God of Music Chapter 74

To congratulate Gye HyoMin's successful solo recital, KangYoon and President Lee HyunJi hosted a simple gathering. No, since the venue was a high-class bar, it wasn't exactly 'simple'. The two split off from Gye HyoMin for a second round and headed to another place where they could talk. President Lee HyunJi had called for Professor Choi ChanYang as well.
In a bar's booth with a faint background music, they cheered with their wine glasses and congratulated each other.

"Congratulations, Team Leader KangYoon."
"Congratulations to you too, President."
"Haha, this is nice."

The amber-colored western wine was very bitter. However, with the taste of success, it tasted very sweet. Alcoholic drinks were always good when it came together with success.
Just as their gathering ripened, Professor Choi ChanYang spoke out with a reddened face.

"Mr. KangYoon. Do you perhaps have a dream?"
"A dream, you say?"

KangYoon also asked back with a half-drunk face. President Lee HyunJi felt that this would be interesting and waited for his answer with a relaxed expression.

"A dream…. Just living an ordinary life without worries?"
"No way. A person like you? Put some more effort in."

President Lee HyunJi teased KangYoon. Such simple life when he had such a talent? She thought that that was nonsense.

"Hahaha, it's true. People are satisfied with just living an ordinary life."
"Sheesh, you're no fun."

But that made the mood awkward. Then, Professor Choi ChanYang mediated between the two.

"It looks like there's a gap between you two since you're the president while you're an employee."
"You're right. I'm disappointed. Can't we be frank with each other? Looks like I should start first."

She seemed to want to know what KangYoon was really thinking as she took out her side of the story first. Her playful smile was all but gone, and her serious expression told the other two that this was her being serious.

"President Lee HyunJi of MG Entertainment. It has quite a ring to it. However, I'm just someone who was put into the position, and therein lies my limits. Moreover, what I want clashes very frequently with what the company wants."
"What are the differences?"
"I strive for a general entertainment business. Like the general music business, we two are doing right now - something that includes all kinds of music. That's why Team Leader KangYoon and I strike a chord. Chairman Won JinMoon also knows this and put us two together."
"Then didn't you just achieve your dream?"

Asked KangYoon. However, President Lee HyunJi shook her fingers. She denied that.

"Fufu, is that really the case? Listen to me for a little more. I have a big confidence in running businesses. I also think of myself as a capable businesswoman. That's why the chairman likes me. I'm very enthusiastic, follows orders, and manage well. But I don't really like my current company. You know, MG Entertainment has its preferences regarding their talents. It sometimes pains me to see talented people being forced to shift their colors.
"Then you should just change that, no?"
"This is something that both the chairman and the board of directors agree on. That is because it's the safe method. The advantage of making a celebrity according to a manual is that it's safe. However, it's hard to make a long-running celebrity. I put claims in multiples of times because I wanted to change this, but…. Fuu. It's not something I can do by myself. Recently, I'm even thinking of leaving the company and start anew by myself."
"I think you're going into sensitive topic there…."

KangYoon panicked. Although they were in a private room, he still looked around. She smirked after seeing KangYoon like that.

"You're right. It is a very sensitive topic. I would have never told you this had I not believed in you fully. I was also just thinking about it, and this would have never escaped my mouth - I would have just lived on while taking care of the celebrities while competing with the directors just as the chairman has intended. That is, until…."

President Lee HyunJi pointed towards KangYoon. KangYoon put down the wine glass he was holding.

