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Chapter – 13
Was it because there hadn’t been many people around until now?
The entertainment office, which I had thought was fairly spacious, suddenly looked packed today as all five members of Madrien entered.
“CEO, it’s nothing much, but please have this while you work.”
What Ria handed over was a box of vitamin C drinks.
“Ah, thank you.”
It was a drink I used to buy often back when I worked as a manager, usually as a support gift.
Seeing it again after so long strangely made me happy.
“First, let us properly introduce ourselves as Madrien.”
Ria skillfully looked after the members as she spoke.
“I’m Ria, the leader of the team. I’m the main vocalist.”
With a glance from Ria, the five members continued introducing themselves one by one.
“Hello, I’m Sehee. I’m a sub vocalist, and sometimes I write lyrics too.”
“Oh, so Sehee was participating in the lyric-writing process as well?”
“Ahaha… it’s embarrassing, but yes.”
They didn’t have any hit songs, but Madrien’s music generally had beautiful lyrics.
“You’re the youngest member, right?”
“…Huh? You know that?”
And she was still only twenty years old.
Despite debuting at the young age of fourteen and promoting for over six years already, she was still young.
Maybe that was why.
Rather than having the freshness and cuteness typical of a maknae, she seemed much more concerned with carefully reading the moods of her older members and seniors.
“Sehee is good at a lot of things.”
“That’s right. She’s the most diligent one. At the dorm, Sehee practically takes care of all the housework.”
The youngest member of a group wasn’t always just the immature or cute one.
Sometimes the maknae was more mature than the older members.
Madrien’s youngest definitely seemed to have grown up quickly for her age.
She was still shy from her older members’ compliments, but…
At the same time, the way the members joked comfortably with one another clearly showed how close their friendship was.
“Hello, I’m Hael. I’m the main dancer, and I also work with the trainers to create choreography.”
The member introducing herself as Hael had an incredibly bright voice.
She somehow seemed overflowing with confidence.
“I heard we need to finish the choreography within a week… is that right, CEO?”
“Yes, that’s my hope.”
“Then I’ll work hard too!”
Maybe it was thanks to her positive energy.
Even though it was a difficult task, she didn’t show even the slightest sign of backing down.
“Hello, I’m Jui. I’m the main rapper.”
“And I’m Minsi. I’m a sub dancer and lead vocalist.”
The introductions finally came to an end one after another.
Every single one of them seemed to have a good personality, so this project would probably go relatively smoothly.
“Wow, it feels like the office suddenly got brighter.”
At that moment, Sungho hyung opened the studio door and walked out.
His expression looked brighter than ever.
“Hello!”
Without anyone prompting them, all the Madrien members stood up at once and bowed ninety degrees.
“Oh, no need for that. Everyone, just sit comfortably. I’m just a close hyung here today to help CEO Jung Hwieon.”
He introduced himself in a playful tone.
Then he flung the studio door wide open.
“Hwieon-ah, everything’s ready.”
“Already?”
“Hey, it’s not like it takes that long.”
Judging by the way hyung joked around, he probably just wanted to show off a little.
I decided to let it slide.
“Then could all the members come into the studio? We’ve prepared someone to sing the guide track.”
The person beyond the recording booth glass was none other than my daughter, Songi.
As soon as our eyes met, she waved brightly at me.
“Wow, is Songi going to sing the guide track?”
“That’s seriously amazing!”
“Songi is so cute!”
As soon as they saw Songi putting on the headset, the Madrien members all squealed excitedly.
As if they had suddenly become her biggest fans.
“Although Songi is taking the role of the guide vocalist, this isn’t exactly a song suited for a childlike voice. It needs to be more powerful. Please keep that in mind and focus more on the melody and overall feeling.”
“Yes!”
It would have been nice if we could’ve hired someone else to sing the guide track.
But time was tight, and we needed to save money too.
So we had no choice but to entrust the song to Songi, the representative singer of our Ssong Entertainment.
“Jung Songi, are you ready?”
“Yep!”
“Then we’ll begin.”
“Okay!”
I had already let Songi hear the music beforehand.
Without hesitation, she immediately began singing along to the melody.
So skillfully that there was no need for me to correct anything.
Was she really a genius after all?
Every time I heard Songi’s voice, I found myself looking forward even more to how much she would grow.
