Chapter 109: Comeback Stage (3)

Chapter 109: Comeback Stage (3)

"Miss Eun-Bin, what about Ms. Lee's hospital treatment costs?"

Just when Park Eun-Bin thought it was all over, her face twisted again in frustration. She definitely would have hurled more than just insults if the PD weren’t here.

"Fine, I'll pay! I said I'll pay!"

Ju Han-Soo looked at Ma Dong-Pal again and said, "Mr. Ma, make sure you take care of the hospital bills accordingly. If I find out that it’s not settled, I'll make sure this whole incident is known to all.”

"Alright, alright," said Ma Dong-Pal hesitantly as he looked my way and said, "Assistant Manager Jung, leave your number with me. I'll transfer the hospital and cosmetic surgery costs to remove any scars right away."

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

Having gotten everything I needed, there was no reason for me to stay any longer.

“Mr. Ju, may we leave now? Ms. Lee should probably visit a hospital right away..."

"Ah, yes. Let's head out together."

Emerging victorious from this ludicrous battle, we left the room where Petite More and Ma Dong-Pal were cowering. Ju Han-Soo again instructed the staff to keep quiet about the incident. Once the commotion died down, the staff ran around and resumed their hectic schedules for the broadcast.

As we walked back to our waiting room, Ju Han-Soo casually struck up a conversation.

"Your name is Jung Yoon-Ho, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"You seem quite competent for someone at your level. How many years have you been working?"

"I’m just in my second year."

"Second year of holding a position as an assistant manager?"

"No, sir. It's my second year working in this industry. To be more precise, it’s been a full year and a month."

Ju Han-Soo stopped in his tracks. "Are you serious?"

He scanned me from head to toe with an incredulous expression on his face.

"And you went head-to-head with the infamous Ma Dong-Pal? You're quite the character."

Ju Han-Soo grinned and asked for my business card. "Have you got a business card?"

"Yes, sir. I have one right here."

I pulled out one of the flashy and high-quality business cards gifted to me by Kang Gam-Chan.

"Wow, what a fancy card you’ve got. It looks expensive. Oh, by the way—Cherry Blossom's new song is quite a hit. The higher-ups have high expectations, so make sure they nail the performance on stage. We'll give you all the support you need."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Ju."

After exchanging greetings with Cherry Blossom, Ju Han-Soo finally headed back to the control room.

When we returned to the waiting room, Han Myung-Ho, who stepped out for a while to take a call from the entertainment department director of MBS, was waiting for us.

Upon seeing the bandage wrapped around Lee Ju-Yung's hand, he asked what had happened while he was gone.

"That happened? I swear, I'll give them a piece of my mind!"

Han Myung-Ho was about to storm off to confront Petite More.

But Lee Ju-Yung smiled and said, "Mr. Han, Assistant Manager Jung already took care of it. There’s no need to go."

After getting her injury treated, Lee Ju-Yung enjoyed the rare victory over Petite More and said it was the most exhilarating experience in her career as a talent agent.

"I-is that so? Well, let's head to the hospital first."

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Han Myung-Ho entrusted the situation to me and took Lee Ju-Yung to the hospital.

Once they left, Woo Yeon-Hee gathered the Cherry Blossom members together and said, "Guys, let's really give it our all today. Got it?"

The remaining three members made determined faces upon hearing their leader’s exclamation. All the members showed a competitive spirit I hadn't seen before, likely fueled by the recent altercation with Petite More.

"Shall we cheer?"

Woo Yeon-Hee's hand was met by the others stacked on top of each other.

At that moment, Woo Yeon-Hee called me over. "Oppa, you have to join us."

"Me too?"

"Of course. You're one of our members!"

“That’s right!”

With Sae-Ri's agreement, I also called over Park Yi-Yoon and Lee Eun-Hyang who had just been assigned to the team as of today.

"But can we please change the slogan for the cheer?"

‘Please let us bloom’ or ‘Cherry Blossom blooms in April’ had been the cheer slogans until now. But every time I heard them, the first one sounded too pitiful and the second made me worry if they would be successful in April only.

That’s when Sae-Ri suggested a new cheer slogan on the spot.

"Then how about 'Forever! Cherry Blossom!'? What do you think?"