"You appeared and changed my mind. Team Leader Lee KangYoon."
"……."
"It is safe for the celebrity to shift their color to the company's preferences, but that means that they won't have any unique traits. Without traits unique to them, it is very hard to give rise to celebrities that are long-running. At this rate, MG Entertainment will meet a crisis. However, since the immediate profits are bigger, they are probably going to keep 'manufacturing' replacement celebrities."
"So you're referring to the singers that got disbanded when I got employed."
"Precisely. However, if it's you, Team Leader KangYoon, I think you will show me a new model. Eddios, Min JinSeo, and even JooAh. All three of them are very different to the models that the company had shown the world until now. The 6-people girl group known as Eddios are known not only because of their group but their individuality as well while you also achieved success with Min JinSeo as an actress - something that the company has never done until now. With JooAh, you created, for us, a new market in Japan, showing that JooAh's talents will work even in Japan. Would this have been possible if they were forced to change their colors to match the company's preferences? Probably not. That's it. They will definitely meet a limit eventually."
"……."
"The chairman and the directors are very affixed by their social circle as 'company'. I'm not saying that the company is not important, I'm just saying that the individualities of our members are important as well. This… is not negotiable. I will probably… walk a different path from the company in the future."

President Lee HyunJi showed her true opinion in her passionate speech. This was what she truly thought - something that she had never revealed to anyone before. Both KangYoon and Professor Choi ChanYang were honestly surprised. They didn't even imagine this.
President Lee HyunJi seemed to be thirsty as she drank a glass of water in one gulp. The gulping sound rang out in the room. Although the sound was loud, she did not care. The heavy atmosphere made her forget about the embarrassment.
KangYoon fell silent. This was an unexpected blow for him. It wouldn't be proper for him to stay still. However, he couldn't say anything easily. Knowing what he was thinking, Professor Choi ChanYang spoke up first.

"I've known HyunJi for over 10 years, but it's the first time I've seen her like this."
"Really?"
"In fact, I'm teaching students right now…. But I also have the desire to run on the field."

KangYoon's gaze headed to Professor Choi ChanYang. President Lee HyunJi also listened in.

"I am a very shy person, so I'm really afraid of the actual scenes where the actual things happen. But my heart is always there. I want to make a song one time and make people cry. And train younglings as a trainer as well."
"You work as a vocal trainer as well?"
"I did, as a part-time job while I was in college."
"Uhh, wait. Didn't you two go to the same college?"
"No, it was high school. After graduating, I didn't see HyunJi for a long time since she went overseas to study."

Professor Choi's story was over.
Now it was KangYoon's turn. He thought about it for a moment.

'A dream, huh….'

The other two had already spoken what was on their minds. Dreams - the most important, and the most difficult value. Thinking about it, he became thirsty. KangYoon instantly drained the strong wine.

"Calm down."

President Lee HyunJi tried to stop him, but KangYoon kept emptying his glass. He poured a new one and drained it again. He felt as though the bittersweet taste was dragging out what was inside him. President Lee HyunJi tried to stop him in a panic, but KangYoon stopped her. He finally felt like he was drunk.
He then started talking about what he was really thinking.

"…My dream is to make someone like Samuel Johnson with my own hands."
"Samuel Johnson? Whoa…. That's a big dream."
(T/N: Mini-spoiler: Michael Jackson)

President Lee HyunJi blinked a few times. She was surprised KangYoon's unbelievable scale and still laughed. Samuel Johnson was the greatest singer birthed in the 20th century. His concerts would gather 50,000 people normally, while his albums sold out in millions. Not to mention his huge donations to charity. To create such a singer….

"It won't be easy in Korea. You should go to America."

Professor Choi ChanYang advised. However, KangYoon shook his head.

"America, Korea, Japan - I don't care. I think being restricted by location is a foolish thing. What's important is to let the singers sing what they want and let the audience listen to what they want. I think that's the basics. Once I do that… perhaps I might reach a Samuel Johnson one day."
"…You really don't like cutting corners."

President Lee HyunJi nodded her head in acceptance. However, she didn't seem satisfied with that answer yet. She asked him directly.

"So, are you planning to stay in the company?"
"……."

KangYoon reserved his words. This was the most difficult question. Until now, he was asked his views on the industry and his job, and now he was asked what he was going to do in the future. This wasn't just probing him. She was basically saying 'tell me since I told you'. Professor Choi ChanYang was also waiting for his answer with his unique smile.
President Lee HyunJi told him a lot about herself so he also decided to be frank.

