Translator: Synopsis

  Lunchtime.

  KangYoon was at a Chinese restaurant with Chairman Won JinMoon and President Lee HyunJi. The sweet and sour pork of that place was first class, so it was a place that Chairman Won JinMoon visited a lot.

  “This place is known for its sweet and sour pork. Let’s eat.”


  The black soybean noodles and the sweet and sour pork which was hunger-provoking came out, and they took up their chopsticks. Chairman Won JinMoon asked KangYoon while mixing the black soybean noodles.

  “You said you had a little sister?”


  “I do.”


  “If she looks like you, then she will be a beauty. Why don’t you bring her here? Who knows, she might hit it off. Hahaha.”


  Chairman Won JinMoon laughed. Of course, it was half joke, and half serious. As he knew that he had no ill intentions behind it, KangYoon laughed it out.

  “Unfortunately, my sister doesn’t have any interest in the entertainment industry.”


  “Well, that’s a shame. Isn’t that true, Miss HyunJi?”


  “It is.”


  “As hard as ever, eh.”


  At the angled attitude of President Lee HyunJi, chairman Won JinMoon laughed. He didn’t want her so hard even at lunchtime, but President Lee HyunJi was as hard as ever.

  The three were eating when Chairman Won JinMoon’s phone started dancing wildly. It was a call from the secretary office.

  “What is it? What? JooAh is?”


  At the word ‘JooAh,’ both KangYoon and President Lee HyunJi stopped eating.

  “Now that’s something. I understand.”


  The call ended, and Chairman Won JinMoon turned his gaze towards KangYoon.

  “KangYoon.”


  “Yes, Chairman.”


  “You know what JooAh did? Ha, well, what to say about this…”


  “Did JooAh create a problem?”


  KangYoon was confused. JooAh wasn’t a person to create trouble. She wasn’t gambling, nor dating, or had any strange interests… But Chairman Won JinMoon was grabbing his head as if he had a headache.

  “It’s the first time I’ve seen this kind of situation in my life. They said she went to give your sister a CD. Sehyun high school, is that right?”


  “What?”


  KangYoon’s voice became high pitch. Did lightning strike a plane in some clear skies?

  “They said she made a newbie manager drive a Borsche and she went there while emitting the aura of a celebrity everywhere. Thanks to that, the school was paralyzed, and it’s all chaos now. They said even the police was dispatched… Hey, KangYoon, KangYoon!!”


  Before the savoriness of the sweet and sour pork disappeared, KangYoon left the restaurant……

  “Thank you. Yes, thank you.”


  Take a picture, then sign, then take a picture, then sign.

  A signing event was already taking place in HeeYoon’s school.

  “*Sob*!! I love you!!”


  “Me too.”


  JooAh hugged a male fan skillfully and showed them extreme fan service. There was one manager and no guardian, but she was very daring.

  “JooAh-unni…”


  “Just believe in me. And what unni. We’re friends.”


  HeeYoon looked at such JooAh with worry, but JooAh winked as if it was alright. The school was considerate and even stopped the school and thanks to that, HeeYoon’s third year, 4th class was filled with people to get a sign from JooAh.

  “YEON JOOAH!!”


  But then, a sharp voice that pierced through the crowd exploded. The students whispered to each other about what his identity was, but the person penetrated the human wave, ignoring all those.

  “Hey, it’s here, here.”


  Moreover, JooAh was calm.

  The one who went through the students with difficulty and stood in front of JooAh was KangYoon.

  “Oppa.”


  “HeeYoon.”


  When KangYoon was panting while standing in front of JooAh, HeeYoon was at her side. They were even crossing arms as if they became close already. Surrounding them, people were standing in a circle, and the people who wanted a sign were standing in a line.

  “Get out; it’s my turn.”


  KangyYoon was about to be pushed out even though he came here with difficulty.

  “Pfft.”


  At that figure, both JooAh and HeeYoon laughed.

