Episode: 52
What happens when a human forgets how to speak?
That is exactly what’s unfolding before my eyes right now.
“Wow...”
We were all sitting crouched in the middle of the practice room, watching the choreography video Julia sent us, which was connected to the TV.
As our song started playing, everyone was initially overwhelmed by the clean, beautiful, and sophisticated choreography.
“Wow...”
That’s all anyone could say at first.
-♬♪♬♪
As Julia’s choreography continued, Lee Da-young and Seong Seri’s expressions grew increasingly complex.
Eun Hee-ju remained expressionless as she sat between my legs, lightly tapping my chest with her head.
Meanwhile, Min-seo looked overjoyed.
“Wow... ha...”
“Wow!”
“Woooow...”
If there’s ever a way to unite people with a single word, this must be what it feels like.
[The video has ended.]
When the video finally ended...
“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”
“Whoa, that scared me.”
Lee Da-young, who could be considered the main person responsible for us receiving such an incredible choreography, let out an intense scream.
Next to her, Seong Seri grabbed both her ears and sighed while looking at me.
“Wow... ha...”
Min-seo, on the other hand, glanced around nervously at her two older sisters, secretly smiling with excitement.
“Wow... ha... seriously... ha ha... wow! I mean... how... ha... me...”
“Insane, seriously.”
Lee Da-young was clearly showing what it looks like when someone’s mental state collapses.
“Do you think this makes sense, Team Leader? Look at this! Look!”
She pointed to a line at the end of the email.
[This is the first completed draft.]
[It is not the final version.]
[However, the difficulty won’t be lowered. If anything, it might get harder.]
“Is this something a person should say after sending such a video? This damn woman, just fire her already! I can’t work with someone like this. Is she trying to kill us or something?”
It had been a while since Lee Da-young exploded like this.
“Hee-ju, give us a moment.”
“...Sure.”
I sent Eun Hee-ju out for a bit.
Then, I placed Lee Da-young between my legs and started patting her head like you would to calm a dog.
“Da-young, I get why you’re angry.”
Step one: Empathy.
“But think about it. Honestly, setting aside the difficulty and how tough it might be... the choreography that fits your song so perfectly... Honestly, it looked pretty great, didn’t it? Now, put aside the difficulty and how hard it’ll be for a moment. Okay? Answer honestly. What did you think?”
Step two: Positivity and persuasion.
“It’s good. I know it’s good. The moment I saw it, I thought it was amazing.”
Is this working?
Or so I thought.
“But I told you I can't danceeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!”
Ah.
This is not something that will calm down easily.
“Ahem! Alright, everyone, take a good look at the choreography that arrived today and practice hard. If anything gets too difficult, just call me anytime. I’ll come running right away. Oh, by the way, Julia will be coming to work with you three times a week starting tomorrow to help out. Good luck!”
Step three: Tactical retreat.
I know them well enough to know that, despite their frustration and gloom, they aren’t the type to give up.
So, I left it to them and made my exit.
As I left, I could hear:
“I told youuuu!!!!! How many timesss!!!!! You damnmmm!!!”
Fortunately, Seong Seri, as the leader and the oldest, managed to calm Lee Da-young down, and they resumed practicing. I received a text confirming this shortly after.
Meanwhile...
I wasn’t running away from Park Joo-yong this time, but from Lee Da-young.
“Oh, Team Leader Kim.”
“It’d be weird if we didn’t run into each other by now.”
Yoon Won-seok casually approached me, and I just shrugged.
So.
What kind of information are you after this time?
Not that there was anything currently of significant impact.
"Both Oasis and your group have now received songs and are preparing for their debut, so there's not much else to report. Recently, Oasis received about a minute-long sample of their song in advance."
"Is it good?"
"They say it's good, right? Judging by how Team Leader Park Joo-yong couldn't stop smiling after hearing it, it seems the song turned out quite well."
"Hmm. Well, the reputation of 'Nampo-dong's Iron Fist' is probably not exaggerated."
As expected, Yoon Won-seok didn't seem to have much else to tell me.
So, we just chatted casually while sipping on vending machine coffee.
"How are things progressing on your end? You're running things on your own, after all. Not many people seem to know much about your side. Maybe just me?"
"Our group has also almost finished one song. We've completed the first recording. Today, we received the choreography for that song, and the kids are practicing."
"Wow. You're moving fast. It hasn't even been that long since the end-of-month evaluation, has it?"
"Speed doesn't matter. In the end, it's all about quality. What counts is the result and the outcome. Even if you film a 1 billion-won music video, it's pointless if it's worse than a 100 million-won one."
"True."
I glanced at Yoon Won-seok, who was quietly sipping his coffee, and patted his shoulder.
"Hey."
"Yes?"
"Want to see it? The song and choreography."
"Of course, I'd love to!"
After all, what gives life its flavor?
It's the reactions of subordinates ranked lower than me.
"Let's start with the song."
[Always - Radiance]
"Oh, the title alone gives off a good vibe! It really sounds like the kind of songs big company girl groups debut with. And you've already decided on the group name. 'Always'? I like it!"
"Don't get carried away. Just listen quietly."
Even as I said that, I couldn't help but smile.
"Wow."
I flinched for a moment at the 'wow' that slipped out.
"This is amazing. I thought it was a one-minute song. You know those big company girl group songs with lyrics like, 'Expect twist after twist'? It kind of has that vibe. I don't know much about the songwriter STB, but I heard they’re active in the underground scene. However, this song doesn't carry that vibe at all. It's not overwhelmingly bright either. If I had to describe it, I'd say it feels like 'holy light'?"
As expected, this guy was spot on as someone working in the management industry.
