Chapter 5: Causation & Correlation

"Have I ever told you how much I hate meetings?" Baekhyun asked Jongdae as they strolled past the water bubbler en route to his office. Faux calla lilies sprouted from a glass vase on a side table that served no evident function but to prop said vase. Baekhyun likened it to meetings - a self-servicing fixture that no one would miss but the guy who wanted it in the first place.

"Uhh..." Jongdae scratched the back of his head and slid a sheepish grin sidelong at Baekhyun. The corners of his eyes winged upwards when he smiled - between the impish set of his eyes and the dark hair that stood up in a halo of soft to frame his square jaw, the expression always lent him a mischievous air.

"I'll take that as a yes," Baekhyun snorted with a quirk of his lips. With a hand on the doorknob, he paused. "Come in for a second," he tipped his head towards the door and pushed it open. Jongdae followed, closing it quietly behind him.

"Do you really think the metrics are valid?" Baekhyun asked with a calculating frown as he settled on the small sofa, elbows on knees and slim fingers tapping against his lips. Jongdae set his folio on the low glass coffee table and took the adjacent chair.

"They do seem a little self-serving." Jongdae replied with carefully selected words.

"I mean, singer-songwriters? They think signing raw talent will save the company's finances?"

"I think they've confused correlation and causation." Jongdae shrugged, leaning back in the chair.

"Exactly!" Baekhyun said emphatically, sitting back and slapping his palms on his knees. He waved a hand in the direction of the door, and the sprawling office beyond. "Just because Kris creates most of his own material and is bankrolling us right now doesn't mean that the original content appeal applies across all genres and overcomes all hurdles. He has other selling points that are contributing to success as well. For one, he's crossover talent so we're attracting foreign fans. Additionally, the image concept and marketing is solid. And let's face it, he fits a certain acceptable mold, despite being original talent as opposed to academy bred. He can do variety as well as the best of the academy kids, so his ratings are way up there."

Jongdae nodded and hummed in agreement. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

Baekhyun deflated, sitting up and raking his hands back through his hair. "I don't know. We don't need another rapper, and that's where there's a pool of marketable talent available. But the further you get from that, the less viable the prospects."

"How have the shows been? Anything promising?"

"Do you want the honest answer or the professional one?" Baekhyun cocked a wry smile at Jongdae.

"Both?"

"It's terrible. What I'm looking at, what I hear, is art. The beauty of it is the passion - there's something real in that. And what we want here isn't art, we want an artist who's willing to paint the picture we tell them to." Baekhyun exhaled a long sigh and closed his eyes. His head dropped against the backrest. "I think that was both. Honest and professional," he added wryly.

Jongdae chuckled. "For an A&R rep you really respect the integrity of art." The comment lingered, resonant in the air.

"I know." Belated was the response, but it was weighted. Washing his hands over his face, Baekhyun sat forward and looked Jongdae square in the eye, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

"It's just... when I get out there and see what they're making, I can't imagine the conversation where I tell them that we appreciate their talent but not their art, because it won't sell."

"You wouldn't necessarily be the one telling them, you know," Jongdae offered equivocally with a smile. "You could always make me do it."

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter