Episode #89. Please give me a substitute.
* * *
Maybe it’s because of the unexpected performance.
Or maybe it’s because the music I just heard was too shocking.
Even after the song ended, the waitress and the blue bird in the restaurant only blinked their eyes with dazed faces for a long time.
“How is your partner?”
There are only two exceptions.
After finishing the song, Eugene grinned.
And only Limon, who puts down his guitar and rubs his temples as if his head hurts.
“…Are you suddenly asking me to do something too reckless?”
“But you did it?”
“That’s more than half luck.”
“Anyway, is your problem resolved?”
Limon kept his mouth shut.
Then he looked at Eugene, who was smiling single-singly, with a distraught face, and sighed.
“Yes, thanks to you, I seem to have gained a small realization.”
“OK! So, are you in debt with this? So next time you want me to perform, will you pay me back?”
“It is not.”
“huh?”
Limon pointed at the empty plate on the table in a sullen tone to Eugene, who was smiling brightly at what he was so happy about.
“If we want to discuss the priority of debt, shouldn’t we pay off the cost of our daily meal first?”
“uh? Wasn’t this what your partner bought for you?”
“I didn’t say they would buy it for free.”
Limon snorted lightly.
You can buy food for your friends, but you can’t become a hukou.
It’s true that he got a clue to catch the beasts thanks to Eugene, but he didn’t have the slightest bit of heart to devour them.
[Wow, that’s nasty.]
‘Should I put the cost of your meal on the ledger and pay it back at compound interest?’
[…Money matters between friends must be clear! It’s a different case than when a boss buys food for his subordinates.]
Maybe it’s because he didn’t know that all the money he ate would become a debt.
Yujin glanced back at the mountain of empty plates piled up on the dining table and said with a bright smile.
“My partner, because I’m on the verge of debt right now and it’s hard to come up with money? So…”
Limon asked with a bright smile.
“Are you going to pay it back when you can afford it later?”
“how did you know???”
“Because those who borrow money and want to take it off say that.”
“Partner, I’m sad that my partner doesn’t trust me.”
“Am I the only one who bought food for a friend who has no ability to repay?”
It was from then.
That is how the war of words between the two began.
Eugene revealed his intention to make Limon into a performance shuttle by somehow getting into debt.
That’s that and this is this, so Limon insists on paying the bill first and paying the bills.
In the midst of the two people making a fuss in the restaurant in a completely different way than before, Yuna-kyung covered her face with her wings.
[Why is it my responsibility to be ashamed?]
The two of them were in the midst of a war of words.
An unexpected voice interrupted.
“I’m sorry all of a sudden, but can I talk to you for a minute?”
“I’m busy, so go away.”
“I’m talking to my partner.”
Limon and Eugene are completely ignored.
However, the man who actually spoke was not offended at all.
As if he had met a savior in hell, he only added one word with a smile of 120 points out of 100.
“If you give me some time, I will pay for the meal here.”
“OK! Sit here!”
It’s like you’ve been ignoring me
Eugene gave up his seat with a bright face.
‘…Such a plague.’
Contrary to such Eugene, Limon, who had suddenly lost the useful feeling of food cost, made a rotten expression.
Then, looking at the man with disapproving eyes, he asked casually.
“What are you? I don’t think we’ve come to argue with you loudly.”
“Oh, come to think of it, I didn’t introduce myself.”
Even though Limon seemed to be younger than himself, he didn’t even raise an eyebrow, even though he listened to Limon’s unflattering words.
Instead, he held out two business cards as if thanking him for pointing out something he had almost forgotten.
And the moment I checked my business card.
The man smiled and introduced himself to Limon and Eugene, whose expressions changed in opposite ways.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Kim Seung-joon, who is a PD at KTB.”
* * *
“Where did you say it was? KTV?”
“…it’s B, not V. KTB.”
“Oh yeah. sorry. Because I don’t watch cable TV often.”
“You just don’t know. I hate to say this, but our cables are definitely not popular.”
Seungjun Kim smiled bitterly.
Nowadays, there are cable TVs with ratings comparable to those of terrestrial broadcasters, but that’s when it goes well.
There were places where average ratings fell short of even broadcasting the national anthem, and KTB was unfortunately one of them.
10,000 year deficit management.
Insufficient funds and manpower.
Outdated facilities and reputation, etc.
It was beyond strange that it hadn’t collapsed so long ago that it could be said that it was already rolling in the grave.
“So what you were preparing for at that ruined broadcasting station was music…”
“[Music Challenge]. It is a program that gives rewards to successful singers and musicians by challenging difficult challenges.”
“What game quest is it? Do you want me to give you a reward?”
“In fact, the sponsor of this program is a game company. If it goes well, there are plans to make an app game of the same name.”
“…isn’t the kimchi soup too salty?”
“As I said, it’s because of the circumstances of our broadcasting company.”
