Hyunseung’s words drifted quietly away in the air.
Because… the man didn’t even pretend to listen and simply turned to walk off again.
This guy has no romance.
Keeping at it, Hyunseung followed behind the man and spoke again.
“Someone’s talking to you. Where are you going?”
The man stopped short and turned his head.
“Unice Music Group isn’t a place just anyone can walk into, but you’re a face I’ve never seen in my life…”
Then, narrowing his already narrowed eyes, he raked Hyunseung up and down and added,
“What do you do?”
If someone asks what you do, it’s only proper to answer.
Before long, Hyunseung answered briefly.
“Composer.”
“Composer?”
When the man asked back, Hyunseung gave a small nod and continued.
“Yeah, so how about being my instrument and performing a song?”
“Hold on… instrument? Are you seriously calling a singer an instrument?”
“Yeah, I am calling you an instrument.”
“And who do you think you are, to dismiss a singer as some mere instrument?”
“Come on, what’s a better compliment than ‘instrument,’ exactly?”
As if he truly couldn’t understand, Hyunseung lifted his shoulders.
At least to Hyunseung, being called an “instrument” was a compliment.
Most singers he wouldn’t even call “instruments,” and if he said “an instrument I want to play,” that was as good as it gets.
Of course, the man couldn’t possibly know that.
“You said you’re a composer, right?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
Glaring as if to pierce through him, the man pressed on.
“Then what name are you working under right now?”
“HS.”
“Have any of your songs ever made the Billboard charts?”
Given that he’d called singers instruments and was putting on such an arrogant air toward him, there was a strong chance he was at least someone who’d achieved a meaningful one-hit result on the Billboard chart….
Fine.
Let’s hear that oh-so-great stage name of yours.
“Well, I’ve never really thought about Billboard, so I don’t know.”
But Hyunseung scratched the back of his head and gave an ambiguous answer. Never mind Billboard. He hadn’t checked the domestic charts in a long time.
For Hyunseung, those rankings had already become meaningless.
Ah. He vaguely remembered hearing that because “villain daddy” became famous overseas as a challenge, it briefly entered the Billboard Hot 100….
Right, Executive Director Park had bragged himself silly about it every time they worked out.
He said it was thanks to him?
Well, what meaning would saying any of that have here anyway?
“So you’ve never even gotten on Billboard?”
“If you’re going to measure by Billboard, I haven’t produced a meaningful result there yet.”
“So, a composer who’s only at that level not only dismisses other singers as mere instruments, but asks me to sing his song?”
At the man’s words, Hyunseung furrowed his brow and shot back,
“I said I haven’t yet, not that I can’t.”
At that, the man went “Hm?” and narrowed his eyes further. Where on earth was that confidence coming from?
“That sounds like you’re saying that if you just put your mind to it, you can rack up meaningful results on the Billboard chart whenever you want.”
“Well, of course.”
The man let out a mirthless laugh at Hyunseung’s bold reply.
“Ah, haha, now I get it.”
Then he stepped a pace closer to Hyunseung and added in a mocking tone,
“You’re hoping to use me to get your name on Billboard once, sounds like. Aren’t your dreams a little too big?”
“Well, with someone of your level, sure, as long as the song isn’t trash that can’t even be recycled, you could hit the upper ranks of Billboard without trouble.”
For a moment, Hyunseung nodded as if in agreement.
“But that would be glory in name only, so I’ll pass on that too.”
He stepped right up, almost to the man’s face, and added in a low voice,
“My aim is to break the records you’ve stacked up till now and climb even higher.”
This was a target he’d set on the spot in response to the man’s provocation moments earlier.
Yeah, in a word, it was something he’d “just blurted out.”
He wasn’t the type to fuss over numbers anyway.
“Then let’s do this.”
Hyunseung laid a hand lightly on the man’s shoulder and added,
“If the song I’m about to release holds No. 1 on the Billboard chart for over three months in a row, you become my instrument. Deal?”
