Chapter 41: Reactions from All Sides

A smile through tears—what kind of expression is that? At this moment, Baekhyun's face was just that. Tears streamed down like tap water, but a smile lingered at the corners of her mouth, an excited smile.

Although Lee Yunjae had changed a lot, for her, as long as she had news of him and could see his face, it was enough.

"Yunjae... I'll be back in Korea by the end of the year. I hope we can meet then! It's been four years, I really miss you!" Baekhyun murmured to herself, tears sliding down the corners of her mouth, leaving a faint sweetness.

At the same time, in a certain apartment in Gangnam District.

There was a faint smell of tobacco in the room. A man sat in front of the computer, his lips slightly curled into a faint smile, his fingers tapping the desk rhythmically, looking particularly relaxed. This man was none other than S.M.'s golden producer, Yoo Young-jin.

His eyes were fixed on the computer screen, wearing headphones, nodding his head occasionally when he heard something good. This was the sixth time he had listened to the song. After four years, he wanted to carefully listen to how Lee Yunjae's voice, which was once diagnosed with permanent vocal cord damage, had recovered.

For ordinary fans, Lee Yunjae's singing was already very good, his hoarse voice adding a unique flavor, especially when singing melancholic love songs. But for Yoo Young-jin, what he was listening to was not just the song, but the voice, every note that Lee Yunjae produced.

He listened repeatedly, and it wasn't until the fifth time that he noticed something odd. When Lee Yunjae sang the high notes, although he could hit them, it always gave him a faint feeling of lacking power. Although it was just a fleeting professional sensitivity, his intuition told him that when singing the high notes, Lee Yunjae seemed to lack the necessary breath support. Given his understanding of Lee Yunjae, he should have had the confidence to hit those notes without any issue. Doubtful, Yoo Young-jin couldn't be sure if his suspicion was true, and he would have to meet Lee Yunjae in person to get a clear answer.

However, this song "Elimination" still gave Yoo Young-jin a pleasant surprise. When Lee Yunjae first created "No Longer in Love" and "Like Being Shot," Yoo Young-jin was already amazed. Now, with another song "Elimination," Yoo Young-jin suddenly felt a sense of aging, as if his own protégé had become so outstanding while he hadn't created a song in a long time.

Thinking of this, Yoo Young-jin felt a bit envious of JYP's Park Jin-young. As the CEO, Park Jin-young not only cultivated top artists like Rain, bringing glory to JYP, but also produced Wonder Girls, and the main songs of their albums were all personally composed by Park Jin-young, generating over ten billion won in annual copyright income.

Although Park Jin-young was a manager of an entertainment company, he was also a singer with a passion for creation and a desire to return to the stage. Park Jin-young was a man who could be considered a genius, but he had a fatal flaw: he was extremely ugly, so ugly that it was unforgettable.

"But I'm not bad either. You have Rain, and I have Lee Yunjae. My protégé won't be any worse than yours!" Yoo Young-jin looked at the video of Lee Yunjae and thought to himself, "He has really grown up, but will you return to S.M.?"

...

In a certain agency in Seoul, Eric had a satisfied look on his face. Among all the juniors in the company, only Lee Yunjae had always been the most satisfactory to him. He had originally planned to help him, but after an incident that severely damaged Lee Yunjae's vocal cords, Eric could do nothing but sigh in regret.

But now, Lee Yunjae was back, and Eric saw an even stronger Lee Yunjae. His mind began to stir, and a thought grew larger in his mind—establish an agency and bring Lee Yunjae under his wing.

Although they had successfully left S.M. and joined Good Entertainment, Eric didn't really want to join Good Entertainment from the bottom of his heart. At the time, it was a temporary necessity. Other agencies were hesitant to take in H.O.T., fearing S.M.'s pressure.

Since the idea of leaving S.M. first emerged, Eric had a thought. Being under someone else's control meant always being a pawn. To break free from this, he needed to start his own agency and become his own boss.

Having suffered under S.M.'s pressure, Eric had no faith in other agencies. Only his own could be truly reliable. So from the beginning, Eric decided to establish his own agency after leaving S.M.

