Chapter 232

What? Exhausted?”

Director Moon GwangShik’s office .

Director Moon GwangShik was scolding Jang MinJi, the leader of Hello Tint, who was looking down on the floor .

“Tsk tsk . To think you’d complain after that tiny bit of schedule . Your senior’s never batted an eye with a schedule like yours . ”

“Director, So-In and InJung are ill right now . If we keep…”

“No . ”

Director Moon GwangShik frowned .

“How can an entertainer say such pathetic things during their activity period?”

“Director, we’ve been sleeping in the van for three straight months now . We rarely ever slept back at the dorms . MinHee’s period has been getting irregular . I, I really didn’t want to say this, but…”

“Then don’t . ”

Jang MinJi became speechless by Director Moon GwangShik’s cruel words .

She appealed to him several times that all of the members were exhausted, but had to leave without getting any results .

When the door closed, Director Moon GwangShik shook his head .

“An entertainer during their activity period can’t even take that much? Tsk tsk . Kids these days don’t have any tenacity . ”

He snorted and put his coat on before heading to the studio .

Today was the day of ECTM’s album recording . ECTM was a 7-man boy group .

Inside the studio were 3 members of ECTM, who were the ones doing the recording today, as well as the second producer, Frey, who were working .

Nodding at the greetings of the singers and the producer, Director Moon GwangShik looked around .

“Where is Producer Oh?”

He was curious since this man was always present when recording albums .

Producer Frey narrowed his eyes as he replied .

“He hasn’t come to work yet . ”

“Hasn’t come to work? Well, not that there’s anything for him to do here . ”

“Right?”

Director Moon GwangShik put his hand on Producer Frey’s shoulders .

“You should get the title of the first producer this time . How long are you going to stay behind Producer Oh? Try hard, okay?”

“Yes! I’ll definitely meet your expectations . ”

Producer Frey enthusiastically went back to work, and the singers inside the booth all started singing again .

‘Producer Oh is still better… but rather than a disobedient headache, an obedient fool is better . ’

Seeing Producer Frey, Director Moon GwangShik’s lips curved upwards .

***

“The sound is too messy . ”

Seo HanYu subconsciously frowned upon hearing the sharp percussion sound that was just inserted .

Producer Oh JiWan pointed at the graph that represented the sound frequencies and explained the reason .

“It’s because the extreme highs aren’t cut . ”

“The extreme highs?”

“Let’s try removing this part here, shall we? Cut off anything above the 20 kHz range and…”

When Producer Oh JiWan adjusted the sound, the ear-piercing percussion sounds disappeared, and it became more refreshing .

Seo HanYu looked up towards Producer Oh Jiwan as though looking at superman .

“…You’re amazing . ”

“Nah, this is nothing much . ”

It was a great joy for a man to be admired by a lady in their prime .

Producer Oh JiWan straightened his shoulders .

Lee HyunJi and KangYoon, who were watching all of this, were watching with glee .

“Looks like he’s adapted already . ”

“He’s fast . Producer Oh’s definitely more sociable, and he’s capable . I always thought that communication skills were a must in a producer . ”

“Producer Oh is a flexible man . Not only are his ears for music good, he knows how to accept everyone’s opinions .

As soon as Lee HyunJi’s words finished, Kim JiMin expressed her opinion on the song to Producer Oh JiWan .

“Uhm, producer, about the vocals . . ”

“The vocals? So there’s a specific voice type you want?”

They were already at ease with each other, and the atmosphere looked good .

“The title of this song is 20, right? but it sounds too fluffy… I’m worried that it might sound too young rather than mature . ”

“Hm . The freshness of being 20 years old amidst an acoustic mood, and you want to appeal to being mature at the same time, right?”

“Yes, that’s it . ”

Producer Oh JiWan thought about it for a moment before speaking what he thought about this .

“Then, I think you should change the vocal method when you sing . You put strength into your stomach when you sing, right?”

“Yes . ”

“Then this time, let’s go with a head voice . ”

Producer Oh JiWan pointed out .

