Chapter 183

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Chapter 183. A Choice Without Regret

"Mr. Hee-jae. I heard you stayed up all night organizing every team's concept and deciding the running order. I said I'd give you full authority, but I didn't mean you had to do everything alone. We could've helped."

Time passed, and December arrived.

Right before the first charity performance, I said that to Hee-jae, who was running all over Jamsil Stadium meeting staff and checking the equipment.

"Ah, well... I don't know. I think I got too greedy because I wanted to accomplish it myself. I was so absorbed in planning that I didn't even notice how tired I was. Hahaha..."

Hee-jae laughed easily.

The previous planning meeting had successfully given him confidence.

When someone had talent but lacked certainty, you had to give them unconditional support and hammer encouragement into them.

Only then would they properly use their abilities.

I'd also regularly checked the stage-planning progress and tried to understand what he was aiming for.

Most of it, I could understand.

And most of what I couldn't understand, Hee-jae eventually corrected by himself.

The rest were things I ended up learning from him.

I'd thought Hee-jae was simply trying to find a compromise between arranging teams by popularity and arranging them by genre.

That wasn't all.

Until the very end, he kept thinking about how to guide the audience's emotions dramatically according to each band's atmosphere.

The more I watched him, the cooler he seemed.

"Aren't you nervous?"

"Nervous? Ssshh... Haaa..."

Hee-jae tightly closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.

The hands that had been trembling slightly until then gradually became still.

"Not really."

"Good. That's a relief."

Right.

It was all about mindset.

The Jamsil Stadium supervisors were masters at responding to problems on site anyway.

Hee-jae's plan was solid and complete, so if something unexpected happened, they'd handle it properly.

Learning how to rely on the production staff during emergencies would be good experience for him too.

"Good luck. Our girls are opening the show, so take good care of them."

"Understood!"

Hee-jae slapped both cheeks a few times and disappeared backstage.

[Universe X Indie Band Charity Collaboration Concert Successfully Concludes... Estimated Donations Reach 17 Billion Won]

[Largest Concert Ever Organized in Such a Short Planning Period! Who Was the Hidden Hero Behind the Indie Band Charity Concert?]

[Behind the Scenes at the Jamsil Charity Concert: Over 80 Teams Reportedly Supported]

[Surprise Appearance by Blue Moon at the Unscheduled Joint Finale on Day Three!]

"Ughhh... Did I just wake up from some kind of dream?"

After wrapping up the final performance and returning to the Universe office, Hee-jae collapsed like a piece of firewood burned completely black.

"What are you going to do if you're already exhausted? From now on, you're going to be busy running around giving interviews."

"What? Interviews?"

"Our charity concert is all over the news, and every promotional pamphlet lists your name as the chief planner. You think nobody's going to request an interview?"

Plenty of people would probably try to recruit him too.

"You should start thinking about what you want from now on. Everyone's going to want you as a planner, but you probably still want to remain a bassist... You could reject all their offers and keep living as an indie musician. Or you could grow into an amazing major-stage planner."

"Ah..."

Hee-jae lowered his head with a serious expression.

Some people might wonder what I'd do if another company stole Hee-jae away.

I'd given him this stage-planning opportunity and put him under the spotlight.

Wouldn't that mean I'd cooked the porridge only to hand it over to a dog?

There was no need to worry.

First of all, I'd already gotten more than enough value from this charity stage.

And I'd done some proper "work" on Hee-jae too.

"Does Universe have any plans to hire a major-stage planner? I don't think you're going to start managing indie bands, so..."

See?

It had only been a few days, and he already considered himself part of the Universe family.

"No. We don't have any plans like that."

"Ah... I see."

At my answer, Hee-jae looked somewhat disappointed and fidgeted with his empty hands.

Dae-hun asked,

"Come on. Why not? Mr. Hee-jae has already proven how good he is. It'd be nice for us to have someone dedicated solely to planning stages. We could even manage one or two indie bands."

"If we manage them, are they still indie bands? That defeats the point. In that scene, we're basically King Midas. Anything we touch turns into an overpriced burden."