  “I’m sorry. You’ll get your sign soon This is a Team Leader from my company. He’s not here to receive a sign.”


  “Oooh. Okay.”


  “And he’s also HeeYoon’s older brother.

  Not only the male student waiting for the sign, everybody in the classroom widened their eyes.

  ‘I knew something was up. JooAh was sticking to HeeYoon for that reason.’


  ‘Team Leader? How high is that? There’s…’


  ‘Wow…’


  Envious eyes, amazed eyes, dazed eyes, etc… the gazes looking at HeeYoon was various. The look of the people who thought that JooAh was crossing arms with HeeYoon as a fan service changed.

  “JooAh, why are you speaking…”


  “What’s wrong with it? HeeYoon. You can be proud of your brother. The one who made me hit it big in Japan was KangYoon-oppa. If it wasn’t for him, I might not be able to go around like this, you know?”


  “Really?”


  This time, HeeYoon’s eyes widened. KangYoon’s face tickled when he heard praises in front of his sister.

  “JooAh, stop sugarcoating it. Let’s go already. The students have classes.”


  “Noooooo~~~~~!!”


  KangYoon was about to take JooAh out when he heard the exaggerated reactions from the surroundings. It was a shout by all the students with one heart. KangYoon was surprised.

  “Students should study. This…”


  “See, oppa? This is my popularity.”


  “……”


  KangYoon, in the end, smacked JooAh’s head.

  “Ouch!! It hurts!!”


  “Please let me hit you today. Come here!!”


  “Hiik!! Violent Team Leader go away!!”


  JooAh produced a speed to hide behind HeeYoon quickly, and a scene was created. The students naturally recorded this lively scene.

  Later, one of the photos from the students’ phones with JooAh being smacked by KangYoon would become a legend with the title ‘JooAh’s Humiliation’ and become a topic.

  ***

  “This is not it!!”


  Lee JunYeol threw the papers to his manager. Manager Yu SeungCheol was insulted badly, but he endured as if he was used to it.

  “Hyung, you’re saying this is wrong, and that is no good. It’s the 10th plan now. We changed the planner three times already.”


  “Argh, I don’t know. I’m about to go crazy.”


  Lee JunYeol roughly bit the cigar and spat out smoke. His stuffy heart came out as smoke. While looking at that dark expression, manager Yu SeungCheol calmly explained.

  “They said that this is the best choice considering our situation and budget. Hyung, this is enough. If you keep being stubborn, then comebacks or whatever – they will all become bubbles.”


  “So you want me to have a comeback on a stage like this? I’m Sedy. You are doing this to me too?”


  Sedy.

  Real name Lee JunYeol.

  As a singer on his 4th year, he was a solo singer who climbed to the top once. And such a person was trying to have a comeback stage in 2 years. They tried to have a showcase for the comeback stage but there wasn’t enough budget, and to request TV stations, there weren’t any stages he liked. In the end, they chose an open radio broadcast, but now, it was the stage that was the problem. As Lee JunYeol trashed every stage sketch he had a look at, the one whose heart was boiling was manager Yu SeungCheol.

  “If you say everything is no good, then it really will be bad. Hyung, at this rate, you’ll have to delay your comeback.”


  “Solving that is your job.”


  “Ah, I’m going crazy…”


  He was stubborn like a little child, and he didn’t listen to words. In the end, manager Yu SeungCheol was only boiling his heart until he came out.

  “Hey, SeungCheol, did you persuade him?”


  Outside, President Kim TaeSu of Duka Entertainment, which Lee JunYeol belonged to, was waiting. He approached thinking ‘what if.’


  “He doesn’t listen. President, what should we do about that?”


  “In the end, it’s this. Ah. I’m going to go crazy. That dumbass… We’ve already made the distribution contract with MG, so if the comeback isn’t made, it will be all ruined.”


  President Kim TaeSu was unsettled. The comeback was literally advertisement. What good is there if there’s no advertisement even if an album comes out? The office will be flooded with those albums. He rapidly spun his head.

