Hammer Shock's Quiet Corner
Hammer Shock, Roadkill's label, was located not far from the company. Entertainment agencies tend to cluster in the same areas, right? Seongsu-dong, where our company is based, is one of those spots. Seeing that they had a proper label set up right in the middle of Seoul, it seemed Roadkill was doing pretty well for a rapper after all.
"I wonder if it'll be okay for just the two of you to come back on your own."
"It's close by. You don't need to worry."
"It's just that I have to head out for a regional event..."
"In that case, shouldn't you be more worried about Seoa-sunbae than me?"
"Haha. For Seoa, these regional schedules are just part of her daily routine."
Cha Entertainment only had two road managers handling the actual fieldwork. After Purple Swan disbanded and Black Dust fell apart, the numbers had dropped sharply. Of course, it wasn't because anyone had been fired. With a new idol group about to debut, the company wasn't foolish enough to cut staff that drastically. The managers had left because they'd been scouted. Cha Entertainment's staff were known for being highly competent in the industry, so the moment the company showed signs of instability, other places started poaching them aggressively. But our CEO Cha wasn't the type to block capable people's paths, so she let them go without a fuss. There was no point resenting those who left—nowhere was job-hopping and resignation freer than in this business. Even so, the company had managed to retain staff in key departments like PR and planning, which showed Cha Entertainment's real strength. After all, those roles were the true backbone compared to on-site managers.
Our company currently had two artists: Oh Seoa, active as a solo singer, and Kim Ji-yoo, working as an actress. Since both road managers were assigned to them, we still didn't have a dedicated manager. They would probably hire more once we debuted. The person guiding us to Hammer Shock today was Oh Seoa's manager. But since Oh Seoa was about to leave for her regional schedule, we wouldn't have his help on the way back.
"Kim Ji-yoo sunbae also has a meeting today, so getting help from that side won't be easy either. We really picked the wrong day."
"Is Ji-yoo sunbae starting a new project?"
"Yes, I think so."
"If she gets busy with filming, teaching Seoeun acting will become difficult too."
"That shouldn't be a problem. Kim Ji-yoo sunbae adapts to roles quickly. She took on Ji Seoeun knowing that, so training shouldn't be an issue. The schedule might get a bit tangled because of filming, though."
"Seoeun will just have to deal with that much."
It was rare for both of the company's artists to enter their active periods at the same time, but coincidentally, that was exactly what was happening now. Once both managers left with their artists, there would be no one left to cover us. In other words, from now on, we'd have to handle things like visiting Hammer Shock on our own.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, we've arrived. But... the area looks rougher than I expected. I'm not sure if it's okay to leave just the two of you here."
"They said it was a decently running label, but the atmosphere is..."
"Should we call the company?"
"No, there's no need for that... The CEO must have decided after careful consideration."
"Of course, it was the CEO who chose this place, but..."
Hammer Shock was only about a ten-minute drive from the company. Even accounting for the lack of traffic typical in Seoul, it was definitely close. The problem was that the area was quieter and shabbier than expected. That was probably why the manager seemed reluctant to leave us here alone. If we were regular idol trainees, his concern would have made perfect sense—girl groups were seen as delicate, while rappers had a tough image. But things were different for us. If trouble arose, the person who threatened us would be the one needing worry, not us. There were very few superhumans among rappers, and Hammer Shock had none at all.
"I really can't do this. I'll have to call another staff member. Once training is over, please contact me right away, okay?"
"No. We'll just head back on our own."
"But..."
"You're all busy. Two artists have started their activities, and there are plenty of debut preparations to handle. If there was any leeway, someone would have been assigned to us already."
"That's true, but..."
This guy was more conscientious than I'd thought. Worrying unnecessarily like this. Still, I didn't dislike that type, so I coaxed him into the car without much trouble. Judging by Tasha's expression, she seemed to share my thoughts, so there shouldn't be any issues. In the first place, it was absurd for an ordinary office-worker manager to worry about us—superhuman idol trainees. Besides, this was the CEO's decision. If she'd thought there would be problems, she would have assigned someone. The fact that she sent just the two of us meant she'd probably already coordinated with Hammer Shock. For example, maybe they'd agreed to drive us back to the company. Of course, if that happened, I'd politely decline. Even so, getting a ride from people we'd just met didn't sit right with me. Tasha seemed to feel the same.
"It's fortunate that it's not too far. At worst, we'd have to walk back today."
"Yeah, that's true. Taking the main road would take a while, but the side streets should be faster than expected. This isn't bad at all."
