The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 41

“I’ve found the fifth member.”

The kids’ eyes widened in surprise, and they responded one by one.

“Already?”

“That was fast.”

“As expected from our manager!” (Thumbs up)

“But she can’t join right away like Chie did. To be honest, both her physical and mental condition aren’t in a normal state, so it’ll take a while. That’s why I need your help.”

Question marks practically floated above their heads.

It was easier to show them than explain, so I turned on the TV and played a video of Jeongwon’s monthly evaluation.

I had asked senior Onew to get this footage from Team 3.

Her ability to cover such an intense choreography was no joke.

Summer, who had a keen eye for dance, watched the screen with interest.

“She’s good. What do you mean by ‘not normal’?”

“The girl we’re bringing in is her twin sister. They’re identical twins, so she looks just like her… or at least, she used to.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say they looked exactly the same.

I’d seen her future self after losing weight, but the others would only see her current state and be shocked.

“Why are you showing us the sister’s video instead of the one we’re bringing in?”

Rina’s question led me to explain Jeongwon and Jeongah’s situation—How one was a trainee at Pine Entertainment, while the other had become a shut-in.

How, four months ago, Hana had passed away from pancreatic cancer.

And how, now, the other sister was trying to take her place in the world.

By the time I finished, the entire living room had turned into a sea of tears.

They clung to each other, sobbing, so I just sat quietly and waited for them to calm down.

“Sniff… We have to be really kind to her when she arrives. I can’t imagine how much she’s been through.”

“I’ll share a room with her. I’ll hug her to sleep every night!”

“She must have had it worse than I did.”

“I’ve never seen a Korean hikikomori before.”

I was really proud of how kindhearted they were.

I just hoped they wouldn’t change their minds when they met her in person.

“She’s gained a lot of weight from staying in her room and eating for two years. That’s something we can work on once she’s here, but the bigger issue is how much she struggles with interacting with people.”

“She was bullied at school and never left home, so that makes sense.”

“But she can’t stay like that if she’s going to be in a group.”

“Does she have social anxiety?”

“Chie was also bullied by her old unit, so she probably understands how she feels.”

“She can talk to people while looking at them and even step outside her house now, so I think it’s time to bring her to the dorm. She’s recovering too slowly on her own.”

“Why are you even asking? If you say she’s moving in, then that’s that.”

“That’s right. Oppa is working so hard to make our comeback happen.”

“We’ll do whatever our manager tells us to.” (Nods all around)

I had explained the situation, thinking that unexpected issues might arise when living together in the dorm, but fortunately, they were all ready to accept her.

At Jeongah’s House —”You know that if you become a girl group member, you’ll have to live in a dorm, right?”

“Yes.”

“Red Blossom has a dorm too. I’ve already told the others, so as soon as you’re ready, you can move in.”

“But my body is still like this…”

“If you stay here alone, you won’t be able to lose weight. At the dorm, you’ll have proper meal plans and exercise regularly. Like I said before, it’s going to be really tough.”

“Sora and Soyeon told me that no matter how hard it gets, I should do everything you tell me to. Since it’s what my bias wants, I’ll endure it no matter what.”

“Once you move into the dorm, you’re not allowed to contact Sora or Soyeon.”

“Hiiik!”

She let out a gasp, looking like she had just lost her entire world.

“It’s fine to draw strength from your bias. But how long are you going to do that? If you debut as a girl group member, you’ll become someone else’s bias. Do you really think you can handle that with your current mindset?”

Her self-esteem was at rock bottom, so I knew she couldn’t help depending on them right now.

But she couldn’t stay that way forever.

It was hard for me to say this, too, but I had no choice but to be firm.

“Becoming independent is the best option, but if you need someone to rely on, pick a member instead of your bias. You can also rely on me as your manager—everyone else does.”

“But I’m not mentally prepared yet…”

“Don’t make excuses.

When are you planning to grant Jeongwon’s wish?

Did you even think about that before deciding to become an idol?

You’ll have to work tens or even hundreds of times harder than the others just to stand on the same stage.”

At the mention of Jeongwon, her face twisted in pain.

I felt awful for bringing up such a painful memory, but she needed to steel herself if she wanted to stand on her own.

As I kept pushing her, she started avoiding eye contact.

I felt like I was being too harsh, so I decided to offer a little encouragement—though this wasn’t something I had planned myself.

I called Cha Soyeon, who was in Jeju filming a commercial.

She had just taken a shower, wearing a bathrobe with droplets of water still clinging to her hair.

“Your timing is impeccable.”

“Sorry. Should I call back later?”

“No need. We’ll be seeing each other often anyway. Did your talk with Jeongah go well?”

“Just like you said, she’s really down.”

“Turn the camera around.”

I handed the phone directly to Jeongah.

“You’ve been struggling a lot, haven’t you, Jeongah?”

“Sniff… Soyeon-nim….”

