Chapter 89: Come Back Home (1)
Driving Yoo-Jin after such a long time felt strange. It felt like I was finally back where I belonged. While driving, I grumbled to Yoo-Jin because she still hadn't shared her secret and I was slightly annoyed.
"Anyway, you could've given me a heads-up before you burst into the room earlier. Do you know how surprised I was?"
Yoo-Jin made an apologetic look on her face. " I’m sorry. I just panicked at the thought that you might not come back and lost my mind."
"What if Mr. Kang hadn't listened? What were you planning to do then? Were you really going to quit the company?"
Yoo-Jin smirked. "No way. I might have felt a bit hurt if Mr. Kang hadn't listened, but I never planned on quitting the company."
‘What? Was it all a bluff?’
"Yoo-Jin. You should be saying something like ‘I was going to quit right on the spot!’ Isn't that the kind of answer I should be getting?"
Yoo-Jin smiled. "You've been watching too many dramas, oppa. Do you know how much I earn from commercials? It's in the hundred millions. Hundred millions! You didn't think I'd give that up and go back to working at Burger Queen, did you?"
"I'm sorry... I was short-sighted."
Yoo-Jin laughed for a long time at my playful response. When her laughter subsided, Yoo-Jin turned her head toward the window and murmured.
"But I really was planning to leave if it hadn't worked out. As long as you would come with me, oppa..."
I gave a satisfied smile without realizing it. Her plan was to throw a tantrum and take me to another company if that didn't work out. I realized that Yoo-Jin cared for me as much as I cared for her.
"But let's discuss it first if something like this happens again next time, okay?"
"Yes, Mr. Talent Agent!"
We soon arrived at Yoo-Jin's house. I parked the car and went up to her house to see Miso. On the wall was a sign that read, "Welcome Back, Talent Agent Jung Yoon-Ho!"
At that moment, Miso put off a celebratory firecracker.
Pop! Pop!
"Uncle Yoon-Ho~ Congratulations!"
I was greeted by the excited Miso.
The living room was filled with various dishes and a cake with the words "Welcome Back" scribbled in wobbly handwriting, clearly written by Miso.
"Uncle Yoon-Ho, come here! Over here!"
Miso grabbed my hand and led me to a Powertuff Girl cushion near the cake.
"Why is there a cake? Are we celebrating anyone’s birthday?"
"Miso wanted to eat cake, so we made one. Miso wrote the words herself," Yoo-Jin explained.
I was right in my guess. Miso was now creating art even with her words.
When I sat down, Miso put a party hat on my head and urged me to light the candles.
"Uncle Yoon-Ho, hurry up and light the candle then blow it out!"
"Alright, alright."
Miso complained that Yoo-Jin told her they couldn't eat the cake until I had arrived.
"That's not true. We were waiting to eat it all together, weren't we?"
"Hehe. Same thing!"
"What do you mean, 'same thing'? Oh, you're in for it now!"
"Ahahaha. Mom! I surrender! I surrender! I’m sorry."
Yoo-Jin playfully blew on Miso's cheeks, delighted in the childlike fun. "No way. You need to be punished if you’ve been a bad girl~. Whoosh!"
'Is she really that happy?'
After goofing around, they both settled back down.
I did as I was told and lit the candles on the cake. "I'm lighting the candle now~"
Whoosh.
"Yayyyy!"
As I blew out the candles, Yoo-Jin handed me a gift. She presented me with an orange shopping bag, saying it was a gift to celebrate my return—It was Hermos.
"Yoo-Jin, this is... Hermos."
"I've never bought a men's tie before. So I just picked something nice."
Unable to refuse Yoo-Jin's generous heart as she smiled, all I could do was express my gratitude and say thank you. When I unwrapped the gift, I found a high-quality tie and a tie pin with a cross-shaped embossing at the end.
"Thank you. Really."
I truly felt I was back in my place seeing the smiles of Yoo-Jin and Miso.
I was finally back home.
***
Everyone welcomed me upon my return to Actor Division 2.
"You did well, Assistant Manager Jung."
"Phew, Assistant Manager Jung. Did you take a good rest in Actor Division 3? Why does your skin look so good?"
"I heard you were amazing there as well."
From Gu Seong-Cheol to Oh Deok-Gu and Ju Yung-Hoon, everyone greeted me with a round of applause. The rest of the staff in Actor Division 2 also lined up in a row to welcome me back.
This was indeed where I belonged.
"I apologize for being away for a while."
