Episode 149: My Lord (2)
Our.
That name was famous enough to be listed among the strong candidates that always came after “Kimchi” and “Taekwondo” in the Korean meme “Do you know…?” It was a world-class giant that no one could deny held the undisputed top spot among Korean conglomerates.
In terms of sheer status, they were the kind of people who could pick and choose anyone they wanted as ambassadors—even Lee Ahjeong, the national team captain playing in the Premier League, or the retired queen of figure skating.
Of course, Our Group didn’t only choose people who were the absolute best in their respective fields.
I knew from personal experience working with them that they were full of confidence that any shortfall in an ambassador’s value could be more than made up for by the name “Our.”
They could dish out as much motivational lip service as needed to bring out the opponent’s maximum performance.
Yet the reason I was this flustered right now was simple.
‘This… doesn’t feel like lip service…?’
It was a baseless gut feeling that the words he just said weren’t simple flattery.
No, it wasn’t entirely baseless.
The evidence was exactly who he belonged to.
Not cars, not even construction or insurance—“Our Electronics.”
Even Polaris, who couldn’t be said to fall far behind people like Lee Ahjeong, Captain Son, or Queen Yuna, and even I—who had exposed their flagship product Voyager for nearly ten years—had our ambassador selection repeatedly postponed with the reason “it doesn’t fit our needs.”
The sense of dissonance coming from the fact that those same people had now put sponsorship money into an idol training program they had never touched before regression.
And the possibility that this dissonance had quietly raised—something I had previously dismissed as “self-importance”—was once again slowly lifting its head.
‘Don’t tell me…’
Unfortunately, I couldn’t interrogate the man about his true intentions.
After patting my frozen shoulder encouragingly, he simply walked away.
And at some point, Jin Ro-a’s voice had already begun filling the space, strongly grabbing my ankles that had wanted to follow him and forcefully reminding me of what I needed to do right now.
‘For now, the rehearsal comes first.’
Not that many people were watching the rehearsal.
It wouldn’t be hard for the kids to spot me among this small crowd.
But if I left without even watching their rehearsal, what would that do to their mentality?
‘Well… they’re probably so nervous they won’t even have the presence of mind to look down at the floor…’
And if I said something urgent came up, they would probably understand.
Still, it was obviously the right thing to avoid anything that could harm the kids’ mental state right before an important stage.
“Tsk.”
Of course, separate from that.
I couldn’t help the regret that leaked out so clearly even I could feel it when the man’s figure disappeared from sight.
‘I’ll find out if I watch slowly.’
If the absurd possibility I had imagined was really true, then his contact with me wouldn’t end with just this one time. So for now, I could only rationalize it that way and forcefully push down the rising disappointment.
“To that question, I could only smile softly.
Because this moment of being able to be with you
Was already my fulfilled wish.”
As I pushed the disappointment away, Nari’s voice began to fill the empty space.
‘That kid Nari… I clearly told her to take it easy during rehearsal.’
I definitely gave that order.
Yet the vest with “Seol Nari” written on it kept fluttering wildly, and while she perfectly executed choreography that matched a slightly faster tempo than the original, her singing showed absolutely no sign of shortness of breath.
It was clear proof that Nari was currently giving it her all.
That was exactly how these kids were—once they fell under the spell of the spotlight, they stopped seeing anything in front or behind them and could only show everything they had engraved into their bodies.
Once they enter that trance-like state, no matter how demonic the producer’s orders are, they can’t stay in effect.
That state is a powerful magic even stronger than the grace of the (advertising) Lord, who can solve almost any problem in this industry.
‘I was planning to just give them a taste during rehearsal and save the real impact for the actual stage.’
But once Nari steps on the gas like this, the other kids have no choice but to follow right behind her.
‘At least she didn’t forget the most important thing.’
The one small mercy was that when I followed where Nari’s gaze was directed, it landed on the camera filming the rehearsal—more precisely, on the red light that indicated the camera was rolling.
If she had forgotten even that, I might have had to forcibly stop the rehearsal, but at this point there was nothing I could do.
‘Guess I’ll just enjoy it, then.’
The song I had created solely for Zia was now unfolding in someone else’s hands, in a different form, yet in a stage that suited it perfectly. That sight had more than enough power to instantly blow away the complicated thoughts that had been weighing on me just moments ago and replace them with a smile.
After Nari yielded the center position, the vest with “Han Chae-kyung” written on it came into view.
“Like a star falling across the night sky,
Your eyes looking at me are sparkling.
This is like a Shooting star.”
Still, I couldn’t just sit back and enjoy even this part.
“What? Wasn’t she D-Class?”
“Wow, even if she’s D, a main vocal is still a main vocal… wait, hold on. Han Chae-kyung wasn’t the main vocal, she was sub vocal, right?”
The magic of trance that had overtaken Nari spread in a chain reaction. Chae-kyung’s singing was now at a level unimaginable for someone who had been D-Class—practically bottom-tier.
Even though there weren’t that many people here, with all their eyes now turning toward me, my field of vision was a bit too wide to simply enjoy the moment.
