IJLMT 24

Chapter 24

 No More Sighing at the Mirror!

Even though the car windows were closed, the sound of a song leaked in. It was coming from a nearby cellphone store.

“Is it okay to play music that loud?”

Even as I thought that, a smile spread across my face. The song was “Ugly Syndrome.” Nowadays, no matter what shop I walk into, I hear Nova Girls’ songs. Probably because many stores put the top 50 songs on repeat from the streaming charts.

Right now, in the real-time streaming charts, the top 10 included “Ugly Syndrome,” “Lens,” and “Even If There Are No Stars in the Night Sky Tonight.” Even outside the top 10, older tracks were slowly rising.

[Nova Girls – ‘Ugly Syndrome’ Official MV]

• Views: 17.3 million

• Likes: 1.65 million

“Five hours left. 3.7 million more to beat the Nobel Biz record.”

I checked my phone and thought about the members’ reactions. Not a single one was calm.

• Kyaang! Ugh! Click-click!

Nari made strange noises and couldn’t sit still.

• “Everyone got it, right? Don’t be happy just because we made it. Seventy percent of this is just luck. We can’t perform worse than yesterday. People have yesterday etched in their minds, so if we do worse, they’ll be disappointed.”

Dabin kept repeating it like brainwashing—almost like she was talking to herself.

Hayoung was buried under a blanket, and Mina was doing squats like crazy. From what I could tell, Mina dealt with anxiety through exercise.

Thinking about them made me laugh. Why do I feel so happy? I haven’t even become a star.

“Oppa, why are you laughing all by yourself?”

Yooju, sitting in the passenger seat, asked. I must have been chuckling out loud. I should have kept it to myself.

“Just… something funny came to mind.”
“You’re really happy Nova Girls succeeded?”
“Well… yeah?”
“Hmm…”

Yooju narrowed her eyes and looked at me. I told her to sit in the back, but she preferred the passenger seat.

“Why are you so happy? Because you’ll get more incentives? But the oppa I know doesn’t usually get excited over bonuses.”

Yooju was always sharp. Maybe because she’s a singer-songwriter? She could read people well.

“Isn’t it natural to be happy when the talent I manage succeeds?”
“Well… I think you empathize with Nova Girls more than anyone. I felt it before with Muto too.”
“Maybe.”

I thought for a moment and said:

“Hmm… yeah, I guess so.”
“Why? What makes you empathize with them? Their looks? Because they’re pretty?”

Yooju asked in a strangely pressing tone.

“Just… I guess I saw myself in them—working hard but unnoticed. Funny, right? They’re around twenty, their futures wide open no matter what happens. I’m entering my late twenties.”

And in fact, there was another factor I could relate to: they took responsibility for everything themselves.

It’s not that they’re too kind to blame others. If they blame others, they’d feel miserable and couldn’t bear it. If it’s their fault, they can fix it through effort; if it’s someone else’s fault, nothing they do matters.

To believe that something can change, you have to take responsibility. Endlessly.

“Oppa, I went through something like that too, you know? My dad’s business failed, I went from relative’s house to relative’s house, auditioned at agencies and got rejected, sang on the streets with my guitar and cried…”
“I know. I heard.”
“But why don’t you empathize with me?”
“Huh? I am.”
“Lie. Not like with Nova Girls. You weren’t moved when you met me after I got famous, right?”
“No, not at all.”
“Hmph!”

Yooju then turned her head sharply. She often exaggerated gestures jokingly, so I didn’t take it seriously.

“She’s sulking and the manager won’t fix it.”
“I’m not sulking.”
“Hmph…”

Yooju paused, then said:

“Even if I release a new song and hit number one on the charts, you wouldn’t be this happy, right? It’s not as dramatic as Nova Girls.”
“I’d still be happy.”
“Hmm… how can it be dramatic similarly? If I stayed in the top charts while acting incredibly well, even better than Lee Jooah, and won some award, would you be this happy?”
“Don’t pressure yourself. Take it easy.”

Even the future shown by the ring was ambiguous. It was hard to tell who came out on top, Yooju or Jooah.

Setting overly strict goals only adds psychological pressure. As a manager, you need to regulate your talent’s condition; you can’t just say, “We must win!”

But Yooju reacted like this to my words:

“This is it. There’s no other way.”
“Yooju?”
“I’ll try anyway, just wait and see if your reaction is weak then.”

There was determination on Yooju’s face.

Kigi Studio Inc.

“This is the revised script. After Yooju’s casting was confirmed, I adjusted the lines and actions to fit her. It should feel much more natural than before.”

Director Shin Dongjae said. From the moment we entered the building until now, he had been unusually deferential to me and Yooju.

I thought: Of course he’d be excited; a top star like Yooju is playing the lead. But strangely, he kept making eye contact with me while saying this.

“Manager Yoo Hyunjae… you’re the manager, right?”
“Yes, pleased to meet you.”
“Manager… just in name, I suppose?”
“Pardon?”
“Haha, it’s fine. We’ve been in this business long enough to know. Often appearances are very different from reality.”

I didn’t understand what he meant. I am a manager, whether inside or out.

Even the staff reacted strangely, whispering things like, “Is that really him?” Someone mouthed something—I think they said “power behind the throne.”

Probably Team Leader Jo Minsu called. What did he even say?

“Forget misunderstandings. Let’s just work.”

I sat at the conference table and took the script Shin Dongjae handed me. Immediately, a strange smell emanated from the onion bracelet. A scent I had never smelled before.

“What does this smell mean?”

