Chapter 18

"Yoon Hyun, congratulations, you now have your own fan café." On Monday morning, as soon as Yoon Hyun arrived at the company, Kim Soo-yeon solemnly told him.

She didn't show any sign of congratulations.

I have to replace this agent! Yoon Hyun felt his blood pressure rising.

However, Yoon Hyun was still happy as he opened his laptop, logged online, and found the fan café that had been set up spontaneously by fans.

In just a few days, there were already over a hundred people!

Yoon Hyun was quite excited.

"Yoon Hyun, I think there's something we need to discuss seriously," Kim Soo-yeon saw Yoon Hyun's joyful expression and promptly lowered the mood.

"Oh, Soo-yeon, just say it," Yoon Hyun felt a headache looking at Kim Soo-yeon's serious face.

"Because your debut was arranged very quickly, and you didn't receive any specific training on how to handle fans, this is something you need to decide for yourself," Kim Soo-yeon casually brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, "That is, how do you want to, or prefer to, interact with your fans?"

Kim Soo-yeon's feminine gesture made Yoon Hyun pause for a moment, but he quickly returned to normal: "What kind of way? Do you mean being more friendly or maintaining a sense of mystery?"

"To be precise, it's about the distance you want to maintain with your fans," Kim Soo-yeon remained professional, "This involves the company's packaging strategy for you. The company also wants to hear your opinion. They trust you, a high-achiever from Seoul National University."

"Be more friendly," Yoon Hyun thought for a moment, then combined some memories and impressions, "Show a more genuine side, with both good and bad aspects."

"Your thinking is quite forward-looking," a hint of admiration flashed in Kim Soo-yeon's eyes, but it quickly disappeared, "However, I still need to remind you that fans generally prefer their idols to be flawless, especially female fans."

"I am, after all, an intellectual, so I hope my fans can be more rational. To be honest, I don't like fanatics. In my view, one brain-dead fan is equal to ten hardcore haters." Yoon Hyun carefully quoted a famous saying from the future.

"Brain-dead fans? Hardcore haters?" Kim Soo-yeon was taken aback, then pondered for a moment and laughed, "This is a very interesting and reasonable statement. I think the people at S.M. Entertainment would sneer at it."

"They will definitely sneer, but they will also regret it," Yoon Hyun naturally thought of the event that would influence the entire Korean music industry in 2008. "When they realize their own people are fighting each other and they can't control it, they will understand."

"Your own people fighting each other? Are you talking about the fairies and the queens?" Kim Soo-yeon quickly caught on.

"Maybe not yet, but if another group joins, it will get interesting," Yoon Hyun predicted like a fortune-teller.

The speaker was casual, but the listener was thoughtful. Kim Soo-yeon fell into deep thought. When she came back to her senses and looked at Yoon Hyun again, her eyes had changed.

Was it admiration? Respect? Adoration? Worship?

Who knows, but Yoon Hyun couldn't read it.

But it was definitely positive, so he was very happy. Since this agent had shown a positive attitude towards him, he put aside the idea of applying for a new agent.

"So, you hope the company packages you as someone with both strengths and weaknesses, a very real and unpretentious image?" Kim Soo-yeon summarized.

"Sure, that's it. I think being myself is great," Yoon Hyun nodded.

Then he ended the conversation with his agent and started playing on his fan café.

First, he registered an ID with his name, and no one had claimed it! This surprised Yoon Hyun, who had struggled to register IDs on various forums in his previous life.

Then, he quickly posted a thread, expressing gratitude to those who set up the café and to the fans who liked him.

Soon, Yoon Hyun's post received replies.

However, all the replies were along the lines of, "Where did this guy come from, daring to impersonate Yoon Hyun oppa?" Some fans even joked about letting the admin pin the post to show new members what happens to those who impersonate oppa...

So, Yoon Hyun had no choice but to take a selfie with his laptop, pointing to his ID, and post it on the forum.

The fans who had been mocking Yoon Hyun on the forum were instantly silenced, and then, led by the admin, they lined up to apologize to Yoon Hyun.

