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Chapter 21: Cherry Blossom Today (2)

“Yes. I’m serious.”

Just a moment ago, I suggested that we should spend more money at the hair salon to put more effort into Cherry Blossom’s hairstyling. I told Han Myung-Ho that I had a dream where a huge dragon ascended to the sky.

Upon hearing this, Han Myung-Ho reluctantly paid extra for the girls’ hairstyling.

In the entertainment industry, superstitions often came into play due to the frequent need for reassurance. I downed the water from my cup in a single gulp, hoping to soothe my burning throat.

‘Ah, I feel guilty about lying.’

“Well, I hope your dream really means something. The pressure from the company these days is no joke.”

“What kind of pressure?”

“...I don’t know if I should be telling you this, but there’s talk going around in the company questioning the need for two girl groups. Our chief is having a hard time fending off those comments.”

In Division 1, there was a top-tier girl group, Golden Road, who competed against Petite More for the first place in the idol industry. On the other hand, Cherry Blossom from Division 2 was at the very end of the B-list.

Considering the income disparity between the two teams, it was only natural for there to be talks about disbanding Cherry Blossom.

But having seen Cherry Blossom in person, I had a different perspective. I had no doubt they would achieve stardom with just one hit song.

“To be honest, we already exceeded our salon budget for this month...If push comes to shove, I’m going to support the girls with my own money. I really hope your dream can help us, Yoon-Ho.”

Watching Han Myung-Ho scratch the back of his head, I finally understood why he had been so hesitant about spending more at the hair salon earlier..

‘Individuals like him deserve success, but, more often than not, the world works in the opposite way.’

In the entertainment industry, and often in the world, it was the harsher, more ruthless, and less scrupulous individuals who often thrived.

“I’m sure my dream will help Cherry Blossom.”

‘So what if I’m lying about a fake dream? I’m giving him hope.’

As I extended both my hands, Han Myung-Ho pulled them close to his chest earnestly.

“Thanks, Yoon-Ho. And make sure you eat well whenever you can. There might be times when you don’t get to eat at all.”

Then Han Myung-Ho looked at the menu and began ordering food.

“Ma’am, can we have one sundae soup[1], one pork cutlet, two rolls of kimbap, and two bowls of ramen please?”

‘Oh my goodness. How many dishes is he ordering?’

By the end of the meal, I was nearly bursting from eating so much.

***

After finishing our meal at the restaurant, heavy snow began to fall.

“Oh, it’s snowing.”

“It looks like a snowstorm is coming. The roads might get busy soon, so let’s hurry.”

As expected, the events of December 24th were unfolding again.

When I returned to the hair salon with Han Myung-Ho, the girls who had just finished their hairstyling immediately caught my eye.

Woo Yeon-Hee, with her long black hair, had a red accessory that accentuated her sexy image. Yang Eun-Bi sported a yellow accessory, emphasizing her soft and sweet image. Eun-Ah, boasting long brown hair, wore a silver accessory adorned with pearls, giving her a goddess-like aura. Sae-Ri, on the other hand, had two hairpins adorned with blue gems on the side, which added a touch of cuteness to her look.

Looking in the mirror, all the girls wore bright smiles, clearly pleased with the finished look.

“We look good.”

“Unnie, look~! Don’t I look cute?”

“Yes, you look adorable. But it seems like you’ve got some kimbap stuck in your teeth...”

Sae-Ri was taken aback upon hearing Woo Yeon-Hee’s cautious words.

“What!? Why are you only telling me now!?”

“Because I just noticed it?”

Yang Eun-Bi answered on Woo Yeon-Hee’s behalf and laughed.

“Ah, seriously! You are so mean, Eun-Bi unnie!”

“You should be thankful I even told you.”

Sae-Ri puffed her cheeks angrily, but quickly looked back in the mirror and broke into a big grin again.

“...But that aside, I look so pretty today. Hehe.”

It was a typical response from Sae-Ri who was always quick to forget the bad stuff and move on.

Han Myung-Ho also seemed pleased to see the girls so cheerful.

“The salon took great care of the girls.”

In the meantime, I captured candid moments of the girls on my phone because such photos were perfect for publicity purposes.

