Translator: Synopsis

  Lee HyunJi’s work speed was very fast.

  It took less than two days for her to buy the sound dampening materials for Lee HyunAh and the band. Soon after, she was also finished with putting up employment ads.

  KangYoon heard from Lee HyunJi only a few days later that Lee HyunJi selected some candidates through the 1st interview.

  “…That was quick.”


  “It’s just the 1st interview. There are 3 candidates.”


  “Out of how many?”


  “Twelve. Our wages were good, so there were quite a lot of applicants. They’ll be coming today so please take care of the interview.”


  Around 2 pm, the applicants arrived. Jung HyeJin gave them coffee, while KangYoon and Lee HyunJi started the interview.

  KangYoon didn’t drag out the interview. He asked mostly practical things from what kind of people they managed to what they thought the industry was heading to. Since he told them to come in comfortable clothing, the applicants came with neat clothes that weren’t suits.

  After one interviewee left, KangYoon shook his head.

  “President, what is it?”


  “I don’t like him that much. He has a lot of experience, but I feel like he will be swept away.”


  “Swept away? What do you mean?”


  When Lee HyunJi didn’t understand him, KangYoon explained.

  “To manage a celebrity, I believe that there is a need for clear personal views on matters as well. A manager must consider the view of the company, as well as the celebrity and mediate between the two. But the applicants right now feel like parrots instead of mediators.”


  “Are those the words from a senior of yours?”


  “Fuu…. Maybe.”


  KangYoon sighed. Then, he asked for the final applicant and Jung HyeJin guided the last applicant to the interview area.

  This applicant had a tall stature and some heft to him as well. His eyes were sharp despite the na?ve looking face. KangYoon greeted him and turned his eyes to the letter of personal introduction.

  “Mr. Kim DaeHyun. 30 years old. 2 years of experience. So, you managed one celebrity for a long time. Jeon HyoJin, huh. 1st rate actress. She’s rumored to be picky, but you managed her for 2 years. Quite the feat, I should say.”


  “Thank you, sir.”


  “Why did you apply?”


  KangYoon gave the most difficult and most annoying question for all interviewees.

  “The biggest reason is the wages.”


  “The wages….”


  “During my two years at the previous company, my wages were frozen.”


  “Oh, my.”


  KangYoon clicked his tongue. Money troubles were the most problematic. His wages might have been frozen due to his lack of ability, but he didn’t ask that straight up. He thought that was etiquette.

  “So, you applied because the wages were high.”


  “There’s that, but I also liked the fact that this was a new company.”


  “Really? Don’t people usually avoid new companies because it’s unstable?”


  “The company I was at before had several rules since it was a big company. It was stable, and there were systems in place. However, it was hard to go up. However, if it’s at the starting level, I thought that I may be able to grow the scale of the company with my skills.”


  This applicant was very challenging, and his words were okay.

  KangYoon asked many other things as well. Mostly about practical work. For example, his actions when a celebrity has met with certain circumstances, or his work ethic.

  KangYoon spent quite a lot of time in the final interview. This person was different from the previous two. KangYoon had a lot to ask.

  KangYoon took care of all of his questions and ended the interview. After sending out the last interviewee, all the interviews were over.

  “Phew. It’s over.”


  Lee HyunJi stretched her arms. Judging other people wasn’t so easy to do. KangYoon took Lee HyunJi’s evaluation of the people and compared it with his own.

  “So, you too like the last one, director.”


  “I liked his honesty. And he looks like he won’t scheme. But the motivation for application was money, pfft. That was a little funny.”


  “Was it Mr. DaeHyun? Looks like I should contact his previous company and ask them how he worked.”


  “I’ll do that. Don’t you have musical work to do?”


  “Oh, yes.”


  KangYoon immediately stood up and headed to the basement studio. He was planning to finish the arrangement that he couldn’t finish yesterday. But on his way down, he saw the door to the 1st floor practice room open. In curiosity, he went inside.

