Devil’s Music

Seokjin was a seasoned music broadcast producer, celebrating his twelfth year in the role. His dream had always been to become a music broadcast producer, a dream he pursued through graduate school and after completing his military service, joining a broadcasting company at the age of thirty.

Despite being an elite graduate from a prestigious university, life in society was not easy. After five years as an assistant director, enduring all sorts of hardships, he finally landed a main producer role in music broadcasting, which brought him great joy. He worked with more passion than anyone else, but his happiness was short-lived.

His regular broadcasting company announced the cancellation of their music broadcasts. The uniquely structured Korean broadcasting industry, specialized in variety shows, largely catered to teenage fans who followed idols, rather than a general audience that enjoyed music.

As a result, music broadcasts, neglected by genuine music lovers, saw declining viewership ratings. The only remaining music ranking show was dragged on by the broadcasting company for more than three years but eventually dropped to a 1% viewership rating. After more than five months, the company decided to replace it with another variety show.

Even though Seokjin was a full-time employee, he was not dismissed even as the program was canceled. Instead, he was given a new assignment on a travel-themed reality show.

As an employee in South Korea, he had no choice but to continue working, but even he found the show uninteresting, which likely meant viewers did too.

Three years ago, when the music broadcast was facing a crisis, his friend Youngseok offered him a position at the new broadcaster MVN, but moving from a major broadcaster to a cable channel was not an easy decision.

After the program was canceled and he had endured producing variety shows, Seokjin could no longer bear it and called Youngseok to ask if MVN was interested in scheduling a music program.

With the diminishing presence of music ranking shows, MVN considered abandoning such formats. Instead, they proposed a show that would combine talk segments and performances, granting full control to the producer to invite genuinely talented musicians. Seokjin, receiving a better offer than he had hoped for, did not hesitate to move to MVN.

Having switched to MVN, Seokjin, a veteran producer with over ten years in the industry, demonstrated quick initiative.

He booked studios, sought out talented singers, and hired an MC. The initial MC was replaced after ten episodes due to a scandal, but with Youngseok’s help, he brought in the actor Chae-eun, and since then, his show consistently achieved viewer ratings over 3%—a significant measure of popularity for cable broadcasting.

Now fully committed to his work, Seokjin was sitting in the MVN’s 10th-floor lounge, nervously shaking his leg while holding a 400-won coffee.

“Youngseok, are you sure they’re coming?”

Youngseok, who was just taking a sip from his freshly dispensed coffee, pulled out his phone from his pocket to check the time.

“Yeah, for real. They should be nearby now.”

Seokjin had been instructed by MVN not to book any guests for today's recording.

He had to hastily postpone the booking of a four-member male a cappella group he had lined up after the CP told him that the scheduling would be handled by Youngseok, who had recently become an executive director at MVN.

Despite having heard the details from Youngseok, Seokjin couldn't believe it was true even today, the day of recording.

It was unbelievable because there had been no news articles about Kay, a major star, visiting Korea.

“How can Kay be in Korea without a single news article? Can you call them again, please? Right now, we have over a hundred staff members on standby. There's an ad out about a surprise guest today, and over three hundred audience members coming. I'm really screwed if they don't show up, okay?”

Youngseok chuckled, lifted his phone, glanced at the time, and put it back down.

“Don’t worry, I talked to them when they left the US. If you keep calling, you’ll only annoy them, you know? You think Kay is still that rookie Geon Kim from his debut days in Korea? He's a major musician who sells over a hundred million on PPV, how do you think he'd feel if you keep pestering him?”

Seokjin looked miserable as he grabbed Youngseok’s clothes.

“Hey, you're close with Geon, I mean, Kay, right? Everyone in the industry knows that. Didn’t you do two shows with him? You even went to the US to interview him. They say you’re the only one he knows at Korean broadcasting stations. Can't you just check once for me? I think I’m going insane.”

“Youngseok, it’s a live broadcast at four in the afternoon, and

it's only seven in the morning now. It’s a blind guest so we called them early to keep rehearsals secret, what are you worried about so early? Just wait a bit.”

While Seokjin continued to look miserable and plead, two women approached. A petite, cute-looking woman holding a rolled cue sheet and wearing a hunting cap and a goose-down jacket came running up.

“PD-nim! PD-nim!”

“Yeah, what is it, Jihyun AD?”

“The directors of photography are ready, audio checks and lighting are done, we can start rehearsal right now. But who is the musician coming today that it's causing such a commotion since dawn? The directors are grumbling, PD-nim, you should go and see them.”

“Ah, are the directors really upset?”

“It’s not that they are angry, but they seem annoyed. They are also part of the broadcasting staff, and they're upset because no one’s telling them who's appearing. I can’t give them a hint either. Who's coming that you called us so early, PD-nim?”

The chubby woman in her thirties who came with her showed an empty paper and said,

“You told us to empty the cue sheets, but the MC doesn’t even know what to ask. Why did you call the writers if it’s going to be like this?”

Seokjin, looking apologetic, said,

“Sorry, Choi-writer. I’d like to tell you, but it’s a security matter, and I was told to keep it under wraps.”

“Che, even if that’s the case, how can you keep it secret from the staff too? I’m really upset.”

