Chapter 43: Blooming Days for Cherry Blossom (1)
I had to take on the role of Cherry Blossom's Talent Agent today as Yoo-Jin’s schedule was empty. When I said I wouldn't go to Singer Division 2, Lee Dong-Min went all the way to the managing director’s office to plead and even threaten.
Unable to withstand his persistence, Kang Ji-Yung eventually gave in. As a result, I officially became in charge of Cherry Blossom whenever Yoo-Jin had her days off. Thanks to this, I got so busy I wished I could clone myself.
After parking the car in the underground lot, I did my routine planner check. Upon checking the day’s events, I inevitably let out a sigh.
"Well. It's going to be chaotic today."
[Everyday V10]
[Date: January 12, 2020]
-06:20 PM Yongpyong, Gangwon-do H Resort, KBC Live Music Stage outdoor stage. (Report) Golden Road rehearsal no-show
-06:40 PM (Report) Clash between Golden Road and Petite More during KBC Live Music Stage.
-07:00 PM KBC Live Music Stage live broadcast
-09:00 PM <Deleted Schedule>
(Deleted Schedule: Gangwon-do Hoengseong Hanwoo Taste Festival stage, Cherry Blossom)
I recalled this day which happened in my past life.
‘Man, I really did have a tough time on this day.’
While driving Golden Road's van to Yongpyong, an unexpected heavy snowfall would ensue, causing a delay in their schedule and ultimately leading to them missing the 5:30 PM deadline.
As a result of missing the rehearsal and getting scolded by the AD, Golden Road would become quite hysterical, with one of their members, Eun-Yung, being entangled in a big fight with Eun-Bin of Petite More.
Although everyone managed to successfully finish the live stage, it was a day that I never wanted to experience ever again.
However, as I looked at the planner, I couldn't help but smile when I saw a canceled schedule at the bottom.
"Come to think of it, Cherry Blossom has grown a lot."
Instead of performing at the Hanwoo Taste Festival, which was located in the middle of a market, they were performing on the KBC Music Stage. This was indeed a huge milestone!
Beep.
I turned off the van's engine and headed to Singer Division 2.
There, Lee Dong-Min, who was scratching the back of his messy hair, greeted me.
"Star Jung, please take good care of our kids today. Oh, and we've started working on a new song."
"Already?"
Lee Dong-min brought up my own words and smirked. "Is that a bad thing? You were the one who said we needed a better song, weren’t you? Anyway, I might be a bit late today because of that. You should go ahead with Team Lead Han."
"Understood, Mr. Lee."
The moment I heard about the new song, I began organizing all the potential hit songs in my mind as I recalled my ten years of memories to recommend a few of them to Cherry Blossom.
Then, Han Myung-Ho, who was in charge of Cherry Blossom, entered Division 2. He looked extremely tired, possibly from sleeping in the company's dormitory again. Indeed, being in charge of idols was not an easy job.
"Oh? You're here already?"
"Yes, Mr. Han."
Han Myung-Ho made a tired expression and opened his mouth. "It's still early, so let's have a bowl of hot soup before we leave. My body feels so stiff."
But I shook my head at his suggestion to leave after eating. "Mr. Han, didn't they issue a heavy snow warning today? I think we should leave early."
Han Myung-Ho looked puzzled at my words. It seemed he hadn't heard about the warning.
"Is that so? Then I guess it can't be helped. Let's leave now and buy some kimbap on the way then."
"That sounds good, Mr. Han."
We left the office and rushed toward Yongpyong—today's battleground.
***
Screech.
When I parked the car in the Yongpyong H Resort parking lot, heavy snow had already been falling for about 20 minutes. The snow, each flake the size of a thumb, covered everything in a pristine blanket of white.
"It's a blizzard."
"Huh, we would have been in trouble if we had taken our time and delayed leaving."
Talent Agent Lee Ju-Yung, who was sitting in the back seat, also nodded in agreement.
"We really would have been in big trouble if we had a no-show today. After all, the other talent agents were giving us the side-eye, saying that we are not even among the top ranks but still squeezed our way into the face meeting..."
Face meetings were meetings where PDs and agencies of singers gathered together to decide the order of appearance for the singers at music shows. Cherry Blossom, having gained recognition from the end-of-year idol battle, was receiving solid support from Producer Choi Eun-Hyuk. Thanks to him, Cherry Blossom was able to perform on the Yongpyong special stage, despite holding a low ranking of 35.
That was when it happened.
