# Chapter 25
Were these guys always this noisy from the beginning?
I don’t think so, but they’ve gotten increasingly louder, constantly hurting my ears.
Han Sijin and Lee Dagyeong were squabbling over who would get to sit next to me—seriously, they weren’t two or three-year-olds.
And.
Am I their mother?
I had just managed to pry Seo Irun’s hand off, and before I knew it, Cha Yeonwoo was holding my hand.
I’m not a kindergarten teacher, and I have no idea what this is all about.
* * *
After that chaos, we sat quietly in the living room watching TV.
I had already watched it with hyung, but watching with the kids gave it a different feel.
The kids quieted down as soon as the broadcast started.
“You know that person? She’s an incredible person. I heard that as Seyoung Electronics’ importance grew within Seyoung Group, many people were eyeing Seyoung Electronics? Even though she’s a direct descendant of the Seyoung Chairman, there was a lot of public opinion against putting her on the front lines of Seyoung Electronics management because she’s still young and a woman. Especially among the Chairman’s distant relatives and his advisors, but she’s been crushing them with her abilities until now. At shareholders’ meetings, shareholders overwhelmingly support her.”
Jeong Chan spoke about what he had researched about noona, and I nodded.
What I knew was similar.
A person who receives high praise from subordinates for being enterprising, innovative, bold, and for taking responsibility for others rather than shifting blame—someone who tries to shoulder the responsibilities of those below her.
She was also famous for doing her best in her position without being attached to it or showing excessive ambition for management rights, but when others coveted her position, she would stand up resolutely and firmly secure her place.
She had extremely avoided appearing in public, but it was already widely known that her appearance was top-notch.
There was much talk that the reason noona didn’t appear in public was because she was concerned that the evaluation of her achievements and performance would be overshadowed by attention to her appearance.
And I thought such concerns weren’t just needless worry.
I felt deeply grateful that such a noona had broken her principles and made a surprise appearance on our program.
We also checked internet reactions intermittently, and the response to noona’s appearance was explosive.
This was far more effective than having an ordinary top star make a guest appearance, so noona’s name instantly occupied the top of the search rankings.
[Wow, insane!! Is Kang Jiyoung-nim’s appearance for real? Oh my God!! Crop Five is definitely my one-pick from now on. If I can see Kang Jiyoung-nim because of Crop Five, I’ll do anything from now on. Seriously.]
[Are they really siblings in real life? I knew Kang Seungwon was the CEO of Grand Tamer, but did Kang Jiyoung really appear just for that? Something seems a bit suspicious about that? Is she really expecting that much from Crop Five? But they do look like they’ll do well. We’ll have to see their vocal ability and performance skills, but visually, they all pass.]
[If they included that manager and made it a 6-member group, that would be perfect. No, make it 7 members with Kang Jiyoung-nim.]
[Dream on. How busy do you think Kang Jiyoung-nim is? But it’s really surprising to see our Jiyoung-nim appear there. I thought she wasn’t in Korea after causing a huge sensation with her smartphone.]
The timely success of Seyoung Electronics’ new product was even more favorable for us.
While watching the broadcast, I felt that the gazes around me seemed a bit strange.
At first, I thought it was nothing and that I was just imagining it.
But whenever I turned my head, I’d catch them snickering at me before quickly looking away.
“What is it? Why are you laughing like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
Even when I asked directly, they wouldn’t answer, but they kept laughing like that. It wasn’t just one or two of them—all of them seemed to be doing it deliberately.
I felt quite uneasy and scolded them each time, but none of them gave me a straightforward answer.
‘What is going on?’
It wasn’t until two days later that I found out the answer.
On the day when ‘Crop Five’ hit a 9% viewership rating after just two episodes, and that fact made headlines on various portals.
Han Sijin was the first to approach me and say:
“Hyung. You haven’t forgotten about granting our wishes, right?”
“…Huh?”
I felt like I should remember something, but also like I shouldn’t?
“I never said I would do that?”
“Oh, come on, hyung. Why are you being like this? Don’t you know trust is vital between a manager and singers? After making all those promises, how can you back out now? How can we trust you and work with you in the future?”