Hee-jae probably wanted to go back to playing bass and enter Universe together with Castle Light.

I could tell.

And I could also tell that he was mistaken.

What good would it do if Castle Light became a major band wearing an indie costume?

Eventually, Sang-do would write their songs, I'd use my connections to promote them, and they'd start appearing on various variety shows.

Then four or five years later, they'd sit drinking in some pocha and tell their junior musicians,

"I sold my soul."

What Hee-jae wanted wasn't Castle Light's success.

More precisely, he wanted the indie music market itself to succeed so indie bands could perform more comfortably.

In other words, he had equated Castle Light's success with the success of the indie scene.

Maybe what he really meant was that Castle Light could only succeed if there were stages where they could continue making music.

If I, as a businessman, secured stages...

And Hee-jae brought the bands in and incorporated them into the planning...

Then if I suggested we prove together that indie performance businesses could actually make money, he would happily work with me.

"Then what about our stage planner? We don't have one, do we? Ah~ I got attached to Mr. Hee-jae because his personality's fun. Does this mean you're not coming to the company anymore?"

"Hahaha... I guess that's unfortunate."

Dae-hun sighed deeply with genuine disappointment.

"If you're going to plan profitable stages, you should go to a professional performance-production company. They'd probably pay you a lot more too. And we don't need anything like that. We're supporting indie music, so why hire some expensive major-stage planner? Even if they're not quite as good as Mr. Hee-jae, we need someone who can plan indie stages."

Hee-jae's ears perked up.

"An indie-stage planner? Is that even a job?"

"No. It wasn't. I just invented it."

He stared at me.

"It means someone who travels around planning stages for indie bands with me. It's different from what people usually call a stage planner. Those people only handle highly commercial A-list acts."

I intended to activate the market itself.

An indie-stage planner wouldn't only plan individual stages.

They'd plan the indie culture itself.

"Whoa! If something like that exists, you should've told me earlier! I want to do that. Indie-stage planner. Isn't that basically what I've been doing this whole time anyway?"

Strictly speaking, what he'd just done was an A-list stage featuring indie artists.

"It'll be a fixed salary, and not a high one. Are you okay with that?"

"A low salary...? Salary has the word 'salary' in it, and I was taught anything with salary in it is automatically good. Where's the contract? Hurry up and bring me the contract."

This, Dae-hun, is how you recruit people.

I held out my hand to Hee-jae.

"Work-life balance guaranteed. Leave exactly on time every day, then go to Hongdae at night and keep playing with Castle Light."

"My God... I'll bury my bones here."

Apparently, there was no need to ask what the band members thought.

And just like that, our activities in Korea before heading to America came to an end.

Now it was the end of the year.

Christmas carols had begun playing everywhere.

I should probably listen to the English versions of the carols.

Because we'd just boarded a plane for the Halftime Show.

Dae-hun stayed behind in Korea as usual.

I departed for America with Moon Hee-jung and Blue Moon.

Ah.

I brought Seong Hee-jae too.

Even if he stayed in Korea, there wasn't much urgent work for him to do.

And I figured it'd be useful for him to observe how a Halftime Show stage was planned.

I almost sat in the aisle seat...

Then switched with Serin.

She didn't explain why.

Judging by how she kept glancing at the foreign flight attendants, she was probably trying to protect me from them again like last time.

During the flight to America, Serin dozed off for about five minutes.

Then she carefully read through the airline magazine.

Then she stared into empty space, deeply lost in thought.

You could probably lock Serin in solitary confinement and she'd keep herself busy for several months.

"Serin. What are you thinking about so seriously?"

"Director Choi Gyu-sik offered me a role. I'm wondering how to turn him down."

He offered her a role?

Choi Gyu-sik?

Was he already planning another movie?

"He made you an offer? I didn't hear anything about it."

"Yes. He told me not to tell you. He said I should think about it personally first, and if I decide to accept, then he'll formally contact you."

He told her to keep it secret from me?

He obviously had something in mind.

Unfortunately for him, that wasn't going to work.

Serin didn't really have secrets from me.

How little secrecy did she have?

She'd once casually told me she was considering leaving the group because of money.

