Top Management - Chapter 165

Chapter 165

Chapter 165: Making Film, The Sky was Raining with Bait (2)

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

“Incredible!”

The female employee of the PR Team grabbed my hand as soon as I walked in the office .

“The ratings for the first episode was 9%! First place in its time slot! Wh-what else was there?”

“First in social media trendiness!”

The male employee grabbed my other hand while smiling brightly . At the same time, other employees came over, surrounding me . It was as I expected since I woke up to countless missed phone calls and congratulatory texts this morning .

However, I didn’t expect them to dance .

After hopping up and down while holding my hand, the female employee finally regained her senses .

“All the people who appeared on Making Film yesterday, Pretty Girls, Neptune, Mr . Nam Joyoon, and even the songwriter, is trending! Nothing more needs to be said about you, Mr . Sunwoo . I bet your last entertainment show appearance can’t compare with this one? Everything must feel surreal to you right now . ”

“It feels real . ”

I said while placing my bag on the desk .

“Even my high school photo is going around on the internet . ”

I was wondering what my friends were giggling about in our group chat, and that was it .

A few laughs erupted amongst the employees . A few seemed to have not seen it yet as they quickly took their phones out to check . Soon, the laughter grew multiple times over . I asked the female employee, who was holding her belly laughing,

“We can’t take the photo down, right?”

“Give up . Even the government can’t do that . ”

I knew it . I only asked just in case .

I looked around the office .

It was filled with cheery laughs and excitement . A smile unconsciously hung on my lips as well . Obtaining results from something I spent a ton of time preparing for always made me feel satisfied and proud .

Although this was only the first step in the project .

Either way, it was a greatly successful first step .

“How are Pretty Girls?”

I asked Chief Lee Taeshin .

He, who went around absentmindedly, jolted in surprise .

“Ah! The gi-girls . Jae is practicing the choreography, and the younger ones went to school . They’ll be going straight to the practice room as soon as school’s over . ”

“Did anything happen after the broadcast?”

Their world must have changed overnight .

“I think the girls are still dazed . I talked to Yeondu on the phone just now, and she said her classmates were causing a fuss . She’s been running away because of all the pestering, asking when the album comes out and if they can listen to it early . ”

“I think it’ll be good if you pick them up directly from school for a while . It’s become such a big topic that reporters might stick around . ”

“Okay . Ah, tons of people contacted me after yesterday’s broadcast . ”

Chief Lee Taeshin took out his phone . It was vibrating even now .

“Calls for interviews and guest appearances on cable and other shows . I’m also constantly being contacted by event agencies . ”

They only seemed to be testing the waters before the broadcast .

It seems they made up their minds now that the first episode garnered so much attention .

“Let’s organize and discuss them later as we still need to see how things go . ”

“Ah, yes . Then I’ll organize them . ”

I sat down after our conversation, but this time, Kim Hyunsup came over with a notebook .

“Joyoon’s moth-, chief . There have been a few casting calls for Joyoon . ”

“Which ones?”

Kim Hyunsup read the casting calls . Most were magazines and programs primarily watched by women .

The PR Team female employee looked at the notebook and laughed,

“He’s gaining a lot of attention from the women after the episode . ”

“He didn’t show much up in the episode though?”

“Impact is more important than airtime . Old magazine interviews and articles of Mr . Nam Joyoon are being rediscovered . They especially seem interested in his relationship with you . His villainous image from Alive has been aired out with this opportunity . In a quite positive way . ”

“That’s good, though I don’t know why . ”

I should monitor the episode once I’m done work .

After organizing Lee Kwanwoo and Neptune’s schedules, I finally sat down at my desk .

I opened a browser and went on the portal site . I saw my face in the main article .

{Midas’s Hand, Jung Sunwoo, Is he an illusion made by the press?}

*

“You must be a celebrity . ”

The employee asked as she placed the coffee in the tray .

I thought she’d ask considering she had been glancing at me ever since I ordered .

“No . ”

“I’ve been working at this studio coffee shop for a year now . I can tell right away . ”

She straightforwardly scanned my face while laughing charmingly . I should have just worn sunglasses like usual . Wearing a hat was too much . Many celebrities around here covered their faces so it was reasonable for her to mistake me for one .

I grabbed the box of donuts and coffee and turned around to leave .

“Fuck . What kind of idol reality TV show gets 9% ratings?”

“I think it’ll go even higher? Making Film, Making Film, everyone’s buzzing about it . ”

“My girls are nagging me about getting them a reality TV show too because of this . I told them to stop with the nonsense, and they told me to try like Jung Sunwoo . ”

“Jung Sunwoo, that bastard . ”

“I might even push him down the stairs if I meet him at the studio . ”

I turned my head around and walked past the men who were undoubtedly managers .

Did I need to wear a mask as well from now on?

It seemed popular idol groups were at the studio as young girls were swarming outside . I brushed off their gazes and walked towards the entrance . For some reason, it was noisy here .

“Mister, I’m a stylist . I came to work!”

“Please show me your pass . ”

“I don’t have it right now, but can’t I just go in today?”

“You can’t . There was an incident where a hardcore fan impersonated as a reporter . ”

A young woman and security guard were arguing . The security guard looked at me .

“What business did you come here for?”

“I came to meet Producer Yoo Sooyoung of the Entertainment Department . ”

I tucked the donut box under my arm and took off my sunglasses .

“Please show me… Ah, please go in . Yesterday’s broadcast was really fun . ”

“Thank you . ”

“Why can he go in and not me?!”

“Because I know his face . ”

The security calmly replied as he opened the entrance gate . I walked in while he held the woman back . The woman kept causing a commotion behind me .

Even at a glance, she didn’t seem like a stylist . If she really was impersonating someone, whoever their manager was had it tough .

