IJLMT 05

Chapter 5

Third Training Flight Group Instructor Waiting Room – 20 Minutes Until the Performance

The stylist dispatched by JM Entertainment was doing a final check on the members’ makeup.

“Lift your chin a bit.”

“Yes….”

Mina squinted slightly to avoid making eye contact with the stylist.

Scary!

The stylist seemed to be in a bad mood. Honestly, who could blame her? Coming along for a failing idol’s local event probably isn’t exactly thrilling. There’s nothing fun inside a military base anyway.

For smaller agencies, unknown idols sometimes have to do their own makeup. It’s because this is JM that someone is helping them. Feeling slightly guilty, Mina shrank back.

“All done. Looking pretty now, right? Check it.”

“Ye- yes… It looks great. Thank you.”

Is that so? Maybe this is just her usual expression… or am I overthinking?

Her heart was pounding. Even though this wasn’t her first morale-boosting performance, why was she so nervous? Maybe it’s because it wasn’t the first. Her first stage felt unreal, so she wasn’t as tense. What if a fan notices me? she had worried over trivial things.

“Ha-Young unnie, did you check your horoscope today?” Mina asked.

“Yes.”

“What score did you get?”

“Uh—”

Just as Ha-Young was about to answer,

“Don’t tell me!”

Nari, who had been loosening up her lips, interrupted.

“But today’s score was—”

“Don’t even say that! It just makes me more nervous!”

“…Okay.”

I wonder what she was going to say after ‘but today’s score was—’

The leader and main vocalist, Da-Bin, stood quietly with her eyes closed for a moment, then approached Mina and lightly tapped her shoulder.

“Don’t overthink it. Just do it like you normally would.”

“…Okay.”

Mina thought that Da-Bin could almost read her mind. She tried not to show it, but her heart felt like it weighed a ton.

Da-Bin had a beautiful voice, gorgeous looks, and an impressive presence. Mina had never seen anyone sing as well as Da-Bin.

As for the other members? Nari’s rap was intense. Her lyrics seemed to strike straight into your chest. Ha-Young exuded sexiness. Though shy and melancholic offstage, her voice commanded the audience’s attention on stage.

They were all talented and beautiful. So why wasn’t this group popular?

Am I holding them back?

How could she not think that? Mina had always been someone who worked hard, not necessarily someone naturally talented. No matter how much she tried, results were hard to come by, leaving only the effort visible.

I hope I’m not a hindrance to the others…

Twenty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. It was time for the performance.

“The new manager has disappeared? Did he bail again?”

“If he was going to bail, it would’ve been yesterday. Would he really run off after coming all the way to Sacheon? Probably just slacking off a bit.”

“Yeah… Let’s just focus on doing well.”

“….”

Mina swallowed hard. The men in dark green military uniforms were all watching the stage. She stood at the center and bowed slightly, and cheers erupted.

It’s not just because the soldiers are nice and cheering, right? They like it… That’s why they’re cheering.

Mina recalled the comment. Whether he was slacking off or not, that one remark gave her strength. Oh, and the knee pads too.

I have to do well, do well… she repeated to herself over and over.

But you know what?

“If you wish and work hard, anything is possible” — that’s a lie.

Usually, things you desperately wish for and work hard at don’t come true. That’s life.

Thud—Crack—

She didn’t even realize what had happened. During the choreography, Mina fell to the floor.

No, this will affect the others…

Damn it, I should’ve brought Mr. Yang along!

The moment Mina fell, I thought.

When I faced President Kim Seok-Gu, I had an epiphany. So that was Yangpa’s plan! That’s why, next to the president who urgently needed to use the restroom, I made the Nova Girls’ appeal as strong as possible.

But bringing Yangpa in from the car was tricky. If the president urgently needed to go, saying “Wait! I’ll quickly bring something from the car!” while carrying a glass jar would look strange. Even if he didn’t recognize the onion inside, he would recognize the jar. Is she going to use it here?

Yangpa had guided me this far; the rest was up to me. Was that arrogance? If Yangpa had been there, could Mina’s fall have been prevented? Was her knee okay?

While these thoughts whirled through my mind, Mina got up. It felt like ages passed, but in reality, she stood almost immediately.

She pushed against the floor with all her strength, wavered once, then continued the choreography. Her face still wore a bright smile.

