The moment I stepped onto the commercial set, I saw a face I wasn’t happy to see.
“Have you been doing well? You seemed to have a lot on your mind.”
It was Cheongryeo of VTIC.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Why the hell was he here?
For the record, the company hadn’t given me so much as a hint.
They’d told me they’d urgently landed a good commercial and practically shuttled me over, so all I’d seen beforehand was the storyboard.
If the person I’m working with is someone I already know, doesn’t it occur to you that you should at least tell me that much?
I want to quit.
I was seriously losing all motivation to work.
But showing it would only make me a rumor generator.
Better to just nod.
“Yes. Thanks to your advice, I managed to resolve it.”
“Oh, really? That’s good.”
Cheongryeo smiled and held out one hand.
“I look forward to working with you today.”
“Likewise.”
Neither of us did anything childish like squeezing harder, but the handshake ended in an instant.
“Then I’ll see you in a little while.”
“Yes, sunbaenim.”
I’d rather not.
I recalled the storyboard and, feeling oddly complicated, went to change clothes and prepare for filming.
The outfit was a currently fashionable style of tracksuit.
Except it had a corporate logo on it.
And I already know why I happen to be wearing something like this.
For one thing, the filming location was a grassy field, and the shoot involved a lot of physical movement.
Like this.
“All right, let them loose!”
At the director’s command, a herd of four-legged animals came charging across the grass toward Cheongryeo and me.
They were various retriever breeds and mixed-breed country puppies, all about three months old.
“Woof!!”
I rubbed the scruffs of one puppy after another, just as the storyboard directed, when one of them leaped all the way up to my nose and headbutted me.
Excited, huh.
Once one did it, three or four more immediately followed.
Hey.
Stop licking me.
I picked up the fluffy masses with both hands.
…They were cute-looking, at least.
“Pff!”
Now one of them was coughing directly into my face.
I adjusted my grip and nearly fell over.
With four or five puppies wedged into both arms and myself covered in drool, I did my best not to let my expression go completely blank.
“Cut! Ah, that was great~”
“…Thank you.”
A staff member hurried over to fix my ruined face.
We were both suffering.
“Hold the puppies up more securely! Really scoop them up! And give us a big smile!”
Right.
That “sense of security” was important.
Because what we were currently filming was an insurance-company commercial.
More precisely, it was a corporate branding commercial promoting a major insurance company’s support program for abandoned dogs and its work raising guide dogs.
They usually use celebrities with strong general-public recognition for this kind of thing.
Apparently, though, the actor originally cast for my role had been arrested in a sexual harassment scandal, so they’d used me instead.
The recognition I’d recently gained among middle-aged viewers through The Singer I Made had probably played some role, but….
“Good boy.”
…I had the unpleasant feeling that my publicly known acquaintance with that bastard hadn’t been entirely irrelevant either.
Even though filming had stopped, Cheongryeo was subduing the pack of dogs with almost supernatural skill.
Several of them flopped onto their backs one after another, exposing their bellies.
They were practically born photogenic.
I kind of want to take a picture.
But bringing my smartphone over just for that would look bad.
At that moment, Cheongryeo spoke.
“Do you like dogs?”
“…I don’t dislike them.”
The staff happened to have stepped away.
Since they were only filming the visuals and would add narration later, we weren’t even wearing clip-on microphones.
Which meant this was exactly the kind of timing where that bastard could say whatever nonsense he wanted.
But my prediction was wrong.
“Right? They’re pretty nice. Sweet, too.”
“……”
“They’re easy to handle as well. Praise them when they deserve praise and scold them when they deserve scolding.”
Cheongryeo talked only about the puppies as he stroked one of the dogs.
A piece of information flashed reflexively through my head.
–That hyung supposedly donates half of every payout he gets to abandoned-dog shelters and things like that?
Could that have actually been true?
No.
It didn’t matter.
“You seem to like dogs, sunbaenim.”
I was planning to humor him and kill time until filming resumed.
But he tilted his head to the side.
Among humans, that gesture generally meant…
Confusion.
