Chapter 10: The Techniques of an Idol Who Never Fails

The filming ended at nine o'clock at night, primarily to protect the artists, especially Han Hyoseok's face.

Both the director and the first light were disappointed that only one episode was filmed all day, but they were also satisfied that at least one episode was completed.

I took photos of the members' faces that had been doodled on and immediately sent them to the staff managing the official account. All the staff, including the director, looked at me with immense gratitude. Since I had given them an early end to their workday, I decided to accept their gratitude without modesty, as a fellow member of modern society.

However, stylist Lee Ye-young, who had to erase the doodles, seemed exhausted by the task of restoring six faces and gave me a hard slap on the back as she passed by.

"Why did you give the kids pens?"

"Ah, sorry. But it really hurts."

As I rubbed my back, pretending to be in pain, Lee Ye-young frowned and asked me,

"But why has Haewon been shaking like this since a while ago? If you're cold, do you want to borrow a jacket?"

As a stylist, she seemed to be concerned about my clothing. I pulled down my sleeve to hide my trembling hands, bent down, and whispered in her ear,

"Because there are too many cameras."

Lee Ye-young, who had been watching me since the days of Kukseon-a, nodded in response.

Feeling overly nervous or having difficulty breathing in places with many cameras is a common occurrence.

People from Park Jong-ryeol Entertainment were aware from the beginning that they had brought in a stage-frightened, socially avoidant hikikomori, so they subtly paid attention when cameras were around.

However, such consideration cannot be expected at TRV. While TRV has its good aspects, it is definitely more like an entertainment company compared to the family-like Park Jong-ryeol Entertainment, both in good and bad ways. All care is focused on the artists, and employees must fend for themselves.

After erasing all the doodles, when I was about to drive back to the dorm, Min Jihoo looked at me strangely and said,

"You're not here as a manager, right?"

"Just get in the car."

After meeting President Park Hee-taek, I realized the pressure of potentially having to stand in front of cameras while being on the set of a self-produced variety show.

I can never stand in front of cameras. I might even faint.

People on the internet still call me "Kukhyeon" more often than "Jeong Haewon." "The idol hated by the nation" in the show "The Idol Chosen by the Nation."

During my hikikomori days, I couldn't even eat "Kuk" (a type of Korean soup). Just seeing the character "Kuk" was difficult. I receive stress very "Korean-ly" even though I can't speak Korean well. I feel like I'm less than human.

Min Jihoo checked his watch as he was about to get in the car and said,

"I'll go to the practice room first."

Out of the six members, four are minors, and the remaining two don't have driver's licenses.

So, if they practice in the early morning, I have to wait and take them back to the dorm. As a manager, it's my duty, but it still makes me feel a bit choked up when he says it suddenly.

"Are you taking advantage of me because I'm easy to push around?"

"A little?"

"Damn."

"If you could pick us up later, I'd be grateful for life, sir."

It seems more comfortable for him to have someone he knows. I have to endure... I gestured to Min Jihoo to go to the practice room, despite his annoyingly cute act.

Park Sun-jae, who was in the car, also seemed to want to go to the practice room and quickly followed. With two out of the three of us gone, Hwang Saebi also went back to the practice room. Seeing this, the other three, who were in another car, also got out and went into the practice room.

Manager Park Joon-woon awkwardly said to me,

"Ah, if the members wanted to practice, they should have said so."

So I replied,

"The problem is Hwang Saebi. He's the leader, and if the members have any opinions, he should coordinate and tell me."

"Damn..."

Managers understand the hearts of managers. Manager Park Joon-woon was so moved by my words that he shook my hand.

Manager Park Joon-woon continued,

"Once the members start practicing, they always go until dawn, so you should go to a jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) and sleep there."

Saying this, Manager Park Joon-woon left for the jjimjilbang.

I soon went out to buy snacks and drinks that the members needed.

After wandering around for a while to kill time, I bought enough energy drinks and snacks to fill two large garbage bags and returned to the practice room, where I could hear music playing.

Inside, the members were running through the choreography.

They had added an intro to the original song and modified the choreography, but since they were all good dancers, they quickly got the moves down.

It's impressive that they still have the energy to practice after filming the content, considering they've been busy with activities. I, who was living a life drenched in alcohol, found it impossible to imagine.

Then, during a break, as I was about to bring in the snacks, Min Jihoo immediately turned on the music and said,

"Seniors, what about adding a little choreography to the part where we sing 'follow, follow, follow, follow, follow, follow' and 'our promise is eternal' in the middle of the song? It's something I choreographed with Haewon hyung during the Kukseon-a days."

As Min Jihoo spoke, the music for the part he mentioned played, and he started to incorporate the choreography he and I had created. To be honest, it was more like Min Jihoo choreographed it, and I just helped.

It's not easy to fit choreography created for one song into another, but geniuses like Min Jihoo can just think about it roughly in their heads and make it work.

