minhyuk & sooman

before happiness there will always be pain

“Seongsang-nim?”

Silence followed the question. The words were hesitant, the whole room focusing on a single point. Not a single whisper broke the concentrated silence of the office.

“Minhyuk!” A deep voice rung out, startling the poor man who could only clutch his coffee stained folder of papers closer to his chest as he hesitantly moved towards the man in the chair behind the desk.

“Y-yes seongsang-nim?” He slightly trembled, at little worried at the current erratic behaviour of the senior. But even at the quick response from the younger intern still commanded silence. “Sooman-sshi?”

“How is she?” Was all he could say before he lapsed back into silence, thoroughly engrossed in his task he’d started so feverishly working on only a few hours prior.

“She is doing alright. Though they said that she won't be waking up for another couple of hours.” Minhyuk said quietly, hesitant at the delicate subject matter. “They’ll call if anything even slightly changes… She’s in safe hands, don’t worry seongsang-nim,” he trailed off, hoping that the words would give the senior some comfort about his wife’s condition.

“Good.” Was the single reply received, before the room relapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Minhyuk shifted as he stood before the large, oak desk that was laden with papers filled with scribbles of so-called handwriting and illegible blots of ink.

How badly he wanted to escape the room, but he didn’t dare move in fear of being reprimanded by Sooman whom had warned him that his task could not afford any interruptions.

“Minhyuk. Has the studio called back yet?” he asked, the words clipped and almost laboured. “I can’t fail…” he whispered, pausing for a single moment.

“No seongsang-nim, they haven’t. Not yet at least. “ He replied quickly, sparing a glance towards his phone to confirm his second thoughts. He then paused, letting the room fall back into silence as he hesitated on a question.

“What is all this, seongsang-nim? If I may ask…” He said quietly, holding his folder closer to his chest. Sooman looked up, eyes looking determined but tired. His hands frozen over his work as he moved back, putting whatever paper he had in his hand back down.

“My wife, Eunjin, has asked for one thing. One last task for her because she doesn’t believe she’ll beat this cancer…” Sooman smiled bitterly as he looked to the younger man, so full of life, which left painful memories of the time when Eunjin was healthy. “Eunjin loves our groups and artists very much as she feels that they represent a lifetime of hard work and dedication. But she always liked the girl groups more, so she wishes to see one last girl group created by my hands before she passes.”

Sooman left out a sort of pained breath, eyes saddened by the notion of his beloved wife leaving him prematurely. Minhyuk regretted not holding his tongue for a moment, listening to the saddened words of his boss and teacher.

“Make her dream a reality. That’s what you want to do, isn’t it?” Minhyuk understood, paraphrasing his words into two simple sentences. He nodded, grip weakening on his folder as he simply looked ahead, thinking. “I’d like to help, for Eunjin-sshi. Make her dream just as bright as she is.”

Sooman looked at the younger, eyes a little wider at the sound of his voice that had seemed moved by the dream of his wife. Rarely had he ever brought people from work into his home life and rarely had anyone met Eunjin besides the closest of his workers and his idols that he loved like his own children. And to hear such a small compliment was beautiful– Eunjin always wanted to be remembered as a beautiful individual.

“Where can I start seongsang-nim?”

Sooman was pleased to say the least, the widened smile that graced his face was enough to bring a fatherly warmth to anyone's heart. Even in his time of sadness, of the impending unhappiness that his wife was sure to cause, he still managed to smile knowing that while his wife may have not known a lot of his company employees well, they still were warmed by her presence.

“Eunjin would be happy if she knew, you know. She loves people... But it’s a story for another time.” Sooman started telling Minhyuk, eyes casting downwards to look back at his papers. “Minhyuk, go ahead and start compiling a list of group names,” he asked, voice less stressed than before.

“Of course sir!” Minhyuk nodded, hair bouncing wildly with his head. “Anything in particular?” he asked quickly, fumbling around his pockets in hopes he’d left his last pen somewhere in either of them.