“Do I like them? I’m not sure. It’s easier not to raise one, anyway.”
Up until then, I thought he meant dogs were troublesome because they required a lot of care.
“I used to raise a dog every time I started over, but after a while… rumors spread that I was a serial pet abandoner.”
“……!”
“I would’ve suspected myself too, honestly. Apparently, every time I talked about a dog I’d owned before, the breed was different. Hmm, once they proved that wasn’t true, was it the schizophrenia rumors next…? Hahahaha, things completely went to hell that time!”
Cheongryeo laughed out loud.
A chill crawled down my spine.
“…They weren’t the same dog?”
“What? Haha, raising the exact same dog every single time would be a bit much.”
“……”
Cheongryeo stopped laughing.
“I tried it before, and it wasn’t very good. If things got tangled and I couldn’t bring the dog back with me, I’d end up worrying about it for no reason. It was uncomfortable.”
I was speechless.
The problem was that…
I could understand why this bastard had gone insane.
I responded as calmly as I could.
“…You shouldn’t have to start over anymore, so perhaps you could try raising a new one.”
Meaning, Give up on resetting.
“You’re awfully confident. Could it be… that this is your final mission? You calculated it the way I told you and that’s what you got?”
“……”
No response was the best response.
Unfortunately, this bastard interpreted silence as confirmation.
“Congratulations. But do you actually believe that?”
“……!”
“Haha, I’m joking. From my experience, it should be right. I don’t lie about things like this.”
Imagining smashing a Daesang trophy into that face was comforting.
“…Hmm. Then it really is… the end.”
In an instant, all expression vanished from his face, and he removed his hand from the puppy’s belly.
…Wait.
Surely he wasn’t about to start saying things like, Try it just one more time before everything ends, or, Once it’s over, you won’t get another chance, so now’s the time, and pull some insane stunt.
Better lay the groundwork first.
“If the VTIC sunbaenims simply maintain your current position, there shouldn’t be any group capable of competing with you. Isn’t the current state already the best possible one?”
“Well… it’s fine.”
Cheongryeo sounded uninterested.
Then he picked up a puppy by the scruff.
“I wouldn’t say I’m perfectly satisfied with everything, but… hmm, well… yes. I suppose that’s true. I’ll have to try adapting.”
“……!”
It was a roundabout declaration of surrender.
Finally, fuck.
I felt as though my lifespan had just shortened.
I almost wondered whether cold sweat was running down my forehead.
But Cheongryeo wasn’t finished.
Read only on MUGEX
“Still, hoobae, I don’t think you should let your guard down too much.”
Please.
I wanted to stop hearing bullshit.
At some point, without realizing it, I’d started petting the dog too.
The blank-faced, thoughtless ball of fur was surprisingly comforting.
Fortunately, Cheongryeo’s next words weren’t bullshit.
They were cold logic.
“In this line of work, ‘popularity’ is a finite resource. Which means that if another team earns that resource efficiently, some of mine leaks away. It’s always been like that. Especially if you restrict the market to Korea.”
“……”
Was he seriously making some analogy between VTIC and TeSTAR?
Instead, a name I hadn’t expected came out.
“The group that debuted under Traveler this year is doing pretty well. You should keep an eye on them.”
Traveler.
Goldie #1’s agency.
In other words, the bastard was advising me to watch out for Goldie #1’s group, who were a fairly promising rookie act.
…Why bother?
They weren’t even in a weight class worth keeping in check yet, and if we played it wrong, we might just hand them a convenient underdog narrative.
Besides, hadn’t they debuted after the period Cheongryeo knew?
Meaning Cheongryeo hadn’t seen their future.
Still, there was no reason to poke that bastard by asking why bother, so I simply nodded.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Don’t just say it. Hmm… from what I heard, their song is good. But the composer isn’t signed to their company.”
Cheongryeo smiled.
“It would be useful to buy off the composer.”
“……!”
“It’s easy and convenient. If their song is bad, that’s the end of it.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Sharp as ever. Fine. But don’t forget it.”
Why has this bastard suddenly gotten so talkative?
