I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 18 - How about that guy?

I moved Division Head Park Yu-hyeon along the route I’d worked out in advance.

“If you’re pushing it as a double title track, you’ll have to split the album concept in two as well, Chief Kwon.”

The walk from the lobby entrance to the small stage room takes ten minutes.

For those ten minutes Division Head Park Yu-hyeon threw out questions without a break.

They weren’t questions that dug deep, so answering wasn’t hard.

“That’s why we split the album concept into two sides.”

“Two sides?”

“Yes. We put the first title track, ‘Attention’, out at the front, and set ‘Youth Journey’ up as the piece that decorates the closing part, so the concepts stay distinct.”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon nodded.

“As long as they’re clearly distinct, that’s not bad. From the fans’ side it’ll feel like getting two presents.”

We reached the small stage room along with Division Head Park’s positive answer.

I moved quickly and opened the door.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon walked into the small stage room at an unhurried pace.

Director Choi Jeong-eun, dazed, was about to follow behind without a thought, so I caught her by the wrist.

“Director Choi.”

“Y, yes?”

“Get a grip. The Division Head is asking about the album, so why are you standing there blank?”

Director Choi Jeong-eun’s eyes went wide.

“Uh, uh…. ah. I’m sorry….”

“It’s fine, just pull yourself together from here.”

“Ugh…ah. I don’t know why I shake this much whenever I see someone high up.”

It wasn’t an empty line. Director Choi Jeong-eun’s jaw really was trembling.

Her state worried me, but I couldn’t waste time on Director Choi Jeong-eun.

She’s sitting right next to me, so if it looks like she’ll slip I can cover for her right away.

I went into the small stage room and took the seat beside Division Head Park Yu-hyeon.

The real question-and-answer started.

“‘Attention”s concept color was vivid, wasn’t it?”

Luckily my worry was for nothing.

“Yes, that’s right, Division Head.”

“How did you decide to go with the concept outfits?”

“We set them as Y2K retro, and for the colors, to match the theme of ‘Attention’, light blue and yellow….”

Director Choi Jeong-eun started carrying her share.

I let out a breath of relief and took out my smartphone.

-[Kwon Chan: Ye-ji-ssi, the Division Head has arrived, so get the girls ready.]

I sent the message on to Lee Ye-ji-ssi as planned and muttered.

‘I’ve done everything I can do.’

Right.

Everything a manager can do is done.

From here it’s on the Twenty kids.

That fact worried me a little….

but the expectation swelled too.

If the stage quality comes out the way it did at the final rehearsal, I’m confident we can shock Division Head Park.

Just then Division Head Park Yu-hyeon put down the tablet PC in hand and said,

“You’ve prepared well.”

“!”

“The album structure is perfect, and for a group that suddenly lost a member, the music video is in good shape too….”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon trailed off and lifted the corner of his mouth.

“So whose idea was it to book the small stage room?”

Director Choi Jeong-eun whipped her head around to look at me.

…. There was nothing for it. I raised my hand.

“It was my idea, Division Head.”

“If you booked a small stage, you’ll have put the girls in the outfits too?”

“Yes. Makeup and hair are done as well.”

“You’ll show me the real thing on site. That’s the intention, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon burst out laughing.

“I like it. As long as they don’t make mistakes.”

That’s not praise, there’s a bone in it.

Read another way, it means everything up to now was perfect.

And I was confident about the stage too.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon crossed his legs and said,

“The first stage is ‘Attention’, right? Get the girls ready and send them up.”

The midway inspection began.

---

Under the bright lights.

Twenty came up onto the stage.

“Hmm…”

Interest settled into Division Head Park’s gaze.

“That girl with the black hair, her name is…”

“Seol Chae-i.”

“That one has good visuals.”

I nodded.

Our maknae is a bit prickly, but she is a face genius.

“She’s taking the center visual in place of the girl who caused the incident.”

“The one with the bob is the rapper, isn’t she?”

“Yes. That’s Nova.”

“And the leader….”

I answered fast.

“The brown-haired one, the girl called Ga-eul.”

“That one looks much better in person than in her profile photo.”

I agreed with the Division Head’s praise, hard.

Her real name is Ga-eul.

Her stage name is Ga-eul too, and she doesn’t photograph well.

Just then Ga-eul walked out to the center of the stage, took the mic, and shouted.

“…. One, two, three. Two steps to the top! Hello, we’re Twenty!”

Division Head Park let out a short laugh.

“That’s their greeting chant?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Two steps to the top…hmm.”

Division Head Park glanced at me.