After greeting everyone, I sat at my desk and the fact that I was back finally sunk in.
"Alright, then. Let's get to work, everyone. Yoo-Jin's first broadcast is just ten days away."
Everyone started bustling around at Gu Seong-Cheol's call.
Currently, Blue Sky was filming its 12th episode and the first broadcast would be on April 1st in ten days. As a result, the entertainment news section was filled with stories about Yoo-Jin.
[Blue Sky, This Year's Highly Anticipated Drama! SBC to air at 10 PM on April 1st]
[Jung Yoo-Jin in Blue Sky, "Please look forward to my acting transformation!"]
[SBC's The Human Stories heroine, Jung Yoo-Jin, stars in Blue Sky!]
[Burger Queen's Burger Maiden, Jung Yoo-Jin, brings a 30% increase in sales!]
But beneath those were articles about Moonlight Starpour.
"Hmm. Should I make a call?"
In my past life, I would never have dared to casually call a PD. But now, I boldly sent a KkTalk message to Kim Sung-Woon.
‘Of course, a gift should come first.’
[Would you like to use the gift-sending feature?]
[Yes!]
[You have sent two 'Sweet and Sour Roll Cakes' to PD Kim Sung-Woon.]
[Message: Congratulations on your debut, Mr. Kim Sung-Woon. Wishing you great success.]
The unread sign immediately turned to read on KkTalk.
Soon, a call came in.
[Caller: PD Kim Sung-Woon]
I took a deep breath and answered the call.
-Oh, my. Mr. Jung! What a pleasant surprise sending me this~.
Kim Sung-Woon, who particularly loved roll cakes, answered the phone with delight.
"I wish I could do more. But you know I'm just a low-ranking employee for now. Sorry I can't afford anything better."
-Hahaha. Don’t say that. This is my favorite.
During our conversation, I found out he was taking a short break on the set in Busan.
"You're working hard."
-Don't mention it. This is the moment I've always dreamed of.
Yet, I couldn’t help but hesitate at Kim Sung-Woon's next question.
-We've filmed up to episode 8 so far. How far has Blue Sky gotten?
‘Episode 8? Has Writer Choi Seong-Eun already written up to episode 8?’
Choi Seong-Eun, a skilled novelist with a knack for fiction writing but less familiarity with screenplay formats, frequently struggled with meeting deadlines, resulting in incomplete scripts.
‘Could it be that Kim Sung-Woon had assigned a truckload of assistant writers to help her? ...No, that can't be. Given Choi Seong-Eun's difficult personality, she wouldn't have taken kindly to interference.’
The drama's viewership ratings were originally expected to rise rapidly before dropping sharply However, with Kim Sung-Woon's capabilities, it had now become unpredictable.
I hid my surprise and responded.
"We've just started shooting episode 12."
-Ah, so you're ahead of us. Just as expected. This is getting tense, isn't it?
‘The pressure is more on our side now.’
Then, Kim Sung-Woon suddenly brought up another matter.
-Oh, and Mr. Jung. Let's meet up when I’m in Seoul. I have something to discuss regarding Miss Yoo-Jin.
I wanted to ask why, but the conversation couldn't continue further.
-Mr. Kim, we're ready to shoot the next scene~.
Hearing the AD's voice, Kim Sung-Woon hurriedly ended the call.
-Oh, I gotta go now. I’ll call you back later.
Click.
The call was disconnected.
"Why does he want to meet up with me?"
The most likely reason for Kim Sung-Woon's request to meet would be to discuss a new project. But Yoo-Jin's next project, In the Name of God, was already reserved and confirmed.
‘Why would he ask to meet when he already knows this?’
I pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure out the reason.
‘I guess I’ll have to meet him to find out.’
Putting my questions aside, I headed to the publicity division. Since the competitor's weaknesses were disappearing, we needed more publicity.
Upon arriving, Team Lead Sung Min-Suk, who looked like he'd been up all night for several days, greeted me.
"Are you here to request more publicity efforts and article releases for Yoo-Jin to celebrate your return?"
He knew the reason for my visit without me saying a single word.
"Yes, sir. Moonlight Starpour seems like a formidable competitor to Blue Sky. I'll treat you to a cup of coffee in return."
"Fair enough. My wife is also looking forward to the rival drama. She's a huge fan of the original novel."
I couldn’t help but pause upon hearing Sung Min-Suk’s words, realizing once again the power of a strong original work.
