I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 28 - This block.

My breath was climbing straight up my throat.

Right about when my lungs started to ache, SBC’s Show! Music stage set came into view.

I wiped the cold sweat running down my neck.

So I wouldn’t look too frantic.

But I managed my expression to still look earnest, and headed for the stage set.

“We’re live from the outdoor set today, are you kidding me! If the van’s stuck from the fender bender, put them in a taxi and get them here! Where’s Explore’s manager! Tell him to pick up my calls right now-!!!”

SBC PD Choi Ho-cheol’s furious voice struck my ears like lightning.

Show! Music’s staff blocked PD Choi’s path.

“P, PD, please calm down! We got through to them, making the live broadcast time’s a stretch, but they’ll get here somehow…”

“What do you mean a stretch! So they’re blowing the live broadcast, then!?”

“They say they’ll get here as fast as they can, but even so, thirty minutes at least…”

“Oh, give me a break! In thirty minutes it’ll be the ending encore, what are they going to do showing up then!”

The corner of my mouth went up.

‘Explore’s running at least thirty minutes late?’

For now, it looked like all that running had been worth it.

I caught my breath, then gave PD Choi Ho-cheol’s shoulder a light tap.

“PD Choi.”

“What kind of little…Star Kwon?”

“Came to say hello, and it’s total chaos. What happened?”

PD Choi’s eyebrows twitched.

“How’d you know?”

“Know what?”

“Quit running your mouth. Where’d you even hear Explore blew the live broadcast?”

I let out a small burst of admiration inside.

‘PD Choi, not a music-show PD for nothing.’

He’d caught exactly why I’d come and was pressing me on it in one shot, and it chilled me to the bone.

But I couldn’t come this far and walk away empty-handed.

I lifted the corner of my mouth and put on a smile.

“Happened to hear about it. Doesn’t the situation feel a little familiar right now?”

“What?”

“Two years ago, right? When I was Star Road’s manager, and back then… wasn’t it Hi-Teen that blew a live broadcast?”

PD Choi Ho-cheol let out a hollow laugh.

“So what? Hand the special stage over to your rookies?”

“Wouldn’t it be perfect for stalling until Explore gets here?”

“Hey, hey, Star Kwon… no, Chief Kwon.”

“If it’s an outdoor stage, the AR backing track’s going to be shaky, so anyone unsure of their skills won’t dare go up… and the ones with real status won’t want to feel like some substitute stepping in either.”

“Let me get a word in…”

“If that’s how it is, wouldn’t it be better to just put up a total unknown rookie as filler, PD Choi?”

PD Choi Ho-cheol’s mouth fell open, like he couldn’t believe this.

His face said something like, what kind of guy even is this?

Fair enough.

I hadn’t even given him a chance to speak, pushing him like that.

But I grinned shamelessly anyway.

Given PD Choi Ho-cheol’s fiery temper, it wouldn’t have been strange to get thrown out without a word.

Meanwhile, PD Choi Ho-cheol let out a heavy sigh.

“Hah… half of that’s nonsense, I don’t even know where to start picking it apart.”

PD Choi answered firmly.

“No, so go back.”

“…”

“What kind of nonsense are you even talking? Filler or not, how do you put a rookie on a special stage?”

He had a point.

Honestly, even I could see it was close to an unreasonable ask.

So I switched tactics.

Not persuasion. An appeal to sentiment instead.

“Two years ago, I helped you out, didn’t I?”

“!”

“Could you think of it as helping me out this time, and just give us one shot, PD Choi?”

PD Choi Ho-cheol’s expression wavered.

I didn’t let the opening go and pressed on.

“It’s called a special stage, but in the end it’s just filler for stalling, so it wouldn’t look strange even with a rookie up there. If anything, being rookies means Explore’s fans would probably just let it slide, don’t you think?”

“…”

“You know how brutal fandom wars are on the idol scene, PD. Put someone with any name recognition up there and it’s a war zone instantly. If that’s the risk, putting up a totally green rookie is one way around it.”

I finished and read PD Choi’s face.

‘Did that get through?’

No idea.

If this didn’t work either, I’d have to give up on the special stage.

But why was it.

Nothing had been settled yet, but I had a strange feeling we’d end up on that special stage.

Was it because I’d been so lucky lately?

Seemed like it.

Given how everything I touched lately turned into a success, it wouldn’t have been all that strange for PD Choi Ho-cheol to fall for my nonsense.

And that hunch of mine landed dead on.

“Hah… fuck.”

“!’

“Can Twenty sing live?”

“!!”

“No. I need to see for myself. Where’s the waiting room?”

I clenched both fists!

“This way. PD Choi.”