“Then should I introduce you to a new manager?”
This was a very ominous feeling.
Seeing how persistently he was talking, it was clear the wish wouldn’t be easy to grant.
“No, it’s not that. And it’s not that difficult either. I’m not asking you to do it right away.”
He was grinning mischievously, which made me even more afraid.
“Hey, I don’t have money.”
“I’m not asking for money. I have a conscience—how could I ask you for money? You look like you have even less money than we do.”
Wait, why?
How so?
That offended me in its own way, but I nodded anyway.
Then I warned Han Sijin to keep quiet about it.
“Hey, even if you remember, the others might not remember, so don’t go running your mouth around the guys. Got it?”
“Yes, I’ll try.”
“If you run your mouth and the others remember and ask me to grant their wishes too, you won’t get anything at all, you know.”
“How could that happen?”
I told the indignant Han Sijin to take my word for it, but what do you know?
All the members hadn’t forgotten.
It didn’t seem like they had heard it from someone else; after the conversation first came up, they all talked to me as if they had never forgotten it even once.
They said they would reveal their wishes soon, so I should be prepared to grant them.
I couldn’t understand why they were all acting like they had been looking forward to this tremendously.
Still, thinking it would be better to hear them out than just worry about it, I asked the kids.
Lee Dagyeong: Shower together and scrub each other’s backs.
Jeong Chan: Go running together at night on a course without streetlights.
Cha Yeonwoo: For one day, he would speak informally to me while I would call him ‘hyung’ and speak formally to him.
Han Sijin: Sit next to me whenever we’re together.
Seo Irun: Tell him every day what I want, and he would grant that wish.
They were so modest that I felt this couldn’t be all.
I asked them to tell me what they really wanted, but they insisted that was all and wouldn’t say anything more.
‘What is this? They’re really satisfied with just that?’
I wondered why I felt like I was somehow cheating the kids.
* * *
As Sarah Yeon’s rigorous training began, the members increasingly struggled.
Still, as the changes became visible day by day, the members were experiencing a sense of achievement, and I was enthusiastically cheering them on from the sidelines.
‘Crop Five’s’ miraculous success was being reported daily, and as the story of Crop Five’s comeback like a wildcard revival was frequently mentioned, fans’ demands to see more of Crop Five intensified.
Since we already had filmed and edited footage stockpiled, after discussion, we decided to release some of it early.
The filming team said that Crop Five’s efficiency was really good—other teams often film for eight or nine hours and don’t even get an hour’s worth of usable content, but with us, two hours of filming could yield over an hour of content.
First of all, all the members had excellent visuals, so even capturing them sitting quietly was sufficiently appealing, and when those godly faces made clumsy remarks, it was incredibly funny.
I somewhat agreed with that.
Additionally, whenever we gathered and talked about something, things would progress with tremendous momentum, which also became a major source of entertainment.
And with so many members, it seemed like we wouldn’t run out of things to talk about for a while.
With each passing episode, ‘Crop Five’s’ popularity soared, and media attention intensified.
As the media grew interested, we also felt the pressure that the members needed to acquire skills quickly.
So the members devoted themselves to practice, reducing their sleep time even further.
* * *
“Wow… No. What does singing have to do with doing sit-ups…”
As Lee Dagyeong grumbled while doing sit-ups, Jeong Chan laughed.
“I’m definitely going to tell Sarah seonsaengnim you said that.”
“No, hyung. That’s not what I meant. No. Of course they’re related. Of course they’re related, but it’s just a bit hard, that’s all.”
“Hey, how can those words be interpreted that way? You’re funny. I’m going to report this to seonsaengnim right now.”
Though Lee Dagyeong probably knew Jeong Chan was just teasing him, he couldn’t completely dismiss the worry that he might actually go, so he clung to Jeong Chan.
But Jeong Chan, seemingly enjoying teasing his younger brother, darted outside like an arrow.
Now only Lee Dagyeong and I were left in the fitness room, and I approached the pitiful youngest.
“You do well when you actually try, so why are you complaining? I’ll hold you down, so let’s do a few more.”
“…”
Lee Dagyeong lay back down with a sulky face.
