Chapter 107
TL: KSD
White suit.
Black sunglasses.
The cute mascot of Baekhak Entertainment.
The CEO who appears suspiciously often on the first floor.
Baek Seung-won’s nickname is “Factory Manager.”
Although it’s a nickname commonly used as an insult among idol fandoms, the wise can deduce Baekhak Entertainment’s business methods from this nickname.
Baekhak Entertainment does not pursue “innovation.”
Because innovation is a risky path.
Have you seen idols coming out with bizarre concepts and failing miserably? They, too, are part of innovation. Innovation does not always lead to commercial success.
Therefore, let the competitors handle innovation.
And when their innovations achieve commercial success, Baekhak Entertainment cherry-picks the best parts to reproduce.
This is known as the “fast follower” management strategy.
Of course, internally at Baekhak Entertainment, it’s called “the CEO’s leadership,” and CEOs of competing companies call it “That Fucking Bastard plagiarized us again?!”
Anyway, regardless of what it’s called, there’s no disagreement that Baek Seung-won’s strategy has elevated Baekhak Entertainment to the top of the entertainment industry.
However, being a “fast follower” doesn’t always lead to success.
The comeback album of the boy group “Rapid Boys” was one such case.
Riding on the virtual idol boom, the ambitious “Virtual Reality Online Rental Boyfriend” concept proved that the other side is still in the realm of 2D and sank spectacularly.
-Damn it… Why the hell did it fail?
-Transcending time and space! Easy accessibility! Ready-Made Love! Gathering all that MZ Generation likes, still failed?!
-I don’t get it…
The world of idols is indeed unpredictable.
Still, the strategy of roughly throwing things out until something sticks isn’t just effective in variety shows, but also in the idol industry.
Therefore, the failure of Rapid Boys’ comeback album didn’t cause significant damage to Baekhak Entertainment. It was merely like a stone thrown without much expectation.
However, the minor problem was that the stone was a person, and no one really cares about such an issue unless they’re directly involved.
But the small stone thrown by Baekhak Entertainment,
Min Hyo-chan has been feeling somewhat down lately.
The album flopped, leading to financial losses.
Although the company is fundamentally strong so the members don’t have to shoulder the debt, the reality that royalties from the work “Demonic Sword~nim” surpass his main job earnings is problematic.
This is why Min Hyo-chan doesn’t hang out with his peers mixing in the practical dance and group practice, and escapes reality through games in this weird loner club.
As such, Min Hyo-chan could not tolerate Min Hyo-min’s remarks.
What? You don’t like the concept given by the company?
“You’ve grown quite a gut, haven’t you?”
“Wh, what?!”
EP 7-Isomer
On a leisurely afternoon, basking in the warm autumn sunlight while enjoying a simple omelet snack, Gu Hak-jun was savoring a cup of coffee in the garden.
Suddenly, on the fourth floor of the main building of Baekhak Arts Middle School, a fierce civil war erupted among Baekhak Entertainment idols.
“Really now…”
Rapid Boys’ main rapper, Min Hyo-chan.
For the first time in a while, he opened the door to a fierce diss battle, making use of his main job.
“You want to change the concept given by the company because it’s weird? Is that something you should be saying?”
Benivis’ cute maknae Min Hyo-min,
Which is still Min Hyo-min even if read backwards, protested.
“Can’t…I even complain?”
Min Hyo-chan sharply thrust back.
“No, you can’t!”
“Ugh…!”
“The company teaches you dance, the company teaches you singing, the company sets your concept, and even the album is sold based on the groundwork laid by the seniors!”
There is a bizarre phenomenon in the idol industry. The most recently debuted major rookie surpasses the sales of their seniors.
And it wasn’t because the rookies were particularly outstanding, but because the seniors had broadened the base of the idol industry. The strict discipline in the idol industry isn’t just because of physical and artistic performance.
“…I’m not just throwing a tantrum saying I don’t like everything!”
It was Min Hyo-min’s turn.