  If a person were cornered, he would do something.

  “SeungCheol.”


  “Yes, President.”


  “I’ll go visit MG for a bit.”


  “You want to delay the distribution contract?”


  “Are you crazy? Are they people who would say they will do that just because we said so? I’ll request for help. Who was it that made JooAh big again in Japan?”


  “Lee KangYoon? No way, how can we meet that kind of person? President? President!!”


  Manager Yu SeungCheol didn’t even finish speaking, but President Kim TaeSu took his blazer and ran outside. He was desperate. He needed to hurry.

  ***

  There was an incident that was not an incident with JooAh, but KangYoon’s company life was peaceful.

  In the morning, he would receive a report about the girl group project, and after ordering some improvements, he would organize some materials. In the afternoon, he would go down to check on the practice rooms, and he will have a meeting with the planning team and the budget team about the project. After leaving work, he would have dinner with HeeYoon and end finish up. And his day would be over.

  It was a repetition of these kind of days. Without a big problem, KangYoon’s days flowed like water.

  Until one day, it was when KangYoon went up to the President’s office for a report. President Lee HyunJi approved of the report and put it on the side. And KangYoon said goodbye before leaving.

  “Would you take a seat? There is something to talk about.”


  At the unusual development, KangYoon was confused. A conversation with the President. Originally, talking with your superiors was a nervous thing. Moreover, President Lee HyunJi showed manners of making the coffee herself. His nervousness increased.

  “Do you remember about the concert team I talked to you last time?”


  “The thing where you told me to take something up if I had time while doing the girl group project?”


  “Yes, that. The concert team which only worked for the company will grow in size, and I’m planning to operate a specialized concert team. I want you, Team Leader KangYoon, to supervise that.”


  Concert team. It referred to planning, producing, etc. a concert performance as a whole. A big company like MG Entertainment had enough surplus resources to operate a concert team by itself. If it operated solely for the company before, now they were thinking of expanding to receive requests from outside and do it professionally.

  “President. Working on the girl group project and on the concert team is in no way easy.”


  “Of course rewards will follow. You checked your bank account after the work with JooAh ended, right?”


  KangYoon stepped back once, but President Lee HyunJi stepped forward towards him. And with money too. KangYoon was shocked at the number of digits he saw for the first time on his bank account, and he could do various things for HeeYoon.

  President Lee HyunJi continued speaking.

  “I believe that Team Leader Lee has ambition. If this concert team goes well, I’m thinking of making it an independent corporation.

  KangYoon gulped. A team I was in will become an independent organization. This was something huge for a salaryman. Of course, a successful career wasn’t everything for KangYoon. But there was merit in that he could look higher.

  “It’s a cool-headed decision from judging Team Leader KangYoon until now. If you weren’t here, I would have never thought of activating the concert team for real. The girl group, concerts – I offer you in thinking that we can do both. Let’s do this together.”


  “……”


  KangYoon hesitated. This was definitely an opportunity. Trap? That wasn’t possible. However, he still thought over it carefully. He also thought of his ‘past’.

  ‘I did hear that there was a concert team in MG Entertainment. However, I didn’t hear about its size. If they wanted to raise it, then I would have definitely known about it. But raise it like this?’


  In his knowledge, the scale of the concert team of MG Entertainment wasn’t big. And so, they sometimes outsourced important concerts. But to raise that team…


  An unknown future was definitely a source of fear. However, KangYoon felt excited.

  “I will try.”


  Concert team. A new challenge.

  KangYoon nodded his head strongly.

  President Lee HyunJi seemed satisfied and held out a paper.

  “This is the first work for the concert team.”


  KangYoon received it.

  [Sedy comeback request.]

  ‘Sedy? Wait, that delinquent?’


  From the start, it was a tough customer. Thinking that doing a concert together won’t be easy, KangYoon resolved himself.

  ***