Devil’s Music

Korea's Watermelon Entertainment.

This company, which offers real-time rankings and streaming services not just in Korea but also for pop music, was a major corporation maintaining an overwhelming first place among the two major music sites in South Korea.

The Customer Service (CS) department, primarily responsible for handling customer complaints, errors, and app service bugs via phone calls, was very noisy due to the sound of approximately 70 employees taking calls.

After lunch and reapplying her lipstick in the bathroom, Hong Yu-jung, the head of the CS department, was stroking her swollen belly with a satisfied look on her face as she headed to her office with a takeaway coffee in one hand.

The director's office, located at the end of a meeting room on one side of the office where employees were consulting, could only be reached by walking past the working consultants.

As usual, seeing the employees busily taking calls, a spark of interest appeared on Director Hong Yu-jung's face.

After noticing the large screen displaying the number of calls waiting, Director Hong shouted, looking around.

"Team Leader Kim? Where are you, Team Leader Kim?"

A woman in her early thirties wearing a headset by the window partition stood up and gestured to her headset, indicating she was currently on a call. Seeing this, Director Hong crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on the large screen.

'What? 487 calls waiting? The CS team's KPI is supposed to be less than 20 calls waiting. And even Team Leader Kim is taking calls, what's happening?'

Standing there waiting, she inadvertently overheard a female employee next to her continuously apologizing through her headset while wiping sweat off her face with a handkerchief.

"Yes, I'm sorry, sir. Yes, we're looking into it, but there are no reservations available at the moment. Yes, I'm very sorry. We will look into it and notify you as soon as possible. Yes."

After the call, the employee immediately took another call and repeated the same message. Just as Director Hong was about to call for Team Leader Kim again, Kim, having thrown off her headset, ran over.

"Director! Where have you been? I've called you five times, but you didn't answer!"

Director Hong shrugged her shoulders, showing the coffee in her hand.

"I left my phone on my desk when I went out for lunch. What's happening?"

Team Leader Kim, wiping the sweat beading on her forehead with her sleeve, said.

"The news about Kay has exploded! It seems like an album announcement is imminent, but there's been no official statement yet, so we're swamped with calls inquiring about the digital single release date! Some of these callers are being extremely difficult, complaining about how we handle things, and it's overwhelming our staff!"

Yu-jung almost dropped her coffee. She narrowly avoided spilling it on the head of an employee sitting next to her and, with wide eyes, said.

"Kay? Hasn't it been about a month since we lost contact with him in Nepal? There's no way an album was produced in that time!"

Team Leader Kim, fanning her face as if to cool down, said with an excited face.

"I checked this morning after hearing from the staff, but nothing's certain yet. There's just a video on Fantagio's website hinting that Kay is coming soon, showing him playing an instrument. Putting everything together, such a video typically indicates an album release, Director."

Yu-jung, as if drained, precariously placed her coffee cup on the partition.

"Was there no directive from above?"

"We got an email from the head office earlier. It instructed us to tell customers we're inquiring with Fantagio and to wait since we know nothing yet."

"Sigh, you all haven't had lunch yet, have you? I'll give you the corporate card; order some pizza or something."

After exchanging a few words with Kim, Yu-jung stormed into her office, banging on her PC.

'I thought it was too quiet at lunch! I'm going to get an earful from the director, damn it!'

* * *

The afternoon at Red Castle was peaceful. Unaware of the chaos in the outside world, Geon, carrying two guitars, and Byung-jun stepped out of the annex, with Geon looking back.

"Kiska! I'll be back. Play with the nanny, okay?"

Kiska, struggling in the nanny's grasp, seemed to want to follow Geon out of the house, wriggling her fingers in the nanny's hand and stamping her feet.

The nanny, holding Kiska's hand more firmly, said.

"No, miss. The boss has gone out, so security is tight today. He specifically ordered that Kay must not follow him out. Spend some time with me today, hehe."

Hearing about Gregory's order, Kiska still tried to wriggle her hand free, but the nanny firmly held on to her and hurriedly said.

"Kay! Hurry up!"

Kiska turned back to Geon with a look that seemed on the verge of tears and continued to struggle.

Seeing this, the nanny sent a desperate look to Byung-jun, who then put an arm around Geon's shoulder, guiding him with force.

Despite Byung-jun's urging, Geon found it hard to leave, constantly looking back at Kiska, who was reaching out to him, but eventually, Geon was led to the waiting car and soon disappeared from sight.