Usually, Min Hyo-min’s confidence plummets without a camera, but she knew how to stand her ground against Min Hyo-chan.
In every brother and sister relationship, there lies a latent wildness towards each other. Humans are heartless creatures. One cannot survive without snatching the snacks of one’s siblings…
So, even for the seemingly herbivorous Min Hyo-min, a wild instinct existed. Min Hyo-min’s ferocious claws revealed a chilling intensity.
“I am a singer too! An artist! I’m not rebelling against the company, I’m just looking for the art I want to do! Why do you see me so twistedly, oppa? Are you jealous of me? Are you being spiteful because this album flopped?”
These were not the words a younger sister should say to her brother.
These were the words that a member of a girl group, who is in the top three in Korea, would say to a failed boy group member.
And like everyone, deep inside Min Hyo-chan’s heart, there was a degree of dark thought.
Pwook!
The darkness in his heart that he tried to ignore with mobile games was poked.
Min Hyo-chan erupted in anger like a wild beast whose cub was attacked.
“What art! Is what you’re doing even art? Are you seriously thinking about your direction as an idol?”
“Yes, I am!”
“Bullshit. You’re just throwing a tantrum because you’re a bit older now and going through puberty, so you’re embarrassed to act cute in front of the camera!”
“…!”
“You’ve made some money, gained some fame, and now you’re embarrassed by doing cute acts with pigtails and going ‘Meow-meow-meow!’, so you’re trying to latch onto Inseop with some pretentious concept about literature or whatever, aren’t you!”
“…”
“Hey, and do you think literature is a joke? You don’t know shit about writing, and you have no intention of writing, but you think it’ll look cool if you say, ‘I’m a person who does literature-‘? It’s really ridiculous.”
That’s how Min Hyo-chan, who is in charge of ‘Min’ in the co-writing group of ‘MoonInKimByulGuYunaMin,’ snapped at his sister.
Then Moon In-seop, who is responsible for ‘Moon In’ in the same writing group, tried to mediate the situation.
“Guys, calm down for a sec-”
They didn’t calm down.
“…Sob, sob, sob!”
Min Hyo-min began to sob.
Min Hyo-chan stiffened too late.
Min Hyo-min, holding back tears, said,
“I, I was just…”
“…”
“Trying to do well in the variety shows the CEO put me in… Hic! Trying to work hard… That’s what I was doing… Hic!”
Min Hyo-min might seem na?ve and young, but she is a person of considerable resolve.
Without that kind of grit, one could not survive 12 hours of hellish training and the fierce competition among trainees.
(And typically, all middle schoolers have a somewhat na?ve and young aspect)
But having her ugly side exposed by no one else but her brother was too much to bear.
Min Hyo-min mustered the last of her mental strength and fled.
Min Hyo-chan, frozen like a Jeju Island stone statue, silently watched as his sister covered her eyes with her forearm, open the sliding door, and run away.
So, in the end, it’s up to the adults to clean up the mess.
“Ah, crap…”
Moon In-seop hurriedly chased after Min Hyo-min.
And Gu Yu-na, without much thought, chased after Moon In-seop.
In the club room, only Min Hyo-chan remained frozen like a statue, regretting that he could not scoop up the water that had already been spilled.
* * *
It wasn’t that Min Hyo-min lacked qualities as an idol, but that she had a rough time hanging around places that weren’t her territory.
And ‘cardiopulmonary endurance’ is one of the most important qualities for an idol.
Moon In, who stubbornly refused to follow Ma Gi-hoon’s persistent invitations to the gym, was no match for Min Hyo-min in running.
“Wait, wait! Stop right there…!”
Moon In-seop, even while clutching a blanket in one hand and sprinting with all his might, couldn’t catch up to Min Hyo-min. Even with her hands covering her crying face, Min Hyo-min ran much faster than Moon In-seop.
