The rooftop terrace was always packed, full of little knots of people chatting away as cigarette smoke curled up into the air.
Amid all that bustle, one man sat by himself, smoking.
“Fuu-uuh…”
It was Oh Young-hun, chief of Management Team 1.
—“To all Gyeonggi Province residents, I’ll always be right beside you so your days can be healthy and full of smiles!”
Watching the governor of Gyeonggi-do doing the “A.N.P Challenge,” Oh could only let out a wry grin.
—“Et-chis!”
—“Et-chis!”
—“Et-chis!”
That blasted “Et-chis, Et-chis, Et-chis—!”
From singers to ordinary people, and now even the governor, the challenge had exploded.
TikTok, Reels, Shorts—there was nowhere it wasn’t.
The challenge began with everyone shouting the songwriter’s name “H-S!” like a chant—“Et-chis!”—then repeating just a few easy moves anyone could follow.
(Aside from that, some people had started shouting “God-chis!” instead.)
Anyway, the kid really did have insane luck.
Of course, the song itself was good, undeniably good.
Damn.
He’d only watched a few clips, yet the melody kept looping in his head.
Even the digital chart had flipped almost overnight.
[ TOP 100 ]
1 Blue Spring – Choi Jihyun (feat. Kim Gwang-jin)
2 out to sea – Choi Jihyun (with NY Phil & Lee Ga-hee)
3 A.N.P – Seo Jini
4 I wish – Choi Jihyun (feat. Moon Beom-jae)
5 Sweet Nap – Choi Jihyun (feat. Kang Ha-jun)
6 Polaroid – Choi Jihyun (feat. Lee Young-a)
7 To You, Who Only Had Me – Yoon Jaeyi
8 Yoonseul – Kang Hajun
9 Dear my Beethoven – HS (feat. Moon Beom-jae)
10 le seul – The Moon
…
13 cute babe – Aphrody
With Choi Jihyun blanketing the upper slots, A.N.P had rocketed up to no. 3.
Oh Young-hun’s own words rattled around his head like broken shards.
“Woohyun, do you really think there’s anyone who can roll a die indefinitely and land a six every time?”
Why had he said that?
“HS has just been lucky so far. The number he rolled this time looks like a three, tops.”
Dear god, he wished he could turn back time.
“Look. It’s just the teaser from some rookie composer and Seo Jini’s comeback track is already buried. Tell me I’m wrong?”
He’d mocked HS more times than he could count, gleeful each day the man didn’t sit at no. 1.
And now things were upside-down.
“At this rate A.N.P might climb all the way to first place…”
Sure, Choi Jihyun was also a Team 2 exclusive, but at this point Oh sincerely prayed (he put all his heart into praying) that Choi would stay locked at no. 1 and keep HS out.
“These days the saying is, ‘Whatever road you take, just avoid LS Entertainment’s release window,’ right?”
Oh heard employees nearby smoking and chatting.
“You can see why. Look at the chart.”
“Yeah, total closed league.”
“Other agencies are practically howling, I heard.”
He found himself nodding slowly. Word around distribution circles said LS’s release calendar had become the hot data.
It’s no wonder. HS and Choi Jihyun’s chart war sank most new songs before they ever saw daylight.
If he worked at some other label, he’d want to steer clear of any LS release, too.
Flick. Flick.
He stubbed out a string of cigarette butts and tossed them, along with his tangled thoughts, into the bin, then headed back toward the office.
Yeah.
Team 1 might chew him out, but for now all he could do was hope Choi Jihyun crushed HS just so his own big mouth wouldn’t come back to haunt him.
He was about to open the office door when…
Bzzzz—!
A less-than-welcome name lit up his phone.
[Kim Woohyun]
Typical. Speak of the devil.
He answered in a deliberately snide tone.
“What’s this, the tiger shows up the moment I say his name?”
“You talking trash about me again?”
“Of course I am.”
“Whatever. Look, our kid isn’t in your office by any chance, is he?”
Oh blinked. “‘Our kid’?”
He cracked the door, glanced inside. Same old staff, no HS.
“I mean HS.”
“Why would he come here? Got something to complain about again?”
“Fine, if he’s not there.”
“What’s going on?”
“Someone from Yunis Music Group is here looking for him.”
“The Yunis I’m thinking of?”
“If you see him, call me.”
“Hang on. Why the hell does Yunis…”
Click. Call ended.
