Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

"Ah! This is so annoying!"

Park Ye-Seul threw her phone onto the sofa as soon as she ended the call with Kang Ha-Na.

The phone bounced off the cushion and hit the marble floor of the dormitory with a cracking sound. A crack appeared on Park Ye-Seul's phone screen.

The panting Park Ye-Seul sat on the sofa and stomped her feet angrily.

At that moment, Chief Yang Eun-Cheol beside her asked, "Ye-Seul, what's wrong?"

"Kang Ha-Na's talent agent told me not to call her anymore! He's so annoying! What did I do wrong? I only called to congratulate her!"

Yang Eun-Cheol tilted his head at Park Ye-Seul's words.

"But Ye-Seul. You didn't like Ha-Na, did you? You said it was annoying to see her pursuing an idol career despite being older. So why did you call to congratulate her?"

Park Ye-Seul frowned. "What are you talking about? I only said that because she couldn't dance or follow the lessons properly back then."

Choi So-Yung walked out of the kitchen and smirked. "She lies as soon as she opens her mouth. Didn't you say you'd get indigestion whenever you saw Ha-Na unnie?"

"When did I ever say that?" Park Ye-Suel protested.

"Oh, you're funny. You acted like that from the first time you met Ha-Na unnie, so why pretend otherwise now?" Choi So-Yung retorted.

Park Ye-Seul shouted at Choi So-Yung's reprimand, "What about you? Didn't you also dislike Ha-Na unnie? Didn't you?"

"I did dislike her. And I still do."

Park Ye-Seul grumbled at Choi So-Yung's straightforward answer. "You should fix that bluntness. Saying that in front of others will cause big trouble."

"Do you think I'm stupid? You're the one who should be careful."

Yang Eun-Cheol cleared his throat and said, "Stop fighting, both of you. You'll both make it into the final 11 as long as you keep quiet. Do you still want to fight then?"

Park Ye-Seul linked arms with Choi So-Yung and smiled as if they never fought. "Are you out of your mind? Our concept is being closer than real sisters."

Choi So-Yung tightened her hold and said, "Our talent agent is so naive sometimes."

Yang Eun-Cheol frowned. "Ugh, kids these days. Stop teasing adults and go to bed. You'll start training again in two days, so no snacks before bed."

"Always nagging. Fine, we get it."

The two chatted as if they had never fought and headed to the bedroom.

After they went into their rooms, Yang Eun-Cheol swallowed hard.

"If Ha-Na keeps getting positive reactions like now, Director Na won't just sit and watch. Sigh…What should we do? With his personality, who knows how much trouble he'll cause..."

Yang Eun-Cheol had also watched Kang Ha-Na's MeTube videos. He hoped they would fail, but the response was surprisingly good.

Kang Ha-Na's vocals had improved much more than when he was managing her. Her pitch, which used to tremble slightly due to a lack of confidence, had stabilized. This made her vocals flawless.

Having lost Kang Ha-Na as if she had been taken away, Yang Eun-Cheol felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He was also worried about being scolded by Na Woon-Seok at work the next day.

That's when a thought crossed Yang Eun-Cheol's mind and he muttered under his breath, "I need to do something. If I leave it like this, I'll end up taking the blame. I can't just watch."

With a plan in mind, Yang Eun-Cheol immediately called Na Woon-Seok.

"Yes, Mr. Na. Ha-Na ended up debuting. Yes. Yes."

Yang Eun-Cheol was scolded by Na Woon-Seok as expected. However, Yang Eun-Cheol suddenly shouted into the phone.

"I have an idea!"

-What idea?

"She left the company recklessly, so we need to give her a tough time for revenge."

-What do you plan to do?

Yang Eun-Cheol began to reveal the plan he had thought of.

***

As soon as the morning sun rose, articles about Kang Ha-Na started pouring in.

[Hoop Entertainment’s singer-songwriter Kang Ha-Na achieves 60,000 views on MeTube on the first day. An unprecedented rise draws industry attention.]

[‘Kang Ha-Na’. A new star emerges in the history of female vocalists]

[Hoop Entertainment’s major new artist. Kang Ha-Na. The dramatic behind-the-scenes of the past six years.]

……

Although she hadn’t appeared on music shows, news about Kang Ha-Na spread quickly thanks to Yoo-Jin's Instargem post.

Reporters were writing articles on their own as I had expected.

When my prediction was proven right once more, Do Ran-Hee pledged loyalty and said she wouldn’t doubt my words again.

After three days, the number of subscribers to Kang Ha-Na’s MeTube channel, Ha-Na Tube, increased to 15,000 and the music video views exceeded 220,000.

