Episode 151: Public Recruitment (1)
I arrived at MyWay’s headquarters when the sun was already setting in the evening.
Even though the days were getting shorter, it was well past the official end of the workday.
Yet he was still waiting for me.
“Ah, Yujin-ssi.”
“Team Leader Jeon? You haven’t left yet?”
“Of course not. How could I leave first when the kids are still here practicing?”
Jeon Seon-woo, whom I hadn’t seen in nearly a month, answered with a face that couldn’t hide his genuine happiness.
I couldn’t help but give an awkward smile at his response.
After all, I was one of the reasons his departure had been delayed.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? Is there anyone here who gets paid by MyWay who doesn’t know how busy Yujin-ssi is?”
“Haha…”
Well, that was true.
Project Trinity’s stages happened once every two weeks.
Two weeks wasn’t a long time to prepare one song, but teaching the kids the concept, choreography, and everything else was a completely different story.
It was undeniable that these were the busiest days I had experienced since returning to the past.
Even so, the reason I came back here today was to keep a promise I couldn’t put off any longer.
“Rather, I should be the one thanking you. You came to give the kids vocal lessons even though you’re so busy.”
The special vocal lectures for MyWay’s trainees had now become a monthly event.
To be honest, no one had forced me to do it.
They had even told me it was fine to take a break during the filming period.
Yet I kept pushing through with it because I myself enjoyed it.
‘Both teaching the kids and watching them improve.’
Is this what positive influence feels like?
The feeling that I, whose life was changed by a single whim of time called regression, could also have a good influence on others?
“Anyway, we’re the ones who should be grateful. The kids’ mood is great too. I thought it would only last two or three months at most, but since you keep doing it, they’re over the moon. Well, they can clearly feel their skills improving, so that must be part of it.”
In MyWay’s case, practice after 6 PM for trainees who were not in the debut team was left to their own discretion.
I had felt a little uneasy about the semi-forced gathering, but it seemed my worry had been unnecessary.
“How could they hate it? Nari was never a concern, but honestly… Chae-kyung and Soyoung were a bit different, right? When those two are flying around like that, how could the other kids’ eyes not roll back in their heads?”
“They were talented kids to begin with.”
“That’s something only you can say, Yujin-ssi. And because it’s you saying it, the kids are going even crazier. Do you think they care what time it is? They’d probably stay up all night waiting even if you said 3 a.m.”
“Come on, no way.”
“No way? Right now, to the kids, Yujin-ssi is basically a god and the idol itself. They’re even switching their phones to follow you. From iPhone to Voyager.”
“Huh?”
My steps came to a complete stop.
Jeon Seon-woo looked at me, still smiling, and lowered his voice to a whisper.
“This is a secret, but… it’s not just the kids. The whole of MyWay is like this right now. Ailee was a complete iPhone believer, you know? These days she’s seriously debating whether to switch or not.”
As I watched Jeon Seon-woo walk ahead casually, my head felt fuzzy.
The reason Our Electronics had sponsored Project Trinity for “improving Voyager’s image through the program” was no longer just my own headcanon.
‘Although I didn’t hear those exact words…’
Even after properly screwing over the three major agencies, there was still zero pressure coming my way.
Instead of pressure, the frequency with which my scenes using Voyager appeared on the program had noticeably increased.
Even without the words from the man who came from Our Electronics, it wasn’t difficult to conclude that the advertiser’s preference was now leaning toward me.
‘My god, it actually worked?’
I couldn’t help but be surprised.
Even though I had expected it, I never thought it would actually happen.
‘Of course, it’s only within my immediate surroundings…’
In this industry where people are so sensitive about trends and security that they’d risk their lives over it, such a change was taking place.
“People, you know. Even when others say Voyager is decent, they wouldn’t even pretend to listen. But the moment they see you using it, they start following. It’s pretty funny. Come to think of it, you were already using Voyager before the program, right?”
“Yes. I just couldn’t get used to the iPhone no matter how hard I tried.”
“Then you’ll probably keep using it even after the program ends. Who knows, Our Electronics might even offer you an ambassador deal?”
“Come on, no way.”
Even so, that seemed a bit too much.
In the end, the localized effect happening only around me probably wouldn’t even scratch the surface of the bigger picture Our Electronics was aiming for.
My prediction that it wouldn’t bring about any significant change compared to the money Our Electronics had poured into Project Trinity still hadn’t changed.
However,
“Well… I’m not so sure about that. I don’t think so.”
Jeon Seon-woo said that while staring straight at my face.
The gaze that was practically gilding my face was becoming increasingly burdensome, so instead of answering, I chose to change the subject.
Fortunately, there was a perfect topic right at hand.
“Now that I think about it, you’ve completely dropped the honorifics.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
The last time we talked, Jeon Seon-woo had still been using half-honorifics, but now he was speaking to me completely comfortably.
“I guess it’s because Yujin-ssi’s name keeps coming up nonstop in the company. Maybe some strange sense of closeness built up. If it made you uncomfortable, I’ll apologize…?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ve been telling you to speak comfortably all along.”
“Haha. Thanks for thinking that way.”
