Chapter 237. The Day Even Planes Don’t Fly (2)

Who amongst the celebrities are taking the 2014 CSAT?
Actress Min JinSeo is taking the CSAT amidst the interest of many people.
Min JinSeo appeared at her exam venue much earlier than other students and entered the venue amidst the cheers of her fans.
After she moved homes to World Entertainment, she took an interest in studying more than acting. Some suspected her to have quit acting, but she relieved their worries by saying that she is studying in order to perform better in the future.
She could have enrolled in college as a special case, but she refused the offer and claimed that ‘she will go to college with her own skill’, and is praised for doing so.
Among others…
(omitted)
.
.

KangYoon exited the article about Min JinSeo before stretching his arms out.

“Looks like there will be a lot of journalists today.”

“In the morning, they wouldn’t have been able to cause a ruckus since the examinees were all very sensitive, but it would be a different story once the exams ended.
Team leader Kang GiJoon agreed with KangYoon’s words. He was here to submit a report.

“We’d have to be thoroughly prepared to get JinSeo out today.”
“Should I go with you?”

When he said that, team leader Kang GiJoon shook his head, surprised.

“No way. It’s not that bad. I’ll just need one or two other managers. I should just sneak her out while luring the journalists away.”
“Not at all. It will be hard, so let me go with you.”
“President, there’s your position to think about….”

Team Leader Kang GiJoon tried to stop him, but KangYoon said that it was fine.

“I may look like this, but when I worked on the scene, I was quite well-known for my blocking skills, you know?”
“It’s not that… you’re the president of a company, so I’m rather surprised that you want to go to a place like that.”
“It’s fine, she’s someone under me.’

Actually, he wanted to see Min JinSeo after all the hardships she suffered above all.
Since he had to get there by 4:30 at the very latest, Team Leader Kang GiJoon said that he’d come back by 4 before leaving.
KangYoon also stood up.

“I’ll visit the studio a little.”

Leaving the office in Lee HyunJi’s care, KangYoon went down to the studio.

‘They should be about done by now.’

When he arrived at the studio, he saw Jung MinAh inside the booth while Producer Oh JiWan was biting his lips with a serious expression outside.

“MinAh, you slipped up again.”
– I’m sorry.
“You keep messing up on the ‘getting dressed’ part. I can’t help you if you keep messing up like this, alright?”

Producer Oh JiWan consoled Jung MinAh before resuming the recording.
The music started flowing, and Jung MinAh’s singing created light.

‘Urgh.’

KangYoon frowned after looking at the deep black light coming from Jung MinAh.
Jung MinAh was also surprised to see KangYoon liked that and stopped singing.

“MinAh, what’s wr… oh, Team Leader.”

Only then did Producer Oh Ji Wan notice KangYoon notice KangYoon standing behind him and stood up.
KangYoon lightly waved his hand before asking.

“Looks like things aren’t going well.”
“…Yes. The others all finished, and MinAh is the only one left now… but it’s a little difficult.”
“Difficult?

Producer Oh JiWan sighed briefly.

“MinAh’s voice isn’t on par with the other girls. I’m trying to add various effects to compensate, but there’s a limit to that as well…”
“MinAh’s singing is the problem, huh? Well, MinAh was never known for her singing.”
“…When you picked the members of Eddios, team leader, you picked her for her dancing skills after all. In this song, though, MinAh’s part is definitely necessary. Her voice is good, after all. It’s just that…”
“The quality isn’t up to par?”
“…Yes. I’m sorry.”

Hearing that, KangYoon said that it was okay and shook his head.

“That’s nothing to be sorry about. Trying something new is very difficult. Let’s have someone else do MinAh’s part…”
“No.”

At that moment, someone interrupted.
It was none other than Jung MinAh, who had left the booth.

“I’ll practice. I just have to do it, right?”
“MinAh.”
“…It’s nothing much. I just have to do it, right? I’ll do it.”

Jung MinAh’s lips were trembling out of frustration, and she took her coat before going to the rooftop.
Producer Oh JiWan shrugged seeing that.

“Looks like that hurt her pride. I guess one of her strong points was pride.”

KangYoon laughed.

“Jeez, her temper is just… Who’s going to take her as a bride, I wonder? I’ll go up.”
“Sorry, president.”
“Not at all. You can take a rest.”

There was only one place Jung MinAh could go.
KangYoon headed to the rooftop.
When he opened the door, he saw Jung MinAh whose hair was drifting in the wind.
KangYoon quietly approached her and stood next to her.
Jung MinAh glanced at KangYoon before uttering.

