Chapter 70
Before the WMA began, there were two grand prizes people felt certain about.
Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.
Song of the Year could still change depending on the judges' decision, but people considered these two unchangeable because RPS and Seo Siyeon had achieved overwhelmingly superior results.
Yet glassy sky, which obviously should have won Song of the Year, failed to receive the award. Seo Siyeon had won it, of course, but those watching the WMA in real time couldn't help wondering, “Could it be?”
What's to stop someone who rigged it once from rigging it twice?
-Even so, they can't rig this one.
↳Yeah, if they rig it, it'll affect the prestige of the award too.
-I guess Siyeon must be nervous.
-Let's see the grade-school girl win two WMA awards.
↳Why does something like this even exist?
-Honestly, even winning one grand prize is historic, lol. A nine-year-old who's not even an idol winning a grand prize, lol.
↳Info) Winter Girl, Bluesky Entertainment's senior artist, doesn't have a grand prize either.
↳Wait, Winter Girl doesn't have a grand prize?
↳Yeah, that's how fucking hard it is to win one.
-Blooming not getting a grand prize is fucking ridiculous.
↳It's kind of messed up because it was so blatantly rigged…
Yoo Sanghun watched the live chat descend into chaos and brought his wineglass to his lips.
As the sharp aroma of the wine enveloped his mouth, he quietly addressed his wife sitting beside him.
“What do you think about Seol-ha not receiving a grand prize?”
“Hmph. I don't care what happens to the girl who ran away from home saying she wanted to become a performer.”
“Haha. You say that, but didn't you follow her all the way to Gangwon?”
“…I went only because it was my duty as her mother.”
Honestly, Yoo Sanghun didn't have any particular thoughts about his daughter failing to win an award.
From his perspective, it was more than enough that the daughter who could have become a fine marriage-alliance card if she'd lived an ordinary life had instead become a nationwide star.
He also didn't particularly agree with the public calling his daughter a genius.
Because there was a true genius even more brilliant than her standing at her side.
“…Darling. Are you planning to keep expanding the entertainment company?”
“Probably. It wouldn't hurt for our company to have a subsidiary of some size. If we can grow it into a major entertainment agency, it'll be useful in many ways.”
Yuseong Semiconductor was a company whose public recognition was remarkably low compared to its size.
That was why he was quite pleased that his daughter was introducing a company called Yuseong Semiconductor to the public in this way.
‘Though it's not a company that directly leads the front lines of exports…’
The public paid plenty of attention to semiconductor companies that led exports, but showed little interest in the equipment manufacturers that made those exports possible.
Yuseong Semiconductor ranked among Korea's top companies as a standalone business, but the public perceived it as merely mid-sized. That was why.
From his perspective, the amount of money invested in the entertainment business wasn't particularly large.
Besides, someone else was handling the day-to-day operations, so he didn't need to worry about it.
Yet the mere presence of Seo Siyeon and his daughter was causing the recognition of a company that had been crawling along at rock bottom to skyrocket.
It was, in every sense, a ridiculously sweet deal his daughter had brought home.
“It isn't profitable, but it does bring prestige. And if we want to protect Seol-ha's activities from the sidelines, wouldn't it be better for us to keep her under our direct management?”
“Even so, the task that girl asked us to handle will take quite a bit of effort.”
“Even so, when you consider what we stand to gain, we can count it as cost-effective.”
“If we'd just left her alone, she could have married into a decent family… That girl is quite something.”
“You're the only one who calls your daughter that.”
Why else would Yoo Seol-ha, unlike the friends she made music with, have been so determined to succeed?
Unlike the other girls, Yoo Seol-ha could be used as a pawn in a marriage alliance.
She knew that all too well herself, which was why she'd worked as hard as possible to escape that fate.
“Looks like she inherited my eye for friends.”
Yoo Sanghun's wife said that as she watched the television.
On the screen was a cute girl with a slightly stiff, seemingly nervous expression that nevertheless made adults' hearts flutter in a strange way.
Her adorable face suffered not at all, even in the typical extreme close-up shot.
And more astonishing still was the genius she had displayed at such a young age.
-Then, I will announce the winner.
In that moment, Seo Siyeon appeared on the left, RPS on the right, and the host in the center.
The blatant composition, suggesting that one of the two would receive the grand prize, made Yoo Sanghun tilt his head with interest.
