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Chapter – 11
Rival
Bright lights flooded the studio set.
“Hello, viewers. I’m Yoo Hyunseok, MC of Tomorrow’s Best.”
“And I’m Bae Jina.”
As soon as the camera’s red light turned on, the MCs greeted the audience as if they had been waiting for it.
Yoo Hyunseok, MC of Tomorrow’s Best.
Originally a comedian, he was now so popular that people called him the nation’s MC.
And beside him,
Bae Jina, serving as the assistant MC.
But no one here—
Not a single person—
Knew the relationship between Jung Songi and Bae Jina.
The only one worried about being exposed
Was probably Bae Jina herself, calmly continuing the broadcast with a perfect poker face.
“Now then, today’s guest is one of the hottest people around lately! Please welcome genius young singer, Jung Songi!”
At Yoo Hyunseok’s cheerful introduction, the audience erupted into applause and cheers.
Sitting there confidently without even being accompanied by her guardian—
Was my daughter.
At first, the PD had suggested that I appear together with her.
They had even said I could wear the goblin mask on stage just like before.
But I firmly refused.
Outside the studio—
Even just watching from behind the cameras made me feel suffocated.
Soon, Songi grabbed the microphone with her small hands.
“Hello, Songi.”
Then Bae Jina greeted her with a graceful smile.
Inside, she was probably burning alive.
“Hello!”
But Songi responded boldly.
Without even the slightest hesitation.
“Don’t you get nervous while singing? I listened to your song before, and it was truly amazing.”
Bae Jina naturally continued the interview.
Simply reading from the script.
Songi didn’t avoid her gaze at all.
“At first I was nervous. But when I stand on stage, it becomes fun, so I stop feeling nervous. When I hear Dad’s piano, it just feels like I’m singing at home.”
The audience let out sounds of admiration.
Everyone looked completely charmed by her.
Like they were thinking how wonderful it would be to have a daughter like that.
“Songi, you’re really mature. When I was twenty, I used to tremble from stage fright.”
Laughter spread through the studio.
As expected from a comedian-turned-MC, Yoo Hyunseok was skilled at instantly lifting the atmosphere.
“Weren’t you scared of suddenly becoming so famous?”
Soon, Yoo Hyunseok asked a more serious question.
“As long as I’m with Dad, everything becomes okay.”
“Haha, but today your father says he’s scared, so he’s standing all the way over there.”
The audience burst into laughter once more.
The camera briefly caught my embarrassed expression from where I stood.
“Your dad must be an MBTI I-type, right?”
“Our dad gets shy really easily!”
Songi skillfully responded to the MCs without losing confidence.
Meanwhile…
Bae Jina’s smile gradually began twisting.
It looked forced.
No matter what, she couldn’t possibly feel comfortable in this atmosphere.
Even if she tried to endure it, it must have felt unbearably suffocating.
“Well then, we can’t leave without hearing Jung Songi sing, can we?”
Yoo Hyunseok once again guided the atmosphere.
It was time for the highlight of the day—
Songi’s song.
“Father, you’re coming up on stage while Songi sings, right?”
After receiving the prepared goblin mask, I slowly stepped onto the stage.
We had already prepared the MR through producing, but the writer earnestly requested that I personally play the piano.
Soon, Songi stood at the center of the stage and grabbed the microphone.
Why did I feel even more nervous than usual?
‘…I can’t make a mistake.’
Maybe deep down,
I had been waiting for this moment.
For my daughter, Jung Songi—
To show that after leaving your side, she was able to receive this much love and attention.
Soon—
The piano melody began filling the studio.
The audience held their breath in silence,
And Songi’s delicate voice rang out.
Everyone focused solely on this stage.
On the child’s voice and the desperate melody.
The performance flowed like a shiver through the body and quickly reached its climax.
Then, together with silence,
The lingering final piano note wrapped around the studio.
When the music ended—
Thunderous applause exploded from the audience.
Every single person rose to their feet.
And when I turned around—
I saw MC Yoo Hyunseok clapping enthusiastically.
But beside him—
Bae Jina neither forced herself to smile nor applauded as usual.
She simply wore an unreadable expression.
As if no one could tell what she was thinking.
「Tomorrow’s Best Community」
└ Went to today’s recording lol. Taking questions.
└ Is it true Jung Songi appeared as a guest?
└ Yep lol. Apparently it’ll air within 2–3 weeks.
└ How was hearing her sing live?
└ Freaking insane.
└ Ahh I want to hear Jung Songi sing live at least once too ㅠㅠ
Occasionally, recording 후기 posts appeared on the community boards.
I had only visited the community to check reactions about Songi,
But while absentmindedly scrolling, I discovered a completely unexpected post.
└ But doesn’t Jung Songi kinda look a lot like Bae Jina?
└ Huh? LOL
└ Thought she was her daughter.
└ Come to think of it, didn’t Bae Jina get divorced?
└ Yeah, but she wasn’t super famous yet so there weren’t many articles.
