Entertainment Life With A Camera

Chapter 79:

Chapter 79

Being handsome is also a talent.

“Insane!”

“Hyung!”

“Guys!”

Ian jumped up from his seat as he checked the text message alert. 

The members who were resting on the floor gathered in the center of the practice room as if they had timed it.

“Did you all see it?”

The other members nodded their heads with serious expressions at Lee Joo-hyuk’s question.

They were holding their phones tightly in their hands.

Jo Tae-woong couldn’t contain his joy and chuckled. 

The other members also smiled brightly.

“Let’s not split up!”

“Never betray!”

“Let’s sign a lifetime contract!”

Awi hugged each other in the middle of the practice room and spun around like they had won a sports competition.

“How much is this? How many zeros are there?”

“Do we have any events today?”

Some members were looking at their bank apps, while others were calling their parents.

Ian calmly opened his email and looked over the detailed settlement details. He had earned more than Kim Yong-min did when he was active as Diamond, even though he had only done one season of events.

‘How much would a concert be if domestic events are this much…’

[What’s the point of saying it? It’s a different dimension.]

‘Wow, shit…’

Of course, Ian also laughed like a madman as a member of Awi and joined the members in singing the song of victory.

The noise reached the hallway, and the trainees who came to receive training peeked into Awi’s practice room.

“…Let’s go in.”

“Yeah.”

The trainees entered the next practice room with a look of regret, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have seen, at Awi members’ crazed laughter.

“Mom! I got my settlement!”

They were all out of their minds because of the overnight practice, but the trainees didn’t know their situation.

***

“Good morning.”

“Did the CEO come?”

The employee stopped plugging in his laptop and got up. Lee Byung-hun, the CEO of BHL Entertainment, sat in the highest seat and pressed his throbbing head.

“Ah, I’m tired. I went to third round with this PD yesterday… Should we order some coffee?”

“That sounds good.”

“Hello!”

The employees opened the door one by one and entered. As more people gathered, a heavy atmosphere filled the BHL Entertainment conference room where they were about to start the blind test.

“Do you have anything to say before we start the meeting, CEO?”

Seo Su-ryeon, who was sitting next to the CEO, took a sip of her coffee and asked.

“Hmm, I feel like I’m treating our precious kids as products, but this is the only analogy I can think of…”

The CEO muttered softly and then said.

“A few days ago, our cash cow, Black Rush, practically disbanded.”

There might be some individual fans who only liked their bias, but most people liked their bias who was active in the group.

That’s why usually, the group’s popularity doesn’t translate into individual popularity. And they don’t divide the group’s popularity by the number of members either.

That’s why there was a limit to pushing for individual activities of Black Rush members who remained in BHL Entertainment.

“That’s why this time is very important. Please share your opinions without hesitation.”

“Yes.”

Awi was on the rise, so they had to keep up this momentum by exceeding expectations in this activity.

“I’ll start the blind test now.”

They entrusted Lee Joo-hyuk with composing, but that didn’t mean that the company let go of its hands. In case Lee Joo-hyuk’s song didn’t meet their expectations or there was some unexpected variable, the company had collected songs from other composers.

“Well then, I’ll play the first song.”

The employee played the audio file. It was an attractive song that captivated the ears from the first jazz-like melody. Lee Byung-hun raised one eyebrow.

‘This is good? It’s not just me, right?’

He looked at Seo Su-ryeon across from him. Seo Su-ryeon also nodded her head. They circled number 1 on their survey sheets.

“The second song.”

He thought there was no need to listen to the next song since this one was already great. 

The CEO leaned back from his seat.

“Wow… This is good too.”

He listened to the next song and clenched his fist.

‘This is a hit.’

The employees gasped softly at the explosive sound that started with a brilliant guitar melody. 

It was a song that felt like it would appeal not only in Korea but also overseas. 

The CEO drank water after listening to six songs in total.

“They’re co-composed songs, but so far six songs have been participated by the same composer.”

“Really?”

Seo Su-ryeon widened her eyes. 

There were already circles from number 1 to 6 on her survey sheet.

“From what I heard, they all sound like title candidates, don’t they?”

“Who is the composer? Let’s spend some money.”

“Shouldn’t we bring the composer to our exclusive contract?”

The employees buzzed.

“Let’s check the composer first and listen to the next song. If it’s a rookie, let’s scout them right away.”

The CEO hardened his expression. It was a talent that he didn’t want to lose to another company. 

He hoped it wasn’t someone from another company.

“Uh… I don’t think you need to do that, CEO.”

The employee who checked the composer showed the information on the screen with a nervous expression.

“Oh my.”

The employees murmured. 

Awi members had their names on each of the six songs, with Lee Joo-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk as the main composers.

This could be a hit. The CEO pressed his rising smile without realizing it.

“Our company must be lucky, CEO.”

Seo Su-ryeon muttered blankly. After Black Rush’s Jung Se-jun, now Lee Joo-hyuk. 

The talent came to them on their own.

***

“We got our settlement, what are you guys going to do?”

Park Jin-hyuk asked after the morning dance practice was over.

“First of all, let’s eat something delicious today.”

“What should we eat?”

“Let’s go slice some meat!”

The members who were lying down exhausted got up at once. Kim Joo-young was even searching for nearby restaurants.

“They said there’s a blind test today, I wonder how it went.”

