Chapter 206. Graduation Ceremony, A Renewed Heart (3)

“Well done. It’s much better than before.”

KangYoon encouraged JooAh with a slow clap.
However, JooAh shook her head, thinking that she was still far from good.

“What else can I do from here? I get what your intention is, but it’s not easy to express it. I’m shorter compared to them too.”
“Hahaha.”

When JooAh dissed herself, KangYoon laughed.

“…Your laughter is uselessly loud, you know?”
“*Giggle*, you’re imagining it.”
“Hey!”
“Hahahaha.”

When KangYoon didn’t stop laughing, JooAh poked KangYoon on the waist several times.
Like that, having a grasp over things, JooAh practiced without rest and KangYoon also watched over her dance without leaving.
Time passed by quickly and it was now 15 minutes past three in the night.

“Ah, I can’t go on anymore…”

After her final round of practice, JooAh collapsed onto the ground.
KangYoon sat next to her.

“Well done.”
“…Fuu, fuu. You too, oppa.”

Not caring about the floor, JooAh poured the water KangYoon gave him all over her face before standing up.

“Look at the time. Looks like I held you for too long. Sorry about that oppa. Looks like HeeYoon will get mad at me.”

JooAh expressed her apologetic feelings after practice.
Then, KangYoon lightly pushed on JooAh’s forehead with his forefinger before chuckling.

“You feel sorry now?”
“Ouch, that hurts.”
“I’m fine, so just focus on the audition.”
“…Sheesh, you just won’t let me compliment you. Okay.”

JooAh stood up after playing around with KangYoon.
Now, it was time to go home.
Picking up the towel on the floor, JooAh asked KangYoon as though she had remembered something.

“This… would not be sufficient, right?”
“Probably.”

JooAh sighed at KangYoon’s words.

“Ah, it’s hard. Just how much better do I have to be?”
“……”

Perhaps this was as far as she could go?
JooAh was worried.
Even on their way home, JooAh’s worries deepened.
In the afternoon of the next day.
KangYoon woke up exhausted thanks to his phone which started ringing right above his head.

“…Hello?”
– President, it’s me.
“…Director?”

It was a call from Lee HyunJi.
KangYoon cleared his throat before sitting upright.

“Ugh, sorry about that. Did something happen?”
– Sorry for waking you up. But it shouldn’t be night time there, right?
“Yeah. It’s a little past 3.”

In Korea, it was a little past 8 in the morning.
When KangYoon seemed to have woken up properly, Lee HyunJi started speaking.

– Elin Illumination broke our contract. I didn’t want to talk about work if possible, but… I couldn’t help it because this is an important matter.
“Oh, what did they say about the reason for it?”

KangYoon’s expression turned serious.

– They told me they’re lacking finances due to all the work that’s coming in.
“Did you tell them that we could pay them more for the deposit?”
– Yes. But they told me it’s difficult considering all the manpower and other elements as well. In my opinion, though, I think they contracted another company. They’re saying they’ll pay the penalty for breaking the contract even though they told me they were lacking finances.

KangYoon agreed to Lee HyunJi’s words.

“This industry is all about trust though… They’re short-sighted. Looks like they came across something more profitable if they decided to break the contract.”
– …. Perhaps. Rather than that, I’m worried about us. It’s hard to find companies as big as Elin when it comes to lighting…

There was a reason they went with Elin Illumination despite the costs.
Elin Illumination had a specialized team for concerts consisting of professional light designers. Even the plans for the stage lights had been finalized after several meetings.
This wasn’t a simple situation, but KangYoon was rational about it.

“It’ll be foolish to keep waiting for a bus that’s already left. Since it’s like this, we’ll have to look for other companies.
– Okay. Since we got the final plans, we should be able to save some time on that. I’ll send you a list of companies by this afternoon.
“The final plans, huh… Okay. Thank you for your work.”

After hanging up, KangYoon sighed shortly.

‘I liked Elin since they had both lighting designers and lighting directors… Can other companies keep up with them?’

