That Damned Idol - Episode 104
* * *
The idol community was in an uproar.
As those watching SaeDalbaekil’s self-produced content began posting messages close to spam, even those with little interest latched on.
And they were all shocked.
—Wtf wtf wtf wtf INSANE!
—Holy sh*t, no way.
—Selfish is killing the charts right now, and you’re telling me it was composed by Han Sion???
—Holy sh*t. Has Drop Out ever used an outside composer for their title track?
—Never, not even once. Except for their flopped debut album, literally never.
—Wow, f*ck, what an insane twist. So that’s why Han Sion said SaeDalbaekil was better. Both are composed by Han Sion.
—Crazy, I didn’t watch the self-cam, are you guys pranking me? A rookie idol wrote Drop Out’s title track?
—It’s true. Wow, so that’s why Drop Out appeared on SaeDalbaekil’s self-produced content.
—The performance is f*cking amazing, so it makes sense for them to show up once. They need to get a follow-up track too, after all.
—F*ck, I wondered how washed-up Out got a song like this. So it was our god-tier rookie who made it.
—Lolol, you’re obviously an NOP fan. Trying to start a fight by bashing Drop Out and hyping Han Sion, huh? lmao
—Me? I’m not though?
—Then call NOP f*cking washed-up.
—Why would I curse at another group?
—Lolol, NOP’s new song dropped today, what are they gonna do~ If this self-cam starts going viral again, only Selfish will rise even more.
—Lmaooo, as a Dreaming, I’m feeling so favorable toward Han Sion rn lololol. He kept his mouth shut and endured all this time just for this one blow, right? Lmaooo.
—You were talking mad sh*t about him until recently.
—We didn’t know he was a god composer, did we.
Summary posts went up in an instant, and it began spreading to general communities.
-----, both
So apparently he had the mindset that a song made by five people together should be better than one made alone.
That’s why he answered that way on Abyss Detector lololol. Wow, what a legendary twist.
—Is this true?
—Aren’t Han Sion fans just writing delusions?
—Nope. If you go on YouTube right now and check SaeDalbaekil’s official channel, you can see it. Drop Out appeared on the self-cam and said it themselves.
—Honestly, if Selfish’s performance had been just a little worse, this would’ve been an issue that could’ve gone off in any unpredictable direction.
There’s never been a case in history of a junior idol making a senior idol’s title track.
Drop Out’s fandom could’ve hated it, and the public could’ve ridiculed it.
But Selfish’s performance was too good for that.
Way, way too good.
It took first place immediately after release and showed no signs of coming down from the top of the music sites.
This wasn’t a fandom pick.
It was a public pick—commonly called a “muggle pick” in the idol world.
Of course it was number one on the monthly chart, and it even had the momentum to aim for the very top of the yearly chart.
Because it was that kind of song, any half-baked mockery didn’t work.
A junior idol made it? So what?
It had the atmosphere of being the biggest hit among songs released by K-pop boy groups this year.
When complicated issues or causal relationships are tangled up, performance is the best answer after all.
If the results are bad, it’s a complicated mess of bad, but if the results are good, there’s no need for complications—it’s simply good.
In the midst of all this, Choe Sehui, who had been biting her nails watching SaeDalbaekil’s self-produced content, let out an internal scream.
“No wonder it was strange!”
No, an external scream.
The truth was, Choi Sehui had a memory related to Han Sion.
A conversation they’d had in Myeongdong while filming the Coming Up Next karaoke mission.
“So you’re a Drop Out fan?”
“Yes. I’m a Dreaming.”
“I heard rumors that Drop Out is making a comeback?”
“Huh? How did you know? It’s been circulating among Dreamings.”
“I heard it by chance. But don’t you think this Drop Out comeback song will be incredible? Like Billboard number-one level.”
“……Billboard number one?”
“Yes. Um, I think it’d be nice if it were a song with the feeling of a man who lived selfishly desperately clinging to a woman.”
At the time, she had simply thought that such a song would suit Drop Out and said it.
But when Selfish was released, that thought became reality.
It was a bit strange.
‘A coincidence? No, even if it was a coincidence, it was too accurate.’
She had brushed it off thinking he must have predicted it because he was an unimaginable genius, but it was still strange.
Being a musical genius and matching a song’s concept seemed like unrelated things.
But now, the puzzle pieces fit.
He had probably already composed Selfish, which had been decided as Drop Out’s pre-released title track.
‘Wow, so that means he sold it before even appearing on Coming Up Next?’
As far as Choi Sehui knew, the Myeongdong karaoke mission had taken place after the Team B selection round.
Because that was the day the team name SaeDalbaekil was created.
In other words, Han Sion making Drop Out’s song had nothing to do with the popularity of Coming Up Next.
It was an incredible talent.
But even so, there was one thing that bothered her.
[NOP와 드롭 아웃, 둘 중 어느 팀을 더 응원하나요?]
[NOP요.]
Abyss Detector definitely had this content.
Whether Han Sion was Selfish’s composer or not, the fact that he supported NOP over Drop Out didn’t disappear.
Sure enough, as the surprise about Han Sion’s identity slightly subsided, posts about this began pouring out.
‘No. The issue of him being Selfish’s composer is so huge that this might get buried. They probably won’t even address it on the self-cam.’
While thinking that, Choi Sehui was startled.
