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Chapter 111: Sound of Spring (2)

I considered digging into Golden Road\'s involvement in the music-chart ranking manipulation, but then I changed my mind. After all, digging recklessly into such a serious matter could lead to a counterattack.

After discovering another scandal within the Suhyaejong line, I wondered if I could find more information and scrolled through the planner. However, as I scrolled through the pages, I noticed that more than half of the content related to Golden Road winning first place on music shows had been deleted.

"What\'s this? Why are so many entries missing?"

It turned out that there was more than just one or two groups involved in the music chart manipulation.

"Damn, everyone must be out of their minds. Aren\'t they afraid of the backlash? Even without evidence, rumors alone can ruin them."

I couldn\'t help but let out a dumbfounded laugh.

At that moment, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Wait. Then, how many weeks will \'Hurry Up!\' stay as number one on the music chart?"

I remembered that \'Hurry Up!\' had stayed in first place for a long time on the music chart. Nevertheless, the situation was completely different this time since the competitors had fallen away on their own.

"This could turn out to be quite interesting."

I found myself smirking.

***

After Cherry Blossom\'s successful comeback, I temporarily stepped back from my duties in Singer Division 2 and started taking care of Yoo-Jin again.

The latest episode of Blue Sky, episode 9, had a viewership rating of 13.2%. It was currently in a fierce battle with its competitor Moonlight Starpour, with only a 1.9% difference.

\'It\'s a close call.\'

After finishing my work report at the company, I headed straight to Yoo-Jin\'s house.

Beep-beep-beep.

As I unlocked the door and entered, Yoo-Jin, who had earphones on, didn\'t notice my arrival; she was deeply engrossed in the script she was reading. Miso was lying on the floor and kicking her feet in the air, completely absorbed in drawing with her crayons.

Upon taking a quick glance at Miso\'s drawing, it seemed her drawing skills were improving day by day. The creature Miso drew had one body but two faces.

\'Wow. She’s already reached the realm of Picasso\'s Cubism at the age of seven. She might become a world-famous painter soon,\' I thought.

"Oh? Uncle Yoon-Ho is here!"

Miso sprang up and ran toward me as soon as she noticed my presence. When I opened my arms wide and hugged her, Miso gave me a bright smile.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho, are you done being busy?" Miso asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Then, don\'t leave us anymore!"

Though I had to look after Cherry Blossom and Lee Tae-Poong as well, I didn\'t feel like working when I saw Miso. All I wanted to do was stick around and play with her.

"I won\'t go, I promise!" I said, nodding repeatedly. Yoo-Jin belatedly lifted her head and smiled.

She teased Miso playfully, "Miso, Uncle Yoon-Ho is lying. He\'ll swoosh away again."

Miso pouted her lips. "Uncle Yoon-Ho, are you lying to me?"

I shook my head at Miso\'s sad gaze.

Feeling startled, I denied it repeatedly, "No. Of course not, Miso!"

"Yoo-Jin, stop teasing Miso!" I silently mouthed to Yoo-Jin, hoping Miso wouldn\'t see.

However, Yoo-Jin snickered and stuck out her tongue.

\'Are you joining Miso’s rebellion too?\'

After managing to calm Miso down, I set down the lunch box and side dish containers I’d brought and asked, "You guys haven\'t had lunch yet, right? Let\'s eat."

"What\'s all this?" Yoo-Jin asked.

"Kimchi."

"Kimchi? All of these are Kimchi?"

As I set the dishes on the low table, Miso began to help with her tiny hands, eager to set it up herself.

"Wow, this is a lot."

Both Miso and Yoo-Jin were surprised.

"Kimchi fried rice, kimchi stew, braised kimchi, kimchi pancakes, kimchi rolls, and even stir-fried kimchi. Woah, what\'s all this?"

"I heard that the probiotics in kimchi are good for fighting Helicobacter bacteria."

"Did a doctor tell you that?"

"No? The health lady on the morning show did," I responded

My cause of death in my past life was stomach cancer. A health check-up I had at the beginning of the year revealed that I was already full of Helicobacter bacteria, which could later cause gastritis or ulcers. Irregular meals, stress, an unhealthy diet, and too much coffee were said to be the causes.

The doctor said that the condition would improve soon with the medication prescribed by the hospital. Nonetheless, I thought it might be even better to eat kimchi, a traditional remedy, as well.

At that moment, Miso started singing the kimchi song she had learned in kindergarten while tapping her spoon and chopsticks.

"I like kimchi! Kimchi~ Kimchi~ Eat it, and you will grow tall! Grow tall!"

\'I don’t think eating Kimchi makes you grow taller, but it doesn’t matter. As long as Miso is happy, that\'s all that matters.\'

Feeling hungry, Miso shook Yoo-Jin\'s arm. "Mom, come on~. Let\'s eat. I’m hungry!"

"Well, it must be good for the body," Yoo-Jin said, sighing.

Unlike Yoo-Jin, Miso was all smiles. "It’s mealtime~! Let’s eat, eat, eat!"

During the meal, Yoo-Jin wiped some kimchi fried rice off Miso\'s mouth and asked me, "But why did you come without calling today? There\'s no filming scheduled as far as I know."

