The Creams rowed diligently as the water came in.
They translated and posted articles and comments explaining me in English and every other language in the world.
They introduced the best stage performances and drama highlights.
In addition, they leaked the fact that I was a descendant of the Royal Family of a fallen nation, something that hadn’t been promoted as a point of interest in Korea.
I watched the Creams’ cute fan posts, capturing and saving some of them.
I’m always touched whenever my fans do this.
It’s amazing how hard they work to promote me, CAKE, to other people.
Even if I like pork cutlet, I wouldn’t make a video to promote its taste or edit photos to post on social media in multiple languages.
That’s why I’m always grateful to the Creams.
Of course, besides my personal aspects, the videos received considerable attention.
There was a cultural asset theft, but the palace of South Korea overcame the crisis and is still ‘beautiful.’
There were also posts praising the historical perspective of the people who not only preserved the relics of the past but also restored and maintained them.
The massive publicity blitz was also one of the reasons for its success.
This massive publicity blitz was possible because the Cultural Heritage Administration and HC Group’s intentions aligned.
The Cultural Heritage Administration wanted to disguise the cultural asset restoration process as promotion, and Chairman Kim Hocheol wanted to raise my profile while emphasizing that I was a descendant of the Royal Family.
“Grandfather said that if we reveal it outright, they won’t be able to treat us carelessly politically.”
Although Korea doesn’t recognize the Royal Family of a fallen nation, the calculation was that I could obtain diplomatic status at the request of foreign countries.
Of course, for this to happen, public opinion had to be favorable to me, and there had to be forces supporting even a Royal Family in name only.
“Currently, five European royal families, including the British royal family, have expressed their intention to invite you. As soon as the invitations arrive through the embassy, we will release the articles first.”
“I don’t really have to go, do I?”
“With so many invitations, we can use it as a pretext to refuse overseas invitations. We are persuading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Secretariat to only have the President visit.”
However, the situation took a strange turn.
[Presidential Spokesperson ‘Song Yiyoung has no diplomatic envoy status’]
It seemed they were concerned about the descendant of the Royal Family influencing state affairs politically or diplomatically.
The current government didn’t know whether the existence of the Royal Family of a fallen nation would be beneficial or detrimental.
In any case, I was satisfied. This could be a good reason to refuse the invitations from other countries.
When the President’s spokesperson’s statement was published in the articles, the rally that had been going on in front of Gwanghwamun stopped.
Those who had achieved their goals disbanded with satisfaction.
The media explained the history of the authority, saying that the Hogo Authority had worked.
However, a few days later, I got a headache again after seeing an article from the Japanese side.
[Japanese Royal Family expresses regret… Expects congratulatory envoys next year]
They even canceled the invitation to the President. It was a clear diplomatic discourtesy.
The media blamed Japan for the diplomatic discourtesy, but there was no comment from the political circles.
“They called in the Director of the National Intelligence Service and the Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration.”
“The situation could change again.”
{Jaga, shall I take care of it quietly?}
Baek Mungi, in doll form, spoke in my head.
Who? A foreign king? Or the president of this country?
Having lived in the entertainment industry since I was young, I learned early on that things don’t always go my way.
No matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t be on stage unless someone watched me.
The drama I participated in was really good, but the drama on the next channel was more popular.
And no matter what, I can’t let Baek Mungi hurt people.
I felt like I had to stop it, instinctively.
“Baek Mungi, will you stay in the ring?”
{Jaga, I misspoke. I only meant to serve you comfortably…}
I picked up the Baek Mungi doll from the sofa and placed it on my lap, tying the flowing white hair into high pigtails.
Then I took a picture and posted it on my social media.
“The President isn’t inclined to take a strong diplomatic stance, but I’m worried because the opposition party might object. I’m contacting the congressmen I have connections with.”
Lee Young asked Kim Woo-jin, puzzled.
“The President is not a king but a representative of the people, but he leads a country. How can he just let this discourtesy pass?”
“Joseon was also under the thumb of China, or rather, the Ming and Qing dynasties. There were even kings who bowed their heads to Qing generals.”
“…That’s not wrong, but do you have to bring up humiliating history to scold me?”
“If they had done better back then…”
Kim Woo-jin stopped talking, but Lee Young picked up the words.
“I think I understand that heart that resents even those who are dead and remain as spirits. Because I now know the history of the past. If only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hadn’t become like that back then… It’s a lamentable thing.”
Along with Lee Young, Jang Ha-woon also sighed as if the ground was sinking.
I felt like the temperature in the house was dropping due to the resentment of the ghosts.
I needed to change the atmosphere before I froze to death.
“There haven’t been any additional random stabbing incidents, right?”
Kim Woo-jin, who seemed at a loss for words as if I had said something unnecessary, quickly answered my question.
“Yes. There haven’t been any similar incidents since the middle school student incident back then. We were worried that additional incidents might occur in the southern part of the Han River, but it’s quiet.”
