48. Tuning (1)
The MD meeting ended quickly. MD planning is usually done together with preparing an album, so there wasn't much to do.
However, the only reason the meeting was held today was because of the 'cheer stick'.
'Now that the fandom name has been decided, we should start making it soon.'
The cheerstick design was discussed to be made directly with the members rather than outsourced. As a bonus, the process will also be filmed live.
The reason it was a 'meeting' and not an MD-related 'conference' in the first place was to receive the cheerstick production regulations and guidelines from the production company.
The unit price will vary depending on the design, but we wanted to match the line as much as possible. Even if the members design it, it will still have to be touched by an expert anyway.
'The self-produced videos were released too early because of the sasaeng incident. If we want to continue to provide content until the next album comes out, we have to use even the smallest things as material.'
Oh, but they say they will announce the fandom name as soon as it is produced as a video.
I sent the members to their dorms and headed to meet Team Leader Lee Ki-ho. The place we agreed to meet Team Leader Lee Ki-ho was a cafe on the public floor.
It had been a while since we met outside of the Rookie Development Headquarters.
"Hello, come sit down. What would you like to drink?"
"Hello. Don't worry about it. I already ordered it."
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho waved his hand when he found me and took a sip of the drink on the table.
Our conversation began after the drink I ordered arrived.
"I came after hearing what CEO Son Dong-young said. He said you changed your mind."
"Um, okay. You'll find out soon anyway, so I don't plan on hiding it. I'm done talking to the HR team, so all I have to do is hand over the job."
According to him, it's not a transfer based on a return or a dispatch that maintains a relationship with the existing company, but rather a transfer that completely changes the affiliation.
I asked while drinking my coffee in silence.
"That's unexpected. I really didn't know you'd transfer."
"What can I do when they've laid out the mat like this~ A powerless office worker should just throw himself into the storm."
A powerless office worker's ass.
Even now, if Team Leader Lee Ki-ho were to move to the management team, Lime Entertainment would welcome him with open arms.
I swallowed my feelings and smiled faintly.
"Hey, don't say that. We respect Team Leader Lee's opinion."
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho was smiling, but it seemed like he was thinking, 'What are you talking about?'
After calming down, he calmly told me the truth. It was the most important information.
"Anyway, I'm going to your management team. I don't know if I'll be a road manager or a chief."
He didn't hesitate at all. It was enough to make the worries about how to put Team Leader Lee Ki-ho in the management team seem meaningless.
'I thought you'd insist on being on the casting team even if you came to our label, but you're saying you're going to join the management team.'
Unlike road managers, who simply pick up and drive celebrities and control their condition, chief managers manage the schedules of their assigned celebrities and are given various authority and tasks, such as discussing appearance schedules and reviewing scripts.
They are often called team leader managers, but in the case of Team Leader Bae Hye-rim, due to a lack of manpower, she was in charge of internal work, so my road manager Ji Young-heon and I were in charge of that work.
If Team Leader Lee Ki-ho were to take on the role of chief manager...... a lot of the burden would be lifted.
"That's really surprising."
"Well, it's something I used to do, and I thought it would be better to forget the past. You guys are still innocent, aren't you?"
"Well, all the members of our group are kind."
The word 'yet' bothered me, but I thought about Team Leader Lee Ki-ho's history and stopped thinking about it.
He must have seen and realized the most that people are not always the same.
Still, I guess he gained a lot of positive images from his conversation with Seol Yi-soo. That's because Team Leader Lee Ki-ho said something like that.
"Still, it must not have been easy to decide to join the management team of a new label, so thank you."
"Okay~ We've already talked about it, so you don't have to be so formal. I feel embarrassed. Now I have to be polite to you."
The label's general producer doesn't have a clear hierarchy, but he is often on a similar level to the CEO due to his job duties.
He has to take responsibility for all management and responsibilities related to album production, so it's impossible for anyone in a lower position to handle it.
