move Yumi out a bit more, but if we missed the timing for acting now, we would miss all the hit projects that would come later.
That wouldn’t do.
Why, then, did I set up this meeting even though our plans were different?
Why, it was to make a counter-proposal.
“Yumi is now famous enough that everyone knows her name. What about the First Masterpiece thing? How about making it Yumi’s first solo album?”
The concept itself was really good. If we tweaked it a little, we could show Yumi’s talents while gaining public favor.
“…”
Whirr- I could hear his brain working from here.
Then, it suddenly stopped and he asked me something else.
“Are you not making a Blue Sherbet group album?”
“The timing is still undecided.”
Whirr— it started again.
“So just Yumi…?”
I mixed his proposal with my own ideas and explained it in detail.
“I’ve been thinking about something. Yumi will probably need me, so I should be included in the cast as well… Thanks to a certain producer, I’m much more recognizable now. And… LOAN… CEO Hae-yeol… maybe… collab… band or… feel-good content…”
While I continued talking, he listened carefully and nodded. Thus, we naturally moved into planning.
<Yumi’s F.M.P>
We didn’t need to worry about copyright since we had recordings to prove the original work. Contrary to the rumors, just registering copyright first didn’t make you the winner.
“Let’s go with this, President Kang.”
“Agreed, Producer Park.”
We shook hands.
Even though it was still in the initial planning stages, I had a good feeling. I felt how popular this program would be and how much love the first album would receive because of it.
‘I think we can expect great things from this.’
***
Long, pale fingers covered the stack of papers.
The script’s working title was, 「Can I Borrow Some of Your Luck?」
“How is it? Is it interesting?”
“Yes,” Hee-yeon answered.
“Do you want to try acting? You could audition for the role of ‘Hyun-ah.'”
Hee-yeon Lee looked down again and stroked the stack of papers on her lap.
“Want to read it again? Good script, right? The role of ‘Hyun-ah’ is good, too.”
“…I heard by accident. That you would be putting me in acting.”
“You heard?”
I hadn’t told her so she could focus on her current work.
“What if I can’t act? You’ve already invested and practically saved a role for me. I’ve never learned acting.”
I didn’t expect her to have heard up to that point.
Hee-yeon looked at me quietly as I leaned against the wall. She continued before I could speak.
“Are you trusting me again this time?”
“…”
Was it too unrealistic to say yes? I asked myself the question.
Before I came back in time, she had already succeeded in acting. Did I really have any solid proof to back that up now?
Well, there was the best singer Hae-chun Lee… but that didn’t quite count.
When filming the music video, I did tell her she had talent for acting and helped her get into character. Maybe that wasn’t enough?
Honestly, there were plenty of excuses I could come up with. The investment wasn’t because of you but for other reasons, the role wasn’t guaranteed, we only agreed to an audition, and so on.
However, there was no need to make excuses.
While I was frowning and thinking about how to answer, Hyun-hee spoke softly.
“I’ll try to make it work. I’ll do my best.” With those words, Hee-yeon opened the script.
“…Haha.” I let out a small laugh and spoke in a light way. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it. And you don’t have to be good at acting. No one will say anything about it. I won’t be disappointed either. Just… well. We can just aim for the next opportunity. Take your time learning acting, step by step.”
She nodded without taking her eyes off the script.
“I understand.”
As she rustled through the script pages, she suddenly looked at me and asked a question.
“Can we eat out for dinner tonight? It’s been a while.”
Why not? Besides, we had a lot to talk about regarding the movie. Hee-yeon and I left the dorm and headed to a restaurant. All the while, Hee-yeon held the script tightly in her hands and didn’t let go.
You are listening to me, right? I’m not interrupting your script reading?
“Please keep talking. I’m listening to everything,” she said.
“Uh… yeah. I was just saying it’s okay if you can’t do it this time.”
“Yes. If I can’t do it, I can just go back to singing. Right? Oh! No, wait. You said I should learn acting slowly, right?” She asked herself and nodded.
“That’s nice,” she continued. “It’s good to have options. I just hope I have the acting talent for all those options.”
I agreed. That was why I felt so good. She didn’t just have choices, but she also had the potential to succeed.
That was the final piece that made it feel perfect.
—