Carrying coffee cups in both hands, Team Lead Gwak from LS Entertainment’s PR department walked briskly down the corridor.
“So about Min Hyunseung’s personal album…”
A few days ago, CEO Jeon Nam-il’s simple remark had turned Team Lead Gwak’s leisurely schedule upside down. Now, his once-empty planner was crammed with minuscule notes.
“We can be more aggressive on this.”
After personally listening to the track, CEO Jeon concluded that pitting Min Hyunseung against Jayble in a head-to-head chart battle stood a fair chance of success. The result: for several days running, Gwak found himself out until sunrise, meeting and drinking with countless press contacts.
I’m not a “Booze Director” for crying out loud…
His insides felt pickled, and his head pounded like it would split open. Finally, as he neared the PR office:
“Should we not consolidate this info?” “Wait, where did you send the files I gave you?” “I passed them on to that daily newspaper’s entertainment desk…” “What? Are you crazy? We had a separate set specifically for them!” “Oh no, what do we do now…” “What do you mean, what do we do? Call them right away and resend it properly!”
As expected, the PR office was a warzone. Gwak let out a tired sigh. Standing in the doorway, he surveyed the chaos with the expression of a cow being led to slaughter.
One staffer, phone cradled between ear and shoulder while typing, spotted him and shouted:
“Team Lead! What took you so long?”
“It’s a miracle I got here at all.”
“Anyway, you brought coffee for us, right?”
As soon as Gwak mumbled, “Uh, yeah…” the staffer snatched the drinks from his hands and lined them up on a nearby table.
“Everyone, coffee’s here! The esteemed Team Lead Gwak wants us to keep burning the midnight oil, so have a cup!”
Gwak loosened his tie.
“Come on, don’t be like that. I was playing ‘Booze Director’ until dawn today, too.”
Slurping their own cup, the staffer teased in a smooth tone:
“Oh, we know how hard you’ve been working, boss. But with your hangover not even gone, you’ve gotta model leadership by helping your subordinates with their tasks.”
Though said in jest, it carried an air of genuine camaraderie formed over many shared hardships.
“Ugh… not a second to rest today, looks like.”
Ever since the CEO’s words, every marketing channel at LS Entertainment had been thrown behind Hyunseung’s album.
“Anyway, a rookie messed something up earlier. I’ll fix that while you review the next batch of articles and sign off on the updated reports in our collab tool.”
“Got it,” Gwak sighed as he booted up his computer.
A staffer murmured:
“But… can we really pull this off?”
“Meaning?”
“You know—HS. Everyone else is desperately avoiding Jayble’s release window.”
“True.”
“Even big-name artists get crushed if they collide with Jayble’s releases, so… is HS biting off more than he can chew?”
The staffer ended on a cautious note. Gwak answered,
“I have no clue, or else I’d have transferred to a management position years ago, right?”
“No way you could do that! Then who’d do all this marketing for us?”
“Right, maybe I’ll just stand out front of the building, collecting ‘referral fees’ from the management team?”
“No, that wouldn’t do either—”
The staffer then whispered:
“Still… do you think HS has a shot?”
Gwak considered for a moment.
“A shot… yes, I think so.”
As PR Team Lead, Gwak had been writing up and distributing the press releases about Hyunseung’s steps, then tracking public reaction to them. He had the best vantage point for measuring the sentiment around each new track.
He does seem special.
Initially, Gwak assumed that Seo Jini’s and Gong Hyo-joo’s successes were mostly luck and timing—but after seeing him transform even Jung Arin’s prospects, he realized Hyunseung’s skill was no fluke. He’d even started looking forward to writing the next wave of articles about him.
“I think there’s a decent chance.”
“You do?”
“You listened to the track, right?”
“Sure, but what do I know?”
“Well, I say there’s some hope.”
It was obviously an uphill climb—Jayble had more fame, experience, and hype. Yet it wasn’t outright impossible. The song was incredible, and Hyunseung had grown into a “streaming powerhouse” in his own right. What’s more, CEO Jeon was rarely wrong in his decisions.
“Anyway, I can’t claim to know the future.”
He smirked.
“But he’s one of ours. Naturally, I’m rooting for him to win.”