That's why CEO Son Dong-young, Director Kwak In-hyuk, and other employees speak politely to me.
'The two people I mentioned as examples seem to have more to do with their personalities than that.'
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho was a different case. He was affiliated with the parent company and wasn't related to me in terms of work, so he had no problem talking to me like before.
If they had been considerate and used polite language first, wouldn't it have been different? It seems strange for me to point out the lack of manners.
But now that you're moving to our side, you won't be able to speak informally to me anymore.
"Just be comfortable. Just keep the line when it comes to work."
"Hmm~ I appreciate it if you say that. But I won't let our producer be looked down on the outside, so I'll speak formally to you in general."
"Yes. Thank you."
"Again, again. Thank you."
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho smiled and finished his drink. I looked at him and said gently.
"If you change your mind later, I'll return you to an office job. If you have the experience like Team Leader Lee, you can go to the desk."
Of course, even in the management team, there aren't only 'managers' in the staff. If you have experience and are good at it, you can be assigned to desk work.
Especially when you become a manager-level manager, you have to do some paperwork because you have to be involved in the economy and management to some extent, even if you run the field.
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho has experience working at other agencies as a director, so he should be able to handle desk work.
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho tilted his head as if he was curious about what I said.
"Huh? Isn't Team Leader Bae there? If I suddenly go in, things will get a bit awkward."
"Team Leader Bae probably won't care about that."
From the perspective of Team Leader Bae Hye-rim, who was playing the drums, janggu, drums, guitar, and bass all by herself behind the scenes, it was obvious that she would welcome anyone who came in with what rank or what they were doing, so there was no problem.
However, Team Leader Lee Ki-ho shook his head despite my consideration.
"No, when I tried it, I couldn't handle the office work because my body was so tired~ I like going outside."
Yeah. I wondered why he went to the casting team, but it was because there was a lot of outside work.
"Aha."
I thought it was really unique that he chose an outside job after being tormented by so many people.
"Okay."
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho smiled brightly and stood up. I stood up too.
"When will the handover be over?"
"Usually a month. I think I will come in together after your new employee training is over?"
Fortunately, Team Leader Lee Ki-ho is a team leader, but he usually goes out and about, so it seemed like he could move right away after the handover was over.
I nodded.
"Then I'll wait."
After returning the cup of Americano that I had already finished drinking, Team Leader Lee Ki-ho smiled as if something had occurred to him.
"Now that I think about it, the employee who used to be in charge of Aram was fired."
"That's good."
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho stared at my face. He seemed to be guessing something, but he nodded as if he had come to a conclusion on his own.
"I knew it."
I didn't bother answering. I thought it was obvious and unnecessary.
Didn't we get help from Lime Entertainment when we were dealing with Aram's work?
Since there was no chance of Pyo Seung-soo stepping in, CEO Son Dong-young would have contacted the Planet members and asked for help.
'And even if it was someone else, if Tak Seung-min heard about Aram, he would not have left the employee who used to be in charge of him alone.'
It probably wasn't because of anger or regret about the incident. It was just a feeling of, "There's trash, so I have to clean it up." In particular, there was no way Tak Seung-min would let something that could damage the company's image go unnoticed.
Team Leader Lee Ki-ho, who was watching my reaction, waved his hand.
"I didn't mean to say anything, I just asked if you knew."
"Yes, go in."
When I told him not to try, Team leader Lee Ki-ho said he understood and stretched.
"Okay. Let's meet again as label family next time~"
I don't know why, but a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
***
I worked on a song in the studio I had applied for in advance and picked up my phone. I was going to work for a while and go back, but somehow I got immersed again.
But I didn't regret it. No, I was even satisfied.
I thought about the concept, decided on the beat, key, and tempo, and sketched it with code, and the melody came out naturally.
In my case, I tend to write the code first and then flesh it out, unless the melody comes to mind, but it's been a long time since I've had a melody come out like this.
