Chapter 166

# 167

From the Universe (5)

Today, the day of KK’s goodbye stage, was also the day of Man to Man’s comeback stage.

Man to Man’s albums were being released without stopping. Seo Joong-won, general manager of Ara Entertainment, pushed Man to Man’s activities with more determination than before. It was clear that General Manager Seo Jung-won was also trying to take advantage of the upward trend when the response was good.

“hello!”

Chae Eun-ho’s voice rang out loudly in KK’s waiting room. At one point, the members froze as if they were playing ice skating, then released themselves and stood up to greet Chae Eun-ho.

“Oh!”

“not… … hello.”

The atmosphere was different from the awkwardness felt when other rookie groups arrived. This was inevitable because ‘Man to Man’ was KK’s senior group. However, Chae Eun-ho debuted later than KK.

“Hey Dowook, it’s been a while! “It’s been a while, everyone!”

While the members were confused for a moment, the one who came in after Chae Eun-ho was Obin, a member of Man to Man. Obin had previously worked with Dowook on the ‘Rendezvous Project’.

“Hello brother.”

“long time no see. Seniors.”

Do-wook and Jeong Yoon-gi welcomed him warmly. Obin smiled kindly and said that he was listening to KK’s song well.

“The Continue choreography looks really difficult. “I also wanted to learn.”

In response to Obin’s words, the KK members countered that they wanted to see Obin dance.

KK and Man to Man had a rivalry for a while. Aside from the rivalry, as peers who follow the same idol as their profession, it would have been natural for them to build a friendship, but the reason they couldn’t do so was largely due to Seo Kang-Jun’s influence.

At the time Seo Kang-jun was around, the atmosphere among the Man to Man members was generally depressed, and even though Obin had a personal relationship with Do-wook, he was unable to develop a closer relationship with Do-wook due to the cynicism of fellow member Seo Kang-jun.

Rather than avoiding it because it was scary, it would have been closer to avoiding it because it was dirty. I didn’t want to ruin the team atmosphere by going against the feelings of fellow members for no reason.

In that atmosphere, Do-wook remembered Obin, who cared about Do-wook. Dowook thought about not forgetting his gratitude.

Anyway, due to Seo Kang-jun’s incident, Man to Man faced a crisis where the team could have completely disintegrated, but as a result, Man to Man was in a better mood both externally and internally after Chae Eun-ho came in. It was truly a blessing in disguise. Although none of the Man to Man members said it out loud, even other singers were aware of the atmosphere.

Obin said that he was proud as a Korean singer about KK being loved all over the world and that they should work harder as well. And then he pulled the shoulder of Chae Eun-ho, who was looking flushed next to him.

“Eunho here is our new member. He’s also the youngest member of our team~ We’ll see each other often during our activities, so I thought it would be nice to say hello~!”

At Obin’s introduction, the KK members greeted Chae Eun-ho with their eyes. Dowook came out and pretended to know.

“I enjoyed the performance at the awards ceremony last time. It’s already been last year… … . “It’s my first time seeing you in person.”

“Oh, I can’t believe you saw the stage. It is an honour!”

Chae Eun-ho’s face brightened. When her face, which had been stiff from tension, relaxed and turned into a smile, the word ‘flower beauty’ was truly appropriate. It was the face of a typical handsome boy. Even though I was a man, people naturally called me pretty or pretty.

It looked so green and even had stage makeup on, giving the impression of a cyborg.

“really! “I wanted to meet you!”

In addition, I felt it from the moment I greeted him, but it felt very bright and wrinkle-free. Chae Eun-ho greets Chae Eun-ho with shining eyes, as if meeting a singer he truly respects, and Dowook laughs awkwardly, brushing the side of his head.

“Eunho said he’s a fan of KK~!”

“that’s right! I’m a fan! I… … . Can you just shake my hand once?! please!”

Chae Eun-ho nodded enthusiastically at Kim Won’s explanation and asked Do-wook. Although it was only recently that he debuted, Chae Eun-ho was also a fellow celebrity. This was the first time an idol of the same gender claimed to be a fan and wanted to shake hands, so Dowook awkwardly held out his hand.

