"That’s strange. They should’ve been here by now...."

Hanjo muttered while glancing at his wristwatch.

'Why aren’t they coming?'

Even though the agreed time had passed, the NewBlack members had yet to appear.

It really was strange.

Because within NewBlack, there existed a lunatic who would harass you if you were even one minute late.

"Basic time promises between people have to be kept. No matter how close we are, what needs to be kept should be kept...."

NewBlack’s main vocalist, who would pour out ten full minutes of nagging over being five minutes late.

Because of that, every time Street Boys worked with NewBlack, they became extremely sensitive about keeping time.

Of course, it wasn’t a positive "Let’s be punctual!" kind of change.

"Oh ho."

LB stroked his chin, eyes gleaming.

"So they’re late, huh? Seo Ri Hyuk is late?"

"Wow, this won’t do."

"They can be late, but we can’t?"

Their pathetic faces grinned crookedly as if they had finally found a weakness.

LB ground his teeth.

"This won’t do. Let’s nag them for ten minutes this time."

"For once, that’s a great plan. Persimmon Tree."

"We really have to pay them back exactly the same. Basic time promises between people are... what was it again?"

While they tried to recall the fading memory, someone asked,

"But which one of us can nag for ten minutes? I’m not confident. I don’t have the verbal stamina."

"Uh...."

"Hmm...."

The Street Boys members drooped.

Because they realized none of them had the ability to nag for ten straight minutes.

To begin with, wasn’t nagging itself extremely annoying?

And Sbo members hated annoying things.

They smiled generously.

"We’ll let it slide this once."

"Honestly, I’d love to pour out a lecture, but we’re magnanimous unlike NewBlack."

"Magnanimous people don’t nag~"

Hanjo smiled at the sight of them rationalizing.

'Pathetic guys.'

He looked at his watch again.

That was when Rex, who had been staring out the window, narrowed his eyes and pointed outside with his blunt finger.

"I think I see NewBlack’s van outside."

"Really?"

"And over there, the sasaengs are camped out. Not ours or La Rose’s. Those are definitely NewBlack sasaengs."

"...That’s strange."

That meant they were already inside the company building.

Then where had they slipped off to?

Just as that question crossed his mind—

A message arrived on Hanjo’s phone.

CEO [Hyeonjo come up to the CEO office for a moment]

CEO [Bring Giwon too]

CEO [Absolutely not Namoo]

There were no spaces at all, as if someone had been tapping the phone keyboard under the table.

Hanjo spoke to the members.

"The CEO wants us to come up for a moment."

"Why?"

"No idea. I’ll go up and come back."

Shrugging, Hanjo took Giwon, the maknae and main vocalist, and headed to the CEO office.

Inside the elevator, Giwon asked,

"Why do you think the CEO is calling us?"

"Who knows...."

"If he’s calling just you and me...."

They looked at their reflections in the elevator mirror.

The oldest and the youngest combination of Street Boys.

A face neat like a student council president, and a refined, delicate-looking face beside it.

Among fans, they were called the visual duo. Among themselves, they were called the "Normal Ones."

Generally, they were the most presentable pair when outside guests visited.

"...Guest?"

"Ah!"

They realized at once.

'NewBlack must be in the CEO office.'

At the thought of seeing his close friend, Hanjo’s heart began to pound.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Hanjo strode forward and calmly knocked on the CEO office door.

Soon, the warm voice of CEO Im Hyunsik responded.

"Come in~~"

"Hm?"

The two tilted their heads.

'The CEO’s tone sounds different than usual.'

Unlike their debut days, CEO Im Hyunsik had become gentler after Street Boys’ big success.

But they had never heard him use such a soft tone.

"What is this."

"Let’s just go in, hyung."

The moment they entered the office, both of them smiled brightly.

'It’s Sun Wooju!'

'It’s Ri Hyuk hyung!'

They discovered their respective close friend and benefactor from their trainee days and beamed.