What a relief it was that there were no troublemakers amongst Neptune fans .

I soon went up to the Entertainment Department . It was busier than usual . I saw a few managers carrying coffee like me as though they came here to talk business . It was a familiar sight . I could tell whether it was effective or not just by watching the producer’s expression as they accepted the coffee .

It took a long time to get out of the hallway . There were people who friendlily approached and congratulated me, people who whispered from a distance, and people hesitant in the middle . Luckily, there wasn’t anyone who pushed my back .

I found a Making Film production assistant near the editing room .

There was also a young manager holding coffee with smiling doll-like girls .

“She’s busy editing Making Film right now . Just talk to me . ”

“I heard that Producer Yoo Sooyoung will immediately be working on Good Friends Season 2 as their main producer once Making Film is over . I just wanted to show her the rookies from our company . We just want to say hi . Although our girls are lacking in popularity, they have great entertainment sense . ”

The manager quickly gestured . The girls bowed their slender waists like a folder as they greeted him . It seemed the assistant had already been hung up by other managers as he sighed while greeting them back . He then discovered me as he was about to speak .

“Chief Jung!”

“I came to pay a visit since the first episode did so well . But…”

I asked while handing him a coffee,

“Is the Good Friends cast changing?”

“Pardon? No! The girls, no, the cast is the same, only the producer is changing!”

That was a relief .

My cheeks tingled . I smiled as I greeted the other manager . The manager greeted me back with a dazed expression before quickly running away with the girls . The girls glanced back at me as they were being dragged away .

“The reactions are amazing, right?”

The production assistant said as the corners of his lips curled up .

“Maybe it’s because we used you as bait for yesterday’s broadcast, but I heard a ton of people talking about you even while I was stuck in the editing room? People’s opinions on Pretty Girls were also generally positive . ”

“It’s all because the producer edited it so well . It was fun even though I knew what would happen . ”

“There’s no way it couldn’t be fun . She’s constantly working hard at it . ”

The assistant gestured behind him . It was to the editing room that had ‘Making Film’ written on it . When I looked inside, it looked like Producer Yoo Sooyoung was editing in a chicken coop with messily scattered preview notes everywhere .

I suddenly recalled our first meeting . Producer Yoo Sooyoung, who had worn a sky-blue one-piece dress as she reviewed a human documentary, was now sporting unkempt hair and covering her shoulders with a blanket .

“Even though she has a child, she doesn’t go home and pretty much lives in the editing room . ”

The production assistant said, astonished .

“I guess she has a lot of work?”

“She does . Editing Making Film, checking Good Friend’s composition, it’s true she’s busy, but I think she’s also enjoying it . She occasionally mumbles about how fun entertainment shows are, that it’s thrilling, and how refreshing it is . ”

Ah, now that I thought about it, she was the woman who cried about wanting to do entertainment shows after getting drunk .

I entered the editing room and offered her a coffee and the box of donuts . Although she looked haggard, her eyes glinted with joy . If she could make a highly polished program while enjoying it, then there wasn’t anything better than that .

I talked with her briefly before looking at the screen . It displayed Im Seoyoung’s face .

“Hope you can take good care of Neptune’s parts as well, producer . ”

“You already know how I’m going to edit it . ”

Producer Yoo Sooyoung laughed as she took a big bite of a donut .

Just then, someone knocked on the door . I thought it was the production assistant, but Producer Choi Byungsoo stuck his head in . He looked more haggard than Producer Yoo Sooyoung, who worked overnight . They weren’t exactly happy to see each other so only empty greetings were exchanged .

His gaze alternated between Producer Yoo Sooyoung and me before saying,

“The ratings were quite good . Congratulations, Chief Jung and sunbae . ”

I wondered if he came all the way here to say that when he grumbled,

“Why is someone so skilled like you taking a hoobae’s food bowl…”{1}

Dissatisfied, he added,

“Well, good luck . You must be busy setting up a new team and everything . ”

“Why would I set up a new team?”

“If I leave and the staff leaves as well, then it’s no different from having to set up a new…”

“The staff is going to stay the same . ”

Producer Choi Byungsoo’s eyes widened .

“You’re keeping the staff? Writer Hwang…!”

“I already talked with the main writer . You’re the only one that needs to leave . ”

Producer Yoo Sooyoung said coolly . Producer Choi Byungsoo, wearing a dumb face and opening and closing his mouth, disappeared like the wind . Then Producer Yoo Sooyoung brushed off the donut crumbs and stretched her hand out .

“Let’s work hard together, like a family . ”

A family, that would be nice .

I happily shook her hand .

*

The event stage was heated . The people swarming around the stage were shouting . There was still a bit of time before Neptune’s performance . I checked my watched and left the waiting room .

I saw a familiar face amongst the busily moving event staff .

“I heard you were looking for me . ”

“Ah, Chief Jung! No, team leader!”

The event agency employee greeted me with a bright smile .

“Aren’t we in event season? I wanted to ask you about Neptune’s schedule . ”

He said fawningly .

Neptune was quite popular for events since they were a good value .

While the rank of Neptune as a team was a bit iffy, they had Lee Songha the actress, which really boosted people’s interest in the event . They could pay a small fee and puff their chests in front of their sponsors so there were rumors that event agencies hoped Neptune’s rank would stay the same .

Well, it did until now .

“I want to put a hold on that aside from the already scheduled ones . ”

“Pardon? Why?”

I smiled as I replied,

“I think things will be very different from now . ”

{1} I personally prefer the word ‘junior’ here but kept ‘hoobae’ to maintain consistency with sunbae . Also, ‘food bowl’ here refers to ‘Good Friends’, which Producer Choi Byungsoo was the main producer of . He was switched out for Producer Yoo Sooyoung because of the ‘reality TV show proposal’ incident .