Devil’s Music

Chapter 263: It's Okay to Go Slowly

Japan was on high alert.

The video released featured the appearance of Akita and Shizuka, who appeared to be Japanese. Moreover, the video showcased Kay's participation, and at the end of the video, Tim Curtain was credited as the director, and it was produced by Fantagio, spurring a flurry of articles. Especially, Asahi Shimbun's office was bustling as reporters scrambled to secure the exclusive story first.

Bursting through the door, Asahi Shimbun's chief editor, Inui Takashi, raised his voice but spoke in a slightly calmer tone.

"Momoko, contact Fantagio right away, and check the release schedule for the teaser's music video. Also, call Yoshida, who's stationed in the U.S., to see if he can identify the woman in the video at Juilliard."

Wiping the sweat off her glasses despite the winter weather, Momoko hesitantly stood up and asked, "Juilliard? You mean to approach Kay? You know that's not possible, Chief."

"No, I'm not saying to approach Kay. The unknown Japanese woman in the video seems likely to be associated with Kay and Juilliard, judging by her age. Since Fantagio is a Chinese company and suddenly debuted a Japanese woman, it seems the only connection. Make the call right away."

Convinced, Momoko hastily picked up the phone to connect with the staff dispatched to the U.S. This information was something that seasoned executive editors could infer, leading to a frenzy of world media reporters around Juilliard. Fortunately, Geon was forewarned about this incident and hired additional security guards to ensure the students' commute was unaffected.

Reporters searching for the unknown Japanese female student camped out in front of Juilliard until late into the night. A male reporter, huddled in his coat in the cold winter weather, sat down on the curb and said to a VJ holding a camera, "Phew, it's one thing to flock every time a black-haired female student passes by. This is Juilliard! It's a gathering place for students from all over the world, including many Asians. How are we supposed to find someone we only know by face here?"

The VJ chuckled while checking his camera and replied, "What can we do? Us lowly ones must follow orders from above. If we don't even pretend to try, imagine how much the chief will scold us. Haha."

The reporter sighed deeply, looked down in thought, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Do you think she's really a student from Japan? Her name hasn't been disclosed, right?"

"Right, nothing at all. Just that the music video director is Tim Curtain and that Kay is appearing. Oh, and the teaser's background is said to be Akita Prefecture in Japan."

"Are you sure about that?"

"It's been widely reported by the Japanese press, so it must be."

"Man, I wish I could grab Kay and ask him directly."

"Haha, unless you ask Fantagio in advance, Kay won't answer anything."

"That's true. I understand, considering Kay is a star of such magnitude that he wouldn't be able to live a normal life otherwise."

"And he's still a student. Oh? There's Kay!"

At the VJ's exclamation, the reporter sprang up, spotting Geon exiting the school with Kiska's hand in his and getting into a car. Although the reporters swarmed in, over thirty security guards had already formed a line and blocked them, preventing any from getting close to Geon. The reporters, pushing against the guards, shouted, "Kay! We won't take much of your time, please, just one word!"

"Can you at least tell us the name of the woman in the music video? Please, we beg you!"

"Kay! We're from Japan! Please, just one word! We've been here for two nights straight, please!"

Glancing at the shouting reporters, Geon opened the car door, helped Kiska inside, then leaned into the car to talk to Byungjun, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Bro, wouldn't it be okay to just reveal Shizuka's name? It seems like the reporters need something to go on so they can rest."

Byungjun, looking back at Geon who was still outside the car, smirked and said, "You're always too kind. There's going to be an official announcement tomorrow morning anyway, so revealing her name should be fine."

"Hehe, got it, Bro."

Though the reporters were blocked by the security guards, they waited quietly, seeing Geon talking inside the car. As Geon stepped out of the car to approach the reporters who had resigned themselves to just looking on, they suddenly crowded around him, thrusting microphones his way.

"Kay! Will you tell us something?"

"Please, give us a hint."

"It's so cold

! We need something to take back so we can at least warm up in the office with that excuse.."

Seeing the reporters resort to begging and even acting pitiful, Geon smiled and moved closer, causing flashes to go off from various directions. A VJ held up his camera to take photos, and there was even a camera on a ladder truck trying to capture Geon from above. After waiting for the flashes to subside, Geon grinned and said, "Shizuka, Shizuka Miyawaki."

The reporters, left dumbfounded by Geon's abrupt mention of a name, watched as he turned to walk back to the car without losing his smile. They clamored, "Shizuka? What, what is that?"

