I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress – Chapter 27 – Overlap.

Author: Dawn

I checked the message and called PD Park right away.

[“Hello?”]

“PD Park. It’s me, Chief Kwon.”

[“Oh, Chief Kwon! Been well?”]

“Same as always. Except I’ve been busy with the rookie girl group I just took on, they had their showcase.”

[“Right. You did look busy. That girl group you’re handling… what was the name again?”]

A short laugh slipped out of me.

PD Park, this old fox.

Pretending not to know when he knew perfectly well, that acting was pure art.

I stroked my chin and thought it over, then decided to play along for now.

The upper hand was mine anyway.

“It’s Twenty.”

[“Ah, right! Twenty! Songs are good. Chart ranking’s impressive too.”]

“Thanks to the company pushing them.”

PD Park’s voice pitched up a little.

[“Guess Baekhak’s putting a lot of muscle behind Twenty?”]

“Getting expectations from all over, one way or another. Oh, by the way, PD Park?”

[“Mm, mm. Go ahead, Chief Kwon.”]

I trailed off on purpose, dragging it out.

“That conversation we didn’t get to finish last time…”

I heard PD Park swallow.

“How about we pick it back up? I happen to be coming in for an SBC music-show taping in two days.”

PD Park paused a beat before answering.

[“Sounds good. I’ll clear some time, let’s talk it over lunch.”]

A pleasant lunch date got set.

Two days later, before dawn.

I got out of bed before the alarm even went off.

I’d only slept five hours, but my head wasn’t just clear, it was sharp enough to hurt my eyes.

The wired state that had been holding for days now was still going strong today.

“Am I going to collapse from this later?”

The comedown from all this wiring was starting to scare me a little.

At the same time, I felt lucky it was holding on a day like today.

Even veteran managers lose their heads on music-show days.

I pulled out my phone and made a call.

“Ye-ji-ssi, are you at the shop now?”

[“Yes, Chief.”]

“I’m heading out too.”

I drove straight to the shop in Cheongdam-dong.

Lee Ye-ji-ssi came out to meet me and handed me a coffee.

“The girls?”

“Makeup’s done, they’re in the van.”

“Good. Let’s head out right away.”

With the girls loaded up, fast asleep, we headed straight for SBC.

Woken by the van’s rattling, Nova muttered.

“… Oh, it’s Chief.”

“You slept through me even getting on?”

“I sort of felt it, but I thought it was a dream.”

Nova stretched, and Ga-eul and Seol Chae-i woke up too.

Rei was still struggling to open her eyes, shifting around.

Meanwhile, the SBC building started coming into view in the distance.

Seol Chae-i, mid-yawn, jerked in surprise and muttered.

“Huh? It’s the fans.”

Just like Seol Chae-i said, dozens of fans had camped out in front of the building since early dawn.

“Wow… it’s only seven and they’re already gathered like this?’

“Aren’t they cold?”

“Who are they waiting to see, I wonder?”

“D, don’t tell me some of them are our fans?”

Lee Ye-ji-ssi, standing nearby, chimed in.

“Once you start doing music shows, we’ll get our own fans too, you’ll see.”

“Really, unnie?”

“Yeah! People who become fans after watching a music-show stage usually turn into the hardcore, camera-toting type, right?”

The corner of my mouth lifted a little.

‘Ye-ji-ssi, not bad.’

Handling the girls’ morale so naturally.

I parked the car and turned my head.

“Don’t forget anything important, grab it all and get out.”

Twenty’s girls gathered up their things and climbed out.

Rei finally woke up too and scrambled to grab her snacks.

I turned and headed straight for the waiting room.

“Whoa… it’s Seven Star…”

“Th, there’s Ellin-nim too!”

“Would it be too shameless to ask for an autograph?”

“Of course it would! Who are we to be getting autographs!”

Maybe because the live broadcast was coming up.

In the hallway toward the waiting rooms, celebrities and managers kept popping out nonstop, like wild Pokémon.

