Chapter 288
"A Japanese tour?"
"Yes. As I said earlier, I think all procedures will be completed by the end of June at the latest."
"It's been about two months from now......."
"That's right."
A large conference room located in the Sigma Entertainment building.
A space where the agency staff and members hold meetings about Seleste's activities, which has become quite familiar by now.
I looked at the planning manager as I heard the topic that made my heart pound for some reason.
"Actually, we've been preparing for a Japanese expansion within the company for quite some time. Even if it's not as good as a Korean album, we have to release a single album that has been localized steadily. We've been working on a total of three songs: one Japanese title song and Japanese versions of
"Oh, so that's been going on since we were doing
"Yes."
It must have been very hard working on our 3rd album.
I thought that the Sigma Entertainment people must have been very busy working on the Japanese album without resting.
But since the project went well as planned, they are telling us this now.
"The title song is currently finished up to the lyric version. Now you guys have to memorize the song, finish recording, and film the music video, you'll have to overcome all the big mountains."
"Hmm....."
Chae Eun-gyu slowly shook his head from side to side and tapped his fingers on the table.
"When I think about filming a music video or recording, I have no choice but to memorize the choreography and lyrics as quickly as possible."
"It's a bit burdensome for you guys who just finished your activities. However, since your global popularity is exploding right now, many people said that it would be better to tighten the schedule as much as possible......."
Our 3rd mini album,
This record was possible not only because of the popularity in Korea but also because of the support of overseas fans.
Based on this data, the agency executives judged that now was the best time to advance overseas.
More than anything, they must have trusted the members' skills and carried out such a tight schedule.
We have such outstanding abilities in learning choreography and songs.
Song Hyung-bin nodded after hearing the planning manager's words.
"Learning new songs and choreography is always fun. Right, guys?"
"Yes!"
"...Si-yoon hyung."
"Huh?"
Ji Yoon-chul looked at Kang Si-yoon with a meaningful look.
"Let's do a good job of directing the choreography this time too."
"Oh, of course! Who else would do it if not you and me?"
"....I didn't know that the opportunity I talked about at the fan meeting would come back so quickly."
Ji Yoon-chul passionately directed the choreography for the girl group cover medley prepared as a special stage for the fan meeting.
He had said that if there was another opportunity like this, he would like to teach the members in a fun way with Kang Si-yoon, and in just two days, a new mission was delivered.
I quietly watched Kang Si-yoon bumping fists with Ji Yoon-chul, laughing cheerfully.
'I feel like all the anxiety he had back then has gone away now.'
During
He told me that he was confident that no one would push him when it came to dancing.
He had made a subtle remark to severely discourage Ji Yoon-chul, who had displayed overwhelming genius skills in the first round.
The moment it was confirmed that they would debut as a team, I was very worried about whether Kang Si-yoon would be able to get along well with Ji Yoon-chul.
Fortunately, the distance between the two seems to have narrowed considerably.
An ordinary person can be torn to pieces by the talent of a genius.
However, Kang Si-yoon did not give up even after seeing someone with greater talent than himself.
Rather, he moved forward, using it as an opportunity to further develop himself.
The planning manager, who heard the conversation between the two members, burst into a good-natured laugh.
"Haha, I feel more reassured when Siyoon kun and Yoon-chul kun say that."
"We will take responsibility and make sure we learn all the choreography within a week!"
"A, a w-week!"
"Why are you so nervous, Heo Yu-bin! Is it impossible to do it in a week?"
"Absolutely! Absolutely impossible!"
The person who suffered the most from Kang Si-yoon's passionate words was Heo Yu-bin.
Among the members, Heo Yu-bin, who was the slowest at learning dance, always had to endure special training from Kang Si-yoon and Ji Yoon-chul.
"...I'll do it well for you this time too, hyung."
"T-this time, whenever you say that, I'm scared!"
"If hyung just follows along well, there's no problem."
"You always talk so softly at the beginning, but the more you go, the more you turn into a Spartan!"
"There's nothing we can do about that."
Listening to Ji Yoon-chul, it seems like he'll be chosen for the special training that lasts until dawn again this time.
Heo Yu-bin, who was groaning, shook his head briefly and then asked the planning manager in a normal voice.
"Excuse me, what happened to the Star Us Live I told you about back then, sir...... ?"
"Ah, you mean the composing studio live. I think it's okay to proceed. However, any of Yu-bin's songs that could be included in the official album in the future must absolutely not be made public, so please just follow this rule."
"Thank you!"
When Heo Yu-bin nodded, Yoo Min-ha, sitting next to him, laughed out loud and nudged his shoulder with his elbow.
"How is it, I said it well in the end? Right? Right?"
"You really, huh? I, I was so scared because of you back then!"
"Hehe, I knew this would happen, so I told it in advance~."
