Free Web Novel“Hello, Director Jo!”
“Come on in.”
The handsome man who had been staring at his laptop screen got up from his seat.
His eyes, reminiscent of a Tibetan fox, curved softly.
“Wow.”
We admired the office as we looked around.
“The interior has changed.”
Since it had been a while since our last visit, the decor had been completely revamped.
The desk was now a high-end solid wood piece, and the bookshelves were filled with unique ornaments.
What had already looked nice now felt like a luxury hotel room.
“Wow, for a moment I thought I’d walked into my own house.”
“......”
“When you walk into my dad’s study it feels like this.”
We blinked, then burst out laughing at our maknae’s comment, “But my dad doesn’t read books.”
Director Jo Gyu-hwan joked.
“You guys bought all this with the money you earned this year.”
“Really?”
He chuckled, and I laughed in return.
“Then why not get something even fancier? Shall I recommend something pretty? Like a room full of blooming flowers...”
“Uju. Let’s talk business. Business.”
He abruptly steered the conversation back to work, and my siblings and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“First, sit down.”
As we sank onto the sofa in the center of the office, Director Jo moved to a cabinet and took out some glasses.
“Ri-hyeok, you want tea, right?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Don’t get up, stay seated. I’ll pour you a cup.”
He dropped a tea bag into a cup and stirred gently.
Then he opened a panel in the bookshelf.
“Wow...”
What I thought was just plywood turned out to be a refrigerator door.
We gasped like elementary school kids discovering a secret passage, and he laughed at our astonishment.
“Uju, you get chocolate drink.”
“Yes.”
“Viju and Jiho, soda. Junghyun, pine needle tea...”
“That’s right.”
Junghyun accepted the pine-needle beverage politely, prompting Director Jo to pause and ask,
“Is that any good...?”
“Yes.”
He popped the can open with his pinky finger, and Director Jo nodded, as if thinking, “Of course, it’s Junghyun.”
Once Ri-hyeok’s tea was ready, we all sat opposite him with our drinks.
“How did you manage to stock all these drinks?”
“I prepared your favorites in advance. You’re the most important guests in this office.”
He smiled broadly and took a sip, then gestured at the room.
“Actually, the new interior is because of you.”
“Because of us?”
“Thanks to your huge success this year, the clients coming in now are different from before.”
Director Jo said,
“In the entertainment business, visuals are everything.”
“Ah.”
“We’ll remodel the lobby and the rest of the building soon.”
I understood what he meant: the company headquarters are as much about image management as the artists themselves. Just as TJ Entertainment dressed up their Cheongdam-dong lobby like a hotel to show off their success.
“If the building looked dull, clients might wonder, ‘NewBlack made all that money, right?’”
“So.”
He finished his drink, half-closing his eyes.
“You said you wanted to talk about something this time.”
“Yes.”
I glanced at the floral wristwatch on his arm and asked,
“Is now a good time? I heard you’re really busy this season.”
“Ah, yes. It’s fine.”
Director Jo waved his hand.
“I postponed my other appointments.”
“......”
I felt a strange mix of emotions, as memories of how hard it was to schedule a meeting with him in the past came back.
I nodded and spoke.
“I’m concerned about our next album.”
“Hmm.”
“This time, rather than an idol-track, we’re thinking more folk or indie-pop.”
“Bringing back the songs you couldn’t include in previous albums?”
Ri-hyeok chimed in after me.
“Yes. Our official comeback is in spring. We want to release something with a winter vibe in the meantime.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Where’s the hitch?”
I replied,
“It feels awkward to call it a full album.”
“I see.”
“The songs are for the public, but a physical album is really for fans.”
I explained the dilemma.
“If we release it digitally only, the physical album gets complicated. If we do a full album, it’s not typical idol stuff.”
“I get it.”
“What do you think, Director?”
He tapped the sofa’s armrest and asked us,
“What do you think? You must have discussed it already.”
We nodded.
“We think a special album.”
“A special album?”
“You see other idol seniors sometimes put out special albums—seasonal themes and such.”
There were precedents: winter or Christmas albums, fan-dedicated releases. We thought that might work.
The problem was—
“Budget.”
Even digital singles cost money, but physical albums eat up a fortune.
“And this isn’t just our project.”
Album production is a team effort, and others’ opinions mattered.
Director Jo, who had been listening, spoke decisively.
“It’s simple.”
“Pardon?”
