I looked at Jin-ah and Yoon-jung, who had come to the office early in the morning. Jin-ah wore a faint smile while Yoon-jung grinned brightly behind her.

Just like yesterday, I could tell what was going on. It went without saying. It seemed the choreography had been revised into something pretty good, and Jin-ah had executed it well.

That was that, but her overconfident expression was a little – just a teeny bit – annoying. My smile couldn’t quite form itself. The gentle curve of my eyes froze in place, and my brow furrowed on its own.

“A raised chin with a cocky attitude, an annoying smirk, and an arrogant stare… What would that mean?”

“President Kang, wouldn’t you mean a raised chin with a confident attitude, a charming and soft smile, and eyes as mesmerizing as the Milky Way?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

Yoon-jung burst out laughing. Both Jin-ah and I turned to look at Yoon-jung, who was pointing back and forth between the two of us.

“You and Jin-ah look a little alike, President Kang.”

“What?!” I shouted.

“Hey!” Came another shout.

Jin-ah eyes met mine. I exhaled sharply, imagining her as a spoiled kid from a super rich family in a movie.

“What kind of nonsense is that? Jin-ah, I don’t understand why you’re getting all worked up.”

Jin-ah pretended to hold a cigarette in her fingers with a hooded look, as if she were playing Madame Jung from a certain movie.

“My goodness! President Kang, I’m a girl group member. I’ll have you know that I’m an idol.”

“But you’re still Jin-ah Choi.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Our gazes clashed with an electric spark. The desperate person I had seen yesterday was gone, and in her place stood a fighter who wouldn’t back down an inch.

Without breaking eye contact with Jin-ah, I extended my hand toward Yoon-jung. Understanding my intent, she handed me the tablet she was holding.

That was when I saw the slightest flicker of uncertainty in Jin-ah’s eyes. She was confident, but now that I was about to evaluate her, it seemed she was getting nervous.

I looked down and immediately started playing the video. It was a recording of the revised choreography performed with ALTO’s choreographers. The starting pose was the same as before. The choreographers each kneeled on one knee around the center.

There was just one difference. Jin-ah replaced Yoon-jung in the center. As the demo music played, Jin-ah and the choreographers moved fluidly yet powerfully.

“…!”

I could tell from the start that this was different from the choreography I saw yesterday.

‘I told them to just change the highlights and dance breaks, but this is…’

As I furrowed my brow to focus, the tension in the room thickened so much you could cut through it with a knife. When the intro ended, Jin-ah’s voice rang out in the video. Her vocals were solid and stable, her husky tone bringing out the emotions of the song vividly. It was praiseworthy.

While others might have been surprised at this point, I expected this much from her. What I was watching for was whether she could maintain this strong live performance until the end.

The choreography felt different from the start. As it progressed into the problematic highlights, I became so engrossed in the video on the tablet that I didn’t even blink.

“Oh!”

From that moment, my eyes widened and the tension in my brow relaxed. In exchange, more wrinkles on my forehead increased with each passing moment. The dance break, the second verse highlight, the final dance break… As I widened my eyes more and more, my forehead wrinkled that much more.

‘Her character as an empress changed.’

The powerful, charismatic tyrant who ruled with an iron fist was gone. In her place stood an elegant, refined, and poised empress who relied on skill and strategy.

The choreography’s shift in tone had completely changed the overall feeling of the song.

“Ha!”

And then there was the difficulty level. It was like sports dancing, like ballet, like modern dancing, like jazz dancing. She showcased an effortless grace, as majestic as a swan or a crane, and displayed the utmost splendor without holding anything back.

At this point, I had no choice but to admit it. I was wrong. Telling them to lower the difficulty was a foolish and ignorant decision, and I had seriously underestimated her current abilities.

Yet despite that, my face flushed with warmth. It was a mistake, but a wonderfully pleasant one.

“So, what do you think? It’s good, right?”

Couldn’t she tell from my expression? No, she probably knew. She didn’t look anxious or nervous, but she also didn’t seem smug. It was as if she waiting for some kind of reassurance.

I honestly expressed what I feeling right now without reservations.

“I got chills. I didn’t realize you’d grown this much already. I was wrong. You’re the best.”

“Wha..?”

“You did so well. You look absolutely stunning. How can someone do this so well? Wow!”

“That’s… uh, well…”

“There’s probably no one else in the world who can sing and dance like this. I’m so proud to be working with you. Even if you don’t hit number one because you don’t have a fandom yet, I’ll work hard to raise your ranking.”

Jin-ah’s eyes wandered to and fro as her body fidgeted restlessly at hearing my sincere praise. Her lips quivered, failing to form any words. Yoon-jung patted her on the shoulder, understanding exactly how she felt.

