Chapter 145
As soon as I returned from Japan, I went to Twin Enter.
Maybe they'd heard I was coming?
Ha Yujeong was waiting for me right at the company entrance.
"Welcome, Teacher Kang."
"It's been a while. How have you been?"
"Haha. Good. And you, Teacher?"
"Same as always."
"That's a good thing."
He grinned and said it casually before leading me inside.
I had come to Twin Enter today to introduce them to Kaede, whom I'd met in Japan, and to discuss their new idol project.
"We have more applicants than I expected."
"But is Twin Enter really this big? There are a lot more than I thought."
The first thing I saw when I entered the president's office was what looked like several hundred résumés.
He said nonchalantly that these were only the ones they'd kept after the first screening.
"Twin Enter is growing steadily. Not only is actor Ibin here, but singers and actors whose contracts have expired are coming to us."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Well, it's thanks to you, Teacher."
With Ibin, Kim Hyeon-woo, and Kang So-ra at the forefront, word was spreading through the entertainment industry.
One of Twin Enter's two investors was Kang Noah.
Rumors were spreading that if you joined Twin Enter, you could get good dramas and movies picked out for you.
"But I don't look over that many projects for people."
"But you did for Actor Ibin and Actor Kim Hyeon-woo, didn't you?"
Kang So-ra was on hiatus and hadn't asked, so I hadn't done it for her.
President Ha Yujeong looked exasperated, saying that I'd still looked after the pillars of Twin Enter.
"Hmm. Well, let's say that's true."
There didn't seem to be much point in arguing further, so let's leave that topic there.
"In any case, I looked into that girl, Kaede."
"You do that kind of background check?"
"Of course. I don't know if you've heard about Taehyun Entertainment, but there was a boy group there that was being prepared for debut."
"Oh?"
"There was this Japanese guy who looked really nice, but it turned out he'd been a biker gang member back in Japan."
That sounded oddly familiar.
"That's why background checks are essential. There's no exception just because they're from overseas."
"That's true. If you dig into someone's past, something's bound to turn up eventually."
The internet had developed to the point where you could see a thousand miles without leaving your seat.
So the most important thing was to find people with completely clean records.
"Anyway, I'd like you to take a look into their pasts during this round of auditions."
"Sure. Are you going to call all these people in?"
"Yes."
Was I supposed to read the fortunes of every single one of these people?
"We don't plan to finish in a single day. We're going to take at least a week to do this properly."
Glancing over the résumés, I saw applicants not just from Korea, but also from Japan and Taiwan, and even some from the West.
"They're not entirely Western. They're mixed-race."
"Well, you'd know more about that than I would, Mr. President."
In the first place, I didn't know much about idols.
He was including people of Western mixed heritage because he planned to target the U.S. market later.
After all, people were a little more favorable toward what's familiar to them.
"So when do the auditions start?"
"We prepared for this afternoon, since you said you'd be coming today. Would you join us at the judges' table while you're here?"
"I don't mind, but will they let me read their fortunes?"
Anyone with something to hide wouldn't turn over the card I held out.
Of course, even if they didn't turn over a card, I could still see their past and future.
"We're the ones who make the selections. And we're the ones who set the evaluation criteria."
Got a problem with that, human?
I was in a position to say, "If you don't like it, get lost," so I could just do as I pleased.
"And they'll sign a consent form for the use of their personal information, too."
Ah. If that's the case, then it couldn't be helped.
Their pasts were personal information, too.
.
.
.
After a brief chat, I toured Twin Enter.
The facilities had definitely improved since the last time I'd been there.
The practice rooms looked better, and the sound equipment was quite good, too.
As I was walking around the company with President Ha Yujeong, a man approached us.
"President!!"
"Oh, Composer Kim."
He was a man in his forties, dressed casually.
He came over with a broad smile and politely greeted me.
"Wow!! I never thought I'd meet one of the investors in person like this. I'm Kim Seong-ju. I go by MK professionally."
"MK... Ah. I've heard of you. You composed 'Shining Star,' right?"
"Haha! Yes! Wow~! I never thought you'd have heard one of my old songs, Teacher!"
Of course I'd heard it.
He'd been composing Dunsa's opening theme since its third anniversary.
It was a really good song.
He'd also composed the OST track, and I'd listened to it a lot back in high school.
"Your songs are still on my playlist, Composer Kim."
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes. And the Dunsa Chapter 5 theme song is really good, too..."
"I'm honored! Haha!! I enjoy playing Dunsa, too. Which server are you on, by the way...?"
"I'm..."
Unfortunately, we were on different servers, so we wouldn't be running dungeons together.
But that wasn't important, so let's move on.
