Chapter 130

When Kim JaeHoon started practicing, KangYoon also returned to his room and turned his PC on .

‘Phew, it’s not like I can get anyone to do it…’

He still remembered his own artists cleaning up the stage and chairs after that Christmas event . As he was someone who believed that musicians should focus on music, this came as a very big shock to him .

KangYoon licked his lips while looking at the Lunas’s employment notice that Lee HyunJi had put up on an employment website . Many people had applied for it, but there wasn’t anyone suitable . This was because he had raised the monthly pay higher than many other similar jobs in the industry . He was looking for 3 people, but there were over 300 applicants .

‘Nice specs . ’

Muttered KangYoon as he looked at a resume from a person who went to a good university, but majored in a language . He classified those that deemed suitable on one pile before going over to the next .

However, there were too many applicants . In the end, KangYoon turned off the internet after looking through about 100 people .

‘They say human resources management is the hardest… . ’

KangYoon sighed . In the end, he decided that he should do it with Lee HyunJi and turned around to do something else .

Like that, he was getting something done for Kim JaeHoon when his phone started ringing . From the long series of numbers on the caller ID, it seemed to be from America . There was only one possible number .

“Yes, HeeYoon . ”

[Oppa . ]

He heard his sister’s voice, familiar, yet nostalgic . Just in case he interrupted Kim JaeHoon, he took his phone call outside .

“How have you been?”

[I’m good . How about you?]

He sat down in one corner of his porch and asked his sister about her well-being . The reply was that she was doing fine other than the fact that grades would be coming out soon . KangYoon didn’t care much about those grades . For him, it was a miracle that she was healthy again, so he wasn’t greedy about her grades . But now, such a sister turned out to have immense talent in music composition… for him, it was a matter he would thank the heavens for .

“Are you coming over to Korea on holiday?”

[Yeah . I’ll go once my grades are out . I want to meet the artists too . ]

HeeYoon’s voice contained expectation . KangYoon smiled hearing that she wanted to come as soon as possible .

“Okay, I’ll send you the money, so get a ticket with that . ”

[It’s fine . I have a lot of money . I’ll get one on my own . ]

“No . Your brother is going to do it . ”

KangYoon and HeeYoon fought regarding who was going to buy the ticket . Although they quarreled for a while, HeeYoon won over in the end . Her reason was that she had plenty of money from the copyright fees she had gotten .

(T/N: Why not use both the money to get a first class one…)

(E/N: Hyung you don’t understand just how much money first class costs)

“…Okay, fine . Do call me before you get on board . ”

[Okay . Do you need anything?]

“Duty free cigarettes . ”

[Oppa, are you looking for a fight?]

As though he was disappointed, KangYoon mentioned smoking . However, they still ended the call on a good note – that he should stop smoking .

‘My girl HeeYoon’s all grown up now . ’

After the call, KangYoon made a soft smile while looking at his phone . He was like a dad that felt disappointed for his daughter growing up when he thought she’d stay a kid forever

***

TV stations at the end of the year were like warzones .

There were many award ceremonies as well as special episodes for various TV programs .

It was really like an active volcano that erupted at random times .

At the peak of the volcano was the meeting room for producers .

“God d*mmit . ”

“Seonbae, what’s up?”

“Min JinSeo’s not showing up on the ceremony, again . ”

A bearded producer grumbled while looking at the text message on his phone . When his direct junior asked in a soft tone, he showed her the text message while frowning .

“It seems that filming in China will take longer than expected, and she will not come back to Korea at the end of the year . Thank you for understanding? Goddammit, it wasn’t the person in question that replied, and it was a director . Just what the… . ”

“Wow, Min JinSeo sure is different . Doesn’t this mean that she’s above that director? And from what I know, MG’s board of directors are known for being stuck-up . Perhaps because it was about Min JinSeo that they decided to bother to do something . ”

“Yeah, probably . She’s MG’s queen after all . Dammit, she wasn’t here last year, and she’s not here this year either… And here I was getting my hopes up . ”

Thanks to his disappointment, the bearded producer could not stop frowning .

