Chapter 28. Earning Trust (2)

Translator: Synopsis

A fresh morning. HeeYoon had made Doenjang Jjigae and was eating breakfast together with KangYoon.

However, she put her spoon down when she heard strange words from KangYoon.

“Huh? What are you saying from the morning, oppa?”

“If you finish school today, then come to this place – XX station 2nd exit…”

However, KangYoon didn’t explain anything to HeeYoon in detail. He just said for her to come to that address and gave her a simple map. Obviously, HeeYoon couldn’t understand her brother’s words.

“We’re moving now, and you haven’t told me anything? You should’ve said something beforehand. We’ll have to pack things up and look for a house too. And to do that, we need money too…….”

HeeYoon blurred her words at the end. She knew how much money KangYoon invested in her dialysis fees and various diagnosis fees every month. So if he bought a house, then that would be a debt. Debt. As she heard that many people were going into debt to buy houses from the news, HeeYoon didn’t feel that good about going to a new house.

However, KangYoon continued speaking as if saying ‘just believe in me.’

“Don’t worry. I called the movers. I took half the day off and will go to the company later, and HeeYoon, you can just go there if you finish school.”

“But, oppa. There must be a lot to prepare…”

“There isn’t that much. The movers would do the work. I will take care of it so just go to school. Didn’t we have a hard time now since we were so far away from school and work? The hospital was far too. Now, we’re moving to a better place. Okay?”

“Where do we have the money to…”

HeeYoon felt unreal. She, who even worried about housekeeping, matured quickly like KangYoon. KangYoon softly brushed her hair and alleviated some of her worries.

“Even if you don’t say that, its monthly rent. Let’s move to a better place next time.”

It had been half a year since he was employed at MG Entertainment, HeeYoon marveled at her brother. They were siblings who lived in this tattered house until now trying to save expenses for the treatment. Although a monthly rent, to think that they were leaving this place in less than one year… Just thinking about that, HeeYoon was touched.

“Oppa, thanks. And you’ve suffered.”

“What suffering. It’s not that good of a place. It’s a detached house, but it won’t be uncomfortable for the two of us to live together. There is even a yard and hot water.”

“Really?”

At the word ‘hot water,’ Hee Yoon was delighted. The life of heating water to have a bath due to no running hot water was no more.

“We should install a bidet too, right?”

“Oppa!!”

Perhaps feeling embarrassed at KangYoon’s last words, HeeYoon’s face turned red, and KangYoon laughed loudly.

***

Lunchtime.

KangYoon had his lunch in the 1st-floor cafeteria. Normally, he would have lunch with Chairman Won JinMoon or President Lee HyunJi while talking about work, but today he was free from that. The two in question were in Japan due to significant work.

“Good afternoon!”

“Hello.”

Every one of the trainees who met KangYoon in the cafeteria bowed 90 degrees while greeting. Everyone was disciplined well. They received their meals and had their meals together in groups. Their figures of chatting and playing around indicated that they were in the end, teens.

‘Good times.’

While thinking like an old man, KangYoon shrugged his shoulders. To think those playful boys and girls will become singers… It was a wonder just thinking about it.

While having lunch, a person came and stood in front of him with a tray in her hands.

“G, good afternoon.”

“Oh, HanYu, hello.”

It was Seo HanYu in her school uniform. She was hesitating whether to sit down or not.

“Sit.”

“Oh, thank you.”

As soon as KangYoon’s permission fell, she sat in front of KangYoon with frightening speed. She mixed the Bibimbap that she got and took a spoonful in her mouth. Perhaps due to liking spicy food, it was very red.

“It’s not spicy?”

“I like spicy things.”

“Really? Have a nice meal.”

“Yes.”

KangYoon didn’t say much after that. Did you rest well, how was it, are you stopping your part-time job – all these were absent. He kept lifting his spoon up and down. Seo HanYu hesitated for a moment before speaking first.

“Team Leader.”

“What is it?”

“Thank you for minding about me.”

KangYoon smiled without saying anything. She was a person who will go together with him in the future. It was an obvious thing to do. At KangYoon’s smile, Seo HanYu seemed to have become more enthusiastic as she continued.

“I heard you went to visit my mother. I won’t forget that you’ve done various things for me.”

“I didn’t do anything much.”

“No, there wasn’t anyone until now who minded so much about me. Really… thank you.”

To Seo HanYu, there wasn’t anyone like KangYoon until now. She never told anyone that her mother was sick. KangYoon had known about a thing that even the company didn’t know about, comforted her mother, and moreover, comforted her father. What KangYoon gave her was safety and the trust of her family.

Seo HanYu could still remember the scene where her mother told her to do her best to become a singer, vividly in her mind. Whether he knew or not, KangYoon was no different from his ordinary self.

“I already told you. That we’re doing this together. It’s an obvious thing to do.”

