Beep-beep!

“One moment.”

Slide.

At the phone notification that rang in the middle of the conversation, Raon launched the app and checked the screen.

[Jamsil]

And on the screen, a red dot was marked along with a map. Only after confirming that the red dot was not moving did she let out a relieved sigh and put her phone away again.

“What’s that?”

“A location-tracking app.”

“What? Did you get a boyfriend or something?”

“Do I look like I have time to date?”

Raon was dumbfounded by Seyon’s question about whether she had gotten a boyfriend.

Unlike her fancy title of producer, Raon was the one managing everything related to Iam’s activities and schedules.

So recently, she had been dying nearly as much as the members under Iam’s schedule, which had been increasing like mad.

“Well, I guess you wouldn’t have time for that.”

Seyon seemed to understand what Raon meant and nodded as if it made sense.

But,

“Then why did you install a location-tracking app?”

When Seyon asked why she was using a location-tracking app if not for a boyfriend, Raon had no choice but to answer with a sigh.

“Because of Lee Sion.”

“Ah.”

A location-tracking app.

The reason Raon was using an app that was usually used between lovers or married couples to stop someone from doing anything suspicious, like proof of obsession, was because of one person.

-This time, I really didn’t start it!

Lee Sion, who had caused a huge incident at the SY building where Raon was now, only two days ago before returning.

“True, if it’s Lee Sion, it does feel like you’d need at least that level of tracking method to feel at ease.”

“I’m still anxious even with this. Honestly, I want to put her in handcuffs!”

“You’re getting more and more extreme, aren’t you?”

“Seriously, the CEO should be grateful. Compared to Lee Sion, I was an angel of an artist.”

Seyon stared at Raon as if dumbfounded by her words.

But Raon was confident.

‘If she runs into Hyeryeong, Lee Sion might really die.’

The beginning of the incident was the Agbaek Season 2 pilot program.

-Did the shoot go well?

-···Yes-no?

-What the hell! What did you do this time?!

As if mocking Raon, who had expected nothing much to happen since they were filming with familiar people, the Iam members who returned to the company dodged their eyes and played dumb at Raon’s question asking if they had done well.

At the members’ attitude, anxiety suddenly came rushing over her, so she grabbed Manager Yunsik, who had accompanied them, and asked what had happened.

-The teacher’s grace is like the sky~ the more we look up, the higher it grows.

-You little··· Do you really think we’ll forgive you just because you do this?

-Thank you for teaching us!

Yunsik said that on the program, which had apparently been conducted under the concept of “reverse positions,” the Iam members had really entertainingly grilled the judges, including Hyeryeong.

Raon had also thought that it would certainly be fun to see the members, who had been contestants in Season 1, return the evaluations they had received directly to the judges.

If there was a problem,

-If it airs like that, won’t our girls look way too rude?

-The production team had thought about that too.

Even if it was a concept variety show, they could easily look rude toward major seniors, so Raon could not help but worry a little.

But as if the production team knew exactly what Raon was thinking, they had prepared an ending for the program to dispel those concerns.

After grilling the judges to their hearts’ content, the Iam members would appear by surprise with a cake as soon as the Group Battle Mission ended: a typical, but always effective, emotional teacher-and-student narrative.

In fact, the judges, who had been nervous because they thought they would actually receive punishments, had apparently forgotten all about being grilled all day and been moved when the members appeared holding the cake and singing “The Teacher’s Grace.”

And it should have ended there.

-Huh? Huhhh!

Splat!

When Raon heard the story after that, that Lee Sion had been fooling around while holding the cake, then fell over and dropped it, sending the cake flying straight into Hyeryeong’s face, her vision went dark.

-···Editing?

-I don’t think they’ll edit it out.

-Bring Lee Sion here!

Yunsik said Hyeryeong, who suddenly got hit in the face by a cake bomb, lost her mind and tried to catch Lee Sion, and they had barely escaped.

As if his words about barely escaping were not a lie, a long red line like a fingernail scratch was drawn across Yunsik’s neck.

After that, Raon grabbed Lee Sion, who kept crying that it was unfair, so unfair, and slapped her back until it turned red.

-Please, just one day! Can’t one day pass without anything happening?!

-Kieeek!!! Violence solves nothing! Shinyu! Yunkyung!!

-Shinyu, should we go practice for the year-end stage?

-I’m sorry, Sion. I don’t think I can help you this time.

After that round of beatings ended, Raon thought this would not do and secretly installed a location-tracking app on Lee Sion’s smartphone.

Yunsik had said that wasn’t it an invasion of the artist’s private life, but Raon lightly ignored him.

If a zoo managing wild beasts removed the iron bars for the sake of a lion’s animal rights, that would be neglect.

But Raon’s efforts had not been very useful either.

“Hyeryeong was giving off murder intent, saying she’d kill her if she caught her.”

“···I’m sorry.”

“We even provided the practice room, and she planted one of our artists onto the practice room floor. Did she learn ingratitude from her producer?”