"…I can't stay forever."
"Do you have thoughts on doing your own business?"

President Lee HyunJi finally seemed satisfied with his answer.

"…I also don't plan to stay within the boundaries of MG forever. As you said, President, MG is a place where the celebrity conforms to the company. The company will indeed reach its limits by itself. I will also meet a limit in my scope of work. For my own growth, I will eventually leave the company."
"Are you going to start your own business?"
"For now, I'm not so sure… but that is one of my plans."

KangYoon raised his glass. He had voiced out his thoughts. President Lee HyunJi cheered with her glass with a smile, thinking that she had received a satisfying answer.

"When you do your business later, Team Leader KangYoon, I'll be your first investor."
"I'll be thankful. I don't have a lot of money, after all…"
"You earn tons nowadays, and you don't have money? Well, you'll give me a seat too, right?"
"Hahaha, of course."

The mood was getting brighter, so Professor Choi ChanYang also joined them.

"Can I join in on that as well?"
"Hahaha, sure. You'll always be welcome."

KangYoon did not refuse him. Professor Choi ChanYang cheered with the other two and emptied his glass in one go.

"I'm confident in raising young ones and in composition. I'll go immediately once you call me."
"Hahahaha, that's good. Cheers!"

All of this started off from a drunk talk. However, these were just their wishes. The three exchanged their thoughts, and their views were very similar. As their views matched, they got along very well and became even closer to each other.
And the gathering that day became the start of a 'big bang'.

"Ugh…. My head hurts."

KangYoon woke up with a huge headache from the hangover. He walked out to the living room. When he washed his face, and headed to the kitchen, the sound of bubbling tickled his ears.

"Just how much did you drink yesterday?"

In the kitchen, HeeYoon was cooking blowfish soup.

"I ate out with the president yesterday. I might have drunk a little too much."
"Do be lenient on yourself with alcohol in the future. You came back very drunk yesterday."
"Sorry about that."

KangYoon apologized, and HeeYoon gave him breakfast without nagging him any further.
After eating, KangYoon went to work immediately.
After a short meeting in the morning, he headed to Onsu-dong where the breakdancing team, Battlemonsters, were practicing. Their studio was there.
By 11 o'clock, the team members started coming in one by one. Everyone looked very skinny, but their legs and arms were packed with muscles. When KangYoon was watching them warm up, Bang SanHyuk and Kim DoMin came to greet him. After a light greeting, the three headed to the office.

"The most important thing right now is advertising."

The two strongly agreed with what KangYoon said. Although Battlemonsters were skillful enough to take the grand prize in global competitions, their moves were just 'slightly cooler dancing' in the views of the public. The reality was harsh.

"There are two months left until the stage. Now…."
"Do you need us for the advertising?"

Bang SanHyuk asked. He seemed to have correctly interpreted what KangYoon was implying and asked directly.

"Yes, I will be needing your help."
"Didn't you say that you will take care of everything else when we signed the contract?"

Bang SanHyuk narrowed his eyes. Kim DoMin tried to stop him in a panic, but KangYoon was faster. Unlike what Kim DoMin was worried about, KangYoon didn't look panicked at all.

"As for the venue, I have reserved the small theater from the Bucheon Art Center. Breakdancing is a culture liked by youths. Our main target audience will be them. I'm planning to host a street performance at a place where they gather a lot."
"Bucheon Art Center? 200 people will be easy then. Understood. Well, then. A street performance eh…."

Kim DoMin seemed doubtful as he asked a question.

"There are many things to do for a street performance. We need to ask for permission from the district office, and we'll have to rent equipment as well, it will take a lot of time."
"Only three people will go. The performance time will be 30 minutes. We'll only be bringing one loudspeaker and pull back after giving them a glimpse."
"Hm…. A performance shouldn't be so simple…."

Bang SanHyuk didn't seem to like it, but Kim DoMin was different.

"Hey, I think it's okay. It's just for a moment."
"We don't even have time to practice. Even if it's just 30 minutes, it would be two hours if we count transportation time."

