Translator: Chamber

  Editor: Illidan

  “It’s the first time I’m seeing something like this too. Wow….”


  Min JinSeo exclaimed in a quiet voice while sitting by the window.

  The magnificent night view seemed to light her heart as well.

  KangYoon approached her and asked.

  “Do you want a drink?”


  “Hm. Why don’t we enjoy the mood? How about wine?”


  “Wine? That’s somewhat strange.”


  The situation was heading in a weird direction, but KangYoon still picked up the phone and called for room service.

  Not long later, room service came up and set up the wine on the table.

  KangYoon opened the wine and poured her a glass and Min JinSeo closed her eyes and appreciated the fragrant wine…


  “Ugh, it’s so bitter…!”


  …Or not. Her tastebuds were still too childish to enjoy the depth of the wine.

  To her, wine was no different from soju. She even felt that her colleagues’ praises about how wine was the king of alcoholic drinks, were all lies.

  KangYoon burst out in laughter after seeing her frown.

  “Hahahaha.”


  “…Sir, don’t laugh.”


  “Sorry, sorry. Hahaha.”


  The twist from the ‘perfect’ image gave him a great laugh.

  KangYoon barely stopped laughing and spoke.

  “You still have childish tastes.”


  “What do you mean, childish tastes? I’m not a kid anymore!”


  “Hahaha, I mean you like spicy, salty, and sweet things.”


  The term childish tastes weren’t used a lot at this time. It was no wonder Min JinSeo, who didn’t want to look like a kid in front of KangYoon, became a little grumpy.

  KangYoon picked up a piece of fruit with a fork and spoke.

  “There, there. JinSeo. Say Ah.”


  “Oh no, sheesh. sir…”


  Even while becoming embarrassed, Min JinSeo opened her mouth and ate the fruit that KangYoon gave her.

  ‘Ugh, so embarrassing…’


  Then, she wrapped her hands around her face to cover her embarrassment.

  ‘How cute.’


  KangYoon couldn’t hide his smile.

  Unlike his nervousness from when she first came in, the mood was a lot lighter right now. Thanks to that, he could calm himself down somewhat.

  Leaving aside the bitter wine, the two started enjoying the fruits and started conversing.

  Min JinSeo looked at KangYoon with gleaming eyes.

  “What made you decide to become a producer, sir?”


  KangYoon was a little flustered due to the sudden question.

  Despite that, Min JinSeo urged him on with her eyes.

  “Was it perhaps… a sensitive topic? Perhaps you can’t tell me about it?”


  “It’s not like that…”


  “…I told you a lot about myself, but I don’t really know anything about you. This is unfair. I want to know too.”


  She completely left out the part about what she heard in Jejudo.

  KangYoon smiled awkwardly. Thinking back, he hadn’t told many people about his past.

  Looking at her, it didn’t seem like she would pass this opportunity no matter what.

  ‘Well, I guess it doesn’t matter.’


  It wasn’t like Min JinSeo was a stranger.

  KangYoon sighed a little and started telling his story.

  “It’s the first time I’m talking about this… It’s somewhat embarrassing now that I have to talk about it”


  “Am I the first? Wow, this is an honor.”


  “Yeah. In this industry, some distance is needed to survive.

  “That’s… unsettling. You can’t have complete faith in anyone.”


  Sympathizing with what KangYoon said, Min JinSeo smiled bitterly.

  KangYoon sipped the wine as though he had remembered some bitter memories.

  “When I was a manager, the concept of an ‘entertainment company’ was just taking root. Actually, I became a manager because I heard from someone else that it would earn me a lot of money. I heard that I would earn a lot of money after I get promoted or start my own business even if it didn’t earn me that much money at the start.

  “Ohh…”


  “Back then, I met my first star. Let’s call her A. A was a rookie that just had her debut. Usually, companies don’t put two rookies together, but the company wasn’t in a good situation. That was why such an incident happened. Anyway, after that, I took on all sorts of jobs as a manager and ventured through the entertainment industry along with A.”


  “Then what happened?”


  “To sum it up, A became big. The problem came after that.”


  “A problem?”


