Chapter 109. Go? Or No Go? (2)

Translator: Synopsis

“The release date should be the end of July or the beginning of August then.”

“I’m thinking of the beginning of August.”

“Will you be using this as the title song?”

“Yes. I wanted to try another theme this time. I heard that President KangYoon, you know of this composer called Muse very well….”

President Choo ManJi looked at leisure. He looked around the office to find this so called ‘Muse’.

KangYoon seemed to have noticed that and replied right away.

“Muse is our exclusive composition team. The one in charge of composition is in the US, while I’m in charge of the arrangement. The two of us together are called Muse.”

“So that’s how it is. That’s why Jay Han called you ‘Composer Lee KangYoon’. Then I guess I should talk about this with you?”

“Indeed.”

President Choo ManJi sat up straight. Kang SeGyung, who was next to him, also perked up her ears in nervousness. This was business now.

KangYoon asked first.

“What’s the theme of the album this time?”

“I want to go with a cheerleader theme to match the summer.”

“That’s quite a drastic change compared to the DiaTeen up til now. Until now, they showed that they’re cute yet strong.”

“Thanks to that, we had a lot of female fans on top of the male population. You’re right. Since we’re trying to go with a completely different theme, the composers at our company could not make something that satisfied that theme.”

President Choo ManJi frowned a little. He didn’t seem satisfied with something.

KangYoon immediately realized what President Choo ManJi’s intentions were.

‘He’s planning to drag Eddios’s fandom away.’

It was pretty clear that President Choo ManJi was planning to crush Eddios, who were in the US, and was unable to take care of their domestic fans. Even though it was halved, no other groups had a fandom large enough to contend with Eddios just yet. After all, the word ‘uncle fans’ originated with their appearance.

President Choo ManJi pretty clearly intended to steal those fans away with the album this time.

KangYoon hesitated. He was very close with the members of Eddios. However, it would be nonsensical to miss such an opportunity just because of his past.

“Can I take a call first?”

“How long would it take?”

“10 minutes will do. I won’t make you wait long.”

“Okay. I shall wait then.”

KangYoon stood up from his seat and went outside. Lee HyunJi took care of facing President Choo ManJi. She talked about many things with him.

‘Go? Or no go?’

Having come up to the roof, KangYoon pondered a lot about this question. There was no reason for HeeYoon to reason. The problem was KangYoon himself.

‘I guess all sorts of things can happen in life. I do feel sorry….’

He knew that the girls of Eddios were having a hard time in the US. He also knew how foolish it was to have sent them there. The US and Korea differed drastically from culture to races. He became more angry as he thought about how the directors at MG Entertainment sent them there without any preparations or countermeasures at all.

Once a seat was empty, another person would fill it. This was the same for the entertainment industry. Just like how DiaTeen was trying to take the place of the top that was vacated by Eddios’s absence. However, he felt strange since he now had to create the weapon that would stimulate that process.

‘But work is work.’

KangYoon called HeeYoon. after a few rings, HeeYoon’s voice was heard.

– Yes, oppa.

“HeeYoon. Are you at home?”

– Yup. It’s night here after all. I’m working.

HeeYoon played the synthesizer. It wasn’t that her brother couldn’t trust her, but she still intended to make him reassured.

After a brief talk, KangYoon talked about the matter at hand.

“I called you since there’s a request for a song.”

– A song? There’s a lot of those nowadays. Who’s going to sing it?”

“DiaTeen.”

– Eeh? You mean Eddios’s rivals?”

HeeYoon’s voice got louder in surprise. She also knew that KangYoon was behind Eddios’s rise. And the planner behind all of it was now getting a request to press them back down….

“I haven’t accepted yet, but I think I’ll have to do it.”

– Really? And the theme’s decided already?

HeeYoon asked about work. She was a full-fledged composer now. Regardless of who it was for, this was work. Her personal opinions should not matter.

“The theme is cheerleaders. The mood should be light and fun. I’m not quite sure yet, but they’ll probably make the choreography like that as well.”

– Ooh, looks like boys will have something to look forward to. Should I write the lyrics too?

“I’m not sure about that. I think it will be better to let them write it. I don’t think I can quite put myself in their shoes.”

– Let’s try it once just in case. We must earn money

“There, there. Greedy for money, now?”

– It’s your business, oppa. I have to help you earn a lot.

KangYoon felt proud of her sister who was so considerate of him. It felt as though it was yesterday that he laughed at her when she said she wanted to become a composer, but now she was a crucial element on his side. He also regretted that he didn’t realize she had such a potential earlier.

After the call, KangYoon went back to the office. Inside, Lee HyunJi and President Choo ManJi were having a conversation.

