Hyunseung found himself in quite a difficult situation.
There were six people who had come.
There were five tracks he had sent.
Which meant, in the end, there would be one person left over.
For that reason…
The gathered instruments all strongly insisted in unison.
“I truly won’t be greedy. I’ll just sing Track 5.”
It seemed Moon Beomjae had taken quite a liking to Track 5.
Maybe because of that, no one else stepped forward saying they would sing Track 5.
However, Track 3, which had a strong addictive quality and a trendy atmosphere, was fiercely contested.
To begin with, Kang Hajun, Seo Jini, and Jung Arin were locked in a strange little battle of nerves.
And in the middle of that chaos, Yoon Jaeyi chose Track 2, while Lee Hyoeun chose Track 4.
In truth, what meaning did any of this have?
“Everyone, calm down.”
The songs were going to be recreated anyway.
“There’s something you need to know.”
The moment the words left his mouth, everyone’s gaze turned toward Hyunseung.
“I’m going to scrap the tracks I sent.”
In an instant, question marks surfaced across everyone’s faces.
With the exception of exactly one person.
Moon Beomjae gave a slow nod, as though he understood what that meant.
“I figured as much.”
As expected, it seemed he had already caught on.
But…
The others looked like they had a hard time accepting it.
Why?
The question wrapped itself around their heads, but no one stepped forward to ask. If Hyunseung said he was going to do it, then that was what would happen.
Because he was not going to change his mind.
It just left them feeling a little heartsore, regretful, and disappointed.
“Tch.”
Seo Jini could not hold back and smacked her lips.
“Tch.”
Hyunseung made the same sound with his mouth after her.
It was not that he felt terribly sorry.
But he had ended up disappointing them when he had not meant to, so he did feel just a little bad.
“Since they weren’t songs made specifically for anyone in particular, I judged that there wasn’t a single song any one of you could pull off one hundred percent. So I decided to make them over from scratch.”
Without even giving them time to be happy, Hyunseung went on explaining.
“At the time, it felt like I had to do something, so I made a mistake that wasn’t like me.”
It was not at a level that was completely unlistenable, but they were songs he could not be satisfied with himself.
So yes, it was a mistake.
They might think he was saying something weak, not like himself.
But for some reason, he had a feeling that with these people, it was all right to do so.
Yes.
You could tell just by looking at the worried expressions on their faces, all twisted up over nothing more than one weak remark.
Above all else, these were people who had crossed the Pacific, carving time out of their busy schedules because they were worried about him.
If he asked, they were the sort who would come running immediately and roll up both sleeves to help.
To people like that, there was no reason to hide it, and he could not give them songs he himself could not be satisfied with.
“I’ll send them over again through A&R soon enough, so for now, go enjoy your trip or something.”
Once he finished speaking, Hyunseung flicked his gaze toward Michelle.
“Michelle, see them out.”
Even though they had barely arrived before effectively being shown the door, not one of them looked upset.
“If you finish working, please contact us so we can at least have dinner together. Don’t push yourself too hard. We’ll wait.”
They only seemed worried about him to the very end.
“Okay.”
At Kang Hajun’s words, Hyunseung gave a rough little nod and shifted his gaze, then.
“Ah.”
As though something had suddenly occurred to him, he stopped Moon Beomjae.
“Teacher Moon Beomjae, you said earlier you weren’t going to be greedy, right?”
“I, I did say that…”
“For the record, there won’t be a song for you among the tracks I send again, so yield to the young ones.”
At those words, Moon Beomjae’s lips slowly parted. From Korea all the way up until now, he had been doing his best not to look impatient in front of his juniors, preserving his dignity.
But Moon Beomjae was famous for never letting go once a “good song” reached his ears.
Track 5…
And of all things, it was Track 5 that had reached Moon Beomjae’s ears.
If it had been any other song, he would have stepped back with his hands behind his back and graciously yielded to his juniors.
But…
Now that the tracks had been slated for disposal, not only that, but he was being told to yield all the newly made songs too.
