The Hit Song of This Life Is Revenge - Chapter 16

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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In This Life, the Hit Song Is Revenge
Episode 16
When the door opened, the woman sitting at the very end of the Meeting Room table lifted her head.
A shirt with sleeves rolled up twice and a neat bob hair left quite an impression.
“It’s been a while, CEO Kang.”
With a brief greeting, the standing woman’s gaze swept past Lee Jae-i.
Though she didn’t linger long, there was a power in her eyes that could pierce through a person instantly.
Kang Ki-baek offered his hand first with a smile.
The woman stretched hers out right away.
“How have you been? This is Lee Jae-i, who recently signed a contract with us.”
“Hello.”
As Lee Jae-i bowed, the woman lightly curled the corners of her lips.
“I’m Producer Son Hyun-joo. Nice to meet you.”
“I was going to buy some on the way, but I thought it’d be better to ask you first. What kind of coffee would you like?”
“An ice café latte, please.”
Kang Ki-baek signaled to Lee Jae-i with a glance and immediately left the room.
As soon as he closed the door, a brief silence blanketed the Meeting Room.
Son Hyun-joo smoothly gestured toward a seat, and Lee Jae-i sat across from her.
The woman flipped open the tablet in front of her and spoke.
“You know what kind of program ours is, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“It’s a bit different this time. The concept is adding a narrative to the competition.”
Son Hyun-joo’s eyes lingered on the tablet before flashing toward Lee Jae-i.
“I saw your video. I also heard the story behind your casting, and it wasn’t bad.”
Her tone was neat and decisive.
Yet, a subtle nuance of ‘but I’m not captivated’ was laced within.
Lee Jae-i kept her lips pressed together, waiting for the woman’s next words.
Right now, Son Hyun-joo’s thoughts came first.
“Star Entertainment isn’t exactly a place that recruits many trainees, so I have a rough idea of your skills.”
This time, Son Hyun-joo’s gaze remained entirely fixed on the tablet.
“Since you said you know our program, let me ask you point-blank. What can you show us?”
It wasn’t a simple question.
These words were ultimately asking, ‘Is there any reason to put you on stage?’
She had come prepared.
Believing that understanding the person in charge was the priority, she had only been listening until now.
But this single question brought a sharp clarity.
Only, the pitch came much faster than expected, making Lee Jae-i’s heart quicken just a fraction.
“I can show you drama.”
The answer was short, her voice laced with absolute conviction.
Son Hyun-joo looked away from the tablet and faced her head-on.
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Shall I tell you about my skills first? Or the narrative?”
One side of the woman’s mouth curved upward.
Son Hyun-joo pushed the tablet slightly to the side and locked eyes directly with Lee Jae-i.
“Why don’t we start with what you’re more confident in?”
Lee Jae-i deliberately did not avoid her gaze.
She reminded herself not to let her guard down.
Yet, the woman was far sharper than she had anticipated.
She pondered for a moment.
What should she appeal to first to pique her interest more?
Screech.
The wheels of the chair Lee Jae-i was sitting on rolled backward.
As she rose slowly, Son Hyun-joo’s eyes traced her upward movement.
She was watching, but her expression remained completely uninspired.
Capturing this woman was going to take some time.
Time might not be lacking, but that would lack impact.
Countless singers must have pushed their chairs back in front of Son Hyun-joo before.
Lee Jae-i looked behind her.
The Meeting Room walls were made of glass, covered in translucent tinting film up to chest height.
‘Thank goodness.’
It was a structure where anyone walking down the hallway could peer inside.
Right on cue, her eyes locked with a man passing by.
Lee Jae-i projected her voice with enough strength to carry beyond the door.
“The place where you stand.”
The man’s pupils shook in momentary confusion, his steps faltering.
His gaze turned toward the inside of the Meeting Room.
Lee Jae-i didn’t follow his wandering eyes; instead, she focused entirely on the man himself.
Flustered embarrassment was written all over his face.
After a brief hesitation, the man began to move forward again.
Nevertheless, unbothered, Lee Jae-i calmly and clearly continued the lyrics.
