Rookie Talent Agent Knows It All

Chapter 148: Secretstargem (3)

Gu Min-Ji bit her lip tightly at Sae-Ri's lecture. But soon, she trembled and nodded her head.

"O-o-okay, I got it. I'll be more careful next time."

Such a reaction would have been unimaginable in the past, but this was the power of being number one.

In this industry, such cute revenge and speaking up for oneself was sometimes necessary because the weak were always preyed upon.

Gu Min-Ji bowed to Woo Yeon-Hee. "I'm sorry, Yeon-Hee sunbae."

Although the tender-hearted Woo Yeon-Hee tried to stop her, I stepped in first.

"Alright, Sae-Ri,. That's enough. Pink Diamond must be busy too, so you should leave now."

Unlike Cherry Blossom who had some free time since they were candidates for first place, Pink Diamond who had just made their comeback had their rehearsal coming up.

With her face flushed, Gu Min-Ji swiftly turned around and left the waiting room. The other members of Pink Diamond also followed her out and slammed the door behind them.

Simultaneously, Sae-Ri who had been standing confidently until now slumped into a chair.

"Phew. I-I thought I was going to die," Sae-Ri stuttered.

Seeing Sae-Ri stutter with a flushed face, Yang Eun-Bi lifted the corners of her lips.

"Pfft. You tried to give a lecture when you were that nervous?"

"Well, it was obvious Yeon-Hee unnie couldn't speak up for herself. I had to do something."

But despite her brave actions, her arms and legs were trembling from nervousness.

'This kid is such a bluffer.'

But I pretended not to see her tremble and let it slide as I was proud she gathered courage for her unnie.

'They say a noble's revenge is patient, waiting ten years if needed. In the end, you have achieved your wishes, Kim Sae-Ri.'

***

After the performances of the rookies were over, it was finally Cherry Blossom's turn to take the stage. Everyone gathered in the middle of the dressing room and joined hands to shout their slogan.

"Why don't you join us after such a long time, oppa?"

"Should I?"

I gently placed my right hand on top of the joined hands. Taking a deep breath, I led Cherry Blossom's chant.

"May we bloom eternally~!"

"Forever~Cherry Blossom~!"

With a spirited shout, the members of Cherry Blossom energetically headed toward the stage. From below the stage, I could see the audience's seats filled with Cherry Blossom's fans waving their light sticks.

"Wow. A lot of them came to support Cherry Blossom."

Sae-Ri nodded her head excitedly at my remark.

"We'll do well and come back, oppa!"

"Okay. You've got this!"

Sae-Ri clenched her fists and went up to the stage. One by one, the remaining three also gave high-fives and headed to the stage.

As Cherry Blossom took their set positions, the intro of 'Hurry Up!' began to play and they started the lively choreography with microphones in their hands.

At the same time, the light sticks in the audience started to create waves of light.

『Raise your hands~』

-Hurry Up!

After Cherry Blossom sang the chorus and extended the microphone toward the audience, the fans responded with a chant. The resounding fan chant filling the hall signified Cherry Blossom's current status.

That's when Eun Ji-Yoo, who had quietly approached me, exclaimed in envious admiration.

"It's nice to see Cherry Blossom doing so well."

"Oh? Ms. Eun. How come you're not in the waiting room?"

Having finished their performance, Golden Road was waiting in the waiting room for the first-place performance to end since they had to be on stage for the final ranking announcement.

"Mr. Lee told me to step out for a bit. I couldn't go far, so I came to watch Cherry Blossom."

After Chief Cha Sang-Jin was promoted to the Chief of Singer Division 1, Team Lead Lee Yung-Seop became the person in charge of Golden Road.

But Eun Ji-Yoo explained that Lee Yung-Seop turned the waiting room upside down just five minutes after he arrived.

Curious, I asked, "What happened?"

"Oh, it's because of Eun-Yung's Instargem," Eun Ji-Yoo replied.

It seemed that Lee Dong-Min had mobilized Singer Division 1 through Kang Ji-Yung. I feigned ignorance and asked with a clueless expression, "What about her Instargem?"

"Apparently, reporters are gossiping about her having a secret account."

"Whoa. So? What happened?"

I expected to hear that the account had been deleted. However, an unexpected answer came back instead.

"She said that the reporters got it wrong and she absolutely doesn't have a secret account. So she's having a big fight with Mr. Lee right now."

I was left speechless.

'She's saying that she doesn't have a secret account when the entry is still there in my planner?'

