T/N: I missed a day, didn’t I? <3
Executive Director Park eventually stormed out of his office and headed toward Hyunseung’s studio.
“Executive Director, if things escalate further here, it’ll be difficult for us too….”
Kim Woohyun, who had chased after him, continued to try and dissuade him.
“Who says anything’s going to happen? I’m just going to see the kid’s face. Why are you making such a fuss?”
Executive Director Park did not budge in his stubbornness.
Thump, thump, thump.
Before long, he was pounding on the door to Hyunseung’s studio.
“Ex-Executive Director.”
Kim Woohyun blocked Executive Director Park’s path with a troubled expression.
“L-let’s come back to see him later. He’s probably feeling uneasy because of the lawsuit right now….”
“Hah, that kid? Uneasy over something like this?”
Executive Director Park snorted and physically pushed Kim Woohyun aside.
“It’d be more believable if you told me you were getting married.”
However, Kim Woohyun desperately held his ground and blocked the door.
He had to…
Right now, inside that room, Hyunseung doesn’t give a damn about the lawsuit or anything else.
He’s DJing!
But he couldn’t exactly say that.
If Executive Director Park saw that, he’d probably clutch the back of his neck in shock, and Hyunseung might get dragged off to the training grounds.
And then…
‘I’ll get dragged off too!’
Kim Woohyun stood firm, thinking that this absolutely could not happen.
“What’s with you? You’re acting suspicious.”
His temper rising, Executive Director Park narrowed his eyes and interrogated him.
“You, you’re hiding something from me right now, aren’t you?”
“I-it’s not that….”
“Then did this kid cause another accident?”
“It’s not that… just a hobby?”
“A hobby? Did he pick up a hobby for getting sued?”
“Not that kind of hobby….”
Just as Kim Woohyun’s lips were quivering while avoiding Executive Director Park’s gaze.
Creeeeak.
The firmly closed studio door behind them opened.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
The thumping sound of music spilled out.
“Hm?”
Executive Director Park’s eyebrows twitched at the sound.
“What are you all doing here?”
The person peeking through the gap in the door was none other than Sarah. For some unknown reason, Sarah was sweating and panting for breath.
“Oh, Sarah, you were here….”
Seeing her state, Executive Director Park and Kim Woohyun exchanged a look.
“We were just… passing by and dropped in. We’ll be going now. H-have a good time.”
They turned away and practically fled.
Meanwhile.
Sarah watched the two men walk away hurriedly, neither of them wanting to be the last, before closing the door.
What’s with them?
She then wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.
“Whew….”
She let out a long-held breath and once again surrendered her body to the music filling the studio.
She had never been to a club, but she wondered if this was how it felt to be in one.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
The intense beat pounded against her heart.
Her pulse quickened.
Her breath and hair became disheveled.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
Why were those few lines of lyrics, which she couldn’t even understand, so addictive that she found herself humming along?
— ♫ ♫ ♫
Gradually, she fell into a state of trance.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
Eventually, and much to her regret, the song ended.
“How was this one?”
Hyunseung asked, meeting her eyes.
“Well, it was okay….”
Sarah, who had been swaying to the rhythm until moments ago, answered with a feigned bluntness.
In truth.
This process had been going on for over an hour.
As soon as she arrived at the studio, Hyunseung had told her she’d come at a good time and asked her to listen to his tracks. She had wondered for a moment if he was giving her a song, but…
That wasn’t it.
It was just loud electronic music full of mechanical sounds.
Yes.
It was music of the genre people usually call ‘EDM.’
Sarah was completely distanced from such music. She hated loud and chaotic things.
And yet.
For some reason, the moment she heard the track, her body reacted automatically. Her heart raced, her feet moved to the beat on their own.
Before she knew it, she was lightly swaying to the rhythm.
“I’ll try it again.”
Hyunseung played the same track dozens of times.
He began to remix it into slightly different versions.
His younger sister, Hyuna, sat there with a bored expression, saying she didn’t know what was so good about it.
Tap, tap, tap.
But seeing how she was secretly tapping her foot to the music, she seemed to like it deep down.
“Alright, let me try again.”
Hyunseung put his headset back on and placed his hands on the turntable. If this had been a recording session, that word “again” would have been terrifying…
“Go ahead.”
But right now, it was welcome.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
And it was fascinating.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
How could he create such different atmospheres with the same song? And he was doing it right then and there.
She didn’t know much about DJing, but if it sounded good to the ears, it must mean he was good at it.
— ♫ ♫ ♫
Does being a good composer mean you’re naturally good at DJing too?
Soon.
The track ended, and Hyunseung asked with a somewhat cautious look.
“How was this version?”
“Actually, they were all good.”
“Then why are you only saying that now?”
Sarah smiled brightly at Hyunseung and replied.
“So you can feel a bit of hell too?”
She had considered saying it was bad because she wanted to hear more, but looking at the sweat-drenched Hyunseung, she couldn’t lie any longer.
“That aside, when did you learn to DJ?”
Sarah finally asked the question that had been on her mind.
“He went to an electric music festival a while ago, saw someone DJing, and got hooked. That’s why he’s doing this.”
The answer came from Hyuna, not Hyunseung.
“If it was an electric music festival….”
Sarah murmured the answer to herself for a moment.
“It’s only been a week, hasn’t it?”
In an instant, her face turned pale as she covered her mouth with her hand.
“Why are you so surprised?”
