Recording "A Loving Heart"

It was around nine o'clock.

When Young-hoon arrived near the Yeongdeungpo recording studio, he was in a fluster. He was pretty sure he was close, but he couldn't pin down the exact location. He was already anxious enough about running late—a hundred times over—and in his flustered state, he finally called Hye-in.

After hanging up, Sung-hoon went outside and led Young-hoon, who had been pacing near the convenience store, into the studio.

"Oppa, it's been two weeks."

"You're our big brother—it's so good to see you~"

"...Oppa."

"Yeah, have you all been well? Kyeong-hwan, and Mr. Lee—everything going okay?"

"Welcome, sir. You had trouble finding the place, didn't you?"

"Hey, it's been a while."

"No, it's not that—the studio's tucked away in an alley, so it got a little confusing."

After exchanging light greetings, President Lee Jae-man formally introduced Sung-hoon to Young-hoon.

"Mr. Yoo, come say hello. This is Mr. Kim Young-hoon, the man who wrote this very song."

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Yoo Sung-hoon, and I run Solbit Recording Studio. It's a true honor to meet Mr. Kim Young-hoon, creator of such a magnificent song."

"Oh no, you flatter me. Let me offer my greetings as well. I'm Kim Young-hoon, Hye-in's hometown oppa."

"Ah, so you're Hye-in's hometown oppa. It really seems like a connection sent down from heaven. Now that Five Girls has met you, they'll finally escape the darkness of this long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tunnel and catch sight of a ray of hope."

"Mr. Yoo, oppa made more than ten songs for us. And every single one is amazing. Ahem—which means from now on, it's nothing but flower-lined roads for us!"

Su-min, the maknae, beamed brightly and boasted about it as if it were her own personal trophy.

"Well, technically Young-hoon has written more than ten songs for us but... Sung-hoon, you know as well as I do how spectacularly our Five Girls albums tanked. So I'm thinking we'd play it safe—release just one song as a single first and see how the market responds. And honestly... we don't have the money to produce anything else, anyway..."

Everything made Jae-man cautious. From the first album through the third, his hopes had always swollen with each new project. He'd produced every record convinced it was bound to be a hit, only for the public's response to remain cold—perhaps, he thought, because they hadn't kept up with the times. That was why, even with this song, he couldn't quite bring himself to feel certain.

"Come on, hyung. I've been grinding in this business for over fifteen years. My ears are so finely tuned I can tell whether a song will fly just by hearing its first line. And I'm telling you, I guarantee this song is going to be a monster hit. Your company is small, so marketing will take time—but the moment it gets on a broadcast even once, it'll spread like wildfire across a dry field. Nothing will be able to stop it."

"Thank you. Hearing you say it so kindly gives me courage too. Although... did you think our past albums wouldn't make it, then?"

"Ahem... Well then, shall we record the lyrics? Five Girls, are you ready?"

Producer Yoo Sung-hoon was doing his best to change the subject.

Whether because Five Girls had practiced hard in advance, the work was finished at around one in the morning—three hours after recording began. Having recorded without a single break as if on a forced march, the members of Five Girls were completely worn out, and Young-hoon, watching from the side, was exhausted as well. The only one still bursting with energy was Sung-hoon, so exhilarated by producing such an exceptional song. He promised to deliver the finished track within a week.

It was already late, and Young-hoon had work the next day, so everyone agreed to part ways for the night. Truthfully, now that the recording was done, they should have shared at least a simple celebration—but in their current state, that was simply out of the question. So they arranged to meet again the following evening and headed home, each to their own.

The burning Friday. Young-hoon had made up his mind that no matter what happened, he would leave work on time today.

But the atmosphere was anything but ordinary. From the morning, Deputy General Manager Cho, the team leader, had been throwing a full-blown tantrum.

That psycho—can't he just let it go and enjoy a fun Friday like everyone else? What, did he have a fight with his wife last night or something?

Deploying the time-honored office-worker technique of listening with one ear and letting it flow out the other, Young-hoon made it safely through the meeting. As for Deputy Hong—the man was unusually fawning today, perhaps out of awareness of the wrong he'd committed against Young-hoon just the day before. When lunchtime came, Deputy General Manager Cho and Deputy Hong declared they had outside business and left the office entirely. The two of them had presumably gone on a joyride together last night, so a leisurely stretch at a sauna was all but guaranteed.

Young-hoon, for his part, was every bit as tired. He'd burned through his energy recording with Five Girls until the early hours, and he had a business meeting scheduled again today. To wrap up the task Deputy General Manager Cho had assigned that morning and still leave on time, he had no room to rest even for a moment.

At last, with the work finished, Young-hoon sent his report to the team leader by email. The team leader and Deputy Hong, evidently planning to clock out from the field, still hadn't returned to the office by six in the evening. If anything, that left Young-hoon feeling lighter. He left work on time for the first time in ages and set off for the Five Girls agency office—the place they'd agreed to meet at dawn that day.

