Chapter 49

Daisy left, and we finished the remaining music video shooting.

While the staff were preparing to leave,

We kept gazing at the sunset sea.

“Wow.”

It was a peaceful scene that felt healing just to look at.

The sound of waves echoed in our ears, and the sea water, dyed red, rippled far away.

Just as I felt like old memories were surfacing,

“Bro.”

The youngest member’s low voice was heard. I answered without taking my eyes off the distant horizon.

“Why?”

“Who will give us songs when we do solo activities?”

“I won’t give you my songs, really.”

Jiho pretended to pout, and I and the other members laughed.

Of course, it was a joke.

It was a topic that could easily turn serious, so we were all intentionally keeping it light.

“Well, I understand you’re worried because many people change after becoming famous. I’ve always disliked that.”

Such experiences were plentiful at TJ Entertainment.

When a trainee seemed to be doing well and was about to debut, they would pretend to be close friends and act all cute.

I hated that.

I thought, why don’t they practice their songs instead of wasting time on that.

“It’s all in vain. In the end, you have to work hard and do well yourself. I can’t understand people who try to climb up by using others. Well, I’ve seen it all at the previous company too.”

When I was selected for the TNT debut lineup, the trainees who used to ask about my well-being every day stopped contacting me after I was dropped.

“Come to think of it.”

Biju said as if he remembered something.

“I remember what you said back then. When we ran into Girls on Top in the hallway of Hwa Entertainment.”

“Oh, when we were ignored as trainees?”

“It really hurt back then.”

“Yeah, especially Gil Chae-kyung.”

“You said then, let’s not be like that. Right?”

I smiled silently. Biju was saying what I wanted to say.

To reassure the kids, I opened my mouth.

“Yeah, don’t worry. We won’t change after becoming famous. Honestly, I’m already struggling to take care of our own family; I don’t have the energy to take care of others’.”

“Wow, did you just hear that? Universe hyung called us family.”

“Hey, Jiho.”

I put my hand on the youngest member’s head, who was still hanging onto my neck.

“Can you please see the forest for the trees when someone talks? You only hear what you want to hear… Wait, why do you guys have those expressions?”

Was the word ‘family’ that good?

Seeing the expressions of my juniors, it felt like they were holding a warm sweet potato in winter.

Just a moment ago, they were asking, ‘Will you abandon us if we become famous?’

Now they were suddenly grinning.

“Ri-hyuk hyung, Biju hyung, look. They’re completely moved.”

“Didn’t he leave the fandom when Biki was in bikinis?”

“Originally, there’s no such thing as leaving a fandom, only taking a break.”

While listening to the conversation of the younger members, who seemed to be talking about something I didn’t understand, Min-ki hyung called out from a distance.

“Guys! Let’s get ready to go back!”

“Okay!”

I looked around at the members.

“Shall we go?”

As we approached the parking lot, we kept looking back at the beach, feeling a bit disappointed.

“Can’t even dip our toes, it’s a shame.”

“Well, let’s go to the beach when we have time later.”

“Oh, good. Then is this a promise for a trip to celebrate becoming family?”

The youngest member dangled from me, excited.

“Hyung, Hyung. What will we do when we all go out together later?”

“What will we do?”

Jung-hyun seemed to have an idea.

“Let’s grill some meat. And some clams too.”

“Kim Jung-hyun, you only talk about food.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about drinks. A drink would be nice. Universe hyung can’t drink, so he can have cola with the kids.”

“Then who will drive? None of us have a license.”

“I do.”

“I’ll count you as not having one, Jung-hyun hyung.”

“Why me?”

The youngest member, still hanging onto my neck, answered.

“Hyung, you’re so strong and you break things easily. If you drive, I feel like you’ll pull out the steering wheel. And then you’ll look at us like, ‘What? What?’”

Everyone burst into laughter at the youngest member’s acting, even Jung-hyun himself.

Since the music video shooting was completely finished, we felt unusually relaxed as we entered the parking lot.

The sunset was shining behind us.

* * *

With the music video, the visual work for the debut album was complete.

An album typically goes through three stages.

First, the production based on the A&R team’s planning.

Second, the visual work to present the album in a way that fits the concept, such as through photos or videos.

Third, the promotion of the album.

We were currently in the third stage.

In other words, there was nothing more for us to do.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we were doing nothing.

“There are things you need to prepare.”

The day after the music video shooting, Yun Seok-hwan came to us with a huge stack of papers.

“Hyung, what’s this?”

“You need to prepare for the showcase. The practice part is up to you, but I think I need to train you on how to handle the press. I’ve summarized it briefly.”

We shuddered at the manager’s evil smile.

“The showcase is an important stage. You’re competing with the Street Boys. The public will ultimately decide the winner, but there’s an initial trend.”

Yun Seok-hwan explained through comparison.

“Remember the movie <Black Flower> with one of our company’s actors?”

“I know. The movie that Jo Isang suggested.”

“Right. <Black Flower> didn’t get much attention at first, but it became a box office hit through word of mouth. While it’s hard to draw a direct comparison with the music industry, the initial reaction from journalists is really important here.”

“Don’t they favor the side that pays more for promotion?”

“Well, sometimes. But you know, when you read articles, you can tell if they’re just copying the press release or if the journalist really wrote it with genuine feelings.”

In short, to gain the upper hand in the competition with the Street Boys, we needed to make a good impression at the showcase.

