Chapter 207. Graduation Ceremony, A Renewed Heart (4)

JooAh twirled her arms once and raised them up before sitting down on one knee in that position. Then, she spun around as she sprung back up before looking down.
Following that, she drew a circle with her arms as she stepped forward.
At that moment, Carrie Cloudia stood up from her seat and stopped her.

[Wait.]

While the music was still flowing, JooAh stopped in her tracks nervously.
Carrie asked JooAh while throwing her hair backward.

[This is different from the original choreography, isn’t it?]
[Yes, I’ve changed it a little.]
[I don’t think it’s a little, though… what’s your reason?]

JooAh took a deep breath seeing that Carrie was asking her with sharp eyes.
This was the most crucial moment. JooAh felt that this would make or break this audition and looked at Carrie straight in the eyes.

[I’ve imagined going on stage with Carrie. I thought that there should be something common between us if we’re going to dance together. I believe that that shared trait is ‘energy’.]
[Energy?]
[Yes, explosive energy. But when I practiced, I thought that it would be hard for me to show off all that energy with the original choreography. That’s why I changed it a little. Originally, this part would emphasize feminine beauty when rising from the horse-riding position, but I added a little more difficult moves like looking at each other and sticking around each other.]
[Hmm….]

Having heard JooAh’s explanation, Carrie stood up from her seat with a puzzled expression.
Then, she went forward and stood next to JooAh.
It was Smith’s turn to be confused.

[Carrie?]
[Smith, watch our dance and see how it is.]
[What?]

Smith was very surprised since Carrie had never once stood up from her seat during the entire audition.
Regardless, Carrie turned around to JooAh and gestured to her to start.

[Then shall we have a go?]
[What? Ok.]

Although an unexpected situation occurred, JooAh calmed down and stood next to her.
Music started and JooAh started dancing with her.
Before the chorus, the important point was to synchronize every move. The other participants had no problems with this either.

‘This is the core part.’

JooAh’s eyes shone when the chorus began and the highlight was to be put on a show.
Although this was choreography she wasn’t used to, Carrie followed JooAh’s moves well. She even comprehended the wave that JooAh added.
JooAh wrapped her arms around Carrie’s neck. Then, both of them did a vertical wave.

[Wow!]

Carrie exclaimed in surprise. When she had a look at the mirror, she saw that JooAh was making her stand out by twirling around her.
Her short stature wasn’t a problem.
In fact, she was standing out even more precisely thanks to JooAh’s small height.

‘She’s quite the item. It’s hard finding female dancers like this.’

Even Smith, who was watching with his arms crossed, widened his eyes in surprise.
Carrie, who was originally going to stop after the first verse, ended up dancing along until the end of the 2nd verse.

[Phew, Hahaha!]

When the music stopped, Carrie burst out laughing.

[Smith, how is it? I don’t think we need to continue the audition anymore, is there?]

Smith uncrossed his arms and replied with a satisfied smile.

[I’m of the same opinion. JooAh, would you like to join us?]

Carrie Cloudia, who was sweating after that dance, extended her hand to JooAh.
JooAh grabbed her hand firmly.

[Thank you.]
[Hahaha, very good! Then shall we go and have a meal?]

JooAh gladly followed behind Carrie.

***

[…JooAh, you sure have your luck with people. It’s not easy finding a good producer like that.]

Inside Carrie’s car.
She and JooAh sat down in the back seats, having a conversation.
The two seemed very close to each other as though they were long time friends.
Carrie liked the fact that JooAh did not put the fact that she was a singer herself in her application and staked everything with her dancing. In fact, she turned out to be one of the best artists in Asia!
Moreover, they had a lot of things they sympathized with as superstars so it was somewhat natural for them to be so close.

[That guy, I’m not sure about anything else, but his eyes are out of this world. From one glance, he knows whether a stage will succeed or not. Sometimes, I even think that he can see music.]
[Hahaha, see music? That sounds fun.]

