The Secret Weapon
When she hit the high notes, something rang through my skull—a thick, blooming resonance pouring straight out of her head voice.
Whoa...
What had begun as a shiver of goosebumps was already soaked through with shock and awe, and I had lost every word I owned. They say that when a person is truly stunned, they go mute as a stone. That was me. Today was the first time I had ever felt it. My whole posture went respectful, the way it would if a living master of the industry had just walked into the room.
Was it the contrast that did it? She was nothing like the whirlwind first impression she had made. Back when she had bragged about her three hundred and forty-nine subscribers, I had thought, Why bother with YouTube...? The same question was circling my head again.
Why bother with YouTube...?
Only this time, the meaning was the exact opposite. With a voice like that, why had she spent all this time locked inside the internet, playing YouTuber?
Hayoung finished the song and ducked her head toward me and the CEO in a neat little bow.
"Heheh. Thanks for listening!"
"......"
Unlike me, who kept everything off my face, CEO Park let his feelings show without any shame at all.
"Haha. Seongmin was right. That's just incredible."
After that honest bit of praise, he turned and studied my face.
"Jinwoo. How did it sound to you?"
"Huh? Ah..."
I hesitated, because I did not feel remotely qualified to judge. CEO Park, oblivious, pressed right on.
"Come on, you've been in this business a lot longer than I have. You've got to have more of an ear for it than I do."
If I had had that kind of ear, I would have debuted already—or else felt the wall of talent and quit a lot sooner.
"Hmm..."
I put on a faintly embarrassed expert's smile and gazed at Hayoung as if lost in thought, like one of those famous judges on an audition show. Pride would not let me answer right away; that would look cheap. So I dragged it out as long as I could. For all that deep contemplation, though, the only thing that came to mind was the most ordinary reply in the world.
"She's... pretty good?"
"Right? That's more than enough for a main vocal, don't you think?"
I gave a small nod at the CEO's question. Main vocal of a girl group? She could debut solo and eat the entire music industry alive.
"Yes..."
She had sung a cappella, no mic, no accompaniment at all, and still moved us like that. If she ever sang somewhere with proper equipment...? Just imagining it sent a thick wave of goosebumps down my arms. I had rolled around this industry as a trainee long enough to hear countless vocals. Hayoung was the undisputed number one among them. Was there anyone who could even argue with that?
Hayoung stood where she was and rolled her neck from side to side, joints popping.
"Ahh, CEO. I think my voice is finally warming up? I was way too nervous just now..."
She said it with a casual little swagger, like it was nothing. And given how good she actually was, it was plenty convincing.
"Haha."
The smile would not leave CEO Park's face.
Then Hayoung, who had been glancing around the office, pointed at a guitar sitting in the corner.
"Oh! CEO. Can I use that guitar? Singing without a melody feels kind of flat..."
"Hm? You play guitar too?"
"Not just guitar. Piano's a breeze for me too."
"Haha."
Hayoung scampered over to the corner, scooped up an acoustic guitar bigger than her own torso, and came back.
"Whoa, this guitar is huge. And heavy... I can't do this standing up. I'll sit, okay?"
She settled onto the sofa like she owned it, cradled the guitar, and started plucking the strings in earnest. Ding~♪ Di-ding-ding~♪
"Hmm... this thing isn't tuned at all..."
"Haha. It's just been sitting there as a prop, that's why."
"Tuning's going to take a bit... it might get a little slow. Is that okay?"
CEO Park gave a small nod, wearing a father's smile. Hayoung's small fingers worked the strings with busy little motions. I had never learned guitar, so watching her told me nothing. What the hell had I even been doing, locked in a practice room for five years? The emptiness hit hard.
Once everyone fell quiet, a still hush settled over the CEO's office. The only thing that broke it now and then was the sound of a guitar being tuned. Di-ring~♪ Di-ring~♪
Then Hayoung, still fussing with the guitar, snapped her head up.
"Ah! Right... I had something I wanted to ask..."
CEO Park nodded with a kindly smile, and Hayoung's gaze slid sideways—settling on me, sitting right next to her.
"What...?"
"So what are you, oppa?"
"......"
What am I? Out of nowhere? I was thoroughly thrown.
"Are you an idol trainee at our company too, oppa?"
Our...? Did that our mean her and the CEO? I was pretty sure I was not included. That stung a little.
"I'm—"
Before I could get a word out, CEO Park cut in.
"Haha. Our Jinwoo is someone far more impressive than any idol singer."
"Whoa... really!?"
