Chapter 106: A Song You Sing Alone (2)

It was the middle-aged man he took a picture with in front of the KVS broadcasting studio cafe.

“Oh, he suddenly asked me while I was passing by and it was hard to refuse. I’m sorry.”

First and foremost, Do Wook asked Manager Oh Baek Ho for his understanding.

Personal photography was usually prohibited without the permission of the manager. It was considered “prohibited”, but ultimately it was for the members’ comfort. Once you started allowing pictures, there would be no end to it.

“No. There’s not much you can do inside the broadcasting studio. No matter.”

“But that picture, how did…”

“This person is from the KVS entertainment bureau. I heard he recently became the director of the entertainment bureau.”

Manager Oh Baek Ho showed him the whole Facenote account of the person who posted the picture and handed over his cell phone.

Do Wook, who accepted Manager Oh’s cellphone, looked through the middle aged man’s Facenote page thoroughly.

[A picture with a major star lol

When I showed it to YeJin, instead of being happy she started crying that only I got to take a picture with him lol

But all things considered, I can hold my own, right?

#KVS #Kang Do Wook #Handsome

-Hurrr…T.T Director, where did you meet Kang Do Wook? Based on the background, it looks like a cafe…T.T

-Myung Gook, you totally fall short in comparison. What are you talking about…

-I didn’t know YeJin was a fan of KK. Myung Gook, don’t you think you should take YeJin to meet Kang Do Wook?

-Director Jo, you still look good!

-Sunbae! It’s been a while~ Kang Do Wook is really handsome isn’t he? Why can’t I ever run into him in even in the halls;;]

[[Share] How ‘Camping 48 Hours’ became a national entertainment show…-Daily News-]

[Footage from KVS’s 50th Anniversary Celebration lolol ]

[Punks from my old class whom I haven’t seen in a while~ lolol]

.

.

“I see. I guess he’s the director of the entertainment bureau…”

Do Wook nodded his head. Ever since Facenote was activated, Manager Oh Baek Ho followed people from the broadcast station and kept up to date with their activities.

“Yes. I guess his daughter is a KK fan,”

Manager Oh Baek Ho said, looking proud.

As a director of the entertainment bureau, there wasn’t much he did that was directly related to KK, but all the programs that were being promoted, like music broadcasts, all belonged to the entertainment bureau so one would have more profit by being in their good graces.

“Ummm…Baek Ho…”

As he returned the cellphone to Manager Oh Baek Ho, he recalled in his mind information about the director of the entertainment bureau.

They had just briefly met in passing, but it wasn’t a particularly positive impression. Looking at the Facenote account, he seemed to be a genuinely light-hearted person rather than looking down on Do Wook for being a young singer being rude to him.

Anyway, right now, the important thing was that he was the director of the entertainment bureau.

‘Someone who has power over PD Um Woo Suk…’

Manager Oh Baek Ho replied when Do Wook called out to him.

“Is there something you’d like to say?”

“Well, umm…”

“Now, even if you just look like you have something to say, I get excited! Tell me already.”

Laughingly, Manager Oh Baek Ho urged Do Wook.

KK was able to get to where they were now because they accepted Do Wook’s ideas.

In this area, Do Wook readily presented suggestions that even Manager Oh Baek Ho, who could be considered experienced, didn’t even think of, and things that seemed impossible at first all ended up getting achieved.

Now Manager Oh Baek Ho started to observe Do Wook occasionally to see what suggestions Do Wook might make.

“You know Camping 48 Hours, right?”

“Camping 48 Hours? Of course I do…you’re not thinking of…!”

Manager Oh Baek Ho opened his eyes wide.

“Do you think that’ll be possible?!”

Manager Oh’s surprised voice loudly rang out.

The staff that were in the waiting room and the members, who were on the other side, all looked towards Manager Oh and Do Wook with surprised expressions, wondering what was wrong.

Manager Oh’s voice could have been interpreted as if he were yelling.

“No, no. I’m not angry, so get back to what you were doing.”

Waving his hands, Manager Oh Baek Ho dispersed the gazes that had fallen onto him. Once Do Wook also giggled, the members relaxed and went back to focusing on what they were doing.