Hyunseung asked, and Sarah shifted her gaze to his face. Once again, she realized.
They say a madman is a genius.
No, that’s not it.
This is why I can’t help but want to stay by his side.
Wales tapped the desk at regular intervals.
Tap, tap, tap.
It was an old habit that surfaced whenever he was deep in thought.
Tap, tap, tap.
To be precise, it was a habit that appeared when he was debating whether or not to sell the information he possessed.
“Should I leak this or not?”
He had planned to save it for later, but with the ‘Baddy Racism’ incident blowing up, people were focused on HS, who had sued Baddy….
No, they were focused on HS’s younger sister.
Especially since nothing was known about HS’s family relationships, the public was bound to be curious.
That’s how people were….
Once they know just a little bit, they go crazy wanting to know everything.
Of course, once they find out, their interest vanishes in an instant.
Right now.
Since no one knew anything about the sister.
The information he held would carry even more weight.
In short, it was the perfect timing.
He knew her face, name, age, and school. He knew everything.
“Should I try to make a deal with this?”
Wales picked up a photo of HS and his sister standing side by side and gave it a light flick.
Yes.
If the information got out some other way, this would become useless.
Isn’t there a saying about holding onto something precious until it turns into crap?
If he sold the information to another reporter and got caught up in a lawsuit himself, it would be troublesome.
As expected.
Negotiating with the party involved is the cleanest way.
Ring, ring.
Having made his decision, Wales immediately called the VINCIS executive office number he had tracked down.
Click.
After a long ringing tone, a calm woman’s voice answered.
— This is the VINCIS Executive Office.
The tone was so refined and the speed so measured that one might mistake it for an automated response at first.
— May I ask who is calling?
Wales was so captivated by the voice that he missed his timing to respond.
— Can you hear me?
At the voice asking again, he snapped out of it.
“Ah, I have urgent business with the CEO of VINCIS. Could you put me through to him?”
— May I ask who is calling and the nature of your business?
The woman’s voice, which had been as steady as a robot’s, suddenly took on a sharp edge.
“I’d like to speak directly with CEO Min Hyunseung regarding that….”
Silence followed for a moment.
It was probably because he had referred to him as ‘Min Hyunseung’ instead of HS.
— I cannot connect you directly. If you leave your name and the purpose of your call, I will relay the message.
The woman cut him off firmly with a calm tone once again.
She’s not an easy opponent.
In that case, I’ll just have to make it so they have no choice but to call.
“Tell him ‘Your younger sister, Min Hyuna’s safety is somewhat at risk’. Could you please connect me right now?”
As expected, silence fell on the other end again.
It made sense, as it was an unexpected statement.
— I will call you back.
Before long, the woman hurriedly hung up after saying those words.
“Hmm….”
Wales let out a low hum as he stared at the darkened screen.
“Trying to play mind games, are we?”
He let out a scoff, his lips curling into a smirk.
Hyunseung was about to leave the studio with Hyuna, thinking they should go home together since she was already there.
“CEO,”
Michelle approached him urgently and called out.
“What is it?”
Michelle looked different from her usual self.
Her hair was coming loose, and she was breathing heavily as if she had run there.
Above all.
She, who usually answered like a robot, was biting her lower lip.
“Well, that is….”
And strangely, she was glancing around at their surroundings.
Is she trying to say something that others shouldn’t hear?
“You two go wait outside first.”
Hyunseung motioned for Hyuna and Sarah, who were sticking close to his sides, to go ahead.
Of course.
The two women made a fuss and resisted, asking if something had gone wrong with the lawsuit.
“I’ll take care of it, so go on ahead.”
Hyunseung firmly pushed them away.
“Now, tell me.”
He immediately urged Michelle.
“I’m not sure who it was, but a call came into the office for you.”
“I’m sure it’s just someone trying to be a nuisance again….”
“But they knew your real name.”
At those words, Hyunseung’s eyebrows twitched as he muttered.
“Someone I know?”
But if they were close enough to know his name, they would have his contact info. Why go through the executive office? And how did they know that number?
“I don’t know how they found the office number….”
As expected, Michelle pointed that out suspiciously as well.
Then she added something that shocked Hyunseung.
“More importantly, they knew your sister’s name.”
“My sister’s name?”
“Yes. And they said to call them back because her safety is at risk….”
Hyunseung’s brow furrowed deeply at those words.
Just as he was about to burst out and find out who the hell it was.
“Why is my safety at risk?”
A familiar voice suddenly spoke up from behind.
“Min Hyuna, I told you to go wait outside!”
“Th-that….”
Hyuna flinched at the sudden loud voice, but after a moment of glancing around.
“I was really going to leave, but Sarah unnie kept stopping me.”
She rambled off an excuse in Korean so Sarah couldn’t understand.
“Sigh, just wait in the lobby where the security guards are for now.”
Hyunseung didn’t have time to bicker with his sister right now. Someone had mentioned her name and dared to talk about her safety.
So, he had to find out who it was and deal with it immediately.
Before something worse happened.
“Oppa.”
Hyuna stopped him by grabbing his sleeve.
“Don’t always try to shoulder everything alone.”
She added, her face filled with determination.
“This involves me. Let me help solve it too.”
Hyunseung looked at his sister and let out a laugh-filled sigh.
“Good grief.”
It was because it suddenly occurred to him that his little sister had grown up quite a lot.
Oooh, DJxEDM video I like <3 Madeon!
Zedd EDM festival
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