Thud.
The car door in the back opened and Sae-Ri jumped out.
"Snow! I have to be the first to step on it!"
Sae-Ri headed toward the parking lot garden where the snow had piled up to her ankles.
I couldn’t understand why she was so excited to step on the pristine white snow nobody had stepped on yet. But thanks to the boots that we had prepared in advance for the blizzard, there was no concern about getting her skirt wet.
"Sae-Ri! Your clothes will get wet! Why would you go there!"
As Woo Yeon-Hee shouted, Sae-Ri carefully lifted her skirt and coat slightly, seemingly also worried about getting her clothes wet. "Is this okay now?"
"Okay? What do you mean okay!"
"No, it's fine!"
Seeing Sae-Ri running again, Woo Yeon-Hee decided she had to intervene and ran after Sae-Ri to catch her.
Even though she had just turned 16 with the new year, Yang Eun-Bi shook her head while commenting that Sae-Ri was still a baby. "Sigh. When will she grow up?"
The last one to get out of the car was Eun-Ah. She held onto Yang Eun-Bi's arm and looked around the surroundings vigilantly like a meerkat on guard, perhaps because the ski resort was crowded with people.
But I was just relieved that Eun-Ah wouldn't be experiencing panic attacks on stage amidst all this.
"Eun-Bi unnie...today I..."
Seeing Eun-Ah's anxious expression, Yang Eun-Bi shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry, just stick close to me."
"Okay, unnie."
Then, Lee Ju-Yung gathered all the necessary clothes from the car and called me over.
"Yoon-Ho, could you help me with this?"
"Of course, Ms. Lee."
I took a bunch of stage costumes wrapped in vinyl.
"Wait, but why are there two sets of stage costumes?" Lee Ju-Yung asked with a puzzled expression.
"Oh. I brought extra as a precaution because of today's weather."
Lee Ju-Yung laughed, praising my thorough preparation. "Wow, Yoon-Ho. You really got this, huh?"
But I had another reason for bringing these costumes.
"Let me help. I'll help you carry some too."
Han Myung-Ho also joined in carrying the luggage and we headed to the open set. People who were clad in ski wear and carrying skis and boards at the ski resort started talking among themselves as they saw us.
"Isn't that Cherry Blossom?"
"Oh! I heard there’s going to be an outdoor stage performance today."
"Wow, their body proportions are great. Their faces are really small. Maybe even smaller than my fist?"
"Right? I'm the complete opposite. Mom, why did you give birth to me like this?"
"Hey. Don't blame me. You take after your dad."
"Their visuals are amazing. I've been seeing them a lot on TV lately."
"It's all thanks to the end-of-year broadcast effect. But it’s such a shame though. They would have really made it this time if only their song was better."
Flash! Flash!
People at the ski resort started taking out their phones to snap photos.
Woo Yeon-Hee was shy, Yang Eun-Bi tried to act unbothered, and Sae-Ri waved and greeted everyone around.
"Hello! We are Cherry Blossom. I'm Long Baby Kim Sae-Ri. Oh, what is Long Baby? It's a bit embarrassing to explain my nickname myself, but...people call me that because I have long legs although I am petite! And this is......."
‘Wow. She is so approachable. She’s good!’
She was certainly the most suited to be a celebrity among the Cherry Blossom members.
‘I wish I could take half of that charisma and give it to Eun-Ah.’
Meanwhile, Eun-Ah walked quickly with her head down and drew closer to my side when Yang Eun-Bi was briefly distracted.
"Eun-Ah, just stick behind me. Don't worry."
"Okay, oppa..."
I shielded Eun-Ah with my body and headed toward the temporary waiting room. Upon arriving at the waiting room, I could see that all the staff were busy bustling around.
When Han Myung-Ho and I were greeting everyone, Assistant Director Cha Tae-Hee let out a sigh of relief while she held onto a cue sheet in her hand.
"It's good that at least one team arrived early. Mr. Han, was there a lot of traffic on the Yeongdong Highway?"
"It was fine up till we arrived, but it seemed to be getting congested because of the snow when we exited the IC."
"Ah, what should I do? It looks like there’ll be a no-show by several teams today."
Muttering to herself, Cha Tae-Hee informed others of our arrival via her wireless intercom. "Mr. Choi. Cherry Blossom has arrived. Yes, yes."
After checking the site, Cha Tae-Hee consulted with Han Myung-Ho. "Rehearsal will start with Cherry Blossom regardless of the order."
