Since I am Creating the Story of the Future
I am really curious.
Recently, there is a mysterious private equity fund that has bought up all the accommodations and pensions around the Nonsan area.
"Evening Star."
After looking into the CEO's background, I found out he's a man in his 50s, from a foreign financial institution
Aside from that, nothing else is notable. What could his true identity be?
He's definitely a figurehead, likely put forward to hide the actual owner of Evening Star.
Normally, when there is a special event locally, the prices of accommodations and real estate go up.
That's why, if Next Planet's recruit promotion succeeds, I expected the nearby accommodation prices to skyrocket.
This kind of situation hits tourism businesses like ours in the provinces hard.
So, we tried to get ahead by collaborating with Nonsan City in advance.
But it was as if Evening Star somehow already knew about our plans, because they moved first.
If they raise accommodation costs, it will cause issues, so I tried multiple times to set up a meeting with the CEO. But I got no response at all.
Choi Hyena handed me an iced Americano.
"The weather's really gotten hot. Drink this and take it easy."
"I'd like to, but..."
"Oh, Evening Star. What are these people's intentions? They went to the trouble of renovating old pensions, and didn't even raise the prices."
"Exactly. They're behaving outside the bounds of common sense."
"Could it be the chairman's surprise gift?"
Not long ago, the chairman sent me a message.
[You're doing well these days. I should send you a gift soon.]
The chairman seems like the most probable answer.
But still—he's not Santa; would he really need to move secretly behind the scenes?
I really want to resolve this question. Times like these, I have a universal ace up my sleeve.
It had been a while, but I called Min Ji-na.
[Oh, oppa. Long time no see. How have you been?]
She greeted me warmly, as always.
[You want to know the true identity of this Evening Star? Hmm... Even for me, this isn't going to be easy.]
"I figured as much. But... could you at least check if the chairman is behind it?"
[Why do you think it's the chairman?]
"Well... he's the only person who would go this far to look out for me."
[Couldn't there be someone else who cares about you?]
"I wish there were. But the idea that there's another person unimaginably rich supporting my dreams? That just seems unrealistic."
[Well, I like those unrealistic stories, but... Anyway, I'll look into it as much as I can.]
"Thanks."
Choi Hyena looked at me quietly.
She looked like she had a lot of questions.
"Director, about your former colleague, that woman named Ji-na... Just how close is she to the chairman?"
"I'm not exactly sure either, but she's definitely one of his trusted inner circle. She manages to bring incredibly hard-to-get information just like that."
"I saw Ji-na-nim when she visited here last time. She drove a ridiculously expensive car. And she's just so composed in everything she does—maybe she's a rich family's daughter?"
"She probably is."
Choi Hyena nodded, then added one more thing.
"That Ji-na-nim, she's seriously beautiful. She must be extremely popular. Isn't she seeing someone?"
"I recall she said she'd turned down over ten confessions just from people in-house. Come to think of it, she doesn't seem to be seeing anyone. Why do you suddenly ask?"
"Oh, just curious... and I have a scenario I want to write."
When I asked Choi Hyena what she meant by that, she only replied that it was a secret.
Since it was time to leave the office anyway, I didn't press her further.
I headed over to the strawberry waffle stall.
"Director!"
Lee Yunjung waved at me cheerfully.
Today, it was arranged for her to sell strawberry waffles only in the morning.
I had made her a promise a while back: that she would be the first to experience the 'Super Day Tour'.
She was wearing a soft pink dress that reminded me of strawberries.
Whenever she walked, the dress swayed, the delicate white floral embroidery accentuating her charm.
"Today, instead of a headband, you're wearing a hairpin. It suits you well."
"Oh? You noticed!"
"Even though I'm not very attentive, I do notice things as obvious as that."
"It's the Super Day Tour guided by the director personally. I got ready with anticipation."
I lifted my suit jacket slightly to show her.
"I dressed up fully in a suit to properly escort you today, Yunjung-nim. This suit is for only the most important meetings."
