Chapter 3

Chapter 3 — Favored by the President

Before the guy I had hit could run away, I tore the teddy-bear headband off.

“W-What the hell is this?!”

Daehoon collapsed to the floor, looking as if his soul had left his body.

There really was a camera hidden inside the headband.

The members, their faces pale, quickly gathered around us.

“Have you been pulling this crap on female idols too? Judging by how sloppy you are, you probably haven’t been doing it for very long.”

The camera itself was a model I knew well.

At Pantheon Entertainment, we had metal detectors for fan gifts, similar to the ones used at airport security checkpoints. Once or twice a month, we would inevitably catch one of these things, and this was one of the models I had seen before.

Among the easily available models, it was one of the smallest and had plenty of storage capacity, so criminals seemed to favor it.

However, the only reason I had recognized it as a hidden camera was because of the transmitter attached behind it.

Since he had given the headband to an idol as a present, there was no way he could take it back or steal it later. That was why he had attached a transmitter to the camera.

Even though the weight of the transmitter would probably have exposed it sooner or later.

The hard antenna of the transmitter was lodged inside the teddy bear’s right ear, which was why I had immediately realized something was wrong.

“Wow, seriously! You’re like a famous detective! You really are a veteran!”

After the guy was taken away by the police, Anna finally relaxed and started bouncing around excitedly.

The police had told Daehoon and me that they would keep him detained until the fan-signing event ended.

“I… I can’t believe something like this actually happened to me….”

Daehoon remained dazed for a long time, looking like someone had died in his family.

“You guys don’t need to be too scared. That bastard clearly has something wrong with him, and he was so sloppy that he would’ve been caught soon anyway.”

“No! That’s not true.”

Anna firmly shook her head.

“It was a gift from a fan. We would’ve treated it like some sacred treasure, you know? We probably wouldn’t have even dared touch it. We wouldn’t have noticed anything until the battery completely died.”

As far as I knew, she was fully Thai, yet she even knew an expression like sacred treasure.

Judging from the way she normally spoke, her Korean was better than that of most Koreans.

No wonder there were rumors that she was mixed-race.

Anna continued showering me with exaggerated praise in front of the other members.

And surprisingly, her enthusiasm worked extremely well.

Even Youngchae, who normally had a cold expression, was now looking at me with something close to admiration.

Still…

What exactly was that photo?

Considering what had happened today, I was the only person who could have taken a picture like that.

More importantly, I had received the picture before any of this happened.

“Hey, Daehoon. Have you ever held a fan-signing event at this place before?”

“No. This is our first time here.”

“Then have you ever received that teddy-bear headband as a gift before?”

Daehoon shook his head again.

Then that meant someone unknown had taken a photograph of the future.

It was possible that they had reused a photograph from another idol group’s fan-signing event, but honestly, that seemed even less likely.

Serin’s clothes and the atmosphere around her were far too similar.

And even if it really was a photograph from another fan-signing event, it still wouldn’t change the fact that the message had predicted this hidden-camera incident.

I took out my phone again and checked the text message.

Now that everything was over, it suddenly felt strangely insignificant, like waking up from a dream.

Maybe it was because I had just experienced something my normal imagination couldn’t even begin to explain.

I tapped View Info on the pop-up window above the picture.

Title: 1/10

Date Taken: 2022.07.03. 13:48

What the hell was this?

The date was today.

A photograph I had received yesterday had been taken today.

And if I remembered correctly, the guy had handed over the headband at around 1:48 p.m. as well.

At this point, could I really say that all of this being a coincidence was more likely than me actually receiving a photograph from the future?

“What are you staring at so seriously?”

My thoughts about the mysterious incident ended there.

Not only did I have no more clues to work with, but Anna and Aran were starting to lean closer, curious about the spam message on my phone.

The fan-signing event had become somewhat chaotic, but Daehoon quickly brought everything back under control.

Considering how devastated he had looked earlier, like someone had personally wiped out his entire family, his recovery was surprisingly fast.

Both Daehoon and the members soon started behaving as though nothing had happened.

They might not have gained much experience as a failed idol group and its manager, but at least their mental strength seemed to have reached the level of Buddhist monks.

“Manager Junhyeok… you’re like Batman.”

Aran said it in a trembling voice.

As if her pink clothes weren’t enough, even her makeup had been done in rosy shades.

Manager Junhyeok…

For the past eight years, all I had heard were rough-looking men with dark stubble calling me hyung-nim.

Thinking back on those days…

Wait.

Maybe this wasn’t a crisis.

Maybe it was an opportunity?

