on the way to greatness

Teaser, part 1

Hybe Corporation was creating great things.

That was the thought that Kim Eunbi woke up with, and that was the thought that kept her from cursing loudly as the Chief manager delegated yet another 24-hour shift to her with the vague promise of eventual payoff.

She knew she could’ve gone for a better paying job - hell, any job would’ve paid better - but she chose to become a manager. Why? There was nothing to life other than art and entertainment. Companies like Hybe? They were revolutionizing music in a way that Eunbi couldn’t even dream of.

She really was lucky that KOZ Entertainment offered her a contract before the Hybe acquisition. She would’ve never been able to get a job at one of the biggest entertainment companies in Korea otherwise.

Walking through the doors of Hybe? That felt like a dream come true.

Eating ramyun three times a day because that’s all she could afford without going into debt? Well, that was just the price she had to pay for greatness.

“Honey, let me buy you something. A salad, anything.” 

Eunbi glared at her boyfriend from her ramyun ball. “No!”

“Why not?” Sihoo asked.

“I’m not a beggar.”

“How is me buying my minimum wage working girlfriend a salad anything remotely close to you being a beggar?”

“Because,” Eunbi took a deep breath, “You’re trying to make me feel guilty with food.”

Sihoo looked at her like she was crazy. “Guilty? Eunbi, I’m your boyfriend. I’m just trying to make you feel better. And also have a diet that doesn’t consist solely of carbs.”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“How is that what you inferred from this!?”

Eunbi smiled wickedly at him, slurping her noodles extra loudly. Her boyfriend rolled his eyes, but a smile was already creeping up his face.

Her boyfriend loved her, she knew that, but he never understood why she was doing this. His life priorities were always comfort, a cushy job and nothing more. That was fine. Really. But it wasn’t Eunbi. She had bigger plans - bigger plans that Sihoo simply didn’t understand.

But that was okay, Eunbi supposed. She’d have to make him understand. Maybe eventually he will.

She smiled at him. “Are you enjoying our date?”

“Best ten minutes of my life.”

She looked at the time and - crap, she was going to be late. “Good, we’ll get to go on a second one then.”

Her boyfriend watched her stand up and throw the remaining of her ramyun soup into the trash can. “You have to go already?”

She kissed him goodbye and took a second glance at her phone's screen - twenty minutes to the meeting. She was already behind schedule. “Sorry… I’ll make up for it, I promise.” Eunbi said, truly meaning it. But the meeting was about to start and she wasn’t going to be late for a meeting with none other than the founder of Big Hit Entertainment.

Eunbi walked into the meeting room exactly fifteen minutes before the start of the meeting. Bang Sihyuk, she noted sadly, had not arrived yet.

“He’s not here yet.”

She thought she felt a sinister aura hanging in the corner of the room. Eunbi crossed her arms on her chest and turned to face her arch nemesis.

“Kwon.” she acknowledged with a fake smile. “I see you’re also here early.”

“Naturally. I wasn’t going to let you get your clammy hands on Bang Sihyuk first. Only fifteen minutes early? You’re getting sloppy.”

“I was eating.” she huffed, taking a seat as far away from him as was socially acceptable. With both of them being rookie managers who were all supposed to sit together, that meant two seats away.

Kwon smirked. “Eating? All the way in the park? Why couldn’t you have gone to the cafeteria like the rest of us, I wonder?”

Eunbi’s eyes narrowed as she glowered at him. “You seem to check up on me a lot, see where I’m going, where I’m eating. Why are you so interested in things that are none of your business, I wonder?”

“Making things my business is one of the essential skills of any good manager. I’m not surprised you wouldn’t know that, - Mr. Lee, hello!” As quickly as the smirk appeared on Kwon’s face, it disappeared as he catapulted himself out of his seat and bowed before the Chief manager who walked into the room. Eunbi quickly hurried to her feet and followed Kwon in a deep bow.

Chief Manager Lee Minhyun barely graced them with his eyes, moving past them and taking his seat at the other side of the table, to the left of the head seat reserved for Bang Sihyuk.

“Kim Eunbi, Kim Kwon. I trust all is well.” was all he said to them, not raising his eyes from the looseleaf notebook he had opened.

Eunbi and Kwon simultaneously started assuring him that all, indeed, was well. Eunbi hated how much like a stuck up she sounded. But Kwon was there, kissing , and she wasn’t going to lose any battle against him.

The seat slowly started filling out as more and more of the staff came in. One of the seniors had to sit where Eunbi was. Feeling like she just lost some incredible fight without even trying, she had to stand up and sit right next to Kwon.

“I hate you so much.” She whispered to him as the rest of the invited staff took their seats.

“If I could erase your existence from my memory, I’d do it in an instance.” He whispered back.

Eunbi was going to retort something extremely clever, but the door opened one last time and Bang Sihyuk entered the room.

She had never seen him so close before. He looked surprisingly short, and tired. She thought she’d be at least a head taller than him if they stood shoulder to shoulder. Kwon would probably have to bow so that he could look him in the eyes.

He sat at the head of the table, looking at everyone and sending shivers down Eunbi’s spine. This was it. This was the moment she waited for since she decided to pursue this career. This was the beginning.

“Welcome, everyone.” He said. “I see a lot of familiar faces, but I also see some new talent.” Eunbi felt as if he was looking straight at her. “I trust all is well.”

Hah! Eunbi suppressed a chuckle, though Kwon still shot her the subtlest of glares. So that’s where Minhyun got it from.

They all chorused their agreement, the younger staff with more enthusiasm than the seniors. Sihyuk nodded his head approvingly.

“Good, good.” He said. “Some of you have suspicions regarding the nature of this meeting,” Was it Eunbi, or did he look straight at Kwon and her? “While some of you are still unaware. Some of you have a long history within our company, while others still don’t know how things are done around here.”

Kwon kicked her under the table.

Eunbi tried to find his foot to pierce it with her heel.

Sihyuk continued, “You were chosen from various teams all across our company, because I have a proposition for you. You know that our partners in Source Music and Ador are preparing their brand new girl groups to join our growing roster of artists. We have great plans for them, I assure you, but Big Hit Music has yet to join in on all the fun. While I am no longer the CEO of Big Hit, this company is dear to my heart. For the last year we have been gathering trainees from all across the globe, and I have a plan for them. I’d like you all to join me. Would you?”

It didn’t look like he was waiting for a response, but she was on the edge of her seat. Eunbi let out a barely audible “yes”, practically a breath.

This was it. Hybe was creating greatness and she was finally going to be a part of it.

“So,” Bang Sihyuk said, and Eunbi felt her breath leave her lungs. “Let me tell you about Pop Girls.”

upperclass themes 2014 ©