Stage lighting design was in charge of not only installing the lights but deciding when each light turned on and when they turned off.
He was looking into special equipment for the concert, but now that the basic lighting had run into problems, he had a headache.

‘I should look into light designers.’

KangYoon went to the living room after organizing his thoughts.
HeeYoon was waiting for KangYoon, all clothed up.

“Oppa, you just woke up?”
“Yeah, looks like I was tired.”
“That’s not like you. Get ready quickly. We’re going to be late.”

Urged by his sister, KangYoon hurriedly got ready to get out.
Today was the day they went to see the Jemis Awards, one of the biggest music awards in the world.
KangYoon was able to get his hands on two tickets when it was hard getting just one.
Moreover, he had VIP tickets for the front seats.

“I’m so excited.”

HeeYoon couldn’t hide her excitement as the two drove towards VTNM Radio Music Hall where the Jemis Awards were held.

“To think I’d see Anne Garian in real life.”
“Isn’t she a pianist?”

HeeYoon’s eyes shone when she mentioned the blind pianist.
KangYoon was also excited to see many of the top artists in the world.
Soon, the two arrived at VTNM Radio Music Hall.

“…How large is this place?”

HeeYoon’s jaws were agape as she watched the scale of the concert venue that seemed to be capable of holding 100,000 people not to mention a tenth of that.
KangYoon was also flabbergasted by the sheer size of this place.
The Jemis awards began long after the siblings had entered.
Musicians that shone this year in many fields of music were given the honor of receiving a prize, while the audience was able to enjoy themselves with the music of the best singers.

‘They sure are different….’

KangYoon was unable to take his eyes off the various singers of different genres giving the audience something to enjoy.
Over one hundred backup dancers, wires, small fountains, and other fancy stage mechanics, ballet, modern dance, orchestra – this seemed to be a combination of all the music of this world.

‘Amazing.’

KangYoon’s eyes widened seeing that most of the singers produced silver light.
Compared to Korea, where the majority was white, stages that produced silver light were common here. Moreover, some of the stages had gold mixed with silver so KangYoon was enjoying his time here as well.

“Thank you!”
“Wow!”

A rock band from England, named Red Hustle, just finished their stage and the audience erupted into cheers.

“Waaa—!”

HeeYoon was also shouting into the stage and KangYoon fell into thought.

‘But there isn’t a proper gold light. What’s the reason for that? How could Samuel produce gold light back then? There should be a reason for that….’

The skills of the singer, the compatibility of the song. The environment on the stage, the audience, etc
KangYoon thought about many things required for a stage, but he couldn’t come to a conclusion.

‘Is a gold stage such a faraway objective?’

He believed that gold was necessary for JooAh to pass her audition, but he himself couldn’t grasp any clues as to how to produce it.

‘What’s the reason for that?’

KangYoon fell into contemplation.

[…And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. This is today’s last stage. He’s a frequent guest to the Jemis Awards, isn’t he? He’s here this year as well.]
[Hahahaha.]
[Let’s meet him. Please welcome. Samuel~ John—–son—-.]

Along with the introduction from the host, an insane amount of cheers filled the venue.
The lights turned off and the cheers from the audience died down.
The spotlight slowly turned on and a black male wearing a white suit appeared.

[Waaaaa—!!!]

Bringing with him some insane cheers, he slowly walked forward while tapping on the ground, and then suddenly….

[What?]
[H, he disappeared!!]

He vaporized into thin air.
Just as the audience was about to erupt into murmuring, a loud boom sounded.
At the same time, the lights on the stage all turned on at the same time before a fanfare-like noise erupted out.
At the same time, the hologram that disappeared like smoke appeared again, this time, with the real Samuel in tandem.

[It’s Samuel!]
[He’s real! The real one appeared this time!]

Before the audience even had time to breathe, he started dancing with his signature soft wave. At the same time, a pleasing voice started flowing out, and the audience couldn’t help themselves.
KangYoon couldn’t close his mouth after seeing that the beginning performance had instantly mesmerized all of the audience.

‘This, this is gold light?’