CEO Im Hyunsik, a middle-aged man who resembled a bulldog, smiled gently.

"Hm? Hanjo and Giwon are here."

"Ah, yes, the CEO said...."

"Hahaha! You came because you missed me!"

Huh?

What nonsense—

The two nearly failed to control their expressions for a moment. Blinking, they watched as CEO Im Hyunsik stood up and approached them.

"Oh dear. You missed the CEO again and came up here."

"...."

As he winked pitifully at them, Hanjo and Giwon answered awkwardly.

"Yes, well. It’s routine."

"We came because we missed you."

"Hahaha."

The two exchanged glances.

'What’s wrong with him?'

But they soon realized why the CEO was acting strangely.

'Oh, that person is....'

Their eyes met with Park Gyuho, who was sipping tea gently like a head monk.

"Oh?"

"Hehe. Hello."

"Hello, CEO!"

At the bright greeting from Street Boys, CEO Im Hyunsik pouted.

'Why are they greeting another company’s CEO like that....'

Regardless, the two members’ faces were bright.

'It’s CEO Park Gyuho.'

'He’s like a celebrity.'

Because they often saw him through NewBlack TV, Lemon Entertainment’s Park Gyuho felt almost like a semi-celebrity.

And because of all the stories they had heard from the NewBlack members, he felt oddly familiar.

"Our CEO took a two-shot photo from behind at a temple with a monk. Guess which one is the monk?"

"Our CEO got kicked out of his house and stayed at the company this time...."

"Our CEO bought us new composing equipment that was only sold in the U.S...."

The image of someone who spent lavishly on albums and gave warm advice to his artists.

Park Gyuho smiled gently.

"I believe I saw you briefly at the year-end evaluation. Hyeonjo and Giwon, right? You were already handsome, but you’ve blossomed even more. Haha."

"Thank you."

"Our CEO Im must find it quite burdensome to handle such talents. Hehe!"

The oldest and youngest of Sbo blinked.

'That line had quite a sting to it.'

Sure enough.

A fierce expression appeared on CEO Im Hyunsik’s bulldog-like face.

"What nonsense."

He crossed his arms toward Park Gyuho.

"Shouldn’t you worry about yourself first? Honestly, aren’t you also not a big enough vessel to handle NewBlack?"

"Oh dear. You’re overreacting. When did I say anything?"

Picking at his ear and pretending not to know, Park Gyuho was stared down by CEO Im Hyunsik.

While the two middle-aged men engaged in a fierce staring contest, Sun Wooju opened his mouth as if to organize the situation.

"First, let’s have the two of them sit down...."

"Ah."

CEO Im patted the sofa next to him.

"Come sit here."

"Yes."

The two Sbo members sat down and sent looks toward NewBlack, who were sitting opposite with hands folded.

'What is this?'

'CEO pride battle.'

'Ah.'

Only then did they realize why they had been summoned.

It seemed the CEO had looked for members who would not lose to NewBlack in visuals and were unlike that sarcastic Persimmon Tree who scratched people’s nerves.

"Hehe."

Park Gyuho turned toward them.

"Such bright appearances. Truly bright."

"Haha."

"Under our frugal CEO Im, how did such fine people grow...."

Translation: How did you grow so well under such a cheapskate!

CEO Im’s lips trembled.

"...CEO Park."

"Yes, CEO Im?"

"...."

"...." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

It felt like electric sparks were flying between a monk and a bulldog.

The young men sighed softly.

They might as well just throw punches.

Instead, two grown men were seeing who would blink first.

"By the way."

Park Gyuho smiled.

"Have you seen the charts lately? Ri Hyuk’s OST entered the Mango Chart at number one this time. Hehe."

"...."

"And it hasn’t been long since METRO hit number one on Billboard, and now this news again...."

From the Osaka Dome performance to the recent game advertisement that sent Airsoft stock soaring.

Of course CEO Im would not stay still.

"The short drama Hyeonjo filmed recently had such a great response that directors are calling him a promising newcomer."

