“They got the song right off the bat,” HanYin said. “They nailed it.”
“Their visuals were incredibly detailed and professional. Nothing was falling apart or got misplaced,” Cheongul said.
“Jong-in dongsaeng took the time to rehearse that part. He sang it perfectly,” Ki-tae said. “They were the only group that included actual production information in their presentation. Not a single other group mentioned filming, editing, or postproduction estimates, time frames, or any of the behind-the-scenes work.”
“Jong-in dongsaeng, Min-su dongsaeng, and Jin-woo dongsaeng often work together and function as a very cohesive team,” Teacher Kim said with a smile. “They are in the top ten of their faculty. I would not be surprised if they opened their own production company one day.”
“Gentlemen, I feel we have come to a determination.” Soon-joon smiled. Then he rose from his seat. “I will speak with our staff. The press should be here shortly, if they have not already begun to arrive. Seonsaengnim, I have something for each of the students, which we can present to them once the press has left.”
Teacher Kim nodded and followed him out of the room, presumably to get the students ready for the announcement. Ki-tae leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. He was mentally exhausted. Every time Jin-woo nibbled on his bottom lip, and it was often, Ki-tae had to resist the urge to scoop him up and carry him off. His muscles ached with how tense the last hour and a half had been.
“Are you okay, Ki-tae?” Cheongul asked quietly. “You look wiped out.”
“I am,” Ki-tae said with a sigh. “I didn’t realize how much energy I was using fighting myself, of all people.”
“He really does it for you,” HanYin said.
“Yeah, I guess he does,” Ki-tae said. “But is that really me, or is it the bond? Is what I feel real? Okay, the arousal… that’s real, dammit, and persistent, but this… need to be with him…. Is that really coming from me?”
“Ki-tae, at this point, you and Jin-woo dongsaeng don’t even know each other,” Cheongul said, putting his hand on Ki-tae’s thigh and giving a squeeze. “You’ve had one actual encounter, and the rest has been dream walking. Right now what you feel is more than likely the bond, because you know nothing about him. However, he is already your type. He’s sweet and innocent-looking, and that gets you every time. If he’s got a dirty mind, and your nocturnal activities, dream or not, seem to indicate he does, you’re a goner. You cannot resist someone who looks so sweet on the outside and is so naughty on the inside. Hence ‘Heat.’”
“Was that whole spiel supposed to be helpful?” Ki-tae asked with exasperation. “Because it sucked.”
“It was meant to be practical. You two know nothing about each other,” Cheongul said, popping Ki-tae upside the head. “What I’m saying is you have an excellent opportunity to get to know him over the next several weeks. Use it… and not just to get in his pants!”
Ki-tae pouted. “Is that option completely off the table?”
Cheongul did a facepalm while HanYin laughed so hard he fell off his chair. “You’re too much!”
“Come on, we’d best go find Abeoji.” Cheongul sighed. “We have fans to greet and reporters to smile at.”
“Shall we play three-way Pocky again?” HanYin asked. “They seem to love that!”
“Only the fangirls do.” Ki-tae chuckled. “They love to see us kiss.”
“There’s actually a YouTube video out there counting how many times we stick our hands in each other’s pockets or in the waistband of each other’s pants,” HanYin said with a grin. “Ki-tae does it the most.”
“My hands get cold,” he complained, bumping his shoulder against HanYin.
“I know, because you’re usually shoving your freezing cold hands down my waistband,” HanYin pointed out. “Cheongul is pocket boy, and I prefer hugs!”
“It’s not my fault you run the warmest of the three of us,” Ki-tae grumbled.
“That is a really weird thing to count,” Cheongul said. “It’s funny how wound up people get with the way we touch each other. Remember when that one fan hid in my hotel room, only I never went back there that night because I crashed in HanYin’s bed with him? She was still there the next day after we’d left. Then there was all that back-and-forth on the social media sites, fans making such a fuss out of us in the same bed.”
“I remember Abeoji was not happy she’d gotten into the room in the first place,” HanYin said.
