In the afternoon, Hyunwoo headed back to the office of Ani & Funny then got off work timed with Suji’s getting off work for the day.

As a gentle reminder, Kyungsu said to Hyunwoo, “You know that Jinhon is appearing on TV tonight, right? We’re going to watch it in the office.”

Of course, Hyunwoo didn’t forget. He had been looking forward to today for several days.

“Sure, I know that. You said it would be on air at 7:30 pm, right? Let me come back to the office after a quick dinner.”

“Oh, you don’t have to. Please have a good time with your sweetheart!.”

Hyunwoo grinned at that. As a matter of fact, he had no time to date even if he wanted to. When Hyunwoo was free, she had to go back to her office because of some other work at night, and when Sujin was free, Hyunwoo often had an appointment.

That’s why their dinner meeting was the only occasion for their dates.

Suji left the office on time and met Hyunwoo nearby.

Then, they went to a restaurant for dinner.

Hyunwoo was eating a little faster than usual in spite of himself.

Leering at him, Suji asked, “You’re eating too fast, honey.”

Hyunwoo made an awkward smile, but couldn’t tell her why, “Well, I am usually a quick eater.”

“Try to form the habit of eating slowly. And it is good manners to adjust your eating pace to a woman’s.”

“Oh, got it, Suji. Let me eat slowly.”

It took more than an hour to have dinner. Originally, he planned to have tea but couldn’t.

In the meantime, Suji was relaxed as she didn’t have to work that night. She even called him for a date today.

“How about some beer? Let me treat you today.”

But Hyunwoo hesitated to reply, scratching his head, “Sorry, but my staff is waiting for me now. I have to go back.”

“Again? Are you stuck in the office all the time like this? You are not directly involved in animation production, aren’t you?”

She was right. As he had no knowledge of the technical aspects of animation, he wasn’t involved at all. He only paid attention to managing the overall direction or making the final decision on the animation business.

But today was a special day for Hyunwoo.

“I told you about this before. Today Jinhon and Angela appear on TV for the first time. I have told my staff I’ll be joining them to watch the show.”

“Why are you going back to the office to watch the show? As president, you can tell them that you can’t come. Who would take issue with that?”

When Hyunwoo hesitated to reply, Suji carefully examined his attitude as if he could really call them to say he couldn’t come.

Grinning a bit, Hyunwoo took out his cell phone and said, “Okay, then. Let me break my promise with them.”

But Suji quickly reached out her hand to stop him, “That’s enough. Just go and watch the show with them. Next time, promise me to watch it with me, okay?”

“I’d love to watch tonight’s show with you Suji. Let me just call them.”

“Oh, no. You said you promised you would come back,” said she, frowning at him playfully. Still, she felt happy as she confirmed he was sincere.

Hyunwoo appreciated her deep consideration. In fact, he felt sorry to her as he could not take time out for dating even during the weekend these days.

Recently, he was so overworked. He was up to his neck in the business of Ani & Funny and N&C Korea, let alone taking care of Jinhon and Angela.

He had to travel to Seoul three times a week for a business trip and had drinking parties late into the night.

As for Hyunwoo’s overworking, Suji had some painful memories of her father in the same vein. Her father almost exclusively focused on his own research, giving up his family for many years.

It was only natural that Suji had complaints about Hyunwoo who concentrated on work instead of going on dates with her more often. Still, she was really trying hard to understand Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo appreciated her so much for that.

He wrapped her face with both hands and said, “Soon your new house will be completed. You can see me anytime, right? Let me drive you to your office every day.”

Opening her eyes wide, she asked, “Really?”

“Of course. But I’ve got one condition.”

“What is that? Do you have to attach a condition?”

“Absolutely. I have to,” said he with a smile.

“What is it?”

“A kiss in return for your ride fee.”

Suji broke into laughter and said, “Got it. You’ll be late. Rush back to the office.”

“No, no. Let me drive you back to your home. I’ve got some free time.”

Hyunwoo gave her a ride back home and then went back to the office.

It was before 8 pm, fortunately.

When Hyunwoo came in, Jihun waved at him, “Come here quickly, sir.”

Tilting his head, Hyunwoo went to him and watched the monitor.

“Look at this. Finally, it recorded 5 million visits!”

Hyunwoo instantly found out what Jihun was trying to say. Obviously, it was Garbage World now running on Story Mecca as a series. Though it was only a two-minute video, it was the most popular. The upward trend in the number of visitors was stunning.

What’s more encouraging was there was an explosive increase in replies in foreign languages like English, Japanese and Chinese. That meant Duckling Fly was now gaining popularity overseas.

Thanks to the great success of Garbage World, the hits of Tuti & Angelica also exceeded 7 million.

Jihun asked nervously, “When are we switching to a paid subscription band?”

Given the current hits, he could make big profits with the switch, but Hyunwoo was still opposed to it. He had a bigger goal.

“Let’s wait for a couple of months. If I don’t achieve the goal by then, let me switch.”

“Alright. By the way, the Music Count program just started,” said Jihun, pointing to the Korea Broadcasting program.

Though he didn’t watch it before, he felt the program was pretty affectionate.

In retrospect, it was a series of tense momens to Hyunwoo.

As soon as he signed the contract with Jinyoung Paek, he took out 500 million in loans. Though Jinyoung needed 200 million won, for now, Hyunwoo borrowed more from because he felt he would spend more on Ani & Funny and KOVE DREAM.

Jinyoung could not possess the money in his bank account as the debtors were after him. So, he made an account under Hyunwoo’s name and used the card.

Jinhon stopped attending the alternative school. As it was not a recognized school, there was no point in graduating. What mattered to him was that he spent school days with the friends who saw eye to eye in terms of their music careers.

Several days later, Angela arrived in Korea.

Instead of coming to Ansan she was picked up by Jinyoung and went to Seoul. Jinyoung already arranged for her to appear on Music Count with Jinhon.

Several days after Angela arrived, she and Jinhon appeared on TV together for the first time. It was a teaser on the Music Count.

Their ‘Duckling Fly’ music video was all the rage even on TV. The teaser promoted them as rising stars, predicting they would come out of the closet and make a debut on Music Count.

The TV watchers’ reaction was hot. Not only the bulletin boards of Music Count but also all the internet music sites were overflowing with favorable replies to Duckling Fly.

Watching their hot reaction, Hyunwoo felt Music Count was really influential. There was a reason why Music Count promoted Jinhon and Angela.

About 20 minutes into the program, the idol singers who were hosting the show introduced Jinhon and Angela.

“Now, what’s the next song?”

“Can you give me any hint?”

“It’s all the rage on Youtube these days.”

“Oh my god! It must be Duckling Fly…”

“Yes, that’s right. Today Duckling Fly came out of the closet. For the first time Music Count today introduces the duet of the song. Jinhon Kwak and Angela singing Duckling Fly!”

As soon as the introduction was over, the lights were out and a large screen image was on.

Right away, there came the drumming milk bottle, which was unique and refreshing.

Then, a great cheer came from the crowds.

At the same time, Jinhon and Angela came to the stage from behind.

Hyunwoo and the staff fixed their eyes on them breathlessly.

In particular, Hyunwoo was so nervous, folding his arms as if he were praying earnestly.

But Jinhon and Angela on the stage were far from tense. They were just enjoying as much as they could on the stage without caring at all.