Raising a Neglected Singer-Songwriter - Chapter 176



Only Noblemtl

176. Let’s meet up soon

The beginning of today’s meeting was a suggestion from someone present while receiving a report on MXM JAPAN.

“Sir, how about getting consulting from MacKenzie?”

Most of what Baek Seok, the company’s general manager and brain, says is reasonable, and given the nature of the issue, advice from an external consulting firm was essential.

And McKinsey is truly considered the best among consulting firms.

The meeting came about naturally and led us to where we are today.

But how did this happen?

Among the consultants from MacKenzie’s side, there was a familiar face.

The only female consultant who introduces herself as ‘Liz Cha’.

‘No way…! Seongjun’s…?!’

Her true identity was Sungjun’s older sister, whom he had met in the waiting room on the day of Sungjun’s showcase.

After falling in love with her at first sight, Choi Dae-heon carefully confided his feelings for Cha Seong-eun only to his closest confidant, Baek Seok.

I was worrying alone about how we could meet again, but who would have thought that we would meet again like this!

‘This is… destiny…?!’

Choi Dae-heon’s heart starts pounding, never dreaming that Baek-seok and the Love Faction were the ones who planned it.

It was the fateful reunion he had been longing for, as he looked like a gangster boss on the outside, but was actually a romantic.

“Hey, nice to meet you.”

The hand that was holding Cha Seong-eun’s hand for the handshake was shaking slightly.

When I saw her again up close, she was much, much more beautiful than when I saw her from afar.

Plus, he’s a McKungie consultant, so his head is also amazing.

Choi Dae-heon was so happy that he felt like he was flying, but he tried not to show it.

It was natural.

Because we met for work in a public setting, not in a private setting.

one side,

Liz Cha, who was holding Choi Max-heon’s bear-like hand, was also feeling similar emotions.

‘When you look closely, you see that he is much more solid.’

Choi Dae-heon’s ‘size’, which would have been intimidating to others, appeared to Cha Seong-eun as his ‘appearance’.

‘Still, it looks like Seongjun put in some effort.’

After hearing from his younger brother Cha Seong-jun that Choi Dae-heon was hoping to have a natural meeting with him, Cha Seong-in ordered that he actively pursue it.

After that, I had gathered intelligence from my younger brother that MXM Entertainment would ask McKungie, where I work, for consulting to establish a branch in Japan, and I had been aware of this in advance. As soon as the request came in to the company, I quickly raised my hand and volunteered, saying that I would take on the project.

“Okay, let’s start the meeting.”

After a brief greeting, we went straight into the meeting.

Project meetings leading to plans to establish a branch in Japan and a branch in the United States in the future.

“I read the report you sent me. I confirmed that you are heading towards establishing a joint venture. So, among the Japanese offices (planning companies) that we are currently discussing, which one is-

“Yes, we are having the most in-depth discussions with Let’s Production. For the US side, we are talking with the New Era label-”

The one who spoke on MacKenzie’s side was Cha Seong-eun, who was in charge of practical affairs.

And Choi Dae-heon, who seriously approaches the meeting with such a person as a representative.

And so the meeting, which lasted a full two hours, ended.

“Thank you for your hard work today. If your schedule allows, I’d like to introduce our company to you a little bit and treat you to a meal.”

At Choi Max-heon’s suggestion, the three men from Mackenzie’s side all look at someone.

The place where the gaze was directed was Hong Il-jeom, and the other person was Seong-eun.

They exchanged a glance for a moment and then answered awkwardly, like a robot.

“Ah, the three of us have plans right after this.”

“But since CEO Choi made this recommendation, would it be possible for Ms. Liz to attend?”

Among the elites who went straight from Korea University to Yale University and then to McKenzie, Cha Seong-eun is a super elite.

That’s why he was so thorough in his love business.

Taking a passive stance and leaving everything up to her younger brother, Seongjun, was something she could never find in her dictionary.

Because love is something you win.

‘Isn’t it about time for Liz to get married?’

‘They say that if you miss your chance to get married, you’ll end up a gold miss.’

A while ago, the old-fashioned remarks of the managing director who was present today and the team members who agreed with him.

If it were someone else, it would have made them feel bad, but instead of getting angry, Cha Seong-eun answered like this.

‘So this time, I’m trying to meet a good man. So, after the MXM Entertainment meeting, can you all skip your schedule? Otherwise, I’ll report you for the conversation earlier as sexual harassment.’

Since they didn’t want to be punished, the men had no choice but to listen to Cha Seong-eun.

So the three of them left first.

Cha Seong-man was left alone to go on a company tour with Choi Dae-heon and Baek Seok.

Meanwhile.

“uh?”

I happened to run into my younger brother, Cha Seong-jun, who was resting in the lounge on the floor where the studio was.

“Ah, Seongjun.”

