Today, obviously, was the first time visiting a broadcast station for ‘Young Women’. Everything was fascinating. Full of curiosity, they wanted to see Oh Bin as well as his waiting room.
Unbeknownst to them, Valentine was inside, wearing fancy outfits and getting ready as Young Women glanced inside.
Even Young Women knew that the people sharing the waiting room with Oh Bin today were Valentine, who was debuting today just like them.
However, even though they were both rookies debuting today, they were not on the same level.
Unlike Young Women, whom nobody knew existed, Valentine had already amassed a significant number of fans. It was difficult to get into Ara Entertainment as a trainee, and Ara trainees who were chosen to debut naturally had fans that followed them.
Since they got to debut after fiercely competing within the agency, singers who debuted at Ara Entertainment had considerable pride in ‘debuting under Ara Entertainment’.
It was true that they also had skills.
That said, it would be good if that pride ended only with confidence, but, having gained a lot of interest and popularity even before debuting as well as a certain amount of popularity guaranteed once they debuted, there were many people who were under the illusion that they had already become a star.
The Valentine members’ situation was that very situation.
Furthermore, they had entered as trainees after Ara Entertainment had gotten fully established. Therefore, ever since their debut was decided, they received support that would be hard for trainees from other agencies to get, such as enjoying living in a luxurious villa and funds for maintaining a certain lifestyle.
Therefore, in terms of lifestyle, they were enjoying the same kind of lifestyle as most actual singers.
The youngest in Young Women, Da Hye, made eye contact with Valentine’s Han Yae Ri and reflexively averted her gaze.
Han Yae Ri’s gaze, which was looking towards the door, was incredibly cold.
‘Still, I should have greeted her instead of avoiding her gaze…sigh…’
Da Hye looked towards Young Women’s leader Yoon Ji with a concerned ‘what do I do’ look.
Yoon Ji, who had said they had come to say hi to Oh Bin, was facing Valentine’s manager.
“He’s not here right now.”
Valentine’s manager replied in a nonchalant tone.
“Ah, then we’ll come back later!”
Yoon Ji was briefly taken aback, but answered energetically as she was taught.
“What…”
Yoon Ji didn’t get flustered by the Valentine Manager’s insincere ‘do whatever you want’ kind of response and bowed her head to say goodbye. Afterwards, she said to the other members, who were in a line behind her, that they should go back.
Normally, Young Women should have come with their manager too to give a greeting since it was the first time, but the manager had gone to greet the LIfe Song PD.
After Young Women left and closed the door, Hae Yae Ri stopped looking towards the door and looked at the mirror.
“So loud.”
It wasn’t necessarily that she didn’t like Da Hye, whom she had made eye contact with. She wasn’t interested enough to even have such a thought. It was just that she didn’t like that the waiting room had briefly gotten crowded.
“Who was that?”
The Valentine member with the pink hair who was next to Han Yae Ri and on her cellphone asked, as if talking to herself.
“I think it’s the kids that are debuting today. That…Young Women?”
“Young Women? Young Women is the name?”
“Yeah. Probably.”
The pink-haired girl frowned a little at the manager’s response.
“Eh…They look very plain…Did they come up from the countryside? What agency are they with?”
The manager had a perplexed expression at the pink-haired girl’s question.
“Where was it again…?”
“You’re the manager, how can you not know?”
At the pink-haired girl’s scolding, the manager looked a little embarrassed and said, quickly recalling,
“Hye Sung! It’s Hye Sung Entertainment.”
“Hye Sung Entertainment? It’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“It’s new.”
“Ahhh~ I guess it’s understandable you didn’t know. No wonder~”
She had just scolded him and now she was acting cutesy with her words, wrinkling her nose. The manager was flustered, unsure how to react, but all he could do was laugh.
If Han Ye Ri had a quiet and sensitive personality, the pink-haired girl had a lively and volatile personality.
Neither of them were an easy personality to deal with. However, he had survived in Ara Entertainment for 3 years. Considering the managerial industry, which has a high turnover rate, that was incredible tenacity. He would also be looking towards a promotion if Valentine’s debut album was successful. Therefore, the pink-haired girl’s volatile personality felt like aegyo*.
(TL Note: Aegyo means acting cutesy)
At that moment, there was a knock again and the waiting room door opened.
“Oh!”
The manager, who had been sitting comfortably with his back against a chair, recognized the person who had come in and immediately got up from his seat.
“You’re here!”
The person he greeted with a deep bow was the Manager of Ara Entertainment’s Strategic Planning Team, Jin Guk Sun. The Strategic Planning Team, which oversees the planning team and is involved in overall personnel affairs, was fundamental to Ara Entertainment.
Manager Jin Guk Sun could be considered a heavyweight within Ara Entertainment.
Even the Valentine members, who were individually preparing for the performance, got up and lightly bowed their heads.
Whenever a singer of Ara Entertainment agency has a debut performance, it’s almost tradition for key working-group officials of the Planning Team, including Manager Jin Guk Sun and the Team Leaders, to come.
At that moment, Director Seo Joong Won entered the waiting room behind Manager Jin Guk Sun.
“D…Director?!”
Valentine’s Manager stuttered without realizing it. Manager Jin Guk Sun was one thing, but it was really rare for Director Seo Joong Won to come to a broadcast performance when it wasn’t even a concert.
