The Sacred Manager Life - Chapter 46
Let’s Find a Composer“What kind of scheme is that raccoon up to, making things so complicated?”
“Raccoon?”
“I’m talking about the director. He’s always smiling and laughing, but you never know what’s really going on in his head. People like that—you should always suspect they’re up to something sneaky.”
I’m not sure about sneaky, but he definitely is hard to read.
I’m up on the company rooftop with Baek Hakyung, the AR team leader.
It’s an open space with a full view of Gangnam Station, so I sometimes come up here alone when I need to think.
“He says once you bring in a song, then we’ll work out the concept. What does he think the AR team is, honestly?”
“Is that common?”
“Not at all. If we’re going to work like this, what’s the point of even having an AR team? There are so many production companies out there that handle entire albums under contract.”
Small to mid-sized agencies that can’t afford to maintain an in-house AR team often just put together a debut group and outsource all production.
There have been occasional success stories from such groups, known as the ‘miracles of small agencies.’
“If we treat Team 5 like it’s a small agency, it’s not the worst approach.
But it makes things harder on us when we’re the ones who have to figure out the concept after the songs are already chosen.
Might as well outsource everything from the beginning.”
Team Leader Baek was speaking from the AR team’s perspective.
As someone who doesn’t know the first thing about producing, this all sounds even more daunting.
The songs I bring back have to satisfy the AR team, or we won’t get a solid concept.
And without the right packaging, Red Blossom’s comeback will fail.
“Seriously, your time at this company has been one rollercoaster after another.
You joined after dealing with a knife-wielding guy, got thrown into a team that was about to be scrapped, ended up managing a second-year flop idol group, had to recruit members while dealing with cult kids, and now you’ve got to produce a hit album.”
“Right? I’m starting to wonder if they’ll ask me to launch a label next.”
“Oh, I’d love that. If you start a label, I’m calling dibs on being your AR team lead.”
“That’d be an honor.”
“If you sweet-talk Park Yeongseon from PR, I bet she’d join too.”
“Why Team Leader Park?”
The first time I spoke to her was when we released the press statement after recruiting Sera and Chie.
After that, we only met a few more times for Yeoreum’s drama promotion.
“She said she was really impressed during your interview. Apparently, she’s never seen a manager who cares that much about their artist. She said there was this aura shining behind you when you were talking.”
Ah.
She must’ve seen something similar to what Yeoreum saw.
[Some people subconsciously sense their master’s grace. It appears as a glow, an aura, or a special kind of energy. They’re usually people who are likely to form a bond with you.]
“They’re the ones who’ll become my allies.”
[Exactly.]
“I’ve got some songs I made before. Wanna hear them? They’re not tied to the company.”
“I’ll find the songs myself. The director made it a bet between him and me. If I get help from you, that’s basically using cheat codes.”
“I was just offering. But yeah, you’re the type who won’t accept help if you think it’s something you have to do yourself. And since it’s a one-on-one bet, you’re right.”
I’m starting to develop a bit of intuition now.
It’s the kind of instinct that tells you that certain things can’t be done without grace.
And I had a bad feeling—like if I took Team Leader Baek’s songs, the comeback would fail.
If it’s for my kids, then I have to find their songs myself.
*****
Rina and Jeongah are staring at me nervously.
“Please… pleaaase…”
Weight, BMI, visceral fat, muscle mass, body water, basal metabolic rate… there’s a ton of things to track.
They’re all important, but for now, the most urgent is weight.
Rina needs to drop below 50kg, and Jeongah below 60kg as soon as possible.
Rina’s goal is within one month; Jeongah’s within three.
“Rina, down 2.1kg. Jeongah…”
Rina let out a victorious “Yes!” and pumped her fist.
Jeongah still looked worried.
“…down 5.2kg. Well done.”
“Waaaah!!”
They screamed and hugged each other in joy.
Jeongah’s weight finally went from starting with an 8 to a 7.
Since this is her third week since joining, that’s a great number to celebrate.
“Let’s eat~”
“I’m starving.”
“We’re going all in today!”
The girls bounced off to the kitchen.
It’s their long-awaited cheat day—they finally get to eat freely after two weeks.
They’ve been surviving on a low-calorie diet, so their metabolisms have likely slowed down a lot.
Especially Jeongah’s body—it probably worked overtime to conserve energy with the reduced intake.
That’s why it’s important to supply more calories and nutrients than usual at least once every one or two weeks to boost metabolism.
“There’s no chicken~”
Rina, who loves chicken, looked like she was about to cry.
“Chicken is deep-fried, so it’s high-fat. Same goes for those donuts you like. Even on a cheat day, it’s better to stick with carbs. Your diet’s not over yet.”
