# Chapter 22
“Ah, that was really unique and fascinating.”
My eyes were naturally drawn to the V-neck sweater that had thin threads overall but with one side knitted with thicker yarn, creating a deep neckline.
I nodded while thinking it would be nice if I could buy a few pieces if they had more clothes like that, and hyung looked at me.
“Want to buy some for the members? Well, I guess that would be fine. There are a lot of interesting things here.”
As we entered the parking lot, I saw cars lined up that were in no way inferior to the one hyung drove. It immediately felt like everyone had chosen their cars with the sole intention of intimidating others.
“Don’t feel intimidated. You’re my brother, after all.”
I wasn’t feeling intimidated, but hyung said that anyway and matched his pace with mine as we went inside.
Usually, he didn’t seem to care about my pace, but today he was being quite considerate. I felt grateful and also amused, thinking he was probably doing this because he was worried I might get nervous.
When we got off the elevator, someone came out from inside as if he had been waiting for us. A friendly-looking man with southern features approached us with long strides. He had a good physique and proportions.
He wore comfortable cotton pants and an extremely simple t-shirt, but I could easily tell that each item probably cost millions of won. When he smiled, his eyes became narrow slits, and as he offered me a handshake, hyung swatted his hand away.
“No need. Why should my brother shake hands with you?”
“Hyung, why are you like that? Thank you for inviting us. I’m Kang Seomin.”
I quickly extended my hand, but hyung firmly grabbed it.
“No need. You’ll catch germs. You don’t need to shake hands.”
Then he held my right hand tightly like a parent dropping off their child at kindergarten for the first time.
“What about your germs then? Idiot?”
Lee Wonrae, the owner of the house and the Vice President of YK Trading, retorted, and hyung replied confidently.
“My germs are good for the body.”
“Good grief. How childish.”
Wonrae then introduced us to the people who had already arrived. I kept hearing the names of companies ranked within the top 20 in the business world, and it was amazing to actually see people whose names I had only heard in the media until now.
Some of them had high positions despite not being that old yet.
As soon as we arrived, they began enthusiastically discussing ‘Crop Five.’
“I posted about it on ×star, did you see it?”
“I posted on ×witter. You know I have a lot of followers, right?”
“You know anyone with less than 5 million followers is a wannabe, right? I posted too, and it looks promising. Kang Seungwon, if this goes well, will Grand Tamer become a major agency? You should at least be among the top 3 majors to match our status. It’s been tough hanging out with someone below our level all this time. Me, especially.”
They all approached casually and spoke comfortably.
I thought all those people were the same age as hyung, but that wasn’t the case—there was an age difference of up to three or four years between them.
Some of them said to speak comfortably, and hyung explained that everyone was already speaking informally with each other.
“So the woman who appeared last is your noona? Then will noona appear in the next episode? Hey, Kang Seungwon. Tell the truth. That’s a setup, right?”
“Of course. But the kids didn’t know my noona was coming, and they didn’t know Seomin was my brother either. That’s why it came out interesting.”
“Really? The next episode should be even more interesting. All the members have good visuals. At first, I was drawn to that Han Sijin kid, but the others also have outstanding visuals. It seems like any of them could be the visual center.”
“Right. Those are the real deal. Since they’re generating a lot of buzz, they’ll definitely chart as soon as they debut. The issue is not knowing what position they’ll start at, but it seems like they’ll land high in the rankings from the beginning.”
I naturally gained confidence as these business experts, skilled in tracking trends and analysis, spoke so positively.
“Seungwon, can’t you show us episode 2 first? I want to see how noona appeared. If noona looks good, I might make a special appearance too. You know I’ve never shown my face on broadcasts before, right? Just imagine if I made a special appearance. If that rumor spreads, the ratings would hit 8% immediately.”
I was waiting to see how my cynical hyung would respond to Wonrae’s suggestion, but hyung seemed to think it wasn’t a bad idea and fell into deep thought.
Then he took out his tablet from his bag.
There were about fifteen people gathered, and the atmosphere was such that after initial greetings, people formed small groups to chat among themselves, but when hyung took out his tablet, the scattered people gathered around.
“It’s Crop Five episode 2.”
