Chapter 1 - I’ll get this approved!

As Hyejin took a warm, steamy shower with a rose-scented soap, she recalled the time when she met Minho, Jimin, and Naoyuki in the restaurant.

"Hmm.. the executives are so attractive and rich, I wonder who my favorite is..." Minho is completely hot and handsome. I also heard that he can cook. While Naoyuki has a very unique look and vibe, he somehow looks like a middle-eastern man, but he's Japanese. He is very friendly and polite too. Meanwhile, Jimin... uh.. "

After finishing her shower, she dressed formally in a matte light brown blazer and skirt, using matured makeup, rose-scented perfume, and a high ponytail tied to go to the Seoul Animation office to deal with the contracts and supervise the animation preparation.

She went there on a public bus, where she met an anonymous man who wore a black cap, sunglasses, a black mask, and a gray hoodie, sitting next to her. HyeJin stares at him weirdly and looks away as she thinks that he is creepy. The man followed her to the Seoul Animation building, which scared her more.

"Who the hell is this man? Why has he been following me since he entered the bus?! How in the world can he enter this building so freely anyway?", She whispered to herself. Soon, the mysterious man walked out of the lift, which made HyeJin feel relieved.

As she entered the meeting room, she met Naoyuki, who led the meeting, Haruna, who helped to supervise the storyboard making and some other staff who are in charge of the animation process.

Firstly, she signed a contract which was given by Naoyuki regarding the copyrights of the storyline, characters, setting, etc.

Then, Naoyuki started the meeting by briefly explaining how the animation would be made and released. When they had agreed on some concepts for the animation, Minho sent his secretary to supervise the meeting. The secretary came and knocked on the door. She has fox-like eyes, v-shaped jawline, high nose bridge and dumpling cheeks.

"Good morning, I am Kim Jisoo, the secretary of Mr. Kim Minho. I am sent here to supervise the meeting. Please continue the meeting, I'm just checking around", She said.

Jisoo stayed in the meeting room until the meeting ended. She left after everyone left the meeting room, and went to meet Minho.

"Mr. Kim, so this is today's meeting's progress. Please check it.", Jisoo said while handing in a notebook.

"You can't simply pick this concept for a romance animation opening! Isn't it too mainstream? I've seen such openings in every single romance animation I've watched! Moreover, the storyboard is over-exaggerating! You were there to supervise the meeting, why can't you use your authority and brain to fix their mistakes?!" Minho complained.

"But, you told me just to supervise the meeting and report the progress to you.", Jisoo said.

"As long as you are there, you can revise it so that the result isn't this bad! Anyway, what in the world did Naoyuki do in the meeting?! He has been working for the company for ages, graduated from a top university, but why is the result this bad?!", Minho complained.

"Tell him that I want him to come to my office NOW!", Minho exclaimed.

Soon, Naoyuki came into Minho's office with a nervous expression.

Minho began shouting, "How can't you guys do it perfectly?! Didn't you graduate from the top universities in Korea?"

"I-I'll revise it, sir," Naoyuki replied.

"Revise it by today. If possible, schedule a meeting again with the team and the comic artists. You should be able to complete this part by tomorrow. I have invited the artist and the music producer to the company today. Don't let me down.", Minho said with a serious look.

"Y-yes sir.", Naoyuki said.

After leaving Minho's office, Naoyuki called HyeJin to come to the Seoul animation with Haruna. He also told the storyboard team to hold a meeting.

During the meeting, Naoyuki pointed out all the points Minho complained about. He made sure that there are no mistakes, and the concept is perfect to satisfy Minho's expectations. However, he told everyone to wait in the office just in case Minho didn't approve the results.

He went to Minho's office to submit the results. Once again, Minho rejected the animation's release proposal.

"This is still too mainstream! Are you dumb?! Or have you been living under a rock recently?! I can see this same exact concept everywhere! Change it!", Minho complained.

"Y-yes sir. Is there anything else to be revised?", Naoyuki asked.

"YOU MUST REVISE EVERYTHING! THIS ANIMATION WON'T SUCCEED WITH THIS OPENING CONCEPT", Minho shouted while tossing the papers to Naoyuki's face.

"B-but sir, how about the storyboard?", Naoyuki asked.

"Follow the comic's scenes and never over exaggerate it! It'll make the audience hate the animation!", Minho said while turning his seat.

"Yes sir. I'll be leaving now.", Naoyuki said.