Then he stepped back a pace and gave a slight smile.
Only because of that two-faced look and the pressure on his shoulder, the man felt a chill he couldn’t explain.
‘What the hell…?’
From the way his expression changed in a flash, to his manner of dealing with people, to his tone, there wasn’t a single clumsy point.
Like someone very skilled at charming people.
To be precise….
It was like he’d been born at the very top of the pyramid and was used to looking down on people.
What’s more, since the man couldn’t pin down his exact identity, he felt afraid of being drawn into this guy’s pace.
“W-wait… then who’s singing this song that’s supposed to be released?”
Fluster showing a bit, the man asked again; Hyunseung grinned and answered right away.
“Sarah.”
The man lifted his brows and asked, “Sarah? Sarah Stewart?”
“Yup, that’s right.”
“Hah, seriously….”
Relaxing, the man let his shoulders sag and gave a couple of incredulous snorts.
It was absurd.
Because the man, being in the same Unice roster as Sarah Stewart, knew all about her.
Right. She was scouted while busking a song she had written and composed herself; and when she signed her contract, she declared she would only sing songs she herself produced, didn’t she?
What’s more, when they suggested she try singing a song by a composer who’d won multiple Grammys, she went on a hunger strike. That legend was well-known in the company.
And that Sarah Stewart had taken a song from some composer whose name or identity he didn’t even know and sung it?
This was the kind of talk a stray dog would snort at as it passed by.
“Do you even know Sarah Stewart? You’ve never met her, have you?”
“You can confirm that directly with Sarah Stewart later. For now, just give me a definite answer: accept or not? It’s about time the limo got here.”
“So you’re just a terminal-stage compulsive liar, I see. Fine. If what you say is true, I’ll sing it as much as you want.”
Wearing a smile full of ridicule, the man poked Hyunseung in the chest.
“Bold and straightforward. I like it.”
As if such provocation were nothing at all, Hyunseung answered with a smile and added,
“Then I’ll have the song ready. Get in touch anytime through Austin.”
And he immediately turned and headed for the lobby. Because the agreed twenty minutes were almost up.
Watching Hyunseung’s back receding, the man muttered,
“Crazy bastard.”
No sooner had he returned to Korea than Hyunseung headed to the studio, not even taking time to shake off the travel fatigue.
Because an instrument he’d never expected had rolled right into his hands.
Ah, of course, it was a condition he’d forced out of the deal.
Sarah Stewart’s “Look at me” would have to hold No. 1 on the Billboard chart for over three months after release.
Well….
You could call it a stretch, but it wasn’t impossible.
Since he had never once assumed it wouldn’t work, Hyunseung immediately created a new track to craft music befitting the new instrument and started pouring out the ideas crammed in his head.
Right. A song his new personal instrument “Vincent” would perform.
“Major win.”
Thinking he’d been right to visit Unice Music Group, Hyunseung pounded out the chords without mercy.
Then he even took out the guitar he kept carefully in his instrument display case and layered some playing himself.
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
He was filling the studio to the brim with a tangle of curious melodies and beats when…
Knock, knock, knock!
With an urgent knocking, Kim Woohyun burst in.
“You little punk, you Geumdong brat. You hardly call after you go, and when I ask you to let me know so I can pick you up, you only tell me after you’re already at the studio. How much do you plan on making my stomach ache!”
Then he poured out nagging like a machine gun, and didn’t forget to land a smack on the back, either.
“Ow, ow!”
Putting on an exaggerated pained face, Hyunseung whined. He wasn’t actually hurt or in a bad mood.
Right. The things Kim Woohyun was saying were exactly the worried nagging any Korean mom would do, weren’t they?
Because his mother had passed away early, Hyunseung had no experience with this sort of nagging or getting smacked on the back, so rather, he felt good.
Right, mood!
“Head of Division, as of today I’m leveling you up.”
“What’s with the sudden level up?”
“I’m specially leveling you up from Dad Kim to Mom Kim.”