Kim JiMin’s expression brightened as though she saw hope .

“Okay!”

“Do you need anything else?”

Park SoYoung also asked some things about rearrangement, and the discussion became heated .

Lunchtime .

KangYoon took everyone to a nearby restaurant .

“Thank you for the meal!”

This restaurant had autographs of world entertainment artists .

The nearby customers were busy looking at Kim JiMin and Seo HanYu .

Some of them were even giving glances to KangYoon .

Producer Oh JiWan spoke as he ate some galbitang .

“I feel like I’ve finally done some work after all this time . ”

“I wonder if I might have stolen valuable time off someone busy . You should be at your company right now…”

When KangYoon spoke apologetically, Producer Oh JiWan shook his head .

“…They’d do fine without me anyway . Fuu . ”

His expression contained bitterness .

Then, Seo HanYu asked .

‘How can they roll without you? You’re the number 1 producer there, aren’t you?”

“Thanks for that . ”

Producer Oh JiWan smiled faintly at Seo HanYu before continuing to speak .

“MG, as you know, has many talents . From trainees to singers, and from composers to producers . As we possess many talents, the competition is fierce, and skills are a must to survive the competition . ”

“Indeed . As far as I know, you were the most trustworthy in MG, back when I worked there . ”

“…Haha . I’m thankful that you, someone who was called the greatest planning team leader in MG history, tell me something like that . I was titled the first producer . But right now, it’s nothing more than a shell . ”

“…So something happened . ”

“What I’m about to say from this moment onwards, you can consider it to be an excuse from a dropout of the competition . ”

Producer Oh JiWan emptied his cup in one go with a bitter expression .

“After you left, Team Leader KangYoon, the directors limited the decisions that could be made by the employees in order to consolidate their power . In that process, the authorities given to the producers shrank, and as a result, the quality of music that we released dropped . ”

“So a non-professional is trying to take control of the professionals . ”

“Indeed . Embarrassingly, I wasn’t able to work on an album for the past year . ”

“……”

KangYoon felt bitter .

A capable producer like Producer Oh JiWan wasn’t able to spread his wings out .

Seo HanYu, who was listening quietly, pointed out .

“It’s because those baldies always use people that suck up to them… They always did . ”

Seo HanYu gritted her teeth as the piled up anger inside her was considerable .

Park SoYoung patted her back, and Kim JiMin grabbed her hand in order to calm her down .

KangYoon calmly looked at Producer Oh JiWan .

“…It might be somewhat wrong of me to ask you this, but what do you plan to do here on?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure . It won’t be easy for me to find work at MG, but… it’s the place I first joined, and it’s the place that raised me, so it’s hard to walk away from them . ”

Even though his love lost interest in him, his one-sided love continued .

However, there was also a desire to start working again .

…It was a tough decision to make .

At that moment, Seo HanYu spoke again .

“I read from a book that a man stakes his life for someone that acknowledges him . ”

“HanYu . ”

Producer Oh JiWan looked flabbergasted .

Everyone had put down their spoons already .

KangYoon stayed quiet, and Seo HanYu continued to speak .

“Is there a reason for someone like you to rot at MG, is there? You know, I had an enjoyable time working with you together . Wasn’t it fun for you as well, producer?”

“That’s…”

“Don’t fool yourself, producer . I want to work with you . ”

Producer Oh JiWan closed his eyes and bit his lips .

KangYoon didn’t say anything .

What was supposed to be a simple lunch became extremely heavy, and no one spoke carelessly .

When they returned to the studio, White Moonlight and HeeYoon had arrived .

The three people other than Lee HyunAh had set up instruments inside the booth for recording and were waiting for everyone .

“…Oh, White Moonlight . ”

Producer Oh JiWan was aware of White Moonlight as well .

There was no way he didn’t know since they were famous for OSTs and their concerts .

However, he was surprised in a different way when he looked at the booth .

“…President KangYoon, is cooperation within the company this easy?”

For Kim JiMin’s album, there was an instrument session, and there was also the composer, rearranger as well as a member from a completely different group .

