Hyunseung stared blankly at the door Austin had just walked through.
What did he say again?
He thought he mentioned something about a merger and said he would reach out again to schedule a formal meeting….
Hearing something so surreal had turned his mind completely blank, leaving him unable to process any thoughts.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then, a familiar knocking sound echoed.
“Kiddo!”
Kim Woohyun, drenched in sweat, came rushing into the CEO’s office.
“I heard Austin was just here!”
“Yes.”
“Is it because of Sarah?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say to you?”
“Hmm….”
Hyunseung let out a low groan at Kim Woohyun’s persistent questioning.
“He did say something, right?”
Hyunseung scratched his chin as he replied. It was true that Austin had said quite a few things before leaving.
“What exactly did he say? I mean, Sarah was the one who said she wanted to come here first, so why is he coming to hassle you?”
“He didn’t hassle me.”
“Then what? Did he shove an envelope of cash at you and say he can’t let you have his daughter?”
“You’ve been watching too many dramas.”
“Then what on earth did that man come all the way here to say?”
Well, to sum it up, he had mentioned two things.
“He was pestering me to take Sarah Stewart off his hands.”
“Huh?”
“And he asked if I had any intention of merging with Unis.”
“Wh-whaaat?”
It was just that those two things were quite shocking.
“Wh-what does that mean? Don’t skip the context. Explain it so I can understand.”
Kim Woohyun leaned forward as if he were about to fall over. It was a natural reaction, considering Hyunseung himself was still stunned enough to be speechless.
“I’m not entirely sure myself, but he said we should set up a formal meeting next time to talk.”
“Regarding Sarah? Or regarding the merger?”
“I don’t think we’d need a formal meeting just for Sarah.”
“If that’s the case, we need to do some preparation.”
Kim Woohyun scratched his chin with a serious expression.
Hyunseung asked back, looking like he didn’t understand, “What kind of preparation?”
“In short, it means Unis Music Group is looking to M&A, to acquire VINCIS as a subsidiary.”
Kim Woohyun elaborated in a somewhat agitated tone.
“In a way, having a company like Unis backing us is a good thing, but strictly speaking, it can be a bad thing too.”
“Why?”
“Because they’ll start interfering with VINCIS’s operations and internal structure. Of course, if we refuse because we don’t like that, we’ll end up being controlled or isolated within this industry.”
Hyunseung neither agreed nor argued with that. It was half right and half wrong.
What Kim Woohyun said was a common occurrence in this industry.
For a place with the power of Unis, absorbing a company the size of VINCIS would be child’s play, even if they had to use pressure.
Afterwards.
If they moved to a system where they churned out songs in mass using the name ‘HS’ and distributed them through the Unis Group, they could amass enormous wealth.
But.
Austin’s face when he mentioned the merger didn’t hold that kind of grand ambition.
No.
It was a face much more complex and warm than that.
“If that’s the case, we need to prepare so that we can gain the maximum benefit from our position.”
“I don’t think it’s that kind of situation.”
“I’ll have to hold a meeting with the Executive Director.”
“It’s not really that serious…”
“Kiddo, don’t you worry about a thing. We’ll protect VINCIS no matter what.”
“No, wait…”
However, Kim Woohyun’s fighting spirit was already burning hot.
Thud!
He had already stormed out of the CEO’s office.
“He’s overreacting again.”
Hyunseung shook his head while looking at the closed door.
“Seriously….”
He really was a pro at barking up the wrong tree.
For the first time in a while, Hyunseung sat around the dining table with his family.
The table was full: sticky, perfectly cooked rice, savory soybean paste stew bubbling with a rich aroma, fluffy rolled omelets, and various side dishes.
However.
Even with such a spread before him, Hyunseung couldn’t eat comfortably.
“Ahem, hmmm.”
The reason was Hyuna, who had been clearing her throat and glancing at him for a while now.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
Unable to take it anymore, Hyunseung put down his chopsticks and spoke.
At his question, Hyuna stole a glance at their father, then carefully asked while covering her mouth.
“Oppa, what’s going on between you and Sarah unnie?”
He wondered when she would finally ask.
“Nothing’s going on.”
Hyunseung cut her off flatly.
“What do you mean ‘nothing’! When I saw you guys last time, the atmosphere was totally suspicious!”
“I told you, it’s not.”
“I want to be by your side. Gosh, Sarah unnie is such a girl crush!”
“Stop it.”
“I knew it would be like this ever since she showed up at the fan meeting.”
But Hyuna started teasing him excitedly, as if she had no intention of hiding her voice anymore.
“I guess you don’t need your allowance anymore?”
“Dear brother, you have misunderstood me.”
As expected, threats worked best in times like these.
Clatter.
Hyunseung glared once at Hyuna, who had finally gone quiet, and picked up his chopsticks again.
“But, Oppa….”
Only for a moment.
“Are you really not dating Sarah unnie?”
“Yeah, I told you I’m not.”
“It looked like Sarah unnie likes you, though.”
Hyuna continued, picking at her rice for no reason.
“People don’t usually say they want to be by someone’s side for no reason.”
“She said that because she wants to come to VINCIS.”
But Hyunseung answered firmly without even looking up.
He had no intention of playing along with his sister’s speculations.
“She didn’t even mention VINCIS.”
“Your translation must be off.”
“Or maybe you’re just dense?”