***

Thanks to our decision to leave earlier to avoid busy traffic, we managed to arrive at the KBC building hall in Yeouido before the roads turned icy.

As I hurried to the waiting room for the Idol Daejun, Han Myung-Ho gave me instructions.

“I’m going to greet the staff and get them some coffee and donuts. Could you take the girls to their waiting rooms and ensure that they greet their sunbaes as well? You know where their rooms are, right?”

“Yes. I’ve checked them out a few times before.”

“Do you know in which order you should start?”

“Come on. Of course I do.”

“Perfect. Then would you be able to handle the schedule before the performance? I’m going to meet the PD and try to negotiate a deal. Even if I have to humble myself, I need to achieve something for the girls today. I’m counting on your dream, Yoon-Ho.”

He had a way of making me feel guilty.

“For sure, Mr. Han.”

“Alright. Let’s give it our all today! Let’s go!”

Perhaps because I took the lead in managing the girls, Han Myung-Ho began to actively sought out ways to promote Cherry Blossom. The future was still uncertain, but the situation seemed to be slowly changing.

Upon arriving in the waiting room, Cherry Blossom finished arranging their belongings.

“Yoon-Ho oppa. Are we leaving right now?”

Woo Yeon-Hee was the first to ask. Perhaps due to the effort she had invested in her hairstyle, her confidence seemed to radiate more than ever, causing her face to shine brightly.

At this rate, I thought she’d make a great impression on the fans during the performance.

“Just a moment. Let me check the schedule first.”

I took out my phone and once again confirmed today’s agenda written in Everyday V10.

[Everyday V10]

[Date: December 24th, 2019]

-09:30 PM Opening spot for Petite More’s backstage performance collaboration.

-11:00 PM: Notification of budget cuts for Cherry Blossom’s 3rd album production.

There would be a year-end special live broadcast of the Idol Daejun today at KBC Broadcasting Station.

The event was divided into two parts: the first part, starting at 8 PM, showcased second-tier idol groups. Then, from 9 PM, the top-tier idol groups would take the stage sequentially in the second part of the show, where the ratings were expected to peak.

At 9:30 PM, this year’s best girl group, Petite More, would perform their popular song ‘Bling Bling’ on stage in collaboration with four other rookie girl groups.

However, one of the groups set for the collaboration performance wouldn’t be able to make it due to the heavy snowfall, thereby opening up a spot for another girl group. My plan was to fit Cherry Blossom in that spot.

The girl group who filled the spot in my past life was called Floren, but they plummeted in popularity just a week after their debut. As soon as they gained attention and made it to the live search rankings, a scandal involving assault by their leader, Choi Ji-Yeon, emerged.

However, the problem was finding a way to promote Cherry Blossom to PD Choi Eun-Hyuk, who was in charge of Idol Daejun.

‘How should I promote them?’

At that moment, the door to our waiting room opened. Looking up, I saw the four-member girl group Pink Diamonds who had debuted six months ago.

“Hello! We are Pink Diamonds. We look forward to working with you, Cherry Blossom sunbaes!”

Given they were promoting a sexy image, their outfits left a considerable amount of skin exposed, revealing more than they covered.

‘Yikes, they must be so cold in this weather.’

The leader at the forefront was Gu Min-Ji, with whom I had bad blood in my past life.

Of course, she wasn’t a journalist but an idol at the moment.

However, something seemed strange. Despite being a junior, 23-year-old Gu Min-Ji was arrogantly scanning Cherry Blossom from head to toe.

‘What the heck? What is with that look? Even if some members of Cherry Blossom are younger than Gu Min-Ji, how could she look down on her sunbaes so blatantly? Is it because Cherry Blossom ranked 48th last week while Pink Diamonds ranked 15th?’

Even so, such an attitude from a rookie group was appalling.

“Yes, we look forward to working with you too.”

Despite Pink Diamonds’ rude gaze, Cherry Blossom still responded politely.

After exchanging awkward glances, Pink Diamonds quickly turned around, as if they had finished what they came for.

“We’re busy, so we’ll be going now.”