Papers threatened to fall, but it didn’t deter him as he just pulled out his phone, instead leaving the papers awkwardly hanging out of the folder ready to write down anything that was said.

“Just remember Eunjin, I’m sure you’ll have something.” Sooman looked up, a knowing smile on his face as he looked towards his young assistant. Eyes creasing a little bit, he chuckled and put his head back down to continue his elaborate design plans.

Minhyuk nodded slower this time, slightly confused at his words and wondering whether or not he was missing something for a wee moment before he just rushed out of the room yelling something about ‘feeling like a genius writer with a new book idea’.

 

“Okay Sooman seongsang-nim, I have collected the very best of all the names for an untitled girl group,” Minhyuk said, bursting into the room with an exhausted but proud grin adorning his face. He lowered the mass of paper than had been collecting in his arms to the desk, pulling a single scribble ridden paper from the top.

“Well as given from your ‘prompt’ the other day, I have collected anything relating to that idea," he began, words littered by heavy breathing from his rush to the office. “First off we have, eternal, then forever, star, stella, heaven, aeon with an a, um the-“

“Aeon with an a?.” Sooman said, looking at the red faced assistant. Minhyuk just nodded slowly in response, inhaling deeply as he tried to catch his breath.

“Yes seongsang-nim. After thinking about it for a long while, eon normally would resemble EXO and so people might get the wrong idea and think that they're copying the group name. So I just chose the other spelling, because Eunjin-sshi’s spirit will live on for all eternity with this group. And her memory will as well...” Minhyuk nervously explained, the pace of his voice increasing and decreasing quickly, rambling on and on as his hands flailed wildly.

Sooman nodded, his smile slowly rising to the corners of his mouth. Minhyuk was adorable, and reminded him of Eunjin when she got passionate about something.

“Aeon with an a it is then. You’ve worked hard Minhyuk-ah.” Sooman chuckled, nodding at the man and then putting his head back down to continue on with his job. Minhyuk was a little dumbfounded for a moment as he took in what the elder had said before breaking out into a goofy smile while bowing his head profusely.

“Thank you, thank you seongsang-nim!” He stopped bowing for a moment, collecting his papers from the desk and clutching them tightly in his arms. “Is there anything else I can help with seongsang-nim? I’d be glad to help!” The silence that followed was still buzzing from Minhyuk’s energy, which energised both of its occupants.

“I have a list of people I have yet to call, however I need to personally speak to them for favours. But you could collect files on all the current female trainees, then we could start to decide on group dynamics.” Sooman contemplated, informing the younger man of what there was yet to be done.

“Think of it done, seongsang-nim!” Minhyuk called, swiftly turning on his heels and heading straight out of the room, barely stopping at the door to turn and bow at the founder. “I’ll work hard and I won’t let you down!”

And then he was gone. 

 

“Seongsang-nim! Seongsang-nim I have brought back the list of trainees you requested. There’s so many of them, but Kyunghu from the trainee depart has catergorised and organised all the trainees for you convenience.” Minhyuk rushed, words spilling from his mouth. He had a different folder this time in hand, with the familiar notebook he continuously carried around to take notes and write down ideas.

Sooman wasn’t startled in the slightest by the hasty enterance of his assistant, the younger mans excitable tendancies becoming obvious to the elder. He merely looked up from his pile of scribbled notes and ideas, half written contracts and a checklist.

“Minhyuk my boy, sit. Come and help me, your always bursting with ideas so you’ll be good at this. Am I right?” Sooman said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of the large, cluttered desk.

“Yes sir!” Minhyuk said quickly, nodding and then quickly moving to clumsily pull out a chair and sitting down on it with a dull gasp of air escaping the leather chair. “But what is it that you need my help with this time seongsang-nim?” He then asked hesitantly, unsure of what he was actually meant to be looking at.

Sooman just smiled at the younger, and started to move documents into two piles which only he knew what they stood for, though Minhyuk had a feeling one was a completed pile and the other uncompleted.

