VINCIS was starting to look very much like a real company.
And Kim Woohyun’s efforts were part of that.
Woohyun was the type of person who believed a company needed a solid internal foundation, so as soon as work began, he personally hired office staff and security personnel and trained them himself.
And also, he carefully compared and analyzed vendors one by one before selecting the company that would run what was, in another sense, the most essential area of all, the staff cafeteria.
(T/N: Haha!)
In addition, he even brought in a famous barista to manage the café.
And so VINCIS was gradually taking on all the proper trappings of a label.
“Where are you running around all by yourself like that?”
Executive Director Park grabbed Woohyun as he cut across the VINCIS lobby and asked.
Ever since work began, Woohyun had been running here and there on his own, so it had been hard even to catch him once.
“I’ve got to earn my keep.”
But after leaving those words behind, Woohyun vanished again like a ghost.
“Min Hyunseung really does have an eye for people.”
Executive Director Park watched Woohyun’s retreating back, let out a small laugh, and murmured.
He had known Woohyun wasn’t the type to slack off, but ever since coming to America, he had been burning with even more zeal.
Part of it might have been loyalty to the company or a sense of duty.
But more likely, it was because of the way he felt about Hyunseung.
Soon after, Executive Director Park checked his watch and started walking as well.
“I should earn my keep too.”
Hyunseung was seated not in the studio, but at the desk in the CEO’s office.
Now that he had become the CEO….
He could hardly dump everything onto someone else just because it annoyed him and only do the work he wanted.
Rustle, rustle.
He was turning pages of documents so densely packed with text that merely looking at them made him dizzy, when.
Knock, knock!
A short, heavy knock sounded.
“Come in.”
Hyunseung said it without even looking toward the door, because he could tell who it was from the sound alone.
Soon, the door opened, and footsteps sounded for a moment.
“Sitting there like that, you really do look like a CEO.”
At the voice that came from above his head, he looked up and saw Executive Director Park smiling slyly.
“What does ‘look like a CEO’ mean?”
Hyunseung asked, closing the approval folder.
“I’m still not used to it myself.”
At the question, Executive Director Park slowly looked him over from head to toe and elaborated.
“Sitting at a desk instead of in the studio, wearing a suit instead of a hoodie, and holding a pen instead of a headset.”
“I do feel awkward and uncomfortable too, like I’m wearing clothes that don’t fit me.”
Hyunseung fiddled with the back of his neck as though loosening a tie he wasn’t even wearing.
The shirt fitted tightly to his body felt terribly stifling.
“The position of CEO is originally the kind of place that makes it hard to breathe.”
Watching him, Executive Director Park added quietly.
“But if there’s someone to loosen the buttons for you, it gets a little better, doesn’t it?”
And then he silently smiled as he undid the very top button Hyunseung had fastened tightly.
Hyunseung looked faintly surprised for a moment.
“Yes, it does.”
The corner of his mouth curved upward into a neat arc.
That was right.
As CEO, he did have to bear a heavy sense of responsibility, but he didn’t have to carry it all alone.
Didn’t he have a mom to help him, and a dad too?
From now on, it wasn’t something he could handle just by doing well on his own.
Then Executive Director Park suddenly placed the documents tucked under his arm onto the desk and continued.
“And if that person is capable too, then you can really breathe easier, right?”
He didn’t even forget to wink one eye.
‘Does he need magnesium?’
Hyunseung gave him an odd look, then stopped.
“What’s this?”
He shifted his gaze to the documents on the desk.
‘Ah, I really don’t want to look at documents anymore.’
Rustle.
Thinking that, he looked down at the papers, and a familiar logo caught his eye. Yes, a very familiar one…
“You said you wanted to make the whole thing bigger, right? If we’re doing it, then let’s do it properly.”
At that, Hyunseung slowly raised his head, and Executive Director Park puffed out his shoulders as if to make his already imposing frame even larger and added.
