[After a year and a half since their debut, we had an interview with The Dawn, who had a successful year-end stage and received the Discovery of the Year award. Despite their dazzling performances, they still seemed unfamiliar, smiling shyly and repeatedly saying thank you.]
"......Ugh."
The head of the planning team was sitting in the conference room, flipping through a magazine that had quickly published an interview conducted a while ago, with a grim expression on his face.
The team leader, who had been briefly scanning the interview that focused on each member, stopped at a page filled with a picture of Seo Hoyun.
Seo Hoyun, dressed in a dark navy knit that contrasted with his pale skin, was holding a mug as big as his face with both hands and smiling gently.
[The impression that you've been running non-stop for the past year is strong. What's the secret to your success?
Ho-yun: I received a lot of help from the people around me. I'm just grateful to the seniors who paved the way for us.]
At least five people were ruined.
If you could consider the relative rise in popularity after sending several people, not just male idols, but also staff, to hell as 'help', then Seo Hoyun was right.
[It seems like you have a really good 'chemistry' with the members.
Ho-yun: I'm always grateful to the members. We always trust and rely on each other.]
It was more accurate to say that they had given up due to exhaustion from dealing with the crazy bastard.
[What's your goal for the New Year?
Ho-yun: To be with the people I'm grateful for.]
It meant that he didn't want to work with incompetent people.
[What will you be doing in three years?
Hoyun: ...I hope to return to my original intention.
You can be more ambitious. (laughs)
Ho-yun: I'm ambitious enough. (laughs)]
"I wish he would stop looking for his original intention...."
The head of the planning team muttered.
However, the magazine interviewer was either completely smitten with Seo Hoyun's disgusting demeanor, or they wanted to fill the page somehow, as they were full of praise.
[We met Seo Hoyun, who was truly humble and never lost his warm smile throughout the interview. The staff were constantly amazed by his maturity and delicate consideration, which is hard to believe for someone who is only 24.]
...It was indeed amazing.
Just then, Seo Ho-yun entered the conference room and greeted them.
He, who came to discuss the Japanese concept, sat down and skimmed through the proposal once or twice, then licked his lips.
"Wow...."
"......"
"How on earth did this get approved?"
Looking at the guy who was openly complaining without any intention of hiding it, the head of the planning team felt a burning sensation in his stomach.
"Um, Mr. Seo Hoyun, we're a bit short on time...."
"You're out of time?"
"Well, we've started shooting a few dramas recently and there are several movies set to be released around the same time... so a lot of our resources have been diverted to the actors...."
He stuttered out his words, but Seo Hoyun didn't even pretend to listen, shaking the proposal with one hand and sighing deeply.
That expression and pose of Seo Hoyun. The team leader knew it was meant to break his spirit.
And indeed, the team leader's spirit wilted like a weed in a drought.
"Are you out of money?"
"......"
"I mean, our company should have made quite a bit."
"Yes I know, well we're a bit short on manpower...."
"Do I need to help you? You're saying you can't work because you don't have enough people, so I should do idol activities, attend events, record, and now even plan? Should I discuss this with the management team?"
"Damn it."
The team leader quickly hid his trembling fist under the desk. He was really pissed off.
But he couldn't say anything.
Although he was a damn bastard, the feedback he gave after skimming through the proposal once was better than most of the planning team members. Of course, it was better than his own.
'This, this disgusting kid...!'
Why on earth was an idol constantly meddling not only with the planning team but also with the management team and the A&R team?
Usually, they just receive and express a bit of their opinion.
"Sigh......"
Seeing the team leader's face, which seemed to be saying 'it's unfair', Seo Hoyun deliberately let out a big sigh and shook his head. Even without that, the team leader, whose spirit was already broken from the start, cursed inwardly.
'Do you think you're a genius? A prodigy??'
It would have been more plausible to attach such adjectives to guys who were suffering from all sorts of star diseases. The team leader was grinding his teeth, saying that such words could not exist in the dictionary of a person named Seo Hoyun, when the door of the conference room opened.
It was Lee Jihyeon with a sullen face.
"Oh, hello...."
"Hello, Ms. Lee Jihyeon."
