Chapter 94

After finishing the interview with Time Magazine, Yoon Hyun-jae began to reply to the various congratulatory messages he received yesterday.

At this moment, Yoon Hyun-jae realized how significant the Baeksang Arts Awards, which he hadn't paid much attention to yesterday, actually were.

Almost everyone in his phone contacts had sent him congratulatory messages. Those with the most casual relationships, who had only met once, sent simple one-liners. Those with slightly better relationships sent long, elaborate messages, while the closest friends, like Yoo Jae-suk and others, sent only one sentence...

Thus, Yoon Hyun-jae replied to those he wasn't very familiar with using a standardized short message. For those he was slightly more familiar with, he wrote a bit more.

For the closest group of friends, Yoon Hyun-jae replied to each one individually.

It took him more than an hour to finish this happy task, and his fingers were sore by the time he was done.

Then Yoon Hyun-jae went to his recording studio. Looking at the display shelf in his studio, which was gradually filling up with trophies, he felt an indescribable sense of achievement.

Staring at the various trophies on the wall—okay, most of them were from music programs—he was lost in thought. Just as he was planning his afternoon break, another message came in.

"OPPA, are you busy now?"

Yoon Hyun-jae saw the sender was Kim Tae-yeon and replied: Not busy. Is there something you need?

Then his phone rang.

"OPPA, it's Tae-yeon."

"Tae-yeon, what's up?"

"Congratulations on winning the Baeksang Arts Award!"

"Oh, haha, didn't I already reply to your message? Thank you!"

"I just felt I should call to congratulate you!"

"Get to the point!" Yoon Hyun-jae was amused by Kim Tae-yeon's fake politeness.

"OPPA, do you know I'm hosting a radio show called 'Tae-yeon's Close Friends'?"

"Yes, Tae-yeon, you don't need to be so formal. Just speak casually."

"Okay, OPPA, do you have time on the 24th of next month? I'd like to invite you to be a guest on my show."

"24th?" Yoon Hyun-jae, while on the phone, quickly searched for relevant information online: "Is it in the early morning or late at night?"

"Early morning. OPPA, do you have time to come?"

"I should be available. But Tae-yeon, why did you suddenly think of inviting me?"

"Well, due to scheduling issues, my radio show will end on the 25th of next month. The producer said I could invite some friends to my show in the last week to give it a good ending. So I thought of inviting you, OPPA..."

"Sure! No problem, I'll definitely come!" Yoon Hyun-jae agreed straightforwardly.

"Thank you, OPPA. By the way, congratulations again on winning the Baeksang Arts Award!"

"Hehe, okay! Got it! Thanks."

"Also, Yoon Ae told us yesterday that you agreed to write a song for us."

"Don't have high expectations. It might be a song similar to 'GEE'."

"Wow! That's great!"

"...Tae-yeon, you..." Yoon Hyun-jae was surprised by Kim Tae-yeon's reaction. He thought she would want a more mature song...

"What's wrong?" Kim Tae-yeon's voice suddenly became tense.

"Nothing... When is your next album planned?" Yoon Hyun-jae smiled silently. If they liked his songs, he shouldn't be so suspicious, right?

"I'm not sure. Recently, we've been preparing for a musical. And we might develop in the U.S...."

"Good luck! World-class star, Kim Tae-yeon!" Yoon Hyun-jae laughed. He wasn't really interested in musicals, even though he sang and acted...

Well, mainly because he wanted to sing his own songs.

"Hehe! We'll do our best."

"Alright! See you then!" Yoon Hyun-jae laughed and hung up the phone.

Just as he hung up, another call came in.

"Uncle!"

"Hey! Ji-yeon! What's up? Why are you calling me?"

" Heard you won a big award, so I called to congratulate you and to ask you to treat us to a meal!"

"Oh, thanks."

"Then what?"

"What do you mean, 'then'?"

"Hey! Treat us to a meal! I haven't had a good meal in a long time."

"Ji-yeon..."

"What? Old man? Is it so hard to treat me to a meal?"

"Are you sure your company won't have any issues with me treating you to a meal?"

"..."

"Ji-yeon, what's wrong? Why aren't you speaking?"

"Uncle... I'm sorry. We deliberately distanced ourselves from you before."

"Before? So it's fine now?"

"OPPA, you're so amazing, with the Grammys and the Baeksang Arts Award. Even if someone wants to cause trouble, they have to consider if they have the clout."

"Hey, little dinosaur, it's okay to talk about it with me, but don't say it to others. It could get you in trouble, especially with your producer..."

"OPPA, you know?"

"I'm not stupid. Besides, my sister is in your company. How could I not know?"

Actually, Yoon Hyun-jae had already found out from Yoon Ji-hye why T-ara had distanced themselves from him. He just hadn't made it public.

