Despite my tired back aching, my manager continued to rant about his disagreement.
"What if they fire you? You should be afraid of the CEO."
"Yes, yes."
"You're still young and naive to know about the cruelty of the world…"
"Can you show me the practice room and introduce me to the other members?"
My manager gave me an annoyed look as I interrupted him, but I didn't let it bother me with my thick skin that had been toughened by years of working in society. I was originally tough, after all.
"Seo Hoyun is acting strange today. He seem different after getting sick…"
He constantly repeated from his mouth as if possessed by some demon.
While walking down the hallway, I glanced at pictures of people I didn't know. However, I recognized a famous actor who had moved from theater to romantic dramas.
They seemed to be a relatively successful agency catering to actors, but…
It was weird to see an agency specializing in actors also have an idol group….
"How many trainees are there?"
"What nonsense are you spewing? You're the only ones here."
"…What?"
"You were the only trainees who were brought together and debuted. Sigh… I'm really worried."
Really?
Was that the plan all along?
While I was amazed by how poor the company system was compared to other places, my manager discretly spoke to me.
"Hoyun."
"Yes?"
"The kids, they can be a bit… sensitive. Their grades haven't been great lately, so don't be surprised no matter what you say."
"Grades?"
"Grades…yes, to you, it may seem like grades. But don't worry, I've been watching them closely, and they're really good kids. They're just under a lot of stress."
When someone kept saying that the kids were good, it was usually the opposite.
As I calmly looked on, the tense manager quickly opened the door.
"Hey guys, Hoyun's here!"
… Lord, I've lived a good life so far.
I wished the members I would be working with had been chosen thoughtfully.
"Seo Hoyun?"
However, I bit my tongue when I saw the members sweating and panting in the practice room.
This won't work.
Yes, they were handsome. And, of course, idols were supposed to be good-looking. Being good-looking and pretty and singing well were all important. But in the Korean entertainment industry, where all the good-looking and pretty people flocked, simply being good-looking was not enough to stand out among the competition.
What, then, was the key to survival?
It's all about star power.
How much you radiated and how effortlessly you exuded coolness were crucial factors.
As I observed the four members sitting together, I made my assessments.
Not quite there yet.
Being a star may not seem like a big deal, but achieving it was incredibly challenging. It's necessary for creating fans who cheer for you at the slightest wave, yet it's difficult to acquire. One must possess a dazzling charm or charisma.
And when you are full of yourself as I was, it's easy to identify the weaker ones.
But these members didn't have that. I sighed as I realized they didn't possess the star power.
Hey… Can I see their stats?
[No >_<]
Useless.
As I was about to sigh, a sharp voice pierced my ears.
"Didn't they say Seo Hoyun left?"
The person speaking was tall, and as I looked at him, their character sheet popped up on the system window.
[Kim Seonghyeon
Leader and main dancer of The Dawn
Remarks: ???
He is highly sensitive due to the risk of disbandment.]
Yeah, I knew that without you telling me.
"But why did you come back? What have you ever accomplished?"
Kim Seonghyeon glared sharply at me. The manager intervened between us, looking flustered.
"Seonghyeon, why are you like this? Hoyun was sick."
"Well, so what? Are we some kind of comeback loser group? Why is someone who didn't even do their activities properly still here?"
"Kim Seonghyeon!"
Honestly, I thought Kim Seonghyeon's words were all right. At the same time, I reassessed the situation.
Can someone with such a terrible character actually succeed?
Usually, people are more attracted to someone who's terrible 99 times but does well once than someone who did well 100 times. If you did well 100 times, people just looked at you as a sucker or a loser.
"Seonghyeon, let's stop."
[Seong Jiwon
Main vocal
Remarks: ???
Seong Jiwon is kind but has really bad luck.]
This one seems pretty good.
Seong Jiwon stopped Kim Seonghyeon and gave me a nod. As I shrugged my shoulders and entered the practice room, Seong Jiwon greeted me.