Being old was sad enough, but this treatment was going too far.
“My heart is youthful too. I’m one of the young ones!”
In the end, unable to hold it in any longer, Moon Beomjae shouted.
But not long after, he regretted it because of what Hyunseung said next.
“Then sing the Track 5 you got this time.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes. You chose it even knowing it was an incomplete song. You must have had your reasons for doing that.”
That was true. There had been a reason Moon Beomjae chose Track 5.
Track 5 was…
How should he put it. It was like a dump truck barreling down an unpaved road.
If Hyunseung’s incomplete state of mind had seeped into all of the tracks, then that song was rawness itself.
That was why it drew him in even more.
A pointless sort of fighting spirit suddenly rose up in him. He was worried about Hyunseung for having written a song like that, yet selfishly enough, he also found himself wanting to go mad together with him through that song.
Not the kind of excitement that just made your head spin.
He wanted to pour everything into it until his vision turned yellow at the edges.
Yes.
Like Daniel and Hyunseung in the documentary.
“More than anything…”
At that moment, Hyunseung opened his mouth once more.
“You’ll be the one to complete it.”
Moon Beomjae smiled soundlessly and lightly thumped his own chest.
“Of course.”
He only looked utterly dependable.
Hyunseung spent the busiest week of all.
First, he worked on the song he had promised 4WAY.
And beyond that, he completed not only the new songs to send over to LS Entertainment, but also rearranged Track 5 for Moon Beomjae one more time.
Meanwhile, Vincent came by again and again, pressing him about when exactly he was going to do his work.
And when Hyunseung told him that on top of the 4WAY work, the work for the Korea instruments had been added too…
“You really are a terrible bastard.”
After sticking his lower lip out a mile and leaving, he did not show his face again.
Of course.
That did not mean Hyunseung was going to care, so the work proceeded in order.
“Michelle, set 4WAY’s session for one o’clock tomorrow.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And the contract LS Entertainment sent should be arriving soon too, so check it and send up the approval documents.”
“Yes, understood.”
Michelle, as always, only replied crisply in the same suit and with the same expression.
At one point, he had tried joking around with a Michelle like that…
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
She had pushed up her glasses and asked like a robot trying to determine the meaning of a sentence.
After that, he had decided to give up joking with her.
Yes.
With a robot, it was best to speak only about work.
“Are there any documents I need to review?”
The instant Hyunseung asked, Michelle immediately held out the approval folders she had tucked under her arm and answered at once.
“Yes. There are approval documents that were put on hold during the week you were working.”
At the sight, Hyunseung let out a small laugh without meaning to, then.
“Ha…”
His eyeballs suddenly felt sore, and he pressed at the bridge of his nose.
“Then I’ll review those on my way home. It’s late, so you should clock out now.”
With that, he picked up the approval folders and headed for the company parking garage. Ordinarily, Hyunseung would have reviewed them and then gone home, but…
[ CEO Min, if you do not come home immediately, I would like to inform you in advance that the comic books I couldn’t quite finish tearing up last time will be used as firewood to roast sweet potatoes. ]
The threatening text from Hyuna was vicious enough that if he got delayed any longer, it really did feel like a picture of deliciously roasting sweet potatoes was going to arrive.
[ I am planning to head home shortly, so I humbly ask for your generous leniency. ]
After sending a reply as though placating his younger sister, Hyunseung let out a deep sigh.
Come to think of it…
The days when she used to just whine about when he was coming home had been cute.
Hyuna had learned through repeated experience that pouting and complaining did not work on him at all.
And now she had reached the point of cunningly seizing his weak points and shaking them around.
In truth…
Even this was probably just her way of sulking because she missed him.
Thunk.
As soon as Hyunseung climbed into the back seat, the driver, as though he had been waiting, adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.
“Shall I take you home?”
At the question, Hyunseung gave a short, “Yes,” and lowered his gaze to the approval folders.
In truth, he did not really need a driver, but one had appeared thanks to Mama Kim forcing the hire on him.
Something about how he would have many occasions to need one in the future.
