Top Management

TM Chapter 152

TL: emptycube / ED: Isleidir

It was quiet.

Like the calm before a storm.

“I’m not changing who I’m assigned to. I’m still your manager, and Pretty Girls have their own manager.”

“And that’s the project?”

Im Seoyoung asked in a calm voice.

I was momentarily at a loss for words at their unexpected reactions. Instead of replying, I just nodded. This time, LJ said,

“Let’s talk while eating. The food’s going to go cold.”

“That’s right! Open the pizza box first! We need to eat it while it warm because we added a ton of extra cheese!”

The girls moved quickly. LJ opened and set the food and snacks I bought on the table, and Lee Taehee filled glasses with various drinks. Im Seoyoung divided the tasty pizza for everyone.

What was this reaction?

I had thought that they would call me a traitor like when they mistakenly thought I was being assigned to Son Chaeyoung or hit the ground like citizens who lost their country, but it felt odd that they seemed completely fine.

I stood, unable to adjust to the situation when Lee Songha approached me.

I became tense again.

“We have potato and bulgogi^{1}.”

“Huh?”

Lee Songha showed me the two pizza slices in her hands.

“I brought over the biggest slices. Which one would you like?”

“Uh, just give me whatever… But do you have nothing you want to say to me?”

Or want to throw at me?

Lee Songha stared at me. Opening her lips, which had no makeup on, she said,

“I wish it goes well. Your project.”

She smiled slightly as she nodded.

I felt like I had swallowed a stone.

The other girls’ reactions made me confused, but I became even more confused after seeing Lee Songha’s reaction. Lee Songha’s reaction had always been the same, whether Son Chaeyoung asked me to be her manager or I told her I wanted to work with Nam Joyoon.

It felt like the girl who always stuck next to me had taken a step away.

This change was shocking…

“It’s a good opportunity for you, oppa.”

Lee Songha said nonchalantly.

“Even if it’s only temporary now, if this project is a success, you might really become a team leader. I really hope you do. It’s fine so long as you don’t change who you’re assigned to. If you get promoted, then I’ll just work that much harder to become successful.”

She then started working her way through the pizza. Half the pizza instantly disappeared in her mouth. After her cheeks were stuffed like a squirrel saving food for the winter, she began talking again,

“It’s fine as long as I become famous and important enough for a team leader to personally take care and go around with me. Then we can continue to work together.”

Her voice was muffled due to the food in her cheeks, but her every word rang clearly in my ears like bells. How could she say such words with no change to her expression?

Lee Songha looked at me again. Then she became surprised.

“Uh, I ate both slices. When did I eat them both? There’ll probably be some left!”

She brushed off the crumbs from her now empty hands and quickly rushed over to the table. Then she grabbed one of the remaining slices and waved it at me. She even gestured at me to come over.

I shook my head. Her words, which echoed in my head like bells, dispersed.

“I was sort of expecting this.”

Lee Taehee said while handing me a glass of alcohol when I sat down next to Lee Songha.

Im Seoyoung hugged her knees and nodded.

“You’re becoming more and more famous by the day, and everything you do is a huge success. You can’t stay with us forever. We were thinking that a day like this would arrive. It came much faster than we expected, and it’s surprising that it’s for another girl group.”

“It’s still worth celebrating.”

LJ added. Im Seoyoung made a fuss about how we needed to toast and raised her glass. Five glasses clinked in the air.

I downed my glass in one go. I drank the cold beer with ice, yet heat spread out from my throat to my belly.

They had been expecting this.

So that was what they were thinking when I was focused on other things.

Maybe I should have brought it up earlier since I would be working with another girl group even if I wasn’t going to be their personal manager. This must feel different than when I started working with Nam Joyoon. It wouldn’t be weird if they were disappointed, yet they didn’t show such emotions on their faces.

I looked at them and said,

“Even in the future, to me, you girls are…”

“Euahh, don’t say it! Just stop!”

I was going to say something serious, yet Im Seoyoung shouted while covering her face.

“I didn’t even say what I wanted to.”

“’To me, you girls are first’, ‘to me, you are the best’. You were going to say something like that, weren’t you?!”

“That’s true.”

“You’ll make me cry even if you made an old eighties gag! I’m holding it back! If you say something like that, this party’s going to be ruined with everyone crying!”

“I don’t plan on crying though?”

LJ said before adding,

“You’re the only one who might cry all night out of the four of us.”

“Damn it, then I’m going to the washroom so finish it off before I come back!”

Im Seoyoung got up and ran to the bathroom.

Dumbfounded, I laughed. The girls started giggling too. As expected, with Im Seoyoung, any serious mood would soften up. She needed show this side of her on entertainment shows.

Thinking this, I received the chicken thigh Lee Songha passed me.

“But why is it Pretty Girls?”

LJ changed the mood.

“Is it because of that member who asked for your business card? Jung Jae or something?”

“No.”

My cheeks stung. I knew who was staring at me without looking.

“It really isn’t?”

“It’s not. She has semi-left the group, so we don’t know if she’ll come back or not.”

The piercing stare softened.

LJ, who was looking at me with narrowed eyes, tilted her head.

“Did I see wrong? Her eyes didn’t seem normal, so I thought she would definitely contact you. Your gaze also lingered on her that day. So I thought you were producing the album for her.”

Her quick senses were almost at the level of being a superpower.

I explained Pretty Girls’ unfortunate situation.

Then I said to Lee Taehee, who was blowing on the lip of a bottle by herself,

“Although this is a project producing Pretty Girls’ single album, it’ll also benefit your next album as well. So please trust me and wait.”

