Chapter 42
As I shook Kim Gi-bok's hand and said I looked forward to working with him, Choi Ho-cheol looked surprised rather than immediately displeased.
He'd naturally assumed he'd be the one chosen?
You're not picking me?
That was the face he was making.
He wasn't the only one who'd thought that.
Even CEO Cheon Tae-o seemed to have expected me to work with Nampo-dong Nuclear Fist.
“Composer STB is respected in his own right, so I hope you two work well together. Then, naturally, Composer Nampo-dong Nuclear Fist will be working with Oasis.”
Choi Ho-cheol nodded.
“Well. I'm not particularly disappointed. The Oasis girls are plenty charming, too. But Team Leader Kim, was it? I wonder if you might regret your choice. I was a little rude a few times today, so maybe that's the reason.”
So he knew he was an asshole.
“At this point, a composer has to show you what he can do through his songs, not his words. Team Leader Park, and everyone in Oasis, just trust me. I'll make you an incredible song and bring it to you.”
“Th-thank you!”
At Choi Ho-cheol's words, the Oasis girls sprang to their feet once again and bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
Whatever kind of person Choi Ho-cheol was.
Setting that aside, Nampo-dong Nuclear Fist's fame and skill were the real deal.
Maybe everyone had expected things to turn out this way.
Leaving his character and my instincts aside.
In the end, the entertainment industry was a cruel place where only the talented survived.
“In a way, it feels like everyone has ended up where they belong. This feels right.”
“Hmm.”
As if he'd already forgotten Choi Ho-cheol's behavior,
Park Ju-yong nodded with a satisfied expression.
That guy really did think all's well that ends well.
“I'm pleased, too. It seems like everyone got a result they're satisfied with.”
Cheon Tae-o nodded,
then turned around.
I thought he was leaving, but he called out to me a moment later.
“Oh. Team Leader Kim. Could you come with me for a moment?”
“Yes?”
“I have a gift in my car. I thought I'd give it to you.”
“Ah. Yes, all right.”
In a state of considerable tension, I followed Cheon Tae-o down to the parking garage.
When I was briefly stunned by his flashy foreign car,
“Would you like me to get you one? If you want, I can get you one of the popular models these days.”
“Pardon? Ah, no. The Carnival I drive now is the best.”
I didn't think I'd be particularly happy driving an expensive car by myself at this point.
Whether we were going to the dermatologist,
or shopping,
the noisy Carnival, with all the girls piled in and music playing, really was the best.
“You really don't have much ambition. That's what worries me more. People without ambition...”
“……”
“...aren't easy to handle.”
My body stiffened in an instant.
It felt like an unexpected remark had shot straight in and stabbed my brain.
“……”
“……”
A brief silence followed.
If the awkward atmosphere had gone on any longer, I might've blurted out some smooth line about how it was all a joke.
But Cheon Tae-o didn't do that at all.
I could sense his intent, and that it was deliberate.
He'd said it so I'd hear.
And more than that, Cheon Tae-o had no intention of denying it.
“I. I have plenty of ambition.”
When I said that to Cheon Tae-o as he got into his car,
he sat in the driver's seat, rolled down the window, and showed his face as he spoke.
“That's very good to hear. I like ambitious people.”
Because they're easier to handle?
That question almost slipped out without me thinking.
But not yet.
‘I still have a long way to go.’
I hadn't made it this far through Nobel's power alone.
My own effort and growth were definitely part of it.
But only a tiny fraction.
There was still a huge gap between me and a man who'd built a company from the ground up as its sole CEO.
“I felt a lot of different emotions today, for the first time in a long while.”
“……”
“Although I had some idea of what to expect from Team Leader Kim's confidence, the emotion that swept over me still exceeded even that. For a moment, I saw hope right there. I almost said it out loud in front of everyone.”
“……”
“And I almost felt disappointed, too. I wondered if you'd made that decision simply out of consideration for the Oasis girls, or because you didn't like the man.”