Her voice came out nasal, like she was on the verge of tears.

“You promised to do everything Juwon tells you, right?”

“Yes…”

“That’s the only way we can stay together for a long time.”

“Huh?”

“You know how Sora unnie and I are, right? She’s a little more famous than me, but we’re both in the industry, so we treat each other like sisters. You can be like that too.”

Cha Soyeon started using her “carrot.”

“A relationship between a fan and their favorite idol doesn’t last long. No matter how much you like me, I have too many fans like you. How could I possibly remember every single one of them? But you know…”

Her voice started to sound eerily similar to Han Sora’s.

This was practically hypnosis.

“If you listen to Juwon and succeed as an idol, you’ll become a fellow star.

Then, we’ll be like sisters instead.

Isn’t that a much longer-lasting bond than just being a fan?

The same goes for Sora unnie.

Don’t you want to be Sora unnie’s little sister too?”

“I… Sora-nim and Soyeon-nim’s little sister….”

She repeated the words like someone under the influence of a drug.

So this is what she meant when she said Han Sora taught her.

“It’ll be tough not being able to contact us for a while, but one day, you’ll stand next to me as a fellow celebrity. That sounds way better than stammering around calling me ‘Soyeon-nim’ like you do now, don’t you think?”

She nodded so intensely at the screen that it almost looked painful.

“I’ll do it! I’ll listen to everything Mister tells me, succeed no matter what, and call Soyeon-nim and Sora-nim ‘unnie’! I’ll work really hard, so please wait for me!”

“Fufu, that’s the spirit, Jeongah. You made the right choice.”

And with that, a combination of the carrot and the stick finally helped solidify Jeongah’s resolve.

I spoke with her mother about the dorm arrangement and set a moving date.

*****

Moving Day,I brought the girls with me to Jeongah’s house.

I figured it’d be better for her to meet them in a familiar space.

Before we left the dorm, I gave them one important reminder.

“Whatever you do, don’t act surprised in front of Jeongah. Just greet her like she’s any other person.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t be shocked just because she’s chubby.”

“Yeah, exactly. I mean, how big could she really be?”

Oh, if only they knew.

“……”

When Jeongah came down the stairs, their jaws collectively dropped.

So much for not being shocked by weight gain.

As she got closer, the four of them turned to look at me.

They didn’t say anything, but their expressions said it all.

‘Manager-nim… What are we supposed to do?’

‘Oppa… This isn’t just chubby…’

‘Is she… medically okay?’

‘Manager oppa, I’m scared…’

“Hello… I’m Han Jeongah. Please take care of me.”

She bowed her head slightly.

The girls quickly recovered, putting on smiles as they greeted her back.

“If you were still in school, you’d be in your third year of high school, right? That makes you the youngest, so feel free to speak comfortably with us.”

She then briefly introduced herself.

Yeoreum, acting the most like an older sister, took the lead in introducing each of them one by one and warmly welcomed her to the team.

“There’s probably a lot to talk about, but let’s save it for when we get to the dorm. You’ve packed everything, right?”

“Yes, my bags are by the door.”

There wasn’t as much luggage as I expected, so it didn’t take long to load everything into the car.

Just as we were about to leave after saying our goodbyes, Jeongah’s mother pulled her into a tight hug.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. You’re my precious daughter, Jeongah. You don’t have to replace Jeongwon. If it gets too hard, you can always come back. Understand?”

Jeong-ah didn’t say a word—she just silently cried in her mother’s embrace.

I hope that the next time she sheds tears, they’ll be tears of joy.

*****

I wasn’t planning to introduce Jeongah to the company until she looked more like Jeongwon, but the team needed to know about her.

So, I told Jeongah that we were doing a “camera test” and filmed a self-introduction video.

Morning Meeting…The meeting started on a cheerful note.

“You did a great job preparing for the audition. Even Team Leader Baek Hakyung was praising you, and it made me feel proud.”

Then came the main topic.

“I nearly fainted when I heard she had a twin. How did you even figure that out?”

“I got suspicious because, even though she passed away, her profile and videos were still in the company records. Since those are personal belongings to the family, I sorted everything out and brought them over.”

I sprinkled in just the right amount of MSG (exaggeration) as I explained the situation they went through at home.

Of course, I glossed over the more sensitive details.

“You’re something else, really. Is it just luck, or how do you always manage to find exactly the right people you need?”

“I guess I’m just lucky, like you said, Team Leader.”

“That’s even more impressive. In this industry, luck is just as important as skill. Feels reassuring to have a guy with good luck on board.”

Everything was going smoothly.

Until—”Her name’s Jeongah, right? When are you bringing her in? We should at least meet her first.”

“I actually recorded an introduction video. Want to see it?”

“Oh? Yeah, play it.”

A few moments later— “HEY! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?! Are we recruiting a weightlifter or something?!”