Bab 10: Ch 09: SUN MEDIA
"I really wanted to debut as an idol, but people kept telling me I was not good enough, that I wasn't pretty enough, that I wasn't talented enough. I went on so many auditions and over and over again I was rejected. Everyone said, 'If you put in enough work, you can achieve anything.' So why could I not achieve this, the thing I craved the most?"
★ ★ ★
"17 years old, Ishihara Minami. That's you?"
Her style had changed in the past two years since Carrot Star's disastrous concert. She was no longer wearing skirts but instead wore a tight white t-shirt and black ripped jeans. She was much thinner than before, having lost a lot of weight from the anxiety of the situation with Kissiks and the amount of hate she'd received from it. She had deleted her accounts since then and made new ones under an alias but she only used them to browse other people's accounts. Her skin had cleared up and she started wearing light makeup as opposed to going completely bare before. She'd also cut her hair and kept it in low mini pigtails which showed off her newly pierced ears.
"Yes." Minami nodded. She sat up straight with her hands clasped in her lap, staring at the man in front of her. He was somewhere in his 40's with shoulder-length hair and a beard. He wore a long-sleeved dress shirt, black vest and black dress pants.
His name was Takada Makoto, a popular composer who had just opened up his own talent agency, SUN MEDIA. He had worked with a few big names prior but seemed mostly popular for his work with the solo artist "RISE". Despite having a comfortable life with a few perks, he decided to start from scratch and open up his own agency.
He created a girl group the previous year called SUN GIRLS who had released a few singles and were starting to soar on tv shows. A few months ago, he signed his second girl group, Smile Days, who had only released a few digital singles. While there were currently no plans for their official debut single, the group was doing well in gaining a following through busking performances and online activities.
The male rubbed his chin and inspected her from head to toe before looking over her resume. "You just graduated high school and have no experience. Why would I hire you as opposed to someone that is more capable?"
"You could hire someone that is more capable, but will they necessarily work well with you? Will they have habits that bother you? I have the capability of learning, and you can completely mold me. Your habits will become my habits, my quality will be your quality, because I will learn directly from you and you can teach me however you want things to be done." She didn't smile, she didn't wink, she sat there straight up, hands still clasped in her lap, a strange air surrounding that was not one of confidence but was also not one of timidness either.
He was intrigued, "That does sound nice, but what makes you think I have the time to teach you?"
"I did my research on this company. You're new and while I know you're a very big name yourself, your company is still up and coming. Your office is not very big," she motioned to the space that housed his desk, a sitting area and a few cubicles in the middle, "and there's not very many staff. Despite that, you already have two artists-"
He held up his hand and scoffed, "Exactly, even you're making it sound like my hands are full. I need someone that can already do that job."
"You're mistaken. You already have two artists that you're doing everything for. You're already doing it. I can shadow you and learn from you while you're already taking care of the things you're already doing. Or, you can hire someone else with more experience, like you've already stated, and have them get in your way and annoy you, do things wrong and then come to the conclusion that it would've been better if you had just done it all yourself to begin with."
Her expression remained unwavered.
He smiled. It was refreshing to see such an attitude in such a young person. "17 years old, huh?" He raised his eyebrows as he laughed. She nodded in response.
"Okay, you're hired. But! Only on a trial basis. If you bother me or get in my way, you're out of here, god it?"
"Sir, yes sir!" She gave him a salute before standing up and bowing, "Thank you for giving me the opportunity. I won't let you down."
"I'll see you tomorrow. 5:00am, sharp." He started to look through documents and didn't make eye contact with her.
She nodded and exited the building.
He looked up and watched her leave. He bit his lip and rubbed his chain, "This could be interesting….very interesting indeed." He turned to his computer screen and stared at the paused video – a video of Minami performing at Carrot Star's concert. "Ishihara Minami. I wonder what you'll be able to do for me…"
★ ★ ★
Naoto and Akina pulled on the strings of poppers, causing confetti to fly into the air and onto Minami. "Congratulations!" they yelled in unity.
Minami smiled and sat down on the beige leather couch in Naoto's living room. "Thanks you guys! This is really so sweet." She looked around the room. There were paper streamers decorating the tops of the walls in various colors, transparent LED balloons hugged the ceiling and tickled the floor with their strings and a large sign that said 'CONGRATULATIONS' was spread on the wall across from the couch.
The coffee table was filled with various cut up fruits and snacks, along with a pink strawberry short cake and a large pitcher of lemonade. Tears welled up in her eyes and she quickly wiped them away, "I don't know why I'm crying…" she laughed lightly.
Naoto rubbed the top of her head and laughed, "Still a crybaby huh?"
"At least they're happy tears this time! I assume!" Akina smiled and pulled out two wrapped boxes from the closet. "Maybe you should get her some tissues Naoto? I think she'll lose it in a second." She trotted over to the couch and sat next to Minami, handing her a glittery pink wrapped box.
"They are happy tears, but what is this?" Minami tilted her head and gently dabbed at the skin under her eyes to try and dry them before gently grabbing the box.
"A gift to celebrate your new job!" Akina scooted closer to Minami and smiled wide, clasping her hands together in anticipation.
Minami gently tore away at the wrapping paper and opened up the box underneath. Inside was a baby blue notebook with a cat and biscuits on decorating it. It had the words 'HAPPY DAY!' written on it. Minami frowned and pushed her bottom lip outward, "This is so cute! You didn't have to get me anything though!" She pulled Akina into a hug.
Akina rubbed her back, "But I wanted to! You deserve it after everything you've been through. Anyways, I thought you could use it for your lyrics and stuff. I mean, I don't know if you still do that, but if you do then you could use it for that, or use it for something else, it's yours, you can do whatever you want with it!"
Minami smiled and gave her a tight squeeze. She didn't write lyrics anymore, not since she failed her last audition a few months ago, but she would definitely find a use for it.
Naoto pulled them apart and grabbed the other box which was wrapped in a silver iridescent wrapping paper. He sat on the other side of Minami and handed her the gift, "Now, it's my turn."
"Ooohhh sparkly~" Minami's eyes light up at the sight of the paper.
"Mhmm, I know you like your sparkles, now open it up."
Minami took extra care in opening the gift from Naoto. "Just rip it!" he urged.
"No! I want to save it! It's so pretty!"
"I have a WHOLE roll of it you can have, just tear it!"
"Fine." Minami ripped it open and opened up the box. A coral colored planner with mint colored boarders that said 'Everything will be alright!'
She flipped through it, it had a calendar a place for notes and the back even had various stickers to help keep yourself organized.
Naoto scratched the back of his head, "I know blue is your color but I remembered you used to really like that mint dress you used to have….but I couldn't find anything in that color besides this…"
Minami stared at it in silence for a while. Naoto cleared his throat, "I can return it if you want, it's not a problem."
She jumped in his lap and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "No! I love it! I'm going to use it every day!"
He smiled and kissed the top of her head without thinking. She stared up at him, her cheeks red from blushing, an inquisitive look across her face.
Naoto cleared his throat awkwardly and gently pushed her off his lap. "I'll go get you the wrapping paper roll…."
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Thalia_Ilace
Thalia_Ilace Dear readers, do you have someone you like? What do you do when you're interested in that person?
I kept asking him questions like "What kind of girl do you like?" "What are you attracted to?" "I'm asking because my friend wants to know, how does a girl win a guy's heart?" "Do you have a girlfriend?"
He told me after many years of this, "You were really obvious with all your questions. You weren't subtle at all." Haha! (holds back tears)
- Thalia
Hadiah
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