Chapter 181:

Chapter 181:

‘Sigh...’

Maybe it was because it was midwinter. As I got out of the car without wearing a chicken costume, white breaths came out of my mouth.

Before entering the lobby of the headquarters, I took a deep breath and felt the cold air with the smell of winter seeping into my lungs.

The floss sign on the front of the building that said [Have a warm and happy year-end with the WePlanet Family!] was very contradictory.Diiscover new stories at novelhall.com

‘Who’s causing all this trouble right now?’

I calmly adjusted my breathing and approached the info desk.

“Hello, can I see Mr. Park, the executive director of the planning department, for a moment?”

I didn’t make an appointment, so the chances were slim.

If I couldn’t meet the top boss, then the next one, and if not the next one, then the next one in line. I was determined to meet someone who was relatively high up and had time.

“Oh, hello! Did you make an appointment?”

“No, I just wanted to ask if you could see me right now.”

“Okay, I’ll check for you.”

The info desk staff picked up the intercom and dialed somewhere.

After the dial rang about five times, someone answered the phone.

“Hello, Mr. Park. This is the info desk. Mr. Cheon Ise is here to see you. Is it a good time for you? Oh, okay. I’ll guide him right away.”

The staff listened for a while with the receiver in his hand, then nodded and hung up.

“You can go up to the planning department office right now. Do you need me to tell you which floor it is?”

“No, I’m fine.”

I had already checked it out when I was in and out of the building because of the label separation issue.

“Okay, then let me know if you need any other help.”

“Thank you.”

I nodded lightly and headed to the office. Mr. Park, the executive director, was sitting on the sofa in the reception room with a rather calm expression.

“Hello, director.”

But he was only pretending to be calm. His fingertips were restless and fidgeting.

“Oh, Ise. Long time no see. How have you been?”

Long time no see? We greeted each other last week because of work. I smiled a sales smile and answered.

“I’m doing well, thanks to your concern.”

What he did was more like a curse than a concern.

There was a tense electricity between me and Mr. Park.

I braced myself to play the role of ‘the annoying lord who says everything with a smile and doesn’t reveal his true intentions’.

“I see. You must be busy with the label work these days. What brings you here?”

In other words, he meant to hurry up and get out of here.

“Well, I just received a sudden notice of broadcast suspension from the program that our group is appearing on.”

“Oh, that one where the boy idol groups compete?”

The director acted as if he didn’t know, with his lips dry.

He must have been having a headache over this until now. How could he say that without changing his face? I cursed the director inwardly and opened my mouth.

My head throbbed with pain. I had a vague idea that the entertainment industry was a structure where people who knew each other took care of everything.

But I didn’t expect it to be so close to me. The love, passion, and support that people sent to Floss were sincere.

Was the unprecedented success story that Floss achieved in K-POP history all real?

Once I started to doubt, there was no end.

After witnessing the shooting, I felt ridiculous that I had admired how they could stage the performance to take away the audience’s souls.

“Mr. Ise, do you understand what I mean?”

I didn’t want to understand. But even if I didn’t understand, I had to pretend that I did.

“I understand...”

Boys Be Ambitious was a stage where the winner was already decided, no matter how hard we worked and how good we did.

I felt betrayed. I felt like the ground beneath my feet had collapsed.

***

“Haah...”

As soon as I finished the conversation in the office and got back in the car, I felt drained. Floss had traded two things for their appearance on Boys Be Ambitious.

The grand prize at the year-end music finale, and the guarantee of the final first place in the competition.

I wondered if that was enough bait to lure out a group that had more losses than gains. I also felt sorry that they had made such a deal when they could have done it on their own.

‘But what they feel and what others see are different.’

They had sacrificed the rest of their group’s fate for the illusion of a two-time win. I couldn’t believe such a disgrace.

I had a lot of questions about the pre-contract within Floss, but they didn’t tell me anything about it, maybe thinking it was their privilege.

‘I guess I’ll have to rely on the system to find out.’

They were both sensitive about it, so I didn’t think they would tell me anything.

I had to know what was behind it to think about what to do next.

For now, I left it at that, implying that both Hwijin and Naru could come to our label if they had nowhere else to go.

What the hell was Kang Yu-geon doing, not showing his face yet? I thought I’d have to replay the service several times today.

‘System.’

As I sat up straight on the driver’s seat and called the system, a translucent window popped up in front of me.

[Do you want to purchase the replay service?]

[Yes/No]

As I was about to press the [Yes] button without hesitation, a new window suddenly covered the screen.

“......?”

I read the words on the new window with curiosity.

[>Do you want to start the special event ‘Your Pick My Idol’?]

[Achievement Rewards]

[Relationship> Hwijin Lee, Naru Shim acquired]

[Special Items> ‘Listen When People Talk’, ‘What People Want to Believe’ acquired]

What kind of quest was this, giving me two special items?

I was doubtful. I was careful not to touch the [Yes] button, and I read the quest window down.