I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 26 - Overlap.

Twenty, the rookie girl group nobody expected anything from.

Their delightful uprising turned the music industry upside down.

-[8th: Attention] [Artist: Twenty]

-[10th: Youth Journey] [Artist: Twenty]

An unknown rookie girl group had pulled off a chart sweep.

Maybe that was why.

Everything around Twenty started changing fast

-Twenty ‘Attention’ Official MV

[Views: 700,000] [Likes: 40,000][Dislikes: 561]

NutTube MV views: 700,000.

That was the 24-hour count, with no overseas fans, purely domestic.

For a rookie girl group’s music video, that counted as a visible result.

-the girls are pretty lol

-guess since Baekhak’s an actor agency their visuals are all insane?

-watched the showcase, live vocals were amazing!

-why is Seol Chae-i this pretty???

-the brown-haired one’s vocals are so crisp

-the rapper’s apparently kind of known in the underground scene?

-mv’s good? song’s decent too lol~

Most of the comments were positive too.

But what stood out most was that both the view count and comment count kept climbing steadily.

-Twenty ‘Attention’ Official MV

[Views: 1,200,000] [Likes: 60,000][Dislikes: 561]

24-hour views: 700,000.

48-hour views: 1,200,000.

Even two days after the release, the views kept climbing.

In other words,

-this month’s showcase girl group, twenty’s actually pretty good??

Word was starting to spread about rookie girl group Twenty among idol fans.

---

The day the chart results came out.

I opened the fridge and gulped down cold water.

The hangover from the night before, when Director Choi Jeong-eun and I had drunk to celebrate Twenty charting, was finally easing off. I muttered to myself.

“It’s so nice not having to go to work today.”

Twenty, now officially a debuted girl group, would start their real public activities tomorrow.

For the next month, I’d probably do nothing but work, flat out.

So I’d taken the day off, and thanks to that I finally got to feel what a leisurely morning was like again.

I stared blankly out the window for a while, then pulled out my phone.

Messages had piled up like a mountain.

“… What’s with all these congratulation messages?”

The PR team leader, leading the pack, and everyone I knew from the management division.

Connections I’d made while working outside the company.

Every acquaintance who’d heard about Twenty sweeping the charts had sent a congratulations.

My chest went warm and ticklish. I made myself ignore it and muttered.

“I should call Seok-du hyung first, right?”

After a few rings, Seok-du hyung picked up.

[“Kwon Chaaaan!”]

Oh man, this guy.

Swallowed a train whistle for breakfast, or what?

“I can hear you fine, so keep your voice down, Team Leader.”

[“Would you listen to this! Why aren’t you at work today!”]

“Twenty’s schedule starts tomorrow. I need some rest too, you know.”

Seok-du hyung barked out a laugh.

[“Wow…! Is this really our Chan? Why’re you so hardworking these days, huh?”]

“I was always hardworking, you know?”

[“Hardworking my ass! You used to look half-dead, like a sick chicken! Anyway….”]

Seok-du hyung’s voice suddenly turned serious.

[“I saw Twenty’s chart numbers blow up. Congrats, you punk.”]

I got a little goosebumps.

But then again… I could hear real sincerity in his voice, so it wasn’t all bad either.

This must be why Gyeongsang guys can never get a girlfriend.

“If you’re going to get sappy, I’m hanging up.”

[“Hey, hey! Don’t hang up. I’ve got more to say.”]

“What is it.”

[“Twenty’s schedule, you don’t need to report it to me anymore. Just handle it yourself.”]

“?”

A question mark rose on my face.

Handle Twenty’s schedule however I want?

[“This came up yesterday, at the team leader meeting the Division Head ran.”]

“!”

[“The Division Head saw Twenty’s numbers and said from now on, you handle Twenty’s schedule yourself, Chan.”]

My heart suddenly started pounding.

I felt the calm of my day off fly away and asked urgently.

“Division Head Park really said that?”

[“Yeah, you punk. Everyone was surprised, first case like this. Twenty’s not exactly some small project, is it? Handing you the whole thing means your ability’s been recognized!”]

Dopamine flooded my system.

For a day off, this was way too much stimulation.

But Seok-du hyung’s story was only just starting.

[“And Twenty… looks like Baekhak’s about to push you seriously.”]

“!”

