Chapter 66. Designing with Music (1)

Translator: Synopsis

“HyunJi, can I really trust this?”

“Oppa, believe in me this once. It’s definitely effective.”

President Lee HyunJi was currently doing business in a bar in Gangnam. The opponent was her senior from university, Gu YoungSoo. He was the owner of a big shoe store in Gangnam.

“Sheesh. Does changing music really affect the customers?”

“Times are changing. And like I said, there’s a guy who’s ghastly good at music in my company. You know JooAh, don’t you?”

“I do. I’m a complete fan of her. And thanks for her signature by the way.”

Gu YoungSoo blushed slightly.

“The one who sent JooAh to Japan is magical at music. I heard you were worried that your sales have been dropping lately. Why don’t you just try my idea? I heard your sales dropped because of the other stores. You need to give a change at a time like this.”

“Would changing music really affect the customers though?”

“I said believe in me this once.”

Gu YoungSoo was slightly doubtful but was eventually persuaded by President Lee HyunJi.

‘How effective could it possibly be?’

Even while accepting her offer, he was still skeptical.

***

“She was the heroine of television show, Whispers of the Stars. Let’s start the second part with a collaboration between Miss Min JinSeo and Eddios!”

Along with the presenter’s excited voice, the curtains to part 2 rose. Along with the curtains, the cameras all started flashing with a red light.

Writer Song TaeJin also posed upright from her usual crossed-legged seating. Her colleagues were surprised by her actions.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The stage began and the girls of Eddios started dancing around Min JinSeo as the center. It was the title song of Eddios, ‘Together’. However, it was re-arranged and had more power in the dance routine.

Eddios all matched their moves with Min JinSeo. Thanks to that, Min JinSeo didn’t look out of place or anything.

When KangYoon came back to his seat, Song TaeJin greeted him.

“Wow, KangYoon. Did JinSeo dance so well?”

“She was originally a singer trainee after all.”

“Oh yeah. Its MG isn’t it.”

Writer Song TaeJin honestly expressed her surprise at Min JinSeo’s dancing abilities. Her dance was way above what any amateurs could do.

“What’s JinSeo doing next?”

“I don’t know. Apparently, she’s doing something right now.”

“I’ll do one right after that. I thought of a good plot after seeing her dance like that.”

Writer Song TaeJin, who asked KangYoon a question, suddenly took out some pen and paper before writing down some things. It was the ‘idea notes’ that writers used a lot. The collaboration stage was no longer important to her. Once she was inspired, the pen in her hand danced wildly.

The stage was nearing its climax. Seo HanYu and Min JinSeo snapped their bodies together and heightened the atmosphere. Even the calmer actors voiced out in excitement and the younger actors or the fans straight up cheered.

“Eddios!”

“JinSeo!”

…They couldn’t be compared to the people in the audience though.

‘Not too bad.’

As KangYoon had thought, the stage was going well. Although the Award Ceremony was quite a serious one, the stage collaboration between Eddios and Min JinSeo presented them with a moment of a light mood.

The performance ended with Min JinSeo’s v gesture and Eddios around her. When the girls exited among the cheers of the audience, KangYoon also stood up and headed to the back of the stage.

“Good work.”

“Thank you for your work!”

Everyone voiced out in unison. Min JinSeo was slightly surprised.

“Get changed and let’s go home quickly. JinSeo is coming after the ceremony is over, aren’t you?”

“…Yes.”

“Manager Yoon will take care of JinSeo and the girls of Eddios will go back. Let’s talk about the specifics while going back to the dorms. Questions?”

“None!”

KangYoon was worried about Min JinSeo’s dark expression. However, he left her to the manager thinking that she was jealous of the girls who went home early.

KangYoon left along with the girls. He quickly led the girls to the parking lot and left the TV station while avoiding the fans who were waiting outside.

Inside the van, Jung MinAh grumbled.

“Their reactions were quite unlike the other stages.”

KangYoon thought differently though.

“It’s strange to scream like little girls in a place like that, though. Don’t you think?”

“That’s true, but….”

Wouldn’t they have wanted to enjoy as well? The gazes and cameras around them were scary.

KangYoon spoke while turning around.

“Good work. There, there. You know that tomorrow’s a holiday, right?”

“Yes!”

Holidays were always sweet.

Everyone shouted energetically when KangYoon mentioned holiday.

“Tomorrow is 2009.”

“Team leader. It’s 2009 already.”

The girls giggled at Lee SamSoon’s comment. It was already past midnight and it was nearing 1 a.m. KangYoon felt slightly awkward.

“Ehem, anyway! It’s 2009 now. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes.”

The girls were now close enough to KangYoon so that they could joke around with him. He spoke seriously while switching topics.

“We got our foundation, but there’s still a long way to go. But I believe in you. Rest well tomorrow and do your best in the future as well, okay?”

