I Spent a Night with a Top Star Actress Chapter 9 - A bet.

I made a call on my way to the training center in Sangam.

“Ye-ji-ssi, can you talk?”

[“Yes, Chief!”]

“What are you doing right now?”

[“I’m having lunch with the Twenty girls!”]

“How are they holding up?”

The rookie road.

Lee Ye-ji’s voice went gloomy.

[“They’re a bit better now, but their heads are a little…. not in a good place, Chief.”]

I clicked my tongue lightly.

With so little time left before their debut, the girls being in a bad headspace isn’t a good issue.

But considering the impact of this case, it was also only natural.

‘The Kim Jang-hoon case made the nine o’clock news too, didn’t it?’

Then again, after going through something like that, it would be strange if the Twenty girls had any composure left.

Clicking my tongue lightly, I asked.

“You’re going to the practice room after lunch, right?”

[“Yes! Practice Room 3!”]

“Same as last time. I’m on my way to the training center now, so see you later, Ye-ji-ssi.”

I hung up and went through my contacts.

There was the phone number of the new general director I’d gotten from Team Leader Ma Seok-du.

“Choi Jeong-eun…. Choi Jeong-eun. That’s a name I’ve never heard before.”

If even I didn’t know it, I had to assume a new director with no reputation yet.

‘Tsk. This smells like a patch job.’

However suddenly Director Kim Jang-hoon got wiped out, a complete rookie is a bit much, isn’t it?

I felt a slight pull in my head.

I rubbed the back of my neck and emptied my head.

“Slow down, slow down.”

Shaking off the pointless worry, I called Director Choi Jeong-eun.

The ring tone went a few times and an exhausted voice came through.

[“Hello?”]

“Hello, Director Choi Jeong-eun. This is Chief Kwon Chan from Team 5.”

[“Team 5… Chief Kwon?”]

“Yes. Twenty’s supervising manager.”

[“…Ah, that Chief Kwon?”]

Luckily I didn’t have to introduce myself at length.

Team Leader Ma Seok-du must have passed word along, because Director Choi Jeong-eun already knew who I was.

[“Nice to meet you. So what are you calling about?”]

“Nothing much, I’d like to meet you sometime today. Would that be all right?”

[“I do have time free today, but….”]

“I’m on my way to the Sangam training center now.”

[“Ah! Good timing. About when will you get here?”]

The navigation said ten minutes.

Counting time to buy coffee, I figured I should say thirty.

[“You’ll be here soon, then. When you arrive, come to Recording Studio 2. I’ll be waiting there.”]

I ended the call and focused on driving.

Not long after, the Sangam training center came into view.

I parked, stopped by a 24-hour cafe and bought two coffees and a slice of cake.

On my way to the editing room, I put together a rough list of what I had to do.

First, check whether a song called “Youth Journey” exists, and after that it seemed I’d need to get properly acquainted with the Twenty girls.

I’d been working out of the office for a while and the sudden pile of work brought on a bit of fatigue.

“After going this far, I’d feel cheated if there’s no song called ‘Youth Journey.'”

…. No.

Come to think of it, feeling cheated isn’t the problem.

I confidently declared to Division Head Park Yu-hyeon that I’d get them into the chart top five, so how do I clean that up?

‘But if a song called “Youth Journey” does exist, isn’t that a problem in itself?’

If a song called “Youth Journey” exists…. then I really did receive a message from the future.

I rubbed hard at the goosebumps on my forearm.

‘Problem either way.’

Clicking my tongue briefly, I gave a light knock on the door of Recording Studio 2 on the third floor, where Director Choi Jeong-eun was.

“Director Choi Jeong-eun. This is Chief Kwon from Team 5.”

I waited for an answer, and got the door opening instead.

A woman in her early thirties, no makeup on her face, glasses on, dipped her head.

“Chief Kwon?”

“Yes, I’m Chief Kwon.”

“Ah, good to meet you. I’m Director Choi Jeong-eun.”

I held out the iced americano and cake I’d brought.

Director Choi Jeong-eun exclaimed in surprise.

“Oh my. What’s all this?”

“It felt wrong to come empty-handed, so I grabbed something on the way.”

