Episode 167
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During the three months that the domestic edition of Self Made was being filmed, many things happened to Three Months and a Hundred Days.
It began with going around to college events and other festivals, turning their entire first album into performances, and then they held fan sign events.
The fan sign events, held a month after the album’s release, were unfamiliar—but the format was even more unfamiliar.
Each member held a separate signing event, and then they all performed together to close it out.
Some people said that the popular Han Sion was showing off in front of the less popular Choe Jaeseong, but Three Months and a Hundred Days paid it no mind.
What mattered more than outside gazes was how they felt.
And their hearts were firm.
After that, Three Months and a Hundred Days had no variety-show activities aside from small programs where they could share music, like radio shows.
The sole exception was Choe Jaeseong winning Stage Number Zero.
At the time Choe Jaeseong appeared on the show, the public consensus was that he would voluntarily drop out somewhere around the top ten.
But viewers’ expectations were splendidly proven wrong, and Choe Jaeseong ultimately took the win.
No, perhaps “ultimately” was not quite the right word.
Because it had been too easy.
Within Three Months and a Hundred Days, Choe Jaeseong did not carry much weight, but on Stage Number Zero it was different.
No matter what mission he was given, no matter what stage he was given, he soared.
In particular, “Even If I Sink Beneath the Waves,” arranged by Han Sion, had created a great deal of buzz.
Through that stage, Choe Jaeseong joined the top ten, and as soon as the song was released, a cover video went up on Three Months and a Hundred Days’ official YouTube channel.
But those who watched the video could clearly feel which side was the cover.
Three Months and a Hundred Days had not covered Choe Jaeseong.
Choe Jaeseong had covered Three Months and a Hundred Days.
Gu Taehwan’s intro, Lee Ion’s transition, On Saemiro’s high-note section, Han Sion’s chorus.
All of it was contained within Choe Jaeseong’s song.
After winning Stage Number Zero, Choe Jaeseong even gave an interview about it.[When I think about it, I think that’s how it is. There’s no protagonist within Three Months and a Hundred Days. There are only roles.][Just because Taehwan hyung sings the intro doesn’t make him the protagonist, and just because Saemiro hyung sings the highlight doesn’t make him the protagonist either. Sion hyung and Ion hyung are the same.][The team called Three Months and a Hundred Days itself was the protagonist.][So while doing Stage Number Zero, I realized it. Songs we sing together are far more enjoyable than songs I sing alone.][That’s where I shine brighter.]
The general public took Choe Jaeseong’s interview as just another idol saying, “Our team is the best,” but TT did not.
They felt sincerity in Choe Jaeseong’s interview, and they felt sincerity in the attitude he showed in content after his win as well.
After that……
There was the long-awaited concert.
Four shows in Seoul, and one show each in six metropolitan cities.
The concert tour, held over a total of ten shows, ended in great success.
All ten performances sold out.
Part of it was because the ticket prices had been set low, but another major reason was that they had not overreached with the venues.
In truth, they could have performed in larger halls.
In particular, there had been some complaints that the Seoul venue was too small.
Including standing room, the capacity was only 3,500 people.
But Han Sion was somewhat obsessive about acoustics.
Regardless of whether the venue was packed, rather than perform in front of ten thousand people with unsatisfactory sound, he wanted to perform in front of 3,500 people with sound he liked.
The same applied to the regional performances.
Instead of using a professional sound rental company, he personally set up and checked the audio.
It was not as though it cost just a penny or two, but it had already been a year since Han Sion returned to the past.
If people knew how much his assets had grown, they would probably all say the same thing.
Why are you working so hard when you have that much money?
Just retire and have fun.
This time, no matter what the members said, he did not count it as an investment cost for Three Months and a Hundred Days, and instead bought the sound equipment himself.
In exchange, it was handled as Han Sion personally receiving a reasonable rental fee from SBI Entertainment.
They had to handle taxes too, so this was cleaner.
In any case, the performances carried out through this process received one rave review after another.
The quality of the music went without saying, and the quality of the performances was incredible.
Not only the sound, but the performances as well.
In fact, before the concert, many people had said Three Months and a Hundred Days would put on a setlist-focused concert rather than a performance-focused one.
Three Months and a Hundred Days had shown several times that they were proud of their first album, The First Day.
So there had been opinions that it would be a vocal-focused concert rather than a performance-oriented one.
But it was not that at all.
Three Months and a Hundred Days’ concert was structured around a story, almost like a musical.
It portrayed how they were formed on Coming Up Next, became independent, wandered, and then succeeded.
What was interesting was that their concept as time travelers was incorporated into it.
In other words, the premise was that they had traveled back in time about a year and appeared on Coming Up Next again.
Naturally, the songs they had sung on the original Coming Up Next had advanced, and various elements had been changed to match their current abilities.
As Seoul Town Funk became Hanyang Town Funk, Choe Jaeseong’s part, which had been considered the most regrettable, was completely transformed.
It was a performance that satisfied both the eyes and the ears.
In truth, for most idol groups, putting on a concert with only a first album is not easy.
Even if a first album comes out, only three or four songs at most can be put into the setlist.
If they are unlucky, it might be only one or two.
So at the very least, they need a mini album and a single album—or even a second album—before they can fill out the setlist richly.
But Three Months and a Hundred Days performed with every track from their first album, without any singles or mini albums.
Not just their promotional tracks, either; they added choreography to songs that had not originally had any.
This move once again had the effect of increasing album sales, and……
The First Day: 1,218,312 copies.
They ultimately surpassed 1.2 million copies sold.