“I don’t see Miss Kang SeGyung.”

“SeGyung? She went downstairs with another trainee, saying that she wanted to look around.”

“Ooh, that should be JiMin then.”

KangYoon then sat down. Then he went straight into the matter.

“Please leave the song to us. If you believe in us, we’ll do our best.”

President Choo ManJi extended his hand in satisfaction.

“Please take care of our girls.”

“Please take care of us too.”

Then, they talked about detailed matters. Since President Choo ManJi was the head of a large company, there was no problem with money. He said that he would leave the composition, arrangement, and even the lyrics to Muse. KangYoon replied that he would do his best. The problem came later.

“We have our own choreographer team, so you don’t need to worry about this part.”

Although the composer would influence the choreography as well, KangYoon nodded his head.

“Okay. Just tell us what beat you would like to go with.”

“A 16-beat is too fast, so please make a simple but slightly fast 8-beat song.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“I’ll tell you those later. Right now, these should suffice.”

There was nothing else required. After his matters were over, President Choo ManJi called Kang SeGyung. Soon, she came up to the office.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

KangYoon saw the two out of his company.

President Choo ManJi left after asking to write a good song.

“President. Is this really okay?”

“What’s okay?”

Seeing off President Choo ManJi’s car, Lee HyunJi asked cautiously.

“I mean DiaTeen’s song request. This will definitely affect Eddios.”

“I know. Right now, I’m the president at World Entertainment. This request will bring our company big benefits. Eddios was a matter of my past when I still worked at MG Entertainment. Shouldn’t I try to do my best at the place I am now?”

“That’s true, but it still tastes bitter.”

“I also feel quite ironic, and angry too. I went through such trouble to raise them, so they should at least manage them well…. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have let such an opportunity come up for DiaTeen at all.”

KangYoon gritted his teeth while thinking about the directors of MG Entertainment who sent Eddios over to America. There was no way he felt good when he thought about the girls he practically raised being taken over by someone else. He didn’t like this situation either.

As though she knew how he felt, Lee HyunJi spoke.

“Such a nonsensical company. Let’s gobble them up later.”

“What?”

This was just a joke to lighten the mood, but there was a bone in those words. She emphasized again when KangYoon asked back in surprise.

“A mere MG Entertainment, they’re just fatasses with no brain. Rather than see such a hard-earned effort topple down, let’s just eat them up instead. What do you think?”

“Hahahahahaha. Really? That doesn’t sound so bad.”

KangYoon laughed loudly at her words. This was definitely something pleasurable to think about. Though, he knew fully that that was impossible to do right now. As of now, the company differed in scale by a factor of dozens. Although it was nonsensical, just thinking wasn’t a sin.

He felt better thinking about it.

“I wish we could do that.”

KangYoon shrugged his shoulders, wishing that such a day would come later.

***

“What did you think after looking around the company?”

Inside the car back to their own office, President Choo ManJi asked Kang SeGyung.

“It was very clean. There was a studio and even a practice studio for a band.”

“How many trainees were there?”

“Just one, the one guided me.”

“Well, it should be quite burdensome for a small company to hold many trainees. It should be quite hard to make a group too. Just what is he thinking? Did you see her skills?”

“I just heard her do some training, but all she did was vocalization practice. For some reason, she never sung anything….”

“Looks like they got someone who’s completely new to the field. Well, who would want to go to such a small company? Everyone would aim for the larger companies.”

President Choo ManJi made a biter smile. Just like how job-seekers all wanted to enter large companies, trainee entertainers also wanted to enter companies that were large and stable. It was natural for everyone to long for a stable environment.

“There’s Kim JaeHoon, and that guy Lee KangYoon, so I shouldn’t take them lightly, but looks like they’ll experience some growth pains. Good, let’s just get our song and get ready for that time, SeGyung.”

“Yes, President.”

“And you get some filler in your nose.”

“No!”

The car headed to their own company like that.

“Burn the — broing days — and fly high to the sky –”

Lee HyunAh’s voice was ringing out inside a practice room in World Entertainment. Just like usual, Lee HyunAh had her both hands on the microphone and the mic stand and sang with all her lungs. Next to her, Lee ChaHee played the bass while waving around her hair, while Jung ChanGyu set fire on the distortion on the electric guitar.

‘Hmm… Is it still too bland?’

However, there was a guest in the practice room today. It was Park SoYoung. She tilted her head and focused on the song.

After the song was over, Lee HyunAh approached her while wiping the sweat off her forehead.

“The song’s very good.”

Handing over the score, Lee HyunAh praised the song.

“It’s not too bland?”

“You mean the melody? I guess you can call it that, but it’s very easy to follow. Well, maybe you can take it that way, but it feels different with all that power added into the song. So it doesn’t entirely feel like that. It’s good.”