In other words, we couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.

“Especially since you have a rival setup, any slip of the tongue about the other side will immediately backfire. People in Korea don’t like rookies badmouthing each other.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Practice hard. For a while, I’ll train you on how to handle questions.”

So we focused on training for performance and how to handle questions from journalists.

What to say when faced with a difficult question.

What expression to have when answering a question.

It was a welcome opportunity for us, who had struggled with interviews during the Something activities.

It was really tough back then.

We didn’t know what we could say and what we couldn’t.

We were more nervous about the interview than the music show or event.

So every time Yun Seok-hwan trained us on how to handle questions, we paid close attention.

Overall, it was a satisfying lesson.

“I was really worried, but it’s a relief that the company is teaching us this.”

Biju’s face darkened as he spoke.

“But the questions the section manager gave us, do they really ask such things? Some of them are too much.”

“Hyung, not everyone is as nice as you.”

“Right. My dad says there are several jobs in the world that you shouldn’t associate with, and one of them is journalists.”

“Hey, your dad….”

“What?”

“Never mind.”

Ri-hyuk seemed to recall the notorious franchise of Jiho’s father and stopped speaking.

“Still….”

I said to the worried Biju.

“Don’t worry too much. We’ve practiced a lot. Now, even if they curse us to our face, we can smile. Seok-hwan hyung has trained us with all kinds of trashy questions.”

“Right. Section manager, you even have a history of dealing with trolls.”

Biju laughed, but it wasn’t what he meant.

“I’m just worried that everyone will get hurt.”

“Do you really worry about that?”

Jung-hyun, my same-age friend, laughed calmly.

“Just face it. We’ve almost lost our minds from debut setbacks more than once. Compared to that, this is like eating cold porridge. We’ve made a good album, and the jacket and music video are also good.”

“Yeah, Jung-hyun hyung, you’re saying that again.”

“It feels good.”

Jung-hyun’s words, which always seemed to bring bad luck, made the kids panic.

Our team’s rapper frowned, looking aggrieved.

“This time, it’s not a premonition but a feeling.”

“Still, no.”

“Right. I’ll add ‘feeling’ to the list of forbidden words.”

Seeing their overreaction, I laughed inwardly.

It’s like watching our grandmother.

Every month on the first day, you shouldn’t break eggs, and on the day you go to the temple, you shouldn’t do certain things.

Such superstitions were already familiar to me.

But it’s cute to see these young kids acting like that.

“Don’t laugh like it’s someone else’s business.”

Ri-hyuk said with a pout.

“You should know how scary it is, having experienced it once.”

“I don’t believe in superstitions.”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I just remembered my old self. I used to be logical and didn’t believe in any superstitions.”

Well, he’s still logical, but I kept laughing at Ri-hyuk’s muttering.

Nonsense.

When Jung-hyun said he had a good premonition, and the Street Boys’ article came out right after, I didn’t think much of it.

It was just a coincidence.

A jinx is just a jinx, with no real effect.

Nonsense.

I shook my head, thinking that.

Honestly, what could happen?

And not long after,

Unbelievably, something did happen.

* * *

One week before our showcase, on June 11.

The 9-member boy group Street Boys from DNS Media finally held their debut showcase.

K-Net was live-streaming it on the internet.

We gathered around a laptop on the studio table to monitor our competition.

“Wow, K-Net is live-streaming this? We don’t have that.”

“DNS and that broadcasting station are close, you know.”

“Na-yoon said that when Scarlett debuted, they were treated like leftovers there.”

K-Net, a music-focused channel, usually holds music shows on Thursdays, and it was a common practice for artists to appear there before going to the terrestrial channels starting on Fridays.

For idols, it could be said to have more influence than terrestrial channels.

According to the kids, the station manager and the DNS representative were close friends.

On the other hand, there was some friction with Lemon for some reason.

I don’t know how much of it is true, but it seems K-Net is indeed supporting the Street Boys.

They even filmed a reality show before their debut and are now live-streaming their debut showcase.

“Hey, they’re coming out.”

“Wow, they’ve all lost a lot of weight since last year.”

Amid the flashing camera shutters, the Street Boys members appeared on the low-resolution screen.

They were wearing outfits that exuded a hip-hop vibe.

“Oh, they have a vibe.”

“Do they have swag? Should we try hip-hop later?”

“Shh, be quiet. The song is about to start.”

The lights dimmed, and the first performance began.

We watched the screen with anticipation. Even though they were our competitors, we were curious as fellow musicians.

What kind of song would it be?

Soon, a powerful guitar riff sounded, and the nine members started their choreography from the edges.

Finally, when the leader’s hand movements reached the center,

All the lights turned on, and the main song began.

“Oh, it’s good?”

While I was positively evaluating the song, our smiles didn’t last long.

It was because of the original rap by the leader, Han-jo, in the middle of the first verse.

People say

You don’t have Something cool

Something nice

But my thoughts are different (different)

That’s nothing special to us

We have no lack

We have hunger and venom

We all have a hunger

From then on, the chorus “We all have a hunger” kept flowing during the group choreography.

But we were frozen.

It was because of the nuance of “Something” in Han-jo’s rap. It was subtle, but anyone who wasn’t a fool would notice.

“Did he just….”

I finished Ri-hyuk’s unfinished sentence.

“Yeah. They just dissed us.”