Chapter 45 - Whose Position

“Wh-What, what?”

Choi Tae-hyung repeated the same word as if he were lagging.

“You've secured a set pre-recording? Is that what you just said?”

“That's right, Director.”

“No, but how on earth...”

In front of Choi Tae-hyung, who couldn't complete his sentence, Baek Hyeon-woo explained in a calm voice.

“I subtly asked the PD-nim, and the PD-nim agreed.”

“Why would PD Yoo Seon-hee secure a set pre-recording just because you asked her, Assistant Manager Baek! It doesn't make sense!”

“I suppose she felt some charm from Newstarz.”

“What...!”

As Choi Tae-hyung got excited and raised his voice, Baek Yeon-ah raised her hand to stop him.

“Director Choi, calm down.”

“CEO-nim, this is something strange...”

“If a subordinate actively moves and seizes a good opportunity, you should applaud them, why are you getting so angry?”

“No, it's not that I'm angry, but...”

Leaving the hesitating Choi Tae-hyung aside, Baek Yeon-ah spoke to Baek Hyeon-woo.

“Hyeon-woo-ya, in any case, PD Yoo-nim said a set pre-recording is possible, right?”

“Yes, it's next week.”

“The timeframe is a bit tight, but still, you've seized a great opportunity. You did really well.”

Set pre-recordings are mainly assigned to a popular singer's comeback stage or a major rookie's debut stage.

Last week, Choux-pop also did a set pre-recording, but that was thanks to the power of the large agency that is DP Entertainment.

For that reason, the fact that Newstarz, who belong to a small-medium agency, had secured a set pre-recording at a time like this was an exceptional case.

“Right now, Newstarz is in a situation where they have to appeal as much as possible that they've been reborn as a complete 5-member group. If we can do a set pre-recording on 'Music World', the promotional effect will be huge.”

They did show a great stage at the last Night-Bomb Festival, but the only videos of it are the ones that the fancammers at the venue filmed and uploaded.

To spread a proper video of the reborn Newstarz's stage from beginning to end, an appearance on a music show like 'Music World' is necessary.

And if it's a set pre-recording at that... the best promotional effect can be obtained.

“Don't worry about the budget. Whether it's 10 million won or 20 million won, I'll pay for it.”

“Is it okay even if it goes over 100 million won?”

“No, not that much...”

It was Baek Yeon-ah who had spoken so gallantly, but she immediately shrank back.

At large agencies, they sometimes invest over 100 million won in a set pre-recording, but for a small-medium company like Haram Entertainment, it's a difficult proposition.

“Talk it over with Team Leader Park and just spend to the extent that you don't bankrupt the company...”

“However, there is a bit of a problem.”

Baek Hyeon-woo said cautiously.

“I just spoke with Team Leader Park... and he said he doesn't know if he can do it well because he's never led a set pre-recording.”

“Ah, come to think of it...”

“I hear the general director used to handle it in the past.”

As Baek Hyeon-woo brought up the person who had resigned right before he joined, Baek Yeon-ah's expression darkened.

“Hmm, then…”

Baek Yeon-ah's gaze turned to Choi Tae-hyung.

“Shouldn't you help out a bit, Director Choi...?”

“Me?”

Choi Tae-hyung made a dissatisfied expression.

“Didn't you tell me to entrust all of Newstarz's matters to Team Leader Park?”

“Still, the situation is like this...”

“Phew…”

As Baek Yeon-ah kept looking at him, Choi Tae-hyung let out a sigh.

“Understood. I'll take charge and proceed with it.”

“Ah, thank you, Director Choi.”

Baek Hyeon-woo felt it was a little unexpected.

He had thought he would refuse more stubbornly, but he agreed more quickly than expected.

“First, I'll ask the Art Director and get a plausible design plan. I'll also talk with the places I used to outsource to at my old company and proceed with it.”

“Okay, I'm counting on you. Ah, and please also let Team Leader Park and Hyeon-woo know in detail how it's proceeding.”

“I'll have to. Since I can't look after it every time.”

Saying that, Choi Tae-hyung glanced at Baek Hyeon-woo.

He was frowning as if it were a hassle, but it wasn't a gaze filled with malice.

‘He and I don't get along well, but... it seems he's a person who does his company work properly.’

Baek Hyeon-woo decided to see Choi Tae-hyung in a new light.

In any case, since Choi Tae-hyung's help was needed for this matter, he planned to follow his instructions as much as possible.

“I'll be in your care, Director.”

“Tsk…”

Choi Tae-hyung clicked his tongue and then turned his gaze to Baek Yeon-ah.

