A New Career Singer Who Can Read The Future [EN]: Chapter 81

Future-Reading Rookie Singer – Episode 81 (81/225)

[Honeybees, Doyun’s Fans, Must Read]

Honeybees, you know our manager Ryu Doha, right? Did you know that Ryu Doha was communicating with stalker fans and leaking Doyun’s private schedules, which led to his dismissal?

Why does it feel like something always happens whenever things are about to get better for Doyun ㅠㅠ A friend of mine works at HU Entertainment, and they said Doyun was really shocked and hasn’t been leaving his studio lately… He only comes out when he has a schedule… So, that means he only comes out briefly every night for his DJ gig, and otherwise, he’s either at home or in his studio.

└ I had a feeling about that manager’s character. Is it true?

└ Gut feelings are science.

└ Yeah, he got fired. HU Entertainment made sure to let all the entertainment companies know so he can’t set foot in this industry again.

└ He even flaunted designer clothes bought with the money he made from selling information. Doyun was victimized, not knowing he had someone like that next to him ㅠㅠ

* * *

Doyun declared that he would work without a manager for the time being after Doha was fired.

He couldn’t have imagined that Doha, who always seemed so polite and courteous, would stab him in the back like this, leaving him feeling numb.

Seeing how people changed based on his popularity, Doyun began to think once again about who truly cared for him.

Doha’s position was temporarily filled by the head of the management department.

“Doyun, is it okay if I fill in?”

“Since my recent schedules only involve DJing and practicing at the company, it should be fine. I can grab a taxi after DJing, so I think it would be great if you could coordinate the other schedules.”

Doyun only conveyed what he needed to say and then locked himself in his studio.

‘Why did he do that? What reason did he have to sell my information to make a living? Did I do something wrong? Was it all a lie when he said he was my fan?’

Even though Doha had already left the industry, the same thoughts kept repeating in Doyun’s head.

“Sigh… Just thinking about this won’t give me any answers. I need to practice DJing more. And practice my pronunciation too.”

Doyun put a thoroughly cleaned pen in his mouth. He believed that clear and gentle comfort required good pronunciation, so he was practicing his pronunciation.

Bzzzz─

[Icarus Hyunho]

He hadn’t been practicing his pronunciation for long when he received a call from Hyunho of Icarus, a junior artist.

“Hey, Hyunho. What’s up?”

[Sunbae-nim [term of respect for a senior colleague or mentor], if you have time, can I come visit your studio for a bit?]

Icarus, who was scheduled to debut after Doyun’s ‘You First, Singer,’ was only able to make their official debut after the ‘White House’ broadcast ended.

They had exchanged text messages about grabbing a meal sometime, but they hadn’t been able to see each other often within the company. Their schedules were just too busy.

“Yeah, come on over. I’m just practicing right now, so it’s a good time.”

[I’ll be there in 5 minutes, Sunbae-nim!]

Thinking about how proactive he was, Doyun quickly cleaned up a part of his messy studio.

Ding-dong─

The bell rang, and Doyun opened the door.

Hyunho looked particularly stylish, as if he had just come from a schedule.

“Did you have a schedule today?”

“Yes! I had a schedule! There’s a really delicious lunchbox place near where I was working. I had a feeling you hadn’t eaten, Sunbae-nim, so I bought you a lunchbox.”

“Thanks, Hyunho.”

Doyun accepted the lunchbox that Hyunho handed him.

“You need to eat a lot and eat well, Sunbae-nim. You seem to have lost a lot of weight lately. It’s natural to lose weight when you start promoting, but it seems like you’ve lost too much even after your promotions ended…”

“Thanks. You’re the only one who takes care of me.”

“No problem! Well then, Sunbae-nim, enjoy your meal, and I’ll be going now since I have another schedule!”

After Hyunho left, Doyun cleaned up his desk and started eating the lunchbox. It was indeed a lunchbox from a famous restaurant; as soon as he took a bite, his mouth watered. It looked like an ordinary rolled omelet, but the texture was so soft and smooth in his mouth.

“This guy knows his flavors.”

He thought that he should treat him properly at a better place next time.

After finishing his meal and rinsing his mouth with an iced Americano, Doyun picked up his guitar. It was one of those days when he wanted to write a song. He had already written the songs for the repackaged album, but he still wanted to write a new song.

‘I want to capture this confused feeling I’m having right now. The feeling of betrayal and giving affection to people. Can I capture all of that?’

On the one hand, he also wondered if it was right to write a song with those emotions.

However, his thoughts soon changed.

In the case of singer-songwriters, they often incorporated their own experiences to create great songs, and he felt that bad things could actually become nourishment.

‘Yeah, there’s no need to waver. I’ll just do what I want to do.’

Doyun wrote down the lyrics that came to mind. Pain, sadness, everything was contained in those lyrics.

* * *

“Doyun, ah… Can I just call you Doyun?”

The head of the management department asked, seemingly embarrassed.

“Of course, please feel free to call me that. It’s more comfortable for me too.”

“It’s time to go to ‘Today, Tomorrow’ [the name of Doyun’s radio show]. When you’re a radio DJ, you have to go at least 30 minutes early to read the script and practice. You have to show a good image so you can get good casting offers later. Like documentary narration, for example.”

