Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 146: Secretstargem (1)

[(Breaking News) Writer Lee Ji-Yeon's new drama In the Name of God has switched its production company to Blue Dragon.]

-The drama production company, Red Moon, encountered issues with the production schedule and returned the production rights to MBS. The newly selected production company is Blue Dragon, known for producing Blue Sky.

It hadn't been long since I left MBS, but the article was already posted.

Although the president of Red Moon, Lee Sang-Sik, seemed calm during the interview, the entry about the bankruptcy in my planner remained unchanged.

"Goodbye, Lee Sang-Sik."

Feeling relieved, I immediately headed to Lee Ji-Yeon's house.

"I heard the news. You must have had a hard time."

"Not at all, Ms. Lee."

Lee Ji-Yeon told me to let her know first about any issues from now on.

"President Choi Sang-Byung, that guy. He has no guts to go against me."

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Ms. Lee~."

When I mimicked the sycophantic attitude that Kim Myung-Hak once showed to Lee Ji-Yeon, she waved her hands dismissively.

"Ah, stop it, Yoon-Ho. You're so funny. Haha."

But she seemed to enjoy it way too much despite her words to stop.

After feeling reassured once again by Lee Ji-Yeon's strong support, I headed home with Yoo-Jin and Miso.

On the way home, Yoo-Jin suddenly remembered something and asked while playing with Miso in the back seat, "Oppa, what do we do about Miso's acting lessons? She got a child actress role, so shouldn't we arrange a trainer for her? She's only ever acted in a kindergarten Christmas play."

"Yoo-Jin, you can take care of her. What's there to worry about?"

Miso, who was seated beside me, nodded her head while holding the signed script book that Lee Ji-Yeon had given her.

"Right! Mom, you can teach me acting!"

Yoo-Jin appeared worried as she asked, "Do you think I'm capable though?"

"Of course! You're the best, Mom. You'll do great."

Miso's praise was the best way to comfort Yoo-Jin.

"Do you really think so, Miso?"

"Yes. You're the best of the best! You were the best among all the moms in my kindergarten play."

Apparently, Yoo-Jin was really good at playing the role of a dolphin when she performed at Miso's kindergarten play.

Feeling relieved, Yoo-Jin began to shower Miso's cheek with kisses.

"Miso, I love you~."

"Ha ha ha. That tickles, Mom. Ha ha ha!"

Miso's laughter filled the car and brightened up the atmosphere.

Thanks to that, my previous bad mood from meeting Jiang Wei had disappeared as if it had never been there.

***

In Lee Gi-Cheol's office at Hoop Entertainment, Kim Dong-Soo was giving an update to the frowning Lee Gi-Cheol.

"It is said that President Jiang Wei has returned to China."

"But why all of a sudden? There was still a day left until he was supposed to leave. We could have planned for him to have a meal with Yoo-Jin."

"I can't get in touch with President Choi either. On top of that, the media is in a frenzy over the production company change announced by MBS."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Apparently, Writer Lee Ji-Yeon strongly demanded a contract termination."

Kim Dong-Soo continued with the stories about what happened at the president's office at MBS.

Upon hearing the story, Lee Gi-Cheol pulled at his sparse hair.

"Jung Yoon-Ho, that crazy asshole. He dared to spout such nonsense in front of the president of MBS without even contacting the company?" Lee Gi-Cheol growled.

Kim Dong-Soo replied with a frown, "I told you that you should have come down hard on him, haven't I?"

The furious Lee Gi-Cheol slammed his fist down on the armrest. With a thud, a fist-shaped dent was imprinted on the leather armrest.

"Damn it. He's screwing things up real bad."

Kim Dong-Soo spoke cautiously upon seeing Lee Gi-Cheol's distorted expression. "Sir, if the investors start questioning your competence over this incident..."

Lee Gi-Cheol was startled by Kim Dong-Soo's remark and replied indignantly, "What? Why the heck should I bear the brunt for Jung Yoon-Ho's mess?"

"Investors are never concerned with the details. If they hear you failed to secure President Jiang Wei's investment, it could lead to huge trouble."

"Ugh. Then what should we do?"

"For now, let's say this move was your directive. We can say that we found out Red Moon's finances were in terrible shape after doing some investigation."

Lee Gi-Cheol's eyes sparkled as he immediately caught on to Kim Dong-Soo's intention.

"So you're suggesting to tell them I had Assistant Manager Jung reject President Jiang Wei's proposal because I knew about Red Moon's dire financial situation?"

"Exactly!"

The two of them were a perfect match for nefarious deeds.

"You might even be praised for severing ties with a production company on the verge of bankruptcy, Mr. Lee."

Hearing Kim Dong-Soo's words, Lee Gi-Cheol thought this was an excellent strategy.

"Alright. Then first things first—check if our celebrities involved in Red Moon's projects have been paid already or not. If not, press Red Moon for payment. We need to collect money as soon as possible before things go downhill."