While listening to his junior’s consolation, another fellow producer spoke .

“It’s a pity about Min JinSeo . I heard she expressed her opinion that she wanted to participate in this year’s one . ”

“That’s what I mean . Well… she’s been stuck in China all year . Hey, what about you? I heard you scouted Kim JaeHoon this time?”

“I’m having a blast . Do you know World’s president? He’s a cool guy . I gave him a call, and he gave me an okay on the spot . ”

Kim JaeHoon at an idol-centered award ceremony? The bearded producer was in charge of the actors’ ceremony looked at his fellow producer that was in charge of the music award ceremony .

“Kim JaeHoon gave an okay for a TV program? I heard he doesn’t do TV programs with idols . You’re amazing for having done that . Don’t the other companies say anything about it?”

“What can they do about it? If they do, they’re narrow-minded . ”

“I guess . Anyway, a singer on Kim JaeHoon’s level should put a lot of pressure on the idols . They won’t be able to do a song live at all . ”

“Don’t even start . The absolute majority of them are bringing recordings . Ah, forget it . I hope Kim JaeHoon makes up for it . ”

“Lol, that sounds fun . ”

(T/N: I don’t actually watch those end-of-year ceremonies… not to mention the 2011 awards, so don’t ask me why music awards are centered around idols and whatnot… I don’t know a thing)

The junior producer only tilted her head in confusion while listening to the two seniors’ conversation .

***

The video of Han JooYeon and Sedy’s duet went up on Eddios’s fan cafe, Aries, and received an enormous number of views . It had the highest video resolution, and also the best sound . Although many people had recorded the video of the two, this video had the highest number of views in its kind .

Thanks to the video, the number of fan cafe visitors started rising exponentially . Ever since Eddios came back from America, the number of visitors in the cafe was increasing steadily .

Jung HyeJin recorded the number of visitors each day per KangYoon’s instruction . It was to monitor the current status .

‘He said that there will be a sharp rise at some point… and he’s right!’

After the video was uploaded, the number of visitors exploded after one day . At the same time, the number of people joining the cafe increased as well . Although the video was available to the public without logging in, there were many people that became fans after watching the video .

The video ended up attracting more people to the fan cafe .

“How is the monitoring going?”

“Director . ”

She was reading the articles in the fan cafe when Lee HyunJi called out to her . Jung HyeJin turned her seat around to Lee HyunJi .

“Are there more people visiting?”

“Yes . It tripled . It’s amazing . ”

Jung HyeJin couldn’t hide her surprise, but Lee HyunJi lightly shook her head .

“Triple, huh . There’s still a lot of ways to go until we recover the original number . ”

“Oh yeah, this was Eddios… . ”

Jung HyeJin had made a mistake . Although she was surprised at the sharp increase in fan count, Eddios had been a peak-level idol in the past after all . There was still a lot of ways to go until they recovered their former fans, not to mention increasing that count .

Lee HyunJi came to Jung HyeJin’s seat and spoke in a bland voice .

“This number… It isn’t so bad . Please make a report and leave it on my desk . ”

“Yes, director . ”

Jung HyeJin replied before turning back to her monitor .

Lee HyunJi opened the employment website . She was going to pick out some people for managing Lunas, as well as some office workers . However, when she opened the website and had a look at the resumes, the scroll bar became tiny .

‘Wh, what’s this?’

Although it was good that she was given a lot of choices, how was she supposed to look through all of them…?

Lee HyunJi sighed . It looked like she was going to work overtime yet again .

When the two were focusing on doing their work, the door to the office opened and KangYoon came in .

“President . ”

“You’re here . ”

The two waved their hands at him . Lee HyunJi had bags under her eyes . KangYoon didn’t seem to notice that and rummaged through his desk, looking for something .

“I think I put JiMin’s plans over here somewhere… oh . ”

KangYoon took out a document he had hidden deep inside his desk and left the office immediately . He came and went like the wind .

The two looked at KangYoon’s empty seat, blanking out .

“The president is such a bad guy . ”

“My thoughts exactly . ”

Jung HyeJin spoke badly about him and Lee HyunJi deeply sympathized .

