Chapter 41 - May I Say Hello?

“H-Hold on! What are you talking about right now!”

Before Baek Hyeon-woo could even open his mouth, Laura shouted first.

Seong Soo-ho was a man with a considerably fearsome impression, but Laura paid it no mind.

“Are you saying you want to take Hyeon-woo oppa to be in charge of Choux-pop? What kind of nonsense...”

“Th-That's right. Manager-nim is our manager...”

Kanade also chimed in from the side.

As the two of them stepped forward as if to protect Baek Hyeon-woo, Seong Soo-ho's gaze turned fearsome.

“I wasn't talking to you, so get out of the way.”

“……!”

Kanade flinched and stepped back at Seong Soo-ho's fearsome gaze.

Laura didn't care and shot her eyes open, but Seong Soo-ho no longer directed his gaze toward the two of them.

He spoke, looking only at Baek Hyeon-woo.

“Assistant Manager Baek Hyeon-woo, it's difficult to talk in detail here, so let's set up a separate meeting. The time I have...”

“I have no interest.”

However, Seong Soo-ho's words were cut off in the middle.

Because Baek Hyeon-woo had spoken in a cold voice.

“Thank you for the offer. However, I'm not really interested.”

“I'm not finished talking yet.”

“I'm sorry.”

He had heard a similar story from Team Leader Jeong Do-woon last time.

However, he still didn't feel any particular interest.

“There are many things I want to do at Haram Entertainment, so I'm not interested in anything else right now.”

“Can't I even talk?”

“You must be busy, so let's not waste your time. Don't you have a 'Music World' filming today as well?”

Seong Soo-ho looked at Baek Hyeon-woo's face with fearsome eyes, his mouth shut.

He created an atmosphere of fear to the point that Kanade let out a 'heek' sound and took another step back.

Is this an entertainment agency director, or a gangster executive?

“And.”

Baek Hyeon-woo directed his gaze over Seong Soo-ho's shoulder.

“It seems Joo Ga-hee-ssi's condition isn't very good today, I think it would be better to let her rest a bit.”

“What?”

Joo Ga-hee, who was standing with Seong Hae-won, made a surprised expression.

“Joo Ga-hee, is your condition bad?”

“Ah, no.”

Joo Ga-hee hurriedly shook her head.

“There are no problems. That person is saying strange things…”

“One side of her head is probably throbbing. It seems like a migraine, so please have her do a cold compress for 30 minutes in a quiet place.”

“……!”

No matter how much she tries to hide it, she can't fool Baek Hyeon-woo's eyes.

Because he can see it all with the status window.

––––––––

[Joo Ga-hee]

Vocal: S-

Dance: A-

Visual: A-

Potential: A

Body Condition: 45%

Mental Condition: 35%

– A migraine is occurring due to a blood circulation problem in the head and neck.

– Body Condition is greatly decreased.

– Mental Condition is greatly decreased.

– Minus corrections will be applied to Vocal, Dance, and Visual.

––––––––

It's impossible to know if the migraine was caused by the decrease in her condition, or if her condition decreased because of the migraine.

In any case, Joo Ga-hee had a migraine and was in a state of decreased condition.

People call it a migraine if only one side of their head hurts, but medically, migraine refers only to a severe, pulsating pain that lasts for a certain period of time.

Since 'headache' and 'migraine' are displayed separately on the status window, Joo Ga-hee's current state is probably a migraine, not a general headache.

Originally, the exact cause of migraines has not been revealed, and there are only various hypotheses.

However, on the status window right now, it is displayed that the migraine is occurring due to a blood circulation problem in the head and neck.

If so, he should be able to alleviate the pain by constricting the blood vessels in the head.

“If you apply a cold compress, the blood vessels in the head will constrict, reducing the blood flow and alleviating the headache. If it's hard to find ice, you can use something like a cold beverage can.”

“……”

At Baek Hyeon-woo's explanation, Seong Soo-ho made a caught-off-guard expression.