Lee Sion had apparently gone to practice at the SY building for the year-end special stage, only to be chased by an enraged Hyeryeong.

-If she caught me, I really thought she’d kill me, so I had no choice.

-Hey! That doesn’t mean you trip her!

-Those who try to fire a gun must be prepared to be shot.

-Then you get shot too! Let’s go to America. I’ll shoot you!

-Calm down. I’ve already been shot once.

In the process of being forced to lose Hyeryeong, she had caused an accident by catching Hyeryeong’s foot with a cable and tripping her before returning.

Thanks to that, Raon had rushed over to SY first thing in the morning, soothed Hyeryeong, and was now meeting CEO Lee Seyoon to apologize.

Because she had sinned, Raon had stayed quiet until now, but she could not accept what Lee Seyoon had just said.

“Ingrateful? Honestly, I built at least one floor of this company building!”

“Hmm··· and shameless too.”

“Ah! Seriously, CEO, why did you change so much too? Does everyone become like that once they rise to the CEO seat?”

“Why? Is CEO Kim like that too?”

“Yes! These days, I think he’s gotten a taste for teasing me. He keeps making absurd jokes whenever he gets the chance.”

Even in her active days, Raon could never be called well-behaved, but compared to Lee Sion, the difference was about the same as a lifer and a good citizen who had never even paid a fine.

Comparing Lee Sion and herself was absolutely unacceptable.

“Then do you want to come back?”

“What?”

“The reason you left SY was because you wanted to compose, not because you wanted to be a singer.”

“That’s true···.”

“There’s no reason to leave home and suffer. Come back to SY. You probably signed by album unit anyway, and if you’ve released three albums so far, I’d guess there isn’t much left before your contract ends?”

“Why are you suddenly saying this?”

But Lee Seyoon’s following words were enough to fluster Raon.

“I had attachment to singer Raon too. That’s why I hoped you’d keep promoting, but you seem to have already made up your mind, so I’m making a different offer.”

Unlike the joking mood from before, Seyon spoke with a serious expression.

“Raon. I’ve kept the SY producer position open.”

It was an offer to transfer.

***

“Tch. What the hell is this? An outdoor performance when it’s this cold?”

“Since they have to do several stages, it seems some of the performances being held outdoors is standard for year-end stages.”

“Then they should reduce the number of stages. Is there any need to waste money setting up outdoor stages? Looking at it, there were a lot of idols whose names I didn’t even know.”

Sanghyeok merely listened to the man grumbling beside him.

‘There’s no point explaining.’

Explaining that the idols whose names he did not even know were doing better overseas than most popular domestic idol groups, and that if their stages were carelessly taken away, there would be fierce resistance from overseas fans.

And Gwanghwamun Square, where Lee Sion, a member of Iam, was scheduled to perform now, was not some shabby place where unpopular singers had roughly been driven out.

Rather, it was a special outdoor performance stage that could be assigned because the idols were popular.

The place where Lee Sion was standing for this special stage was a place only popular stars could be assigned to, a place where it was a miracle for a rookie idol who had debuted less than a year ago to stand.

“Manager Kim, no, CEO Kim. No matter how much you struggle, idols are a business taking kids’ allowance money. If a company carries the KJ name, shouldn’t it be pushing out films or dramas or something like that?”

“It’s not that we haven’t considered actors, but that side depends on recruiting influential actors, and in that area, it isn’t easy for a new agency.”

“That’s all excuses. If it were me, I would’ve saved the money you’re going to spend renewing contracts with those Iam? girls and brought in kids like Yoo Hyunseok. Then later, when you list the company, it’s good for advertising, the company image improves, and how nice is that?”

The man kept grumbling without rest.

Sanghyeok wanted to plug his ears and move far away, but he could not.

“The company’s finally come to its senses. Entrusting the president seat to a young punk like you, even if you were just a figurehead. Once I go there this time, I’ll properly tear everything down and rebuild it.”

“Yes, I’ll learn a lot.”

“I don’t know if you can even learn. The connections I built while rising all the way to department head aren’t something you can imitate.”

KJ Media Department Head Kim Hansu.

He was Sanghyeok’s former workplace superior, and the person who would recently be coming down to KJ Entertainment with the new title of division head.

“To begin with, does this even make sense? You’re the CEO, and I’m the division head··· Tch, the higher-ups’ soft hearts are the problem. No matter what, there’s such a thing as hierarchy.”

“···Sion’s stage is about to begin soon.”

“What’s so important about that?”

And the reason Sanghyeok had personally brought Department Head Kim Hansu all the way to Gwanghwamun Square was because of Lee Sion’s special stage today.

“Waaaah!!!”

“Iam! Let’s last forever!”

“Sion, look over here!”

“Kyaaak! What is this? It’s cold today, how could they dress her so thinly!”

“Sion, do you like oysters? I like your face too!”

The cheers of fans who had waited in this cold weather for several hours, long before the stage began, just to watch the performance of the idol they liked.

Sanghyeok thought that if Hansu heard this, perhaps something might change, but unlike Sanghyeok, whose heart was pounding as he heard the fans’ cheers, Hansu’s expression only looked bored and tired.

