Producer's Corner

Chapter 8

A/N: I didn't change this chapter a whole lot, like the previous chapters. It's only slightly edited to fix what I changed. Just a heads up: I know absolutely nothing about contracts, NDAs, producing, or songwriting. So don't expect much in that area. I did try researching about producing and what people use, but it was very confusing. I'm also not going to be using proper Korean honorifics.
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I don't got this.

I don't got this.

There, in front of HIGHGRND, stands a nervous producer. Kiki stands there, fidgeting with her fingers, whispering comforting words to herself.

Taking a deep breath, she moves forward, opening the door with shaky hands.

Walking into the main lobby, Kiki's eyes admire the modern but simple design of the first floor.

Kiki hesitantly walks toward the desk, her eyes landing on the receptionist's desk.

Nervously meeting the receptionist's eyes, Kiki starts, "H-hello. I'm here for a meeting with Offonoff."

The receptionist lazily scans Kiki up and down. Tiredly sighing, she asks, "Who are you?"

Eyes not meeting the lady, Kiki softly says, "I'm Producer's Corner. I'm here to talk to Seo Jiho and Kim Heesu about a collaboration."

The receptionist scoffs. "You're telling me that you, a girl, are the up-and-coming mysterious producer in the industry."

Shrinking under the sudden glare, Kiki looks toward the floor.

Colde's P.O.V~

Sitting in one of the many meeting rooms, I look up at the clock slowly ticking away, 2:10.

Where is she? I did say 2 p.m., right?

Deciding that he should go down to the main lobby, Heesu gets up, turning his focus to his friend and manager, "I'm going to go check if Producer's Corner is here yet." Getting two affirmative nods, he heads to the elevator.

I wonder if she is okay.

Finally arriving on the main floor, Heesu heads towards the receptionist's desk.

Quirking an eyebrow at the sight in front of him, confusion makes its way across his face.

Standing a few feet away was a girl who was obviously nervous. The receptionist lady stood in front of the girl, clearly annoyed.

Is that who Producer's Corner is?

She's very pretty.

She seems antisocial.

Why is the receptionist lady annoyed?

Deciding to interfere, Heesu makes his presence known.

"Ehem."

Kiki's P.O.V~

Slowly turning my head, there stood Kim Heesu. Kiki looks up at the clock above the desk and wonders why she was in the main lobby.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Crap, I'm late!

"I- uh. Hi Colde."

"Hello, I'm assuming you're Producer's Corner?"

"Yes, I am. I am so sorry for being late." Kiki says avoiding eye contact with Heesu.

Heesu walks up to the reception desk, scanning over the lady, and asks, "Why didn't you let her up?"

The receptionist lady rolls her eyes and says, "Why are you believing that this lady is from Producer's Corner? Do you seriously believe her?"

"Yes. Just a week ago, I talked on the phone with her, saying that we have a collaboration meeting for details today at 2 p.m."

The lady scoffed, "How was I supposed to know? No one told me, especially since the producer was female, or what their name was. "

Why is she being so sexist?

Is it really that rare to see non-male producers?

At this point, I'm just being a burden.

Kiki anxiously looks at the receptionist and Colde.

Nervously cutting into the conversation, "U-uhm, now that Colde is here, can we move up to the meeting room and go over details of the NDA?"

Sighing, Heesu looks over at Kiki and says, "Of course, I'm so sorry that our receptionist is being illogical and sexist. We can go now."

The receptionist snapped her head towards Heesu and said, "Excuse me! That is so rud-"

Heesu lightly grabs Kiki's wrist and pulls her toward the elevators.

Stepping into the elevator, Heesu finally breaks the awkward silence.

"I am so sorry about her. I'm definitely going to talk to my boss about her."

Kiki looks at Colde, surprised, and says, "No-no. It's fine, I should have been more specific."

"Anyway, I'm Colde, but you can call me Heesu," Heesu softly chuckles. You are very pretty, by the way."

Stumbling over her words, Kiki flusteredly says, "Oh, my goodness, I never properly introduced myself. I'm Jeung Ki, but you can call me Kiki. And I'm 23."

Amusingly watching Kiki stumble over her words, Heesu says, "It's alright, it wasn't our best introduction. Anyway, you're kind of younger than I thought you were going to be."

Kiki can visibly see Heesu scan her appearance.

Finally reaching their destination, the elevator door opens. Heesu steps out first.

"So when we get to the meeting room, it's only going to be 0Channel, me, and our manager. We're going to go over the NDA and contract. You'll also make requests for what you want and the conditions." Heesu looks at Kiki.

