Chapter 54

"Techniques of an Idol Who Never Fails" Episode 54

The two MCs of 'The Rising' drew lots to select the remaining two teams.

- The team that will perform the mission with MII is NEW days.

- The team that will perform the mission with Bad one is IMX.

After seeing the six teams and three combinations, one thing became clear.

Among these three combinations, the team with the weakest impact is us and INO.

The other four teams showed a faster growth trend than Firstlight and had a significant number of overseas fans. The scale of their overseas fandom was evident from their initial sales figures.

MII, NEW days, and Bad one all had high initial sales figures, and IMX had similar initial sales figures to us but different music chart performance. They were the only team among the six that could place a song on the daily music chart.

If we consider the audience of all ages, IMX might be the most advantageous team.

* * *

The studio recording was two days later. The editing will be done before we receive our mission, and it will be part of the studio episode.

With little time left before the stage, we read the guidelines given by 'The Rising' and headed to INO's agency.

TRV didn't have a space for 18 people to practice simultaneously, so we had no choice in the location. INO's agency practice room was larger than the one we used during Kukseon-a's time.

INO's members were really talkative when they gathered.

"Let's do a ballad, a ballad!"

"Ballad, ballad."

On the contrary, the Firstlight members, who were already shy, became even more quiet due to the unfamiliar environment. The average height of the Firstlight members was much taller than INO's, yet they were huddled in the corner. They seemed shy, but it looked like they were trying to maintain their cool. I was really worried...

Anyway, when I thought about the competition programs and my personal preferences, I believed that rock would be the most effective.

I also thought that the arrangement would naturally become more rock-oriented in the later stages due to the audience's reaction...

Rock.

I wanted to say that, but the words wouldn't come out.

Wow, damn, I didn't know I was this timid. I couldn't even say one word in Korean...

Ballads are good, but if we sing a ballad to people who don't know us, they might find it boring, right? Unless we're all vocalists...

I wanted to say this nicely.

"Um, I think... um. Um, well... ballads are good, but... members?"

Trying to speak softly, I couldn't get a word in. The Firstlight members were too shy to hear me, and the eleven INO members were talking.

"Ji-un, so are we doing a ballad?"

INO's American member Oliver asked. Then, Shin Ji-un looked at me.

"Bro. What do you think?"

The problem with the Firstlight members was that they weren't listening at all. Despite INO members creating a ballad atmosphere with all sorts of small talk, these guys were acting like the previous conversation was just a joke. Fortunately, the INO members, though scattered, were kind and didn't say anything, just starting to talk again.

I realized that it was impossible to speak softly in this atmosphere. Eventually, the same tone I used during Kukseon-a's time came out.

"Ballads might be boring."

If said nicely, it's ambition for the stage, but honestly, it sounds stubborn. Knowing how the editing would go, I was repeating the same mistake.

Finally, INO became quiet and looked at me. I continued.

"To the audience. Many of them don't know us. I'm not saying this because I'm a good singer or anything."

Suddenly, thirty-four eyes from seventeen people were on me. I broke out in a cold sweat.

"Um, sorry, but I have stage fright. Could some of you look somewhere else?"

INO members laughed, thinking it was a joke. It helped ease the tension. INO's leader, Kang Han-woo, asked.

"So, what does Haewon want to do?"

"Personally, I think rock..."

"Rock is good. How about a rock ballad?"

"Rock ballad... rock ball?"

"Want to eat chicken feet."

That team really doesn't let a word go by without a response. It's almost like a round-robin conversation.

I was convinced that my image was already ruined from the start. I wanted to show a different image this time, but it seems this is my nature.

I was familiar with the editing style of survival shows, so I had a rough idea of how this broadcast would turn out.

Anyway, the time given was short, and we needed results. I thought dividing the work would be a good approach.

"The first stage should be an introduction to our groups, right? So, I think we should mash up songs from both our teams."

"Ah, good, good!"

"Then, let's split up and discuss. Vocals, dance, and rap."

Most importantly, splitting into smaller groups would make the Firstlight members less shy. It's not like we're in kindergarten; I don't know what they're doing.

Fortunately, INO members were good at following others' opinions. It seems they learned to avoid conflicts while living in a group of eleven.

"Vocal group, come over."

"Let's do dance!"

"Ji-un, you just come over for the discussion."

Eighteen people were divided into eight vocals, six dancers, and four rappers.

* * *

'The Rising First Episode.'

The first scene in the Firstlight segment was Jeong Haewon's reaction to the fan song. A scene of him returning to the car and covering his face with his hands while crying appeared with subtitles.

[Haewon cried that much?]

[He just had tears in his eyes during Mifan...]

[Why did he go alone and cry, making everyone sad?]

[Jeong Haewon is really worrying me these days...]

Then, after the mission announcement, Firstlight and INO gathered in one practice room.