Their drive back to HeeYoon’s house, where JooAh was currently staying, was quite harmonious.
The manager, who was driving, took detours so that the two could converse for a little longer.

[That dance I showed you today? He was the one who suggested to me to change it. He said that I might not be capable of dancing the original choreography with you.]
[Really?]

As JooAh might be trying to smoothen her path to America through her, Carrie ignored some of her words.
The car soon arrived at HeeYoon’s house.

[Thank you. I’ll see you in two days.]
[Then see you at practice.]

Carrie, as a superstar, had a lot of stalkers and did not get out of the car.
When JooAh entered the house, the siblings greeted her warmly.

“Congratulations. I’m glad that there’s a good result.”
“JooAh, congratulations!”

KangYoon patted JooAh’s shoulders, while HeeYoon grabbed her hands to congratulate her.
JooAh hugged the two of them and expressed her thanks.

“Thanks… so much.”

KangYoon and HeeYoon smiled in satisfaction.

***

“Ahhh! Our little HanYu is turning into an otaku!”

Ailee seemed upset with Seo HanYu, who walked out of the room filled with musical equipment, with oily hair.

“Unni, please, don’t call me an otaku.”
“Otaku, what else can I call you? Look at your hair? What’s up with that?”
“My hair?”

Seo HanYu stroked down her oily hair but she went back into the room as though nothing had happened.

“Our youngest member has turned strange.”

Seeing the shut door, Ailee grumbled. When she did, Jung MinAh, who was drinking fruit juice, interrupted.

“What’s so strange? It’s a healthy hobby.”
“She hasn’t had a shower in days! You call that… healthy?”

Although the older members had different opinions about her hobby, Seo HanYu herself knew nothing of it.
Inside the room, Seo HanYu was having a passionate conversation about rearrangement and producing with Park SoYoung.

“Unni, isn’t djembe 3 better than djembe 1 here?”
“Really? Djembe 1 is more refreshing sounding though.”
“But djembe 3 has more mood.”
“Let’s try both of them. Ah, this assignment is hard…”

Thanks to KangYoon’s assignment, the two of them were having a hard time working.
Although the two of them looked exhausted, their eyes were filled with vitality.

***

On the flight back.
JooAh presented KangYoon and HeeYoon with first-class tickets as thanks for the audition and the two of them were able to fly back to Korea in comfort.
HeeYoon fell asleep when the lights were off, but KangYoon had a score in his hands with earbuds in his ears.

‘This song looks like it’ll be hard to use if I don’t arrange it properly. There’s no special trait.’

Listening to the song that HeeYoon made for everyone to sing together, KangYoon shook his head.
The song’s ups and downs were vague, and it had no distinct color to it either. It sounded like each individual’s traits were killed off trying to put it together.
KangYoon noted down the things he deemed needed editing before pulling out the earphones from his ears.

He sat upright and looked outside the window. He saw that the outside sky was filled with the night stars.

‘How nice.’

Unlike HeeYoon, who was having a comfortable sleep with her chair laid completely back, KangYoon wasn’t able to fall asleep easily.
He asked a stewardess for some newspaper.

“Thank you.”

KangYoon opened the newspaper.
He skimmed over the politics page and reached the entertainment page.

– New trot albums releases are decreasing as the trot industry is decreasing…

The trot industry is in dire straits.
Due to the recession of the industry that started in 2007, the number of new trot albums are decreasing gradually. Amidst the growth of the girl idol industry in 2012, the trot industry has.. (omitted)
Namhoon, a popular trot artist, claims the need for trot albums that can sympathize with the 20s and 30s.
The growth of idol albums is expected to continue in 2013, and whether the trot genre can survive remains a mystery.

KangYoon deeply sympathized with the article.

‘A trot for everyone. I need to make such a song. It’s not easy to do, but if I do, this situation will be an opportunity for me.’

Organizing his thoughts, KangYoon closed the newspaper.
When they arrived at the airport. Lee HyunJi had come to pick the two of them up.

