Kang Yu-na (3)
What saved Kim Se-jun from that impossible situation was a staff member who knocked and stepped inside.
"Mr. Kim Se-jun. Prep is... huh?"
The young man who had rushed in widened his eyes at the unexpected sight of Kang Yu-na.
"Well. Yu-na. I think I should get going now..."
Kim Se-jun trailed off, glancing toward the door, and Kang Yu-na clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"Tch. Let's talk again later. Do well on stage."
She bowed at the waist, offered her goodbye, and slipped out. Only then did Kim Se-jun let out a sigh of relief.
"Hyung... Hyung-nim! That really was Kang Yu-na!"
The moment she left, Lee Joo-sung burst out, his face flushed red.
"Her looks are seriously... wow... how can a person's face even look like that?"
He was as innocent as a country boy who'd just fallen in love for the first time. He had momentarily forgotten every duty a manager was supposed to have, but Kim Se-jun could hardly blame him.
Even he found her beauty breathtaking enough to steal the air from his lungs.
After leaving Kim Se-jun's waiting room, the corners of Kang Yu-na's lips curled up.
Judging by his reaction, Cha Tae-gyu's guess seemed to have been right on the money.
She touched her lips and hummed through her nose.
"He can refuse. That's Kim Se-jun's heart."
She herself had turned down more than a few proposals from other singers. Why wouldn't Kim Se-jun be able to do the same?
"But refusing his refusal — that's my heart, isn't it?"
With a pleased little smile, she muttered to herself and turned her steps toward somewhere else.
On the way home, even riding in the car Lee Joo-sung was driving, Kim Se-jun's mind was a mess.
"Hmm. Why on earth does Kang Yu-na want to work with me?"
He leaned against the window and murmured it quietly, his head swaying in time with the rattling glass.
"Isn't it a good thing that Kang Yu-na wants to make a song with you, Hyung-nim?"
Lee Joo-sung, still driving, glanced at him through the rearview mirror and offered the thought.
"It is. It feels like being recognized, you know. I just want to know the reason."
Watching Kim Se-jun mutter his reply, Lee Joo-sung ventured again.
"Wouldn't it be because of your skill, Hyung-nim?"
"My skill?"
Kim Se-jun lifted his head from the window and looked at him.
"Yes. I'm no great authority on music, but I've been blown away watching your stages more times than I can count. And your reputation's been excellent lately, too. The staff and the managers all sing your praises."
Pride filled Lee Joo-sung's face as he laid it all out. Backstage — that space belonging to staff and managers, where every kind of story circulated — Kim Se-jun's name came up often, and as far as Lee Joo-sung knew, plenty of people thought highly of him. Not just skill that belied his status as a rookie, but his bright demeanor, his manners, his character. Kim Se-jun was someone you couldn't find fault with even if you wanted to, and naturally his manager felt proud, finding real fulfillment in the work.
When you whiled away the waiting hours chatting with other managers, you heard all sorts of things. Tales of celebrities who hurled abuse at their staff, who even swung their fists under the guise of a joke — those came up more often than you'd think.
Compared to that, I'm a lucky bastard.
Violence? Kim Se-jun had never so much as sworn at him. Watching his artist, Lee Joo-sung smiled inwardly with satisfaction, while Kim Se-jun scratched his head, looking embarrassed.
"That's enough. Those compliments are... huh?"
Just as he was putting on an awkward smile, his phone buzzed. A single message. It was from Lee Jin-ah.
"Joo-sung. Do I have a schedule next Wednesday?"
At Kim Se-jun's question, Lee Joo-sung furrowed his brow in thought, then answered with conviction.
"You don't, Hyung-nim."
He sent the reply and was about to put his phone away when the unread mark vanished in an instant.
She reads fast.
The thought had barely formed when a reply arrived in a flash.
Someone she wants to introduce?
"Hmm... I smell something... a very obvious smell..."
"Yes? What smell, Hyung-nim?"
Lee Joo-sung sniffed, then covered his mouth with his hand, exhaled, and brought it to his nose.
I definitely used mouthwash...
