Episode: 26
[Your sex blessing is growing.]
[Your sexual skills have risen to an abnormal level. Any woman you embrace will experience immense pleasure.]
[The affection of a woman you embrace moderately increases through sex.]
[The woman's condition and abilities moderately increase through sex.]
[Your physical abilities, including stamina, moderately increase.]
I wasn't particularly interested in the message that appeared before my eyes.
Chirp, chirp.
Is this what a mother hen feels like when raising chicks?
"One, two, three, four. Eun Hee-ju! You need to put more strength into it. Do you think just following the movements is enough?"
"Yes."
I was scolding her to put in more effort.
But even her response lacked energy.
Still, compared to the first day, she's improved tremendously.
Now, she can mimic most movements after seeing them just once.
She's just lacking a bit of detail.
"Hey! Lee Da-young! Are you showing your age or something? How can an idol trainee be this stiff? If someone pushes you, you're going to break!"
"Kyaaaa! Ugh! I can just split myself open, can't I? Ugh!"
Is this what you'd call basic skills?
Lee Da-young, who lacks in many physical aspects, slowly splits her legs as instructed by the trainer, glaring at me as if she wants to kill me.
‘What is this? Didn’t they say singing and dancing weren’t this hard?’
Her eyes seemed to say.
I quietly turned my head.
"Min-seo! It's good that you're cheerful, but you're too cheerful! You're standing out too much! It's okay when you're dancing alone, but you're going to debut as part of a team, right? Then you need to adjust to the others to create a good picture!"
"Huff! Got it! I'll ease up a bit."
In the practice room.
Eun Hee-ju and Lee Da-young.
Gil Minseo is so happy just to breathe the same air as these two that she can’t stop smiling.
She ended up putting too much strength into her body.
"You said you'd ease up! You said you'd ease up!"
"Huff! This is me easing up!"
"Aaaah!"
Finally, the trainer screamed first.
Now, even the trainer looks at me with resentment.
Eun Hee-ju. Lee Da-young. Gil Min-seo.
Where did you find these kids?
"Hahaha."
I chuckled softly with satisfaction.
Then quietly scratched my cheek.
‘Hmm. This is a mess.’
It's hard to believe that it's such a mess when these girls are supposed to have crazy talents at S+, SS, and SS+ levels.
Their individual charms are undeniable.
The problem is that those charms don’t blend together harmoniously.
‘We need one or two more members. Just one person who can act as a focal point would do.’
The youngest, Eun Hee-ju, can’t fulfill that role.
Neither can Lee Da-young or Gil Min-seo.
Both of them aren't leader material.
‘Well, I’ll think about that later.’
The important thing is that I’ve already found three of them in less than a month.
"Let's take a break now. It looks like the trainer is exhausted too."
Lee Da-young nods.
"Sure. Proper rest can improve efficiency."
Eun Hee-ju stares at me blankly.
"I'm fine, though."
Gil Min-seo nods next to Eun Hee-ju.
"Me too."
Seeing this, I said to Lee Da-young.
"Monitoring and correcting problems is also a skill, and it's one of the tasks an idol has to accomplish. Da-young, take them and go watch the footage we recorded earlier. Point out what went wrong. That's your specialty, right?"
"Got it. You two, follow me, you troublemakers."
Eun Hee-ju and Gil Min-seo tilt their heads in confusion.
"Why me too?"
"Huff! Was I a troublemaker? Unnie? Waaah."
The reason I asked the kids to leave for a moment wasn't baseless.
‘It should be about time.’
I should say that I’ve started to get a sense of when it’s coming.
It’s coming.
A person who might as well have “I'm a total jerk” written on their forehead in huge letters visible from a kilometer away.
"Hey! Kim Hyun-woo!"
Bang! Park Joo-yong bursts into the practice room, as if he's about to break the door, and yells out my name.
At this rate, I'm going to get attached to him. Damn.
Yoon Won-seok, who knew the situation to some extent, had witnessed the scene where Min-seo and I signed the contract. Since information about new trainees always finds its way to Park Joo-yong, I figured he'd be coming soon.
Min-seo, who was about to leave following Da-young, flinches as she makes eye contact with Park Joo-yong at the door and quickly looks away.
Even someone like her can't flash a smile at someone who once called her a "heart idiot" and a "ticking time bomb."
Meanwhile, the three chicks who look worried about me are standing there, watching.
“Go on.”
I waved my hand casually.
Park Joo-yong, perhaps aware that he shouldn't make a scene in front of the kids, waits until they leave.
But of course, he doesn’t forget to scowl at Min-seo.
Is it really appropriate for an adult to let their emotions show so clearly in front of kids?
As a fellow adult, I’m embarrassed.
Tsk.
“So, what are you here to rant about today? I’m almost curious at this point.”
“What? Rant? You son of a—!”
Wow, now he's even throwing in the 'son of a dog.'
“Hey! You really don't listen to people, do you? You bastard! If someone speaks to you, you should at least pretend to listen! Are you messing with me?”
“Do you cast people for fun? This is about taking responsibility for someone's life.”
By now, the practice room was empty except for me and Park Ju-yong.
Everyone had already quietly slipped out.
So, am I scared?
Not at all.
“Do you think it's all about smooth talk, you little shit? Do you?”
He jabs at my chest again.
I roughly swat his hand away and respond.
“So, what’s the problem?”
