T/N: Dropped 2 novels today due to DMCA. This is your notice. lol
Manager Kim hurriedly knotted his tie and strode down the corridor.
Trudge, trudge.
With every single step, the tension doubled.
What on earth…
What on earth was the agenda for this emergency meeting?
Had Unis Music Group come calling again?
Right.
Up to now, most times he’d been summoned to an executive meeting, it had been because of Hyunseung.
It’s plenty possible….
Unable to dispel the questions swirling in his head, Manager Kim soon arrived in front of the CEO’s office.
“Ahem.”
He straightened his tie and gave the door a light knock.
Knock, knock, knock—.
Before the knocking even ended, the door swung open; beyond it stood Secretary Kim, who reported directly to the CEO.
“Come in.”
Following her gesture, he stepped inside and saw the conference room already filled wall to wall with executives.
“Gasp….”
He had rushed back, but apparently he was late.
“Manager Kim.”
As he hovered, gauging the mood, Director Choi called him over.
“Over here.”
No sooner had the instruction left his lips than Kim slipped into the seat beside him.
Every time he was called to an executive meeting, he felt it for sure….
‘This tie is way too stifling.’
The very weight of the air was different from a simple section-head meeting.
Well.
Everyone here had ground it out in this field for at least fifteen years—of course it would be like this.
Even their eyes, their breathing, a casually tossed joke… everything felt heavy, solemn, pressurized.
“The star of the show shouldn’t be late.”
Even the joke Executive Vice President Park lobbed over landed like a boulder.
“St—star of the show?”
Startled, Manager Kim looked up and asked back, but EVP Park only let out an unreadable little chuckle.
Hmm….
Was it just his imagination that all the gazes today felt like they were clinging all over his body?
Amid a strangely rolling wave of tension, Manager Kim felt as if he were sitting on a bed of thorns, his backside prickling.
He glanced over….
Director Choi wore the same calm smile as usual.
Tap, tap.
Without a word, Director Choi patted his knee lightly. That touch, as if to say “Don’t worry about a thing,” quickly settled Kim’s nerves.
Before long.
CEO Jeon Namil, master of this spacious conference room, entered with his elegant suit coat swishing.
Every executive rose and bowed their heads toward him.
“Is everyone here?”
Standing at the head seat, CEO Jeon swept his eyes once over the faces of the executives and then sat down first.
Just now….
It felt like the CEO’s gaze had lingered on his face for quite a while…
That’s got to be my imagination too, right?
And then.
Once everyone sat again, CEO Jeon laced his fingers and spoke.
“Even though I gave you a full day, I’ve heard no objections, so we can assume there are none—correct?”
At his question, EVP Park and Director Choi simply nodded lightly, lips sealed.
The other executives exchanged awkward looks.
A subtle stillness hung for a moment.
“Yes…”
As if it had been rehearsed, they answered in unison.
“No objections.”
Manager Kim was busy churning his brain.
What agenda did I miss?
But there was no way to find out; all he could do was keep his mouth clamped shut.
Like someone dragged in just to make up the numbers.
“Then we can circulate the company-wide notice soon, yes?”
At the CEO’s second confirmation, the executives reluctantly bobbed their stiff necks.
“Okay, good.”
Seemingly satisfied, CEO Jeon murmured approval, then got to his feet.
“Make sure you all handle this so there isn’t the slightest static. I’ve got an important meeting, so I’ll take my leave first.”
With that, he truly left the room.
Huh? Then why was I even called?
At this point, had the secretary’s office sent him the summons by mistake? Maybe that was why all the glances and vibes had felt so odd today…
Right.
That would make sense.
“Director Choi.”
As people streamed out like the tide, Manager Kim matched pace at Director Choi’s side and asked,
“May I ask what matter the CEO was checking for objections about…?”
But Director Choi, still wearing that faint smile, said nothing and simply stepped into the elevator.
Left alone in front of the closed doors, Manager Kim let out a groan.
“So many questions, and I didn’t even get to eat!”
Meanwhile, inside the elevator, an awkward air lingered.
Then Managing Director Kwon Yongjin—rarely seen around HQ—spoke without taking his eyes off the elevator’s digital display.
“If he’s just going to tighten the noose so no one makes a peep anyway, he might as well have posted the notice right there on the screen.”
His tone turned snide as he added,
“What’s with hauling busy people back and forth since yesterday over a mere staff reassignment?”
At that, Director Choi arched a brow and replied,
“Managing Director Kwon, a mere staffer?”
By “mere staffer,” Kwon clearly meant Manager Kim Woohyoon—the one who’d just failed to make it into the elevator alone.
But to Director Choi, Kim Woohyoon wasn’t just some staffer, was he?
Ah.
Now he really wasn’t just staff. The CEO had said he would change Kim’s assigned duties, hadn’t he?
Soon enough, the internal screens and bulletin boards would be plastered with the news that he was moving from “siljang” to “head of division.”