He looked puzzled, and Kim Se-jun ignored him, lost in thought.
Kang Yu-na showed up out of nowhere. And now Lee Jin-ah wants to introduce someone?
It was an easy situation to predict. After some deliberation, Kim Se-jun tapped at his phone screen.
Meeting up to talk wouldn't be so bad. He'd probably find out why she wanted to make a song with him, too.
When the day of his appointment with Lee Jin-ah arrived, Kim Se-jun found a Korean restaurant in Cheongdam. She had reserved a private room, so they could eat in peace without worrying about other people's stares.
"Oh. Se-jun, you're here?"
Giving the reservation name and being led in by a staff member, he found Lee Jin-ah greeting him warmly.
"Yes, noona. You're early?"
"No, I just got here too."
Kim Se-jun took off his outer layer, sat down, looked around, and asked,
"What about the person you wanted to introduce?"
"Ah, she'll be here soon. She said she's almost arrived."
Lee Jin-ah grinned, and Kim Se-jun took out his spoon and casually broached the subject.
"Is it... Kang Yu-na, by any chance?"
"...!"
Lee Jin-ah flinched, and Kim Se-jun nodded.
I knew it.
Watching him figure it out in one shot, Lee Jin-ah let out a gasp of admiration.
"Wow... your instincts are scary."
"It'd be weirder not to notice. Kang Yu-na came to see me that day, and then you contacted me right after."
"Is that so?"
At his words, Lee Jin-ah gave a small, disappointed laugh. She'd wanted to surprise him, but she hadn't expected him to catch on this fast.
"It's Yu-na, yes. She said she really wanted to persuade you and asked me to set up a meeting. Is it too much pressure?"
Lee Jin-ah asked carefully, and Kim Se-jun shook his head.
"No. If it were, I would have declined. But noona, do you know why Kang Yu-na wants to work with me?"
"That's a relief. Well. Why she wants to work with you? I'd rather ask you the opposite. Why are you turning down a collaboration with Kang Yu-na? Don't tell me you're an anti-fan?"
She asked it back with a playful smile, and Kim Se-jun waved his hands in alarm.
"No! Noona, what are you saying. I'm declining because I have to work on my album. An anti-fan? What a terrible thing to say. Personally, I'm a real fan. I really like her as a singer. What I'm curious about is how aggressive she's being. The company already declined at the agency level, but she still came all the way to my waiting room, and now she's even asking you to set up a meeting... it seems like she really, really wants a duet with me."
Hearing him out, Lee Jin-ah clicked her tongue inwardly, thinking of Kang Yu-na.
That girl, I swear... she has zero game. Zero. Maybe she's just not destined for romance either.
Thinking of Kang Yu-na's bulldozer personality, Lee Jin-ah let out a snicker.
"Yu-na's always been like that. Once she latches onto something, she charges all the way to the end. She probably won't be easy to talk out of it."
At those words, Kim Se-jun's pupils trembled slightly.
"Then what am I supposed to do? I have to put out an album..."
"Give up. Giving up makes life easier."
Lee Jin-ah cackled as she tossed that out, and Kim Se-jun looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh. Just then—
"The atmosphere in here's pretty nice, huh?"
Kang Yu-na slid the door open with a rattle and stepped inside.
"Yu-na."
"Hello."
Lee Jin-ah and Kim Se-jun greeted her, and she bowed her head toward them.
"Sorry I'm late. Traffic was worse than I expected."
"It's fine. Sit down, hurry. I'll order the food. The C course here is pretty good."
The two of them nodded, and Kang Yu-na settled into the seat directly across from Kim Se-jun, even in that spacious room. With her chin propped on her hand, she stared at him so intently that he broke into a cold sweat.
Wow... her looks really are something else.
Without a hint of reservation, Kang Yu-na gazed at him with a constant smile, and he couldn't help but marvel. Even counting his life before the regression, how many times had he seen a beauty like Kang Yu-na right in front of him? And that beauty was sitting right there, smiling at him from across the table. It was a luxury far beyond his station.
In the end, Kim Se-jun couldn't bear the pressure. He whipped his head away to avoid her gaze and, unable to stand the awkwardness, gulped down some water.