“Daniel’s documentary has been confirmed for a simultaneous worldwide release on Netflix.”
All he had wanted was to leave behind one documentary because Daniel, the man who had helped him find his own calling, was preparing a final work.
Whether anyone watched it or not.
Whether it was a hit or not.
He had simply wanted to preserve the musician named Daniel.
And yet….
For Daniel’s documentary to be released on Netflix, the number one OTT platform company in the world…
That would undoubtedly create enormous ripple effects.
“Executive Director…”
Hyunseung called to him in a low voice.
“There’s no need to be moved. I just did my job.”
“I was wondering what we were going to do if all you did after coming to America was work out…”
Hyunseung replied teasingly, with a face that pretended to be touched.
“What, you punk?”
“You’re calling the CEO ‘you punk’?”
“Didn’t you tell me to keep doing things the usual way?”
Of course, he really was grateful.
“Stop getting angry. Shall we work out together again for the first time in a while?”
Ah, no, he hadn’t really been moved.
[ Daniel shocks the world by revealing this album will be his retirement work. ]
The article spread quickly.
[ Daniel’s documentary on the making of his retirement album confirmed for simultaneous worldwide release on Netflix. ]
And the whole world started buzzing.
Some people were plunged into sadness by the news of Daniel’s retirement.
And others began looking forward to what seemed like it would be an incredible documentary.
And right now…
“No.”
Hyunseung was being deeply annoyed.
“Just once…”
Because Catherine, the lead writer of HIL Studio, had come and was earnestly pleading with him to do a personal interview just once.
“Interview Daniel first.”
“I already did.”
“Then how about interviewing Daniel’s ex-girlfriends?”
“Why would my ex-girlfriends be in it?”
“Then how about that old man Mateo? You two seemed pretty close.”
“My teacher would never do it.”
Hyunseung tried to dodge it by listing other people one after another.
But Daniel kept immediately interrupting every option.
“Wouldn’t the public want an interview with the composer who personally handled and directed Daniel’s album more?”
Catherine, too, fixed her gaze squarely on Hyunseung and pleaded again.
“You can wear the helmet, and even a short interview is fine.”
Then she bent the back she had been holding so stiffly into a right angle. At the same time, her long hair spilled forward and swayed precariously, almost brushing the floor.
“I’m begging you, just once….”
Daniel chimed in at the side like a meddlesome sister-in-law.
“A lady is asking you this earnestly, so why not do it just once?”
Hyunseung glared sharply at Daniel for a moment.
“Hah…”
He let out a deep sigh. Even setting Daniel aside, it was hard to flatly refuse such an earnest and polite request from her.
“Fine, so lift your head now.”
In the end, Hyunseung reluctantly gave permission.
“Thank you, thank you!”
Catherine’s long straight hair fluttered as she bowed over and over again.
Good grief…
‘I told you to lift your head.’
.
.
And so, the filming was set to take place in Hyunseung’s studio.
Once the simple lighting and camera setup were finished, Hyunseung issued an order for Daniel to leave, since he was lounging comfortably on the sofa.
“Shouldn’t you get out now?”
“Why?”
“Because you’re done here.”
Daniel stubbornly tried to hold out because he didn’t want to leave.
But before long, Hyunseung’s rough hands shoved him out the door.
“Hey, wait a second!”
Watching that, writer Catherine and cameraman James both had to suppress the laughter threatening to burst out.
For a moment, silence fell over the room.
Only then did Hyunseung pull the helmet down over his head and calmly work through what he should say.
The truth was, there wasn’t much to say.
Wasn’t that obvious?
Until not long ago, Daniel and Hyunseung had been nothing to each other but strangers.
They hadn’t spent a long time together.
And they had never talked about anything deep enough to share their hearts.
At best, Daniel would talk about women he had dated before, or the price of the whiskey he had drunk.
Or else he would go on about the island he owned.
About how the scenery was breathtaking.
How clear the water was.