“…Am I that bad at singing?”
“…..”
“To the point that I… drag the others down?”

KangYooon did not say anything.
She continued talking dejectedly.

“…I know too. Everyone else can sing well. Even Lily’s voice is… that’s why I put more effort in. I am certain that I’m not behind anyone when it comes to dancing. But… haah.”

Jung MinAh covered her eyes.
She put her focus on the thing that she did good rather than she did poorly. But…
Was she wrong to do so?
KangYoon calmly spoke.

“You’re overthinking.”
“…What.”
“When you say that you drag the others down.”

Jung MinAh put down her hand and looked up at KangYoon.

“But it’s true that your singing is lacking.”
“……”

Hearing that pointed out to her, Jung MinAh became dejected.
Did this guy not know how to console people?
Well, it was somewhat natural, since he’s the president of the company.
However, his words didn’t end there.

“So don’t you think you need to change?”
“Change?”
“When you did your solo piece last time, we added a lot of effects to your voice because of your singing skills, didn’t we?”
“…That’s true.”

The piece was mainly focused on dancing, but actually, it was also a little unfortunate.

“Let’s graduate from machine voice. Like the others.”
“…It’s not that I didn’t put the effort in. You know that.”

There was no way KangYoon was not aware of Jung MinAh’s efforts.
During her trainee days, she had numerous vocal trainers attached to her. Still, her progress was negligible compared to the other trainees.
If she did not wholeheartedly focus on dancing, she wouldn’t have been picked.

“It would be hard for you to become as good as JooYeon is.”
“…You’re so direct.”

Jung MinAh grumbled, but KangYoon did not stop.

“So I think I’ll need to take drastic measures. From now on, you’ll practice nothing but your part. Until you can do it properly, Eddios’s comeback will be delayed.
“What!?”

When KangYoon resorted to drastic measures, Jung MinAh’s eyes widened in shock.

***

Lately, audition programs, singing competitions and other similar entertainment TV shows were on the rise.
Consequently, many songs from the past were brought to the light again, and the role of rearrangers was becoming critical.
One such TV program was titled ‘Ones – Sing your heart’.
Although the populace was becoming annoyed with all the copycats of such programs, this program was doing quite well as it was hosted by professional hosts and guests.
In a recording of such a program was Park Soyoung.

“I heard that rearrangers use pseudonyms a lot, but you are using your real name, Miss SoYoung.”

Park SoYoung blushed in embarrassment before replying to the host’s, Sung ChaYoon’s question.

“…I didn’t see the need to change the name given to me by my parents….”
“Hahahaha!”

The somewhat random words made both the audience and the hosts laugh.
As she didn’t know why it was so funny, Park SoYoung only tilted her head.
Sung ChaYoon’s questions continued.

“I also heard that you got to work with the artist Sedy once, didn’t you have any difficulties?”
“……”

Hearing that question, Lee JunYeon glared at Park SoYoung.

‘Be careful about your answer~.’

His burning gaze was captured on camera, and the hosts laughed once again.
Park SoYoung became dispirited as she replied.

“…There was nothing difficult. but…”
“But?”
“…He… keeps arguing with me about absurd things…. even though machines don’t lie… he keeps asking me why the frequencies are like such and such…”
“Pfft.”

She was meek, but she said everything she wanted to.
Lee JunYeol ended up making a fool out of himself.
Before he could even retort, one of the guests asked her first.

“Then, did Muse perhaps help you with work or something?”
“Ah… the thing is… he’s not so free…”
“Pfft.”

While everyone burst out laughing, Lee JunYeol wanted to just faint.

‘This girlie’s strange. How does bro KangYoon work with kids like her? Goddammit…’

The camera was capturing every one of Lee JunYeol’s expressions.
Meanwhile, the host questioned her again.

“Does Muse say anything about appearing here?”
“Oh, Oppa and…HeeYoon? Well… I don’t… know. I’ll ask.”

The talk show with her became a hot topic overnight on the internet. Everyone was saying how there was a ‘new style of interview’.

***

KangYoon and Team Leader Kang GiJoon headed to the exam venue where Min JinSeo took her test.
Fortunately, there wasn’t any traffic, and they were able to quickly arrive at the ven…

“…That’s a lot of journalists.”

Team Leader Kang GiJoon shook his head while looking at the crowd of people holding cameras in front of the venue.
Some of them were even quarrelling with a parent.
KangYoon also didn’t like this situation.