Cha Seong-eun saw Seong-jun and smiled brightly and waved.

And when Sungjun heard his sister’s smile and kind words, goosebumps ran down his body.

‘That expression and tone of voice right now···.’

This is for external use only.

“CEO Choi was just giving me a tour of the company. It puts my heart at ease to see my younger sibling working in such a wonderful place.”

“Uh, um… what.”

When Seongjun answers hesitantly, Cha Seong-eun’s eyes sparkle.

A look that contained a warning meaning, ‘What kind of reaction is that? Do it right.’

“CEO Choi. I know I’m lacking, but I ask that you continue to take good care of me.”

“Oh, no. Rather, we are the ones who should be asking for Sungjun’s help. After all, he is a Billboard number one singer.”

While Cha Seong-eun and Choi Dae-heon are laughing, Seong-jun secretly asks Baek-seok a question.

“Sir, but is it you alone who came to the meeting today?”

“No. There were four people in total, but the other three left first because they had prior engagements.”

‘The three of you went first?’

Cha Seong-jun himself has been a company employee for five years.

Of course, Cha Seong-eun is a manager-level employee, but it is still not common for him to be left alone after a meeting of this size.

Clearly, it was the witch’s scheme.

‘Well… I guess it turned out well anyway.’

The job of a dating agency is limited to arranging meetings.

What happens after that is up to the parties involved.

“Then see you at home, little brother.”

After leaving a mismatched smile until the end, Cha Seong-eun went on tour with Choi Dae-heon again.

And a little while later, the group chat room notification for the dating manipulation group rang.

– [Baek Seok]: First of all, the company tour is over, and now I’m going to treat you to dinner. I’m afraid it would be too obvious if I suddenly left, so I’ll stay with you until dinner, and when we have coffee after dinner, I’ll make up an excuse and come back first.

The alarm rings one after another as Baek Seok guides.

– [Yuna] As expected, Seok oppa has the best sense!

– [Seol Hye-yoon] I hope things work out for you two.

– [Oh Hae-soo] I respect you, Director. I am learning a lot.

– [Weuri] (Thumbs up emoticon)

Everyone cheers as their plan A goes smoothly.

Meanwhile,

‘Hahahaha! From today on, I will call you Seongjun’s brother-in-law!’

Seongjun felt strange because of the strange imagination he had.

*

For a successful singer, work inevitably piles up at any given time.

After reaching number one on Billboard, Sungjun, who is currently the hottest singer in Korea and is busy with concerts, was also receiving a lot of calls.

And among them, there were cases where welcome connections contacted me.

– Dear Seongjun, it’s been a while since I’ve contacted you. This is Saehyang Cosmetics.

We found Sungjun at Saehyang Cosmetics, his hometown.

The reason is none other than the contract extension for Saehyang Homme, for which Sungjun is the brand model.

Brand model contracts are usually extended for one year.

And at the time of the last contract, the model fee was set at 150 million won for one year.

It was surprising that Saehyang, which only selects top domestic stars as its brand models, offered a modeling contract to Sungjun, who was a rookie singer at the time, and the contract fee offered was also an unusual amount for a rookie, which became a hot topic.

And this time, the amount proposed again is-

– How about 1.5 billion won for a one-year exclusive contract?

It has jumped tenfold in less than a year.

Of course, it wasn’t a surprising amount for the salary of a Billboard No. 1 singer.

The value brought in by other beauty companies was even higher.

In large companies, the price tag was more than 2 billion won, higher than that of Saehyang.

Even before the contract expiration date, the battle to secure Sungjun was fierce.

After receiving the proposal, I had a discussion with the MXM Enter Marketing Team Leader.

“What do you want to do? Do you want to extend it, or do you want to look at other offers?”

Seongjun answers the marketing team leader’s question.

“I will continue with Saehyang.”

For Sungjun, loyalty was more important than money.

If money had influenced Sungjun’s choices, he would have become a model for Chinese mobile games that brought in astronomical sums of money.

The marketing team leader reported that when he told them about his intention to renew the contract, the voice of the person in charge, who had been anxious inside, brightened.

And it is also said that at the right time, this will be reported as an article with the title, ‘Seongjun, the man who chose loyalty over money.’

one side,

Besides the new scent, there was another welcome contact.

– Mr. Seongjun, how have you been? It’s me, Bihyung.

The author of the #1 webtoon, [Cheonma Reincarnation], was Bihyung.

– It’s been a while since I contacted you. The reason is that the animation production of [Cheonma Hwansang] is in progress.

The news that the decision to make it into a webtoon was made a long time ago was already reported in articles.

The production company is Japan’s Muportable, and the director is Sotozaka.

This was possible because of the connection made by Jo Jae-joong, the writer of ‘Nahonbul’, a fellow Korean writer who recently recorded enormous profits with the release of the animated film.

