Black Label [EN]: Chapter 135

135. Music Video (2)

The day after the preliminary meeting with Kwon Ji-hoon.

Director Song entered the president’s office and placed a stack of A4 papers on the side table with a thud, then quietly spoke.

“Take a look at this.”

“What is it?”

“A list of product designers.”

Jae-seung picked up the stack of papers with a nonchalant air and slowly began to browse the resumes of the listed designers.

From the designer of the famous MP3 player ‘iLover,’ a sensation in the early 2000s, to the creator of the ‘Horizontal Phone,’ arguably the first mobile phone with a horizontal screen rotation function.

Even freelance product designers from large corporations’ *In House* [referring to a corporate internal design lab].

The resumes and personal information of product designers with noteworthy backgrounds were abundant.

“As soon as I circulated a few official inquiries to product design companies and agencies, the offers came pouring in! It’s ‘Kwon Ji-hoon,’ after all, not just some unknown singer, right? Everyone’s trying to get their foot in the door; it’s crazy.”

Director Song said boastfully, tilting his head slightly and asking again, “See anyone you like?”

“With this many, there’s bound to be at least one.”

Director Song nodded in agreement and continued, “It’s other people’s money anyway, but we should still spend it wisely. I think it would be good to mainly choose 3rd and 4th generation designers who have been active recently.”

“I’ll take a closer look and let you know this afternoon.”

“By the way, about Kwon Ji-hoon’s music video, the filming date hasn’t been set yet, right? Since there’s no firm deadline, things are getting a bit lax….”

Jae-seung placed the documents he was reviewing on his desk and began to speak. “We should aim to finish it by the end of February if possible. If we’re too relaxed and the music video shoot gets delayed because of us….”

Jae-seung trailed off, shaking his head as if he didn’t even want to think about it, and sighed, “Ugh….”

This offer related to Kwon Ji-hoon’s music video involves not only his agency, ‘YZ Entertainment,’ but also several companies with considerable influence in the media landscape.

Including large music and video distributors of similar caliber, and the production company in charge of filming.

This collaboration offers ample opportunity for mutual benefit, and building a good relationship this time could be very advantageous.

Director Song said, “Indeed…,” and continued, “Once we get the ball rolling, they might bring us various jobs steadily in the future. It’s better to make a good first impression as much as possible. Finishing as quickly as possible will be helpful to you in many ways, Mr. President.”

Jae-seung nodded and said, “That’s right,” then shifted his gaze to look beyond the glass wall.

As Director Song said, finishing as quickly as possible would benefit everyone.

Even at this moment, the weight of the name ‘Christian Diom’ seemed to be pressing down on his shoulders.

It was necessary to wrap up this offer as soon as possible and focus on laying the groundwork for Diom’s haute couture presentation in 2014.

The superficial study and effort he had made so far wouldn’t be enough to elicit favorable reviews.

Just as he was looking at the Ilsan cityscape beyond the glass wall, Director Song fiddled with the calendar on the edge of the side table and spoke again.

“Before we knew it, another year has passed.”

“Indeed.”

The last day of 2013 was just a few days away.

Another eventful year was coming to an end like this.

But it was truly amazing.

It seemed like there wasn’t even a trace of regret left for this year.

Was it because it was the most intense year of his two lives? Or was it because it was the year he gained and achieved the most? Just as he was lost in thought, Director Song quietly spoke again.

“Let’s get to work. We have to strike while the iron is hot.”

“Bingo.”

* * *

In time flowing much faster than usual, they welcomed the new year of 2014.

First, Jae-seung, along with several product designers who were consulted, devoted themselves to analyzing the music video treatment day and night.

They read it so much that it was no exaggeration to say that the content was now engraved in their heads.

“In scene 17, there’s a scene where they smash a sports car with a golf club, right? How about keeping the original idea but replacing it with a concept car model made of a more impact-vulnerable material? It would also enhance the sense of impact and give it a more refreshing feel in many ways.”

“There’s a concept car that Company B showcased at last year’s motor show, right? It would be nice to design it with a similar feel. Kwon Ji-hoon actually owns a Company B car, too.”

It was almost as if the saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” was meaningless.

Each of them was an elite designer with a solid position in their respective fields.

Far from hindering progress, they were able to see the positive effects of ‘brainstorming’ properly.

The props that had been analyzed and designed were immediately ordered from the manufacturers in sequence.

Every single prop used in the music video had to be custom-made, so the number was considerable, but the work was progressing smoothly.

Even the special-order costumes to be used in the music video had already been designed and even had samples made.

The design team employees, who had completed all the tasks assigned to them, were already working hard to prepare for the next S/S [Spring/Summer] season products.

January passed so quickly and uneventfully.

As they spent each day breathlessly, they had already turned the first page of this year’s calendar.

* * *

And one day, not long after entering February.

Was it because of the relentless overwork that had continued recently?

