Do Woo was speechless.

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung also had a hardened expression. It was different from his usual gentle smiling demeanor.

It was not easy to figure out in what context he meant it.

Do Wook purposely did not hide his bewilderment. He thought that was more natural. After blinking his eyes a few more times, Do Wook asked,

“Why do you think that?”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung responded to Do Wook’s question,

“For some reason I keep getting the hunch. It also feels like you put up a wall between us…”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung added, relaxing his expression.

“Haha. It’s embarrassing to say this when we haven’t even been working together for very long. Perhaps I’ve overreacted a little.”

With perfect timing, the stewardess came by to ask if they’d like any other drinks.

He was feeling thirsty because of his emotions, so Do Wook ordered a warm black tea.

In the mood for a light post-meal drink, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung asked for wine.

After ordering, Do Wook shook his hands side-to-side as he faced Lee Dae Hyung.

“No. Rather, I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”

“Perhaps I was being impatient…out of wanting to be friends with you quickly.”

“Please don’t worry about that. I’m the one who wants to get along with you. I know how important marketing is.”

“I’m grateful if that’s how you feel. I can’t tell you how many times I thought to myself, ‘I knew it’, during this New York business trip. It made me think you truly are the most outstanding entertainer I had ever seen.”

Unsure how to react to Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s ongoing praise, all Do Wook could do was smile awkwardly.

Even though it was praise he heard all the time, it always made him embarrassed.

The praise people gave Do Wook was not just their personal opinion, it was all fact, but it was still embarrassing for him to hear it.

“I mean it. You have all the qualities a person should have…That’s why I keep wanting to have a closer relationship with you.”

Laughing, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung finished speaking.

It was partly because they hadn’t worked together for long, but if you followed that logic, they had only met Han Jung Ah, who was their stylist at New York this time, a few days ago.

Do Wook was definitely wary of Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung from the beginning, so even Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung understood why Do Wook treated him differently than he did other staff.

‘I had decided to actively get closer to him since arriving in New York, but it inevitably was still obvious that there were unresolved boundaries.’

Along with that thought, Do Wook started to think Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung was definitely a sharp person even though he smiled in a way that comforted people.

“So why did you think that I’d feel uncomfortable around you because you came from Ara Entertainment?”

When Do Wook asked, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung pondered for a bit, then responded,

“KK and M2M were called rivals. There were also many articles comparing you and Seo Jun in particular…So I figured you’d be uncomfortable around someone from Ara Entertainment.”

It was a concern he had while moving from Ara Entertainment to HIT Entertainment.

Do Wook nodded his head.

However, it was simply that a rivalry was formed with KK’s recent rapid growth, there was still a big difference between Ara Entertainment and HIT Entertainment on a large scale.

In the entertainment industry, it was almost an unwritten rule not to change jobs among the three major agencies.

In particular, among the three major agencies, it was a stricter unwritten rule not to move between Ara and Cheongwol, who had a long established rivalry.

Nobody has ever said “you can’t do that”, but since it was a small industry, people kept to that as much as possible.

However, getting scouted from a large agency to a mid-sized agency was expected.

Mid-sized agencies tried to steal the highest middle management from the working staff to learn the know-how of large agencies.

However, since large agencies undeniably have a “brand value,” they had to pay a much higher salary to scout properly.

Since Ara and HIT Entertainment were not in a position to be called rivals, Team Leader Lee Dae-Hyung’s transfer was considered a promotion and raise from a large agency to a mid-sized agency.

The only thing was, although the companies weren’t rivals, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung was bothered by the fact that the groups the companies were managing were rivals.

That was the reason Do Wook was guarded around Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung too.

Do Wook thought that since Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung brought it up, he also should be more honest about things to a certain degree moving forward.

He didn’t have to bare his soul, but he had to show his own cards a certain amount so that the other person would reveal themselves too.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me at all. “

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung opened his eyes wide, a bit surprised, then soon agreed.

“As I thought…I see.”

“Since I have undoubtedly been paying attention to talk of being rivals…”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung said in response to Do Wook,

“It’s a little unexpected. I thought you wouldn’t really care about those things.”

“I couldn’t help it, since I’m only human.”

“Haha. Rather, it’s nice because I feel like I’ve discovered your human side.”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who laughed a little, got rid of his smile and said,

“If that’s the case, that’s more of a relief.”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung noticed Do Wook looking at him as if asking, “what do you mean?” and smiled. Unlike his usual carefree laughter, it was a very empty laugh.

“I told this to Department Head Jo Anna, but…actually I came here because I wanted to make KK even more successful.”

Do Wook stood there and just looked at Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung because it felt like an obvious interview answer.

“It’s true I felt HIT Entertainment had a vision, but that was the real reason. You’re already doing better than M2M, but I wanted to make KK more successful going forward.”

It wasn’t that he simply hoped to grow KK. Those words had some guilt behind them.

“When I was at Ara Entertainment there was a time I didn’t like KK, although it’s ridiculous. Haha. I’m childish like this.”

“…you didn’t like us?”