[Everyday V10]

[Date: June 16th, 2020]

-11:30 PM Golden Road's Jang Eun-Yung. Emergency meeting about the Star Patch article due to the discovery of her secret Instargem account, fifth-floor small conference room.

I was so dumbfounded that I muttered to myself without realizing it. "Jeez. Can she get any worse than this?"

Hearing my mutter, Eun Ji-Yoo tilted her head in confusion.

"Assistant Manager Jung, what are you talking about?"

"Oh, it's nothing. But do you believe Eun-Yung's words, Ms. Eun?"

"What can I do when she says she doesn't have one? She's my celebrity, so I have to believe her."

'Wow. She's frustratingly naive.'

"By the way, Ms. Eun. When will you come to Singer Division 2? Mr. Lee says he's always willing to welcome you."

Eun Ji-Yoo shook her head. "I can't just leave for my own comfort. What about the kids' schedules? I want to give it a try until I really can't anymore."

"Understood. But please let me know first if things get too hard."

Eun Ji-Yoo looked at me intently.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'm just grateful for your constant concern."

"I'm the one who's grateful."

"But what have I done? I haven't done anything for you."

'You did a lot for me in my past life, Ji-Yoo noona.'

Pretending not to know, I turned my gaze back to Cherry Blossom's performance. In the meantime, Cherry Blossom members were finishing their dance and shouting the last lines of the song.

『Raise your hands~Hurry Up!』

At that moment, Eun Ji-Yoo also raised her hands and shouted out loud as if she were part of the audience.

But my mind was filled with thoughts of getting rid of Jang Eun-Yung's secret Instagram account.

There was only one thing left to do—to take action myself.

***

"I told you! I already deleted the photos of Yeon-Hee and Eun-Bi when Mr. Lee Dong-Min mentioned it, okay?"

Jang Eun-Yung pushed her phone toward Lee Yung-Seop with a snap.

After checking the photo album, Lee Yung-Seop pressed her hard.

"Fine. Let's say those photos are gone. But what about your secret account? Star Patch is making a fuss about finding your hidden account to get photos. How can you say you don't have a secret account?"

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't have such a secret account. What can I do when it doesn't exist?"

"If it's found out you lied, it'll be really hard to take care of this situation, Eun-Yung," Lee Yung-Seop warned her in a low voice.

Jang Eun-Yung stomped her feet in frustration.

"Why don't you believe what I say!? Maybe Star Patch got it wrong and they're rummaging through someone else's account."

As Jang Eun-Yung shrieked, Lee Yung-Seop quietly lowered his voice.

"Sigh. Alright, I get it! I'll tell the company that. Just make sure you don't get involved with Star Patch at all."

Lee Yung-Seop cleared his throat and warned the other members present with an awkward expression.

"If any of you have secret accounts as well, delete them right now."

Caught in the crossfire, the remaining members of Golden Road also exclaimed in protest, "We don't have any either!"

"Ke hem! Alright."

Lee Yung-Seop stood up and said before leaving, "Then I'll go and report to the company. Take a break here in the meantime."

Click.

As Lee Yung-Seop left the waiting room, Jang Eun-Yung, who had been lowering head, burst out angrily.

"Ah, seriously. Why does this damn company meddle in everything? What else are we supposed to do when we've deleted all the photos?"

Jang Eun-Yung's voice echoed through the waiting room.

The other Golden Road members who had been scolded together also frowned.

Then, the youngest member Yoon Ji-Hee, asked with a changed expression, "Unnie. Are you sure you really don't have a secret account? You said you had one before."

"Hey! I deleted it over a month ago."

As Jang Eun-Yung responded in defiance, Yoon Ji-Hee giggled.

"Oh, come on~. You know you can't fool me. I know you too well. I saw you post photos on Instargem with your boyfriend at Gyeongpo Lake and at the pub in front of the company. But those photos aren't on your official Instargem, are they?"

"Why are you digging into everything? If I say there's none, there's none!"

Yoon Ji-Hee diverted the topic with an innocent expression.

"Why are you getting angry? Just be careful. We almost got caught as well because of you having a secret account."

The truth was that Jang Eun-Yung was not the only one who had a secret account.

Jang Eun-Yung smirked at Yoon Ji-Hee's request to keep their secret accounts from being discovered.

"The company always does this. How would Star Patch know about my account? They're just bluffing to make us delete it. So, don't you guys get scared for nothing. It's not like we are rookies anymore."

"Wow~ unnie, you're absolutely killing it with your industry experience."

