056 Seventeen-year-old Shin Yuna

At the SBS Deungchon-dong Open Hall, inside the *Inkigayo* production team's office, Yoon Yun-hui only learned of the news after his arrival: his MC partner had been changed.

Indeed, Kim Min-ju, whom his childhood friend Lee Jun-ho had boasted about with absolute certainty, had not appeared.

The person Yoon Yun-hui met instead was a Chief Producer (CP) from the SBS Entertainment Division. At SBS, anyone who needed to know Yoon Yun-hui's status as a member of the board of directors already knew it.

Following the inauguration of the second-generation successor of Taeyoung Group, and after a series of overt and covert power struggles between Yoon Yun-hui and the new leadership, the current organizational structure of SBS Broadcasting System was as follows:

President and Chief Executive Officer + Audit Team
Strategic Development Office → Policy Bureau, Marketing Bureau
Programming and Business Headquarters → Programming Bureau, Business Bureau
Production Headquarters → Production Bureau, Broadcasting Bureau
News Headquarters → News Bureau, Sports Bureau
Management Headquarters → Administration Bureau, Technical Bureau

Among them, the Drama Headquarters had been separated from the main broadcasting station earlier this year and merged with several subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, the Entertainment Division, responsible for variety show production, was also slated to be spun off into a more autonomous subsidiary at the appropriate time.

With bureaus shifting left and right, personnel changes had been extremely drastic.

The only constant was the network's president. Since Yoon Yun-hui and Taeyoung Group failed to negotiate a candidate mutually satisfactory to both sides, they simply decided to retain the previous president.

At the very least, that individual possessed strong administrative capabilities and managed the network quite well.

The personnel appointments Yoon Yun-hui could unilaterally decide were pitifully few; he had only managed to secure the Policy Bureau under the Strategic Development Office (where the position of Office Chief remained vacant), the Audit Team, and—oh, most crucially of all—the SBS Labor Union.

This was the path Yoon Yun-hui was most familiar with.

When Yoon Yun-hui arrived at the *Inkigayo* set, the Entertainment Division CP who came out to greet him was the very same CP he had previously contacted to arrange resources for Kwon Eun-bi:

"Director Yoon, long time no see."

"It hasn't been that long, has it? Look, I've come right over to report to you."

Yoon Yun-hui joked lightly, then immediately brought up the matter of his partner:

"What do you mean by what you said earlier—that my partner has been changed?"

"During our last phone call, Director Yoon, you mentioned that your partner would be arranged entirely according to the production team's workflow, correct?"

The SBS Entertainment Division CP was quite rigorous about details. Yoon Yun-hui nodded.

"That's right, that's what I said, and I meant it literally. There's no room for overinterpretation."

"As for Min-ju-ssi, I did indeed discuss the arrangement with Director Lee Jun-ho of CJ Entertainment, but we hadn't signed the contract yet. Then Min-ju-ssi's own agency approached me, hoping to secure an opportunity for her to have a solo showcase..."

"So she went to *The Show*?"

Yoon Yun-hui proactively finished the sentence the CP had left trailing.

SBS had two music broadcast programs: *Inkigayo*, which aired on Sundays, and *The Show*, which aired on Tuesdays.

The former, alongside the other two major public networks' music programs *Music Bank* and *Show! Music Core*, made up the "Big Three."

Meanwhile, *The Show* served as a platform for rookie groups and smaller agencies to showcase themselves.

Furthermore, *The Show*, with its distinct positioning, was broadcast on SBS's subsidiary entertainment channel, whereas *Inkigayo* aired on the main SBS terrestrial channel.

"Yes. In the final contract we signed, Min-ju-ssi will be hosting solo on *The Show* for a period of time."

"That's quite good. It seems her agency is very attentive."

Yoon Yun-hui remained noncommittal.

That kid Lee Jun-ho—why did he always manage to stir up such unexpected complications? Fortunately, Yoon Yun-hui was already used to his younger brother's unpredictable streaks; he was far from being a detrimental teammate.

Still, had something happened to Kim Min-ju? Why transfer to *The Show*? *Inkigayo* should have been much better suited for her exposure needs.

"This is the production team's domain, of course I support it."

"Whew, I'm glad you understand, Director. However, the partner the production team has arranged for you instead—I think you'll like her. She'll be arriving shortly."