I briefly changed the subject to Japanese activities.
"Then how will we be active in Japan? It's probably not possible to go on music shows every time, like in Korea."
"We won't be going on broadcast tours like we do in Korea. We plan to appear on Japanese talk shows, and most importantly, our Japanese activities will be centered around 'tours.' We'll literally be going around Japan and holding small concerts."
"Oh......!"
The members collectively exclaimed in admiration when the word overseas tour came up.
However, Song Hyung-bin smiled awkwardly and pointed out one important point.
"Fans in Korea are talking a lot about the concert now........ It's too bad that we can't do the tour in Korea."
"Haha! We planned that in advance."
"Huh?"
"Yes?"
I was surprised too.
If you search on SNS platforms, all you'll see are posts saying, 'I still can't trust Sigma Entertainment's work.'
They even made future plans for the Korean fandom in advance. It's unbelievable.
"The concert in Korea is scheduled to be held twice, on July 27th and 28th, to coincide with Seleste's debut date. It will be much larger than the scale of the Japan tour, and the set list will probably be much more plentiful."
"It's awesome that it's being held right on the debut date!"
"Isn't it so great?"
The concert schedule for July 27th, exactly on Seleste's debut date.
I never dreamed that Sigma Entertainment would plan the schedules this meticulously.
Isn't this proof that positive feedback continues to come from within the agency?
'Before going on a Japanese tour, let's just leak an article that a concert is scheduled in Korea in July.'
Next, the planning director briefly explained the content that would be filmed in Japan.
"I thought that we should find content that would show off Seleste's charms to the fullest in Japan. What words come to mind when you think of Seleste?"
"Umm....."
"Hmm."
While everyone was briefly pondering the planning director's question, Yoo Min-ha raised his hand and said with a bright face.
"Handsome!"
"Hahaha!"
"Definitely....... You won't be outdone anywhere."
"Even a group that has Karis."
"Ahem, ahem!"
I coughed in embarrassment. I had to quickly change the subject.
"Good at live performances. That's the first thing that comes to mind."
"Oh, that's right. Just like Karis kun said, when we think of Seleste, we immediately think of explosive live performance skills and stage manners. So we looked for content that would make your skills stand out and......."
On the laptop that the planning manager passed around, there was a YouTube channel.
A huge channel with a whopping 4 million subscribers.
The uploaded videos all had thumbnails of the singers' photos taken in a clean studio with a white background.
"This is a YouTube channel that invites famous singers from Japan and Korea, as well as pop stars, to film one-take live performances. It is content that is very popular with fans all over the world."
"One-take live......."
"Then, we really only have one chance?"
"If we really only have one chance to record, we have to focus and do our best."
When the members immediately looked at the laptop screen with interest, the planning manager smiled happily and added a little more explanation.
"We don't use the original MR for the accompaniment, but rather a band live or acoustic version. I think a band live would suit Seleste's song the best."
"The rock version of
"I'm personally really curious about the band version of
"It's my turn this time!"
Heo Yu-bin proudly pushed his chest forward.
"We're going to practice hard for the live for a while, so everyone, be prepared!"
"Oh, it's started. Heo Yu-bin's vocal practice......."
"That legendary practice that always takes place at dawn..."
"Especially Si-yoon and Yoon-chul, you should be prepared."
"Why are you picking on us again?"
At this point, isn't it like they've become natural enemies?
Heo Yubin's butt was already shaking as he thought about relieving the sadness he received from dance lessons with vocal lessons.
Chae Eun-gyu, who was happily watching his younger brothers' stories, snapped his fingers, thinking of something.
"Manager, is there a set number of songs we have to sing?"
"Well, looking at the videos that came up, it seems like each team sings about 2 to 3 songs on average."
"Then, one song has to be the title song of the Japanese album, one song has to be the Japanese version of our existing title song, and the last song should be like this?"
"Eun-gyu, did you get a good idea?"
"Of course, of course."
Chae Eun-gyu smiled brightly at Kang Si-yoon's words.
"I thought it would be nice to make our own versions of Japanese songs."
***
The hot weather has come again.
The temperature has already reached 30 degrees, and the hot sun is scorching hot during the day.
But it wasn't much of a problem for us.
"Okay, let me take a look at the footage."
"Gasp, gasp! Take a break after watching this!"
"Just 5 minutes."
"This is too much!"
We were diligently preparing for the Japan tour scheduled for June, and we spent most of the day in the practice room.
Even with the cool air conditioning on, everyone was drenched in sweat, practicing and practicing over and over again.
The schedule the company gave us was to go to Japan at the end of June, but we tried to bring this schedule forward as much as we could.
It was obviously physically difficult, but there was no reason not to do it.
Simply, dancing and singing together was more fun than anything else.
A month and a half passed by in an instant.
Our Japanese debut single album
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