God of Music

Chapter 159. R U READY! (1)

White Moonlight was currently recording ‘A Day of Music’ at SBB station.

Starting with the OST, they sang their own songs they usually sang at Lunas as well as 3 songs that Park SoYoung rearranged for them which all had good reactions from the audience. The effects of this stage also spread around through the internet.

Everything seemed like smooth sailing for White Moonlight, but it actually wasn’t.

There was Jang HyoJi from Yerang Entertainment.

Both of them had a stage at KS TV’s Music Count, and the two artists with similar themes had clashed. The rivalry from their indie days continued into the TV shows.

“…Lee HyunAh, you and I last quite a long time.”

“That’s what I want to say.”

As the two shared waiting rooms, Lee HyunAh and Jang HyoJi were at each other’s throats. Lee HyunAh didn’t like Jang HyoJi because she had abandoned the rest of her band to become successful, and Jang HyoJi didn’t like Lee HyunAh because she acted high and mighty. The two were like water and oil.

As for their achievements, both had a lot up their sleeves. Not to mention music charts, their rankings in music TV shows were both relatively high up which made the two firmly engraved in the minds of the public. Moreover, the strange rivalry between the two became an issue amongst the fans and they discussed who was the better of the two. Although they didn’t go as far as to have a diss battle, issues like these were commonly used as marketing material.

Like that, White Moonlight was doing quite well. Their major debut was a success that brought peace to World Entertainment…

“There’s no time to rest these days.”

…Or not. It was still a warzone.

Lee HyunJi sighed while looking at the plans papers that continued landing on her desk. Her desk was filled with empty coffee mugs. Moreover, her cheeks had thinned out and there were bags under her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’ll give you a vacation as soon as matters with Eddios are over.”

Even while giving her some paperwork, KangYoon couldn’t hide his sorry expression. These kinds of work were meant to be done by a team of planners, but as the two had to take care of everything, it was hard on them.

However, it wasn’t like Lee HyunJi didn’t know what was going on. Moreover, ever since she heard that Min JinSeo intended to join them at World Entertainment, she became passionate about her work.

Money, budget, funds, finances, whatever you call it – that was the problem.

“It’s been two weeks since White Moonlight released their album. An OST and an album… this was a long-term project. Doesn’t HyunAh express her fatigue with all these events at all?”

At Lee HyunJi’s question, KangYoon laughed and spoke.

“She seems completely suited for the job and she didn’t seem worried at all. There are many cases where the vocalist has to go by himself or herself without the band… but she seems like she has adapted now. Her events are mostly centered around Gyeonsangnam-do. She’s also doing at least one performance at Lunas during the weekends… so I don’t think there’s much to worry about with her.”

The two finished talking about the individual members of White Moonlight and then talked about Min JinSeo who practically threw a bomb into their arms before leaving.

“President, are you really going to accept JinSeo?”

At Lee HyunJi’s question, KangYoon sighed before replying.

“From what I heard from director Lee HanSeo, JinSeo is currently psychologically unstable. If she’s going as far as to express herself as a ‘money-earning machine’, then we can say that MG is not looking after her mental health at all. She seemed extremely lonely the last time she visited here as well. Let me put it this way. She needed a place to lean on.”

“I felt that way too. However, this is business. Of course, the addition of JinSeo would be great for our company, but with our current situation, we can’t handle her. Moreover, it will be difficult for us to prepare such a huge penalty fee in just one year. We might have just given her false hope.”

Lee HyunJi was skeptical about this.

It wasn’t like they could save up all their money for Min JinSeo. They had to pay their employees and re-invest in the artists as well. She even felt that KangYoon put a priority on his emotions rather than reason in this matter.

Guessing what she was thinking, KangYoon gave her an answer.

“It won’t simply end with giving her false hope. You’re right, director. We are not in any way capable of supporting her right now, and we’ll also be put in check by many other entertainment companies. After all, if we stand out too much, others will be wary of us.”

“Then you knew that it was a bad move, but still gave JinSeo a false hope? Or are you planning to wait until JinSeo’s contract is over?”

KangYoon shook his head.

“Whether it’s us or JinSeo, we’ll have to see how things play out. The reason I talked about signing a contract with her is that things can get out of hand once calm girls like JinSeo lose their reason. If she has hope at least, she won’t outright play reckless hands. I was very worried when I saw JinSeo last time.”

