Chapter 76

# Chapter 076

Hong Gyuheon.

The company faced its biggest crisis in history.

"Everyone, pay attention. Pretend you didn't hear anything today."

Everyone nodded vigorously.

"Rika seems to be serious. Don't say anything unnecessary. We'll all forget about today's events. Got it? If Park Esa had noticed that he wasn't part of the prank, everyone would have just left, saying it was boring. Only I heard what was said. Let's stick to that story."

This way, the situation could be somewhat salvaged.

This April Fool's Day prank would end as a shared memory between Seong Pil and Rika.

Hong Gyuheon clenched his fists.

'Rika, you ungrateful... '

Hong Gyuheon took out a cigarette from his pocket and said,

"Everyone, leave."

Even a child could tell that she was in a bad mood.

Han Gugin led the members out of the office.

And the moment the door opened, Seong Pil and Rika appeared with a flourish.

"April Fool's Day!"

"It is!"

Everyone was more frightened than surprised.

All eyes turned to Hong Gyuheon.

"Rika, Park Esa."

"Yes!"

"Did the boss have fun too?"

"Look at the paper stuck on the door of the boss's office."

[If you play an April Fool's Day prank on me, you're fired.]

"..."

"..."

"Both of you, leave the company together."

Seong Pil and Rika had to beg on their knees.

From that day on, a new rule was added to Garo Entertainment's company policy.

[No April Fool's Day pranks.]

* * *

The heat of summer warmed everything.

Garo Entertainment's bottled water ran out every day, and the practice room floor was drenched with the members' sweat.

"Ahreum is debuting."

"Who's Ahreum?"

"That one. That's Ahreum."

Rika pointed to a face on the TV.

She was a trainee from Success Entertainment whom Rika had met on the way to the Project Poyu filming site.

Shin Ahreum confidently secured the 6th place and joined the project group, 'Poyu'.

If Rika had participated in Project Poyu, they would have been in the same group.

"Do you know her?"

"Yes! I hitched a ride to the Project Poyu filming site!"

"It's good that someone you know is debuting."

"Hehe."

Despite only hearing teasing from Shin Ahreum, Rika genuinely rejoiced for her.

A few days later, one of the members of the project group Poyu was embroiled in a school bullying scandal. And a few days after that, the scandal was confirmed, and the member announced their departure.

"Wow, that guy is really bad. He's not just a delinquent but a thug. Rika, if you had been there, wouldn't you have been bullied by him?"

During the filming of Project Poyu, some trainees were subtly bullied by the member involved in the scandal.

"I wouldn't have been bullied. I'm too confident to be intimidated by such things!"

Seong Pil shook his head as he listened to Rika and Jo Ara's conversation.

If Seong Pil hadn't taken Rika out earlier, she would have suffered a lifelong trauma from bullying.

"Mr. Park, I'm right, aren't I?"

"Of course, who would bully Rika? She's so cute."

"Hehe."

"Boss, please stretch out your cramped limbs."

"Boss, praise Ara-chan too! She's jealous because only I'm being praised!"

"Ara can't be bullied."

"What do you mean? You're really making me feel like a flower is blooming."

"Ara-chan is so..."

That evening, the monthly evaluation was held.

Jung Ji-eum, the special judge, was present.

After the members left, Hong Gyuheon asked,

"Ji-eum, how do you think they're doing? Are they ready to start recording?"

"Yes."

The composer gave a clear answer.

"The song has a low range and not much technique, so their current skills should be sufficient."

The debut song was confirmed to be 'No'.

'No' underwent several arrangements.

It was different from Seong Pil's original idea, becoming more lush than the minimal sound he had in mind.

However, this was done to consider modern sensibilities, and the overall feel of the song didn't change much.

Additionally, Hong Gyuheon had a request.

"My goal is to create a group that can perform live dance and vocals. A group that can perform perfectly even without AR. I hope the song's difficulty is low enough to be performed while dancing."

In other words, Hong Gyuheon valued what could be seen over what could be heard.

He didn't just want a group that made good music; he wanted fans to see the members' performance abilities.

As a result, 'No' had a relatively low difficulty level.

"Understood. I'll proceed immediately."

Jung Ji-eum was participating as the music producer for this album.

Naturally, she was also receiving a salary for it.

Until the members' debut, she was essentially a part of Garo Entertainment.

"You've all worked hard to get this far."

As soon as the album plan was announced, Seong Pil gathered the members.

"From today, we'll start working on the album in earnest. It will be tougher than before, but I believe you can handle it."

"Suddenly, you sound like a drill sergeant."

"It's to make you nervous. Ara, you've been a trainee for a while, right?"

Jo Ara had been a trainee for about a year.

A girl who only knew how to dance could now sing well.

Her efforts deserved applause.

Unfortunately, the diet plan set by Gym caused her a lot of stress.

She had complained to Seong Pil several times that she couldn't take it anymore, but recently, she seemed to have found stability, which was a relief.

"A year isn't long."

Jo Ara brushed her hair back.

When they first met, she had short hair, but it had grown quite long due to Hong Gyuheon's request.

It was hot because of the summer.

"You've worked hard too, sir."

"..."

Seong Pil was moved by Jo Ara's unexpected words.

Jo Ara, who always seemed to be struggling with how to deal with Seong Pil, could still bring a flood of emotion with just a moment of normalcy.

"No, you've worked harder..."

"Rika has worked hard to become a person."

"I was already a person!"

Jo Ara petted Rika's head like a dog. Even though Rika was taller, Jo Ara felt like an older sister.

Jo Ara had matured in both appearance and attitude, which sometimes surprised him.

