Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Si-eun Joins SSHIN
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Yeonwoo's flap of a butterfly's wings had turned the small breeze named Si-eun into a typhoon.
After becoming a star overnight, she had been working nonstop ever since.
Dramas, variety shows, music activities.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say she had been run ragged to the point where the total rest time over several years probably amounted to less than a week.
Her agency wasn't a terrible company—they settled accounts properly—so checking internet banking occasionally would reveal a startling pile of money.
But what good was that?
She couldn't even spend it.
On top of that, her health had deteriorated just as much as the money had piled up.
There wasn't a single part of her body that was unscathed.
She had hurt her back and shoulders doing action scenes in a drama, and her knees were in bad shape too.
That wasn't all—her neck had developed disc issues, leading to tension headaches that tormented her.
Even that would have been fortunate.
Her greatest asset, her voice—specifically, her vocal cords—were in poor condition.
The doctors warned that if she kept going like this, she'd develop vocal nodules.
She had done a few more stages since then, and with her voice hoarse now, it seemed like vocal nodules were either imminent or already in the early stages.
Why were they working her like this?
Wasn't it better to cherish her and maintain a good relationship for the long term?
In truth, her agency's situation had deteriorated badly.
Its key celebrities had left, and the ventures the CEO had recklessly pursued had all failed.
In the midst of that, Si-eun was the only one bringing in money.
With the company in dire straits, they seemed to have no expectation that Si-eun would renew her contract, so they drove her relentlessly.
At first, when she succeeded, she had intended to stay loyal to the agency that hadn't abandoned her and had taken care of her.
But after being ground down like this and seeing the company's poor state, she had no intention of actually renewing.
And finally, her contract with the agency ended.
Now she had to find a new company.
In fact, as her contract neared its end with no signs of renewal, various agencies had tried to approach her, but she hadn't been able to sign right away.
“I want to rest…….”
Right now, she just wanted to rest without a single thought in her head.
After her contract ended, Si-eun even made a bucket list of things to do during her break.
Bucket list number one.
Sleep her fill for days without doing anything.
She had never slept more than six hours straight until now.
Six hours—what was that?
The times she had properly slept lying down at home could be counted on one hand.
During event seasons, she survived on two- or three-hour naps—dozing through makeup, dozing during transit.
For a whole week, she just slept.
When she woke up hungry, she'd order something simple to eat and go back to sleep.
When she woke up needing the bathroom, she'd go and come right back to sleep.
Just from sleeping like that, she already felt her body recovering a lot.
Having slept to her heart's content, it was time for bucket list number two.
Treatment.
She started with a full checkup, then visited renowned hospitals for Korean medicine, neurosurgery, internal medicine, orthopedics, and more.
She decided to focus on recovery.
Getting acupuncture, physical therapy, manual therapy—each time, she felt her body coming back to life.
While she was at it, she took all the supplements that were supposed to be good for her.
Once her body recovered to a certain extent…… she planned to tackle the third and most important bucket list item.
A trip.
She intended to go on the Europe trip she had dreamed of since childhood.
For that, she needed to get better quickly.
That was when it happened.
“Huh?”
On her way out from treatment, she checked her phone and saw a call from Yeonwoo.
“Wh-what's up?”
She was now fully established in the industry as the top pick for acting gigs, variety shows, and even singing.
But in that time, Yeonwoo had ascended to such dizzying heights that she could hardly approach him.
Just recently, hadn't he collaborated with Elkind's Logan and topped the Melboard charts again?
What was it—existing on the clouds? A star among stars? That kind of vibe.
Maybe that's why…… her heart fluttered a bit.
Cherishing that flutter, Si-eun called Yeonwoo back.
-Hello? Sis?
“Yuin, it's been a while! Since you called.”
-Yeah, sis. You busy right now?
“No, I stepped out for some errands and I'm heading home.”
-Ah, I see.
On the other end of the line, Yeonwoo hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
-Sis, it's true you're without an agency right now?
“Huh? Yeah…… yes, that's right. My contract with the old agency ended.”
-Sis, just gauging your interest here. Want to come to our company?
“Your company?”
-Yeah, our company—SSHIN, which split off as a subsidiary. I'm the chief producer, and Aunt and Dad are the CEOs.
Si-eun was inwardly intrigued.
And why wouldn't she be? Yeonwoo was responsible for the majority of her stardom.
But she couldn't just jump in headfirst based on that alone.
She had been burned too much by her previous agency to think simply.
“I'd love to work under you, of course. Um…… could I hear the terms first?”
-Sure, of course. Aunt or the company folks will go over the details. I don't know much about that stuff.
“So I should meet with CEO Jiyeong or someone from the company to talk?”
-Yeah, I'll tell them to tailor the offer to your preferences as much as possible! Listen to it and if it's good, please join us!!
