Arriving at the MNO Entertainment building, Sol-woo immediately noticed two men of considerable height and impeccable build positioned as security guards at the entrance. The moment they saw the manager approaching, both snapped to attention and greeted him with a respect so deep they were one step away from calling him "Master."
Kang Tae-shik paused briefly and made the introductions:
"Sol-woo-ssi, these two are the new security staff. If you ever have an urgent matter or run into any trouble on the premises, you can go directly to them."
Sol-woo gave a formal bow to both. The two men were visibly surprised by the young man’s humble and approachable manner, rushing to return the bow with marked politeness. The industry’s prevailing assumption was that most aspiring idols tended toward arrogance — Sol-woo’s first impression dismantled that entirely.
The manager and the young man pushed through the glass door. There, in the main lobby, mounted on an elegant partition wall, a large welcome sign caught the eye:
"Welcome, singer-songwriter: Kang Sol-woo. MNO welcomes you. May your career flourish alongside this company."
Sol-woo took it in with a genuine spark of emotion. A warm, sincere smile spread across his face.
Director Yoon, catching the faint sound of movement from the hallway, stepped out of his office alongside Shinsadong Tiger. Seeing the young man’s expression, the director felt a deep satisfaction and asked with enthusiasm:
"Did you like the touch, Sol-woo-ssi?"
Sol-woo nodded, answering with genuine gratitude:
"Thank you for this welcome, PD-nim. I promise I won’t let you down."
Shinsadong Tiger, who found himself liking the young man more with every exchange, stepped over and gave him a warm pat on the shoulder:
"Come inside. We have fresh developments from Nate Pann."
The four of them headed to the meeting room. Inside, a woman with a casual but distinctly refined style — who looked to be around twenty-five — was focused on a laptop screen. The moment she saw the artist walk in, she stood immediately with complete composure.
"Hi, I’m Han Ji-soo," she said, executing a flawless bow. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sol-woo-ssi."
Caught off guard by the woman’s impeccable etiquette, Sol-woo did his best to mirror the formal Korean greeting — but the movement came out stiff and slightly off.
A quiet, collective breath moved through the room before everyone broke into brief, warm laughter. It struck all of them as an entirely human and endearing moment. Ji-soo smiled genuinely and brushed it off with ease:
"Don’t worry about it. You’ll ease into the protocol naturally — it takes time."
Tae-shik, always pragmatic and slightly impatient with pacing, cut in with his characteristic dry tone:
"Let’s get to the point. Show us the information — I still need to take Sol-woo to his new apartment after this."
Ji-soo nodded and turned her laptop screen toward the center of the table:
"While Sol-woo was at Hongdae plaza, several passersby took photographs of him. There are specifically three images circulating with fairly good quality — one of him in profile as he walked, and two others showing him seated on the steps with another young man." She paused — a reference to Ji-hoon. "The forum quickly connected the dots and concluded that the striking-looking stranger spotted in Hongdae was the same person who’d uploaded the YouTube video. That’s why the Nate Pann thread exploded within hours."
Ji-soo scrolled down to show the wave of comments multiplying on the screen by the second:
"Is that kid a hidden SM Entertainment trainee? Where are the talent scouts patrolling Hongdae? I can’t believe they let someone like this slip through..."
"SM only notices kids with golden backgrounds, as usual. JYP or even Big Hit would be a better fit — hopefully some agency signs him fast before he goes back to his country."
"Look at his face closely... he’s not 100% Korean, is he? You can tell right away he’s mixed or foreign."
To that last comment, a user had replied immediately in his defense:
"And what does it matter if he’s foreign or mixed? Look at the structure of his face — it’s something else. That mix gives him an unreal aura."
"Oh my God, look at the second photo where the Hongdae sunset light hits him... his eyes look incredible. What kind of color is that? It looks like something out of a film."
The darker side of the forums wasn’t far behind. Several male users, visibly driven by envy, had begun dropping dismissive comments:
"He’s definitely wearing colored contacts and heavy makeup — nobody has eyes like that naturally. It’s just street Photoshop."
"Another foreigner trying to get famous overnight in Hongdae. Getting old."
Sol-woo read the screen in silence, processing the flood of opinions about his appearance and background. It was a strange mix — part fascination, part first bitter taste of what it meant to be exposed to public scrutiny in Korea.
Shinsadong Tiger, noticing the intensity with which the young man was reading the criticism, let out a low laugh and gave him a pat on the back:
"Welcome to the Korean internet, kid. Half of them are going to love you for being different, and the other half are going to criticize you for exactly the same reason. What matters is that they’re already talking about you — and we haven’t spent a single won on publicity."
Director Yoon smiled with satisfaction and turned to Ji-soo:
"We won’t respond to any of it for now. Let the intrigue around the ’Hongdae kid’ keep building in the forums for another couple of days. In the meantime, Ji-soo, prepare a containment strategy and clean up any comments that cross the line."
Sol-woo listened to the director carefully. Part of him wanted to add something — but he held back. Honestly, the malicious or envious comments about his appearance and background didn’t affect him in the slightest. As long as that digital conversation was generating anticipation and keeping public interest alive, that was more than enough for him. And beyond that, he preferred not to weigh in on a field where he lacked the technical knowledge or the standing — he was here to be guided by the people in that room.
At that point, Ji-soo settled into her seat and put forward a proposal with quiet authority:
"PD-nim, I’d recommend we open his social media accounts right now. We need to channel this wave of curiosity from Nate Pann before it cools. The idea would be to start posting high-quality photos with a casual, everyday feel — showing his daily life without giving too much away. That way we shape his public image organically. In two or three months, once he has a solid follower base, we announce the MNO contract officially — giving the agency a massive publicity boost at the same time."
Ji-soo paused and added a critical point about public perception:
"Announcing it right now would be a strategic mistake. The major agencies and more conservative sectors could look at us badly — accusing us of holding back internationally viable talent in an emerging company instead of leaving him to the Big 3."
Director Yoon listened and nodded, satisfied. This was exactly why he’d brought in trained professionals — to design strategies that were coldly calculated.
"Proceed exactly as you see fit, Ji-soo-ssi," the director authorized, then turned to the young man. "As for your personal Instagram account, we’ll give Sol-woo-ssi relative freedom to manage it himself — so he can learn how to interact with the platform. For the other networks, you’ll be able to check comments, but Ji-soo will handle the content. Does that work for you, Sol-woo-ssi?"
Sol-woo nodded with composure:
"No need to worry, PD-nim. I’ll follow the guidelines."
Ji-soo got to work immediately on her laptop, setting up the official profiles and securing the account access.
Tae-shik, who had been checking his watch with growing impatience, decided it was time to wrap up. Sol-woo needed to get settled in his new apartment and pick up a few personal items before training started the following day.
"We’re heading out," the manager announced, picking up Sol-woo’s suitcases.
The two of them rode down to the lobby. The moment the security guards saw Tae-shik emerge, they snapped to attention and delivered a deep, immaculate bow — as if they were bidding farewell to a grand military commander.
Tae-shik let out a sharp click of irritation and stopped them immediately:
"Don’t do that out here. If people or press see you act like that, it’ll give Sol-woo-ssi the wrong image."
One of the guards straightened up, glanced sideways at Sol-woo, and said in a low but genuinely admiring tone:
"Sol-woo-ssi... you should really convince the Master — I mean, Manager Kang — to be our gym instructor at the agency. His build and his presence are on another level entirely..."
Sol-woo pressed his lips together, making a superhuman effort to keep a straight face in front of the manager’s composure. With impeccable diplomacy, he managed only to nod and reply:
"I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you very much for the suggestion."