| Episode 51. Collaborating with a (Human) Disaster (1)
In that brief instant, fifty thousand thoughts flashed through my mind.
From “Was my planning really that immature?” to “How much was the cancellation penalty for the music video location again?” my thoughts branched out endlessly.
A suffocating silence ruled the dining table, so heavy it was hard to even pick up a single seasoned vegetable side dish.
Only the CEO and Yu Hansu looked completely unfazed.
“Why? Isn’t the current one fine?”
“It’s too weak and too common. A high-teen youth concept for a debut is way too stale by now.”
At first glance, he wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t as if only one or two groups had debuted with a youth concept.
But I had clearly presented points of differentiation in the proposal.
Including the areas of concern and ways to compensate for them.
“He must’ve only read the first page of the proposal.”
It was entirely possible.
Department Head Nam used to work exactly like that. That rotten bastard.
Whether I was cursing him in my head or not, Yu Hansu paid no mind and continued his impassioned speech.
To summarize, he was saying Spark should go forward as a skilled ballad boy group that emphasized mature emotions.
It seemed he had picked up and read some discarded early concept proposal for Spark from somewhere.
The godforsaken grass fairies might as well have been barreling toward me together on an express train.
I still hadn’t managed to touch my pot rice when someone jabbed my leg. It was Lee Cheonghyeon.
Lee Cheonghyeon’s face kept turning white, then blue, in real time.
“Hyung, say something, anything!”
That was what his face seemed to be saying.
He had made a song where fifty or sixty metallic fanfares burst out, and now the course was being changed to winter boys. Of course he’d be losing his mind.
Still, I couldn’t open my mouth rashly.
Even setting aside all the troublesome issues of age and hierarchy, there was an insurmountable wall between Yu Hansu and me: that of a non-major and a working professional.
Even if Yu Hansu said ninety-nine useless things, if he said one thing that was right, then I needed to accept it.
The knowledge gained in the field was on a completely different level from studying only through text.
On top of that, Yu Hansu seemed to be thinking of arranging, in his own way, the concept UA’s employees had first brought out.
In that case, I really couldn’t afford not to listen to his opinion. I always had to remember that I might be making the wrong choice.
“Let’s watch for now.”
I could create an opportunity to intervene later. I’d keep a close eye on him, and if he really started spouting nonsense, I’d crush him then…
“I’d also like the outfits to have a bit more individuality. You know, the so-called ‘fashion ahead of its time’? Something modern but with a point of emphasis gives off a more sophisticated feeling.”
Fuck.
Maybe I should just overturn this right now.
* * *
After meeting Yu Hansu, the mood among the Spark guys was beyond gloomy.
Seeing all of them practically walking around with “I’m troubled” written on their foreheads made even my own feelings grow complicated.
“What did you hyungs think of the new PD?”
Lee Cheonghyeon asked. But no one answered.
“No, why is everyone so quiet? Am I the only one who thinks this is serious?”
I guarantee you, I’m probably the most serious one here.
If the plan gets overturned, I might have to cough up all the proficiency and experience points I received from the planning work. Thanks to that, my hands are trembling like crazy.
“First, let’s wait and see. The PD said he has a proposal in mind.”
“Everyone at the company said the concept Iwol hyung decided on was good, so why would he…”
Lee Cheonghyeon’s emotions were gradually growing more intense.
To keep things from overheating any further, I gave Lee Cheonghyeon a moderate warning.
“Lee Cheonghyeon, didn’t I tell you not to go around carelessly badmouthing people?”
“But it’s just us here right now!”
“It’s the same even if it’s just us. As much as possible, it’s best not to talk about other people at all.”
I understood how frustrated he felt, but nothing good came from talking about company people inside the company.
Lee Cheonghyeon looked dissatisfied, but perhaps because he agreed with what I meant, he clamped his mouth shut.