The faces of the Valentine members, who had looked like they were fearless, looked anxious.
It was reasonable that Director Seo Joong Won’s influence on Ara Entertainment’s celebrities was enormous. Just as Cha Eun Ho unexpectedly debuted with one word from Director Seo Joong Won, there were those who got on his bad side and were unable to appear on broadcast.
So, even if Seo Kang Jun acted like a tyrant with no mercy, everyone was hush-hush. Within Ara Entertainment, Director Seo Joong Won was no different than a king.
Looking at the frozen people, Director Seo Joong Won gave a soft smile.
“Oh my, I guess everyone was surprised by my very sudden appearance. I’m sorry I came without giving advance notice. I thought it would be too much pressure if I called first.”
Of course he was satisfied to see how people froze at the sight of him.
Acting like the king in front of people trembling at your words was always fun. It was one of the reasons he was so into money and power.
“Ah, no! How…here…?”
The manager replied, frozen solid.
“What do you mean, he came to encourage them.”
At Manager Jin Guk Sun’s words, the manager and Valentine members expressed their gratitude.
“Ok. Did the rehearsal go well?”
“Yes. The PD even complimented us that we’re good at performing even though it’s our debut and that lots of fans came~”
The pink-haired girl, who had the best social skills among the Valentine members, replied brightly. With a satisfied smile, Director Seo Joong Won looked over the Valentine members.
“Hoho. I won’t be able to stay long enough to see the performance, but Manager Jin over here will be watching, so do well on the actual performance too. I have very big expectations.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Han yae Ri, the leader, answered calmly.
“Guys. Even the Director is here, we should take a picture. With the Director and the manager…”
Valentine’s Manager lightened the mood.
It was to post pictures on the Ara Entertainment official account. Celebrities taking photos with high-ranking officials, executives, the President, etc. and posting it was a common occurrence. It was to show off how well they managed their celebrities.
“Let’s see…”
Director Seo Joong Won stood next to Manager Jin Guk Sun.
“Director, you should come to the middle…”
“Haha. Today, these guys are the stars.”
Director Seo Joong Won replied pleasantly to Manager Jin Guk Sun’s words. The Valentine members got into the designated positions they got into for group photos.
The Valentine manager quickly opened his cellphone camera app and took the picture.
It was one hour before the start of the ‘Life Song’ live broadcast.
***
Despite it being their debut performance, Valentine was scheduled to sing a song and a half* right before the first place candidate’s performance under the title of ‘special rookie.’ It was a very special treatment.
*(TL Note: Yes, it said one and a half songs. How one signs half a song is beyond me)
This was one of the reasons celebrities from Ara Entertainment were criticized by fans from other fandom for special treatment whenever they debuted.
However, they were able to firmly grab the spotlight and become firmly imprinted on the public. Compared to that, they could put up with a little criticism.
Unlike Valentine, who was relatively relaxed because their performance was at the end, Young Women’s waiting room was very busy an hour before the broadcast.
They were right after the opening. Young women was given about two minutes. The title song, ‘Our Time,’ had to be edited to fit the assigned stage time.
Debut performance. They had to do whatever they could to leave a big impression on the viewers and get them to remember the name ‘Young Women’ in a short time.
“We can do it! We can do it! We can do iitttt!”
“ugggghhhh, I’m so nervous I think I’m gonna throw up. Is it ok if I throw up on stage?”
“Really? Hey hey, go to the restroom now and just let it out.”
“Guys. You guys are a girl group now. Don’t say that kind of thing out loud,”
Leader Yoon Ji said. The members nodded their heads.
Of course, President Jung Hye Sung was in Young Women’s waiting room too. It was a different vibe than Director Seo Joong Won’s visit. President Jung Hye Sung was like an uncle to the members.
“It’s chaotic. Everyone, calm down!”
Even President Jung Hye Sung, who said those words, was just as nervous.
“Wow…but the outfits are really pretty.”
“Yeah. I really like it too.”
Dressed in their stage outfits, the members were the very definition of ‘young women’. They were wearing blouses full of frills and hot pants or skirts that highlighted their individuality.
Where the biggest ‘difference in money’ could be seen was in outfits.
Cheap stage outfits were noticeably less detailed. However, the stage outfits Young Women was currently wearing were comparable to luxury goods.
This was because Do Wook had specifically suggested that, besides the album of course, it would be good if his investment was used on increasing the quality of things like the stage set and outfits.
‘Differences probably start from things like this…’
President Jung Ye Sung hadn’t thought about spending money on costumes. However, after investing money in it, the movements were definitely more visible and luxurious even with the same choreography.
He realized anew that there absolutely was a need to invest in it since visibility is important for idols.
It was time to go on stage.
The members and staff gathered in a circle to yell “fighting”.
“There probably isn’t anyone watching Life Song to see you guys. They have no interest or expectation of you guys. But,”
President Jung Hye Sung spoke coldly and sincerely.
“That’s what makes it an even better opportunity. Let’s surprise them. Yeah? Let’s show them what kind of young women you are!”
“Yes―!”
“Yes!”
Young Women yelled energetically to President Jung Hye Sung’s words.
***
At that time. Do Wook was standing at the entrance of a casino in Las Vegas.
Next chapter: We return to our regularly scheduled program to KK and their American guerilla tour.