Even without that, the dynamic action animation is a genius feat.

What if we add the animation direction of animation master Director Satozaka to that?

This thing can’t fail even if it wants to.

– I think it will come out in the first quarter of next year.

“That’s great news. This is going to be a huge hit.”

– Haha, I wish I could do that too. Oh, by the way-

The next words of the non-verbal utterance were quite predictable, so he struck first.

“It must be something related to anime songs.”

– Yes, I would like to use the song ‘Aengyeonmu’ that Seongjun sang. I can’t imagine any other song.

[Cheonma Hwansaeng]’s official music video, ‘Aengyeonmu’, has become a perfect trademark of [Cheonma Hwansaeng] to the point that its views continue to increase even now.

So this call was to ask for permission from Sungjun.

And the guarantee that Bihyeong brought was considerable.

The parent company of the webtoon platform ‘Wishes’ opened its wallets wide in hopes that [Cheonma Hwansang] would be a huge hit.

– I would like the song to be used as the ending song.

It was because the lyrical atmosphere did not match the atmosphere of the opening song, which had to be flashy.

Seongjun also agreed because he thought the same thing.

“Are there any candidates for the opening song?”

Sungjun asked, thinking that maybe Twilight would participate this time as well, just like she did during the last ‘I’m Alone’.

But soon they remembered that it would be difficult for them to participate.

That would be the case,

‘Come to think of it, Hikaru and Yoru are on vacation right now.’

After successfully completing a world tour that began with a performance in Seoul, the siblings were on a month-long vacation.

I knew because a picture of them taken in Hawaii, where they were vacationing, was posted in a group message room with their siblings.

A photo of Yoru and Hikaru each wearing colorful flower necklaces around their necks.

This was followed by photos of Hawaii’s clear blue sky and sea, and Waikiki Beach.

On the way,

– Done!

A photo of Yoru wearing a pure white swimsuit, different from her usual smoky styling, was posted along with Hikaru’s words, and then deleted at the speed of light.

Yoru’s question came up right after.

– Seong Jun-sang, have you seen it?

– What?

Seongjun calmly lied because he had a feeling that it wouldn’t work if he answered yes to the question.

Anyway, I have been keeping in touch with my siblings in this way, and after finishing the year-end concert, we even talked about releasing a project song together.

– How about the project team name ‘Starlight’? It’s a combination of Sung Jun-sang’s signature ‘Star’ and Twilight’s ‘Light’, so it’s cool, right?

– It’s good. It sticks to your mouth.

– Haha. I have a talent for naming things. By the way, my sister was so sad that she couldn’t be in the featuring Avengers… She wanted to see Sung Jun-sang. She asked why I didn’t invite her to ‘Star Friend’ on YouTube.

– (Message deleted.)

– Seong Jun-sang, have you seen him?

– Yes? What?

At that time too, the message Hikaru had uploaded was instantly deleted, and Yoru’s eyesight was confirmed.

Let’s go back to the story of the [Cheonma Hwansaeng] opening song.

– I’m talking to Muportable, and this time they want to collaborate with a K-pop idol girl group. K-pop is booming again recently, right? After the Rock Cup stage last time.

With ‘Breeze’ showing off their crazy performance at the Rock Cup, K-pop idols who had been languishing in the global market recently are experiencing a revival.

Accordingly, Muportable, the producer of [Cheonma Hwansang], also intended to aim for such a special feature.

The reason why it was decided to be a girl group instead of a boy group was because they wanted to have a contrast between the male and female vocals in the opening and ending.

The recruitment was based on the premise that Sungjun’s ‘Aengyeonmu’ would be the ending song.

– Mr. Sungjun, if there are any girl groups you are close with, please let us know.

When you say non-human, one group immediately comes to mind.

‘Mimyeo Girls’ recently recruited all of its members as guild members.

If you ask why it wasn’t ‘Breeze’ that he produced himself, the answer was simple.

It would be a huge drain on ‘Breeze’s’ image to take on an anime song right after Rock Cup.

Even for popular idol groups, it is for the same reason that they take appropriate breaks between activities.

The faster an image is consumed, the faster the public’s interest cools.

If that happens, it will be bad for the group’s long-term success.

‘I should try contacting CEO Yonggo.’

If the subtle girl side accepts to participate in the [Cheonma Hwansaeng] opening song, it is predicted that the system will send a mission.

That’s how I ended my call with Bihyung.

And I was searching for a phone number to contact Yonggo right away.

Kotok is here-♪

The message notification sound sounds.

Sungjun’s eyes widened at that.

Seongjun usually sets all notification sounds to silent or vibrate.

He was the only one who had his message notifications set to sound.

A person who must be contacted quickly because you never know when they will contact you.

A single message arrived from him.

– [Tutu] Let’s meet up soon