“What’s there to say, it must be Joo-hyuk hyung.”

Lee Joo-hyuk pressed his temples nervously. 

Even if his song was well chosen, he could be pushed out of the title at any time if another composer’s song was better

“Hey, guys!”

“Uh? Hello, boss!”

“Can you all gather here for a bit?”

The boss headed to the center of the practice room without a word.

‘What’s going on? What’s happening?’

‘I don’t know.’

The members looked at each other and communicated with their eyes, but they didn’t know the reason and gathered in the center of the practice room with confusion. 

Only Ian was smiling. 

He must have heard Lee Joo-hyuk’s song.

“My babies!”

“Ack!”

“Boss, are you okay?”

The boss hugged the members without caring about his dignity. 

Lee Byung-hun, the boss, was a person with a large physique who liked to work out and was over 180 cm tall.

“Where did these treasures come from to our company!”

The boss was flattering them through the glass door of the practice room. 

They say that praise makes even a whale dance, and the members also enjoyed the situation and cheered at the boss’s reaction.

The trainees who came out to the hallway for lunchtime looked at them.

“…Let’s go eat.”

“Yeah.”

The trainees wanted to say ‘This company is weird’, but they decided to keep it in their hearts.

“What do you want to eat? I’ll treat you!”

The boss took out his personal card, not even a corporate card. Free food is always delicious. The members shouted.

“Meat!”

“Korean beef!”

“Let’s go to the place that Young-hyun hyung bought us before!”

***

The blind test was almost unanimously selected Lee Joo-hyuk’s song. All six songs they worked on were scheduled to be included in the album.

“Can you make it a little more rhythmic there?”

(Um… I’ll try.)

Accordingly, the members became busier because of the recording, and the member who received Lee Joo-hyuk’s focused directing was Park Seo-dam.

The R&B soul-style track had to highlight Park Seo-dam’s low voice from the beginning.

“Good. You can come out.”

Lee Joo-hyuk took off his earphones with a satisfied expression. Park Seo-dam came out of the recording booth and drank water, and Park Jin-hyuk went in for the next recording.

“Seo-dam has improved a lot.”

Kim Joo-young raised his thumb and shook it. In a friendly atmosphere, only one person who always talked a lot was silent.

“Jin-hyuk doesn’t need any help.”

(Am I done?)

“Let’s do it one more time.”

Lee Joo-hyuk was engrossed in recording, and the members who were watching played jokes on each other.

Cho Tae-woong, who was sitting in the corner of the recording studio, had a bad expression. 

He was originally the first batter of recording, but he changed his order to record at the end because he didn’t record well.

Eventually, Cho Tae-woong, who got up from his seat without saying anything, went out of the recording studio.

[Where is he going?]

“Hyung, I’ll go check on Tae-woong.”

“…Okay. I’ll call you.”

Lee Joo-hyuk, who rarely scolded, was also uneasy.

Ian got up from his seat and went out to the hallway. 

Cho Tae-woong was lying on the sofa in a small lounge next to the water purifier. 

Ian tapped Cho Tae-woong, who covered his eyes with one arm.

“Hey, are you hurt?”

“…No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Nothing my ass. It’s obvious. 

The other members are finding their talents one by one, but he must feel like he’s being left behind.

Ian stood in front of the vending machine and chose a coin. 

Cho Tae-woong spoke softly. 

He hated drinking what Ian drank.

“…I want cola.”

“I got it, man.”

Ian sat down opposite Cho Tae-woong with a drink. 

He drank his drink and waited for Cho Tae-woong to open his mouth.

“…What am I good at?”

Cho Tae-woong muttered after thinking for a long time.

“Seo-dam is flying around these days and Kim Joo-young suddenly shows talent in composing, but I feel like I’m mediocre at dancing and singing.”

“You’re not mediocre. You’re good at acting too. And you’re part of our group’s visual Bermuda.”

“But that doesn’t help the group.”

“Why doesn’t it help?”

Ian threw his drink can into the trash can. He clicked his tongue as he saw the can bounce off the edge of the trash can.

“Hey, being born handsome is also a talent.”

“It’s so annoying to hear that from your face.”

Cho Tae-woong chuckled. Ian said with a shameless face.

“Do you know how amazing this talent is? You can’t make a natural face with plastic surgery. And the fact that you get a response as a celebrity with that face is not an easy thing either.”

Even if you have the ability, if your face doesn’t support it, people’s interest level drops significantly. 

Like Kim Yong-min in the past.

With a natural face, and not tone-deaf, rhythm-deaf, or body-deaf, and the recognition and acting skills he had built up since he was a child. 

Ian thought Cho Tae-woong had a lot.

“Kim Joo-young didn’t even know he had talent in composing, right? He had it all along.”

“That’s right.”

“Seo-dam also said he wouldn’t improve in dancing and singing and would be carried by his hyungs.”

Ian pulled Cho Tae-woong up. His phone was vibrating. 

It was Lee Joo-hyuk.

“And you might have other talents that you haven’t discovered yet.”

“…”

“Don’t be impatient. You’ll get sick if you rush.”

Cho Tae-woong sighed deeply. He thought he would only be a hindrance to the team if he did this.

Ian hit Cho Tae-woong’s shoulder and said.

“Don’t be out of place by yourself… I’ll help you with the singing.”

“…Thanks.”

Cho Tae-woong felt better than being depressed.