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Chapter 22: Cherry Blossom Today (3)

“So, Chief Park Han-Cheol from Division 1 told you guys to know your place just because you lacked popularity? No way! Why would he speak that way to the singers from Division 2 when he works in Division1?”

Yang Eun-Bi, who had been quietly listening to Woo Yeon-Hee’s story, complained with a bitter expression.

“I mean, he’s not entirely wrong. In the entertainment industry, you are considered worthless if you aren’t popular. We didn’t speak up as we didn’t want to cause bad rumors about Hoop Entertainment and implicate Golden Road sunbae-nim.”

At that moment, my earlier suspicions were confirmed—those who weren’t part of the Suhyaejong line in Hoop Entertainment were being trampled on.

‘Is Kang Ji-Yung unaware of this? Doesn’t Kang Gam-Chan know about this situation, especially given his 30-year career in the industry?’

But I couldn’t confront them directly because I had no idea what either of them were thinking.

However, I couldn’t sit back and do nothing about it when I know about this now.

“You haven’t told Mr. Han this, have you?”

Woo Yeon-Hee shook her head.

“I thought...if I told him, Mr. Han might go to Division 1 to confront Mr. Park immediately, considering his temper. You know how he is. Once he’s enraged, there’s no holding him back.”

Sae-Ri sat next to Woo Yeon-Hee and added as she clenched her fist tightly.

“That’s why we decided to wait till we become popular and then get back at him! But...”

I quickly picked up where Sae-Ri left off and continued.

“But you couldn’t get back at him because you couldn’t get popular?”

“Yes, that’s it!”

Sae-Ri exclaimed with a bright expression and clapped her hands. Sae-Ri said she was angry and wanted to speak up, yet she had no choice but to hold back because of Woo Yeon-Hee and the others. She was concerned that she might come off as insolent as she was the youngest of the group, and this in turn would reflect badly on the entire group.

‘Well done, Kim Sae-Ri.’‘

Once she started speaking, she poured out all the past grievances.

I felt a surge of anger building up within me. Talent agents and agencies were supposed to help these celebrities gain popularity or at least make money. Instead, they made such terrible comments that hurt the morale of the idols of their own company.

‘Those...damn bastards.’

I felt my heart rate increasing rapidly, but I suppressed my emotions and stepped away from the door.

Then, I looked at the girls and opened my mouth.

“Thanks for letting me know. It gave me much more clarity on what to do. But you should have told us about it earlier. I’ll discuss it with Mr. Han and make sure he doesn’t lose his temper. It seems like he’s been overeating because of stress...He’s been really worried about you guys.”

“Um...he recently lost about 10 kg...”

‘Oh, well that was a slip of the tongue.’

“Ahem. Is that so? Just pretend you didn’t hear what I said.”

“Hehe, okay.”

‘I did wonder if he had slimmed down a bit before, and I now suppose he actually did.’

Woo Yeon-Hee tilted her head and said she felt comfortable confiding in me for some reason.

“Thank you. I mean it.”

I felt a warm flutter in my heart.

Cherry Blossom cleared their throat awkwardly and smiled.

“We should be the ones thanking you. Thank you for listening. And we’ll talk to Mr. Han about it ourselves. You’re right, oppa. We should’ve told him earlier.”

Woo Yeon-Hee seemed relieved.

“...Thank you...Yoon-Ho oppa.”

This time, Sae-Ri thanked me sincerely without cracking any jokes.

“No problem. But make sure you contact me if it looks like Mr. Han is about to lose his temper, okay?”

All four members of Cherry Blossom nodded.

But perhaps it was the anger that had cleared my mind, a strategy to appeal to PD Choi Eun-Hyuk suddenly formed in my thoughts.

“Wait. Before we greet the sunbae idols in their waiting rooms, shall we warm up a bit?”

“Huh? What do you mean by warm up?”

“You know that song ‘Bling Bling’ by Petite More. Can you dance to that? Every idol is covering ‘Bling Bling’ these days, aren’t they?”

Sae-Ri quickly raised her hand and nodded.

“Yes. I can totally dance to that song.”

‘Nice, Sae-Ri! I’m so proud of you. Though being able to dance to the most popular song by another group is not something to boast about when she always messes up her own choreography...’

But Woo Yeon-Hee tilted her head in wonder, unsure of my request for them to dance to Petite More’s song.