As the song reached its climax, Songi’s expression instantly turned serious.
She unleashed such explosive singing ability that it became easy to forget she was only eleven years old.
In that fleeting moment…
The expressions of the Madrien members gathered in the studio also stiffened at the same time.
The child they had been calling cute just moments ago was now giving off a completely different aura before their eyes.
“…Wow, the intro already felt incredible, but the highlight is on another level.”
“And Songi’s just belting that out like it’s nothing… she’s seriously so cool.”
“I had a really good feeling from the very first line.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Songi’s voice cut through the air, clear yet powerful.
The emotional depth within it was probably something even adults couldn’t easily imitate.
“The lyrics too… they really stick in your ears.”
Madrien couldn’t stop expressing their admiration the entire time.
As the song neared its end, Ria secretly wiped away tears.
“Ria unni, are you okay?”
Unexpectedly, the one comforting their leader was the youngest member, Sehee.
Though timid and shy around strangers, she was also the most dependable maknae.
“I… I’m okay.”
“Why are you crying all of a sudden, unni? You’re going to make me cry too.”
The other members, finally noticing, also started comforting Ria together.
“…I think I just suddenly got emotional.”
Maybe it was because they had spent such a long time unable to shed the label of being unknown idols.
The pressure of having to sing a song the public would definitely love might have been weighing heavily on the leader’s shoulders.
“The song is really so good. Seriously.”
Ria hurriedly wiped away her tears as she muttered those words.
“Songi… you’re good at rapping too?!”
Soon, another unexpected charm of Songi revealed itself.
Of course, she was still somewhat awkward at rapping.
But even so, the way she imitated it so earnestly once again made Madrien adore her.
It was when Songi came out of the studio.
“You were amazing, Songi.”
“You were really good at rapping too.”
Madrien continued showering Songi with endless praise for all her hard work.
“Well then, I guess Songi and I should go get some ice cream now.”
Sungho hyung stretched as he spoke, having finished his role.
“Then you girls talk things over well with our CEO Jung Hwieon. We’ll see each other again later when we do the recording session.”
“Yes, travel safely!”
Soon, Sungho hyung left the studio holding Songi’s hand.
“The recording session is scheduled to take place here in three days. Honestly, it seems like you’ll have less time to practice singing than to create the choreography.”
“No, we can do well.”
As expected, Ria stepped forward confidently.
“Your eyes seem a little swollen…”
“Ah, that’s…”
Ria hurriedly covered half her face with both hands.
“I guess I started crying without realizing it while listening to the song.”
“…Was it really enough to make you cry? This was supposed to be a really exciting song.”
She smiled awkwardly.
“There’s actually something I’ve dreamed about for a long time. I wanted to stand on stage with an amazing song and sing more confidently than anyone.”
“…”
“Ah, of course, I’m not saying our songs until now were bad!”
Ria hurriedly tried to explain herself.
“Your song, CEO… how should I put it… it felt really close to the ideal I’d always dreamed of.”
Ria honestly expressed her feelings.
Hearing those words, I might have become speechless without realizing it.
‘Could a song I made really become salvation for someone…?’
Just as the song felt like a precious gift to her…
It was also a deeply meaningful moment for me, realizing that I could create music capable of changing someone’s life.
“Then I’ll contact you again later.”
The climax of the music show.
The final scores began appearing one by one on the giant screen.
As cheers from fans and tense breaths filled the air, the MC lifted the microphone.
“Now then, today’s Hit Music first place winner! Which team will it be?”
The numbers on the large screen rapidly climbed before finally stopping.
Then, in that instant.
A name appeared clearly in bright red letters.
FRENCY – Romance
Maybe it was because so much effort had gone into producing this song.
Frency easily claimed first place, beating all the other competitors.
And that wasn’t all.
Earlier this morning.
They had also narrowly surpassed Songi’s Umbrella Tree on the Watermelon Chart to take the number one spot there as well.
“…”
I quietly stared at the broadcast screen.
Madrien’s song production had finished yesterday.
The choreography still wasn’t completely finalized, so they needed another day or two.
But before long, they would be able to face Frency head-on on that very stage.
And when that moment came—
That would be the moment I officially threw down the gauntlet to Mago Entertainment.