“Ugh… thank you, but if I drink this too that’s four large ones today already. Is that going to be okay?”

Grumbling all the while, Director Choi Jeong-eun stuck a straw into the iced americano I’d brought.

Meanwhile I stepped into the studio and looked over her workspace.

‘What a mess.’

Plastic coffee cups stacked like a tower.

Sheet music and documents strewn all over.

Less a recording studio than a college club room mid-drinking session.

Director Choi Jeong-eun watched my face and said.

“The studio’s a mess, isn’t it?”

“…. Yes, well.”

“Oh my. Aren’t you being a little too honest?”

“I’m the type who can’t lie.”

Director Choi Jeong-eun burst out laughing.

“Chief Kwon, how do you make a joke with a face that serious?”

It isn’t a joke, it’s true.

But I let it go.

After letting a moment pass, I brought out my reason for coming to her workspace.

“It’s nothing complicated. I’m here because an order came down from the Division Head.”

At the mention of the Division Head, Director Choi Jeong-eun’s pupils widened.

“Uh… you mean Division Head Park Yu-hyeon?”

“Yes. The order came down to start taking care of the Twenty girls in earnest, so…”

Trailing off, my voice shook slightly with nerves.

“Could I start by looking at the track list for Twenty’s first album, Director Choi Jeong-eun?”

---

Nerves, anticipation, fear.

In the middle of those tangled feelings, I opened the track list Director Choi Jeong-eun handed me.

In that moment, my heart dropped with a thump!

‘It’s there.’

“Youth Journey.”

‘It’s actually there.’

The debut song that turns Twenty, a flop group, into a chart-topping girl group.

That “Youth Journey”… was on the track list!

I held my breath without meaning to.

‘But it isn’t the title track.’

Twenty’s title track was a song called “Attention.”

That stung a little, but it did nothing to the current running through my body right then.

…Tingle, tingle!

At a thrill I couldn’t put into words, the corners of my eyes trembled.

If Director Choi Jeong-eun hadn’t been in front of me staring blankly, I might have collapsed on the spot.

‘…But should I call this a good thing?’

It wasn’t a spam message, it was really a message from the future?

I was a little scared.

At a phenomenon common sense couldn’t explain, a chill went down my spine too.

If I have to compare it to something… right.

Should I say it’s exactly like when I won the lottery?

Unbelievable, dazed, scared, and wanting to shout for joy all at once.

Then Director Choi Jeong-eun called me.

“…Um, Chief Kwon? You look really unwell.”

I turned my head, startled.

There was Director Choi Jeong-eun, eyes wide and round, looking at me.

Feeling my mind come back to reality, I answered quickly.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I haven’t been sleeping lately.”

“Do you want a Tylenol? Your face is so red.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“…”

I waved a hand and declined, and Director Choi Jeong-eun’s eyes still wouldn’t leave me.

Any longer and she looked ready to take me to a hospital, so I forced the subject around.

“By the way, have you seen the girls perform, Director?”

“The Twenty girls?”

“Yes. Their main vocal and main visual are gone. Were they all right?”

Director Choi Jeong-eun stroked her chin.

“Like a red bean bun with the red bean taken out?”

“…Empty inside?”

“Yes. Honestly, the girls’ visuals? Their singing? Not bad at all. Better than I expected, actually. But maybe because the main visual and main vocal are gone, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was bland.”

I think I know the feeling.

‘She’s saying they have no appeal.’

An idol group with no appeal in a market like today’s, and a group right before its debut hearing that….

That’s a death sentence.

The groups people call flop groups were exactly like that.

‘But what if there’s an appealing title track?’

In the end, a singer speaks with their songs.

That’s the same for idols.

Visuals, dancing, the halo of a huge agency.

The thing that can chew through all of it is a good song.

And I know what that song is.

‘”Youth Journey.”‘

In that moment my head cleared right out.

The complicated situation felt simple along with it.

‘Right…. Is there any reason to twist this into something complicated?’

I’m the only one who knows the song that takes Twenty, riding the flop-group track, to number one on the music charts.

That’s all of it, and that’s the end of it.

Realizing that, my tension shot up sharply.