♪

The stage began with Sanghyeok and Hansu watching with different emotions behind it.

As expected, perhaps because UBS had resolved to invest heavily into today’s music festival, the stage installed for the special performance shone along with dazzling lights.

I quietly come closer and circle around you

I know your eyes are already fixed on me

I can hear even your breathing

Don’t think about running away, girl

Lee Sion, who appeared in a boys’ school uniform like the original singers Exy had worn when they sang “Howling,” opened the stage first.

Rather than neatly dressed, Lee Sion had her shirt pulled out with the top buttons open, and her tie was slightly loosened, giving her a free-spirited appearance.

“She’s insane! Sion!”

“Why is Lee Sion so handsome!”

“My heart, don’t flutter! It hurts!”

It seemed Sanghyeok was not the only one who felt Lee Sion’s outfit suited her well.

And when Lee Sion finished her part amid those feverish cheers, the next person appeared.

My heartbeat gets faster and faster (tick-tack)

Wake the instinct sleeping inside you

In this moment, you want me

You can’t hide it anymore

Esther, the leader of LYNX and the person doing the special stage with Lee Sion today, came up onto the stage while singing her part in the same school-uniform outfit as Lee Sion.

‘Esther is dressed neatly.’

Despite wearing the same school uniform, Esther had come out looking like a model student, in contrast to Lee Sion.

When she performed together with Lee Sion, who had come out first, the audience’s reaction was explosive.

There must have been fans supporting groups other than Iam too, not only Iam’s fans, but the audience sent them passionate responses as if such things had nothing to do with the stage right now.

“Ugh, so loud.”

Hansu grimaced beside him while covering his ears, but Sanghyeok no longer had Hansu anywhere in his mind.

I'm howling now, ah-ooh-woah

I howl toward you, louder

I'm howling now, ah-ooh-woah

Tear this night apart right now

He had to focus on the stage, now complete with all three members when Kaella appeared last.

Come closer, closer to me

The instinct toward you wakes me

I’m howling, howling

Toward you

The three idols showed such a perfect performance that anyone watching would not find it strange to think they were members of the same group who had been working together for a long time.

‘I have no choice but to admit it.’

As Sanghyeok watched their stage endlessly, he had no choice but to admit that, aside from work, he had come to like the existence called idols.

-You’re the CEO? You seriously hit the jackpot! I’ll make sure you live in luxury from now on.

When they first met, Lee Sion had still been evaluated as lacking in skill, but now, even compared to the aces of girl groups from major agencies, she did not fall behind. Rather, she shone the brightest.

How could anyone not admire an existence like that?

“Damn it. I’m leaving first. You told me to come, so I came, but there’s nothing special here.”

Before the afterglow of the stage had even faded, Hansu said he would go in first and immediately left his seat.

Sanghyeok gave Hansu a halfhearted farewell and looked at the stage whose curtain had fallen for a little longer.

And then,

“How was it, Executive Director?”

Once he had looked at it enough, Sanghyeok turned his head and spoke behind him.

“Calling an old man outside on a cold day like this is harassment.”

“I’m sorry. Still, I really wanted to show you.”

“If it weren’t for Chairwoman Jung’s call, I wouldn’t have had any reason to come out, but it was worth coming.”

At Sanghyeok’s question, a man near old age answered from behind the related-personnel seats where Sanghyeok was.

“Department Head Kim Hansu does not seem to have felt anything in particular.”

“Haa··· That guy is hopeless. No matter how much he’s in a different line from you, business should come first, but he’s lost his mind because he thinks you pushed him aside.”

Executive Director Kang Daesu.

One of the power players at KJ Media, who belonged to the rival line against Sanghyeok, and the head of Department Head Kim Hansu’s line, the man who would be coming to KJ Entertainment as division head this time.

“I’d like you to help me.”

“You’re telling me to help Executive Director Kim’s side?”

“It’s not helping Executive Director Kim. It’s for the company.”

After Sanghyeok’s answer ended, a brief silence cold enough to freeze circled the related-personnel area.

“Were you always this passionate? When you were at headquarters, you looked so emotionless that it felt unpleasant, but this is much better.”

“I didn’t know I would become like this either.”

“The division head matter will be treated as if it never existed. Next time, let’s meet in a proper place.”

After saying that, Executive Director Kang Daesu left immediately as if his business was finished, and Sanghyeok followed to see him off.

Before long, when the car Executive Director Kang Daesu rode disappeared from view, Sanghyeok briefly thought about why he had gone this far.

Company politics, which he normally would have been sick of and ignored.

But this time, he had stepped forward himself and jumped straight into the middle of that politics.

Even going so far as to ask Chairwoman Jung Seonhwa, Yunkyung’s mother, for a favor.

‘If I like something, I should see it through to the end.’

He still did not fully know all the reasons he had gone this far.

But one thing was certain: at some point, KJ Entertainment and Iam had become more precious to Sanghyeok than anything else.