Yoon Hyun naturally didn't mind, and the fans' protective attitude even touched him a little. However, he still showed a bit of mischief, taking screenshots of all the IDs that had mocked him and demanding that they all record a video of them singing "Baby" and post it on the forum, or he wouldn't forgive them.

This interaction naturally won the support of other fans who had held back from posting critical comments, and the forum was filled with laughter and camaraderie.

Since Yoon Hyun was in the preparation phase for his new album, he naturally didn't have much time to spend on the forum. After explaining that he had to go record the album and would follow up on the "Baby" video requests, he logged off and went to work.

Actually, preparing the songs was quick, as most of the songs were accompanied by musicians found through software or LOEN. Yoon Hyun just needed to go into the studio to record. After nearly a year of training, Yoon Hyun could now fully utilize his vocal advantages and infuse his emotions into his singing.

Since he was a new artist and planned to use all original songs by Yoon Hyun, after discussing with Jang Hae-dong, they decided that the first album would be a mini-album with only five songs.

Besides "Baby," it included "Born in Vain" and "Spring" (both covers of songs by Wang Feng), an original rap song, and "Miss Dong," a song he liked from his previous life.

After the preparation and Yoon Hyun's increasing familiarity with the recording studio, he recorded the songs at a speed that even the producer couldn't believe. However, for Yoon Hyun, the real challenge was just beginning. It all stemmed from the song he insisted on playing the guitar for, "Miss Dong."

Although he had learned guitar under his sister's coercion many years ago, he had no talent for instruments.

Simply put, he was clumsy.

But to get the right feel for "Miss Dong," he had to play the guitar himself, which led to endless struggles.

In the midst of these struggles, as a necessary part of the album, the MV shooting was also scheduled. After discussing with Yoon Hyun, the company decided to shoot MVs for two songs: "Baby" and "Spring."

The female lead for "Baby" was naturally chosen as Ham Eun-jeong, as Yoon Hyun suggested. For "Spring," Yoon Hyun could play the role himself...

After completing another round of promotional performances on four TV stations, Yoon Hyun officially began shooting the MVs.

On Monday morning, Yoon Hyun arrived at the company's underground studio.

This was his first time entering the studio.

Led by his agent, Yoon Hyun greeted the director, Lee Yoon-jeong, who was there to shoot the MV.

Facing all the staff, Yoon Hyun remained polite, bowing and greeting everyone.

According to Lee Yoon-jeong's script, the story was simple: a boy sees a girl and confesses his love.

The main scenes shot in the studio were the singing parts that would be interspersed in the MV. Since the preparation was thorough and Yoon Hyun had performed on stage many times, the shooting went smoothly.

After shooting several different angles, the studio shooting was completed, and the next step was to shoot some outdoor scenes.

Ham Eun-jeong, having acted in many roles, had developed good acting skills. Throughout the outdoor shooting, while Yoon Hyun kept NGing due to his awkward expressions, Ham Eun-jeong performed flawlessly. Perhaps unable to bear Yoon Hyun's frequent NGs, after one NG, Ham Eun-jeong patted Yoon Hyun's back and demonstrated the actions that Yoon Hyun was supposed to do, with a cool expression and natural movements, which instantly stunned Yoon Hyun.

"Let's go take a bath together one day, I really doubt you're a man," Yoon Hyun's comment naturally earned him a beating from Ham Eun-jeong.

However, after this joke, Yoon Hyun felt ashamed and finally reduced his NG rate to a reasonable level. But due to Yoon Hyun's delays, the MV, which was supposed to be simple, took two days to shoot.

This left Director Lee Yoon-jeong speechless.

But this speechlessness turned into amazement on the third day.

On the third day, they started shooting the MV for "Spring," which was a solo performance by Yoon Hyun.

The script for this MV was also written by Yoon Hyun, with detailed plans for each line of the lyrics.

Director Lee Yoon-jeong was initially dismissive of Yoon Hyun's plan.

However, when Yoon Hyun started shooting, his level of dedication and the precision of his performance truly impressed Lee Yoon-jeong.

Almost all the shots were done in one take.

As a result, the MV, which was supposed to take three days to shoot, was completed in one day.

When the last shot was completed, the entire set erupted in applause.

