Chapter 175. Publicly Acclaimed Dancing Queen (2)

Translator: Chamber

Editor: Illidan

After that, KangYoon and Jung MinAh talked about the Dance Revolution program.

KangYoon told her that he could support her with dancers along with other things, but Jung MinAh waved her hand saying that it was okay.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine by yourself?”

“I know that you put a lot of effort in for JiMin. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine by myself.”

KangYoon chuckled when he saw that Jung MinAh was being considerate for the company.

“You can say some pretty nice words. You’ve grown up.”

“…I’ve grown up ages ago. Haa, I’d rather have the other girls join me. I get along with them more than I do with other dancers.”

“That’s rather difficult. They all have a pretty tight schedule. Should I get Ailee for you then? I think I can take her out.”

“…I’d rather be alone than work with her. She nags me enough during practice.”

Ailee was the worst in terms of dancing in Eddios. A duet dance with her on a dance program? She’d probably get cancer due to stress before they even went to the recording.

KangYoon burst out laughing since he understood what she was saying. In his head was a scene of Jung MinAh’s hot temper and Ailee’s easy-going attitude.

“Hahaha. Okay, then. Sheesh, you’re as hot-tempered as always. Do go easy on her.”

“I am. I don’t even say anything to her anymore. I’m not a bad girl.”

“I know that much.”

After they finished talking, KangYoon stood up to leave. Jung MinAh didn’t seem to want to see him leave as she expressed her disappointment.

“You’re going already? You can stay a little longer.”

“I can’t take the precious time of a singer. I’ll be off then.”

“…It’s really alright though.”

Jung MinAh muttered loud enough for him to hear it, but KangYoon left through the door.

At that time, Jung MinAh grabbed KangYoon’s hand.

“Anything you want to say?”

“Uhm… ahjussi.”

KangYoon tilted his head seeing that Jung MinAh was acting all stiff.

However, she took a deep breath before closing her eyes shut. Then, she pulled on his arm. At that moment, his large body was pulled to her side and the two bodies collided with each other.

“MinAh, just what are…!”

Smooch-

KangYoon was unable to speak any further after that. When he felt the soft and warm touch on his cheeks, his eyes widened.

Jung MinAh, who had hugged and even kissed him on the cheeks then pushed him away.

“Huh? MinAh, what did you just…”

“It’s revenge for treating me like a kid, I guess? Fufufufu, goodbye!”

Jung MinAh slammed the door shut and locked it. This all happened in a blink of an eye.

“Wh, what was that!?”

KangYoon became absent-minded.

Surprise, panic, and all sorts of emotions thumped inside his chest.

“MinAh! MinAh!”

KangYoon knocked on the door several times and tried to open it, but the door was locked shut.

The sudden storm of actions made him panic.

‘Why am I like this? Get it together! She’s MinAh, Jung MinAh!”

KangYoon shook his head several times on the spot and tried to forget about this incident.

The smell of a lady influenced KangYoon a lot as he had strived to reach his goals until now.

***

Rattle, rattle!

– MinAh, MinAh!

The door rattled several times and a loud shout could be heard from the other side of the door.

“*pant pant*…”

She was very out of breath. Her heart was pounding hard, and her hands were shaking endlessly.

‘What the, what the hell did I do? This… dammit! How am I supposed to look him in the face again?’

The accident she had caused on a whim paralyzed her brain. Just why was her heart pounding so much when it was just a kiss on the cheeks…

However, she was now worried about how that man thought about this incident.

The rattling sound stopped and the presence on the outside disappeared. Then, strength left her body and she collapsed in front of the door.

“What do I do now…”

Wrapping her reddened cheeks with her hands, Jung MinAh was unable to stand for a long time.

***

The faculty room was becoming gradually empty after teachers started to leave.

In MoonHee was sweating profusely while listening to the words of the vice-principal.

“Miss In. Have you finished the work regarding the School Violence Committee?”

“I’m sorry sir, I haven’t finished yet.”

“Oh, my. It’s a problem that the School Violence Committee meeting is being held in the first place, and you’re even late? Finish it within the day.”

“Vice-principal, but there are a lot of things to look through and…”

“If you don’t finish it today, what do we show the police and the parents tomorrow?”

“…Yes.”

She wanted to ask him to delay the due date, but she was scolded instead.

“Miss In, you must have it hard. Do your best.”

“Yes, Mr. Yoon. See you tomorrow.”

When it became closing hours, the teachers started leaving one by one.

However, In MoonHee wasn’t able to leave her seat. Even the vice-principal, who had to stamp in approval of her work had left to go home, but she had to order a meal because she was working overtime.

“Why did the kids have to punch each other from the beginning of the semester…”

In MoonHee sighed while writing the report.

It had only been a few days since the new semester started and some of the girls punched each other already. The problem was that the fight became big and 6 people ended up getting involved. One of the students ended up calling the police when it looked like things were getting out of hand, and the entire school was flipped over.

