The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 25

I told Chie that the issue with her SN Entertainment contract had been resolved.

“So, your trainee contract with SN Entertainment has been terminated. There won’t be any penalties either.”

“Does that mean I’m… I mean, Chie is free now?”

“Yes. You can do whatever you want now. You can go back to Japan or continue pursuing a career in a girl group in Korea.”

“I don’t want to go back to Japan. I endured for two years—if I go back now, it’ll be like I did nothing at all.”

She fidgeted with her hands, clearly having something on her mind.

“Uh, Manager Oppa, can I ask you something?”

Like Sera, Chie also called me “Manager Oppa.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Why are you helping me with my contract issue?”

She seemed to think that taking her in was just an act of kindness, but getting personally involved with her contract seemed suspicious.

“…Do you want something from me?”

Her deer-like eyes were filled with expectation.

I must have gotten attached to these girls after spending a few days with them.

“What if I did?”

“Yeoreum  unnie, Sera unnie, and Rina told me that if we listen to Manager Oppa, good things will happen, so we should do whatever you say.”

Behind her, the three girls were nodding furiously.

They looked like those bobblehead toys you put on a car dashboard.

Had I ever bought them rice cakes before?

“You know Red Blossom currently has only three members, right?”

“Yes.”

“My goal is to bring the group back as a five-member team. That means we need two more members, and I want you to be one of them.”

Chie’s eyes wavered violently.

“D-Does that mean I can be a member of Red Blossom?”

“If you want to, of course. But it won’t be easy. Even at SN Entertainment, you had to go through monthly evaluations and training assessments to get into a debut team. We have a similar process.”

“So… I have to become a trainee again?”

“Since this is a special case, you won’t be starting from scratch. But you’ll have to audition in front of AR Team’s director, the choreography team, and the producers. You need to impress them with your skills.”

“I’m not sure if I can get a good evaluation from them…”

“You were the top prospect in C-Unit. Here, no one dislikes you, and no one is trying to take advantage of you. Just show them the results of your two years of training, and prove your abilities.”

I wanted to tell her outright that she would become the fourth member, but I held back.

Right now, I just wanted to be a “normal” manager—someone who encourages and supports them from the sidelines.

Even though the way they looked at me was anything but normal.

*****

I told Chie that all she had to do was work hard, but there was another issue.

The company still wasn’t convinced about reviving Red Blossom.

“They got famous for the wrong reasons.”

Team Leader Baek Hakyung leaned on the rooftop railing, exhaling cigarette smoke.

Since I didn’t smoke, I just opened a can of coffee next to her.

“They blew up because of something unrelated. Their rise started with that viral video of them moving into a new dorm. Then came the unexpected success of their live streams. And most recently, they even made headlines in the news.”

Ah.

“And what role did Red Blossom play in all that?”

None.

“It was all thanks to Soyeon and you.

She helped boost the group’s social media presence with the moving vlog and the live streams, even though she rarely appears on variety shows.

And you?

You saved her in that parking lot, took down a cult, and rescued a kidnapped member.

People don’t remember Red Blossom—they remember Cha Soyeon and their badass manager, Shin Juwon.

That’s why the company isn’t convinced yet.”

“…That’s tough.”

“At times like this, the best moves are to either do well in a survival program or have one of your old songs suddenly go viral again. If either of those happens, the company will take it as a positive sign from the market.”

“It’s a chicken-and-egg situation. We can’t promote because we don’t have enough members, and we can’t gain recognition because we can’t promote.”

“What about that Chie girl you brought in? She has to audition. That way, I can argue that she’s necessary and push for member recruitment.”

“They won’t hold auditions unless they’re open to adding new members.”

“Exactly.

Honestly, I’d love to grab the head of the division by the collar and threaten to quit if they don’t revive Red Blossom, but that won’t work.

The chairman and division head only act when they feel something.

Even if every team leader here threatened to quit, it wouldn’t matter if they didn’t sense an opportunity.”

Their instincts were what had brought Pine Entertainment to where it was today.

If there hadn’t been any discussions about new members yet, it meant that Red Blossom still wasn’t giving them that feeling.

‘How do we make them feel it?’

A few days later, Cha Soyeon solved that problem herself.

She really was amazing.

*****

“Housewarming party?”

“We resolved Chie’s issue, so now we need to celebrate. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?”

She’d been bringing it up almost every day.

It felt like we’d already had a housewarming party dozens of times.