“Looks like we’ll need to pull off a 007 here.”
“You’re right.”

Time flowed quickly.
It soon became 5, and the doors opened, and the examinees who took all the tests started flooding out.
KangYoon and Kang GiJoon headed towards the entrance through the crowd.

‘Where is JinSeo?’
‘She says she’s still inside. Some of the examinees asked for an autograph apparently.’

When KangYoon whispered to Team Leader Kang GiJoon, Kang GiJoon showed him the text message.
The message said that there weren’t that many people that asked and that she should be able to get out soon.
Only examinees and overseers were allowed entry into the venue, so there was no way they could get in.
Celebrities weren’t exempt to that rule.
Law was law. It had to be kept.

‘Team Leader. Tell JinSeo to come out now.’
‘What? Right now?’

In this chaos of journalists and other people?’
When Team Leader Kang GiJoon tilted his head. KangYoon replied seriously.

‘Now’s better than later. It should be easier for us to sneak her out while it’s still chaotic. If only the journalists are left later, we’ll have an even harder time.
‘Alright.’

Team Leader Kang GiJoon replied to Min JinSeo’s message.
Not long later, Min JinSeo, wearing a long coat and a deep hat on appeared at the entrance.

“Huh, It’s Min JinSeo!”
“Where? Where?”

Along with someone’s shout, everyone’s gazes focused on her.
Just as numerous cameras started flashing…

“…Sir?”

KangYoon appeared in front of her like a ghost.

“Talk later. Let’s go now.”
“…Yes.”

Min JinSeo hid her face behind KangYoon’s coat and quickly started going through the crowd of people.
Team Leader Kang GiJoon also swiftly swam through the sea of people next to her.

“Miss JinSeo? How did you do on your test?”
“I heard that the difficulty was high this year. How do you feel right now?”
“Please say a word to the board of education.”

KangYoon quickly drifted through the crowd before putting Min JinSeo into the car.
The journalists stuck to no end, but he quickly turned on the car and left the place.

“…Now that brings back memories.”

After leaving the sea of people, KangYoon sighed in relief.
Min JinSeo also laid back into her chair, feeling relieved.

“Phew, that’s better. Sir, team leader, I am okay thanks to you.”

Even though it was something natural for the two of them to do, Min JinSeo was polite.
Kang GiJoon liked Min JinSeo for that.
At that moment, a loud rumble sound resounded in the car.

“Ah…”

It wasn’t the front seats – it was from the back seats.
It was from Min JinSeo.
She coughed awkwardly before turning to look outside.
She was a girl, after all.

“Team Leader Kang. Shall we have a meal before we return?”
“Yes. I was just getting hungry as well. JinSeo, since you finished your test, do you want to eat anything specific?”

Min JinSeo smiled faintly seeing that the two pretended to not notice and talked about a menu.

“I’ve been thinking for a while now, but… meat. It has to be meat.”

The car the three were in was headed towards a famous meat restaurant in Gangnam.
Kang GiJoon ordered for a private room, where they didn’t need to be wary of attention from other people.
Thanks to that they were able to have a peace of mind when they ate.
The meat was getting grilled when the door opened, showing a familiar face.

“Oh, looks like I came at the perfect time.”
“Welcome, director.”
“Unni.”

Just as the meat was finished being grilled, Lee HyunJi arrived, filling the table.
The four of them talked about Min JinSeo’s test.
She sighed, saying that the test difficulty was very high this time.
Hearing that, Lee HyunJi spoke.

“It wasn’t hard just to you, but to everyone. So you don’t need to worry that much.”
“Really? But…”
“You really don’t. Right, president?”

Hearing that KangYoon smiled awkwardly.

“I never took CSAT… As you know, I’ve never been to college.”
“Ah, that’s right.”

Hearing that, Min JinSeo’s eyes widened.

“Really? You really don’t look like that though…”
“Really? I did study hard, from the time I worked as a manager. I could do it when I tried.”
“…Wow.”

Min JinSeo’s eyes shone.
To her, KangYoon was no different to her ideal.
Time passed and everyone became full.
Min JinSeo and Lee HyunJi left for a moment.
Team Leader Kang GiJoon toasted with KangYoon before speaking out seriously.

“President. It looks like it’s about time.”
“Time? Time for what?”

Team Leader Kang GiJoon emptied the glass in one go.

“I think it’s about time JinSeo started working again.”

KangYoon put down his glass with a serious expression.