Chapter 109: Comeback Stage (3)
"Miss Eun-Bin, what about Ms. Lee's hospital treatment costs?"
Just when Park Eun-Bin thought it was all over, her face twisted again in frustration. She definitely would have hurled more than just insults if the PD weren’t here.
"Fine, I'll pay! I said I'll pay!"
Ju Han-Soo looked at Ma Dong-Pal again and said, "Mr. Ma, make sure you take care of the hospital bills accordingly. If I find out that it’s not settled, I'll make sure this whole incident is known to all.”
"Alright, alright," said Ma Dong-Pal hesitantly as he looked my way and said, "Assistant Manager Jung, leave your number with me. I'll transfer the hospital and cosmetic surgery costs to remove any scars right away."
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
Having gotten everything I needed, there was no reason for me to stay any longer.
“Mr. Ju, may we leave now? Ms. Lee should probably visit a hospital right away..."
"Ah, yes. Let's head out together."
Emerging victorious from this ludicrous battle, we left the room where Petite More and Ma Dong-Pal were cowering. Ju Han-Soo again instructed the staff to keep quiet about the incident. Once the commotion died down, the staff ran around and resumed their hectic schedules for the broadcast.
As we walked back to our waiting room, Ju Han-Soo casually struck up a conversation.
"Your name is Jung Yoon-Ho, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"You seem quite competent for someone at your level. How many years have you been working?"
"I’m just in my second year."
"Second year of holding a position as an assistant manager?"
"No, sir. It's my second year working in this industry. To be more precise, it’s been a full year and a month."
Ju Han-Soo stopped in his tracks. "Are you serious?"
He scanned me from head to toe with an incredulous expression on his face.
"And you went head-to-head with the infamous Ma Dong-Pal? You're quite the character."
Ju Han-Soo grinned and asked for my business card. "Have you got a business card?"
"Yes, sir. I have one right here."
I pulled out one of the flashy and high-quality business cards gifted to me by Kang Gam-Chan.
"Wow, what a fancy card you’ve got. It looks expensive. Oh, by the way—Cherry Blossom's new song is quite a hit. The higher-ups have high expectations, so make sure they nail the performance on stage. We'll give you all the support you need."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Ju."
After exchanging greetings with Cherry Blossom, Ju Han-Soo finally headed back to the control room.
When we returned to the waiting room, Han Myung-Ho, who stepped out for a while to take a call from the entertainment department director of MBS, was waiting for us.
Upon seeing the bandage wrapped around Lee Ju-Yung's hand, he asked what had happened while he was gone.
"That happened? I swear, I'll give them a piece of my mind!"
Han Myung-Ho was about to storm off to confront Petite More.
But Lee Ju-Yung smiled and said, "Mr. Han, Assistant Manager Jung already took care of it. There’s no need to go."
After getting her injury treated, Lee Ju-Yung enjoyed the rare victory over Petite More and said it was the most exhilarating experience in her career as a talent agent.
"I-is that so? Well, let's head to the hospital first."
"Okay."
Han Myung-Ho entrusted the situation to me and took Lee Ju-Yung to the hospital.
Once they left, Woo Yeon-Hee gathered the Cherry Blossom members together and said, "Guys, let's really give it our all today. Got it?"
The remaining three members made determined faces upon hearing their leader’s exclamation. All the members showed a competitive spirit I hadn't seen before, likely fueled by the recent altercation with Petite More.
"Shall we cheer?"
Woo Yeon-Hee's hand was met by the others stacked on top of each other.
At that moment, Woo Yeon-Hee called me over. "Oppa, you have to join us."
"Me too?"
"Of course. You're one of our members!"
“That’s right!”
With Sae-Ri's agreement, I also called over Park Yi-Yoon and Lee Eun-Hyang who had just been assigned to the team as of today.
"But can we please change the slogan for the cheer?"
‘Please let us bloom’ or ‘Cherry Blossom blooms in April’ had been the cheer slogans until now. But every time I heard them, the first one sounded too pitiful and the second made me worry if they would be successful in April only.
That’s when Sae-Ri suggested a new cheer slogan on the spot.
"Then how about 'Forever! Cherry Blossom!'? What do you think?"
"Forever?"
"Forever!"
"Okay, that sounds good."