Even as she left, Gu Min-Ji snickered and glanced at Woo Yeon-Hee. They despised Cherry Blossom so much that even the talent agent of TK Entertainment didn\'t step into the waiting room.

‘Wow. It’s been a while since I’d seen such blatant disregard.’

Click.

When the door closed, Sae-Ri began to grumble out of anger.

“Seriously, why is Pink Diamonds always like that? Yeon-Hee unnie, you should have said something to them. Why do you always hold back?”

‘How ironic for her to say that, given that she remained silent. It was a perfect example of all talk and no action.’

“Oh, come on. It’s not the first time Min-Ji unnie acted this way. You still haven’t gotten used to it?” Woo Yeon-Hee said as she laughed awkwardly.

This was a scene I hadn’t witnessed when I had brought Cherry Blossom here in my past life. Back then, I was busy running errands for Team Lead Park Eun-Cheol, not Han Myung-Ho.

But now that I saw this, I couldn’t just let it slide. Every piece of information was crucial for changing the future.

“Oppa. We should go greet the sunbaes as well.”

Woo Yeon-Hee urged me with a bitter expression, while she tried to calm Sae-Ri down.

But I stopped Woo Yeon-Hee.

“What is it? Do you guys have some history with Pink Diamonds or something? What happened?”

Even in a world dominated by popularity, hoobae blatantly ignoring sunbae like this wasn’t common.

“Unnie! Tell him! Come on!”

When Sae-Ri urged her, Woo Yeon-Hee let out a deep sigh and explained what happened in the past.

***

“...So that’s what happened, huh?”

Apparently, Gu Min-Ji used to be a trainee at Hoop Entertainment at the same time as Jang Eun-Yung, the leader of Golden Road—Hoop Entertainment’s ace girl group.

She then transferred to TK Entertainment to seize an opportunity to debut. In other words, although Cherry Blossom debuted earlier, Gu Min-Ji became a trainee at Hoop Entertainment before they did.

“So you’re saying that Gu Min-Ji is a sunbae to you guys in terms of being a trainee at Hoop Entertainment?”

Today was the first time I learned that Gu Min-Ji was once with Hoop Entertainment because I wasn’t well informed of the history of the idol industry.

Apparently, Gu Min-Ji was only with Hoop Entertainment for about six months.

‘That’s barely any time at all. I can’t believe she is being so rude just because she’s a sunbae in terms of trainee years. This is just ridiculous.’

I tried to suppress my anger and asked.

“Don\'t you know that seniority in the idol industry is determined by the duration since your debut?”

Woo Yeon-Hee shook her head at my question.

“I know.”

“Then why would you let her treat you like that? You should say something.”

I still couldn’t understand her actions.

‘Was she being too kind-hearted? How does she intend to survive in this cutthroat entertainment industry with that naive attitude?’

“Well...I mean...it’s because...we are not popular. Furthermore, they are from TK Entertainment, which means they are wealthy. We have no choice but to endure their mistreatment.”

It sounded as if they had to put up with these bullies simply because they were from a less privileged background.

The absurdity almost made me burst into laughter.

“Wait a minute. Why should you endure that? Regardless of how big TK Entertainment is, they shouldn’t look down on Hoop Entertainment. “

‘Why is a mere 21-year-old girl worrying about things a talent agent should be concerned with?’

From my experience, such behavior usually stemmed from something someone had said.

‘But there was no way Han Myung-Ho would’ve said anything like that to the girls.’

“Oppa, we are late. We might be late for rehearsal...”

I shut the door of the waiting room so no one could exit or enter.

“Tell me everything that happened and don’t leave a single part out!”

I felt anxious and a pressing need to get to the bottom of the matter. Considering the fact that Yang Eun-Bi, who was usually the voice of reason, remained silent, and even the typically carefree Sae-Ri appeared cautious, it was clear that there was something I wasn\'t aware of.

Eun-Bi and Sae-Ri held onto the hands of the hesitant Woo Yeon-Hee by her side.

“Unnie, tell him.”

“Come on, let’s tell him. Okay?”

“Unnie...”

Finally, after exchanging glances with the group members, Woo Yeon-Hee mustered her courage to tell me the truth.

“The truth is...”

1. Korean blood sausage soup ?