Only then did Seo Ho-yun's expression slightly relax.
'Finally, a somewhat useful human has arrived.' Seeing his face, which blatantly expressed this, the team leader gritted his teeth, but Lee Jihyeon just sat down in an empty seat without any reaction.
"I'm sorry, I'm late."
"Her face was filled with frustration.
The members of the planning team, including the team leader who had been rolling around all day, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Jihyeon.
"Ah... Jihyeon, why are you so late?"
"Hey! Don't do that!"
"You didn't keep the appointment time?"
The team leader, who had been stressed out by Seo Hoyun all this time, seemed to want to vent his frustration on Jihyeon, and the planning team members were even more embarrassed when they saw him throw a remark at her.
"Hey!! Don't do this in front of Seo Hoyun!"
Seo Hohyun is the only person in the planning team who is recognized by Jihyeon!
However, Jihyeon just nodded her head calmly. She was the type of person who would turn on the charm and say, "Ah~, yes~, I'm really sorry," but she just kept her mouth shut, probably because she was exhausted from endless overtime.
Seo Hohyun glanced at her and twitched his eyebrows slightly.
"......"
He let it go.
"......Hm??"
"If you're just going to fill the numbers without solving anything, you don't have to come even if you come early." With a smile and a sarcastic tone that was different from his usual self, the team leader hesitated.
"What's going on?"
"Well, anyway, please take care of the Japanese matter."
"......"
"Well, please."
"Can you find the data for the photos we took last summer? I want to do a thorough analysis."
"......Suddenly?"
But for now, Seo Hoyun had no choice but to pretend to search for the matter that he blurted out.
That dirty-minded brat acted like that even in front of the CEO, and for some reason, the CEO found Seo Hohyun difficult to handle as well.
"Well, it's okay to do it when you have time."
"...I'll try to find it."
"Yes, thank you."
Seo Ho-yoon didn't even give Jihyeon a glance and just nodded his head before leaving the meeting room.
"Good job."
"Yes."
'...Wow,.'
And he opened his mouth.
"Is he doing that on purpose?"
Although it feels refreshing to cover it in front of everyone, after Seo Hoyun, who has a dirty personality, leaves, I don't know what kind of aftermath will come to Lee Jihyeon.
In addition, if Lee Jihyeon, who is now standing on the cliff, cannot withstand that restraint...
"Crazy, political idol child...."
The team leader looked at Seo Hoyun's back with a disgusted expression, but he still felt uneasy.
Will Seo Hoyu endure this?
It doesn't make sense.
The team leader, who thinks that he has very good eyes and intuition, can assert with all the years he has gone through.
That guy is definitely not someone who can endure something like this.
At this moment, it feels strangely calm, like the calm before the storm, so the team leader felt very uneasy.
"...Lee Jihyeon."
"Yes."
"Should I go down and buy coffee?"
The team leader didn't want to lose Lee Jihyeon, who is good at his job, and didn't want to face this dangerous storm, so he decided to take the best course of action.
To treat Lee Jihyeon well.
.
.
.
"Yiyeol...."
I stroked my chin.
"There must be a reason why the team leader came up."
He does his job properly and is also very quick-witted.
Standing on the second floor railing of the company, I drank lemonade through a straw and bought coffee from the cafe in the opposite building. There, the team leader who was buying coffee for Lee Jihyeon was there.
Lee Jihyeon was drinking coffee without even smiling with a sharp gaze.
"He definitely has a resignation letter with him."
No doubt about it.
Even ordinary employees keep their resignation letters in hidden folders, so it wouldn't be strange for someone like him to keep it in his heart.
I expected to have a reality check at this point, and sure enough.
I turned my body and organized my thoughts while sipping on the straw and crushing the ice.
"The bait was successfully thrown."
Now the key is who will take the bait.
I recalled the planning team members I saw today.
The CEO recently stepped back from the front line and only approved the final decisions, and the management team handled the work faster than expected.
As for the A&R team, Kang Ichae, who is quick-witted and doesn't cross the line, is communicating well. The PR team is okay because they have actor management as a side dish....
"The most corrupt place is the planning team."
