Devil’s Music

Cheongdam-dong, South Korea.

Although Gangnam is famously expensive, the reality is different. The offices, beauty salons, and restaurants frequented by South Korea's real wealthy are all clustered in Cheongdam-dong, making it a hotspot bustling with luxury clientele.

The reason why places like Gangnam Station or Garosu-gil, which aren't promoted online, don't attract as many people is because of the quality of the clientele.

These are the people who don’t feel the need to flaunt their lifestyle on social media. They are the main customers, hence the quietness.

The businesses here also prefer not to market themselves, as the wealthy clientele avoid noisy places bustling with middle-class customers. It's far more beneficial to capture one high-class customer than a hundred ordinary ones, which is why Cheongdam-dong has become a haven for the elite.

Although called a main road, the roads in Cheongdam-dong seldom exceed four lanes, making it incomparable to the areas around Gangnam Station.

A seven-story building with fully tinted glass windows and a massive sign in cursive script reading "YDN Entertainment" stood on Cheongdam-dong's main road, crowded with illegally parked luxury cars.

Sitting alone on the top floor, a man in his late fifties hung up the phone, spun around in his plush executive chair, and brought a cigarette to his lips.

Ding~

He lit his cigarette with an expensive Dupont lighter, carelessly tossed the lighter on the table, and exhaled deeply into his chair.

“Kay is looking for a Korean musician to feature in a dance music track?”

He casually flicked his cigarette with his finger, pressed the secretary office button on the phone on his desk, and spoke.

“Send Director Lim Hyuntaek in.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

Not ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. The man, about to light another cigarette, put it down and said,

“Come in.”

A fashionably dressed man in his mid-thirties, not particularly handsome but wearing baggy pants, an oversized sweater, and earrings in both ears, entered and bowed at ninety degrees in front of the chairman.

“You called for me, Chairman.”

“Yes. Aren't some of our kids in San Francisco shooting a music video?”

“Yes, Team Leader Lee is overseeing them.”

“Is that so? Alright, I'll contact him myself. And how many kids do you have under you?”

Without any hesitation, Hyuntaek replied, even though the chairman referred to people as ‘items’.

“Four.”

“Hmm, and how many do we have in total at our company?”

“Thirteen, but since two are currently inactive, you can consider it eleven.”

The chairman grimaced with irritation.

“What about those two?”

“One was completely disbanded, and the other is dealing with a lawsuit.”

“These girl groups, they try to rise up the moment they get a bit of power. Handle it well.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“I’ll talk to Team Leader Lee, but sift through your kids for some with good looks and figures, might need to send them to the US soon.”

Hyuntaek nodded quietly, troubled because he cared for the four girl groups under him, knowing all too well how distant the possibility of them breaking into the US market was. 𝑅

A few years back, a girl group that gained enormous popularity in Korea and other parts of Asia tried to break into the US market, quickly rose to fame, and then plummeted, causing significant losses. Since then, Korean agencies have been reluctant to promote girl groups in the US.

In contrast, a boy group was unexpectedly popular in the West, but experts were skeptical about how long this would last and whether newcomers could continue to emerge.

After a moment, Hyuntaek cautiously asked,

“Are we considering a move to the US?”

The chairman lit his cigarette again and replied,

“Well, it’s not time to announce anything yet. I’ll send Team Leader Lee to verify some things and let you know. Director Lim, go ahead and make a selection from your kids.”

“By ‘kids,’ do you mean to select on an individual basis, not by team?”

“That’s right. You never know who might catch an eye. If even one of them makes it, it’s a hit chance for everyone in that group.”

“Hmm… Understood, Chairman.”

“Alright, you can go.”

Hyuntaek bowed respectfully to the chairman, who was lighting his cigarette, and backed out of the office as if retreating from a king’s presence. Once the door was closed, he straightened his back and pulled down his sweater, his expression souring.

“That bastard’s planning to send someone off for entertainment again, sigh.”

Despite his words, Hyuntaek was a seasoned manager in the industry, having secured a director position at a major agency in his mid-thirties. He was not in this position solely by doing clean and transparent work.

He simply needed to vent about the chairman’s disrespectful treatment

.

Hyuntaek stared at the closed door, silently cursing in his mind, then calmly ordered the secretary waiting outside,

“Gather all my kids in Practice Room A, within 5 minutes.”

“Yes, Director.”

After leaving the chairman’s office, Hyuntaek smoked a cigarette on the rooftop and then made his way to Practice Room A, where girls in their late teens to early twenties, dressed in exercise outfits, sat chatting. Upon seeing Hyuntaek, they quickly straightened up.

