Chapter 22: Plan Second Shot (Part 1) (First Update)

  First update, seeking recommendations~

  Also, thank you for the rewards from Chongqing Feifei and Xie'e no Hana classmates!

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  KBS TV station, a gray-toned building stands on the bustling Yoido Island, as one of South Korea's three major television stations and the only international broadcasting station. Although its main building is an old-fashioned structure, it still looks grand and majestic. Moreover, next to it is a new building under construction, which will be connected and used together with the existing building once completed. With another annex 2 kilometers away, this setup would make it unmatched even if there were two other equally prominent TV stations left.

  Li Hengmin, who had just entered middle age, drove far and wide to arrive at the building, without giving a second glance at the already familiar structure. He parked his car in the underground parking lot and hastily made his way to the office area.

  This time, the new drama has a huge investment from the TV station, hoping to continue the glory created by "Romantic Full House" more than a month ago. Such expectations naturally also gave him tremendous pressure. Although the new drama has not yet confirmed the start date of filming, everything is still in the pre-production stage, and there are many trivial things to take care of. However, Lee Hyung-min is personally taking charge, not daring to be negligent in the slightest, and every day, like today, he rushes to the TV station early to set up the drama team, host auditions, contact filming locations, and other tasks.

  The TV station was also very satisfied with his attitude, and specially cleared out several conference rooms for the crew to use as offices. By the time Lee Hyung-min arrived, there were already early-rising crew members tidying up inside, and even screenwriter Lee Kyung-hee was sitting at her desk, browsing through the costume designer's designs on her computer.

  "Qing Xi, why so early today?"

  The two people's desks were adjacent, and Li Hengmin casually asked a question before starting to frantically flip through the messy files on his own desk.

  On the other side, Li Qingxi stared at the computer screen, took a sip of coffee after hearing this, and said helplessly: "It's not you, it's like a workaholic every day, making me feel embarrassed to think about resting at home."

  Li Hengmin burst out laughing, without a hint of apology.

  They are not collaborating for the first time, they worked together last year on "The Way to School". The two have a good relationship, unlike many drama teams where the director and screenwriter often clash over power struggles. Lee Hyung-min is low-key and consults with others when making decisions, while Lee Kyung-hee is kind-hearted and gentle by nature, not fond of taking control. With these two working together, the entire team was harmonious and peaceful. After the success of that drama, both parties became familiar with each other and would occasionally exchange jokes. It's because of this harmony that the TV station asked them to collaborate again.

  After a few jokes, they no longer disturbed each other and went about their own business.

  There was an assistant who came ahead of time, and when he saw Li Hengmin arrive, he brought over a cup of coffee. Li Hengmin thanked him, and the assistant turned around to attend to his own matters, but suddenly remembered something and said: "Director, yesterday S.M. company sent over the first song, you left in such a hurry that I didn't have time to tell you, it's on your desk."

  "SM Company?" Lee Hyung-min, who was organizing documents with his head down, was taken aback. Although he had nothing to do with the music industry and didn't usually pay attention, he still knew of a big company like SM. He felt somewhat puzzled, "The production team hasn't even started collecting songs yet, how did they already make an offer? And they didn't even give me a heads up..."

  As I thought, after flipping through the desk, I found a white skin-covered package with a transparent crystal box. It looks simple but is actually very thoughtful CD.

  A few lines of introduction on the white cover with no pictures, including the song name and lyrics writer, singer's Chinese characters, also look very formal.

  "...An Junhe..." Li Hengmin silently read the names of the songwriter and singer, very unfamiliar, had never heard of such a singer, probably not a newcomer, just didn't become popular.

  This also matches his judgment, if it's a popular singer, the brokerage company will definitely contact him specifically to avoid being missed by staff. With this judgment, Li Hengmin lost interest in listening, although the song name sounds good, but such an unknown artist, it's not going to be great for lyrics and singing, even though he is very diligent.

  He casually put down the CD and said to the assistant who was still waiting at the table: "Take it away, let's talk about collecting songs later."

  "Yes." The assistant responded, took a look at the cover, and saw the serious handwriting, silently sighed for this unknown singer, then picked it up and prepared to leave.

  At this time, a voice suddenly came from beside: "Wait a minute, let me take a look at the CD."

  It was written by Li Qingxi and handed over in a hurry by the assistant.

  She adjusted her glasses, took the CD, and felt the thick white cover was very comfortable. Underneath the transparent box, a shiny silver disc lay quietly inside. Her fingers stroked over the song names, and she smiled: "Snow Flower... Nakajima Miyuki's song is also this name, last year my mobile phone ringtone was it."

  Lee Hyung-min, who had no interest in popular songs, went "oh" and his impression dropped a bit, "Intentionally taking the same name to get attention?"

  "It can't be said that way, maybe it's an adaptation." Li Qingxi smiled warmly and opened the cover, putting the CD into the driver. "Anyway, let's listen to it, the child is so serious and formal about handing over the song, if you just put it in a box with one sentence, thinking about it is also quite pitiful."

