The Hit Song of This Life Is Revenge - Chapter 51

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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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My Hit Song in This Life Is Revenge
51
“The song has better completeness.”
“…Yes.”
He nodded heavily.
“I agree. Personally, though, I’d prefer if you performed the second song instead. What do you think, Lee Jae-i? I can discuss it with the production team.”
The moment she heard those words, relief flooded through her chest.
It sounded like more than simple praise.
He was actually stepping forward to change a song that was already confirmed.
This was feedback bordering on certainty.
But right now, she couldn’t bring herself to answer yes.
Lee Jae-i pressed her lips together before responding.
“Since it’s a self-composed song mission, I think I should showcase something with higher completeness.”
At her firm tone, Kang Ki-baek’s shoulders tensed for a moment.
He puffed out his chest and dragged a finger across his chin.
His gaze moved slowly.
It felt like the representative was oddly measuring her jawline.
After holding her eyes for a while, he suddenly said something unexpected.
“Let’s go eat first.”
“…Yes? Right now?”
At her question, Kang Ki-baek’s Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably.
Even in the middle of an important conversation, his gaze kept drifting.
The line visible between her clothes was definitely much thinner than before.
In the moment she seemed lighter to him, his concern shifted.
They could talk about the song when they got back, couldn’t they?
Managing an artist’s health was part of what an entertainment company had to do.
Kang Ki-baek told himself this impulse was purely professional.
“Recording requires energy, doesn’t it? Have you eaten?”
“Not yet, but….”
“Let’s go then.”
Kang Ki-baek rose naturally with an unabashed expression.
* * *
An upscale restaurant not far from Star Entertainment.
An attendant in neat attire approached and guided them to a table.
It was a space separated privately by dividers.
Seated, Lee Jae-i looked up at him.
The moment their eyes met, the representative’s pupils immediately fell to the menu.
“Do you have any food allergies?”
“No, I don’t.”
His face remained unchanged as he gazed at the menu.
But unlike in the recording room, his voice carried a subtle warmth.
Why did that slight temperature shift bring relief?
“I don’t know what you like. Since we came to a place with diverse options, go ahead and choose.”
“I’ll have whatever you recommend.”
“You could ask me to add Cheetos as a topping.”
At those words, a memory surfaced of standing in front of an ice cream truck with the representative.
In that moment, laughter came first.
Then Lee Jae-i shook her head and spoke to him.
“That was really not happening.”
Kang Ki-baek’s eyebrow arched at her smile.
The mood softened, and Lee Jae-i leaned back comfortably.
“You seemed in a bad mood today, so I got nervous. I thought the song wasn’t good.”
At her petulant remark, his eyebrow settled back in place.
The representative lowered the menu slightly and chose his words carefully.
“It’s not because of the song. You don’t need to worry about that. It’s just that today….”
His uncharacteristically broken breath made Lee Jae-i blink.
“Ah… I mean, there’s been something personal on my mind. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“No, I wasn’t uncomfortable.”
It wasn’t a lie.
It wasn’t discomfort so much as his sudden distance that had weighed on her mind.
At least it wasn’t about the song—that was a relief.
But in the space where the burden lifted, another kind of interest took root.
If it was noticeable in the atmosphere, what could it be?
As Lee Jae-i mulled over his answer, her lips, which had been about to open thoughtlessly, closed quietly.
‘He said it was personal….’
It didn’t feel right to pry into such things.
“Then shall I recommend a menu for you?”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
She answered with deliberately brighter inflection.
The representative called an attendant and ordered the food with practiced ease.
As the lightly filled soup bowl was cleared, the main course was set down.
A steak with clear grill marks and salmon with a soft coral hue.
When she pressed the fork tip lightly, fine juices spread across the edge.
And one big bite.
Lee Jae-i’s eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth as she reacted.
“This is really delicious!”
“Good to hear.”
The representative cut several pieces of steak with a calm expression and placed them on his plate.