He might’ve been annoyed, except curiosity won out: Yunis Music Group was the global distributor and label conglomerate he knew. Why on earth were they after HS?
Could they be the same ones Man Records had been sniffing for?
Please…
For once, Oh wished he could set out a bowl of water and pray Choi Jihyun kept HS pinned down.
Inside LS Entertainment’s CEO office, the air was thick with tension.
It’s hard to even breathe.
Manager Kim’s throat was so dry it felt like desert sand.
At the head sat CEO Jeon Nam-il; to his right, Director Choi, Executive Park and Kim himself.
On the left, Austin, CEO of Yunis Music Group, with his chief aide Andrew, studying the business cards they’d exchanged.
How had this happened?
Yunis had shown up without so much as a prior memo, saying they wanted to speak with HS and Choi Jihyun in person. Under normal circumstances they’d have scheduled a later meeting, but with a global giant you couldn’t just kick them out, so here they were in the CEO’s suite.
Recruiting pitch? Kim wondered.
Yunis was a worldwide distributor but also ran its own label team of writers and engineers; scouting HS and Choi wasn’t impossible.
All the more reason to guard their golden goose.
Trouble was, both HS and Choi (i.e. Hyunseung) were currently… missing.
Austin refused to say why he wanted them, only that he must speak face-to-face, and until then no actual business talk was possible.
“The person you are calling cannot take your call…”
Kim met Jeon’s gaze and shook his head: still no answer.
“Tsk.” Jeon clicked his tongue softly, then leaned forward.
“It is unfortunate,” he said smoothly in English. “Our exclusive composers keep a demanding schedule.”
Austin adjusted his angular frames.
“Hm. So neither HS nor Choi Jihyun is reachable?”
“I believe they are en route to today’s broadcast taping. Perhaps we might arrange another day.”
“Could we visit the TV station and speak with them briefly?”
Andrew intervened in a hush.
“Sir, our flight is tight. We don’t have time to cross town.”
“Ah, right…”
“Let us return for now,” Andrew suggested. “We can schedule a proper meeting.”
Austin hesitated, then nodded.
“I suppose we must. We will be back shortly,” he said, rising.
“Please do make every effort to accommodate us then.”
Everyone stood.
“Of course. Anytime,” Jeon replied, extending a hand but added, voice politely firm, “Yet if our composer’s calendar is impossible, or he chooses not to meet, we cannot compel him. I trust you understand.”
The room chilled a degree.
Austin stared at the offered hand, then gave a faint smile but did not shake.
“I prefer not to make a habit of handshakes. Good day.”
He and Andrew left.
“Haaah…”
Kim exhaled only once the door clicked shut.
“Manager Kim.”
Jeon, chin on fist, looked straight at him.
“At this rate, Pony Music will be dropping by next, asking for HS.”
A reminder though unspoken that his job was to guard the goose that laid the golden eggs.
“Meeting’s over.”
Kim practically sprang from the room and redialed Hyunseung.
“The person you are calling…”
Still no answer.
Where on earth was that kid?
Maybe I really do need some talisman to ward off calamity…
Outside, Austin lingered at the curb, reluctant.
“Sir, if we miss the flight, the next meeting will collapse,” Andrew warned.
Reluctantly Austin climbed into the taxi.
He was a man whose yearly calendar booked up twelve months ahead, yet once he set his mind on something he acted. So he’d forced the trip only to leave empty-handed.
“Sir, Sara has an update about the song. Should I put her on speaker?”
A nod.
Sara’s excited voice burst through.
“Austin! You’ve reminded me why you’re Yunis’s CEO!”
“Hm?”
“You knew the entire vibe would change, didn’t you? The note about the intro!”
“I don’t follow.”
“Your feedback to start the intro with timpani!”
“Oh, that. Did you try it?”
“I sent the file to Andrew. I think we can finally lock the comeback!”
Austin told her he’d listen, ended the call, and gestured to Andrew.
The new file played.
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
Austin’s glasses slipped down his nose; he didn’t even push them up.
It was just a timpani, yet the first verse now exploded, the whole track transformed.
“Even I can hear how much better it is,” Andrew said, awestruck.
“Indeed, much better,” Austin murmured, but marveling for another reason.
That helmeted stranger had heard the track once and nailed the exact solution?
There are so many genius composers, and even passersby are geniuses?
It’s true. Korea was just so interesting.
“I absolutely must come back,” he whispered, watching Seoul’s streets slide by outside the window.
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