Episode 3
3
"Ah... I'm exhausted."
No matter how much he thought about why his body felt so heavy, it was all because of this damned weekend work.
"What good is a two-hour lunch break?"
Whenever he thought of the team leader's face, doling out a two-hour lunch like it was some great favor, he wanted to quit right that instant.
They might as well just let me leave an hour early.
After a quick meal, he bought coffee at a nearby cafe, and as he was coming out, he heard singing from somewhere.
Not a store's piped crowd-drawing song, but a song being sung by an actual person.
"Busking? It's usually in the evening... Ah, it's the weekend today."
He walked without much thought, holding his coffee, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the busking spot.
He had unconsciously followed the singing.
"..."
He tried to turn back, but for some reason, his feet refused to move.
That voice kept grabbing him by the ankles.
"Wow, he's handsome and sings well too."
"Is he some kind of trainee?"
"I feel like he'll debut soon?"
Leaving the murmuring crowd behind him, the man took out his phone with a blank expression.
Then, as if possessed by something, he started filming.
Despite being an ordinary office worker who knew nothing about music, he couldn't help but regret that he hadn't captured the very beginning on video.
Without even realizing that his hand holding the phone had gone numb, he filmed until the entire song ended.
"Haha... Thank you. That was the first song."
"Wow..."
The sound of applause quietly spread.
As if they had watched a performance rather than merely listened to a song, everyone here sent forth not cheers, but applause filled with admiration.
[Adjusted according to user I Hyeonu's stats.]
It was probably thanks to this unidentified ability.
"Excuse me... when do you debut?"
A question suddenly reached his ears.
The asker seemed to believe without a doubt that Hyeonu was a trainee on the verge of debuting.
"Debut? Haha, I'm not even a trainee yet."
"Huh? You're not even a trainee?"
"Then how old are you..."
"I'm nineteen."
With a towering height over 180 centimeters and looks that one wouldn't doubt belonged to an actor.
How could someone with such singing ability not even be a trainee?
"Can I upload this video?"
"Of course. I'd appreciate it if you did."
With a subtle smile and eyes curved in a gentle arc, he gave off an almost bewitching vibe, as though he could entrance even a man.
"May I sing one more song?"
"Yes!"
"Encore!"
Before singing, Hyeonu looked around again.
The crowd had grown several times larger than at first.
The road wasn't very wide, so thanks to the sheer number of people, it was completely blocked.
"Ah... I'd like to, but I think I'll get in the way of people passing by, so I'll stop here for today."
"Huh?"
What made them step forward?
Several young-looking students stepped up and began organizing the crowd.
"Everyone stand over here!"
"This way here!"
"We need to hear more songs!"
Perhaps because the people wanted to hear more of Hyeonu's songs as well, they began orderly taking their places under the students' direction and gathered in neat rows, as if a concert venue had been set up on the street.
"Thank you. The next song is..."
Hyeonu slowly took a breath and began the next song.
Expectations had soared immensely thanks to the first song, but his skills did not disappoint.
Singing well was a given.
Moreover, Hyeonu's unique tone was so fitting that it almost created the illusion that it had been designed specifically to match the song's atmosphere.
"Wow..."
"It's insane."
Everyone had taken out their phones from the start, as if they had promised beforehand, filming to treasure today's busking.
Finally, the last song ended, and Hyeonu greeted them with an awkward smile.
"Thank you."
"Waaah!!"
"You really sing well!!"
The people's applause followed.
Why did applause from this many people make his chest feel so full?
Naturally, he became greedier.
He wanted to receive even greater applause and cheers before even more people.
"Don't you have one more song?"
"Encore!!"
It was a shame, but today ended here.
He wanted to receive more of this cheering and applause, but ending while they still wanted more was the most beautiful thing.
"My throat hurts a bit today... I'm sorry. And thank you so much for listening until the end."
Sighs of disappointment rang out, but there was nothing they could do when he said his throat hurt.
Fortunately, today's busking had been captured on video.
People rushed to post what they had seen today on their favorite social media.
As if it was too good to keep to themselves, as if everyone in the world needed to know about today's scene.
"Wasn't this quite a successful busking?"
[Reputation has increased due to a successful performance.]
[Reputation +1]
"Right?"
As everyone left and Hyeonu was packing up, someone suddenly approached.
"What do you mean by 'right'?"
Startled, Hyeonu dropped the mic on the floor. The stranger picked it up with an apologetic expression and said,
"I didn't mean to startle you. I'm sorry."
"Ah, no. It's just that I think today's busking ended well."
"Hmm... I think differently?"
"Huh?"
He didn't look like he wanted to pick a fight, so what did he mean?
"'It ended well'... I thought that might be too much of an understatement."