This was unimaginable in MG .

Cooperation happened in the form of featuring at most in MG .

But here, all the other artists could step in for a single artist .

KangYoon shrugged as he replied .

“We’re all one family . ”

“…Family, family, huh . ”

Producer Oh JiWan reminded himself of that word several times .

The word that was thrown out of habit in other entertainment companies was actually a word that they abide by .

KangYoon looked at Kim JinDae, who was adjusting the snare drums and spoke into the mic .

“We’re going to start with the drums, so tell me once you’re done setting up . ”

– Yes .

While everyone moved around busily, Producer Oh JiWan approached KangYoon .

‘President KangYoon . ’

‘Yes, producer . ’

‘…This project… can I have a hand in it as well?’

KangYoon’s eyes widened, and he continued .

‘The money… I don’t need it . It’s fine even if I get found out by the company . At this rate, it’s obvious that I’ll be kicked out… please . I’m actually quite useful, you know?’

‘Producer . ’

KangYoon nodded his head and patted Producer Oh JiWan on the back .

He accepted his offer .

Kim JinDae seemed somewhat surprised that someone other than KangYoon was sitting in front of the mixer, but he gained his calm after seeing KangYoon behind the chair .

“My name is Oh JiWan . Pleased to meet you . ”

– I’m Kim JiWan . Are you the producer?

“Yes . I might be lacking, but please take care of me . ”

The instruments were finished being set up, and Producer Oh JiWan started the recording .

***

It was autumn, and the leaves were starting to fall .

Eunha’s album, ‘Twenty Years Old’, was released .

Kim JiMin held a comeback stage in ‘Music Count’ in a public TV station, and after that, she showed up in many kinds of music programs, having a fantastic comeback . Her music shot up in the rankings and reached the first rank in merely two days .

It was a digital single that many other artists released as well, but this album became a hot topic since ‘SeoYu’ of Eddios participated in the production .

The fans of Eddios didn’t just stream the music and downloaded the entire song, in order to raise the sales of Eunha’s album .

Seeing the profits of the album, Lee HyunJi was all smiles .

“HanYu was a godly move . ”

Seo HanYu’s participation in the album acted positively during promotion and positively influenced sales as well .

KangYoon hung up on his phone and nodded his head .

“It seems so . There were a lot of hurdles, but I’m glad that this ended well . ”

“Yes . That call was from Japan, right? How is Miss MoonHee doing?”

“Nothing has changed . She’s not getting much sleep with all the schedule she’s got .

KangYoon said that he was worried about In MoonHee’s physical condition and sent a mail to A-Trust asking to decrease her schedule .

Lee HyunJi looked over some documents when she came across something strange and asked KangYoon about it .

“President . Were we right to put Producer Oh’s name in the album?”

“It’s fine . There’s no need to hide one’s family member . ”

“President . ”

Lee HyunJi frowned and looked at KangYoon .

“It was indeed me who told you to recruit Producer Oh, but it might not be good for the public opinion if we create trouble like this . ”

“Perhaps, but he worked with us, albeit a little . If necessary, we should cover for him . ”

“Haaah . ”

Lee HyunJi sighed and shook her head .

“Sheesh, I knew you’d be like this . Did you get anything ready?”

“Of course . I sent it over to your email . ”

“I knew it . ”

KangYoon wasn’t just all talk .

When Lee HyunJi opened the email, she saw a list of materials that they could send to the media in cases of emergencies .

“…How is MG taking the exact actions that we predicted them to?”

Looking at an article in the entertainment section of Sace, the web portal, Lee HyunJi snorted .

– World Entertainment poaches a producer belonging to MG?

– World poaches a producer without prior negotiation . MG, “we will right these bad manners in the industry . ”

KangYoon also smiled faintly seeing the absurd articles .

“They should be aware that despite being ‘exclusive’ producers, they are entitled to work that they wish to do . Director, please take care of it . ”

“Sure . ”

Lee HyunJi put her thumbs up telling KangYoon to believe in her .