"Oh right. Kim Jisoo, please supervise the meeting and make sure that everything runs well. I must attend another meeting with Han Jimin.", Minho said.

"Okay, Mr. Kim.", Jisoo said while following Naoyuki.

During this meeting, Jisoo helped Naoyuki to revise some parts.

"Is it necessary to make the opening anti-mainstream?", HyeJin asked.

"Yes! If it's done perfectly, it'll reach a larger audience. Moreover, the invited artist who will be singing for your animation's opening is one of the most popular idols worldwide! We shouldn't let his fans down!", Jisoo said.

"Within his popularity, and the satisfaction of fans, the animation will be promoted by fans, which will boost the animation's popularity.", Jisoo continued.

"Don't worry, we ensure you the best work performance we can do to promote the animation and work on its results.", Naoyuki said while smiling.

"Thank you.", HyeJin said.

After the meeting ended, Jisoo representatively submitted the meeting results. However, Minho rejected the meeting proposals again. This repeated several times until Minho decided to let them rest.

They finally ended the meeting at 3 AM, while Minho looked heartless, letting his staff and co-workers stay up all night to plan out their next animation.

While waiting for the taxi to come, someone suddenly patted HyeJin's shoulders and said, "Hi! Are you guys waiting for the taxi to come?"

"AH!", HyeJin shouted.

When she looked back, it was Naoyuki walking out with Jimin next to him.

Naoyuki giggled, "Did I surprise you?"

"Yes, I was scared to death, Haha.", HyeJin replied.

"By the way, yes, we're waiting for the taxi to come." HyeJin continued.

"Why don't you guys join our ride?" It's not safe for girls like you to come home by taxi late at night.", Naoyuki said.

"N-no, no need, it's fine, we can go home ourselves," HyeJin said.

"It's not safe for you. Let us drive you guys home." Naoyuki said. Since the girls couldn't deny his offer, they decided to take the offer from Naoyuki.

"I wonder who's the hot man next to Naoyuki." Haruna whispered to HyeJin, "He seems very familiar with a very elegant vibe."

"Ah! "He's Han Jimin, the executive director of Seoul Animation.", Naoyuki said while driving out of the parking lot.

"E-E-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR?!!", HyeJin exclaimed.

"Yes. Nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you from Naoyuki. You're a very talented artist.", Jimin said.

"T-thank you, and n-nice to meet you too," HyeJin said nervously.

"Did you have another meeting that caused you to come home this late too?", Haruna asked Jimin.

"Yes, I had another meeting regarding our collaboration with a game company,", Jimin replied.

"By the way, are you guys living nearby?", Naoyuki asked.

"No, I live in Gangseo. It's quite far away from here, while Haruna lives in Songpa.", HyeJin replied.

"Then, I'll drop Haruna home first, since Songpa is the closest to Gangnam," Naoyuki said.

As soon as they drop off Haruna, Jimin starts asking HyeJin about her animation progress, as if he is very interested in the animation.

"So how's today's progress? Is the first episode storyboard done?" He asked.

"Not even half of the storyboard is done.", HyeJin said.

"Minho kept rejecting our proposals... We repeated the same storyboard process over 10 times.. ", Naoyuki nagged.

"Isn't he working on our new collaboration with the game company lately?", Jimin asked.

Naoyuki replied with an annoyed expression, "Yes, but he still managed to complain about every single thing!!"

"I'll have a word with him tomorrow. Don't worry about your next meetings, guys," Jimin said.

"Thank you!!", Naoyuki and HyeJin said gratefully.

"By the way, does Mr. Kim usually complain about such things at every meeting? ", Hyejin asked curiously.

"Yes, he's a perfectionist. Most of the staff in Seoul animation got overwhelmed by his complaints.", Naoyuki said.

"Some people signed out from our company because of him," he continued.

"Why don't you change the CEO position?", HyeJin suggested.

"He's one of the founders of this company; we can't simply change it.", Jimin replied.

"Four years ago, I and Minho were classmates at university. We shared dreams of developing the animation industry in South Korea, so we decided to start our own company with just the two of us. Soon, we met Naoyuki, who came from Japan seeking job opportunities.", Jimin explained

"We noticed his amazing skills so we recruited him to work for us. We started creating simple animations for small companies to promote their products, and soon an underrated comic artist came to us to make an animated adaptation of his comic. Luckily, the animation went viral and our company started to grow rapidly, "Jimin continued.