"I'm honored. And you look amazing."
I led Lee Yunjung to the popular photospot, the secret house built atop a tree.
There, a professional photographer who had come out early greeted us.
With the Super Day Tour, you can spend over 30 minutes at a photospot, taking pictures or just enjoying the time.
Lee Yunjung smiled brightly.
"I finally get to do this. I've always wanted to go up there and take pictures."
"Alright, let's start with the photos then."
The photographer took around a hundred shots.
"With a model this adorable, photos turn out well. Pick your favorites, and I'll make them into an album for you."
"Thank you for taking such nice pictures."
Lee Yunjung thanked him politely.
"Now it's your turn to come up, director."
When I climbed up into the secret house, Lee Yunjung started humming a tune and pulled something from a small pouch.
"Yunjung-nim, I'm supposed to explain this secret house for the Super Day Tour, but if you take out gimbap now..."
"I feel like I'm on a picnic right now. I really wanted to try this. Please let me?"
"But this is supposed to be an experience..."
"It's still an experience, right? Let's eat while we do it. I make really good gimbap."
Alright, let's just relax.
I started explaining as we ate gimbap.
It was delicious. Honestly, even more so than the ones my mother used to make for our childhood picnics.
After that, according to the Super Day Tour plan, we made our way through every corner of the theme park.
The final course was riding the ferris wheel. This course had a special benefit: Only those who win a place on the Super Day Tour can board the ferris wheel, and the ride is twice as long as usual.
When the ferris wheel stopped at its peak, the view dyed by the sunset came into sight.
"So beautiful..."
I gave an explanation about the scene from the ferris wheel.
Once I finished, Lee Yunjung bowed her head politely and thanked me.
"I had so much fun with the Super Day Tour experience, director."
"I'd appreciate it if you could give me feedback on anything that could be improved."
"I'm not in a position to do that. But if I have to pick something..."
She extended her index finger at me.
"Director, you're worrying about something, aren't you?"
"Do I look like it?"
"Yes. You can't fool the eyes of Detective Yunjung. What's on your mind these days?"
I thought she was just a kid.
But she's sharp...
Yeah, I do have a lot on my mind these days.
"The Super Day Tour feels ordinary. We just go to a few spots, give a gift, and that's it. It feels too simple."
"I liked it—it felt like a picnic. But you must have your reasons, right?"
"There's no special story or background tied to any of the rides or places in the park... so my explanations are just basic info. I feel like what we need is a story that leaves a memory."
Hearing that, Lee Yunjung fell silent with a serious expression, and did not speak until the ferris wheel ride was nearly over.
I felt bad. I thought maybe I'd burdened her.
"Director."
"Yes?"
"I think it's really nice that the ferris wheel goes so slowly."
"I've thought about maybe speeding it up when it's at the lower levels. It can feel frustratingly slow."
"No, it's perfect as it is. Trust me on this."
Unusually, Lee Yunjung insisted strongly.
"Director, you don't have to rush. It's normal not to have stories that stick in people's minds yet. Next Planet hasn't built up enough stories."
"I know, but... I have to make Super Day Tour meaningful—"
"There are just things you can't help. If you try to force it, people notice, and it becomes disappointing. It's not sincere."
I couldn't argue with her words.
She spoke more slowly and maturely than usual.
"As time goes by, stories will accumulate at Next Planet. And you'll be the best at making use of them. Because that's who you are."
She bowed to me once again.
"I'm always grateful to you, director. Aren't you creating a story for me too?"
"I haven't really done anything in particular..."
"No. If I hadn't met you, director, I would have remained just an ordinary university student Lee Yunjung, who hates studying, unsure if I should stay in Korea or move to Japan..."
She smiled.
"These days, I'm starting to want things. I've even started studying about theme parks. It's because, at meetings, I want to be helpful to you, director."
"You're doing really well already."
She shook her head emphatically.
