Chapter 120

“What are you looking at so intently?”

When KangYoon pocketed Lee JunYeol’s lyrics, steps could be heard behind him . When he turned around, he saw Lee HyunJi who had cleaned up the hall .

“Director . ”

“Did something good happen with Sedy?”

“It’s nothing special . ”

KangYoon showed Lee HyunJi the score and the USB . He also added that Lee JunYeol was looking for someone to feature in his music .

Lee HyunJi spoke after a bit of thought .

“Do you think Sedy had HyunAh or JiMin in mind when he asked you that?”

“No, not really . He did say to me that I’ll likely find someone who perfectly suits the song regardless of the company they belong to . ”

“Well, I guess he knows you better than I do in terms of music . So, did you accept?”

KangYoon nodded . If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have taken the score and the USB . Lee HyunJi thought a little more before speaking .

“It’s good that you’re smoothening your relationships with others, but it’s not good to keep offering them free service . ”

“There’s you if I go overboard . Of course, the company is my priority . I’m not planning to undertake any tasks that go against the principles of the company nor am I going to do anything for free . ”

Lee HyunJi was relieved to hear those words . She was also aware that KangYoon wasn’t someone that could be taken advantage of .

After cleaning Lunas up, the two returned to their office and finished up for the day .

***

After Kim JaeHoon finished selecting songs for his album, he, Lee HyunAh, and KangYoon were given songs to rearrange . Lee HyunAh was excited to rearrange a song for the very legend himself, while Kim JaeHoon was secretly worried because her style was different from his . Despite that, he still waited for the end of the arrangement since KangYoon recommended to do so .

A few days later .

KangYoon and Kim JaeHoon were talking about the album when the door to the studio creaked open .

“Excuse me . ”

Lee HyunAh entered . She bowed towards KangYoon and Kim JaeHoon before giving out a USB and a score .

KangYoon asked while taking a look at the score .

“Have you finished the rearrangement?”

“Yes . ”

Perhaps because Kim JaeHoon was present, Lee HyunAh seemed much more awkward than usual . KangYoon had a look at the score before handing it over to Kim JaeHoon . Kim JaeHoon had a look before widening his eyes in surprise .

“Wait, wait . I think the key changed . ”

“Yes . It’s G Minor now . ”

“That’s too high . Wasn’t the original F# Minor?”

This song started off with a series of high notes . Although this was only transposed half a key up, it was a tremendous amount of pressure .

“I didn’t get that emotional feel with F# Minor . I thought that you should be able to do it so I tried changing the key . ”

“HyunAh, I think this is a little too difficult for me . ”

Kim JaeHoon shook his head . After his previous company overworked him and his voice cracked, he was refraining from singing songs with high notes . He thought that this piece was impossible for him to sing .

Lee HyunAh got dejected . She did her best and she was refused before the musician even listened to it .

KangYoon, who was listening to the two quietly, mediated .

“Wait, JaeHoon . Is it really that difficult?”

“I might be able to do a recording, but singing it live on stage? That’s idiocy . My voice won’t hold out . ”

KangYoon didn’t have anything to say to that . However, he also thought that it was a bit of a pity to give up when they didn’t even listen to it .

“Really? Okay . But since she did it, why don’t we try listening to it?”

“Okay . ”

“You can sit down too, HyunAh . ”

KangYoon gave HyunAh his seat and he headed towards the computer . Lee HyunAh waved her hands saying that it was okay, and KangYoon sat her down anyway .

‘Why are you acting kind at a time like this?’

Lee HyunAh pouted . KangYoon’s consideration for her mended her broken heart a little .

KangYoon plugged the USB drive on the computer and played back the music . When he did, the relaxing piano sounds and the acoustic guitar sounds played the intro . After a while, the bass and the drums entered and the song began .

Various musical notes danced in front of KangYoon’s eyes and created white light .

‘It’s strong . ’

KangYoon was wholeheartedly surprised . This was without Kim JaeHoon’s voice in the mix . The light was a very strong white despite that .

‘Was she always so good at rearrangements?’

KangYoon saw Lee HyunAh in a new light .

However, unlike him, Kim JaeHoon was tilting his head . He shook his head as though he didn’t like the rock-like style .

The song ended and KangYoon asked .

“How is it?”

“… I need to think about it . ”

Even so, Kim JaeHoon did not say that the song was bad outright . However, Lee HyunAh could read the mood .

“Is it… not that good?”

“Rather than ‘not good’, it’s … . ”

Kim JaeHoon was unable to speak . Although he had clear-cut preferences for his music, he was someone that couldn’t say no .

KangYoon stepped in at that time .