"Since we happened to meet, would you like me to read your fortune?"
"To think I can get a reading from Teacher Kang, whose fortunes aren't available for all the money in the world. Haha!! Switching to Twin Enter was the right choice."
When Ha Yujeong became president, she began aggressively recruiting talent, and he was one of her hires.
She believed that to properly raise idols, a company needed to have at least a producer and a composer on staff.
"Hmm. Composer Kim Seong-ju, you're working on a new song right now, but you're having a lot of trouble with it."
"Yes. Actually, I'm thinking about what the theme of this song should be."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Another company commissioned it, so I'm preparing it as an outside project..."
He was torn between writing a song that would be conventionally popular and one he'd wanted to write for a long time.
"Didn't the other company have any requests?"
"I tailored it to them. And it's a composer's basic job to make a song that suits the singer's voice. Ah. Would you like to listen to them?"
If I had musical sensibility or talent, I might be able to tell by listening.
I had neither.
I only knew the results.
I went into his studio with President Ha Yujeong and listened to two songs.
Honestly, I thought both were good, but...
"I like the first one you played, the ordinary song that's likely to be popular."
"Pardon?"
"It'll hit number one on the charts. For about three weeks."
"Oh...!! What about the other song?"
"It won't even chart."
It was a song packed full of Kim Seong-ju's ego.
Even though it was sung by a famous singer, it would chart on the first day and then keep falling afterward.
"A small number of people will say it's really good. But it's not very mainstream..."
The composer's ego was so heavily infused into it that only certain people would listen to it.
In the future I saw, Kim Seong-ju just smiled, but he actually seemed pretty upset.
"Hmm. I see. As expected of you, Teacher."
He said he would send the first song, then grinned.
"With Teacher Kang here, there's nothing to fear. Aren't you lucky, President?"
Instead of answering, Ha Yujeong smiled.
"We're going to get lunch. Would you like to join us?"
"Are you serious? That's great. I was going to eat alone today, so I thought I'd just have cup noodles."
"Let's go."
And so, I left the company with the two of them.
I didn't know any good restaurants in the area, so I asked, and Kim Seong-ju smiled.
"If you're here, then that place is definitely the best."
"Where?"
"A Korean restaurant called Ttori's. It's cheap and delicious."
There was no reason not to go if it was cheap and tasty.
Guided by the two of them, I arrived at a shabby restaurant.
It was shabby, but clean, and packed with customers, proof that it was a popular restaurant.
"Teacher. This place is famous for its spicy pork."
"A real man can't turn down spicy pork."
Since there were three men eating, we all settled on the same menu.
"Auntie!! Three servings of spicy pork, please!!"
"Coming right up~!"
The women were bustling around.
Maybe because most of the customers were men, the tables turned over incredibly quickly.
The people at the next table got their food about ten minutes ago, but they're already finished and leaving.
"This must be a popular spot with office workers."
"Yes. The food's good, it's cheap, and the portions are generous. I used to come here often when I was still unknown. It's popular with broke composers, too."
Composer Kim grinned.
In the meantime, the side dishes arrived.
They were greens that were hard to have at home.
"Auntie. Two servings of spicy pork here."
Just then, a man came and sat at the empty seat beside us.
At a glance, he didn't look like he was doing too well.
Dark circles under his eyes.
Hollow cheeks.
Without even trying to hide how tired he looked, he bowed his head and stared gloomily at the table.
"Hmm..."
"Teacher? What's wrong?"
I focused my attention on him.
Watching the young man, who looked so depressed he might burst into tears at any moment, I stood up.
"Hello."
"Yes? Uh... I don't have any money, so I can't buy anything..."
He must have thought I was a peddler.
He glanced at me, then suddenly looked startled.
"H-Huh?! C-Could you be Noah hyung?!"
So now he was looking at me properly?
As he stared at me blankly, I held out a card.
"Want to turn this over??"
"Pardon? Uh... Uhhh. I-I don't have any money... I only have enough for my meal..."
"It's free."
At the word "free," the young man carefully turned over the card.
Seeing it, I smiled and said,
"Go Yeong-jun."
"....!!!"
That wasn't the man's name.
"You're being exploited by Go Yeong-jun."
"......."
His eyes trembled.
Seeing him at a loss, President Ha Yujeong and Composer Kim Seong-ju looked puzzled.
"Wait. Do you mean that Go Yeong-jun?"
Go Yeong-jun, the top composer in Korea, had created dozens of hit songs.
His name was renowned as a producer, too.
Yes. He was exactly the person I meant.
"Exploited...? Wait. D-Don't tell me..."
"Yes."
I pointed at the young man.
"Go Yeong-jun was stealing songs that man had written and releasing them as his own."