“I already talked to Yeoreum . We want to do it on Friday night, so come over right after work.”

I was tempted to ask what “Friday night” even meant to someone who partied every day, but I kept my mouth shut.

She had been making an effort lately—expressing emotions and taking an interest in things.

I didn’t want to discourage her.

‘Well, spending Friday night with a bunch of pretty girls doesn’t sound too bad.’

[Your personal thoughts are showing a lot. Be careful today.]

‘What? I don’t have those kinds of thoughts about them.’

[Not your thoughts.]

“…Huh?”

*

At the dorm entrance, I ran into a studio PD and a cameraman.

“There’s no shoot scheduled for today.”

“Cha Soyeon asked us to film the housewarming party.”

“…?”

When I went inside, the place was bustling with activity.

Yeoreum was blitzing ingredients so fast that her hands were practically invisible.

Sera and Cha Soyeon, both wearing aprons, were busy in the kitchen.

“Wow, this is quite a sight.”

A top actress and two girl group members cooking together—this was a rare moment, even for variety shows.

The PD and cameraman, their eyes gleaming, followed the three of them around like hawks, making sure not to miss a single shot.

Rina and Chie were in the living room, practicing choreography with the music playing.

They were going over Love Connect, the only song from their second album that had received good reviews.

Even now, comments still popped up on Red Blossom’s videos recommending it.

“Oppa, you’re here!”

“Hello, Manager Oppa.”

“Why are you practicing when we’re supposed to be having a housewarming party?”

“We have something planned later, so we’re just going over the moves. Chie, you’re good now, right?”

“Yeah.”

I thought this was just a housewarming party, but it looked like they had something planned in between.

A camera was already set up in one corner of the living room.

“All done!”

The three girls took off their aprons and walked out of the kitchen.

As Cha Soyeon and Yeoreum brushed their hair to one side while walking over, they were so breathtakingly beautiful that I instinctively swallowed hard.

Noticing this, Yeoreum slightly lifted the corners of her eyes and smiled—a bewitching smile that no man could resist.

“This isn’t just a housewarming party, is it? What’s with the camera, and why are Rina and Chie practicing choreography?”

I asked Cha Soyeon, but Yeoreum answered instead.

“We mentioned during a live stream that we’d be having a housewarming party this week. Since Soyeon unnie would be here, we asked viewers what they wanted us to do, and we got a lot of requests.”

So, they decided to go with the two most popular suggestions.

“First, they want us to do a timed cooking challenge, like Please Take Care of My Refrigerator.

They must have liked the previous cooking video we uploaded, so we thought we’d do it properly this time.

That’s why we prepped all the ingredients in advance.”

Yeoreum’s cooking videos did get a lot of views.

They were planning to make housewarming dishes within a set time, just like in a cooking show.

“The second request was a girl group cover dance.

We weren’t sure what to do at first, but we decided to just use our own song.

So, we reworked the choreography for Love Connect.”

Love Connect was the only song from their second album that had made it onto the charts.

While the song itself was good, it had been criticized for its awkward choreography and bizarre outfits.

Since the old choreography wouldn’t work, Yeoreum, who had a knack for dancing, created a new routine.

“We need to eat the food as soon as it’s done, so we’ll start with the live stream first.”

All five girls went into the rooms to change.

Even Cha Soyeon…?

*

She came out wearing a cropped top that slightly revealed her midriff, paired with sleek joggers.

It was a sporty look—something commonly seen in girl group dance practice videos.

But with her incredible proportions, it looked even more stunning than most stage outfits.

“Soyeon, why did you change?”

“I’m dancing too.”

“…What?”

“There were tons of comments asking me to dance with Red Blossom since I was coming over.

I was debating whether to do it, but Yeoreum’s new choreography isn’t that difficult.

So, I decided to join in.”

The PD and cameraman looked like they had hit the jackpot.

Who would say no to Cha Soyeon dancing in front of a camera?

“Um… can you even dance? Girl group choreography isn’t easy, no matter how simple it is.”

“I’ve done ballet and contemporary dance for quite a while. Don’t be surprised when you see me.”

Her expression was full of confidence.

She must really believe she’ll do well.

I had never seen Cha Soyeon dance in any movie or drama before.

She didn’t even appear on variety shows.

Yet here she was, taking on a girl group cover dance.

On top of that, Chie, the fourth member, was joining in.

‘This is going to blow up.’

And just like that, the legendary cover dance video that marked Red Blossom’s revival was born.