Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 62: Kidnapped.

“…Yes, that’s all I’ve prepared.”

“…Okay. You’ve worked hard, Yeoreum. We’ll discuss among ourselves and let you know the results.”

“Thank you!”

“….”

Screech, click.

After confirming that Jin Yeoreum had completely left, the staff of TwoBear sighed.

“Even as a layman, I could tell she was different. She’s really amazing.”

“Right, even when I saw her at SS, where she was called a prodigy, she wasn’t this good. She must have improved through rhythmic gymnastics…”

Cheon Aram, who couldn’t hide her admiration, looked at Lee Hyerin and asked,

“What do you think, our dance trainer, Lee Hyerin?”

Lee Hyerin spoke more seriously than ever before.

“It’s very embarrassing for me to say this as her instructor, but she’s above me in dance.”

“…Well, I appreciate your honesty, but are you sure it’s okay to say that?”

“I’ve been in this field for over 14 years, starting from middle school, so I do have some pride. But I have to acknowledge what’s true. Although she has some rough edges since she recently transitioned from rhythmic gymnastics to idol dance, she’ll polish those within two months.”

Having said that firmly, Lee Hyerin glanced at Cheon Aram nervously.

She probably thought that admitting to being below a trainee might affect her job security.

If she was worried about that, she could have slightly downplayed Jin Yeoreum, but she gave an extremely honest assessment.

That kind of integrity was probably why she could be employed by Cheon Aram for a long time.

Cheon Aram smiled warmly, finding Lee Hyerin’s honesty endearing, and said,

“Ms. Hyerin, thank you for your honest opinion. But you don’t need to worry. Even if Yeoreum is better than you, we won’t do anything as unscrupulous as canceling your contract. So don’t worry.”

“What do you mean…?”

“What we expect from you at TwoBear is not the flowering of genius talent, but the solid grounding of fundamentals. And you have more than enough ability to achieve that. That’s enough.”

With that, Lee Hyerin sighed in relief and said,

“Thank you for saying that. Honestly, I’ve grown attached to this company and don’t want to leave. It’s rare to find such good people these days. TwoBear Entertainment is like that.”

Cheon Aram smiled even more broadly, pleased with Lee Hyerin’s words.

…Wow, Ms. Hyerin, I didn’t see it before, but you’re good at socializing.

I confirmed that the atmosphere had become favorable before relaxing and praising Jin Yeoreum.

“As expected, former national athletes are different. Even though it’s rhythmic gymnastics, it overlaps a lot with dance. Is that why she performs like that?”

“I don’t think it has any impact. There are many overlapping talents required.”

We continued to praise Jin Yeoreum’s dance in harmony.

“We understand that Yeoreum’s dance is amazing. Now, shall we talk about her singing? So, Mr. Song Johan, our vocal trainer, could you please give your opinion?”

Song Johan was a vocal trainer I recruited when he was volunteering at Yeoreum’s orphanage.

He was not considered a genius trainer or a vocalist with top-notch skills. He was different from the so-called top instructors. However, he earned a reputation for helping singers develop a clean, unadulterated vocal style, which later led to his fame.

Song Johan’s characteristics made him the most suitable trainer for the current talent pool, which included Gaeul, who was almost a professional, and Yeoreum, who had not yet received professional training.

Moreover, he passed Cheon Aram’s smell test, as he valued loyalty and friendship with the company he first joined, rejecting countless scout offers. Therefore, Song Johan was the most suitable talent for the current TwoBear.

“Jin Yeoreum’s vocal?”

He also had one flaw.

“Jin Yeoreum has a splendid and funky yet calm and chaste vocal style.”

He unnecessarily mixes a lot of English into his speech.

“Her symmetry vibrates the bandwidth with an imposing elegance, which can be seen as clean, but it shouldn’t be appraised so narrowly…”

“Mr. Song Johan, could you stop using those fancy English words that even natives don’t use? I speak English fairly well, too, but if you want, we can converse entirely in English.”