"Oh. There\'s an additional advertisement offer that came in, and I wanted to check with you on your thoughts,” I answered.

"I got another advertisement offer?"

"Yes. The video of you dancing with Miso went so viral that they want her to appear in it too."

More advertisements were always better from the agency’s perspective, but it was a different story for actors because they had to avoid overexposure.

"Which company is it?"

"Osung Electronics\' kimchi refrigerator. But Miso has to be in it with you."

Miso, who had been listening intently, tugged at my arm. “Uncle Yoon-Ho, am I going to be in the shoot?"

"Yes. They said Miso is so pretty that they want you and Mommy to shoot the advertisement together."

"Woah! Really?"

Miso started singing again with an excited expression, delighted at the thought of getting an advertisement.

"Kimchi~ kimchi~ yummy~ yummy~. Good for your health and tasty, kimchi~."

Miso sprang up and gave a big thumbs-up as she finished singing her song.

"Kimchi!"

"K-kimchi!"

Only after returning the thumbs-up did I finally break free from the endless loop of the kimchi song.

Yoo-Jin smiled and handed Miso a cup of water.

Gulp, gulp.

Miso thirstily downed the entire cup of water, perhaps because her performance had been too passionate.

"Miso, do you want to be in the advertisement with Mommy?"

"Yes! But I want to wear a funny hat again like the burger advertisement."

Yoo-Jin shuddered at Miso\'s enthusiastic response.

That prompted Yoo-Jin to ask me, "It\'s a normal advertisement, this time... right?"

"It is."

Yoo-Jin sighed in relief. "Then I guess I owe the Cherry Blossom members another gift. It\'s an advertisement I got thanks to them."

"It\'s fine. They\'ve received plenty of advertisement offers too."

Just like flowers blooming in spring, a true spring had arrived for Cherry Blossom and for Yoo-Jin.

***

When I turned on the TV, Teddy Kim—who had been caught manipulating music charts—was being shown entering the police station in handcuffs.

"Mr. Teddy Kim! Is it true that you were involved in music chart manipulation with Mr. Kim Hong-Won, the president of Daesung Promotion?"

"TK Entertainment claims that you acted alone without their knowledge! Could you please comment?"

Amid the commotion of reporters, Teddy Kim, who normally spoke fluent Korean, put his jacket over his head and responded, "I don\'t know~. I\'m~ American~."

Then he entered the police station.

Click.

Kim Tae-Kwon, the president of TK Entertainment and a former gangster, turned off the wall-mounted TV in his room and let out a sigh.

Then, he turned his gaze to Ma Dong-Pal, who was sitting to his left.

"Did you make sure he kept his mouth shut?"

"Yes, sir."

"But why is everything you\'ve been doing lately such a mess?"

Ma Dong-Pal bowed his head deeply. "I’m sorry, sir. I have no excuse."

"You say you have no excuse after losing 10 billion won... Is that all you have to say?"

Ma Dong-Pal clenched his teeth tightly.

At that moment, Kim Tae-Kwon\'s left fist struck Ma Dong-Pal\'s right cheek as if he had been waiting for it.

Smack!

Ma Dong-Pal\'s face turned to one side, and he instantly collapsed with a strong impact. Losing his balance, Ma Dong-Pal quickly tried to regain his composure.

Drip, drip.

Blood streamed from Ma Dong-Pal\'s nose as he sat on the sofa.

Kim Tae-Kwon frowned and shook his hand. "Damn, even a bull would fall from my left hand’s punch. I must be getting old."

"N-not at all, sir. Your punch is still as strong as ever."

"It\'s not. I\'m losing strength as I age. It\'s just not the same... Aging is truly sorrowful.”

Kim Tae-Kwon sighed at his own perceived weakening punch even after hitting someone. Then, he grabbed a crystal glass on the table.

As Ma Dong-Pal flinched again, Director Cheon Yi-Sang, who was seated on the right, grabbed Kim Tae-Kwon\'s hand.

"Come on, hyung-nim. It\'s natural to lose strength with age. Let\'s not use the glass as a weapon," said Cheon Yi-Sang.

"I was just going to drink some water, man."

Cheon Yi-Sang reluctantly let go of Kim Tae-Kwon’s hand. "I thought you were going to shove the glass in Dong-Pal\'s mouth and then kick him in the jaw."

Ma Dong-Pal shivered at Cheon Yi-Sang\'s joke.

Kim Tae-Kwon burst into incredulous laughter. "Shove the glass in his mouth and kick his jaw? That\'s a fresh idea."

After drinking some water, Kim Tae-Kwon put down the crystal glass and said to Ma Dong-Pal, "Relax, I won\'t hit you anymore."

Only then did Ma Dong-Pal finally relaxed.

"Let Petite More rest for a while since there’s nothing they can do in a situation like this. After a month, kickstart their overseas promotions. Focus on schedules in China or Japan," Kim Tae-Kwon instructed.

"Yes, sir," Ma Dong-Pal replied.

"And you said you started working on Cherry Blossom?"

"We\'ve already laid the groundwork."

"Stop doing stupid things. What do you think will happen if you mess up with cameras all over?"