“I’m glad I wasn’t the hotel manager,” Ki-tae said. “Abeoji can be downright frightening when he chooses to be.”
“This is why we never want to piss that man off,” Cheongul said, and then he paused as they approached the lecture hall. “Smiles on, gentlemen. Get ready to charm them.”
“Aren’t we always ready?” HanYin asked innocently, then grinned wickedly. “I have Pocky with me, you know.”
“After the press conference, we’ll play,” Ki-tae said.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“You two are going to get me in trouble again,” Cheongul muttered as he opened the door.
“Yeah, but you still love us.” Ki-tae grinned as he rucked up HanYin’s coat and shirt, shoving his cold hand down the back of his pants. HanYin yelped a little but didn’t pull away.
“Yeah, I do,” Cheongul agreed.
Jin-woo
JIN-WOO SLOUCHED in his chair. He was beat. They had stayed later at I Love K-pop than he wanted. When he had gotten home, he couldn’t fall asleep. Then there was the whole issue with the visuals. He just wanted to go home and sleep. He jerked awake when Min-su poked him in the arm.
“Why must you abuse me?” he demanded grumpily, rubbing his arm.
“If I try to be nice, you don’t hear me,” she said. “You sleep like the dead. Are you okay?”
“I’m just beat.” Jin-woo sighed. “We’ve been working our asses off for three weeks straight. There were nights when my hands completely cramped up. I had to soak them in hot water to get them to relax. Honestly, I’m glad this part is over.”
“Me too,” she said with a soft smile. “I had it easy compared to you and Jong-in-a. All I had to do was figure out how long it would take to do the filming, editing, and postproduction, and estimate how much it would cost. Jong-in-a spent so much time practicing that one verse he almost lost his voice. I told him he wasn’t allowed to talk at all for the last two days.”
“Easy?” Jong-in snorted. “You’re the one who did all the rendering and production work on the concept trailer in addition to doing all the planning and estimates. Don’t sell yourself short, Min-su-ya.”
She blushed and looked down, not a normal reaction for her, but Jin-woo figured being so close to Cheongul was making her weird. Well, weirder than usual.
“But your part was important, Min-su-ya,” Jin-woo said with a smile. “No one else covered deadlines and financials. That’s going to give us an advantage, I think. We made a full project presentation, not just a creative one.”
“True, but I’m still really nervous,” she said. “I mean, I know what their music means to me, but to try and put their words on screen? That’s hard.”
“I think we did a great job,” Jong-in said quietly, then sipped a ginger tea. “I think we worked really hard, and we’re feeling it. I could sleep for a week.”
Before Jin-woo could comment, the sound in the room dropped to almost silence. He looked up to see Park Soon-joon enter with Teacher Kim. They walked up to the dais and stood at the very front. Bam Kiseu followed, standing behind and off to the left. They looked so serious. Jin-woo decided he liked it much better when they were all smiling, especially Ki-tae. He didn’t like the almost sad look on Ki-tae’s face. He wanted to go to him, rub away the little worry lines between his eyes. Jin-woo shook his head. What in the world was he thinking? Before Jin-woo could berate himself further, Teacher Kim began speaking.
“First I would like to thank you all once again
for your presentations today. We will discuss them over the next few weeks as we continue our lessons,” Teacher Kim said to soft groans. He smiled. “As you are aware, this was just the first part in the program Soon-joon-nim and BL Entertainment have presented for Jeonjin University’s Art and Digital Media Production Faculty. The second part involves less public speaking, but not less work. In part two you each will be required to write an original song. No collaborations allowed. Soon-joon-nim and I have decided to grant a very generous four-week deadline to complete the song, as we want you to be able to keep up in your other classes. This will be a completed song, which means composing, recording, and postproduction. With that time, I suggest each of you become familiar with the work of the artists standing with us today. They are your clients. Therefore your song will need to take each of their vocal styles into account as well as combining those styles cohesively. Do not doubt this will be challenging, but it is not impossible. These young men and their team do it on every album. Remember we are a creative faculty, but we still must rely on things such as research to accomplish our goals. With that being said, we will continue with part one of the BL Entertainment program. Soon-joon-nim, will you do the honors?”
