The Three Hot Tears of the New Phase
The oppressive heat that had dominated the industry for so long was finally receding. The wind had turned pleasantly brisk.
< p > 'This place brings back so many memories...'
The rooftop of JS Agency, where I had slipped away in secret countless times to hide my tears whenever one of my schemes faltered.
Back then the glittering lights below had looked so heart-wrenching. Now they stirred nothing at all.
Instead, the cool breeze sweeping across the roof and the bright glow of the city lights wrapped me in a warm embrace.
It felt as if this second life, this life given to me once more, was allowing me to live it the way I wanted.
'Just like my sister... Si-a... and...'
A whisper carried on the sudden gust of wind, soft and intimate.
- Uncle! No, I came all the way up here for you, and you're still thinking about me?!
Yes, exactly here.
Seo Minji... the place where I had first met that radiant boy.
- Uncle! I don't know what's wrong, but drink this and cheer up!
Warm coffee handed to me as I hid here, just like every other time I had come to weep in secret.
That bold coffee offered with a smile that once lit up the world still lingered deep in my heart, refusing to let me forget her.
- That guy really cheats on women left and right!
< p > 'Hah... just a little longer now. We're almost there.'
- Just come and meet me! I'll make you regret it...
The quiet office of the producer startled me out of my thoughts.
"What are you thinking about so seriously? Drink."
"Ah, I was lost in thought. I'll drink the coffee, Chief."
"Cigarette?"
Chief Oh Hyung-pil offered a cigarette with a somewhat tired face.
I took one from his pack, slowly brought it to my lips, and inhaled the pungent smoke.
'Another long time since I've smoked...'
I had given it up for the women who hated the smell, but on this rooftop...
Without the sweet vending-machine coffee and the romantic breeze, this harsh smoke would feel utterly empty.
'Whew, how am I supposed to get through it without that?'
"Yeah."
"Manager Kang, can I speak casually?"
I was already treating him as one of the boys, but his words suggested he wanted to drop the formality now that we were close.
I nodded, convinced it would be far more comfortable this way than hiding my feelings.
"Go ahead. We're family now."
"Family... I've never heard that word from the company."
I had heard it so often from my hyung Jong-seok that it had become part of my vocabulary.
"Manager Kang doesn't look like a guy your age at all. You could be my brother."
Chief Oh was probably in his late thirties now, the same age as I had been before regression.
That meant there was almost a decade between us and the young body I lived in today.
'Sad, isn't it...'
The real reason we had come to this rooftop was to decide who would actually run the third floor's operations.
'Damn... just call him Oh and be done with it.'
I had already warned Representative Lee Jong-seok about it.
The title of chief wasn't necessary. Just give Oh power.
I wasn't someone who couldn't work without the title, and Oh wasn't the type to ignore me because I wasn't the chief.
But the answer from Representative Lee Jong-seok had been a firm no.
To him, Oh was one thing, but I was the fish he absolutely refused to let go.
So he had suggested we become friends and discuss the future of the third floor between ourselves.
Whether that was putting the decision in our hands or showing how much he valued our opinion, I wasn't sure.
But I knew one thing for certain: this place would become very uncomfortable very soon.
"Haa... look at those lights... don't they look really sad?"
Chief Oh Hyung-pil exhaled smoke with a tragic gaze.
Something about his face seemed angry, something else seemed sorrowful, and the overall bitterness was overwhelming.
Even though he wasn't crying right now, his expression reminded me so much of my past self secretly weeping on this same rooftop that my heart felt heavy.
"Speaking of which, since we're like family now, let me ask you straight. Why did you do that?"
"..Me?"
"Why me specifically... don't you know what I did to those shining kids?"
The cigarette in his hand had burned down to nothing, and the coffee cup was crushed to shreds.
"Why... did you see me as a pitiful person?"
A man wounded by a painful failure, his pride shattered.
His self-confidence had already hit rock bottom.
He thought even my genuine belief in him was cheap pity.
But I would never have let those crack friends face someone like that.
If Oh Hyung-pil was the kind of man who couldn't be trusted with the crack team, I would have walked him into hell myself and taken care of it.
"Damn... do you even know how shining those kids are? Do you know how well they're going to do?!"
"I don't know..."
"They... they're truly amazing. No talent or effort is lacking in any of them!"
".."
"Why did they fail? It's all because of me... I met them at the wrong time and couldn't give them proper care!"
Chief Oh Hyung-pil was gripping my shoulder tightly, pouring out his anguish nonstop about the crack kids.
He believed in them.
He believed in the sweat they had shed and in the size of their talent.
He believed they weren't the ones who would break here because they had been wronged by me.
"So please, Manager Kang... train my kids for me."
Chief Oh Hyung-pil bowed his head in front of me, tears welling up in his eyes.
He yearned for their success so much that he was willing to lower his head to a ten-year-younger man like me.
Even if his own place was gone.
"Representative Lee told me you spotted every problem with the crack project..."
"Yes, that's right."