"Uh… Hoyun, welcome. Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. I'm Seo Hoyun. Nice to meet you."
"Who doesn't know your name?"
"Just trying to do better this time."
"So shameless…"
Thanks to putting a lot of saliva on my lips before leaving home, whether it was a lie or not, it came out easily.
Kim Seonghyeon's face turned red, but I ignored him and looked at the other two. The one with black hair opened his eyes wide.
"Hoyun-hyung, are you really all better?"
[Jeong Dajoon
Sub-dancer
Remarks: ???
He's the youngest. Um… He has a bright and cheerful personality.]
"Oh… I'm good now."
Despite not knowing exactly where I was hurting, I responded vaguely. As I glanced over at him, I noticed a guy with a face resembling that of a fox grinning smugly.
"Hyung, I thought something had happened to you when you didn't return."
[Kang Ichae
Main rapper
Remarks: ???
His personality is equally twisted.]
Look at this guy's personality.
That guy's a real character.
"I came back alive."
"Hmm? Uh-huh? Haha."
[Quest "Talk to the members!" has been completed.
Looks like everyone is feeling bad because you're here again!
I'll add some charm for now.]
I gave a moderate response and looked at the quest window. Main vocal, dancer, rapper – they at least collected members that fit the roles. Or maybe they put them in appropriate positions since they gathered practice trainees….
When I exchanged greetings with the members, the manager smiled broadly and expressed gratitude that I was well received.
"Great, it's a relief that everyone welcomed you! Let's work hard again, everyone!"
"…"
… It was a bright day.
No one answered.
Nevertheless, the manager continued to speak with determination and energy. I felt sorry for him, thinking about how tough it must be for a working person.
"Well, you may not know this yet, but we're preparing for a comeback. We only have one month left for the showcase and broadcasting activities. Let's give it our best shot. The CEO is really pushing and supporting us!"
That wasn't true…
As I looked around, it seemed everyone knew it was a lie. The uneasy expressions on the members' faces were proof of that.
"Hoyun, would you like to listen to the song first?"
[Quest Arrived: "Listen to the comeback song!"
This is the last chance for The Dawn!
Listen to the comeback song.
Success: Start the next scenario, add 1 charm.
Failure: The trust of The Dawn members will decrease drastically.]
"Yes, please play it."
Let's see how bad this song really was.
"Pop-pop-pop like a pineapple!
Yum-yum-yum like an apple!
Mang-mang-mang like a mango!"
"…"
"…"
Silence filled the room.
The song was incredibly cringeworthy. It was about confessing feelings to a crush using fruit analogies like pineapple, apple, and mango, with a fresh and tangy twist. Even if you stumbled upon it by chance, it would be unforgettable in its cringiness.
After watching their debut single on YouTube, I thought they wouldn't be that bad, but upon listening to this song…
It's a disaster…
Ding!
[Mang-Mang-Mang!]
"How is it? The song is good, right?"
I looked at the manager, who was lying down and smiling broadly.
… Should I laugh? Even though it's certain that we'll fail if we promote this song? No, we might even become a laughingstock on the internet forever.
"'Pop-pop-pop like a pineapple!' Wow, it's such a hit song. The reaction is already crazy. Even the planning team is going crazy over how fresh it is."
Putting aside the shitty beats and similarly shitty lyrics, how can they possibly do this concept in winter?
It's been six months since summer passed, but they still wanted to do a concept like this? Did the planning team all die?
I couldn't help but imagine myself singing nonsensical lyrics about pineapples, mangoes, and apples and the YouTube video receiving only three or four comments.
I imagined it.
– Wow… I feel bad for them… hahhahaha
– kekekeke… Now anyone can be an idol~~~ Can I debut too?
– Are there fans of idols like this? I'm really curious, so I'm asking.
It was obvious how the public would react to the song. As I shook with laughter, I gave my opinion to the people around me, secretly waiting for my response.
"The song is really fresh."
"Is it?"
"Did the CEO run a fruit farm?"