“The CEO told me to have a meeting next time with the planning team, the PD, and myself, so I’ll get a feel for the atmosphere then. Until then, don’t worry too much about the concept.”
“…”
“I know this isn’t something you can just not worry about. If the discussion seems to be heading in a weird direction, I’ll stop it somehow.”
When I said that, all of them looked at me. Among them, Park Juu asked.
“…How?”
“There are lots of ways. I could kneel and plead, or lie down in front of the door and tell them that if they want to choose that plan, they’ll have to step over me first.”
Then Choi Jeho cut in.
“Does that actually work?”
“Once they step on me and I go to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, even something with no effect will gain some.”
After sharing a tip I had personally learned while rolling around at Hanpyeong Industries, I fell into thought.
I was thinking about how I could take only Yu Hansu’s practical work experience.
But all of this was pointless worrying.
Because a few days later, Yu Hansu’s exhausting presentation completely changed my mind.
Yu Hansu, who had asked me for the materials I had used in planning the concept, gathered the planning team and me exactly two days later.
Even the PPT title was grand. Its title was none other than “A Reconsideration Proposal for the Planning of New Group Spark.”
I thought that one forward-thinking aspect of his was worth learning from… or at least I had.
“When we consider the image of UA as an agency, we need to emphasize the fact that we are a ballad idol group a bit more.”
“In order to give the impression of skilled idols, it is inevitable that we focus on vocal ability. Right now, the proportion of dance practice is far too high.”
For the entire forty minutes, Yu Hansu’s words did not stray beyond this scope.
Since when were we a ballad idol group?
That was the first time I’d heard such a thing since putting my stamp on a contract with UA. If that was what they wanted to do, they needed to lock me in the vocal practice room first.
And what, vocal skill is the only kind of skill, while dance skill isn’t skill at all? Were we going to drag six chairs onto a music show stage and sit there singing every day?
My blood pressure rose the whole time I listened.
But the planning team was listening to Yu Hansu’s opinion quite seriously.
I understood why. Yu Hansu’s opinion was effective in making Spark look like “UA-style idols.”
But then that contradicts the existing plan to make them orthodox idols. Everything returns to nothing…
Tears poured inside my chest. I could already hear the sound of my experience points being taken away.
The planning team leader, who had been silently listening to Yu Hansu, set the printout down on the table and asked,
“Then, PD, what do you think would be best?”
At that, Yu Hansu flipped the PPT, saying to please look here first.
The white slide showed the cover of Jang Junhu’s latest album and a graph displaying a steep upward trend.
“As the planning team already knows, I participated in the planning for Jang Junhu’s music video this time.”
So that’s why that bastard’s album came up here.
At this unexpected connection, the back of my neck tightened.
“As you can see, the view count’s upward trend climbs extremely steeply starting from a certain point. Considering that, generally speaking, unless something goes viral, the rate of increase decreases as time passes, we can tell that effective concept planning contributed to the lifespan of that content.”
How does that connect like that?
It seemed Yu Hansu thought anything that came out of his mouth counted as speech. There wasn’t just one or two points that made no sense.
It was true that, unless something went viral, it was difficult for the rate of increase in views to grow rapidly or for older content to show an upward trend.
But the premise itself was wrong. Because Jang Junhu’s music video had gone viral because of Choi Jeho.
Even in communities right now, Choi Jeho’s name could be seen quite frequently.
≫ Found out who the male lead in Jang Junhu’s MV is
He’s a UA trainee and his name is Choi Jeho
He’s twenty this year and a dance member
Apparently he’s the oldest among the trainees
└ Whoa, I thought he was an aspiring actor
For reference, during monitoring, I hadn’t seen a single comment saying the new song was especially good or that the music video’s direction was good.
Needless to say, the story was nothing special. It was just one man spending his days pitifully in the sorrow of heartbreak.
In other words, that rise had been entirely driven by Choi Jeho.
“He’s trying to steal someone else’s credit.”
