Chapter 61
***
Siana Jeremy Swimmel.
She had always thought she was an extraordinary person.
That was because she had always succeeded ever since founding the studio called Swimmel.
'As expected, I'm the best.'
She knew that her eye was always right.
She could recognize people capable of rising to great heights.
She could lead people with brilliant talent.
She thought she possessed the most important talent of all for someone making a living in the entertainment industry.
And she also possessed the arrogance that talented people inevitably had.
She trusted only her own eye.
Her judgment and evaluations were always right.
Siana believed that no amount of loss mattered if it proved her judgment correct.
The board of directors didn't like that.
"...It's my company!! I raised it!! I built it!!"
"Siana. That's only your opinion. Swimmel can no longer entrust everything to your arbitrary judgment."
The board's representative spoke coldly.
They acknowledged Siana's talent.
But there were far too many things that had to be sacrificed for that talent.
"How did the singer you said had the potential to become a once-in-a-century star perform last month?"
His songs hadn't spread even in small clubs, let alone made it onto the Billboard charts.
"That kid has great potential. He needs to be trained more before he can fully bloom!"
"I know. According to your theory, he would have to wander for at least three more years. But Swimmel isn't in good enough shape to invest that much in him."
"What?"
"Of all the people you've brought in as talents so far, fewer than half have achieved meaningful results. Of course, that's still a lot, but..."
The question was whether they had recouped as much as they had invested.
They hadn't.
So far, the only ones at Swimmel who had earned back more than their investment were two singers, Joanna and Maxwell.
"Siana. It's not that we don't trust your eye. But I think we have to stop you from using the company's resources as freely as you wish."
"You idiots...!! Why can't you see where the times are headed?!"
They were making their decisions based on numbers.
But art was different.
What it took to turn talent into a star couldn't be judged by numbers alone.
As The Little Prince had said, grown-ups loved numbers.
These people were no different.
They weren't interested in what kind of influence the singers Siana discovered would have.
They didn't care how deeply those singers could move people's hearts.
All that mattered was how much they could pour in and how much they could get back.
That was all.
Siana thought she was a genius.
And.
She thought she was the Little Prince standing alone in another world.
***
Siana stared blankly at me.
She thought I was a star.
A star hidden by the light of dawn.
She thought I was a mass of talent capable of becoming as brilliant as it pleased.
Honestly, it was something to be grateful for.
It meant she thought that highly of me.
But she would never be able to raise someone like me properly.
Nor did I intend to be raised.
After all, Jeremy was far too harsh when it came to raising talented people...
I had no desire to become a star, so I decided to simply tell her what I had seen and be done with it.
"Next month, the board will put forward a motion to remove you as president. The reason will be that your management strategy is causing losses for the company."
"That can't be. It can't. Everything I've done was for the company..."
"But the profits aren't very large."
"......."
She wasn't a bad person.
She could be called an excellent producer, manager, and artist.
But if the question was whether she was suited to be president, someone who had to prioritize the company's profits, then the answer was probably no.
"In the past, that line was heading toward profit, but recently, it's been heading toward losses."
"......."
"The board is no longer willing to overlook that. Well, being removed as president doesn't mean you have to leave the company. You could probably remain as the main producer..."
"Don't be ridiculous!! Why should I?! I'm the president!! I built this company, and I made everything! But! But you're going to kick me out!!"
After shouting as if she were having a fit, she glared at me with murderous intensity.
No, even if she glared at me, I was only telling her what I had seen.
Still huffing, she turned around and walked away.
Joanna watched her blankly and sighed.
"I-I'll apologize on her behalf."
"No. It's not like I was offended. And..."
"Huh?"
"If that president asks you to tell her where I'm staying, tell her."
"Huh? Uh, Siana has quite a lot of pride, so she probably won't contact you after leaving like that."
"Well, then that's the end of it."
.
.
.
I had fun today, too.
We went to Baltimore, stopped by Annapolis, and returned to Washington, D.C.
We spent quite a while in the car, but there was still more to see and do than yesterday.
"Ah. That was fun."
"It was. The ocean was prettier than I expected."
"The seafood was delicious too. I never knew American seafood could be so cheap and tasty."
"Indeed."
"Russian seafood is delicious too."
We were talking about everything that had happened today when we returned to the hotel.