The manager kept glancing back as he drove away, still uneasy. We planned our route home and headed toward Hammer Shock. The hip-hop label was shabbier than expected for one that was supposedly running decently, but at least it wasn't underground, so we could enter with lighter hearts. Underground spots made escape routes tricky if something happened. On the third floor, though, we could just jump out a window, so the risk was practically nonexistent.
"Huh? Are you from Cha Entertainment...?"
"Yes, we're from Cha Entertainment. We're here to see Roadkill..."
"Ah, yes. Kill-hyung mentioned it. I'm Danger, a rapper affiliated with Hammer Shock."
From the outside, Hammer Shock looked excessively run-down, but the lobby inside was more presentable than expected. Roadkill seemed like a practical person. With that kind of personality, the studio would probably be even more functional than the lobby. I'd already trusted CEO Cha, but seeing the interior only strengthened that trust. She hadn't handed us off to some shady character after all.
"But what should we do? Kill-hyung stepped out for a bit. Something urgent came up suddenly."
"Really? How long do you think it'll take..."
"He should be back soon. He told me to guide any guests to his studio if they arrived."
"Then we'll wait there."
"Yes, please do. The nearest studio, number one, is Kill-hyung's."
Roadkill was absent for some reason. Missing an appointment he'd set himself meant something truly urgent must have come up. From the way the rapper Danger spoke to us politely, he didn't seem to have any aversion toward us either. Since he'd be back soon anyway, it was better to just wait in the studio and chat with Tasha. Training was important, but what mattered more right now was the incident of someone sneaking out of the dorm at night. Asking outright would be awkward, but now that it was just the two of us, probing a little seemed feasible—maybe even fortunate.
"The studio's cleaner than I expected."
"Yeah. Definitely different from the outside."
"Still, our company is much neater."
"Well, of course. We're still a major agency, after all. There aren't many hip-hop labels that have reached major status yet."
"Is that how it is? There's still so much I don't know about the entertainment industry."
Just as I was about to steer the conversation toward her nighttime outing, a more important topic came up instead. This was quite personal, so asking felt a bit burdensome, but if the conversation was heading this way, it wouldn't hurt to ask once. So I set aside my original plan and decided to start with something else. It was definitely strange for Tasha, a Russian national, to suddenly become an idol trainee in Korea.
"By the way, how did you end up as an idol trainee? I heard you got street-cast."
"Yeah. I got lucky. I was originally trying to build a foundation by doing modeling or something, but the company's casting manager suggested becoming a trainee instead. If I hadn't met that person, things would've been even worse than they are now."
"Really? Modeling is a bit unexpected. Not that it doesn't suit you, but..."
"Of course, I don't mean professional modeling. That's not something just anyone can do. What I was aiming for were things like underwear or bikini modeling—jobs where anyone with a decent body could get work. I heard there's decent demand for Westerners in that field."
"Well... that's true."
When Tasha arrived in Korea, she'd been completely broke. So she needed money, and the first thing she tried was underwear modeling. While job hunting, she happened to meet our company's casting manager and joined as a trainee. This girl was bolder than I'd thought. Of course, with looks like hers, it would be strange if there wasn't demand for that kind of work, but trying to start with something like that right after coming abroad? Was it confidence in herself? Plenty of people in that line of work were shady, so unless she was confident they absolutely couldn't harm her, she wouldn't have even considered it. Or maybe her situation had been that desperate.
"If you had no money at all, how did you handle living expenses?"
"I borrowed from the casting manager. At the time, I wasn't even thinking about debuting. My training hours were too short to make it into a debut lineup. But I believed that if I could just buy a little time, I'd figure out the money somehow. Fortunately, the casting manager understood my situation and helped me out."
"Really? That's surprising. Did anything else happen after that... any other demands or anything?"
"Ah, nothing like that at all. And I'm not so naive about the world that I'd fall for something like that. This conversation is getting a bit unpleasant."
"Yeah, I guess so. I only asked because I was curious. Sorry if it upset you."
Come to think of it, Ji Seoeun had also joined through a casting manager, hadn't she? Surely it wasn't the same person? Who in this day and age went around picking up idol trainees off the street? And even lent them money on top of that—the casting manager must have been pretty reckless too. At that point, it was obvious she wouldn't make the debut lineup, so what made him confident enough to lend money? Both the one who borrowed and the one who lent were so far outside my common sense that it was bewildering. I'd asked wondering if there was some other connection, but from the atmosphere, that didn't seem to be the case either. What was this, then? Had Cha Entertainment pulled another "Cha Entertainment" move? As someone who'd benefited from that foolhardy mindset myself, that was the only thing that came to mind. I was suddenly very curious about just what kind of person that casting manager who recruited Tasha really was.