“JinSeo is good at acting, aren’t you?”
“…Thank you.”
KangYoon lightly said to brighten the mood but Min JinSeo was frozen stiff.
“Were you practicing alone? If I remember correctly, acting classes are not here.”
“This…”
Min JinSeo avoided KangYoon’s eyes.
When KangYoon saw her trembling so much, KangYoon said in a softer voice.
“Why? Is it something difficult to say?”
“It’s nothing like that…. I’m sorry!!”
Min JInSeo suddenly lowered her head abruptly and kept repeating the word sorry.
KangYoon couldn’t understand.
“What’s up?”
“Wait a minute. To not practice acting?”
What the heck does this mean…
At the words he suddenly heard, KangYoon was confused. However, he was able to know soon.
“The trainers said to all the trainees to focus on being selected for the girl group… I’m sorry. I intended to do it for a short time, just a short time, but I…”
The point was that.
It was an adverse effect of carrying out the orders too faithfully.
KangYoon sighed after understanding the situation.
‘A company always become so single minded if it becomes too big.’
It was good that he received cooperation after becoming a hot icon, but there were adverse effects.
Of course, there is a possibility that it may turn out well…
KangYoon felt sorry now, that he felt that he spread damage on her.
“Finish what you did just now.”
“You don’t need to match every practice for the girl group. Practice pronunciation while biting a pen, and keep reading scripts too. Everyday.”
Now that she heard, not a scolding, but an encouragement from the person responsible for selecting members for the girl group, the one who was confused was Min JinSeo.
She blinked her big eyes.
“May I… do that?”
“Isn’t there perhaps a demerit…”
“We aren’t that small minded. If the company does that then come to me. Didn’t you want to become an actress more than a singer?”
Min JinSeo nodded her head a little.
However, the company pushed singers more than actors.
However.
This person, who was in charge of the girl group, ironically gave her a clear path.
“I understand.”
“Thank you.”
Min JinSeo nodded from the bottom of her heart.
There was no one who said to her to become an actress, when she was unsure of her identity.
However, he clearly showed her her path.
“I will do my best.”
“Have a safe trip.”
KangYoon left Min JinSeo’s practice room with delight.
He shook his shoulders while heading home, with delight of having met a future top actress.
The selection of trainees was smooth.
Normally, an audition to select the candidates would be carried out but KangYoon didn’t do that. It was thanks to his ability to see light from the trainee’s practicing.
Even so, KangYoon, who thought that it wouldn’t be good to see once, came down to see the trainees multiple times and thanks to that, he could differentiate properly.
“Everyone’s here.”
KangYoon’s office.
Girls were girls.
“Nice to meet you. I will greet you formally. I’m Lee KangYoon.”
“Good day to you, sir.”
The girls all stood up from their seats. KangYoon told them to sit down and he himself sat on the front. Then he moved onto topic.
“Starting now, you girls and I will start a marathon to become singers. The first stop will be the debut, and the second stop will be the point of time you girls call ‘hit’. The next aim would be going overseas. Anyway, until this point, we need to prepare ourselves well and we need to encourage each other as a team. The point you girls need to remember is that we are a team, one team. Understand?”
“Questions?”
KangYoon’s words weren’t long. They would get to know each other and become more friendly while working in the future anyway. Even if he said a lot to them now, they wouldn’t feel it on their skin.
The first question came from Seo HanYu.
“Th… then are we practicing together from now on?”
“You’re correct. Starting from now, you will have different schedules. It will be different from the other trainees. Next.”
Jung MInAh raised her hand for the second.
“What type or practice will we be mainly doing?”
“Ueh…”
Jung MinAh showed detestation. To think it’s a personal interview… An expression of hate from the bottom of her heart could clearly be seen on her face. She came to her senses after a while but it was too late. The trainees were laughing and KangYoon was also smiling.
“You just need to achieve good results. Next.”
The next question came from a girl with short hair.
“Oh, it’s SamSoon. What is it?”
“Pfft.”