Meanwhile, Joo Ga-hee was flustered, her mouth agape.

“Assistant Manager Baek, we're done talking, so let's go over there... huh?”

At that moment, Park Yeong-ho returned.

Park Yeong-ho's eyes widened at the unexpected meeting, and Seong Soo-ho clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, let's go.”

Seong Soo-ho sharply turned his back, and Seong Hae-won and Joo Ga-hee followed behind him.

Seong Hae-won waved at Baek Hyeon-woo as she left, but Joo Ga-hee left while scowling deeply and glaring at Baek Hyeon-woo.

“Wow, that mannerless bitch. Hyeon-woo oppa went to the trouble of telling her how to deal with it, and all she does is glare like that.”

“It's not like I was particularly being considerate, so it doesn't matter.”

As Laura got angry, Baek Hyeon-woo answered calmly.

“It was me telling them not to hold onto us and bother us, and to just take care of their own business.”

“Ah, was that it?”

Seong Hae-won was perfectly fine, but Joo Ga-hee's condition was clearly worse than last time.

I singled out Joo Ga-hee because I thought it would just be tiring to continue a war of nerves with Seong Soo-ho.

“Then again, if oppa had said it because you were really worried, you would have massaged her yourself.”

“A massage doesn't have much effect on a migraine anyway.”

Most headaches are tension headaches, where the pain is caused by muscle tension.

Therefore, the pain can be alleviated by relaxing the head and neck muscles.

However, since migraines are caused by problems with blood vessels and the like, massaging the muscles doesn't have much effect.

Though there might be a placebo effect.

“What on earth happened?”

Park Yeong-ho, who still hadn't grasped the situation, asked.

“What did Director Seong Soo-ho say? The atmosphere was a bit hostile, did you by any chance get into a fight?”

“It was nothing.”

Baek Hyeon-woo shrugged and held up the business card he had received earlier.

“I received the Director's business card, but I didn't give him mine.”

***

“Team Leader Jeong, take care of Joo Ga-hee.”

“Ah, yes!”

After joining Jeong Do-woon, who was with the other members, Seong Soo-ho passed Joo Ga-hee off to him.

“Joo Ga-hee, recover your condition before the recording.”

“D-Director, I'm really fine...”

Joo Ga-hee spoke urgently, but she shut her mouth at Seong Soo-ho's fearsome gaze.

“Get your act together. Getting that kind of pointed remark from someone at Haram Entertainment, aren't you embarrassed?”

“……”

As Seong Soo-ho scolded Joo Ga-hee, the other members and Jeong Do-woon, who didn't know the situation, were flustered.

However, Seong Soo-ho paid it no mind and left.

“Uncle.”

Seong Hae-won, who had followed Seong Soo-ho alone, spoke.

“Did you see how he pinpointed Joo Ga-hee's migraine earlier?”

“Yeah, I saw.”

Seong Soo-ho said with a blank expression, walking down the hallway.

“I heard he also fixed TVX PD Seo Dong-cheol's wrist, so he must be a real expert.”

During this time, Seong Soo-ho had looked into Baek Hyeon-woo in more detail.

He had already figured out that Baek Hyeon-woo was a former physical therapist.

“Even doctors probably couldn't figure it out at a glance, so how on earth did he do it? Does he have some kind of superpower?”

“Ayy, what kind of nonsense is that? He must just be incredibly skilled.”

“But why is such a skilled person in the entertainment industry and not a hospital?”

Why on earth is a person like that working as an idol manager.

That was the question.

“I looked it up on the internet, and they said that with the recent changes to the actual expense insurance, the number of jobs for physical therapists has decreased a lot. Maybe that's why he quit the hospital?”

“Really?”

Hearing Seong Hae-won's words, Seong Soo-ho was lost in thought.

“I think I saw on the news a while ago that they were regulating manual therapy... is it because of something like that?”

“If he had received good treatment at a hospital, would he have come to the entertainment industry? He probably moved because he thought the entertainment industry was better than a hospital.”