“Ah, what power do I have? I’m just a lowly PD.”

Choi-writer glared at Youngseok and said,

“Executive director. You know, don’t you?”

Youngseok, seeing Choi-writer and Jihyun pulling his arm and asking eagerly, laughed teasingly,

“Ha ha, okay, okay. Let's put this down and talk.”

As Youngseok gave in, the two women released his arm and looked at him with sparkling eyes, eager to hear what he would say.

Youngseok licked his lips, started to speak, then stopped and pointed his head towards the end of the corridor.

“Ha ha, there they come.”

Seokjin, Jihyun, and Choi-writer all turned their heads towards the corridor. Two people, a man and a woman, were turning the corner at the end of the hallway.

The man was short and had a dark complexion, almost looking like a comedian, while the woman, even from a distance, was dazzlingly beautiful.

Choi-writer, squinting at the woman, dropped her jaw.

“Shi, shi, shi, shi-Shizuka Miyawaki?”

Jihyun clapped her hands and jumped excitedly.

“Kyaa!! Is that really Shizuka Miyawaki? Oh my, I'm a huge fan! So that’s why it was a secret!”

As the mood lightened, Youngseok exchanged a knowing look with Seokjin and grinned teasingly.

“Well, maybe?”

As Shizuka turned the corner followed by a tall white man and a black man, Jihyun narrowed her eyes and said,

“Are those guys session musicians? I’ve never seen the black one before… and the white one looks somewhat familiar… who was it?”

Choi-writer also squinted at him, then dropped the empty cue sheet she was holding.

With a thud, as the cue sheet fell, Jihyun looked at Choi-writer with puzzled eyes, while Choi-writer, her eyes trembling, stared down the corridor and muttered,

“Ke, Kevin Winston… Mo, Mo, Montana…”

“What?! What did you say?!”

A shocked Jihyun turned her head so fast it looked like it might snap, clearly recognizing the person. After confirming it was indeed Kevin, Jihyun's body trembled as she whispered,

“Shizuka Miyawaki… If Kevin Winston is here then… cou, cou, could it be?”

Both Choi-writer and Jihyun turned their heads to Youngseok, who was now stepping forward and waving his hand.

“Yo!! Geon-ah!!”

Geon appeared in the alley, accompanied by Yunjeong and Jinyeon. Hearing his name called, Geon peeked out and ran over with a bright smile.

The sight of Geon running seemed almost like a dream, causing the two women to unconsciously clasp their hands to their chests.

“Youngseok-hyung!!!”

“Haha, you rascal! Now you’ve even got a bit of a beard, all grown up!”

“Haha, hyung! I missed you!”

As the two embraced and caught up, the rest of their party arrived. The two women, still unable to take their eyes

off Geon's face, stood there dumbfounded and didn’t even greet them. Youngseok chuckled and introduced Seokjin.

“Oh, this is today's main PD, Hong Seokjin. He's my friend, so please treat him well.”

Seokjin, finally believing the reality in front of him, sighed in relief but hesitated to shake hands, still somewhat stunned.

“Ho, Hong Seokjin. It’s, it’s an honor.”

Geon smiled brightly and firmly shook his hand.

“Please take care of me, PD-nim.”

“It’s… it’s me who should be asking that of you. Please, this way.”

Seokjin led everyone into an unmarked waiting room. After the group entered, Youngseok and Choi-writer stayed in the lounge. Choi-writer, still trembling, pinched her cheek.

“Is… is this real? This isn’t a dream, right?”

Jihyun, also in disbelief, stared blankly at the closed door of the waiting room and grabbed Youngseok’s arm.

“Um, executive director. You can see this too, right?”

Youngseok, with a playful expression, said,n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

“This is a dream. We’re in a dream.”

“Ah… haha, I guess so? It couldn’t be, Kay appearing on my broadcast, that only happens in dreams, right?”

Choi-writer pinched her cheek several times, saying,

“It doesn’t hurt, so it must really be a dream…”

Watching the two women, Youngseok burst into laughter and lightly slapped their backs.

“Hahaha, wake up from your dream now. The musician has arrived, so get ready. We need to finish rehearsals before the staff arrives, you know?”

As if snapped out of a trance, the two quickly headed to the rehearsal area. Just then, the waiting room door opened again, and Geon, sticking only his head out, caught their eyes and smiled, bowing slightly. The two women, unaware, bowed at ninety degrees.

“Hyung, come in. Let’s talk.”

Youngseok nodded, threw his paper cup in the trash, and followed them into the waiting room, still chuckling at the two women, who were still bowing.

“Pffft, we need to rehearse in about twenty minutes, do we have time for this? Now that you’ve seen who it is, you know what level the rehearsal should be, right?”

Jihyun, straightening up, turned pale. The opponent was not an ordinary star musician but Kay, known as a musical genius, an angel of the present age.

Thinking that they needed to redo everything from the audio checks, Jihyun rushed to the rehearsal site. Left alone, Choi-writer asked Youngseok as he entered the waiting room,

“Um, executive director! Is it a secret to Chae-eun too?”

Youngseok playfully winked and pressed his index finger to his lips.

“Shh!”

>

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