“Yes. You’ve talked to my father about it, too, haven’t you? That you will definitely make me a singer.”

KangYoon said that she would become a good singer. However, words differed according to how a person accepted it. Moreover, the person in charge of Seo HanYu was KangYoon. The words ‘Seo HanYu will become a good singer’ meant that he would make her into one. Of course, KangYoon never planned to throw her away from the beginning.

“Well… that.”

“I will answer to your expectations no matter what, Team Leader.”

“Y…yeah. Please do.”

The light inside Seo HanYu’s eyes that were looking at KangYoon changed. At Seo HanYu’s figure, who felt like she would believe even if KangYoon said water was fire, he felt unreal. He had received no such trust even in his ‘past’. He even thought randomly that he might be fooling a girl now that she had entrusted him with her hopes and dreams.

Even so, he felt good. It was always delightful to receive someone’s trust. However, KangYoon was a person who will definitely speak what he had to speak.

“Don’t be late from now on.”

“Yes, sir. I definitely won’t.”

“… You don’t have to be so strict with yourself.”

“Yes.”

Of course, KangYoon instead felt embarrassed.

He couldn’t adapt easily to Seo HanYu’s tense discipline.

***

Now that he had finished Sedy’s comeback stage and dealt with Seo HanYu’s matter, KangYoon’s office had some leisure. There weren’t many documents that awaited his approvals, and there wasn’t anything he had to report to his superiors.

KangYoon was feeling rather relaxed for the first time in a while.

‘This is good.’

He couldn’t be any happier now that he was resting while lying on the sofa without the regard for time. But how did the saying go? That Korean companies never tolerate the sight of an employee resting. A call came to KangYoon’s office.

-Team Leader Lee. This is the presidential secretary room. The President calls for you.

KangYoon felt absurd, and he blinked a few times. President Lee HyunJi was supposed to be in Japan now. But a sudden call… When he asked, the reply was simple.

-She just came back to her office now. She said her schedule was canceled…

‘Oh…’

KangYoon sighed deeply. It was a quiet time he rarely had, but the timing wasn’t good. KangYoon replied ok and went upstairs to the President’s office.

In the office, President Lee HyunJi was looking at some documents with an exhausted face.

“Welcome, Team Leader Lee.”

“Did you call for me?”

Traces of the flight was still left on her as President Lee HyunJi looked very tired. However, she didn’t show it on the surface and held out the document to KangYoon.

‘SeasonS Yen department store open event mini concert?’

KangYoon flipped one page. On the first page, it was grandly written that Yen department store, Daejeon branch, will open in spring and that many singers were coming to celebrate.

“The important thing is at the back.”

KangYoon kept flipping the pages. There was an incomplete setlist. The cast and the MC, the supported equipment, etc. were briefly written. KangYoon found that the word SeasonS was ticked.

“SeasonS? Do I read this as ‘seasons’?”

“Call it however you’re comfortable with. It’s a quartet girl group that debuted frequently. They belong to Dumaz Entertainment. An assignment came from them. They want a hot issue at this stage.”

“A hot issue? Noise marketing on the internet is not my area of expertise.”

KangYoon cut it sharp. Although he had to try to know, momentary stimulation would just get swallowed up in other noise. To make it last, they had to become significant properly. They had to improve their ability and make themselves remain in people’s memories. This was KangYoon’s philosophy.

“I also don’t want noise marketing. And so I told them – Noise marketing is impossible. However, it’s possible to make a performance that can engrave them in the people’s hearts.”

KangYoon fell into thought. A department store, where a lot of people come, usually had a space to install a temporary stage, or it had a small stage. However, space wasn’t that big.

“The stage in the department store is narrow. It’s questionable whether we can use the setting that we want.”

“From that, it’s your area of expertise. The condition is a performance that can be engraved in people’s hearts. There are no other requirements, including one about the audience. Excluding the fact that there are a few well-known singers, the condition isn’t that strict.”

“That is precisely a tight condition. We will take a loss starting with the order of sequence. If our turn is just after a famous singer, then we will start with a huge minus.”

“You’ll have to negotiate with the related personnel for that. Dumaz Entertainment said this – that they will do everything as Team Leader Lee says. I’ve already told them so there won’t be any noise.”

“……”

KangYoon sighed deeply. The stage was small. Moreover, the audience was unpredictable whether it was age or gender. There was no such thing as a ‘good condition’ for a new singer.

‘Everything as I say…’

But there was hope. There was an element of negotiation with the venue itself, and it was already negotiated that the singers would follow KangYoon’s orders. If so, then there was room to breakthrough.

“I understand. I will try.”

“I will look forward to it. I expect a fresh result like last time.”

After accepting, KangYoon left the President’s office.

‘Shall I go right away?’