  “There, a little bit to the left. To the left! Hey! It’s off-angle!”


  With Lee HyunAh’s shout, the practice studio was under noise-proofing construction. Kim JinDae picked up heavy insulating foam and stuck it on the door and next to the door, while Lee ChaHee stuck the rest of the sound dampening materials onto the wall. Lee HyunAh went up the ladder and stuck them on the ceiling.

  ‘Amazing.’


  Lee HyunAh’s stomach was showing as her shirt was tied up at the bottom, and she was sweating. She was currently working while showing her thin waist.

  “Oh? President, hello.”


  Kim JinDae greeted KangYoon first. The band then stopped working and approached KangYoon. Lee HyunAh, who was on the ladder, also carefully climbed down.

  “You are amazing. You even climb ladders?”


  “3 years of being indie, this much is natural.”


  KangYoon was somewhat proud to see Lee HyunAh change so much in 3 years, from the girl that was so shy that she couldn’t even hand out her own composition to the rest of the team.

  “Have you eaten yet?”


  “Not yet….”


  Lee HyunAh blurred her words. This was a signal that they should eat. KangYoon took out his credit card without saying much.

  “Eat some jajangmyeon (black soybean noodles).”


  “Yay!”


  KangYoon gave them the card and turned around. He had to finish up his arrangement.

  While the band was hopping in joy, Lee HyunAh pouted instead.

  ‘Tch, I was going to ask him to eat together.’


  “Hey, hey. HyunAh! What do you want to eat?”


  “Jumbo sized! The most expensive one.”


  Kim JinDae asked, and Lee HyunAh replied that, but in the end, the menu was unified into spicy or chilly. Lee ChaHee’s opinion that they shouldn’t piss off the president so early subdued all of them. Lee HyunAh grumbled and stuffed the noodles in her mouth.

  “You’ll become a pig you know.”


  “Right back at you.”


  Lee HyunAh snorted at Kim JinDae’s words and stole the soup from him as well.

  ***

  “It’s done!”


  When balancing, the last process of arrangement was done, KangYoon screamed out in joy. Kim JiMin, who was studying harmonics at the back, was surprised and came to him.

  “Is it done?”


  “Yup. Wanna listen?”


  “Yes, please.”


  KangYoon played the completed song. This was pure music recording without any voice. The several speakers installed inside the studio started generating various colors of music. Then, those notes combined into one and created light. It was a very bright white light. The intensity of the light only became stronger as it went to the chorus and into the climax.

  “The song’s good….’


  Kim JiMin exclaimed. Like KangYoon, she tapped her right feet along with the rhythm. She even imitated KangYoon’s humming.

  “The song’s okay, right?”


  “Yes. It’s so good. I get that ‘feel’.”


  “That’s good. Next time, try to express some more. Your expressivity will also increase.”


  “Yes.”


  Kim JiMin soon went back to studying. She immersed herself in studying both harmonics and the guitar.

  Meanwhile, KangYoon saved the song onto a USB drive and then contacted Jay Han. Jay said that he will soon be at the company and ended the call. He seemed to be in quite a hurry.

  Not even an hour later, Jay Han was led by Jung HyeJin inside the studio. KangYoon greeted him and let him listen to the song. Jay Han received the score and listened to the song while imagining his voice inside his head. The rhythmic R&B style song captivated him instantly. However, the worry that he may be the first to drop out among the top 10 grabbed his feet.

  “The song’s great. But….”


  Jay Han paused there for a second. When KangYoon looked at him doubtfully, he continued to speak.

  “I’m not sure if this fits my voice or not. I do like R&B, but….”


  “Then why don’t we monitor it right away?”


  “Can we?”


  Jay Han accepted KangYoon’s offer. KangYoon gave him some time to get to know the song while he prepared for the recording. Jay Han borrowed Kim JiMin’s guitar and learned the song while playing it. Kim JiMin looked at that scene with curiosity.