“Oh, I forgot, HyunAh . The director was looking for you . ”

“Huh? The director? Why?”

“I should have told you earlier, and I forgot about it . Sorry, but can you go right now . She has been looking for you for 20 minutes now . ”

The timing for the ‘call’ was absolutely ridiculous . Lee HyunAh found KangYoon’s words to be strange . However, she still obediently left the studio . She felt that KangYoon had something to talk about with Kim JaeHoon .

Lee HyunAh left and KangYoon asked Kim JaeHoon .

“Do you not like her song?”

“…I’ll be honest . It’s not my style . ”

Kim JaeHoon shook his head . The song HyunAh brought him this time, a rock ballad, did not make him get that ‘feel’, as it was different from the songs he has sung until now . The high-pitched notes were one problem, but the crux of the matter was that he didn’t get that ‘feel’ .

However, KangYoon thought differently .

“Why don’t we try anyway?”

“This song? Did you think it was okay, hyung?”

“I was fine with it . The melody also goes well with the lyrics you wrote . If you can do the high parts, then it would be better… but your vocal cords are the priority here so let’s skip that . ”

Kim JaeHoon thought about it for a moment when he saw that KangYoon’s opinion was different to his . He was very well aware of KangYoon’s eyes for music . He was never wrong even once until now . If it was someone else, he would not have conceded his opinion, but coming from KangYoon, it was hard to do the same .

“…It doesn’t appeal to me at all, but if you say so, I’ll try . ”

“Yes, thank you . ”

“But instead, you have to do the production . ”

“Fine . Also, for the high parts, let’s just record it . If there comes an opportunity to sing it on stage, we’ll just transpose it down . ”

KangYoon accepted Kim JaeHoon’s condition .

Kim JaeHoon returned home saying that he’ll polish up on the lyrics, and KangYoon headed towards the office where he sent Lee HyunAh off to .

“HyunAh? She went to get some air . ”

Lee HyunJi shook her head when she heard that KangYoon was looking for Lee HyunAh .

‘She must be dejected . ’

KangYoon first headed to the practice room, just in case she returned .

When he did, the other members of White Moonlight were getting ready to practice . When KangYoon asked if they saw Lee HyunAh, he got the reply that the last time they saw her, she was heading to the studio .

If she went to get some air, then it was the rooftop . KangYoon headed there himself .

When KangYoon opened the door to the rooftop, Lee HyunAh’s hair was drifting away in the wind .

“HyunAh . ”

“Oh, oppa . ”

KangYoon quietly stood next to her . When he did, Lee HyunAh asked in a calm tone .

“Do you think I made a mistake?”

“……”

“I did my best since it was for JaeHoon-oppa… Phew…”

Her expression was dark due to the disappointment .

Lee HyunAh talked about dark things for a while . It was a repetition of the same thing over and over again . I did my best and what’s so wrong about it, who is Kim JaeHoon to badmouth me, and stuff like that .

KangYoon would have said something were they in ordinary circumstances, but this time, he quietly listened to her rant .

After she relieved herself of her disappointment in Kim JaeHoon, her expression lightened up a little .

“… Sorry . I wasn’t going to tell you about this . ”

“No, things like that can happen . ”

“……”

When she was relieved of all the stress, she felt sorry for KangYoon . She was upset at Kim JaeHoon but took it out on him after all . Her face blushed in embarrassment .

KangYoon realized that and switched topics .

“It’s a genre he’s not used to singing and he’s practically trying a completely new type of music now . So don’t you think it’s absurd to say that he would be completely fine about it? Do you think you can stay absolutely calm if he gave you a song in his style?”

“That… won’t be easy . ”

“JaeHoon is in the same process right now . He also told me that he’ll try it . ”

“Really?”

Lee HyunAh raised her blushed face to meet KangYoon’s .

“Yes, your song, HyunAh . It feels really good . I think we can expect good things from it . ”

“Really?”

KangYoon wasn’t the type to say empty words in consolation . Lee HyunAh cheered up again as though all of this never happened .

“You mean it?”

“Of course . There will be good results . Look forward to it . ”

Lee HyunAh clenched her fist as though KangYoon’s words became her power .

***

(T/N: [ ] speech is Chinese speech)

The Silk Road .

It was a set of trade routes that spanned across the desert that connected the east and the west . In the west, it started from Italy, and in the east, it connected to Lanzhou in China . These routes were mostly used by traders who bought and sold silk .

On such a historic site, Min JinSeo was there .

[Ready, action!]