“Then I'll get going for now. As it seems there will be a lot to do in the future.”

“Yeah, please take good care of it, Director Choi.”

Choi Tae-hyung left the CEO's office, and Baek Hyeon-woo also followed him.

“Assistant Manager Baek, do you have a schedule today?”

“The kids have a lesson, but I don't have to go myself.”

“What about Team Leader Park?”

“He has an event meeting in 30 minutes.”

“Then just you follow me for now, Assistant Manager Baek. For now...”

It was Choi Tae-hyung who was about to take Baek Hyeon-woo with him, but he immediately stopped in his tracks.

“Ah, damn it.”

“Is there some kind of problem?”

“There were some kids coming for an interview.”

“An interview?”

Baek Hyeon-woo asked, tilting his head.

“Are you hiring new employees?”

“What are you talking about?”

Choi Tae-hyung got annoyed.

“I'm interviewing idol aspirants.”

“Ah, I see.”

Come to think of it, Choi Tae-hyung was in the middle of preparing Haram Entertainment's new girl group.

“I guess you haven't been able to gather all the members yet?”

“……”

At Baek Hyeon-woo's question, Choi Tae-hyung bit his lip.

“I picked two, but I sent them all away.”

“What?”

“One of them promised to come to us but was continuously trying out for other agencies' auditions. And the other one...”

Choi Tae-hyung trailed off.

“The other one?”

“I heard she used to be a school bully.”

“……”

“There are no normal kids, no normal kids...”

Watching the grumbling Choi Tae-hyung, Baek Hyeon-woo felt unnecessarily sorry.

“If I had known it would be like this, I should have talked to Han Se-ri properly when she came last time and had her get smoking cessation treatment.”

“Hey, you call that something to say... sigh.”

Han Se-ri, whom Choi Tae-hyung had brought last time, possessed the excellent abilities of Vocal B, Dance B, Visual A, and Potential B.

Even though it was a shame that her Potential was low, it was a level that could sufficiently pass for an idol.

The problem was that she was a serious chain smoker... perhaps it would have been better to somehow make her quit smoking and give her some mental education.

“Assistant Manager Baek, go do something else for now. I'll do some interviews and call you again.”

“Director Choi.”

It seems Choi Tae-hyung is having difficulties securing members.

If that's the case... shall I try helping him a bit?

“Would it be okay if I also sat in on the interview?”

“What?”

Choi Tae-hyung made a surprised expression at Baek Hyeon-woo's proposal.

***

‘This bastard, what is he thinking?’

Choi Tae-hyung glared at Baek Hyeon-woo, who was sitting in the seat next to him.

In the end, Baek Hyeon-woo came to be interviewing alongside Choi Tae-hyung.

‘It doesn't seem like he has bad intentions.’

Honestly, Choi Tae-hyung did not like Baek Hyeon-woo.

Securing the 'Music World' set pre-recording this time was a great achievement, and he did handle various other tasks well... but he made things too big every time.

Why is a guy who hasn't even been in the entertainment industry for a few months so fearless?

‘If things go wrong, the company could be greatly shaken. He does such risky things every time.’

Choi Tae-hyung wanted Haram Entertainment to do well.

He had come to Haram Entertainment after quitting a large agency with his own ambitions, so it would be problematic if the company were greatly shaken by a rookie manager's mistake.

If it were a big company, it wouldn't be shaken by a rookie's mistake, but Haram Entertainment is a really small company.

‘Still... he does have ability.’

If Baek Hyeon-woo had just been an ordinary guy, he would have kicked him out of the company somehow.

However, Baek Hyeon-woo possessed an ability different from others. This was a fact that even Choi Tae-hyung acknowledged.

Last time as well, thanks to Baek Hyeon-woo, he was able to figure out in advance that Han Se-ri was a chain smoker.

‘The best thing would be to put him under me and control him.’

Isn't there a way to somehow coax him and make him listen well.

Choi Tae-hyung was lost in such thoughts.

“Director, it seems someone has come for the interview?”

“Ah, tell them to come in.”

Four people were scheduled for interviews today.

All four were former trainees who had been affiliated with large agencies, and their singing and dancing skills had already been confirmed.

Therefore, in today's interview, he planned to mainly look in-depth at what kind of person they were.

“Hello! I'm Mi Mi-mi! Please take good care of me!”

The first interviewee, who was putting forward a cute image, came in.

The concept was a bit burdensome, but that part could be corrected later by the company.

What's important is their inner self.

“I have one thing to ask...”

Choi Tae-hyung threw various questions at the interviewee.