"I've already taken care of that."

Kim Dong-Soo's response pleased Lee Gi-Cheol.

"Ha ha ha. As expected of you, Chief Kim. Speaking of which, what are we gonna do about Assistant Manager Jung?"

"I've assigned someone to keep tabs on him. I'll inform you as soon as there's something big."

"Make sure it's a big one this time. So big that Director Kang and Chief Gu can't say a word even if we fire Assistant Manager Jung."

Kim Dong-Soo stood up abruptly and bowed. "Yes, Mr. President."

"President? Ha ha ha. That does sound nice."

Pleased with Kim Dong-Soo's flattery, Lee Gi-Cheol patted his shoulder with a content smile.

***

[Cherry Blossom, challenging for eight consecutive weeks of music show wins!]

[Where will Cherry Blossom's run take them?]

[Golden Road makes a comeback with the song 'Blue Rabbit.' The music industry heats up with a family rivalry at Hoop Entertainment.]

[Pink Diamond returns with the cute song 'Today's Kiss.' TK Entertainment's bold move.]

The music industry had been in a frenzy over Cherry Blossom's remarkable seven-week streak at number one.

As the heat of 'Hurry Up!' continued, there were only a few comebacks from other singers. But last week, many began announcing their comebacks as they were unable to hold back any longer.

But now was not the time to worry about such matters.

In two days, Golden Road's leader, Jang Eun-Yung's, secret Instargem account would be hacked and private photos shared among her friends would be leaked.

[Everyday V10]

[Date: June 16th, 2020]

-11:30 PM Golden Road's Jang Eun-Yung. Emergency meeting about the Star Patch article due to the discovery of her secret Instargem account, fifth floor small conference room.

Jang Eun-Yung's secret account contained not only photos revealing she was dating ZIZAK's leader Park Hyun-Woo, but also photos of the private lives of her close idol friends.

The repercussions of these leaked photos of popular idols smoking, drinking, and even nude, would spread far and wide, causing turmoil in the entire industry.

I had thought about telling Jang Eun-Yung to delete her secret account in advance, but I figured there was no way she would listen to me.

For this reason, I planned to protect Cherry Blossom from getting involved in this issue. I headed to Cherry Blossom's dorm after taking a shower and arrived at 6 a.m.

When I carefully opened the door, I found Lee Ju-Yung packing in silence.

"Ms. Lee, I'm here."

After greeting Lee Ju-Yung, I handed her the gift I had prepared.

"Here. Please take this."

"Oh? Amusement park tickets? Why are you giving these to me?"

"For you to go with your boyfriend on your day off."

Lee Ju-Yung's face instantly turned red as she replied, "H-how did you know I have a boyfriend?"

In my memory, Lee Ju-Yung had just celebrated her 100th day with her boyfriend around this time. Things around me were still unfolding similarly to my past life aside from just a few incidents.

"No one knew about that. Thanks anyway, Assistant Manager Jung."

"Don't mention it. But Ms. Lee, I heard reporters are scouring idols' Instargem accounts with bloodshot eyes these days. Our kids don't have anything to worry about, do they?"

At that moment, Lee Ju-Yung's previously happy expression from receiving the tickets suddenly darkened.

"Our kids don't have Instargem accounts."

"But why do you look so concerned?"

Lee Ju-Yung let out a deep sigh. "A photo of the kids was taken last night with the ZIZAK guys at a fried chicken and beer place."

It felt like I got a hard punch to the head. Considering the timing, a scandal now could ruin their number 1 streak.

"Which newspaper took it?"

Lee Ju-Yung shook her head in response to my urgent question.

"It wasn't a newspaper. The kids took it themselves."

'Ah, a selfie.'

Relieved it wasn't a paparazzi photo, I asked about the context.

"Eun-Yung called Yeon-Hee and Eun-Bi to meet at the chicken and beer place near our company last night. But it turned out the ZIZAK guys were there."

"What? Why would Eun-Yung invite them to a place where boy group members were present?"

"Who knows? Anyway, Eun-Yung insisted they have a beer since they were there, so the kids had just one. That's when Eun-Yung took a selfie with her phone."

'If she wanted to go down, why drag our kids along with her?'

I wanted to confront her immediately, but I couldn't since Singer Division 2 hardly communicated with Singer Division 1 considering the bad relationship with them.

"Does Mr. Lee know about this?"

"Yes. Yeon-Hee and Eun-Bi were so anxious when they got back to the dorm that they called him right away. So Mr. Lee went to meet Eun-Yung and made a big deal about deleting the photo."

Lee Ju-Yung explained that Jang Eun-Yung deleted the photos of Woo Yeon-Hee and Yang Eun-Bi from her phone following Lee Dong-Min's complaints.

But I couldn't be at ease.

Jang Eun-Yung was known for her Instagram addiction and often uploaded every photo she took onto her secret account. This meant the photos with ZIZAK might still be on her secret account.