And at that same moment, Kang Yu-na opened her mouth in a voice that could melt you.
"Pffft!—"
"Kyaah!"
Lee Jin-ah shrieked at Kim Se-jun's fountain show, and he erupted into coughing as if he'd swallowed the wrong way. It was a good thing he'd turned his head — he'd come within a hair of spraying water all over Kang Yu-na's face.
"Cough... s-sorry."
He quickly grabbed a napkin, wiped up the water, and snapped his head around to look at her.
"What do you mean by that? And oppa?"
"Ah, I mean I like your music, oppa. And looking at your profile, you're older than me. So that makes you oppa, right?"
Kang Yu-na said it with a bright, sparkling smile. Kim Se-jun let out a deep sigh.
"Whew... thank you. I like your musical style too, Yu-na."
"Speak comfortably. And in that case, let's work together."
"Alright, I'll drop the formalities. But first I want to ask — why do you want to work with me?"
At his question, Kang Yu-na beamed.
"I want you, oppa. Ah, more precisely, I want your music."
"...? What does that mean?"
"This gut feeling that if I work with you, oppa, an incredible song is going to come out. That's the feeling I get."
At her answer, Kim Se-jun shook his head.
"Thanks for thinking so highly of me. I'm sure a great piece of work would come out of it too, but..."
As he was speaking, a knock came at the door, and a staff member asked if it was alright to bring in the food.
"Let's eat first and then talk. The food here is really good."
At Lee Jin-ah's words, Kim Se-jun and Kang Yu-na nodded, and when the door opened and the dishes came in, they swallowed hard. It was a feast of aromas that made their mouths water.
"Unni. The food here is really good, huh? I should come more often."
Kang Yu-na marveled as she wiped her mouth with a napkin, and Kim Se-jun nodded in agreement. It was the best place he'd eaten at in the past few days — neat, clean, refined food, a flavor that captured his tastes perfectly.
"Right? Hold on a second."
Lee Jin-ah looked pleased at their reaction, then stood up and headed outside. She seemed to be going to the restroom, and Kim Se-jun picked the conversation back up where the meal had interrupted it.
"Yu-na. I'm sorry, but I'm planning to put out an album in the second half of this year."
At his words, Kang Yu-na smiled sweetly.
"And?"
"Huh? It's not 'and'..."
Watching him hesitate, she spoke in a gentle voice.
"Oppa. I may be younger than you, but I'm still your senior in the music industry, so let me give you one piece of advice. Don't think too hastily."
"..."
Hastily?
"I understand how you feel, oppa. You want to put out an album fast. Fill a stage with your own songs without anyone's help."
"..!"
At words that seemed to see straight through him, Kim Se-jun stared at her with wide rabbit eyes.
"But the saying 'the more you're in a hurry, the more you should take the long way around' — I really relate to that. I used to think like you, oppa, and I got burned badly."
Her sincere words, born of her own experience, sent him into serious thought.
Why am I refusing Kang Yu-na — this powerful an ally — and insisting on the album?
Because I want to get on stage fast...
No matter how he turned it over, nothing she had said was wrong.
I was greedy. Caught up in wanting to put together my own stage as soon as possible.
The feeling he'd had since the university festival. He analyzed that day's memory with dense, careful attention. The first emotion that rose to the surface from that moment was his own frustrated, impatient heart — looking out the window at Lee Jin-ah, envying her, feeling the regret of that day.
"Huu..."
Having finished thinking, Kim Se-jun let out a long breath. He had no choice but to concede her point. That he had been impatient. That he hadn't thought rationally.
Would putting the album out a little later really cause a major problem for his career in the music industry?
No. It was just one quarter. A year at most.
Kim Se-jun let out a hollow laugh. He'd thought she was just stubborn, but she had this side to her too.
"You're good at the brutal honesty."
"That's the vibe that comes with experience."
Kang Yu-na smiled brightly, and Kim Se-jun laughed as he held out his hand.
"Alright. Let's give it a shot."
At his words, she took his hand with a radiant smile.