While the interview was going on like that, Baek Hyeon-woo just sat quietly at the side.

‘What? Is he not going to cut in?’

He had thought he would cut in abruptly like he did during the first audition or when Han Se-ri was introduced... but Baek Hyeon-woo was just quiet.

He was just staring intently at the interviewees without a word.

‘What is he thinking...’

As he interviewed them one by one like that... before he knew it, it was time for the last interviewee to come in.

“Hello. I'm Eun-joo, who was a trainee at UBX.”

“……”

Her eyes looked sleepy, and there wasn't much motivation in her voice either.

Her face was really pretty, but she was a far cry from a bright and cheerful image.

That's not to say that she had a stiff and dark feeling like Yoo Jeong-ah from the previous audition.

‘How should I put it, a mysterious feeling?’

Her hair was also dyed purple.

Her fashion also had a slight punk feel mixed in.

She had a unique individuality that was different from the other interviewees.

‘In the videos, she just gave the impression of being an ordinarily good trainee...’

Choi Tae-hyung had already checked the videos from her UBX trainee days.

He hadn't received that much of an individualistic feeling from those videos.

Had UBX guided her to kill her individuality?

“Eun-joo-ssi, for now...”

Choi Tae-hyung scratched his head with his ballpoint pen and threw out a few questions.

Although her speech was slow, she was good at answering.

“I saw Newstarz at the Night-Bomb Festival. It was very impressive... so I decided to apply this time.”

“Ah, you did?”

As the topic of Newstarz also came up unexpectedly, Choi Tae-hyung sneakily glanced at Baek Hyeon-woo.

However, Baek Hyeon-woo was still maintaining a calm expression.

“I'll ask just one more thing.”

Because she was from UBX, there was one more thing to ask.

“Do you by any chance know someone named Han Se-ri?”

“Ah… we practiced together.”

“Were you close?”

“Not really.”

Eun-joo shook her head.

“She asked me to do something bad with her, and when I refused, she kept picking on me.”

“Uh…”

It's about cigarettes.

Choi Tae-hyung immediately got the gist.

“I guess you weren't interested in that kind of thing?”

“I may look like this, but I'm a good kid.”

“……”

Eun-joo covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled with her eyes.

As if she were playfully lying.

Choi Tae-hyung's gaze was stolen by that smile for a moment.

‘She does have a unique charm...’

She's a kid who possesses a charm different from others.

However, will that charm work in the idol industry?

‘This... I'm not confident about this.’

If she were a typical style like the kids he had interviewed so far, it would be easy to evaluate.

Because it's a style that's always in demand in the idol industry, all you have to do is compare them and pick the ones with a higher level.

However, if it's an uncommon style like this, it's difficult to evaluate.

When picking a seasonal watermelon at the supermarket, you can just tap it and touch it and find the one that looks the best.

However, with an unidentifiable tropical fruit, there's no way of knowing whether it will be delicious or not.

‘Ah, I don't know.’

In cases like this, Choi Tae-hyung just fails them.

Because not doing things he can't be sure about is Choi Tae-hyung's way.

He had failed Yoo Jeong-ah in the past for that reason too.

“Understood. Then...”

Having decided to fail her, Choi Tae-hyung tried to end the interview.

However, at a sudden thought, he looked at Baek Hyeon-woo.

“Assistant Manager Baek, do you have anything to ask?”

“Well...”

Baek Hyeon-woo was lost in thought for a moment.

What is he thinking? Choi Tae-hyung watched Baek Hyeon-woo intently.

“Eun-joo-ssi.”

“Yes.”

Meeting Eun-joo's eyes, Baek Hyeon-woo threw out his first question of the day.

“If you could kick out one person from Newstarz and enter in their place, whose position would you want to take?”

“……!”

Eun-joo's eyes widened for the first time.

Of course, Choi Tae-hyung was also appalled.

“Hey, Assistant Manager Baek! Are you crazy?!”

This bastard, don't tell me he said he'd participate in the interview to pick a replacement member for Newstarz?

Choi Tae-hyung grabbed Baek Hyeon-woo and shook him, but Baek Hyeon-woo was composed without any change in his expression.

“Please try to answer, Eun-joo-ssi.”

Baek Hyeon-woo asked again with a calm gaze.

“Whose position in Newstarz do you want to take?”

“……”

At Baek Hyeon-woo's question, Eun-joo narrowed her eyes and laughed quietly.

As if she knew what Baek Hyeon-woo wanted that he was asking such a question.

‘These bastards, what the hell are they doing?’

Choi Tae-hyung, dumbfounded, looked back and forth between the two of them.