Chapter 13: The Idols' Technique for Never Failing

When I arrived at the classroom with drinks from the convenience store, they were in the middle of the final vote.

"If we don't get a majority this time, we'll have to set another date and have another meeting," said Team Leader Park Sun-hye, her words implying that no one wanted to go through this again. After that, the vote started again.

"Jung Ki... or, the first song."

Two members from Firstlight and four out of the five A&R team members raised their hands. It was 6:5 again.

The A&R team members, being music enthusiasts, were somewhat excited about discussing new music despite their fatigue. In contrast, the Firstlight members, mostly in their late teens and early twenties, were so exhausted that they had lain down on the floor of the meeting room.

I showed the members lying on the floor the bag I had brought from the convenience store.

"Ice cream, soda, coffee. Who wants ice cream?"

They all raised their hands for ice cream, even though they had asked for drinks. It's amazing how well they can come together at times like this.

I gave each member their favorite ice cream. Min Ji-ho, taking a Melona, said,

"Except for Han Hyo-seok, who's clueless."

"What about me?"

"You just don't fit with me, and Ji-woon, why are you like that? Your style is 'Turn on the light,' isn't it?"

Min Ji-ho's words were met with agreement from the other members. Indeed, they were in their prime, and giving them an ice cream seemed to revive them, but Shin Ji-woon pretended not to hear and closed his eyes.

Among the tall Firstlight members, Shin Ji-woon, the tallest, was particularly attached to the seven people in this meeting room. He had even said that even if they didn't debut, he would try to be on the same team after the two-year contract for the Kuk Sun-ah project ended. He had a strong tendency to stick with people he cared about until the end.

Shin Ji-woon had kept in touch with me consistently after the Kuk Sun-ah project and even visited my house a few times. But when I became a manager and he heard nothing from me, he got incredibly upset. He didn't answer me for a whole week after I became a manager. The other members noticed and were now scolding Shin Ji-woon.

It's fine that he's upset, but if Shin Ji-woon doesn't write the rap, we'll have to drop this song.

I felt sorry and decided to apologize. I squatted next to Shin Ji-woon.

"Hey."

"..."

"Hey, hey."

"..."

"You need to write the rap."

He's a simple guy, and when I asked him to write the rap, his lips started to move.

"Ah, sure. Don't oppose me."

So, Shin Ji-woon replied.

"The song is not good."

"What do you want me to do? Just agree."

"We're the ones who will perform it, so how can you just agree?"

"Just do it."

"Ah, why are you like this?"

Honestly, I was struggling, but his constant encouragement and "fighting" were incredibly annoying at the time. Still, now that I think about it, I'm grateful for his consistent communication despite everything.

We're still a bit awkward, but since he's at least responding, it will get better over time. Shin Ji-woon is not the type to waste time and energy on others' failures, so he'll write the rap on his own.

Han Hyo-seok, feeling a bit embarrassed about continuously opposing "Turn on the Light," said to me,

"I think we should do 'Turn on the Light,' but honestly, the quality is too different from the other candidate songs."

"That's true."

This was such a valid point that the other members silently agreed. I asked,

"When is the next meeting?"

Hwang Saebi answered,

"Next Wednesday."

"Until then, I'll keep revising it. Might as well die trying."

"Right, bro."

Han Hyo-seok called me again.

"There's a line in the lyrics, 'kill,' that needs to be changed. It's too harsh. We need to consider the review."

"Got it. Anything else?"

Then, Park Sun-jae said,

"Chorus! Saebi, can you sing the bridge once?"

When Hwang Saebi sang the bridge, Park Sun-jae added the chorus. I consider myself to have perfect pitch, but I can't produce the sound, while Park Sun-jae can. The pleasure of the harmonies being perfectly divided made everyone, including Shin Ji-woon, who was still upset, cheer and clap.

"What about this for the choreography when we repeat 'Turn on the Light' three times?"

Min Ji-ho held his left palm up and pretended to strike a match and blow it out with his right hand. Everyone thought it was good, so he felt proud.

I kept taking notes on my phone. Most were jokes, but some were useful.

['Checking the hit potential of "Turn on the Light"

C-grade hit song production probability 7% (+1%) (+1%)]

"You pass, you don't."

"What's the standard?"

Standard? Status window.

I only confirmed the opinions that increased the hit potential, but I wrote down the others as well.

The seven of us were so noisy that the album production team, who were staying late for an upcoming TRV artist's album, came over and looked at us strangely.

"Let's go now."

When I said this, the members quickly got up. As we left the meeting room, Shin Ji-woon said,

"Ah, my stomach hurts from laughing so much."

Then, An Ju-won said, feeling wronged,

"Shin Ji-woon, if you laugh a lot, you'll get abs. Your muscles are so well-built."

"Hey, not that much."

"That much."

When Shin Ji-woon said "Hey," I realized that since An Ju-won is the same age and fast, they had completely let their guard down. An Ju-won and I are friends, and I'm like an older brother to Shin Ji-woon, but if An Ju-won and Shin Ji-woon are friends...

