Chapter 107: Comeback Stage (1)
The MBS Show! Music Center calculated the final ranking based on 60% album and digital sales, 20% MeTube views, 15% combined on-site and SMS voting, and 5% broadcast score.
Currently, Petite More was slightly ahead in digital sales, while Cherry Blossom took the lead in MeTube views. Thus, the variables that could sway the ranking in our favor were on-site and real-time SMS voting.
I had asked the four girls from HoengSeong Girls' High School to bring just twenty others with vocal cords as strong as theirs to help tip these variables in our favor. After all, the cheering battle at the Show! Music Center live broadcast was crucial.
Having pleaded with the PD for twenty audience tickets, I called the girls from HoengSeong Girls’ High School.
-We're near Apgujeong.
"You’re almost there. Call me as soon as you arrive and I'll come out to meet you."
-After hanging up, Lee Ju-Yung and I headed to the dressing room.
Shortly after, Han Myung-Ho arrived with the Stylists Park Yi-Yoon and Lee Eun-Hyang, who were recently assigned to Singer Division 2. Park Yi-Yoon was a third-year employee who had been in charge of Golden Road while Lee Eun-Hyang was a new intern at the company.
Both stylists spoke formally to me since my position was more senior than theirs, even though Park Yi-Yoon was my sunbae.
After brief introductions, Lee Ju-Yung started checking the costumes and props with them.
"Miss Yi-Yoon and Miss Eun-Hyang. Take a break once you've finished checking the list. We can have another look before going live."
At that moment, Sae-Ri suddenly rushed toward me and stretched out her hands.
"Oppa, give me something for my nerves."
"Are you talking about uhwang-cheongsimhwan?"[1]
Sae-Ri nodded vigorously. "Yes, that one!"
It seemed like being the center for 'Hurry Up!' had increased her anxiety and made her seek the calming pill more frequently than usual.
"You weren't nervous at yesterday's Music World. Why are you so nervous now?"
"Who knows? I don't know why I'm like this~."
Sae-Ri sang a trot melody brilliantly and then stuck out her tongue in a playful manner. Her clear voice—even with a trot twist—made me laugh. She was indeed born to sing. In the future, Sae-Ri would release a mini trot album with all three songs reaching number one on the music charts.
Thinking about that future album release brought a smile to my face.
"Here, take it."
When I handed her the uhwang-cheongsimhwan I had prepared, Sae-Ri popped the black pill into her mouth like candy.
"Eugh, it's bitter."
But despite complaining, she rolled it around in her mouth and sucked on it like a lollipop. Just watching her eat the bitter pill made my body shiver.
"Oh, right. I have gifts for you all. Yoo-Jin asked me to give these to you before going on stage."
I took out the emerald-colored paper bag Yoo-Jin had given me.
Woo-Yeon-Hee took out four cases in red, blue, yellow, and white from the paper bag.
"Oppa, which one is for whom?"
"The red is for Yeon-Hee, yellow for Eun-Bi, white for Eun-Ah, and blue for Sae-Ri, she said."
Each of the girls opened their cases and checked their gifts.
"Wow. It’s so pretty."
The gifts from Yoo-Jin were silver bracelets with cherry blossom decorations. Although the design was the same for all, the cubic zirconia colors on the cherry blossom decorations differed, making it clear whose was whose.
Sae-Ri pointed at the cubic zirconia and tilted her head. "Wait. What's this?"
Upon closer inspection, I noticed there was a drawing inside the half-sphere cubic zirconia which was obviously drawn by Miso. She had mentioned drawing cherry blossoms on tiny pieces of paper yesterday, but I had no idea she intended to put them inside the cubic zirconia.
Unfortunately, I couldn't explain to the girls what the drawing was because even I couldn't be certain if Miso's drawing was of a cherry blossom.
"......Miso must have drawn it to cheer you all up."
The Cherry Blossom members smiled warmly, still tilting their heads in wonder.
"Is it a blue cotton candy?"
"I think mine’s a cloud?"
"Um, mine looks like a fist."
"I...don't know what mine is."
‘Sorry, Miso. It seems they can't decipher your art.’
While everyone was happily receiving their gifts, Yang Eun-Bi suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, the chart rankings changed again!"
Upon seeing Yang Eun-Bi's serious expression, the other three quickly checked their phones seeing
[Melang Chart]
1st Petite More 'Masquerade'
2nd Petite More ’Midnight Princess’
3rd Cherry Blossom 'Hurry Up!'