How warm the wind felt.
And how…
When the concert ended magnificently, they had to go there together.
Yes.
They were merely two people who had exchanged one promise.
“Can we start right away?”
At that moment Catherine asked.
“Yes, let’s begin.”
With a sharp clack, Hyunseung lowered the face shield and adjusted his posture.
The cameraman clicked his tongue in regret that he couldn’t capture Hyunseung’s face, then pressed the button.
Soon.
The red light blinked, and filming began.
“What kind of person is Daniel Parker?”
Catherine naturally asked the question, then waited for an answer.
“Hmm….”
But instead of an answer, only a deep hum of thought drifted through the room.
“W-would you like a little time?”
Unable to bear the silence, Catherine asked. She thought he must be silent because he had nothing to say.
If that was the case, it would probably go more smoothly if she just stopped the filming for a moment and gave him the lines herself.
“Daniel Parker is a very immature person.”
But as if he had never been silent at all, Hyunseung suddenly opened his mouth, speaking with pronunciation good enough to rival a native speaker.
“It’s already well known, but he really likes alcohol.”
His tone didn’t rise or fall much, but somehow there was a faint playfulness in Hyunseung’s voice.
“To the point that he asks to be allowed to drink even while recording.”
And then….
“Is that all?”
He waved his hand as if the very thought disgusted him and continued.
“He likes women so much that every time there’s a short break, he gets lost in memories of women he dated before….”
At that, Catherine and the cameraman exchanged looks.
‘We can’t use this.’
Their faces were saying exactly that. Even so, they had hoped for something moving if possible.
They had thought that if they cross-edited this with scenes of the two of them raising their voices and arguing, they could maximize the emotional impact.
But judging from this interview, if they did that, it would create the perfect picture for rumors of a feud between the two.
“The truth is, he’s a bit old too, isn’t he?”
Without realizing what the two of them were thinking, Hyunseung continued to mercilessly bad-mouth Daniel.
Then after a moment.
“But.”
With that single word, spoken in a voice that dropped heavily, he changed the mood all at once.
“While working with him, I started thinking that…”
Both of their gazes turned back toward Hyunseung’s face, or rather, his helmet.
They were sure to miss it, but inside the helmet, Hyunseung was smiling faintly.
“It’s because he never really grew up, because he did exactly what he wanted…that he was able to become the Daniel Parker of today.”
Just then, Catherine lightly clapped, wearing a satisfied expression, as if the exact scene she had wanted had finally appeared.
“Ah, and….”
Hyunseung raised one hand as if something else had just come to mind.
“There’s something I wanted to say. It’s okay if I say it here, right?”
Daniel stood there waiting, kicking the toe of his shoe.
If he went home like this….
Hadn’t he been chased out in far too humiliating a manner?
‘That damned bastard.’
He felt like he wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably unless he at least found out what Hyunseung had said in the interview.
At last, the studio door he had been waiting and waiting for opened, and Catherine and James walked out looking very pleased.
“Oh? You haven’t left yet?”
Catherine asked when she spotted Daniel like that.
“I left something inside.”
Since he couldn’t exactly tell the truth, Daniel made up an excuse and stepped back into the studio.
“Why are you still here?”
Hyunseung, who had taken off the helmet and was wiping away sweat, spotted Daniel and narrowed his eyes.
“Why don’t you hurry up and go practice for the concert some more?”
“Did the interview go well? I was really worried because you’re so bad with words. So, what did you say?”
Daniel acted as if he couldn’t hear Hyunseung at all and only poured out the question he had wanted to ask.
“I bad-mouthed you a bit.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not. I’m serious.”
Hyunseung shrugged his shoulders and added playfully.
“Be sure to check when it comes out on Netflix.”
At those words, Daniel suddenly left the studio.
Bang.
Then, staring at the closed door, he muttered.
“So petty.”
Because there was now one more promise he wouldn’t be able to keep.
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