Chapter 183
“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 .