Chapter 124:

Chapter 124:

To negotiate properly with the company, I needed one thing first: confidence.

The belief that Chairman Cheon would support me, beyond Vice-Chairman An.

WePlanet was moving based on Chairman Cheon’s backing, so it was hard to try anything without his approval.

‘I’ve never met Chairman Cheon face to face before.’

He had asked me to visit his house once recently.

He wasn’t someone I had a good impression of before I died, but as Cheon Ise, he was still family.

Even though he had treated Cheon Ise like a failure and kicked him out...

The fact that he contacted me again meant that he was interested in the results I had achieved for the first time.

Cheon Ise had messed up too many things for him to invest more, but...

‘Considering our last phone call, it shouldn’t be too hard to talk to him.’

It was true that I was still lacking in popularity, but I had successfully finished my last activity and risen to the level of a 2.5-tier group in Mangdol.

‘Of course, the fandoms of huge groups like Floss still treat us like Mangdol.’

But we had hit the real-time first place. And our TOP 200 ranking wasn’t bad either.

Now, we just had to promote Boys Be Ambitious and make our faces known, and expand our activities to acting, musicals, or whatever, for each member, while preparing for our next regular album.

‘Once I finish this...’

My strongest point was cooking, so I had a desire to join one of the many cooking shows that were popping up.

To widen my range to personal activities, I needed more support than I had now.

It wasn’t just about money, but the current WePlanet staff couldn’t handle even one Floss activity period, so we had to gather people from this team and that team.

I needed a team of at least six or seven people who could support Climax exclusively.

Even if I used the savings that Cheon Ise had, for the personnel expenses...

If I wanted to separate the operation into a single team and proceed, I had to consult with the company.

‘I guess I have no choice but to meet Chairman Cheon.’

As soon as the day broke tomorrow, I decided to call him and set up a specific schedule, and returned to my accommodation for now.

“Hyung, you’re here~. Did you have fun today?”

Seong-won opened the door and ran to Aeongi with a bright smile on his face.

I couldn’t get used to it no matter how many times I saw it.

He looked like he was about to hug Aeongi right away, but he stopped and sniffed his hand, then went to the bathroom to wash it.

Aeongi wrapped his tail around Seong-won’s leg and purred.

“Ugh, what is this? You’re so clingy, huh? Don’t be greedy with your eyes and go to your room.”

Yi-jun saw that and made a gesture of vomiting, then naturally picked up Pposili and went to his room.

“...?”

I felt a strange feeling as I watched them. Pposili ’s user...? No, his guardian was me.

“Don’t put Pposili on my bed.”

Kyunghwa also hurriedly went into his room, leaving me and Seon-woo alone.

“Go in and wash up quickly.”

“Okay!”

For now, I had to prepare for the legendary cover stage next week. I stretched and went to my room to start getting ready.

The next afternoon, a small team of three production staff visited our accommodation.

The other groups had split their filming days and were shooting two groups per day.

‘Doesn’t that mean we have more time to polish our performance if we do it later? Isn’t that an advantage?’

I felt a bit unfair, but that’s why we were the first ones to go... Sadly, I had to accept it.

To sum up the filming results, I succeeded in pushing for the song I suggested.

The main keywords were ski resort, snow, summer, and sea.

It was a dreamlike concept of two contrasting seasons mixed together. Blue waves rolling over the snow-white sand, snow falling under the dazzling summer sun. A world of imagination that no one had ever seen before. A place where summer and winter, snow and sea coexisted.

As I entered the garage, I saw a collection of supercars that was hard to afford with ordinary wealth. I wondered whose hobby it was.

‘If I grew up seeing these, I would naturally choose a car like this too.’

From classic cars to sports cars. They seemed to have collected everything that was expensive and shiny, even things that couldn’t be driven on the road.

As I passed by the dazzling collection and went further inside, I saw the entrance to the basement floor.

A personal house parking lot that was two stories underground. I felt a slight disgust at the wealth of the Cheon Soo Group and wanted to go back to my place as soon as possible.

‘Is it because I grew up with nothing since I was young?’

Or was it because I felt more alienated from this environment, as if I wasn’t really Cheon Ise. I couldn’t clearly distinguish the unpleasant feeling and went down to the second basement floor. That’s when I saw an empty spot.

‘He told me to come by seven... I still have some time.’

I finished parking and checked the time. It was 6:45.

It was a bit late for someone who ate dinner at six, but it was a good time for office workers to leave work and gather at home.

From what I knew, Cheon Ise’s family members were mostly the type that Cheon Ise had a hard time getting along with.

That was understandable, since his sister Cheon Jisu, who was the president and the chairman’s right-hand man, was already forty-two.

His brother Cheon Osu, who was known as the youngest executive among Koreans in the electronics division, was thirty-six.

They were the only two children born between their parents who had passed away, and Cheon Ise was the child of An Jung-hee, the vice-chairman, who remarried later.

‘My family was not a pushover either, but this side was like the half-siblings you see in chaebol dramas.’

He was a latecomer born after his father remarried after his mother’s death, and he was a brat with a twenty-year age gap.

I wouldn’t have liked him either. He made a fuss about becoming a celebrity, but he didn’t even have good results. He ended up making such an extreme choice that he became twisted.

His sister and brother were each in charge of one seat and were producing results as the parents’ right and left arms, but he was treated as a loser who was neither here nor there.

The more the vice-chairman protected him, the more miserable he must have felt about his situation.

‘Why am I talking like I’m talking about someone else? This is the situation I have to deal with now.’

It would have been easier if I had a one-on-one meeting with the chairman – I could try to talk my way out of it – whether it would work or not was another matter – but it was more awkward when the half-siblings joined the meal.

Did Cheon Ise get along well with his sister or brother? I doubted it.

Would he have made such an extreme choice if that was the case?

I checked the time once more in the car and then called the system.

‘System.’

[Do you want to purchase the replay service?]

[Yes/No]

Of course yes. I tapped the screen with my fingertip.

Then, in an instant, the surroundings turned gray and the space changed.

“What’s with him wanting to be an idol? Can’t he see how hard his father works? Does he have no sense?”

A man who looked like he was in his late twenties was complaining and mocking someone.

“Don’t be like that. Even if he looks pathetic, wouldn’t it be better if he did that? If he starts making a fuss about the management rights without knowing anything, it would be more trouble.”

From the conversation, I guessed that the woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties was his sister Cheon Jisu, and the man was his brother Cheon Osu.

“If he wants to do something, he should do dance or classical, or something else or exercise. What’s so great about being an idol? He’s not even an actor, he’s an idol.”

I don’t know what he thinks about idols, but... anyway, listening to them made me angry.

“All he has to do is not covet the management rights. Don’t try to stop him for no reason, just pretend to support him. He’s so clueless that he’ll think you’re doing it for his sake if you tell him to cheer up.”

“How did he end up being my brother when half of his blood is mixed like that?”

“Stop saying that. How disgusting. How can he be my brother? You have to be at a certain level to accept someone as family.”

Tsk, with a light click of the tongue, the surroundings brightened again.

[Replay service – 16 years old, February 18th, end]

I expected it, but...

‘I really walked into the tiger’s den.’

How am I going to get out of this? The more I’m in a pinch, the more my brain secretes a hormone of mental victory. I didn’t mind the cold feeling in my stomach.