Given their backgrounds, Kim Tae-Kwon and Ma Dong-Pal were novices in content but not in their ability to read situations. After all, they had lived in a world where one mistake could lead to getting arrested or becoming a target.

Kim Tae-Kwon shifted his gaze to the large man trembling at the edge of the sofa.

"Why are you trembling so badly, Chief Kang Hyee-Dong? You haven\'t done anything wrong that I don\'t know about, have you?" Kim Tae-Kwon asked.

Kang Hyee-Dong\'s voice trembled under Kim Tae-Kwon\'s chilling gaze. "N-n-no, sir."

Kang Hyee-Dong, who once used to be the ace of CNK Entertainment, had moved to TK Entertainment with the promise of a chief position after Floren, the girl group that he had launched, disbanded due to a bullying scandal.

However, the joy of getting a higher salary and a better position had been short-lived. He had heard rumors about Kim Tae-Kwon\'s rough character, but he had not imagined it would be this bad.

"Chief Kang, you\'ll have to lead the overall management of the singers instead of Dong-Pal here for the time being. I\'ve heard good things about your work in the record business team," Kim Tae-Kwon said.

"H-how could I possibly do that when I’ve only joined the company not long ago..."

The moment Kang Hyee-Dong tried to refuse, Kim Tae-Kwon\'s face contorted into a scowl. "Why? Don\'t you want to work?"

Kim Tae-Kwon\'s menacing demeanor made Kang Hyee-Dong reflexively bow his head. "Th-that\'s not what I meant. I will follow your orders, sir."

Hearing that, Kim Tae-Kwon finally looked satisfied. "Good. Now, there\'s something I\'m curious about."

Sitting up straight, Kang Hyee-Dong tried to hide the tremor in his voice. "You can ask me anything, sir."

"It\'s nothing much... It’s just that we’ve spent 10 billion won on Petite More\'s fifth album. But in the end, we were outdone by Cherry Blossom. You know Dong-Pal personally recruited the best people for the job, and we invested a lot in the music video, right? Why do you think things turned out this way?"

Kang Hyee-Dong gulped nervously. The sight of Ma Dong-Pal sitting stiffly on the sofa with blood still dripping instilled fear even in Kang Hyee-Dong, who had lived a rough life.

He fell into a deep contemplation. After all, the extremely catchy melody and the fun, easy-to-follow dance of "Hurry Up!" were once-in-a-decade phenomena.

However, Kang Hyee-Dong could not explain the difference in music quality to Kim Tae-Kwon, as Kim Tae-Kwon didn’t understand that much about music. Consequently, the only remaining factor was the difference in the people who were in charge.

"The quality of a song ultimately depends on the producer. There are rumors that the producer behind Cherry Blossom\'s latest track is no ordinary person!"

Kim Tae-Kwon looked puzzled as he asked, "What do you mean? I heard that Chief Lee Dong-Min is the producer for Cherry Blossom."

"Officially, that\'s the case. But I heard someone else was actually behind recruiting the talent for this track."

"Who?"

"I-I\'m not entirely sure..."

"It\'s a guy named Jung Yoon-Ho. He was in charge of Cherry Blossom\'s latest track!" Ma Dong-Pal interjected eagerly at this moment, hoping it could be his chance at attaining forgiveness.

"Jung Yoon-Ho? That\'s a new name to me. Who is he?" Kim Tae-Kwon asked.

"He\'s also Jung Yoo-Jin\'s talent agent."

"Jung Yoo-Jin? The actress acting with Jong-Hyuk?"

"Yes, sir."

"How did an actor\'s talent agent become a music producer?"

Ma Dong-Pal shared everything he knew about Jung Yoon-Ho. "I don\'t know the details. But I heard that the composer, lyricist, and choreographer for this track are all newcomers, and they were all discovered by Jung Yoon-Ho.”

Kim Tae-Kwon took a sip of water from his cup and fell into deep thought. "Jung Yoon-Ho, huh..."

Kim Tae-Kwon smiled menacingly and handed a credit card to Ma Dong-Pal. "Dong-Pal, go to the hospital first. Then take your family to my villa in Hawaii and rest for about two weeks. And just handle the actors from now on."

"I\'m sorry, sir."

"It\'s okay. Just don\'t make the same mistake twice. Now go on. Chief Kang, you can see yourself out and get back to work too."

As Kim Tae-Kwon finished speaking, Cheon Yi-Sang chimed in, "Dong-Pal. Since you\'re going abroad anyway, make the most of it. Tae-Kwon hyung’s credit card has no limit."

Despite wanting to laugh at Cheon Yi-Sang\'s light-hearted joke, Ma Dong-Pal couldn’t because his mouth was too sore and painful.

With his head bowed, Ma Dong-Pal left the president\'s office with Kang Hyee-Dong.

After the two men left, Kim Tae-Kwon turned to Cheon Yi-Sang with a question. "Yi-Sang, what do you think about bringing that guy to our company?"

"Jung Yoon-Ho?"

"Yeah. We should bring anyone useful in."

Cheon Yi-Sang responded with a sly smile, "I\'ll find a good way to do that.”