He was the source of all… work! Bad guy!

Those lines made the two become closer to each other .

***

“Why are my ears so itchy?”

KangYoon kept scratching his ears as though he could hear something . Kim JiMin, who was next to him, asked .

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing . I guess someone’s talking about me . ”

KangYoon stopped scratching after a while . Then he gave JiMin a set of papers .

“It’s your plans that I talked about . Have a look . ”

Kim JiMin gulped when he said that this was a plan about her future . She looked through the plans with a nervous expression .

“Let’s have you debut after the Lunar New Year . ”

“After Lunar New Years?”

Hearing a detailed date, Kim JiMin seemed shocked . Although she had an inkling about when she would have her debut, nervousness overcame her when it became more detailed .

“Why? Do you think it’s too early?”

“No, uhm… there’s Eddios-unnis too and…”

Kim JiMin seemed hesitant . However, KangYoon was firm about this .

“They are them and you are you . I think you’re worried about MinAh’s solo debut in March, but you two take completely different roles in the industry so it’s absolutely fine . Your debut will be either early February or at the very latest, end of February .

Kim JiMin’s eyes were shaking endlessly . Although report documents were written in hard, stiff words to make it sound formal, the papers in her hands were easy enough for her to understand .

Kim JiMin couldn’t hide her worry even after reading through all of the report .

“I don’t think I’ve prepared for a year even… . ”

The average number of years for a trainee to prepare for their debut was 3 years . But now, she was doing one in less than one year . She was worried that her preparation time was too short .

However, KangYoon replied confidently despite her worries .

“JiMin, do you think we’d send someone unprepared to their debut?”

“No . ”

She strongly shook her head .

She had seen how World Entertainment did things . They took in White Moonlight, who was rejected by a big company, and even built a concert hall for them; wrote a song for Jay Han, who later won a competition on a TV show; and even revived Kim JaeHoon back from 4 years of absence . Things that were considered miracles in the industry happened very frequently here at World Entertainment .

KangYoon spoke calmly .

“I heard from professor Choi that you’re almost done learning the SLS vocal method . Although some in-depth training will be necessary as you take on your singer lifestyle, you won’t have to listen to several lectures a week . I heard that you didn’t have any bad habits and was quick to learn . Well done . ”

“Sir… . ”

The words ‘well done’ shook her heart . She remembered back to the process – when KangYoon had scouted her out, and when she had prepared all this time . It was now time to go past that stage .

Like that, she was given a concrete debut plan, and it was now time to talk about what theme she should go with .

“As for the genre, I think we’ll go with folk . ”

“Folk? Like the 80s?”

KangYoon shook his head when he heard her question .

“No way . If you sang like someone from the 80s then you won’t have any success . If you have a look at America, they have a lot of modern-feeling folk songs . I’m planning to make your title song one like that . ”

“Is that fine? A folk song is… . ”

“You’ll see when the song is complete . You definitely won’t be disappointed . ”

She nodded her head since KangYoon showed so much confidence . He kept speaking .

“Also, the fact that you’re able to play the guitar is like a performance in itself . There’s also the advantage that it’s easy to set up in a short time . However, it won’t be fun if you show it off too much, so let’s just do it once in a while . ”

“Okay . I guess I’m going to need one for the debut stage?”

“No . ”

Hearing KangYoon’s words, she widened her eyes in surprise .

“People will only watch if there’s a sort of impact on the first stage…”

“Let’s not show everything off in one go . You’re going to last long in this industry . ”

“Yes . ”

After that, KangYoon spoke about a lot of things . Along with things about the song, they talked about what they wanted in the debut stage . Kim JiMin found it curious that she was able to talk with KangYoon in regards to something like this . She felt as though she was a full-fledged artist already .

They were talking about it when it came to talking about the composer .

“The company’s exclusive composer will be visiting us soon . ”

“Oh, you mean HeeYoon-unni?”

Kim JiMin’s eyes colored with curiosity hearing those words .

