Chapter 10

Chapter 10. 2022.08.08. 21:21

After our hanbok rental time ended, we headed into a chicken restaurant.

I hadn’t told the members about the Kim Yoonja situation yet.

Bringing it up now would only make them worry even more about their contract renewals.

At the moment, anything scheduled after their contract period probably wouldn’t even feel like a real schedule to them.

Instead, some good news I could actually tell them arrived soon afterward.

I received a text message from a booking writer for a radio program.

Hello, Manager Do Junhyeok. This is Jeong Gahyeon, booking writer for the radio program Yeo Eunju’s 10 O’Clock Date.
Every week, we invite the hottest people at the moment and talk about interesting incidents from their everyday lives. Blue Moon has been receiving a lot of attention since yesterday!
I looked into them and found out they aren’t even a rookie group. Would they be interested in appearing on our program and sharing some entertaining stories?
We were planning to go without invited guests for a while, so our schedule is flexible. Please review which days they would be available this week and get back to us!

Considering how late it was, the news she had brought was hardly something she needed to apologize for.

The sharp-eyed members immediately showed interest once my call ended.

“Who was that? What is it?”

Youngchae asked with sauce smeared all around her mouth.

I told them it was an invitation from the booking writer of a radio show called Yeo Eunju’s 10 O’Clock Date.

“Yeo Eunju’s 10 O’Clock Date? At this hour?”

The sudden contact was surprising, but they must have had a reason for reaching out.

If the show mostly picked listener stories each week and filled the remaining time with the DJ chatting, their planning probably wasn’t rigid down to the minute.

“If you don’t believe me, look for yourselves.”

The members passed my phone around, jumping up and down in excitement.

They probably believed they were already starting to harvest the seeds of success we had planted on Saengsaeng Singing Contest.

And that was basically true.

We might not have become superstars overnight, but we had at least left an impression.

That alone would make our future activities a little easier.

Before, no matter how long I explained, people didn’t know who Blue Moon was.

Now, quite a few people understood as soon as I said,

“You know, that group from Saengsaeng Singing Contest…”

Wasn’t recognition more important than one or two radio appearances?

Still…

She said this week only.

I knew weekday radio programs usually aired five days a week.

Then, depending on what we wanted, did that mean appearing from Monday through Friday was possible?

“Does this show run from Monday to Friday?”

“Probably? It’s famous! And your faces show up on it too.”

A radio program where your face appeared?

Then it was a visible radio broadcast.

Visible radio programs were usually among the more popular radio shows.

When I thought it was just a normal radio appearance, I hadn’t considered the offer that amazing.

But for an unknown idol group, whether their faces appeared on screen or not was extremely important.

Especially for a group like Blue Moon, whose visuals were practically unfair.

With their contract renewal hanging in the balance, there was absolutely no reason to reject a schedule just because we wanted some rest.

“Let’s start appearing from Monday. Everyone okay with that?”

“Yes. But if we start from Monday, isn’t that tomorrow?”

Youngchae asked.

It was technically still the night after finishing Saengsaeng Singing Contest…

Wait.

It was already past midnight.

So it wasn’t even tomorrow anymore!

“Does that matter right now? Of course we have to go! Think about how many things can happen in just one week. If someone else suddenly becomes the hot topic tomorrow, we might lose this chance!”

Seorin was right.

Anything trending could cool off in minutes.

“What time is it right now?”

Once the members and I understood the situation, everyone suddenly became busy.

While replying that we would participate, I checked the time.

3:30 a.m.

Even going as fast as possible, it would take around three hours to get from Namwon to Seoul.

The broadcast started at ten, and they had asked us to arrive at least two hours beforehand.

We had to leave immediately.

“We need to go! Everyone finished the chicken, right?”

“Huh…! S-Sir, can you pack this up…?”

Aran picked up the chicken plate and tried to carry it with her, but Anna and Seorin grabbed her.

“They said there’s no time, Aran.”

“There’s still one drumstick left! I only ate dry breast meat because I was trying to be considerate!”

At Aran’s insistence, Anna and Seorin practically started carrying her away.

