Chapter 78: The Secret Architect

AC Entertainment.

“How are the trainees? Anyone catching your eye?”

Hwang Seunghwan rested his chin on his hand and glanced at Manager Lee, who sat diagonally to his right.

“Well… It’s better than before, but I still don’t see anyone really breaking out.”

Manager Lee shook his head side to side.  
There was a bitter look on his face.  
No matter how people said the entertainment business just needed one star, if you didn’t produce real results in the long run, surviving in this competitive market was tough.  
Even with investors, the business required so much money that unless you were a chaebol corporation, there was a limit to how long you could last.

“Hm, this is troublesome. Really troublesome.”

Hwang Seunghwan spun his pen between his fingers and muttered softly.

“By the way, isn’t Dahye getting a pretty strong response lately?”

Manager Lee continued.

“I was surprised myself that just one sponsorship deal would bring this kind of reaction. Consumer feedback is good, and even the shopping mall views shot up. The company is looking to sponsor Dahye even more actively.”

He never expected someone still lacking to pull it off to that degree.  
The other girls hadn’t even landed a single sponsorship yet, but a rookie who’d never even set foot on stage had shown that much skill. It was truly remarkable.

“That’s right, there’s Dahye, isn’t there?”

As Dahye was mentioned, Hwang Seunghwan lifted his head from gazing at his pen.  
His face, which had been shadowed, brightened.

“She’s got a knack for advertising, and she really knows how to photograph products so they stand out. To be honest, when Seunghyun first brought up investing in that student and mentioned Dahye, I didn’t expect much. But once we opened the lid, she showed something special.”

The focus of the photo on PSY World was the clothes and shoes, but Dahye, as the model, had a charm that stood out just as much. Plus, her sense for angles and composition in the photos was spot on.

Her gaze, expressions—she knew what made her attractive, what her weapons were.

Parts of her that hadn’t been highly regarded before came to the surface through this sponsored ad.

“There isn’t much profit yet, but I see potential. She has a shy yet cute charm. And her lively energy really comes through in the pictures. If we push this concept, she’ll be a pretty good model.”

“Hm, but you know, there’s a problem. The special terms in her contract are quite something.”

1. No unreasonable schedules.

2. Support for massage and skincare management.

3. Guarantee at least 7 hours of sleep.

And so on...

With those special terms in place, they couldn’t push her schedule too hard.  
On top of that, she was a student, so scheduling was even trickier—there was nothing they could do.

“Still, Dahye is a gem for us, isn’t she? Since we brought her in, our finances have improved.”

They called it a 10 billion won investment, but if it hadn’t happened, they really would’ve been in trouble.  
Even now, thinking back, it was by no means a bad deal.

“That’s a relief, but… tell me, how does she know Chaerin? Aren’t they from different neighborhoods?”

No matter what anyone said, Chaerin was an actress at the top tier in Korea. Even just her network was not something to be taken lightly.

And yet, she’d formed a close relationship with someone like her?  
That alone made Dahye’s value extremely high.

“I was so surprised I asked her myself, and she only said she got to know her after following her brother.”

It made no sense.

“That’s not what’s important. Anyway, Manager Lee, whatever happens, you must focus on making sure Dahye never gets hurt or caught up in anything bad. Understood?”

Dahye was the core of AC Entertainment.  
She might even be the one to lead AC Entertainment to greater heights.

“Yes.”

Knock knock.

As soon as Manager Lee answered, a knock sounded on the door.  
Both of their eyes naturally turned toward it.

“Director, there’s something you need to check immediately.”

An employee entered holding a file and handed over a printout.

“There’s an advertising proposal from LN Electronics. It’s for a refrigerator model, and the target is specifically listed as Yoo Dahye.”

“…What? What did you just say?”

For a moment, the air in the conference room seemed to freeze.  
Hwang Seunghwan was so shocked, he had to ask again if he’d heard right.

“LN Electronics specifically selected Yoo Dahye as the model for their new refrigerator ad.”

The employee kindly repeated the contents of the file.

“Ha, haha… How could this happen.”

It was astonishing to Hwang Seunghwan that a leading conglomerate in Korea had chosen Yoo Dahye, whose name wasn’t even widely known.  
He sat in a daze for a moment, then looked over at Manager Lee.

“I’m not dreaming right now, am I?”

He let out a soft, empty chuckle and muttered quietly.

***

Brr.

A text notification sounded.  
I set my pen down and picked up my phone.

“It’s from Doyoon hyung.”

It was Min Doyoon.  
I cautiously guessed he was letting me know the results of the ad proposal.  
I unlocked the phone and checked the message.

[The proposal you sent, I decided to use it. As compensation, I’ll use your little sister as the model. She won’t be the main, but it’s still a good spot.]

“What, he’s putting Dahye in the ad?!”

I read the message over and over, wondering if I was misunderstanding.  
No matter how much I rubbed my eyes and checked again, the sentence was clear.  
My ad proposal had been chosen, and Dahye would be a model for it. Min Doyoon himself had chosen her.

