Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Chapter 163:

“I don’t have a choice right now, since I can’t work with someone I’ve never met before.”

The tentative dispatch period that I had agreed with the headquarters of WePlanet was about three months. Within that time, I had to decide whether to hire a successor and hand over the work, or to continue working with the current manager.

“Anyway, we do need someone else to help with the management, so… how about asking them to find someone who can take over anytime and work with us in parallel?”

After thinking for a while, Kyunghwa suggested a compromise. But there was no need to increase the number of managers to two, since our only artist was Climax.

“It would be better to have more managers when we start preparing for the regular album, and later for the fan signing and concert, but…”

Yi-jun, who had joined in, agreed with Kyunghwa’s opinion and then looked at me.

“Why are you looking at me?”

I asked with a puzzled expression, and Yi-jun quickly said.

“Because you’re our boss.”

“Isn’t the investment money we get from Cheon Soo Group coming from your inheritance?”

I narrowed my eyes as if he was talking nonsense.

“Oh, you mean the budget?”

I thought Kyunghwa could relax a bit with this. But Yi-jun asked me something that made me uneasy. He smiled slyly and suggested.

“Do you need a CM song for that?”

“What?”

I was caught off guard by Yi-jun’s unexpected remark. I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

“Don’t talk nonsense. If you’re curious about something, hold it in four times and ask only once.”

I snorted and shook my head vigorously with my arms crossed. Yi-jun raised his hand like a child and answered.

“Yes! Got it!”

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I wanted to tell him that his attitude was making me nervous, but…

“Ah, hello. Thank you for coming. Please follow me!”

The sales representative who came down to the lobby of the huge corporate headquarters building waved at us.

“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.”

“Hello!”

The building was three stories high and over 20 floors tall, and there were thousands of employees working there. It was as if they were proving that they were not a company with n trillion won in sales. The building boasted an enormous prestige.

‘They must have made a lot of money.’

I knew that they were growing rapidly with huge exports to China and Southeast Asia even before I died.

But they seemed to have earned much more than what they showed. The lobby was also decorated so splendidly.

Seeing the giant tree that looked like it was made from real wood in December, my mouth opened wide.

“Let me give you my business card first and then we’ll move to the place!”

“Yes!”

The place we visited with the other members except Kyunghwa was the headquarters of a large cosmetics manufacturer where Favorite Lab was located.

‘I guess that’s why their data was pretty neat for a new brand.’

It seemed that they were a startup venture company that received support from a large manufacturer and moved into the same building to conduct research activities.

They might want to acquire the brand itself when it grows bigger. Anyway, it was a relief that it was not a hole-in-the-wall shop that was financially unstable or at risk of collapsing.

Since it was exclusive, the longer the working period, the better, and if the advertiser did well and grew more, it could be expanded to five people.

“Please use the elevator over here!”

The employee who looked quite young guided us to the elevator. The meeting room we went up to was more neat and tidy than the lobby.

“First of all, thank you so much for coming here. I’m Mareungwon, a researcher in the sales team 1. I’ll give you a brief introduction of our brand and then we’ll go!”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

The reason why Yi-jun joined the meeting that should have been attended by me and the CF proposers was unbelievable.

‘Don’t you need a CM song for that if it’s a CF that goes on air? I wanted to work on a CM song.’

Yi-jun’s eyes sparkled as he said he wanted to try the CM song work no matter what. I had to bring this guy along as a tag-along to the meeting.

I told the client that I would try to talk to them, but I didn’t know if they would accept the proposal. I cushioned it so that it would be okay even if they refused.

But they agreed to do it first, so the advertiser had no reason to refuse, saving the budget.

In the end, Yi-jun’s strong will led us to receive the lowest level of work fee in the CM industry and to follow him to the meeting.

“…So, my favorite lab is the one that cares for me the most, and is working hard to build an image of being my best friend in my room.”

Contrary to my worry that he would come out and talk nonsense again, Yi-jun seemed to be quite focused on listening to the brand presentation. I felt a bit… maybe I could trust him and leave it to him.

It’s not that I don’t trust Yi-jun’s skills. He’s basically a guy who performs best when he’s having fun…

But when he had to do a job that he couldn’t just do what he wanted, I couldn’t guarantee how the outcome would be, so I was a little worried.

But unlike my concern for Yi-jun, there was an unexpected problem.

“Hmm… Hmnn…”

This guy. You were the top choice for casting, but what if you fall asleep here?

I felt a twinkling gaze from beyond the glass wall that separated the conference room and the outside office.

The staff who were sitting near the conference room looked at him with a contented expression, as if they were watching a healing video of a baby pig sleeping.

I quietly lowered my head and stepped on Seon-woo’s foot under the table.

“Ouch…!”

Seon-woo, who was startled by the sudden stomping on his foot, opened his eyes wide. Everyone in the conference room turned their attention to Seon-woo.

The expressions of the staff outside the glass window also changed to worry in an instant.

“Is something wrong?”

The researcher who was giving the presentation asked Seon-woo with a concerned expression. No. He was just sleeping. I clicked my tongue inwardly, thinking it was a waste of worry.

“No, no, I just stumbled on my foot…”

Seon-woo muttered an answer and sat up straight.

The only consolation was… that everyone found him cute and didn’t react negatively when he interrupted the meeting. He had a face that could fit anywhere, but… other things… he was lacking in some areas. I felt embarrassed as his guardian.

“Alright, let’s move on to the next chapter.”

Before I knew it, he had brought a pair of glasses without lenses and was taking notes diligently as if he was studying. Another one was looking straight ahead with a calm expression that showed no interest or disinterest. And another one was secretly dozing off.

We had been working together as a group for five years, but how could they be so different? I shook my head with a bitter smile that I didn’t know whether it was a sigh or a laugh.

* * *

A few minutes later, we finished the meeting that lasted for over three hours and our hands were full of new products from Favorite Lab.

‘We would appreciate it if you could send us some videos of you using them in your daily life, like a vlog, for the promotional video production later. We have prepared a set of products mainly for combination skin, but if you need any for dry skin, please let us know anytime!’

Since I had prepared the kit, I brought five sets of various products for the other members to try as well, and I looked like a peddler with all the stuff.

“Wow… I’ve never received so many cosmetics before.”

Most of the products were basic ones that we could use as well. Cleansers, oils, waters, patches… anything from removing makeup to moisturizing creams before applying makeup.

I didn’t even know where to buy these things, so I was sharing Seon-woo’s stuff, but I was happy to get them.

“Usually, we don’t get this much at once.”

Seong-won, who had been quiet throughout the meeting, was curious about the contents and tore open the package as soon as he got in the van.

“Was the meeting okay today?”

The new manager, who had quickly found a sub-road manager for me at Jinkyung’s request, asked me as he drove to the new accommodation with his still inexperienced driving skills.

The new manager, who was on probation, was a young man who had worked as an assistant staff at another management company for about a year.

He’s not a bad person… but he’s a bit slow, to put it mildly. Even now, he’s trying to be attentive to us, but he keeps looking back and his hand on the steering wheel shakes, making the car sway along.

“Excuse me, could you please look ahead first?”

“Ah, oops. I’m sorry!”

Can I really trust him with this? I wonder if I made a mistake by hitching a ride with him. My vision gets a bit blurry.

After surviving the perilous commute, I get home and drop the load of stuff I brought. Then I hear a buzz from someone. A photo has arrived.

‘What is this?’

Who would send me a photo? I casually check the notification and see an unexpected name.

[YOU] (photo) 6:11 PM