Jae-seung, who had woken up from his nap around early evening, was sitting at the dining table, blankly waiting for dinner.

Then.

Ding-dong-.

“Oppa-ah-ah-ah-!”

“Huh?”

His younger sister, Seung-hee, opened the front door and rushed in, hugging Jae-seung tightly.

Jae-seung frowned slightly and pretended to push Seung-hee away, asking, “What’s with you all of a sudden? If it’s about allowance, I put my wallet on the table….”

“No, no. It’s not that!”

“Then?”

“I got in!”

“I don’t know what you got into, but at least get away from me….”

Jae-seung, who was continuing to speak bluntly, suddenly stopped and widened his eyes, asking again. “…Wait, what? Got in?”

Seung-hee nodded vigorously and continued in a very excited tone. “Yeah! I got into college-!”

His mother, who was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, was startled and asked back, “Re, really? You got in?”

“Yeah! The results came out today!”

“Oh my, what should I do….”

Although it wasn’t a top-tier prestigious university, she had been accepted into a top-ranked university located in the Seoul metropolitan area.

“Congratulations!”

Seung-hee smiled brightly at the words he said while stroking her hair once and replied, “Oppa, you remember you promised to buy me a laptop if I got into college, right?”

“Of course. Let’s look at laptops first and then go eat dinner.”

“Awesome! Then I’ll get ready now?”

He nodded once and immediately shifted his gaze to the clock.

Fortunately, the offer related to Kwon Ji-hoon’s music video was slowly coming to an end, so taking a few hours off wasn’t too difficult.

Then.

Vibration-.

The cell phone he had placed on the table began to vibrate.

It was a call from Director Song.

He took a deep breath and calmly answered the phone. “Director, I’m sorry, but I’m with my family right now, so I’ll call you back later….”

– Hey! Wait! Just a minute!

“Yes, go ahead.”

– Can you use the internet for a bit now… no, never mind. Can you come to the office right now?

Before giving an answer, he looked at his family.

Perhaps sensing that it was an urgent call, his family stopped preparing and were staring blankly at him.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can right now. What’s going on?”

– That interview we did in Manhattan last time. It seems it was published in this month’s issue that came out today.

Only then did Jae-seung say, “Ah!” and immediately shifted his gaze to the calendar.

*Time* magazine. He had completely forgotten about it due to the recent forced march [a period of intense work].

‘There are things you can forget and things you can’t….’

Now that he thought about it, he understood why Director Song was making such a fuss and getting so worked up.

But was it because he had already experienced it a few times? He could even guess the ‘sequence’ of events that he hadn’t witnessed.

The buzz that started in overseas communities probably didn’t take long to spread to domestic communities.

And the buzz that spread to domestic communities probably took even less time to spread to internet news.

“Okay, I understand. I’ll be at the office in two hours.”

– What? Two hours? Can’t you come now?

“No. Either way, even if I go right now, all I can do is stare at the monitor screen. There’s nothing else I can do, right?”

– Well, that’s true….

Director Song trailed off for a moment, reluctantly saying, “Okay, I’ll see you later,” and the call ended.

After roughly shoving his cell phone into his pants pocket, his family, who had finished preparing in the meantime, began to ask questions with worried expressions.

“Jae-seung, if you have something urgent, let’s have dinner together next time.”

“Oppa, do you have to go?”

He waved his hand once and answered while roughly shoving the sneakers that were in the shoe rack.

“It’s okay. I can eat and go slowly.”

Just as he left the front door with his family and was about to turn the corner of the alley, Seung-hee, who had been humming a tune, suddenly said, “Uh…?” and spoke in an extremely urgent tone.

“O, Oppa!”

“Yeah?”

At that moment, Seung-hee held up the screen of her smartphone, which she was holding tightly in her hand, to Jae-seung.

[‘Pink Wink’ Women’s Underwear Special, From ₩9,900! [KRW, Korean Won] 24-Hour Limited Sale! Jackpot Price!]

Jae-seung frowned slightly and asked, as if puzzled, “You want me to buy it for you?”

“Huh?”

Seung-hee checked her smartphone screen again and blushed, continuing to speak again. “No, no. Not that, wait a minute….”

Soon, Seung-hee, with hurried hands, fiddled with her smartphone and showed her smartphone screen to Jae-seung again.

Jae-seung widened his eyes and muttered quietly, “What is this again…?”

Then, as if doubting his own eyes, he rubbed them repeatedly and finally snatched Seung-hee’s phone and began to look at it closely.

What appeared on the screen was none other than an internet news article.

[Kwon Ji-hoon and YZ Entertainment Official Statement, “Single Album Music Video, In Production with Hot Designer Lee Jae-seung and Wallflower [likely referring to a specific company or group]. They have been close friends, and are scheduled to make a cameo appearance in the new song’s music video.”]

What on earth is this?