Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 49

49. A New Manager Arrives

As soon as break time arrived, Rembrary pulled Jung-seo into a corner and asked,

“How was it?”

His questioning eyes seemed to sparkle with anticipation.

Jung-seo avoided his expectant gaze. Telling him it sounded awful felt wrong, like something he shouldn’t say to his benefactor, causing his heart to ache. But lying would only further damage his benefactor’s reputation. He was in a bind.

“Huh? How was it? Did I seem docile?”

Rembrary asked again, staring intently at Jung-seo.

After hesitating for a long time, Jung-seo finally spoke as gently as possible.

“The words themselves weren’t bad.”

“The words themselves?”

“But they could easily be misunderstood by the listener.”

“Misunderstood?”

Rembrary’s eyes widened, as if he didn’t understand at all.

Jung-seo felt awkward and fiddled with his chin.

“The nuance was a bit off.”

“How so?”

“It sounded sarcastic.”

Rembrary was taken aback. Jung-seo’s words meant that the acting coach had taken his words sarcastically. What if they twisted his words no matter how honestly he spoke? This wasn’t a problem Rembrary could solve by being careful.

Jung-seo cautiously watched Rembrary’s expression and spoke with difficulty.

“I think it’s better to just do what you’ve been doing.”

“Seonwoo-shil said my image is very bad. Even if Oh Jung-shin starts a fight, it’s still my loss.”

Jung-seo smiled wryly.

“That’s a special situation. Even Joo Il-hee, the ‘Nation’s Angel,’ would get hate if she fought with Oh Jung-shin.”

“Heo.”

Rembrary sighed in disbelief.

“So, it’s not a problem that can be solved with image management? Is there no way to relieve this frustration?”

“There’s only one answer in the entertainment industry.”

“Answer?”

“Become famous.”

“!”

“Then you’ll have more fans, and they’ll protect you from Oh Jung-shin’s fans’ attacks.”

Rembrary took Jung-seo’s advice, and during subsequent acting practice, he quietly did as he was told. The acting coach, still angry about being humiliated by Rembrary earlier, kept picking fights, but Rembrary remained indifferent, which eventually wore the coach down. Even so, the coach was determined to see Rembrary mess up again, but Rembrary didn’t do anything particularly out of line until Jong-woo came to find him at 2 PM.

“Jung-seo, Yeon-woo, we have an album meeting. Let’s go.”

* * *

The meeting had more people than before. Rembrary wondered, ‘Is there more to discuss?’ but the meeting content was very different from before.

From whether to use the new song as the title track, to how long the promotion period would be, to whether the lyrics were too explicit given the strict censorship, to the choreographer, the designer and photographer for the album jacket, the promotion methods, the music video director, and even the stylist… new agenda items kept popping up endlessly.

However, most of the meeting results ended with ‘Let’s scout them,’ and only a few things were confirmed.

“So, we’ll go with the originally planned song as the title track, but we’ll include the new song as a B-side and promote that as well this time. Yeon-woo, you’ll focus on the title track during that promotion, and then promote the B-side and your solo song simultaneously.”

“Won’t the schedule be too tight? Yeon-woo still has a long way to go on , and will probably start filming around then.”

“We have to strike while the iron is hot. It’s better to work hard now, even if it’s tough, than to be relaxed now and relaxed forever.”

“Yes.”

“The recording… let’s see. The fifth competition is the Monday after next week, right?”

“Yes.”

“You have a week free between the fifth competition and the results announcement, right? Let’s record all three songs then. Book the recording studio.”

“Yes.”

President Lim looked at the members one last time and urged,

“Since this concept emphasizes a mature image, work out hard and get in shape.”

The next day, Jong-woo called Rembrary and gave him the address of the cafe created for the staff and actors of to join.

“The practice scripts are posted here, so you can print them out and read them. Do you have a printer at the dorm?”

“What is that?”

“You don’t. Then I’ll print them out for you whenever you need them. Do you know how to join the cafe?”

“Tell me the location of the cafe first.”

“You don’t know. Jung-seo, show him how to join the cafe.”

Jong-woo, noticing Rembrary’s bewildered expression, urged him once again.

“Script reading starts next Tuesday, so go to bed at 9 PM sharp to keep your skin in good condition. They might film the script reading and release it.”

“Then I won’t be able to practice my lines?”

“What lines do you have?”

“!”

“Still, familiarize yourself with the other people’s lines in advance. You might be sitting in the front row since you’re a supporting character with a significant role.”

Until yesterday, Rembrary’s schedule had been quite simple. A competition theme would be announced, he’d practice for a week, compete, rest for a week, and then the competition results and theme would be announced again… He also practiced choreography, vocals, and new songs, and acting, but all of it took place within the agency office, so he didn’t feel like he had a lot of commitments.

But suddenly, there were so many things to do that Rembrary became confused. On the other hand, the other members seemed excited.

