Face Genius Idol Takes Over the Entertainment Industry – 25

Chapter 25. Festival Idols! (2)

“You’re right, it really is interesting. A good story just came up.”

Yeong-mi had spoken these words after seeing the scene of Shin carrying Minho whilst running. The lanky kid ran so effortlessly, he resembled a deer. Even though he wasn’t an athlete, it was the first time Inhan had seen anyone run that fast.

‘Maybe he’ll appear on a sports variety show later?’

The thrill of witnessing such a moment was exhilarating.

‘Or maybe I should introduce him. That wouldn’t be bad either.’

Inhan squared his shoulders proudly. Watching a satisfied Yeong-mi beside him, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Whether this would make it on air, he’d only know after editing, but recalling Yeong-mi’s past editing decisions, it was likely this would be included.

Upon arrival, Inhan immediately checked the event program.

Due to the small sports festival happening today, the program seemed a bit lacking. Thus, he was convinced that Space would participate in this small festival.

Even if it was a cultural program, Yeong-mi was deeply concerned because it needed to attract some level of interest from the audience.

Calling Inhan was part of consulting him over her concerns. If there were other female PDs besides Yeong-mi, they might have grouped together, but that wasn’t the case in reality.

The broadcast world was predominantly male. Even the few female PDs there had followed in Yeong-mi’s footsteps into the industry, making Inhan the most comfortable and reliable person for her to consult with.

As a result, Inhan came up with an interesting idea.

“Really thinking of moving into variety shows?”

“Absolutely.”

The program Yeong-mi had worked on before her demotion was one of Korea’s leading variety shows.

Until her demotion, Yeong-mi had been at the pinnacle of the variety show sector, and Inhan had dreamed of creating such programs himself. ‘Honestly, her demotion was quite unjust.’

It was Yeong-mi who had taken the fall for an accident caused by an external contractor. Still, she accepted her demotion because as the head of the program, she couldn’t properly handle the issues that arose.

In some ways, not keeping up with trends like Inhan was a problem.

Yeong-mi was a trendsetter, not someone who just followed others. That meant she sometimes missed nuances in potential controversies.

Moreover, many were jealous of Yeong-mi’s success. Already disliked by the upper management, this gave them an excuse to demote her to a cultural program.

Yeong-mi coolly accepted her demotion. She was confident in her abilities and rather enjoyed the chance to heal. She liked the current situation but that didn’t mean she wanted to slack off.

Delivering top-notch results was always Yeong-mi’s motto.

“It might be good to film them as we follow them around. They’re being called ‘festival idols,’ right?”

“Yes, it’s fun, isn’t it?.”

Though she wasn’t planning to focus solely on Space, the more material she had, the better.

Her insistence on leading trends had faded, making it easier for Yeong-mi to accept Inhan’s ideas and discuss editing points together.

‘It feels like they might call me back to variety soon.’

Yeong-mi’s previous variety show was not doing well, rapidly losing viewers. Once responsible for half of KBC’s profits, it now made less than a fifth.

The program’s fans were only now realizing the importance of a PD. Naturally, Yeong-mi had no intention of returning to that program.

She was sorry for the regular cast, but Yeong-mi was too talented to be tied down to one program. She hoped to be recognized for her abilities elsewhere, so she wouldn’t be just a stepping stone for others.

“When I return to variety, will you join me?”

“I’d love to.”

Inhan liked Yeong-mi not just as a colleague but also genuinely admired and respected her. He had much to learn from her as well.

“By the way, that guy. If he goes on a sports variety show, he’ll definitely make a good scene.”

Yeong-mi pointed at someone, and Inhan nodded in agreement. The person had a presence that was well-suited for the screen.

“His name is Shin. If he doesn’t disband, there might be a chance to use him someday.”

Despite working, the warm atmosphere between the two made the other program staff quietly shout, ‘couple hell.’

“Why are you like that?”

Shin’s gaze didn’t leave a particular spot, prompting Dongju to follow his gaze with a playful smile.

“It’s a camera. There’s a KBC sticker on it.”

“Must be a cultural program.”

Shin answered soullessly while trying hard to recall where he had seen those familiar faces before.

‘Ah! I remember now!’

Whether it was the man or woman, they were famous figures from the future. Shin had even met one of them before.

The woman was a PD who had made it big with a variety show, and the man was the director of ‘Youth Meets Fire.’

Seeing a familiar face in an unexpected place made Shin feel glad. So, he decided to go greet them.

“Hyung.”

If Jinwoo hadn’t called out, Shin would have gone straight to them. As soon as Shin turned around, Jinwoo looked at him strangely.

“Are you going to say hello because you appreciate their work?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Shin was about to reply when he realized there was no need for him to step forward since President Jo Junseong was already preparing to go toward them.

Luckily, President Jo also had that level of awareness.

