The Rules

Chapter 70

Ami worked hard the next week while she recovered for her upcoming meeting with HYBE. She was glad she was doing a video call, as preparing for an in-person meeting would take more planning, and she didn't feel up for that after being sick.

"What time is your meeting today?" Joon asked as he watched her get ready. She was getting dressed up like she was attending a business meeting. She had her computer on her table along with a notebook and a stack of notes.

"11 am" she replied. "It should be interesting. They will either love me or hate me. It will be fine either way." She smiled.

"I can't wait to hear about it, you are going to do great." He walked over and kissed her. "I need to go, we have to go to the studio today, but we want to hear all about it when we get back tonight."

"Have a good day." she smiled. "See you tonight."

At 11:00 AM she received a video call, she put her face mask and sunglasses on and answered.

"Suki, it's nice to finally meet you, my name is Director Park. Thanks for meeting with me."

"It's nice to meet you too, thank you for being willing to do a video call." She said to him, "I was surprised when I heard you wanted to meet."

"I don't know why, your albums have been climbing, and with your recent awards, congratulations, by the way, I'm sure you have had a lot of companies contacting you," he said smiling at her.

"More than I expected," Ami laughed. "Everything came as a surprise I can assure you."

"Well, you are doing great. So, what we do is when there is an artist we are interested in, we request a meeting so we can get to know them. See what some of their goals and interests are, and if we would be a good match for each other." Director Park started in.

"Well, that makes sense, time is money and I know I wouldn't want to align with a company that wasn't going to be mutually beneficial." She said matter of factly.

"Glad we agree. So tell me about yourself, and what kind of music you like." Director Park sat back and let her have the floor.

"Well, I was born here, I've graduated from school." She started. "I like all different kinds of music and want my albums to all be a little different from each other. I started dabbling in music within the last couple of years."

"And you worked with Suga and Jaks on your first album?" he asked.

"I did." She replied.

"How did you meet them?" he inquired, "We met through a mutual friend," she replied.

"And you have written your own music?" He asked, "I have." she replied.

"Do you have more that you are working on?"

"I am, I have a notebook of songs I have written, or are in the works." She replied matter of factly. She was trying to read him, she didn't know if this is how these meetings usually went, or if he was trying to get something from her, but she was happy to match the energy he was giving her.

"The music award show you performed on, who designed that performance for you?" He asked, writing notes down as they spoke.

"I did," she said simply.

"You did? The concept, the outfit, the song, all of it?"

"Yes."

"And you were able to do all that, without revealing your identity?" He questioned.

"It appears so." She laughed. "I had a small team to help with some logistics, but they were doing what I asked them to do."

"Why keep your identity a secret?"

"I enjoy having a life, no matter how boring. I read online about other artists no matter how small, they get their pictures posted and information about their lives posted all the time whether they want it or not. No one should care what kind of cabbage I bought yesterday at the store. I enjoy making music and singing. So, if I can keep that part of me separate for a while longer, I'll do it. Seems to be working so far."

"If you signed with us, would you be willing to reveal your identity?" He asked.

"Why?" she asked, seriously. "There are very few artists that choose to keep this part of them private, and I think part of that unknown drives up the interest and mystery when it comes to popularity."

Director Park looked up in two locations in the room, as if others were listening in the room with him, and then back to her.

"How do you feel about going through the trainee program we have here?" He sat forward, watching her intently.

"What does that entail?" She asked equally as bluntly.

"Well, our trainees go through a series of training sessions for singing, dancing, and learning languages." He tossed out.

"Oh, what languages do you need them to learn?" She asked him.

"English..." he started.

"I am fluent in English." She replied in English

"Japanese..."

"I'm almost fluent in Japanese." She replied in Japanese.

Director Park perked up, apparently the mundane meeting he was having just got interesting. "OH, I didn't realize you were so multilingual." He replied. "How did you learn all these languages?"

"I like to challenge myself." She said with a laugh.

"Back to your trainee program," She started, "Would I be putting out music during that time?"

"Well, no, that time is used to give you the skills you need to debut and be successful." He said and then realized what exactly he was saying as he said it.

"I see." She decided not to call him out on the lunacy of that statement. But her tone should have given him a clue to what she was thinking. "I'm not against voice lessons, I think there is always room for improvement. But, you need to know, I'm not a dancer." She shared with him.

"We have the best teachers... " he started to say.

"No Director Park, I'm not a dancer, as in, I don't see myself up there like some of the amazing groups out there like Gfriend and Black Pink. They are really good at what they do, and that is the path they wanted to go down. I don't think I'm that kind of artist."

"OK," he said, tilting his head to the side.

"How long does it take your trainees to complete your program?" She asked him.

"Depends on the person, some only a month," he replied but didn't go further.

"And the longest trainee you have had in your program?" She asked.

"I don't know, 5 years maybe," he replied.

"Humm." she simply said.

"So, what kind of relationship are you looking for with your artists? How long do your groups stay active?" She asked him, leaning back in her chair.

Director Park realized that this wasn't going to be one of his ordinary meetings with an eager and willing artist. She was interviewing them as much as they were interviewing her. She had real questions she was asking.

They continued to talk for another 30 minutes. Both asked questions back and forth. Ami felt comfortable and at ease with the meeting. Maybe it was because she didn't think anything would come from it, so she wasn't trying to prove herself.

At the end of the interview, Director Park had relaxed and become more friendly in his demeanor.

"Suki, it was really nice to meet you. I'm going to talk to our other Directors, and we will be in touch either way." He said, smiling at her.

"Pleasure is all mine. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me."

And with that, the meeting was over.