“You’re the crazy one. You brought on Min-seo, knowing she has a heart condition? And you’re putting her in a trainee group that you plan to debut quickly? Eun-hee-ju, Lee Da-young, and Gil Min-seo—what kind of experience do they have to be trainees? What the hell are you doing?”
“That’s none of your concern. What are you, my caretaker?”
“I don’t care about you, you bastard. I’m worried you’re going to drag this entire company down with you!”
“Someone already managed to ruin things more than ten times, but I haven’t ruined anything yet.”
Unable to keep jabbing my chest, Park Joo-yong grabs me by the collar.
Ah.
This suit is an expensive one, gifted by Hye-eun.
“You moron. Do you really need to eat shit to know if it’s shit?”
“Sorry, but the kids I brought in aren’t shit, so I feel like I do need to check.”
Neither of us backs down an inch.
Naturally, this little exchange makes Park Joo-yong feel even worse.
After all, from his perspective, he just sees a young punk with a chip on his shoulder challenging him out of pride.
I may have the temporary title of team leader, but I hardly ever use the actual authority that comes with it.
I just use the title as a name tag.
“What if something goes wrong after you debut them? What then? You want a bomb to go off, and everyone around to get caught in the blast before you get your act together?”
“I’ll take full responsibility.”
“Responsibility? You idiot. Responsibility is something for people who can handle it. What can someone like you take responsibility for? What power do you have?”
The same goes for you, doesn’t it?
Anyone would think Park Joo-yong founded this company instead of CEO Chun Tae-oh.
He might have set up one pillar at best.
“You must have been really lucky to catch the CEO’s eye at just the right time and grab some petty authority, but do you think the CEO will just let this slide?”
“Whether I’m blind or not, the results will speak for themselves. Are you sure you’ll be okay, Mr. Park? After cursing me to fail like this, won’t you be too embarrassed to show your face if I actually succeed?”
“You little—!”
At that moment.
“What’s going on here? It’s too noisy for me to just walk by.”
Wow. Perfect timing.
The clicking sound of shoes echoed through the practice room, and I had a feeling, but when I turned my head, I saw CEO Chun Tae-oh, who had just returned from an outing, loosening his tie and looking our way.
‘Look at that presence.’
I thought I was growing quickly too, but...
How does one even become a CEO?
The atmosphere around CEO Cheon Tae-oh was so different that it made me wonder if he even ate the same food as I did.
You could tell just by how quickly Park Joo-yong, who had been ready to explode at any moment, suddenly deflated in his presence.
“CEO, this is absolutely not okay. I’m putting everything on the line here, and I can guarantee that if you let this guy keep running wild, he’s going to bring down the entire company. How can you just stand by and let that happen?”
Wow.
This bastard, Park Joo-yong.
Now he’s dropped all pride and is just whining like a little kid.
“What’s the issue?”
“If there’s a problem, it’s that the kids I brought in are all overflowing with personality.”
“It’s more than that.”
“Sure, it’s hard to put into words.”
I responded confidently.
It’s because Cheon Tae-oh’s gaze didn’t feel like it was condemning me. If anything, he seemed closer to being on my side rather than backing Park Joo-yong.
“Go ahead, Kim Team Leader.”
“Whether it’s good or bad, I believe that to be truly successful as an entertainer, you need to make a groundbreaking impression and establish a strong presence with the public. Isn’t that the common trait among most of the world’s biggest stars? The idea that being merely average can lead to success was never true, even in the past.”
Although Park Joo-yong flinched at my words, he froze as soon as Cheon Tae-oh raised his hand, as if time itself had stopped.
“You’re not wrong. However, extreme choices often lead to extreme outcomes. That’s from my own experience.”
“...”
“In that sense, Team Leader Kim, can you take responsibility for your words?”
The weight of it was different.
The way Cheon Tae-oh asked me about ‘responsibility’ carried a much heavier weight compared to when Park Joo-yong had thrown the word at me in an angry outburst.
The difference was that while Park Joo-yong was just saying it, I could feel Cheon Tae-oh’s determination that if something did go wrong, he would definitely hold me accountable.
That’s why Park Joo-yong was now glaring at me with a triumphant expression.
“Yes, I’ll take responsibility. Whatever it takes.”
“That’s good enough for me. I know that Team Leader Park loves and cares deeply about our company.”
Cheon Tae-oh said this as he patted Park Joo-yong on the shoulder.
At first glance, it might have seemed like he was siding with and encouraging him.
However,
“Still, I’d prefer if you refrained from directly interfering with Team Leader Kim’s work in the future. It’s not a good look. Who would appreciate seeing something like this?”
This was a warning.
Even hearing about a similar situation within the company again would mean that next time, he wouldn’t just let it slide.
Good news for me.
‘Phew, now this bastard won’t be able to hassle me directly anymore.’
It almost seemed like Cheon Tae-oh was openly taking my side.
‘Look at Park Joo-yong’s face.’
This is pure comedy.
Unable to show his disappointment openly, Park Joo-yong had no choice but to bow his head slightly.
“Understood, CEO.”
On a different note, it had been a while since I’d seen him, but why is Cheon Tae-oh being so lenient with me?
“I have high expectations for you, Team Leader Kim. I’m counting on you.”
“Ah, you can rely on me.”
“Team Leader Park, how about we go grab a cup of coffee together?”
“Yes, CEO.”
And with that, Cheon Tae-oh even took Team Leader Park with him.
No sooner had Cheon Tae-oh left than, as if she’d been waiting for it, Han Hye-eun popped out.
“Oppa, I did well, right?”
Huh?
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