Honestly, what Manager Oh Baek Ho meant by ‘do you think that’d be possible’ was not that it wouldn’t be possible for Do Wook to go on ‘Camping 48 Hours’.

Manager Oh Baek Ho thought Do Wook only needed to be willing to appear as a guest on ‘Camping 48 Hours’ to become a guest on ‘Camping 48 Hours’.

However, the problem was actually Do Wook. KK’s current schedule was practically full. To appear on ‘Camping 48 Hours’, it would be possible a few weeks later once the current activities are over.

“If it’s a brief guest appearance as a group after activities are over it might be possible, but…”

“No. Not as a guest but as a member. “

“Member? Then even more so, do you think that’d be possible?!”

Even after activities are over, it might be possible for other members, but Do Wook’s schedule was full with the next projects for the time being.

Manager Oh Baek Ho clicked his tongue and shook his head. It was totally impossible.

“And did they say they’re looking for new members? I hadn’t heard such news yet…Maybe I’m behind on it because it’s entertainment news?”

Do Wook looked around and quietly said to Manager Oh Baek Ho, who was almost talking to himself trying to grasp the situation,

“Not me…”

“Then who?”

“Ji Hoon.”

Manager Oh Baek Ho blinked his eyes as he looked at Do Wook.

“I was thinking of recommending Ji Hoon as a member.”

Step by step, Do Wook explained to Manager Oh Baek Ho what he heard in PD Um Woo Suk’s phone conversation in front of the broadcast studio cafe.

“You’re saying that PD Um is looking for a young person for the new contestant, right?”

“Yes.”

“There’s definitely been talks lately that ratings have gone down. To go on such a program … necessarily…”

Do Wook, as someone who knew PD Um Woo Suk’s skills and his future where he’ll succeed even more well, couldn’t help but shake his head at what Manager Oh Baek Ho said.

“It’ll bounce back quickly once they touch up a few things and bring in a new contestant. Even if the ratings are down right now, it’s a Sunday entertainment slot. It will definitely help Ji Hoon.”

Manager Oh Baek Ho listened carefully to what Do Wook was saying and nodded his head.

It wasn’t a matter Do Wook and Manager Oh Baek Ho could decide on their own anyways.

“Ok…I’ll bring it up to the company. And Ji Hoon’s opinions are important too. Before we try, we have to check our schedule as well.”

“Of course…”

Do Wook wasn’t too worried about the schedule. There was only one other album planned after KK’s 3rd full-length album.

That was the case if they followed the general plan they had made at the beginning of the year. The next albums weren’t full-length KK albums. There was a different album planned and if they followed that plan, Suk Ji Hoon’s schedule should be kind of open.

Of course, if you take into account things like the tour schedule, he could be considered busier than other people with just KK activities alone, but within the incredibly busy KK group he wasn’t considered busy.

“We’ll take a stab at it, but I don’t know how likely it is that it’ll work out.”

“…that’s true.”

“I should hint at it to my contact in the entertainment bureau too.”

As expected of Manager Oh Baek Ho. He knew how to take a step back when needed instead of constantly pushing through things like a bulldozer, but if he received a suggestion that sounded good, he would work on it quickly without hesitation.

Also, Manager Oh Baek Ho had a network of connections in the broadcasting industry that Do Wook did not have yet. He had steadily built up those connections.

He was a lot of help to Do Wook in many ways.

There was a reason Do Wook suggested Suk Ji Hoon.

During KK’s first solo entertainment program, ‘KK Broadcast’, Suk Ji Hoon brought a lot of joy to the fans as the youngest member who was a germaphobe and talked politely.

Furthermore, while recording ‘Return of KK Broadcast’ with the hidden cameras, he even showed skills worthy of a child actor when he acted as if he was crying.

‘Suk Ji Hoon also has various talents…and hasn’t been able to shine as much as he deserves. Compared to the other members.’

With that in mind, Do Wook felt that if a new contestant joined ‘Camping 48 Hours’, someone like Suk Ji Hoon would be acceptable.

‘It fits the young person PD Um Woo Suk wants. He’s young but he’s been on broadcasts since he was a child so older people will like him too.’