Wasn't it ridiculous?
He wasn't openly bullying or belittling me like Park Ju-yong,
yet I felt small.
More than anything, what scared me was how much sharper this man's eye was than Park Ju-yong's.
“But now that I think about it, I believe I had the same thought when you first brought those girls in.”
“……!”
“You were given a team leader position, and I wondered who you kept bringing in. As the trainers said, at first they were less than chicks. But now those chicks have become hens. No, magnificent peacocks, ready to take flight.”
“……”
“Thinking about that, I wonder if you're seeing something different from the rest of us. At this point, it almost feels like God has granted you some kind of gift, just because He wants to see something entertaining. Hahaha. I only said that because I thought that's what I might do if I were God, so don't take it too seriously.”
[…….]
Cheon Tae-o soon faced forward again and said,
“I don't know about anyone else, but I can trust you, Team Leader Kim. Yes. I believe in you.”
Seeing him about to press the accelerator and drive off, I spoke up.
I wasn't sure why I knew this.
Maybe I'd seen it at the zoo when I was a kid.
“CEO Cheon. Peacocks don't really like to fly. Instead, they only take off when they encounter a predator or need to escape.”
I was saying that because I hoped he wouldn't pressure me any further.
“I see. I'll remember that.”
Why was that?
It felt like Cheon Tae-o had been thinking that, if so, he'd break their wings.
“Oh, right. Here's some ginseng. Take this and keep working hard.”
“Pardon?”
He handed me the fancy box from the passenger seat,
then, before I could even properly thank him, CEO Cheon Tae-o drove off with a vroom and disappeared into the distance.
“Ginseng? Fuck. Is he telling me to eat this and fuck even harder or what?”
[This looks like really high-grade stuff.]
[This ginseng is worth about twenty million won.]
“Eek!”
Hearing that the box in my hands was worth that much, I almost dropped it without meaning to.
I nearly fucked up.
‘I've still got a long way to go.’
I was trembling over twenty million won?
How was I supposed to deal with Cheon Tae-o, when I didn't even know what was going on in that bastard's head?
That guy might really break the wings of our beloved chicks.
“What peacocks? Our girls are all fighting cocks, if you ask me. Let's give the ginseng to my parents.”
I turned around, and—
“Ah! You scared me.”
I grabbed my chest.
Because the Oasis girls were staring at me, their three faces huddled together, looking like they were about to cry at any moment.
Like three abandoned kittens in a box.
“Thank you, Team Leader.”
“We're really grateful.”
“Thank you.”
The Oasis girls seemed so grateful to me they could hardly stand it.
To be blunt, if I asked them to sleep with me right now, they'd probably do it at least once without hesitation.
[But you still have to make a move on the Oasis girls.]
[It's not for your sake. Those girls can only achieve a certain degree of success with the blessing of sex.]
Ah.
So in the end, I was destined to make them my fuckholes, too?
‘Well, then this situation isn't all bad.’
The Oasis girls were seriously mistaken right now.
They'd already asked me, without any shame, to help them.
And since I'd chosen STB in a situation where anyone would have thought I'd pick Nampo-dong Nuclear Fist,
it was understandable that they thought I'd shown consideration for them.
‘I really only chose STB because his success rate was absurdly higher.’
It was a selfish decision.
Separate from the fact that I felt sorry for the Oasis girls,
I'd made my decision with our girls as my top priority.
‘There's no need to clear up the misunderstanding.’
If I was going to have my way with them later, building up their affection for me wasn't a bad idea.
Then it'd be easier to get them into bed.
But still.
I had to choose my words carefully.
“I've seen how hard you work, and I think you'll succeed if you meet the right composer. And from what I've heard, Composer STB's songs are good enough.”
“R-right.”
The Oasis girls couldn't answer immediately.
I understood.
Because even though STB looked quiet and well-mannered,
he had a lot of lewd songs.