[“Starting today, the promotion’s going to be no joke. They’re still rookies so variety show appearances need a little more time, but you won’t need to worry about the small schedules that get their faces out there.”]

In the end, a sigh full of heat burst out of me.

Damn it.

I was trying not to think about work today and just rest. Why’s this happening to me?

Not knowing any of that, Seok-du hyung, having stoked the fire plenty, shouted in a hurry.

[“Hyung’s gotta head out for field work, so I’m hanging up now! Rest well, and get Twenty’s schedule rolling starting tomorrow, Chan!”]

The call cut off.

But the excitement Seok-du hyung had stirred up stayed with me.

I pushed my shaggy hair to the side and muttered.

“Feels like the universe’s energy is rushing my way…”

One stroke of luck kept making more luck.

One thing happening kept setting off the next.

It felt like sitting in a car doing two hundred kilometers an hour with no seatbelt on. I had no idea where this thing would end up.

But one thing was clear.

“I can’t let this momentum slip away now.”

Right.

Let’s just see how far this thing goes.

---

The next day.

The alarm I’d set for 6 a.m. went off.

Maybe because I’d finally slept deeply after a long time, I felt great even getting up before dawn.

I called Lee Ye-ji-ssi right away.

-[“I’ve got it, go ahead.”]

“It’s me, Ye-ji-ssi. Are the girls out of the dorm?”

[“Oh, Chief… there was a bit of a scramble because Chae-i couldn’t wake up, but everyone’s on the van now.”]

“Got it. See you at the shop. I’m heading out now too.”

I hung up and smoked a cigarette.

The nicotine hit, and my head cleared up so sharp it almost hurt my eyes.

Was this what they called being wired?

That was exactly my state right now.

“Not bad.”

Thanks to a solid night’s sleep, no fatigue, and my condition was at its peak.

Not wanting to lose this momentum, I hurried out of the studio-apartment neighborhood.

Twenty minutes of cruising down wide-open roads.

I reached the shop in Cheongdam-dong.

I parked in a nearby lot and headed straight up to the shop.

“… Chief?”

Ga-eul, who’d been nodding off half-asleep, greeted me.

I waved back and checked on the rest of the girls.

Nova had left her hair to the stylist and was fast asleep, and Seol Chae-i wasn’t moving at all, like she’d passed out.

Rei was rubbing her sleepy eyes and eating snacks.

I walked over to Ga-eul, who at least looked halfway alert.

“Did you rest well?”

“… Yeah. But I got up early so I’m sleepy.”

Ga-eul answered and gave a bashful little smile.

I let out the same kind of laugh and said.

“Where’d Ye-ji-ssi go?”

“She went to buy coffee.”

Lee Ye-ji-ssi, finally settling in.

That gave me a moment to catch my breath, so I turned on my phone.

-[Star Ranking] Baekhak Girl Group “Twenty” Records a Chart Sweep Amid Rave Reviews for the Showcase! What’s the Appeal of Rookie Girl Group Twenty…

I opened the entertainment news tab, and photos of the Twenty members were up front and center.

‘Said they’d push us seriously, and they weren’t kidding.’

Seeing this, Baekhak wasn’t called the industry’s dinosaur for nothing.

Once they’d decided to push, Twenty’s fingerprints were showing up everywhere in the industry.

In that moment, on top of my already-wired head, motivation started welling up too.

Just as all that energy started making my body itch to move, Ye-ji-ssi showed up with an armful of canned coffee.

“Coffee… drink up!”

The Twenty members, still half-asleep and dazed, finally sat up.

“Coffee… coffee… coffee.”

“They say drinking coffee on an empty stomach in the morning is bad for you…”

“Can I have some cake?”

The caffeine hit, and the half-dead girls came back to life.

The stylists didn’t waste the window, finishing up hair and makeup.

Their eyes were still glazed with sleep, but the girls looked flawless enough to put on stage right that second.

“All right, let’s head out.”

First on the schedule: an interview with Young Magazine.

It was a teen magazine on the rise lately among teenagers, a kind of rite of passage every rookie idol had to go through.

‘Next is more shots for the album’s extra photobook, then a Shorts video with a NutTube creator…’

Taken one at a time, none of it was much of a schedule, but for rookies, you could call it a flood of good work luck.

‘Baekhak must be pulling in the work seriously now.’