  After around 30 minutes, Jay Han said that he learned the song. KangYoon told him to go inside the booth and turned on the equipment. He set the mic to compliment his voice and started recording to monitor it later.

  – The closed eyes – look only at me –


  The drum beats and the bassline harmonized, and Jay Han’s deep voice started ringing throughout the studio. The blue notes from his voice combined with the notes from the instrumentals and created white light.

  ‘It’s combing well.’


  Although his pronunciation wasn’t perfect, the song still created a strong white light. The fact that he went with something that wasn’t hard to pronounce was quite effective. Although his awkward dialect-like words and the weird accents on improper syllables had some problems, this could be fixed through practice later.

  After the first verse, Jay Han left the booth. He wanted to listen to his own voice as soon as possible.

  “Oh….”


  He became touched by his own voice harmonizing with the music and closed his eyes. He was happy as though he found his matching clothes. However, KangYoon said that it was too early to celebrate and shook his head.

  “You must practice your pronunciation a little more. Although we went with an easier song, you aren’t completely there yet.”


  “Yes. I’ll practice a lot. Really…. Thank you so much!”


  Jay Han’s voice was filled with joy and emotion. Until now, he was always pointed out by the public that he was all about looks and had lots of problems with his pronunciation. But with this song, he felt that he would be able to defeat all of those opinions in one go.

  He received the score and the USB from KangYoon and left World Entertainment. He expressed his gratitude several times on the way out. KangYoon said that it was okay and asked him to show something good on the stage.

  ***

  It was a rare holiday today.

  Although it was, Lee HyunJi couldn’t rest easy at home. She bought a basket of fruits and headed to S hospital, the largest hospital in Seoul. There, she went through a simple process and headed to a special room in one of the top floors. Going past several people in suits and medical gowns, there was a door.

  She carefully opened the door and entered. Inside was a sofa, wall-mounted TV as well as many other decorations Without the hospital bed, this would be mistaken for a hotel room.

  “Well, well. If it isn’t HyunJi.”


  “It has been a while, Chairman.”


  On the bed was the one she was meeting today. Chairman Won JinMoon of MG Entertainment. Unlike before, he had to meet Lee HyunJi with a very pale face. He did raise his voice to greet Lee HyunJi, but his voice no longer had the grandeur of before. The rubber pipe stuck below his nose made him look even sicker.

  “Hur hur…. How long has this been? I think it’s been more than a year.”


  “It hasn’t been a year yet. I also came here a lot after I left the company.”


  “Did you?’


  He smiled bitterly as though he remembered something bad.

  “Those times were the good times. There was KangYoon, and there was you. I miss the days when everything worked out fine. What is this balance between factions? I was too greedy. I only desired for both sides to grow… *sigh*. If I supported one side more, then KangYoon should be a director around now too. You’ll be my right hand too. If that happened, this would have never happened.”


  “Chairman…..”


  When Lee HyunJi looked at him with a sad expression, Chairman Won JinMoon smiled saying that it was alright. However, his smile was a weak one.

  “Ah, no. it’s fine, it’s fine. I’m just complaining since it feels so bad nowadays. JinPyo, that guy is currently working in my stead but there’s no way the directors are so easy…. Damn those stupid men. They sent Eddios off to America, and JinSeo off to China. How does that make any sense? Their reasons are grand too. Eddios has enough support inside the country. They can come back anytime. JinSeo also needs to work in a bigger market for her future. In the end, it’s all about their own asses, isn’t it? *Sigh*… They don’t even think about that there are new groups appearing in the country. Why do they keep going too far….”


  Chairman Won JinMoon grumbled to Lee HyunJi. While peeling an apple, Lee HyunJi quietly listened to him.

  “America and China, huh. Those kids must be having a hard time.”


  “That’s right. HyunJi, what do you think?”


  “If it were up to me, I would have objected until the end. Even JooAh failed in America after all.”


