Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 63: Late-night Coffee

"So that’s what he’s been up to lately, huh? Still fiery as ever," Antony commented, his face unreadable, though Kaija thought she heard a hint of amusement in his voice.

She’d spent the last five minutes observing every tiny shift on that expressionless face, her trembling fingers crossed behind her back, praying that Antony’s unpredictable temper wouldn’t burst out on her now, or that he wouldn’t outright decline to produce the song she’d just finished singing.

Now that she’d learned a bit more about Antony’s background and what had happened between him and Karl, she could imagine how offensive the lyrics must have sounded to Antony’s ears.

"Erm... Instructor, what do you think?" she asked, her tone cautious.

"Definitely gonna cause a massive shock," he said nonchalantly, as if giving a purely professional take, still showing no sign of being offended. "As far as I know, no one has ever performed anything this aggressive for the festival. Usually people go for dance songs to hype the audience up, or emotional tracks to win over the judges. If you compete with this one, I can’t really predict how it’ll be received."

Her brow drew together slightly. "So you’re saying it’s a risky pick."

"Risky indeed," he nodded, smirking faintly, "but anything coming from Karl Hanski always comes with risks. I’m not a fan of his risky attitude, but the performance is yours. If you’re going with this one, then you have my full support."

Relief washed through her. Thank God Antony was still willing to produce it. "But... are you really okay with working on it?" she asked, hesitant. She didn’t want to force him to endure any bad feelings for her sake.

"Why would I not be?" he asked back, tone flat.

She raised a brow. "Aren’t you offended?"

He raised a brow back. "Should I be?"

Her face went blank. Did he not listen to the lyrics, or was he pretending he didn’t understand they were targeted at him? "Never mind, it’s nothing. I’m just being stupid," she said, waving him off. If he really hadn’t picked up on anything, then she’d better leave it that way and protect world peace. "Shall we get to recording then?"

"I was just gonna ask that," Antony nodded.

They spent the night recording one take after another with only short breaks in between. The coffee on Antony’s table kept refilling despite the late hour.

"Wouldn’t having this much coffee this late make you lose your sleep?" she asked, concerned.

"It’s normal," he said, waving it off casually, like late-night coffee was a permanent part of his former life as a producer. "I could still sleep soundly later. Right now, the song is more important."

When they finally wrapped up, it was already 3 AM.

"Good, we have enough samples now," Antony said, still looking wide awake as he removed his headset. "I can work solo on it from here. You’ll have the final track within the week. Then you’ll have one week left for the choreography."

"Thank you, Instructor," she murmured in a weak, hoarse voice as she left the recording booth. She was so drained her eyelids were already halfway closed. "I’m so sorry for troubling you this much. I should go, and you should get some sleep too." She gave him a deep, grateful bow on trembling legs. "See you in the morning, good night."

"Wait up." He stood, shrugging into his coat. "I’ll walk you back."

Her steps halted at the door. "Er... that wouldn’t be necessary. I mean, we’re inside the campus. It’s safe, I’ll be fine."

"I know it’s safe here," he said, tone flat. "I just want to do that for the girl I’m going to date soon."

Her sleepy eyes snapped wide open. His face was as serious as ever as he said those words, not a single hint of teasing. "That’s... very sweet of you, Instructor," she murmured, voice shy.

That shyness drew a faint smile to his face as he stepped closer, whispering softly, "Let’s go." His hand reached for the door handle and pushed it open. He didn’t want to waste another minute of her bedtime.

The elevator to Building S went up. Through the closed doors, Antony caught the reflection of Kaija’s sleepy eyes stealing glances at him.

She’d done the same thing when they stood together in this elevator just yesterday morning, but he’d been so mad after learning from her that Karl Hanski had spent a night at her place, he didn’t even bother asking what those glances were about.

"Is there something you want to say?" Antony asked.

Her shoulders twitched at his sudden question, gaze darting away. "No... not really..."

His voice softened. "That means there’s something."

"Well..." she murmured, "it’s just, I never knew you’re actually a huge figure in the music industry."

His lips curved into a knowing smirk. Karl Hanski must have been blabbing to her when he showed her the song.

"Used to be," Antony corrected gently. "I don’t do that anymore, as you can see. I only visit the Production floor every now and then for the plants in my office, and to check on everyone’s progress since my position in the department still holds. But I’m more into dancing now."

Her voice lowered, more hesitant now. "Did you somehow... lose interest in producing music?" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

He turned to her instead of her reflection. When she lifted her gaze toward him, the gold in his eyes had dimmed, sorrow lingering at the bottom. "How could I?" he murmured, the corner of his mouth lifting into a weak smile, "making music is my life."

Her chest tightened. She’d only seen Antony this sad, this vulnerable when she’d sang for him for the first time that night. Now that he was making that expression again... there had to be more to what had happened back then than what Karl’d told her.

"Why did you stop?" she asked quietly.

A long sigh slipped out of him as he leaned against the elevator. He never enjoyed recalling things that’d long passed, but now that she’d pressed, it seemed there was no other options.

"Remember some of the lines you just sang earlier?" he asked, tone dripping with irony. He couldn’t believe he’d one day quote lyrics from Karl Hanski’s song to explain what was on his mind.

Her eyes wandered, narrowing. "Um... which lines are you referring to exactly?"

"A soul that only writes words they don’t believe in will one day rot," he supplied, gaze turning distant. "If you ask me why I stopped... then I guess it was to save my soul from rotting. There’s no point in making music I don’t even want to hear, and writing empty words I don’t believe in."