What a headache.
I came to work this morning, ready for another fulfilling day… which meant I was planning to kill time and take my easy paycheck. But then, Sena Lee came looking for me.
Even at a glance, she looked like a total nightmare to deal with.
So I tried to ignore her and hand her off to the person in charge—but as luck would have it, that manager was me!
…Should I have kept Donghyuk around?
Currently, I was the only chief manager left in Team 5.
Because of that, all the work Chief Manager Donghyuk Kim handled had fallen right into my lap!
Hmm… I really need to reorganize Team 5.
I still had to assign a road manager to handle Hyunah on set, and Team 5 desperately needed a complete overhaul.
"You're the new chief manager?"
"Yes. I transferred from Team 2 not too long ago."
"If you were sent to Team 5, doesn't that mean you're on your way out of Star Entertainment?"
I'd caught a glimpse of her attitude at the restaurant over the weekend, but she definitely had quite a personality.
"You're absolutely right. I was assigned to Team 5 because the company wants me out."
"Then, aren't you the wrong person to be discussing my contract with?"
"That's one way to look at it. But honestly, given your situation, wouldn't it be better to talk to me? I won't blindly take the company's side. In fact, I might help you out just to give the company the middle finger."
"…Are you allowed to say that out loud?"
"Why does it matter? I'm on my way out anyway."
Sena looked absolutely baffled.
"If you don't want to work with me, I can find someone else for you to talk to. The team leader hasn't come in today, so should I contact the head director?"
"…No, I'll just talk with you."
I felt a pang of disappointment.
There goes my chance to dump the work.
I went straight to the point to see what she wanted.
"You want to delay paying your penalty fee to the company?"
"Yes… Just for a year—no, even six months is fine."
Things had already hit rock bottom between Sena and Star Entertainment.
After she demanded to terminate her contract, both sides hired lawyers and fought it out before finally agreeing to part ways.
And as a result, Sena had to pay Star Entertainment a penalty fee, which came out to twenty million won.
The penalty seems fairly reasonable. It's not like Sena is completely blameless for how things fell apart.
She was originally an indie singer.
Star Entertainment scouted her as a solo artist after seeing her potential, but the problem was that her musical direction clashed entirely with the company's.
Star Entertainment's philosophy had always been commercial success above all else.
These endless conflicts ultimately led to a contract termination.
Even with one foot out the door at Star Entertainment, I can't blindly take her side on this one.
Star Entertainment was certainly no saint for ignoring an artist's vision and forcing commercialism down her throat, but Sena was also responsible for this mess by being so stubborn after signing the contract.
And the penalty fee wasn't even that unreasonable.
Twenty million won was exactly the amount the company had invested in her.
The problem—
—was that the penalty fee was eating into the money she needed for her mother's cancer surgery.
I shook my head.
I can't afford to let pity get in the way of business.
Besides, everyone had their own sob story.
Her mother's medical bills were a separate matter from her contract penalty. She would have to figure that out on her own, even if it meant taking out a private loan or finding another way.
However…
As her manager, it's only proper that I try to find a win-win solution for everyone. It's not like I want to, but it is my duty as chief manager of Team 5.
"You've already deferred the payment twice now. It's going to be difficult to push it back any further."
"Ah…"
"That said, there's a way around it."
"What… is it?"
"Give up on terminating the contract right now and fulfill the remainder of your contract. If you do that, you won't need to pay the penalty fee at all."
Sena looked troubled.
"I… I can't make the music I want at Star Entertainment."
"Then what is it you actually want to make?"
"…Star Entertainment only wants me chasing whatever's popular. But I don't want to just make songs that sell—I want to put my soul into my music, something that actually moves people and stays with them…"
"So basically, you just want to make some pretentious indie music?"
"That's not it. What I want to make is real music…"
"People call that an artist's delusion."
Sena's face flushed red, but she couldn't argue with me.
She's just a kid.
A lot of former indie singers suffered from that kind of artist's delusion.
"I'm just a manager, not a singer. So I don't know much about music, but I don't agree that popular songs are just soulless cash grabs. If anything, aren't they popular precisely because they bring people joy and speak to their soul?"
Honestly, I could have just told her to pay the fee and sent her on her way.
But there was a reason why I was doing all this.
[Sena Lee]
Type: Singer
Rank: F
Potential: B-rank (Upgradable to S-rank with proper producing)
She has the potential to reach S-rank with proper guidance. Turning a blind eye to that would be completely neglecting my duties.
If her potential bloomed, it'd be a win-win for both the company and Sena.
That being said, I had no intention of desperately clinging to her.
After all, it wasn't like I was that dedicated to my job.
If the artist refuses to accept it, there's nothing I can do. I just need to do my part.
"Can I be honest? You really aren't that good at music."
"!!!"
"If you truly had the talent, you'd have made it by now. You don't—but you're still chasing this artsy dream regardless. You're free to act like a child, but reality is harsh. If you want to keep making music that no one will ever listen to, be my guest. I'm not going to stop you."
The office fell silent.
I glanced over and saw the rest of Team 5 staring at me in absolute shock.