Yeoreum stepped in, emphasizing her “never die” diet mantra, and quickly shut it down.
*
I spoke to Jeongah, who was busy devouring pizza.
“You’ve been keeping in touch with your mom regularly, right?”
“Yeah, she says everything’s fine.”
Lately, Jeongah hadn’t been able to visit because of her intense focus on dieting.
She should be massaging her mom’s shoulders from time to time so her frozen shoulder gets better faster.
“She said the house is too quiet. She’s thinking about taking in a boarder.”
“A boarder?”
“Yeah. There are three empty rooms at home.”
“Two of those are yours and Jeongwon’s, though.”
“Jeongwon moved all her stuff to the basement. I think after watching my video letter, she decided it’s time to let go. And my room…”
She hesitated a little.
“…I’m not planning on going back in. I was locked in there for two years. I’ll be staying at the dorm for now, and even when I go home, I’ll sleep in Mom’s room. If I make it big as an idol, I’ll find a new place to live with her.”
She said she didn’t realize it when she was in there, but now that she’s out, she finds that room unbearable.
It was like she’d finally shaken off the shadow of her shut-in past.
I was proud of her.
Now she just needs to lose the rest of the weight.
*****
These days, Team Leader Park Chanhyuk’s expression gets darker with every meeting.
“…So we have to choose the songs too. Damn it, they could’ve at least sent us a producer.”
“Thanks to Juwon, the mood’s gotten better, but this is still a team they were planning to shut down. Who’d want to join us?”
“If the AR team’s not helping, where are we supposed to get songs?”
“Obviously, we have to find composers.
Track down a songwriter and lyricist, create the song, get it arranged, bring in session musicians and a recording engineer to record it, then mix and master it… Ugh, even just thinking about it gives me a headache.”
“Even though Team Leader’s saying that, it’s not like we need a one-man production team. We just need to find a studio that can do it all. Let’s start with studios that have well-known composers or composing teams.”
The moment Team Leader Song Seungjun finished speaking, time stopped.
It was the Grace of Prophecy.
*
Someone was smiling and giving an interview with a reporter.
He was an older man with specks of white in his hair—he had the look of an artist.
He answered the reporter’s questions with a calm, relaxed expression.
“The problem was, I trusted the composer’s name and went in blind.
I thought working under a famous person would mean I’d become like them too.
But that’s when everything started to go wrong.
You’ve heard of ghostwriting, right?”
“Isn’t that where someone else makes it for you?”
“Exactly.
The CEO would have a few drinks and hum something, then send it to me.
He’d say, ‘I came up with this melody—lay down a track and add lyrics.’
But how do you make a song out of that?
I’d have to toss it and compose something new from scratch.
That’s what we call jiksae-jit—scavenger work.”
“So in the end, you were doing everything.”
“Pretty much. But he’d still put his name on the album and register the copyright under himself. Meanwhile, I was just writing the songs till I dropped.”
“How long did you live like that?”
“Five years.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how much did you make? I mean, you were the real composer, so didn’t the CEO at least pay you decently?”
“I got 20 million won.”
“20 million a year? That’s not even minimum wage. How did you survive on that?”
“Five years.”
“…What?”
“I said, I got 20 million won over five years.”
“Wait… So that’s 4 million a year?”
The man gave a bitter smile.
“Looking back now, I don’t even know how I survived.”
He continued to talk about his difficult past.
He was someone who had worked under a famous composer, struggling while having his creations stolen.
Who knows when this prophecy takes place, but judging by the interview, he must’ve become well-known.
The man pulled out his phone and played a song.
“This one, right? The song that changed your life?”
“That’s right. I still don’t know how they found me, but they asked me to write a song for them.
Funny thing is, back then every song was released under the CEO’s name, but they immediately knew I was the real composer.”
“Weren’t you hesitant when you heard the name ‘Red Blossom’? Back then, they were completely unknown—a total flop group.”
Huh?
“I wasn’t in a position to be picky. No matter how much of a flop they were, they were still better off than me, stuck ghostwriting for five years. At the time, all I wanted was to get out.”
“Whoever found you and asked you to write a song—that person’s the real impressive one. How do you think they knew?”
“When we first met at the office, I saw a light behind them. You probably won’t believe me, but there was this aura, like a halo. I knew right away—they weren’t just anyone.”
“Must’ve been good-looking. You know how people say handsome actors have a halo behind them?”
The man smiled softly.
“I don’t know about handsome… but women really did seem to go crazy for him.”
With that, the vision ended and I returned to reality.
The man’s face and the song were still vivid in my mind.
‘So I’m the one who finds that composer.’