Episode 39: Boob Pride, For Real?
Im Mi-ja’s “A Woman’s Life.”
A quick search revealed it was released in 1968, the birth year of our creator.
Woo-ya knew all the lyrics by heart, even closing her eyes as she finished the first verse.
CEO Jung, unfazed, asked, “Know any ballads besides trot?”
“Ballads… yes.”
Woo-ya picked what she called her most “recent” song—a drama OST from five years ago.
Unlike the soulful, trot-filled “A Woman’s Life,” her ballad was so timid it was hard to judge her skill, and Jung quickly cut her off.
“You don’t sing much, do you?”
“No. I’m bad, so I avoid it. My friends tease me for being tone-deaf at karaoke…”
“You’re not tone-deaf; you just don’t know how to project. Not bad.”
Woo-ya asked nervously, “What if I can’t get better even with training…?”
“There’s nothing you can’t learn. Even the worst singers can nail the basics in a month with effort. Your parts in the album might be smaller, though.”
“I can’t dance either…”
“Hey, don’t stress already. Idols aren’t like regular singers. You need the basics, sure, but you’ve got a bigger talent.”
Woo-ya perked up. “My chest?”
What?!
Boob pride in front of the CEO? For real?
Jung burst out laughing at her innocent misstep, playfully scolding, “Hey, that’s fine too! What are you even saying?”
“Then what’s my talent?”
As a girl group stan, I thought to myself: ‘charisma or charm’.
Modern idol groups have specialized roles—vocal, dance, rap, acting, variety, visuals—and fans don’t expect perfection.
Raw charisma alone can make you competitive.
Nationwide idol audition shows, like ‘GirlXGirl’ that birthed ‘GraceOne’, popularized this.
The top three from those shows weren’t usually main vocalists or dancers.
As Jung said, you need above-average stage skills, but as long as your charm shines, that’s enough.
Take GraceOne’s Jung-ah: her introverted, homebody vibe won fan votes, landing her ninth place.
My bias, Min-young, had vocal talent but climbed from mid-tier to top ranks thanks to her caring, supportive personality.
If it was purely about skills, the Japanese member wouldn’t have made it.
Woo-ya’s “chest” comment was brushed off politely by Jung, but plenty of girl group members gain fame from specific physical traits—chest, thighs, hips.
Without skills to back it up, you get antis, sure, but as long as there’s no shady past or bad character, antis don’t sway the company.
It’s all about fandom and profit.
The prerequisite, of course, is looks.
Despite PC and feminist waves in the industry, in the idol world, visuals are non-negotiable.
CEO Jung once said on an audition show: “For actors and entertainers, looks aren’t critical since roles and positions vary. But for idols, a pretty or handsome face is talent itself. Singing and dancing can be taught, weight can be lost, but you can’t teach a face.”
He’got some flak, but it’s an open secret that visuals are a key criterion.
Look at Seo Seon-yu: she made Team A at the cutthroat Jeje Entertainment based on looks alone.
Woo-ya’s already passed the visual test with both CEOs, so her talent in that department is undeniable.
Her vibe is similar to Seung-ah’s fan-friendly appeal, but with a glamorous figure Seung-ah doesn’t have.
She’s ruthlessly pragmatic about reality, leverages her strengths, yet has an oddly innocent, retro charm that adds to her appeal.
Jung summed up her talent broadly.
“Your talent is your character.”
“Character?”
“You’ll click with fans. To put it crudely, you’re a marketable character.”
“Oh, no way…”
Even if Jung botched Free Sense’s first-gen lineup with an experimental concept 3,000 years ahead of its time, he’s still a top-tier producer.
CEO Kim said Jung lacks people-reading skills, but that’s just elite-level critique. Jung’s eye for talent is proven by discovering Seung-ah and Jin-ah.
Ah-hyun, well, both CEOs picked her for her vocals, so that’s a given.
“When’s she moving into the dorm?” Jung asked me.
“She’ll sort her stuff tomorrow and come up the day after.”
“Alright, let’s have a Team 2 dinner then. Min-yong, you free?”
“No matter how busy, I’m always in for team dinners.”
“What about that new manager you hired?”
“Oh, they start tomorrow.”
“Did you meet them?”
“Yes, I greeted them.”
“A woman?”
“Yup. They’re from Legend Entertainment, used to be a manager at a startup. Introduced by Team Leader Lee Sook-young.”
Lee Sook-young is GraceOne’s Team 1 leader—the one who, despite being Free Sense’s former manager, badmouthed them and Team Leader Jeon with a chip on her shoulder.
“What’s Legend Entertainment?”
“They produced a boy group, HighTension.”
“Oh, I know HighTension. When I was on that audition show, one of the kids I worked with ended up there… What happened to them?”
“The CEO allegedly messed with investment funds, so they’re in a lawsuit with the members’ parents.”
“Ugh…”
“She’s a road manager, but her field experience seems solid.”
“If Lee Sook-young recommended her, she’s probably good. So, what’s her role?”
“She was initially brought in for boy groups, but they might shift her to Free Sense once album production starts.”
So she’ll be my direct boss.
Jeon’s eyes turned sad as he continued.
“CEO Kim keeps pushing me toward boy groups for my sake, but I’m more comfortable with Free Sense.”
“Heh, if I were you, I’d take the boy group. You know managing girls is tougher.”
“Come on, that’s because of the mess you made with the first-gen members. The current ones are all sweet.”
When Jeon mentioned the first-gen Free Sense feud rumors, Jung didn’t get mad—he just cackled like it was a joke.