"Forever?"

"Forever!"

"Okay, that sounds good."

At that moment, Choi In-Seok suddenly approached us while fiddling with his intercom.

“Excuse me. Mr. Jung, could you come here for a moment?”

“Yes, sir.”

Choi In-Seok looked around the surroundings to make sure no one was listening and then whispered, “Congratulations. Please get Cherry Blossom ready for the final ranking stage.”

“Final ranking stage? Really?”

“Yes. Only the on-site voting is left now. I wish you the best of luck for good results.”

Choi In-Seok winked at me and disappeared.

‘Only the top three would make it to the final ranking stage.’

I hurried back to Cherry Blossom.

“Oppa, what did Mr. Choi say?”

“Let's go back to the dressing room first. I'll tell you there.”

I couldn't openly discuss what Choi In-Seok told me since other singers were still around. When we returned to the dressing room, Han Myung-Ho and Lee Ju-Yung, who had bandages wrapped on her hand, had returned.

“Mr. Han! We got to the final ranking stage!”

Han Myung-Ho stood up abruptly. “R-really?”

Cherry Blossom’s eyes also widened out of surprise. After all, they had always been part of the backdrop and congratulated the sunbae groups on making it to the final ranking stage.

“Does that mean we're in the top three spots for the music show as well?”

“Yayyy~~!!”

“Is this for real?”

The Cherry Blossom members were so excited that they couldn’t help but jump around.

“Calm down, everyone. We need to fix your makeup first!”

Cherry Blossom came to their senses at Lee Ju-Yung's call.

“Oh, right.”

“Miss Eun-Hyang! Miss Yi-Yoon! Please check the girls' makeup and costumes quickly.”

The girls finally settled down for makeup touch-ups following Han Myung-Ho's order. Shortly after, the door opened with a click and a staff member appeared.

“Cherry Blossom, please get ready.”

As we headed to the stage, Petite More who had just finished their last performance was coming down the stage with their backup dancers.

While the other performers returned to the stage, Choi In-Seok directed Cherry Blossom where to stand on stage.

"Please stand by Petite More over there. Cameras 2 and 3 will be taking a wide-angle shot, so try to keep your gaze focused on both cameras."

Then Han Myung-Ho instructed Cherry Blossom as they were about to ascend the stage.

"You guys remember what we always told you, right?"

"Yes! Be confident yet humble!"

Seeing the girls’ bright faces, Han Myung-Ho and Lee Ju-Yung gestured for them to quickly go up the stage.

Cherry Blossom held hands with each other tightly and leaped onto the stage. As they made their way through the path cleared by other idols to the front row of the stage, Han Myung-Ho clasped his chest as if moved to tears.

"Ah, we were just running around local festivals until the end of last year. Seeing them standing at the front of the final ranking stage makes me want to cry."

Lee Ju-Yung was also pacing nervously. "Mr. Han, what if our kids actually take first place?"

"I-I don’t know. What do we do then?"

Both of them seemed even more excited than the Cherry Blossom members themselves.

But I was no different —seeing Sae-Ri's innocent face on stage made my palms sweat out of anxiety.

Thud, thud.

The heavy bass that I initially thought was from the percussion turned out to be the sound of my own heartbeat.

Soon, the MC’s voice announced, "It's time for the first place announcement on Show! Music Center. First, we'll reveal the scores for the digital music sales."

As the drum roll started, the scores were announced.

GOD.6 scored 2,525 points, Petite More had 5,004 points, and Cherry Blossom scored 4,563 points. This came down to a close battle between Petite More and Cherry Blossom.

Following the total scores before the last audience vote count, Cherry Blossom was miraculously in the lead by just 6 points with 6,112 points while Petite More had 6,106 points.

"C-could we really take first place?"

"I-I don’t know."

"Ah... I've been on blood pressure medication lately. Call 119 immediately if I faint, okay?"

"I don’t know if I can. I might pass out too, so tell Assistant Manager Jung to call 119."

Han Myung-Ho and Lee Ju-Yung were nearly fainting at this point.

At that moment, MC Kim Se-Young started to announce the final vote tally.

"Live on Show! Music Center. Petite More's live vote score is 1,013 points, totaling 7,119 points. And for Cherry Blossom...."