How long had it been since she’d had such delicious food?
The representative, knife in hand, paused briefly.
“The food prepared at the lodging didn’t suit your taste?”
‘Did I eat too eagerly?’
At his question, Lee Jae-i applied pressure to remove the salmon slightly from the fork.
But the representative’s knife immediately guided the salmon back onto her fork.
“You seem thin. I was wondering if the production team had been neglectful.”
Lee Jae-i looked at the now fuller fork and answered.
“No, there was plenty of food.”
After the meal mission ended, she’d eaten the food the production team prepared.
All of it was refined and delicious.
But appetite changes with mood, doesn’t it?
Every time at the same table, she faced Baek Song-ha.
Of course, the food tasted like sand while watching that face.
And with the constant pressure and interference that came every day, her tongue had lost sensation.
Still, the latter excuse seemed more natural.
“The mission was probably stressful. You can’t eat well when you’re nervous, after all.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The representative nodded and then relentlessly pushed food toward her.
Lee Jae-i’s hand, full with satiation, gradually slowed its pace.
Only then did the representative place the napkin from his lap onto the table.
“I didn’t know you’d composed two songs.”
“My composition teacher taught me well.”
The corners of his mouth rose and a soft chuckle escaped.
At his relaxed expression, Lee Jae-i offered a small smile in return.
The representative placed his elbows on the table and leaned in closer.
“Usually the teachers receive words of thanks, don’t they?”
“The ones who give are the teachers.”
At that, the representative’s head shook slightly.
As if he couldn’t handle it.
Then he picked up the small dessert menu tucked beside the table.
He slowly scanned the sweet options with his eyes and asked.
“I personally preferred the second song. You want to perform with the first song, right?”
It was a tone that had shifted slightly away from jest.
At the question, she flinched.
The song her heart favored was the one he’d mentioned.
But Lee Jae-i kept her expression controlled and answered.
“I’m confident about it.”
Through the menu, his gaze and her eyes caught briefly.
In that short moment, one edge of Lee Jae-i’s vision trembled faintly.
The hem of pants caught at the end of the hallway beside the table.
She tried to dismiss it as a simple mistake.
But at the silhouette appearing at regular intervals, her brow twisted sharply.
‘…….’
Her facial muscles gradually stiffened.
The figure she’d hoped would fade was clearly turning direction and coming toward them.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
The successive heels stopped beside the table.
And a voice she’d grown too familiar with, one she didn’t want to hear, poured in.
“Well, look who’s here. Lee Jae-i?”
The moment her name landed, the sweet butter scent turned fishy.
“Hello. You’re the representative of Star Entertainment, correct? I’m Yoo Young-jae, PD at YU Entertainment.”
Yoo Young-jae pulled a business card from the inner pocket of his deep purple suit.
The moment the representative took it, Yoo Young-jae extended his hand for a handshake.
Lee Jae-i’s gaze was caught at the tips of those fingers, drawn by inexplicable discomfort.
Why was he pretending not to know her?
“Kang Ki-baek.”
Kang Ki-baek grasped Yoo Young-jae’s hand and looked up.
He was used to people who recognized him and approached first, so the situation wasn’t awkward.
But this feeling—what was it?
With an odd sense of déjà vu, Kang Ki-baek’s gaze lingered on Yoo Young-jae’s face.
‘YU Entertainment PD…?’
He didn’t remember everyone unless he worked with them on a project.
He didn’t have the capacity to remember each person individually.
As far as he recalled, there had been no collaboration between Star Entertainment and YU Entertainment.
Yet this person seemed to have lodged somewhere in his memory.
In that moment, the silhouette of a man laden with lingering attachment flickered through his mind.
‘Ah, that day.’
No wonder it was vivid—the day he’d held her in his arms.
Kang Ki-baek breathed in naturally.
As if catching that small change, the man before him smiled smugly.
“You might not remember. We crossed paths when we were preparing for the America festival.”

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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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