Chapter 31
Carried-Away Rascal
The warm afternoon sun streamed deep through the glass window of the Smile Real Estate office.
“Hmmm~”
Park Miso took a deep breath of the fragrant coffee aroma, then slowly exhaled.
Coffee time right after lunch. This was the most peaceful and luxurious ‘my own time’ of the day.
Leaning back in her chair, she slowly turned her head and scanned the office.
Modern interior, jazz sounds filling the space.
And inside the office, employees laughing heartily.
“Yeah. This is quite a successful life. Good, very good.”
The corners of her mouth curved into a perfect arc.
Just as she was raising her coffee cup to her lips again—
Rrrrr-
A resolutely ringing phone tone.
Her expression instantly twisted as she picked up the phone and checked the caller.
It was that familiar person, disrupting ‘my own time’.
“……Damn.”
She let out a sigh and put the coffee cup down.
She loosened her neck slightly and produced the gentlest voice she could muster.
“Yes, CEO~ Have you eaten?”
- Director Park! Is it time to think about food now? Aren’t you going to fill the vacancy? Hey!
“CEO~ As I mentioned last time, the rent is too high compared to the market rate. If you could just adjust it a little, I would……” - Enough! If you can’t get it right this time either, I can’t work with Director Park anymore! I trusted and entrusted this to you because your mother begged and pleaded, but who does their work like this!
“CEO, why are you bringing up my mom here……” - I don’t know! Figure it out yourself!
Click.
“……Hello? C, CEO! H, Hello?”
The call was already disconnected. Unable to hide her irritation, she slammed her phone down.
“Argh! Seriously, this old man! Does having money make you everything? Who does he think he is, throwing his weight around! This is abuse of power!”
As she spat out her angry words, she inadvertently glanced towards one side of the office.
There, a few employees were huddled in front of a monitor, buzzing with chatter.
“Wow~ Crazy.”
“What’s this? Them?”
“Is this really their debut song? Amazing.”
“I feel like I could do that too. My eyes are dazzled~ More than the sun~”
“Team Leader, what is that? Hehehe.”
Park Miso’s eyes narrowed.
‘……What are these guys doing now?’
Slam-
She shoved the door open violently and strode over quickly.
“What are you all doing? Lunch break ended ages ago!”
“D, Director!”
The employees flinched in surprise and hurriedly covered the monitor.
“Team Leader Kim, what’s that over there. That… the one-room vacancy that Mrs. Im requested? You’ve taken all the photos, right?”
“Ah, that? Ayy~ Director, how much profit is there in one-room units anyway. Forget that, there’s a decent commercial property that just popped up……”
“Heyyy!!!”
Park Miso’s voice echoed loudly.
“In times like this, we need to take whatever work we can get! Does the office rent fall from the sky? What about the electricity bill? The coffee!”
“Huh? But the rent is for the building owned by Director’s mother anyway……”
“Shut up!”
Park Miso’s abuse of power (?) had begun.
Simultaneously, the quick-witted Team Leader Kim swiftly turned around.
“R, right away, we’ll go take care of it now!”
The employees all scrambled out of their seats at once. The sound of the office door opening and closing repeatedly followed.
But one employee hadn’t managed to leave yet.
Park Miso’s eyes caught the fingertips cautiously trying to close the window.
“Ah, Director. Um, that is……”
The employee froze on the spot.
“What were you watching that had you so absorbed?”
“S, Sorry! I’ll go out right now!”
As they frantically gathered their things,
“What is it? Idols? How old are you… Are you still into those guys, what were they, Aluminum or Uranium?”
At Park Miso’s question, the employee’s movements stopped.
Park Miso was already looking at the monitor screen over their shoulder.
“Ah, Director! It’s Chrome! They’re the most popular these days!”
A smile spread across the employee’s face.
I can’t resist talking about our boys!
“Popular, my foot. They’ll never last long. Their vocals are too weak. Relying on fandom power has its limits. Without skill, they’ll collapse quickly.”
“No! They sing well! But… how do you know so well about such things, Director?”
“……”
Park Miso looked at the employee with a cold gaze.
“……Ah! It’s ‘Re:vival’, a competition program by AMP MUSIC that’s on now. The first episode aired yesterday! Chrome is on it too! Honestly, our boys are too good for a place like this, but……”
The employee trailed off.
“……Director, you probably don’t like this kind of stuff, right? I’ll, I’ll just get going then……”
She quickly packed her things and dashed outside.
Park Miso stared at the monitor without a word, then quietly turned her head.
She then clicked her tongue tsk and disappeared into the inner part of the office.
Squeak, thud-
Leaning against the closed door, she muttered.
“Re:vival……”
A pfft smile escaped her, mixed with a strange emotion.
Nowadays, real estate, building management, and tax coordination are her daily life, but there was a time when she, too, had staked her life on idols, just like the employee moments ago.
Moments when she poured out time and money, hiding her name and age.
Those memories lay sleeping neatly in a drawer.
Drrrrr-
She quietly opened the desk drawer.
She took out something neatly wrapped in black velvet cloth.
Her fingertips brushed over it for a very brief moment and then stopped.
“It was fun……”
She muttered softly.
It’s just a past memory.
Curiosity. A small curiosity arose.
‘I wonder what idols are like these days……’
Taptaptap-
She then carefully tapped on the keyboard.
