Chapter 65: The Techniques of an Idol Who Never Fails

The Rising gained momentum from the second episode, to the point where even the production team was taken aback. Not only did it become a hot topic domestically, but the influx of overseas fans also increased rapidly.

Initially, most of the comments after the first mission stages were in Korean, but from the second mission onwards, foreign language comments dominated right from the moment the videos were uploaded.

In the comment section, Jung Hae-won was receiving a completely different kind of attention.

[Jung Hae-won is a genius, no doubt about it]

[He's insane]

[After watching all of Guk Sun-a, it feels like a completely different personality]

[↳They say the editing was bad]

[↳You can tell how bad the production team of The Rising was by watching the entire second episode]

[↳There are even comparison videos of Guk Sun-a and the editing]

[What did the Guk Sun-a production team make? I don't want to watch it]

[↳The Sure]

[↳?? The Sure is debuting at the TYT Music Awards this time?]

[↳↳And even in Jakarta]

[↳↳↳Don't come to Jakarta!!]

Then, the third mission began.

The third mission inevitably focused on Kang Jin-young, the main dancer and brain of New Days, who used a bold strategy from the start. As soon as the third mission was revealed, Kang Jin-young said to the two vocalists and the rapper member,

“You three will be separated, and the rest will form a unit with me.”

When the members, who usually followed Kang Jin-young, hesitated to understand, he continued,

“And we'll be the top unit.”

It was still quiet. All the members were demoralized after two consecutive last places, and their confidence in their own abilities was waning. Kang Jin-young said,

“My strategy is Hae-won.”

Only then did the members start to speak up one by one.

“Hae-won?”

“In our unit?”

“How?”

“Somehow!”

Kang Jin-young spoke firmly.

“No matter what, we'll form a unit with Hae-won and ask him to produce, and we'll be number one. Let's create the best stage.”

Kang Jin-young had a peculiar charisma that could sway public opinion. The demoralized members of New Days gradually came around to his attitude.

“Right, let's be number one!”

“We were originally good at stages! If Hae-won shows his genius, we'll follow him!”

“I like it too!”

The plan was quickly finalized. The subtitle appeared.

[New Days' Strategy = Hae-won]

From that scene onwards, the ratings began to show a meaningful rise again.

[Wow, wildcard Jung Hae-won ㄷㄷㄷ]

[Kang Jin-young's character is unique lol]

[But the strategy is good. If they were separated, those four wouldn't have gotten any screen time]

[↳They look like they heard there's no Santa...]

[↳No, it seems Hae-won is going because he wants to... lol]

[↳↳Sorry, Hae-sun fans... The kids are in a hurry...]

[↳↳↳Please take good care of Hae-won... He gets lonely easily...]

Min Ji-ho, who was sitting in a corner, embarrassed, said to Han Hyo-seok, who was also sitting in a corner,

“Hae-won is betraying us.”

“Yeah.”

“He even looks happy?”

“He must be, since the New Days members listen to him. We don't listen, do we?”

“Didn't he say it was good that we had strong opinions? That we needed to fight a lot to make a good stage!”

“It was all a lie.”

[No lol, why is Hyo-seok also being swayed by Ji-ho lol]

[First Light kids really follow Jung Hae-won]

[They seemed to genuinely dislike each other during Guk Sun-a]

[↳Can this become a bad storyline?]

[↳↳It might. Hae-won said we need to fight a lot to make a good stage...]

[↳↳It seems that when Ji-ho talked about Hae-won on X-app, it wasn't because of the show, but because he really wanted to see him...]

[↳↳↳No... Min fans, Hae-won made Ji-ho suffer a lot during Guk Sun-a, so if this is a bad storyline, how can we feel sorry for Hae-won?]

After posting the comments, @minjojo_ stepped away from the phone for a moment.

Although @minjojo_ hadn't posted hate comments, they had expressed dissatisfaction and treated Hae-won like a non-existent person after First Light's recruitment.

@minjojo_ knew that many First Light fans acted the same way. They would skip Hae-won's posts on X-bus, or avoid retweeting his photos on the official Twitter, showing a very subtle and everyday form of exclusion.

@minjojo_ had always thought this was a natural right for someone who started as a fan of a group of six.

@minjojo_ briefly searched for 'Hae-won' on their account. Surprised by the lack of results, they searched without a subject and found a few posts.

[We're really being too harsh on our kid]

[But listen to others before getting angry]

[Let's just endure until Guk Sun-a ends, Ji-ho]

“Really, I'm going to go crazy...”

@minjojo_ covered their mouth with both hands and muttered, then deleted the posts and turned back to the broadcast.

While New Days was discussing potential songs and waiting for Hae-won's call, the dramatic scene of composer Heo Hae-joon receiving the song and reacting was intercut.

Heo Hae-joon, who had jumped up in excitement upon receiving the song, immediately looked at the camera.

“Oh, there's a camera... But what's going on? Why is he giving us this...? No, why is he doing this?”

It was clear to anyone that Heo Hae-joon was extremely excited. He paced around the studio, checking his watch, unable to sit still. After about two minutes, he rushed out of the studio.

“He must have called by now, right? It's over, right?”