“Phew. That’s good.”

Park SoYoung sighed in relief. This was a result of her working on her song for a few days straight without eating anything after she heard KangYoon’s advice. Then, she ran all the way here without even putting on proper makeup and handed the score to Lee HyunAh. Hearing that the result wasn’t band, she was very relieved.

“Did you show this to KangYoon-oppa too?”

“I did, at the beginning. He was the one who advised me. I changed the things per his advice, and added my own opinions into it as well.”

“No wonder the song is good. Are you giving this to me?”

“Hm…. I’ll think about it.”

“What, did I just get rejected?”

“Hahaha.”

Park SoYoung jokingly stuck out her tongue. Actually, she would be very thankful if White Moonlight sang this song. Lee HyunAh had her own thoughts. She spoke while looking at the score.

“I want to sing this at the RockFes, what does everyone think about that?”

Lee ChaHee answered first.

“I’m in.”

Jung ChanGyu and Kim JinDae all agreed as well. There were no objections. In fact, Park SoYoung was surprised.

“Wait a minute. RockFes? You mean the Rock Festival that’s held in GoYang? It’s quite a big event from what I remember….”

When her eyes widened, Kim JinDae teased her.

“You got that right. The rock mania should all be there, I think? Fufu, SoYoung, your debut stage is qutie big, eh?”

“Huuh? Wa… wait. Don’t you need to talk about this to KangYoon-oppa?”

“He shouldn’t object too much, if it’s this good.”

Seeing Lee HyunAh have such a confidence in the song, Park SoYoung’s shoulders straightened up slightly.

“R… really?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it.”

“Uuuh….”

Park SoYoung put her hand on her thumping chest.

Her song was going to be sung in front of numerous people. This made her feel pressured the more she thought about it.

‘HeeYoon is a full-fledged composer too.’

She already started considering HeeYoon as a rival in this industry.

***

World Entertainment’s concert hall was under reconstruction right now. Right now, it was the acoustic construction. Putting panels on the ceiling to absorb sound and blocking the windows to block out light was underway right now.

KangYoon and Lee HyunJi were watching as all of this happened from the entrance of the hall.

“The progress isn’t that fast.”

Lee HyunJi shook her head, as this wasn’t to her liking. However, KangYoon consoled her saying that it was alright.

“It’s better to be slow and steady. If the construction is unstable because we push them too hard, we’ll have to do the same thing again later.”

“Even so…. It just feels too slow. Perhaps it’s because I spent my own money in it?”

“Hahaha. Actually, I feel the same.”

The two looked around the construction scene. The person in charge of the construction guided them around and told them how the construction was going. KangYoon listened to the explanation and told the person in charge to go back to work. He didn’t want to hold on to someone who had work to do for so long.

While looking around, Lee HyunJi spoke.

“The facilities here are definitely better than the ones in the area. Now, we should look into renting the concert hall.”

“I am thinking about that too. Indie bands will be our primary target.”

“How are you going to do about the renting fee? You should match the surrounding concert halls.”

KangYoon shook his head.

“I told you this last time, but the renting fee for the places around this area is too expensive. This is also why bands are being pushed out of Hongdae. I’m planning to cut the price low.”

“If you do, you’ll receive hate from the others.”

Said Lee HyunJi in worry. The concert venues in the surrounding area had all joined hands already. There was nothing good to be the ugly duckling.

However, KangYoon was firm in his stance.

“The reason we made the concert hall is because of the high renting fees. And I want to give opportunities to those who wnat to sing. It will suffice just for it to aid us in funds even a little.”

“Well… I guess that’s true, but the others will shave the price off too. It will obviously become a chicken game.”

KangYoon replied calmly saying that there was nothing to worry about.

“It’s fine. We made this for White Moonlight’s performances anyway. Also, we can also expect our image to go up since we lowered the price. And if the renting fees of all the places around here go down, then we can perhaps expect the indie field to become more active again, right?”

“It will be good if that happens, but the process will be quite a hard one. They aren’t fools either.”

She knew what KangYoon was thinking, but she still couldn’t hide her concerns. However, KangYoon was firm. He spoke again, saying that this couldn’t be negotiated.

“I believe that thinking simply will lead to the answer. It’s like focusing on one thing. If you concern yourself with too much detail, you’ll lose sight of something important.”

“…I guess that’s true. Well, fine then. Those asses shoudl take care of themselves. Actually, I didn’t like how they ripped off the young ones either. Fu, I guess I should consider myself contributing to the industry then.”

“Hahaha.”

The two left the venue while laughing.

Like that, World Entertainment’s exclusive concert hall was taking shape