“Oh, that’s great! I definitely want to do that if I get the chance. So, I need to work harder.”

“Let’s go quickly.”

The head of the department had steadily climbed the ranks from road manager, so driving seemed very natural for him. When he was with Doha, his rough driving sometimes worried him, but there was none of that now.

“You’re a really good driver. If I could drive this well, I would drive myself around. But I have a paper license [license never used, implying lack of driving experience], so I’m kind of scared.”

“Try not to drive if you can. People are disciplined at first, but then they get lax and start drinking and driving… And if they get caught, their image just plummets. It’s our company’s rule. Even if you have a license, have the management team drive you as much as possible. You didn’t know that, did you?”

“I had no idea about that.”

“Even that guy who got fired probably didn’t know. If he had climbed up from the road manager position in our company, he would have known, but he didn’t.”

“…Well, probably.”

“Anyway, let’s let bygones be bygones. You’re not still too worried about that Ryu Doha guy, are you?”

The head of the department’s voice was filled with concern. Having spent a few months together, Doyun had grown fond of him, and he couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger when he thought about what he had gone through.

“I still get angry. But what can I do? My information has already been sold, he’s been fired, and he won’t be able to set foot in this industry again. I have to move forward. Maybe someday, when I’m on a variety show and they ask about my manager, I’ll be able to talk about it lightly, like, ‘Something like that happened.'”

Doyun said with a somewhat cynical attitude. Hearing this, the head of the department felt uncomfortable, thinking that Doyun was suffering at such a young age.

In the meantime, they arrived at KBC [Korean Broadcasting Corporation]. Since it was a fixed schedule every night, some fans were waiting.

“Doyun! How was your day today?”

“Wow, he really changed his manager. That bastard must have sold Doyun’s information to stalker fans.”

“Hello, my honeybees.”

Doyun greeted his fans after a long time. He could greet them like this because he saw fewer of the stalker-like fans who used to follow him.

“Kyaa! Doyun! Fighting for today’s broadcast!”

“We’ve got support for today’s broadcast! Enjoy the lunchbox!”

Doyun smiled slightly as he watched a few fans gather and giggle.

Yes, he was a singer on a successful streak, but he liked these moments. Whether it was in his unknown days or now, the cozy time he spent with his fans was the best.

“Thank you all.”

He greeted them and then followed the head of the department, who was urging him to go inside, scanned his ID, and went inside.

As soon as he entered the studio, PD Ahn [Production Director] and the writers were surprised that Doyun had arrived much earlier than expected.

“No, Doyun. Why are you here so early?”

“I have to come early. With responsibility.”

“We just finished pulling the script… Doyun, you’re very diligent.”

Suddenly, Doyun became curious about what had happened to Kim Sunhee, the previous DJ. He couldn’t find out through news reports, so he became curious about what had happened.

“By the way, PD Ahn.”

“Yeah?”

“What happened to Kim Sunhee, the previous DJ?”

“Ah, that… This is a secret. She got caught doing meth [methamphetamine]. And the executives of her company too. In short, the company went bankrupt.”

“Ah, I see.”

“There are a lot of drugs coming into Korea these days, so it’s a big problem. Every time I look at the news, there’s always one or two stories about drug abuse. Doyun, don’t even be interested in that kind of thing. It doesn’t increase your creative abilities anyway.”

“You’re talking like you’ve tried it before…”

PD Ahn laughed loudly at Doyun’s joke.

“Would I have tried it? It took so much effort just to move to the radio station that I’m so skinny like this. Radio PD positions are hard to come by.”

“Oh, really?”

“Honestly, who listens to the radio these days? They only listen for a short time in the car. No one knows that the three major broadcasting companies are fiercely competing every day, right?”

“Ah… I guess so. I only realized how important late-night listenership is after becoming a DJ.”

“That’s right! Anyway, here’s the script.”

Doyun sat down and read the script aloud. He marked the places where he needed to add more natural interjections and filled in the missing song information. After preparing like that, Doyun’s previous DJ finished her broadcast and came out of the studio.

“Doyun, nice to meet you.”

“Yes! Nice to meet you too, Sunbae-nim!”

“Oh? I’m not your senior. I’m your junior… I debuted 7 years ago! I’m from the girl group Goodbye Well and Good! The band name is similar, right? My name is…”

“I know. Kim Yejin.”

“Wow, thank you for saying you know my name, Doyun Sunbae-nim! I’m your next DJ, so I listen to you when I go home!”

“Thank you. I’ll try my best as I pass the baton.”

“Sunbae-nim, can I ask for your contact information while we’re at it? I’m leading a group of idol singers or former idol DJs who do radio DJing!”

“Oh, really? Here you go.”

Doyun typed in his number and handed it over. After confirming it, Yejin said goodbye and left, saying she would see him next time.

5 minutes before the broadcast started.

Doyun greeted the fans outside the open studio. Then he told the head of the management department that he could go home first.

“Early 퇴근 [toegeun – leaving work], today. Thanks, Doyun.”

“No problem. Go in quickly, 실장님 [siljangnim – team leader/head of department].”

After finishing the brief greetings, Doyun put on his headset and looked at the monitor screen.

It was time to start DJing in earnest.