I curled up the corner of my mouth and took the wheel in Lee Ye-ji-ssi’s place.

“Ye-ji-ssi, I’ll drive.”

“Huh? I can do it though, Chief?”

“It’s fine, get some sleep. It’s your first day, you’re probably not used to this yet.”

Lee Ye-ji glanced at me for a moment, then quietly settled into the passenger seat.

The schedule that kicked off that way didn’t wrap up until late afternoon, when the sun was starting to sink.

What was left was vocal practice and choreography practice.

This much I figured I could leave to Ye-ji-ssi, so I handed over the car key.

“Take care of the rest of the schedule, Ye-ji-ssi.”

Lee Ye-ji-ssi took the key and stared blankly at my face.

I tilted my head.

“Is something on my face?”

“Ah…. No, that’s not it.”

Lee Ye-ji-ssi trailed off, glancing at me carefully before she spoke.

“Chief, did something good happen today?”

“Out of nowhere?”

“No, it’s just, you’ve had so much energy all day.”

Huh?

I’d been full of energy?

“We’re all completely wiped out from getting up before dawn, the girls and me, but Chief… aren’t you way too full of pep?’

My eyes went a little wide.

Now that she mentioned it… that was a little strange, huh?

First time back in the field in a while, and instead of being tired, why was I enjoying this so much?

‘Maybe it’s this wired state?’

That was probably it.

But there was no way to explain that to Lee Ye-ji-ssi.

I shrugged and said.

“I’m just in a good mood, that’s all.”

Lee Ye-ji tilted her head but didn’t press further.

With Twenty’s girls left in Ye-ji’s hands, I headed straight for Baekhak’s headquarters.

It was to sort out tomorrow’s music-show schedule.

The drive was boring enough that a delayed wave of tiredness crept in, but it couldn’t shake my wired head.

Naturally, thoughts of work drifted in.

‘Once the music-show stage comes in two days, I should start moving on variety shows too.’

With the new content market NutTube had opened up, variety shows were the market that got buried fastest.

Broadcast TV’s formulaic brand of fun just couldn’t keep up with NutTube’s raw, unfiltered fun.

Even so, variety shows still had a place only they could fill.

‘Guest appearances.’

For rookies looking to get their faces known, nothing still beat variety shows.

‘The Division Head told me to manage Twenty’s schedule myself… so I can pick which variety shows they go on, right?’

Let’s see.

If I put Twenty members on a variety show, which ones should I push?

“Nova’s got a good mouth on her, and Rei’s got that oddball charm, so those two as a pair looks solid.”

But for their very first variety appearance, I wanted it to be a group appearance if at all possible.

Getting every member’s face out there evenly beat having just one member get known, by a wide margin.

‘So which show, then?’

Twenty might have debuted with a chart sweep, but they were rookies in the end.

The shows rookies could get on were limited, and even if they got on, it’d be nothing more than a reaction panel at best.

‘Even that would be a blessing, but I wanted their first variety show to hit with impact.’

Was there some good show out there?

Just as I was about to sink into it, I remembered a bit of bait I’d forgotten about.

‘SBC’s PD Park…!’

PD Park, known as the old fox of the variety world, was directing SBC’s flagship Thursday show, [Star Watch!].

And Star Watch was an observational show, where the MCs talked over footage of a manager and a celebrity’s 24 hours.

If they got on it, they could show off the rookie group’s charm and lock down solid screen time for the girls too.

I muttered without meaning to.

“That bait I threw out earlier… this is way too good?”

It’d just been a side stop at the variety department while meeting SBC’s PD Choi. Who knew it would come back around like this!

The question was whether Star Watch’s PD Park had actually bitten on the bait.

Should I sprinkle a little more bait?

That was when it happened.

My phone rang.

-[SBC PD Park: Chief Kwon, how’ve you been?]

I checked the message and burst out laughing.

“…Man. This is actually insane.”

Seriously, what is going on?

My condition was at its peak, and now luck was following along too.

Everything was lining up so neatly it was almost frightening.

But maybe it was this wired state.

Instead of getting scared of the situation, I was getting excited.

“If the universe’s pushing me to run, I might as well run.”

I called PD Park right away.

“Hello. PD Park, this is Chief Kwon.”

All right, let’s see about landing a big fish.