“Yes!”

The van that headed to the dorms was filled with the energetic voices of girls.

***

“JinSeo, you don’t look so well. Are you unwell?”

Manager Yoon HeeSeon asked Min JinSeo worriedly. However, she shook her head.

“No. I’m just a little tired.”

“Really? Should I get you some medicine?”

“Where can you find medicine at this time in the night? It will be alright after a little bit of rest.”

Min JinSeo declined. Manager Yoon HeeSeon distanced herself even while looking at her with worried eyes.

‘Tch….’

Min JinSeo kept remembering about how KangYoon took care of Eddios more than her. Naturally, she didn’t like what she didn’t like.

***

The new year’s sun rose.

KangYoon, who received a paid holiday of 3 days, could rest comfortably for a few days. It was a privilege that was only given to him. Thanks to that, KangYoon could enjoy his rest with HeeYoon while traveling around the country.

It was right before the Sunday, so he got a total of 4 days of rest.

On Monday.

KangYoon headed to the president’s office as soon as he came to the company.

“Welcome, Team leader Lee.”

“Hello.”

“We haven’t seen each other for a week now, did we? I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”

She ordered the secretary for some tea and lead KangYoon to the sofa. There were already many things prepared for him. KangYoon looked at the top one.

“Triangle? Isn’t this a movie manuscript?”

“It is.”

“A movie? Is this about JinSeo?”

President Lee HyunJi shook her head. She gestured that that wasn’t the case and gave KangYoon some papers titled ‘General Music Consulting’. When KangYoon flipped over the document and looked at it for a while, he was colored with confusion. He gulped while turning each page slowly. The contents weren’t light at all.

KangYoon spoke his mind after reading all of the document.

“A general business related to music…. Working with many music-related things and not just concerts…. I think the motivation is good.”

“Focusing on the concert team is good, but I had a feeling that it won’t be so bad to take part in many more things. We have a lot of budget, and have the advantage that we can utilize this budget. I’m thinking of making a specialized team and do this kind of work.”

“For a business like this, the role of the control tower is crucial. But as for us, we do not have such a….”

“You’ll do it.”

When President Lee HyunJi admitted that so easily, KangYoon blinked a few times. KangYoon silently asked ‘Why am I the one?’ with his expression. President Lee HyunJi answered his question.

“Team leader Lee. You have a good sense regarding music. Your views on the market are also great, but from what I’ve seen until now, your judgment in musical pieces is greater than anyone. If we look at the singers you’ve planned for until now, there were many cases where you switched songs or did re-arrangements of the original. Would that have been possible without your senses for music?”

“President, that is….”

KangYoon was scared for a moment. President Lee HyunJi had unknowingly mentioned his ability to see light from music. Of course, there’s no way she would know about his ability, but it was enough to startle KangYoon. After all, not everyone is suited to become the president.

“I can be sure about it; that we’ll be able to do many things and not just concerts if you’re here, Team leader Lee. The concerts you have planned for until now caused sensations, but did not bring a lot of profit to the company. That’s my fault for doing bad business… but it will be different now. Let’s do this together.”

President Lee HyunJi’s words were reasonable. However, KangYoon was still cautious in his decisions. Planning was something he had dived in after meticulous preparation and because he wanted to. However, areas other than pop music was another problem altogether.

“Can you give me some time to think about it?”

“Is a day enough for you?”

“Not at all, I’ll just need a moment.”

KangYoon fell into thought for a moment.

‘A general work related to music…. It is definitely attractive, but I don’t have anything ready yet.’

Actually, it was a very attractive offer. There was the charm that he could do music that was not related to concerts. However, the problem was his lack of foundation. President Lee HyunJi spoke as though she knew about that.

“I spoke to seonbae already. Go listen to his lectures in holidays when you have the time. I’ll take care of the fees.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s an investment from the company.”

President Lee HyunJi cleared that problem. Investing such a meager sum was nothing to excavate a talented employee.

KangYoon spoke his mind after a moment of thought.

“I’ll try.”

“Good decision. The basic work is the same as the concert team. I’m going to make a subordinate business team and get orders, and Team leader Lee just should focus on work. There were a few problems in the concert team, but let’s do this well this time.”

“Understood. Then what do we begin with?”

Since he had decided this, the work progressed very smoothly. President Lee HyunJi gave him another set of papers. The document was titled ‘DRO mart retail music coordination’. KangYoon expressed his confusion.

“Isn’t this done by music coordinators?”

“Yes. It requires the selection of songs that fit the retail store after analyzing the store. It’s a field that isn’t well known in Korea yet, but it’s very active in places like America. Music is important in shopping.”

“Hmm….”

