Chapter 60. Dreams (2)
"We got competition!"
Lee Hyun stared back in shock when he heard that. Competition? They had decided to release the album a month before Christmas to avoid competition with other singers.
But it looks like someone else thought the same as them.
"Who is it?"
Kim Dongsu sighed when Lee Hyun asked that with a calm expression on his face.
"It's a singer from SMH Entertainment. He made his debut a year ago and is planning to release his second album at the same time as us."
"What's his name?"
"Jihun."
When Kim Dongsu said that, Minyuk who was standing on the side shouted in a raised voice.
"Jihun!!!!"
Lee Hyun and Kim Dongsu turned to look at him with confused gazes. Minyuk quickly explained how he knew Jihun.
"He was actually my junior when I started in Hongdae. I taught him some skills and we were close, but he changed after getting recruited by SMH and we don't talk much now."
"Oh!"
Lee Hyun hadn't expected that they would face competition and the singer would even be Minyuk's acquaintance.
It was a dire situation no matter how you thought about it.
Mango Entertainment was not a big agency yet and they can't spend much on the marketing and promotion. Competition with an already established singer was something he wanted to avoid at all cost.
Still, he decided to calmly think about it.
'Jihun showed his true colours after getting a bit of popularity. It means he doesn't amount to much after all.'
Lee Hyun even tried to recall if he had heard Jihun's name in his past life, but there was nothing.
It means that he was not able to become a big singer. When he was in Top Entertainment, he only used to work with big singers, so it was understandable that he didn't know Jihun.
"Uncle Dongsu, how did you find out about it?"
After thinking about all that, Lee Hyun asked Kim Dongsu.
He hadn't heard a rumour that someone was releasing an album at the same time as Minyuk, so he wondered where Kim Dongsu heard it from.
"Actually, I was in a meeting with the CEO of SMH Entertainment. He wanted to buy a song from Midas."
Lee Hyun widened his eyes hearing that.
Kim Dongsu was in charge of selling songs and he was doing a good job at it, but selling a song to SMH was akin to telling your strategy to the enemy country before a war.
"So, did you finalise the deal?"
"No, thankfully, the deal got cancelled at the last moment because they liked another song more."
"That's good."
Lee Hyun took a sigh of relief hearing that.
All of the songs he was recreating were a hit in his past life. He didn't want to give a song that would become a hit to someone who would be competing against Minyuk.
"What was the song that SMH wanted to buy?"
"It was Yours."
"Then, they would probably be going for a groovy title track for Jihun's album. It's good that it's different from Minyuk."
Kim Dongsu nodded his head.
Media would already compare both Minyuk and Jihun as both their albums would release at the same time. If their theme was also the same, then there would be an intense showdown.
Lee Hyun wanted to avoid that at all cost.
"Um, what are we going to do about it?"
Minyuk asked with a worried gaze. His album would clash with Jihun's album. Honestly, he has mixed feelings about it and he was a bit worried too.
After all, Jihun already has fans while he was just starting out.
"Well, a clash is something we don't want and it's also not like we can push the album release."
Kim Dongsu said with a sigh at the end and Lee Hyun followed it up.
"Yeah, if we push the album release, then we would have to compete with those popular singers and it's not a fight we can win."
There was another thing. Lee Hyun didn't want to be seen as a coward by pushing the album release.
It was better to go as they had planned.
"Still, it's a bad situation..."
Kim Dongsu frowned as he thought about it. Minyuk was the same.
'They are getting too depressed.'
Lee Hyun thought as he looked at Kim Dongsu and Minyuk.
It was not like he was not worried about it, but he also knew that he would need to think with a calm mind here.
Just thinking that it's a bad situation won't do much for them. That's why, he opened his mouth after thinking for a bit.
"Let's think of this as an opportunity."
"Opportunity?"
"What do you mean?"
Both of them looked at Lee Hyun with a confused expression when he said that.
"Think about it carefully. The media would surely try to make it seem like both Minyuk and Jihun are in a clash. It would be a sort of free marketing for us and we just have to come on the top."
Kim Dongsu frowned hearing those words.
He wondered if Lee Hyun had lost some of his brain cells today. Minyuk was just a newbie singer in the industry.
How can he win against Jihun who started before him?
"Can you explain how Minyuk would come out on top? It's more likely that Jihun would beat him easily."
Kim Dongsu asked him.
"Let me explain. We need to understand that we can't do extensive marketing for Minyuk. On the other hand, SMH Entertainment is popular for its intense marketing."
"Yeah, I know that. They spent a huge amount of money for image making and marketing."
Mango Entertainment was already at a disadvantage because their opponent was a rich agency and they didn't even have much money for marketing.
'You can't make an album successful with just marketing. It's about the songs in the end.'
Lee Hyun thought as a plan formed in his head. He was planning to use this clash to their advantage.
"Although they can promote the album, it comes down to the song in the end and I'm confident in the songs that I have composed."
"Ah..."
Kim Dongsu was not able to retort to that.
Everyone one of Lee Hyun's songs was a hit till now and the songs he had composed for Minyuk's album were really great.
But...
"We can't just win because of better songs. It would have worked if Minyuk was a little known singer, but it's not that..."
"I know that, but if that's the case, then we just need to make him known."
"What? How will we do that?"
Kim Dongsu asked with a confused expression on his face. He wondered what was going on in Lee Hyun's mind as he stared at him.
But the only answer he got was...
"I have thought of something."
Lee Hyun formed a smirk as he said that.
A plan slowly formed in his head as he glanced at Minyuk who was standing on the side.