At that moment, PD Cha Tae-Hee from KBC's Music Stage called me.

-Congratulations. Where did you find such a gem again?

"I was lucky."

-Again with the luck talk, huh? If that luck continues like this, it's your ability at this point, you know?"

After some pleasantries, Cha Tae-Hee got to the point.

-By the way, I really liked Miss Ha-Na’s debut song. Can you register it on music sites quickly? We can invite her to perform on our show only once it's on the charts.

"Hmm. I'm not sure."

-Oh, come on. I’ll specially arrange Miss Ha-Na’s debut stage with extra care for you, Mr. Jung.

It had been a long time since a female solo artist had debuted. Moreover, Ha-Na was a singer-songwriter. Singer-songwriters were always welcomed by broadcasting stations as they could be easily packaged as geniuses if their songs were good.

Thanks to this, Cha Tae-Hee was eager but I cautiously declined his offer.

"Sorry, but we’re not planning on having any music show activities yet."

-Then what?

"We plan to focus on increasing MeTube subscribers for now."

-Are you planning to make MeTube the main platform for her?

"Yes, that’s the plan."

After a moment of silence, Cha Tae-Hee made a new request.

-Then just tell me the date for the music registration and schedule. Even if she’s active on MeTube, she’ll eventually appear on music shows, right?

After a brief thought, I decided to make at least one music PD my ally.

"We’re thinking of September."

-September? Two months later? Wait. No way…

Cha Tae-Hee immediately understood my intentions.

-Team Lead Jung, you’re scary. September means you’re planning a head-to-head match with them, right? September 12th! Right?

'A showdown between the newly formed idol group EVE*ONE, the winners of Global Producer47, and Kang Ha-Na,' I thought to myself.

Cha Tae-Hee quickly caught on to the showdown I had envisioned.

"I won’t deny it."

-Wow~ that’s a great plan. Okay, I’ll trust you and prepare the stage, Team Lead Jung. Let’s aim for a debut and first place simultaneously. You know what I'm talking about, right?

Cha Tae-Hee was implying that he didn’t want to see an idol created from the cable TV audition program KNET come to terrestrial TV and win first place.

As I was about to hang up, Cha Tae-Hee mentioned something.

-And don’t tell MBS and SBC about the exact schedule. I won't ask for more, so can you do that much for me?

If they didn’t know the exact debut date, MBS and SBC wouldn’t allocate a large budget for Kang Ha-Na's debut stage. This would ensure that Kang Ha-Na’s debut stage on KBC would be the most spectacular.

"Understood. I’ll do that."

-Okay. I’ll trust you then.

After hanging up with Cha Tae-Hee, I soon received calls from MBS’s Show! Music Center PD Ju Han-Soo and SBC’s Popular Music PD Baek Jang-Ho.

But even though I said the same thing as I did to Cha Tae-Hee, the two didn’t catch on to my intention as quickly as he did.

Instead, Lee Dong-Min came to see me.

"Yoon-Ho, the PDs are bugging me instead of you. Can’t we have her appear a little earlier?"

"Come on. You know we’ve scheduled everything for September. Why ask again?"

When I firmly refused, Lee Dong-Min let out a deep sigh. "Sigh. Fine. I’ll handle the PDs, so do it right. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

Lee Dong-Min sighed but smiled as requests for appearances poured in for the new artist from Singer Division 2.

***

[In the Name of God. First broadcast on July 29!]

[Festival of Money. First broadcast on July 29. Who will be the top Wednesday-Thursday drama?]

[Ju Yung-In vs. So Yi-Yung. Who will take the victory trophy?]

[TVM Master of Mukbang. First broadcast on July 31. Starring new actor, Haru.]

News about the actors I managed was appearing on entertainment news pages every day.

As Yoo-Jin and Haru's dramas were about to air, we were spending a lot on promotions.

But my current focus was on Kang Ha-Na because there was one schedule related to her in my planner five months later that kept bothering me.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: December 29, 2020]

-07:00 p.m. BJ[1] Do-Jin. Meeting on countermeasures against Kang Ha-Na's insult video. Singer Division 1 meeting room.

This was something that happened shortly after Kang Ha-Na started to succeed in my past life.

BJ Do-Jin, who had 500,000 subscribers, had targeted Kang Ha-Na.

His real name was Kim Do-Jin and he was the leader of the now-disbanded group, Shelter Zero, from Eyestone Entertainment. Kim Do-Jin retired after three years of activity and became a MeTuber, gaining popularity by revealing hidden secrets of the entertainment industry using initials.