I admired her. But that was just my opinion. How would President Kim Seok-Gu see this scene? The so-called perfectionist robot president, the economic machine? His famous speech came to mind:

• Civil servants are in service roles. We provide administrative services. Service must be flawless. Do you think service jobs are a joke? That mistakes can be brushed off with taxes or ignored by the public? How can you run a nation with that mindset?!

He must be extremely sensitive to mistakes… I wonder if he’ll think this is cute.

I pondered what to say and decided I had to speak up.

“Did you see how she got up with grit? Our Mina is dedicated to her work. She’s young, so she makes mistakes, but—”

“Mistakes? That wasn’t a mistake,” said Kim Seok-Gu.

“Huh?”

“Look there.”

He pointed to the center of the stage. Following his finger, I saw a sunken area. The old floorboards had cracked, causing the floor to cave in.

“Ah.”

“One manager, go check the maintenance status. No, just bring the person responsible. That this happened means no one has even glanced at maintenance in ages.”

“Is now… the right time? This could be documented later.”

“No. The longer this is delayed, the more room for problems. Bring them now!”

The young man with the president rushed out the back door. The president looked like he could eat someone alive, then turned away and relaxed his expression.

“By the way, what’s that girl’s name?”

“Mina, Yoon Mina. She’s the youngest but incredibly passionate.”

“Haha… Amazing. I know about the human body from judo, and when someone falls like that, it’s hard to get up. The floor gave way and her weight shifted completely—must’ve been a huge impact. Is it easier for idols because they’re light?”

He seemed genuinely interested in the stage now. I saw an opportunity.

“That’s part of it, but mostly it’s her training. All our members try their best, but Mina trains especially hard.”

“Training? You mean she dances a lot? Well, that’s intense exercise in itself.”

“Yes, she dances. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Mina wakes at 6 a.m., goes jogging at 6:30, runs 5 km, then starts weight training, followed by flexibility and agility exercises. After lunch and a short rest, she goes to practice choreography.”

It was all written in the members’ daily schedules.

“Very intense. Do all idols live like this?”

“Honestly, I’ve never met an idol living like Mina.”

Because it was my first time managing idols. I didn’t know about others. But no need to say that.

“So, because she has solid fundamentals, she could get up right away after a hard fall?”

“Yes, her basics are strong.”

“Basics… Right, basics. Strength and fundamentals matter in everything.”

For some reason, President Kim seemed impressed by the word basics.

From then on, he watched the performance with interest until the end. Not only that…

“Can we take a handshake?”

Just as I had hoped the members could take a photo with him, President Kim asked first.

“Of course! Thank you!”

The Nova Girls bowed to the soldiers. Mina was still smiling at that moment.

After the applause and cheers, they returned to the instructor waiting room. The moment the door closed, Mina’s face crumpled.

Don’t cry. What did I do to deserve crying? Only caused trouble…

Tears came anyway. Her eyes burned.

“Are you crying?”

Da-Bin asked. Mina couldn’t respond.

“….”

“Why cry? You didn’t do anything wrong. Everyone loved it.”

“…Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Are you hurt?”

“No…”

With the knee pads, she wasn’t hurt. But being uninjured didn’t change anything; her body was only physically safe.

“I’m… sorry. Everyone, I’m sorry…”

“No, you’re not.”

At that moment, the waiting room door opened. Team Leader Jo Min-Soo called out, flustered.

“Guys, hurry. Mina, now is not the time! Yu-Kyung, fix her makeup! President Kim wants a handshake.”

“Huh?”

The members were stunned.

“Who wants a handshake?”

Da-Bin asked.

“President Kim Seok-Gu!”

Not a mishearing.

On the drive back to Seoul, everyone except Jo Min-Soo remained silent. Jo was non-stop on the phone.

“Yes, the president! He suddenly came to the Third Training Flight Group! I don’t know why! Stop doubting me! Not the commander, not the chief of staff, not a former president, the current President Kim Seok-Gu! I’ll send the photos in five minutes, so stop talking and focus!”

From the informal tone, the other party seemed to be PR Chief Song Geon-Woo.

“Of course, prepare a press release. Don’t say VTS won or didn’t catch the president’s attention… If he’s seen the Nova Girls, that’s enough. Keep the title mild, don’t exaggerate! Just say ‘The president watched the performance till the end and shook hands with the members.’ Got it?”

After a long while, Jo finally hung up, gulping cold water.

“Yu-Hyun, what did you do?”

“Huh?”

“Do you have connections? Are your parents high-ranking officials?”