At that, Hyunseung raised his head and looked at Hyuna instead of answering. Dense? No way.
“Looking at you, you really are so oblivious.”
Hyuna made her point again since he didn’t refute it, then added once more.
“And stop making the people around you suffer from one-sided love.”
“When did I ever?”
“Sarah unnie is one thing, but lately even JS has been tagging you every single day while going to this performance and that performance, but you never even give a mention back.”
“JS did?”
“Yeah, do you know how many performances JS is doing lately? I swear, I wondered if he had a hundred bodies.”
Ah.
So that was why his notifications were constantly blowing up because of someone tagging him in posts.
He had never checked, so he had no idea.
He felt he had done his part by giving out the song, so he hadn’t paid much attention to Bap-al’s subsequent activities.
Well.
He could already guess it was a hit just by the fact that the number of people wearing flame-marked helmets on the streets had increased.
Furthermore, he occasionally received reports that the music video had reached record-breaking views or that it had entered the Billboard charts.
“He seemed pretty free when he suddenly showed up at the company building the other day to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations….”
“Free? He’s working so hard doing everything alone because he doesn’t have an agency or a manager right now!”
For some reason, Hyuna suddenly raised her voice to refute his words.
“How do you know that?”
Hyunseung asked back, narrowing his eyes.
“I-I just know because he’s been everywhere lately!”
Hyuna laughed awkwardly and buried her face in her rice bowl again. Something was suspicious.
“Min Hyuna, it’s written all over your face.”
“Wh-what is?”
“Your expression gives it all away.”
Hyunseung continued his interrogation with suspicious eyes.
However, the more he did, the more Hyuna huffed confidently.
“At times like this, I’m glad you’re so dense, Oppa.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, being oblivious helps sometimes.”
With that, Hyuna flicked her hair behind her ear, got up from her seat, and retreated into her room.
— Father, is something going on with Hyuna lately?
Hyunseung asked his father in sign language.
— I’m not sure. Other than the fact that she’s been eating less recently….
And at the answer he received, he dropped his spoon.
Clatter!
Min Hyuna is eating less? Is she sick?
“Sigh….”
Hyunseung simply could not understand women.
3:13 AM.
Click!
As soon as she stepped into the living room, the lights suddenly flashed on.
“Ugh.”
Hyuna, who was walking on tiptoes like a thief, groaned and squinted her eyes at the sudden light.
“Where are you going right now?”
As her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw Hyunseung sitting on the living room sofa.
From the way he was sitting and his stiff expression, it looked as if he knew she would be coming out at dawn and was waiting for her.
For an oblivious person, he had strangely good intuition.
“I asked where you’re going at this hour.”
“Well, you see….”
“Aren’t you going to tell me straight?”
Hyunseung interrogated Hyuna with a sharp gaze.
Where on earth was she planning to go at this ungodly hour with a backpack the size of her torso?
“Th-that is….”
Hyuna looked around for a moment.
“I-I’m going to see a festival….”
“At this hour?”
“I-it’s a bit far away….”
“Where? Where is it?”
“Uh, well, Las Vegas….”
She confessed honestly. She knew that once she was caught, he wouldn’t let her go until she told him.
He usually seemed indifferent, but occasionally he showed this kind of obsessive side.
For example….
During her school days, if he saw her walking with a male friend, he would follow them to the end and demand their personal information.
Or he would bring a ruler to check if her skirt was too short and then send it to the dry cleaners to have it lengthened.
He showed that kind of obsession.
She didn’t hate it. She knew it was just his own way of expressing affection and his way of protecting her.
Anyway, now that it had come to this, the best way was to speak honestly and leave quickly.
“What kind of festival are they having there?”
“World Electric Music Festival….”
Of course, she wasn’t going to say everything. She wouldn’t mention the part about JS appearing as a guest singer at that festival.
If she did, then surely her brother would….
“No.”
She knew it. Did he already know that JS was appearing as a guest? She thought he didn’t know at all because he wasn’t interested….
“Why not!”
I mean, she’s just going to see a festival!
Just as Hyuna was arguing with a grumpy face,
“I said you can’t go alone.”
“Huh?”
“If you’re going, we’re going together.”
Hyunseung got up from his seat and added,
“I’ll go pack some things and come back out.”
Hyuna urgently grabbed her brother’s sleeve and asked,
“You’re going with me, Oppa?”
“Yeah.”
“How are you going to go with me?”
Hyunseung is someone who strongly dislikes having his face recognized by others. Such a person is going to go with her to a world-class festival where tens of thousands of people gather?
Especially now, when his face is already somewhat known?
‘Did he eat something wrong for dinner?’
However, Hyunseung answered as if it were no big deal.
“By car, by private jet, and by my two legs.”
“No, that’s not what I meant!”
“You mean how am I going to a place with so many people?”
“Y-yeah….”
Hyuna felt a strange sensation at that question.
Since when did she have to worry and care about people’s gazes when going somewhere with her brother?
Probably.
In the future, there will be more and more things to worry about.
Because his fandom is growing even in America.
“If you’re doing this because you’re worried about me, you don’t have to push yourself.”
Hyuna added with a slight smile.
“You’re worrying about the wrong thing.”
Hyunseung lightly patted Hyuna’s hair.
Then he went into his room and came back out with something.
“I have this.”
That was….
“Y-you’re going to wear that?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah.”
It was a helmet with a flame mark engraved on it.
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