At the same time I got a sense of what I had to do now.

“Could I listen to ‘Youth Journey’?”

“Hm? Not the title track?”

A plausible excuse came out smoothly.

“I’ll see the title track through the Twenty girls’ performance.”

Director Choi Jeong-eun shrugged and handed me a headset.

It must have been a good headset, because the feel of it around my ears was excellent.

“I’ll play the song, Chief Kwon.”

At Director Choi Jeong-eun’s signal, a bouncing melody flowed out through the headset.

-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.

The first verse passed and the second started.

-On this night the stars are shining,

You and I, we can be together.

We’re on the sea of our youth,

Let’s go together like the waves.

My impression after hearing through the second verse was exactly this.

‘Simple.’

For a song that hits number one, it was quite plain.

Which makes sense, since most idol songs that hit number one these days are songs packed with stimulation.

But somehow.

I liked this plainness in “Youth Journey.”

‘The fact that the lyrics are all Korean is nice too.’

It’s the Korean music market, and these days English shows up more than Korean.

But “Youth Journey”‘s lyrics were Korean from start to finish.

-Let’s go~ on a trip. Arms full of youth.

Bright drums.

Clean bass.

And over them, a voice with a distinctive tone playing around.

In that moment I understood.

‘So this is why it went to number one.’

I’d been curious what kind of song hits number one on the charts, and it was nothing complicated.

“Youth Journey” was a song that’s good to listen to.

---

Number one on the music charts.

Having solved the secret of “Youth Journey,” I went on to have a few more conversations with Director Choi Jeong-eun.

“It looks like we’ll have to prepare another internal evaluation, Director.”

“Division Head’s instructions?”

“Yes. The Division Head said a mid-point check is absolutely necessary.”

“Ugh…. Another all-nighter, then. The music video edit and the part revisions are still backed up too.”

I’d been a little worried because she was a rookie director, but she was a better person than I’d expected.

Grumbling with her mouth while giving her best to the work she’s been handed, I suppose you’d say.

Of course, whether she’s the type who only gives her best or the type with real ability too, I’d have to watch a while longer.

“That’s everything I had to report today, so I’ll come by again tomorrow or the day after.”

Director Choi Jeong-eun sipped away at the iced americano I’d given her and lowered her head.

“Thank you for your work, Chief Kwon.”

“You work hard too, Director.”

I left Recording Studio 2 and headed for Practice Room 3, where the Twenty girls were.

It’s exactly ten minutes on foot, and in those ten minutes ten thousand thoughts came up.

But unlike a moment ago, those thoughts weren’t worries choking the breath out of me.

They were options spread out on wings called possibility.

‘Right now I’m the only one who knows Twenty goes to number one on the charts.’

For a girl group missing its main vocal and main visual to top the charts takes heaven’s own luck.

And I know about that stroke of heaven’s luck in advance.

‘I know the future of the idol market?’

This is nothing short of a cheat code.

Whatever choice I made, I couldn’t fail.

I was feeling the corner of my mouth twitch at that when it happened.

The cash envelope I’d gotten from Division Head Park Yu-hyeon suddenly came to mind.

“…”

I stopped walking for a moment and took out the envelope I’d received from Division Head Park Yu-hyeon today.

‘One million won in fifty-thousand-won notes.’

Just as Division Head Park Yu-hyeon said….

For a cash gift, there was a fair amount of money in it.

Running my hand smoothly over the stack of fifty-thousand-won notes, I thought.

‘It’s certain now. Twenty isn’t a flop group, they’re a girl group that goes to number one on the charts.’

And I’d made a bet with Division Head Park Yu-hyeon over Twenty’s debut numbers.

The prize in the bet was a performance bonus.

I don’t know how much that bonus is, but a person at Division Head level made a confident promise, so it can’t be a small sum.

But somehow.

Right now, I felt that the bonus alone wasn’t enough.

“It isn’t that I feel it isn’t enough, it really isn’t enough, is it?”

I’m about to take Baekhak’s one sore spot, its girl group, and make it a success from here?

A girl group riding the flop-group track, at that?

In that moment I found myself muttering.

“The bet with the Division Head….”

It looks like I need to raise the stakes.