"Is that the name of the woman, Kay?"

"Kay!! Kay!! You have to tell us properly before you go! Please!"

Geon stopped, looked back, and smiled, nodding his head.

"Shizuka Miyawaki. She's Fantagio's new angel."

After those words, as Geon climbed into the car and left, the reporters who had rushed to their vehicles began shouting into their phones.

"Suzuka Miyawaki! It's Suzuka Miyawaki!"

"I just found out in front of Juilliard from Kay! Hurry, get the news online first! The name is Suzuka Miyawaki! She's definitely Japanese!"

"Ha! You did it, Chief! You got the name? Yes? Right now? Ah, got it! I'm on my way!"

Like a swarm of cockroaches vanishing from the kitchen at the slightest hint of human presence, the reporters dispersed, leaving the front of Juilliard deserted. A Juilliard security guard, feeling the absence, cracked the door open slightly and sighed as he stepped outside for some fresh air.

Kiska climbed onto Geon's lap in the car and looked out the window. As Geon fixed Kiska's hair tousled by the wind, he asked Byung-jun in the passenger seat.

"When is the music video being released?"

Byung-jun opened the car's console box, pulled out a schedule notebook, and flipped through it before answering.

"Tomorrow night. It will be released around eight in the evening."

Geon nodded and then, looking out at the Brooklyn cityscape, he asked.

"What is Suzuka doing now?"

"She can't come out of her house. She was scared stiff when she went out to throw away trash yesterday and saw two teenagers staring at her face."

"Ha, she must be a bit scared since it's her first time."

"You were the same at first, kid."

"Ha, that's true. What are we going to do about Suzuka's lodging?"

Byung-jun sighed and said.

"Phew, I've been looking into that while you were in class. She's currently renting the second floor of a house on East 96th Street. But that's a densely populated area, so we can't let her stay there forever. It's dangerous for a woman to live alone. If something happens, what then? So, we're looking into studio apartments. If we make some profit, we'll move her to a detached house."

"Hmm.. What about asking her to move into Red Castle? Gregory would allow it."

Byung-jun turned around with a look of disbelief.

"Man, Suzuka is a regular woman. And a very frightened Japanese woman at that. She'd faint at the sight of Miroslav."

"Ha, maybe."

Seeing Kiska pointing out of the window and mumbling, Geon took out his wallet and said.

"Bro, stop the car, please. Let's drop by the Ice Cream Factory. Kiska's out of ice cream."

"Ah, stop the car. Yeah, that's right."

As the car stopped in front of the ice cream store, Byung-jun, seeing Kiska excitedly jump out, hurried after her shouting.

"Kiska! Be careful not to fall!"

Byung-jun managed to catch Kiska's hand, who was struggling to open the door of the ice cream shop, and opened the door for her instead. Geon, about to follow them into the shop, saw through the window that it was crowded and put his wallet back before climbing back into the car.

The next morning at 11 am.

Fantagio's website announced that the music video would be released at eight o'clock tonight, heating up the internet once again. Especially, Japanese media reported on Suzuka's debut every hour, and the internet gave her the nickname "Second Angel". However, in a few hours, her nickname had changed to "Kay's Woman".

By six o'clock, the number of people connected to Fantagio's website had exploded, but, thanks to the addition of physical servers during an opera performance, the website ran smoothly. Especially, anticipating high interest from Japan, Fantagio had expanded the AWS (Amazon Web Services) Tokyo region to ensure smooth access from Japan. Finally, at eight o'clock, the fans who had been hitting the refresh button saw a popup window appear on the website, urging them to press the play button.

The journalists from Asahi Shimbun, despite the late hour, hadn't gone home but were all gathered at their desks, monitoring the video on their laptops. Momoko, who hadn't even had dinner because she was preparing the draft of the article, pushed her unagi donburi aside when she saw the video was ready to play.

"It's up! Right on time!"

At Momoko's shout, the journalists at their laptops simultaneously pressed ALT + Tab to check the Fantagio website they had opened in advance. The quiet newsroom was filled only with the sound of journalists quietly pressing the play button with their headphones or earphones on. The first to press play, Momoko's eyes widened in anticipation, and she saw the snowy hills of Akita Prefecture on the screen, with

"Suzuka Miyawaki" written in elegant script on the top right corner. Unconsciously holding her breath, Momoko's eyes grew larger.

"She's even more beautiful than in the teaser. Who exactly is Suzuka Miyawaki?"

Softly murmuring to herself, she saw beautiful bare feet crunching in the snow.

>

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