“Of course, Seonsaengnim.” Soon-joon stepped forward, his hands behind his back. Jin-woo thought he looked very intense, very mature, and handsome. The God of K-pop lived up to his name visually as well as in his business dealings. His presence took command of the room, but it was subtle. There was no sense of demand. Jin-woo sat up straighter. It felt as if slouching while Soon-joon spoke would be disrespectful. He clasped his hands and rested them on the long desk in front of him, giving his full attention to Park Soon-joon.
“In my line of work, I deal with artists, businessmen, craftsmen, many different types of people all day, every day. I interact with dancers and choreographers, voice coaches and singers, sound engineers, and production managers. I deal with accountants and sales representatives. Each interaction must convey my intent clearly, concisely, and quickly. When a young singer brings me his demo CD, I must evaluate and analyze not just the music but the musician. I must not only listen to the product but evaluate the risks involved based on what I see. That musician has precisely three minutes to impress me, to show me his or her potential, to show me he or she is worth the risk of taking them on. Poor presentation and poor product means poor risk. There were presentations I saw today which would not have made it past the first thirty seconds, let alone the full three minutes. I saw lack of motivation. I heard lack of product knowledge. I saw lack of effort. On the other end of the scale, I saw many presenters that I would have advised to rework their ideas and come to me again in six months.”
Jin-woo wrinkled his nose. What manager gave someone who flubbed an interview a second chance? He’d read that BL Entertainment was unlike other companies, such as GT Entertainment and MS Tune, and Park Soon-joon proved it. Without realizing it, Jin-woo leaned forward, intent on whatever else Soon-joon had to say.
“Then I saw a group that hit every point I look for in a potential protégé. This presentation went beyond the creative to include the practical. This group knew the song they were presenting and knew it well. They incorporated it into their presentation in multiple ways. I saw the culmination of hours of hard work. I was impressed within the first thirty seconds. Class Two, Group Six, Yi Min-su dongsaeng, Bak Jong-in dongsaeng, and Cheong Jin-woo dongsaeng, please join us.”
Jin-woo stared, shock freezing him in place. He felt numb and shivery at the same time. Min-su had to pinch him hard before he jerked out of it. After rising shakily to his feet, Jin-woo led the way out of the row and down the main aisle. He kept his eyes on where his feet were going, lest he fall flat on his face and embarrass the hell out of himself. He moved to the right, sort of slipping behind Jong-in’s slightly larger frame. He was going to be sick… or pass out again, one of the two. Thankfully Min-su had always been the de facto leader of their group. She had the most control over herself…. Well, for the most part. She did have her moments. They bowed to Park Soon-joon and shook his hand. It was a strong, firm grip, but not overpowering, as if he knew his own strength and contained it.
“I was very impressed with your work,” Soon-joon said after the applause had died down. “Tell me, what made you use ‘Crossing Time’ that way?”
“The presentation was for a music video of that song. It didn’t make sense not to use it,” Min-su said. “We began our first brainstorming session by listening to the song, to the words, and breaking them down by verse and chorus. Then we focused on each section and what we felt the words might mean. In the end we concluded it was about a love that defied even time.”
“What made you choose a supernatural theme?”
“What other being could cross time for the one they loved?” Min-su asked with a cute little grin. “Originally we were going to go with the Vampire myth, but Jin-woo-ya was adamant we try something new, something different. So I challenged him to find another immortal being that would fit the song, and damned if he didn’t do it.”
Jin-woo wished they would stop talking, wished they could just leave already. His senses were overloaded, he was exhausted, and he just wanted some peace and quiet. And sleep, sleep would be good too. He wanted to nudge Min-su, let her know enough was enough already and to move things along. Yet he couldn’t. That would be unprofessional. He didn’t want to ruin the image they had created, but if he stood there much longer, he was going to collapse.