“Release it as a special album.”
“......”
“I thought it’d be more complicated. If you want a special album, just do it.”
Why was it so easy? We exchanged bewildered glances.
‘What the...?’
‘No idea.’
‘Too easy.’
When we looked at him in astonishment, he burst out laughing.
“Why the faces?”
“You don’t know yet?”
He kept smiling at us.
“It seems you worried about album and MV costs until now.”
“......?”
“Thanks to the revenue you brought in this year, you don’t need to worry about production costs anymore.”
“Really?”
“Album costs are negligible now.”
We were stunned, like ordering a ₩70,000 steak and seeing it priced at ₩7,000.
It wasn’t joy as much as dazed disbelief.
“We?”
“Wait a sec.”
He grabbed his laptop and brought up a file.
“Here are your performance numbers for this year.”
“......”
My siblings and I stared at the figures on the monitor.
“Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, ten-millions, hundreds of millions...”
“Count again: ones, tens...”
“Are you all idiots? Just look at the commas.”
“Shh, I can’t concentrate.”
We kept recounting the numbers and wearing stunned expressions.
Then we looked up in unison.
“Seen enough?”
“One more time.”
We thought our first-half results were huge—but the second half, with concerts, tours, and merchandise, blew them away.
Director Jo placed his interlaced fingers on his knee.
“Got it now?”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead with the special album. We’ll do mid-process checks.”
We nodded dumbfounded.
“Anything else you need?”
“Uh...”
Seeing the monitor had left me lightheaded—like holding a winning lottery ticket.
“Uju hyung! Snap out of it!”
“Heh...”
“Viju hyung, stop smiling so blissfully!”
“Heheh...”
We laughed like people who’d achieved everything, then shook ourselves back to reality.
We exchanged glances because one thing did occur to us.
“Director.”
“Yes?”
“You asked if we needed anything.”
“Yes.”
“So...”
“What is it?”
After a brief pause, we asked tentatively,
“Can we get a bit more allowance for meals?”
“What?”
We meant it seriously, and he burst into laughter.
“You guys can eat whatever you want.”
“Really? We can eat a lot?”
“Yeah. Eat as much as you like.”
“Wow...”
Director Jo shook his head, laughing.
“You guys can’t eat that much.”
Some time later.
Someone in the Lemon Ent. building was shaking their head over an expense report.
“Director Jo.”
“......”
“Director Jo.”
“Yes...?”
CEO Park Gyu-ho asked with moist eyes,
“What on earth did you tell those kids?”
“Well...”
“You told them...?”
“To not worry about the meal budget. That they should eat whatever they want...”
CEO Park stared into space, and Director Jo continued,
“I didn’t realize human stomachs could stretch that much.”
Silence filled the office. All Park could hear was the memory of NewBlack members laughing and grilling meat in a flower field. He almost smelled the barbecue through the expense sheets.
“They really ate their fill. Look—lamb skewers too... At this rate, they could buy a ranch.”
“......”
“They even ordered ten boxes of diet cola so they wouldn’t gain weight. Those kids...”
“......”
After a heavy silence, Park finally made up his mind.
“They wanted a special album, right?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s fast-track that.”
Park’s resigned comment, “You can’t live off chicken breast forever,” was met with Director Jo’s silent agreement.
As the expense sheets fluttered to the floor, Lemon Ent. kicked their special album preparations into high gear.
Perhaps because they earned so much money, preparations for the special album proceeded at lightning speed. Whatever CEO Park told them must have been influential—everything moved incredibly quickly.
And then—
“Ha Seung-joo will join as a main producer, and both Baek Sang-kyo and others responded positively.”
The lineup for this album was stellar. While we’d still lead the production, they’d invited the MC of Music Cafe as one of the main producers. Though he hadn’t been active musically lately, his work on Christmas songs and famous piano pieces made him perfect for a winter-themed special album.
“I really didn’t expect him to agree.”
“I still can’t believe we fell into his trap willingly.”
“Heh.”
He was a famous producer, but we’d heard he’d never worked with idols before—he was notoriously picky.
“I’m curious.”
Junghyun said,
“What it’ll be like working with him and you.”
“It’ll just mean great music.” freewebnøvel.coɱ
I was curious too: about his process, our chemistry. I’d even read an article saying my dad had collaborated with him before on jazz arrangements, so I wondered how my dad worked.
“First, let’s get through the schedule.”