A woman was sitting in the hotel lobby.
It was the woman we'd seen that morning.
Siana Jeremy Swimmel.
The president of Swimmel.
The woman renowned as a genius producer was sitting in the hotel lobby when she suddenly sprang to her feet.
Then, unsure of what to do, she began approaching us.
"...Mr. Kang."
"Yes."
"How can I... how can I get out of this crisis?"
Right. She must have been feeling the pressure.
I shrugged as I met her trembling eyes.
But I was only someone who saw the future, not someone who provided answers.
"The board made that decision because they judged your methods to be wrong, so shouldn't you just change your methods?"
"Should I give up Suna...?"
I didn't know who Suna was.
But seeing that the future hadn't changed, I figured that alone wouldn't be enough.
"What about Rowen? Aitch? Grammier?"
She rattled off the names as if having a fit.
But the future didn't change.
The future in which she lost her position as president and became an ordinary producer held its ground like solid concrete.
"What do I have to give up to remain in this position?"
"I don't know."
"......."
"But, Ms. Siana, wouldn't other people know the answer rather than me?"
"Yes...?"
"There should be a man named Rodwin among the company's directors."
"...Yes!! There is!! An extremely fussy fellow...!!"
"He'll know the answer."
"Will he... answer me...?"
Siana grew dejected, saying that she usually had a great deal of friction with him.
She seemed to think that everything was over now.
"He'll tell you the answer."
"How do you know?"
"Why don't you try calling him first?"
Siana hesitated, then made the call.
After a brief ringing tone, English came through the phone.
I didn't know what they were saying, but as the conversation continued, Siana's expression gradually brightened.
And then.
When she hung up, her future had changed.
Rather than stepping down as president because of the directors' lack of confidence in her, she had become a leader who ran the company together with the directors.
What on earth had they talked about?
I looked at Hong Si-yeon.
"Hmm. So there was a way to do that... Huh? Why?"
"What did Siana say?"
"It's a matter of business management... In short, it's complicated. Would you like me to explain?"
"Could you put it as simply as possible, so even a monkey could understand?"
"The president agreed to reduce expenses and add the directors' approval process when bringing in new artists."
"...That's all?"
"Yes. From what I could roughly hear on the phone, it sounded like the directors did trust Siana's eye. They just didn't like her arbitrary behavior and judgments."
"Oh, I see."
"There were some other negotiations too, but those weren't important."
"Hmm. Then that's settled."
Anyway, was this problem solved?
Then I could go inside and go to s...
"Mr. Kang!!"
A hand grabbed my arm.
It was Siana.
Her eyes were shining even more brightly than before.
"Good heavens... you're the real deal!! You really are! Damn, what a mass of talent!!"
She seemed like a crazy woman.
She screamed on her own, clung tightly to me, and trembled, not knowing what to do.
Then, looking at me with eyes full of madness, she spoke seriously.
"Let me ask you once again, Mr. Kang. I will make you the most brilliant star of all."
She looked confident.
So I answered.
"Siana."
"Yes!! Anything!! Tell me anything!!"
"Do I look like someone who needs another person in order to shine?"
"Th-that..."
She knew it too.
She knew that I could grow perfectly well on my own.
Perhaps because of that, the joy that had looked almost like madness until just moments ago subsided in an instant.
"...Ah. Really. What a shame..."
Siana looked dejected and let out a small sigh.
"Then... why did you help me? Why did you help me remain president when you weren't going to use me or join hands with me?"
I shrugged at her question.
"Because you're a good person."
At my answer, Siana expressed her surprise with a blank look on her face.
Judging from the past I had seen, she was certainly an arbitrary president.
But that didn't mean she was a bad person.
She loved talented people, but that didn't mean she hated people.
"You volunteered to become Santa Claus for orphans, and you enjoyed performing at nursing homes."
Was that all?
She had never hesitated to send singers and actors from her company to perform for soldiers, either.
I couldn't carelessly judge her as a businesswoman, but I could judge Siana as a person.
She was good enough to deserve my help.
That's why I helped her.
That was the entirety of the reason I helped her.
"Well, it's not that there's nothing I'd like to ask you."
"W-what is it?! If there's something you want...!!"
A producer who made American pop stars.
Siana, who was highly respected in the American entertainment industry, had become part of my network of connections.