Youngchae pulled out a single tissue and quickly wiped her mouth.

She was surprisingly practical.

Even if it wasn’t her own household budget, I’d thought she was just stingy.

But apparently she had been saving tissues so she could wipe everything at once.

At that moment, another message arrived.

[Web Message]

Would you like to see the future?

Choice 1. Yes

Choice 2. No

(If there is no response for five minutes, Choice 1 will automatically be selected.)

It had come.

My precious spam message.

Now it arrived just like the radio booking texts.

And somehow, I was even happier to see this spam than the radio invitation.

“Sir, please pack this up!”

“Wow!”

At my declaration, Anna and Seorin released Aran.

Their expressions clearly said,

Even you’re doing this now?

I couldn’t exactly check the message while driving.

So without hesitation, I replied with the number ‘1’.

A photograph appeared immediately.

Title: 4/10
Date Taken: 2022.08.08. 21:21

The moment I saw it, my breath caught.

I nearly dropped my phone, but managed to grab it and look at the picture properly.

I hadn’t seen it wrong.

The photograph showed a dog covered in blood, as if someone had beaten it viciously.

I let the members sleep while we drove.

Since it was a visible radio broadcast and they would appear on camera, I couldn’t have them looking exhausted.

• We received a booking offer. We’ll be appearing on the radio show 10 O’Clock Date tomorrow.

• Sorry for texting so early in the morning.

I sent Oh Soo just those two messages.

The kind of immediate reporting our dear CEO loved so much.

I deliberately split it into two messages.

Hopefully, the notifications woke him up in the middle of the night.

The members fell asleep almost the moment their heads touched the seats.

Their steady breathing was starting to make me sleepy too.

But every time I remembered the photograph I had received earlier, my drowsiness vanished instantly.

It was an excellent way to stay awake.

I almost wanted to print the picture and tape it to the steering wheel.

I thought again about the photographs I had received so far.

A fan signing.

A concert at Gocheok Dome.

Saengsaeng Singing Contest.

Every one of those messages had led to something beneficial for Blue Moon.

But what was this one supposed to mean?

Even someone like me, who knew almost nothing about dogs, could tell from its glossy fur that it was a pet raised indoors.

It looked dead.

It was tragic, but I was also completely confused.

How exactly would a dog getting hurt benefit Blue Moon?

There weren’t enough clues to use it for Blue Moon’s benefit right now.

And even if I wanted to catch the culprit, the same problem remained.

This mystery was too difficult for me at the moment.

For now, I decided to watch and wait.

We arrived at the waiting room on time, and the station’s coordinators touched up the members’ makeup.

While they were doing that, I went down to the first floor and bought some food for them.

Then I suddenly remembered Aran and bought a Calorie Balance bar as well.

“Oh. Is this our breakfast?”

“We didn’t have much time… haha. Let’s have a big lunch instead.”

“Thank you for the food.”

The members dug through the snacks and each picked what they wanted.

Aran also reached toward the snacks, so I handed her the separate bag I had prepared.

She looked inside and asked,

“Why am I the only one getting diet food…?”

She looked genuinely devastated.

She liked eating, so I had bought it because I figured she might be worrying about her weight.

Apparently, it hadn’t been a very good idea.

“Ah. Does this taste really bad?”

“Why am I the only one dieting…? Zero-calorie stuff feels like I’m just filling my stomach with air…”

Anna burst out laughing at Aran’s grumbling and scolded her while munching on a snack.

“He bought it because he was thinking about your health. If it were me, I’d be grateful and eat it happily.”

Aran immediately changed her attitude.

“I love the feeling of eating air. There’s no guilt from gaining weight either. Why are you only giving me this and making me feel bad in front of the unnies?”

Seorin laughed and booed her.

“Hahaha! Booo~ That wasn’t funny at all! Not creative whatsoever.”

“Ugh… can I try again?”

This time, both the members and the stylists burst out laughing.

They seemed happy together.

Would they still be like this after becoming popular?

Some groups became closer as the years passed.

Others went in the exact opposite direction.