“You simply don’t know where it is yet.”
Her voice rippled softly through the air.
When only a single pane of the glass wall remained, the man’s eyes locked onto Lee Jae-i once more.
“You’re scared sometimes because you stand in a high place. But did you know?”
Lee Jae-i’s voice suddenly sliced through the air, springing forth.
The man’s expression crossed somewhere between subtle curiosity and sheer astonishment.
In that split second, Lee Jae-i did not miss the shift.
“That you can already fly.”
A high note woven with a breathy sigh.
And lyrics heavily packed with sincerity.
The moment the verse dropped, the man ceased his hesitation.
Lee Jae-i stared straight at him through the glass wall.
As if possessed by something, the man stood perfectly still, staring back at her.
When their gazes met squarely, her heart thumped in tandem.
‘I can strike a chord even within this cramped Meeting Room.’
A single, slow throb sent a tingling sensation coursing through her entire body.
“Do not hesitate.”
The man beyond the glass wall.
No, the gaze of the passing ‘audience member’ had completely transformed.
Eyes never lie.
Lee Jae-i felt it with absolute certainty.
That her voice had reached the depths of his chest.
“Because it’s not a fall, it’s a leap to fly.”
At those lyrics, something changed in the man’s expression.
A slightly clenched jaw and tension in his brow bone.
He looked like someone harboring a fierce resolve.
Facing that transformation, Lee Jae-i took a step forward without even realizing it.
A thrill rippled through the line where their emotions connected.
It was fleeting, but undeniable.
A strange, lingering resonance spread within Lee Jae-i’s heart as well.
Clack.
The heavy sound of a pen landing on the Meeting Room table echoed.
Only then did the audience member beyond the glass wall turn his eyes toward Son Hyun-joo.
Her rigid posture instantly snapped the man’s posture upright.
Shaking his head, he looked like he had just awoken from a dream.
The man hastily bowed his head toward Son Hyun-joo.
However, his expression had already been captured by her sharp eyes.
Lee Jae-i also keenly scanned Son Hyun-joo’s face.
The space between her brows had relaxed minutely, but her lips were tightly sealed.
A face that betrayed no complex emotions.
It was a thoroughly professional expression.
Yet, she too must have felt the ripples of that resonance.
Catching her breath briefly, Lee Jae-i spoke first.
“This is the drama I was talking about. A scene that makes someone stop in their tracks.”
Then, she added one more thing.
“Without any lighting, or accompaniment.”
Son Hyun-joo’s finger tapped lightly on the table.
“Did you prepare this in advance?”
“Yes. Because I need to be able to turn anywhere into a stage.”
“Aha.”
The woman’s lips curved upward like a wave.
“What would you have done if this Meeting Room wasn’t a visible space?”
“That would have been fine too.”
Lee Jae-i smiled softly.
“Because I could have made you imagine who might open that door.”
Son Hyun-joo’s eyes opened wide.
The woman’s fingertips paused on the table for a moment.
Her gaze dropped to Lee Jae-i’s lips before returning to her eyes.
This time, it wasn’t an uninspired expression.
Within that look, Lee Jae-i felt the tug on the fishing line.
Now was the time to reel it in firmly.
The bigger the fish, the easier it is to lose if you let down your guard.
“Fine. What about the narrative?”
“I can be the perfect rival.”
“A rival?”
The woman’s gaze grew even sharper.
Allowing a brief pause, Lee Jae-i continued with absolute certainty.
“Equal skills create conflict and tension even without a script.”
Son Hyun-joo leaned back against her chair.
That small movement felt like a green light to keep talking.
Lee Jae-i composed her breathing and threw out her prepared words.
“Not a predetermined plot, but a drama written right then and there.”
“There’s no such thing as a script in an audition program.”
Taking a breath, Son Hyun-joo’s exhalation was half a beat late.
The air inside the Meeting Room warped slightly.
Something sharp sliced through the momentary silence.
Wiping away the faint smile she had worn, Lee Jae-i delivered her final strike.
“The viewers want something real.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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