Translator: Chamber

  Editor: Illdidan

  ***

  Carrie Cloudia’s practice studio in LA.

  There was a guest for her as she was doing a final rehearsal with dozens of men and women.

  [Oh, JooAh!]

  She greeted the east Asian lady who was much shorter than her.

  [Carrie!]

  The Asian lady, JooAh, also expressed her joy to see Carrie.

  [Shall we take a break then?]

  She declared a quick rest, and soon her manager gave her a bottle of cold water.

  Carrie drank the entire 500ml bottle in one go and turned around to see JooAh.

  [What are you doing in America? Didn’t you say that you don’t have any activities after that time?]

  [I’m here to see some of my juniors. And since I am here, I came to see you.]

  [Oh really? It’s so good to see you.]

  Carrie put her arms around JooAh.

  It was a manly gesture, but JooAh accepted it as though it was natural.

  After their month of performing together, the two had become close, and now the two were best of friends.

  JooAh drank the coffee that Carrie’s manager got for her and asked.

  [Carrie, you got invited to the Jemis awards this time as well, right?]

  [Of course.]

  [How many times has it been? Congratulations.]

  JooAh was excited, which was very unusual for her.

  The Jemis Awards was one of the most prestigious awards in music.

  For some, it would be an honor to be invited, but she treated it as though it was the most natural thing.

  When she treated it like it was nothing, JooAh felt awkward.

  [C, Carrie?]

  [Sorry, I was thinking about something.]

  [Are you concerned about something?]

  Carrie Cloudia blinked several times before speaking with difficulty.

  [It’s not much. I was wondering what kind of performance I should do for the Jemis Awards.]

  [I don’t think that that’s ‘not much’ as you say.]

  [Though, naturally, there are a lot of stage masters lined up wanting to work with me. What? Do you know of a good producer?]

  Her eyes betrayed her confident words as she looked somewhat pressed.

  JooAh realized that she was agonizing about something.

  [A producer? I’m a singer too, you know… I have worked with many myself. Do you need one?]

  [No. What am I saying. Forget I said anything.]

  Carrie Cloudia shook her head.

  Although she was saying she didn’t need help, her eyes clearly betrayed her.

  JooAh couldn’t stay still since Carrie reminded her of herself when she lacked manpower.

  [I do know of a really good person.]

  [I said it’s fine. Oh, I should get back to practice.]

  Carrie stood up, her expression one of disinterest.

  She was implicitly telling JooAh to go.

  However, JooAh continued speaking as though she had made up her mind.

  [He’s a producer that has never failed until now. Not even once. What would you call him, a planner?]

  Usually, she wouldn’t give a second glance about an unknown producer, but the ‘never failed even once’ part moved her.

  [Hmm, that’s interesting. He’s never failed? How is that possible? That doesn’t even make sense.]

  Her tone was that of disbelief, but she clearly wanted to hear more about this ‘never failed’ guy from JooAh.

  ***

  “Jung MinAh! I told you to wait for half a beat more to breathe!”


  “I did exactly that!”


  High-pitched shouts could be heard in the studio.

  An ShiJin told Jung MinAh to relax her stomach while pressing on it, while Jung MinAh was complaining since she was relaxing as much as possible.

  However, they weren’t on hostile terms like before.

  Both of them didn’t cross the line and restrained themselves when they thought they took it a little too far.

  They say fights make two people closer, and now…


  “I almost thought you were a panda because of your dark eyes, unni”


  “your cheeks are so puffy, I thought you were a pufferfish.”


  “P, pufferfish!? My chin line is sharp, you know?”


  “How are my eyes a panda? Don’t you know make-up?”


  …Of course, the two were noisy regardless.

  KangYoon no longer interrupted the two ever since he warned both of them.

  An ShiJin was very curious about KangYoon since he never came down to the studio since then.

  ‘Is MinAh an ugly duckling at the company?’


  She wasn’t able to hold her curiosity, so she asked.

  “MinAh.”


  “What is it?”


  “Are you hated by the president?”


  Since she was so direct, MinAh replied directly as well.

  “What the heck was that? My Ahjussi what?”


  “…You should say it to me if it isn’t like that, not get angry.”


  “Well, who was it that started it?”


  An ShiJin flinched, though she didn’t like Jung MinAh’s attitude.

  After a while, she spoke.

  “…Fine, I’m sorry.”


  “Yes.”


  “….”


  At that moment, Jung MinAh received a solid smack in the back of the head and turned around.