  “Fuu. Yeah. Those guys screwed JooAh up as well. But they still can’t get themselves together. Just how much loss must they taste before they…. *cough cough*.”


  He seemed to have gotten agitated as he ended up coughing. Lee HyunJi was about to press the bell for support, but Chairman Won JinMoon gestured her to stop, saying that it was okay. Fortunately, he calmed down quickly.

  “Are you okay?”


  “I’m fine, I’m fine. If only my body was in shape, I could have done something. You be careful too. Let your guard down and you might end up like me.”


  “Sheesh, Chairman.”


  “Next time, I wish to see KangYoon too. I know that he’s working without rest, but I still do want to see him.”


  “Understood.”


  Lee HyunJi nodded her head.

  After that, she peeled fruits for the chairman and even took him out in a wheelchair for a walk. Seeing someone who was once the top of the industry falling to such a state, she felt bitter.

  ***

  “Hello? I’m the presenter of Korea ONE STAR….”


  Friday evening.

  Korea ONE STAR’s live broadcast began. After today, the top 10 would be reduced to top 8. The viewers, judges, and the audience got themselves ready for the ride.

  However, the most nervous people were the top 10 who were waiting behind the stage.

  “Fuu, fuu….”


  One of them, named Yang JiWon, heaved deep breaths to calm herself down. The other contenders also calmed themselves down in their own way.

  “Huh? Oppa, what are you doing?”


  Kang YoungJoo, one of the top 10, looked at Jay Han with curiosity.

  “I’i frathithii (I’m practicing).”


  “You can take the pen out of your mouth you know….”


  Jay Han was practicing his pronunciation. Like what KangYoon said, he practiced pronunciation using methods that actors and voice actors used.

  Kang YoungJoo kept watching Jay Han in curiosity but eventually left seeing that he didn’t react much. However, Jay Han still focused on his practice.

  Waiting time finished quickly. The edited footage of the dorm lifestyle was broadcasted, and each of the top 10 went on to the stage.

  “Good luck!”


  “Unni, do your best!”


  “Oppa, you too!”


  The top 10 cheered for each other. However, they inwardly put up guards thinking that they shouldn’t drop out first. The waiting room was a silent war zone.

  – I – love you – with my all —


  Showing fancy vibrato voice, the man before Jay Han showed his performance. The judges gave scores on their own standards, and the viewers that cheered for them showed support by texting.

  After the song was over, the candidate stood in front of the judges. The leftmost female judge, Hong SeYeon, a songwriter, started her opinions first.

  “Well done. I have listened to your song very well. This song might have gotten a little slow if you let your guard down, but you still brought out the essence well. However, I personally feel rather regrettable that the beginning and the end didn’t balance out well. If you controlled your voice a little better, you could have brought us a song that was done more tastefully. It was a good song.”


  “Thank you.”


  “As for my score.”


  The LCD screen next to Hong SeYeon started rising. The score was 92. It was neither high nor low.

  Following that, Moon SangJae gave 94. The problem lay with Lee JaeHyuk.

  “Well done. I actually think differently from the previous two people. This song, ‘Fate’, is all about controlling power. Moreover, in the arrangement, you gave accents on the control of strength. However, that wasn’t enough in my opinion, and the song overall ended up less powerful than it should be It’s a little bit of a pity. The reason I tried to stop you from doing this song was because it feels different to listen and to sing. Nonetheless, you have done a good job. As for my score.”


  Lee JaeHyuk’s scoreboard started rising. The score stopped at 86. Today, Lee JaeHyuk’s scores were relatively lower than in the previous weeks. He didn’t have a great expression as though he was disappointed by the top 10.

  92, 94, 86. That was this person’s score.

  “Thank you.”


  Consoling himself, the man went behind the stage.

  “Mr. Jay Han! Are you ready?”


  “Yes.”


  Hearing the call from the FD (Floor director), Jay Han took out the pen from his mouth. It was time to show what he was capable of. Guided by the FD, he moved towards the stage.