Just one slip could involve Cherry Blossom in the scandal.

If only I knew Jang Eun-Yung's secret account, then perhaps there could be a way to handle this. But I couldn't remember the incident from nine years ago.

At that moment, Woo Yeon-Hee's door opened with a creak.

"Let's talk later. The kids think the issue is over."

"Understood, Ms. Lee."

It seemed necessary to discuss this situation with Lee Dong-Min.

Woo Yeon-Hee stretched languidly and furrowed her brow as she focused on me.

"Yoon-Ho oppa, when did you get here?"

"Just now. You've been busy lately, haven't you? Here, take this."

Woo Yeon-Hee smiled when I handed her a paper bag full of herbal medicine.

"Is it okay if I take this on an empty stomach?"

"No. Eat something first."

"Thank you."

Then Yang Eun-Bi appeared from the opposite room, waving her hand with dark bags under her eyes.

"Hi, oppa~."

"Hey. How was your sleep"

"Not great. Morning came as soon as I blinked just once. I'm so sleep-deprived that I think I'll die."

Yang Eun-Bi rubbed her neck as she complained that lack of sleep was stunting her growth. After doing some stretches, Yang Eun-Bi noticed the paper bag in Woo Yeon-Hee's hand.

"What's that, unnie?"

"Herbal medicine. Yoon-Ho oppa bought it for us."

"Yuck. I don't take herbal medicine."

"Why not?"

"Because it's bitter!"

Her response was unexpectedly simplistic when I was expecting a logical reason. I gently tried to persuade Yang Eun-Bi who was waving her hands in refusal.

"Eun-Bi, if you don't take care of yourself now, you'll run out of stamina for real and won't be able to keep up with activities later."

"It's okay. I'm super strong. Want to see?"

As Yang Eun-Bi boasted about her energy by waving her arms, Eun-Ah, who had just come out of her room, said cautiously, "Unnie, you have 5 cm-long bags under your eyes right now."

Yang Eun-Bi flinched. "What? Really?"

"Yes. It looks like they might hang down all the way to your nose soon."

Startled by Eun-Ah's comment, Yang Eun-Bi ran to the bathroom. Then the dorm erupted with a scream loud enough to shake the entire building.

"Ahhhh! Who is this in the mirror!?" Yang Eun-Bi cried out.

'Who do you think? It's an utterly exhausted idol who looks like cabbage soaked in brine for kimchi.'

But Sae-Ri was nowhere to be seen amidst the chaos.

"Yeon-Hee, where's Sae-Ri? She shouldn't be at school since it's the weekend, right? Or did she go to supplementary classes or something?"

When I asked in an urgent voice, Woo Yeon-Hee answered with a deep sigh, "Where else would she be? She's still in her room sleeping."

Handing the herbal medicine paper bag to Eun-Ah, Woo Yeon-Hee headed to Sae-Ri's room and called out to her gently.

"Sae-Ri, it's time to wake up~."

Despite Woo Yeon-Hee's gentle coaxing, Sae-Ri whined in protest.

"Just five more minutes..."

Sae-Ri's face was down on the mattress and her buttocks were lifted in the air.

"No, you need to wake up. We have a schedule today. We need to go to the salon now."

"Just five more minutes. Please~"

Sae-Ri's resistance, cocooning herself in the blanket, finally ceased when Lee Ju-Yung intervened and got Sae-Ri to sit up.

Sae-Ri greeted me with her eyes barely open.

"Oh. It's Yoon-Ho oppa."

Seeing Sae-Ri being helped up with half-open eyes, I asked, "Sae-Ri, didn't you get back to the dorm by 10 p.m. yesterday? You went straight to sleep, right?"

Sae-Ri was currently 16 and fell under the legal age of 15 due to a late birthday, restricting her from appearing on broadcasts past 10 p.m.

"I did sleep around that time... but no matter how much I sleep, I'm still tired. Maybe I'm growing."

Sae-Ri's current height was 160.7 cm, and that would remain unchanged even after nine years. Knowing the harsh truth, I decided to keep quiet and play along.

"Yes. You'll grow another 10 cm easily. Keep stretching."

Sae-Ri clenched her fists with determination.

"Of course. I'll definitely catch up to Eun-Bi unnie."

'That's impossible, Sae-Ri. Your height has already reached its limit.'

At that moment, Yang Eun-Bi walked out of the bathroom and snorted.

"Our little baby has been challenging me a lot lately. Drink some milk, grow a bit more, and then I will play with you. Okay?"

When Yang Eun-Bi gently pinched Sae-Ri's cheek, Sae-Ri began to puff her cheeks.

"Let go of my cheeks! I said let go!"

"Aww, is my little baby getting angry~?"

"I'm going to bite you!"

The moment Sae-Ri opened her mouth wide, the startled Yang Eun-Bi quickly withdrew her hand.

Just like that, another bustling day for Cherry Blossom was beginning.

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