  “Ah, ahju… president.”


  “What’s up with your attitude towards your teacher?”


  “Ugh, that’s…”


  “…..”


  KangYoon was right behind them.

  In the end, Jung MinAh wasn’t able to win against KangYoon and had to apologize to An ShiJin.

  Seeing that, KangYoon turned around to An ShiJin again.

  “I plan to proceed with the recording the day after tomorrow.”


  “Th, the day after tomorrow?”


  Jung MinAh widened her eyes in surprise, but An ShiJin nodded her head as though it was natural.

  “She’ll make it. We’re in our final stages right now.”


  Jung MinAh was instead not alright with this.

  “Uhm, unni? I’ve only done the beginning and the end, you know? And I’m doing what?”


  “Those are the only parts you’re lacking, so obviously, we’d be focusing on that.”


  “Whaaat?”


  Jung MinAh freaked out, but An ShiJin calmly told KangYoon.

  “She’s different than before. You can look forward to it.”


  “Alright. I don’t have to listen right now, do I?”


  “If you don’t want to.”


  KangYoon turned around and left since she was so confident.

  “Then please.”


  KangYoon left, and Jung MinAh grabbed An ShiJin’s shoulders with shaking arms.

  “Unni! Are you joking right now? How am I supposed to get anything done in two days?”


  “…Do you really think you can’t do it?”


  “I’m doing this because I don’t see any hope!”


  When Jung MinAh said that, An ShiJin brushed off Jung MinAH’s arm and glared at her coldly.

  “MinAh. How long have you been working with the president?”


  “The years I worked with him? That was since I was a trainee, wait, there was a blank so… anyway around 3 years?”


  “Do you still not know his style of work?”


  “What?”


  An ShiJin shook her head.

  “If it was really impossible for you, he wouldn’t have even said that.”


  “Th, that’s true, but still…”


  It might look impossible at first, but everything worked out in the end.

  That was KangYoon’s style of work.

  An ShiJin found that out in such a short time?

  Jung MinAh flinched.

  “Anyway, let’s get back to practice. We’ve got a lot of practice to do if we want to get it done in time.”


  “……”


  ***

  Leaving the studio, KangYoon headed towards DLE TV.

  As he notified them of his visit beforehand, he quickly got an entry pass and went to the recording set.

  “Everyone~, did you have a good time today?”


  “Kera’s friends! Mommy and Daddy’s shoulders are heavy. What can you do to help?”


  Ailee Jung was working hard with Tayo.

  She performed cheesy actions very proficiently.

  ‘She’s good.’


  KangYoon made a satisfied smile seeing Ailee hard at work.

  Her kind smile pacified the crying children.

  Perhaps thanks to that, she was one of the most well-known celebrities amongst children along with Tayo.

  “President, you’re here.”


  Ailee’s manager greeted KangYoon.

  KangYoon waved his hand at him before telling him to leave this place to him and asked him to go somewhere.

  This was Ailee’s final schedule for the day, so she only had to be taken to her dorms after this.

  Her manager and her coordinator went back first, and not long later, the recording finished.

  Ailee was surprised to see KangYoon replace her manager and her coordinator.

  “President!”


  “Thanks for your work.”


  KangYoon offered her a coconut drink that he had prepared beforehand.

  “Thank you.”


  Ailee Jung drank the drink with a straw, which made her crumple her cheeks.

  The coconut drink was something only she drank amongst the members of Eddios.

  After saying goodbyes to the staff, the two got in the car.

  As KangYoon was here, Ailee felt that something was going on.

  Just as they were leaving the parking lot,

  “Is there something important today?”


  “Yeah. There’s an interview for our new choreographer. I need you for that.”


  “A choreographer interview? And you need me?”


  Ailee Jung felt confused.

  “Isn’t MinAh better suited for the job? Is it because of her vocal training?”


  “There’s that too, but I believe that you are the one who knows what kind of a choreographer we need.”


  “Me?”


  What was this about?

  She wasn’t able to understand. She was the worst at dancing amongst the members.

  “HanYu or Ris might be better suited for the…”


  “You are the only one who is capable of balanced thought out of everyone.”


  KangYoon no longer said anything.

  Ailee only fidgeted and did not say anything either.

  ‘Uuu, I really don’t have the confidence though. Won’t I get scolded later? By both the girls and the president?’


  However, despite her worries, the car soon arrived at Lunas, their destination.

