Ahn Sojeong, newly appointed music director for the drama Red Thread, was clutching her phone and groaning.
“Why isn’t he picking up again…”
She thumped her chest in frustration.
No wonder.
The composer “Hidden” was supposed to handle most of the main theme tracks for this drama’s OST….
He’d boasted it wouldn’t take long because all the samples were done and only the arrangements remained, but he was now unreachable.
[ Hidden-nim, if you see this please contact me. I at least need to check on the status. Please… ]
Swallowing her pride, she texted him. Honestly, she wanted to replace the composer on the spot, but….
They were already in pre-production. How was she supposed to find another composer on Hidden’s level right now?
“Ugh!”
So, stuck between a rock and a hard place, An Sojeong was withering under the mounting stress.
“Haa….”
She shook her head with a sigh.
“Hm?”
A lone cigarette pack rolling around on a paperwork-strewn table snagged her gaze.
She had, with great effort, quit smoking.
Gulp.
But right now she desperately needed something to take the edge off.
“J—just one….”
She was just about to give in and pull out a cigarette when—
Bang!
Her assistant, Jo Narae, burst in at a dead run.
“Manager!”
Judging by how her tofu-white cheeks had flushed red, she must’ve sprinted here in a panic.
“Hah, hah, seriously—hah—huge news—!”
“Catch your breath and talk.”
When Sojeong handed her a bottle of water, Narae chugged it in one go and let out a hearty “Kheuu—” like a middle-aged man.
Sometimes, despite that baby face, she could be awfully ajusshi-like.
“Ugh, thank you. You saved me, Manager.”
“Okay, now talk.”
“Yes! But don’t be too shocked when you hear this!”
Everything on Narae’s face screamed, I am so startled and hyped right now.
Good grief.
Poker face was not her gift.
“My heart’s long since turned to ice. You know I don’t scare easy.”
Maybe wanting to build suspense, Narae didn’t spill it right away—she wetted her dry lips and let the moment stretch.
What did she want so badly to say?
“I just got this from another staffer.”
“Mm? Suddenly LS Entertainment?”
“Yes, LS Entertainment reached out first to ask if they could handle our drama’s OST production!”
“Really? Well, LS is known for strong in-house composers which great news.”
Sojeong kept her tone calm almost apologetically so, given Narae’s excitement.
“But as you know, we already decided to do it with Hidden.”
“That’s true, but…”
“We could maybe collaborate on a sub-theme or two.”
“But still…”
“Either way, it is unusual for LS to make the first move.”
Narae muttered, deflated.
But then she snapped her head up and shouted loud enough to shake the room.
“HS—their in-house composer Etchis—said he personally wants to take the OST!”
Ah, right. Despite how she looks, the kid’s got volume.
“My ears are going to fall off.”
“You’re not surprised? HS says he’ll take the whole OST!”
When Sojeong only gave a short “Mm,” Narae bounced like the embodiment of every unanswered question.
“Why not?”
“Because you probably misheard whoever told you.”
“It’s true! I even told the LS contact to pass them your number!”
“Okay, okay. So you’re saying HS ever so graciously offered to handle our main theme outright, yes?”
At last believing she was being believed, Narae nodded hard.
“Yes! Exactly!”
“I’m stressed enough I was about to relapse and light up—don’t add nonsense on top of it. Shoo.”
Sojeong waved her off, not wanting to be bothered.
“It’s time for a toast, not a smoke!”
In the end, Narae got shoved out by her boss’s rough hands.
“It’s true, though….”
Right now, this very moment, Narae felt nothing but bitter frustration.
January 2, the day after New Year’s Day.
Normally….
It would either be an absolute nothing of a day, or a day soured by the feeling of getting a year older.
But today, at least within LS Entertainment, Manager Kim was the happiest man alive.
“Wow, a celebration right from the new year! Congratulations!”
Right, this wasn’t just a title bump.
“So we should be calling you Division Head Kim now?”
He’d gone from siljang to bonbujang (head of division).
“‘Division Head Kim’… still sounds a little strange, but congratulations.”
He even got a small private office. Above all, the jump in salary had him feeling sky-high.
“Thanks, everyone. Thank you.”
After a whirlwind morning of congratulations, Division Head Kim headed for Hyunseung’s studio.
The kid didn’t check the intranet, much less the elevator screens, so he might not know yet.
Besides, he needed to tell him the drama OST he’d wanted to try. He’d passed the word, so: just wait.
Knock, knock, knock!
Even his knuckles carried extra pep today.
“Manager, you’re here.”
As expected, Hyunseung greeted him like always, with no clue he’d become a division head.
He even turned his back and kept working. Headset going on meant….
Do not disturb, loud and clear.
Honestly, how could anyone be this indifferent.
Tak, tatak, tatadadak—.
With every move of Hyunseung’s hands, the section filled out with blistering speed.
That back he’d always found simply amazing and awe-inspiring… today, for some reason, rubbed him the wrong way.
Too much.
The venti iced Americano in his hand felt unusually heavy today.
Maybe being close made the little slights sting more.