I eyeballed who was here and worked out in my head who to greet first.

Walking along with work on my mind like that, I reached our private waiting room in no time.

I threw the door open and set down the load I’d been carrying in both hands.

Ga-eul stuck her head out.

“… Huh? Chief, we get the waiting room to ourselves?”

“Yes.”

“Huh? Don’t rookies usually share one?’

Right.

Rookies usually didn’t get a private room, they split one with other rookies.

But I hadn’t liked that, so I’d already worked a little bait on PD Choi Ho-cheol beforehand.

‘That’s how we got a later slot for the stage too.’

Kind of a moment to brag a little…

I decided to just let it go.

It wasn’t that big a deal, and bragging to a kid about it would’ve been ridiculous anyway.

I answered as flatly as I could.

“I’ve got a connection with SBC’s music-show PD Choi, so we got a private room.”

“R, really?”

“What, you think I’d make it up?”

“Wow…”

Her real name was Ga-eul.

Her stage name was Ga-eul too, and her eyes went bright and sparkly.

Suddenly self-conscious, I hurried to change the subject.

“Set your things down, we’re going around to greet the senior artists. Ye-ji-ssi, grab the CD albums.”

A junior artist paying respects to senior artists was an old custom of the music-show waiting rooms.

No idea why such an old-fashioned custom ever started, but following convention never hurt anybody.

I took the girls and stopped by the waiting room of solo singer Park Chae-hee, one of the most senior artists on the lineup today.

“Hello, sunbae-nim!”

“I’m Nova from Twenty, we just debuted!”

Park Chae-hee, old enough by idol standards to be called a veteran artist, burst out laughing.

“So fresh-faced. How old are you all?”

“We’re twenty-two, sunbae-nim…!”

“Oh my? Twelve years between us? Good grief…!”

Park Chae-hee had a reputation for being kind-hearted.

With the veteran artist greeting them first with such a bright smile, I could feel Twenty’s tension melt away.

I traded a quick greeting with Park Chae-hee’s manager too, then we moved on right away.

“Hello, sunbae-nim! We’re rookie group Twenty!”

As rookies who’d just debuted, there was nobody to greet us back.

Only people to greet.

We ran a dizzy circuit of the waiting rooms, going through the rite of passage.

Catching my breath, I checked the time, and it was already noon.

‘Should start heading over to PD Park soon.’

I’d more or less finished what I needed to, so I could leave the rest to Lee Ye-ji-ssi, right?

But…

“?”

There was a shadow over Lee Ye-ji-ssi’s face that hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Why the sudden change, from someone who’d been so excited about seeing celebrities?

After thinking it over for a moment, I asked.

“Ye-ji-ssi, is something wrong?”

“… Huh? Uh… No. Nothing’s wrong.”

Nothing wrong, my foot.

Clearly something was up.

I bent my head and stared at her steadily.

Under my relentless stare, Lee Ye-ji-ssi let out a heavy sigh and muttered.

“Was it that obvious my face looked off, Chief?”

“Yeah, a ton.”

“… I just got kind of restless all of a sudden.”

“About what?”

“Well… Chief, you’re greeting the other managers, and Twenty’s girls are greeting the artists, but I feel kind of like I’m floating outside it all, alone?”

I wasn’t exactly good at empathy.

But this seemed like the moment to try.

‘So it’s that kind of feeling, is it?’

Like a new hire’s first day at work?

Wanting to do something, anything, but feeling like jumping in too soon would be a mistake.

Once I’d more or less caught the feeling, I spoke.

“You’re doing fine.”

“…”

“This is work you’d have to do without me anyway. And by my standard, Ye-ji-ssi, you’re…”

I trailed off and shrugged.

“Doing a lot better than you’d think.”

Lee Ye-ji-ssi slowly lifted her head.

“… I make a lot of mistakes though, Chief.”

“I told you, didn’t I? Adjusting matters more than being good at it.”