At that moment, Yang Eun-Bi spoke up.

“Yoon-Ho oppa. You’re planning to film it for our promotion, aren’t you?”

‘Wow. She’s sharp....although it might not be the promotion she’s thinking of.’

“Yes. I want to film a video of you all for some promotion.”

Only then did Woo Yeon-Hee nod in agreement, prompting the other members to do so as well.

Woo Yeon-Hee was indeed the leader of the group.

“Alright. Just a moment.”

“Okay.”

I searched for the accompanying background music on MeTube and began to prepare to take a video.

While the other members waited for me to set up, Kim Sae-Ri sang and danced continuously, unable to contain her excitement.

“Sae-Ri. Stay still for just a moment.”

“Bling Bling~.”

Despite Woo Yeon-Hee’s nagging, Sae-Ri kept singing ‘Bling Bling’ and moved her body. Eun-Ah also snapped her fingers to the beat, getting caught up in the mood.

“Alright. I’ve finished setting up. Let’s take a video.”

“Kim Sae-Ri. Stop dancing by yourself and come over here. We need to get the formation right for the video.”

“Yes, Mom.”

Sae-Ri stopped dancing and walked briskly to stand on the right of Woo Yeon-Hee, while Yang Eun-Bi took her place on the left.

“Eun-Ah. Come here.”

The hesitant Eun-Ah also moved to her designated position.

This was the starting formation for ‘Bling Bling’.

“Okay. We’re all set. Shall we begin?”

“Let’s go!”

I played the music accompaniment of ‘Bling Bling’ on my Galaxia Note 10 and started recording. Taking their positions, Cherry Blossom began to dance.

But as soon as the girls started dancing, my eyes widened.

‘What is this? Did Sae-Ri just spin twice in front of my eyes?’

I couldn’t believe that Sae-Ri, known for being clumsy, could dance this well. She even danced better to ‘Bling Bling’ than ‘Pretty Pretty’, a song from Cherry Blossom’s second album. The way she bopped her head to the beat at the perfect timing was like watching art in motion.

And then came the highlight of the choreography where there were rapid hand and foot movements.

“Bling~Bling~ When I see you, my heart flutters~.”

I was at a loss for words.

‘Their dance is perfectly in sync.’

There was no better way to describe it.

Despite having two tall members and two shorter ones, their formation and movements were perfectly synchronized. They were dancing better than their own song’s choreography.

‘Oh my goodness. How much did they practice for this song?’

Cherry Blossom outperformed Petite More, the original performers of this song.

‘This will work. This will definitely get attention for sure.’

Now, all that was left to do was persuade Choi Eun-Hyuk.

***

Watching the girls catch their breath in silence after their exceptional performance, I couldn\'t help but give them a heartfelt thumbs-up. Their dance was simply phenomenal.

“Wow...when did you guys even...”

Yang Eun-Bi wiped the sweat off her forehead and opened her mouth.

“When did we practice so much?”

“Yes.”

“We practiced covering other girl groups’ songs in our spare time. It was too boring to just dance on our own. Moreover, you’ll never know when we might be asked to dance to popular choreography on a broadcast.”

“Whose idea was it?”

“Me! It was my idea!”

Sae-Ri quickly raised her hand.

‘But she’s notorious for her poor dancing and only known for her childish dances even after her solo debut.’

“Sae-Ri. Didn’t you have trouble with dancing? How did you have the guts to come up with such an idea?”

Sae-Ri puffed up her cheeks in annoyance.

“It’s not about guts. I can dance really well. You have no idea.”

At that moment, Eun-Ah burst into laughter.

“Huh? Eun-Ah unnie. What are you laughing about?”

“I-I didn’t laugh...”

“You totally did.”

As Sae-Ri grumbled on, Eun-Ah gave a sheepish look.

Then, Yang Eun-Bi explained on behalf of Sae-Ri.

“Yoon-Ho oppa. Don’t listen to Sae-Ri. She practiced this song to death for her audition. She’s not great at other choreographies. She even forgets our own choreography all the time.”

“Hey! That’s not true!”

“It is. You messed up the choreography at the event yesterday.”

“Well, that...that was just a mistake!”

“Exactly.”

As Sae-Ri continued to complain, Woo Yeon-Hee approached her and took her hand to comfort her.