“Thanks for all your work, president. And HeeYoon, congratulations on graduating.”

She seemed very worn out as she had to fill in KangYoon’s empty spot.
After a brief greeting, the three of them drove back to the company. He was originally planning to drop HeeYoon off at the house, but they all headed to the company due to her insistence.
Inside the car, KangYoon was able to get notified regarding the concert.

“I’ve met the companies you’ve picked last time. But when I did, they were all too… lacking somewhat.”
“Somewhat?”

Among the list of companies that Lee HyunJi had sent over, KangYoon had picked two and told Lee HyunJi to negotiate with them.
She talked with two companies, but both of them had points that were lacking compared to Elin Illumination.

“Both of these companies told me that they can take on five thousand to at most ten thousand people-large concerts. However, since the scale is double that, they told me it isn’t easy to do it. They both told me that only companies on the scale of Elin can do it.”
“The other large companies are all booked during that time… this won’t be easy.”

Companies that were as large as Elin in scale, were all booked that day.
KangYoon’s frown deepened.
When they arrived at the company, HeeYoon went to the studio while KangYoon went to the office.
The owners of Hanbit Illumination and BN Illumination were waiting for KangYoon and greeted him as soon as he came in.

“Hello. My name is Lee KangYoon.”
“Hello.”

After a brief exchange of greetings, the four of them sat down.
Although KangYoon was under jet lag, he tried not to show it and consoled his body with some strong black coffee.

“From what I’ve heard on my way here. I heard both of you can handle up to ten thousand people.”

When KangYoon spoke, the president of Hanbit Illumination, Joo TaeYoung spoke first.

“Yes. The advantage of using our company is that we bought new gear recently. You’ll have no worries about aged equipment.”

Not to lose out, BN Illumination’s president, Moon GiHyun also spoke.

“We have 15 years of experience. We have worked with musicals, concerts as well as other stages.”

There was only one spot anyway.
As this was business, the owners of the respective companies appealed their strong points to KangYoon.
However, KangYoon thought differently.

“The Olympic Sports Complex can hold twenty thousand people. Also, the tickets are sold out, for all three days.”
“……”

The two business owners became silent.
If the contract went on as expected, then they would have no worries about money.

“Since the two companies can handle ten thousand people each… why don’t you both contract with us this time?”
“What?”
“I won’t shave down the price just because I’m hiring two businesses. Both of you just need to focus on your work. How does that sound?”

The two men’s eyes widened.
If that happened, World’s profit would decrease.
What does World gain from this? President Moon GiHyun carefully asked.

“Th, then, won’t that mean less profit for World?”

KangYoon smiled as he spoke as though there was nothing to worry about.

“Maybe, but instead, I’ll have more things I can try out on the stage. Also, I’ll reinforce the design. I’m going to add some things to the design that Elin gave me, can you handle it?”
“…we can.”

President Joo TaeYoung nodded.
KangYoon continued to speak.

“Also, I’ll be adding all sorts of special effects. You will have to work with a team that’s not from Korea, so the lights will be very important. You two companies will have to work extremely hard.

There was no investment without reason.
KangYoon put full effort into lighting and in order to achieve that he had a meeting with a special effects team from America to bring out its full potential.
There was no need to drag on any further.
The two presidents stamped the contract that Lee HyunJi gave them, shook hands with KangYoon, and left World Entertainment.
Having cleared one piece of work upon arrival, KangYoon seemed to be drained of energy as he collapsed onto a sofa.

“…This is exhausting.”
“Thank you for your work.”

Lee HyunJi got KangYoon some honey tea.
KangYoon smiled powerlessly as he drank the sweet tea.

“…Thank you. Uhm, I’ll doze off a little.
“Okay. When should I wake you up?”
“Wake me in an hour.”

Emptying the tea, KangYoon soon fell asleep.
Seeing that, Lee HyunJi chuckled.

“What a passion he’s got. Mr. JaeHoon must be reassured working with him.”

She picked up the papers written in English that KangYoon had put on his desk.