“Thank you.”

“Huh? For what?”

“If you don’t know, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“But Hyung, how can you move so quickly like that?”

Jinwoo mimicked the way Shin had carried Minho and ran, causing Shin to shake his head while Minho openly expressed his dislike, though Jinwoo just laughed it off.

Jinwoo really does have a playful side.

“You just have to do a lot of lower body exercises.”

Shin thought it was fortunate that he didn’t greet those two people that day. Otherwise, he might have been criticized for showing off unnecessarily.

‘Now that I think about it, Director Kim Inhan isn’t the type to openly seek approval either.’

Recalling the script reading, he preferred demonstrating his capabilities.

If you think about it, President Jo Junseong might not have viewed him favorably, but luck wasn’t exclusive to Jinwoo; President Jo also seemed to possess it.

“We’re appearing on a cultural program?”

“Yeah. Isn’t that great?”

President Jo’s words caused a stir of excitement among everyone. Appearing on music broadcasts was naturally a priority, but being visible anywhere was crucial now. The more familiar you are to the public, the higher the chances of being invited again.

“I was worried that day, but I was surprised when I received the call.”

For President Jo, it felt like hitting the lottery. The public broadcaster even paid an appearance fee, which brought in some unexpected money.

Though the amount wasn’t large, appearing on TV automatically promoted them.

And the person who contacted them was Yeong-mi.

Though currently demoted to cultural programming, people at the network were uncertain when Yeong-mi would return.

Because she had once made a hit program, the prevailing opinion at KBC’s variety department was that if they continued to fail, they would have no choice but to call Yeong-mi back.

This was an opportunity to forge a good connection.

“So, we’re planning to visit her after our broadcast.”

Normally, such discussions would be held among company employees, but at Hanul Entertainment, President Jo was essentially the only employee. If there was any other staff, it was the accountant.

If not for Space, there wouldn’t have been much revenue, which was an issue.

While touring events had gathered some money, this fund was meant to be saved and spent carefully on the next album.

Thus, company matters ended up being discussed with the members of Space. Fortunately, the reaction from the Space members was positive.

In fact, they seemed more united than before. In that sense, President Jo saw Shin in a new light again.

“Minho now feels comfortable with Shin.”

Shin was properly fulfilling his role as leader. Seeing Seunghyun excited beside him still brought feelings of guilt.

Seunghyun readily accepted President Jo’s apology. In fact, he apologized for not being able to fulfill the role he wanted, which made President Jo feel even more apologetic.

“So, when is the broadcast date?”

“Tonight at 10 PM.”

“What?”

Shin looked at President Jo in disbelief. While everyone would be affected by appearing on TV, being informed on the day itself was too sudden.

“Those who want to watch with their families can…”

He didn’t need to finish for everyone to understand his implication. It was better to watch together as a group. Of course, only Jinwoo and Shin understood this, so Shin took the initiative.

“Let’s all watch together. But you’ll treat us to something tasty, right?”

“Of course. Let’s enjoy some chicken for a change.”

Though it might seem like a simple choice of food, chicken was always delicious, and the members were naturally excited.

At that moment, Shin felt a small vibration. It was a message he hadn’t received in a long time.

[Achievement Unlocked: Lucky Day]

[A gift from the Constellation has arrived as a reward for the achievement.]

[You can now view a random future entertainment news article that has attracted the attention of a Constellation.]

While it was nice to unlock an achievement, the name of the achievement felt ominous.

‘Wasn’t the original novel’s ending like this?’

It was unusually lucky, but the end was a tragedy.

This was the third time he had received ‘future entertainment news’. Shin swiped through his phone with a feeling of unease.

• “Maru of Space” embroiled in a trot music disparagement controversy, netizens remain cold

ㄴ Maru of the group Space apologized for a recent slip of the tongue during his appearance on the KBC variety talk show, TalkLike. During an episode discussing regional festivals aired on January 10th, Maru made disparaging remarks about trot music. Hanul Entertainment issued an apology stating it was not intended in that manner, but the reaction from netizens remains frosty.

‘What’s this?’

Shin was startled by the unexpected content. It meant that Jinwoo would cause a controversy by appearing on a variety show.

‘That can’t be right.’

Shin tried hard to recall, but there was never such an incident. He had never appeared on a variety show with such a topic.

‘Did Space become known a bit faster than before?’

No, that wasn’t the problem. Shin was shocked that

Jinwoo was the one to make disparaging comments about trot music. That didn’t make any sense.

There must be some mistake.

‘Huh?’

Shin looked at the content again. The date on the article was next January.

‘It seems far away at first glance…’

It was early December now, and January was just a month away. Considering the timing of the broadcast date, there wasn’t much time left.

[T/N: Sorry for the late update. I was swamped with deadlines and work. Happy reading 🙂 ]