“Yeah… I suppose that's true.”

The medical field probably isn't a place where you're unconditionally treated well and earn a lot of money just because you're skilled.

He must have come to the entertainment industry thinking the prospects were not good.

“If that's the case... if we just guarantee that we'll treat him well, he'll come over.”

Since he's a person who moved to the entertainment industry looking for a good job, if we present better conditions, he will surely come over.

“Honestly, our DP is better than Haram, isn't it? If we just give him an exceptional offer, he'll try to move right away.”

Haram Entertainment is a small-medium agency that could disappear at any time.

However, DP Entertainment is a large agency that is counted as one of the top 3 agencies in South Korea.

It's not to the level of a large conglomerate, but it's a medium-sized enterprise that is also listed on KOSDAQ, and it's a sufficiently attractive workplace.

If we promise to treat him at the team leader level right away and add a handsome bonus, he will move to DP Entertainment.

“It seems Team Leader Jeong just proposed for him to come as a road manager... that won't do. It's only natural he was refused.”

“Yeah, it seems right to treat him at the team leader level.”

You can't treat a person with such a special ability the same as a general road manager.

At the very least, his salary should be preferentially treated as higher than a general team leader's.

“Because it's a profitable venture even if he just perfectly manages the kids' conditions. And we can sometimes use him to win the favor of industry insiders like PD Seo Dong-cheol.”

“Aha, I'm looking forward to it.”

“It couldn't be helped today because his dedicated idols were next to him, but if I contact him separately and set up a meeting...”

At that moment, Seong Soo-ho suddenly stopped walking.

“Hmm...”

“Uncle, what's wrong?”

In front of Seong Hae-won, who was looking into his face, Seong Soo-ho frowned.

“That bastard, he didn't give me a business card.”

***

'Music World' is a program that proceeds as a live broadcast, but for some singers' performances, they use videos filmed as a pre-recording.

And the pre-recording also doesn't use the same stage continuously, but proceeds by moving between several stages.

“Some groups just sing normally on an ordinary stage, but there are times when some groups show a stage with tons of special effects on a very splendid, dedicated set they've prepared.”

“That kind of thing is also all negotiated with the broadcasting station side in advance, right?”

“That's right. But that kind of negotiation isn't a job for you, Assistant Manager Baek. It's something for the team leader level or higher.”

Baek Hyeon-woo observed various places while listening to Park Yeong-ho's explanation.

It certainly seemed there were many things one had to study up on in advance for a major network music broadcast.

For reference, Laura and Kanade had met some girl group members they knew along the way and were in the middle of chatting in a waiting room.

“Choux-pop is probably also recording separately on a set like that right now.”

“It would be nice if Newstarz's 'Gravity' could also film on a splendid stage like that once.”

“That's true.”

Park Yeong-ho nodded.

“We have to pay for the set production costs, but... in any case, the broadcasting station films it with the best quality. The promotional effect is huge.”

The viewership ratings for music broadcasts aren't that high, but the stage videos are continuously replayed on YouTube and other sites.

If it's a video with a large amount of special effects on a splendid set, not only domestic fans but also foreign K-POP enthusiasts will watch it a lot.

“But they won't give us that kind of chance. Because we're not that big a company, and it's a 3-year-old song, not a new one.”

“Is that so?”

“PD Yoo Seon-hee-nim's policy is kind of like that.”

Yoo Seon-hee.

The PD who is currently in overall command of 'Music World's' production.

“Ah, she happens to be passing by over there.”

“……”

One middle-aged woman was passing by, leading other employees.

Singers and managers bowed their waists and greeted her, and the middle-aged woman accepted their greetings with a chilly expression.

‘So that's the PD who holds full authority over 'Music World'...'

Baek Hyeon-woo carefully watched PD Yoo Seon-hee passing by with her cold attitude.

“Team Leader.”

“What?”

With his gaze fixed on PD Yoo Seon-hee, Baek Hyeon-woo opened his mouth.

“May I also say hello to the PD-nim?”