The staffer gave a little smile and replied:
“Yeah, same here. Might as well do our part and hope for the best.”
“So difficult…”
Hyunseung had been staring at his monitor for hours, oblivious to time. Then Manager Kim walked in, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Well, well, the great Min Hyunseung looks anxious now that the release date’s looming?”
Hyunseung’s hunched shoulders suggested worry.
“Oh, you’re here. When’re you leaving?”
“You punk—!”
“Can’t even crack a joke, can I?”
Hyunseung smirked.
“So what brings you here? Another meal plan? Actually, you look weirdly worried.”
Manager Kim frowned.
“I bet you’re glued to news about your matchup, huh? Guess you’re tense.”
He stepped closer to read Hyunseung’s monitor. Then he frowned harder:
[ 10 gifts your teenage girlfriend will love ]
Kim let out a tragic sigh.
“Figures. I was fooled yet again. Fooled, fooled, fooled, and keep being fooled!”
“Huh? When did I fool you?”
“I thought you’d be scouting your competitor, doing something productive, but no—you’re picking gift ideas for a teenage girlfriend?”
Hyunseung rolled his eyes.
“What’s ‘unproductive’ about giving a gift? And do you want me to stare at Jayble’s timeline, wishing him to fail? Should I jinx him or something?”
Kim shook his head.
“O-of course not. Gifting your lady is extremely worthwhile, obviously. But a teenage girlfriend?”
“Why the face? It’s not a crime.”
“I’m not… hey, we all knew you had a girlfriend, but she’s a minor?”
“What? Why look at me like I’m a criminal?”
“Don’t dodge the question. I heard you had a girlfriend—”
“Wait, me? A girlfriend?”
He’d apparently mistaken Hyunseung’s “my sim-date girlfriend is unwell” for a real person. Or at least that was Kim’s assumption.
“Oh, that’s just a silly phone game I play. Nothing else—”
“So love is just a game to you? You scumbag! You think that’s okay?”
“Huh? That’s not what— Wait a second, I was—”
Their misunderstanding only deepened.
“Anyway, never mind that. Let’s talk about your album. You realize it’s releasing on Christmas Day, right? If you made personal plans, push them back.”
“What’s with you? Nobody works on Christmas. It’s not like my being here changes anything about the release.”
“I do! And it’s your release day. You’re not skipping out on the big reaction watch party, got it?”
Hyunseung stuck his fingers in his ears, humming “La-la-la,” and Kim continued glumly:
“Damn it, your album means I have to come in too. So no date with ‘Mi-yeon’ for me….”
Kim meant the coffee shop owner near the building, a sweet, cheerful woman he’d had a crush on. He’d hoped to use Christmas as an excuse to invite her to a movie, but that plan was ruined by Hyunseung’s album. Meanwhile, Hyunseung, half-listening, suddenly spun around:
“You know ‘miyeonsi’ too?”
He’d confused Kim’s mention of “Mi-yeon” with the abbreviation for a “dating sim.” Kim blinked:
“Wait, you know Ms. Mi-yeon? How?”
“Of course I do, I’m super into it.”
“You scumbag! But how do you—?”
“Well, it’s my jam, so…”
“Madness! She’s a real person—someone I love—and you call it a game? Just forget it!”
“Why are you cursing me out? It’s not a big deal—just something we can share?”
“Wha—are you serious? You want us both to share the same woman? You absolute pig—!”
The knot of confusion kept tightening.
“You jerk—!”
Kim was not about to lose his real-life Ms. Mi-yeon to a young, rich pretty-boy competitor. So he huffed:
“No matter what, you’re not taking Mi-yeon from me.”
“Huh? Are we reading the same script—?”
“Don’t talk to me, you snake!”
He slammed the door on his way out. Hyunseung sighed:
“He’s way over-immersed. It’s just some 2D characters… He must be lonely.”
He turned back to the monitor.
“Anyway, what should I give my family…?”
Money didn’t matter to him now, but he had no clue about their preferences, having neglected them in his past life with checks and transfers. He lamented how clueless he’d been.
“So hard… so hard…”
He continued staring at the screen until his eyes felt dry.
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