KangYoon continued to speak, as though saying that there was no need to worry.

"There are 15 members in the team, and the members performing will only be three. From my research so far, I've gathered that there are many performances featuring 3 people. We'll be on rotation with these performances. It will be once every three days. There's a little less than 2 months left, so you can say that one person will only do one or two performances."
"Let's leave me and DoMin out since we have to train them, so 13 members…. That's 2 times, huh. I think that's fine. Understood, I'll tell the others. Do we start today?"

KangYoon's words weren't wrong. Bang SanHyuk accepted after a little bit of thinking. A leader was a leader alright. KangYoon told them the spots he had looked up beforehand and what they had to prepare. The two accepted.
After telling them everything he needed to, KangYoon left the office room.

"He sure acts proud, but I think he's reliable. He did reserve a theater fast."

Muttered Bang SanHyuk after seeing KangYoon watch the members practicing.

"Money sure is good. We can hire guys like him."

Kim DoMin went a step further. The two discussed who to send this afternoon and left the office room to practice.

In the afternoon, KangYoon headed to somewhere near a department store in Bucheon, where many students gathered along with three members of Battlemonsters.

"That's a lot of people…."

One of the members, Jeon SeungJin, was surprised to see so many people clad in uniform. Seeming to agree, Ji SeokHyun and Han WooJoong were the same.

"There's not a lot of time. Let's go over there and get ready."
"Yes."

KangYoon grabbed the three boys who were knocked out from seeing girls in school uniform and took a spot in the middle of the street. There was only one audio equipment today. KangYoon took care of the speakers and the three got ready to do their performance.

"Please guard this line so others can't come in."

KangYoon had asked the company for a little help just in case. Thanks to that, he was with sturdy men from a security company.
Seeing three rather charming men standing in a formation, boys and girls in school uniform started gathering. Seeing people gather, KangYoon immediately played the music.
Jeon SeungJin started off the performance with a wave according to the groovy beats. The light start became more and more exaggerated, and eventually, he started doing big moves by doing a single-handed handstand and other delicate moves.

"Wowww!"

Teenage girls became excited over the most minute things. It was obvious that they were going to cheer over something like this. The surroundings were already filled with people clad in school uniform. Everyone took out their phones and took photos and videos.

– It's up.
– Got it. Thanks for your work.

He got a message from the PR team. The news was that these photos and videos being taken by the people were being spread throughout social networking services. KangYoon asked the PR team to fan the flames and gave a few other orders.
The short performance ended quite soon. The highlight was Jeon SeungJin's head spin. Wearing a red helmet, he spun around numerous times on his head and received applause from the audience.
Then he stood up and took out some posters from the floor.

– Meet us in the Bucheon Hall at May 16th 5 o'clock~
"Kyaaaaaaah~!"

The short street performance ended with the incredible cheers(?) of the girls. Restraining the three members from doing something more due to the shouts of the audience, KangYoon immediately ordered for retreat. The team members left the crowd among the disappointments of the people.

Marketing was on the rise thanks to the success of the street performance. The performances of Battlemonsters were going up on various SNS and Utube, as well as feedback from various blogs.

'We're lacking a big hit.'

Even while reading the compliments from the web, KangYoon felt that something was lacking. Cool performances, big moves from fancy men. It was definitely something worth paying to watch. However, something was missing.

'A star? Should I look into MinAh's schedule?'

Just as when KangYoon was contemplating in his office, he heard knock. Just as KangYoon was about to say something, the door burst open and a woman came in.

"It's me!"

She, appearing with a loud entrance, was JooAh.

"Yeon JooAh?"
"Fufufu! It's been a while!"

KangYoon welcomed JooAh who he hadn't seen for a long time. She put the Japanese snacks she brought on the table and sat on the sofa. Meanwhile, KangYoon went to get some coffee.
JooAh had just finished her things in Japan and was now on a rest period. She went to greet her parents, and visited the company just to greet and came here first, or so she said.