On a road where violent sandy winds blew, Min JinSeo flew to the skies with wires wearing clothes made of white silk . Numerous actors followed suit . Her opponent actress performed with her in clashing the sword, and on the ground, massive fans blew winds on them to make their clothes flutter .

[Good, you can stop . ]

After the scene was over, Min JinSeo received a bottle of water from her manager and drank it nonstop . The wire harness action scenes and the heat of the desert were slowly tiring her out . However, she forged on without a single complaint .

Like that, the heavy-duty filming continued until the sun started setting beyond the horizon .

[Thank you for your work!]

Hundreds of staff shouting that line at once rang across the empty desert .

Min JinSeo was able to finally relax after greeting all the staff . She powerlessly approached a bonfire before sitting down . This was a place made for the actors .

“When is the car coming?”

“In an hour . The car broke down mid-way . ”

Her manager, Kim JooHwan, sighed . His job was to give Min JinSeo more rest at their hotel, but he wasn’t able to . This made him frustrated .

However, Min JinSeo said it was okay and offered him to sit .

“Please sit here . ”

“No, I’m fine . ”

“You must be tired too after all that . You should rest a little . ”

Only then did manager Kim JooHwan sit down next to her . The other staff and actors had already gathered around in companies to talk about things . As this was the middle of a desert, it was hard for vehicles to stay, and once in, it was hard to get out . They couldn’t even get a phone signal here .

“The filming is dragging out . I didn’t know that filming a single movie could get so tedious . ”

“Me neither . But it’s not like we can not do it due to that huge budget and all that… . Looks like this director is very ambitious . ”

“I had a look at a couple of scenes and he does seem to do a good job . ”

When manager Kim JooHwan asked back if that was the case, Min JinSeo praised the director nonstop . The videography of this director was exceptional . She looked forward to how it would turn out once the special effects were added in . Although the obvious disadvantage was that it required more recording time and money, from an actor’s point of view, it was obvious that she liked it to have better quality .

Min JinSeo then proceeded to stare at the bonfire when manager Kim JooHwan carefully took out a topic .

“Uhm, JinSeo . The directors are waiting at the…”

“I’m not going . ”

(T/N: Not the film director, but the directors from MG . )

She replied as soon as she heard the word ‘director’ . Manager Kim JooHwan felt embarrassed for some reason .

“JinSeo, I know you don’t like the directors but… . ”

“If you know I hate them, then please don’t talk about it . ”

“…… . ”

With that, Min JinSeo no longer spoke . She was firm about this . However, as though this was usual, manager Kim JooHwan spoke again .

“This is the third time, no, the fourth time already if you don’t go to this one . At this rate, something bad will happen at the company . They are the ones that run the company and if you keep acting childish like this… . ”

“Oppa . ”

Min JinSeo gazed at him with the coldest expression he had seen until now . He flinched a little .

“I’ll say this again . If I say no, it’s a no . ”

“JinSeo . ”

“Don’t make me say it twice . ”

She no longer spoke afterward . Due to her nature, manager Kim JooHwan could no longer say anything to her . She had a hegemonic aura unseen from her peers .

When the manager looked like he understood what she meant, she gave him her credit card . It was a luxurious-looking card colored in gold .

“I’m sleeping somewhere else tonight so please take care of it . ”

Manager Kim JooHwan took the card in confusion . She implied for him to book her another hotel room . She meant that she would never go to her original lodging to meet with the directors, and he had to agree to her words .

After saying that, Min JinSeo buried her head in her knees . She was not going to speak again .

Seeing that, manager Kim JooHwan sighed .

‘Ah, this is driving me crazy . ’

He couldn’t do anything . No one from MG Entertainment could tell Min JinSeo to do something . She had now conquered mainland China after Korea . Her fame was rising without limits .

What could they do to the golden egg-laying goose? Did they dare to? Despite all this, Min JinSeo hated the directors to the extreme, so from the company’s perspective, she was a big pain . They were thankful that they were still contracted to her . She was still very responsible and did her part of the contract, so the company was very glad to see that .

However, there were endless rumors about her breaking up the contract and flying away towards her beloved ‘sir’ at ‘that’ company . The relationship between the two was just that bad . To treat it as a simple rumor, her cards were just too strong .

‘Sheesh, it’s all because of team leader Lee KangYoon… . ’

Manager Kim JooHwan resented the innocent KangYoon before standing up . What was so great about that Lee KangYoon? Everyone had headaches now . He was getting light-headed just thinking about the nagging he would get when he met up with the directors, without Min JinSeo next to him .

‘I’ll just smoke . ’

Manager Kim JooHwan sat in a corner lighting his cigarette . He looked pitiful . He wished that his worries would fly away with the smoke, but his head became messier .