“It sounds like it means we’ll stand at the top, we’ll take number one on the music charts. Is that right, Chief Kwon?”

…That isn’t the meaning the chant was made for.

But hearing Division Head Park Yu-hyeon say it, that’s how it felt.

‘Division Head Park isn’t easy.’

He drains you in a different way than CEO Baek does.

Then the lights snapped off, clearing the air.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon’s eyes turned to the stage.

I turned my head along with him and saw the Twenty kids standing under pale pink light.

“They go straight into the stage?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

My throat bobbed hard as I answered.

Here we go.

Can they do it well?

No, they don’t have to do well, just don’t let them get the shakes.

One of the most unfair things in the world is not getting to show your ability on the actual stage.

But in the professional world, even that is a standard of evaluation.

However hard you worked, if you get nervous and make a mistake, all that work turns to foam.

So I wished for it desperately.

Don’t shake, show everything you can show!

Enjoy the stage itself, like in that last conversation!

Then the intense beat came out.

-Attention, every eye is on me,

Attention, this moment I’m the lead.

The shining spotlight, when it lands on me,

Attention, I’m the star in your heart.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon’s shoulders twitched a little.

I checked that fine reaction in real time while watching the girls’ stage along with it.

-Don’t let this night end,

You and I, feel this moment.

Take my hand, come closer,

This moment we’ll remember forever.

The choreography was stiffer than usual.

There were parts they could have pushed harder and handled carefully instead….

But there were no visible mistakes.

So far they were showing a stage worth all the work they’d put in.

I found myself clenching both fists at that, and then Division Head Park Yu-hyeon muttered.

“The girls’ fundamentals are solid.”

The corner of my mouth lifted a little.

“When I saw them last time the blocking and the part distribution were lacking…. and that looks cleanly sorted out now too.”

Should I add a word?

I thought about it and decided to keep my mouth shut.

Rather than putting words on top and splitting his attention, letting him focus fully on the girls’ stage looked better.

Then Ga-eul’s explosive volume drove straight through the stage!

-Right now, this moment, everything on the line, feel me!

…. She tore it up!

Even I’ve watched hundreds of stages, and that high note just now raised the hair on my arms.

Never mind Division Head Park Yu-hyeon.

“….”

The eyes of the man who’d come to evaluate them were wide open.

In that instant I knew it.

‘We’ve got it.’

The first title track.

The “Attention” stage was a success.

Meanwhile the music ended and the stage came down.

“…. Thank you.”

Ga-eul held in her ragged breathing and bowed.

Watching her, Division Head Park muttered.

“…. More than I expected.”

More than expected?

“The stage quality is good, isn’t it?”

“!”

“At this level, instead of a double title track, it looks like you could push this one alone.”

I barely held back the twitch at the corner of my mouth.

“Thank you, Division Head.”

“I’m looking forward to the next stage too.”

Division Head Park looked at me steadily.

“The next stage is ‘Youth Journey’, the one you asked the CEO for directly and pushed as a double title track, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How is it? Are you confident?”

I worked my lips for a moment and thought.

Am I confident about the next stage?

I am.

Because “Youth Journey” is the stage we put far more work into than “Attention”.

So I answered with confidence.

“Yes, I think you can look forward to it.”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon burst out laughing.

“Chief Kwon overflows with confidence. I like that.”

“Thank you.”

“Then shall we watch the stage right away?”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon’s body leaned forward.

As if to announce that the midway inspection started from here.

“The ‘Youth Journey’ stage that Chief Kwon put all that work into. Let’s see it. Begin.”

The real stage started.

---

The first time I heard “Youth Journey”, the feeling was exactly this.

‘What a good song to listen to.’

It felt different from idol songs these days.

No addictive hook, no intense beat, no fancy melodic runs.

Even the lyrics have no English in them, only Korean.

Seen one way it’s a good song to listen to, and seen another way it’s an ordinary song.

So a thought came to me.

Can a song that’s only good to listen to really take number one on today’s music charts, which are drenched in stimulation?

I got the answer the moment I saw it live.

“Youth Journey” is a good song to listen to, but it’s also a song optimized for live performance.

And unlike girl groups these days, the Twenty members have solid fundamentals.

They’re one of the few girl groups that can hold a hand mic and sing and dance at the same time!

That true worth was proven on the stage.

-It’s our youth, a trip that’s ours alone

A fluttering that fills your chest

And days full of sunlight

Right now, enjoy this moment.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon, who had been evaluating Twenty’s stage without a pause, hadn’t opened his mouth for a while now.

Meanwhile the tension finally seemed to leave the Twenty kids, and they started running wild.