He perfectly pinpointed what I had felt.
"Wow. But how long did it take to record this? I mean, it hasn't been that long since the end-of-month evaluation, yet you produced a song of this quality? Is this the title track? At first, I thought you meant you had just completed a simple filler track."
"We finished recording in one day. About 15 hours?"
"Fifteen hours?! Did the kids endure that? Even though girl group members are said to have good stamina, 15 hours sounds tough. The song isn’t easy either. Their voices must have been shot."
Haha, this is it. This is why I live for moments like this.
"They worked hard, man. Seriously, even though I was just standing outside the recording booth, in that space where you do nothing but click buttons and watch."
"Yes?"
"Even just standing there made me sweat and feel like crying. Like, 'Our kids are working so hard! And as their team leader, I can’t do anything to help!'"
[Anyone listening would think you were sharing a story after a few drinks.]
"Still. Our kids pulled through. I can only be grateful to them."
"And you’re the one who brought them together, Team Leader!"
Yoon Won-seok.
You sly dog! You know how to survive in society, huh?
"Right. I brought them together. But their talent was already so exceptional. They were shining even when we just randomly crossed paths."
After rambling on enthusiastically for a while, I realized I hadn’t shown him the choreography yet. So, I finally played the choreography video.
"Wow, I’m looking forward to this. Considering your keen eye, I’m sure it’s something extraordinary."
"Well, I think it turned out alright."
Watching the choreography video that Julia had sent over with me, Yoon Won-seok's expression gradually became more bizarre.
[The video has ended.]
After watching it till the end, Yoon Won-seok spoke to me in a serious tone.
"Team Leader, are you perhaps a demon?"
"……."
"I’m serious. Even male idols would struggle with this."
It was at that moment.
I heard a small scream and a thud from the floor beneath me.
For reference, I was in the staff lounge on the third floor.
"Ahem. I should get going."
"Demon! You’re a demon!"
I quietly turned away.
* * *
"Fuuuuuuck! The choreography! This f*cking choreography!"
"......"
"......that's what Da-young unnie has been saying all day long. I think she's repeated that at least 100 times today."
That night.
It was Hee-ju's turn, and she had come in wearing only her pajamas. Now, she was sitting naked between my legs, explaining what had happened today.
"Hmm."
Why is it that, even though I’m hearing it in Hee-ju's voice, I can still vividly hear Da-young's screams in my ears?
"Is it really that hard?"
"No, I'm okay. But it seems like I'm the only one who's okay."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Min-seo unnie seems really happy about this choreography, but it's so difficult that she can't practice for long. She says her heart feels like it's hurting."
"Tell Min-seo not to overdo it."
"Yes, she's very aware of that. To be honest, Min-seo unnie rarely participates in actual performances. She's usually sitting quietly in a corner of the practice room, learning with her eyes."
"I know."
Even though sex had helped her body recover significantly, it didn't mean all her pain was gone, or that she was suddenly 100% healthy.
It was just that God's power was suppressing much of it.
Min-seo was still a terminally ill patient.
If she didn’t have sex with me soon, it wouldn't be surprising if she collapsed at any moment.
"You don't need to worry too much, team leader."
"Huh? I'm not worried."
Nodding her head, Hee-ju adjusted her hair behind her ear and changed her position, licking my penis as she continued to talk.
"Lick... slurp... Even though she keeps cursing and saying it's hard, if you had to pick the person who practiced the most today, it wasn't me, it was Da-young unnie."
"Really?"
"Yes. Slurp... suck... She was like an unbreakable spirit today."
"Pfft."
Indeed.
That’s how Lee Da-young was when I first met her.
She had a sharp tongue.
She had a strong personality.
She couldn’t let things slide.
She was incredibly strict, and that same strictness applied to herself as well.
"She said she wants to debut quickly and immediately transition into acting."
"Haha. If it’s possible, I’ll make that happen for her. What about Seri?"
As I stroked Eun Hee-ju's head while she continued to suck, I asked.
"Seri unnie said that even during her trainee days, it wasn’t this bad, and although she grumbled, she still quietly did what needed to be done. She’s been keeping herself motivated by filling her shopping cart with luxury items on her phone, saying she’ll buy them all when she starts earning money. She said she'll definitely ask you to buy one of them as a gift."
"Ah, I’ll have to buy it for her. My girls are working so hard, so of course, I’ll buy them all a luxury item each."
"Oh."
Hee-ju, who was sucking me off, suddenly froze for a moment and then glanced up at me.
"...It costs 25.8 million won."
"We’ll think about it when the time comes."
"Okay. Slurp... suck..."
Some time passed like that.
"Here we go. Alright, let’s go."
The final evaluation of "Radiance," which felt like it was specifically tailored for our group, Always.
-♪♬♪♬
For almost three minutes, from beginning to end, there wasn’t a single moment that wasn’t intense.
Even after that grueling stretch, the girls deliberately held their breath, maintaining their poses and showing their most lovely smiles and gazes toward the imaginary audience.
"......"
In the tense atmosphere, everyone was staring at Julia, the choreography instructor, waiting for her reaction.
And then...
"Good! Perfect. You all nailed it!"
At that moment, I rushed out and, along with all of Always, embraced everyone, jumping up and down in a circle.
"You did great, girls. You really did great."
Then I saw it.
"Shit. We did it. Haaa! Huuuu!"
Tears of genuine happiness flowed from Lee Da-young's eyes, and above her head, I saw a message appear:
[Lee Da-young, SS]
It showed that her rank had increased.
Nice that noone gets left behind
ReplyDeleteThe girls are growing!!!!
ReplyDelete