I can't grasp anything here. Even though it was a specialized entertainment company, I couldn't help but admire the people who kept making empty promises.
I wondered if they wouldn't get caught even if they openly embezzled their salaries like that.
Anyway, even if the only gem in there, Lee Jihyeon, wanted to quit, I had no intention of letting her go easily.
"Do we let a rolling pumpkin slip away?"
"Hmm."
In the first place, in a small company like this, the system was to operate with a fist and there was no distinction between newcomers or anyone with ability.
"Well, if you give them a position and create a pretext, it should be fine."
But now, as a rookie who had just debuted for 2 years, even if I said it, it would only be seen as a power abuse and the planning team wouldn't even listen, let alone the CEO, so I had to carefully plan my moves.
"Hyun-hyung!"
"Hmm?"
"Oh, you finished early??"
Although he had become an adult, Jeong Dajun, who couldn't change in just one day, was as cheerful as ever. I opened the door for him who was about to run into the recording studio.
"Be careful, Dajun."
"Huh? Okay."
Jeong Da-jun, who was happily skipping, rolled his eyes at me in front of the door and muttered something.
"What's wrong?"
"What?"
Inside the recording studio, I saw the members who were already listening to the recording of the Japanese debut song.
"Oh! You went to the cafe too, Hoyun?"
"Huh? Where's your sense? Why didn't you buy me one?"
"Hey, what do you want from Seo Hoyun?"
Kang Ichae, who was lying on the sofa, stood up and threw his hat, exaggeratingly.
That bastard seems to be just trying to provoke...
"Can you buy it while you're at it?"
As soon as I responded obediently, the members who were adding one word at a time fell silent.
Among them, Kim Sung-hyun blinked his eyes with an unbelievable face and finally confessed one thing.
"...Actually, I can't drink caffeine."
"You didn't drink Red Bull yesterday, Seonhyeon?"
"...Oops."
It was immediately clear that it was a fake.
Seeing Kim Seonhyeon subtly turn his gaze away from his words, Sung Jiwon handed me a piece of paper.
"Anyway, Hoyun. We translated the lyrics for this. I've organized the ones that will be included as the title track. Can you take a look?"
"Sure, give it to me."
Sipping on my straw, I sat down next to Kang ichae and skimmed through the paper.
Honestly, it was much better than the trashy proposal I saw earlier, so I gave an honest evaluation.
"You wrote it beautifully."
"...."
"Who did it? It's neat."
And once again, we fell into silence.
"Did you just call it a pretty piece of garbage?"
"No, I just said it was written beautifully."
"Oh...."
Whether it was a strong reaction or not, I took the straw out of my cup and chewed on the ice.
Kim Seonghyeon, watching me, covered his mouth with both hands.
"I've been thinking about it since last time, Seo Hoyun...."
What?
"Why...."
"...."
"Why did you suddenly become affectionate?"
"Uwaaaah!!!"
Jeong Dajun screamed in genuine horror and quickly retreated to a corner of the recording studio.
"Don't, don't, don't say it out loud!"
"That kind of thing! Let's just keep it in our hearts!"
Damn it....
Affectionate Seo Hohyun, Me ? Is that even possible to say?
A word I've never heard before in my life....
"Affectionate Seo Ho-yoon? Is it even possible to say that?"
After giving Jeong Da-jun a good scolding for banging on the table and saying, "Let's settle things with Hohyun hyung today," I buried myself deep into the sofa.
"Are you really the same Seo Hoyun who complained about being disrespectful to your parents?"
"Are you the same person who didn't even blink an eye and treated others with disdain?"
"I sometimes miss the early days when my hyun's personality ruined mine..
...."
"Shut up, just say one verse...."
"Phew, no! Stop!"
Kang ihae smiled and brushed off his chest.
Even now, my personality is messed up enough, so don't worry.
"I find your prickliness charming~."
"I know, you brat."
I had decided to be kind to this youngster as a New Year's celebration, but clearly I gave up and will returned to my usual self.
"Show me your work, Kang ichae."
"Yay~."
Kang ichae, who said it was okay to curse at him, pushed his aptop towards me.
"Hyung~, take a look~."
It was a new Japanese debut track.
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