-The best artist who delighted our eyes and ears throughout this year is…!
-Congratulations ——
“As expected, my investment wasn't a mistake.”
Muttering that, Yoo Sanghun smiled with satisfaction.
* * *
“Congratulations! Seo Siyeon.”
Unlike earlier, I stood up the instant I heard my name.
Applause poured in from every direction, and when I looked around, the Blooming members were congratulating me on my award with brighter expressions than ever.
I slowly took one step after another toward the stage I had gone up onto countless times earlier.
“Siyeon's the best!”
Jia of Bad Monster, who had also been nominated, gave me a thumbs-up with shining eyes.
“Congratulations.”
Joo Jin-woo, dressed in a suit and applauding me, also offered me a quiet word of congratulations as I walked by.
I exchanged a quick greeting with the Starlight members when our eyes met along the way.
“Congratulations, Siyeon.”
The ballad singer Lee Seunghyun, whom I had briefly gotten to know on When Music Is Good, also gave me a small thumbs-up in congratulations.
And finally, I reached the podium and stood there.
I accepted the small trophy the host handed me.
Even though it was called small, it was still quite large and cumbersome for my body.
Then I accepted the microphone the host extended toward me and spoke lightly, as if exhaling.
“I don't know how many times I've come up here today.”
Small laughs could be heard from here and there.
“Honestly, I couldn't have predicted receiving a grand prize at the WMA—at least not until six months ago. I was just an ordinary girl back then.”
“And recently, I thought I didn't really need to win an award. Because I thought the value of music wasn't determined by an award someone gave it. Well, I guess you can think of that as the arrogant idea of a little brat with an artistic complex.”
I sucked some water through the straw stuck into a bottle of mineral water to wet my throat, then continued.
“But it feels even better than I expected. I don't know whether this honor will reach my parents in heaven.”
A brief commotion broke out among the audience at the same time. The question of whether her parents were alive or dead, which had never been revealed until now, had just been definitively answered.
Originally, I had planned to finish my remarks there and step down from the podium.
The WMA had at least stayed within the bounds of decency, and in the end, I had received the honor of taking home two grand prizes.
However, I've always been the kind of person who can't rest until I say what needs to be said.
If I let things end on such an unpleasant note here…
‘I might regret it.’
Because there was no telling when they might disadvantage our mid-sized agency again.
Making sure that didn't happen in the future was obviously the right thing to do.
So, after a brief silence, I opened my mouth again.
“Still, since this is such a prestigious award, I do wish the criteria for awarding it had been a little clearer.”
I finished speaking, handed the microphone back to the host, and scampered back to my seat.
Everyone in attendance was left speechless by the pointed remark, whose intent they could all clearly sense.
* * *
“What were you thinking?”
“It pissed me off. It was obviously an unfair result.”
“…We were fine.”
“I'm not fine. You ladies are the group I'm producing, and I have no intention of sitting by while you're treated unfairly.”
Of course, I hadn't given that speech without thinking it through.
The WMA was an awards ceremony operated by the music site Watermelon.
But there was no way they alone could prepare a stage and awards ceremony of this scale. There were countless partners and sponsors, some of them intricately connected to various companies.
One of those was the concert-planning agency Siref.
It was regarded as one of the best agencies in Korea, handling everything from domestic concerts and events to visits by overseas pop stars and dome tours by Japanese bands.
It was a first-rate company in this field.
And Siref's president was the second daughter of RJ Group, one of Korea's major cultural conglomerates.
In other words, it was fair to regard Siref as an RJ Group affiliate.
“I've already finished talking to Seol-ha's father. He said he'd help us.”
“…Already?”
“It was predictable, actually. I was certain they'd disadvantage us somehow.”
And Yoo Seol-ha's mother was the fourth daughter of RJ Group.
On top of that, Samyeon Securities, the WMA's largest sponsor, was an affiliate of Samyeon Group, whose cash cow was Samyeon Electronics, a memory semiconductor manufacturer.
Since they were in no position to manufacture semiconductors without Yuseong Semiconductor, a company that made photolithography equipment, they had no choice but to be mindful of Yuseong.
“They used the power of their corporations, so… it isn't cheating for us to use ours too, right?”
I said that with a sly grin.
Unaware that the smile somehow came across as sinister.