-On this night the stars are shining,

You and I, we can be together.

We’re up on the sea of youth,

Let’s go together like the waves.

Four girls singing for an audience of only three.

Four distinctive voices tied together by a song called “Youth Journey”, making a beautiful harmony.

Expressions, gestures, fan service, all of it came out far more natural than at the rehearsal.

I rubbed hard at the goosebumps on my forearm and muttered.

‘…. Why are the girls this good?’

I expected a good stage.

They practiced themselves to death for the last several weeks.

But this stage right now….

‘They’re too good??’

Am I overreacting?

No.

The proof is that Division Head Park Yu-hyeon, right beside me, was fully enjoying the stage too.

I slid my eyes over to Director Choi Jeong-eun, and she suddenly stuck her thumb up.

‘A-ma-zing!’

Only the shape of her mouth, but that was enough to get the meaning across.

In that moment my heart started to beat.

-Thump, thump.

Instead of worrying, I was starting to get curious.

What would Division Head Park’s first words be after seeing “Youth Journey”.

With the expectation rising in me, the “Youth Journey” stage came to a close.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon, who hadn’t blinked once while watching, finally moved his eyes.

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon’s mouth opened slowly.

“Hm.”

“!”

…What is that?

That wasn’t in my predictions.

Then Division Head Park Yu-hyeon muttered.

“This song, ‘Youth Journey’….”

“….”

“It’s good.”

“!”

At that short line my heart dropped.

“Thank you, Division Head.”

“It’s strange…. how did the previous director not know about a song like this?”

“….”

“Well, he was a man doing filthy things inside the company, so it makes sense….”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon whipped his head around to look at me.

“That’s suddenly a little dizzying.”

“…Sorry?”

“If it weren’t for you, Chief Kwon, we’d have missed this song, wouldn’t we?”

“!”

“Thinking about that…. makes me a little dizzy.”

The heart that had dropped started pumping.

Feeling the adrenaline come, I asked,

“Division Head, then….”

Division Head Park answered at once.

“Prepare the showcase just like this.”

“!”

“Both of you did well, and the Twenty kids worked hard too. The stage was very good.”

The best praise that can come out of a Division Head’s mouth came out.

After that it went fast.

The heavy air bloomed into laughter, and Division Head Park Yu-hyeon had a question-and-answer session with the Twenty kids.

Partway through, the tension snapped loose in Rei, the Japanese one, and she sat straight down, but it was an incident everyone could laugh off.

So the midway inspection ended, and on his way back to Baekhak’s head office Division Head Park Yu-hyeon clapped my shoulder and said,

“That was good, Chief Kwon.”

“!”

“Today’s stage was good, but your handling ability was the best part. Keep doing exactly this from now on.”

I held my breath without meaning to.

‘I’ve been recognized.’

My chest swelled a little.

Because I’d been recognized by Division Head Park Yu-hyeon, who along with Baekhak’s CEO, Baek Ji-won, is called a legend in this business!

“…Thank you, Division Head.”

“See you at the head office.”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon left, and alone now, I let out a long breath.

“…This feels a bit unreal.”

Never mind sorting out my feelings, I couldn’t even sort out the situation.

So I decided to just enjoy it.

I was standing there blankly, savoring the aftertaste of it, when

my smartphone rang.

-[Reporter Seo: Looks like Choi Su-hyeon is the man in the affair, Chief Kwon (attached image)]

I checked the message and burst out laughing.

“Haha….”

Wow…

It works out like this?

The fruit of the work I’d been running at for the last few weeks arrived all at once.

In that moment I muttered without meaning to.

“Perfect.”

That’s how it felt to me.

Today was the most perfect day in the life of the man called Kwon Chan.

---

The evening of the day Twenty’s midway inspection ended.

In the middle of a city center lined with gray buildings, on the top floor of a glass-walled high-rise, CEO Baek looked out at the night view and murmured.

“”Queen of Joseon” looks like it’ll pass 25% in the ratings.”

Division Head Park Yu-hyeon decanted a red wine and said,

“The rating is 23% now, so as long as nothing blows up, it’ll hit 25% for certain, won’t it?”

The corner of CEO Baek’s mouth lifted.

“You said you went to the training center today?”

“Yes. Outside work for the first time in a while, so it was fun.”

“How was it?”

“The Twenty girls were better quality than I expected. At this level we could put a bit more weight behind the promotion….”

CEO Baek cut Division Head Park Yu-hyeon off.

“No, not Twenty.”

CEO Baek, who had been looking out the window, turned around.

“Chief Kwon of Management Team 5. How does that guy look to you, Head Park?”