The Top Star and the Second Night. (3)
Park Siwoo turned away from Kim Ji-won’s farewell and headed toward the company.
Neon Heart’s popularity was currently at its absolute peak.
Although the sajaegi scandal had pushed their ranking to second place, songs from second through fifth were all held by Neon Heart.
With the band’s popularity soaring, proposals naturally arrived from every direction.
That was why Park Siwoo had come home so late today.
—Knock knock.
He knocked on the recording studio door.
Neon Heart was working hard on songs as usual today.
“Ah, Producer-nim.”
The moment he opened the door and stepped inside, Jang Junhyuk spotted him first and approached.
“Hello, Junhyuk-ssi.”
“Hello.”
“Eh? Producer-nim!”
While exchanging greetings, a bright, refreshing voice rang out from somewhere nearby.
He turned his head and saw Seol A-yeon bursting out of the recording studio with a thud.
She was moving so energetically that when she reached Park Siwoo, her face was flushed bright red.
Park Siwoo offered her a faint, slightly awkward smile and greeted her.
“Seol A-yeon-ssi, hello.”
“Hello, Producer-nim. It’s been such a long time.”
“We met yesterday, didn’t we?”
“Still… hehe.”
Seol A-yeon gave an awkward little laugh.
At that exact moment, Ha Seung-jin beside her asked quietly.
“What brought you here?”
“To explain the upcoming schedule.”
“Schedule?”
“Yes.”
Park Siwoo nodded.
He reached into his bag and pulled out the documents.
It was the monthly schedule.
After handing the papers to every member of Neon Heart, he continued.
“There’s a Ri-o-re Champions League performance in three weeks. We’ll sing about three songs. Details will be shared next week.”
“Ri-o-re…?”
“It’s a game. The tournament is being held in Korea this time, and we were invited to perform on the pre-cheering stage.”
When Park Siwoo finished speaking, Lee Soo-ah let out an exaggerated gasp.
“Wow, how… I really love Ri-o-re! Producer-nim, this isn’t a dream, right? Can you pinch my cheek for me?”
Lee Soo-ah pressed her face right up against his.
Knowing her laid-back personality, Park Siwoo gently tugged her cheek without hurting her.
It stretched long, like a piece of rice cake for a moment.
“I- I think it’s like a dream too. Please pull my cheek as well.”
Seol A-yeon stepped forward.
Her face was flushed and her eyes kept darting around, but she seemed to have made a firm decision.
Impressed by her courage, Park Siwoo gently tugged her cheek too.
*What’s so good about this?*
After stretching both women’s cheeks, he let go.
“Probably, we’ll release one main song from the current ranking, one album track, and one cover song. Prepare accordingly. Ah, just in case—do you have any cover songs you’d like to sing?”
Seol A-yeon raised her hand.
“A-yeon-ssi?”
“I have a song I want to cover.”
“What is it?”
“Following the Milky Way.”
“That…?”
“Yes, it’s a song by Guitar Hero-nim.”
Seol A-yeon nodded.
Her blue eyes burned with the clear determination to sing this song.
Park Siwoo paused, thinking.
If she had asked to cover any other Guitar Hero track, he would have refused.
But “Following the Milky Way” had already become widely known thanks to Lee Yena.
“I’ll think about it.”
He decided to answer with an ambiguous response—neither acceptance nor rejection—for now.
Seol A-yeon seemed to understand and simply nodded without further comment.
“Then, work hard.”
“Yes, understood.”
After Ha Seung-jin gave a quick nod, Park Siwoo turned to leave.
“Producer-nim!”
Seol A-yeon grabbed his arm.
Park Siwoo turned back.
The confident grip she had used moments ago had vanished, and Seol A-yeon struggled to speak.
So he asked.
“Is there something you wanted to ask?”
“I- I… evening…?”
“What?”
The words were too soft to hear clearly.
Park Siwoo raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Seol A-yeon’s face turned even redder as she lowered her head deeply.
“N-no. Go in.”
“…Understood.”
With that, Park Siwoo turned and left the recording studio.
* * *
—Knock knock knock.
After leaving the recording studio, Park Siwoo headed straight to the representative’s office.
He had come to discuss performance bonuses.
“Come in.”
Upon receiving permission, he entered immediately.
Cha Yeseung rose to greet him.
“You’re here, Producer-nim?”
“Yes.”
“I heard you handled everything very grandly.”
She smiled softly.
“Now I suppose I have to pay that price, don’t I?”
Fuhuh.
She laughed and went on.
“Thanks to you, Siwoo-ssi, our agency’s employees are seeing rising sales too. You really succeeded in making Neon Heart a hit.”
“I said it would succeed, didn’t I?”
“Everyone says that. But few actually prove it.”
She plopped down into her chair.
“Honestly, I thought you couldn’t do it. I figured you’d barely scrape into the top ten. But you actually reached first place. Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Park Siwoo bowed his head.
At the same time, Cha Yeseung pointed to the chair opposite her.
He sat down.
“Entra is currently in first place, right?”
“Yes.”
“You probably know their viewership numbers are abnormal.”
She had clearly noticed.
Entra’s sajaegi.