└ What was the reason for the divorce?
└ I think they said personality differences.
└ They always say “personality differences” lmao. Did they say she had a kid?
└ Didn’t they say she didn’t?
It was only a passing suspicion.
“…”
Songi’s delicate facial features resembled her mother a lot.
But didn’t people usually say the eldest daughter resembles the father more?
I was so convinced she was my exact mini-me that I simply scrolled past without thinking much about it.
└ Didn’t they say Jung Songi belongs to a one-man agency?
└ Yeah, apparently her dad is the CEO and manager.
└ Heard he writes and composes songs too.
└ But I saw an article saying that song was plagiarized?
Once someone becomes famous, all kinds of suspicions naturally follow.
It seemed I wasn’t exempt from that either.
└ Is it really plagiarism? That’d be hilarious lol.
└ No wayㅋㅋㅋ A dad gifting his daughter a plagiarized song?
└ Honestly… he said he just started composing, so it felt suspicious when he blew up instantly.
└ Then what happens to Songi? Is she screwed?
People who saw the article flooded the YouTube channel and started leaving hateful comments.
Like hyenas gathering around rotten meat.
‘This is ridiculous.’
“Hey, ignore it. It’s just losers with too much free time acting crazy.”
“…Yeah. I guess we’ll just have to watch for now.”
I immersed myself in working on a new song while trying hard to remain calm.
“Huh? Frenzy must be releasing a new song soon.”
But then…
A promotional video from Mago Entertainment appeared in the YouTube algorithm.
It was news that the girl group Frenzy was releasing a new song.
“Looks like they spent a huge amount of money buying a song.”
Even though Hyung Seongho had left Mago Entertainment, he still had close contacts inside, so he frequently heard news about them.
“What the hell, more articles keep popping up….”
I thought we had all gone our separate ways.
That it had nothing to do with me anymore.
But…
Articles continuing to accuse Songi’s music of plagiarism kept appearing.
Hyung Seongho repeatedly checked the articles before tilting his head.
“This is weird….”
“What is?”
“The reporter names feel familiar somehow.”
Reporter names?
There were three… no, four articles.
“Do comments usually appear this fast when an article comes out?”
“…Not really. It’s not even that famous of a media company.”
At that point, even I started feeling suspicious.
“Hyung, what did you mean earlier when you said the reporter names were familiar?”
“Ah, that…?”
Hyung Seongho glanced around cautiously.
“You know the kind of stuff CEO Choi Mago used to do back at Mago Entertainment.”
CEO Choi Mago was a cunning person.
If it served his goals, he would subtly destroy someone else’s image without hesitation.
I already knew.
Quietly bribing reporters he knew or hiring comment manipulators to shape public opinion—
That was his secret business method.
“I happened to learn their names once. I saw the reporters’ business cards on Choi Mago’s desk.”
“…Are you sure all the names match?”
“Yeah. Exactly four.”
To think he was really doing something like that.
“They timed the articles perfectly with Frenzy’s comeback. Since Songi’s rankings weren’t dropping as expected, they’re probably worried it’ll affect the new release.”
If it was Choi Mago, he was absolutely the kind of bastard who would do that.
“Hey, but even if you fight back, it won’t help. That bastard Choi Mago will only retaliate harder.”
“…Do we really need to openly retaliate?”
“Huh?”
All the comments under the plagiarism articles were from paid commenters.
They even invaded YouTube trying to stir trouble,
But there were far more fans defending Songi and arguing back.
“As long as there’s no clear proof of plagiarism, this’ll eventually die down too.”
“That’s true.”
Still, I couldn’t just sit still and watch.
I needed a more certain way to strike back at Choi Mago.
“Hyung, by any chance… have you ever thought about making a girl group?”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Don’t tell me you’re planning to raise Songi as a girl group idol?”
I shook my head.
“No. How long would it take to raise Songi into Frenzy’s rival?”
“…Then what? How are you suddenly going to create a girl group out of nowhere?”
I understood Hyung Seongho’s concerns.
From auditions to selecting trainees, training them, and finally debuting—
It was a long journey.
Even if we somehow started creating a rival to Frenzy right now,
It would still take at least a year at minimum.
“No, we don’t need to create a brand-new girl group ourselves.”
“…What are you talking about? What’s your plan?”
I grinned.
“Madrien.”
“…Huh? Don’t tell me you mean that flop idol group?”
Madrien was a seven-year-old girl group often labeled as “failed idols.”
But they possessed outstanding vocal ability and versatile talent.
And they were a group I had been watching for a long time.
If they had met a better agency, they surely would have soared.
“They actually have pretty good personalities.”
“…They’re not bad. But how are you planning to raise that flop group with this tiny agency?”
“Their contract renewal period is coming up soon anyway. Only about six months left, right?”
“…What exactly are you scheming?”
I could compose songs.
Inside my head still overflowed countless hit songs.
“Let’s make a song for Madrien.
We’ll give them the song.”