“They run a general store in the countryside.”

“…Really?”

Jo tilted his head in disbelief.

“So this is all coincidence? You insisted they go to the Third Training Flight Group, blocked the president’s car, and brought them here?”

“Pretty much. He just urgently needed to go.”

“Gosh… If this was planned, it’s crazy. Blocking the president to make him see an idol performance? That’s villainous.”

“Haha…”

“Sometimes things fail in strange ways, sometimes they succeed in strange ways. Yu-Hyun, do you have fate on your side?”

“I hope so.”

I thought of what the old man said:

• The fact that it rolled to you means your fate has it, and now is the time to receive it.

“But how did you keep the president until the end? I heard he hates schedule disruptions. Watching our performance wasn’t planned.”

“He seemed very impressed. Everyone did well.”

“Really? Hm…”

The president had no interest until Mina fell. That’s why he stayed until the end. But was that the only reason?

If someone has zero interest, even great music doesn’t stick. Yet President Kim started enjoying it after Mina’s fall, clapping with the soldiers and nodding to the rhythm, even offering a handshake. He genuinely became interested in Nova Girls.

“Thanks, oppa,” Mina said.

“If not for the knee pads, it could’ve been bad. She might’ve been seriously hurt… and bleeding during the performance. That would’ve looked awful. Thanks to them, the president noticed…”

“No, it’s all because of your effort.”

At that moment, Yangpa bloomed a huge pink flower.

I felt incredible. Thinking why, I realized it was the first time I’d ever felt like this. I had never been praised so much.

Back in AMD days, even if I worked nonstop, I was scolded. If a product sold well, it was because the celebrity was good. People rarely noticed the effort. That was normal but depressing. Now…

“Ha-Young, what was your horoscope score again?”

“99 points. Dance on a winged tiger’s back. The manager must be the tiger.”

Hearing this, everyone in the car laughed.

“Why dance there?”

Today being Sunday, there were no schedules. The news about the president visiting the Third Training Flight Group would appear Monday. With nothing to do, I checked the real estate app ‘No Fool’.

I’d been busy, but I’d won 1.5 billion won in the lottery. If you have money, you should spend it, right?

I’m tired of this moldy single room. I need a better place. But what counts as a ‘good’ house?

Buying was better than renting when you have money. But you need a smart house, not just any.

What the hell counts as a smart house? What kind of house is smart? I’m losing it…

“Mr. Yang, do you know anything about real estate?”

I looked at Yangpa, who didn’t react much.

…Has it grown? No, it’s grown a lot.

I picked up the glass jar. It had been spacious a few days ago, but now it felt tight. Left alone, it might break.

I need a container before I search for a house.

I opened the app. My phone vibrated.

“Mom.”

[Hey, Hyunjae. What’s this? Refrigerator, washing machine, TV… installers all coming tomorrow?]

“Oh, I always complained, right? Damn washing machine wouldn’t listen. Fridge is too small. I picked the models myself. All KG brand, all latest models.”

[Great! But… how did you get the money?]

“I got lucky. I’ll tell you later.”

[You should save money, not spend it before marriage… Fine, I’ll take it, thanks.]

I didn’t tell her about the lottery. Better to show the money in person.

[How’s work? Still hectic? You okay?]

“Oh, I got transferred.”

[Huh? Where?]

“It’s complicated… somehow I ended up managing idols.”

[What? Suddenly? Is that allowed?]

“It’s fine. Going well.”

[Which idols? Famous?]

“Still rookies… Nova Girls. They’ll get popular soon.”

[On TV now?]

“Huh? TV?”

[The news! Look… Yes, Kim Seok-Gu mentioned Nova Girls.]

What? On TV? I hurriedly turned it on. The background showed Nova Girls’ stage, with President Kim speaking.

• …Their manager explains: Mina has trained from 6 a.m., running, weight training, yoga, building a strong foundation. So even when the floor caved in, she got up and continued the choreography. Our economy is no different.

What? What is he saying? I blanked for a moment, then realized the manager he’s talking about is me.

• Our economy is shaken by external factors: Europe, the U.S… Experts explain it… But they’re wrong. Shocks happen, like a sunken stage floor. Why can’t our economy recover? Mina showed the answer: it’s lack of basic strength!

I was dumbfounded. The article is scheduled for tomorrow, yet President Kim is already using Mina to discuss the economy live, portraying her positively!

Live broadcast?!