Still.
Now that he both had to go home and had approvals piled up, he found himself thinking her choice had been the right one.
Rustle, rustle.
Was it thanks to the combination of a luxury sedan and premium manpower?
Rustle, rustle.
Hyunseung was able to go through the approval folders comfortably, without a single shake disturbing him.
That was when…
“Huh?”
In an instant, Hyunseung’s eyes narrowed sharply.
“Please go back to the office.”
“Pardon?”
“I said turn the car around right now.”
Grinding his molars hard, he instructed the driver to make a U-turn immediately.
Because something had come up that he needed to verify right away, something even more important than the survival of his comic books.
Sophia stretched, loosening her stiff body for a moment.
“I should get going now.”
Soon, she tidied up her desk and stood. She had been the first employee Kim Woohyun hired.
And because Sophia was the sort of person who never got up from her seat until the work was done, she was always ending up late getting off work.
“Ugh, I’m tired…”
Just as Sophia, with dark circles hanging all the way down to her jaw, stepped into the lobby.
Creeeak.
HS, the CEO of this company, burst through the front doors of the building.
“Good evening, sir.”
Sophia offered only a nod of greeting from a distance.
Normally, since he was the kind of CEO whose face was hard to see even within the company, and currently the hottest figure in America, she would have tried somehow to approach him in a friendly way…
What’s going on?
The atmosphere coming off him was so unusual that she could not easily go near him.
Sadly, she thought today would have to be one of those times when they just passed by each other, and she hurried her steps.
Step, step.
For some reason, Sophia lifted her head at a vaguely chilling feeling.
And just as she had the strange impression that HS seemed to be walking toward her.
“Excuse me.”
No, it was not just an impression.
“Do you happen to know where Vincent is right now?”
HS had actually strode right up to her and grabbed her to ask.
“Huh? Mr. Vincent? Uh, w-well… h-he should probably be in his private studio.”
She was not sure. It had been about eight hours since she last saw him in the office.
But it felt like she had to answer something.
Yes.
Even if Vincent was not actually in the building and the consequences came down on her later…
Right now, the CEO’s eyes looked so precarious, like a beast that would bite into the back of her neck if she did not answer at once, that protecting her life right now was more important.
“Thank you.”
As soon as he said that, the CEO vanished from her sight almost immediately.
“Haa…”
Sophia collapsed where she stood. All the tension had drained out of her at once.
Only then did a single thought begin to consume her mind.
Ah.
At this rate, one wrong move and she might be writing a resignation letter tomorrow.
Contrary to Sophia’s fears, Vincent really was holed up in his studio.
However.
He had not expected Hyunseung to suddenly come storming in and demand answers from him.
“Vincent, why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”
“What are you talking about, barging in here late at night like this?”
“This is seriously too much.”
“The one being too much isn’t me, it’s you, isn’t it?”
At the word too much, Vincent suddenly felt emotion surge up inside him, and he shot back instead.
“You said you’d do work for me, so I invested and built this label, and do you know I still haven’t even seen a single new song because I keep getting pushed behind other people?”
But Hyunseung waved a hand as if he had no room to listen to Vincent’s sulking.
“I don’t care.”
Then, shaking the approval folder in his hand, he asked back in an agitated voice.
“Shouldn’t you have told me about something this important?”
By this point, unease started creeping over Vincent.
No, what was I supposed to tell you?
But no matter how much he thought about it, he had not done anything wrong or made any particular mistake.
“W-what!”
It was the first time Vincent had ever seen Hyunseung come at him while worked up like this, so he got scared first.
“What exactly did I not tell you!”
He demanded loudly for no reason.
For a moment, the only thing filling the room was the sound of the two of them breathing hard.
“You’re seriously asking because you don’t know?”
Soon, Hyunseung hurled the approval folder onto the table and added.
“Why didn’t you tell me the company got a request to produce the Worlds OST!”
He did not know why.
“Uh…?”
But Hyunseung’s face looked soaked in such deep hurt, as if he had just been betrayed by a longtime colleague.
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