Translator: Chamber

  Editor: Illidan

  “Why don’t we raise another new idol group? The passion for idols isn’t dying down ever since Eddios and DiaTeen appeared. I think we can at least make something out of that…”


  KangYoon shook his head hearing Lee HyunJi’s words, even though she was talking about the latest trend.

  “More than 100 girl groups debuted last year. I’m not sure if we should jump into the red ocean like that.”


  “But with our production prowess, we should be able to create one that’s different from the others, no? Like focusing on music, or going extreme performance… Just looking at Eddios, the sales from male fans are extremely large. I believe it will be alright to make another one like that.”


  KangYoon agreed with some of Lee HyunJi’s words. Since girl groups were mostly about appearance; musical prowess or dynamic performances were definitely a plus.

  However, KangYoon was well aware of the efforts put into raising a girl group to success. To stand out from numerous other girl groups, a girl group must first become an issue, however possible, to firmly engrave themselves to the public. Some even went as far as leaking footages of underwear slips. Moreover, even before he returned to the past, he saw the rise and fall of numerous girl groups so he didn’t want to go that far.

  ‘Even trainee girls with a lot of talent are downgraded into being ‘incompetent’ when they debut as a girl group. Bias is just that scary. We’ll be diving into a red ocean anyway, so the bias is…’


  KangYoon believed that it wouldn’t be easy even if he picked out trainees for a girl group.

  He spoke calmly.

  “Why don’t we pick the trainees first and then decide? Whether it’s a girl group or a solo artist, I think we should fit their aptitudes.”


  “Well, I guess Eunha, White Moonlight, and Eddios are all people that are hard to mix. At World, each of our artists has their unique traits. Focusing on individual traits, huh. That doesn’t sound bad.”


  “Thank you for understanding. Then let’s hold an audition. As for our method, I believe we should do it privately and not publicly.”


  “What? Privately?”


  Lee HyunJi tilted her head as she didn’t understand what he was saying. Public auditions were the norm in the case of well-known entertainment companies like MG, Yerang, Yoonseul, and the currently hot GNB. The advantage here was that the people with the intent and conviction would visit their companies, saving the company a lot of time and money.

  Right now, KangYoon was saying that he would throw away those advantages, so it was natural for her to be curious.

  “Trainees are important, but we don’t have that much financial leeway. I heard you never got a call back after giving the street boy and girl duo your business card. Having a private audition means that we’re looking for people around us or using something else entirely. Can we really do that?”


  Lee HyunJi was skeptical about this. She believed that it would be better to evaluate people that actually bothered to come to their company.

  When she didn’t have any confidence, KangYoon tried to persuade her.

  “How did JiMin come to our company?”


  “You brought her here, from an audition program…”


  “What do you think is the advantage of doing that?”


  “Hmmm…”


  Lee HyunJi rested her chin on her hands and contemplated it. Kim JiMin had dropped out of an audition program, and KangYoon reached out to her, raised her, and put her into the ranks of stars-

  Sir.

  Everything was included in her way of calling KangYoon.

  “A savior. Family, and good backing? Ah.”


  Lee HyunJi realized what it was. She unintentionally spoke what KangYoon was thinking of.

  “A family is exclusive to outsiders. What happens in the family is not easily known by people that are not family. However, members of the family know better than anyone else what occurs within. And they’re closer as well. To put it into perspective, I’m the father, director, you’re the…”


  “I’m not married.”


  Lee HyunJi pouted. KangYoon burst out laughing seeing her reaction.

  “Hahahaha, neither am I.”


  “Ugh, I should hear about this story after I’m married….”


  “Should I introduce someone to you?”


  “Why don’t you take care of yourself first? I see a certain someone at the ready…”


  “What?”


  “Just saying.”


  Lee HyunJi shrugged. She wasn’t going to continue down that line.

  They spoke again about picking trainees.

  “I’m planning to vitalize our website properly. Although it became somewhat active thanks to White Moonlight and Eddios, right now, it’s only the fans that visit. I’m planning to put various materials about music and artists. We should also utilize the video platform Tune to look for talent.”


  “So to sum it up, you want us to review user submitted content or find talented people through Tune and ask them to come for an audition?”


  “Yes. As for the audition, you and I will be looking through most of them, while some of the singers should participate as well.”


  Lee HyunJi, who was skeptical about this at first, seemed to understand where KangYOon was going with this.

  “That’s definitely unique. I think we can use this as marketing. A closely knit-together group of people who take care of each other… A World Family, so to speak?”


  “World Family, huh. That sounds nice.”


  Now that they had the general outline of the audition, KangYoon stretched his arms out.

  “Looks like I should get to work with SoYoung.”


  “Do your best. I hope she does well this time.”


  Lee HyunJi patted KangYoon’s back several times before leaving the rooftop.

  ***

  “Haa…”


  Park SoYoung sighed heavily.

