Chapter 9 - My Gaze Was Stolen
“Na-eun unnie misunderstood the relationship between us!”
Laura made an angry expression in front of Baek Hyeon-woo.
It seemed Seo Na-eun, who had seen him escorting her to the dorm late last night, had gotten a strange misunderstanding.
“Is that my fault?”
“It's not your fault, Hyeon-woo oppa, but I just felt like shifting the blame. Because it's so unfair.”
“Good grief.”
If anyone was in an unfair situation, it was Baek Hyeon-woo.
“Isn't it just a matter of explaining well so there are no misunderstandings?”
“When I explained, she said she understood... but she seemed to keep doubting me.”
“Then you should have explained in more detail.”
“She said she understood and went into her room, so how am I supposed to keep holding onto her? It's not like we're that close.”
“……”
Laura respected Seo Na-eun, but at the same time, she found her very difficult to be around.
“The Newstarz members seem awkward with each other. Are girl group members normally like this?”
“Of course not. It's just us.”
Laura sighed at Baek Hyeon-woo's question.
“We're not people who have been together since our trainee days.”
“I know that.”
Newstarz is a group made by gathering trainees who were affiliated with other agencies.
Even at large agencies, they don't churn out girl groups frequently, so trainees who couldn't make it into the debut lineup have to wait for years until the next turn comes.
There are many trainees who can't endure that and terminate their contracts, and Haram Entertainment brought in people who seemed to have potential from among those trainees to create Newstarz.
“It's not like we've gone through thick and thin together since our trainee days... More like a business relationship? That's the feeling.”
“A business relationship...”
“Still, the atmosphere isn't bad. There's no psychological warfare with each other or anything, since we just have to work hard at our own parts.”
Is that really so?
Baek Hyeon-woo felt a little doubtful.
“Wouldn't it be better if you got along closely with each other, for better teamwork?”
“I don't really think so? Well...”
Laura said with an indifferent expression.
“They say they're making one more girl group in the same way as us, so I guess we'll know which way is the right answer when we see how they do.”
* * *
“No matter how busy we are, we have to prepare for the next project.”
CEO Baek Yeon-ah shrugged her shoulders while sitting in the CEO office chair.
“If we don't prepare in advance, it will be too late. As it is, we already lost one project thanks to the last general manager making a mess, so we can't dawdle any longer.”
“You're making a girl group this time too, right?”
“Yes, I'm thinking of making it by reflecting the Newstarz know-how as much as possible.”
It's common for well-known agencies to release a boy group after they've released a girl group.
However, if you turn your eyes to small and medium-sized agencies, you can often see cases where they only release girl groups consecutively.
This is mainly for practical reasons.
Girl groups have many opportunities to get on stage, even if they're rookies who just debuted. This is because they are frequently booked for various festivals and events, and they can secure profits just by working hard at these events.
On the other hand, boy groups have limited events they can attend, so they can't be managed this way, and an initial investment to create a loyal fandom is essential.
That's why some agencies adopt a strategy of consecutively releasing only girl groups to minimize risk.
“Honestly, our company right now doesn't have the capacity to foster trainees from scratch. We have to bring in trainees who have already received lessons at other large agencies.”
“Fostering trainees from scratch costs a lot of money, doesn't it?”
“Yes, because it costs tens of millions of won per person.”
The reason large agencies can have a ton of trainees is because they are of a scale that can handle this cost.
However, for a new agency like Haram Entertainment, this is a huge burden.
That's why they try to bring in and debut trainees who have been eliminated from other agencies.
“If you look carefully, there are kids whose skills are just as good as active idols. We have to pick out kids like that.”
“I suppose so.”
Just looking at Newstarz, their skills weren't lacking compared to other idols.
If they could continuously pick rookies with such potential... Haram Entertainment's future would be stable.
“Aunt, you're holding auditions this time, right? When I looked outside earlier, it seemed like they were already waiting.”
“Yes, it'll start in a bit.”
Today was the day they were holding auditions to create a new girl group.
Of course, the ones coming for the audition were former trainees who had failed to debut at other agencies.
“Can I watch then, too?”
“Watch? Why?”
“Because I want to develop my eye for talent.”
“An eye for talent?”
At Baek Hyeon-woo's words, Baek Yeon-ah's eyes widened.
“Hyeon-woo, you, have you by any chance decided to commit to this field completely? Is that it?”
“I'm thinking about it.”
“Oh, if you came on as a full-time employee, that would be really great for me. I'll give you my full support, so just tell me when you've made up your mind.”
In truth, Baek Hyeon-woo had almost made up his mind.
This was because while helping Seo Na-eun and Laura, he had felt a sense of satisfaction no less than what he had felt while working as a physical therapist.
Until now, Baek Hyeon-woo had hit various walls of reality and had come to feel skeptical about working as a physical therapist.
Being unable to provide the best treatment because of hospital management was so frustrating.
But when helping celebrities here, he didn't need to worry about such things.
Without being restricted by things like the number of visits or medical fees, he could take the best course of action without compromising.
‘Of course, there will be many things to worry about here too. But I won't give up on the best path I can think of because of such things.’
Without compromising, take the best path.
Baek Hyeon-woo intended to walk the path of a manager with that as his principle.
‘Besides... I have a special ability too.’
Baek Hyeon-woo has a special ability called the status window.