"Yoon Hyun, if you can maintain this level of performance, I think you have a chance to win the Blue Dragon Award!" Lee Yoon-jeong sincerely said as they parted ways.

"Thank you, you flatter me," Yoon Hyun knew his own capabilities. The plot of "Spring" was basically a slightly modified version of his previous life. In the MV, Yoon Hyun didn't need to act; he just needed to draw on the memories he had carried for over twenty years.

Although he learned and felt some things during the performance, this feeling was unique and couldn't be replicated.

However, Yoon Hyun was still very happy to receive positive feedback.

He sincerely hoped that this good luck would continue, as from the next day, "Baby" would officially start its chart run.

When Yoon Hyun returned home after the shooting, it was already 1:30 AM.

Yoon Hyun naturally opened his computer and logged into his fan café. After a week of continuous promotion, his fan base had grown explosively. Although the café's management had set strict criteria, his fan count still reached nearly 3,000.

The most active thread on the forum was the one Yoon Hyun posted when he first logged in. At the time, the twenty IDs that had surrounded and attacked him had gradually posted videos of themselves singing "Baby" to the forum, as expected, most of them were young girls. Yoon Hyun carefully evaluated each performance and offered suggestions, leading to a lot of interaction.

This made his fans feel very close to him.

The hottest thread on the forum that day was a video of Yoon Hyun performing, shot by a fan who had passed by the MV shooting site with their phone.

Since the shooting location was far away, the fan used the maximum zoom, which naturally reduced the clarity. The shaky hand also made the video blurry.

However, even so, the comments below were still full of "Oppa is so handsome!" and "Oppa with a guitar is so cool!"

Yoon Hyun replied to the fan who posted the video, expressing his gratitude and suggesting that if she wore a baseball cap and walked in boldly with a notebook, she wouldn't be stopped and could get closer to take better shots without the effort of trying to keep her hand steady.

Since it was late at night, there weren't many people on the forum, so Yoon Hyun's reply didn't get any responses. He looked at a few other threads, made some comments on two discussions about himself, and then went to bed.

Yoon Hyun didn't know that because of his joking reply, from that day on, almost all film, TV, and MV shooting sites in Korea began to implement a badge system...

But that's a story for another time.

Starting from the next day with Mnet, Yoon Hyun began his chart run. This was his most important task at the moment.

After two weeks of building popularity, Yoon Hyun had already shown a level of dominance that was not typical for a newcomer.

Within four days, "Baby" swept all four charts.

Then Yoon Hyun began to dominate the charts.

As a veteran distribution company, LOEN was familiar with capitalizing on success, so Yoon Hyun's two MVs were quickly uploaded to video websites.

At the same time, the "Baby" MV was also uploaded to YouTube.

Although "Baby" showed the potential to become a hit on YouTube, with its click rate even entering the top few of the most popular charts, in Korea, the most popular song at the moment was not "Baby." The completely different style of "Spring" had stunned many music critics.

Actually, many critics were dismissive of "Baby's" popularity. In their view, it was a purely catchy and flattering song, with the only redeeming quality being the catchy chorus.

However, "Spring" was completely different. The simple arrangement, rock ballad style, and meaningful lyrics, along with the style shift, were overwhelming.

"This is not a pleasant song, but it can make you listen to it over and over without getting tired. The chorus is not particularly catchy, but it makes many people want to sing along. If 'Baby' is for the young, then this song, which goes beyond Yoon Hyun's age, is for many middle-aged people," a critic wrote on their blog.

This mixed praise and criticism did not seem to affect LOEN's plans, and Yoon Hyun's first mini-album was soon released.

Then the entire music criticism community exploded with comments about Yoon Hyun.

There was no way around it; his album was too eclectic, and all the songs were written and composed by him.

Especially the rap song, which was truly Yoon Hyun's own creation, fitting the trend of K-pop moving towards hip-hop, combined with his solid language skills, it quickly rose to the second place in downloads, just behind "Baby."

With two emotional rock songs and one rap, Yoon Hyun received appreciation from veterans in the Korean rock and hip-hop scenes in public.

This surprised Yoon Hyun greatly.