Chapter 49
Thump. Julia dropped down and asked me,
“You know me (Do you know me?)”
Fortunately, even I could understand English at that level.
I was truly grateful to my parents for giving birth to me with at least that much ability.
“Yes. Yes. I'm your big fan.”
“How (how)... No. Korean. I speak. Let's talk in Korean.”
Huh?
I looked at Julia with a bewildered expression.
“Can you speak Korean?”
“Not much, but I can speak a little.”
[She said she'd started studying a little when she first got into K-pop because she wanted to work in Korea. She only made up her mind yesterday, but she'd already been vaguely considering it.]
That was very berry good.
So we could at least communicate a little in Korean.
‘Come to think of it, now that I'm seeing her up close, she's much more fit than she looked from a distance.’
The muscles in her arms and thighs, and those chocolate abs, were no joke.
Our girls were pretty fit in that regard, too.
But I didn't think they could hold a candle to Julia.
‘I never really liked this sort of thing before.’
I thought I wouldn't be turned on by a woman with muscles.
But now that I was seeing one in person, this was pretty hot, too.
[Well, depending on how things go, you could certainly have that kind of relationship with Julia, too. In fact, if you want to keep her on your team, Master, you should fuck her.]
Okay.
Let's do our best for that, too.
“I know who you are, Ms. Julia Smith. Because I'm your fan.”
“That's very suspicious. I haven't done any work yet.”
“To be precise, I'm a fan of your parents, Kill Smith and Celia Robbins. I learned about you by following their work.”
As I spoke, I showed her videos and pictures of them that I'd saved on my phone beforehand.
“What? You recognized me just from looking at this?”
“Of course! Look here. There's a picture of you climbing with your parents a few years ago. You haven't changed much since then, and you have a black mole on the back of your thigh. That's how I recognized you.”
“Oh my God. You recognized me from that? I can't believe it.”
Then I pulled out my business card, too.
[N&P Entertainment]
[Team Leader Kim Hyun-woo]
“It's true. I'm this kind of person, and I'm especially famous for having a keen eye. I recognized you right away. You'll see when you come to our company.”
“I don't know why I'd go to your company, but you approached me knowing I'm a choreography director. From the beginning?”
“I did know you were a choreography director when I approached you. But meeting you was by accident.”
[You're getting to use all the English you studied today.]
Of course.
Even when I felt like I was about to die of exhaustion, I crammed every bit of basic English I could into my head on the way here.
“Hmm. This is very strange. However, I understand. Do you have business with me?”
There it was.
That distinctly halting foreigner's Korean.
“Do you have a business with me?”
“Yeah! Of course. I have business with you. You are choreography director. I am team leader in charge of idol group. Reason we meet. Already decided. Fate! Destiny!”
“……”
[She can't decide whether to laugh or be annoyed by the English words Master keeps slipping in.]
Shut up the your mouth.
I was being very, very serious here.
[Okay. Nobel supports Master.]
She'd said she'd been influenced.
We were all speaking Korean with a screw loose somewhere, yet somehow managing to carry on a conversation.
“Hmm. This kind of meeting is very interesting. I even came to Korea to work as a choreography director. If this is truly a coincidence, then God must have arranged it.”
“Yes. Yeap. That's right.”
Whenever the word God comes up, I can't help flinching.
“But there's one very important thing we need if you and I are going to work together.”
“Pay?”
“No, no. I have a lot of money. My parents are rich. So I, their daughter, am rich too. Got it?”
“……”
What was that?
We were just talking, but somehow I felt like I'd been unilaterally beaten up.
And you, you little punk.
You'd been tacking polite endings onto everything until just a moment ago. Why were you suddenly talking down to me?
I'll let it slide because you're a foreigner.
If you ever end up getting fucked by me, I'm going to rub my dick against those chocolate abs you keep flashing at me.
“The K-pop group you said you're in charge of. Men? Or women? If they're women, I can't accept your offer.”
“Um. Women. Girl group. But our girls. Most men can't match them. No fight. Our girls are monsters. Bakemono!”
[You're trying so hard, it's almost painful to watch.]
So what?
Painful to watch? Embarrassing?
None of that mattered in the slightest.
If I could get what I wanted, I was willing to look even more pathetic than I did now.
“Mr. Kim. I can see how much you care about your girls. But I came to Korea to make choreography for male K-pop idols. That is my dream right now. I am truly sorry and sad, but we cannot work together.”
“No, no, no. No!”
I vehemently denied it, then played videos of the girls' songs and dancing that I'd saved on my phone.
Classic K-pop, with a mix of Korean and English.
Even aside from those, I had over three hundred videos saved on my phone of the girls practicing in front of the mirrors in the practice room.
“Look at this. There are no girls in the world this pretty, full of energy, talented in every field, and brimming with individuality and charm. These girls will rise to the top in Korea, and eventually become famous around the world, not just here. I guarantee it. I'll stake my life on it.”
You'd wonder if anyone in the world could be this clingy.