"Haha. You're too kind. But what brings you here?"
"Ah, I should have introduced myself sooner."
The man took a business card from his pocket and handed it to Hyeonu.
The neat, tidy contents written inside were something already lodged in Hyeonu's memory.
Before regressing, Hyeonu had looked into the situations of other agencies during his ten years as a trainee.
"If I changed agencies, maybe I could debut?"
With that vague hope.
But by the time he found a suitable place, it was too late.
Yet written there was the agency he had kept an eye on at that time.
"I'm Gim Seonguk of WS Entertainment."
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. I'm I Hyeonu."
WS Entertainment.
This WS Entertainment, which had appeared when he passed an audition before regressing, had steadily grown until just before his regression into quite a sizable company.
That it hadn't merely survived in this saturated market but had actually grown meant it was a place with tremendous potential.
"Haha. Your reaction is as if you know why I approached you."
The name Gim Seonguk was also in Hyeonu's memory.
On close terms with the CEO, he was the number one contributor to the company's growth.
And such a Gim Seonguk had approached Hyeonu.
Gim Seonguk's nicknames from before the regression.
With monikers like Human Scouter and Excavator, it was clear that his abilities were quite outstanding.
"Honestly, I had a bit of an idea, you could say?"
"I thought you were only underestimating this busking, but you're underestimating yourself as well. That's right. If you're interested in the entertainment industry, I was wondering if you could give us a chance. You don't have an agency yet, right? I've been watching since earlier."
"Yes. Not yet."
"'Not yet' means you just haven't signed a contract?"
"How did you know?"
Gim Seonguk's expression, which had shown a friendly business smile, turned slightly bitter.
However, the cause was self-blame for not discovering such talent sooner.
"May I ask where you passed..."
"JK Entertainment."
"Ah..."
A name so weighty that even Gim Seonguk let out an exclamation.
Well, where else would talent of this caliber go if not JK Entertainment?
Someone who had already passed their audition.
His activities as a trainee were guaranteed, and with Hyeonu's ability and talent, debut probably wouldn't be difficult.
To make an offer here was not the basic propriety of the industry.
'But...'
More than anyone, he knew it wasn't proper, but he simply couldn't let the talent before his eyes slip away.
Of course, there were other people with Hyeonu's current abilities and talent.
They might appear someday, or already exist somewhere.
'If I let him slip away now, I'll regret it.'
Gim Seonguk's instincts kept nagging at him.
That he absolutely must not miss him.
Based on his experience, rather than doing nothing and regretting it, acting first and dealing with the consequences later had always yielded far better results.
"Though it isn't proper to make an offer to someone who passed an audition, could we at least talk?"
"Is this about casting?"
"Yes."
'Wouldn't just talking be fine?'
Since Hyeonu must know well what his actions meant in this industry, the fact that he was going this far meant he valued him that highly.
'Right. There's no problem.'
If he had finished signing the contract, it would be a big problem, but he hadn't even discussed contracts yet.
JK wouldn't be happy, but they couldn't really object either.
"I think just talking should be fine."
"Is that so? Thank you very much."
"Besides, I need to talk with JK too anyway."
Hyeonu deliberately mentioned JK once more.
To make it clear that he was talking with WS because JK's contact was delayed, not because he had decided to go to WS.
Thus, Hyeonu reminded Gim Seonguk once more of his position and exactly who he was dealing with.
At Hyeonu's words and his offer to give him a chance, Gim Seonguk showed his joy without hiding it on his face and answered.
"Of course."
It didn't matter if this choice was the correct answer.
If it wasn't the answer, he would just make it the answer himself.
Future knowledge and the status window appearing before his eyes.
And on top of that, his changed abilities.
He had plenty of means and high possibilities.
"I'd like to explain in detail; if it's alright, may we move somewhere else?"
"Somewhere nearby?"
"Since we're talking anyway, our entertainment company building is nearby, so how about taking a look? It's about a ten-minute walk."
"I'd welcome that."
"Then let's go. I'll load the equipment in my car."
Gim Seonguk picked up the equipment himself and took the lead.
Not even giving Hyeonu a chance to pack up.
As he walked ahead, Gim Seonguk suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned to Hyeonu, and said,
"Could you wait just a moment?"
"Of course."
When Gim Seonguk reappeared after briefly disappearing, he was holding two cups of coffee.
Iced Americanos, cool and refreshing.
"You sang, so I thought you might be thirsty."
The slightly awkward smile he showed seemed like the genuine smile of Gim Seonguk the person, rather than a business smile.
"...Thank you."
Such small consideration was something he had never experienced even at JK.
Really, it was a trivial, insignificant thing, but that made him all the more grateful.
"Not at all."
The parking lot was nearby, and the two soon set off for the WS headquarters.