I headed for Twenty’s waiting room at the fastest walk I could manage.

Checking every so often that PD Choi Ho-cheol was keeping up, I opened the waiting room door.

Twenty’s members, sprawled out on the sofa, jerked upright in surprise.

“Chief? Who’s this next to you?”

“Show! Music’s PD Choi Ho-cheol.”

‘!”

Ga-eul, looking dumbstruck, waved the rest of Twenty over.

Twenty’s members, still not fully grasping the situation, lined up single file at her signal.

“Hello, PD! We’re rookie girl group Twenty!”

PD Choi Ho-cheol, catching his breath behind me, stepped forward.

“Skip the greetings, can you sing right now?”

“!”

“I’m short on time, so can you answer fast? Can you sing right now?’

PD Choi Ho-cheol’s sudden proposal caught me off guard too, and Twenty’s members along with me.

‘Wait, hold on, even so, making them sing this suddenly?

Thinking this wouldn’t do, I was about to step in and mediate when.

Ga-eul, wearing a grimly determined look, stepped forward abruptly and spoke.

“Don’t you want to see the choreo too, PD?”

“?”

“We can do the choreo a cappella too, want us to show you that as well?”

… Huh?

Startled by Ga-eul’s bold offer, I held my breath.

PD Choi didn’t seem any different.

His lips parted, and he let out a hollow laugh.

“Same type as her manager, huh.”

A faint smile rose at the corner of PD Choi Ho-cheol’s mouth.

“Choreo, dancing, whatever, let’s see it fast. No time.”

---

I crossed my arms and thought.

‘Never thought their first stage would be a cappella…’

This one, I really didn’t see coming.

But sometimes an unexpected variable makes for a good result too.

I glanced sideways to steal a look at PD Choi’s face.

“…”

A complicated expression.

But there was one thing I could be sure of.

PD Choi’s face, watching Twenty’s stage, was wavering.

I leaned in and whispered by PD Choi’s ear.

“No backing track, and this is what they’ve got. Not bad, right?”

“…”

PD Choi mumbled.

“They’re good, all right.”

“These girls, they’re built for the stage. Put them up there and they won’t make a single mistake.”

“You can guarantee that?”

“I’ll take responsibility for it.”

PD Choi let out a heavy sigh.

He scratched hard at his greasy hair for a while, then suddenly shouted.

“Get the girls ready and head to the outdoor hall right now.”

“!”

“Ask PD Jo on site to help with the stage setup.”

Cheering inside, I gave PD Choi’s shoulder a rub.

“Let’s get beef after the stage, PD Choi.”

“Would you listen to this guy, quit running your mouth and get moving? I’m changing my mind.”

I smiled wide, then went over to Twenty.

The girls, still not fully caught up with what was happening, blinked at me.

Seol Chae-i quietly raised her hand.

“Chief…? What’s going on right now?”

“I’ll explain on the way.”

We grabbed only what we needed and left the waiting room.

As I explained on the way to the outdoor stage, Twenty’s girls cried out in shock.

“No way! So we’re going on the special stage?”

“Yeah. You know how big a deal this stage is, right?”

“O, of course! It’s the music show’s special outdoor stage!”

A music-show special stage was one only the current top three idols got to stand on.

It was just filler to stall for time, but a rookie idol getting to stand on a stage like that was an opportunity way above their pay grade.

Because of that, Twenty’s girls looked restless, but I trusted they’d pull it off.

The Twenty I’d watched at the showcase, they were built for the stage.

The stylist, catching up late, gave their makeup and hair a quick check, and then we sent them straight up to the stage.

“Go do great. I believe in you.”

Twenty’s girls nodded, their faces set.

With the girls sent up to the stage like that, Lee Ye-ji-ssi, showing up late, watched my face carefully and asked.

“What in the world is going on, Chief…?”

Ah, I’d forgotten all about our Ye-ji-ssi.

I lifted the corner of my mouth and said.

“Today was great, Ye-ji-ssi.”

“… Huh?”

“Just keep doing exactly this, from now on.”

“??”

A question mark rose in Lee Ye-ji-ssi’s eyes.

I let out a short laugh and turned my head.

Twenty, whose very first stage had turned into the special outdoor stage, was shouting into their handheld mics.

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

Twenty’s first music-show stage began.

---

Looking only at the result, Twenty’s first music-show stage ended without a single mistake.

“Whew… you’re going to be the death of me.”

“You need that beef, PD Choi.”

“Forget it! Go tell your girls they did well, scrambling through a live broadcast like that today!”

Explore, who’d blown the live broadcast, got up on stage late too, and Show Music! wrapped up safely.