KangYoon cautiously considered this. It wasn’t simply just choosing some background music for a store. It wasn’t just playing pop music one after the other. He would have to analyze the characteristics, sales, trends and various other elements and choose songs and test them as well. Not only that, he would even have to negotiate copyright if the store was big. It wasn’t a simple issue.

“I think it’s a good stage for Team leader Lee to shine. What do you think?”

“It’s an unfamiliar field, but I think it will be interesting.”

“Good. Then can I expect some good results?”

“I’ll do my best.”

President Lee HyunJi replied with a smile at KangYoon’s acceptance.

***

Hallyeo Arts University department of composition was known to have difficult practical exams. While other universities had 300:1 competition rate, Hallyeo started at 500:1 minimum.

Park SoYoung challenged this difficult exam.

(T/N: Park SoYoung is from when KY and HY went on a trip and HY made friends with her at a beach. Also, some MG copycats appeared. Just in case you don’t remember.)

“‘I’m fine’? That’s a good title. Can you play it for us?”

Professor Choi ChanYang gestured a short girl who handed him the score. The girl, Park SoYoung, started singing with a guitar that was just as big as her.

“Even if you don’t acknowledge me – or find me – I’m fine –.”

The professors along with Professor Choi ChanYang was surprised after listening to the folk-song-like music. Her music was at a considerable level. No, the song and her voice matched very well. Professor Choi ChanYang especially seemed to have taken a liking to it, as he let her continue into the second verse.

“Thank you.”

“Well done.”

When Park SoYoung left, he started talking with the other professors.

“I’ll choose her.”

“I also like her.”

Under Professor Choi ChanYang’s lead, a ‘pass’ seal was stamped on Park SoYoung’s application.

***

KangYoon and a few other employees he had selected were headed to ‘DRO mart’ in Gangnam.

“It’s huge.”

Muttered vice-chief Yeon SooJin while looking at the large shoes retail store. 2 entire floors and being in Gangnam resulted in a lot of traffic. Not only her, everyone would be flabbergasted at the scale of the store and the population.

“Hello.”

“Welcome.”

When they went in, Owner Gu YoungSoo was waiting for them.

KangYoon and the others received the sales, customers per day, the floating population, and the music that was played at specific times from the owner before they walked around the store.

It was difficult to judge just from the music from the speakers. He could see various musical notes, but non-live, recorded music did not show him musical notes and light. It was the same as how light and musical notes disappears through media such as TV.

Since he couldn’t utilize his greatest weapon, KangYoon panicked at first. However, he couldn’t stay like that forever. He walked around the store among the customers that were looking at shoes and looked around.

“Chief Yoo, I don’t think the customers are staying for long.”

Chief Han SeYoung cautiously spoke. Chief Yoo GeunTae agreed.

“I think so too. Are all shoes retail stores like this?”

“They aren’t this bad. Shouldn’t they stay for at least 5 minutes to do anything?”

Chief Han SeYoung specifically observed one customer. However, she could see that the person left after two minutes of looking around the store. Just in case, she observed other customers, and they were all the same. Not every single customer was like that, but many left before even 5 minutes had passed.

“Team leader.”

Chief Han SeYoung spoke out to KangYoon to tell him that.

“They aren’t staying here for long. Even though there seems to be no problem with the employees’ attitude….” (T/N: Spoken by KY)

“The employees are all very nice.”

Chief Han SeYoung replied to KangYoon’s words. Although they couldn’t evaluate properly since this wasn’t their field, the employees were mostly very nice in handling customers.

KangYoon and the others looked for a lot of things while walking around the store. They could observe a lot of things when they walked around the store for the entire peak-hours. KangYoon gathered everyone to sum up what they had found.

“To put it simply, I think the music is indeed a problem. I can’t find any mistakes in other areas….”

“I think the same, Team leader.”

Chief Han SeYoung added to KangYoon’s words.

“We need to solve this from a musical vantage. The overall mood is very sunken and customers are leaving quickly…. The current selection of music is just ordinary pop music. Let’s first analyze the characteristics around the store, trends, and the preferences of the customers, and make a list.”

“Yes, Team leader.”

“Let us return then.”

Along with KangYoon’s words, everyone hurriedly returned to their office. KangYoon was worried that he couldn’t see any light, but he was still passionate.

‘Let’s believe in my senses. I can do this.’

KangYoon resolved himself while going over a bridge inside a company car. This wouldn’t be easy for him, but he found it joyful that he may develop himself further.

The first work of 2009 began like that.

***

Author’s notes

Music coordination is a business that selects songs through the analysis of general data such as the mood of the store, the products sold in the store, the traits of customers and other various analysis of the market. Normally, it’s large enough that there are specialized companies for it. However, I’m planning to use this element for a quick, clear progression and fun. It may differ from reality, so please excuse me if it is. (If I talk about the reality of it… it might be over 30 chapters of that alone…….^^;;)