  “It was just when A’s name was being spread far and wide. Her songs became known, and events started streaming in. Back then, the company had a lot of debt, but it just happened that the due date for the debt was approaching very shortly. In the end, they had no choice but to transfer the rights of A to another company to earn money. Without her agreement.”


  “What!?”


  Min JinSeo’s eyes widened.

  A company that transfers the rights to a celebrity without her own agreement? This was nonsense. She found it absurd.

  “Couldn’t she just sue them for that? Such a contract is nullified after all.”


  “You’re right. If it was now, then she wouldn’t have to upkeep such a contract. There are precedents now that say that such a contract cannot exist. However, back then, there was no precedent, and there was no systemized structure for the transference of rights. In the end, it would become an arduous legal fight. You know, it’s nonsensical for A to get caught up in legal matters when she was just rising to be a star. It would be better off to show up on TV more frequently if she had the time.”


  “Haaa…”


  Min JinSeo was flabbergasted.

  She knew that the treatment of celebrities was bad even until just a few years ago. However, she did not imagine that such a thing had taken place.

  KangYoon calmly continued.

  “Back then, I couldn’t do anything. I tried begging the presidents of both companies, but they only told me that a kid should stay out of it. I looked into legal measures… but A, who had no time to spend with legal matters ended up going to that company against her will.”


  “What happened after that?”


  “She was doing well at first. But it only lasted a short while. In the first place, her new company was infamous for spending celebrities as short-term stars. After her contract, A left the entertainment industry, never to be seen again.”


  “…….”


  Min JinSeo became silent.

  She had heard episodes about the absurd things that happened in the entertainment industry in the past. However, she did not know that it was this bad.

  She found KangYoon, who didn’t lose his way despite those conditions, amazing.

  “I seemed to be quite hot-blooded back then. I will make the singers I’m in charge of sing to their heart’s content without worries – that was my thought back then. Perhaps that’s what led me to become the person I am today.”


  KangYoon put down the empty wine glass.

  In the past, his ‘other’ past, he challenged becoming a producer with those thoughts and failed miserably. He started his own entertainment company and raised many singers, but he repeated his failures.

  However, right now, he was doing extremely well.

  KangYoon was proud of his achievements for the past many years.

  Min JinSeo dragged the seat forward and approached KangYoon.

  “…I didn’t know that you had such thoughts.”


  “This is quite embarrassing. It’s somewhat cheesy too.”


  “Not at all. You’re really amazing. You really are…”


  When Min Jinseo raised her thumb, KangYoon responded with a grin.

  She then switched topics with a somewhat stiff expression.

  “Phew, perhaps I should have become a singer rather than an actress.”


  “You want to put your talents to waste? I don’t think that’s right.”


  KangYoon waved his hands dismissively.

  He didn’t know that much about acting, but he did know that Min JinSeo shined the best when she was acting.

  However, her next words made him freeze up.

  “If I did, I would be with you right now… right?”


  Min JinSeo grabbed KangYoon’s hands.

  “I am really envious of the people at World. They are singing the songs they want and they have complete faith in you. While I… I can’t even trust my own company. Honestly… it’s exhausting.”


  Her hands, which were grabbing KangYoon’s, trembled.

  KangYoon patted her shoulders with his other hand.

  At that moment,

  She suddenly jumped into his embrace.

  “J, JinSeo.”


  “…Please, let me be like this for a moment.”


  She buried her face in KangYoon’s chest.

  KangYoon hesitated for a moment before stroking down her long hair to console her. Then, she twitched for a moment before speaking with a trembling voice.

  “You know… I’m having… a real hard time recently.”


  “…….”


  KangYoon wordlessly patted her back.

  Although he was in an awkward position in his chair, he still tried his best to console her.

  An unknown amount of time passed.

  She looked up towards KangYoon with teary eyes.

  “JinSeo, Jin…!!!!!!!!”


  Smooch

  Her lips touched KangYoon’s.

  ***

  Kim JiMin’s absence meant that the studio was In MoonHee’s.

  After warring with the school children at elementary school, she had another war waiting at World Entertainment.

  The opponent of the war was Japanese.

