# Chapter 23
“That’s interesting. The most unusual thing seems to be the manager’s presence. The manager blends well with the members and acts as their center. The members seem to rely heavily on Seomin-ssi and feel comfortable around him. When noona first came in, Seomin-ssi didn’t know about it, right?”
When I confirmed Wonrae’s question, everyone burst into laughter.
“The company still doesn’t know?”
“Yeah. At the company, only Seungwon knows.”
After Wonrae explained, everyone clapped their hands and stomped their feet, finding it entertaining.
“Amazing. So will it be revealed at the end of the program? Is that when the members will discover the manager’s true identity? I’m really looking forward to that.”
“I don’t think those members will remain this innocent and cute by then. I don’t know how many seasons it will run, but by then, these people will definitely have become top-tier stars. This is really incredible. It’s definitely worth keeping for a long time.”
People seemed to be getting more excited as they talked.
Hyung glanced at me and smirked.
Did he bring me here to tell me not to worry because things would go well?
Surely that’s not the case?
It seemed I needed more time to truly understand hyung.
One thing was clear though—he was a much better person than I had initially thought.
After finishing our schedule there, hyung drove me back.
On the way, he posted a message in the group chat asking how the guys were doing.
[Don’t get caught up in your current success. Prepare for what you’ll show next. You’re idols, and ultimately you have to compete with dance and singing. Focus on practicing what each of you lacks. Those who are good, help those who need improvement.]
Five responses came back to his message.
There were no complaints at all; everyone just agreed to do as he said.
When the car arrived at the parking lot, the kids came rushing over, having been waiting for who knows how long.
They hesitated briefly when they saw me come with hyung, but soon approached and greeted him energetically.
Hyung briefly acknowledged their greeting, dropped me off, and sped away.
“Why did you come out?”
“I was worried when I couldn’t see you, hyung.”
Han Sijin said with his hands in his pockets, while Lee Dagyeong took my bag.
I told him there was no need since it wasn’t heavy, but he insisted on carrying it.
“Should I hold your phone for you? Isn’t it heavy?”
Jeong Chan hovered around with an expression that suggested he was looking for ways to help.
“Can’t sleep? I guess that makes sense.”
I told them to stop browsing the internet, but I didn’t think the members had listened.
“Are there many new posts up?”
However, they didn’t know what I meant.
“I wouldn’t know since I haven’t checked? There’s nothing we can do about it now anyway.”
When they kept ignoring what I said earlier, I wondered why they were suddenly acting this way and looked at them. The members asked if everything was alright with me.
“What? As if you were so worried about me that you couldn’t do anything.”
I snickered as I asked, but the members seemed to be studying my expression, trying to guess what had happened.
“Some hyungs I know said that because of this situation, people might get jealous of you. They might tell you to step aside and let them handle things from now on. Was it something like that?”
Seo Irun quite accurately guessed what had happened to me.
“No, it’s not like that. Everyone at the company is nice. I’ll continue to be in charge of you guys, and the program direction will remain the same as before.”
“That’s a relief then.”
“Let’s go inside quickly. Soon there will be people who recognize you guys.”
The members shook their heads at this.
They said they had already tested it by going to the convenience store in front of the dorm without wearing caps, but no one had recognized them yet.
I laughed at the fact that they had done such a test and went back to the dorm with the members.
From then on, I struggled alone trying to come up with ideas, but the unchangeable fact was that idols ultimately had to compete with singing and dancing.
Right now, they could capture viewers’ attention with different spectacles, but eventually, there would come a time when they’d have to compete with their skills.
Their current buzz might create opportunities for them in other fields, but the members wanted to become singers, and I wanted to help them achieve that dream.
I went to my room and called hyung.
Thinking he might be sleeping since it was late, I sent a message first, but he replied that he wasn’t asleep, and soon after, he called.
“Hyung, how do we proceed with the next one? I mean, the Flex styling that we’ve prepared will continue as planned.”
“I was thinking about that too, and what about starting with the most prepared member and doing an in-depth analysis of each person one by one? What do you think?”
