Makoto stared suspiciously as Minami waltzed in, perkier than ever and practically beaming sunrays. "Aren't you chipper this morning. Did something good happen?" He eyed her up and down, her demeaner had changed, her entire body seemed to move differently, like there was a skip in her step.
"Mhmm! Do you want to know?" She held a finger to her lips, noting to him that she had a secret she was keeping. Her hair was in a high, curled ponytail held together with a cat clip. Her white and grey pleated cotton skirt which was adorned with pearls and ribbons was paired perfectly with her baby pink crop top and white jacket.
"Do you think you should be keeping secrets from your boss?" He answered, irritated that she wouldn't instantly tell him, "Do you think we have such a friendly relationship?" He thought back to the night he took her home, when he had seen a hooded figure hanging around her apartment. Surely, what he thought was going on, wasn't going on right?
Minami pouted, "Aren't we? Are we not friends? Hmm…isn't it normal for employees to keep secrets from their boss? I think most people only tell their friends their secrets…"
He scoffed, "Should I tell you what my suspicions are? Would you like to be fired? You're behaving inappropriately. This is a workplace, not a friendly gathering!" He slammed his hands against his desk, causing everyone else in the office to jump and look over. "Now, sit down!"
Minami flinched and quickly got in her seat. He'd never acted like that before. All throughout their late night sessions and work days prior to now, he had been extremely friendly with her. They'd laughed and made jokes, he'd talked about the other artists and staff members to her, voiced his complaints and frustrations, and even talked about his love life with her. Were they not considered friends?
It was only now that she was starting the debut process that he seemed to be angry and frustrated with her, exploding in anger every now and then. Had it been this way with the other idols? Was he talking badly about her now too? Now that she wasn't pleasing him? Was her job on the line? Would he give her debut to the next girl that came along?
Suddenly, she was filled with many worries that she hadn't had before.
"Umm….first, I'd like to ask you something if that's okay…" She pulled her phone out of her bag and clutched it nervously, her leg bouncing along with her looming anxiety.
"Proceed." His tone was curt. He looked extremely irritated with her. In fact, he was. He suspected she had a boyfriend. He'd seen her texting from her phone with an unusual smile during breaks and had taken a glance at the recipient's name.
That night, when he saw the hooded figure outside of her apartment, he had waited around the corner for a few minutes before glancing back. The figure had disappeared in that time and it was perfectly plausible to say he had just left, or entered an apartment of his own, but he suspected that this wasn't the case. This was the man Minami had been texting and possibly seeing, and he suspected that he entered her apartment and….he felt irritated just thinking about it.
He'd thought she was serious about this job, he thought she wasn't like the others, he could see that she could soar the highest, and he believed she had the drive to do that. His leg too, began bouncing, although his in irritation.
"When can I announce that I'm under SUN MEDIA? When can I say that I've signed the contract?" She'd signed the contract shortly after they recording the guide for Smile Days. It had taken a few days to draw up, but she had signed it as soon as it was given to her without hesitation. But, Makoto had not let her say anywhere that she was preparing her debut or that she had signed it at all.
He pursed his lips, "Haven't we been over this already?"
"I….I'm doing really well to the public, so isn't it good to announce that I'm debuting with you? No one else has anything scheduled right now either so, I think it would be a good time to announce it." She bit her lip, nervous to be yelled at.
"Absolutely not. We need to keep the mystery, make people fall in love with you a little bit more, make them feel like they are truly following your path to success, the road to your dream. It will drive hype if we announce your debut single and then announce that you're a SUN MEDIA artist. Then people will also check out the company and that will drive our brand as well."
She looked down with disappointment, "Oh."
That was only part of it. Now, he was nervous to announce she was under his company. She's most likely romantically seeing someone. What if they announced it and then some paparazzi started following her around, taking photos of her and her boyfriend. He could see the headlines now,
'SUN MEDIA ARTIST MINA CAUGHT WITH BOYFRIEND – RIGHT AT DEBUT!'
He shook his head trying to discard those thoughts. He would just need to make it clear to her that a boyfriend is not part of the deal.
"Now, what is your secret?" He was terribly nervous. Part of him wanted her to admit it to him in full so he could set her straight, but the other part wanted to be mistaken, maybe it was just that she'd done something stupid online and had gained some more followers.
He glanced toward his computer screen. Should he look it up really quick?
"Well…" she tapped away at her phone and pulled up a screen, turning it to Makoto for him to read for himself.
He grabbed the phone out of her hands and began reading. It read,
'Hello Minami, I am the CEO of Happy Wave Entertainment. We have seen your videos online and we are interested in offering you a contract. Would you be interested in coming in for an official audition? Please visit our website here for further information and label your audition with your name and account name.'
Happy Wave Entertainment? They were one of the biggest companies in the country. They were also home to the solo artist, "RISE", whom Makoto had become well known for working with. Happy Wave Entertainment didn't only market idols and almost anyone under their agency became a big name.
"You should audition." He handed the phone back to her.
"Wh-what?" Minami stared at him, completely baffled at what he was telling her. She was just excited that someone of such a big agency had taken interest in her, she wouldn't have ever thought that Makoto would urge her to audition.
Her heart began to race. Was he encouraging her to audition because he was going to drop her? Was it as a favor for the good work she'd done so far? It suddenly felt like her heart was beating violently in her stomach and a lump formed in her throat, she felt like she was going to throw up.
"I said, you should audition." He repeated.
She gulped hard, trying to push the feeling down, "Why would I audition…I'm already signed with you…"
Her heart began beating harder and harder and for a moment she thought she may just have a heart attack. Her mind started racing too, as if trying to defeat her heart in some sort of derby. 'Please don't say it, please don't say it.'
She could practically hear him saying, 'You're fired.' In fact, those very words, which he did not even say, were echoing in her ears.
Her heart beat racing alongside her mind, the sound of her thumping heart alongside his words in her ears, the hungry growling of her stomach along with the urge to throw up, it was like her body was competing and battling itself. Suddenly, she felt dizzy.
"Yes, but, it will look really good for us if you're able to say that you passed their auditions and decided to reject them. Imagine this, you're on a variety show, you're promoting your song, they start asking you about yourself. You say, you've auditioned for the one and only Happy Wave Entertainment. Everyone is wowed, not just anyone can sign with that agency. You then say that you passed the auditions but decided to sign with us instead. Then you talk us up and talk about how our values aligned better. How great will we look? How great will YOU look? Having so much control and talent to reject the un-rejectable?"
Minami sighed in relief, although her body wasn't calming down at all. "It'll make me look very desirable, and as a result, SUN MEDIA will only rise…"
Makoto nodded, "We'll use your debut song as your audition. Now shoo." He fluttered his hand at her, indicating it was time to go.
"Why is he always making special time for her?"
"What other CEO do you know that practically has their desk open 24/7 for someone like that?"
"How old is she?"
"She's 17…."
"She's going to be 18 soon though…"
"That's weird…"
Minami heard the whispers of the other employees as she exited. Was it weird? Was that kind of thing not normal? She found herself starting to panic again and ran out of the building as fast as she could.
As she exited, she ran around the corner and placed a hand on the wall, gasping for air. She felt light headed, and she started to see little stars flying around. She blinked rapidly, trying to make them go away, but they only intensified, darkness overcoming her.
Her body felt as light as air and felt as though it was becoming one with the wind, when suddenly…..
THUMP!