“She won’t be going anywhere for the holiday . I’m going to have her focus on your album this time, so I want you to learn from her . ”

“Yes!”

Kim JiMin shouted in expectation .

A popular songwriter, one that made Kim JaeHoon, White Moonlight and even DiaTeen famous, was going to focus on her alone! This was like a dream to her .

***

December 31st .

Today was the last day of the year and the day that summed up the year . It was also the day that an end-of-year Pop contest happened in OTS TV station .

KangYoon and Lee HyunJi were watching the show through the TV at the company .

“There sure are a lot of girl groups . And boy groups too . ”

They had already watched more than three-quarters of it . Lee HyunJi gave her evaluation after seeing that the majority of singers in the first half were girl groups and boy groups . One of her evaluations was the ‘standardization of the singer industry’ .

KangYoon’s opinion wasn’t that much different from hers .

“The girl groups are the majority here, alright . The ones that have appeared so far should be considered well-off in their field . Below them should be about 70% of similar groups… . ”

“There are many companies that have the mindset to earn money through events after doing a single album . If it goes well, it’s a good thing . If it doesn’t, then oh well . – that’s what they think about it . Phew, on one side, I’m pitying them . Just how many of them will still be active next year?”

KangYoon deeply sympathized with Lee HyunJi’s words .

“You’re right . These days, one success doesn’t mean everything . It’s a frightening era alright . Now, one successful result in an album isn’t nearly enough to keep going in the industry . ”

“This is hard . Eddios will have to join the field and I’m worried . ”

It was no wonder that Lee HyunJi was worried . From one perspective, Eddios had it worse off than their competition . However, KangYoon was very firm about his stance on the matter .

“It’s time we show the public another side . There’s no more opportunity if all they can do is shout ‘oppa’ on the stage, like what they did before, targeting the male audience . We need to create an area of sympathy and get everyone to join us . ”

“Is there a strategy for that?”

“We’ll need firm foundations . It’s not something we can do in just a day or two . ”

There was a heated discussion on TV and there was a mention of Kim JaeHoon . The two people gazed at the TV simultaneously . There was a video playing about the candidates of the runner-up award . There was some footage about Kim JaeHoon’s appearance on TV shows as well as some other people that were candidates .

– Those were the three candidates for the runner-up award . Then, let us announce – the runner-up award

There was a drumroll noise .

At the same time, both KangYoon and Lee HyunJi gulped .

– goes to… Mr . Kim-Jae-Hoon~! Congratulations!

Along with a loud fanfare, Kim JaeHoon, clad in a suit, walked up to the stage with a slightly red face . He accepted the flower and the trophy with a soft smile and stood in front of the mic .

– First, I’d like to thank you all for giving me this wonderful prize . I’d also like to thank my family members at the company, DaeHyung-hyung that works hard for me every day, as well as my parents . Finally, I’d like to thank Muse that has created the opportunity for me to stand on stage again… . Oh, I’m sorry, I’m tearing up… after 4 years of absence . My brother, president, really, really… thank you .

Kim JaeHoon put the things in his hands down and kowtowed towards the monitor . Everyone was deeply shocked, but he stood up without thinking about it .

– I’ll repay you with even better music in the future . I love and thank you everyone!

Applause rang out from the TV . KangYoon fell into a daze after seeing Kim JaeHoon’s kowtow . That was definitely aimed at him . Lee HyunJi, next to him, seemed touched .

“That’s awesome, president, getting someone to kowtow towards you in such a big, official place . ”

“Looks like the internet will be hot about it . ”

“Hahaha, is that a problem? Wow, I didn’t know Mr . JaeHoon had such a side to him . The friendship between men is so cool . I’m almost falling for him now . ”

Lee HyunJi looked at KangYoon in envy . Their friendship, unhindered by the mass media, excited her .

“Looks like there will be a news article in 10 minutes . What do you think the post title will be? [Kim JaeHoon, a man’s big kowtow]?”

“You’re freaking me out here . ”

“Hahaha . ”

When Lee HyunJi laughed, KangYoon scratched his cheek in embarrassment .

2011 was a year with a warm ending for World Entertainment .