The fact that Moon In-seop had mastered the “Golden Cicada Shedding” technique of New Light Spring Orphanage didn’t help at all. What use is martial arts when there’s such a gap in internal strength? This is why consistent training is important.
But Gu Yu Na, who is good at everything except making friends.
Of course, she’s also good at running.
The efforts of Gu Hak-jun, who forcibly dragged his daughter out from under the covers because she hated exercise and made her play badminton in the yard every weekend, shone at this moment.
As Moon In-seop, who ran out of stamina in 12 seconds, started panting against the corridor wall, Gu Yu-na easily overtook him and chased after Min Hyo-min.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
A strange noise came from behind. Min Hyo-min, despite sobbing, turned around. And then she saw it.
A girl, who looked a whole head smaller than herself, chasing her with chilling eyes.
A common phrase from horror movies flashed through her mind.
You saw it, didn’t you?
“Aaaaaaah!”
Terrified, Min Hyo-min stopped running and started looking for a place to hide. So, she slipped into the women’s restroom.
And Gu Yu-na also followed Min Hyo-min into the restroom.
30 seconds later, Moon In-seop, who barely caught up, stopped panting. Fortunately, he still had enough sense to check the door and did not enter the women’s restroom.
“Heugh… Heugh…”
But as oxygen supplied his brain, a belated realization hit him.
“Wait.”
Right now…
An innocent civilian.
Isn’t she trapped in a confined space with ‘Gu Yu-na’?
“Oh no…”
He was debating whether to call the police or an ambulance when a voice started coming from inside.
It was definitely Gu Yu-na’s voice, but it was something hard to believe coming from her.
Are you okay?
* * *
Hurriedly entering a restroom stall, Min Hyo-min locked the door.
Click.
Only then did Min Hyo-min regain her composure.
‘She won’t chase me anymore, right…?’
Regaining her senses, she noticed a mirror in front of her.
It was a mirror on the inside of the restroom door.
Her reflection in the mirror was a mess.
Her neatly maintained beige hair was disheveled.
Her eyes were swollen red from tears.
What was it that made her cry again?
Right. Min Hyo-chan. That bastard…
“To think he’s my older brother…!”
Thinking about what her jerk of a brother said, tears came flooding back.
As she wiped away the tears streaming down with her sleeve and sobbed, a voice came from beyond the door.
“Are you okay?”
Startled!
Min Hyo-min shuddered in surprise.
Only then did she understand the situation.
‘I’ve caused a scene…’
For an idol, image is everything.
The moment the image collapses, everything collapses.
Thus, the thought of the story ‘Benivis Min Hyo-min fought with her brother at school and ran away crying in the corridor’ spreading on the internet would be a terrible blow.
So, Min Hyo-min suppressed her feelings and spoke in a calm voice.
“It’s, it’s okay. I’m really okay now.”
“Hmm…”
But only a strange ‘Hmm-‘ sound continued from beyond the restroom door, with no real response coming back.
Just when Min Hyo-min, trembling with anxiety, was trying to smooth things over…
Gu Yu-na, who knows nothing of human hearts, deeply pierced her with a sharp remark.
“You shouldn’t approach literature that way.”
“…?”
Min Hyo-min was too stunned to even get angry.
What?
What does that mean?
Min Hyo-min, having experienced life as a trainee, had become adept at grasping the context of conversations, so it didn’t take her long to interpret what Gu Yu-na meant.
It meant, <Regardless of your feelings right now, trying to learn literature to maintain a good image on variety shows is the wrong approach and you need to correct it>.
The fact that Min Hyo-min didn’t swear at this moment was proof of her gentle nature.
“Th, this…”
Pushed to her limits, Min Hyo-min exploded.
“What do you know?!”
When people get angry, it’s human instinct to flinch, but Gu Yu-na was something more (or perhaps less) than human.
Min Hyo-min couldn’t see her, but Gu Yu-na, behind the door, tilted her head in confusion.
“Why are you angry?”
Min Hyo-min took that question as a provocation, not seeing Gu Yu-na’s expression.