Looking between me and Woo-ya, he continued with a sly tone.
“You think sweet kids don’t clash? It’s weirder if a girl group living together doesn’t have issues.”
“By that logic, boy groups are the same.”
“You haven’t managed boys yet. When guys have problems, they curse, fight, or drink it out and sort it themselves. Girls? They fight openly, form cliques, and behind the scenes, they nag the manager and team leader to take their side. You’ve been through it, right?”
“Don’t remind me…”
“That’s why it’s better for a female manager to handle girl groups. Women understand women better.”
“But the current girls won’t be like that.”
Jung ended with an ominous, novel-like line you’d hate to read: “Little did we know the consequences of Jeon’s confidence…”
“Pfft, just wait and see if they don’t.”
Free Sense fighting?
Hard to imagine.
Seung-ah and Ah-hyun, the team’s core and older line, have trauma from past members, so they wouldn’t haze the younger ones.
Jin-ah lives in her own world, untouched by rivalry or jealousy.
Seon-yu, burned by her sister’s schemes, would likely play it safe.
And Woo-ya? From her customer-service hustle at the shop, she’d probably swear loyalty to win over the others.
No obvious troublemakers here.
But Jung’s industry-veteran certainty made me think it might be a rite of passage.
“Take her to the practice room to meet the girls,” Jeon said, pointing at Woo-ya.
I nodded and started to stand, but Woo-ya poked my thigh under the table.
Oh, right—her request.
I gave her a nod and called out, “Team Leader.”
“Yeah?”
“Woo-ya’s siblings are GraceOne fans.”
“Oh, really?”
“Can we get a video message from the GraceOne members? With her siblings’ names?”
“Sure, I’ll talk to Team Leader Lee.”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
Woo-ya and I thanked him in unison.
Then Jung looked at me, as if something clicked, and with a mischievous, instigating grin, like a neighborhood kid stirring up trouble, he said, “Hey, didn’t Lee Sook-young leave without even thanking you that day?”
“When?”
“At the fan sign. You threw yourself in front of acid, and she didn’t even look at you before leaving.”
“Oh… I heard she had another schedule.”
“Schedule, my foot. No matter how busy, that’s not human decency.”
“Yeah, a quick thank-you takes, what, a minute?”
Jeon chimed in, clearly annoyed, and Jung leaned into the gossip.
“They should’ve lined up and bowed deeply, but she just ghosted you?”
“I’m fine.”
“She didn’t even follow up later, did she?”
“No… but it’s really fine. That incident got me hired as a full-time employee, so I’ve been rewarded enough.”
“Did Lee Sook-young make you full-time? That’s beside the point. As Team 1 leader, she should’ve rounded up the GraceOne girls to thank you properly.”
“It’s really okay.”
“Ugh, such a pushover.”
Seeing I wasn’t fazed, Jung shifted his instigating to Team Leader Jeon.
“Hey, you’re his mentor—how could you just stand by?”
“I was gonna say something, but she never listens anyway, so I let it go.”
“That won’t do. Call her now.”
“Why call her?”
“To confront her, dummy!”
“Why are you picking a fight? Your personality’s so weird. When are you gonna grow up?”
“What? You let her walk all over you because you’re always soft. You’re not that much younger than her! Call her. Give her a piece of your mind.”
“If you’re so heated, you do it.”
“Huh…?”
I knew they were joking, but Woo-ya, unsure if it was serious, shrank nervously.
Only when Jeon fired back did she catch on, her lips twitching with a sneaky smile.
“You call her,” Jeon said. “You’re the CEO—gonna let her disrespect me and Hyeon-jong like that?”
“Let the people involved sort it out.”
“I’m not involved either.”
“Then Hyeon-jong, you do it.”
“Me…?”
“Call Team 1 leader and demand why she didn’t thank you.”
“Stop messing with the kid—call her yourself. You always let things slide with that fake laugh, and that’s why she doesn’t respect you.”
“She doesn’t disrespect me…”
“Come on, hurry up!”
The playful banter was escalating into a full-on verbal brawl.
Jeon, seizing the chance to fix Jung’s habits, shoved his phone at him.
“Dial her number.”
“Isn’t she busy right now…?”
“The girls are busy, not her. And no matter how busy, she wouldn’t dare ignore a CEO’s call—that’d be real disrespect.”
“Let’s drop it.”
“What, you scared?”
“Who’s scared?”
“Then call her!”
“Ugh, that jerk…”
“Do it on video call—chew her out face-to-face.”
“Fine, hold on. I’ll try a regular call first…”
Jung caved.
Not only did he lose, he got stuck with the short end.
Determined to prove he wasn’t just talk, he had Jeon confirm Lee’s number and hit call.
“Put it on speaker.”
“Alright, alright.”
As soon as it switched to speaker, Lee Sook-young picked up.
-“Yes, CEO?”
“Hey, Team Leader Lee, busy?”
-“No, the girls are at the shop now. What’s up?”
“It’s not a big deal, but…”
Jung glanced at Jeon, then spoke with surprising firmness, his pride kicking in.
“At the GraceOne fan sign the other day…”
-“Which one? In Korea?”
“Yeah. Our Team 2 rookie manager stopped someone from throwing acid at the girls.”
-“Yes.”
“Did you ever thank him?”
-“Uh… no. He went straight to the hospital, and we had a flight to catch, so we couldn’t.”
“After that?”
-“Haven’t had the chance.”
“Do it now.”
-“Huh?”
“I’ll pass the phone to him—say thank you.”
And just like that, he shoved the phone at me.
This guy…!