“To help me with deciding positions and member numbers.” Sooman said, pausing for a brief moment, “you’ve met my trainees yes?” He asked suddenly, and was rewarded with a nod that confirmed his suspicions.

“Yes I have seongsang-nim, after you left in 2012 I was reassigned to the trainee department... I am familiar with all the trainees that have been here for a year or longer.” Minhyuk stated, putting down the new folder into the centre of the table once it was clear.

“Ahh yeas of course, though I would have seen you to fit being in the finace or PR department better.” Sooman commented lightly, pulling the folder forwards.

The tension starting to clam up with a wave of awkwardness from the question, which made the room all that more stuffier to sit in.

“Kim sajangnim thought it was best I was put with the trainees, he didn’t think I’d be much use in either of those departments sir.” Minhyuk said honestly, scratching his head a little awkwardly whilst he shifted in his seat.

“Nevertheless you’ve made it back to where you belong.” Sooman stated, ending the slightly awkward tension in the room with a burst of cheery words. “Now let’s move onto choosing our trainees.”

Minhyuk nodded frantically, hands moving in a flurry of movement as he leaned over the table, his chair scraping against the ground in an effort to get closer to the numerous headshots.

“Yes of course.” 

“There are a number of candidates that have been assured to be the best in their field, but sir, I have to ask what kind of group are you planning? And how many were you planning to include in the group?” Minhyuk asked looking up from the headshots, hands hovering above the photos awaiting orders to move.

“Let’s say a versatile one for now my boy, after all we have to know who we have to work with before we can know what we can do. And you can decide Minhyuk-ah, so long as they have all the positions and talents covered.” Sooman recited as if he were reading a well-versed poem, eyes looking at the younger knowingly.

Minhyuk just nodded, a little in awe of the wisdom that had built the company, he had little doubt that without him SM would not be even fractionally the company it was (granted it had been founded without him).

“Well seongsang-nim, Kyunghu stated that will these are the best trainees overall she doesn’t believe they have chemistry say...” His hands moved in a flurry of swipes showing combination after combination of trainees together. “This combination of girls.”

Sooman nodded, gesturing for the man to continue. His fatherly grin was effortless as he looked at the headshots of him flowers that had yet to bloom in ‘his garden’.

“However Kyunghu said these girls aren’t as great at variety, which would only leave these girls to hold the group up in that section...” He spoke quickly, as if to not get into trouble with the man for all his trainees not being so great at variety. “It would put them at a disadvantage when it comes to winning over the public.” Minhyuk sighed, looking down a little.

“I want to know what you think Minhyuk-ah, not what Kyunghu said. You know these girls just as well my boy, tell me who you think would be best.” Sooman chuckled, waving off the previous collection of candidates selected by Kyunghu.

“A-ah yes, no of course seongsang-nim.” Minhyuk stuttered, caught in metaphorical headlights with his blatant following of Kyunghu’s suggestions. “I’ll try my best!” He affirmed, a glint slowly returning to his eye.

“Of course my boy, take your time.” Sooman chuckled, but didn’t move from his spot watching over the younger and just watched him movements matching and rematching the trainees headshots together.

The swiping and scraping of paper on wood took over the silent room once again. Every now and the sound would stop, before there’d be a sound of disapproval from Minhyuk in the form of a huff before the sound resumed.

“I’d suggest this as the final combination seongsang-nim!” Minhyuk approved, pushing forward the seven headshots with both his hands so they were closer to the founder.

“I’m glad you found a good combination, would you mind explaining it to me? I’m curious of how you see it.” Sooman chuckled nodding at Minhyuk proudly, it couldn’t be denied at the obvious fact that the elder had grown fond of Minhyuk for the years he’d worked with him.

“Of course seongsang-nim.” The younger pushed himself forward, leaning slightly onto the desk to help him look down at the headshots. “From what I have seen in the trainee department, she has very strong vocals and isn’t a bad dancer either. So I put her in the position of main vocalist.” Minhyuk rambled pushing the first headshot forward.