On top of that, as grounds for claiming that the concept contributed to the lifespan of the content, Jang Junhu’s music video had been released fairly recently.
I had plenty more to say besides that, but it felt like I’d only be wasting my breath.
Perhaps he took our silence as a sign that we were listening closely, because Yu Hansu continued.
“Wouldn’t making as much reference as possible to successful cases and adopting them in the right way be a method of reducing the risks that can arise in a new business? That’s what I think.”
I was impressed. So that was how brazen you had to be to make a living.
How could he so confidently call such an utterly ordinary story about the aftermath of a breakup a successful case?
As the listener, I was suffering, but Yu Hansu himself remained relaxed like a pro. My head spun.
“That is why I continue to push for ballad idols. Please look at the next screen.”
With that, Yu Hansu changed the slide.
On the newly displayed screen, a wide grassy field and a group photo of unknown men had been crudely composited together.
Beneath the photo, a small title was written.
“Emotional Boys, Lingering in Winter”… it said.
After that, Yu Hansu said many more things. But I didn’t listen closely.
* * *
When I returned to the practice room after the meeting, the Spark guys gathered around me.
The first to speak was Lee Cheonghyeon.
“Hyung! How was the meeting?”
Lee Cheonghyeon even clasped his hands together as he looked at me.
Park Juu, who glanced back and forth between Lee Cheonghyeon and me, muttered,
“…I don’t know for sure, but it must’ve been serious.”
Instead of answering Park Juu, I made the guys sit down on the floor.
Then I explained the situation as concisely and clearly as possible.
“…So the conclusion is that we might become emotional winter boys.”
When I finished speaking, silence settled over the practice room.
I know exactly what you guys are thinking. You’re probably thinking the plain winter boys UA first proposed would be better.
This time, too, the first to break the silence was Lee Cheonghyeon.
“Does that make any sense? If there were at least a proper reason, fine. Is the entire reason for the planning just that we’re a boy group debuting in winter?”
“Based on what I heard today, yes.”
“The planning is way too thin. Then from now on, are we only going to be spring boys, summer boys, and autumn boys?”
“Once all of you become adults, they’ll release something like ‘Boy, Becoming a Man.’”
“Then by that point, we might become men every quarter…”
For once, Choi Jeho said exactly what I was thinking. Lee Cheonghyeon, who had been enraged, heard even my words and his expression turned despairing.
Leaving the troubled-looking Lee Cheonghyeon aside for a moment, I looked at the other members and asked,
“What do you guys think?”
“Us?”
“Yeah. If you like it, honestly say you like it. That way we can decide our direction going forward.”
At my question, Choi Jeho immediately answered.
“I don’t like it.”
“Why?”
“If we’re going to go as ballad idols, isn’t there no reason for me and Gang Giyeon to be on this team? Rather than me singing, it’d be better for Park Juu or Jeong Seongbin to sing one more line.”
“What, why are you trying to drag me out too?”
I heard the sound of a fire igniting again among our little sandpaper darlings. Seriously, do thorns grow on them if they go even a single day without fighting?
“I don’t think the concept itself is bad. But if you’re asking whether I like the PD’s concept more than the one hyung wrote, then no.”
“…I also like what hyung planned more.”
Jeong Seongbin and Park Juu’s opinions were the same as Choi Jeho’s.
They probably weren’t forcing themselves to say they liked my opinion because they were watching my mood. After all, there was no reason for them to watch the mood of me, this neighborhood’s greatest awkward klutz.
Lastly, even Gang Giyeon took my side, and Spark’s opinion was unanimous.
Regardless of the fact that I didn’t like Yu Hansu’s presentation, if the guys had wanted to be emotional winter boys, I had been willing to consider it positively at least.
“Now that it’s come to this, I’ll put those winter boys into hibernation no matter what.”
I firmly made up my mind.
As if responding to my resolve, my vision shone brightly, and the system appeared.