Chapter 74
“Siyeon. Here! Say ah…!”“…Unnie. I can eat on my own.”
I obediently accepted the chocolate Yuina held out with a little chomp.
Being taken care of in turn by a girl who looked exactly like the child I had raised almost like a younger sister in my previous life… wasn’t as bad as I had expected.
I felt a strange, guilty pleasure and wanted this moment to continue, but I soon came to my senses and hurriedly lifted my head from her thigh.
“Hm?”
“Unnie. Do you know who’s coming today?”
“Y-yeah. I do… I’m already nervous.”
No wonder she had been unusually friendly with me today. It seemed she was feeling somewhat nervous because of the person who was scheduled to visit later.
Because I had been extremely close to a girl who resembled her in my previous life, I couldn’t help tending to keep some distance from Yuina in this life.
Besides, I had even suffered because I got too close to her…
‘There won’t be any dating rumors in this life, but…’
Even so, the trauma of the dating rumors that had erupted between me and that girl from my previous life still lingered in my mind.
“Haruka sunbae. I’m looking forward to this.”
“She really is impressive. She hasn’t even reached her mid-twenties, but she’s already approaching ten years of experience. Japan is a little different from Korea in that respect.”
“…I’m pretty young too.”
“If I debut next year, I’ll be debuting a year later than Haruka did.”
In fact, Korean society had traditionally held somewhat strict views regarding the ages of girl-group members.
However, Starlight’s Yu Inyoung had stormed through the audition process and debuted at fourteen, so it was practically safe to say those standards no longer existed.
Even so, Yuina, who would be turning fifteen, was still quite young.
“When are the other unnies coming?”
“Oh! Looking at the group chat… it seems like everyone will be here within twenty minutes!”
The requests Haruka had made of us weren’t particularly difficult to fulfill.
Lee Ha-jun had already handled most of the basic negotiations.
I mean matters like the revenue split and signing bonus… the sort of things adults talked about.
We had also gotten her to agree, at least to some extent, to the basic concept and roadmap that Lee Ha-jun and I had decided on together.
She didn’t seem completely convinced, but she had given us her general agreement, so we could persuade her little by little.
If she had been some mediocre trainee rather than Haruka, I could have skipped all these procedures and simply pushed through with whatever I wanted, but she was someone with unmistakable top-tier recognition and skill at the moment.
Even I, who was called Korea’s greatest hitmaker, couldn’t push her around.
Haruka said she wanted to meet the lineup that would debut alongside her before making her final decision.
Considering her position and circumstances, I could understand why she was being so cautious.
After all, if she debuted this time, this would become her final idol activity.
Although Haruka had already earned enough money and fame through her activities in Japan, she had challenged herself in Korea once again because she wanted to make a name for herself around the world.
She had already achieved that goal to some extent through her activities with Starlight, but she still seemed thirsty for more.
“…Breaking into Billboard, huh.”
Billboard.
An American chart, and the dream stage of every singer.
At the same time, it was a place that could also be called a dream stage for composers.
Even I, in my previous life, had managed to set foot there.
Toward the end of my previous life, the song I had worked on as the main producer reached number eighty-seven on the Hot 100 at its highest.
I had basically just dipped a toe in and come back down.
Of course, I had reached the top ranks on charts such as the Global 200, which aren’t local charts, but my results on the Billboard Hot 100, its most important chart, could still be called somewhat underwhelming.
Haruka told us that her goal was to reach the upper ranks of the Billboard charts.
For now, that sounded no different from a delusion, but by the time the pandemic ended, it wouldn’t be strange at all for K-pop to be there.
The Korean Wave would be recreated in this life in much the same form as in my previous one.
Korea’s production capabilities had already reached a kind of singularity, after all.
As I passed the time eating chocolate with Yuina, more and more people gradually filled the office.
Lee Hanan, Choi Hagyeong, and Lee Hyena arrived in that order. Seeing everyone wearing their masks properly, just as I had asked, made me feel rather proud.
We couldn’t afford to do anything that might give people grounds to criticize us at a time like this. If the ban on gatherings had been issued a little later, we would have had to hold this meeting remotely as well.
