<Episode 49>
Kang Woojin cleared out his desk the day after they reached an agreement over lunch.
The employees seemed disappointed, but I wasn’t. I had been worried about what I’d do if he kept being stubborn even after a month had passed.
Thanks to that, I was able to finish work with a light heart and head home.
“Good morning.”
“Yes.”
The elevator on the way to work was crowded as usual.
“Sir, today’s finally the broadcast day.”
Yoo Minsu spoke to me.
“Right.”
“Sir, did you know a fan café for you was created?”
“…What did you say?”
“There’s a fan café for you. I was really surprised when I first saw it too.”
I couldn’t believe it.
‘Why would anyone… for me?’
This timeline seemed to have more unfamiliar things than usual.
It made it hard to adjust.
‘Is having a fan café really a good thing?’
It didn’t seem like something I could simply be happy about.
If the people claiming to be my fans ended up fighting with Spade Joker’s fans, it would become a headache.
‘Fandoms fight a lot, don’t they?’
After lurking on SNS, I learned that conflicts between fandoms weren’t unusual at all.
Especially between fandoms of groups of the same gender within the same company.
For example, if Company A had boy group B and boy group C, their fandoms would clash.
Things like one group receiving something the other didn’t, or differences in concert scale… issues that might seem trivial to outsiders but weren’t trivial to them at all, would escalate into resentment and conflict.
But I wasn’t even an idol… I was the CEO.
If, say, Spade Joker fans criticized me on SNS, and my “fans” saw it and responded angrily in the comments…
That would spiral into something uncontrollable.
‘I just hope nothing like that happens.’
“I joined it too.”
“Why would you join that?”
“I was curious. And if you do well, my job is secure.”
Ding.
Just as my head was starting to ache, the elevator doors opened.
I immediately walked to my office and checked the fan café.
[John Raid Lombardi Fan Café]
There were more people than I expected.
‘Why do people even join things like this?’
I really couldn’t understand.
[Looking for info on CEO John Reid Lombardi]
I clicked on the top post.
[As the title says, I’m looking for info on CEO John Raid Lombardi! When I get into something, I dig all the way to the bottom, you know?
But since he’s basically a private individual, there’s barely any information.]
I didn’t understand what they’d gain from finding out about me.
There were quite a lot of comments.
↳ September 28 birthday
↳ Blood type AB
↳ Master’s degree in Business Administration
‘How did they find out my blood type?’
My birthday and education can be found online.
But my blood type couldn’t.
If it was a guess, the certainty in the comment was unsettling.
‘…Whatever.’
I shook my head and put my phone down.
‘Let’s just work.’
There were many things Spade Joker had requested for reverse fan gifts for the fan meeting.
They were gifts that would move fans deeply, so they needed to be prepared thoroughly.
Bzzzz.
My phone vibrated.
It was Kim Jawook.
[Spade Joker is doing well again today. Also, the members want to meet you the day after they return.]
It seemed they had something to discuss about the fan meeting.
[Got it. Tell them to come whenever it’s convenient.]
After replying, I focused on my work.
***
Spade Joker was fully enjoying the summer in Bangkok.
“From now on, you’ll be shopping here.”
“Wow!”
“But you won’t be doing it for free. You’ll have to draw cards again.”
“Again?”
At PD Yoo’s words, the members’ faces darkened.
Ever since arriving in Bangkok, everything required drawing cards.
They were already sick of it.
“Please draw one card each.”
The order went from the worst card in the previous round to the best:
Leejoo, Heeseo, Zen, Cain, Juseok, and Sora.
“Check your results.”
“…Ah.”
The cards read:
150 baht, 100 baht, 80 baht, 70 baht, 60 baht, 50 baht.
There was a 100 baht difference between the first and the last.
“50 baht? Can I even buy gifts with this? I really wanted to get something for the company staff too.”
Juseok, who drew 50 baht, spoke with a sigh.
“You’ll have to look carefully.”
“Yes…”
His voice had lost all energy.
“Let’s use mine to buy gifts for the company.”
Cain, who drew 150 baht, said.
PD Yoo felt a bit disappointed.
He hadn’t gotten the kind of reactions he expected.
The members of Spade Joker cared deeply for one another.
No one ever celebrated alone when they got a good result.
They secretly shared food with members who got bad draws, switched rooms late at night, and constantly looked after each other.
Their bond was stronger than imagined.
It was almost unbelievable that six such young men were in one team.
Still, it wasn’t entirely disappointing.
They naturally created entertaining moments in unexpected ways.
That was the kind of “natural humor” PD Yoo always pursued.
“How about this?”
“What would you even do with this elephant?”
“Decoration?”
“If someone gave you that, would you be grateful?”
“No.”
Like this.
All six of them had a bit of an airheaded charm.
They took turns being clumsy, and the others would take care of them.
It created a uniquely warm dynamic.
“Wasn’t the CEO’s show airing today?”
“Oh? Right.”
“Can we watch it here? I’m curious.”
“Same.”
“You can connect your phone at the hotel.”
At the writer’s words, the members looked at her in surprise.
“You didn’t know?”
“We’ve never stayed in a hotel before.”
They felt like pure, countryside youths.
‘This might appeal not just to their fans, but to the general public too.’
***
“See you tomorrow.”
“Yes.”
It was almost time to get out of work.
I packed up quickly, wanting to leave early for once.
I drove home, showered, and changed… yet an hour had already passed.
Cooking felt like too much effort, so I just made ramen.
I didn’t really want to eat; I just needed to fill my stomach.
‘I should eat something good this weekend and recharge.’
As I was about to eat, I noticed the broadcast time had come.
‘Let’s see how it turned out.’
I turned on the TV for the first time in a while.
It was still showing commercials.
I ate my ramen while keeping my eyes on the screen.
[Need hydration?]
Right on cue, Spade Joker’s ion drink commercial aired.
It matched exactly how I remembered it.
‘It turned out well.’
I nodded in satisfaction.
That ad had brought in many more offers for Spade Joker.
Thanks to it, the company even ranked first in brand reputation.
‘Hopefully, more offers come this time too.’
With their comeback approaching faster than before and strong songs prepared, I hoped for even more advertising deals.
The commercial ended, and the observational variety show began with the MC and panelists’ opening greetings.
[Hello, let us introduce today’s guest.]
Seeing myself on camera felt incredibly awkward.
When I appeared on Reverse Perspective, the focus had been on Spade Joker, so it was fine.
But now, as a solo guest…
It felt even more awkward.
[Hello. I’m John Raid Lombardi, CEO of Ramos Entertainment.]
It was a relief that I had already finished most of my ramen.
Watching myself like that killed what little appetite I had left.
[How is a CEO this handsome?]
[Thank you for the compliment.]
[How are we supposed to live with this jealousy?]
After the compliment segment, the topic shifted to my name.
The panel even gave me a Korean name.
‘People on SNS will probably start calling me Jeon Ryedo now.’
I expected my daily life VCR to start, but instead, composer Han Youngjoo’s interview appeared.
[At first, I thought it was a scam because of his name.]
Then it didn’t stop there; other employees’ interviews followed.
[When I first joined the company and heard his name, I thought someone was joking with me.]
[Honestly, I’m still not used to it. Since I have to call him “CEO” instead of his actual name, it feels even stranger.]
Only after those interviews ended did the VCR finally begin.
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