And yet… “mere staffer”?
“Did I say anything untrue?”
“Even so….”
Just as Director Choi was about to answer Kwon’s question…
“MD Kwon, there are plenty of eyes watching. Show proper respect when you talk about someone who’s moving to a division head post, will you?”
EVP Park snapped in his characteristically blunt voice, words hitting like a flick.
“And I know you’re ‘busy’ with all those golf junkets, but times like this—we execs ought to at least ask each other how we’re doing, right?”
Just then the elevator doors opened.
“And.”
EVP Park gave Kwon’s chest a light shove as he added,
“We’ve arrived, so off you go.”
Denied even a chance to retort, MD Kwon was pushed out of the car, his face flushed deep with humiliation.
Thud!
The doors closed again, leaving only EVP Park and Director Choi inside.
“…”
A moment of silence.
“Thank you, EVP.”
Director Choi bowed his head lightly. If Park hadn’t stepped in, setting aside real authority or power, it would have looked like insubordination—an isa talking back to a sangmu—in front of a crowd.
Ding—!
The doors slid open once more.
“What’s with the thanks? When it’s just us, don’t use honorifics. Gives me the creeps.”
Shuddering theatrically at Choi’s properly formal thanks, EVP Park added with a suddenly serious face,
“I’ve never liked that bastard. Something about him rubs me wrong.”
Probably….
He wanted to make clear he hadn’t spoken up for “Team 2’s side.”
Honestly.
He was hard to read.
The next day.
Manager Kim went straight to Dongjjok’s studio as soon as he clocked in.
“Did you have a good time last night?”
“Just ate and left.”
“It was really good. What a shame.”
Watching the genuine regret on Manager Kim’s face, Hyunseung spoke up.
“Sounds like the kind of thing that won’t be happening again anytime soon.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No, nothing.”
“Are you trying to drive me crazy with curiosity too?”
Even under Manager Kim’s squinting stare, Hyunseung was unbothered.
“Anyway.”
He stuck to his own topic.
“I’ve got a question about the tracks I sold outright at the beginning.”
“Why that, all of a sudden?”
“Well, I wrote them. Figured I should see how they’re being used.”
Shifting his gaze to the neatly organized audio files on the monitor, he added,
“If they need any A/S, I was going to touch them up.”
“After-sales service, seriously? Doesn’t suit you, being nice.”
“If it doesn’t suit me, that’s fine.”
The new year was practically on the doorstep, wasn’t it? With that in mind, Hyunseung had started tidying up the old audio files moldering in his project folders one by one.
In the process, he’d found some gaps in his early work, which made him start worrying about the tracks he’d sold outright.
“Are you mad?”
“No.”
“You’re mad.”
“I said I’m not.”
Watching him, Manager Kim spoke in a sheepish tone.
“Two of them got sampled for other artists’ album tracks, and one looks like it was rearranged for a period-drama OST.”
Hyunseung scratched his head, dredging his memory.
“Hmm. Far as I remember, none of those were the sort of songs you’d rearrange for a sageuk OST.”
“I don’t know the details either, but you know the producer Hidden, right? I heard Hidden’s handling the whole slate of OST production for that drama.”
“Hidden—the songwriter who plowed into a utility pole drunk and took a reflection hiatus, right?”
“Yeah, well, that was a long time ago. Hardly anyone remembers now.”
Man, what an unfair world.
Someone else gets crucified with made-up stories for not handing out songs—
And someone who drove drunk gets to keep working as a songwriter again after barely six months off because “he didn’t hit a person.”
‘Guess you’d call that lucky.’
Anyway, Hidden taking one of his tracks and producing a drama OST….
Setting aside the man’s character, even in terms of skill, Hyunseung had plenty of doubts—so he didn’t love the news.
“Would’ve been better if I’d just done it.”
At his muttered aside, Manager Kim reacted instantly.
“You want to? Want me to ask?”
“Isn’t it already finalized that Hidden’s doing it?”
“Well, I can at least put in a word.”
“I mean, you can.”
Hyunseung nodded lightly just as—
Ding—!
Thinking it was for him, he picked up his phone, but there was no notification on the screen.
“Gah.”
When he looked up, Manager Kim was covering his mouth with his hand, phone in the other.
“Something wrong?”
And then.
His fingers lost strength and the phone dropped toward the floor.
CRASH!
On the spider-webbed screen was a text message.
「 [Web] LS Entertainment Notice of Change in Assigned Duties.
To: Kim Woohyoon. This is to inform you that effective January 2, your assigned duties will change.
◈ Management Team 2 Chief (Siljang) → Head of Management, Division Head
※ Please visit HR at your earliest convenience to pick up your new ID card and business cards.
※ On January 2, we will execute a new contract commensurate with your new position… (View more) 」
“Manager Kim?”
Watching him stand there like his soul had left his body, Hyunseung couldn’t help a small grin.
It seemed he’d be getting treated to an expensive restaurant again before long.
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