Thanks to that, In MoonHee had to write up some papers about this along with a report for the negligence of supervision.

Not long after she ordered her food, the jjamppong (T/N: Spicy seafood noodles). However, she was unable to take her hands off work.

Thanks to that, she opened the food after a long time and had to eat bloated noodles.

“…Do not speak about overworking without eating tear-soaked jjamppong. Hahaha.”

She was in a difficult situation, but she smiled brightly.

She couldn’t help it if she wanted to make a living. Many people lived this way after all.

However…

“…It’s bad.”

The bloated jjamppong was utterly horrible.

In MoonHee put the jjamppong aside and heaved a deep sigh.

Going home was out of reach, the food was bad, and there was no one here to support her.

This was the worst night ever.

“What if I ditched education and started singing at that time… No way, what am I thinking? I’d probably starve to death. Get yourself together!”

In MoonHee calmed herself down and sat in front of the computer again. She became fired up and worked her best in order to go home.

At that time.

Ring!

The computer notified her that an email had arrived.

‘What’s this?’

Normally, she did not usually check her email. However, they say you can be distracted by anything when studying. Her mouse cursor naturally headed towards her mailbox.

– Greetings. I am Lee KangYoon of World Entertainment.

However, she rubbed her eyes several times as this email was not within her wildest imaginations.

“World Entertainment? Isn’t that where White Moonlight belongs to?”

What did such a company want with her? She opened the mail in curiosity.

“!!!!!!!”

Her eyes widened in shock as she read that email.

***

President Choo ManJi was all smiles recently.

DiaTeen, the group that belonged to his company, was becoming more and more popular in middle-east Asia, and the male idol group, Heroy, had good achievements in Japan. Thanks to that, the financial status and the reputation of Yoonseul Entertainment was on the rise.

Meanwhile, he was worried as well. He thought that his artists may be losing foundation in Korea like what Eddios once did.

“Wait, what? Why are you telling me this now? Jung MinAh is in it?”

The president’s room.

President Choo ManJi’s voice was very upset as he was taking a call.

“Well, it’s obvious. Ah, forget it. What do you mean wait? I won’t do it.”

Just as he raised his voice, the door to his office opened and a lady entered. It was the person they were talking about over the phone, Kang SeGyung. She was about to speak up, but when her name was mentioned, she quietly listened to the phone call.

Not seeming to notice her, president Choo ManJi’s voice became louder and louder.

“What good would come out of a battle between Jung MinAh and our SeGyung? Noise marketing that it’s a battle of rivals? We don’t need that right now. Tell the producer and cancel it. I’ll say it again – WE ARE NOT DOING THIS. Get another schedule to replace it. We’d rather have her image damaged a little among the producers. Then…”

President Choo ManJi finished the call after telling the other party that. He sighed and shook his head.

“If SeGyung finds out about this, she’ll…”

“If I find out about what?”

“Whoa!”

President Choo ManJi became shocked. Only then did Kang SeGyung greeted him with a smile.

“Hello, I came in since secretary Han allowed me in.”

“Y, yes. Phew… sit.”

When the two sat down, the secretary entered and gave them some coffee.

Kang SeGyung didn’t even touch the coffee and spoke about what she was here for.

“President. I want to participate in the Dance Revolution program.”

“Haaa…”

President Choo ManJi grabbed his head.

He was well aware that Kang SeGyung had been compared to Jung MinAh ever since they debuted. However, it was unknown if Kang SeGyung could win against Jung MinAh who was capable of performing breakdance movements.

President Choo ManJi softly told her so as to not make her upset.

“SeGyung, Of course, I think that you are better than her. However, there’s no need to prove that on a TV program. We can’t just have the producer benefit off us for nothing.”

Jung MinAh vs Kang SeGyung.

The battle of the dancing machines, the leaders of Eddios, and DiaTeen.

What better picture would there be for the producer than this?

Kang SeGyung normally followed president Choo ManJi’s wishes, but she did not bend this time.

“President, I was compared to Jung MinAh ever since I debuted. She went as far as to create a solo album to prove her skills to the general public, while I…”

“SeGyung.”

“President, it’s not like I’m telling you that I’ll make an album. This is just a TV program. Just send me this once and consider it a favor from me. I really want to win against MinAh. I don’t want to be compared to her any longer!”

Kang SeGyung had a strong opinion. As she was usually calm, this was quite rare for her.

Until now, president Choo ManJi insisted on his ‘safe’ ways even when the artist disagreed with him. However, he could not ignore their opinions forever.

President Choo ManJi closed his eyes.

‘…I should just grant her wish this time. Even if she does lose, it will be forgotten over time if we continue our overseas activities. Let’s just humor her this one time.’

As DiaTeen had great achievements recently, he couldn’t just give them the whip all the time. He had to give them the carrot.

President Choo ManJi opened his eyes.

“Okay, let’s do it then.”

“Thank you so much, president.”

