CHAPTER 83

Blooming Days for Cherry Blossom (1)

I had to take on the role of Cherry Blossom's Talent Agent today as Yoo-Jin's schedule was empty. When I said I wouldn't go to Singer Division 2, Lee Dong-Min went all the way to the managing director's office to plead and even threaten.

Unable to withstand his persistence, Kang Ji-Yung eventually gave in. As a result, I officially became in charge of Cherry Blossom whenever Yoo-Jin had her days off. Thanks to this, I got so busy I wished I could clone myself.

After parking the car in the underground lot, I did my routine planner check. Upon checking the day's events, I inevitably let out a sigh.

"Well. It's going to be chaotic today."

[Everyday V10]

[Date: January 12, 2020]

-06:20 PM Yongpyong, Gangwon-do H Resort, KBC Live Music Stage outdoor stage. (Report) Golden Road rehearsal no-show

-06:40 PM (Report) Clash between Golden Road and Petite More during KBC Live Music Stage.

-07:00 PM KBC Live Music Stage live broadcast

-09:00 PM <Deleted Schedule>

(Deleted Schedule: Gangwon-do Hoengseong Hanwoo Taste Festival stage, Cherry Blossom)

I recalled this day which happened in my past life.

'Man, I really did have a tough time on this day.'

While driving Golden Road's van to Yongpyong, an unexpected heavy snowfall would ensue, causing a delay in their schedule and ultimately leading to them missing the 5:30 PM deadline.

As a result of missing the rehearsal and getting scolded by the AD, Golden Road would become quite hysterical, with one of their members, Eun-Yung, being entangled in a big fight with Eun-Bin of Petite More.

Although everyone managed to successfully finish the live stage, it was a day that I never wanted to experience ever again.

However, as I looked at the planner, I couldn't help but smile when I saw a canceled schedule at the bottom.

"Come to think of it, Cherry Blossom has grown a lot."

Instead of performing at the Hanwoo Taste Festival, which was located in the middle of a market, they were performing on the KBC Music Stage. This was indeed a huge milestone!

Beep.

I turned off the van's engine and headed to Singer Division 2.

There, Lee Dong-Min, who was scratching the back of his messy hair, greeted me.

"Star Jung, please take good care of our kids today. Oh, and we've started working on a new song."

"Already?"

Lee Dong-min brought up my own words and smirked. "Is that a bad thing? You were the one who said we needed a better song, weren't you? Anyway, I might be a bit late today because of that. You should go ahead with Team Lead Han."

"Understood, Mr. Lee."

The moment I heard about the new song, I began organizing all the potential hit songs in my mind as I recalled my ten years of memories to recommend a few of them to Cherry Blossom.

Then, Han Myung-Ho, who was in charge of Cherry Blossom, entered Division 2. He looked extremely tired, possibly from sleeping in the company's dormitory again. Indeed, being in charge of idols was not an to y easy job.

"Oh? You're here already?"

"Yes, Mr. Han."

Han Myung-Ho made a tired expression and opened his mouth. "It's still early, so let's have a bowl of hot soup before we leave. My body feels so stiff."

But I shook my head at his suggestion to leave after eating. "Mr. Han, didn't they issue a heavy snow warning today? I think we should leave early."

Han Myung-Ho looked puzzled at my words. It seemed he hadn't heard about the warning.

"Is that so? Then I guess it can't be helped. Let's leave now and buy some kimbap on the way then."

"That sounds good, Mr. Han."

We left the office and rushed toward Yongpyong—today's battleground.

***

Screech.

When I parked the car in the Yongpyong H Resort parking lot, heavy snow had already been falling for about 20 minutes. The snow, each flake the size of a thumb, covered everything in a pristine blanket of white.

"It's a blizzard."

"Huh, we would have been in trouble if we had taken our time and delayed leaving."

Talent Agent Lee Ju-Yung, who was sitting in the back seat, also nodded in agreement.

"We really would have been in big trouble if we had a no-show today. After all, the other talent agents were giving us the side-eye, saying that we are not even among the top ranks but still squeezed our way into the face meeting…"

Face meetings were meetings where PDs and agencies of singers gathered together to decide the order of appearance for the singers at music shows. Cherry Blossom, having gained recognition from the end-of-year idol battle, was receiving solid support from Producer Choi Eun-Hyuk. Thanks to him, Cherry Blossom was able to perform on the Yongpyong special stage, despite holding a low ranking of 35.

That was when it happened.

Thud.

The car door in the back opened and Sae-Ri jumped out.

"Snow! I have to be the first to step on it!"

Sae-Ri headed toward the parking lot garden where the snow had piled up to her ankles.

I couldn't understand why she was so excited to step on the pristine white snow nobody had stepped on yet. But thanks to the boots that we had prepared in advance for the blizzard, there was no concern about getting her skirt wet.

"Sae-Ri! Your clothes will get wet! Why would you go there!"

As Woo Yeon-Hee shouted, Sae-Ri carefully lifted her skirt and coat slightly, seemingly also worried about getting her clothes wet. "Is this okay now?"

"Okay? What do you mean okay!"

"No, it's fine!"

Seeing Sae-Ri running again, Woo Yeon-Hee decided she had to intervene and ran after Sae-Ri to catch her.

Even though she had just turned 16 with the new year, Yang Eun-Bi shook her head while commenting that Sae-Ri was still a baby. "Sigh. When will she grow up?"

The last one to get out of the car was Eun-Ah. She held onto Yang Eun-Bi's arm and looked around the surroundings vigilantly like a meerkat on guard, perhaps because the ski resort was crowded with people.

But I was just relieved that Eun-Ah wouldn't be experiencing panic attacks on stage amidst all this.

"Eun-Bi unnie…today I..."

Seeing Eun-Ah's anxious expression, Yang Eun-Bi shrugged her shoulders. "Don't worry, just stick close to me."

"Okay, unnie."

Then, Lee Ju-Yung gathered all the necessary clothes from the car and called me over.

"Yoon-Ho, could you help me with this?"

"Of course, Ms. Lee."

I took a bunch of stage costumes wrapped in vinyl.

"Wait, but why are there two sets of stage costumes?" Lee Ju-Yung asked with a puzzled expression.

"Oh. I brought extra as a precaution because of today's weather."