In that instant, tears of gratitude streamed down the inside of my heart. Truly, the only person who ever thought of me was the CEO. From now on I should just shout Loyalty! instead of hello.
"So what is he, then...?"
The words drove into my heart like a dagger.
"Well... you could say Jinwoo is our company's secret weapon."
"Ooooh..."
I lifted my head just slightly and revealed my identity with a solemn look.
"Actor..."
"OH MY GOD! For real? I knew it... what's the name of the thing you were in, oppa? It'll come up if I search YouTube, right!?"
"......"
Put that phone away right now, while I am still asking nicely.
"He's going into his first project now. That's when he'll officially debut as an actor."
"Ahh..."
"He's our company's first actor."
"Huuuh, that's insane..."
She reacted like something genuinely huge had just happened, all flavor and flourish, and for a second I actually felt like I was somebody.
"Jinwoo."
At the CEO's call I dropped my voice and put on a serious look.
"Yes, sir."
"While we're on the subject, show us."
"Pardon?"
"Show us some of the acting for the project you're going into."
"...Here?"
"Why not? Hayoung just sang without a mic."
Well, yes, but...
"And I'm curious myself. I want to know how good you actually are, if that picky Director Kim went on and on praising you like that..."
"Whoa... we get to see oppa act for real!? I'm literally shaking..."
"......"
A crushing weight of pressure clamped down on my shoulders. Hayoung must have felt like this right before she sang. Backing out now would make me an amateur. No—a fucking nobody. To become a real star, you had to enjoy even situations like this.
"Alright then..."
I did not duck it. I rose quietly from my seat.
"Woooah!"
She shrieked and burst into applause, raising hell right there in the office. The kid had shown off something amazing. Now it was my turn.
It was true that I was tense, that the pressure was real. And yet, strangely... I had this confidence that I could do it well. The same way I had when I had acted in front of the judges at an audition. I just had to stand here and show them, unflinching. My Choi Dooshik.
"Well then... I'll begin."
No detailed explanation needed. Hayoung had proven herself with her voice. I would convince the two of them with my acting.
I shut both eyes, held them closed, and opened them again—softly.
Synchronizing with Choi Dooshik from the script Traces of Evil.
My expression went ice-cold. That feeling again. Every sound in the room died as if time itself had stopped, and I was left standing alone in the world. Every nerve in my body seemed to pour into my eyes. The light in them burned hotter, as if they were catching fire. But the heat inside my body was going cold.
That feeling. The feeling of becoming Choi Dooshik.
They flinched. The smiles vanished from CEO Park's and Hayoung's faces, replaced by something cold.
"......"
The warmth drained from Jinwoo's face—handsome, yes, but until a moment ago it had looked so innocent. Bloodless, parched lips. Pupils gone unfocused. No one looking at him would have called him a normal person.
"Hhk—"
Hayoung clapped a hand over her mouth and swallowed a scream. Every last scrap of playfulness was gone. She looked as terrified as if she had just watched a horror movie.
"C-CEO..."
"......"
Unlike Hayoung, who was frightened, CEO Park never took his eyes off Jinwoo. The kindly smile he usually wore had been gone for a long time.
"......"
Just as Hayoung had held an invisible microphone and sung as if it were the most natural thing in the world, the invisible weapon in Jinwoo's hand carried no sense of artifice at all. The way his fingers moved was so precise it looked like he was actually holding a kitchen knife.
Huh... what is this...
Today was the first time he had seen Jinwoo act with his own eyes. Director Kim Seongtae had spent a full thirty minutes talking nonstop about Jinwoo's performance, pouring out extravagant praise.
Given how prickly the man was, he never said a single word he did not mean. CEO Park had never understood why he had gone that far. The role Jinwoo had been given was not a lead. It was barely even a supporting part—just a villain extra who drifted through and was gone. But now, he thought he understood why.
"Huh..."
Even to someone who knew nothing about acting, Jinwoo's skill was anything but ordinary. It was as if he had actually been possessed by the villain. A thick killing intent bled from his face and his voice. It felt like watching a man who had really taken a life recreate the act of murder.
"Hoo. I'll stop there..."
Jinwoo's voice and expression snapped back to normal. Only then did CEO Park let out the breath he had been holding, thin and shaky. Hayoung had already shot up from her seat, her face still stunned.
"Whoa... that was insane! O-oppa... what was that?"
"Huh?"
"Oppa... you haven't actually killed someone, have you!?"
It was an impossibly innocent question. But CEO Park was thinking the exact same thing.