“…”

“You’re doing better than you think, Ye-ji-ssi. The way you handle the girls’ morale, how fast you’re picking up the work, all of it.”

Lee Ye-ji’s eyes suddenly lit up.

“… Chief. Aren’t you being awfully sweet all of a sudden?”

“Enough nonsense, go meet the stylist.”

“What about you, Chief?”

“I’ve got someone I need to meet, I’ll join you later.”

Lee Ye-ji-ssi was back to her usual self.

Grinning like a goof…

I burst out laughing before I knew it.

“Take good care of the girls, Ye-ji-ssi.”

“Don’t worry, Chief!”

I nodded and went straight to meet PD Park at SBC’s variety department.

I walked into the gamjatang place we’d set as our meeting spot, a spicy pork-bone stew joint, and a familiar voice called out.

“Chief Kwon! Over here!”

SBC variety department’s old fox, PD Park.

He was grinning as he waved me over.

Poking through the gamjatang, I recalled the ratings trend and reviews I’d looked up for [Star Watch!] the night before.

‘On a downswing, wasn’t it?’

It was an age flooded with observational shows.

Even at its most generous, [Star Watch!] wasn’t a show whose format led any trend.

And a show that couldn’t offer freshness only kept sliding downhill.

‘That’s probably why PD Park’s so anxious.’

In the end, a guest-driven show needed its guests to shine.

From PD Park’s side, he probably wanted to book a fresh face, a guest.

‘And that’s how Twenty came up.’

Twenty, the rookie girl group that had swept the charts.

Whatever the viewers made of them, just booking them would give him a fresh picture.

Of course, if all he wanted was a fresh picture, he could’ve booked some other rookie group instead of Twenty.

But the fact that he’d specifically texted to check in with me…

meant he wanted something else, not Twenty.

‘And that’s obviously Lee Ha-eun.’

The top-star actress riding the highest stock right now.

PD Park’s real target was probably Lee Ha-eun.

So the upper hand at this table was mine.

To PD Park, I was an attractive card, but to me, PD Park was just one option among dozens I could pick from.

With the upper hand in hand, there was no need to rush.

I waited at ease for PD Park to speak first.

PD Park, who’d been watching my face, finally spoke up first.

“… Chief Kwon, isn’t your momentum a little too good lately?”

I answered with a smile.

“Things are going well these days.”

“That’s more than just going well. Lee Ha-eun’s Queen of Joseon is a smash hit, and the girl group you’re handling now is on the rise too.”

“Just lucky, I guess.”

“… So, did you ask her?”

“Ask what?”

“Actress Lee Ha-eun! Her stock’s shooting up, shouldn’t she go on a variety show once?”

PD Park grinned like the old fox he was and laid down his card.

“If actress Lee Ha-eun came on Star Watch!, the picture would really pop.”

“Hm… it would definitely be fresh.”

“Right! Our Star Watch is a joint observational show, manager and celebrity together. She’d get to show off a different concept, a different side of herself, wouldn’t that be great?”

PD Park slipped in a suggestion.

“If we book actress Lee Ha-eun, we can push Twenty along with her while we’re at it. This is a total win-win for both of us, isn’t it?”

Smooth as silk.

A snake’s tongue tickled at my ear.

One wrong step and it wouldn’t have been strange to fall for that tongue completely.

But I was somebody who’d grown thoroughly used to this kind of thing too.

I broke straight through PD Park’s snake tongue head-on.

“Sorry, but I don’t think booking actress Lee Ha-eun is going to work.”

PD Park’s eyes went wide with surprise.

“Uh, uh… why? Is her schedule packed?”

“Partly that, but to begin with, actress Lee Ha-eun picks her own schedule herself, there’s no room for me to step in.”

“… Can’t you talk her into it, Chief Kwon?”

“I don’t think so. But…”

I cut off for a beat and turned the subject.

“If it’s Twenty coming on, that I might consider.”

PD Park’s eyebrows twitched.

“You’d consider it?”

“Yeah. Looks like Baekhak’s seen this chart result and decided to push them seriously, all out.”