Smiling faintly, Lee Taehee nodded.

*

My mind was dizzy from the tapping noise.

When I checked what it was, it was my finger tapping on the table. I clenched a fist and looked beside me. Kim Hyunjo and the Team 3 Leader were concentrating while sharing a pair of earphones.

They were focused on Lee Taehee’s first song.

The song went by in a flash when I listened to it, but now these four minutes seemed like four hours. I licked my dry lips. I was parched. I wanted to pour some warm coffee down my throat, but the coffee cup in my hand was empty long ago.

The first song finally ended.

The Team 3 Leader took his earphone out and whispered something to Kim Hyunjo. His expression wasn’t very bright.

Did he not like it?

When I listened to it, although it has been proven that my ears were crap, I thought that it definitely wasn’t a bad song. I thought it was of similar quality to the Pretty Girls’ song.

“You said that there were two more songs?”

The Team 3 Leader asked while scratching his sideburns.

“Let’s talk after listening to them all.”

I felt like my insides were being crushed.

I played the remaining two songs. Their expressions didn’t change. I comforted myself when I saw them nod their head or tap their feet.

It was finally over by the time I crumbled my coffee cup.

The two began whispering to each other again. My patience was being burned to its wick.

In the end, I couldn’t endure it any longer and asked,

“How were they?”

“Does Taehee have any other songs than these?”

Kim Hyunjo asked with a frown.

“These are the only ones that are complete.”

“Right? I asked just in case.”

A sigh was mixed in with his answer.

My frozen mind began to churn.

If they both found the three songs to be lacking, then the A&R Team’s opinion wouldn’t be too different from them. That would be the worst. I had thought that at least one of Lee Taehee’s songs would get a good reaction considering she put her heart into making them.

Was there a better song among the ones they’ve already collected?

Also, if that was the case, then Pretty Girls’ single…

If I played that song for them in this dreary situation where none of the songs played were worthy of being title tracks… And if Kim Hyunjo, the Team 3 Leader, and other employees thought that the song would be a hit if Neptune sang it like in my future…

Of course, they would want to give that song to Neptune and give Pretty Girls a different one. Even if we decided to work on the project, Neptune’s next album would obviously be more important to the company.

It was the same for me.

Another storm began brewing once I finally relaxed my mind.

“What should we do about this?”

The Team 3 Leader groaned.

“Hyunjo, you listened to all the songs we collected until now, right? Were there any good ones?”

“I did pick a few, but they weren’t good enough to be title tracks. As just another song in the album, well.”

“Which one should we pick as the title track? I liked the first one?”

What?

“The second one for me. I think that one suited Neptune better.”

“We could go with double title tracks like before. We need to think hard about it.”

Their conversation became strange mid-way.

I gave the two of them a blank look when the Team 3 Leader chuckled.

“Take a picture of Lucky Charm, no, Team Leader Jung. It’s my first time seeing him make that expression.”

“I know, right? His spirits pierced the sky when he said he wanted to release an unknown girl group’s album, yet did he also age when he became a team leader? Why are you acting like an old man? Stop being so wishy-washy. It’s better if your spirits are high even if you do something absurd.”

Kim Hyunjo said while laughing. He then slapped my shoulder.

“Good, they’re good. Why are you so nervous when bringing such good songs?”

My tense shoulders finally relaxed.

These guys…

“Were you surprised?”

“I think it’s jokes like this that can kill.”

I said as I brushed my front hair aside. Oh my god. I was so nervous for the past fifteen minutes that my forehead was soaked in sweat. Exhausted, I rested my back on the chair and asked again,

“Are all three songs good?”

“They are better than Satellite.”

Kim Hyunjo immediately replied. His voice was filled with excitement and certainty.

He tapped the table and said,

“The first song was so catchy that I thought, ‘This is the one.’ Then when I heard the second song, I thought, ‘No, this is the one.’ That was the same for the third.”

“Taehee really is talented. She must have been under a lot of pressure because her first two songs were hits, but she keeps making songs like this. I bet it’ll be fun making their next album with songs like this.”

So drunk Song Inho’s impressions were correct.

If I knew their reactions would be so good, I would have played the songs right away. I just wasted time worrying about it by myself.

I felt good when I thought about giving Lee Taehee the good news.

The Team 3 Leader chuckled as he added,

“Lucky Charm, if your plan works, then maybe this will be an even greater hit than their mini-album.”

Plan.

If in the future I had yet to see, the album with Lee Taehee’s song wasn’t a hit, I believed that it was because of bad luck or timing or a lack of mass appeal.

And those were things I could do something about.

I planned on increasing the press and public’s interest to their peak with the success of Pretty Girls’ reality TV show and single before releasing Neptune’s next album. So that they could make a comeback with so much of the public’s interest that we wouldn’t even have to promote their album.

I would make that happen.

“But does Pretty Girls not have a song?”

Kim Hyunjo suddenly asked.

“You said that an unknown songwriter made it. Do you not have it here? I’m curious about that too.”

Various thoughts crossed my mind in a brief moment.

Wouldn’t it be okay? They really liked Lee Taehee’s song, and there was a massive benefit to having Lee Taehee’s own songs. Also, she had three songs to boot. So…

I swallowed dryly.

“I have it.”

They put on their earphones again.

I played the guide version, which I had listened to a countless number of times.

Then I observed their expressions, especially Kim Hyunjo’s.

^{1} Popular marinated meat dish in Korea