“There’s no such thing as Batman in the real world. It’s probably more like, ‘An ordinary manager by day, but at night, a secret NIS special agent?!’ Something like that.”

“That doesn’t exist either.”

Anna and Aran began a short argument.

Aran was one thing, but Anna looked like she would never run out of things to praise me for.

There had once been a time when Anna’s unaccompanied freestyle rap on I’m Pretty Rap Star became a hot topic.

Thinking about that, Aran really had chosen the wrong person to challenge in a war of words.

During the preliminary round of the hip-hop competition program, Anna had received plenty of praise for her sharp and clever punchlines.

Her cynical appearance and boyish charm had also drawn some attention from the beginning of the show.

However, during the first official competition, she was eliminated after going against another rapper who had also come from an idol group.

Afterward, small rumors began spreading that the freestyle she had performed during the preliminaries hadn’t actually been freestyle at all.

When the other contestants whispered among themselves and looked at her suspiciously, Anna had snapped back at them.

“Then show everyone your notes too.”

That incident became even more famous.

In the end, Anna was the only person who actually revealed the lyrics she had saved in her notes app, but anyone who had witnessed that moment still remembered her charisma.

A surprising number of people had even become her fans because of it.

Unfortunately, her group was so unknown that the attention didn’t last long.

She truly had an innocent face with an attitude that didn’t match it at all.

Her sleepy, almost indifferent eyes contrasted with her bold actions.

Normally, she spoke clearly and properly, almost like a news anchor, but the moment she grabbed a mic, she would suddenly start firing off natural, hard-hitting rap verses.

That contrast was part of her charm.

But surely she would still be warm and gentle toward the youngest member of the group…

I had completely forgotten.

Anna had been my favorite for a long time.

The fan-signing event resumed, but no more fans came.

Perhaps the members had decided to enjoy this rare break because they cheerfully talked about the hidden-camera incident from earlier.

They exaggerated the story so much that it sounded as though I had fought some kind of human weapon in a life-or-death battle.

If I had known they would react like this, I should’ve taken the guy down in a cooler way.

Serin, who had been enthusiastically talking with the others, suddenly turned toward me.

“By the way, earlier you said Jicheon’s underwear, right?”

“Huh…?”

Right.

I had definitely said Jicheon.

Jicheon, who was still famous as a member of Victory.

In other words, I had basically exposed the fact that I used to be Victory’s manager.

And considering the ugly fight between Wonwoo and me had been openly covered by the media, with both of us blaming each other, there was no way they hadn’t heard the rumors about me.

“Yeah, well… It hasn’t been officially decided that I’ll become your manager yet. So don’t worry.”

“Hmm….”

Serin rubbed her chin with a serious expression.

Seeing that beautiful face from so close made me feel slightly dizzy.

Then—

“That’s a huge win for us…!”

“What?”

A win?

Was she saying she would overlook the bad rumors about me and only focus on the good parts?

As expected.

People said the face was the window to the heart.

Someone with such an angelic face couldn’t possibly have a bad personality.

What a kind-hearted girl.

Truly worthy of being my favorite.

I looked over all four members sitting side by side and became certain.

There was nothing lacking about them.

Scandals and rumors felt like things from an entirely different world.

Girls who looked like goddesses like these had sponsors?

Drugs?

School violence?

Ridiculous.

This place was going to be my road back to success.

The moment I said I was willing to take the manager position, Daehoon immediately led me toward the president’s office.

He said we were going to meet Ohsoo.

I understood why everyone called him that the moment we entered the office.

The president sitting there looked just like the character Oh Soosaeng from General, Dry Your Armor.

I almost burst out laughing, but quickly turned it into a fake sneeze.

“Is it too dry in here? Sorry about that. The place is pretty shabby, isn’t it?”

“N-No, not at all.”

Ohsoo stood up from behind the desk, where a nameplate reading President Oh Deoksu was displayed, then approached me and offered his hand.

Apparently, his nickname wasn’t completely based on his appearance after all.

“Manager Kwon—Daehoon—said he was bringing me a game changer, so I was looking forward to meeting you… But he really brought in a big name. I’m already grateful that you came all the way here, and then you even handled something like that for us.”

Daehoon simply lowered his head.

He could’ve just pretended nothing had happened.

Why did he have to report everything?

“He wasn’t exactly careful about it. Even if I hadn’t been there, Daehoon would’ve handled it.”

“There’s no need to be so modest. I’m not planning on blaming Manager Kwon for anything. Maybe things would be different if something had actually happened. But in the end, nothing happened, did it?”