The situation wasn't complicated. Basically, the T-ara girls, who were known for their loose lips, complained in the practice room that their album's quality was inferior to the one Yoon Hyun-jae made for IU. Unfortunately, their producer overheard this. While it was true that IU's album was of high quality, even if they were unhappy, they had to accept it.

However, when he heard the same complaint at the backstage of a music show, he lost his temper.

Coincidentally, that day they lost to 2PM's "Heartbeat" despite being favored... The enraged producer urgently instructed Ham Eun-jeong, who was filming "We Got Married" with Yoon Hyun-jae, to stop filming and return to the company.

He then strictly ordered T-ara and all the artists he managed at CCM to avoid any contact with Yoon Hyun-jae.

However, his strict order didn't receive much support.

In CCM, Yoon Ji-hye had more seniority and, as the company's dance director, her status was no less than his...

But this absurd situation, due to the success of "Bopeep Bopeep," didn't attract much opposition.

After all, it wasn't the first time producers had disliked each other and tried to limit their artists' interactions.

You go your way, I'll go mine. The only difference was that T-ara and Yoon Hyun-jae were too close, which was a potential issue for the producer, so he was waiting.

As long as the girls insisted on maintaining their relationship with Yoon Hyun-jae, it would create a negative image in the company, such as being disobedient... Then, by banning those who didn't follow the company's decisions, he could further establish his authority, justifiably.

And perhaps no one would dare say he was inferior to Yoon Hyun-jae anymore.

However, he underestimated his opponent's strength. Yoon Hyun-jae even laughed when he heard about it. The biggest effort he made to deal with this situation was calming Yoon Ji-hye, who was furious at being ignored and wanted to confront the company's higher-ups...

After convincing Yoon Ji-hye, he asked her to control T-ara and prevent them from forming different opinions with the company. He knew that Park Ji-yeon, the uncontrollable little dinosaur, would cause trouble.

He told Yoon Ji-hye, "Trust me, just wait."

Sure enough, when Yoon Hyun-jae's new album dominated the Korean music scene, CCM remained silent.

As Yoon Hyun-jae continued to win one award after another, even the producer felt embarrassed to bring up the issue. The album he relied on was like a tiny ant trying to shake a tree compared to Yoon Hyun-jae's achievements.

When S.M. sent a song request to LOEN in the name of Kim Young-min, offering 600 million won, the producer was completely silenced.

Then, after the CCM executives communicated with the producer, they instructed T-ara to contact Yoon Hyun-jae to mend their relationship...

And the most shameless and closest to Yoon Hyun-jae, Park Ji-yeon, volunteered to take on this responsibility.

"Are you still promoting your song?" Yoon Hyun-jae changed the subject, not wanting to let Park Ji-yeon know about these matters.

"Hey! Just mentioning it makes me angry!" Park Ji-yeon was a bit upset.

"Come on, you've already won three consecutive wins. Why bother with a second single? It's not even a full album..." Yoon Hyun-jae quickly interrupted Park Ji-yeon's complaints. He knew she would complain about how he was squeezing their space, just like the girls from Girls' Generation.

"This week, we've already stopped..." To Yoon Hyun-jae's surprise, Park Ji-yeon didn't continue to blame him.

This made Yoon Hyun-jae a bit surprised and then a bit embarrassed.

"Do you have any plans tonight? If not, I'll treat you to a meal to celebrate your three consecutive wins." Yoon Hyun-jae asked.

"Tonight? Let me check..."

Didn't she just say she wanted him to treat her to a meal? Why does she need to ask others? Did she only think of treating herself?

Yoon Hyun-jae was a bit confused.

After a while.

"OPPA, we have no plans this afternoon or evening. Do you want to come over and play? Eun-jeong misses you." Park Ji-yeon said with a mischievous smile. "She watched the Baeksang Arts Awards live yesterday and cried all night..."

"Ji-yeon, are you at the company or at the dorm now?" Yoon Hyun-jae quickly changed the subject, as he found Park Ji-yeon's joke not funny at all.

Because he suspected the truth of this statement.

Strange, why did he feel this might be true? This doesn't make sense...

"At the dorm. What's up? Are you coming to visit Eun-jeong?"

"I'm coming to beat you up!" Yoon Hyun-jae said with a mischievous smile.

"If you come to our dorm, there will be rumors tomorrow. They'll say you invaded our dorm and assaulted me!"

"No problem, I've said on TV that my ideal type is Tae-hee. I'll say you seduced me." Yoon Hyun-jae naturally wouldn't lose in a verbal sparring match with Park Ji-yeon. After all, the little dinosaur had been called "Little Kim Tae-hee" since her debut.

"Yoon Hyun-jae OPPA, you really are..." Park Ji-yeon conceded.

After making plans with Park Ji-yeon, Yoon Hyun-jae left the company in his car.

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Today is a good day. I originally wanted to add another chapter, but I've been really busy lately and don't have much time to write, so... I can only force myself to appear. Don't delve into the reasons. Hehe.

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