“Instead, isn’t the attack focused on my younger brother?”
Jang Ha-woon’s words cleared my complicated mind.
Whatever happens with the political issues, it’s none of my business since I’m not a politician. I have to do my job.
“Since the rally is over, can we film at the palace again? There are places I want to go.”
The lingering thoughts at Hwaseong Fortress told me to go to Jongmyo Shrine.
* * *
I headed to the company first to check the filming schedule.
Winsome Entertainment was established by the CEO with the aim of debuting our CAKE.
After we debuted, a few rookies and trainees joined, but it’s still a small company.
Fans were unhappy that the company was too small to promote CAKE properly.
The problem was capital. Receiving investment from distributors was the beginning of album preparation.
So the CEO was always busy with investment meetings.
Things would have been better if we had done better.
{Isn’t that Jaga’s face?}
We leased two floors of a commercial building, one floor with offices and recording studios, and the other with a dance practice room and a lounge/small studio.
There were photos of the affiliated artists at the entrance.
The best spot was our CAKE’s spot.
Of course, there were also individual photos of each member next to it.
They were photos that were taken when we debuted and hadn’t been updated since, so they were a bit embarrassing to look at now.
In the large photo, I had a lot of pink pearl under my eyes, tilting my head slightly and looking up.
{Is the purpose of putting on so much makeup to look like an adult or to look young?}
Pure and cute, but not just looking young, with charisma and a bit of sexiness.
And even handsomeness.
It was impossible for one person to have all these images, so several people were active as a team. Among them, I was the cute and pitiful stray cat concept.
{Stray cat? Are you talking about someone with an elegant and noble impression like Jaga? Noble? If our Creams heard that, they would have made a drip saying, ‘As expected, J- is cute, so precious.’
Anyway, the Creams said that being cute saved the world, so a stray cat was fine.
I was about to go straight to the CEO’s office after passing the hallway with the photos, but I saw the CEO in the lounge.
“Are you here?”
I opened the lounge door and just poked my head in to say hello, and the CEO, who was in front of the coffee machine, turned to look at me.
But the CEO’s expression wasn’t good.
I wondered what was going on and looked around the lounge, and there was a stranger sitting in a chair.
Unlike the man who was wearing a suit without a single wrinkle, his posture was a bit crooked.
When his eyes met mine, he straightened his head, which had been tilted to the side, and got up from his seat and approached me.
“Song Yiyoung? I didn’t expect to meet you today, but I’m lucky. Nice to meet you.”
The man offered a handshake and took out a business card case with his other hand.
“Hello. I’m Yiyoung.”
“Ah, you’re not changing your stage name? I thought you could use Song Yiyoung as your stage name since you found your real name.”
Who are you to decide that?
The man’s business card had the name and title of Gu Jin-mo, Planning Director of Daemin Group.
I took the business card and looked back at the CEO.
“Oh, Yiyoung, why?”
“I came to say hello since I came to the company.”
“Okay, go up to the conference room. I’ll be there soon.”
However, Gu Jin-mo intervened between the CEO and me.
“Shouldn’t Song Yiyoung also be part of the conversation?”
“It’s not something to tell the artist yet. It’s just a proposal stage.”
The CEO’s tone was cold.
Having seen the CEO for nearly 10 years, I could tell.
The CEO was in a very bad mood right now.
“I’ll go up.”
I lightly greeted Gu Jin-mo and quickly closed the lounge door.
Then I climbed the stairs two steps at a time.
{Lee Young and Jang Ha-woon will remain hidden.}
Huh? Baek Mungi and the spirits could talk without me knowing.
{These spirits can’t convey words directly into Jaga’s head like I can. But they can’t make noise outside where someone might hear them. So I used a little power to allow them to exchange wills.}
Hearing Baek Mungi’s boastful voice, I was relieved that he didn’t seem to intend to torment the spirits.
{There’s no fun in tormenting those who are just souls. How old do you think I am…}
How old are you?
* * *
The CEO came up to the office in less than 30 minutes.
“Did you wait?”
“Was it an investment proposal?”
“…Yeah. Something like that.”
“But was Daemin Group interested in the entertainment industry?”
Large companies do business in various fields through their affiliates.
Even if they don’t manage it directly, they often generate profits through investment.
In the entertainment industry, they often invest in media such as drama or film production rather than direct management.
Of course, there are also large companies that have entered direct management and are showing quite good results.
However, Daemin Group only had affiliates that were unrelated to the entertainment business, such as heavy industry, trade, and aviation.
So this investment proposal was very strange.
“I know. There was no talk of Daemin investing in the large entertainment companies…”
The CEO sipped the coffee he had brought from the cafe.
“Ah, it’s all cold.”
“Were the conditions not good?”
“Yeah. They’re trying to throw money around.”
It was clear that this investment wouldn’t happen.
Our CEO Choi Seo-woo’s allergy to large corporations throwing money around has a long history.