I hear a voice saying the family tree is getting tangled...

* * *

Manager Park Jung-un went home first, so the seven of us, including me, crowded into the company van. We kept talking non-stop in the van until we arrived at the dorm. After the members went up, Min Ji-ho approached me quietly.

"Bro, want to do the TikX challenge? There's a song that came out last week, 'bing bing.'"

"No."

"Ah, do it. The other members won't do it."

"No. Are you crazy?"

Knowing the trauma the public has, I couldn't help but curse when he suggested filming and uploading a video. Min Ji-ho, expecting this, laughed maniacally and opened his bag.

"I knew you'd say that, so I bought this."

Inside the bag was a mask similar to Pennywise.

"Hey, that's too scary."

If two strong men were seen wearing such a horror mask at two in the morning, someone might faint.

['Aiming for 200,000 views']

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

And maybe this will get us over 200,000 views and complete the mission. If something good comes out of the roulette, it will help with revising the song by Wednesday.

Wearing the mask made me feel more relaxed, so I memorized the choreography Min Ji-ho showed me.

We quickly got in sync and both put on the masks.

We found a bright light in the apartment playground, and Min Ji-ho set up the camera at a suitable height.

Despite the short but incredibly difficult moves, we got a clean and satisfying result on the first try.

"Ah, that was fun."

Min Ji-ho took off the mask and said excitedly, and I agreed. It was really fun to dance after a long time.

After filming, Min Ji-ho put his phone in his jacket pocket and said,

"Should we upload it?"

"Yeah. See you tomorrow."

I said goodbye and went home, but the dance and music kept playing in my head even after I closed my eyes.

* * *

The next day, we were practicing all night for a performance on Sunday.

The video Min Ji-ho uploaded got an incredibly good response. Especially the video on YouTube Shorts, which seemed to hit some algorithm, exploded in views.

After the challenge, when Min Ji-ho took off the mask, the moment of transformation from Pennywise to a refreshing boy captured people's hearts. It was also uploaded to the official Twitter, where it received a lot of positive feedback.

When the views added up to about 200,000, the status window appeared.

[Condition not met]

What the hell? Why?

[Achiever: Min Ji-ho]

[Achiever is different]

Ah. So this challenge was started by Min Ji-ho...

I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity.

From the moment this mission started, I thought it was a mission for Firstlight to achieve. There was no mention of it.

Isn't it common sense? It's my mission, not Firstlight's, and I'm not part of Firstlight. It seems I had subconsciously considered Firstlight as part of me.

Then, Min Ji-ho, holding his phone, walked up to me who was standing at the back of the practice room.

"Bro, you didn't see the comments? The response was amazing."

"Ah, it's fine."

"Are you going to ignore it forever?"

Min Ji-ho, who is all about passion and determination, insisted and held his phone in front of me.

[The dancer in the back is amazing, pulling back to make Min Ji-ho stand out + maintaining his own groove + perfect isolation]

[The combination of the two makes the video even more popular]

[Who is the dancer in the back? His moves are insane]

[↳Seems like a modern dance major]

[↳Firstlight usually works with the choreography team UO. Likely a UO member]

Well, I'm not bad at dancing.

Even with the positive comments, the thought that the public would be disappointed if they knew it was me made me feel suffocated. I'm such a weak person.

Anyway, this means the mission isn't broken, but I have to appear on camera and actively achieve 200,000 views. I can't break it for the rest of my life.

* * *

On Sunday, we had an outdoor event schedule.

However, Hwang Saebi, who gets a cold every season, wasn't feeling well from the morning. I handed him the yuzu tea I bought on the way while wearing a mask and sitting in the passenger seat.

"Drink this at least."

"Later."

Maybe because he wasn't feeling well, Hwang Saebi answered with a sharp voice and leaned his head against the window, falling asleep.

After arriving at the event location, Hwang Saebi tried to pull himself together but his body wouldn't cooperate. The choreography was one thing, but his voice was the problem. It was getting weaker and weaker.

He tried to clear his throat, but it seemed better to go to the hospital quickly. Manager Park decided to take Hwang Saebi to the hospital. Hwang Saebi, looking very apologetic, said to me,

"Please take care of it today."

"Sure."

I thought he was just asking me to take care of the members, as I had been managing Park Hee-young solo. But that wasn't the case.

As the dry rehearsal approached, a TRV staff member gave me Hwang Saebi's name tag.

"Manager Chul, do you know the choreography?"

"Me?"

Sometimes, when members are absent, the dance team or manager might step in, but I didn't expect it to be me. I realized too late that Hwang Saebi was asking me to go up for the dry rehearsal.

The moment I realized I had to go on stage, my brain shut down, and I found myself holding Hwang Saebi's name tag.

When I came to, I was on stage. Looking at the empty audience seats, I took a deep breath.

It was fortunate that I had gained confidence from the TikX video that no one would recognize me with a mask. I wore a cap and covered my face with a black mask. An Ju-won glanced at me and asked,

"Are you okay?"

"No. I'm sweating."

My hands were drenched in sweat. The music started, and I was on stage.