Serin was not someone to underestimate.

"Why the secrecy? Can I see the synopsis?"

Serin searched through her phone and showed me the drama synopsis Choi Gyu-sik had sent.

The title was 〈The Manager Who Runs Through Time〉.

It was about an entertainment planner nicknamed "the eccentric" by his coworkers because of his strange behavior.

One day, he accidentally gains the ability to manipulate time and dramatically saves an idol group on the verge of disbandment.

Even an illiterate person could tell this was based on me.

Now I understood why he'd kept it secret.

He probably thought that if he finished the script and even completed unofficial casting, I'd have a harder time refusing.

"Looks like he's planning to make another full-on entertainment project. Was it not your style?"

"What? No. The plot sounds really fun. And the group leader role he offered me feels a lot like me too."

Of course it did.

You were probably the actual model.

Serin answered with the calm expression of someone who had realized some profound truth.

"It sounds fun, and I think it'll succeed. But I think I need a bit of a break from acting too. I've only filmed one movie so far, but if people already start treating me like I'm basically a full-time actress, it'll get awkward when I do group activities."

"Really?"

I'd once firmly told the members not to push each other into opportunities simply because they seemed like good chances.

Even so, I could understand why it bothered them personally.

They might all feel indebted to each other and deliberately hold themselves back.

"When did he ask for an answer?"

"We didn't discuss a deadline. I told him I'd answer as soon as possible."

"Then don't waste time thinking about how to reject him. Just seriously think about whether you want to do it or not. Director Choi is a legendary director too. He's not going to suffer some devastating emotional wound just because one casting offer gets turned down."

Maybe Serin imagined Choi Gyu-sik suffering emotionally because of what I said.

She let out a small laugh.

"Okay. I'll think about it that way."

It wasn't like I always had some magical ability to pick the perfect option at every crossroads in their careers.

I didn't possess the kind of power in Choi Gyu-sik's synopsis where I could jump through time whenever I wanted either.

If I did, every celebrity on Earth would already belong to Universe.

Still, I knew one way to avoid regretting even a wrong choice.

If it was something I'd genuinely wanted to do, I usually didn't regret it.

When I first graduated high school, some people suggested university.

Others recommended the civil-service exam.

Someone told me to become a celebrity.

I even heard that I should try preparing for one of the high-level state examinations.

I'm living pretty well now, but who knows?

If I'd prepared for the CSAT, maybe by now I'd have a doctorate from Korea University and be a young professor.

And if I'd taken the diplomatic exam, maybe I'd be a diplomat living some much more prestigious, stylish life.

I'm not saying I definitely would've succeeded.

Just that you never know where life could take you.

Even so, I didn't regret my current path.

Probably because I was enjoying it.

Because I was happy.

Would Serin accept Choi Gyu-sik's offer and open herself up to even more casting offers in the future?

Would she accept nights spent having serious conversations with the members about her acting career?

Or would she reject Choi Gyu-sik now, then occasionally lie awake for half an hour thinking,

What if I'd accepted Director Choi's offer back then...?

The Serin I knew would make a wise decision.

And turning this down wouldn't permanently close the door to acting anyway.

"By the way, I was surprised about something. You donated too."

"Ah, the hundred million won this time? Hehe... Did I seem that stingy to you?"

Serin smiled shyly.

"You paid us way too much in settlements, CEO-nim. And I don't even know how to invest money... So I just donated it."

"That's cool. Your grandmother and uncle are doing well?"

"Of course."

According to Youngchae, Serin had originally intended to donate anonymously.

And she actually had.

She donated to the Korean Cultural Foundation, which supported a broad range of charitable work across the cultural sector, not just indie bands.

But the sender name on the bank transfer revealed her identity, and an article came out.

We talked about a few other things.

Then, with about an hour left before landing, I received an internet message from Moon Hee-jung.

"CEO Do. This thing has gotten huge."

"What has?"

"After securing Kerins too, we've ended up gathering some truly incredible people. They can all go onstage, right?"

Michael Jason and Kerins alone were already two nuclear bombs.

And she'd gathered even more?