Suk Ji Hoon was a good fit for ‘Camping 48 Hours’ in the various ways Do Wook knew PD Um Woo Suk used all the celebrities in his future programs. Suk Ji Hoon was the type of young celebrity PD Um preferred to use.

Ji Hoon was decently handsome and didn’t have too much recognizability, so he could use this program to become a bigger star. He was also a polite young man who would get along well with the elder contestants.

Do Wook was confident that if Suk Ji Hoon was taken under consideration, he would be the top candidate.

***

‘Blue Sky’, as predicted, took first place on music broadcasts.

On top of that, the fan community was excited day after day by updates on album sales.

In communities where different fans gathered, the war of willpower between KK fans and Sa Bang Shin Hwa fans was substantial.

The biggest point of pride for Sa Bang Shin Hwa fans was album sales. Sa Bang Shin Hwa fans were nervous that they might lose their 1st place in that category.

It was to the point that Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee had to visit the KK members at the rehearsal hall recently and give a special warning.

“I think it’d be good to not write anything on the fan cafe for the time being. That goes for Facenote too.”

“Huh? What in the world does that mean?!”

Ahn Hyung Seo, who most actively posted on the fan cafe and Facenote, asked with a surprised expression.

Even the members who had been sitting down were confused about what was going on. Only Do Wook, who had daily been checking the responses in articles and communities out of habit from what he typically did when he worked as part of the PR team, understood what Fan Marketing Team Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee was saying.

“As you got more popular lately, there are also some antis that have started to rise up.”

“Oh…I knew that would happen. Why! Why us?!”

Kim Won asked, as if he genuinely couldn’t understand it. Actually, Kim Won also recently saw a malicious comment on a picture of him from a performance in an article and had his feelings a little hurt by it.

They hadn’t particularly done anything wrong, but when your popularity grows, there’s inevitability people who become jealous of that popularity.

Suk Ji Hoon, who had been systematically attacked before, didn’t log on to unnecessary portal sites or communities and only checked his personal fan page to look at the data, so he was unshaken.

“Recently, there’ve been a lot of heated wars of willpower with fans of other groups…no matter what we post, it’s very likely that it will be interpreted as malicious and be spread around.”

“I think it’d be better to post it as a photo.”

When Do Wook said that, Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee chimed in,

“You’re right! If we ended activities completely, the fans would be disappointed, so I think posting lots of pictures would be good~! Activities will end soon anyways…”

“Ok. Understood,”

Jung Yoon Ki responded to Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee, agreeing.

It also meant that KK’s every move was being watched by the entire idol fandom.

“I stopped by for a bit to tell you that.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you, Assistant Manager nuna*!”

‘Team Leader hyung*’ and even ‘Assistant Manager nuna*, the honorifics were all over the place. Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee, who was leaving the rehearsal hall as the members bid her goodbye, smiled and asked when she made eye contact with Do Wook who was standing by the door,

(TL note: I took out the “hyung” and “nuna” when translating but the members usually call Manager Oh “Baek Ho hyung”. They don’t always call Assistant Manager Do “nuna” though.”)

“Oh right. Do Wook, I heard you already started working on a project.”

“Huh. Ah. Well, it’s nothing big…”

Do Wook replied as he scratched the back of his head. With admiration, Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee said it seemed like he truly looked to be always working on something without rest even though he was busy.

“No, I rest when I need to…and I just did general planning and contacting people. For now.”

“Still. It’s very hard to divide your attention among so many things! I’ll look forward to it!”

The members, who knew exactly what Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee was talking about, felt proud as if they themselves were getting praised and smiled.

“You can look forward to it! We’re looking forward to it too.”

Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee also laughed out loud when Ahn Hyung Seo spoke, being his silly self.

Once KK’s 3rd full-length album activities were over, the next album was none other than Do Wook’s solo album.

—

HAPPY 2 YEARS TO SUPERSTAR~~~

2 years in and we’re not even half way through the story OTL

Thank you everyone for your support these two years. I hope you’re enjoying the story so far. We still have a long journey ahead so I hope you’ll look forward to what more amazing KK and Do Wook will achieve <3 Next chapter: Per Do Wook's suggestion, a meeting is set up with the PD. But will Ji Hoon be able to win him over?