‘Yes, let's not disband this time as we did in my past life but instead continue on just like this.’
"On three, two, one!"
"Forever! Cherry Blossom!"
Seven hands shot up to the sky and opened like blossoming flowers.
***
On the stage of MBS Show! Music Center, the teen stars and MCs of the show Park Byung-Hoon and Kim Se-Young loudly introduced Cherry Blossom.
"Here they are~ The four girls who heated up the show at the end of last year have returned with a fresh new song!"
"Cherry Blossoms bloom in the warm spring! Shall we see if they will bloom in their season? Hurry, hurry! Hurry up!"
"Hurry Up! Hurry Up!"
As Kim Se-Young jumped up and down while performing the key dance moves from 'Hurry Up!', Park Byung-Hoon pointed to the center of the stage.
The upbeat music started and the stage was spotlighted. At the same time, Cherry Blossom who had been waiting in their position began their dance. Cherry Blossom’s clear voices started harmonizing with the melody of 'Hurry Up!', featuring catchy rhythms, an addictive hook, and easy-to-follow lyrics.
After countless revisions by Bang Seon-Woo, 'Hurry Up!' even got the audience who came to support other performers moving along.
『Hands above your waist?, Hurry Up?』
Sae-Ri, who was standing at the very front, continued dancing to the chorus and shook her hips. As her flared skirt lifted and revealed her slender legs, the other three members followed with the same dance moves, creating a cute and sexy scene.
That’s when the cheer from the 'Cherry Blossom Family' who was sitting in row E echoed loudly through the audience seats.
"Hurry~ Up!"
As the fans cheered to the chorus, Jung Sang-Bong timidly extended his arms in a shy manner among them.
‘Sang-Bong, you'll need some re-education soon.’
The impressive energy from the Hoengseong Girls' High School girls and their friends made talent agents of other performers nervous.
"Woah, what's with their fans? Did their agency recruit the fans based on lung capacity?"
"Hahaha, it's been a while since we've heard such an amazing cheer. I wish our kids’ fandom could put in that much effort."
"Looks like Hoop Entertainment really went all out this time."
"Their last song wasn't that great... Ah, could there really be an upset this time?"
But at the moment the second verse began, a situation arose that made the talent agents tense.
『Hands above your waist?, Hurry Up?』
-Hurry~ Up!
Thanks to the simple choreography designed by Park Seon-Nyeo, the audience started to follow along with the dance moves during the hook part from the second verse. It was as if all the audience had become fans of Cherry Blossom.
"Holy crap. They're currently in third place, right?"
"No, they just hit second place on the chart."
‘What? Second place on the chart?’
I quickly checked my phone after hearing the other talent agents' conversation. True to their word, Cherry Blossom's 'Hurry Up!' was ranked second on the Melang chart. They were in second place despite Teddy Kim's manipulation of the music charts.
‘Could they actually hit first place today?’
In the meantime, Cherry Blossom's heated performance was coming to an end.
『Hands above your waist?, Hurry Up?』
The amps were turned off after the last chorus was played. The spotlight went out, plunging the stage into darkness for a moment. When the lights came back on, the cheer squad led by the Hoengseong Girls' High School girls sprang up from their seats and began to cheer so loud as if the stage might collapse.
“Yessssss!”
“Go, Cherry Blossom!”
Cherry Blossom waved to the audience as they caught their breaths.
“Thank you!”
“We love you, Cherry Blossom Family!”
Waving to the audience with a bright smile, Cherry Blossom was washing away the sorrowful years of being a second-tier girl group.
'Let's keep working hard and our day to bloom will come.'
Cherry Blossom, who had been chanting this every night before falling asleep, had finally bloomed. The audience was responding to their hard work.
“You're the best, Cherry Blossom!”
“I’m your fan from now on!”
With flushed faces, Cherry Blossom came down the stairs at the side of the stage after giving a deep bow to the audience. The intense dance and the heat from the lights had left them soaked with sweat as if they had showered with their clothes on.
“Oppa, how did we do?”
“You guys did good. You saw the audience's reaction, didn’t you?”
But Woo Yeon-Hee shook her head. “No. I mean, how do you think we did?”
The other three girls also looked up at me and expected an answer like elementary students hoping for praise after doing their homework well. Even Yang Eun-Bi and Eun-Ah had the same look.