It's an ability that not only allows him to check the physical condition of celebrities, but also to see through to the talent and potential they possess.
If he utilizes this ability, he could probably do a great many things in the entertainment industry.
This was also why he had brought up wanting to observe the audition to Baek Yeon-ah today.
‘If I check the status window, I'll be able to see through at a glance who has the most talent at the audition.’
Looking at the applicants who were waiting outside earlier, the status window appeared even though they weren't active singers.
It seemed that even if they hadn't debuted yet, as long as they had signed a contract with an agency and been active as a trainee, the status window appeared for them just like with former and current singers.
If he looked at the status windows and picked out only the rookies with potential to debut, it would be a huge benefit to Haram Entertainment.
This was something that only Baek Hyeon-woo could do in this world.
That's why he said he wanted to watch the audition.
‘And it's also true that I want to develop my eye for talent.’
Baek Hyeon-woo wanted to examine the status windows of the trainees who hadn't debuted yet.
This was because he wanted to get as much data as possible on what standards the items on the status window were decided by.
‘I especially don't really understand the Visual item yet.’
Vocal definitely means singing skill, and Dance means dancing skill.
But he still didn't really know what Visual meant.
At first, he thought it was an item that simply evaluated how outstanding their appearance was, but it didn't seem to be the case.
‘In the first place, is it even possible to assign a score to who is prettier and less pretty? Everyone has different styles they prefer.’
Let's compare Seo Na-eun and Laura.
In Baek Hyeon-woo's view, there didn't seem to be a huge difference in the two's appearances.
But looking at the Visual item on the status window, Seo Na-eun's was a B and Laura's was an A.
Where did this difference come from?
Baek Hyeon-woo wanted to verify this aspect at the audition as well.
* * *
The audition was to be held at the company's practice room.
There were five judges in total, and CEO Baek Yeon-ah and Team Leader Park Yeong-ho were included among them.
“Then let's begin the audition. Contestant number 1, please come in.”
“Yes!”
A girl with cute-looking eyes entered the practice room.
After introducing herself while acting all pretty, she showcased her singing and dancing.
‘This one won't do.’
Baek Hyeon-woo, who was sitting in a corner seat at the judges' table, clicked his tongue inwardly.
Looking at her status window, her Vocal, Dance, and Visual were all C or lower.
Even her Potential was a D.
When he sneakily turned his head, he saw that the other judges were also giving her harsh scores on their evaluation sheets.
It was a relief that everyone seemed to have an eye for these things.
“Thank you for your hard work. Now, contestant number 2, please come in.”
One by one, the girls came in and showed off their talents.
However... in Baek Hyeon-woo's eyes, they were all below standard.
‘Is Newstarz an exception? Why are they all only at this level?’
Putting aside the fact that their Vocal, Dance, and Visual were weak, the fact that there wasn't a single contestant who surpassed a B in Potential was serious.
They needed to pick someone who could become a huge hit later, even if they were nothing special at the present moment, but there was no one like that.
“Today is on the better side, if anything.”
As Baek Hyeon-woo tilted his head in confusion, Team Leader Park Yeong-ho, who was sitting next to him, spoke in an unfazed voice.
“Because those kids are ones who have passed an audition at another agency once before.”
“Ah… I see.”
“I'm telling you, when a large agency holds an audition for the general public, all sorts of really strange kids flock to it.”
Saying that, Park Yeong-ho yawned.
“There are many cases where we judge auditions for hours and there isn't a single kid worth picking. When there's no harvest like that, it's really hell.”
“That must be tough.”
“I don't know if there will be a harvest today or not. We need to pick kids who can make it all the way to debut.”
In truth, Baek Hyeon-woo had already made one harvest.
This was because he had gotten a rough idea of what the Visual item on the status window meant.
‘Looking at them today, the contestants with bright and rich facial expressions tended to have high Visuals.’
Even those with relatively outstanding looks had low Visuals if their expressions were stiff or awkward.
On the other hand, even if their looks fell short of others, if their facial expressions were charming, their Visuals came out high.
‘Could it be that Visual is an item that evaluates facial expressions?’
Let's imagine two rivals with the exact same singing and dancing skills went on stage.
If one of them has rich expressions and is good at expressing emotions, while the other always maintains only a stiff expression... people will feel more charm from the one with rich expressions.
‘Acting ability… no, should I call it expressive power?’
Come to think of it, idols don't just sing and dance.
They can film commercials, and they can also be models.
They can also act in dramas or movies.
Wouldn't an idol with outstanding Visuals be able to display their talent in those fields as well?
‘If I pick someone with high Visuals here... can I discover a future acting-dol?’
As he was thinking such thoughts.
The door opened and the next contestant entered the audition hall, greeting them in a stiff voice.
“Number 26, Yoo Jeong-ah. I was a trainee at DP Entertainment for 3 years.”
The first moment he saw her, with her long, straight black hair hanging down.
Baek Hyeon-woo's gaze was immediately stolen.
She was a woman with an outstanding appearance, but that wasn't why his gaze was stolen.
What Baek Hyeon-woo paid attention to was her status window.
—----
[Yoo Jeong-ah]
Vocal: A
Dance: A
Visual: F
Potential: SS
Body Condition: 75%
Mental Condition: 70%
– Pain is occurring due to a problem with the trapezius muscle in the head and neck.
—-------
A contestant with insane stats had appeared.