“Well, I guess JinSeo is that kind of girl. Then are we planning to not accept her after all?”

“No, that’s not it. I think it will be foolish to miss Min JinSeo the actress. However, for both of us to profit off the contract, we’ll need a system that can support JinSeo properly. We are in need of time to build those very foundations. I want to go down the route of hiring someone who can manage actors and actresses and having him or her take care of JinSeo. If that happens, it will also be possible for us to possess entertainers that are both capable of music and acting.”

Lee HyunJi agreed with his words.

“Oho, that sounds nice. Then why don’t we buy a small-scale company? If we want to procure know-how and a systemized procedure, I think this is the way to go. There are many people who have such skills but no business skills in this industry.”

“That sounds great. I’ll leave that to you then, director.”

“Okay. Hey, you might become chairman one day.”

(T/N: “Chairman” (Hoi-jang/Kaichou(?)) is the head of multiple companies, while “President” (Sa-jang/Shachou(?)) is in charge of just one. At least in this context.)

At Lee HyunJi’s joke, KangYoon shrugged his shoulders and returned to his seat.

While she focused on matters about White Moonlight and the other general business side of things, KangYoon signed documents regarding Eddios.

Right now, it was nearing Mid-June.

The point in time Eddios would show themselves as a whole would be at the beginning of July, through KS TV. On top of that, a teaser video would be uploaded on Sace, the web portal, on Wednesday that week, and Thursday would be the revelation of the music video.

This was a large-scale project mostly done by huge companies.

“Phew.”

After signing all of those papers, KangYoon headed towards Lunas.

“Ailee, turn to the left.”

“Sorry about that.”

In the practice room at Lunas, all members of Eddios were busy practicing.

Beads of sweat were dropping off Jung MinAh, who was at the center, and Seo HanYu’s back was drenched as well. The smell of sweat poked KangYoon’s nose.

However, he didn’t have a change in expression and gave all of them a bottle of sports drinks.

“You’re all working hard.”

“Huh? President.”

Jung MinAh was the first one to come up to him. Following that, Ailee and all the others had a look at the drinks in KangYoon’s hands and their eyes shone.

“Thank you!”

KangYoon’s visit was rest time for all of them. The girls all shouted in unison before collapsing onto the ground. Now, they were no longer awkward with each other and were at complete ease.

When everyone seemed to have regained their breath a little, KangYoon spoke about why he came here.

“The date for filming the music video is out.”

“What?”

“Really? Wow.”

Han JooYeon and Ailee were the first ones to reply. However, they flinched back when Seo HanYu frowned at them. KangYoon chuckled at the sight and continued speaking.

“It’ll be for two days starting the day after tomorrow, the location is…”

KangYoon handed out the schedule and explained what it was about. He also told them the general outline of the music video. The girls all took his words to heart and nodded their heads.

“That’s it from me. Any questions?”

No one raised their hand. After the announcement, KangYoon stood up and left through the door. He didn’t wish to bother their practice any longer.

However, just as he was about to close the door, he felt a presence behind him. It was Jung MinAh.

“Is there anything?”

“I just have something I want to consult you about.”

Hearing the word ‘consult’, KangYoon became surprised and went towards the window. If something happened to his artist, it would be a big problem.

“What is it? Did something bad happen?”

When KangYoon was worried so much about her, Jung MinAh felt sorry. Actually, she was here to ask him about what happened with Min JinSeo. However, she felt like things would become terrible if she asked that now.

“Uhm, it’s…”

“What? Is it hard for you to tell me?”

“…No, actually… heheh.”

When Jung MinAh awkwardly stuck out her tongue, KangYoon clicked his tongue and sighed. He realized that she was playing with him.

“Ouch!”

The result was a solid smack on the head.

“You dare fool around with your boss?”

“Ouch… that hurts.”

“Fine. Do your best in practice.”

“…Yeees.”

Jung MinAh watched as KangYoon left with fast steps and pouted.

“Shesh, that workaholic. I hope you fall over!”

However, unlike what she said, she didn’t hate that workaholic.

In fact, she liked him.

***

Hello Tint

This was the new girl group that MG Entertainment was currently marketing strong. No, it had been a year since their debut so they couldn’t be considered ‘new’ anymore. However, it was true that they were the youngest entertainers that had their debut at MG Entertainment.

