# Chapter 18
“No. I really want it. I got the chance to use a Seyoung smartphone before anyone else, and I can’t give that up.”
Noona, who had been defenseless, burst into laughter again.
While the other members had been friendly, smiling and talking a lot, she seemed to find it amusing that Seo Irun, who hadn’t said a word until then, would say that with an expressionless face.
“Hmm… but giving one to the manager too is a bit… Then we’d have to give them to too many people. Like the filming crew as well.”
“Just give one to the manager. And you don’t have to give one to me. I’ll just borrow the manager’s.”
When Seo Irun went that far, the other members must have felt they couldn’t stay silent, so they nodded.
‘What’s this? Are the other kids all trying to be generous too?’
As I prepared to be deeply moved and looked at them, Jeong Chan spoke.
“Then that will work. Irun hyung barely talks anyway, so he hardly ever uses a smartphone. Don’t give one to Irun hyung, give it to our manager instead.”
At those words, the other members all nodded in unison, and noona couldn’t hold back her laughter as she looked at the executive secretary, who brought smartphones to everyone.
I already had one given by noona.
Now I had two.
* * *
After the first filming ended in a chaotic atmosphere due to noona’s sudden appearance, and after the edited version came out, I talked with hyung.
Hyung seemed deep in thought about which broadcast station would be best.
Seyoung Group had a channel called cmn under its Seyoung Media affiliate, but its ratings weren’t great.
They would pay attention to scheduling, but even so, it seemed like not many people would watch.
But if we tried to broadcast elsewhere, it wasn’t certain that they would schedule it.
And if time passed in between, the program might be broadcast after the debut.
Hyung seemed to have difficulty making a prompt decision.
“What if we say we’ll pay them back later when we do well and ask them to broadcast it in a good time slot?”
When I spoke, hyung lightly snorted.
“Would they do that just because we say we’ll pay them back later?”
“If it just gets on air, it will definitely be a hit.”
The edited version was definitely entertaining.
It was a moment that made me think once again that editing is truly a divine realm.
The parts I naturally thought would be edited out were presented on screen with witty captions that popped.
Captions like “The mouth fighter who became a gentle lamb,” “The terrifying mouth reborn,” automatically made me laugh.
And occasionally showing Seo Irun’s video for a few seconds at an unexpected timing was hilariously awkward.
I was simply delighted watching them find styles that suited each of them and buying expensive clothes at the department store.
It was easy to understand their genuine excitement and their continued doubt and worry about whether they could really keep these things.
In the scene where Lee Dagyeong wore a suit without a shirt and grooved in front of the mirror, the camera shook noticeably once, and the caption “Heart sniper” was attached.
It was exquisitely ambiguous whether the camera deliberately did this, calculating it would be used that way later, or if they were covering up the camera’s mistake with the caption.
Well, it was well-made, so now we needed to sell it well.
The deeper hyung’s thoughts became, the more mine did too.
It was especially so because I couldn’t be certain of anything, and the decision was further delayed because I wanted the members to succeed.
After being together for a while without making a decision, I finally spoke first.
“How about you make Seyoung Media owe you this time?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about cmn. How long are they going to keep making programs that only get 1% ratings? If one becomes a mega-hit, the power of the channel itself will change. People will come to watch our show and end up watching other things too.”
Hyung looked at me as if asking if I was being serious, but I was confident.
“Our kids are charming. I’m excited about them. Am I the only one?”
“…”
Hyung couldn’t speak.
At first, I thought it was just me.
If I hadn’t been the brother of the Grand Tamer CEO, I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity.
But I was his brother, and I could forcibly direct people’s attention to our members.
And once we caught their attention, I was confident that the members’ charm would work its magic.
“Hyung. It will work. It will catch on. These guys can do it.”
“…”
Hyung seemed to ponder a bit longer, but eventually nodded.
“Fine. Let’s try it. But you tell the kids in advance. They might have been expecting more, and they might be disappointed to learn it’ll be broadcast on a channel with no popularity.”