For a moment, at the non sequitur, Kim Woohyun muttered in disbelief, “What? Mom?”
“Then who’s Dad now?”
Narrowing his eyes, he asked again. This was an extremely important matter to Kim Woohyun.
Gulp.
Swallowing dryly, he lifted his gaze to Hyunseung’s lips.
“Well, if I have to choose…Executive Director Park?”
At Hyunseung’s answer, he slumped onto the sofa with the face of a man who’d lost his country.
“I… I’ve been bumped….”
Patting Kim Woohyun’s shoulder, Hyunseung continued,
“Mom, don’t be too heartbroken. Kids generally like their moms more than their dads.”
“Right? Mom’s the best, better than Dad, right?”
“I actually tend to like Dad better.”
“You…!”
“It’s because I only have a dad.”
At that, Kim Woohyun groaned, “Ah…”
In an instant the air turned awkward, and he had to sweat through it.
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
It was Hyunseung who opened his mouth first to change the mood.
“Anyway, did you report the revised contract terms properly?”
“Of course. I got to puff my chest out a bit going into the meeting thanks to you.”
Ruffling Hyunseung’s head, Kim Woohyun added,
“Well done, really well done.”
Like a sullen teen, Hyunseung whipped his head away, rejecting the touch.
“Hey, I set my hair. Now you’ve messed it up.”
“Says the kid who never even uses wax! Take the affection nicely. I’m proud of you.”
“Enough. I’ve gotta work, so could you please step out now?”
At that, Kim Woohyun sprang to his feet and shouted,
“You accomplished something huge, and instead of going for celebratory drinks, you’re going right back to work?”
“We’ll do celebratory drinks when Sarah Stewart’s song is released and it holds No. 1 on the Billboard chart for over three months.”
Then, with a pleased smile, Kim Woohyun nodded, as if he’d just heard his little boy say he’d grow up to be president.
“Right, the bigger the dream, the better! Our Geumdong will sweep the Billboard chart too! But to achieve dreams, you’ve gotta fill your belly. Let’s go eat!”
“I’m not joking. There’s a concrete reason I have to.”
Tilting his head, Kim Woohyun murmured, “A concrete reason you have to?”
“Did Unice say they’ll change the terms back if it doesn’t hold No. 1 for over three months?”
He asked, ready to sprint to Unice that instant.
“That’s not it.”
“Then what? Are you being threatened by someone?”
“Not that either.”
“Then specifically, what’s the reason you have to hit No. 1 for over three months?”
A brand-new personal instrument he coveted.
Thinking of Vincent, whom he’d met at Unice, Hyunseung answered.
“To scout a new instrument, I have to achieve that condition.”
“A new instrument?”
“Yeah.”
“Who now?”
“Vincent.”
“Vincent… Do you mean Vincent Mah, the one I know?”
“It sure isn’t Vincent van Gogh, so yes, it must be Vincent Mah.”
Even at Hyunseung’s wordplay, Kim Woohyun couldn’t get a word out.
“On that note, I have to think about how to ‘play’ Vincent Mah, so could you please step out now?”
The “Vincent Mah” that came out of Hyunseung’s mouth was a “King of Pop” with such renown he ranked second for most No. 1s on Billboard.
He had no idea how Hyunseung had suddenly managed to reel in a singer of that caliber…
But seeing the gleam in Hyunseung’s eyes, he had a hunch something tremendous was about to be made.
No. 1 on Billboard for three months….
Even if it was a conditional scout, the Hyunseung he knew would pull it off.
Sliiiiide.
Shoved out by Hyunseung’s insistence, Kim Woohyun found himself expelled from the studio, unable to say a thing.
Thud!
Until he heard the studio door slam shut behind him.
Then staring blankly at the closed door with a face full of wonder, he muttered,
“A… a hell of a kid….”
And just like that, from “crazy bastard” overnight, Hyunseung leveled up to “hell of a kid.”
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