"Oh? You left me a surprise?"

Yoon Yun-hui smiled.

He was not about to abuse his status as a shareholder to forcefully interfere with SBS's operations; wouldn't that contradict his original intentions?

Take the new variety show he had helped arrange for Kwon Eun-bi, for instance. The program inherently required one or two fixed female idol guests, and Yoon Yun-hui had merely provided a rather sound recommendation.

If the production team adopted it, that meant they recognized Kwon Eun-bi's capabilities; it was hardly Yoon Yun-hui's personal achievement.

Wait.

It seemed Yoon Yun-hui's sense of principle wasn't as rigid as it used to be.

Had he always been this adept at navigating interpersonal politics?

"Well, I think it qualifies as a surprise. It's someone you've met before. Ah, speak of the devil, she's here."

At that moment, Yoon Yun-hui was inside a conference room at the SBS Deungchon-dong Open Hall. The walls separating the conference room from the hallway were made of frosted glass. Turning his head, he caught sight of several figures outside.

"Hello, I'm Yuna from ITZY~"

The youthful and radiant Shin Yuna pushed open the door full of energy, bouncing like a little rabbit to offer her greetings. Then, her eyes landed on a familiar face with delightful surprise:

"Yun-hui oppa!"

"Yuna, so it's you."

Yoon Yun-hui wore a smile on the outside while feeling frozen on the inside.

What on earth? Why was it Shin Yuna?

If he remembered correctly, Shin Yuna was also born in 2003. She was only seventeen years old this year—a minor!

In fact, Shin Yuna's birthday had not yet arrived this year; she was actually born three days later than Yoon Yun-hui, on December 6th, though Yoon Yun-hui was unaware of this detail.

Strictly speaking, therefore, Shin Yuna was only sixteen years old.

"Yun-hui oppa~ Hahaha, you're my partner! Wow, totally cool!"

Who wouldn't be thrilled to run into a handsome guy? After their chance encounter in Jeonju last time, Shin Yuna had formed an exceptionally favorable impression of Yoon Yun-hui.

Unlike the Jeonju country girl Hwang Yeji, whose attitude toward Yoon Yun-hui held a vague sense of wariness, Shin Yuna possessed a completely childlike mindset—being genuinely a child herself—and simply couldn't say no to glamorous, dazzling things.

Yoon Yun-hui's temperament happened to strike right in her comfort zone, completely incomparable to ordinary male idols.

"Sigh, you're making me blush. Our shining Yuna, I'm very glad to be your partner."

"Please take good care of me, Yun-hui oppa~"

Shin Yuna proactively sat down in the chair next to Yoon Yun-hui. Catching a glimpse of her manager's gaze from behind, she finally remembered to restrain the corners of her mouth, which had been curving upward a bit too boldly.

Confirmed by a glance: absolute brat territory.

Yoon Yun-hui sighed inwardly. He acknowledged that Shin Yuna was quite pretty, but his own self-perception was that of an adult who had already stepped into the adult world of shouldering responsibilities.

Therefore, no matter how pretty a minor like Shin Yuna might be, it was useless in his eyes—his heart would not flutter.

Oh well, looking on the bright side, working with a lively and adorable kid like Shin Yuna would at least make the job quite pleasant.

Moreover, once Shin Yuna entered work mode, her performance turned out to be quite earnest. Yoon Yun-hui silently approved of her attitude.

The *Inkigayo* production team began their meeting, outlining the responsibilities of the MCs.

Regarding hosting, Yoon Yun-hui had a fair amount of experience; during his freshman year, he had served as the student council spokesperson and hosted numerous events.

Shin Yuna, on the other hand, had guest-starred as a special MC for Mnet's music show for two episodes earlier that year, meaning her broadcasting experience actually surpassed Yoon Yun-hui's.

Seeing that the production team had covered most of the essentials, the CP finally brought up the concluding topic:

"According to the tradition of music programs, when new MCs take over, there's usually an MC debut stage. Well then, Yun-hui-ssi, Yuna-ssi, do the two of you have any thoughts on this?"

"Hmm, anything is fine by me. It mostly depends on Yun-hui oppa. Oppa is an actor, after all."

Shin Yuna cast an inquisitive gaze toward Yoon Yun-hui, her large eyes shining brightly.

An MC debut stage? A special collaboration performance?

Uh.

Singing and dancing?