It was an issue involving both her main and her sub, yet she had been thinking only from her sub’s perspective.
‘Could my bias and second bias have swapped?’
Choi Sehui liked Drop Out overall, but if you pressed her, she was a Sido fan.
Now, after years of stanning, she claimed to be an all-fan, but she had clearly been a solo fan in the beginning.
But throughout watching the self-produced content, she had been staring at Han Sion.
Honestly, it was a bit bewildering.
Drop Out hadn’t been on the social news page, nor had they fallen behind in their main job, so she hadn’t expected her heart to change so suddenly.
But Choi Sehui couldn’t help but admit it.
Han Sion was different.
As a veteran who had been in the idol scene for a long time, she could say with certainty that he was an idol unlike any before.
He sang well, danced well, was handsome, had aura, and composed well.
Especially composing.
He wasn’t at the level of simply having a sense for top lines like other producer members.
That in itself is an incredible feat, but Han Sion isn’t that kind of producer member.
If I went around saying this, I’d get called a fangirl, but he feels like he’s on a different dimension even compared to established composers.
Isn’t it natural for an idol like this to become your bias?
Of course, I’ll keep liking Drop Out too, but from now on……
At that moment, Choi Sehui’s thoughts stopped.
Because a situation she had thought would never happen was unfolding.
“[And I also apologize for saying I supported NOP between Drop Out and NOP.]”
Because on screen, Han Sion was beginning to dig his own grave.
If he had just left it unmentioned, it could’ve been buried by the topic of him being Selfish’s composer.
Of course, there would be people constantly bringing it up online, and others who would latch onto it.
But as time passes, specific statements lose their life.
He just had to endure with the issue of being Selfish’s composer until then……!
But at the same time, Choi Sehui harbored a strange sense of anticipation.
She knew it was delusion, but to her eyes, it seemed like Han Sion had foreseen and planned everything up to this point.
Could he have some kind of solution?
Of course, it was an absurd imagination.
Because that would mean he had predicted everything from the questions on
But…….
Would he have said something like that if he didn’t have something in mind?
Besides, this is an edited version!
With those thoughts, Choi Sehui scanned the faces of SaeDalbaekil and Drop Out members in the video.
And despaired.
Because they all looked flustered by Han Sion’s statement.
Especially Sido—you could feel him thinking, ‘Why say something like that?’
It didn’t feel pre-arranged.
But Han Sion, having finished digging his grave on screen, began to lie down in it.
“[I wasn’t comparing the Drop Out seniors and the NOP seniors.]”
“[Between a song called
Yiion hurriedly cut in.
“[You mean because supporting a song you composed yourself is embarrassing, right?]”
But Han Sion shook his head.
“[No. It’s embarrassing, but it was because of copyright earnings.]”
“[Copyright earnings?]”
“[
“[Huh?]”
“[If
“[No no, Sion!]”
“[Yes?]”
“[What do you mean? Your copyright earnings doubling?]”
“[Huh? Didn’t I tell you?]”
Han Sion says.
“[That’s a song I wrote too. As you know, we don’t have a company, so we’re desperate for copyright earnings…….]”
Han Sion couldn’t continue.
Because the SaeDalbaekil members, who apparently hadn’t known this either, sprang up from their seats.
That wasn’t acting.
If that was acting, all five members of SaeDalbaekil would have to be acting.
So…….
“Holy sh*t, insane.”
Choi Sehui couldn’t help but let out a short scream.
SaeDalbaekil’s self-produced content was an issue bomb.
* * *
—Come on, CEO. We’ll have to put out a few articles. We shot off articles before, so how can we just shut our mouths now? We’ll get called yellow journalism.
—I think we’ll inevitably have to cover it until NOP’s promotions end.
—When Take Scene debuts, we’ll really push you hard. Ah, the editor-in-chief says let’s have a drink next time.
Recalling the calls he’d had with the Big Three media companies, Choe Daeho let out a sigh.
“Damn.”
No wonder he’d felt uneasy—Han Sion had dropped a bomb.
Of all times, while tangled up in a popular variety show and receiving the whole nation’s attention.
It was such perfect timing you could believe the heavens were helping.
Therefore, this issue couldn’t help but have tremendous impact.
You could tell just by looking at the real-time search rankings.
From rank 1 to 8 were all keywords related to this issue.
Media companies tend to judge the scale of an issue by the buzz volume of the real-time rankings.
Because even a real-time number one can often have insignificant metrics in reality.
But in this case, the search metrics were through the roof.
That’s why the media companies also thought they had to cover this issue.
‘This can’t be stopped.’
Choe Daeho judged as much.
Even if he tried to pressure the media companies to block this issue, it would only hurt both sides’ feelings.
But that didn’t mean things were completely tangled.
It might not be temporary, but in the long term, Choe Daeho was still confident he could control SaeDalbaekil.
They couldn’t debut, couldn’t appear on variety programs, and couldn’t appear on music shows.
Because they had already used their strongest trump card.
If Choe Daeho were SaeDalbaekil, he would have rather endured the hate from Abyss Detector.
Instead, he would have detonated this issue when releasing music or an album.
Because if that happened, Choe Daeho would be unable to control the most crucial situation: “SaeDalbaekil’s album release.”
But SaeDalbaekil had already used their finishing move.