“!”

“The Division Head’s personally moving to lock down their schedule… and the CEO too, well…”

I trailed off and watched PD Park’s face.

He looked startled, blinking his wrinkled eyes.

I lifted the corner of my mouth and kept the conversation moving.

“Anyway, the company’s expectations for Twenty are huge. Something like Star Watch!, they’d probably let them go on even if the company objected.”

Curiosity and interest were spilling out of PD Park’s eyes.

“Baekhak’s really that invested in Twenty?”

“Of course. You saw it too, right, PD Park? Twenty’s promotion this time?”

“I saw it. They poured in a ton, didn’t they?”

“It’s a project Baekhak put real care into, and now the results are showing too, it’d be strange not to push it. I’d bet they keep pushing from here on out.”

PD Park’s mouth pressed into a flat line.

I could practically hear the gears turning in his head from here.

Deciding to drive the wedge home, I opened my mouth.

“If Twenty goes on Star Watch!, the promotional articles will be everywhere.”

“!”

“Plenty of small promotions besides that too, and the viral marketing’s going to be no joke.”

A quick smile.

I smiled with my eyes and folded my arms.

Across from me, PD Park’s pupils were having an earthquake.

‘I can practically hear the calculator clicking from here.’

PD Park, probably.

Was in for a real headache.

Because the Twenty card, one he’d never even considered, was turning out far more tempting than expected.

‘A girl group the entertainment industry’s king, Baekhak, was pushing seriously.’

That implied a lot.

‘It meant viral marketing pouring in, and Star Watch was exactly at the point where it needed viral marketing.’

In that sense, from PD Park’s standpoint, the Twenty card would be tempting.

Just booking Twenty would let Baekhak handle the viral marketing Star Watch needed, in their place.

Just then, PD Park glanced at me carefully and muttered.

“We’ve got an opening in our schedule a month from now…”

“!”

“If that time’s open, should we talk seriously about booking Twenty then, Chief Kwon?”

The corner of my mouth curled up slowly.

“Works for me, PD Park.”

The variety world’s old fox had taken the bait.

After that, the conversation went smoothly.

Both PD Park and I.

What each of us wanted was clear, and it was a deal that could get us both to a shared goal.

The meal wrapped up on an amicable note.

“Heh heh… see you next time, Chief Kwon.”

“This time, I’ll be the one to reach out first.”

I shook hands with PD Park lightly, then headed back to the station.

A hum slipped out of me before I noticed.

“Everything’s going so smooth.”

Was the universe’s energy really helping me out?

I’d thought PD Park would be tough, but it turned out way too easy.

‘If today’s stage just wraps up without any accidents, that’d be perfect.’

The humming started up again.

Just then, Lee Ye-ji-ssi appeared from the hallway on the other side.

“Oh, Chief!”

“Where are you coming from?”

“Oh, I went to grab something for the girls to eat.”

Suddenly Lee Ye-ji-ssi started glancing around, looking this way and that.

I was tilting my head at the odd behavior when.

Lee Ye-ji-ssi whispered in a low voice.

“So, Chief. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but…”

Didn’t mean to, huh?

“On my way back I overheard some PDs talking, and apparently Explore’s outdoor special stage today got canceled?”

“!”

“Their car ahead got into a fender bender, stuck right in the middle of the road, apparently… Hearing that suddenly made me dizzy. If something like that happened to us today… whew!”

Thump!

A shooting star dropped straight into my head.

‘Explore blew their live schedule?’

Explore was one of the top three boy groups right now, wildly popular.

That’s why SBC’s music show had specially prepared an outdoor special stage for them.

And now that outdoor special stage was about to fall through.

In that instant, a forgotten memory overlapped with it.

‘… Well now?’

The pleasant memory of how SBC’s PD Choi Ho-cheol started calling me Star Kwon.

That event back then and the situation right now were way too alike.

My heart started pounding hard in that instant.

My head started spinning fast too.