He was not even a singer from another agency, but a singer from Ara Entertainment, famous for his arrogance. Even Obin, apart from his good personality, had his own pride as a member of Ara Entertainment.

Chae Eun-ho carefully held Do-wook’s hand as if he was honored and didn’t know what to do.

“Ahh! I won’t have to wash my hands for a while! “I will never wash it!”

“haha.”

All of the KK members were a little confused by the overly bright Chae Eun-ho, but they didn’t feel bad when they said that Dowook liked them, so they all laughed.

After Oh Bin and Chae Eun-ho said their goodbyes and left, the KK members all showed a surprising reaction.

“This kid looks like some kind of animation… … .”

“I thought he would be very cold because he has a similar image to Ma Seojun.”

Taehyung Park also nodded quietly to the words of Hyungseo Ahn and Yoongi Jeong.

“Dance… … . I heard you dance well… … .”

“So you have charisma on stage, but you’re just Do-wook’s hyung’s bad guy?”

As Seok Ji-hoon added, Do-wook scratched his temple.

Previously, when Chae Eun-ho debuted in another group, the group itself did not receive much attention, so Do-wook did not know what his actual personality was like. However, I found out that he was a friend who was so bright and unrealistic that I felt uncomfortable.

‘Bin is like that too… … . I hope it goes well… … .’

Although it wasn’t Man to Man itself, it was clear that if Do-wook’s plan to take down General Manager Seo Joong-won was successful, it would have a negative impact on Man to Man as well.

It made Dowook feel uncomfortable, like sand getting into his sneakers and being stepped on. But soon Do-wook shook his head.

‘How will Director Seo Joong-won raise a man without his son, Seo Kang-jun? … . There may be full support now, but… … .’

Dowook thought about the singers under Ara Entertainment. It was rare for Ara Entertainment’s singers, who were raised to become top singers, to have a good ending.

Even if they became the best singers, they were often pushed to their mental and physical limits by their entertainment companies rather than their own will, and most of them suffered from problems with settlement and contract renewal. When they left Ara Entertainment, there were many people whose image was damaged by the media.

And at the center were Director Seo Jung-won and those who followed Director Seo Jung-won. Of course, the current president, who raised Seo Jung-won as head of the division, will not be able to avoid that responsibility.

‘Ara Entertainment is a company that has already been listed. A new executive team can be formed by shareholders.’

In the short term, it could have had a negative impact on Man to Man and the entertainers affiliated with Ara Entertainment, but in the long term, it would have been beneficial.

Dowook thought. There were two plans Do-wook was preparing to bring down Director Seo Jung-won. Do-wook’s idea was that both Plan A and Plan B would be needed to take down General Manager Seo Jung-won.

‘Actually, you might even need C… … .’

At that time, the assistant director of ‘Life Song’ came into the waiting room and shouted.

“The KK set is complete! “I’ll come out and wait!”

Gu Cheol-min stood up, answered that he understood, and urged the members. After completing preparations, the members ran toward the stage at a brisk pace.

***

After leaving KK’s waiting room, Obin and Chae Eun-ho returned to their own waiting room. Chae Eun-ho’s expression, which had been smiling brightly, darkened slightly. I felt uncomfortable. Chae Eun-ho was thinking about what happened with Director Seo Jung-won not long ago.

Ara Entertainment General Manager Seo Joong-won’s office.

Director Seo Joong-won hung up the phone with an annoyed look on his face.

“Anyway, if you say it’s doing well overseas, you’re blind.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was a call with the director of Newspatch. Man to Man, who had a good performance with their last album, is about to make another comeback, and with this album, it was Director Seo Joong-won’s idea to once again form a rivalry with KK in Korea, and the call was a subtle request to form a story for the article.

It wasn’t an unreasonable request. It is true that Man to Man has been on a rapid rise recently, and the fandom that likes Ara Entertainment’s singers is still strong.

Director of News Patch smiled and said, “Let’s do well in the future,” and strengthened our relationship with Director Seo Jung-won.

However, they did not hand over the information about reporter Choi Seong-jun that Director Seo Jung-won had requested.