Helping Blue Moon become successful was important.

But helping them stay close for a long time was also part of my job.

I left the waiting room and walked around the broadcasting station, handing out business cards.

It was still far too early to worry about Blue Moon eventually becoming distant.

They still had an entire mountain of stairs left to climb.

“We’re Blue Moon. Please take good care of us!”

It felt like I had returned to the beginning together with Blue Moon.

“Ah, aren’t you the group from this latest episode of Saengsaeng Singing Contest? You really brought a completely fresh atmosphere to the show.”

“Hahaha. Not at all. We still desperately need everyone’s help.”

Now this was what I was talking about.

Usually, when people thought of Saengsaeng Singing Contest, they thought of Kim Song.

And when they thought of Kim Song, they thought of Saengsaeng Singing Contest.

But at this point, we had at least sprinkled a little Blue Moon into that connection.

I ran around frantically greeting people with the goal of using up all 200 of my business cards.

Then, in the middle of it all, I spotted the DJ of Yeo Eunju’s 10 O’Clock Date entering the station.

The face of the entire program.

Yeo Eunju.

“Hello. I’m Do Junhyeok, Blue Moon’s manager.”

This time, I greeted her while handing over both my business card and one of the Calorie Balance bars left over from what I’d bought for Aran.

Yeo Eunju looked somewhat tired, but she exaggeratedly welcomed me and accepted the snack.

“Oh my. How did you know I came without eating breakfast? By the way, you’re quite tall, aren’t you? And you’ve got good looks too. You could probably become an actor.”

“Really? Then should I seriously give acting a try?”

Yeo Eunju.

A singer who had once been part of Korea’s first-generation idol group, Super Diva.

She was also famous as a musical actress and occasionally appeared in films.

Still, joking that I should try acting might have been a mistake.

Yeo Eunju immediately began giving me endless, serious advice about how to become an actor.

Since I had absolutely no intention of becoming one, it was nothing more than useless chatter to me.

But the way she seemed to approach everything sincerely made her quite likable.

Eventually, we reached the waiting room.

The members, whose mouths were still covered in snack crumbs, froze when they saw Yeo Eunju.

“Y-Yeo Eunju seonsaengnim…”

Aran whispered.

She had spoken quietly.

But not quietly enough.

Yeo Eunju laughed.

“Oh my, seonsaengnim? Just call me sunbaenim. Unnie is fine too.”

“Are we really allowed to do that?”

Apparently, Seorin’s question was so funny that Yeo Eunju covered her mouth and started laughing.

She had looked completely exhausted just moments ago.

It seemed she was deliberately trying to make the unknown juniors feel comfortable.

“Oh my. Oh my! But you girls are seriously beautiful! The internet pictures fooled me again! You’re much prettier in person!”

“Thank you, sunbaenim!”

Blue Moon’s online photos really were terrible.

Though I was pretty sure that wasn’t exactly what she meant by being fooled.

While Yeo Eunju got her makeup done, the members casually chatted with her, constantly making her laugh.

Countless idols must have passed through this room before them, but it really felt like they were quickly growing closer.

Then, in the middle of all that conversation, Seorin noticed something.

“Huh? Sunbaenim, by any chance…”

She plucked a strand of fur from Yeo Eunju’s clothes.

“Are you the owner of a premium white Bichon Frise…?”

It sounded like alien language, but she was basically asking,

Do you own a Bichon?

Yeo Eunju stared at her in surprise.

“How did you know just from the fur? Seorin, do you raise a dog too?”

“I used to work part-time at a pet shop. Grooming dogs.”

Kim Seorin.

Nice.

The wider your network, the better.

Finding a shared interest and using it to build a relationship was a good strategy too.

And so Seorin and Yeo Eunju spent some time praising the Bichon Frise breed.

How sociable they were.

How everyone around them loved them.

How adorable they looked when tilting their heads.

Eventually, Yeo Eunju even started showing off pictures of her dog on her phone like a parent bragging about their child.

All the members gathered around, squealing about how cute it was.

Well, the dog really was cute.