“All of your hard work really paid off. You guys were the best!”
Only after I gave them two thumbs-up did Cherry Blossom burst into cheers of joy.
At that moment, Choi In-Seok suddenly approached us while fiddling with his intercom.
“Excuse me. Mr. Jung, could you come here for a moment?”
“Yes, sir.”
Choi In-Seok looked around the surroundings to make sure no one was listening and then whispered, “Congratulations. Please get Cherry Blossom ready for the final ranking stage.”
“Final ranking stage? Really?”
“Yes. Only the on-site voting is left now. I wish you the best of luck for good results.”
Choi In-Seok winked at me and disappeared.
‘Only the top three would make it to the final ranking stage.’
I hurried back to Cherry Blossom.
“Oppa, what did Mr. Choi say?”
“Let's go back to the dressing room first. I'll tell you there.”
I couldn't openly discuss what Choi In-Seok told me since other singers were still around. When we returned to the dressing room, Han Myung-Ho and Lee Ju-Yung, who had bandages wrapped on her hand, had returned.
“Mr. Han! We got to the final ranking stage!”
Han Myung-Ho stood up abruptly. “R-really?”
Cherry Blossom’s eyes also widened out of surprise. After all, they had always been part of the backdrop and congratulated the sunbae groups on making it to the final ranking stage.
“Does that mean we're in the top three spots for the music show as well?”
“Yayyy~~!!”
“Is this for real?”
The Cherry Blossom members were so excited that they couldn’t help but jump around.
“Calm down, everyone. We need to fix your makeup first!”
Cherry Blossom came to their senses at Lee Ju-Yung's call.
“Oh, right.”
“Miss Eun-Hyang! Miss Yi-Yoon! Please check the girls' makeup and costumes quickly.”
The girls finally settled down for makeup touch-ups following Han Myung-Ho's order. Shortly after, the door opened with a click and a staff member appeared.
“Cherry Blossom, please get ready.”
As we headed to the stage, Petite More who had just finished their last performance was coming down the stage with their backup dancers.
While the other performers returned to the stage, Choi In-Seok directed Cherry Blossom where to stand on stage.
"Please stand by Petite More over there. Cameras 2 and 3 will be taking a wide-angle shot, so try to keep your gaze focused on both cameras."
Then Han Myung-Ho instructed Cherry Blossom as they were about to ascend the stage.
"You guys remember what we always told you, right?"
"Yes! Be confident yet humble!"
Seeing the girls’ bright faces, Han Myung-Ho and Lee Ju-Yung gestured for them to quickly go up the stage.
Cherry Blossom held hands with each other tightly and leaped onto the stage. As they made their way through the path cleared by other idols to the front row of the stage, Han Myung-Ho clasped his chest as if moved to tears.
"Ah, we were just running around local festivals until the end of last year. Seeing them standing at the front of the final ranking stage makes me want to cry."
Lee Ju-Yung was also pacing nervously. "Mr. Han, what if our kids actually take first place?"
"I-I don’t know. What do we do then?"
Both of them seemed even more excited than the Cherry Blossom members themselves.
But I was no different —seeing Sae-Ri's innocent face on stage made my palms sweat out of anxiety.
Thud, thud.
The heavy bass that I initially thought was from the percussion turned out to be the sound of my own heartbeat.
Soon, the MC’s voice announced, "It's time for the first place announcement on Show! Music Center. First, we'll reveal the scores for the digital music sales."
As the drum roll started, the scores were announced.
GOD.6 scored 2,525 points, Petite More had 5,004 points, and Cherry Blossom scored 4,563 points. This came down to a close battle between Petite More and Cherry Blossom.
Following the total scores before the last audience vote count, Cherry Blossom was miraculously in the lead by just 6 points with 6,112 points while Petite More had 6,106 points.
"C-could we really take first place?"
"I-I don’t know."
"Ah... I've been on blood pressure medication lately. Call 119 immediately if I faint, okay?"
"I don’t know if I can. I might pass out too, so tell Assistant Manager Jung to call 119."
Han Myung-Ho and Lee Ju-Yung were nearly fainting at this point.
At that moment, MC Kim Se-Young started to announce the final vote tally.
"Live on Show! Music Center. Petite More's live vote score is 1,013 points, totaling 7,119 points. And for Cherry Blossom...."
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