His stage was producing gold light like it was natural.
The faint yet widespread gold light smeared into all of the audience, and the audience started waving their hands in the air along with the rhythm.
KangYoon also subconsciously waved his hands in the air and felt the power of Samuel’s performance.

***

“Today was awesome!”

On their way back, HeeYoon couldn’t hide her excitement.

“It helps you out a lot, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah! It was just.. the best. Wow. The world sure is wide.”
“You’re right, HeeYoon.”
“What?”
“Whose performance impacted you the most?”

Hearing the sudden question, HeeYoon thought for a moment before mentioning one person.

“Samuel Johnson’s. His singing, to his stage manners as well as his treatment of the audience. He really is a super singer. I’m going to join his fan club.”
“You’re going that far?”
“Of course. He was super awesome. What about you, oppa?”
“I think so too.”
“The last stage was the best. Ah, it would be great if such a singer sang my song.”

HeeYoon’s eyes shone as she watched the rain outside.
KangYoon replied with a smile to his sister’s dream.

“You should make a singer rise to such a position with your song instead.”
“Really? Then I guess that makes me a Starmaker?”
“Hahaha, that’s right.”
“But Nah, Samuel is too high for an objective. I’ll leave dreams as just dreams.”

When HeeYoon shook her head saying that such an objective was too difficult, KangYoon rubbed his sister’s hair.

“Let’s do it one by one. We can do anything if it’s the two of us.”
“…I guess. We overcame that loathsome disease too, right?”
“Yeah.”

The car headed home like that.

***

Carrie Cloudia had a good personality.
She always looked after her staff and tried her best to treat her company members better, and this was the reason why many people around her liked her.
However, even she had her bad traits.

(T/N: What? She’s portrayed as a complete madwoman later…)

[…Thanks for your work. We’ll call you if we need you later.]

On the day of the audition for recruiting ‘Coming’’s dance partner.
Carrie spoke with an emotionless tone to the black male dancer who had just finished dancing.
The black male left dejectedly and the overall director for the concert, Smith, tapped her back.

[Carrie, I told you not to be so harsh on the participants.]
[Ah, what’s wrong this time?]
[What are you going to do if strange rumors float about?]

However, Carrie was very proud of herself.

[Hmph, I can do that much. It’s not like he’s one of ours.]
[…Such actions aren’t that good.]
[Ah, stop it already. Valento, please send in the next person.]

She acted harshly towards the applicant but was incredibly nice to her manager.
Seeing that, Smith sighed with a frown.

[Phew.]

Soon, the next applicant entered, and Carrie asked her with a smile.

[An east-Asian? Looks like you’re the only one among today’s applicants. What’s your name?]
[My name is Yeon JooAh.]

The other applicants usually showed with comfortable clothes for dancing, but JooAh showed up wearing a purple one-piece dress. The same one that was worn by the partner for ‘Coming’.
Her feminine traits were being emphasized by the dress showing off her waist and a bit of her stomach.

[Uhm… you came prepared.]
[Thank you.]
[Good, I like it. I wonder how much you can show me with all the preparations you’ve done. Shall we have a look?]

Carrie pressed the play button on her remote as though there was no need to wait any longer.
After JooAh’s dance began, Carrie’s eyes narrowed.

‘She’s incredibly good.’

Her steps, the movement of her waist, as well as her turns – all of her moves were graceful.
The dancer in front of her was truly skilled, unlike the other applicants until now.
However, something did tug on her mind.

‘She’s too short. And then there’s the fact that she’s Asian too.’

This applicant’s dance was definitely good, but that’s all she had.
It would be a stretch to hire her while taking those risks.
She usually turned off the music once the chorus began, but she continued watching JooAh’s dance.

‘Smith, what do you think?’
‘Let’s watch a little more.’

He seemed to be of the same opinion.
When the music entered the chorus, the choreography was at its highlight, the horse-riding stance.
However, this applicant didn’t dance along with the choreography and suddenly did a turn!

‘What’s she up to?’

Carrie and Smith’s expressions changed seeing that.