“We’re investigating from our side, so it should be resolved soon.”
She spoke as if to reassure him.
As expected, Park Siwoo—who held Entra’s fate in his hands—answered with a light smile.
“I understand.”
“Thank you for your understanding. I’ll take care of it quickly.”
She took out documents while speaking.
From the letters visible on the pages, it was clear she was reviewing Neon Heart’s performance.
“Hmm… If Entra hadn’t been there, Neon Heart’s songs would have taken first, second, third, fourth, and fifth place.”
She gulped.
“Wow, YouTube views are rising sharply too. If things go well, we could hit fifty million views. Truly amazing?”
—Tap!
After setting the documents down, she looked at him with open curiosity.
“I still don’t understand why you came to our company. If you’re that talented, you could have earned tens of billions of won. Why did you choose this?”
Park Siwoo shrugged.
He wouldn’t answer right away. He’d find out soon enough.
“Instead of that, let’s talk about performance bonuses.”
“…Yes. Sorry.”
She retreated a step at his firm tone.
It was a private matter, and both of them considered performance bonuses important.
—Creak.
Cha Yeseung opened her desk drawer and pulled out documents.
However, her atmosphere when taking them out was far from calm.
She was trying to appear composed, but her face was unusually tense.
She had every reason to be anxious.
The man before her had personally proven he was Korea’s top composer.
To keep him, an enormous sum of money would be required.
An unimaginable amount.
Still, Cha Yeseung had to secure him.
Because the money he would bring would be tens of times greater.
She tapped her fingers on the desk and asked.
“Do you have something you want?”
Park Siwoo smiled.
He had been thinking about this since she first proposed the deal.
“You have a subsidiary, right?”
“Yes.”
“Give me twenty percent of the equity in that subsidiary. Of course, after two years, if the contract is terminated, it will be fully returned to Starlight.”
“......”
Cha Yeseung’s mouth fell open.
Without hesitation, Park Siwoo continued.
“As the representative, I want to lead the company.”
“That means… after the contract ends in two years, you’ll part ways with the company?”
She was a woman who understood people well.
Park Siwoo had planned to build his foundation at Starlight before launching his own venture.
‘Of course, it’s just a plan.’
He shrugged again.
“That will be seen later. My current proposal is this.”
He would judge after hearing her response.
If another composer had said that, Cha Yeseung would have laughed it off.
But the man in front of her was Guitar Hero.
An undeniable top composer of Korea.
She fell into deep thought.
Fortunately, Starlight did have a subsidiary she could offer.
Stasm was a small company under Starlight.
Just thinking about the money involved—tens of billions—made her hesitate.
But what was the point of hesitation?
His value had long since surpassed tens of billions.
He was an absolute superior.
So Cha Yeseung had no choice but to do as he asked.
Park Siwoo watched her think.
‘If I refuse…’
If I walk away, that’s it.
Breaking the contract would bring several billion in penalties, but there were countless other companies willing to pay instead.
Park Siwoo was the kind of person who would accept such a loss to sign the contract.
Signing alone would bring hundreds of billions in sales from the top-ranking him.
Park Siwoo had already proven that with Neon Heart.
Cha Yeseung knew it too, so she finally nodded.
“Okay. I’ll give you the detailed terms after today’s meeting.”
“Yes, then.”
“Wait a moment. Before you go.”
She stopped Park Siwoo’s steps.
“Let’s talk about the new idol project.”
“Idol project?”
She nodded.
‘Thinking back…’
When they first signed the contract, she had mentioned it.
To take on idol songs.
“Are there any trainees ready?”
“Of course, we’re preparing. After this, would you like to come see them?”
“Yes.”
Park Siwoo nodded.
He couldn’t compose songs without knowing the group’s image.
“It’s not finalized yet, but we’ll be active under the name Lunatix.”
“Lunatix… not bad.”
“Yes, it’s a six-member group. The important part is…”
She set her pen down with a sharp clack.
“I want to entrust all of Lunatix to you, Producer-nim.”
“If all…?”
“From training and promotion to composition.”
“It seems beyond a mere producer’s authority.”
Cha Yeseung nodded.
She knew that too.
In other words, she had other intentions.
“I’ll add two percent to the twenty percent of Stasm equity I mentioned earlier—making it twenty-two percent.”
“......”
“I’ll notify the executives immediately and have them sign the contract right here. Since I’m pushing it, no one will be able to stop it.”
“Hmm.”
Park Siwoo let out a sigh.
Stasm’s total valuation was twelve billion.
So the money he would receive would be roughly two point five billion.
But he still didn’t like it.
As responsibilities grew with the added work, a mere two percent increase felt insufficient.
So he corrected himself.
“Twenty-five percent. Give me twenty-five percent of the equity.”
Cha Yeseung frowned.
“Twenty-five percent would be three billion, right?”
“Yes. My value isn’t that high, is it?”
It was correct.
It was correct, but she still couldn’t decide easily.
Three billion.
But what else could she do?
The one in a hurry was Cha Yeseung herself.
“Understood. Let’s do that.”
Cha Yeseung bowed her head deeply and accepted his proposal.