What? Why? Did I say something wrong?
Sena's potential as a singer was B-rank.
Sure, she could technically reach S-rank, but only if she was completely rebuilt from the ground up through proper producing.
If she stayed this stubborn, she would never escape the fate of a failed singer.
"If your situation is truly that urgent, I'll see what I can do to delay the penalty fee one more time. But unless you plan on giving up music forever, you should really think about what I just said."
* * *
What a jackass! What does he even know about music?
Sena gritted her teeth while waiting tables at a restaurant in a department store.
"Miss Sena, mind your expression. Do you think this is some cheap neighborhood diner? How many times do I have to tell you to put on a friendly face?"
"I'm sorry... It's just how my face naturally looks..."
"Everyone already knows you've got a terrible personality, Miss Sena. But you still have to be friendly in front of the customers. Forget it. I hired you because you were pretty, but this isn't working out. Today is your last day. Don't bother coming in tomorrow."
"B-boss?"
"As a final piece of advice—if you want to survive in the real world, you have to learn how to swallow your pride and stomach things you hate. You're not a kid anymore."
And now, on top of everything, she'd just gotten fired.
Why did the restaurant owner have to say almost the exact same thing as that obnoxious chief manager?
Deep down, she knew the reason.
…What am I supposed to do about it when I was just born this way!
Ever since she was little, Sena simply couldn't force herself to do things she hated—not even if her life depended on it.
And yet, she wasn't born into a wealthy family, nor was she talented enough to live however she pleased.
Feeling defeated, she headed to her mother's hospital room.
"Sena? Did something happen?"
"…I met a really obnoxious chief manager today."
Sena left out the part about getting fired from the restaurant and told her mother about her encounter with Chanwoo Lim.
However, after quietly listening to her story, her mother gave an unexpected reply.
"That chief manager seems like a good person."
"…How so?"
"He's saying it all for your sake. From the company's perspective, they could have just collected the penalty fee and washed their hands of you."
Hmm… I guess that might be true.
Looking back, Chanwoo hadn't once brought up the company's profits or finances at all during their conversation.
It felt like he was only thinking about my future as a singer.
"But the way he talked was so—"
"If he hadn't spoken that harshly, do you really think it would've even reached those stubborn ears of yours?"
"…"
She had a point.
"Mom, do you want me to do what he said?"
"I want my Sena to do whatever she wants to do. But if that chief manager truly said those things for your sake, wouldn't it be worth considering?"
Even after leaving the hospital room, Sena pondered over it for a long time.
…He really was different from the other managers.
Money. Commercial viability.
Those were the only things the people she had met at Star Entertainment talked about.
Not that there was anything inherently wrong with that. It was only natural for an agency to chase profit.
She wasn't so closed-minded that she couldn't understand even that much.
The real problem was that Star Entertainment never bothered to look at Sena as an artist.
Chief Manager Chanwoo Lim was the first person to actually look at me and think about who I am.
And nothing he said was wrong.
He was just a total jackass about it, but everything he said was completely spot-on.
Let's trust him just this once.
After much hesitation, Sena sent a message to Chanwoo.
「Manager, I'll do as you say.」
The "read" receipt popped up, and she waited with a pounding heart for a reply—
「👍」
"???"
But after a thumbs-up emoji, there was zero response.
And then, Chanwoo's profile status changed.
[Off the clock]
"…"
* * *
Ugh, my workload just increased.
I secretly hoped she would reject the offer.
It was a damn shame.
But what could I do?
I had to do my job properly.
I held a meeting with the A&R team alongside Sena.
"You made the right choice, Sena! Your voice is far too good to just go back to indie! Alternative pop is perfect for you!"
"Is alternative pop… really a good fit for me?"
"Of course! Alternative pop fits your vocal tone to a T. Plus, it's not all that different from the indie folk you were doing before."
Lately, idol groups have been completely devouring the Korean music market. Even so, alternative pop was still one of the few genres where solo artists managed to hold their ground.
It also suited her voice well.
But right then—
[You are working hard for your artist! Would you like to inspect Sena's music aptitude?]
I had done a similar inspection before with Actress Hyunah Lim.
I selected 'Yes' and flinched slightly when I saw the results.
[Music Aptitude]
Indie Folk: B-rank
Alternative Pop: A-rank
Her aptitude for alternative pop wasn't bad at all.
I don't know exactly what A-rank means for a singer, but out of A, B, and C... A has to be pretty good, right?
There was just one thing that bothered me, though...
"This is an alternative pop demo track. Would you like to sing it?"
Sena went into the sound room and sang the test song, and the A&R team nodded in approval.
"That sounds great."
"With something like this, don't you think she could crack the top 100?"
It sounded good to me, too.
Decent, but not S-rank.
I hesitated for a moment.
As a manager, not a director, this wasn't really my place to say.
Furthermore, what I was about to say was incredibly bold, even by my own standards.
I was worried about how it would be received.
But it had to be said.
"How about trot? I think it might be a better fit."
I had a reason.
[Music Aptitude]
Trot: S-rank
[MEGA-HIT POTENTIAL!!!]
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