Chapter 81. Song Aran's Golden Tongue
I needed to completely overhaul 〈Rebooting〉 using famous American producers on the level of Billy Aaron.
Meaning the American producers shouldn't be making Blue Moon's next song.
They needed to make songs for Univ.
Judging by the atmosphere around 〈Rebooting〉, even if the fourth competition was destined to fail, the producers themselves were thinking far into the future.
They were already looking toward America, after all.
With ambitions like that, they would probably gather the best producers in Korea for the final competition, when the debut lineup would be fully decided.
And if the show still failed even after doing that...
Then maybe the answer was to find producers outside Korea.
Perhaps because I looked even more interested than he'd expected, Park Gwang-cheol suggested that I go on a "Billboard producer tour."
In other words, travel around America and meet as many producers as possible.
At the moment, Univ was the only team I could immediately hand songs to.
I could also give Blue Moon a new song made by American producers, but Blue Moon had already established its direction around domestically oriented composers in the style of Im Sori and Kang Sang-do.
Even if we dug another well later, now wasn't the time.
Still...
A Billboard producer tour.
Wasn't that way too tempting?
If I managed to secure management rights for 〈Rebooting〉 through this situation, I might even be able to bring in a few more trainees.
Even if I didn't actively recruit anyone, we already had two successful revival cases in Blue Moon and Univ.
People would probably line up on their own.
It wouldn't hurt to meet more composers in preparation for that day.
I told Park Gwang-cheol that since I was currently running Universe, I'd contact him again once I found the time.
Still, I couldn't put it off for too long.
No matter what happened, I needed to settle things by the fourth competition.
That gave me a little time to remain in Korea.
During that time, I decided to give the Blue Moon members one big present.
It could become a cherished memory.
Or maybe just a small gift.
After thinking about it, I went to the practice room and brought it up.
"This time, I'm planning to bring in some American producers and give Univ a push. That doesn't mean I'm giving up on you girls, so don't worry."
"We know, CEO."
"And because of that, I'll probably have to go to America..."
The moment I said that much, all four members turned toward me at once.
Aran immediately collapsed onto the floor like she did onstage and started crying.
"Nooo~! CEO, you can't go to America~!"
I knew this would happen.
Should I have brought a cake first?
"I'm leaving you presents so you won't get bored! A game console or something. Is there anything you want?"
"No!!"
Aran shrieked.
Apparently, she'd completely misunderstood and thought I was immigrating.
"I'm only going for one week. Dae-hun and Manager Jin-hee will take care of you while I'm gone."
"Huh...! A whole week? That's longer than I thought..."
Youngchae said.
A week was long?
What did she want me to do, take a day trip to America?
Youngchae quietly thought about the one-week trip before suddenly making a suggestion.
"Then I... Ah, Song Aran, be quiet for a second."
"Over my dead body!"
"Then just get me one ticket."
A ticket?
Was she trying to watch a baseball game or something?
"All right. Do I need to get four for all of you? What game is it?"
"Not a game. A concert. You know the American singer Emil Lipa, right? She's coming to Korea this time."
Emil Lipa.
A monster singer who supposedly won Best New Artist the moment she debuted, then won solo awards when she released solo songs, duo awards when she released duets, and group awards when she worked with groups.
Recently, she'd even started directing her own music videos.
A powerhouse singer with roughly one-quarter of Blue Moon's talent.
And Emil Lipa was coming to Korea?
The tickets would probably be pretty expensive...
Still, we were singers too.
Watching great singers perform live a few times could count as studying.
I immediately searched for ticket listings and checked the prices.
The front-row seats were 230,000 won.
"I didn't know you liked Emil Lipa that much. More importantly, I don't know if we'll even be able to get tickets."
Youngchae wiggled her fingers as if tapping rapidly and answered.
"I'm pretty fast. Just send me the money and I'll buy them myself."
"Fine. I just sent it. But don't you have a broadcast schedule that day?"
"Yes. It's really hard to find a free day. I'll have to leave halfway through the concert."
Youngchae checked the transfer and said,
"I'll cover whatever extra money we need."