I couldn’t help but smile.  
Just thinking of how excited Dahye would be made my face twitch with joy.

“I didn’t think hyung would take care of us like this. I wonder if Dahye’s heard yet?”

Honestly, I was happy the ad proposal got picked, but even more than that, I cared about Dahye’s news.

If Min Doyoon was right, the main for this ad would be the Taeguk Warrior and Dahye would be in a sub-position, but that was still amazing.

She hadn’t even debuted properly yet.

It hadn’t even been half a year, and already my little sister had been cast as a model in an ad for a big company that every celebrity dreams of joining.

An LN Electronics commercial.

Just the name of the client made my heart pound.

A huge CF that aired all year round, summer and winter alike.

And a trainee who hadn’t even debuted, not even a true rookie, would be showing her face in an ad like that.

My smile just kept twitching.

“Was Doyoon hyung always this generous? I was baffled when he mentioned the refrigerator ad, but when he does it, he really comes through. I guess I don’t need to contact Dahye first?”

Should I tell Dahye the news? I wondered, but then set the phone down on the desk.

It felt right for her to hear it directly from the agency, not from me.

I could already imagine her running to me, wide-eyed in disbelief, asking if things like this really happen.

Seeing Dahye smile brightly was a happiness and a driving force for me in life.

“Oppa! Oppa!! Oppa!!”

Just as I was thinking that, I heard the front door open and Dahye’s voice calling for me.  
While I was lost in thought, it was already nearly 10:30.

I heard the hurried sound of her footsteps and turned my body to look at the door.  
Dahye came into view, panting for breath.

“Oh? What’s up?”

Just seeing her reaction, I could tell she’d gotten the news from the agency.

I held back my smile, pretending not to know.

Dahye’s forehead was beaded with sweat and her face was flushed.

“It’s amazing news! Oppa, I got an ad offer!”

I opened my eyes wide.

“An ad? Really?! For what?”

Putting on my best Hollywood actor face, I asked which client it was.

“Yeah! Don’t be too shocked, okay? It’s the LN refrigerator ad! You know how we made the World Cup semifinals? I’m filming with Park Jiseung!!”

“What?! Seriously? You’re doing a commercial with Park Jiseung??”

Now I was truly stunned.

The legendary soccer star of 2002, Park Jiseung, would be in the ad I conceived.

And with Dahye, whom I cherished most.

LN Electronics—no, Min Doyoon must be going all-in on this campaign.

I wasn’t sure if the collaboration with the cola company had gone through, but even without it, this ad was going to be huge.

“Yeah!! I got a text on the way home. Suddenly they said they wanted me for the ad. They said the concept this time is young and fresh. They saw my PSY World photos and picked me!”

“Wow! Really, congratulations!”

This, this.

I had to keep the truth to myself no matter what.

If she ever found out there’d been a deal between me and Min Doyoon, today’s excitement would vanish.

I kept that fact hidden and sincerely congratulated Dahye, who was overjoyed.

She hopped up onto the bed, hugging her cheeks with both hands.

Even while talking, she seemed unable to believe it, her face alternating between disbelief and delight.

“Oppa, do you know how much I get paid for the ad?”

Then the topic shifted.

She looked at me, clearly wanting me to ask.

“How much?”

“Ten million!”

“Ten million?”

“Yeah, isn’t it awesome?”

This, too, was a shock.

As far as I knew, rookies only got a few tens of millions of won for an ad.

The most popular stars got over a billion won per ad.

Those below that still made several hundred million.

But Dahye, as a rookie, had landed a fee well above that.

“Oppa, is there anything you want?”

“Something I want?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve always looked out for me, haven’t you? I want to do something for you.”

“No need, it’s enough for me that you’re happy.”

“No way, I can’t let that slide. Tell me quickly.”

“When you get paid, use it for what you need.”

“No, no, not that. I really want to do something for you.”

“Hmm, okay. I’ll think about it. Nothing comes to mind right now since you asked so suddenly.”

“Alright. You have to tell me, okay?”

Dahye emphasized again, making me promise to say if there was anything I wanted.

“Alright, I will. Go wash up and rest.”

I sent Dahye off to her room.

Once she left, I picked up my phone and held it to my ear.

“Hello? Hyung, I really didn’t expect you to look out for us like this. Thank you.”

─ What? I just picked a good face, that’s all.

He brought up something different from the text.

“Still, I’m grateful. Dahye’s really happy.”

─ Enough with the thanks.

“Dahye will work hard, too. She won’t let you down.”

─ That’s enough. Next week is your vacation, right? Get ready to come stay at my place.

“Huh?”

─ What’s with that reaction? You said you’d spend your break at my place. I’ll send a car, so get your stuff ready. No, forget packing—just text me all your clothes and shoe sizes. I’ll have someone get everything ready.”

“What?”

─ What’s with that ‘what’ every time? I’m hanging up, so send it right away.

Click.

“……”

The call ended as soon as he finished speaking.

“Hah… Geez…”

These days, I feel like I spend a lot of time just staring at my phone.