Today, the day of KK’s goodbye performance, was also the day M2M had their comeback performance.
M2M was releasing albums nonstop. Ara Entertainment’s Director Seo Joong Won was pushing M2M with more determination than ever before. He was definitely trying to strike while the iron was hot.
“Hello!”
Choi Eun Ho’s bright voice resonated throughout KK’s waiting room. The members froze, then instantly got up from their seats, as if they were playing freeze tag and they just got released, and greeted Choi Eun Ho.
“Woah!”
“He…Hello.”
It was a different kind of awkwardness from with the other rookie groups. It couldn’t be helped because M2M was undeniably a senior group to KK. However, Choi Eun Ho personally debuted after KK.
“Dang, it’s been a while, Do Wook! Long time no see, everyone!”
A person came in behind Choi Eun Ho while the members were briefly confused. It was M2M member Oh Bin. Oh Bin had previously worked with Do Wook on ‘Rendezvous project’.
“Hi, Bin.”
“It’s been a while, sunbae.”
Do Wook and Jung Yoon Ki greeted him warmly. Oh Bin smiled pleasantly and said that he’d been enjoying KK’s music.
“The choreography for Continue looked really difficult. I want to learn it too.”
When Oh Bin said that, the KK members excitedly said they wanted to see Oh Bin dance.
KK and M2M’s rivalry only lasted a short time. Their rivalry aside, they could have had a close relationship with each other as fellow idols, but Seo kang Jun played a big role in why they hadn’t been able to do that.
When Seo Kang Jun was around, the M2M members had to bottle up their emotions, and Oh Bin was not able to build on his friendship with Do Wook despite having a personal relationship with him, because he had to be careful of Seo Kang Jun who was his fellow member.
Rather than avoiding it out of fear, it was closer to avoiding it because it was dirty. He didn’t want to get on his fellow member’s nerves for no good reason and ruin the team vibe.
Do Wook remembered that, despite feeling that way, Oh Bin had looked after Do Wook. Do Wook had said to himself that he should always be grateful for that.
In any case, they had had a crisis with the incidents involving Seo Kang Jun almost making the team collapse completely, but in the end M2M had a better vibe both internally and externally after Choi Eun Ho came in. It was a true blessing in disguise. None of the M2M members said it out loud, but even other singers noticed that that was how they felt.
Oh Bin said that, as a Korean singer, he was proud of the world wide love KK was receiving and that they would have to give it their all too. He also pulled on Choi Eun Ho’s shoulder, who was next to him and was blushing.
“Here, Eun Ho is our new member. He’s also our team’s mangnae~ You’ll probably see each other during activities so I thought it’d be good to introduce each other.”
At Oh Bin’s introduction, the KK members greeted Choi Eun Ho with their eyes. Do Wook stepped up and acknowledged him.
“I enjoyed your performance last time at the award ceremony. That was already a year ago, but…this is the first time meeting you in person.”
“Ahh, I can’t believe you saw the performance. I’m honored!”
Choi Eun Ho’s expression brightened up. When his expression, which had been hardened from nervousness, relaxed and he smiled, he was the definition of ‘handsome’. It was the typical face of a beautiful young boy. Despite being a guy, you couldn’t help but describe him as ‘lovely’ or ‘pretty’.
He looked so much like a picture, and had performance make-up on to boot, that he even gave off a cyborg-vibe*.
(TL Note: Honestly, this sentence was confusing. Pretty like a picture but giving cyborg vibes??)
“Seriously! I wanted to meet you!”
Additionally, they had felt it from the moment he said hello, but he seemed like a very bubbly person without a care in the world. Choi Eun Ho’s eyes were shining from excitement, almost to a burdensome level, over meeting a singer he truly respected as he greeted them. Looking at him, Do Wook pushed his side hair back and smiled awkwardly.
“Eun Ho said he’s a KK fan~!”
“That’s right! I’m a fan! Umm…would it be ok to shake your hand?! Please!”
At Oh Bin’s explanation, Choi Eun Ho nodded enthusiastically and asked Do Wook. Although it hadn’t been long since he debuted, Choi Eun Ho was an entertainment celebrity just like them. It was the first time an idol of the same gender said they were a fan and wanted to shake his hand this much, so Do Wook awkwardly held out his hand.