"Extra? I sent enough for four of the most expensive seats."
230,000 times four.
920,000 won.
I'd rounded it up and sent a million.
How was that not enough?
"We need five tickets. Aren't you going to watch too?"
Youngchae said she'd asked because she wanted to make one last memory with me.
I repeatedly told them it absolutely wasn't the last anything and that I would definitely be back in a week.
Not one of the members listened.
Getting into Emil Lipa's concert venue took an absurd amount of time.
In the old days, I wouldn't have been able to come because I didn't have the money.
Now, we'd become too famous, so simply getting inside had become troublesome.
That was why I'd bought four masks on the way and made the members wear them.
They'd also dressed casually.
Unless someone awakened the Eyes of Love, there was no way they'd recognize them.
I thought the disguise was pretty thorough.
Unfortunately, there was one fatal flaw I hadn't anticipated.
"Gasp! That's Do-hyung over there! Do-hyung...!"
It was a nickname Apollo fans used for me.
I turned around in surprise, thinking one of our fans had spotted us.
But these people didn't react like ordinary Blue Moon fans.
They were the kind of people who would practically faint if they saw the members in person, while they treated me like the neighbor's son whenever they met me.
"Triangle? Square?"
"No, Universe's Do-hyung!"
People began murmuring and gathering around me.
I knew I'd been appearing on television to some extent because I was participating in 〈Rebooting〉.
But when I'd actually monitored the show, the trainee stages were so flashy that the grimy little shots of the judges barely seemed to make it into the broadcast.
And yet they still recognized me.
I wasn't even a celebrity, so covering my face and making a fuss would look ridiculous.
What a headache.
"Huh? Do-hyung! Blue Moon's here too!"
"Where? Where?"
And just like that, I served perfectly as the long tail that got stepped on.
Using me as their clue, the audience spotted Blue Moon and began swarming over like a flock of sheep.
Within moments, Emil Lipa's concert venue had turned into a Blue Moon fan meeting.
"Someone famous is there?"
Then Emil Lipa's voice came booming through the speakers.
Teacher Emil Lipa was telling us to turn off the side broadcast.
If we ruined someone else's concert like this, we'd get thrown out for sure.
Just moments ago, I'd been sitting in the audience at Emil Lipa's concert.
Now I was standing on the set of 〈Korean Chef Master〉.
Anna freestyle rapping on Emil Lipa's concert stage already felt like something I'd seen in a dream.
That was how unbelievable what had happened there was.
So many people had gathered around me that Emil Lipa apparently mistook me for some famous Korean actor and pulled me onto the stage.
Once I climbed up and glanced around, I saw entertainment reporters from various countries pointing their cameras at me.
At that rate, I was in danger of becoming internationally famous.
Just as I wondered whether this was punishment for making Lee Eun-bit famous, our righteous members stepped forward.
They introduced themselves to Emil Lipa as "Korean famous singers," then pointed at me and said I was "just manager."
Emil Lipa asked the famous Korean singers of Blue Moon to sing one English song before coming back down.
After discussing it among themselves, the members decided Anna would freestyle rap.
Even if I'd been included in the discussion, I would've considered that the best option.
It was the perfect chance to show both her freestyle skills and her English.
Anna played the instrumental to 〈Going the Full Distance〉, the main OST from the film 〈Ali〉 about Muhammad Ali's life, and began freestyling in English.
Since the backing track was from an older song, I'd expected her to use an old-school flow.
Instead, she properly borrowed the style of recent American rappers.
The audience went wild as though they'd just watched Ali endure endlessly before suddenly stinging like a bee.
Emil Lipa herself seemed impressed enough that she asked the members to stay until the end of the concert.
That was when the truly surprising thing happened.
Anna thought for a moment, then muttered,
"But we have a mukbang schedule..."
And just like that, she rejected Emil Lipa's offer to get closer and came here to 〈Korean Chef Master〉.
No matter how small the schedule was, a prior commitment was still a commitment.
Even if Anna had asked me onstage, I would've told her to turn Emil Lipa down.
The reason her decision became a hot topic wasn't simply because she'd chosen 〈Korean Chef Master〉.