A common size elsewhere.
However, from KTB’s point of view, this program was a project in which a large-scale investment was made to determine the fate of the broadcasting company.
In fact, if it failed again this time, there were rumors that a sale or merger would take place.
“And the trump card prepared to make this project a success was Claire’s recruitment.”
“Claire… You mean the one you see on TV sometimes these days?”
“yes. In fact, even if Claire appeared and sang, there would be 10 million viewers who would follow.”
At least 10 million domestically.
A popular singer boasting thousands of fans, including overseas.
At the same time, Claire, who is also famous as a duke-level player, was a guarantee of success in the domestic entertainment industry.
“The reason why the game company invested a huge amount in this program in the first place was because Claire’s guild, WIM, confirmed the recruitment. But…”
“That promise is blown away.”
“…that’s my fault. 문 실장 그 개새끼가 뭐라고 떠들든 최소한 계약서는 받아 놨어야 하는데!”
Seungjun Kim grinded his teeth.
I should have noticed from the moment he pretended that he left his seal every time he kept meeting and receiving entertainment under the pretext of the contract.
It was a mistake to think that he was going to pick mulberries for entertainment because he was such a famous bastard.
“Well, it’s nothing new that a high-level player’s personality is a mess.”
“Claire is a good person. It’s just that my guild, WIM, and Chief Moon are bigots, so it’s a problem that they do things like this often.”
“Well, is that really so?”
“yes?”
“No matter what the guild manager says, in the end, the important thing is the person concerned.”
It doesn’t seem easy to understand.
Limon was stunned and continued.
“I don’t know much about the entertainment industry, but if the person himself didn’t want to, would the guild be able to change the schedule of a duke-level player over level 80 at will?”
This Iron Age is considered a high-level player of a one-man company even if it is only over level 60.
Duke-level players over level 80 are close to the pinnacle in their respective fields, possessing income and influence comparable to those of large corporations, as well as military power.
However, the guild ignores the intention of the parties and changes the contract at will?
It was nonsense.
“…WIM might.”
It was for this reason that Limon made a puzzled expression at Kim Seung-jun’s hesitant words.
“It’s not even a teenage guild, so that’s possible?”
“Because it is possible to have that kind of influence even if it is not a teenage guild.”
“Hmm?”
Limon stroked his chin.
And I asked in my head.
‘Hey Nakyung. Is the WIM guild leader like a monarch’s brother-in-law?’
[Do you know me? In the entertainment industry, the team in charge was completely different.
]
[well. I’ve heard that WIM is doing well in that industry, but if it’s a rumor other than that, I’m fine…]
Limon and Yuna-kyung tilted their heads.
As their name was a former PAB agent, they were two people who were familiar with the huge guilds in Korea.
That’s why it was difficult to understand that WIM, which is nothing more than an entertainment company, has such power, even if it is the best entertainment guild in Korea.
“so?”
It was a rough voice that brought the two of them back to reality.
“Why are you talking like this?”
Even when I heard that he would pay for the meal instead, I smiled and welcomed him.
what a change of heart.
Kim Seung-jun answered without hesitation to the question that Yu-jin, who now had a clear disapproval on his face, asked.
“To put it bluntly, I want to recruit two people.”
“Hmm. In short, do you want to put us in the void created by Claire falling out?”
“That’s how it is.”
In a sense, I waited for a moment to make a mysterious expression after hearing the words as expected.
Limon scratched his cheek.
“I have a lot of questions about that, but let’s ask just one.”
“What do you mean?”
“What are you up to?”
“yes?”
“No, that girl named Claire is a very famous singer? But isn’t it a bit strange to ask us for that replacement?”
That was a very sober point.
At the same time, it was a very reasonable point.
Claire is a popular singer with a fandom of over 10 million. It was difficult for even a well-known first-class musician to fill that gap.
However, far from being famous, he would recruit Limon and Yujin, who were completely unknown and whom he saw for the first time today, as substitutes.
Even Limon, who doesn’t know much about the entertainment industry, naturally tilted his head.
Seungjun Kim’s answer to that point was clear.
“Yes, it is strange.”
“…Aren’t you too quick to affirm that?”
“Because that is true. If someone had asked me an hour ago what it would be like to have the two of you as substitutes for Mr. Claire, the first thing I would have said was if I was insane.”
It was a very natural statement.
If it weren’t for the evaluation of the person who made that crazy proposal.
“What is the difference between the house an hour ago and the house now?”
“This is the difference between before and after listening to the two of you singing and playing.”
To Limon, who asked with a half-absurd, half-interested face, Kim Seung-jun answered without hesitation.
“I’m still a newbie as a producer, but I still have an eye for good music and mediocre music.”
“So our music is that good music?”
“no.”
Seungjun Kim flatly denied it.
Then, looking straight at Limon and Eugene, he said with an extremely serious face.
“This is music that will surely succeed.”