“Team Leader! Team Leader, come look at this little one too. What’s its name?”

“Hm? Syongsyong.”

“Syongsyong! So cute.”

I also walked over and looked at Yeo Eunju’s phone.

The dog was groomed into a round shape like a little snowman.

There wasn’t a single photo where its tongue wasn’t sticking out.

“Huh?”

Then I spotted a photo taken during a walk and froze.

“What is it?”

“No, this… wait a second.”

I leaned closer and examined the picture carefully.

“T-This thing around its neck. What is it?”

“Hm?”

Yeo Eunju looked at where I was pointing and smiled.

“Ah, the ID tag? Isn’t it cute? Syongsyong wears it whenever we go for walks. It has my contact information in case Syongsyong ever gets lost.”

“Is it commercially sold?”

“No. I had it specially made at a pet supply store. There’s even a location tracker inside.”

I moved to the corner of the waiting room, turned my back toward everyone, and checked the spam photograph.

The picture of the Bichon completely covered in blood.

I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

The ID tag around its neck…

It was exactly the same one Syongsyong was wearing.

As the broadcast time approached, I quietly watched Yeo Eunju’s expression.

On August 8th, Syongsyong would die.

Judging by the photograph, it didn’t look like the dog had accidentally been hit by a car.

If that had happened, I would have expected to see more minor abrasions and dirt on its body from rolling across the asphalt.

Had someone beaten Syongsyong?

Was it Yeo Eunju?

I didn’t know.

She seemed to genuinely adore Syongsyong.

Just from the photographs, it looked like she regularly took care of the dog and went on plenty of walks.

Raising a dog as a celebrity probably wasn’t easy either.

Even remembering to charge the tracker inside the ID tag would be annoying.

Or maybe she had two personalities?

Something could happen on August 8th that made her lose control and beat the dog in anger.

“About your Bichon… does it ever bite? Or cause trouble?”

“Oh, no! My baby is incredibly well-behaved. Bichons are gentle in general, but mine never bites. Syongsyong doesn’t chew things up either.”

Every dog owner defended their dog like that, but apparently Bichons really were known to be gentle.

Then it probably wasn’t a situation where the dog bit someone and got beaten in a fit of rage.

“Why? Are you interested in my Syongsyong?”

“Yes. Syongsyong is really cute. Actually, raising a dog is on my bucket list too. Number… three.”

The members looked at me in surprise.

Of course they did.

It was a lie.

“But dogs get lonely easily, right? My schedule isn’t regular, so I feel like it would be difficult.”

“Ah. That’s true.”

Yeo Eunju deeply agreed.

That should be enough groundwork.

“Then what do you do, Yeo Eunju… seonsaengnim? When you have schedules?”

“Most of the time, I leave Syongsyong with my boyfriend. When I’m only doing the radio show, Syongsyong stays home alone. I feel really bad about it. People always say you shouldn’t raise a dog if you’re busy, right? Syongsyong was actually an abandoned dog.”

“What? Really? Oh no…”

The conversation briefly wandered elsewhere, but I had still managed to discover another suspect.

Her boyfriend?

She had been an idol, but she was far enough into her career that dating rumors probably weren’t something she worried much about anymore.

It wouldn’t be strange for her to have one.

If she raised the dog herself but left Syongsyong with her boyfriend every time she had a schedule, then the dog probably spent half its life with Yeo Eunju and the other half with her boyfriend.

Which meant that both Yeo Eunju and her boyfriend had an equal chance of being involved in the incident on August 8th.

I still didn’t understand why I had been sent this photograph.

Dogs died.

People died.

Cats died too.

So why this dog?

I needed to investigate more carefully.

If I had never known, then there would have been nothing I could do.

But now that I knew this precious life was going to meet such a horrible end, anyone would feel compelled to do something.

And besides…

There was always the possibility that this somehow had something to do with Blue Moon.

“Ah, keep the boyfriend thing a secret, okay? I need to get married eventually too. So everyone—shh!”

“Shhh!”

Yeo Eunju and all five members placed their index fingers over their lips and laughed together.

Next.