KangYoon went straight to Dumaz Entertainment to meet the girl group known as SeasonS. When he contacted them beforehand, they said that they welcomed him anytime. KangYoon drove a car for about 20 minutes and arrived in front of Dumaz Entertainment.

‘Well, it’s certainly better than Duka…’

This was KangYoon’s first evaluation on Dumaz Entertainment after seeing that they had a whole 2-storey building to themselves, despite being tattered. Dumaz Entertainment, which modified an apartment, used their ground floor for guest rooms and offices and the first floor as the dorms.

KangYoon opened the door and went inside. Inside, there were two people – the Accountant and the President.

“Welcome. I’m called Yoon MoonSoo.” (T/N: So many O’s…)

“I’m Lee KangYoon.”

President Yoon MoonSoo and KangYoon exchanged greetings and sat down face to face after receiving the coffee the accountant made. KangYoon and President Yoon MoonSoo talked about the latest topics and the singers before going onto topic.

“I heard about the work. I know the condition that you want a stage that’s eye-catching.”

“I want to raise their popularity during this opportunity. Is it possible?”

“To be honest, for popularity, a TV program would be better.”

KangYoon was confused. Just why were they aiming to increase their popularity in something like a countryside event? If it was for popularity, then it was better to go to a TV program or a television stage. KangYoon was on the side of receiving work, but as a 3rd party, he said coldly.

“You’re right. However, a TV program was difficult to do without popularity. The programs that we can appear in are all occupied by the entertainment companies that have power… So don’t you think that we should use whatever means to survive?”

The power of an entertainment company, in the end, lay in money. The pay for a program that the populace like was in no way, high. However, it had the power to tell their existence to the people, and so, powerful entertainment companies use their power of money to the TV stations. Other than money, they also use methods where they use an already risen star. Thanks to that, the entertainment companies that appeared recently had hard times telling their existence to the world.

“I understand. I will try. I will do my best.”

“Thank you.”

KangYoon requested to meet SeasonS as soon as he accepted the assignment. President Yoon MoonSoo said that they had no schedule, so they were practicing, so he led KangYoon to the 1st floor.

‘Whoa…’

KangYoon, who arrived at the 1st floor, was surprised. He had seen many places, but a place like this where the all the walls of the living room were covered in mirrors was a first. They didn’t have a practice room, so they widened the whole living room and modified the walls by attaching mirrors to practice. This was a figure of a stereotypical singer who sang for a living.

“Oppa, you’re here?” (T/N: NOT blood related)

After turning off the music, Jang HanNa ran to the front of President Yoon MoonSoo and KangYoon. She didn’t seem to have realized that KangYoon was there as she only greeted President Yoon MoonSoo delightedly, And when she found KangYoon, she lowered her head.

“G, good afternoon. I’m HanNa, the leader of SeasonS.”

Jang HanNa hurriedly turned back to organize her messy hair. The other members behind her also quickly organized their clothes and hair. They all complained in their hearts – why didn’t he tell us that a guest was coming?

After a brief moment, KangYoon could receive the organized greeting from SeasonS.

“Good afternoon. We’re SeasonS.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Hello.”

KangYoon and SeasonS, who finished their greetings, started talking about the performance.

“Can’t we just do the title song?”

At KangYoon’s question of what they wanted to do, Moon JiHye replied immediately. And after that, Kang HyeSeon followed her.

“Unni, what do you mean by just the title. We need to do the others too.”

“Is that so?”

The two chatted to each other before becoming silent due to Jang HanNa’s gaze.

“Why don’t we rearrange the title song? Like at the end of year award ceremonies.”

“HaNeul, the people don’t know of our songs. We should let them know about it first.”

When Song HaNeul voiced out her opinion, Kang HyeSeon retorted immediately. The two started fighting and in the end, also got scolded from Jang HanNa.

KangYoon didn’t stop the SeasonS members from talking freely. A lot of things came out. There were talks to change the title song, arrangement, and there were even talks to do an entirely different song. KangYoon organized those ideas on his notes.

While those girls were chatting, KangYoon gathered their attention.

“Please pay attention for a bit.”

“Yes.”

The SeasonS members replied well. They were bright girls from the beginning. However, they also boasted of a lot of noise – just like how there was a shadow if there was light. One word leads to many words, and KangYoon decided in just one sentence.

“…Let’s just go with whatever we have.”

“Yes…”

With KangYoon’s one line, the discussion ended. The SeasonS members who exchanged opinions with liveliness all drooped their shoulders at KangYoon’s clear-cut words. Whether it was President Yoon MoonSoo or those girls, they were disappointed that KangYoon seemed to be the same as other planners.

However, KangYoon’s words didn’t end there.

“However, let’s combine many things in it. To give an impact.”

KangYoon’s turnaround words made everyone shrug their shoulders in excitement.