Maybe this pile of puppies had him undergoing some kind of animal therapy, because the words were just pouring out.
“We’re almost ready for the next scene~ Stand by in three minutes!”
Fortunately, voices announcing that filming would soon resume rang out everywhere.
People hurried around the set.
That’s the end of that.
The next cut was also the last one I had to film with this bastard.
I suppressed a sigh.
And immediately before filming started again, I heard a quiet voice.
There was a slight hesitation in his tone.
“…That problem you mentioned. Did it work out?”
“……”
I slowly opened my mouth.
“More or less.”
“I see. Well… if you change your mind, or if something else starts bothering you, contact me.”
“…Understood.”
Well.
It was less creepy than before.
“Woof! Whine!”
Filming ended smoothly.
Cheongryeo finished his part first and left because of another schedule.
I was given several brand-new tracksuits identical to the one now covered in dog fur and returned to the dorm with them.
Everyone must have been out for additional choreography practice, because only one person who had finished early was there.
Cha Eugene.
“I’m back.”
“Presents??”
“Yeah. Take one.”
“Wow!”
I watched Cha Eugene gleefully accept one of the tracksuits and was hit by an odd sense of déjà vu.
…Isn’t he more dog-like than I am?
I had actively embraced that nickname myself, but the world of nicknames was a mysterious thing.
A few days later, we had completely mastered the title track choreography.
“Whew, dance video done!”
“Ah, nice~”
Since we had even finished filming the choreography video somewhat early, we had a little time left over.
Every single one of us collapsed onto the wooden floor and enjoyed the break.
“Cha Eugene, you’re wearing that again?”
“It’s comfortable!”
“Ah, is it okay if the… lo, logo shows up in the choreography video…?”
“Ah, I asked, and they said it was fine. Don’t worry.”
“Wow, hyungnim, look at that speed~”
Cha Eugene had been wearing the tracksuit I’d brought home from the commercial shoot day and night.
At this rate, he’ll be the next one filming their commercial.
I snorted and turned on my smartphone.
Album preorders had started, and the cover designs had been revealed, so I planned to monitor the reaction.
“M-Moondae. Want an ice pack?”
“Sure. Thanks.”
The air conditioner was running, but we’d all been moving too much and it was still hot.
I used the ice pack Seon Ahyeon handed me as a neck pillow and scrolled.
Not bad.
The album covers had been divided into two concepts: black and white with an ink-wash painting theme, and full color with a traditional painting theme.
Both were receiving praise.
-Looks like it really is a traditional concept, I love it so muchㅠㅠ
-Hanbok holdout victory
-I’m going insane waiting for the photocards
At first, the company had said something insane like, “There are seven solo songs, so what if we do seven individual colors plus the group and make eight versions of the album?”
Stopping them had been exhausting.
Thank God they listened when I suggested putting in decorative album stickers and a few randomly selected ones from eight designs instead.
If all eight versions had gone through as proposed, the division head would have approved it without asking a single question.
Come to think of it, wasn’t the division head supposed to be getting kicked out soon?
I’d had to talk with company employees frequently lately, from the new album to producing the variety-show stage, so I’d heard plenty of rumors like that.
Apparently, the division head would be leaving soon.
Better push through everything I can while the approval bot is still here.
The future was uncertain.
I had to pull forward whatever benefits I could while I still had the chance.
While reviewing my plan for resolving the Status Abnormality, I absently changed my monitoring keywords.
“W-Want some water?”
“Uh… thanks.”
Seon Ahyeon handed me something again.
I accepted the water with a slightly complicated expression.
I appreciated it, but…
It was starting to make me feel like I was treating him as some bullied kid running errands for me, which made me feel guilty.
Maybe I should monitor him for a bit too.
Without thinking much of it, I tried searching Seon Ahyeon’s name on SNS.
A trending search automatically completed.
[Seon Ahyeon dating]
“……?”
“Moondae, Moondae, what are you do—?!”
Big Sejin, who had been butting in, froze when he saw the screen.
And I was a little flustered too.
Seon Ahyeon?
It was…
A dating rumor I hadn’t expected at all.