Blue Sky Entertainment currently leased and used a four-story building on the outskirts of Seoul.
Rent was far too expensive in the city center, so we had simply found a decent building in the outskirts.
Perhaps because of that, the building itself was quite comfortable.
Anyway, while I chatted with everyone for a while and had my cheeks, which had become company property, pinched and kneaded…
“…She’s here.”
Haruka walked in.
Lee Hyena and I were the first to go out to meet her. Unfortunately, Lee Ha-jun couldn’t join us because he had a meeting with a broadcasting station about Blooming.
Since the two of us were already acquainted with her, we greeted her first.
Only after entering the building did she lower her mask slightly, smile softly, and look at us.
“Unnie! Long time no see. Hehe.”
“Haruka unnie. You’re still pretty.”
She gave us a small smile and replied.
“You two are, as well.”
She soon shifted her gaze behind us and looked at the three trainees standing there with somewhat stiff expressions.
She muttered under her breath.
“…Approved. They’re freaking cute.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. Siyeon, I wonder what our trainees are like skill-wise?”
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t help falling into thought for a moment.
For trainees their age, Yuina, Lee Hanan, and Choi Hagyeong…
All three possessed considerable skill.
Yuina clearly showed the same killer vocal tone as that girl from my previous life, while Choi Hagyeong possessed such excellent dancing skills that she could proudly boast about her long experience with street dance.
Lee Hanan also had well-rounded stats without any particular weakness, while Lee Hyena was a fully formed, balanced idol who needed no further explanation.
However, if you asked whether they were on Haruka’s level… the answer was obviously no.
Haruka’s skill was considered top-tier even among idols.
“Hmm. They’re not on Haruka unnie’s level, but they meet my standards.”
“Really? Then that’s enough.”
“Huh? Is that enough?”
I couldn’t help feeling a little puzzled when she said she wasn’t going to assess their skills herself.
She was saying that she trusted my judgment… but when had we ever been close enough for her to place that kind of trust in me?
It might sound strange to say, but my connection with Haruka wasn’t particularly deep.
We were basically just acquaintances through social media, a relationship similar to that between internet friends.
What, then, was the source of the trust she was showing me?
“Why are you so surprised? She trusts your judgment, Siyeon.”
“My judgment?”
“Yeah. Who was it that brought those girls from Blooming, who had barely received any attention, all the way to where they are now? You’ve more than earned the right to be trusted.”
Was that so?
When I heard it put that way, it did seem to make sense.
I looked at her with a slightly moved expression.
“Still, if you’re going to handle Blooming’s songs, our songs, and your own solo activities… I’m worried you’ll be too busy.”
“Ah. If that’s what you’re worried about, you don’t have to be.”
“Hm?”
“I’m putting my solo activities on hold!”
“Eeeang?”
* * *
After hearing my story, Haruka relaxed her expression and posture as though she had been worrying for nothing, sat down comfortably, and finally let out what she had been holding back.
“What? That’s all? It’s no big deal.”
“…What do you mean, no big deal?”
“I thought you meant you were quitting altogether.”
“You know. Once you’ve properly experienced the thrill of performing onstage, you can’t quit anymore.”
There was a reason singers loved performing concerts. The light sticks and sing-alongs created by thousands of audience members responding solely to you would be a truly spectacular sight.
Honestly, I already couldn’t wait for the concerts I would hold in the future.
“Well, that’s true. It’s hard to forget that moment. That experience is why I love being an idol.”
In that sense, Haruka was one of the people who had truly experienced the thrill of performing onstage. She had gone on a dome tour when she was with AKB.
On top of that, she had performed at 50,000-seat stadiums several times.
“If even I didn’t know yet… you really kept it hidden.”
“I suppose so.”
“Then when will you announce it?”
“I’ll announce it in my acceptance speech at the KMA. I’ve already recorded the video!”
“Isn’t that today?”
Hearing that, I opened the calendar and checked the date.
January 15.
“You’re right.”
“……”
I had forgotten amid the busyness, but today was finally the day the Korean Popular Music Awards winners would be announced, and…
the day I would tell the public that I was suspending my solo activities.