Especially because,
‘Must feel like dying, huh?’
The three producers—Isabella, M2K, and Kim Gun—who had been arrogantly lounging back in their seats were now sitting bolt upright.
‘But… it’s going to be troublesome if they’re already this shocked.’
Just like how the peace envoy who ended a war turned out to be a short boy and a fat man.
I still had one more body blow prepared.
‘Of course… unlike Chae-kyung, the next part wasn’t something I intended either.’
Looking back now, I might have underestimated it a little.
In other words… the talent of “that kid” who had made me turn my eyes away from the exhausting task of creating Polaris’s songs.
“Like a star that fell here before I knew it.”
The moment the person who moved into position along the right-side path opened her mouth, her voice rang out through the microphone and speakers.
“……”
Even the gasps of admiration that had been pouring out at Chae-kyung’s transformed singing came to a complete stop, replaced by a heavy silence.
And that was only natural.
“My heart looking at you is sparkling too.”
Whether it was stimulated by Chae-kyung’s rapidly improving vocal skills day by day, her talent had bloomed alongside it and was now fiercely declaring, “I am the main vocal.”
“Love is like a Shooting star.”
With a light turn and an impossibly cute wink to finish her part, Soyoung’s appearance finally broke the silence.
“Heh…”
“What the hell was that just now?”
Only then did the admiration and hollow laughs that had been tightly blocked by the silence start leaking out one after another.
Was it because of those reactions that could only be described as “overwhelmingly positive”?
Almost at the same time, the three producers stood up abruptly and left without even watching the second verse that began with Kim Su-jin’s rap.
It was so ridiculous that I almost burst out laughing.
‘What are they trying to do now, running away at this point?’
That was one of the reasons I didn’t stop the kids when they ignored my orders during rehearsal.
Countermeasure? Response?
With the actual stage so close, the only thing those three producers could do now was chip away at the points they had earned with their own names.
‘At this point, I guess it’s fine to laugh openly.’
The very reason I had been holding back my laughter had conveniently disappeared on its own.
“MyWay really doesn’t play around. They set up a trap this deep?”
It was honestly more reasonable to assume the kids had been hiding their skills rather than that their abilities had suddenly skyrocketed.
If I laughed openly in a situation like this, it would look exactly like teabagging.
Right now, there were probably only about three people in this entire place who were smiling.
‘First, me.’
Even though it was a little early, I had already expected this kind of reaction.
‘PD Ryu Je-hoon.’
He was probably feeling relieved that he had deliberately taken on a heavy schedule just to avoid spoilers.
And,
‘I haven’t seen that guy laugh like this in a long time.’
Heo Yul-bok, who had just encountered an unexpected twist and was laughing so hard it looked like his face would split (though he probably thought it was a bold, hearty laugh).
‘Yeah, I’m really glad I came out.’
For the first time, I had the feeling that this program was going to be even more fun than I had expected.
***
Han Yujin had seen through almost everything, but there was one fact he still didn’t know.
There was one more person in that place who had a smile on his face.
Of course, there was no way for him to know.
Because “he” had been standing outside the door of the filming site, listening to the faint singing voice leaking through.
Clap clap clap clap clap.
Only after Team Y’s rehearsal ended and he heard applause that was far too loud compared to the number of people who had actually watched did the man finally push off the door he had been leaning against and start walking.
He immediately took out his smartphone and made a call somewhere.
“Yes, Vice President. I’ve finished checking the stage. As you said, this program seems like it will create quite a big impact. I’ll give you the detailed report when I return.”
A short call that ended after delivering only the necessary information.
However, the name displayed on the screen he stared at blankly after hanging up didn’t quite match the dry tone of the conversation.
And the expression he made while looking at that name, along with the thoughts that crossed his mind, were the same.
On the surface, the project had started as an image innovation targeting people in their 10s and 20s, but the man knew the truth.
Beneath the instructions given by that person lay a meaning that was slightly different from pure “business potential.”
‘I thought she was someone without blood or tears. Turns out she’s still human after all.’
Because he too had a hobby he couldn’t tell others about.
Of course, there was a difference between the fields of “pro gamer” and “entertainer,” but even so, it wasn’t hard to recognize the root called “fan heart.”
Above all,
‘But is it something she has to hide even from her own nephew?’
Because they were blood relatives who had watched over each other for a long time.
Suddenly the man turned around and looked at the tightly closed door.
No—at the stage that lay beyond it.
It was probably because of the singing voice that still lingered in his ears even after everything had quieted down.
The fact that the stage had been at a level he had never expected when he checked beforehand was what kept that singing voice clinging to his ears.
‘As expected, blood can’t be hidden. Aunt’s eye for talent is no joke. How did she even notice? It definitely wasn’t at this level before.’
The moment the two letters [Aunt] written on the smartphone screen he happened to glance at turned black and disappeared, the man—Woo Ji-hwan—started walking again.
Along with a small chuckle that leaked out as he thought about when would be the most fun to reveal that he knew her little human secret.
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