Nine, six, five, four. The members of the four girl groups totaled twenty-four. Hyuntaek crossed his arms and pondered,

‘For the entertainment, I’ll take Sujeong, who has experience, along with Yoonhyeon and Soa, and maybe Yoonjeong, who’s gaining popularity.’

The women he observed were undeniably the sexy type of idols, irresistible to any man, and their hosting was always successful. Hyuntaek finally spoke,

“Sujeong, Yoonhyeon, Soa, Yoonjeong, and… Jinyeon, stay. The rest may leave.”

Though they were summoned abruptly and dismissed just as quickly, the remaining female idols understood the nature of the task at hand.

Yoonjeong and Jinyeon, lacking experience, looked anxiously at their older group members, seeking help with their eyes, but no one could assist them.

As the others left, only the five idols and Hyuntaek remained in Practice Room A. After a moment of silence, Hyuntaek nodded towards Sujeong,

“You’ve been around, Sujeong, so you probably saw this coming?”

Sujeong, with her long black hair and fair skin, nodded slightly.

Her innocent image belied the reality that she had become addicted to the investment coming from sponsors after being sent for entertainment over ten times. She had even reached a point where she would ask to be sent out for hosting.

Hyuntaek, acknowledging her agreement, said as he left the room,

“The chairman will call you soon, so don’t go anywhere, stay in the office.”

Yoonhyeon, who looked to be in her late teens, hesitantly raised her hand as she sat on the floor,

“Director, I have a schedule…”

Hyuntaek frowned and turned back,

“What schedule?”

“A variety show.”

“On major network?”

“No, it’s cable.”

“That’s fine, I’ll talk to the manager. Someone else will go, and you’ll stay.”

“Yes…”

After Hyuntaek closed the door, Yoonjeong and Jinyeon looked uneasily at their older group members. Being in a girl group under YDN Entertainment and not having experience meant one of two things: they were either too new or too young. In their case, it was the latter, but they had only recently turned eighteen and caught Hyuntaek’s eye.

Though the rumors circulated openly among the older members, it had always seemed distant to them. Now that it was their reality, a nervous Yoonjeong asked with a trembling voice,

“Do… do we really have to do this?”

Jinyeon was equally anxious, turning her tearful eyes towards Sujeong, the most senior among the girl group members.

Sujeong chuckled and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms,

“If you want to survive in this industry, there’s no choice. You’ve all envied me driving a luxury car. How do you think I afford it? All my earnings go straight to operational expenses, entertainment costs, and what little is left is barely enough to send home. It’s all sponsored.”

Yoonjeong spoke meekly,

“But still… how can we be with men old enough to be our dads…”

“It’s not just dads; even if they were grandpas, you’d have to do what’s necessary. Either you go to an agency where you don’t see such dirty stuff, but then you’d start all over as a trainee and it might take another five years to debut, with no guarantee of success.”

As Sujeong said, there are certainly agencies that operate cleanly and transparently, maybe even more so than the others.

However, as she pointed out, companies that compete solely on talent require much more time and effort. Idols, eager for their debut day, often grow tired of waiting and transfer to agencies like YDN.

Hours later, the five were summoned to the chairman’s office, where they were informed they would be sent to the US for entertainment. They quickly packed and boarded a flight to the US.

...

Hell.

Gusion sat in the reception room of a castle shaped like a bat, his eyes closed and hand reaching out over a table covered with hundreds of newspapers from around the world.

Every country's newspapers, every publishing house represented, piled up in a massive heap.

[“I’ll kill him! That bastard!”]

[“He’s mine! I don’t care who she is, I’ll tear her mouth apart!”

]

[“Give me back my money! Or else I’ll kill you and then myself!”]

[“Please, let me win this time! I’d even sell my soul! Help me, devil or angel!”]

[“Hehehe, it’s because I love you that I’ll kill you, you know my heart, right?”]

Listening to humanity’s filthy cries, Gusion’s eyes flipped white as his body trembled.

His hand paused over one particular newspaper.

[“I’ll do anything to capture his heart and break into the US! If he wants my body, I’ll give it, and if he wants my heart, that too. But if neither works, I’ll use my body as leverage to threaten him!”]

Gusion’s hand moved like lightning, snatching the newspaper. Holding it aloft, he slowly opened his eyes, a purple glow flashing within.

“Oh… look at this?”

The newspaper he held was a Korean one. Not the front page, but in the entertainment section, an article titled "Their Airport Fashion" featured five women.

Gusion stared intensely at a woman with black hair and an innocent face.

>

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