"Oh, what am I saying right now? I’m sorry, Assistant Manager Jung. Please pretend you didn't hear that."
Sung Min-Suk awkwardly laughed and tried to change the subject.
"By the way, I heard you made great coffee in Actor Division 3. Could I try some of that?"
As soon as he finished speaking, I discreetly slid a thermos of coffee onto his desk.
"Typical Assistant Manager Jung. Thank you so much."
Sung Min-Suk gave me a thumbs-up after taking a sip of the coffee.
"Wow, this is excellent. Oh, right. Have you heard the news?"
"Huh? What news?"
Sung Min-Suk glanced around cautiously before speaking. "There's a rumor that Ju Yung-In isn't renewing her contract and is leaving the company."
In my past life, Ju Yung-In stayed in Hoop Entertainment until its end. The only difference between now and then was that I had been by her side in the past.
"Oh, come on~. We won't know until she leaves. It could be a ploy to raise her value."
I tried not to care, but I couldn't help being concerned.
Sung Min-Suk nodded in agreement. "True. Now that I think about it, it might be a strategy to increase her contracted price. Oh, and HK Clothing keeps calling. I've been hanging up on them. They're surprisingly more persistent than I thought."
"Did you tell them about the exclusive contract we signed with LM Clothing?"
"I did."
"Please make sure not to agree to any of their offers, Mr. Sung."
"Of course not. Also, I did some digging and it turns out that guy Executive Hong was quite notorious even while he was living abroad. He is a real troublemaker."
Hong Seong-Beom had only been in Korea for less than a year. Although it was not widely known here yet, rumors about him from LA suggested he was quite successful.
"Cherry Blossom is having a comeback soon, right?"
"Yes, sir. Please take good care of the publicity for them too, Mr. Sung."
"You're so busy as always, Assistant Manager Jung. Don't worry, I got you."
Seeing Sung Min-Suk’s bright smile, I headed to Singer Division 2.
***
As I went down to Singer Division 2, Lee Dong-Min was the first to greet me. But he looked as tired as a zombie.
"Welcome back, Yoon-Ho."
Looking at Lee Dong-Min struggling to raise his hand to greet me, I asked if something was wrong.
"Mr. Lee, you don't look so well. Is something wrong?"
"I’m fine. The girls' comeback date is just around the corner, so I haven't been able to sleep at all."
His dark eye bags looked like they were at least 15 cm.
"Phew. It's a relief we're not doing a showcase this time; if we were, I would be meeting my maker."
Cherry Blossom was set to have their first comeback stage on April 24th on KBC Music World which was in three weeks, and their music show comeback on April 25th on MBS Show! Music Center. However, the music video and music chart release were planned to be about ten days earlier than that.
Lee Dong-Min stretched his body and let out a huge sigh.
"Still, it's worth it. The song turned out well, the choreography is good, and the lyrics are great. Nothing is lacking."
"But why are you so worried?"
"Didn't you know? Petite More’s launch is also on the same day."
In my past life, Petite More had postponed their launch to the second week of May due to Girlfriends7, and they ranked first place for two weeks. Then two weeks later, they lost the number one spot to Golden Road.
It seemed that Petite More’s comeback date has been moved up due to Epil K not launching Girlfriends7 anymore.
"I had no idea. But our girls can handle it, right?"
"I hope and believe so. Oh, also...we're thinking of officially forming a fan club this time. Got any good ideas?"
"Of course I do."
"I knew you would. You always make things work. So, what's your plan for the fan club?"
"How about we contact the 'Hoengseong Girls Quartet'?"
I referred to the powerful group of fangirls we met at the Hoengseong stage last winter. If we could bring those four Hoengseong girls into Cherry Blossom’s fan club, it could become quite a buzz.
"Oh, those girls with the loud voices from that time?"
"Yes, sir. Why don't you invite them to the comeback stage? They also do other fandom activities. How about using them as the core for forming 'The Blossom Girls'?"
"The Blossom Girls?"
"Does that sound too trivial for a fandom name?"
Lee Dong-Min pondered, then asked, "Then what about the fanboys"
"Hmm, that’s a good point. Then how about 'Cherry Blossom Family'?"
Lee Dong-Min smiled as he was delighted with the idea. "Let's go with that. Also, the girls have been asking for you. Have you visited them yet?"
"I'm about to go now."
Now that I was back in my original place, it was time to visit Cherry Blossom.
After all, an event that was a major factor in Cherry Blossom's disbandment in my past life was about to happen soon.
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