[The atmosphere of all six teams in The Rising is really different]

[Firstlight and INO are the most extreme, lol]

[Firstlight members are maintaining their cool, so INO members are being even louder]

[The tension is really intense]

[↳If they lose the initiative here, one team will be dragged along]

[Firstlight members treated like they're tired... the atmosphere is really tough with them around]

[↳I wouldn't be able to talk to them in real life...]

In that situation, scenes of Jeong Haewon trying to speak softly but being drowned out by INO members appeared.

- Um, I think... um. Um, well... ballads are good, but... members?

[Haewon's words are being drowned out, lol]

[If it were me, I'd be pissed off by now, lol]

[They seem to be doing it on purpose]

[↳Of course, they are]

- Ballads might be boring.

[As an idol, he's being patient. If it were me, I'd have cursed by now]

- ...Um, sorry, but I have stage fright. Could some of you look somewhere else?

[INO is laughing, but Firstlight isn't...?]

[Is he really that afraid of the stage?]

[He performs well on stage]

The first episode of 'The Rising' was edited to be mild.

* * *

While I was talking to the dance group, INO's rapper Oliver came over.

"Haewon, should we discuss the arrangement separately?"

"Ah, yes."

INO has a few members who compose, but none who include their songs in the album. Oliver had released a mixtape.

Although Oliver, whose parents are Korean but who was born and raised in America, speaks a lot, his Korean is weak. However, there was no reason to be stuck when talking about music.

Oliver asked.

"You've composed songs, right? Have you shown them all to the A&R team?"

"Yes, I send most of them as demos."

"Should I do the same?"

Since we would be working on the arrangement together, I tried to get closer to Oliver by having a conversation.

Suddenly, Min Ji-ho stood up and asked the gathered members.

"Seniors, shall we go? Let's check this out?"

"Let's go, Min-jo!"

Indeed, members with common interests were grouped together, making communication smoother. Among them, the dance group reached an agreement first.

"There's an opinion in the dance group!"

Shin Ji-un chuckled and said.

"Is it kindergarten?"

"Yeah, that's the rap group."

In response to the mention of the rap group, INO's Lee Su-han said.

"Why isn't the rap group cute? The vocal and dance groups are like kindergartens."

I didn't realize it before, but when the same majors were grouped together, the atmosphere was clearly different. Especially, the place where the rappers gathered was full of deep voices. And strangely, they were obsessed with cuteness. They looked like crazy people...

Anyway, Min Ji-ho continued.

"I want to mash up INO's 'DEMON' and Firstlight's 'Turn On the Light'!"

"..."

I was speechless.

I couldn't immediately understand the logic of choosing the most complex songs from both our teams for a stage targeting all ages.

'Turn On the Light' was a song created with the sole purpose of making Firstlight memorable, almost like a troll song.

And 'DEMON'...

Oliver asked from the side.

"Haewon, you don't know this song?"

"Of course, I do."

"Is it a B-side you know?"

"I usually listen to new songs at least once."

"Ha, you're a hardworking genius, and it's annoying."

DEMON.

I remember it as a song where the lyrics are almost indistinguishable in the EDM. It was a song we received from an overseas composer, who, after being paid, went off on their artistic tangent.

So, is the song bad? No. But is it a song that can be powerful on stage or in the charts? No.

While I was struggling with this, the dance group members chimed in.

"To tear the stage apart!"

"Yeah, tear it apart!"

Fortunately, Han Hyo-seok, who likes to organize things, translated it into a language I could understand.

"Getting good scores from the audience is important, but as you said earlier, showing who we are is also important. So, it's about making a memorable impression."

More important than the score is to make the two teams memorable. I nodded.

"The goal is not the song, but to make the teams memorable?"

"Yes."

Then, Kang Han-woo said to Hwang Saebi.

"Saebi, your team is good at organizing."

"Our team only organized when Hyo-seok did it."

People started talking about the two songs again, and I tried to gauge if a mashup was possible.

The lyrics of 'DEMON' were about depression.

[The devil is swallowing my life. I am in a hellish sorrow.]

And 'Turn On the Light' is about Firstlight burning and tearing apart the stage.

Combined...

Tearing apart the devil (depression)...

So, a devil hunter...

...It's extremely complex, but maybe it could work?

While I was scribbling in my notebook, Oliver's voice came.

"Devil, parentheses, and tearing apart depression... Wow, a devil hunter concept? That's good?"

"Aah, yeah."

Oliver read what I was writing, and I whined as I looked up to see thirty-four eyes on me. Ah, I felt queasy.

"No, I was just thinking..."

"Haewon! That's good!"

"Let's go hunt the devil!"

"Wow!"

Even the introverted Min Ji-ho and Park Seon-jae, who quickly broke the ice with INO, and surprisingly extroverted Ahn Ju-won, joined in and became noisy.

I couldn't manage my expression in the chaos. My image is ruined again.