“Yes. It sounds like I’m showing off, but I’m also someone who is acknowledged as being very capable. It’s thanks to that that I was able to be involved in M2M’s planning too.”

Do Wook nodded his head as he listened intently to Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung.

“I don’t know about album production or other departments, but I don’t think my marketing plan for M2M was a mess.”

M2M’s marketing method was pretty similar to the marketing method that previously made Sa Bang Shin Hwa successful, but was also different.

While keeping the good parts from Sa Bang Shin Hwa’s marketing, they slightly modified it to fit the group M2M’s characteristics. They maximized exposure while not losing mysteriousness.

Do Wook had also thought it was good marketing. Furthermore, if it followed the way it was originally, M2M would have been in a higher position than KK.

It wasn’t that M2M didn’t do well, it was rather that KK became very successful.

“But he said it was my failure.”

There was bitterness in Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s words. Do Wook felt both surprise and pity at the same time.

“Why in the world…”

“Well, he didn’t say it was only my failure. The staff who produced M2M and the M2M members, we were all under pressure.”

“Honestly to call even that a failure…M2M is on their second album now, isn’t it a success? There were still a lot of opportunities left too.”

“Degree of failure and success is different from person to person. For Ara Entertainment I guess it was a failure. Especially to Director Seo…”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who had continued with his story, stopped talking. He thought he was talking too much in detail, even bringing up specific individuals.

“They were doing well until now. I started to have doubts as I saw how severely and immediately the company started pushing me because they were falling behind KK a little.”

Do Wook shook his head in his mind while listening to Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s story.

‘Director Seo Joong Won…he’s losing people on his own.’

It was the group his son Seo Kang Jun was a member of. Director Seo Joong Won probably thought that with the amount of ambitious planning he put in, they would undoubtedly be in first place and become successful.

Today was the result of him harassing his subordinates instead of thinking of trying harder when his pride was shattered.

A talent like Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung ended up coming over to HIT Entertainment.

“Honestly, even when the M2M members meet up, there is no excitement at all. In fact, even as I was planning and promoting them, I didn’t want to meet up with them…We discussed official things for a little bit and there was even a member who talked down to me despite me being significantly older because he knew he had backing.”

Do Wook didn’t bother to ask if that member was Seo Kang Jun. It was obvious.

“When I was having doubts, Department Head Jo contacted me and offered much better conditions. Conditions are one thing, but initially, I wanted to see for myself just how good KK was.

“I see.”

“I decided to leave Ara after I saw KK perform. It was completely different. Compared to the look in the M2M members’ eyes. Seeing you guys genuinely enjoy performing…I felt like I could give it my all into the marketing.”

“Thank you for seeing us in that light, sir.”

“Once I met you all in person, I felt even more certain. And before I left Ara, instead of asking me to reconsider and give it one more try, the company was verbally abusive at the exit interview. Saying we’ll see how well I do. It made me lose any attachment I had left for them.”

There was no way he could go back to Ara.

Do Wook could see that Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung had gone through a lot before he got here. He probably had many concerns about his decision.

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung was baring his soul.

During the short time in New York, he had been at Do Wook’s side observing him and had solidified his faith in Do Wook.

Even though it seemed like Do Wook was wary of the Team Leader, Lee Dae Hyung could undoubtedly feel his good nature.

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung had his own ambitions. His ambition was to rise to the position of a top marketing-related planner in the industry.

In that regard, he reaffirmed many times already that Do Wook was a star that he could bet his life on and work hard for. He was confident he would have no regrets leaving Ara and coming to HIT Entertainment.

To do that, he needed Do Wook’s trust more than anything.

And he felt that through his open confession he earned a certain degree of trust.

Actually, Do Wook genuinely understood Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung. As someone who was an agency employee at one point, he felt a sense of camaraderie.

Since an agency was focused on artists, there were inevitably many times when employees had to take responsibility for artists on top of making up for their shortcomings.

“Team Leader. Thank you for being honest with me.”

“Thank you for listening to my personal story when I’m sure you’re tired. Even though it might be company problems that might be hard for you to understand.”

“No, It’s nice because I feel like we can accomplish more moving forward.”

Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung and Do Wook looked at each other and laughed.

It seemed like Do Wook had gained another reliable ally who even knew the inner workings of the enemy well.

***

A few days after he got back from New York, Do Wook asked the members left in the dormitory to come to his studio.

“What is it?”

“What happened~!”

Ahn Hyung Seo and Kim Won entered Do Wook’s studio.

Do Wook wanted to share the title song of the soon-to-be-released third album with the KK members before anyone else.

This album was a very crucial album for KK to reach their peak.

“The song is ready.”

“Really? The title is ready?!”

“Yes. Although I’ll have to get feedback and work on the arrangement…”

“I can’t wait to listen to it! Play it!”

Ahn Hyung Seo urged Do Wook. The members were also overflowing with eagerness to do the comeback.

Through events like the concert tour and the award ceremony performance, they had already learned the highest joy of performing. They couldn’t wait to get on stage again.

Do Wook played back the song as he smiled.

“Huh?”

As it reached the chorus, Ahn Hyung Seo frowned at the familiar sounding melody.

“This is…”

—

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