Chapter 133
“Want you feel me now — ooh ooh Tell me—”
Inside the booth, Reina raised her voice as she closed her eyes . She was completely immersed in her own singing . KangYoon also looked forward to it since Reina no longer seemed to be nervous .
“Oh boy go for –”
Reina was singing the songs she had practiced at her college as she wished . She had always heard from HeeYoon that KangYoon had good eyes for music . She was planning to challenge her dream, performing on Broadway, if KangYoon gave her approval .
Reina sang louder and louder as though she was approaching her dream step by step .
Then, she seemed too excited, and her voice started being strained .
‘What’s this?’
KangYoon tilted his head when he heard a slight sound of air from her voice . This was because she was straining her voice . At the same time, the bright light started becoming weaker .
‘She’s putting too much energy in it . ’
Eventually, the music note started becoming distorted as well . This kind of change should not have gone unnoticed by the singer, but Reina was too immersed in her own world without being able to get out .
This led KangYoon to a conclusion .
‘She definitely has the talent, but she’s pushing it too far . She’s straining her voice too much . ’
The good feeling had dissipated a lot . KangYoon felt it was a pity since he still remembered how good it was at the beginning . Although he didn’t know a lot about musicals, singing so excitedly on a stage would make the audience cringe .
Like that, the song ended . KangYoon told Reina to come out of the booth .
[Well done . ]
[Uhm, was I any good?]
Reina was unaware of KangYoon’s thinking and asked in an excited voice . In fact, HeeYoon, who was next to him, was also nervous .
‘I should be honest with her . ’
This was HeeYoon’s friend . Rather than false praises, he decided to be honest with his opinion . KangYoon calmed himself down from the earlier excitement and spoke about his opinion in a very serious tone .
[I’ll be honest since you’re HeeYoon’s friend . You might be offended, but please understand . ]
[Yes . ]
[You’re too strained . More like, you put too much emotion into it . ]
[Really?]
Hearing her wrongdoings instead of praises, Reina seemed panicked at first . However, KangYoon still kept going .
[Putting too much emotion will give rise to a sense of rejection in the audience . It feels too unnatural . It feels like you’ve put too much salt in your food . ]
[Oooh… . ]
[Your first song, The Phantom, was very good, both the lyrics and the voice . My first thought that ‘she might as well be a musical actress already’ . However, my thoughts changed after I heard the second song . I guess it’s okay if you’re planning to do musicals as a hobby, but if you’re aiming for the main character role, you will need to fix this . If you have to do ch.o.r.eography or facial expressions while singing, your current style will show up while you do them . ]
KangYoon told her about the disadvantages of her style from his own opinion .
Reina’s expression became darker after listening to her bad points . However, she thought about it before becoming bright again .
[Thank you . I knew it . HeeYoon’s words were right . She said I would be able to gain something from it . ]
Only then did KangYoon relax his expression .
[I might sound like I pointed out only the bad points, but everything else was just perfect . Both your voice and the lyrics . I wish you’d join me if you have any thoughts in the Korean musical field . ]
KangYoon implied that he wanted her to join World Entertainment . When she heard that, she smiled as well .
[Really? That’s a pity . It sounds fun to be in the same company as HeeYoon, but I’m aiming for Broadway right now . Do you not have any plans on coming to America?]
[Hahaha, My hands are still full here . Perhaps in a few years . ]
[Looks like I’ll have to wait a few years too, then . I’ll wait for you at Broadway . ]
Reina took in KangYoon’s bitter medicine sweetly .
[Yes . I have faith that your dream will come true . Oh, and please get along well with HeeYoon . ]
[Hahahaha . Don’t worry . Let’s see each other again . ]
The evaluation time pa.s.sed like that .
Reina blossomed into a smile again, and the studio’s atmosphere became cheerful again .
***
With Eddios joining World Entertainment, there were a lot of celebrities in World now . Thanks to that, they needed a lot more manpower . One such was a ch.o.r.eographer .
The first plan meeting for Jung MinAh’s solo alb.u.m .
Hearing KangYoon that a professional ch.o.r.eographer was necessary, Jung MinAh gave a different opinion .
“This time, I’ll try making the ch.o.r.eography myself . ”
She was being considerate of the company’s budget allocated towards her . However, KangYoon shook his head .