  She's always been like that, soft-hearted and likes to give newcomers a chance to prove themselves. Last time they collaborated, Zheng Zhiheng was also taken care of by her, otherwise the King of Song and Dance who was still very awkward in acting at the time would have been crushed beyond recognition.

  Li Hengmin shook his head and sighed: "You..."

  "Just listen for a few minutes."

  "Alas... have it your way!"

  With his nod, Li Qingxi pressed the play button, and the soft piano sound floated out.

  The poem is a form of self-expression, like a lonely person walking on a long street at night, recalling the past with his beloved. The scenes are presented before his eyes as the snow falls. As the melody progresses, the world in the lyrics gradually turns white, and the memories reach a climax. Suddenly, the thick high-pitched sound expresses the pain and longing in the singer's heart, finally transforming into a deep and unchanging love, hoping to forever guard her side and accompany her.

  This is a song suitable for quiet listening, originally impatient Li Hengmin has already forgotten what he was doing with his hands, staring blankly at the desktop, thinking about something. Only Li Qingxi, who had a good heart for a moment, also forgot about the gradually cold coffee on her lips, and her eyes shone with an unusual light.

  Unlike others, she who had heard the original song was more deeply moved by it and what surprised her even more was that the love expressed in the song was just like the uncle and stone in her writings.

  Doesn't Wuhe, who knows that his life will come to an end at any time, also bid farewell to the one he loves like a lonely person in the poem, and only realized his feelings for her at the last moment, asking God to fulfill them? Shi Tou is the same. When she knew that Wuhe had left forever, she wandered along the long street like that lonely person, looking at those familiar scenes, and the past pictures came one after another. In the end, she decided to stay with him forever and die in front of his grave.

  Is this not what she wanted - such profound and suffocating pain that even breathing feels difficult, yet still lingering like flowing water?

  As soon as the song was over, she put down the cup in her hand heavily and said to Lee Hyun-min, who was looking at her with a stunned expression after hearing the sound: "Hyun-min, tell S.M. company that I want this song!"

  …………

  The song has been passed on for two days already.

  In the dance studio, An Junhe lay on the floor after practice, silently staring at the ceiling. The soft light from above illuminated the room with a calm and serene atmosphere. The air conditioner in the corner hummed, disturbing his already restless mind.

  Although he believed that "Snow Flower" would be selected, he was still a little nervous in his heart. In the real world, unexpected events are never lacking, and maybe just a small change, everything will become unrecognizable. With the company's current coldness, this debut opportunity is too important, if he fails, apart from paying the penalty to leave S.M, he basically can't think about stepping onto the stage again, the company will mock his overconfidence and then severely suppress him as punishment for wanting "freedom".

  But he doesn't regret his choice. Given his personality, it would be strange for him to be willing to be manipulated by others. The concept of "autonomy" does not allow for even a little compromise.

  A string of thoughts surged up in his mind, only to be suppressed by his calm rationality. He stood there, dazed and distracted, until the sunlight filtering through the gap in the curtains began to fade. Suddenly, the phone in his backpack on the wall corner rang out.

  An Junhe stood up and flipped out his mobile phone, the name displayed on the screen was Quan Baogen.

  He suddenly had a movement in his heart, and Quan Baogen called over at this time. Could it be...? He thought, hastily pressing the answer button. As soon as he finished greeting, Quan Baogen shouted on the other end: "Junhe! Junhe! Your song has been selected, it's really been selected!"

  Listening to this piercing roar, An Junhe's heart was relieved, and he let out a long breath of relief, surging with joy:

  Nothing unexpected happened, at least, the song's release date can be confirmed!

  On the phone, Quan Baogen was still shouting: "Just now, the crew called me and said that your 'Snow Flower' has been confirmed as the theme song. They want you to take some time to record it formally... We succeeded, Junhe, we succeeded, hahaha..."

  He laughed hysterically, his voice full of relief. These days, he had been under more pressure than An Junhe. If An Junhe failed, he could still join another company with his skills, but he couldn't. He was brought up by Li Xiufull himself, and if he left, it would be equivalent to betrayal. That tyrant would definitely destroy him without any regard for sentiment, leaving no room for negotiation. And if he didn't leave, his career would basically be over. Being able to continue as the department head would already be a favor from the company president out of nostalgia.

  Imagining his discomfited appearance, An Junhe's mouth corners curled up into a faint smile.

  Yes, it was a success... but only in song and story. Now that the song has been chosen, we can proceed to the next step.

  He casually comforted Quan Baogen with a few words, hung up the phone and dialed another number. "Brother, my song has been approved... Now, I can use the investor's identity to let the crew send me an audition notice... No need to pay too much attention, just mention it, and our company will also help with public relations, hehe, the return is in sight, they have to make some effort..."

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