When Kang Ha-Na gained popularity, he began to spread all kinds of rumors about her to gain subscribers. Since they were from the same agency and his testimonies were quite specific, Kang Ha-Na suffered for a while from the rumors.

But two weeks later, everything was resolved naturally due to a post by Kim Do-Jin's ex-girlfriend on Bodybook.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: January 13, 2021]

-07:00 p.m. (Report) BJ Do-Jin’s ex-girlfriend’s Bodybook exposé! Kim Do-Jin arrested.

Jo Soo-Yung, a former trainee at Eyestone Entertainment, terminated her contract with the company and rushed to prepare for marriage after getting pregnant with Kim Do-Jin’s child.

But as Kim Do-Jin became successful as a MeTuber, the marriage was repeatedly postponed. Then one day, Jo Soo-Yung found out that Kim Do-Jin was seeing another woman. And on the very same day Kim Do-Jin coldly abandoned her.

Afterward, Jo Soo-Yung started working at a grocery with her mother and raised her child alone.

But when her child got sick months later and needed a large hospital bill, she had no choice but to ask 500,000-subscriber MeTuber Kim Do-Jin for help.

However, not only did Kim Do-Jin refuse to help her, he even hurled insults at her. Claiming she ruined his life, he even resorted to violence against Jo Soo-Yung, her mother, and her daughter.

Unable to endure the repeated abuse, Jo Soo-Yung posted a long message and evidence with photos on Bodybook.

This issue led to Kim Do-Jin being branded as trash and getting arrested, resolving everything.

"Should I take action a bit earlier?" I muttered under my breath.

Jo Soo-Yung would be going through a tough time after just breaking up with Kim Do-Jin.

Moreover, I had a way to help her.

Ironically, Jo Soo-Yung became successful as a MeTuber after exposing the true nature of BJ Do-Jin. As a former idol trainee, Jo Soo-Yung had good looks as well as decent singing and dancing skills. Furthermore, having Kim Yu-Mi, her daughter appear on her broadcasts was cute enough to capture the viewers' attention.

But at that moment, the entry related to Kim Do-Jin suddenly started to disappear from the planner.

[Everyday V10.1]

[Date: December 29, 2020]

-07:00 p.m. <Schedule deleted>

(Deleted schedule: BJ Do-Jin. Meeting on countermeasures against Kang Ha-Na's insult video. Singer Division 1 meeting room.)

Surprised, I immediately checked the schedules related to Jo Soo-Yung but her schedules remained the same.

That's when a sudden thought struck me. 'Could it be that Kim Do-Jin's targeting of Kang Ha-Na was moved up?'

It didn't take long for me to confirm that my suspicions were right.

Do Ran-Hee rushed into the office with a shocked expression. "Mr. Jung! Look at this!"

On the phone she handed me, a video was playing that insulted Kang Ha-Na, just like in my past life.

[BJ Do-Jin]

Subscribers: 375,000.

[Behind the Scenes of Eyestone Entertainment VER 1.0]

- Views: 120,000

Real story about a certain rapidly trending MeTuber.

Though she gains sympathy with tales of hardship during her six years as a trainee, the truth is that she's a two-faced sunbae.

Relentless verbal and physical abuse toward younger trainees.

An unfiltered expose of the true hierarchy in the practice room.

A vivid documentary on the scene.

You're all curious, right?

(Comments)

- Fun Cool Sexy: Ha ha ha. I knew it. Acting all innocent while being so malicious behind our backs. The ones who pretend to be naive are scarier these days.

- Football Is Life: Today's her second broadcast and there's already a broadcast targeting her? This is why people need to live honestly.

- Eternal Bean Line: There's a reason she couldn't debut at EyeStone Entertainment.

- Eric Cartman: I knew it! Something felt off. She appeared in the first episode of Global Produce 47, and I found it strange that someone so good-looking hadn't debuted yet.

- Yeji's Dad: Isn't it too much to make such assumptions without verified facts?

- Regression is Sweet: What are you saying? He said he spent his trainee days with her. If you don't believe someone with firsthand experience, what do you believe?

The same situation that happened in my past life was unfolding before me.

"What…what should we do about this?" Do Ran-Hee asked with worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry. I have a plan," I assured her.

Leaving the shocked Do Ran-Hee behind, I immediately went to see Lee Dong-Min.

This time, I had no intention of just watching Kang Ha-Na suffer from false accusations.

1. Broadcasting Jockey ☜

Ristretto's Thoughts

Guys, BJ means something else in Korean. I hope there's no misunderstanding 😂

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