Jang MinJi, the leader of Hello Tint was currently in director Kim JinHo’s office, who was in charge of the group.

“…What? An album already?”

Jang MinJi freaked out by director Kim JinHo’s words. It had been only two months since their activities with the last album had just ended. And here he was, talking about the next album.

However, director Kim JinHo continued with his argument.

“Your comeback was scheduled for August anyway. It’s just pulling it a month ahead. What, is that too much for you?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just too sudden…”

However, director Kim JinHo continued speaking in a sharp tone.

“This industry is a place where unexpected things happen a lot of the time. Didn’t I tell you that when you girls had your debut?”

“You did, but we also need some time to prepare. There are girls who have regular shows.”

“You already finished the recording, and as for the choreography, you can just practice them. What’s the problem? People do it when the time comes.”

“……”

Hearing such absurd words from their managing director, her heart burned up.

Like that, Hello Tint’s comeback was fast-forwarded to July instead of August.

***

When all members of Eddios got in the van, the van was quite noisy. There was Ailee, who never stopped talking, as well as Lee SamSoon who was her conversation partner. Jung MinAh was napping while leaning against the window. The van contained girls full of their own unique traits.

KangYoon, who had hopped onto the passenger seat to accompany them to their shoot, spoke while looking at the rearview mirror.

“This is an activity with all of you girls, so be careful not to make mistakes. Your actions today will determine your future.”

“Yes!”

The girls all shouted in unison.

After arriving at the scene, KangYoon went around with the girls to greet everyone else. They greeted the general director, the camera director, the music director, and all the rest of the staff as well. They tried their best to get into the hearts of the people present.

“Wow, to think there would come a day I’d see Eddios whole again.”

“They sure are still pretty ladies, alright!”

While the staff prepared for the shoot, they took pictures with the girls, received autographs, and had some fun as well.

Soon, the preparations were done.

“We’ll begin recording shortly!”

Along with the assistant director’s shout, the filming began.

The director of this music video, named Moon GiSeon, was someone who emphasized on details. He ordered Eddios to repeat the same actions over 20 times and tired them out.

Ailee and Han JooYeon, who tried their best from the very beginning, became tired very easily.

‘Haa, haa… JooYeon, you okay?’

‘I don’t think you’re in a condition to ask me that.’

The other members, like Jung MinAh and Seo HanYu, were still in great shape. The problem lay with these two. However, not seeming to notice their fatigue, director Moon GiSeon kept continuing with the recording.

“Shall we have a lunch break?”

Only when they recorded for over 8 hours straight did he declare rest.

The members of Eddios all collapsed down on the spot due to fatigue.

KangYoon approached them and gave them some drinks and towels.

“Ah, thank you.”

“Thank you.”

Everyone expressed their appreciation and barely managed to return to their seats.

Just as Jung MinAh and everyone else was about to open their lunchboxes, Lee SamSoon suddenly shouted.

“Whaat!?”

“SamSoon, what’s up?”

Christie, who was next to her absent-mindedly, asked while frowning. She seemed to have been surprised badly as she was heaving her chest.

Lee SamSoon showed the others her phone screen and spoke in a loud voice.

“Look at this article. Doesn’t this mean that they’re going to appear at the same time as us?”

“Who?”

Everyone approached her in order to have a look at the screen.

– MG: Hello Tint will make a comeback in the first week of July. The music will be revealed on Friday at midnight.

‘Coincidentally’, it was the same day Eddios released their own music track.

Hello Tint from MG Entertainment, there was no way they didn’t know of their juniors.

“Is this a coincidence? I smell a conspiracy here.”

When Ailee frowned, Christie agreed with her.’

“Hmph, I knew it. These people always block our way. It doesn’t matter if it’s a coincidence or…”

Just at that time, KangYoon approached them. He also had a look at the article on Lee SamSoon’s phone.

KangYoon made them all sit down and spoke softly.

“Whether that’s a coincidence or not, I don’t think it matters a lot.”

“Uwu….”

When Han JooYeon pouted, KangYoon grinned.

“They won’t be a match for us anyway.”

“Ooooh!”

“Why don’t we relieve our stress at this opportunity?”

At KangYoon’s playful words, the members of Eddios all burned in passion.