Jang Eun-Yung stretched. "Hah, you know it."

She then apologized to the members for making them all get scolded for no reason.

"Anyway, I'm sorry for making you all get lectured because of me. To make up for it, I'll treat you all today. Deal?"

The main vocalist, Park Soo-Jin, pouted in response.

"You're not thinking of getting away with just some late-night snacks, are you?"

"Of course not. Let's go to Club BLUE later."

Yoon Ji-Hee cheered in response. "Yay! As expected from Eun-Yung unnie! So generous!"

Jang Eun-Yung turned around and asked, "Ji-Hee, you can go to clubs starting this year too, right?"

"Absolutely."

Now 20, Yoon Ji-Hee made a peace sign with her fingers.

"Then let's go to the dorm briefly after our scheduled activities are over and then sneak out on our own. Got it?"

The other Golden Road members shouted in agreement at Jang Eun-Yung's suggestion.

At that moment, the sound of staff moving hurriedly in the hallway could be heard. It was the sound of the stage preparations for the first-place award after Cherry Blossom's performance.

"Come on, everyone. Get up. We need to go out for the first-place courtesy."

The sub-vocalist Jung Yi-Soo grumbled at Jang Eun-Yung's words.

"Ugh. This is so annoying. Why do we have to stand as fillers?"

"What can we do? If the PD says so, we have to follow."

"Sigh. When will we stand in the first-place spot?"

Jang Eun-Yung smiled at the members' grumblings.

"We'll make it this time. Our song turned out great."

Golden Road's new song 'Blue Rabbit' entered the music chart at 18th place and was sitting at fifth place today. With 'Hurry Up!' by Cherry Blossom losing its effect, there were talks about Golden Road possibly reaching first place soon.

But Jang Eun-Yung didn't stop there. Inviting Woo Yeon-Hee and Yang Eun-Bi to the place where ZIZAK members were was part of her scheme. If photos of them with male idols surfaced, it could embroil Cherry Blossom in a scandal.

'It was a good thing that I uploaded that photo to my account,' Jan Eun-Yung thought to herself.

She had deleted the photo from her phone, but the one on her secret Instargem account remained.

A sinister thought flashed across her mind. 'If I spread the photo to the newspapers, those annoying girls will be in tears for sure.'

The fastest and easiest way to rise to the top was indeed to bring down the current first place. As Jang Eun-Yung was about to leave the waiting room, another idea occurred to her.

'I should make it more concrete this time.'

Feeling that the previous photo was too tame, Jang Eun-Yung sent a text to her boyfriend Park Hyun-Woo.

[Eun-Yung?❤?: Hyun-Woo oppa, I'll treat you today, so let's meet at Club BLUE with your members. And could you invite Yeon-Hee and Eun-Bi so we can take more photos? They definitely won't come if I ask, so please do it for me oppa~. (PS. Last time's photo was too mild, so can we make it 19+ this time?)]

After sending the message, Jang Eun-Yung made a deep smile on her face.

"Unnie, what are you doing?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Come on, hurry up! What are you doing?"

At Yoon Ji-Hee's call, Jang Eun-Yung followed with her phone in hand to stand as a backdrop for the first-place celebration stage.

***

Cherry Blossom and ZIZAK members were currently waiting on stage for the winner announcement.

Now accustomed to lifting the trophy on the celebration stage, Cherry Blossom stood confidently at the center of the stage.

"And~ today's first place goes to... Congratulations to Cherry Blossom's 'Hurry Up!'"

Glitter fell from the stage ceiling like snow with the announcement of the winner. Cheers erupted from the audience and bouquets were showered upon Cherry Blossom.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Since there was no encore performance today, everyone started to leave the stage. As they queued to descend the narrow stairs, there were still about 30 idols left on the stage.

But at that moment, ZIZAK's leader Park Hyun-Woo was seen passing a small folded note to Woo Yeon-Hee out of the camera's angle.

'Park Hyun-Woo, what are you doing right now?'

Startled by the note handed to her by Park Hyun-Woo, Woo Yeon-Hee tried to return it immediately. But before Woo Yeon-Hee could react, Park Hyun-Woo had already gone down the stage.

Confused about what to do, Woo Yeon-Hee unfolded the note. Then she soon frowned upon reading it and crumpled it up, hiding it in her wristband.

When Yang Eun-Bi asked her what was wrong, Woo Yeon-Hee just gave an awkward smile indicating it was something she couldn't share with Eun-Bi.

'Yeon-Hee, what exactly does the note say?'