"I hope that my studio can grow as large as your company, Mr. Han," HyeJin said.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure that this animation will be the best animation we've ever made! Your studio will be growing rapidly after this animation's debut!", Jimin said proudly.

"Moreover, we have the perfectionist Minho. Nothing can stop him from doing everything perfectly!", Naoyuki continued.

"Anyway sorry to interfere, but Mr. Yamada, are you close with Mr. Kim? You seem to call him with his name outside the office.", HyeJin asked curiously.

"Y-you don't need to answer if you're not comfortable though!", HyeJin said.

"Hahaha it's fine. We're quite close outside work. We have known each other for a long time.", Naoyuki replied.

"Naoyuki, Minho and I are close friends outside work. That's why you can easily spot us eating dinner together anytime.", Jimin explained.

"By the way, we've arrived in Gangseo. Which apartment do you live in?", Naoyuki asked.

"I live in a small apartment near Haneul park. I'll guide you along the way as soon as we see the park.", HyeJin replied.

After HyeJin arrived home, she thanked Jimin and Naoyuki and went to sleep directly without checking her schedule for the following day.

Therefore, she was late for the next meeting held for the animation production.

She was woken up by a phone call made by Haruna, "HyeJin, where are you? Are you in traffic?"

"No, I just woke up. What happened?", HyeJin asked.

"We have another meeting today in Seoul Animation, don't you remember?! Come here before Mr. Kim enters the meeting room again!", Haruna said.

"A-ANOTHER MEETING?! It's just 8 in the morning!", HyeJin exclaimed.

"Yes. Another meeting led by Mr. Kim himself, Haruna replied.

"Okay, I'll be there quickly!", HyeJin said while jumping off from her bed.

She rushed out, causing her to forget to tidy her hair up. As she entered the Seoul Animation building, the staff started staring at her weirdly.

"What happened to everyone? Why are they staring at me this way?", HyeJin asked herself.

There was no time for her to check what happened, so she rushed into the lift bumping into a man dressed in a very mysterious outfit, looking similar to the man she met the other day.

"I'm sorry, I'm very sorry. I'm in a hurry.", HyeJin said while bowing.

Because the lift has a mirror, she finally notices that she hasn't tidied her hair up, making her blush as red as a tomato. She instantly tidy her hair up with her hands and groomed her hair. The lift door opened a moment after she fixed her hair.

Minho entered the lift with his bodyguard who was wearing a black suit. "You just woke up, didn't you?", He asked.

HyeJin blushed from embarrassment and instantly tied her hair up. Minho smirked after seeing her reaction and looked away.

During the meeting, Naoyuku proposed to merge the concept of historical and urban romance to attract more audiences and to promote Korean culture. However, HyeJin rejected his idea and wants to keep her original concept from her comic.

"I will be keeping my idea as one of the proposal, I'll list your idea down, since you are the comic artist of the story.", Naoyuki said.

After the meeting ended, Naoyuki wanted everyone to stay in the meeting room just in case Minho rejected the proposals again. However, Minho accepted Naoyuki's idea.

"I like the idea of merging two opposing concepts into one. It's a brilliant idea. Use it as the animation opening.", Minho said.

"How about the urban concept?", Naoyuki asked.

"Isn't it the same concept as what you did yesterday?! It's nothing special!", Minho shouted.

"But the artist wanted to keep the original image of the comic.", Naoyuki said.

"I said no. Otherwise, you could provide me with better proposals for it. I MIGHT approve it.", Minho said with a death stare.

"Okay, Mr. Kim.", Naoyuki said.

"Don't forget to finish it by today, the artist is supposed to be recording today.", Minho said.

"Okay, I'll inform her.", Naoyuki said while leaving his office.

Naoyuki informed HyeJin regarding Minho's decision. HyeJin decided to return to her studio and make more proposals so that her idea will be accepted by Minho.

When HyeJin and Haruna came into the lift, they met the mysterious guy who wore a black mask, black cap, and a black hoodie to cover up his identity.

"I've been meeting this guy quite often lately, he seems so suspicious.", HyeJin whispered.

"I think that he's an idol or a VVIP in this building who wants to keep a low profile.", Haruna whispered.

"Why do you think so positively even in this situation?! What if he is a stalker?", HyeJIn whispered.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that this building is very safe.", Haruna said.

As soon as they exited the lift, many paparazzi and girls were surrounding the mysterious guy, shouting for his name. Who is he?