“We all went through this.”

“What?”

Even though she had just received praise, Yoon-jung spoke with a sympathetic tone. She already knew what was coming. Hee-yeon, Yumi, and Yoon-jung herself had already experienced it once before.

In order not to betray President Kang’s firm and unconditional trust, Jin-ah would throw herself into insane practice and give everything she had.

“Your ability to focus will be go up by a lot.”

She would probably think about it while she ate and even while she slept. Eventually, her skills would improve to higher heights. Like magic.

It made Yoon-jung think, ‘Is this the famous power of Hyuk Kang?’ She looked at Jin-ah and shook her head slightly.

“Jin-ah, just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s really good.”

“Um… President Kang, could you maybe start criticizing me like you normally do, or put some pressure on me? Please? Please criticize me instead!”

“After seeing this, how could I?”

“You seem really serious about it… I’m about to lose my mind from the pressure!”

***

I watched Jin-ah’s live performance video dozens of times. Throughout it, one person kept coming to mind.

Asia’s Star.

Her image overlapped with Jin-ah’s. It was the woman who single-handedly conquered Japan.

“Hahahaha!”

I felt overwhelmed with joy and excitement. With the K-pop industry’s growing influence, many female solo artists received praised. In my opinion, however, there was still no one who could rival the overwhelming talent of Asia’s Star.

She was the ideal dancer-singer. An unrivaled queen among female solo dancer-singers. Just now, I saw that same person in Jin-ah.

Not in the distant future, but right now! I was so excited that I could hardly stand it. I was dying to brag about her, and the first person I wanted to brag to joined our company a few days later. 

It was Team Lead Na. As he entered the office, his face was a mix of relief and anticipation along with a hint of anxiety. They were the typical feelings that came with starting fresh at a new company.

I gave him the title of ‘Team Lead’ here as well. The company was too small for him to be a director, which would just invite ridicule.

“I’ll gradually adjust your title as the company grows. Just think of yourself as the second-in-command for now.”

“Yeah, that sounds better. It’d be annoying to correct people every time they call me Team Lead Na, and there might be some perks from people mistaking me being from HS.”

“But, Team Lead Na.”

“What?”

I grinned mischievously.

“Do you remember when I told you our company was more promising than it seemed?”

“Yeah. Let’s see what you’ve got. I want to know where that confidence comes from.”

All that was visible on the outside were Yoon-jung and Hee-yeon. I immediately showed him Yumi’s YouTube account. After putting in his earphones and listening to the original songs and a couple of covers, his face was filled with surprise.

“Who is she?! Why are you hiding someone like this?!”

“Why else? She’s still growing rapidly in real-time. Why mess things up by drawing attention too soon?”

I explained Yumi’s potential, as well as the fact that she hadn’t been studying EDM for very long. The look in Team Lead Na’s eyes sharpened, and the anxiety that had lingered on his face disappeared without a trace.

There was still one more thing. A big one!

“Take a look at this, too.”

“What else do you have?”

It was Jin-ah’s live performance video, which I had received fresh off the oven just a few days ago.

“This is insane…”

Maybe it was because he had more experience in this area than in EDM, but he gaped in astonishment and looked dumbfounded. The look of shock he gave me was so gratifying that my shoulders squared, and I stood up straight with pride. These were my trainees, Team Lead Na. Impressive, right?

“Hyuk Kang, you are seriously insane.”

“Me? All of a sudden?”

“Yeah. You.”

Team Lead Na let out a small laugh before clutching his stomach and laughing uncontrollably. It was as if he’d gone mad.

“What’s gotten into you? You called me crazy, but now you’re the one acting like it.”

“Hehe. Hahahaha! Think about it. When I left the company, Director Park went absolutely bonkers. He cursed me out and made such a scene.”

I could imagine that. He had done the same when I left, though it was a bit of a blur now.

“But then, imagine him finding out that all the talents you took from HS turned out to be monsters like this. Hehe. What do you think that bastard’s face will look like? He was already losing his mind over losing Hee-yeon and Yoon-jung, but now the other two are also equally great.”

“Ah… that’s…” Just the thought of it made a smile spread across my face. “I can’t wait.”

I wonder if Team Lead Na knew. That the composer LOAN was also once with HS Entertainment. That he cranked out hit after hit for them. 

A smile even bigger than Team Lead Na’s spread across my face.

***

Jin-ah received vocal training for her song and pushed forward with her choreography practice. In the midst of all this, the lyrics were finalized and soon enough, it was also time to shoot the music video.