I could see the people climbing nearby staring at me.
Some of them might have thought I was impressive.
But there were definitely people who thought I was pathetic, too.
But instead of puffing up my pointless pride and missing my one chance,
what was wrong with blushing for a moment and clinging to her?
Entertainers did whatever they could to get a chance from producers, even if they had to force their way in.
[Good grief.]
Nobel let out a small, incredulous laugh.
[To be honest, I didn't think there was much chance of Julia and Master getting together. As she said herself, her dream was to make choreography for male K-pop idols. That's why she came to Korea.]
[She already has a clear goal in mind. But I have to admit this much.]
“Mr. Kim.”
[Julia's heart has moved a little.]
“You are a very interesting and amusing person.”
Did she mean I was a comedian?
Yes.
Should I tell her, “I'm a Korean comedian”?
[She's showing you respect.]
Ah-ha.
“I think working with you would be very rewarding, so I'll give you a chance. Don't feel wronged. I am serious.”
“Oh. Okay. Speak freely, go ahead.”
“You and one of the idols you just showed me, along with me. If the three of us compete at climbing and you win, I'll work with you. Okay?”
What do you mean, okay?
Fuck. I almost wanted to smack her with an 'Okay, my ass!'
Did she seriously just say that?
I'd seen Julia climbing.
No.
Even if I hadn't, just looking at Julia's firm, muscular body right in front of me was enough to tell me how unreasonable her proposal was.
Of course, I'm a man.
And thanks to the Blessing of Sex, I've got a better physique than I used to, too.
If I'd had some climbing experience or skill, I might've had a decent chance of winning.
But today was my first time climbing,
and on top of that, I'd always been terrible at things like hanging from ropes or doing pull-ups.
“If you can't accept this proposal and think it's unfair, then our connection ends here. Don't argue with me anymore. We'll settle it cleanly with a competition.”
“……”
[Accept it.]
[That's the only way to work with Julia.]
‘What are my chances of winning? No. What will the result be?’
[I'm sorry, but I won't tell you this time. I think it'll be more fun that way.]
If Nobel said this was the only way, then it was the only way.
“Okay. Proposal. Accepted. Wait here. I'll come back to finish you.”
[Did Master's Korean suddenly break?]
When Julia heard my answer, she gave me a kind smile for some reason and nodded.
“Okay. I will wait, Mr. Kim.”
If she was going to smile so kindly, I wished she'd just let me win the game, too.
[Julia hates people deliberately losing to her more than anything in the world.]
I figured as much.
Women like her were famous for bringing the mood down by getting way too competitive even over the tiniest minigames.
“Phew. I guess I'll just have to do something about it.”
[Indoor Rock Climbing Basics: Learn This and Become a Pro Climber in 30 Minutes?]
I couldn't risk looking at it and getting into a car accident.
So I decided to listen without looking and try to learn at least a little.
I couldn't exactly make our girls handle this, either.
“Anyone here ever tried climbing? No one, right? Yeah, that's what I thought.”
Gil Min-seo, whose heart was already hurting, couldn't possibly have tried it.
And the same went for Seong Se-ri, who'd lost her childhood to trainee life.
Unfortunately, Eun Hee-ju didn't know how to climb, either.
I was just steeling myself even more when—
“Not much, but I've tried it before.”
Huh?
[Lee Da-young, S+]
Someone I'd never expected raised her hand coolly.
“Y-you've tried it before?”
“Yes. Well, people say experience is important if you want to act. You never know what kind of role you might have to play, so I usually learn the basics of anything I can casually experience in everyday life. I did indoor climbing for about three months.”
“Wow, unnie. That's amazing!”
I agreed with Gil Min-seo's admiration.
A truly unexpected wildcard had been hiding in our team.
“Why are we suddenly talking about climbing?”
“Well. You see...”
I gave her the short version of what happened with Julia.
I left out all the details that would make it obvious she was an intense choreographer.
But then—
“Isn't it obvious she's a super demanding choreography teacher?”
“Gasp!”
Nobel.
When did she go over there?
[What are you talking about? Only Master can hear my voice.]
Then how did she read my mind?
“Just looking at her, I can tell. You must've clung to her like crazy, Team Leader. Otherwise, she wouldn't try to push you away with something this unreasonable. I feel a little bad about that. But anyway...”
Lee Da-young said in a firm voice.
“I trust you. Setting aside how intense she is, she's someone we need, so you clung to her that much and tried to get us a chance, right?”
Had she secretly planted a bug or a hidden camera on me?
“That's right. Her choreography skills are probably on another level. That's why...”
“What is it?”
“……The choreography will be ten times more intense than you imagine. No, maybe a hundred times.”
At my words, Lee Da-young quietly muttered something under her breath.
“Maybe I should just lose.”
I immediately grabbed Da-young by the leg and clung to her.
“Ah. Fine! I'll do it, okay?”
[You're showing your pathetic side a lot today.]
Shut up.