When KangYoon mentioned the trainee’s name, everybody laughed. (SamSoon sounds countryside-ish). However the trainee called SamSoon confidently straightened her back and started asking the question.
“My question is, ya know, do we hafta go home packing if we fail this?”
“Pffft!!”
With a savory Chungcheong Province accent, the leisure from Lee SamSoon’s words made everyone laugh in the first meeting, where they should be tense. Of course, KangYoon was an exception.
“No. You will be together with me until the end.”
“Of course.”
Until the end. Together.
KangYoon emphasized this point. I will take responsibility for you no matter what happens. So you do your best and follow me – KangYoon emphasized again and again. Thanks to the savory accent, the mood was lightened, but the point was delivered to them.
“Any other questions?”
“Are we supposed to use our dorms as it is now?”
It was Christie An’s question. There were some girls who lived in dorms and some who commuted from home.
“A notice will be sent out soon. From now, everybody will live together. Not a dorm, but we will prepare a room for you.”
Then Han JooYeon spoke.
“What if it is difficult to live together?”
“I will have to look for another person.”
KangYoon cut it sharp. There was no compromise on this point. Living together was a very important element. Han JooYeon nodded her head.
Other than that, KangYoon explained how the practice would be carried out, what they needed for now and what their personal schedules were. The trainees all felt unrealistic since it was the first time they received so much personal care even though they did receive some as trainees.
“Tomorrow is vacation. Please rest a lot tomorrow and work hard from the day after. Please take care of me.”
After the trainees left, KangYoon started writing the report to give to the higher-ups.
‘The members for EDDIOS changed from the ‘original’. Han JooYeon, Jung MinAh and Christie An is unchanged but Lee SamSoon, Ailee Jung, and Seo HanYu are completely new members. No, can we even call this EDDIOS? I didn’t select the other EDDIOS members. Am I alright to take this challenge?’
While watching the trainees to select the members, of course he saw the members of the ‘original’ EDDIOS. However, he saw trainees who shone brighter than those original members. KangYoon had to choose. To go the safe path or to adventure. However. KangYoon selected the trainees by the light they gave off, and he decided to trust it.
‘Lee SamSoon. It’s a wonder who the scouter is, where on earth did this person scout a trainee like her from? Disregarding her accent, perhaps due to her practicing Taekkyeon (A Korean martial art), her dancing is exceptional. She looks too much like a boy now, but if she grew her hair and wear proper clothing, then she’d have fixed fans who would never stray away from her.’
The trainers kept pointing out her accent but it didn’t get fixed easily. SamSoon had a boyish, but at the same time, a girlish double attractiveness, but when her accent came out, everyone collapsed. Thanks to that, the trainers also gave harsh points in star quality. However, KangYoon’s thoughts were different and he selected her.
‘Ailee Jung. A daughter of a rich household, and a crybaby who haven’t experienced pains. The trainers also tried to stop me from selecting her with all their might. However, what was that light I saw?’
Her dance was horrible. And her singing too wasn’t that eye catching. However, sometimes, when she practiced, her light was brighter than the other trainees and there were times when it looked more beautiful. KangYoon didn’t understand this situation no matter how he wracked his brains, so he hesitated a lot when selecting her. When he calculated the advantages and disadvantages from the evaluation, it wasn’t that bad. Her interpersonal skills were also good. KangYoon selected Ailee Jung after a long time of hesitation.
‘Seo HanYu. A stereotypical hard worker. I think it’s possible to image-make her to give off a friendliness to the public saying ‘you can become like this if you try hard’. It might become fancy too.’
KangYoon wrote his reasons for his selection while writing the report. Of course, he excluded the part about the light. If this report goes up to President Lee HyunJi and pass the transaction, then the project begins for real.
‘I will create a singer with my own hands…’
The more he thought about it, KangYoon was excited. In the ‘past’, it was a chain of failure. He was a minus planner who ruined every singer he put his hands on. However, he would never become like that again. KangYoon resolved and resolved again that there was no minus anymore.