  “Where am I supposed to start with this?”


  She ran the editing program and tried to think up several ways to edit, but nothing much came to mind. No, it would be better to say that her mind was blank.

  The song she received was titled ‘Streetlight’, and it was a song that was popular in 1987. It was a rather calm song with an acoustic melody.

  ‘JiMin wanted the original feel of the song.’


  She tried controlling the dials while considering Kim JiMin’s request in her mind, but she shook her head eventually. It was hard to do what she said.

  Just doing the percussion was hard to do. She tried combining dozens of drum sounds, but nothing was satisfactory. The original song was even better. Just the drums were a hurdle, so there was nothing to be said about the difficulty of the melody line.

  In the end, Park SoYoung ripped her hair out after wrestling with the song for several hours.

  “Ah, I can’t do this. I just can’t!”


  She tried walking around, running around, sitting, and did whatever she could to try and think of something, but nothing came to her mind. She ripped more and more hair out as time passed.

  At that time, some guests arrived at the studio. It was KangYoon and Kim JiMin.

  “Unni?”


  “Oh, JiMin.”


  Park SoYoung ruffled her hair immediately. However, her actions had already been seen by the two.

  KangYoon shook his head.

  “Can you not think of anything?”


  “The thing is…”


  Park SoYoung mumbled. She felt that she would be scolded if she told him that she wasn’t able to do a single line yet.

  However, KangYoon just chuckled and encouraged her.

  “JiMin.”


  “Yes?”


  “What kind of stage do you want?”


  “Uhm….”


  Kim JiMin fell into thought when KangYoon asked all of a sudden.

  Fancy spotlights shining down on her, a house band playing along, and dancers wearing fluttering dresses, and the audience would wave their hands in the air.

  The stage that Kim JiMin wanted was one that was neither fast nor slow but could still get the audience excited.

  After summing her thoughts, she then started talking about her opinion. KangYoon then turned around to Park SoYoung and smiled.

  “Do you feel anything yet?”


  “Ah, I do.”


  Park SoYoung, who was writing down what Kim JiMin said, nodded her head. KangYoon added.

  “When you can’t think of anything, asking for the singer’s opinion is the best way to go. After all, the one to stand on the stage is the singer.”


  “Ah, why didn’t I think of that?”


  Park SoYoung seemed to have grasped something. Then, Kim JiMin added.

  “You can call me anytime. You can leave me a message as well.”


  “Okay.”


  She now felt stupid for wrestling with the music so much. Park SoYoung became awkward.

  When she put on her headset again and went into editing, KangYoon and Kim JiMin quietly left the studio.

  ***

  “Yo~. Who’s this I see? JinSeo!”


  A resting lounge.

  JooAh, being greeted by her juniors, waved her hand at the person who rarely showed up.

  “Hello, unni.”


  “You’re acting so stiff.”


  JooAh laughed heartily seeing that Min JinSeo was rather down. Then, Min JinSeo smiled and grabbed her hand.

  “Sheesh. How have you been, unni?”


  “Fufu, I’m doing well, like I always am. How about you?”


  When the two top superstars sat down in the lounge, the trainees that filled the lounge left immediately. As both of these two girls had quite a temper, it was hard for the trainees to take it.

  Though, the two didn’t seem to mind…


  “Pfft, what? Did you go on holiday with the people at World? You went without me to such an interesting event?”


  When Min JinSeo talked about how she went to Jejudo with the people of World Entertainment, JooAh glared at her.

  “You were in Japan back then.”


  “Y, you should have told me regardless. Don’t do this again, okay?”


  JooAh’s eyes twitched.

  Seeing her disappointed, Min JinSeo spoke apologetically.

  “I’ll definitely call you next time.”


  “Tch, I worked all summer this year… These recent years make me feel like I’m getting more and more things on my schedule. You had it good, eh? Wearing a bikini and all?”


  “I didn’t get to wear one. I only wore hotpants.”


  “You still entered the sea, right?”


  When Min JinSeo nodded her head, JooAh started shaking. Someone was working, and someone was playing around…


  “Damn, I want to play around too… damn that contract.”


  “Sheesh, unni. You aren’t in a position where you have to care about such a thing.”


  When she said that, JooAh widened her eyes and spoke.

  “Girlie. How important do you think reputation is in this industry? Money-grubbing entertainers who switch companies on a whim all get tagged later as traitors. It’s good when I’m doing well, but what if I fall from grace? The only place that can protect me is my company. Just because I’m doing well, it’s not easy for me to ditch the place that raised me, don’t you think?”


  “That’s… true, I guess. But if the company continues to act weirdly, shouldn’t you think about it at least?”


  It was public knowledge that Min JinSeo did not get along with the directors. People were even betting on when Min JinSeo would leave. Obviously, JooAh knew this as well.

  “I don’t like those old men either, but it was chairman Won that picked and raised me. I should at least keep my fidelity towards him, right?”