Naturally, she was becoming more like her future self.

Every time he saw her, it reminded him of his past life...

"Boss, you hit your own cheek! Is there something wrong with your head?"

"It was because of a mosquito."

Seong Pil rubbed his swollen cheek and continued.

"We'll soon start recording. Get familiar with the lyrics and understand the emotions you want to convey. Once that's done, we'll assign the choreography."

"Should we give it to Minjeong?"

Bae Minjeong, Jo Ara's dance trainer, was recently very interested in Garo Entertainment.

As the album production progressed, she was trying to secure the choreography job.

'Minjeong is skilled, but I can't entrust everything to her.'

Choreography creation fees are expensive.

To achieve the best results, I'll need to find many choreographers.

"What did Minjeong say to you?"

"She wants me to pressure you into giving her the job."

"Pressure me."

"Aiy, sir, please."

"I won't give it to Minjeong."

Jo Ara raised her ring finger instead of her middle finger.

"What are you doing? Asking for a ring?"

"Really, you won't give it to Minjeong?"

"Let me think about it."

"Boss."

"Ah, Hyang."

"I don't know much, but... 'No', right? It feels a bit empty compared to other idol songs."

"Isn't that the nature of the song?"

"No, Hyang, you're right. It's not complete yet. It needs to go through arrangement, mixing, and mastering. If necessary, we'll do session recording. But I don't think session recording is needed. Anyway, it's incomplete. It will sound much better once your voices are added."

"I see."

It seemed like everything that needed to be said had been said.

Seong Pil stroked his chin and asked,

"Is there anything else you want to ask?"

Bae Seolha timidly raised her hand.

"Yes, Seolha."

"I'm just curious. Do you not shave your beard?"

Seong Pil, who had been touching his beard, paused.

His beard had grown quite thick over the four days he hadn't shaved.

"Sister, shh. Maybe he's trying to change his image."

"Oh, I see."

"I just haven't shaved because it's a hassle. I understand your opinion, Seolha. I know you don't like beards on unattractive people. I'll shave it off when I get home."

"No, no, that's not what I meant at all!"

"Understood. I get it."

"Really, it's not..."

There were no more questions.

Seong Pil called for a dismissal and went upstairs.

"Boss."

After Seong Pil left, Jang Hyang spoke.

"Doesn't he look tired lately?"

"Yeah, he's not the same as before."

If the old Seong Pil was a raging fire, the current Seong Pil was a charcoal barely maintaining a spark.

"He must be very busy."

"Detective Jo Ara's guess. He's lost all his energy because he has a girlfriend."

"Ah, does he have time for a relationship? Anyone who dates him would break up within a week. Why doesn't he have a day off?"

"That does make him seem pitiful..."

Does Seong Pil even have a day off?

The members couldn't even guess what Seong Pil was doing.

Does a management company with no debut groups have that much to do?

"Speaking of which, Hyebin and the boss are often not at the company these days."

"They even prepare meals in advance."

A strange feeling of discomfort lingered in everyone's mouths.

"We can't do much about it, but we can repay their hard work by practicing."

"Ah, that's right, the leader."

"I'm not the leader yet."

Bae Seolha blushed.

At that moment, Seong Pil came down from the second floor.

He had already shaved off his beard.

"I'll be back."

Bae Seolha, who looked pale, clung to Seong Pil and kept apologizing.

"I didn't mean it to sound bad. The beard is fine..."

* * *

"Sure, come in!"

Seong Pil didn't straighten up until the car was out of sight. When the engine sound faded, he looked ahead with a tired expression.

He naturally put a cigarette in his mouth.

'I need to go too.'

He took a taxi home.

When he entered his house after entering the password, only the silent darkness greeted him.

He turned on the lights and stood in front of the coat rack.

He touched the scarf Jang Hyang had given him as if it were a talisman, then took off his clothes and showered.

Lying in bed, he checked the members' SNS.

"Oh, 1,000 followers."

He had been worried about Jo Ara's StarGraph account, which was growing slowly, but it finally surpassed 1,000.

Honestly, even this was a relief.

Without Jung Ji-eum's help, it would have been impossible to reach even 100 followers.

'StarGraph isn't just a photo-sharing SNS!'

'Is it not?'

'How can someone like this be a management company executive?'

Although he was insulted by Jung Ji-eum, she was definitely helpful.

For a few weeks, Jung Ji-eum practically took over Jo Ara's phone.

She spent the whole day on StarGraph, following people with similar interests and constantly liking posts.

She also studied hashtags to get popular posts... In short, she did a lot.

Thanks to her, Jo Ara's account received many likes and comments. A photo that recently went viral had over 1,000 likes.

'You should take more photos and post them, not just dance.'

After checking a few comments, he went back to iTube.

The most recent cover song by Bae Seolha had over 3,000 views.

This was also largely thanks to Jung Ji-eum.

'You're only planning to post covers of hit songs?'

'Is that a problem?'

'No, no... You should focus on new songs! Only cover songs that people search for a lot!'

That's what he did.

And it worked.

Clearly, focusing on new songs for cover videos made the fans of those songs react first.

Moreover, with Bae Seolha's face on the thumbnail, it was hard not to click and watch.

'This has over 3,000 views.'

Another record. It seemed to have been chosen by the algorithm.

Other videos struggled to reach 1,000 views, and daily life videos were even worse.

Seong Pil was tired but didn't want to close his eyes.

He went to the most viewed video on the Garo Entertainment channel.

It was the [Japanese Learning Korean History] series.

Rika was also learning Korean history, thanks to Son Hye-bin's strong request.

'If Rika makes a mistake on a broadcast, it could be a big problem.'