Starting that evening, an incredibly tight schedule began.

The members, who used to go their separate ways as soon as they got back to the dorm, gathered together and practiced the new song. The next day, they practiced the song with a vocal trainer at the agency. Jong-woo brought them strange, bad-tasting drinks that were supposedly good for their throats every three or four hours.

“We really have to do well this time.”

“If we don’t become famous even after all this, we’ll be treated like a sunken submarine, just like the haters say.”

“Yeah. They’ll say we’re not just unlucky, but that we don’t have star quality in the first place.”

Even Tae-in and Keshi, who didn’t like Rembrary shining with his singing, helped him practice the title track. The tension of having to make this album a success no matter what seemed to suppress their hatred for Rembrary.

Then came Sunday.

The members gathered and practiced the song as they had been doing for the past few days, and Rembrary was forced to join them. But as they were practicing, Jung-seo received a call from Jong-woo.

“Hello?”

Jung-seo stopped singing his part and answered the phone. They were sitting so close together that Jong-woo’s voice boomed from the phone.

– “Hey, Jung-seo, it’s me. Is it okay if I come to the dorm now?”

“When did you ever ask before, hyung [older brother or male friend]? Just come. What’s up?”

– “Well, I’m not coming alone this time.”

“Who are you coming with?”

The members, who had been listlessly doing their own thing, all looked at Jung-seo at Jong-woo’s words. Who was he bringing? Jong-woo had never brought a guest to the dorm on a day off before.

– “Uh, uh! The new manager! Your new road manager!”

Everyone was surprised by Jong-woo’s unexpected words.

– “Is it okay?”

Jong-woo asked repeatedly when Jung-seo didn’t answer. But the question was just a formality, and it sounded more like a notification to ‘get ready because I’m coming now.’ That was indeed the purpose of the call.

“Yeah. It’s okay.”

– “It’ll take about 30 minutes.”

“Okay, I got it, hyung.”

As soon as Jung-seo hung up, the members went wild.

“A new manager? If it’s a road manager, that’s someone who’ll be with us all the time?”

“Is it a girl or a guy?”

“Is it a girl? Is that why he called to let us know on purpose? To tell us to get dressed?”

“No, it’s probably a guy. I heard the president say before that the 담당 [in charge] road manager will always be the same gender. That way, the fans won’t misunderstand.”

The atmosphere quickly became lively, and Rembrary also felt excited. A manager must be like Jong-woo. Actually, Rembrary didn’t care who came, but he became a little excited because the members were so expectant.

Besides, when he thought about it, the new road manager would probably be with Rembrary the most. Jong-woo struggled on competition days because Keshi and Rembrary used different waiting rooms and had different performance orders, but there was only one manager.

“Let’s clean up.”

After a while, Jung-seo was the first to come to his senses and tapped the shoulders of the members who were excitedly chattering.

After that, it was a sudden cleaning time. They cleaned up the trash that was immediately visible and put the scattered household items back in their places. Rembrary didn’t know where things were, so he was in charge of the vacuum cleaner and spent the whole time wandering around the house with the strange machine making a whirring noise.

And just as the cleaning was finished, the doorbell rang as if on cue.

– Ding-dong

“Ah, I should have changed my clothes!”

Hye-gyeol belatedly lamented, but there was no time for that. Everyone tidied up their clothes, and Jung-seo opened the front door himself. Jong-woo had a key, but he must have pressed the doorbell because he wanted them to open it.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, it’s okay.”

Jung-seo opened the door and quickly stepped back, and Jong-woo entered first. He looked happy, as if he liked the new manager.

And the moment a strange face followed him in, the room fell silent. No one spoke. In the quiet silence, Jong-woo burst into a hearty laugh.

“He’s handsome, right?”

The members were stunned for a moment, then exclaimed as if they had woken up from a trance.

“Wow.”

Because the man who came in as the new road manager had a much more striking face than most celebrities.

Jung-seo thought he knew why Jong-woo was laughing. Looks weren’t important in being a manager. But having a very handsome or pretty manager didn’t hurt either. Connections were very important in the manager world, and having an outstanding face naturally made it easier to expand those connections.

In fact, the president of a certain entertainment company, famous for being ‘more handsome than the agency’s actors,’ was famous for an anecdote about receiving twenty-two business cards from directors, PDs [production directors], writers, reporters, and other agency managers while going from the basement to the third floor of a broadcasting station during his time as a manager.

However, what surprised Rembrary wasn’t the new manager’s face.

‘That person…?’

The man’s face was familiar.

‘The funeral?’

The man was the man in the black suit who had been standing with the woman at the funeral. He was the man.

‘Coincidence?’

It was probably a coincidence. They had only briefly made eye contact back then, and they hadn’t exchanged a single word. Besides, Rembrary had been wearing sunglasses and a mask at the time.

But it felt a bit unsettling to run into someone he had met in front of the funeral home again here.