Sigh, these selfish geniuses...

After finishing the choreography, Min Jihoo asked,

"How about it? Don't you want to do it? It fits the lyrics, honestly."

However, the others' reactions were lukewarm.

Min Jihoo's choreography is usually so complex that even the timing of the beats is hard for ordinary people to grasp, and the simple-looking parts are hard to make interesting. When I see Min Jihoo dance, I understand what he wants, but I can't do it myself, so I give up.

If there were no one to replace him, I might have to do it reluctantly, but right next to him was the pure artist Han Hyoseok. From the members' perspective, it would be easier for the performance to be led by FM (First Light's main dancer) Han Hyoseok.

Until now.

"Come on, let's try something challenging."

Min Jihoo pushed again this time.

"I want to put Haewon hyung's choreography on stage."

...While selling me out. This kid.

Anyway, it had some effect, and Hwang Saebi started to show a positive response, saying, "Should we try it?"

Then, Han Hyoseok, who had been quiet, spoke up.

"Did you get Haewon hyung's permission?"

"No, not yet."

"If you choreographed it together, you should get his permission."

"I'll get it. Just wait a bit."

Min Jihoo promised.

Then, inspiration struck like lightning.

I immediately put down the snacks and squatted in front of the practice room door, pulling out my phone.

Since starting to study composition, I hadn't been able to come up with any ideas, but now a melody came to mind. I quickly recorded the melody that came to me using a phone app.

It seemed that the clear goal of moving Min Jihoo to the center sparked my inspiration. I hummed the tune and thought of a title. It was one of the keywords I had thought of before.

"One Team, One Goal."

I guarantee Min Jihoo will love it, and the other five will lie down, saying it's childish and old-fashioned.

But strangely, after coming up with the title, the melody flowed, and even the lyrics started to come to mind.

In the middle of frantically recording the melody and writing the lyrics, a status window appeared in front of me.

[Quest Activated]

[Chapter 1: One Team, One Goal]

[Achieve 200,000 views]

[You will receive a B-grade ticket for (Hit Song Maker's Red Roulette)]

What? 200,000?

It was a difficult number to reach, except for official music videos. Considering the individual view counts of First Light's members, it was completely impossible, and the recent episodes of the self-produced variety show barely reached 20,000 to 30,000 views. Reaching 100,000 was as difficult as climbing Mount Everest.

Even a well-shot individual camera shot would need to go viral for that number to be reached...

I shook my head. I didn't have the luxury to focus on anything else right now.

I forgot to give the snacks to the members and sat against the wall of the practice room, completely absorbed in composing.

* * *

As Manager Park Joon-woon said, the practice ended in the early morning. I got home at three in the morning.

It was the first time I had slept in my room since the overseas schedule, but I had to get up and go out again after only five hours.

I felt like I would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but I was afraid I would forget what I had worked on today, so I slapped the back of my head to stay awake and transferred the files saved on my phone to my desktop.

Thanks to my solid foundation from years of piano lessons, composing was much easier. My father's long history of playing the guitar also helped me learn naturally.

"Everything you learn is useful."

When I couldn't come up with anything, the lyrics and concept came to me all at once in a rush.

It had to be a high school concept, given that more than half of the members were still in high school. And it had to be a concept that felt like a popular group at school.

"Third, second, first, First Light..."

It felt strange to be writing the hook alone in the middle of the night.

The two things I'm really bad at are singing and writing. Still, I kept writing.

"Be a flame, burn this stage... No, that's good. I'm doing well. This is fine for a first song."

I continued writing the lyrics, fighting an inexplicable sense of despair. The content was about running in the same direction, not deviating, which I thought was the most needed part for First Light right now.

I managed to fill in most of the parts, but the biggest problem was the rap section.

[I'm cool, you're cool]

I covered my face with my hands as I looked at the rap I had written. I wanted to bang my head and die.

Unlike me, Shin Ji-won, the main rapper of First Light, is incredibly emotional, so I'll have to use that as an excuse and let him fill in the blanks.

I stopped there, only outlining the structure. When I studied composition theory, it seemed like creation, but in practice, it felt like manual labor.

To achieve a certain quality, more time was needed. It was physically impossible to finish before the A&R team meeting.

Moreover, after staying up all night, my brain was no longer functioning.

I finally stopped working and saved the file when the status window appeared.

[Checking the hit potential of 'One Team, One Goal']

[L-grade hit song production probability: 0%]

[S-grade hit song production probability: 0%]

[A-grade hit song production probability: 0%]

[B-grade hit song production probability: 0%]

[C-grade hit song production probability: 0%]

I don't know why it felt the need to tell me this when I didn't ask.

[Challenging 200,000 views]

[You will receive a B-grade ticket for (Hit Song Maker's Red Roulette)]

Even though I didn't expect it, seeing 0% is disheartening. Well, if "I'm cool, you're cool" becomes a hit, it would be a regression in modern pop music...