"Our kids are really good. They listen well, follow instructions perfectly, and do everything asked of them."
I knew that better than anyone... those kids were talented and reliable.
If they weren't, my radar, the specialist at backroom operations, wouldn't have missed a single small weakness.
"So if Manager Kang just takes care of them..."
"So I should?!"
"..What?"
Chief Oh Hyung-pil gave me a dazed look at the sharp tone in my voice.
"I don't know what kind of people the crack kids are, and I don't believe in them..."
".."
"I don't know how shining they are or how much sweat they shed.
Only Chief Oh Hyung-pil knows that. Not me."
The person who could believe in the crack kids to the end and support them behind the scenes was Oh Hyung-pil, not me.
The only man in the world who could truly believe in their talent and the sweat they shed was this man.
"For those kids to succeed, Chief Oh Hyung-pil is needed."
"But I'm already..."
"Why? After one failure, are you just running away?"
Thirty teams a year... four hundred and fifty over ten years.
In this industry where so many kids succeed and fail, one failure like this would destroy them.
And there's a solid cash cow racing for the next album.
The sight of someone breaking down from just one failure was downright pathetic.
"Pull yourself together, Chief Oh. Who would protect the crack kids if you weren't here?"
"Yes...?"
"You asked me for help. Will I really take care of those friends? What do you think I can do?"
Believing in others without expecting anything in return doesn't mean others will believe in you the same way.
He had gotten lost in his own romance and hastily entrusted his precious kids to me.
'Let's calm down, Chief Oh.'
He needed it.
The conviction that no one but him could protect the crack kids.
The confidence that only he could make them succeed.
It might hurt a little, but I wanted to plant both conviction and confidence in him.
"Chief Oh, do you believe in yourself? Even if you're not here, those kids will be safe..."
"That's what..."
"Yes. If you're not here, there's no need to keep the crack project going.
In this company, the only person who believes those kids have value is you."
".."
"So you have to keep believing in them and protecting them, don't you?"
"I... me...?"
"Yes, Chief Oh. Just believe. Believe in their talent and effort that Manager Kang believes in...
If you do that, those kids will naturally pull Manager Kang and this company to the next level."
And they would bring a success far greater than even Kim Si-a's.
"Manager Kang..."
"I'll earn the money. So don't think about running away and just stay by those kids' side."
"Thank you... thank you, Manager Kang."
In the end, the hot tears of a broken old man welled up inside me.
The tears of a man exhausted by failure stirred something hot and rising in my chest.
Of course, that heat was the joy of finally escaping the trap that had been slowly closing in on the veteran crack kids.
***
< p > "Kuh... I never thought Chief Oh would care about us this much..."
The leader of the crack team, LJ, bowed his head, tears streaming down his face.
'This is it. Just a little longer... just a little longer! I can do it, Kang Min-hyuk!'
The tears of a dark-haired man with a sharp, cool face.
A chill ran down my spine at the sight, but I held it in.
'I have to hold it together. This guy may look pathetic right now, but he's a genius in composition.'
His ability to catch trends and craft easy-to-listen melodies is unmatched.
How many girls had spread their legs just to get songs from him? Of course, none had passed the test...
Still, I knew.
I knew those countless masterpieces slept in the laptop he carried every day.
"So, LJ... work hard for Chief Oh, for me too."
"Thank you, thank you, Manager. I thought that... that person was so scary... kuh..."
I put my phone, which had recorded Chief Oh's heartbroken voice, away and told the kid.
"My Min-gu's face might not be great, but the kid is good. When you guys succeed, you'll see how useful that face can be."
"Us...?"
"Yeah! I told you, you guys are going to succeed no matter what!"
"R-really?"
"Then we'll succeed even more than Si-a, right? We'll do overseas tours, hit Billboard charts... right?"
The leader of the crack team, LJ, stared at me with a face that looked like it didn't believe a word.
But not a single lie had come out of my mouth.
"If that happens, it'll be wonderful."
"Believe it. It'll definitely happen..."
"But, Manager. Did you come here just to tell me this?"
"There was no reason..."
"I just happened to visit the company and saw you. While I was at it, I did a little background work. I didn't come looking for you myself."
"Manager Kang~ Um... who...?"
With a bright smile, Kim Si-a burst through the door of the third floor.
At the sight of her radiant beauty, LJ jumped up from his seat like his soul had left his body and bowed ninety degrees.
"Nice to meet you, the, the leader of the crack... LJ... LJ!"
"Ah, yes~ Nice to meet you, Mr. LJ!"
"T-thank you, senior!"
Even with his shy greeting, her attention stopped right there.
"Let's go, Manager! You have to get your hair done too~"
She pulled me along by the arm, smiling brightly.
'I have to go... to earn money.'
The reason I had visited the third floor wasn't to see LJ, but to see Si-a.
On the day Chief Oh Hyung-pil had cried in front of me, another man had called. That's why she had a schedule with me.
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Regression Power — [Full Activation]