  The interview location was the practice room on the 4th floor of Lunas.

  The other employees had already set up the interview location, and the interviewees had arrived as well.

  “Oh? Ailee.”


  “Ah, hello, Director-unni.”


  Lee HyunJi looked at KangYoon since she didn’t expect to see Ailee here.

  “Let’s get ready then.”


  However, KangYoon started preparing for the interview as though there was nothing wrong.

  ‘Ah! This really isn’t a place I should be in.’


  Just as Ailee walked around restlessly, both Lee Hyunji and KangYoon started reading over the interviewees’ profiles.

  “Ailee. What are you doing? You should read the papers.”


  “What?”


  “Preparation is the basics of the basics.”


  “Yes!”


  Ailee came to herself when Lee Hyunji pointed that out and quickly started reading the papers after sitting next to KangYoon.

  “So this person is currently running a dancing school, and…”


  Ailee focused on the career experience of each person.

  At that moment, KangYoon spoke.

  “I want you to read each person’s self-introduction and think about what to ask them.”


  “Their self-introduction?”


  “That includes their style of living as well as what they’ve experienced. I think you, Ailee, should be able to pick the right person for the job.”


  “……”


  Ailee Jung was very confused right now.

  Why did KangYoon have so much confidence in her?

  Which part about her made him think that way? She was shy, quiet, and did not speak a lot.

  Seeing that KangYoon was using a highlighter to mark the essential parts, she also started doing the same.

  Two hours later.

  The interviews began.

  Although World Entertainment’s recruitment of trainees was very mysterious, the choreographer recruitment this time was a public one, so many people applied.

  Thanks to that, Lee HyunJi had a hard time filtering through them.

  There were three interviewees for today.

  There were one man and two women.

  As there weren’t many people, they did individual interviews.

  “I heard that you worked as the choreographer for the girl group Sikota.”


  “Yes, I did.”


  KangYoon took his eyes off the resume and had a look at the female choreographer in the eye.

  “Sikota’s title song, ‘Grand’. The highlight move for that song was when the members opened their jackets while emphasizing their chest.”


  “Yes. It’s called an open dance.”


  “It was a good dance. Unfortunately, though, the public reaction wasn’t that good. I…”


  It was a question that struck a weak spot. The female choreographer could not hide her emotions.

  “I believe that one of the reasons was because the highlight dance move wasn’t able to attract attention. If it…”


  “Wait a minute.”


  The female choreographer’s expression turned sour in an instant since KangYoon scratched her pride.

  “The reason for the song’s failure lies with the choreography? That’s just not right. World was this kind of place? I’m very disappointed. I’ll take my leave now.”


  She glared at KangYoon before slamming the door shut.

  Lee HyunJi sighed shortly before looking at KangYoon.

  “President. That was a harsh question, wasn’t it?”


  KangYoon shook his head.

  “Of course, it was meant to be a harsh question. I scratched her pride. Moreover, there are many reasons for failure.”


  “Then why…”


  When even Ailee looked at him with confusion, KangYoon calmly explained it to them.

  “Our choreographer will definitely clash against Eddios. Especially with MinAh, that is… I can’t mediate between the two all the time either. That person’s skills may be good, but her mind is weak. She won’t be able to last long like that. I heard from Mr. Kang SangRyeol, Sikota’s manager, and he told me that she was a dictator. We want a person that discusses everything with everyone else, but she isn’t like that. Though, since her skills are good, I wanted to meet her and decide whether we should hire her or not.”


  KangYoon sighed.

  The interview continued.

  It was the man’s turn this time.

  When KangYoon pressured the interviewee like before, the man calmly answered.

  “…I tasted failure at that time, but I believe that that failure will make me stronger and lead me to success. And also, it’s not like I’ve only experienced failures. I believe that World saw potential in me and asked me to come to this place.”


  KangYoon and Lee HyunJi nodded their heads.

  They were satisfied with his answer.

  Ailee Jung, who read the part about his career, spoke.

  “Uhm…”


  This was her first question.

  As this place was filled with tension, her stuttering made everyone laugh slightly.

  ‘Relax.’


  KangYoon wrote down a memo before handing it over to her.

  “There’s a member that’s not as good as dancing as another member. This is the case with any group.”


  “Yes.”


  “Then on whose level are you going to set the choreography’s difficulty too?”


  This was a challenging question.

  The man fell into contemplation, while KangYoon and Lee HyunJi also waited for the answer with interest.