"Hey, Seo Hoyun!"
Honestly, the surrounding members got angry when I spoke.
"Hoyun, even if it's true, that kind of talk…"
"Why? It's a true statement."
"I mean, it's one thing for pineapples to be 'pop-pop-pop,' but why are mangoes 'mang-mang-mang'?"
Kang Ichae nodded, and I rose to my feet with a sense of misery, rubbing my face. I was certain a cigarette was in my pocket, and I needed to smoke it.
However, the manager misunderstood my intentions and called out to me. "Seo Hoyun, where are you going?"
"I just need a quick break. I'll be back soon," I replied.
But the manager continued calling out to me, "Hoyun!"
Ignoring his attempts to stop me, I walked outside the building and sat on the pavement, taking out a cigarette. As I smoked, I gazed across the street at the nearby building.
The nearby building looked old and small for some reason. As a novice composer, I felt that even I could have done a better job than that. How did they even accept such a song? It was absurd that they used summer lyrics for a season that was soon to be snowing, and now they were incorporating random EDM. What even was EDM?
[Are you going to give up?]
"Shut up…I'm thinking."
I couldn't give up because of my pride.
I remembered my rookie days when I endured all sorts of ridicule and held back my anger. I remembered the senior who made me pick up his business card from the trash and the top star who treated me rudely and made me run errands. Compared to those experiences, this was nothing, absolutely nothing…
I checked my bank balance on the app to try and calm myself down, but even that didn't work.
I needed to feed Seo Hojin.
"Hoyun."
The main vocalist I saw earlier came over. His name was… Yeah, that.
"… Seong Jiwon."
"Uh-huh."
I gazed at the system window that had reappeared above my foggy mind and pretended to recognize the name displayed. He was the kind guy who attempted to soothe the members earlier.
I can't adapt…
No matter where I looked, the young kid was calling my name at the top of his lungs, emphasizing just how insane this situation truly was.
I took another puff from my cigarette, knowing there was no answer to it.
"Are you okay?"
"Uh."
"We… went too far, didn't we?"
"It's okay."
Seong Jiwon's expression darkened as I smoked my cigarette as if he couldn't accept it.
I soon realized. Right, idols weren't supposed to smoke. It was as if admitting defeat when you saw an idol smoking when they should be taking care of their voice.
What was my role again? Sub-vocalist?
All I did was sing at company dinners, using a spoon as a makeshift microphone. I was already anxious about how I would perform on stage and sing.
"Please understand. Nothing seems to be going right."
"…"
"We're on the brink of failure. We've already lost hope. The planning team has abandoned us, and the only support we received from the company was this song."
Ugh.
I glared at Seong Jiwon, squinting my eyes.
"We'll have to figure out what to do after we disband. It'll take a long time to figure things out, considering we've been trainees for so many years."
"How long were you a trainee for?"
"About seven years…."
"And where did you train?"
"D.go."
Isn't that a good place?
Seong Jiwon mentioned a pretty big entertainment company. There was a group called Today that had recently gained some recognition.
So were they pretty talented? If they're talented, I was a little less worried. I still couldn't be sure, though.
As I sucked on my cigarette, I observed Seong Jiwon's hesitant expression.
"It's a big company."
"But things didn't go well for me. Let's just consider this as leaving behind a lasting memory. We shouldn't fret over the rest and simply do our best."
I smiled a little.
"Why are you smiling?"
Leaving behind a lasting memory?
"What are you talking about? I didn't come here to make memories with you guys.
Declaring failure before attempting to succeed was a display of arrogance, especially in an industry where our livelihoods were at stake.
We could not simply give up on a game that hadn't even properly begun.
I put out my cigarette by rubbing it on the ground.
"Who said that?"
"What?"
"Last one, whoever said that."
We hadn't even experienced any success yet, but we were already hesitating at the starting line. I had to transform these fools into a top-tier idol group.
And I was confident.
"I'm starting now, okay?"
I was confident enough to take care of these guys.