  – こんにちは (Hello)

  In MoonHee wrote down a lot of things while watching the self-learning Japanese video on the computer.

  ‘Ko… what?”


  She was a teacher herself, but studying wasn’t easy.

  Despite that, she did her best to learn and took down a lot of notes.

  30 minutes passed like that.

  After one lesson, she finally stretched her arms out and stood up.

  “Ugh, it’s so hard. Enka or Inca or whatever… Japanese is too hard!”


  She was studying Japanese per KangYoon’s instructions. Perhaps English would have been better…


  However, she had no choice since it was the president’s orders.

  Just when she was rejecting studying a foreign language with the entirety of her body, the door to the studio opened and Lee HyunJi entered.

  “D, director.”


  “Hello, Miss MoonHee. Did I interrupt you?”


  “N, no.”


  In MoonHee panicked.

  She was worried that Lee HyunJi may have heard her complaints. She was new here, and if she was picked on by her superiors already, then things would go wrong…


  However, unlike what she thought, Lee HyunJi softly smiled and spoke.

  “Is Japanese coming along well?”


  “It’s not easy. I’m really bad at learning languages…”


  When In MoonHee sighed and shook her head, Lee HyunJi sat down next to her and turned to her learning materials.

  “Is that so? Why don’t we have a look at it together then?”


  “What?”


  In MoonHee’s eyes widened. Studying together with the company’s director? She couldn’t imagine that at all.

  As Lee HyunJi’s position was similar to that of the vice-principal’s at school, this came as a huge shock to her.

  “Sit down. We don’t have a lot of time to spend with this since you have to practice singing as well.”


  “Yes!”


  In MoonHee sat down after answering loudly.

  ***

  After a short schedule in China, KangYoon returned to Korea.

  Lee HyunJi came to pick him up even though the plane arrived early morning.

  They were putting the luggage inside the car when Lee HyunJi found something strange about KangYoon.

  Lee HyunJi asked out of curiosity.

  “President, did something good happen to you?”


  “What?”


  “You… look like you’re in a good mood? Hmm, did you get something good to eat without me?”


  KangYoon shrugged his shoulders at the sudden attack.

  “Haha, nothing like that happened. Perhaps I’m in a good condition today.”


  “Really? That’s strange, I can feel that something has changed about you…”


  Usually, KangYoon had a soft atmosphere around him, but people still found it hard to approach him. However, that latter part was gone right now.

  She wanted to know the reason, but she didn’t force him.

  The two drove to the company immediately.

  His body was tired, but his position as the president did not allow him to rest that much.

  “Hyung, you’re here.”


  When he opened the studio door, Kim JaeHoon, who had arrived earlier, greeted him while putting down the score in his hands.

  KangYoon expressed his joy and went straight into the topic at hand.

  “Was the song you got from the girls okay?”


  “It’s definitely better than before. I’ll have to see the final version to be sure, but it’s good.”


  “Really? And it doesn’t strain your voice either?”


  “My vocal cords aren’t glass, you know…?”


  When Kim JaeHoon waved his hand dismissively, KangYoon chuckled.

  KangYoon opened the music file and the score that HeeYoon had sent over on his PC and played the music. Soon, the speakers produced piano sounds while KangYoon had a look at the score on the monitor with sharp eyes.

  ‘Hm…’


  Scores that produced white light seemed very natural to him right now. The music wasn’t too high either. It only went up to C5. Kim JaeHoon found that to be a bit of a pity, but he still seemed satisfied with the music.

  Seeing the fading white light, KangYoon turned around to Kim JaeHoon.

  “Not bad. So all that’s left is the rearrangement.”


  “I want the chorus to be a little rounder. Oh, are you doing the rearrangement?”


  Kim JaeHoon inwardly wanted KangYoon to do the rearrangement. KangYoon seemed to have noticed that and nodded with a smile.

  “Should I? The materials are good, so I should be able to make something good out of it.”


  “Please take care of it, hyung.”


  “You should get some practice too. Why don’t you write the lyrics yourself?”


  “I will. I think I’ll make one soon since this song feels good.”


  The talk about Kim JaeHoon’s single proceeded like that.