"The reason I think this way is thanks to my time at Next Planet with you. Now, there's a lot I want to do. One of those is making strawberry waffles even tastier than my mom's. Do you know what that means?"
"I'm not the best at picking up hints like this."
"You've given me a future story, director, for me, Lee Yunjung."
She extended her pinky.
"When Super Day Tour has collected enough stories, let me experience it again someday."
"I will. For sure."
My heart pounded.
I don't know.
Just what is this emotion?
A mix of resolve to do better, a feeling of having been comforted, and wondering if it's okay to feel relieved in this situation—all tangled up in thoughts I can't sort out on my own.
Yet, what I do know is—
That I should keep going, one step at a time, like this.
***
A day passed.
Today, I have a meeting with the four-member band, 115km.
115km was unknown for a long time, but recently gained popularity.
Their songs, which deal with faint memories and emotions that can only be felt at certain times, have secured enthusiastic fans. That fits very well with the direction our theme park is trying to take right now.
That's probably why they saw our video and reached out to us.
The leader of 115km, Han Sang-il, walked into the office.
Han Sang-il had a neat, silver-glasses-wearing image.
"Director, I watched the recruit promotion video—truly impressive. Please pass on my thanks to its creator."
If Kim Junho had been here, he would have been grinning ear to ear.
"Recently, Yoo Ahra-nim released a song called 'Everything.' Have you seen the music video?"
Who is Yoo Ahra? She is, without exaggeration, the most popular singer in Korea right now.
Since her teens, when she was dubbed the nation's little sister, she's remained a top singer for over a decade.
I'd watched the music video for Everything in awe. It became a huge talking point for reinterpreting a hit Korean romance film from the 2000s.
"As luck would have it, 115km gained recent popularity with our latest release. But since we spent ten years in obscurity, we had to sell the copyrights of many unreleased songs just to get by."
I'd read about their hardship in an article.
They needed to release new songs, but everyone's financial struggles made it impossible to keep the band together, so they had to sell the copyrights to unreleased songs.
"One of them is 'Your Touch.' We sold its rights to Japan, and it became a big hit there, even inspiring an anime of the same name."
"Oh? I know that anime! Isn't it about a gloomy boy who loves books and can't blend in, but who slowly opens up thanks to a cheerful new transfer student? That youth coming-of-age anime?"
"That's right."
"So that... was inspired by a 115km song? I had no idea."
"Your Touch" is a smash-hit anime. I never knew there was such a backstory.
"We want to buy back the rights to that song and film a music video at Next Planet, in the style of Yoo Ahra-nim's Everything or your promo video. But we're low on funds..."
115km was asking Next Planet to invest in their project.
"There's not much time. The company holding the rights to Your Touch has just put them up for sale because of their own circumstances. They waited for us, as the original creators, but now... they can't hold out any longer."
So that's what's going on.
All in, the costs for filming the music video would be around one billion won.
It's an appealing project. I'm personally drawn to it.
The issue is:
Can Next Planet, which is running at a deficit, really afford to spend one billion won on this project?
And even if the music video is a success, how much publicity will it actually generate for the theme park? It's hard to predict.
Lastly, this is a song that was popular in Japan ten years ago. Will it really catch on with Korean audiences now?
115km's leader Han Sang-il sighed and spoke.
"I'm grateful for the executive vice president's offer as well. But I... if the division director helps me, I want to work with you."
Here's the proposal from the executive vice president and Business Strategy Division.
They'd work with Nonsan City to cover the costs of producing both the new song and the music video, but want the new song created entirely according to their wishes.
They want it to mention "Nonsan" in the lyrics and have the theme park as the setting, just like the famous song "Yeosu Beach" which turned Yeosu into a famed tourist spot.
Also, they want an upbeat, fast-tempo style beloved by people in their twenties nowadays.
That's not exactly a radical demand.
Nonsan City is offering to pay for all the rights to Your Touch.
Drawing in Nonsan City as a sponsor—what a move.
I just can't see how I can win against this. What on earth should I do?