As the indifferent car drove away, Kiska, having given up, shook off the nanny's hand with a slump. The nanny, who had been holding onto Kiska's hand firmly until the car left, let go when Kiska shook her off, looking down at her with a pitiful gaze.

"Miss, we're going to shoot a music video today. If you go, it'll be a distraction. Kay has his own work to do, doesn't he?"

Kiska turned her head away sharply to the other side from the nanny. Anger seemed to flash in her eyes as she spotted the swing in the mansion's garden, standing stark against the Cyclamen flowers.

After a moment of hesitation, Kiska grabbed her always-carried sketchbook and walked towards the swing. The nanny followed her slowly, a few steps behind.

Standing in front of the swing, Kiska climbed up, sat down with her legs straightened, opened her sketchbook, and started drawing with crayons.

The scene was peaceful: a beautiful and cute girl drawing on a swing amidst a garden full of blooming Cyclamen flowers at Red Castle, seemingly more captivating than the surrounding landscape.

Meanwhile, upon arriving at the music video shooting location, which appeared to be a parking lot, Geon was greeted by the stern security of mafia members.

The last desperate look from Kiska continued to weigh on Geon's mind, making him anxious. However, he couldn't afford to change the already scheduled shoot without causing inconvenience to the numerous staff members, so he greeted the staff with a smile. Byung-jun, standing next to him, whispered gently.

"Don't worry. Today's shoot is just about naturally capturing your performance. We only need a few takes for each instrument, so it'll be over quickly, and we can head back. Let's buy some ice cream on the way back."

Geon's face lit up at Byung-jun's words. As he sat in the waiting area of the shoot, a familiar face approached him. Geon stood up and opened his arms wide with a smile.

"Director!"

Despite the years, Lynn, who still maintained her beautiful figure and face, approached with the sound of her high heels. Seeing Geon's open arms, she smiled softly and gave him a hug.

"Have you been well? It's been a few years since we've seen each other face-to-face, though we've talked on the phone often. You've become more manly, Mr. Geon."

"Haha, is that so? I've missed you, Director."

"Ho ho, if you missed me that much, you should have called me. I would have come running if we had just talked over the phone."

"Ah, but you're busy. I didn't want to bother you."

"Ho ho, how could it be a bother if Mr. Geon wants to see me? Call me anytime, and I'll come running."

"Haha, thank you, Director."

"Alright, then I'll go check on the shooting site. Mr. Byung-jun, could you come with me for a moment?"

As Byung-jun followed Lynn away from Geon's side, the female staff members who had been watching from a distance began to gather around him.

"Excuse me, Kay! Could you give me an autograph?"

"Ah, yes. Of course. Hand it over."

"I want a photo!"

"Move, I want one too! Me too!"

"Ah, why are guys so inconsiderate? Wait your turn!"

"Hey! My wife made me promise to get one! If I don't bring it back, I'm in for three days of nagging, move!"

As about a dozen staff members crowded around him, Geon, smiling, spoke a bit louder.

"I'll do it for everyone who came from China because of me, so please don't fight and just wait your turn."

Hearing his voice, staff members who were working far away came running over. Soon, Geon was surrounded by about forty staff members, smiling but then began sweating when he noticed Miroslav approaching with his hands in his pockets.

'Don't come over! Please, don't!'

Miroslav, noticing Geon's gaze and the staff turning their heads towards him, glared menacingly at them before slowly withdrawing his hands and stepping back. Seeing him retreat, Geon tried to hide his discomfort and shouted with a laugh.

"Ahaha... I'll take care of everyone. Please form a line and wait, everyone."

In a secluded area of the parking lot, Lynn turned to Byung-jun, who was following her, and asked.

"Red Mafia's Gregory Miočić. Is it true that his daughter wrote the lyrics?"

Byung-jun nodded gravely.

"Yes, it's true. The problem is, given Geon's character, he's bound to credit Kiska as the lyricist, and if the media gets wind of it, we can't predict the fallout."

"That's concerning. It's not just anyone but the mafia. Luckily, from what we've gathered, he doesn't seem to be involved in drugs or prostitution. He's into the Russian natural gas business, so he doesn't seem to harm the general public. However, the mere name of the mafia can be off-putting to people."

"Indeed, that's why it's worrying."

"For now, no one knows Geon is at Red Castle, and Kiska Miočić's existence is almost unknown since she hardly has any contact with the outside world. Let's keep this under wraps and proceed carefully."

"Understood, Director. We'll take special care."

>

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