So he was a complete results-oriented person.

Usually, people with that kind of mindset were pretty good at business.

Had he been drunk when he decided what to do with Blue Moon?

“Before we sign the contract, I’d like to speak with you privately for a moment. Manager Kwon, could you give us some space?”

“Yes.”

Daehoon immediately left the president’s office.

Being alone with Ohsoo made me strangely nervous, as if I were in a job interview.

I was tall myself, standing at 186 centimeters, but Ohsoo’s sheer presence wasn’t something I could challenge with height alone.

He looked like a massive boulder that had been sitting in that president’s chair without moving for the past fifty years.

“You know those girls have less than two months left on their contracts, right?”

The moment he mentioned their contracts, I knew he intended to get straight to the point.

I had heard something about it from Daehoon, though I didn’t know exactly how much time they had left.

Still, I had assumed they had around six months.

Ohsoo continued with a cold expression.

“Daehoon cares about the Blue Moon girls quite a lot. And they certainly are talented. There’s no reason they shouldn’t become successful. In other words, it should only be a matter of time. I think that’s why he brought Do Junhyeok here. Their contracts only have two months left, but after seeing their potential, he probably assumed we would naturally renew them.”

“I think so too.”

“But potential and circumstances are two separate things. As the president of this company, I have to think about that more than anyone. The company doesn’t have the capacity anymore. To put it simply, we’re out of money. Until now, Team One has covered our losses, but we’ve already passed the point where their profits can make up for the company’s total deficit.”

Team One referred to a male idol group called Astra.

I couldn’t exactly say they had carved their name into the history of the idol industry, but they were still fairly famous and had plenty of fans.

I had interacted with their fandom, Geneca, several times before.

Most of them were teenage girls who received generous allowances and holiday money, which made them loyal customers from the company’s perspective.

For me, however, they hadn’t exactly been ideal people to negotiate with.

“Once Blue Moon’s contract ends, I’ll move you over to Solis, the girl group we recently launched. I wanted to tell you that first when you arrived. It’s good that you feel responsible for Blue Moon, but ultimately, I want to give you a good opportunity. Don’t you need a chance to restore your reputation?”

Solis.

Other than the fact that they were a five-member rookie girl group, I didn’t know much about them.

According to Daehoon, they were doing fairly well too.

Not having any dark history behind them was certainly an advantage.

But that also meant they were still barely past the crawling stage.

Honestly, I had never even seen the group myself, so there was no reason for me to have any expectations.

Statistically, it was far more likely that they would quietly promote for a while before disappearing without anyone noticing.

“Then why didn’t you assign me to Solis from the beginning instead of…”

“For one thing, I made a promise to Manager Kwon. And there isn’t an opening on the Solis team right now. They’ve done quite well from the beginning, though, so I expect a position will open soon.”

Apparently, one of the staff members working with Solis was already handing out business cards to better agencies.

Using Solis as a nice addition to their résumé, no doubt.

“Then what if I make Blue Moon successful within these two months?”

“Are you asking whether we might renew Blue Moon’s contract?”

I nodded.

If I had enough time, I was confident I could revive them.

But if the time I had been given was only two months…

That basically meant he had no intention of renewing their contracts.

Ohsoo rested his chin on his hand, pretending to think.

“I haven’t prepared a national policy plan for the possibility that I become president of the country. Blue Moon becoming successful is the same thing. So there isn’t really anything I can tell you.”

I understood how he felt.

But wasn’t he still the president of an entertainment agency?

At the very least, while they were still under contract, shouldn’t he offer them some emotional support?

This might have been an off-the-record conversation between just the two of us, but that only made it clearer.

These were Ohsoo’s true feelings.

“All right. I understand for now.”

Realizing that I wanted to end the conversation, Ohsoo gave a slight nod.

I understood his intentions perfectly as well.

He had absolutely no intention of renewing Blue Moon’s contract.

I could try persuading him, but unless I appealed to his emotions, there wasn’t much I could do.

After finishing the contract and leaving the president’s office, Daehoon, who had been waiting nearby, hurried over.

“What did he say?”

Looks like all we can do is make some memories for the next two months.

What a shame.

Blue Moon was such a rare dark horse.

My fan instincts told me that Blue Moon was the right choice, but if the president himself said otherwise, what could I do?

I knew very well how attractive a seemingly rational answer could be.

I didn’t like it, but this was already outside my control.

And so, I thought I was about to begin a boring office life where I would simply do whatever I was told without much enthusiasm.

At least…

That was what I thought until I saw the members of Solis in person for the first time.