Perhaps because it was Friday evening, the Olympic Expressway had begun jamming up beyond all reason. Departing from Yeouido, Young-hoon suffered through the suffocating traffic and only managed to arrive at the agency office in Seongnam at around eight thirty.

"I'm sorry. It being Friday, the Olympic Expressway was completely gridlocked."

"No, it's fine. We figured you'd be late with the traffic."

Waiting at the meeting place were not only the members of Five Girls but Producer Yoo Sung-hoon as well.

"And what brings the producer here? Is the song finished already?"

"No. It's over ninety percent done, but... besides, I'm one of the Five Girls family, aren't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I?"

At Sung-hoon's smoothly delivered joke, President Lee Jae-man chimed in.

"Ah, Young-hoon—I'm the one who asked you to come. Sung-hoon's practically family too, you see."

"That's fine by me. Though honestly, I'm not sure why I needed to be here."

To Young-hoon's puzzled question, President Lee Jae-man changed the subject as he began to speak.

"Well, everyone's here and we're all hungry, so let's have dinner first. Can't even be bothered to go out, so... jajangmyeon, yes?"

"No! We're eating beef!"

Su-min really did seem to love her meat. Beef, especially.

After a light meal, Jae-man began to explain why everyone had gathered tonight.

"Once the song is finished, copyright and digital registration can be completed within two weeks. As you all know, our company is small, and Five Girls has almost no name recognition. Even if the track goes live, cracking the charts would be harder than plucking a star from the sky. That's why we've gathered here—to discuss how to get 'A Loving Heart' out into the world as quickly as possible."

With no connection to the entertainment industry except for Hye-in, Young-hoon had no choice but to simply sit back and observe how things unfolded.

"Kyeong-hwan, do you happen to have any connections at the broadcasters?"

"I do, but I doubt they'd be much help. It's been over three years since our members last appeared on television, and we haven't kept up our contacts since then, so who knows. Once the CD comes out, we'll have to go station to station begging meetings with the PDs. If the song is good, it may take time, but it will hit eventually. So don't be too impatient, sir."

"You think I don't know that? As you well know, we have to treat this as the last chance. I've staked my life on this song. I've thrown in every won I have and then some—if it doesn't hit this time, it's the Han River for me, for real."

At President Lee Jae-man's grimly determined resolve, Sung-hoon seemed to mull something over for a while before offering a suggestion of his own.

"Hyung, you know my uncle, right? His second daughter is Shin Hye-yoon, a production PD at Sinabro Production. Should I give her a call?"

"Who? Mr. Shin from our hometown village? Of course I know him. But his second daughter is a production PD at Sinabro Production? What kind of company is that, anyway?"

"They make a film or two a year, and a few months ago they produced the drama 'Cat on the Wall,' which became a hit on the cable network JBC."

Perhaps because Young-hoon didn't watch television, he had no idea such a drama even existed. But the reactions of the others were different—everyone was nodding along, so it must have been reasonably famous.

"It pulled around a ten percent viewership rating. For a cable drama, that's a massive hit."

"Really? But would Hye-yoon know the network PDs well enough?"

"Hye-yoon's been a production PD for over five years now. Surely she's built up a decent network by now?"

"Well, that would be great... All right. You take care of that side of things."

Sinabro Production was a mid-sized production company with more than ten years behind it. The films it had made over the years numbered about ten, and while none had been blockbusters, every one had landed a moderate success—enough to keep the company afloat without any serious losses.

A few months earlier, they had produced a sixteen-episode television drama—and struck what you might call gold. The drama's production PD had been Shin Hye-yoon, the very woman Sung-hoon had mentioned. She was his older maternal cousin, and in the aftermath her abilities had been recognized, her position at the company growing steadily more secure.

Joo Young-ki, president of Sinabro Production, realized that a well-executed television drama could yield better returns than film, and resolved to go all in on drama production. As part of that push, he had recently signed a contract with screenwriter Lee Na-yeon, famed for her romantic comedies, to produce a twenty-episode miniseries, and plunged headlong into preparations.

Truth be told, 'Cat on the Wall' had ridden to popularity on pure luck: the terrestrial drama airing in the same time slot had collapsed in scandal thanks to one of its cast members. In PD Shin Hye-yoon's own eyes, it had by no means been a well-made drama. But the president, ignorant of those circumstances, convinced himself they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had simply created a fine work—and then, gripped by the absurd conviction that success would keep coming, he charged ahead and committed to the next project without hesitation.

Because of that, Hye-yoon had been staggering under endless work from dawn to dusk for the sake of the drama's success. The grueling days had piled up one after another, and only now had she finally completed the basic groundwork for production, granting herself a small measure of breathing room. Today, all she could think about was throwing everything aside, going home, and sleeping like the dead.

She was hurrying through her preparations to leave, heart already light, when a call came from her cousin Sung-hoon—the first in ages.

And so, at last, Hye-yoon's grueling week was drawing to a close.