Director Jong-woo Kim had everything prepared for the shoot. He stood and looked across the studio with a wide grin.

“Ms. Ah-youuung!”

“Yoon-jung, I saw the video you posted recently. That dance was awesome.”

“Ahem! You saw that?”

Yoon-jung crossed her arms and lifted her chin. A slight smile tugged at her lips, giving off an effortlessly cute, fresh, and sexy charm. Her confident posture caught the attention of many, and eyes turned toward her from all directions.

When Ah-young glanced at the choreographers around her, they coughed awkwardly and quickly averted their gazes.

“Of course I’ve been keeping an eye on it. We need to shoot another collab, don’t we?”

“Kyaa! I’d love that, Ms. Ah-young!”

“Call me unnie! Or better yet, sign up as my student!”

“Ms. Ah-youuung!”

ALTO’s choreographers were here to lend their support for Jin-ah’s music video. They had gotten close to Jin-ah while practicing together and wanted to ensure the choreography really stood out. Though, it seemed there might have been other reasons as well. I walked over to greet them.

“Thank you so much for coming to help today,” I said.

“We felt a bit guilty. We’re lucky the outcome turned out well, but our approach wasn’t very professional,” Ah-young responded.

“If you’re talking about the initial choreography for Jin-ah, it’s really okay. Thanks to you, we’ve created something groundbreaking. I should be the one thanking you. But is that the only reason you’re helping today?”

I raised my eyebrow knowingly, and Ah-young laughed.

“You got me. This will help my career, too. About that kid, Jin-ah– I’ve never seen anyone quite like her in this industry. And with you here, there’s no way this won’t be a hit, right? It’ll increase our profile, and if she becomes a world star, this music video is going to be huge,” she confessed.

I smiled confidently.

“I’m confident. And don’t just focus on Jin-ah. Yoon-jung is going to be a world star too, so please keep supporting her.”

“Don’t worry, President Kang. I’m already her favorite. Right, Ms. Ah-young?”

“Hmm. Who knows?”

“Ms. Ah-young!”

“Hahaha!”

While we were chatting, Jung-han and Jin-ah came up and greeted each staff member one by one. Jung-han was holding a camera, using one hand to steady his elbow and trying his best to keep the shot still. I guess he heard about what BTS footage was. 

Even though his face was a bit of a mess, it was nice to see him putting in effort. He was using the anti-shake feature on the camera but was still taking precautions, just in case.

Jin-ah’s eyes widened as she pointed excitedly around the set.

“President Kang, look at this set! It’s amazing!”

“We spent quite a bit of money.”

“That would fit me so well, wouldn’t it?”

She gave a slow twirl, flashing what she probably thought was a seductive smile.

A medieval European-inspired outfit with gold epaulets on the shoulders, fitted pants, and heavy makeup. It really would suit her, but that was also all money.

From my point of view, I couldn’t look at it with any sort of pure admiration. When I used to work at a company, I never considered these things. Now that I was the President, though, I saw things differently.

“It’s not sexy, but it does look flashy and cool,” I responded emotionlessly.

“Here, right here. Do you see the rhinestones under my eyes?”

“Yeah they’re so so sparkly.”

“…”

Jin-ah wiped any expression from her face and stared directly into my eyes. The camera captured both me and Jin-ah. I forced a robotic smile.

“…Yeah, pretty,” I said.

Hearing the compliment she had been fishing for, Jin-ah smiled with satisfaction. Did she really like receiving a compliment when it was obviously forced? She was so overwhelmed when I sincerely praised her live performance.

I decided to throw all my support behind Jin-ah’s promotion this time. I planned to do everything I could to prepare a debut for a promising idol like how a major entertainment company would.

I was fully confident this time. The more I spent, the more it would be worth it. We spent a whopping 100 million won on this music video. All thanks to Jin-ah’s performance. If she hadn’t done so well, I wouldn’t have spent that much.

“President Kang, look here. Look at this color! And my hair! Look at this, look!”

“…Black?”

“Magenta! It’s magenta!”

“Ma…what?”

“Ma. Gen. Ta!”

“…Yeah. Looks nice.”

Since the cameras were rolling, I couldn’t treat her the way I normally would. Seeing me play along, Jin-ah got even more excited and cranked up her energy.

She was clearly trying to squeeze every compliment she could get from me. This sly little thing. She really knew how to work the camera.

But weren’t these BTS videos usually about the chemistry between members?

“Shouldn’t you be talking to Yoon-jung now, instead of me?”

“Oh right!”

“President Kang, leave me out of thi– ack! Don’t hug me!”

Could we even call this chemistry…?

Maybe it would better to just hurry up and shoot the music video.

—

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