However, as an idol, she was in a profession where she couldn’t fight back against attacks, so she voiced her suffering instead.
“You…! Are you mocking me too? Stop it! Please, just stop tormenting me!”
Ordinary people are reluctant to engage with someone emotionally unstable.
It’s because an unstable person is not a suitable conversation partner as they are aggressive, impulsive, and not in their right mind, making a positive outcome in conversations unlikely. Therefore, when someone becomes unstable, people often say, “Let’s give them some time to think,” and step back.
However, Gu Yu-na lacked such processes.
That was Gu Yu-na’s uniqueness, or peculiarity.
“Then what is it? Did you not like the girl group maknae concept and wanted to transform into a literary girl?”
Min Hyo-min was confused.
She even started to confuse her own thoughts.
‘Why did I say I wanted to learn about literature?’
Was it to increase her popularity by associating with Moon In-seop?
Did she want to develop a skill other than dancing and singing?
Was she dissatisfied with the cute maknae concept given by the company?
Was it to look good on the variety show the CEO put her in?
Did she want to make friends at school?
Did she think it would be cool to show off her literary knowledge on TV?
“…I don’t know.”
“What did you say?”
“I don’t know! Sob, sob…”
Min Hyo-min couldn’t find the answer.
It was natural.
A person’s heart cannot be summarized in a single phrase. The human heart is more complex and bizarre than any computer. There’s no way to derive answers from there.
It was strange that Gu Yu-na wasn’t like this.
But there is a way for an ordinary person to summarize their own complex and bizarre heart in one sentence.
“If you want to know that, you need to write novels.”
“…What?”
“If you study literature, you can find out.”
Literature is a study of the inner self.
It is a discipline of language and thought.
So, if you want to know your heart, you need to study literature.
That’s why Gu Yu-na does literature.
Gu Yu-na, who could not understand the hearts of others, learned about human emotions through literature.
Therefore, Min Hyo-min, who also did not understand her own heart, could come to know herself through literature.
“Writing does not lie.”
Gu Yu-na spoke after finishing her thoughts.
“It doesn’t change its words later out of cowardice either. Because it remains forever. Once you write it down, it never disappears. So you have to be very careful when you write.”
“…”
“It can be fun too. You can interpret the same sentence in different ways, and just by rearranging the sentences, you can create completely different meanings. And then you might understand unknown emotions and feelings…”
“…”
“I had so many unknown emotions, so I started learning to write, but it seems like the opposite for you. You seem to have too many thoughts in your heart. So learn literature. Then it will be resolved.”
That was not an invitation but almost an order.
Having said her piece, Gu Yu-na turned around without hesitation.
And she went on her way.
Realizing that Gu Yu-na was leaving just by the sound of her footsteps, Min Hyo-min hurriedly opened the door and dashed out.
“Wait!”
Gu Yu-na stopped because someone asked her to.
And since someone called her, she asked the reason.
Gu Yu-na’s expressionless face opened.
“Why.”
In contrast, Min Hyo-min, engulfed in a myriad of emotions that couldn’t be described with just one, asked Gu Yu-na with a complex expression and in a complicated voice.
“…If I learn literature, will anything change for me?”
There was no hesitation in Gu Yu-na’s response.
It was because she had already learned all these things from Author Moon.
“You might become a better person.”
A better person.
That phrase seemed to pierce through Min Hyo-min’s mind.
Min Hyo-min made a decision.
“I want to learn!”
“Follow me.”
“Are you going to teach me…?”
“We’ll see.”
* * *
Meanwhile, Moon In-seop outside the restroom was also harboring complex thoughts.
First was the satisfaction of seeing how much Gu Yu-na had grown.
Second was the uneasiness about how much Gu Yu-na had grown.
Uneasiness means that there is something lingering in the mind that is not quite clear or settled.
Gu Yu-na was weighing on Moon In-seop’s mind.
‘Yu-na…’
Was she a child who knew how to say such things?
*****
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