After that, I left the rest of the schedule to Ye-ji-ssi and headed back to Baekhak’s headquarters.

I checked the reactions to today’s music-show stage popping up on social media and community boards.

-what was up with today’s outdoor special stage?

-explore was late bc of a car accident TT

L omg! nobody got hurt?

L nope. asked some fans who were there in person, wasn’t explore’s own car, some other car caused the accident and made them late

-happy 4th anniversary explore congrats congrats congrats congrats!

-i was there in person and today’s outdoor guest stage was ridiculous

-some no-name rookie came on as filler and it was annoying T

-pretty good singing for rookies lol?

-oh, twenty’s the group that sang youth journey.

-song was good? and the girls were pretty too

-not bad for rookies lol especially that one, ga-eul? she was really good

The corner of my mouth lifted a little.

“Not bad.”

Here and there I spotted nasty comments from Explore’s fans, but that was the reaction I’d expected.

‘A no-name idol filling in on their fourth-anniversary stage, after all.’

If Twenty had been a well-known group instead of rookies, it wouldn’t have been strange to get hit with Explore fans’ nastiest kind of hate.

Taking that risk to get on the outdoor stage was for the potential Twenty fans watching Show! Music.

Today’s outdoor stage must have stamped Twenty firmly into people’s minds.

No joke, rookies who land a special stage on their very first music show don’t come around often!

As proof, more and more fans were starting to register that Twenty existed.

-the rookies who debuted today, their song was good?

-youth journey? easy to sing along to, it really stuck in my head lol

-the attention choreo shorts have been getting some traction, so that was twenty’s song

-was there in person and twenty’s girls were really pretty…

L same, i went too and almost fell for their visuals

L sounds like someone’s about to jump ship to a new bias lol

-thought it was weird seeing some no-name rookie on the charts, but heard the song and got hooked, thinking about stanning them now.

-what company’s twenty under?

-the center’s gorgeous?

Still a lukewarm reaction, for now.

But for a rookie girl group, it was a visible result.

‘All that work paid off.’

This month’s fortune, I really did seem to be riding a great streak of luck.

How could everything I touched keep turning out this well?

I grinned to myself and leaned back against the chair.

It was late afternoon, and the management office was quiet, maybe everyone had gone off to dinner.

Solitude. Ease.

Savoring them, I muttered.

“Should I clock out early today.”

It’d been an eventful day.

First music show, the tug-of-war with PD Park over variety, and to top it off, the special outdoor stage.

If I hadn’t been wired the whole time, it wouldn’t have been strange to collapse right where I stood, given a schedule like that.

“Yeah, I’ve done enough today, let’s clock out early.”

To mark our first music-show stage turning into an outdoor stage, I’d crack open a beer once I got home.

For a side, Chicoba chicken… or dried squid would do, wouldn’t it?

Just imagining it made the walk home feel good, and the corner of my mouth was twitching when.

I locked eyes with someone I hadn’t run into at the office in a while.

Management Team 1.

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun.

A low groan slipped out of me.

“Ah.”

Exhaustion hit me all at once.

---

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun, appearing out of nowhere, spoke with a pick-a-fight tone.

“Not going to greet me?”

“…”

I rubbed the back of my neck, which was starting to stiffen up, and thought.

Were we even on greeting terms?

Or did he just want a greeting as a superior in the same department?

No idea which it was, but I bowed my head anyway.

Provoking Team Leader Kim Seong-hun right now wouldn’t do me any good.

But unlike my line of thinking, Team Leader Kim Seong-hun didn’t look like he had any intention of backing off nicely.

“Ha, this punk. You piss me off every time I see you, seriously.”

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun strode toward me with heavy steps.

Watching him, my head went loose and drowsy.

The wired state I’d been holding for days had finally broken.

With the heavy fatigue finally catching up to me, my voice dropped low too.

“What’s your problem, Team Leader One.”

“My problem? You’re the one with a problem.”

I have a problem?

Not at all.

I don’t even care about him.

Just then, Team Leader Kim Seong-hun glared and muttered.

“Fuck. You gonna give me a decent look or what?”

Would you look at that?

Did he just curse at me, fuck and all?

I slipped my hand into my pocket without Team Leader Kim Seong-hun noticing.

Luckily I had my phone on me.

“Cursing’s a bit much, Team Leader One.”

“You do it too. You don’t like me either, do you?”

“I don’t have any thoughts on it at all.”

“That’s exactly what having a problem looks like, you piece of shit.”

“All this fuck fuck, it’s a little uncomfortable to listen to.”

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun gave my shoulder a shove.

At the unnecessary touch, the fatigue washing over me vanished and my head snapped wired again.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”

“Why? A little touch and your temper shows, huh?”