“Don’t say that. Sae-Ri is an amazing dancer~.”

“Right? I’m good at dancing.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

As Woo Yeon-Hee consoled her, Sae-Ri pouted and snuggled into Woo Yeon-Hee’s arms, before sticking her tongue out playfully at Eun-Bi.

‘Well, I suppose she’s still a fifteen year old child.’

Anyway, I had amazing content to show the PD to promote Cherry Blossom. With this synchronized dance, their appeal was guaranteed to be through the roof.

“Alright. Shall we go?”

“Okay!”

The girls wiped off their perspiration and appeared refreshed after sharing their secret.

***

By the time we reached the fifth waiting room to greet the sunbae idols, the public TV in the hallway was broadcasting news about heavy snowfall.

-Heavy snowfall in the mountainous regions of Jeju has resulted in the suspension of takeoffs and landings at Jeju Airport...

Looking at the unchanged planner, I entered the waiting room and began greeting the sunbae idols with Cherry Blossom.

“Hello! We are Cherry Blossom, fluttering like the spring breeze of April.”

Surprisingly, the reaction was much better than I expected—not for Cherry Blossom but for me.

“Hahaha. The talent agent looks the prettiest.”

“Hahaha. You’re Team Lead Ju Yung-Hoon’s hoobae, aren’t you? Do it again. Let’s film this.”

“Oh, alright. Keep up the good work.”

“My goodness. You’re working so hard~.”

Everyone in the waiting room teased me and joked that I was the fifth member of Cherry Blossom. But at least Cherry Blossom left a strong impression.

We only had two more waiting rooms to visit.

But at that moment, I saw Choi Eun-Hyuk PD of Idol Daejun heading toward the emergency exit of the waiting room hallway with a serious expression.

‘What should I do?’

Upon seeing Choi Eun-Hyuk, Cherry Blossom stopped their greeting mid-way and just bowed slightly.

Not noticing us, Choi Eun-Hyuk continued to yell into his phone.

“Hey, Chief Kim! What are you talking about? There’s a breaking news report about heavy snow and strong winds in Jeju right now. There’s no way the plane would take off! What? A motorboat, you say? Have you lost your mind? Is it your plan to get your idol killed and make the 9 o’clock news? Don’t even think of involving me in this absurd plan of yours!”

Choi Eun-Hyuk’s angry voice echoed loudly in the waiting room hallway.

“Ugh, seriously. Stop talking nonsense, will you? If the plane can’t take off, how can a helicopter? If you can’t get to Gimpo Airport by 6 PM, this isn’t going to work. Hey! Stop saying that! You know it’s impossible!”

While still on the call, Choi Eun-Hyuk opened the emergency door at the end of the hallway and pulled out a cigarette from his right pocket.

“Sigh~. Let’s hang up for now and talk about it later.”

Creak.

The emergency door was slowly closing. I considered following Choi Eun-Hyuk, but couldn’t do so as I was guiding Cherry Blossom.

First, I needed to finish the greetings in the waiting room and then meet up with Choi Eun-Hyuk.

I was certain that Choi Eun-Hyuk was expecting Irene[1] to not make it for the upcoming performance, so it was crucial to meet him and start exploring fitting Cherry Blossom in their spot as soon as possible.

Thump, thump, thump.

At that moment, I could see a large man rushing toward the emergency exit in heavy but swift steps.

It was Team Lead Kang Hyee-Dong from CNS Entertainment who managed idol group Floren. Despite weighing over 100 kg, he seemed to be very agile in chasing after Choi Eun-Hyuk.

Kang Hyee-Dong used to be a wrestler in the past and was now known for his competence in the talent agent industry.

‘No way. Could it be? Has he already started on his plan to get Floren into that spot?’

From what I remembered, he was always a man of swift actions. But I didn’t expect him to take action immediately after the breaking news.

“Yoon-Ho oppa. Why are you in deep thought? We still have more people to greet~.”

We were only left with two sunbae groups’ waiting rooms to visit.

“Alright. Let’s wrap up the greetings for each group in a minute and head back for some rest.”

“Okay oppa~.”

Cherry Blossom looked at me like meerkats and followed closely behind like ducklings.

My heart started pounding again.

‘I hope Choi Eun-Hyuk is still there after we finish visiting the waiting rooms...’

1. Girl group ?