“Instead, don’t come to me with this kind of thing anymore, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

Receiving a concrete answer from Kang SeGyung, president Choo ManJi smiled.

“Good. Since we’re doing this, let’s win it! I’ll support you however possible. My dear SeGyung is the best, right?”

“Yes. You’re the best, president!”

President Choo ManJi and Kang SeGyung came to an agreement.

***

Although Birth of the Masterpiece wasn’t aired yet, KangYoon asked for a copy of the recording of Kim JiMin’s performance for monitoring.

Park SoYoung and Kim JiMin were currently monitoring the stage in the studio of World Entertainment.

-Your fragrance — the nostalgic streetlight — I – still remember —

In the video, Kim JiMin, the orchestra, and Gye HyoMin’s piano sounds created a beautiful harmony and charmed the audience. Having reached its peak, Kim JiMin’s voice conquered the stage like a wave, and the grand-sounding timpani sound added to the dramatic effect.

‘The light was the brightest at that part.’

KangYoon was reminding himself of the golden light even while monitoring the stage. Many thoughts crossed his head like the disappointment of not having been able to see the complete golden light as well as the joy of seeing the most intense light he had seen so far.

Park SoYoung, who had created a storm for her first stage, was rather dumbfounded as well.

After the video ended, KangYoon spoke calmly.

(T/N: The author seems to have forgotten that Park SoYoung’s debut piece wasn’t this but White Moonlight’s OST…)

“I’ll say this again, but you’ve all done well.”

“Thank you for your work.”

Kim JiMin and Park SoYoung thanked each other.

After a brief exchange of appreciation, KangYoon started monitoring.

“I want to say two things. Stage monitoring and music monitoring. Usually, these two are done separately, but JiMin is learning harmonics as well, so it’s fine if we do it together, right?”

“Yes.”

“Good, then let’s start from the beginning. Miss HyoMin changed a lot of the intro right? The part where JiMin came in was connected smoothly to the intro.”

Park SoYoung nodded while looking at the score.

“You’re right. I was surprised there as well. The part I created started with a G, but HyoMin-unni lowered it by a semitone and changed a bit of the melody. She connected this and this part…”

Park SoYoung showed KangYoon the score before the interaction with Gye HyoMin as well as the after. This was the score that they came to after discussing with Gye HyoMin. It was a ‘rearrangement’, but the intro and the outro was practically a recomposition.

Kim JiMin’s eyes gleamed in curiosity.

“No wonder, the song felt completely different. I didn’t get to say this before, but it was awesome.”

Park SoYoung continued to show the other two what had changed. KangYoon played the video again while alternating his gaze between the orchestra and the score. When he listened in closely, the violin’s sound was a little off.

KangYoon paused the video and asked Kim JiMin.

“Can you hear it?”

“What?”

“Again.”

When Kim JiMin tilted her head, KangYoon replayed the part where the violin was off again. However, she still had a questioning look on her face.

Park SoYoung noticed it first and started speaking.

“I get it, the…”

“Shh.”

However, KangYoon told her to stop speaking and turned his eyes to Kim JiMin. Kim JiMin contemplated it for a long time before answering.

“I think the cello is a little off…”

“The cello is normal. Again.”

KangYoon replayed that part until Kim JiMin got the answer. Kim JiMin strained her eyes and tried to listen closely to the music.

“Oh! I get it. It’s the violin, isn’t it?”

Only after listening to it for 10 times did she find the part that KangYoon was talking about. Only then did KangYoon nod.

Kim JiMin’s shoulders drooped. It was very hard to find the instrument that was off-tune among 50 other instruments.

“It was so hard because there are so many sounds.”

“Finding an off-tune sound in an orchestra is an extremely high-level technique. It’s also useful when mastering concerts and group sounds. Let’s train it.”

“Yes.”

KangYoon turned around to Park SoYoung.

“SoYoung, you have now had a proper debut as a musical arranger. The first start was good. Although you were helped out by many people, the fact that you can rearrange a song into an orchestra… Good. I’m pleased to work with you in the future.”

“No, I’m still far from…”

Park SoYoung waved her hand but KangYoon ignored her and continued to speak.

“What do you want your stage name to be?”

“What? A stage name?”

Park SoYoung tilted her head due to the sudden question. She wasn’t a celebrity or something like that, but she needed a stage name?

However, KangYoon’s following words made her expression brighter.

“These days, composers and arrangers have their stage names as well. It will be your name as a composer in the future. Well, the name Park SoYoung is completely fine.”

“Oh! Then, uhm…”

Her own song.

A name for that.

KangYoon was talking about that.

Park SoYoung became touched.

“You know about producing music right? I’ll pay you right away once we get income from it. Looks like this will be the first time you’ll be earning money through music. It feels strange, doesn’t it?”

“Hahaha… This still feels unreal. To think that there would come a day like this…”

When Kim JiMin hugged Park SoYoung, she started tearing up.