'Maybe it's because I'm used to Intro members' styles.'
After checking the pending messages, I sent a bunch of replies. Then I archived the important messages separately.
Among them, the group chatroom where Intro members were gathered stood out.
[Hwang Bo-kyun: Young-ah! We're in the practice room, so come to the practice room later when you're done!]
A group selfie taken by the members was attached to the message that arrived about three hours ago.
An Jung-woo and Baek Han-gyul, who I thought were sent to the dorm, were also in the photo.
I thought they were definitely resting in the dorm.
'Did they go to the practice room instead of the dorm?'
I scratched my cheek and headed to the label-only practice room that Hwang Bo-kyun had mentioned. In the practice room, the members were practicing the choreography for Love Over over and over again.
They didn't even notice me and seemed focused.
'Everyone's working hard.'
I didn't want to disturb them, so I also practiced outside the large building secretly.
As I experienced the actual situation while doing this activity, my physical adaptation and skills improved rapidly. I still don't know if I enjoy dancing, but if I look at my skills alone, it was a remarkable growth.
I checked my body condition and looked at a corner of my vision.
'The position guarding period that the system mentioned is now about half a year away.'
I rolled my eyes, calculating the remaining time. According to it, I had to compete it at least until the next album promotions, or at least until the promotions after that.
While I was calmly making plans and focusing on practicing, Ryu Hyun-seung noticed that I had come and turned off the music.
"Young-ah, why didn't you talk when you came......."
"Oh, everyone seemed to be concentrating, so I didn't want to disturb you."
Everyone's eyes turned to me at that. I looked at Baek Han-gyul, who was the only one lying on the practice room floor exhausted, and said, It seemed like he had been practicing for a longer time than I thought.
"When did you start practicing?"
"Hmm? Didn't you see the message?"
"Oh...... I saw it. Have you been practicing since then?"
"Yeah, I think my body is stiff because I'm staying in the dorm. I have to practice hard and show a good image to our Lever members."
Hwang Bo-kyun, who had been showing his enthusiasm by naturally mentioning the fandom name, smiled brightly. It was a refreshing smile, just like the sea breeze.
An Jung-woo and Baek Han-gyul must have told the other guys the name of our fandom.
Then, suddenly, this thought occurred to me.
'Isn't this the first time they've acted voluntarily?'
It felt different to see them practice out of their own volition after always following the schedule given by the company.
From the beginning, when we were preparing for our debut, our schedule was so tight that we couldn't act autonomously.
'I appreciate that they follow the schedule without complaint, but I was worried that they would grow up passively.'
Some producers and companies prefer that, but I don't.
Personally, I think that to be an idol, you need to have not only looks, skills, and talent, but also venom, fury, and determination.
Being obedient and being kind are different.
Passive kids listen well, but they only do what they're told without thinking, so they have little will to succeed, and it's not fun to raise them.
'The goal is to unite the group or make them grow.'
I think their motivation to do well has increased even more since the last fan signing event. I should often give them that kind of explanation and stimulate them.
The moment I organized my thoughts and opened my mouth, the phone rang. The source of the sound was my cell phone.
[CEO Son Dong-young]
When I saw the person on the phone, I felt anxious. The fact that CEO Son Dong-young, who usually doesn't make contact, personally called means that it's not an ordinary thing. Moreover, it's the middle of the night. I couldn't guess why he called.
I raised my hand to the members and quickly answered the phone.
"Hello?"
[Oh, I'm sorry for calling you so late.]
"No. What's going on?"
The voice sounded urgent, despite being sorry. I heard a sigh over the phone. At first glance, it sounded like an irritated laugh.
'This hyung is so agitated...?'
A gentleman who hates to show his emotional changes. As I waited silently, swallowing my anxiety, CEO Son Dong-young blurted out something that was like a bolt from the blue.
[We might not be able to release our next album.]
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