“MinAh . Do you know how professionals make ch.o.r.eographies?”
“Don’t they just think about the beats and make it look cool?”
Maybe she was trying to sound funny, but KangYoon gave her a smack on the head hearing that .
“Ouch, that hurts!”
“It was meant to . MinAh, professional ch.o.r.eographers have to take into account the preferences of the public, the ability of the dancer, and the characteristics of the song and combine them into making a great dance routine . It’s not a simple process like ‘go with the flow’ . ”
“I wasn’t planning to do that either though . ”
Jung MinAh cringed in pain when she was. .h.i.t by the smack . Finding that cute, KangYoon put his hand on her head and spoke on .
“I get that you’re worried about the budget, MinAh, but we do not need to save money on this part . ”
“…… . ”
“We should invest when we can . You should learn how to make dance routines at this opportunity, okay? That’s how you can help me out . ”
“Yes . ”
KangYoon turned around to HeeYoon .
“HeeYoon . Do you have MinAh’s new song?”
“Not yet . I only have a little bit of the intro . ”
“Looks like you were busy with JiMin . ”
HeeYoon was spending a lot of time with Kim JiMin with regards to her song . Jung MinAh still had some time to go anyway . KangYoon nodded his head in understanding .
He then turned around to Jung MinAh again .
“MinAh . The song isn’t out yet, but the dance performance will be very hard . You’ll be in for a lot of pain if you look down on those 3 minutes . ”
“Don’t worry about that . I’m training with all those exercises in the morning . I can even do a breakdance if you’d like . ”
KangYoon was satisfied to see Jung MinAh’s confidence .
Ever since her debut, Jung MinAh had not stopped working out . She had better stamina than any other members of her group .
Other than that, KangYoon told everyone that he was looking for an Eddios-exclusive stylist as well as a manager . When asked if she needed anything else, Jung MinAh only told him that she was very thankful and that she’d do her best .
The planning meeting ended on that note .
KangYoon went upstairs to the office and got car keys from Lee HyunJi . Lee HyunJi asked KangYoon in a joking manner .
“Does a director get funds for fuel?”
“Leave a receipt on my desk, sure . ”
“It’s fine . It’s our company’s money anyway . Just don’t scratch it . ”
KangYoon couldn’t help but feel sorry that he had to borrow her car again . As he was about to leave, Lee HyunJi stopped him .
“You know that there’s an interview today, right? Can you make it?”
“I don’t think I’ll come back in time . I have a meeting with OTS . Today was Eddios’s manager and coordinator, right?”
“Yes . OTS… is important . *sigh* . ”
“Please take care of the interview . My hands are full with Eddios and JiMin right now . ”
Both KangYoon and Lee HyunJi had their hands full of work . Lee HyunJi nodded .
“Okay, then . If we get any more staff today, do I tell them to start coming to work next week?”
“Please do . ”
KangYoon left the office immediately . The place he headed towards was Eddios’s new dorms . After he arrived, he called Lee SamSoon out . As she had been prepared already, Lee SamSoon immediately came out and boarded the car .
The car immediately headed towards the TV station .
Inside, Lee SamSoon had her hand on her cheek in excitement and a little bit of fear .
“Phew . ”
KangYoon asked Lee SamSoon when she sighed .
“Are you nervous about going to a TV station after all this time?”
“Yes . I didn’t get to go on non-music related TV shows a lot, so I’m a little worried . ”
“Maybe, but you did do a lot of things when you were a trainee . ”
“That’s true, but… It’s been such a long time . ”
“That’s why I’m with you here . You don’t need to be so nervous . ”
Lee SamSoon nodded her head .
“Last time, you were with me as well, team leader… . ”
“When?”
“Back then, when we had an outside stage . ”
“Oh . ”
KangYoon thought back to the time when he took her out to perform outside . After the street performance, they made the directors shocked at the meeting .
‘Thinking about it, it’s not that much different now . Only our target is a little different . ’
The target was not the directors now, but the viewers . KangYoon shrugged his shoulders .
Lee SamSoon seemed excited to talk about old memories and started talking about a lot of things .
“It was so fun back then in Hongdae . It’s unthinkable to do it now . People back then were so generous . They were so kind to me even when I spoke in an accent… . ”
“It was fun back then . People were cheering for you when you sang, I can still remember that . It was a good memory for me as well . ”
“Really?”
