Chapter 105 : The Pied Piper
Chapter 105: The Pied Piper
‘Just in case, let’s at least do a little research.’
Before the meeting with Tomorrow Entertainment.
I decided to take a closer look at the artists under Tomorrow Entertainment.
Of course, the artist I wanted to work with right away was Kar, but still—better to be prepared.
But how should I go about it?
Ah, whatever.
Maybe if I check their homepage, I’ll get some idea.
“Oh……”
The homepage looked pretty cool.
As soon as I accessed it, a fullscreen visual video started playing.
It seemed to be a recently debuted male idol group, but unfortunately, I didn’t recognize the group name.
These days, idol group names are just too complicated.
Next, an exclusive interview with their producer and a live performance video automatically started playing.
Above the video, a simple slogan appeared.
[ Making tomorrow from today. ]
[ NAEIL ENTERTAINMENT. ]
It was a pretty good slogan.
I then quickly skimmed through the overall vibe of the company—checking the list of their artists, latest album and content updates, global expansion news, audition banners, and so on.
I checked out the artists, listened to some songs, watched a few music videos.
I also noted each label’s unique characteristics.
Just like any big entertainment company, it was well-organized and tidy.
Maybe it was because my brother worked there.
It made me more immersed.
The fact that my brother was working in such a global entertainment scene suddenly hit me.
‘That’s cool.’
I especially paid attention to their hip-hop label, The Core Label.
Partly because Kar, the artist I liked, belonged to it, and also because I liked hip-hop beats.
[ Kar ] [ FullAccel ] [ Mule ] [ Taeshi ]
Aside from Kar, the only name I recognized was FullAccel.
He was a fairly well-known rapper in the hip-hop scene. He performed often, too.
The other two were unfamiliar.
Had I heard of them before? Maybe? Maybe not?
‘What kind of music do they make?’
Curious, I searched on YouTube.
Since Mule hadn’t released an album yet, I skipped him.
What really piqued my interest was Taeshi.
A rare female rapper.
She had even released up to three singles.
For a rapper to put out three solo albums—it wasn’t easy.
Why was I only hearing about her now?
I immediately searched “Taeshi” on a portal site.
“That’s odd.”
It seemed like Tomorrow had really tried to promote her.
They sent out solid press releases, and she’d even appeared on music shows a few times.
But despite that, she hadn’t made much of an impact.
I was curious.
It meant Taeshi’s artistic direction and the public’s taste were completely misaligned.
I’d already heard that Tomorrow Entertainment was obsessed with results, so why did they make such a risky move?
I searched for Taeshi on YouTube.
“Ah……”
Only after watching a few videos—
I could start to guess the reason.
She had a good voice. Husky.
Her rapping was decent. Her diction was fine. Her look matched the current trends.
But that was it. Really, just that.
There was no so-called “kick.”
If I had to put it into words, it felt like a small hexagon.
And Tomorrow probably wasn’t oblivious to that either.
As I pondered over what seemed like a rather mysterious case, my phone vibrated again.
[Our brother: You heading out?]
Huh?
An hour had passed in the blink of an eye.
[Me: Just putting on clothes and I’ll go.]
I quickly got dressed and packed my AirPods.
I hopped on the bus while listening to Taeshi’s songs through my AirPods.
The songs were good, the attempts were good, but somehow it all felt like a missed shot.
Still, even for an artist like this, there were a few fans.
I checked the comments on Maron too.
[Comments]
She’s not bad at rapping, but it’s kinda cringey;
↳ For real, it sounds kinda lame?
Her voice is nice, but like… something’s off…….
The beat’s good. But why’s the rap so flat?
↳ It sounds like a traditional Korean folk song, lol.
↳↳ Folk song LOL ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Knowing this voice—would it be an asset in today’s meeting or a liability?
It’s not like he’s the Pied Piper or something.
As Seo Dongyun stood up, employees swarmed after him in a flock.
With eyes full of curiosity.
“……What’s going on?”
“Oh, come on, you know.”
Had our staff always had such sparkling eyes?
It was a look I hadn’t seen in a while.
One junior ran over and muttered under their breath.
“I just knew someday, Assistant Manager would stir things up.”
“That’s so random,” Dongyun replied.
The junior grinned slyly—
Then gave a signal to their peers behind them.
A few more juniors darted over instantly.
They all had smartphones in their hands, and when Dongyun looked down and saw what they were playing, he yelped.
“Ugh! What is this?! Why? How do you know?!”
They were playing the video: [Impromptu Performance – Cheongseong ‘Travelling Without Moving’]
“Ehehe.”
“‘How do we know?’ That’s a weird thing to say~”
“I’ve been pretending not to know this whole time, but… you’re that senior, right?”