[Her Ass]
[bodytouch]
[Looking at songs like these, he's practically an erotic novelist, isn't he?]
Now I'm worried. Fuck.
He wasn't going to make our girls wear bikinis and dance, was he?
A guy who looks so well-behaved is even scarier when he stabs you in the back.
‘No, but you showed me that information in the first place.’
[But the decision is yours, Master.]
[I'm only an AI. I'm here to assist you.]
“Um. Team Leader. If there's anything you need us to do, please tell us. Even if we're asleep in the dorm, we'll jump up and run right over.”
Don't forget you said that, girls.
You might really have to jump out of bed and suck my cock even while you're asleep.
“The other girls won't say anything to you, right, Team Leader?”
As I watched them even subtly worry about me, I was about to tell them not to worry, but
there were girls who showed it through their actions without needing to say a word.
“It's fine.”
“Ah!”
Eun Hee-ju had come all the way down to the underground parking garage and clung to me again, unable to help herself.
The others didn't cling to me this much.
At this point, was there a magnet on my shoulder or something?
“You'll make it. Somehow. Even as solo artists.”
“She'll say anything, even with all the other girls watching. And an idol shouldn't keep clinging to her team leader like that.”
“……”
Hee-ju quietly let go.
She'd improved a lot compared to before.
She didn't completely ignore what the older girls said anymore.
“Well, we'll just follow your lead, Team Leader.”
“That's amazing.”
I was a little moved, too, not just the Oasis girls.
There was such deep trust between us that if I told them to jump into a pit of fire with me, they'd do it without hesitation.
[After all that sleeping together, it'd be weirder if there wasn't.]
You always know just when to ruin a nice moment.
“Oh. You're still here?”
Beep-beep-.
Maybe it was about time for everyone to start heading back.
Choi Ho-cheol appeared, showing off the keys to his flashy foreign car.
“I didn't get to say this properly earlier, but Team Leader, you have a good eye for idols. Your eye for composers, though, seems a little lousy?”
[Success Rate-3%]
I was pretty sure I hadn't made a mistake.
Three percent was practically the odds of winning the lottery, wasn't it?
Even with our girls, you're only at three percent? What the hell are you?
“It's not like that—”
“Well, don't regret it. It'll be hard not to once you see the results, though. As for the Oasis girls, just trust me.”
He gave them a shitty wink, and the Oasis girls' faces twitched.
“Ah. I look forward to working with you.”
Vroooom-!
“Ugh! That's loud.”
Watching Choi Ho-cheol drive off with an adios and the roar of his absurdly loud sports car, I said to the Oasis girls,
“If that guy doesn't just give you a song, but makes weird demands of you on that pretext...”
“Ah! Then we should say, ‘No, we don't want to, help us,’ and hit him over the head with a chair, right?”
“Uh. Well. Just call me.”
Kids these days have a scary side.
Hitting someone over the head with a chair is murder.
A little later, I finally noticed Kim Gi-bok coming down, with all the piercings and tattoos that made him look like he worked in the underground scene.
“Did you bring a car too, Composer?”
“Oh. I took the subway. It's close to the station, and I don't really like driving.”
Considering he wrote explicit songs like Her Ass and bodytouch, he did seem like a pretty straight-laced guy.
Still, I hoped he wouldn't debut our girls with songs like that.
He wasn't going to make something like My Sexy Lips,
was he?
“Um. Team Leader.”
“Yes?”
“Today. I feel like I've seen light for the first time.”
It's still early, and the sun is blazing.
What the hell was this lunatic talking about?
“I even feel a sense of duty to make that light shine brighter. So I'll pour my soul into writing a song.”
“Uh. Yes. Please do.”
I really am asking you. Fuck.
[Success Rate 97%]
Right?
This isn't suddenly going to plummet like Bitcoin, is it?
As I trembled with anxiety,
[An email has arrived.]
[From-STB]
A song was finished and sent to us just two days later.