<Episode 57>
“CEO, have you been well?”
Cain greeted with a bright smile.
“Why did you all come here instead of going straight to the dorm?”
“We came to give you this!”
They proudly lifted a box wrapped in white paper.
“They said they bought souvenirs.”
“And not just for you, CEO– there are ones for us too!”
The staff spoke with excited voices.
“You could’ve just sent the gifts through the manager or come tomorrow. You must be tired, so why bring this all the way here today?”
“We prepared these ourselves, so we wanted to give them in person. And we wanted to give them today. It doesn’t take that long to hand these over anyway.”
The company and the dorm weren’t that far apart.
But these were not words that should come from people who had taken a dawn flight back to Korea, spent time with fans, and then driven for hours. On top of that, it looked like they had all passed out in the car… their hair was completely messy.
“You didn’t meet your fans like this, did you?”
He asked carefully, worried.
Of course, the fans would probably find even this look lovable. But he didn’t like the idea of photos of this state spreading on SNS. Once something is uploaded online, it never disappears… it follows like a stain forever.
“It’s just because we all knocked out in the car. When we got off the plane, we were all wearing hats. So the photos should be fine.”
Hearing Kim Jawook’s explanation, he felt relieved.
“There’s a gift for you too, CEO. Here.”
Zen handed him a red-wrapped box.
“Thanks.”
At the same time, he found them admirable.
Honestly, what idol group comes all the way to the company just to personally deliver a gift to their CEO when they’re this tired?
“But mine is wrapped differently.”
Looking closely, not only the color but also the size seemed different.
“Ah, sorry to the other staff, but the gifts for you and Team Leader Han are different.”
The box in Han Suseok’s hands was purple, unlike his.
“We’re already grateful that you thought of us.”
“Exactly.”
“Honestly, what idol group carefully prepares gifts for every single company employee?”
The staff smiled at them, telling them not to worry at all.
“Now that you’ve delivered the gifts, hurry back to the dorm and rest. You must be tired.”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll see you again soon.”
“Alright. Go on.”
Kim Jawook bowed and led the Spade Joker members out of the company.
“CEO, can I upload this to SNS?”
“Do as you like.”
“Okay.”
“Then, everyone, check your gifts and get back to work.”
He took the gift and entered the CEO’s office.
‘What did they buy?’
Carefully, he unwrapped it.
Inside were dried mango, honey, milk tea, aroma oil, scented candles, and soap.
It looked like they had gathered typical Thai souvenirs one by one.
‘They packed it quite well. But what’s this?’
Among the items, there was something like a card with a Thai landscape printed on it.
He picked it up.
‘A postcard?’
Without much thought, he flipped it over and saw it filled with dense handwriting.
It was a letter written by the Spade Joker members.
[To the CEO,
Hello. It’s nothing much, but since we were buying gifts, we thought it would be nice to write a short letter too.
To be honest, at first, we really resented you. We even thought it would’ve been better if we had never debuted.
But after you honestly told us why things were the way they were, and seeing you working hard to make our album succeed, our thoughts gradually changed.
CEO, thank you so much.
These days, every day feels like a dream… it’s that happy.
It’s hard to believe that we’re receiving so much love.
We’ll work even harder from now on.
We hope we can keep going together until the day we build a new company building.]
The corners of his lips slowly lifted.
“So I get letters like this now.”
Receiving a letter from the Spade Joker members… this was the first time in all ten lives he had lived as John Raid Lombardi.
It felt quite good.
There was even a sense of pride.
It felt like he could focus on work in a good mood.
***
When lunchtime came, he took the girl group debut team to a restaurant.
“Eat comfortably.”
“Is that really okay?”
“Once you start preparing for your debut, you’ll diet on your own even if I don’t tell you to. So for today, eat as much as you want.”
“Yes!”
They excitedly began choosing from the menu.
“Then I’ll have vongole pasta and fries.”
“I’ll have cream risotto and fried chicken.”
“I probably won’t remember all that, so just order directly when the staff comes.”
He raised his hand lightly, and a staff member approached.
“Yes.”
“I’d like to order. I’ll have sirloin steak and shrimp pilaf.”
He looked at the trainees as if telling them to go ahead.
“I’ll have this, and this, and also…”
As if they had been waiting, they pointed at the menu and started ordering rapidly, like chirping birds begging for food.
“And this too, please.”
“What about drinks?”
“Can we order drinks too?”
Mio asked with wide eyes, as if she thought he wouldn’t allow it.
“What? You think I won’t even buy you drinks?”
“No, it’s just… it interferes with dieting. Our trainer said liquid sugar is the worst thing to avoid.”
“You’re not drinking it every day. Just today. If you’re worried, order a few and share.”
“Yes. Then we’ll have green grape ade, grapefruit ade, and lemon ade.”
“Understood. Anything else?”
“No.”
The staff left with the menu.
“CEO.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Are we really debuting like this?”
Lim Hyeju asked, looking at him with sparkling eyes.
It wasn’t a gaze he could joke about denying, so he nodded.
“Wow!”
They clasped hands and rejoiced.
He couldn’t help but smile.
“You’re that happy?”
“Of course.”
“Even if you’re in the debut team, it doesn’t guarantee a debut. It just means you’re one step closer.”
It was common in this industry for debut lineups to change frequently.
There was no way trainees didn’t know that.
‘Even after filming a music video, members can still be replaced in this industry.’
“In that sense, you’ll be taking profile photos next week.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Wait… then we shouldn’t be eating like this today. We need to diet.”
Kang Seoah said while pulling at her barely-there arm fat.
“I told you earlier, this is your last chance to eat freely before your debut. So just eat. This won’t make a big difference anyway. You’ll go back to training after this.”
“That’s true, but…”
“If the CEO says you can eat, then you can eat.”
“Understood.”
The girl group members from previous timelines had been intimidated by him, even when he hadn’t done much.
But these members felt different.
Before long, the food arrived, filling the large table.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Yeah, eat a lot.”
Unlike the Spade Joker members, these girls talked nonstop throughout the meal.
“Do you think we’ll have lots of fans after the debut?”
“I want to stand on a big stage someday.”
“Ah, CEO! What’s our group name?”
Park Chaeha raised her hand and asked.
“Didn’t I tell you when I let you hear the debut song? Right now, I’m thinking of Florence.”
“I just wondered if it changed.”
“Why? Don’t you like it?”
“No, I like it.”
Kang Seoah hurriedly shook her head.
“You like it?”
“Yes.”
Thankfully, there was no need to change the group name.
“Any other questions? Ask everything now. You won’t have time later.”
“CEO.”
“Yeah.”
“When will we debut?”
“After Spade Joker’s comeback, it’ll take a little time.”
“Okay.”
“You already heard the debut title track, so you know the concept, right?”
“Yes. Pure but dreamy? That kind of concept, right?”
“Exactly. You got it.”
They seemed to have no more questions and resumed chatting among themselves.
‘Feels like I’ve become a high school teacher.’
“Oh, and starting next month, you’ll move into dorm living.”
“The dorm?”
“Yeah. So start packing in advance. It’ll be chaotic when the debut approaches.”
Now that he had said this much, there would be no more lineup changes.
‘This is my first time forming a group with this lineup, but… it doesn’t feel bad.’
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