It was really weird. Like chicken cooked in kimchi stew? Or pineapple blended into tonkatsu batter? Not exactly foul, but something was off…

Should I check the future with the ring? Focusing on Yooju, a pink flower bloomed on the ring.

• “It felt off somehow. Everything was good, but one corner of the puzzle seemed crooked. Was my acting lacking? Maybe that’s why I was only a nominee and didn’t win.”

As expected, the ring had limits. It doesn’t show the entire process to a future moment, only a specific scene. I had to find the cause.

“Pineapple tonkatsu… chicken kimchi stew… crookedness…”

The word that popped into my head: “disharmony.”

“Manager Yoo Hyunjae?”
“Yes?”
“Is there something wrong with the script? You seem displeased.”
“I think there is something odd.”
“Pardon?”

I flipped through the pages. The smell grew stronger. At a certain page, a greasy odor appeared.

“Here.”
“Uh…”

Shin Dongjae’s face stiffened.

“This seems unnatural.”

Honestly, I knew I was overstepping. I’m a manager with zero knowledge of storytelling pointing out a writer’s work. But why stay humble when the success of Yooju and Chalk and Window is at stake?

I pointed out a scene where the protagonist, Onyu, suffers from guilt. Shin Dongjae skimmed the page several times, then with a trance-like expression said:

“…Incredible. We debated this scene until yesterday, down to the last detail. Yet you caught it within five minutes of sitting down… I knew you were called an expert, but I didn’t expect this. Truly… you deserve the title.”

Expert? What expert? I watched Yooju. She was flipping through the pages, reviewing the content.

“Why did you conclude this way after all that debate?”

It felt awkward pretending to know more, but fixing this would make Yooju more successful.

“Actually… our original plan was different. She succeeds in revenge, drives one of her tormentors to death! The magnitude was overwhelming, so she trembled at first, then laughed maniacally. ‘Back then you controlled my everything, now I control yours!’”

I liked it. Immediately, the bracelet’s smell turned fragrant.

“Finally freeing herself from the anxiety of her safety and mood depending entirely on others… that’s the feeling I imagined.”
“Then why didn’t you go that way?”
“Honestly… it felt too over the top.”

Shin Dongjae scratched the back of his neck.

“I wondered if the audience would understand, and worried it might tarnish Yooju’s image. I overthought—maybe feeling slight guilt after someone dies is human enough…”

Yooju interrupted:

“No, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Her eyes widened.

“My image doesn’t matter. The film being fun comes first. If you worry the audience won’t understand, I’ll make them understand through my acting. Somehow.”

Shin Dongjae looked between Yooju and me.

“Yooju recently declined a role in Witch’s School, right?”
“At that time, I was out of it. Now it’s different.”
“Hmm… I see.”

He nodded slightly, staring at me.

“I was caught in pointless thoughts. Right. If worried about the audience, just figure out a way to make them understand. I was even questioning whether I should worry at all… but seeing both of you, it’s unnecessary. Good, we’ll proceed with the original plan.”

The bracelet’s smell turned completely fragrant.

I focused on Yooju with the ring.

The future had changed.

“Why the UN, all of a sudden?”

Even CEO Lee Jongmook couldn’t hide his surprise. He expected something big from Yoo Hyunjae, but suddenly the UN?

[Yes, I think they were deeply impressed by Ugly Syndrome.]

Team Leader Jo Minsu said over the internal line. Even Jongmook felt slightly baffled. A song? Sure, it was good. But would the UN contact us just because of a song?

“Hmm… okay. I’ll read the full email myself.”

He hung up, thinking: UN agencies have many branches and divisions; how good this is depends on the proposal. But basically, it was amazing. Jongmook opened the email.

It read:

[Hello, this is the UN Korea office. Following discussions at the UN New York headquarters, we would like to invite your talent, Nova Girls, to the World Happiness Day event on March 20.

In the 21st century, civilization has advanced, yet humanity has not reached true happiness. Wars and famine persist, and even in so-called developed nations, the number of suicides rises.

We aim to deliver hope to the world on World Happiness Day, and we believe the performance by Nova Girls aligns perfectly with this purpose.

Ugly Syndrome, about shedding the belief of being ugly and moving forward, and Even If There Are No Stars in the Night Sky Tonight, about believing there is a star after darkness, along with the members’ success stories, can inspire young people worldwide.

Previous events invited globally recognized figures, but this sometimes made people feel “happiness exists in another world.” We hope Nova Girls, now standing on the stepping stone of success, can connect more closely with the public.

Additionally, we request a short speech from Ms. Dabin at the event.]

“Ha… haha…”

In short: they want to send a message that everyone can be happy. Bringing in too high-profile people made attendees feel disconnected. But you can’t invite unknown people either, so they noticed Nova Girls…

Jongmook stood up immediately after reading the email. Excitement was uncontrollable.

Many artists want to participate in global campaigns—it’s a chance to step onto the world stage! Even appearing briefly in a Unison Peace public service ad raises recognition, but giving a speech at the UN New York headquarters?

“That’s why we refused the Seolhwa CF, right?”

Recently, China coldly rejected cooperation requests for global climate measures. If Nova Girls had aimed at the Chinese fandom, UN invitation might’ve been impossible.

“But how could we have predicted the UN would respond this way… forget it. This is huge. Absolutely huge.”

In Jongmook’s mind, he saw Nova Girls surpassing Valhalla’s Nobel Biz. Not just Nobel Biz—what else could they conquer?

“Yoo Hyunjae, this doesn’t look like a mere section chief level, right?”