Tap, tap.
Normally he’d just set the coffee down and slip out quietly, but this time he tapped Hyunseung on the shoulder.
“What is it?”
Hyunseung only turned his head, face impassive.
“I put in the word about that drama OST we discussed.”
“Drama OST?”
“Mm. I said ‘HS wants to take it on himself, no way you’ll turn it down now’.”
“Why would you say it like that.”
“Why?”
“Makes it sound like I’m dying to do some drama OST.”
“Oh, come on….”
“Anyway, got it. Now please go.”
Watching Hyunseung wave him off, Kim Woohyoon dusted off his brand-new suit and struck a pose.
“Don’t I look different today?”
Startled by the peacocking, Hyunseung arched his brows. He’d heard this one from his kid sister a few times….
Aside from music, Hyunseung was indifferent, unobservant, and had no eye for aesthetics—this question always stumped him.
“New haircut?”
“Wrong.”
“Closer shave?”
“Wrong.”
“Are you sick?”
“Wrong, wrong, wrong!”
Finally, Kim narrowed his eyes into slits and snapped,
“You really couldn’t care less about me, could you?”
“Why are you like this today?”
“It’s not just today, is it.”
“What did I even do?”
“You never think about me—only the coffee gets a welcome.”
He thunked the cup down and asked,
“And you don’t even know I got promoted to division head, do you?”
“I knew.”
“You knew and didn’t say congratulations?”
“You’ll get plenty from everyone else anyway, won’t you?”
Shocked, Kim fired back.
“What? How can a person be that robotic?”
“Robotic? Your body’s more robot—like a tin-can robot.”
“What did you say? Did you just call me a tin-can robot?”
“Yes. You called me a robot first.”
“Min Hyunseung! I’m not a siljang anymore—I’m a division head!”
Hyunseung couldn’t fathom why the man—no, the division head—was suddenly shouting, veins standing at his throat.
What on earth…
Why is he mad?
He shook his head, baffled.
Creak—.
He looked past Kim toward the door as it opened.
“Ah, ha ha ha… hello.”
He locked eyes with Jung Arin, hovering awkwardly.
“What are you two doing?”
She glanced back and forth between Hyunseung and the division head, forcing a smile.
“I came to congratulate Manager Kim on becoming a division head, but you two were in the middle of a lover’s quarrel, so I was going to slip out….”
“What lover’s quarrel? This robot-like kid says things that hurt people.”
“Robot-like? You’re the one being oversensitive. Why blame me?”
“Looks like a lover’s quarrel to me, no matter how I look at it….”
At that, the two glared at each other and shouted in perfect unison, “It’s not!”
Even their huffy breathing synced up alarmingly well….
I thought they were harmonizing.
Suddenly, the rumor about Hyunseung and Jayble dating crossed Jung Arin’s mind.
Right.
Whoever the composer likes, whoever he dates—I’ll support him.
The misunderstandings were only snowballing.
These days, Ahn Jiho was taking any schedule that came in. If he could do it, he did it.
Thanks to that, he wasn’t exactly starving, but it still wasn’t quite enough to wipe out the debts the company and individuals had accumulated.
More than anything, he’d vowed to secure a small office building this year, so he needed to push harder.
This is a chance.
He’d had a supporting role in a short web drama, and apparently caught the right eyes—this time he’d been cast as the male lead in a bona fide network drama.
At 21 episodes, the per-episode pay would be enough to clear all debts.
“Alright!”
Striding with purpose, he headed to SCS Broadcasting for a scheduled pre-meeting.
“The director said he’ll be right here. Traffic must be a little tight.”
“That’s fine.”
“Didn’t know what you’d like, so I brought both coffee and tea.”
“Thank you.”
The assistant PD, all easy charm, kept chatting.
“Oh, right—Jiho-ssi, you’ve got some connection with HS, right?”
“You mean the composer? I do, but why?”
Jiho asked warily. If they’d cast him just to try to wrangle an OST through HS, he was prepared to refuse on the spot.
But what came out of the APD’s mouth was nothing like he expected.
“Originally, our OST production was going to be handled by the composer Hidden on a project basis, but apparently HS suddenly reached out himself saying he wants to do it.”
“Huh? HS-nim contacted you first saying he wants to do it?”
“Yep. The music director’s mulling it over, but, I mean, he’ll pick HS, right? Drama music has to follow the trend now.”
So the composer had gone from children’s songs to a sageuk1 drama OST….
But he’s not the type to ask first.
Jiho tilted his head, puzzled—
Clap!
The PD smacked his hands together, as if something had just clicked.
“Come to think of it, HS called the day your casting was decided. You two must have some kind of tie.”
Jiho blinked, dumbstruck.
The PD stepped out to take a call.
“One moment—yes, Manager! Yes, Jiho-ssi’s here now….”
Jiho bowed his head, both hands clapped over his mouth, suddenly overcome.
C—could the composer be throwing his weight behind me…?
It seemed—
He, too, had fallen into a misunderstanding about Hyunseung.
- “saeguk” — means “Korean historical drama” ↩︎
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