When Soon-joon turned to the desk and picked up a pile of papers, Jin-woo couldn’t help but think, Finally. But then it was another eon before they finally got to sign the agreements. It was official. He, Min-su, and Jong-in would be making a music video with Bam Kiseu. Jin-woo could feel the puffy sensation in his temple and knew he was going to pay for all this stress within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. It would be worth it, though, for this experience alone.
Teacher Kim approached the group and turned to face the rest of the room. “I have obtained permission for all of you to take the rest of the day off. You may spend it as you wish, although I do recommend getting a start on your next project. Have a good day.”
When he turned to face them once more, Jin-woo couldn’t help but return his warm smile. “I am very proud of you three. I always see good work from you, but your presentation was nothing short of amazing,” he said.
“Gomabseumnida, Seonsaengnim,” they said, bowing.
Min-su added, “We have learned much from you.”
“And much of it is natural talent,” Teacher Kim said.
“It is a pleasure to formally meet you,” Soon-joon said with a smile. They greeted him politely, Jin-woo practically whispering the words. He could feel eyes on him, knew Ki-tae was watching him again. In a few moments, they would be formally introduced to each other. How did you politely greet someone who’d made you cum so hard you passed out? This was not within his realm of experience, and Jin-woo was hard-pressed to figure out how to behave.
“I would make introductions, but I have the feeling you three know exactly who these young gentlemen are,” Soon-joon said with a smile as he motioned Cheongul, Ki-tae, and HanYin closer. “Still, polite is polite. Let me introduce Cheongul dongsaeng, Ki-tae dongsaeng, and HanYin dongsaeng, Bam Kiseu. Boys, this is Yi Min-su dongsaeng, Bak Jong-in dongsaeng, and Cheong Jin-woo dongsaeng, the winners of the Music Video BL Entertainment program for Jeonjin University.”
Everyone murmured the appropriate greetings and bowed. Jin-woo found his gaze jumping around. Each time he would look at Ki-tae, see him watching intently, and then look somewhere else. He couldn’t seem to keep his eyes on one spot. Ki-tae looked incredibly hot in his black leather jacket and jeans. His hair had that messy look Jin-woo adored on him, and his eyes popped with the subtle makeup around them. His already tempting lips looked more so with the hint of color. No man had the right to look that hot and not come with a freaking warning label. Jin-woo nibbled on his lip absent
ly, twisting his fingers together behind his back, and he bounced on his toes.
Cheongul, as the oldest, always seemed to be the unofficial spokesman for the group, and today was no exception. “We look forward to working with you. I must say we were very impressed with your presentation. You really understand the song, and, Jong-in dongsaeng, your singing was spot on.”
“It was beautiful,” HanYin said quietly. Jin-woo wondered if Jong-in noticed how HanYin was staring at him.
Jong-in smiled shyly. “I almost lost my voice practicing.”
“After a long concert run, HanYin-a always loses his voice for about a day and a half,” Ki-tae said, smiling. “We count our blessings, because then he can’t talk nonstop!”
HanYin smacked Ki-tae in the shoulder. “No steamed dumplings for a month.”
“Steamed dumplings?” Jong-in’s voice perked up.
“You caught his attention,” Min-su teased. “If there’s one thing Jong-in-a loves beyond music, it’s food.”
Jong-in blushed harder and ducked his head, pushing his glasses back up his nose as he did so. “What? I like to eat.”
“Good to know, because HanYin-a likes to cook,” Ki-tae said as he threw his arm around HanYin’s shoulders. “We’re going to be spending a good deal of time together over the next several weeks, so now HanYin-a will have someone else to experiment… I mean cook for.”
Jin-woo chuckled as Ki-tae’s comments earned him a jab in the ribs.
“Well, boys,” Soon-joon said once Ki-tae and HanYin had settled down. “It’s time to show our new partners what it’s like to be pop stars.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Jin-woo muttered.
Night Kiss Page 9
