| Episode 89. Job Competency Improvement Training (3)
First, improving job competency. I can pass on that since I just have to practice like hell with the OJT mission.
Next, sharing secrets with the members? What is that supposed to mean?
What secrets? Are we supposed to talk about our settlement ratios? Does UA not stop employees from sharing salary information with each other?
Still, it says it’ll increase the probability of a stable comeback, so I guess we should share something.
If push comes to shove, I’ll herd everyone into the vocal practice room and tell them the 101 reasons I couldn’t go to college. It’s already happened, so there shouldn’t be any penalty.
Then what’s left is……
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[SYSTEM] A “new task” has been assigned.
▷ Secure personnel for the comeback
▷ Reward: Increased probability of a stable comeback
+
This.
If we move up the comeback, we should be able to secure a certain amount of company manpower.
But even that would only be to a certain extent. It would be hard to expect the same level of push we got when we debuted.
‘Unless the work on Nyuri’s side gets significantly reduced.’
There were roughly three ways to make that happen.
One. Ms. Nyuri suddenly becomes bold and bulldozes through every decision-making process.
Two. Yu Hansu becomes aware of the hidden ability he never realized he had and puts it to use.
Three. At UA, where they aren’t hiring more people, I take on all sorts of odd jobs and minimize the time they have to spend on Ms. Nyuri’s side.
Anyone could see that the right answer was number three.
I smiled bitterly.
Then I turned on my laptop, intending to look through the albums Ms. Nyuri had released before. If necessary, I planned to do some research while I was at it.
However, my sacrifice for Spark soon lost its purity and voluntariness.
“You want me to read the proposal……?”
Because someone from the planning team came to me holding a proposal labeled “(4th draft).”
Trying not to let my unease show, I carefully accepted the several-page proposal.
‘Why are they giving this to me?’
The planning team were the real professionals in this industry, so what could I possibly dare to say?
This is killing me. I swallowed a sigh and slowly read through the proposal.
And then I found it.
『The Return of the Goddess, and a New Journey』
An annoyingly familiar, tacky title.
‘Has Yu Hansu been playing some kind of game lately?’
They were words I felt like I’d seen a few times in subway ads at Gangnam Station.
That side is game advertising, so fine, but isn’t this a slightly different field?
I tried not to frown in front of the staff member as I turned the page.
And my efforts almost went to waste in three seconds.
『Planning Intent
With the concept that she is a descendant of sirens who enthrall listeners with fatal beauty and an alluring voice, we aim to transform the image of Nyuri, who has returned after three years in a more mature form……』
Because what came after was even more ridiculous.
That bastard Yu Hansu must have downloaded some weird game from somewhere. And can this man only give female singers sexy concepts?
Why is the planning team even showing me this in the first place? To screw me over?
Or is it because you’re disappointed that only your mental states are getting shattered, so you want me to share in this pain too?
Either way, it was painful. I hurriedly gathered the proposal back together and returned it to the staff member.
“I’m sorry. I’m still inexperienced, so it’s difficult for me to say anything at all!”
“Iwol, wait!”
The staff member urgently grabbed me as I tried to flee. I desperately wanted to shout at them to please let me go.
Everyone in the company openly knows I’m on bad terms with Yu Hansu, so what kind of etiquette is this? What am I supposed to say here!
Just as I was thinking I’d rather my accumulated fatigue shoot through the ceiling and make me collapse, the staff member spoke.
“Don’t feel pressured. You can just tell us honestly. We’re in an awkward spot too, so we’re going around asking for opinions here and there.”
An awkward spot? In what way?
Even with my eyes closed, I can tell Yu Hansu is obviously going to put Ms. Nyuri on the mudflats of the west coast to film the music video, then composite in a million columnar joints with chroma key.
Perhaps my distrust was conveyed, because the staff member smiled awkwardly.
“Mm…… I guess it’s not right for us to ask for opinions without explaining anything.”
“If it’s confidential, you don’t have to tell me. I really don’t care about that kind of thing at all!”
“Do kids these days use the word confidential too? Anyway.”
The staff member cleared their throat a couple of times.
“To be honest, the planning team is skeptical about this. Before even getting into whether the idea is fresh, the image itself isn’t a style Ms. Nyuri likes.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. Iwol, have you seen any of Ms. Nyuri’s music videos?”
I had. They generally had a very energetic feel. She herself was the type to spread bright energy around her.
When I nodded, the staff member continued.
“Even among ballad singers, Ms. Nyuri tends to be on the more adventurous side. The subject matter of this new song is unique too. So……”
“It doesn’t fit this kind of concept, then.”
At my words, the staff member sighed. It seemed Yu Hansu hadn’t looked into Ms. Nyuri’s previous work at all.
But there was still one part I found strange.
Why had the planning team brought this to me? Especially when they already knew internally what was wrong with it.
I had no intention of running my mouth carelessly and getting framed, so I cautiously asked the staff member a question.
“May I ask why you’re asking me about this? Seongbin knows more about trends in the music industry than I do, and Cheonghyeon is more creative.”
“How are you such a meticulous kid?”
I think I became like this after I microwaved Department Head Nam’s ssanghwa tea for ten seconds too long and got blasted for it.
When I didn’t answer in particular, the staff member said,
“First of all, the reason we’re asking people outside the team is because we’re worried we might be biased against Producer Yu. You know, they say you can hate the person, but you shouldn’t hate the work, right?”