It was even a singer from none other than Ara Entertainment, an agency famous for having their nose in the air. Even Oh Bin, his good personality aside, had his pride as a member of Ara Entertainment.
Choi Eun Ho carefully held Do Wook’s hand, besides himself because he felt so honored.
“Arggghh! I think I’m not going to wash this hand for a while! I absolutely won’t wash it!”
“Haha.”
All the KK members were a little stunned by the excessively bubbly Choi Eun Ho, but regardless, he said he liked Do Wook and them so it wasn’t a bad feeling. They all laughed.
After Oh Bin and Choi Eun Ho said goodbye and left, the KK members all had a ‘that was unexpected’ expression.
“He looks like an anime character…”
“Man, he has a similar image as Seo Jun so I thought he would be super cold.”
When Ahn Hyung Seo and Jung Yoon Ki said that, Park Tae Hyung also quietly nodded his head.
“He…was good at dancing…”
“Yeah, he had charisma on stage, but he’s just a Do Wook stan.”
When Suk Ji Hoon chimed in, Do Wook scratched his temple.
In the past, when Choi Eun Ho debuted with a different group, that group didn’t get a lot of attention so even Do Wook didn’t know what his real personality was like. But it turned out that he was a bubbly person to the point that it didn’t feel real.
‘And Bin too…I hope it goes well, but…’
He wasn’t targeting M2M itself, but if the plan of Do Wook, who was trying to bring down Director Seo Joong Won, was successful, it would definitely negatively impact M2M too.
It made Do Wook uncomfortable, like walking with shoes that had sand in them. However, Do Wook shook his head.
‘How will Director Seo Joong Won grow M2M that doesn’t have his son Seo kang Jun…There’s full support right now, but…’
Do Wook thought about the singers at Ara Entertainment. It was rare for singers, whom Ara Entertainment raised to be top singers, to have a good ending.
There were many incidents where the singers were mentally and physically pushed to their limit by the agency until they became top singers rather than through the will of the singer themselves, and dealing with settlement and contract renewals was a headache for most of them. If they end up leaving Ara Entertainment, many of them become victims of media manipulation and their image gets damaged.
Also, in the center of it was Director Seo Joong Won and those who followed him. Of course, the current President, who had raised Director Seo Joong Won, would not be able to avoid that responsibility.
‘Ara Entertainment is a company that has already gone public. A new executive team can be formed by the hands of the shareholders.’
It might have a negative impact on M2M and the celebrities in Ara Entertainment in the short term, but it’ll be rather beneficial in the long run,
Do Wook thought. To bring down Director Seo Joong Won, Do Wook had two plans he was preparing. Do Wook thought he would need both Plan A and Plan B to bring down someone at Director Seo Joong Won’s level.
‘Honestly, I might need until C…’
At that moment, ‘Life Song’ Assistant Director came into the waiting room and yelled,
“The set for KK is ready! Please come out and standby!”
Gu Chul Min got up, replied “ok”, and rushed the members. The members, who had finished getting ready, ran hurriedly towards the stage.
***
Oh Bin and Choi Eun Ho, who had left KK’s waiting room, returned to their own waiting room. The expression of Choi Eun Ho, who had been smiling brightly, darkened a little. He felt uneasy. Choi Eun Ho was recalling what happened with Director Seo Joong Won recently.
Ara Entertainment Director Seo Joong Won’s office.
Director Seo Joong Won hung up the phone, looking annoyed.
“Unbelievable, they get tunnel vision once they hear about overseas success.”
He had been on the phone with the News Patch Director. Director Seo Joong Won’s idea was to make M2M, whose last album did well and was about to do another comeback, nationally known rivals with KK again with their next album. The call was so he could delicately request an article to be written as such.
It wasn’t even an unreasonable request. It was true that M2M had been rising at breakneck speed recently, and Ara Entertainment singers still had a strong fan base.
The Director of News Patch strengthened his relationship with Director Seo Joong Won by smiling and saying, ‘Let’s continue to work well together’.
At the same time, he didn’t give up the information Director Seo Joong Won asked for, information about Reporter Choi Sung Joon.