“Sorry.”

Fortunately, since he hadn’t gained fame yet, it seemed Cheon Aram could easily handle him.

“Compared to her dancing, it’s not that tremendous… I mean, not as great—but she could try solo dance songs later. Except for her limited high notes, her vocalization is solid, with no major flaws. Overall, she might not be a genius, but she’s certainly a prodigy.”

“Hmm… that’s good.”

Nodding, Cheon Aram summarized the assessment.

“Purely in terms of talent, she could be considered the best card, like Gaeul or Gyeoul, right?”

I added,

“We should include her looks, too.”

“…Right, including her looks, there’s no talent as important as beauty for an idol.”

“Yes, looking at all the trainees, there isn’t anyone as complete as her. From TwoBear’s perspective, which lacks a professional training system, she’s hard to miss.”

“You don’t have to go that far. My decision to recruit Yeoreum won’t change, so you can stop, Team Leader Seon.”

“…Yes.”

Thank you, Ms. Cheon.

“Well then, about forcefully bringing Yeoreum here…”

“Recruit, Ms. Cheon.”

“…About recruiting her, we need to think about how to handle it. Any opinions?”

I cautiously raised my hand and said,

“I’ll take responsibility and persuade Jinkang…”

“Denied.”

Cheon Aram gave me a ‘What kind of guy is this?’ look and then looked around before speaking.

“I greatly appreciate all your efforts for TwoBear. But there’s no need to take on excessive responsibility beyond your assigned duties. It’s my job as the president to bear that burden.”

She looked at me with a half-open gaze and said,

“This is directed at you, Team Leader Seon. Understand?”

“…I understand. There’s no one else here who would act so recklessly besides me.”

“Oh my, so you were aware.”

“…I’m sorry.”

I didn’t want to act this way either, but things turned out like this.

Seeing me like that, Cheon Aram chuckled and said,

“I understand your feelings, but this time, trust us.”

Seo Soo-yeon, who had been quietly standing by Cheon Aram, also nodded slightly at me.

“Didn’t we have an intense discussion at the gukbap restaurant about recruiting Yeoreum, what kind of group to form, and what marketing to do? We got quite a few good ideas.”

“The proposal you mentioned there, Team Leader, seemed highly feasible. I’m creating materials to flesh out the details.”

She nodded in satisfaction and said,

“If it’s Soo-yeon’s materials, they’re trustworthy. Once the materials are ready, I’ll meet with Chairman Jin Baek-ho and persuade him myself. It would be more compelling if someone familiar takes the lead.”

Cheon Aram looked around the room once and said,

“So, is today’s meeting over?”

The TwoBear staff silently nodded.

I also nodded, judging that the discussion topics were mostly wrapped up.

“Good, then let’s call Yeoreum and give her some praise, but not too much to make her arrogant. You all know what I mean, right?”

As Seo Soo-yeon opened the door to call Jin Yeoreum, who was standing in the hallway, Cheon Aram suddenly remembered something and said to me,

“Just to remind you once more, Team Leader Seon. This time, you can’t go to Jinkang alone.”

“Come on, Ms. Cheon, do you really think I’m that crazy? No one in their right mind would do something like that.”

I’ve caused a lot of trouble, but I’m not that crazy. Cheon Aram seemed to agree and gave a simple apology.

“You’re right. I guess I was overly worried. I apologize for the slip. Team Leader Seon.”

This time, I really intended to lay low. I just planned to hide in a corner and wait for Cheon Aram to finish the persuasion.

What kind of crazy idea is it to storm into Jinkang and negotiate?

I had no intention of getting involved with such a major conglomerate.

I didn’t plan to set foot in Jinkang at all.

“So, you’re the culprit who kidnapped our Yeoreum, who was about to go study abroad?”

…But I didn’t expect Jinkang to kidnap me.