I wanted to ask if it wasn’t usually the other way around, but I held back.
“You seem to find it strange that we aren’t asking people with meaningful industry experience, but any issues those people could catch should already be pointed out internally by the team with experienced employees. If that doesn’t happen, then the team has already lost its function.”
“……”
“And as for asking someone young like you, it’s because we wondered if we might be missing current trends. No matter how sensitive the entertainment industry is to trends, it’s hard to keep up with the younger generation themselves. Producer Yu’s plan looks bad to us, but maybe it could work with your generation.”
The staff member scratched their head and smiled.
I was surprised. I hadn’t thought UA would have such a strong professional spirit.
To the point that I wondered how a company with a team like this had somehow come up with a cyborg warrior concept.
Next, I felt ashamed.
These people were looking seriously only at the work itself, while I had been thinking about how to conduct myself with Yu Hansu.
Reflect. And learn a lot. I repeated it to myself.
“Oh, right, Iwol.”
I thought the conversation was over, but the staff member called me again.
“You said earlier, didn’t you? Why did we ask you instead of Seongbin or Cheonghyeon?”
“Ah, that.”
“There are several reasons, but the biggest reason we specifically asked you is because you have good sense.”
It was a little hard to understand. It had already been years since my brain hardened stiff. There was no way any usable sense was left in me.
As if they had noticed what I was thinking, the staff member patted my shoulder.
“You’ve got good instincts. Surprisingly good ones, at that. At least, that’s what the people on our team think.”
* * *
“So, you got completely won over by the planning team’s praise and searched for items for Senior Nyuri until dawn yesterday?”
Lee Cheonghyeon asked as he approached me during break time.
“Cheonghyeon, if you put it like that, I’ll cry.”
Even as I answered that, my fingers didn’t stop moving.
If I wanted to send the attached file, a formal greeting, and a smiley emoticon within ten minutes, I had to keep moving diligently.
Despite my neglect, Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t back down.
“Didn’t you say before that your eyes are so dry your tears go back in even when they’re about to come out?”
“How is every single thing you say so logical?”
I ignored Lee Cheonghyeon as he fired words at me and pressed the send button on the email to the planning team.
What was I supposed to do? As a fellow office worker, I couldn’t just leave my coworker struggling alone.
“Hyung, you don’t sleep nearly enough. You have a tendency to be far too complacent just because your growth period is over.”
When Lee Cheonghyeon said that, Park Juu nodded behind him.
“So? Starting today, are you going to adjust my schedule for me, Cheonghyeon?”
“Should I? Then please forward everything to me.”
Look at this little punk. After pulling a few all-nighters with me, he understands the ecosystem perfectly.
“No thanks. I was joking.”
Saying that, I got up from the floor. Lee Cheonghyeon grumbled that no one tells jokes with such a serious face, but I pretended not to hear that too.
Checking the time, there were about two minutes left until practice resumed.
In the meantime, intending to check the work progress, I secretly went to the corner of the practice room and opened the system.
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[SYSTEM] Job Competency Enhancement Program Progress
▷ Kim Iwol
Dance (1) ■■■■■□□
Dance (2) ■■■■□□□
Vocal ■■■■■□□
▷ Choi Jeho
Dance ■■■■■□□
Vocal ■■■■■□□
.
.
.
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Even on day five, which we had entered today, all the members were smoothly filling their practice hours without incident.
All that remained was for me to make up the insufficient practice hours by tonight, stamp full attendance up to the Dance (2) category, and run like hell for the remaining two days.
If I succeeded at this, then now……
≫ I’m tired of turning a blind eye to that fucking klutz
Iwol, please practice…… Aren’t you embarrassed in front of the members……?
≫ LOL he’s the oldest but his skills are the worst
Fuck, why did he have to butt in at the very endㅠㅠ So annoyingㅠㅠㅠㅠ
≫ He’s just not cut out to be an idol
What’s the point of the members appealing that he practices hard every day? The skill level the public sees is exactly this
If he practices and this is what he looks like, then this path didn’t fit him from the start
……I’d be able to ease even a little of the suffering in the hearts of the five-member supporters.
I’m sorry. I’ll be careful not to stand out as much as possible.
“Hyung, our break is over!”
No sooner had I finished checking the progress than Jeong Seongbin called me.
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
I got up from the corner as naturally as possible.
At that moment, the area beneath my nose grew hot, and something trickled down. I hurriedly covered my nose and mouth with my hand.
‘What is this? A runny nose?’
This is so embarrassing. A grown adult unable to even blow his nose in time, dripping snot all over himself. Even someone who had supported six-member Spark would immediately switch to supporting five members after seeing this.
“Hyung, what’s wrong……?”
Park Juu asked.
I waved my hand to keep them from coming close to me, who must have looked more hideous than anyone, and said,
“Sorry. I think I look really gross right now, so can you pretend you didn’t see anything and just bring me some tissues?”
“H-Hyung! Hyung, you’re bleeding!”
As I pitifully reached out my hand, Lee Cheonghyeon shouted.
Bleeding?
That was when I smelled the familiar scent of iron. The something I had been desperately trying not to swallow in case it was snot seeped between my lips.
I slowly looked down at the hand that had been blocking my nose. My hand was soaked with dark red blood.