Running to the practice room, he was surprised to find the New Days members just starting their call with Hae-won and left the room again, flustered. The episode ended with the New Days members, who had just finished their call, rushing to Heo Hae-joon's studio, still in disbelief about receiving the song, and repeatedly questioning him.

The viewers' curiosity about the song they received was exploding.

[No way, the show is so dramatic ㅅㅂ lol]

[Heo Hae-joon and the New Days members' reactions are insane lol]

[↳X-app is so curious lol]

The real-time chat for The Rising was buzzing with excited anticipation, but @minjojo_ sat in a daze for a while after the broadcast ended.

* * *

The final mission of The Rising is live, but the final mission stage is pre-recorded.

Due to the tight schedule, I focused on the final mission as soon as the third mission ended.

The theme of the final mission was 'Rising Star.' Literally, a stage to showcase that their team is a 'Rising Star.'

It was essentially a free theme, and we had to show what kind of team First Light was.

The final mission theme was announced from the first episode, so TRV had been preparing for the final mission in advance.

The song title came first.

The title is 'Matteo,' the baptismal name of member Shin Ji-woon.

I started writing the song because Shin Ji-woon, who wanted to repent for his fake hair, ironically attended church regularly.

When I explained this, Shin Ji-woon found it absurd to discuss someone else's personality, but he liked the rest. I thought he would complain about not being on stage during the third mission, but fortunately, he didn't bring it up.

Anyway, while I was sampling the pipe organ sound for the first mission, I also sampled the track for this song.

Yang Yi-hyung, who came to my studio, listened to the pipe organ track and said,

“I really thought you had a high understanding of real instruments because you played the piano when you were young, but when I asked other composers, they said no. I'm getting tired of being surprised.”

I just chuckled, and Yang Yi-hyung, who seemed to like the organ track, repeated it and said,

“How can one organ track sound like a hymn and the other like a noir?”

“It's different music.”

“Cheeky brat... Anyway, the atmosphere is perfect.”

We listened to the music and thought about it.

My goal was to create music that would fit a noir film, set in a church where a shootout is about to happen. Yang Yi-hyung asked,

“But it's too noir. How will you make it feel like a church?”

“With a choir.”

“Shin Jae will record the chorus?”

“Yeah, he will.”

I planned to layer Shin Jae's voice in the chorus and add an a cappella in the introduction.

Although my schedule became even tighter due to the third mission taking away the final song, the song being created for the final mission was more fitting. I also decided to incorporate a taste of the members' abilities, which I had newly admired during this survival show. Unintentionally, it corresponded with the first mission, which started with a pipe organ.

Still, no matter how I thought about it,

“...The other teams will probably do something flashy and bright for the final, but this is too dark, isn't it?”

Yang Yi-hyung replied to my comment,

“So what? If the song is good, you won't get criticized even if the stage is X-like.”

“No, hyung.”

I answered, bewildered.

“Our kids won't do a X-like stage, so if the stage fails, it's because I couldn't create a good song.”

Yang Yi-hyung thought for a moment and then said,

“Ten thousand won.”

“It's a trap, what? And I'm quitting smoking, so the fine doesn't scare me.”

“You really live a tough life.”

“No, quitting smoking isn't that hard...”

“Don't say nonsense. Hey, this song is completely written out of smoking cravings. The music smells like cigarettes.”

“...”

It's a bit true, a bit...

* * *

The final mission concept meeting at the company continued without end. I was busy with revisions, so I only joined the meeting when I was bored.

“Noir means suits.”

“Go! Die! Re! Kit!”

The members had already worn tuxedos once, and the concept hadn't received good reviews, so the meeting split into two factions: one advocating for leather jackets and the other for suits.

The members also had differing opinions.

“I really want to wear a leather jacket!”

“I don't like suits either.”

“Can I keep this necklace?”

It was one of the most active concept meetings in history.

Basically, the members remembered that fans 'didn't like suits very much.'

In the end, the youngest member, Park Shin-jae's solemn voice was decisive.

“I went on X-app yesterday. When I asked the fans how they felt about the tuxedos during the first proposal, they said we looked like elementary school students going to a competition...”

Everyone, including the members and staff, tried hard not to laugh. Park Shin-jae took out his frustration on Shin Ji-woon, who was struggling the most to suppress his laughter.

“Hyung, you shouldn't laugh. It's because you look old.”

“What are you talking about? I make you look mature, so you should be grateful.”

“No, I look my age.”

“But can elementary school students wear leather jackets?”

“Hyung doesn't have a license either!”

“I'll get it in a few days.”

Ignoring the childish argument, stylist Lee Ye-young said,

“At least leather jackets have more styling options. And Shin-jae looks quite strong among the members.”

“Nah, it's the choir.”

Anyway, I was confident that it wasn't just about the choir.

In the end, the concept was decided to be leather jackets, and for the intro, only Shin Ji-woon, who represents Matteo, wore a suit and shot a separate VCR in a church.

On the day of the pre-recording,

As soon as I saw the members, these words came out naturally.

“Are you guys... going to ask someone?”

Hwang Saegil replied, bewildered,

“Talking about others.”