[ENG][RE:VIVAL Episode 1] ‘The Emperor of This Scene’ Stabolt-
[ENG][RE:VIVAL Episode 1] ‘I’ll Show You What’s Real’ Chrome-
.
.
.
“What’s this, they’re all just mass-produced.”
With an expression saying ‘I knew it,’ her hand moving the mouse stopped.
“……Huh?”
What is this?
[ENG][RE:VIVAL Episode 1] ‘The Return of the Face That Rips the Universe’ Lumis – Shining Face
It wasn’t that she was drawn by the childish title.
Her gaze was glued to the thumbnail that appeared next to the title and wouldn’t let go.
Slightly disheveled black hair, deep pupils, a tall nose bridge, and,
‘What are those lips! I must protect them!’
Gulp.
This feeling, experienced after so long. Feeling her throat parched, she unconsciously swallowed.
She looked around as if she were seeing something she shouldn’t, then cautiously clicked the thumbnail.
Click-
♪♫-
Music flowed from the speakers. Frantically, she turned down the volume.
Again, from the beginning.
Click-
♪♫-
A dark stage.
The spotlight focused solely on one man.
Soon, a sound full of refreshing feeling began to fill the space.
Park Miso’s head nodded to the rhythm.
‘……Not bad?’
It was better than she thought. The intro, pass for now.
Soon, the stage brightened, and five men appeared, starting to dominate the stage.
― It shines! (Shining Face!)
More than the sun! (Bbbb Bling!)
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who’s the most handsome in the world~?
It’s Me!
“……”
That man from the thumbnail, Liu Xian, jumped up energetically in the center of the stage, making a lively expression.
‘……Have I been away from this scene for too long?’
The moment she faced Lumis’s ‘Shining Face’, Park Miso was at a loss for words.
“……”
The sound, the music, the visuals, they were all fine.
But this……
― 2D, 3D, 4D
I don’t need any of that~
Just look at me!
2D, 3D, 4D
My eyes are dazzled (Shining Face!)
More than the sun (Shining Face!)
The universe would be amazed,
The face that rips the universe visual, Lumis!
“W, well…… That can happen……”
When times change, trends change too.
Rock, pop, hip-hop, EDM. Various genres were born, and various genres led the times, didn’t they?
Yes, the idol scene is like that too.
Everyone has their own taste…… right?
Suppressing her bewilderment, she quietly scrolled down.
For stages like this, the reactions were always the most fun, both then and now!
― Wow lololololol what is this? I’m confused lolololol
― They are… idols, right?
― At this point, isn’t the company the villain? lolololol
└ Agreed. It’s a group made with the hope that they’ll fail, bringing together the children of enemies lolololol
― But amidst all that, what’s with the kids’ visuals?
└ They should have just made them actors insteadㅠㅠㅠ
└ Our kids are kind… yes, you’re kind… just kind…
└ LOLOLOLOLOL damn
― Our kids are really good!!! They’re all handsome and sing well, of course the main issue is YTJ but…
└ Agreed. KLF’s work is seriously bad, honestly, with our kids, anyone would fail at this level
― They’re from the same company as Luna? But why are they failing?
└ Failing? But… they still sold over 3,000 in the first week…
└ 3,000? You’re joking lolololol that’s so funny lololol
└ No wonder… I’d never heard of this group before
“Wow……”
Park Miso, unable to close her mouth, leaned back in her chair.
‘First week sales of 3,000? Is that even possible……?’
Even though dozens of idol groups debut and disappear every year, what era is this?
It’s an era where first-week sales surpass 1 million, then 2 million, even 3 million.
Of course, those numbers might be limited to large agencies and successful groups…
But still, 3,000 is… too harsh. Just where is their company from?
She immediately searched for ‘Lumis’.
Next, Clef Entertainment and Yoon Taejin came up.
“Puhahaha! Wow~ Has this ahjussi lost all his senses?”
She then searched for RE:VIVAL.
Perhaps because it had been so long, curiosity arose along with old memories.
“The war of stars who have lost their light……”
The planning phrase… well. It’s plausible.
“…What’s this? Is this all for the production presentation?”
Park Miso’s head tilted in confusion.
A simple production presentation with only the production staff attending, no cast members.
Not that it has to be that way, but usually for production presentations, it’s common for participants to show their faces.
Drrrr, taptaptap-!
Her fingers busily moved between the keyboard and mouse.
“Puhahaha! Wow~ That’s fierce.”
She even skimmed through articles related to the group ‘Knockout’, who dropped out right before appearing.
“This is fun, so fun.”
A faint smile spread across the corners of her mouth.
“This is the real deal.”
Her upper body, which had been leaning towards the monitor as if about to fall in, returned to the chair.
After skimming through, she roughly got the idea.
Two teams that don’t match the planning intent, Chrome and Stabolt.
The winner will probably be one of them.
But that’s just the nominal reason. The real deal was something else.
“It’s them, isn’t it?”
She muttered quietly while reading articles related to Bitwell B.
Even though years had passed since she left this world, she was once quite famous in it.
She could tell at a glance.
Drrrr-
Is there anything else fun~? Humming a tune, her hand scrolling down stopped.
“……What? Why is this person here……”
Then,
Knock knock-
A knocking sound came from outside the door.
Park Miso flinched and jerked her body.
She hurriedly put the mouse down as if throwing it,
and turned off the monitor screen.
‘Who is it? Everyone should have left by now…?’
Park Miso, who hastily straightened her clothes, walked towards the door with cautious steps.