“Rather than the most prepared member, how about starting with the member who has the highest recognition in the team? Sijin can create optical illusions. He can look like he sings well. Same with dancing.”
“Really? That sounds good. Then let’s start preparing Han Sijin. You’re going to get busier.”
“Well, this is what I do anyway. I’ll prepare for it then.”
“Let me know if you need anything. I’ll turn off the sound when it’s time to sleep, so don’t worry about disturbing me.”
“Thanks, hyung. Sleep well.”
He hung up without responding.
Maybe I shouldn’t have said ‘sleep well’?
I felt a bit cringey about it myself.
* * *
Han Sijin’s individual training.
None of the members were envious or jealous of this.
They probably knew that their turn would come next anyway, and they seemed more relieved that Han Sijin was going first.
Grand Tamer had professional trainers, but there was no guarantee that a trainer who worked well with one person would be effective with all trainees.
Hyung gathered Grand Tamer’s trainers and asked for recommendations on who would be the best fit for Han Sijin.
Grand Tamer’s trainers admitted that while they could teach Han Sijin to some extent, there might be someone more suitable for him than themselves.
That’s how Sarah Yeon was invited.
She had extensive experience working as a recording guide in the United States and had solid connections with skilled singers.
She had released her own albums and worked as a singer, but after a fall accident on stage, she couldn’t overcome her stage fright and switched to being a vocal trainer.
However, even after becoming a vocal trainer, she wouldn’t teach anyone unless they met her strict criteria, so it was said that she hadn’t taught anyone until now.
When I first heard about her, I was filled with anticipation.
Then, anxiously worrying that Han Sijin might also be rejected, I first sent her videos of Han Sijin’s performances and waited for the results.
‘Crop Five’ was gradually gaining word-of-mouth publicity, and as the first episode was rebroadcast, the momentum grew stronger.
CMN, which had no other significant content, kept playing ‘Crop Five’ so much that I couldn’t tell how many times they were milking it.
CMN was the first to propose expanding the schedule, and as the situation developed that way, we felt a bit of pressure.
Maintaining the tempo wasn’t easy, but Han Sijin was following along well, so we were somehow managing.
We filmed all the scenes of Han Sijin anxiously waiting to be chosen by the vocal trainer, and when we finally received a call from Sarah Yeon, we were extremely tense.
“This is Sarah Yeon.”
“Yes, yes, hello. This is Kang Seomin, the manager of ‘Crop Five’.”
“Yes. I’m calling about the vocal training request for Han Sijin. I’d like to give it a try.”
“What? Without even meeting him?”
“You sent so much material that if I couldn’t get a sense from that, it wouldn’t work. But I’ll train him very rigorously. I won’t tolerate giving up in the middle because it’s too difficult to keep up.”
“Of course. That won’t happen. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Han Sijin, upon hearing the news, looked as elated as if he had won first place, with a deeply moved expression.
“Sijin, you know, maybe you shouldn’t be so happy now. You don’t know what might happen later.”
“Hyung, can’t you let me be happy for now? If I get scolded by the teacher, it’ll be your fault. It’ll be because you jinxed it.”
“I don’t think that’s right?”
“Hyung, I’ve improved a lot compared to before, haven’t I?”
“Yeah. Before, I could barely stand to watch you.”
“Wow. Are you really a manager? How can you say that?”
Having been around Han Sijin so much, I sometimes thought our positions had switched, as if I had been influenced by him.
“Have you been practicing what the teachers told you to practice? I think Sarah seonsaengnim will make you do that first.”
“Yes. I can do that perfectly now.”
“Really? Then let’s try it.”
We started the test, already forgetting that a fixed camera was continuously filming us.
“La.”
“Aaa.”
“You’re kidding me.”
After giving him the note and asking him to produce it before playing the actual note, we could tell the difference between the sound Han Sijin made and the actual note.
“Can’t you do that? Are you perhaps stupid, Han Sijin?”
“That’s too harsh. I might not be good at that kind of thing. And the camera is rolling right now.”
I glanced at the camera once and decided to be careful with my words from then on.
However, Han Sijin didn’t pass my test.