The employees smirked at Dongyun, who looked visibly shaken.
And then one junior delivered the final blow.
“You did covers with Cheongseong, too… I figured you’d make a big move!”
Ahh……
Dongyun held his forehead and stared at his clumsy self in the video.
Now that he thought about it, it was uploaded to YouTube.
Why hadn’t he accounted for that?
How much of it had they seen…?
……Surely Director Han didn’t see it, right?
Whether they knew what he was thinking or not,
the surrounding employees kept chattering with flushed faces.
“Did you see Director Han’s face earlier? That felt so satisfying.”
“Right? Right? Wow, I can’t believe our team is working with Stay.”
“Finally, no more whining about Stay. What a relief.”
“I actually switched to Signum. The song was just so good. I became a fan after watching the recording behind-the-scenes. People say Stay’s super cool—is that true?”
Lost in thought, Dongyun snapped back to reality at the mention of “Stay’s super cool.”
He replied with a deadpan expression.
“No?”
That he was a good composer? Sure, he could admit that.
But swooning over his looks? Unforgivable.
That pale, scrawny guy being called cool? Please.
Suppressing a scoff, he added,
“Nothing’s decided yet. Don’t get ahead of yourselves. We’ll have to meet first. We don’t even know who he’ll give the song to.”
“But if Stay came in for a meeting himself, it must mean he has a specific artist in mind, right?”
Jeez, these guys and their instincts.
Dongyun feigned ignorance and asked,
“Who do you think he’ll give the song to?”
“Well, I think it’ll be Lee Hyoeun.”
“Why do you think that?”
“She has a similar vibe to Han Yujin. And the song style seems like it’d suit her.”
The employee next to them waved a finger and jumped in.
“No way it’s Lee Hyoeun. I’m betting on Vively. I think he’d be surprisingly good at making girl group tracks. If you really listen, his melodies are gorgeous.”
Dongyun had only asked out of mild curiosity.
But now his head was spinning from the barrage of wild speculation.
Every single artist under the main and sub-labels had been summoned into the discussion.
All except one—Taeshi.
“Alright, alright. I’m betting coffee on Lee Hyoeun!”
“Coffee, and add a strawberry shortcake. I’m going with Kar.”
“Ooh, stakes are too low! Let’s go with shaved ice.”
What a circus.
Still, it wasn’t a bad feeling.
The team had been walking on eggshells because of Director Han for a while. If this helped lift the mood, so be it.
“Assistant Manager Seo, don’t be stingy—tell us in secret, yeah?”
“Just whisper it to me, please?”
“But how do you know Stay? Do you have connections at KIM Entertainment?”
“You’re amazing. Manigo and KIM Entertainment never give out contact info. I heard he doesn’t like it.”
At the sharp question, Dongyun’s beaming expression suddenly turned icy.
“…Huh?”
He’d been so drunk on the idea of bringing Stay in, he hadn’t even considered the most important question.
……Damn it.
From that cover video onward, maybe he really had been possessed or something.
But come on—this was Dongyun we’re talking about.
His seasoned five-year corporate brain kicked into gear.
The answer was simple.
“Stay doesn’t like his private life being public, so… I’m sorry!”
Blame it all on Stay!
Easy, right?
The “Stay Encounter Incident” marked a major turning point for Tomorrow Entertainment.
It was a project they absolutely couldn’t afford to be careless with.
So everything had to move swiftly and with intensity.
One hour.
That was how long it took Han Ji-hyuk to gather all of the company’s key personnel.
“Wha—?!”
Completely unaware, Dongyun gasped when he walked into the meeting room.
This wasn’t some monthly town hall.
Every major leader in the company had gathered, like a community meeting—no, a full-on strategy session.
He quickly composed his surprise and gave a deep bow.
He scanned the room.
Half the people were unfamiliar to him.
After Dongyun finished greeting them,
Han Ji-hyuk introduced him in the kindest voice imaginable.
“Oh, here he is. Today’s star. This is Assistant Manager Seo Dongyun, the one who arranged the meeting with Stay. Come take a seat.”
All eyes turned to Dongyun.
“Hello.”
Even his awkward smile looked adorable to them.
And… gave them plenty of teasing material, too.
“Oh, I know this guy. Pretty familiar. Think I saw him on YouTube.”
“You mean that Cheongseong impromptu performance video?”
“Yeah, that one. He looked reliable in the video. Even better in person.”
“Maybe his connection with Cheongseong is how he managed to get in touch with Stay?”
“Who knew we had someone like this in the company, huh?”
Their faces all bloomed with smiles.
Even the most boring jokes had them bursting with laughter.
But for Dongyun, it was pure agony.
Ah… I shouldn’t have only worried about Director Han.