  “……”


  “I guess the story’s different for you. It was KangYoon-oppa who picked and raised you after all. Dammit, If that was the case for me, I, too would have just…”


  Even while saying that, JooAh made a bitter smile.

  Although she had a petty attitude, JooAh considered MG above all else.

  This was the company that picked and raised her into a singer.

  Although the person who raised her was no longer here, JooAh still wished for that fact to remain.

  Min JinSeo hugged JooAh subconsciously. Although JooAh was taken aback, she still patted her back.

  “Unni…”


  “What’s up with you, girl? You have it good, don’t you? No one will say anything even if you do decide to follow KangYoon-oppa.”


  “……”


  Min JinSeo was unable to say anything. Everyone knew that she had a deep faith in KangYoon. Everyone was guessing that she would switch over to World Entertainment once it became large enough.

  Min JinSeo hesitated before speaking.

  “Unni, why don’t you… come with me?”


  JooAh stiffened. This was the first time Min JinSeo had directly said that to her. However, she replied with a bitter expression.

  “…No, I’m an MG person. I’m different from you.”


  “Unni, this place is…”


  “Stop right there. I know. But this has to do with my faith. Unless KangYoon-oppa decides to buy MG and take it over, I don’t think it will be easy for me to switch on my own accord.”


  “Unni…”


  “Fufu, aren’t I complicated? But please understand me here. We’re both women, aren’t we? Complex beings have complex reasons.”


  JooAh still had a bitter expression on.

  Actually, she was well aware that the company was walking downhill ever since chairman Won JinMoon had fallen ill.

  However, she still believed that it wasn’t right to betray the company that raised her to where she was. She believed that she should be the last person to stay even if everyone else left, as she thought that it was chairman Won JinMoon that raised her.

  “Ah, I rather hope KangYoon-oppa would just take over this company already. If that happens, I can’t help it, right?”


  JooAh’s half-joking words made Min JinSeo feel bitter.

  ***

  World Entertainment’s website was renewed.

  There were materials about the singers as well as many useful materials about learning music as well. There were many uploads about music theory, learning to play instruments, vocal training, and basic harmonics as well. Some even mistook the website for a place to learn music.

  When it was renewed, the number of people visiting the website increased as well. Before, it was mostly the fans of the artists, but now there were people who majored or had an interest in music. In this situation, a banner appeared on the website.

  – World Entertainment’s private user-submitted contents audition

  The method of entering was simple. Pick a song, anything was possible, and record a video of singing or dancing along to a song and upload it on the website.

  Although some felt some rejection of the word ‘private’, the reaction overall wasn’t so bad. Although it wasn’t that explosive, there were at least 10 videos uploaded every day.

  Of course, it was KangYoon and Lee HyunJi who had to look through those videos with reddened eyes.

  “Hm….”


  KangYoon shook his head and took off his headset after looking at a video of a man doing a headspin.

  As he wasn’t able to see music notes from videos, he had to watch the video carefully, so the fatigue was immense.

  “No, this is no good.”


  Lee HyunJi also didn’t seem to like the video of a lady singing and sighed. She watched the videos several times just in case she made a mistake in judgment, so it was exhausting for her.

  It had been several days already. Everyone was wrestling with the videos that were uploaded every now and then.

  “There’s none today either.”


  “You’re right.”


  KangYoon and Lee HyunJi both shook their heads. They say that only 1 out of 100 people would pass a public audition, and user-created videos weren’t that much different.

  ‘If only I could see the music notes through a medium… No, I need to enhance my listening. It’s not good to keep relying on those notes.’


  As someone in this industry, he had the basic skills, but even he himself could not say with confidence that he was better than everyone else in one aspect. As he was having a hard time judging without being able to see the music notes, he felt embarrassed.

  However, just then, Kim JaeHoon, who was borrowing Jung HyeJin’s computer to watch those videos, called out to the two.

  “Hyung, director.”


  “Yes?”


  The two walked towards him when he called out to the two. When the two arrived. Kim JaeHoon pulled out his headset and switched the music output to the speaker.

  “This person is singing trot, and she’s incredibly good.”


  “Trot?”


  Lee HyunJi’s eyes widened as this genre was completely unexpected.

  “Trot, huh? I wonder if there’s still a market for that.”


  “But… you should still listen to it once…”


  Kim JaeHoon was a bit taken aback at Lee HyunJi’s remark.

  The trot genre was on a downhill since it had a hard time procuring young fans. A lady singing trot? Lee HyunJi wasn’t that drawn to her.

  However, KangYoon was different.

  “I think we should decide after we listen to it.”


  KangYoon was right. Lee HyunJi nodded.

  When Kim JaeHoon played the video, a lady in her 20s, grabbing an empty soju bottle with a spoon in it appeared.

  “Isn’t this a company get-together dinner?”


  Lee HyunJi was flabbergasted after seeing the video.