Director Seo Joong Won had already found out that Reporter Choi Sung Joon was connected with Hit Entertainment anyways. He simply needed confirmation, but from the Director’s perspective, he had no reason to forsake Choi Sung Joon, who was a way to maintain a good relationship with HIT Entertainment.
KK was no longer an ‘unimportant idol from a small-medium sized agency’ that News Patch could look down on.
Most of the recent News Patch articles were about KK. They were all positive articles at that.
The relationship between News Patch and HIT Entertainment became extremely amicable since they handed over photos to News Patch for an exclusive article when KK was working with LIL. Afterwards, when KK started doing well in the overseas market, the public was excited about information on KK, and News Patch poured out articles about KK without missing a beat. Director Seo Joon Won knew that Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s experience had a part in that.
Ara Entertainment already had 3 or 4 people who were as talented as Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung. As such, it was true that he hadn’t thought much about it when Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung had changed jobs. However, even with the same ability, the size of authority was different. There was nothing Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung could do alone from within Hit Entertainment’s Fan Marketing Team, and Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung was simply flying around.
“Arrogant bastard.”
Director Seo Joong Won grit his teeth as he thought about Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung who turned down his offer. There was no need to worry about a little loach like him, but the problem was KK.
To get M2M to the top as quickly as possible and himself to become the President of Ara Entertainment, he had to bring down KK first.
It didn’t seem like it’d be an easy task. However, Director Seo Joong Won thought,
A celebrity’s image is just for a moment, and their good image might have been built solidly, but if I continue to shake them they’ll have no choice but to waiver eventually.
Director Seo Joong Won thought that there was no way he wouldn’t find any dirt if he kept digging. It was a thought very typical of him.
“I need to get Choi Sung Joon tangled in it too and get rid of him.”
At that moment, there was a knock and the office door opened. M2M’s manager and the M2M members came in. The manager stood Choi Eun Ho in the front. It was thanks to Choi Eun Ho that M2M’s recently gained popularity.
It was Director Seo Joong Won who decided to put Choi Eun Ho into M2M. Director Seo Joong Won was definitely a person who had good intuition on raising idols.
“Sir. I brought Eun Ho and the gang.”
“Hello!”
Along with the M2M members, Choi Eun Ho bowed stiffly and greeted Director Seo Joong Won. After looking Choi Eun Ho over with a sharp gaze, Director Seo Joong Won put on a blank expression and said,
“Yes, hello, Eun Ho. I heard you’re doing well in the activities.”
“Ah…thank you! It’s all thanks to you!”
“I’m not the one who taught you. You were taught well.”
When Director Seo Joong Won chuckled and said something indirectly about the manager, the manager bowed again and thanked him. Everyone was very disciplined in front of the company’s power house. He practically had his hands around their necks.
“What did I say is M2M’s goal this year?”
“First place…Our goal is first place.”
M2M’s leader replied as he was taught.
“That’s right. It’s first place. We’re spending so much money on you, you have to get first place. We even let you debut, you can’t lose to a bottom tier group like KK or there’s no reason for you to exist. I won’t let it slide again. “
Choi Eun Ho, who was still young, hung his head in fear, closed his eyes tight, then opened his eyes. M2M was a group that overcame a situation where it wouldn’t have been odd even if they were disbanded. No matter who caused the issue, that would be the end result. If such a team didn’t meet their goal, it was obvious they’d be tossed away.
The M2M members grit their teeth.
“Umm…then, would it also be ok to be friendly with the KK members?”
The question Choi Eun Ho asked after overcoming his fear made all the M2M members feel scared. The members also knew that Choi Eun Ho was a KK stan, but they didn’t know that he would be immature enough to ask that question in this situation.
“What? Haha. How bold. Maybe it’s because you’re young.”
Director Seo Joong Won laughed, then replied as if it were absurd. His eyes shone wickedly.
“No, you can. Become friendly with them, Eun Ho. The friendlier you are with them…the better, I think.”
***
At the same time, Manager Oh Baek Ho was frowning as he looked over the synopsis and first part of a script that had arrived for Do Wook.
“What in the world kind of plot is this…?
—