It was already all over the place……
They let Dongyun stand there, metaphorically dead on his feet,
and kept chattering among themselves.
“I’m curious. What kind of song will Stay write?”
“If you want to make money, it’s gotta be an idol track.”
“His band stuff’s good too. Should we try making a band idol group?”
At their words, Dongyun suddenly snapped back to attention.
……This isn’t right.
Dongyun raised his hand to cover his mouth and whispered to Han Ji-hyuk.
“If we hold the meeting in this kind of atmosphere, Composer Stay might get flustered.”
“Ah, true. You’re right. Alright, alright, let’s wrap up the meeting here. We’ve got a meeting coming up. With Stay. Hahaha.”
Even at Director Han’s call to disband,
the leaders couldn’t quite tear themselves away from their seats, coughing and pretending not to notice.
“Go ahead, sit.”
Things finally settled down.
With two cups of some unknown tea between them, Dongyun sat across from Director Han Ji-hyuk.
In the now much calmer atmosphere,
Dongyun lifted his tea under the suffocating awkwardness.
The sweet, fruity scent was actually quite nice.
Just as his tension began to ease, he felt a little uneasy again.
Even though the meeting room chatter had ended on a light-hearted note...
An assistant manager of the A&R team was discovered to have ties with another entertainment company.
He even shot a cover video with that company’s artist!
No matter how generous Han might be, it didn’t seem likely this would end well……
It was Han Ji-hyuk who broke the silence first.
“The tea’s nice, right?”
“……Yes, it is. Sweet and clean.”
“I feel like our team drinks way too much coffee. Sometimes it’s good to have tea like this instead.”
Wait, is he… not mad?
With his attitude completely flipped, Dongyun just stared at Han Ji-hyuk.
Slurp—
As Dongyun cautiously sipped his tea, watching for any signs, Han asked with a puzzled tone,
“What’s with you? Why are you so tense?”
“I, uh… I’m sorry.”
“Hm? Oh, the cover video? That?”
Without saying a word, Dongyun nodded cautiously.
Han Ji-hyuk chuckled and waved it off.
“What, are you worried about violating a side-job clause or something?”
“Uh… yes.”
“It’s fine. That’s not some huge problem. You brought in Stay, didn’t you?”
Han sipped his tea again as he spoke.
His tone was surprisingly gentle.
“But still, I only arranged the meeting……”
“You just wanted to create a chance to see Stay face to face, right? Isn’t that it?”
“Sorry?”
Grin—
Han Ji-hyuk gave a sly smile.
Even if that wasn’t the reason, he was telling Dongyun to just run with that narrative.
“Uh……”
“That was your intention, right?”
Han gestured for him to just drink his tea.
It meant: Don’t worry, I’ll take responsibility for all of it.
Relieved, Dongyun took another sip.
The flavor, which he hadn’t quite grasped earlier, now tasted even sweeter.
Then, Han suddenly said,
“By the way… things must’ve been hard for you.”
Ah… the topic changed out of nowhere.
Just as Dongyun was wondering how to respond, Han added,
“I gave A&R a rough time for a while. I’m sorry.”
His tone softened, his manner more respectful.
Dongyun responded calmly, too.
“No, not at all. I’m sorry as well for answering you so rudely before.”
This kind of mood… felt unfamiliar.
Apparently, Han Ji-hyuk felt the same.
He waved his hand as if trying to lighten the atmosphere.
“Not that I think you misunderstood me or anything, but… I didn’t switch up my attitude just because you got a meeting with Stay……”
“I understand.”
“Like you said earlier, maybe I was feeling anxious. A lot.”
“Ah……”
“When I think about it, I realized—I’ve become the kind of overbearing boss I used to hate.”
Up to that point—
Dongyun had planned to test the waters a little before opening up.
But in that moment, he changed his mind.
He could see the sincerity in Han Ji-hyuk’s eyes.
“Director, can I ask you just one thing?”
“Yes, anything.”
“Why did you have to get Stay so badly?”
After a brief pause, Han answered.
“Like you said earlier, I was scared.”
“You were afraid you couldn’t work with Stay?”
It didn’t quite make sense.
No matter how much buzz surrounded Stay…
It wasn’t something to be this desperate about.
Sure, getting a song from a star composer could change things.
But this situation wasn’t just about the composer.
The entire artist concept was in jeopardy.
Just as he was thinking that,
Han Ji-hyuk shook his head.
“No.”
“Then…?”
“I was afraid I’d use Stay as an excuse. No, more precisely—I was afraid Tomorrow Entertainment would blame everything on Stay and stop improving altogether. That really scared me.”
What was he saying?
As Dongyun mulled over the words, Han Ji-hyuk met his eyes and put down his teacup.
Then, he began what felt like a confession.