The way he talked like a total kid in the middle of grown-up business talk made Si-eun smile without realizing it.
“Got it. But could I hear why you want to recruit me?”
-I have tons of songs I want to give you! Your voice is the best.
It was just like Yeonwoo, always praising her voice as the best.
“Understood. I'll think about it positively!”
Si-eun ended the call with Yeonwoo and soon met with Jiyeong, the CEO of SSHIN.
Unlike her previous agency, the contract was meticulously detailed and maximally favorable to Si-eun.
She made up her mind.
She would sign with SSHIN.
* * *
[SSHIN Signs FA Big Fish Si-eun.]
[Si-eun Joins SSHIN.]
[Si-eun Enters Yuin's Fold—New Music on the Horizon?]
No sooner had SSHIN spun off as a subsidiary than it signed Si-eun.
Since Si-eun had become a star through Yuin in the first place, industry insiders unanimously agreed she couldn't refuse SSHIN's outstretched hand after becoming a free agent.
Separately from that, the industry began paying attention to SSHIN.
This label under JOP had grown in stature thanks to Yuin and then gone independent, backed by the massive funds flowing in through him.
It wasn't just the money.
The very person bringing in that money—Yuin himself—was the company's greatest weapon.
He had topped the Melboard twice under his own name, turned the has-been singer Kim Beomsin into the domestic number one and Melboard's number three twice in a row, and every single artist he gave songs to had swept number one on all major domestic streaming platforms without exception.
For any musician nearing contract end or already a free agent, even if the terms were a bit stingy, they'd honestly want to jump at the chance if he called.
And this year, there were an unusually high number of musicians becoming free agents or already in that status.
Agencies big and small were clamoring to sign their desired talents, so the emergence of an ecosystem disruptor like SSHIN naturally drew attention.
But SSHIN didn't indiscriminately sign popular musicians.
Word spread that before SSHIN could even make offers, a few singers had approached them and been politely turned down.
“Jinwoo’s a solid singer, isn’t he? They turned him down?”
“He probably thought they'd take him for sure, so Jinwoo's pride must be wrecked.”
Industry folks were surprisingly tight-lipped—no, they were eager to spread the gossip they heard whenever they bumped into each other in waiting rooms or at events.
Jinwoo, a rare solo singer with a soulful voice who had even topped Mango charts a few times, was definitely FA big fish material, yet he got rejected.
And that was just the start?
“Isn't that someone over there? Not just Jinwoo—Jina, who left after Hainen disbanded, got turned down too?”
“Jina as well?”
Jina had been the main vocalist of Hainen, one of the top-tier girl groups.
Famous as a skilled idol and a variety show powerhouse, agencies everywhere were desperate to sign her, and her choice had been to approach SSHIN.
But like Jinwoo, she got politely rejected.
“What the heck is SSHIN's criteria for signing people?”
“No idea, it doesn't make sense. They'd normally be rolling out the red carpet for hot acts.”
Turning down these two, who qualified as FA big fish, was utterly incomprehensible to other companies.
But in truth.
“Yeonwoo, these two seem fine, don't they? Jinwoo and Jina both sing well.”
Even inside SSHIN, no one understood. Jiyeong was the same.
They had rejected them on Yeonwoo's word, but she couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
In response to her nephew's question, Yeonwoo said.
“They're not bad, but I don't see any potential for growing them further right now.”
“No growth potential?”
“Yeah. And their voices don't really appeal to me either.”
“Well, if you say so.”
Yeonwoo knew who Jinwoo and Jina were.
But the indicators shown by the various colored fairies were telling him not to bring them on board.
No star power, no commercial viability, no musical growth potential at all.
Giving songs to people like that might make them hit it big on Yeonwoo's name alone, but expecting more than that was unrealistic.
Instead, Yeonwoo suggested bringing in others.
“Rooftop Room? Who are these people?”
“An indie band I saw on YouTube.”
Rooftop Room was a band consisting of guitar, piano, and vocals doubling on bass.
In the indie scene, they were already word-of-mouth famous for every member's skill and great songs, to the point where among indie band fans, hardly anyone didn't know them—they were riding a wave of popularity.
That said, step outside Hongdae and almost no one knew them—that was the reality of the indie world right now.
Yuin had been watching them.
For quite a long time, in fact. He never missed their performance videos when they went up on YouTube.
Having observed them and seen the potential, Yeonwoo planned to scout them in person.
“Indie…… you see potential? In an indie band?”
“Have one or two indie bands not succeeded? Just among the ones I know, four teams started in indie and climbed to success.”
“Fair point. If you say so, I'll have staff reach out to them?”
“Yeah.”
SSHIN's second signing became the indie band Yeonwoo had his eye on.
And the third signing was.
“Black Pearl. Let's bring them in.”
“Black Pearl?”
Jiyeong was stunned.