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun smirked, sour and thin.

“Quit the act and act like you usually do, you punk. You’ve glared at me plenty too.”

His words started to leave me speechless.

‘Wait, is this actually happening?’

Workplace violence, verbal abuse, the kind I’d only ever seen on NutTube?

This actually happens in real life?

I was thrown off, but I did what needed doing.

I turned on my phone’s recording function.

Meanwhile Team Leader Kim Seong-hun kept picking the fight.

“Feels like the whole world’s yours these days, huh? So a superior in your own department looks like nothing to you too?”

“I’ve never thought that.”

“Cut the crap. Your eyes say exactly that! You’re loving it, seeing me go under, aren’t you?”

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun’s voice suddenly started to shake.

“Do you have any idea… fuck. what I went through because of Choi Su-hyeon?”

“…”

“I still jolt awake in the middle of the night just thinking about it. And you know what’s even more unfair? I was supposed to get Seo Tae-jun, and your Team 5 was supposed to get that cheating bastard Choi Su-hyeon! Why the hell did the Division Head hand Seo Tae-jun over to a garbage team like yours? You pulled some strings, didn’t you, huh?”

I let out a hollow laugh.

Why would Seo Tae-jun be Team 1’s to begin with?

Quota-wise, he was assigned to our Team 5, wasn’t he?

If anyone pulled strings, wasn’t it Team Leader One’s side?

And Choi Su-hyeon was assigned to Team 2, but Team 1 snatched him up purely out of Team Leader Kim Seong-hun’s own greed, as far as I knew?

Beyond just illogical, it felt like watching a kid throw a tantrum.

In that instant, my mouth moved on its own.

“That’s a wild leap.”

“!”

“Isn’t it your own fault for taking Choi Su-hyeon, Team Leader One? He was Team 2’s slot to begin with, wasn’t he?”

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun’s eyes went wide, and he grabbed me by the collar.

“… What did you just say?”

“I said it’s your fault, Team Leader One.”

“Hah… you just keep pissing me off to the end, don’t you?”

The corner of Team Leader Kim Seong-hun’s eye trembled.

It looked like he might throw a punch any second.

‘Should I hold back?’

I had to hold back.

I couldn’t splash filth like Kim Seong-hun onto Twenty, who’d just debuted.

So I was just starting to regret what I’d said a moment ago when

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun muttered.

“Right. From the start, I couldn’t stand you and that crazy bitch Lee Ha-eun, as a pair.”

“!”

“Every time I got tangled up with either of you, it gave me a real headache. Enough that just looking at you pissed me off.”

My eyebrows twitched.

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun didn’t miss that reaction.

His twisted smile wasn’t so much chilling as it was just repulsive.

“So is there something going on between you two?”

Team Leader Kim Seong-hun started crossing a line.

“Why’s Lee Ha-eun so interested in you, huh? That woman burns through managers like it’s a habit, but for you she even hands out lip service about Queen of Joseon.”

Looking at his bloodshot eyes, he seemed to have already lost his reason.

In the end, Team Leader Kim Seong-hun touched a nerve.

“What’d you do to tame that crazy bitch, huh?”

“!”

“Give me a tip too, Chief Kwon. Let me try it out sometime. Or… is it the kind of tip you can’t exactly use? Huh?”

Ah, I’d held back as much as I could.

I clenched my fist tight.

“Don’t tell me you and that crazy bitch have been hooking up…”

I figured I’d have to shut this son of a bitch’s mouth first and worry about the consequences later.

Right as I was about to lose it and do something I couldn’t take back.

A sharp shout, like shattering glass, stopped my fist.

“What crazy bitch.”

I froze, and Team Leader Kim Seong-hun froze too.

The situation, which had been spiraling fast, dropped into a cold stillness.

It was a strange silence, as if time itself had stopped.

Inside it, the sound of heels rang out.

“I said, what crazy bitch.”

Click, click.

At the evenly spaced click of those heels, my heart started pounding hard.

-Thump, thump!

It was pounding so hard it rang in my ears.

Meanwhile Team Leader Kim Seong-hun’s face went dead pale.

“Uh, uh… that’s…”

My own face had probably gone pretty pale too.

Given whose voice this was, that was only natural.

Just then, a slender, long-fingered hand knocked away Team Leader Kim Seong-hun’s grip on my collar.

A sweet scent of skin brushed past my nose.

“The crazy bitch is right here now, so say it.”

This block’s own crazy bitch had shown up.

“What did I do with Chief Kwon, exactly?”

The top-star actress.

Lee Ha-eun.

A crooked smile hung at the corner of her mouth.