"I came here first so you should be more grateful."
"Sure, sure. So, you aren't fighting with Producer Akabashi anymore?"
"Of course. There's no greater pair in Japan than us two."

JooAh shrugged her shoulders, implying that there was nothing to worry about. KangYoon was satisfied to see JooAh in a good mood.

"I heard you were doing uh… General Music? Or something?"
"Oh, yeah. You're right. I'm so busy right now."
"From what I was told, I heard you selected BGMs for shoe retailers or something, right? You should focus on producing stages. That's the best for you. Oh, yeah. I also heard you were doing something related to breakdancing this time, right?"
"You're quick on the news. It's a team called Battlemonsters."
"Really? Those guys are amazing. I like that team. I'm a complete fan."
"Really?"
"Uh, oppa. Can I, uh, go there too as a B-girl? I have confidence…."

JooAh's eyes were shining with interest. KangYoon thought for a moment but shook his head, thinking that it would do more bad than good.

"That doesn't sound so bad, but you're too strong, so no."
"Eeh? What do you mean by that? You think I'm not up for the challenge? Don't you know that I'm the best dancer in this field?"
"It's not that, it's just…uh, nothing."

KangYoon halted mid-way.

"What the hell? Why did you suddenly stop?"
"……."
"Hey! What is it really!"

JooAh seemed frustrated to see KangYoon hesitant to speak. The normal KangYoon would never do this. Since she was the impatient sort, she kept nagging KangYoon for answers. Eventually, KangYoon ended up saying the truth due to the pressure.

"What? They're really looking for a B-girl?"
"…But not you. You need to rest when you ca-"
"I'll do it!"
"……."

KangYoon seemed to be at a loss for words.

"I'm gonna do it!"
"But you're on a rest period."
"That's why I have all the time in the world."

JooAh really wanted this B-girl job. This was a strange scene where it was KangYoon was the one who wanted a B-girl, but was also the one refusing, while JooAh wanting to do it when she didn't have to.
After quarreling for a while, JooAh turned serious.

"Hey, think about it. Honestly speaking, it will be good if not better, if I participate. What's there to not accept?"
"Did you get permission from the company?"
"It's me who wants to do it. They can't stop me."

That was absurd. KangYoon smacked her on the forehead.

"Hey, what was that for! Don't do this to me."
"It's because you're being absurd. Why do you want to do it so much?"
"Because it will help me in the future. Learning breakdancing is a big opportunity for me too. It might not earn me money right now, but I bet you there will be a time where I'll use it."

JooAh continued to persuade KangYoon. KangYoon narrowed his eyes still. JooAh kept nagging on anyway.

"Please let me do it, please? You have enough power to do that, don't you? Please~."

JooAh clung on to KangYoon even as far as acting cute. She kept shaking his arms and asked him with a cute expression, but KangYoon kept silent.

'Honestly, if it's JooAh, I can't ask for more.'

However, unlike what JooAh was thinking, KangYoon was thinking of something completely different. Objectively speaking, if JooAh appeared in this show, she would definitely be the icing on the cake. He would also have an easier time persuading the higher-ups if JooAh 'requested' to be on and not against her will.
KangYoon felt that this was good enough and spoke out.

"…Okay. I'll try."
"Really? Don't go back on your words now."

JooAh didn't know what KangYoon was thinking and only cheered.

"I need to get permission from the chairman…. Ugh, how many things do you think I have to take care of every time you try to do something? Ah, my head. Sheesh, every single time, you are so…."
"Fine, fine. But how many fans do you think will come if I get involved? Isn't that good for you too?"
"Gosh darn it. I have work to do, so be on your way. I need to speak to the chairman as the leader of the team."
"Heh, then do your best at work. I believe in you."

JooAh thought that she had achieved her objective and left with a bright smile on her face. When she left, KangYoon took out some papers from his desk drawers. It was a document titled 'Battlemonsters Featuring Request - JooAh - '.

"It does prickle a little."

KangYoon threw away the same document, just written for Jung MinAh, and took that document and headed to the chairman's office.

Chapter end