Some of them didn’t know what ‘Crop Five’ was, so Wonrae briefly explained for them.
“It’s a new group that Seungwon’s agency is promoting, called ‘Crop Five,’ and the program featuring them is also titled ‘Crop Five.’ The first episode aired today, and the response wasn’t bad. If it looks good, I’m thinking of making a special appearance.”
“Wonrae? Really? Wonrae is going to appear there?”
I didn’t know the extent of Wonrae’s influence, but he seemed to have more influence in that group than even hyung.
Poor hyung.
So that’s why he was trying to intimidate with his car.
Thinking that, I smiled at hyung because he looked cute, and hyung, who happened to see me at that exact moment, got annoyed and asked why I was smiling so annoyingly.
Wow…
Wonrae seemed to think it wouldn’t be long and was about to stand next to hyung to look at the screen, but seeing fifteen heads crowding to view the small screen, he shook his head.
“Wait a moment. Let’s not be pathetic and use modern technology.”
After tinkering around, he connected hyung’s tablet to a large screen.
Soon, episode 2 of ‘Crop Five’ appeared on it.
“Hey, hey, everyone put your phones here. If this leaks, Kang Seungwon will go crazy.”
Everyone silently placed their smartphones in front and focused on episode 2 appearing on the screen.
“Wow, it really is noona. Damn. Kang Seungwon, what are you trying to do? If noona becomes popular, the ratings will exceed 10% from episode 3. This is historic. There’s been a lot of talk, but noona hasn’t shown her face in public before, right?”
“Wow! Is our noona’s beauty for real? Why does noona keep getting prettier? It’s truly dazzling.”
“Look at noona’s sense. Look how she came with full makeup to boost the morale of this garbage Kang Seungwon. Hey, isn’t that outfit noona is wearing from your brand, Wonrae?”
“I think so. With noona doing this, how could I not respect our noona?”
When noona appeared, everyone at the gathering started chattering all at once.
I felt happy thinking that noona must be popular even in the chaebol world.
The people watching the screen burst into laughter frequently.
The members’ reactions to seeing noona seemed refreshingly entertaining.
“They’re really cute and pure. They’ll get tainted soon, but right now is perfect. Their masks aren’t bad either. Usually at that stage, they look a bit naive, but these guys already look complete.”
“Right. They seem surprised but confident. They’re not intimidated.”
“I thought the same thing.”
“Like meerkats. They look at Seomin-ssi whenever things get difficult. I guess they’re relying on their manager since they don’t know much yet.”
“It’s not hilarious content, but it’s fresh and fun. Their expressions are all cute and they seem to have good impressions, which makes me keep smiling.”
Every word from them was really important to me.
Hyung was also watching the screen with a satisfied expression.
They seemed to have already become devoted viewers of ‘Crop Five.’
“What’s with him? He’s funny. He’s not giving up what’s his.”
“Ohhhh! But he’s still taking care of Seomin-ssi.”
“All the kids are cute.”
“Don’t tell me noona went there aiming for that? I heard there’s been a frenzy because they’re sold out.”
“That’s right. There was a storm when overseas sales started.”
Loud laughter erupted from various corners.
The subtle humor continued steadily, with big laughs breaking out several times.
The atmosphere was good.
“This is insane. Seungwon, I guarantee that team will succeed, Grand Tamer will thrive, and Seyoung Media will hit it big. I need to buy up your stocks.”
It didn’t seem like they were just talking; several people with serious expressions proposed product placements.
Unlike his initial casual offer to make a guest appearance, Wonrae now seemed ready to cling to hyung’s pant leg begging to be featured.
Others also expressed their desire to appear, using their friendship with hyung.
“I think the best thing is that the program isn’t about competition. There are too many of those these days. Where all viewers are judges and everyone’s evaluating. Watching those makes me uncomfortable and on edge, but this is fresh, innocent, and adorable. It feels like watching raw gems being polished, creating anticipation and a sense of vicarious satisfaction.”
They spontaneously came up with several ideas, many of which were usable.
It made sense, with so many idea bank-type people gathered there.
People who had probably been subjected to invisible competition and pressure since childhood.
And those who had firmly survived through it all.
Nothing they said seemed trivial.