"Hm. Speaking of that, Jiho was supposed to film a short drama too, but his schedule didn’t allow it. Next year he’s entering as the lead in a Netplus drama...."

"The web drama Giwon sang the OST for is popular among teenagers...."

It was childish to the extreme.

From the middle on, it felt like they didn’t even know what the other was saying.

"Our kid was ranked number one idol dancer by Forbes!"

"If that’s the case, our kid was selected as the best main vocalist by Time!"

"Our kid can do three full somersaults!"

"...Hyeonjo! Start practicing from today!"

The two middle-aged men panted for breath.

As if mediating children, Wooju smiled and intervened.

"Still, it’s thanks to both CEOs that we’re able to promote so well."

As the two men nodded—

Ri Hyuk subtly added,

"It’s really thanks to our CEO that we’re promoting well. He even set up my personal practice room recently...."

"That’s right. Hehe."

Then the maknae slipped in.

"And he invested in the drama budget...."

As the NewBlack members listed what their CEO had done, Park Gyuho’s smile widened.

Meanwhile, CEO Im only muttered.

"I also...!"

But when his eyes met the Street Boys members, he hesitated.

'I said no to everything that costs money....'

But he couldn’t lose to that bald guy here.

Throwing caution aside, he declared,

"I’m also going around everywhere trying to get Hyeonjo cast in the drama he wants to film."

"CEO!"

Hanjo clasped his hands dramatically.

Emboldened, CEO Im began approving budgets for projects he had been postponing.

"For that album, what was it—let’s film the music video on location! And that other thing!"

Giwon chimed in.

"Costumes."

"Right! Let’s renew the costumes too."

As he approved project after project, Hanjo and Giwon smiled brightly and looked grateful.

Across from them, Wooju and his underlings winked.

Just as CEO Im was in full "Spend it! Spend it all!" mode—

"Hm?"

Wooju looked at his floral wristwatch and widened his eyes.

"It’s already been thirty minutes. What should we do, CEO? I think we need to go record now."

"Oh dear. Is it that time?"

Park Gyuho sipped his tea.

"I was just going to have a cup of tea, but we talked too long. Go on. Do well with the recording."

"Yes, CEO."

Hanjo turned and smiled at CEO Im.

"We’ll head out too."

"Y-yeah."

"And thank you, CEO."

"Hm?"

"For the album budget."

CEO Im blinked.

"...Ah. Right. Haha."

With a picture-perfect smile, Hanjo bowed and left the office arm-in-arm with Wooju.

Meanwhile—

"...?"

CEO Im paused.

'What. I feel like I’ve been played.'

It was much later when he came to his senses.

After tapping numbers into his phone calculator, CEO Im pressed his throbbing temple.

'No matter how I look at it, that’s excessive.'

But having promised in front of everyone, he couldn’t now say, "It’s too expensive, so no."

"...Sigh."

A faint chuckle came from across him.

"What."

"Nothing."

Park Gyuho smiled slightly and looked away.

'Because of that guy again....'

Staring irritably at the bald man sipping tea, CEO Im spoke.

"So what is it."

"Hm?"

"You didn’t come here just to leisurely drink tea with me. You must have some business."

"Well...."

Though known publicly as genial and easygoing, CEO Im knew him well.

A man who oozed around like an octopus and released inky schemes behind him.

Perhaps a slightly biased assessment, but it showed how wary he was.

"Ah, the aroma is nice."

Park Gyuho chuckled and set down his teacup.

"CEO Im."

"What."

"Have you ever thought about handing your company over to me?"

"...Pfft!"

CEO Im spat out his tea.

After Park Gyuho left.

Staring at the now cold teacup, CEO Im Hyunsik fell into thought.

"Have you ever thought about handing your company over to me?"

The proposal his longtime rival had thrown at him lingered in his mind.

At first he had cursed and told him to get out, but the man had only laughed.