Considering his actual age, he was older than me even before regression, so there was no reason to feel bad about it.
If anything, the fact that the distance between us felt closer now was more welcome, and I was even happier that the excessive gilding of my face had finally stopped.
Of course, judging by the slightly mischievous smile on his lips, it looked more like he was just “letting it slide,” but anyway.
“Anyway, aside from all that, I keep hearing stories about you. Even when I go outside the company. It feels like you’re right next to me. Pfft. After Ailee went independent, I never imagined we’d get any scripts from that side again. But you made it happen.”
“Ahaha…”
Another awkward laugh slipped out.
It seemed my attempt to stop Jeon Seon-woo’s compliments was unfortunately not going to succeed.
‘Still, this is better than the other topic.’
At least this was about something I had no intention of doing anyway.
“Writer Shim still hasn’t given up?”
“That writer seems to have gotten completely hooked on you. Well, according to her, it doesn’t have to be you as long as the person fits the role…”
From the way Jeon Seon-woo smiled without finishing the sentence, it was obvious what the unspoken part was: “Who would believe that?”
“Even though she’s only just finished her debut project, she’s still a writer with connections to BNW, so we can’t be too cold with her either. We’re just piling up useless scripts as scrap paper, that’s all.”
No matter how useless the scripts were, there was no way anyone crazy enough to actually use them as scrap paper existed in this company.
Since Jeon Seon-woo was one of the few people who knew about my relationship with Zia, it was just a slightly wicked joke.
“We’re also secretly looking forward to it. Wondering exactly what you did to make that highly anticipated writer cling to you like this.”
“I didn’t do that well. You’ll be disappointed if you expect too much.”
“Puhaha! Someone who says that casually wrote an entire song on the spot after getting inspired during filming? Do you know Ailee is going crazy because of that?”
“……”
There was nothing I could say to that.
That was exactly why I contacted Ailee at least once a day—the song I had created on that filming set.
“Even Composer Gong heard it and went crazy, so he voluntarily went back into canning mode. Because of that, both the Orion team and the E-GIS team are reconsidering their comeback schedules.”
This was the first time I was hearing about Ji-woo.
‘No wonder her contact has been sparse lately.’
Come to think of it, it made sense that I could only hear about it through someone else.
No matter how close we were, it would probably hurt Ji-woo’s pride to honestly admit to me that she had been stimulated by my work.
“I heard the Hylliy kids are looking for Yujin-ssi a lot these days too. As you know, their latest single didn’t perform that well.”
“…Really?”
While I paused for a moment thinking about Ji-woo, the next piece of news Jeon Seon-woo delivered was quite absurd.
I had thought Hylliy’s new song ‘Shall we summer’ was a decent track that nicely blended Hylliy’s original cute image with the new image they gained through their Mysty activities.
“Aren’t they sweeping all the music show wins with Shall we summer right now?”
As if to prove my thought, ‘Shall we summer’ had not only pulled down the long-reigning ‘AZ peak period’ love song from the top of the charts, but was also letting Hylliy sweep trophies on various music shows just like during their Mysty era.
It was a reality that was completely at odds with the claim that their results weren’t good.
“What does that matter? They still got pushed down the charts by you. Since Team Y can’t appear on music shows, the kids’ pride is currently digging into the ground, I hear.”
“They seemed to be doing well on music shows though…”
“Hylliy are professionals, after all. But no matter what, they’re still kids.”
Jeon Seon-woo added that and burst into hearty laughter, so I could only shrug my shoulders in the end.
It felt like just yesterday that getting first place on music shows was the ultimate goal.
‘It’s not even celebrity disease yet.’
If it was just dissatisfaction from not achieving perfect first place, it was still at a cute level.
If they had been satisfied and complacent after reaching their goal, I might have actually been disappointed.
If it was Hylliy—the group that had become Zia’s favorite singer after me and Lee Ahjeong—then I had more than enough motivation to make them a song.
“I’ll try to make one when I get the chance.”
“Just hearing that will make the kids happy.”
Looking at Jeon Seon-woo laughing like that made me feel a little bittersweet.
It had been a while since Hylliy shed their rookie label, yet the rookie development team leader was still personally taking care of them.
‘Well, no matter how old they get, kids are still kids.’
Since most of the members were a group he had personally discovered and raised, it was understandable that he couldn’t help but care even more.
“Oh, right.”
While I was thinking that, Jeon Seon-woo suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at me.
“Yujin-ssi, can you make it on ‘that day’?”
It was a question without a subject, but answering it was no problem.
There was only one thing Jeon Seon-woo would ask about my schedule.
“Ah. You don’t have to worry. I already cleared my schedule for ‘that day’.”
“That’s good. If you’re there, we’ll miss fewer kids that we might otherwise overlook. Like Soyoung’s case.”
That was exactly—
“I’m really looking forward to this audition too.”
—the story of MyWay’s public recruitment audition, which happened only once a year.
‘And I’m not just saying that.’
Ailee had told me that the number of applicants this time was record-breaking.
I couldn’t help but feel excited about who might appear in front of me this time…!
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