"Gosh, you scared me. I thought our ranking had dropped!"
Yang Eun-Bi stuck out her tongue at Woo Yeon-Hee’s criticism.
"Hehe. I was just surprised because we suddenly went back up to third place."
'Hurry Up!' had climbed up another rank.
"It feels good to see the ranking go up. Let's all do our best today, okay?"
"Okay!"
Cherry Blossom’s voice resonated in the dressing room.
Then, a call came through on my phone.
[Caller: Jung Sang-Bong]
"It looks like the fan club admins have arrived. I'll be back in a bit."
"Alright. See you soon." Lee Ju-Yung waved me off.
After saying goodbye to Lee Ju-Yung, I answered the call as I left. Jung Sang-Bong was waiting at the entrance of MBS.
-Mr. Jung, Where should I bring these girls? There are twenty of them here.
I had told the girls it was fine to bring up to twenty people for the cheering squad, and it seemed like they really did bring twenty.
"Park the bus in the parking lot and come to exit A5. I'm heading there right now."
I left the dressing room to meet the Hoengseong Girls’ High School girls and their friends.
***
"Mr. J! You didn't really think we'd come, did you?"
“Of course I did. I was counting on you guys."
"Oh, come on~ I know you didn’t believe in us."
"If I didn't, why would I have gotten twenty audience tickets? Do you know how hard it was to get these tickets?"
Seeing the Hoengseong Girls’ High School girls who brought along their classmates felt reassuring. However, Park Han-Byeol and Sung Ji-Yeon made a disappointed face as they looked at the merchandise I handed out with the tickets.
"What's wrong? Is there an issue?"
Sung Ji-Yeon shook her head. "No. It's just... they're a bit old-fashioned. We've prepared our own, so can we just use those instead?"
"You prepared your own? You mean you made your own merchandise?"
When Sung Ji-Yeon looked back, the girls from the school simultaneously pulled out cheering sticks, headbands, and banners from their bags. Their merchandise was much larger and more splendid than the temporary ones provided by Hoop Entertainment.
The cheering sticks were the size of small bats, and the headbands featured the words ‘Cherry Blossom’ in LED lights.
Sung Ji-Yeon said she had them made with her own money, but they looked professional enough to have been made by a pro. It surely seemed true that she had been the Elias Gangwon branch leader since the first year of middle school.
Even the small bus they came in was rented with Sung Ji-Yeon's personal money.
'What does your father do for a living again?'
Sung Ji-Yeon's identity was becoming more intriguing.
"Alright, let's use those. And later, Talent Agent Jung Sang-Bong will take you to the dorm. I'll introduce you to Cherry Blossom after they finish their schedule today."
"Yay!"
I led the excited girls to the audiences’ seat. All the girls except for the original four seemed to be seeing a broadcast stage in person for the first time and started squealing in excitement.
I led the group of twenty high school girls to the center seats of row E.
"Wow, you can really see well from here."
"This is amazing. Mr. J, it must have been hard to get these seats, right? You begged the AD, didn't you?"
Thinking about the effort it took to get these prime seats which offered the best view of the stage, almost brought tears to my eyes. After all, I had to secure not just one but twenty seats.
"Yes, I did. That's why I'm asking for your best support today. Cherry Blossom's ranking depends on you guys."
"Oh, wow~ Are we the secret weapon then?"
"Don’t worry. You can trust us!"
I nodded, patted Jung Sang-Bong on the shoulder, and said, "Sang-Bong, please take good care of them."
"Pardon? Are you telling me to manage all of them by myself?"
Jung Sang-Bong looked panicked, but I simply nodded.
‘What? Should I do it then? You should have gotten closer to them earlier.’
Despite his apparent discomfort with the high school girls, I had no option but to leave him in their company, as I had to be with Cherry Blossom to manage numerous other matters.
"Listen up, guys. Sang-Bong is your leader today. Got it?"
"Okay! Don't worry. We'll take good care of him."
Leaving the bewildered Jung Sang-Bong and the excited group of high school girls behind, I headed straight to the dressing room.
But there were only two stylists in the dressing room.
"Huh? Where did the girls go?"
"They went out to greet their sunbaes."
"When?"
"About five minutes ago."
"Got it, thank you."
I immediately rushed out into the hallway and scanned the other dressing rooms.