"I hear your company’s financial situation hasn’t been so great lately... just rumors, of course."

He didn’t know where the information had leaked, but the rival had seen through his company’s situation.

Of course, it was true.

"...."

On the documents before him were the company’s finances.

No matter how positively he looked at them, he couldn’t call them good.

One might ask where all the money earned by first-tier idol Street Boys had gone.

But their performance and the company’s current finances were separate matters.

'The situation is awful.'

Contrary to public perception, entertainment agencies had very low profit margins.

Because it was a business run by people.

Profit was created by stars, and to maintain contracts, agencies had to give stars their share.

In the past, in extreme cases, companies had even signed bizarre 0-to-12 contracts to recruit top stars.

"Hmm...."

DNS Media was no different.

Street Boys were performing well, but after settlements, album investment costs, and everything deducted, very little remained.

'That guy and his kids are the strange ones.'

Every time he saw posts online criticizing him, CEO Im felt unfairly accused.

But he had to admit what needed admitting.

"You’ll need investment."

The company needed money immediately.

They had not yet recovered funds from newly launched businesses.

"Handing over the company was a joke. Haha. I expressed it too strongly, but you’re trying to attract investment in exchange for equity, aren’t you?"

That was also true.

He had planned to raise outside investment by offering shares.

If the person making the proposal had not been Park Gyuho, he might have readily agreed.

'In the long run, he’s trying to swallow my company too.'

At the thought of Lemon Entertainment becoming a shareholder in DNS Media, CEO Im’s expression darkened.

Of course, giving shares now would not immediately make them a subsidiary.

It would become something like an investment partner.

But the very first thing Park Gyuho had said had revealed his intentions.

"Hand over the company?"

Recently, he had even started a broadcasting business called NBS.

Now he was showing interest in acquiring other agencies.

That bald man, together with fox-like Jo Gyuhwan, was clearly drawing a grand blueprint.

But CEO Im could not see that blueprint clearly.

He only scratched his head and worried.

'This is driving me crazy.'

Objectively speaking, there were better offers.

Chinese or Japanese capital offering huge sums, or private equity funds.

Yet every time he looked at them, something felt off.

He couldn’t explain it exactly, but there was a cold feeling in his chest.

"It’s better for neighbors to get along."

Remembering those departing words from his longtime rival, CEO Im sank into thought.

'It’s not a bad proposal. If we become partners, we could work with Lemon Entertainment’s producing team....'

Perhaps it would even become easier to receive songs from Wooju.

After considering various possibilities, CEO Im sighed.

'Complicated.'

Then he muttered,

"For now, I’ll keep this to myself."

"Oh?"

Junhyun perked up his ears and blinked.

"What is it?"

"I think I just heard something interesting."

"...Really?"

There was a saying in our company.

Daytime words, Junhyun hears them. Nighttime words, Junhyun hears them too.

And then forgets.

Later, when he was asking to be told again, Hanjo came up to me and put his arm around my shoulder.

"Thanks to you, we got good budget support from the CEO."

"Right. I’m Deoksun."

"Huh?"

"Ah. I mean, thanks."

My favorite’s name slipped out without me realizing.

I cleared my throat and smiled gently.

"Well, friends help each other. Right? We’re friends."

"Right."

"So that reminded me of something."

I narrowed my eyes and smiled.

"Why did our Lee Hyeonjo do that?"

"...Huh?"

When I snapped my fingers, Biju appeared with a phone video.

The TBC Idolympics logo.

Below it, Hanjo was smiling during a first-place game interview.

"Friend. I’m going to °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the finals."

"You can’t come there."

I snapped my fingers again, and Biju replayed it.

Hearing his own voice, Hanjo swallowed hard. His trembling eyes met mine.

"You wouldn’t be petty...."

I nodded with a smile.

"Let’s do well in today’s recording. Friend."

"...."

"I’ve been waiting for today. Truly."

I burned with fierce determination as I looked at my pale-faced friend.

At last, it was time for revenge.