The A&R and production teams were already planning based on our idea list—like deciding on plating, main course, and ingredients in cooking.
While they prepared the ‘spread,’ we had our own tasks.
“Hello!”
“Hi!”
Los Angeles International Airport, USA.
“Waaaah!”
Dozens of US Suflé fans holding placards jumped up and down.
As passersby wondered who they were, we did our best fan service.
“Hello!”
Because the crowd was small, we had time to sign for everyone.
「Why are you crying? Don’t cry.」
「Sob... sob...!」
Overcome with emotion, fans wept as we comforted them.
A placard awkwardly written in Korean, “Congratulations on NewBlack winning the Daesang,” made us smile.
While managers filmed with MiTube cameras, one fan asked,
「Why did it take so long for you to come out?」
「There was a slight delay because of Jiho.」
Our maknae’s slip-up: at immigration he said we were ‘brothers,’ startling the officer. Fortunately, the misunderstanding was cleared quickly. We sang the Nostalgia OST with warm smiles, and the officer thought we were a teenage choir.
“......”
Of course, we couldn’t explain that to the Suflé fans.
「Thanks! See you at the fan meeting!」
We greeted the waiting fans and got into the car.
The moment we sat down, we collapsed.
“Ugh...”
“Hyung, you okay?”
“No...”
That was the longest flight of my life. No matter how much I slept on the plane, it was over ten hours. I was amazed that a flight taking thirty minutes to Jeju could take so long.
Maybe because I stayed tense, I felt nauseous from the in-flight meal.
“You’ll be fine. It’s just a long flight. Totally worth it.”
“I brought headache pills. Want one? Mine feel like soggy scallions now.”
“Just one.”
I swallowed the pill Ri-hyeok handed me, and my stomach settled.
“Wow. The weather’s nice...”
Our maknae opened the window and stuck out his head. LA’s November weather was about ten degrees warmer than Korea. In Seoul we were shivering; here it felt like early summer—just a cardigan would do.
“It is nice and refreshing.”
“And there are no cars tailing us.”
In contrast to Asia, no one knew who we were here, so no sasaengs followed us. As the local driver navigated traffic, Seok-hwan hyung in the passenger seat said,
“This time, aside from the fan meeting and a few schedules, we have plenty of free time. Think of it as a vacation stop.”
“No way! We want to work!”
At our rebellious reply, he laughed and said we could do as we pleased.
“Like busking on the street, perhaps.”
“Oh?”
“Ri-hyeok, your mom lives in LA, right?”
“Yes.”
Ri-hyeok nodded.
“She invited us all for dinner at her place this trip.”
“Oh, Ri-hyeok’s home.”
“Please, don’t do anything weird there.”
“It’ll be fine. My mom knows all about us.”
“She probably doesn’t.”
Ri-hyeok muttered.
“She’s just not interested.”
My maknae and I exchanged glances and changed the subject.
“So, where should we go this time?”
“How about Hollywood? I want to see where actors press their hands into cement.”
“They press their hands?”
We laughed at Junghyun’s confused admiration for such a random activity.
As we marveled at the exotic scenery outside, we opened a tourist guidebook from the airport to plan our outing. Aside from the fan meeting, a performance, and a magazine interview, our schedule was very relaxed—apart from one major event.
“I’m a bit nervous about performing in a foreign language.”
“Right. The stage looks pretty big.”
We were guest artists at a concert hosted by Nostalgia’s production company—a mini-concert where we’d surprise the audience by singing film songs as fan service. We were set to perform “Thousand Dreams.”
Ri-hyeok, checking the itinerary, said,
“Wasn’t there someone the director said he’d introduce us to before tomorrow’s show?”
“Yes. He didn’t say # Nоvеlight # who it was.”
Director John Edwards had mentioned introducing someone, and we wondered who it could be.
With that on our minds, we arrived at our accommodation, unpacked, and changed for going out.
“What should we do, hyung?”
Viju said, cheeks slightly flushed.
“I’m so excited.”
“You really are?”
“Yes. I can’t wait to meet and talk about dance again. My heart’s racing.”
I smiled.
On our first day in LA, there was one person we had to see first.
‘Come visit me when you’re in LA,’ they’d said with a smile—the choreographer.
“Shall we go, then?”
“Let’s go!”
We headed straight to the dance studio where Clay Tyler was.
Thirty minutes later.
“It’s closed.”
We blinked at the dance studio door marked “Closed.”