It was because Anna had referred to this show, even under her breath, as a "mukbang."
They were still talking onstage, and the microphone was on.
Everyone in the concert hall heard it.
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It basically is a mukbang.
-How desperate was she to eat if she thinks Chef Master is a mukbangㅋㅋㅋ
-Honestly, I'd be looking forward to Korean Chef Master too.
-Emil Lipa probably looked the show up after her concertㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Thanks to that news spreading in real time, the executive producer of 〈Korean Chef Master〉 and I found ourselves watching a rather suspicious rise in the live ratings together.
"All right! Our final challenger is Chef G! Gourmets, please come forward, taste the dish, and give us your evaluation!"
It was a cooking competition built around dishes prepared by chefs whose names and careers were hidden, followed by tasting evaluations from the panel.
Since the chefs' backgrounds were concealed, sometimes completely unremarkable people appeared too.
But the judging panel, called the "gourmets," was different.
Every one of them was serious about eating, just like Aran.
There was even a skinny female mukbang Nutuber who had once caused controversy by eating every serving of noodles at a wedding hall while seated at the reception.
Chef G was an elderly grandmother.
Her dish was less "cuisine" and more simply meat.
It was ordinary-looking boiled pork.
While the other gourmets ate with puzzled expressions, Anna and Aran were too busy devouring it with their eyes blazing to care about anything else.
"It's definitely tasty meat, but I'm disappointed that it seems to have only been boiled."
"The flavor is somewhat unusual, but I'm not sure there's enough here to call it a proper dish."
Harsh evaluations continued.
Then it was Anna and Aran's turn.
"Wow. This is seriously delicious. When I was little, the monks used to say farmers do all the real cooking, and I think they were right! The dried radish strips are incredibly sweet."
"Meat usually gets tiring the more you eat, but this barely has any smell and the aroma is really unique. What kind of magic did you use on the pig?"
They were the only positive reviews.
The grandmother, who had been listening to all the critiques with a serious expression, finally brightened.
But she still didn't advance.
A chef needed approval from more than half the gourmets to move to the next round.
Out of ten gourmets, only two had given her a passing score.
And those two were Anna and Aran, who almost looked like they'd coordinated their answers beforehand.
"Unfortunately, today will be Chef G's final round. At this point, let's reveal Chef G's career."
The grandmother politely bowed in several directions, as though calmly accepting the result.
Even though this was only her first appearance, Aran's eyes filled with tears as though she were saying goodbye to an old friend.
"After opening a bossam restaurant in Jangchung-dong, Seoul, in 1959, she founded the nationwide franchise 〈Grandma Ok's Bossam〉! She later served as honorary chairwoman of the restaurant division of the Korea Food Industry Association, as an endowed professor in Korean cuisine at the Korea Hotel and Tourism College, and she currently runs Yoo Young-ok Culinary Research Institute! Please welcome Chef Yoo Young-ok!"
The mouths of the gourmets who had criticized her dropped open.
There wasn't a single one among them who hadn't eaten Grandma Ok's Bossam before.
"G-Grandma Ok...!"
Aran covered her mouth.
"Huh? I used to eat Grandma Ok's Bossam all the time when I lived in Dongdaemun. It didn't taste like this."
One gourmand said that.
The MC handed the microphone to Grandma Yoo Young-ok.
"I didn't cast any magic on the pig. I steam the meat over hinoki water, and I soak the dried radish strips in freshly squeezed orange juice. Of course the other Grandma Ok's Bossam locations don't taste like this. I only opened one directly operated store in each city."
Meaning every Grandma Ok's Bossam in Seoul except the one in Jangchung-dong was fake.
After finishing her explanation, Grandma Yoo Young-ok turned toward Anna and Aran.
"Thank you for appreciating it. Come visit me in Jangchung-dong while I'm still alive. I'll boil some for you for free."
"Yes!"
Anna and Aran cheered loudly and broke into huge smiles at the promise of free boiled pork.
They honestly seemed happier about forming a connection with Grandma Ok than about becoming friends with Emil Lipa.