But plans often don't go as expected. Unexpected events disrupted his plans, and he never imagined that Lee Soo-man would be so ruthless in oppressing them. In the end, he had to compromise and temporarily join Good Entertainment, which had extended an olive branch to them. But now, four years had passed, and they had repaid their debts to Good Entertainment. Eric once again had the idea of establishing his own agency, but he hadn't found the right opportunity, and Good Entertainment had been good to them. He couldn't bring himself to do something so ungrateful.

"Ah, let's wait and see for a while! Yunjae is so outstanding. YG Entertainment wanted to poach him back then, but Lee Soo-man firmly rejected it. Now that he's a free agent and even more talented, many agencies will likely come knocking... I'll find the right time to talk to him!" Eric smiled and shook his head, thinking he was being too greedy. Rome wasn't built in a day, and you can't eat a fat man in one bite. Establishing an agency would take time.

In another part of the city, Baek Ji-young, wearing a nightgown, watched the video of Lee Yunjae, her chest heaving with indescribable excitement. Lee Yunjae had seen her last before leaving.

"Yunjae, I've kept the things that belong to you. I'll return them to you when we meet!" Baek Ji-young felt only gratitude towards Lee Yunjae and truly regarded him as a close younger brother.

If it weren't for Lee Yunjae, she might still be living in that nightmare, with countless people behind her, pointing and calling her shameless, wondering how she could still stand on stage. She might have long faded from the entertainment industry, becoming a shameful past, a laughingstock for others.

Lee Yunjae could be called her savior. To become the queen of solo idol dramas, Lee Yunjae's contributions were indispensable.

"I really hope to meet you soon..." Baek Ji-young murmured.

...

Lee Soo-man was also watching the video Lee Yunjae had uploaded. No one had informed him; he had just stumbled upon it while browsing the internet.

Lee Yunjae, a name he had forgotten, now reappeared. The doctors had once told him with certainty that Lee Yunjae's vocal cords were permanently damaged, and he couldn't sing or even speak. But four years later, the Lee Yunjae in the video was singing again.

Lee Soo-man's eyes were slightly dark, and his mind was racing. Finally, he sighed deeply. He didn't want to recall the events of four years ago and didn't wish for anything to change because of Lee Yunjae's return.

"I hope we can coexist peacefully in the future. I'll walk my sunny path, and you can walk your narrow bridge. I'll repay you in another way!" Lee Soo-man stared at the video of Lee Yunjae. Deep down, his affection for Lee Yunjae was no less than for Baekhyun, but sometimes, even the best-laid plans go awry, and there were things he couldn't control. He looked at the photo next to his computer, which showed five people, two older men and women, at least in their sixties, and three younger ones, two men and a woman. One of them looked very similar to the current Lee Soo-man. Looking at the photo, Lee Soo-man couldn't help but smile bitterly.

He then shook his head, pushing Lee Yunjae's matter to the back of his mind. Compared to his current major issues, Lee Yunjae was insignificant. The company's power had been stolen, and Lee Soo-man had endured it for two years. He couldn't take it anymore; it was time to fight back. And Girls' Generation was his biggest trump card.

"Kim Min-young, enjoy your time in the spotlight a bit longer. The CEO's chair isn't that easy to sit in. You've had it for two years, which is my limit. S.M.'s glory was built by my hands, and you're just a parachuted executive. One day, I will kick you out of S.M.!"

Bang! Lee Soo-man punched the desk, causing the computer screen to tremble and the photo frame to fall over.

That night, Super Junior, HOT, S.E.S., Fin.K.L., Seo In-young, and many fans watched the video Lee Yunjae had uploaded, immersing themselves in his music.

...

In a villa in the wealthy district of Gangnam.

It was a very luxurious room. A woman sat in front of the computer, watching Lee Yunjae's video, her face expressionless, mumbling to herself, not knowing what she was saying.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening reached her ears. The woman instinctively turned off the computer, and a boy around 14 or 15 years old walked in.

"Mom..."

Hearing this, the woman's face broke into a faint, confident smile.