KangYoon gave her some encouragement .
“We can do it again . As for the people, we can just gather some more . Right?”
“……”
Lee SamSoon glanced at KangYoon without a word . KangYoon hadn’t changed from the past .
Eventually, the car arrived at the OTS TV station . KangYoon parked his car and headed to the meeting room on the 18th floor . When he got off the elevator, the a.s.sistant director, Kim MinHyuk, was waiting for them .
“h.e.l.lo . We’ve been waiting . ”
Guided by the a.s.sistant director, KangYoon and Lee SamSoon headed towards the meeting room .
“Please wait for a moment . I’ll bring the producer here . ”
After the a.s.sistant director left, Lee SamSoon looked around . There were posters on the various programs that OTS did until now .
“Isn’t that JinSeo over there?”
“That’s a doc.u.mentary . Did JinSeo do a doc.u.mentary?”
KangYoon had a look at the poster that Lee SamSoon pointed to . There was a poster that said ‘OTS SPECIAL’ with Min JinSeo’s photo on it .
Lee SamSoon spoke as she saw the poster .
“From what I remember, she did the narrations . Although it was just her voice, I heard that the viewership rose by 4% . ”
KangYoon was shocked by Min JinSeo’s popularity . Although he did know that she was popular, seeing concrete numbers was a different feeling altogether .
“She’s doing well in China too . We were sent to America and JinSeo to China . MG’s intention was to aim for overseas markets like that . Though we failed miserably… . . ”
Lee SamSoon blurred at the end . KangYoon encouraged her .
After waiting for a moment, the a.s.sistant director brought the main producer, named Yeo WoonHyun, into the room .
“Welcome . It’s nice to meet you . Yeo WoonHyun . ”
Producer Yeo WoonHyun had a tall stature and was slightly chubby . He was a little different from KangYoon who had a thin stature but had wide shoulders . He greeted them in a loud voice just like his stature and started talking about the topic .
“Miss Jennie lived in the mountains when she was young?”
This was what he focused on the most .
“Yes . ”
“Where did you live?”
“It was Chungcheong-do, in a little valley called Chiram-gol . ”
Hearing concrete place names, the producer asked her many other things .
‘This producer is the problem . ’
KangYoon was nervous as he watched the interview between the two of them . This person kept doubting the inclusion of Lee SamSoon and insisted that they looked for other people for the job . However, the other producers and the directors pushed Lee SamSoon in .
Amidst KangYoon’s worries, Lee SamSoon was bombarded with questions .
“Wait, you can drive a tractor?”
“Yes . Although I don’t have a license, I did learn from an old gentleman at the village . ”
“When was that?”
“When I was fifteen? I guess?”
“…… . ”
The producer was shocked . Did such a world still exist?”
“F… fine . How about a two-wheeled one?”
“I learned that when I was 13 . ”
“*Cough* . ”
(T/N: The translation for the ‘two-wheeled tractor’ is a little vague . You can subst.i.tute rotary tiller, rototiller, rotavator, rotary hoe, rotary plow, power tiller, or cultivator(?)…)
The producer even coughed when he heard the shocking history of this girl idol .
The following questions were a little weaker – are you fine without a bed, are you fine with pit toilets, etc . They were mostly about the uncomfortable bits of country life .
“I even have experience cleaning one . ”
“…… . ”
Jennie of Eddios turned out to be a country girl . If he did not cast someone like this, the chief producer would probably get angry at him . He was afraid of the consequences .
“F… fine . Last question . Please say a line in a dialect . ”
“Dialect? Let’s see . Granma, you had yer meal, yet? You haf? Yer ain’t answering properly . Shall Ah make some porridge?”
“*Cough cough* . ”
(T/N: I can’t translate dialect properly…)
Producer Yeo WoonHyun felt his heart racing . Right now, Lee SamSoon seemed straight out of a movie . She had a good accent, good looks, and even the perfect height . She had everything!
“Haha, hahahahaha!”
Whatever doubts he had about casting her was blown away right now .
‘What’s so funny?’
Lee SamSoon was confused by the sudden laugh, but KangYoon shrugged saying that it was only natural .
‘Where can you find a more perfect girl for the job?’
KangYoon was sure that this ‘Modern Farmer’ program would raise Lee SamSoon to new heights .
***