“And she is very good at speaking, has this natural leader aura around her. It’s a bit frightening sometimes, but she’s everything that would make a good leader. As well as her strong ability to dance, which I would most definitely put as the main dancer in the group.” He rambled on, pointing to another headshot quickly as he glanced up to gauge the reaction of Sooman who was nodding along and smiling down to the photos of the trainees.

“Oh and these two!” Minhyuk glanced back down quickly, “both exceptional at rapping. Though one would be a better singer and the other a dancer. But ah, well that’s what makes them individuals. I’d put them both at main, because I feel bad that one would have to be a lead when she’s just as good.” He rushed, taking in a quick breath as he paused in the middle of his long explaination.

“Four out of seven, and you have all the positions covered. Very good work Minhyuk, but why seven when you only need four?” Sooman question, and knowing glint in his eye as he looked at the somewhat exhausted assistant.

“For them to be the best. For Eunjin-sshi. So I thought that if there were lots of girls that were strong at several aspects and then combining them would allow to give better performances. That with a lot of girls they could all be good at something, they’d be able to do everything together. They’d live on, even if the group breaks up, they’d be able to create a legacy... So if there were more people, they’d create a bigger legacy...” Minhyuk reasoned slowly, sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he looked down.

He huffed a little, and messed up his hair a little.
“It sounded better in my head. Forgive me seongsang-nim...” He apologised, hanging his head.

Sooman just laughed, reaching over to pat Minhyuk on his head from across the table, flattening his hair in the process.

“Minhyuk-ah, my boy. I understand. You want it so that they are remembered as a strong group, where they could do anything. Eunjin-ah would like that, to be remembered as the woman that could do everything.” Sooman remarked, the room lapsing back into a sombre silence.

“Yes seongsang-nim, I hope she would like to be remembered like that...” Minhyuk nodded, the sombre atmosphere eating away at his energetic confidence that he’d possessed only a moment ago.

“Now tell me about the rest of your group.” 

“Yes of course sir!” Minhyuk sprung up, brushing off the solemn feeling and leaning forward again. He ruffled his own hair and then pointed to the next headshot. “She’s the answer to bridge vocals and dance, again. She’s proficent in both, so she can dance or sing, so I’d put her in the lead spot for both. But she has her own skills which sets her apart, and can help spread the reach of AEON more.”

“And every group has to have a beautiful member, or at least an iconic one. So she has the beautiful to fill the spot, as well as being gifted as a singer.” Minhyuk nodded, pointing to the next picture in the series, “her voice also adds diversity. She can do higher notes,” The younger explained, pointing back to another picture and then to the one next to it. “And she is great with lower notes.”

“And finally we have her, the triple threat for all intents and purposes. Exceptionally talented in all fields, I haven’t seen her in a while so I’m not so sure what position to put her in. But she could quite easily be a main in one and leads in the other two positions. She would be the one that would be able to be everywhere, if one skill needs help then she can be that person.” He continued to ramble, but this time slower as he started to conclude his ‘little’ explaination.

“That’s why I chose them seongsang-nim.” Minhyuk bowed, moving back into his chair and all but holding his breath as he waited for the reaction of his senior.

The loud clap of Sooman’s hands had him jumping into the air, stifling a yelp, as he looked up to his senior hopefully. Sooman’s bright grin overtook his face as he started to pull pieces of paper into a single folder.

“I knew you’d do well Minhyuk-ah, I was right to put trust in you. I can see it in your eyes... Eunjin-ah would be proud.” The elder praised, tone warm and familiar. “That’s why I trust no one better to become the guardian of her legacy.” He paused, the ever so slight crinkle of paper filling the air as he shuffled through papers quickly.

Minhyuk just sat frozen, still wary of the words that Sooman had yet to say.

“From here now to here on after, I appoint you Hwang Minhyuk as the offical guardian manager of AEON.” Sooman congratulated him, holding out his hand.

“Look after my flowers well.” Was his last task for the younger, holding out the folder he’d compiled in the few minutes ago that he’d begun it.

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