Anyway, Director Seo Joong-won had already found out that reporter Choi Seong-jun had a connection with Hit Entertainment. It was just necessary to confirm and kill him, but from the director’s perspective, there was no reason to kick out Choi Seong-jun, who would maintain a good relationship with Hit Entertainment.

KK was no longer the ‘small-sized agency idol flop’ that Newspatch could look down on.

Most of the recent News Patch articles were about KK. Those were all favorable articles, too.

The relationship between Newspatch and Hit Entertainment became very friendly as KK handed over the photos from her work with LIL to Newspatch and had them write an exclusive article. Later, as KK began to do well in overseas markets, the public became excited about the news about KK, and Newspatch did not miss a beat and poured out articles about KK. Director Seo Joong-won knew that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung’s sales also played a role in that.

There were already at least three more talents like Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung at Ara Entertainment. Therefore, it was true that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung did not pay much attention when he changed jobs. However, even though they had the same abilities, the amount of authority was different. Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung was able to do a lot on his own within Hit Entertainment’s fan-marketing team, and Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung was literally flying around.

“You cheeky bastard.”

Director Seo Joong-won gritted his teeth as he thought about Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung, who rejected his offer. There was no need to be upset about a loach-like chick, but the problem was KK.

In order to quickly bring Man to Man to the top and become the CEO of Ara Entertainment, he had to take down KK.

It didn’t seem like the task would be easy. However, Director Seo Jung-won thought.

The image of a celebrity is fleeting, and no matter how good the image is, it will inevitably be shaken if it continues to be shaken.

Director Seo Jung-won’s thought was that there was no way dust would not come out when you shake it off. It was just my own thought.

“We should also tie up Choi Seong-jun and send him away.”

At that time, the office door opened with a knock, and Man to Man’s manager and Man to Man members came in. The manager put Chae Eun-ho at the forefront. The recent popularity of Man to Man has been largely driven by Chae Eun-ho.

It was General Manager Seo Jung-won who decided to put Chae Eun-ho in man-to-man. Certainly, Director Seo Joong-won was also a person with a sense of nurturing idols.

“Director. “I brought Eunho and the kids.”

“hello!”

Chae Eun-ho, along with the Man to Man members, bowed to Director Seo Jung-won while frozen. Director Seo Joong-won glanced at Chae Eun-ho with sharp eyes and spoke with his expression blank.

“is it so. Eunho. “I heard you are doing well.”

“ah… … . thank you! “It’s all thanks to the director!”

“Did you educate him? “You did a good job.”

Director Seo Joong-won smiled and said something to the manager, and the manager also bowed. Everyone was in high spirits in front of the company’s powerful figures. He was like someone holding their necks.

“What is Man to Man’s goal for this year?”

“First place… “It’s first place.”

The leader of Man to Man spoke as he was taught.

“okay. It’s first place. No matter how much money I spend, I have to be first. They made it to debut, but if they lost to kids at the bottom of the market like KK, then that group would have no point in existing. “It’s just one time to look at it.”

Chae Eun-ho, who was still young, lowered his head in fear and closed his eyes tightly. Man to Man was a group that made a comeback under circumstances that would not have been strange even if they had disbanded. Regardless of who caused it, it was the result. Since it was a team like that, it was even clearer that they would be abandoned if they did not achieve their goal.

The Man to Man members gritted their teeth.

“I… … . Then, wouldn’t it be okay to become friends with the KK members?”

All Man to Man members felt dizzy when Chae Eun-ho overcame his fear and asked a question. The members knew that Chae Eun-ho was a big fan of KK, but they didn’t know that he would be so immature to ask a question here.

“what?! haha. Very bold. “Maybe it’s because I’m young.”

Director Seo Joong-won smiled as if he was shocked and then answered. His eyes shone sinisterly.

“No, it doesn’t work. Become friends, Eunho. The closer you are… … “That would be nice.”

***

At that time, Director Oh Baek-ho was frowning as he reviewed the synopsis and Part 1 script that had arrived in front of Do-wook.

“What on earth is this about… … .”