In the meantime, the voices of the busy staff and managers buzzed around me.
"I knew that Petite More’s album would go well, but what's with Cherry Blossom now?"
"Their new song is pretty good. The dance is amazing, too."
"Man, life's tough. They are going to sweep everything for a while."
Talent agents of successful idols like GOD.6, Nasty, Muscle Beast, and Candy Pop were getting nervous from Cherry Blossom's emergence.
'As they should. How dare they compare themselves to our Cherry Blossom?'
I couldn't help but feel a little smug.
Just then, a familiar voice came from behind.
"We meet again, I see."
When I turned around, I found Ma Dong-Pal looking at me with an annoyed expression and dark circles under his eyes reaching down to his jaw. I figured he must be struggling with Cherry Blossom closing in on the rankings despite his music chart manipulation.
I couldn't help but smile and reply, "We surely do meet quite often, Mr. Ma."
Ma Dong-Pal's face twisted as he grumbled, "Stop. I hate seeing you smile."
‘It seems the saying 'you can’t spit in a smiling face' doesn't apply to this man.’
When I glanced at the dressing rooms on the sides as we walked in the same direction, Ma Dong-Pal couldn't help but make another comment.
"Why are you loitering around the hallway when you should be in the dressing room? Did you hide gold somewhere or what?"
"Oh, I'm looking for Cherry Blossom. Don't mind me."
At that moment, a sharp voice echoed through the slightly ajar door of Petite More's dressing room.
"Hey! I said take it off!"
'Is that Park Eun-Bin's voice?'
Park Eun-Bin's clear voice rang out again. "You’re seriously not going to take it off? Do you really want to die?"
Simultaneously, a sharp sound of breaking glass pierced through the crack of the door followed by a tearing scream.
"Ahhhhhhh!"
This time, it was Sae-Ri's voice.
I immediately rushed into Petite More's dressing room.
As I entered, an unbelievable scene unfolded—blood was dripping from Lee Ju-Yung's hand as she blocked Cherry Blossom's way, and broken glass vase pieces were scattered on the floor.
I instinctively checked on Cherry Blossom first.
The screaming Sae-Ri was in Woo Yeon-Hee's arms, and Woo Yeon-Hee was glaring at Park Eun-Bin over Lee Ju-Yung's shoulder. Yang Eun-Bi was comforting Eun-Ah whose face was pale as she looked at Lee Ju-Yung's wound.
Park Eun-Bin pointed at the red hairpin in Woo Yeon-Hee's hair. "Still refusing to take it off? Do you really want to go through with this?"
She was demanding Woo Yeon-Hee to take off the hairpin that matched the stage outfit concept. I soon understood the situation when I saw that Park Eun-Bin had the same cherry blossom design hairpin on her hair.
Then, I noticed the water stain on Park Eun-Bin's right hand as she screamed hysterically.
'Did Park Eun-Bin throw the water vase?’
Lee Ju-Yung responded instead of Woo Yeon-Hee who had her lips tightly sealed.
"She can't take it off! How many times do I have to explain that it's an accessory matched with today's stage outfit?"
Despite the blood flowing from her hand, Lee Ju-Yung was calmly confronting Park Eun-Bin.
Park Eun-Bin once again showed her irritation. "If I say take it off, you take it off. Why are you talking so much?"
"This is ridiculous. Why should I listen to you?"
"What did you say? How dare a mere talent agent talk back to me like that?"
Lee Ju-Yung's expression twisted. "Watch your language, Park Eun-Bin. I'm holding back a lot here."
I quickly approached Lee Ju-Yung and pulled out a handkerchief. "Are you okay?"
"It's not a serious injury, so don't worry. It's just a slight scratch from the shards of the broken vase."
I wrapped the bleeding area with the handkerchief.
Ma Dong-Pal who followed me shouted upon looking around the room. "Team Lead Sung, block the door!"
Sung Ji-Hyuk, who had been standing dazed up till now, quickly walked past us to block the dressing room door.
Thud, thud.
The sound of someone knocking on the door followed continuously.
"What's going on in there!?"
"What's happening inside?"
"I'm AD Choi In-Seok. What's happening inside? Open the door, please!"
Following Sae-Ri's scream, Choi In-Seok, the AD for MBS Show! Music Center, was demanding for the door to be opened.
My heart pounded furiously and my mind was filled with nothing but rage.
'Should I just make a scene?’
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsimhwan ?
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