For hyung to worry about such things.
He didn’t seem to have been that kind of character originally, but he had changed a lot somehow.
I hoped this project would go well.
For Uncle and hyung, who had trusted me.
I wasn’t unaware of how important this period was for hyung.
There was a lot of talk inside and outside Seyoung about hyung focusing on Grand Tamer, which had no notable achievements.
The other companies hyung had been in charge of were so solid that they continued to run well even without as much attention as before, but if any problems arose…
Just thinking about it made me dizzy.
I didn’t even want to imagine all of them faltering because they tried to save me.
“Alright. Let’s give it a try. If our channel survives because of our kids, Grandfather will see you differently.”
He seemed to say that because Seyoung Media was headed by CEO Kim Suntae, who could be called Grandfather’s longtime confidant and right-hand man.
“Or you could use this opportunity to prove your ability and take over there.”
It probably wasn’t a serious remark, but his eyes sparkled quite a bit.
* * *
The members sighed heavily with worry.
If I had known they would worry this much, I should have just told them a bit.
As I answered the questions this kid and that kid asked, I ended up telling them almost everything to the point where there was little left to call a secret.
It would be fair to say I told them almost all the conversations I had with hyung.
Only the parts about making Seyoung Media owe us or me taking it over were omitted.
“This is a big problem… We have a heavy responsibility, but honestly, we’re not a team with that much extraordinary skill.”
Cha Yeonwoo said, and I nodded, thinking the other members would now sequentially agree with that statement.
However, things didn’t flow as I expected.
“Are you like that?”
The one who said this was Jeong Chan, and Cha Yeonwoo looked at Jeong Chan with an expression that questioned what he meant.
“What do you mean? Am I like what?”
“Do you think we’re not a team with extraordinary skill? And are you not extraordinarily skilled?”
“What are you saying? Are your team and my team different?”
Cha Yeonwoo said incredulously, which was exactly what I wanted to say.
Exactly.
Are the two people’s teams different from each other?
But Jeong Chan spoke with an even more confident expression.
“I’m different from before. Different from when we were on that crappy audition program. I’m ready now. Incomparably better than back then. I’m confident in my singing and dancing. I’m confident I could get on stage right now if asked and show a complete performance.”
“No way…”
I didn’t want to pour cold water on Jeong Chan’s words, but that came out of my mouth.
“Hyung… do you not think so?”
Jeong Chan asked as if hurt.
Normally, I would have comforted Jeong Chan so he wouldn’t be disheartened, but at that moment, I felt I needed to tell him the truth precisely.
“That’s not it, Chan. You still really can’t sing.”
“…”
“And you can’t dance either.”
“…”
“Facts are facts. I believe that having groundless confidence in this field is more dangerous than poison. Having overflowing confidence isn’t always good. If you no longer had time to practice and had to go on stage, then you might need to hypnotize yourself, but you. No. You really can’t do it.”
“…”
The other members looked at Jeong Chan as if they felt sorry for him.
But even Seo Irun, who rarely speaks, expressed his opinion then.
“I don’t think that’s right. The CEO and hyung didn’t recruit us because they pitied us. Hyung might have, let’s say. But the CEO wouldn’t have. The CEO is a businessman and a third-generation chaebol. He would have definitely calculated the profits and losses since he was young, and someone like that chose us.”
“That’s because of me. He owes me. That’s why, not because you’re great.”
These kids, they’re going to be trouble?
I thought that as I refuted the kids’ words each time.
But the members burst into laughter and shook their heads.
“No, hyung. It’s you who doesn’t know. About us. We’re special. And amazing. People who see us will have expectations. I bet the ratings will hit 2%?”
Jeong Chan spoke once more with certainty, and that confidence seemed to spread even to Cha Yeonwoo.
“Fine. Then I’ll give you a gift. If the ratings exceed 2%…”
I was going to confidently say “if they exceed,” but seeing the members’ expressions suddenly brighten, I felt somewhat uneasy.
What’s this? Why is this happening?