"Yes, Ms.Cha."
Clearly tense, Cha Tae-Hee crumpled the cue sheet in her hand. Even with her five years of experience in music show broadcasts, this was her first time dealing with such a calamity. She couldn’t help but constantly mutter a curse under her breath.
Then, she received some instructions via the intercom and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes. I'll do that. Yes~."
After the conversation, Cha Tae-Hee called out to Han Myung-Ho who was heading toward the waiting room.
"Mr. Han, I'm sorry to ask this out of the blue. But can Cherry Blossom also take the first slot for the live show performance?"
"The first performance slot? Doesn’t that belong to Pink Diamonds?"
"Yes, but they haven't arrived yet. So Mr. Choi is asking if Cherry Blossom could take both the first and second performances for now. The rehearsal is about to start soon. Can they do two songs?"
In my past life, a snowstorm had caused several teams to be late, resulting in chaos. In the end, the singers who arrived early had to fill in the empty slots with multiple songs—and that was the reason I insisted on arriving early. If a team dropped out, someone else had to fill the stage.
This was another opportunity to score points with Choi Eun-Hyuk, following the idol battle.
Han Myung-Ho's face lit up in an instant. "Of course! We'll do it! Not just two, but three or even four!”
Cha Tae-Hee let out a sigh of relief and updated Choi Eun-Hyuk over the intercom. "Yes, yes. I understand, Mr. Choi."
After receiving a reply from Choi Eun-Hyuk through the intercom, Cha Tae-Hee immediately gave orders.
"Please get ready for the rehearsal right away. And for the live broadcast, we'll give you three minutes to change outfits... Oh right, you probably didn't bring stage costumes, so let's go with what you have."
"No, we have plenty of outfits for Cherry Blossom to change into."
Cha Tae-Hee smiled brightly and playfully tapped Leader Han Myung-Ho's arm. "Huh? Really? Wow. Mr. Han, are you trying to impress me today or what?"
"Hahaha. Are you impressed?"
"Totally. I'd give you a kiss if I didn't have a boyfriend, "
Han Myung-Ho chuckled. "Well, I'm married, so that won't do. Give it to Yoon-Ho here instead. He was the one who suggested bringing extra outfits."
"Then, Mr. Yoon-Ho. Here's a kiss for you!"
I quickly responded to Cha Tae-Hee’s wink. "I'm glad you’re impressed, but no thanks for the kiss."
My sharp refusal made Cha Tae-Hee laugh. "Tsk. Men who reject women are not that attractive... Anyway! Cherry Blossom has saved me today. I won't forget this favor. Thank you so much."
"Oh, don’t mention it. But please keep a lookout for Cherry Blossom’s new song when it comes out."
The mention of the new song brightened the expressions of the Cherry Blossom members who were standing next to me. They seemed unaware that their next song was being prepared.
After Cha Tae-Hee left, Han Myung-Ho turned and gave me a big hug. "Yoon-Ho! Whenever you're around, things just seem to go smoothly! Son, what kind of good dream did you have yesterday?"
'It's not a dream, it's just a memory.'
His hug was so tight it felt like I was being crushed.
"Ah, Yoon-Ho. I adore you!"
Han Myung-Ho was like a dad rubbing his stubble chin against a seven-year-old's cheek. His prickly stubble made my skin crawl.
"Uh, Mr. Han. We should get ready."
"Oh, right, yes. Let's get ready, everyone!"
"Okay~."
The members of Cherry Blossom all wore excited expressions.
***
Music Stage staff Jung Eun-Ah rushed into the waiting room, announcing the start of the rehearsal. "The rehearsal starts in five minutes."
Seizing the moment, Han Myung-Ho inquired about the situation on-site. "Excuse me. What's the current situation on-site like?"
Jung Eun-Ah grumbled as if she was exhausted. "It's the worst. The show is about to start and less than 20% of the singers have arrived. The cue sheet order is completely messed up and everything is just chaotic."
‘She must be getting a lot of flak.’
Even Golden Road from Hoop Entertainment hadn't arrived on site yet. But since the schedule on the planner hadn't changed, it seemed like they would be arriving before the show.
"Alright, let's go. Yes~. Cherry Blossom is on their way."
Jung Eun-Ah reported over the intercom and led us to the rehearsal stage.
The members of Cherry Blossom, tasked with consecutive performances including the opening stage, were visibly excited.
But we had to be cautious today.
A real chaos would soon unfold.
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