Sighing in relief, she said, "Oh, that's good. I thought I was going to have to talk in front of a bigger audience."

Chuckling slightly, "Not good with crowds?"

"A-actually not a fan of interactions in general. I'm very anti-social, and I hate being in the spotlight; that's kind of why no one knows who I am."

"Oh? Then why are you collaborating with me?"

"Oh, uh, because of my morals and friends. They thought it would be beneficial for me to broaden my horizons and interact with new people.

Arriving at the meeting room, Heesu opens the door and gestures for Kiki to walk in first.

Hesitantly walking into the room, she looks around, spotting a long table sitting in the middle of the room with two men sitting in a few of the many chairs.

Walking towards the table, Kiki stops at the end and looks back at Colde.

"You can introduce yourself. The man you probably don't recognize is my manager." He notices how lost Kiki looks.

At the sudden voice, the two men looked up to find Colde and a woman.

Standing up, he slightly bows. "Hello. You must be Producer's Corner. I'm Offonoff's manager." (The manager doesn't get a name)

"Hello. Yes, I am. The main and only producer. My name is Jeung Ki, but you can call me Kiki." She says this while bowing.

Taken aback by the sudden information, the three take a moment to respond to her introduction.

0Channel rises to bow. "Hello, I'm 0Channel but you can call me Jiho." Bowing back, Kiki takes a seat in a chair across from the three. "I, we, had no idea Producer's Corner was a one-man show. We thought there was a producing team, with how often you post."

Smiling slightly at the comment, Kiki brushes it off. "Actually, I do have a very small social media and contacting team. But the production itself is all done by me. I see that theory often." She finishes off, fidgeting with her fingers.

Jumping into the conversation, the manager continues. "You seem younger than I thought... In any case, welcome to HIGHGRND. We'll start off with your conditions, like the ones you mentioned in the email. Then we'll work off of that."

Kiki nervously nods and pulls out her notebook.

"Everything that I plan on mentioning is in this notebook. Would you like me to explain everything, or would you like to look through the book and ask questions?"

Heesu speaks up for the first time since they entered the room: "How about both? We'll skim through the notebook while you explain."

Kiki looks at the manager. He gives a slight nod, and with that, Kiki slides the notebook over.

"Just a heads up, it's not written like an essay, more like a bunch of bullet points and small explanations."

Nodding their heads, they pick up the notebook and start reading the first page.

"You can start explaining." Jiho glances at Kiki.

"R-right. First of all, these will be the same conditions for any other artist I plan on working with. I mentioned in the email that I don't want Offonoff to promote the song until the day it's released."

"Right, why is that?" The manager asked, looking up from the notebook.

"Because on my channel, it's one of my concepts. Once a week, I release something. No one knows when or what it's going to be. Aside from the fact that I only release on Fridays, I would like to keep this pattern for future projects. It keeps fans wanting more and willing to stick around for a while, especially if they enjoy my music."

The manager looks pleased with the reasoning and asks for Kiki to continue.

"Another thing I mentioned in the email is that the song won't be featured on any albums and will only be on Spotify and my YouTube channel. I asked for this because I want the song we create to be completely different than their other songs, with a completely different concept or sound."

"I'm personally fine with this condition. The whole idea of this collaboration is really cool and would probably help your channel grow." Colde agrees with a slight nod of her head.

"All right, now that everything related to the song is essentially over, the NDA. I don't want anything about me mentioned, not in interviews or YouTube videos, not if you're asked how it was working with me. And maybe not to anyone who doesn't need to know that I'm at the company. You can tell your security guards as well. Don't say a detail about me—my name, gender, age, height, personality, or the fact that I'm only one producer. You might have to get this approved by YG and the other board members, but I'm willing to go through that and wait. I just want to stay anonymous."

"Wow. You really do not want to be in the spotlight." Jiho says, in slight shock. He knew Kiki was anti-social and didn't want to be known, but this is next level mysterious.

"Not why I became a producer." Kiki gains a small smile on her face.

The notebook now on the table, the manager goes over the NDA for Offonoff.

"We agree with the conditions and everything that's expected."

Both Jiho and Heesu smile widely. "I can't wait to work with the infamous Producer's Corner!"

"I can't wait either," Kiki says, her smile the widest in a long time (and also the most genuine). "I'll see you both next week."

"Of course, till next time." This time, the manager waves goodbye.

Walking out of the building, with a new path ahead of her, Kiki makes her way home.
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Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you have a great morning, day, or night! (This chapter has been edited)

Word Count(not including a/n): 1,707

Character Count: 9,488