This was the most ideal direction for promotions that Han Sion had pursued across his many lives.
Succeeding with an album, using that to succeed with concerts, and using the success of the concerts to sell the album again.
Within that virtuous cycle, steadily producing albums that would be counted as solid works or masterpieces.
That was why he had put so much effort into the sound and into the concert.
The concert was satisfying for Three Months and a Hundred Days personally as well.
Though they had not maximized sales, all ten performances still sold out.
On top of that, official merchandise was sold on-site at this concert.
It was not a small amount of revenue, nor was it a small profit.
Half of that would be settled to the members.
Once Three Months and a Hundred Days’ concert ended, TT expected something to be uploaded through their self-produced content or YouTube.
Things that had happened while preparing for the performances, or live concert footage.
But only the release of a DVD was announced, and there was no particular content.
Around then, news of Self Made’s production spread among the Three Months and a Hundred Days fandom.
It turned out that Three Months and a Hundred Days had been filming a variety show for the past few months, and that the director was PD Gang Seoku of Coming Up Next.
The variety program would contain behind-the-scenes stories of their activities, including Three Months and a Hundred Days’ events and concerts.
-Wouldn’t PD Gang be fine? If you watch Coming Up Next, it felt like he secretly wanted to push Three Months and a Hundred Days.
-Right. Even while watching L I O and Ch D H’s reactions, he still took care of them that much.
-But looking at the words Self Made, doesn’t it kind of feel like a documentary?
-It might be.
-Even if they only showed a documentary, it’d make a whole drama in one shot!
-If Choe Daeho’s scheming comes out too, it’d be a historical epic, but that’d be hard, right?
The fandom’s reaction was not bad either.
TT had the impression that Gang Seoku was favorable toward Three Months and a Hundred Days, and they also had the impression that M Show wanted to stay on good terms with Three Months and a Hundred Days.
And so the fans speculated about what Self Made would be about, and expressed disappointment that content had dried up because of the variety-show filming.
Time passed, and around the point when the streets began to take on an end-of-year atmosphere.
“Finally!”
The first episode of Self Made aired.
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Usually, variety programs featuring an entire idol group are fandom business.
The proportion of general viewers is not zero, but it is noticeably low.
That did not change no matter how good Three Months and a Hundred Days’ brand image was, or how favorably all age groups viewed them.
Besides, it was not on a terrestrial channel, but cable.
So PD Gang Seoku boldly made his move in episode one.
With the clear goal of drawing in general viewers through the first episode.[What do you think is most important in order to succeed as a singer?]
As soon as the program began, the black screen brightened, and in response to PD Gang Seoku’s question on-screen, the members of Three Months and a Hundred Days each gave their own answers.[Skill, maybe?][Patience.][I think it’s luck.]
The answers themselves were not special.
They were obvious answers that could come out if you grabbed any hundred singers and asked them.[Then, if you had to start again as unknown singers, are you confident you could succeed?]
This time too, the answers were ordinary.
Everyone gave answers saying it would be possible if luck followed them, if the members remained the same, or if there was some issue that drew attention.
Only Han Sion calmly nodded.[Yes.]
There was no one in this world who knew how much regret from a regressor was contained in that brief answer.
To Han Sion, success was empty.
To be more precise, it was like an illusion.
After all, having to sell two hundred million albums meant that, no matter what, he had to achieve popular success.
But even if he stood as the main act at the Super Bowl halftime show, even if he had the highest number of social media followers among all singers in the world, even if his performance guarantee was the highest in the history of pop music.
Everything scattered like an illusion.
So to Han Sion, success was not important.
However, there were viewers who reacted sharply to Han Sion’s words.
-Han Sion is fucking arrogant.
-If it weren’t for Coming Up Next, he wouldn’t even have made it as a trainee because of his personality lololol
-Honestly, didn’t he kind of sell his parents’ story too?
No matter how good Three Months and a Hundred Days’ image was, malicious nitpicking always existed, and haters were the most diligent consumers of content.
They had come running because they wanted to curse Three Months and a Hundred Days.
Of course.
-What are these room-corner losers even saying lolololol
-Hip Sion would’ve succeeded no matter how he debuted, you know?
-Lololololol no, has the album’s momentum already worn off? Do Eric Scott and Chris Edward look tone-deaf to you?
The handful of malicious critics were punished by even more defenders.
Just then, though the program had only just begun, the main point aired.[You must earn money not as Three Months and a Hundred Days, but as unknown singers. The amount of money you earn will be added to your overseas travel budget.]
-Oh?
-What is this lolol It’s completely different from what I thought?
-This sounds fun lolol
-If they’re unknown, it won’t be easy, though?
What came out immediately after that was Lee Ion and Gu Taehwan, their faces made up, setting out to busk.
Lee Ion’s makeup, with ugliness heavily sprinkled on top of his handsomeness, drew laughter, and Han Sion’s reaction upon receiving that photo also became a hot topic.
-Lolol hey, did you see what Han Sion had him saved as in his phone? lololol
-Three Months and a Hundred Days Gu Taehwan (20), is this for real? lololololol
-At a glance, it looks like he saved it during Coming Up Next, though lololol
Needless to say, Gu Taehwan and Lee Ion suffered a complete failure.
They sang, but there was no reaction.
A few passersby briefly stopped to watch them, but it did not lead to any kind of result.
It was the same for Choe Jaeseong and On Saemiro.
Viewers probably did not feel it at this point, but it was a turning point where the nature of the program changed slightly.
Until then, “Three Months and a Hundred Days” had been the main content; now, “unknown singers” became the main content.
-But unknown singers really do go hungry. My cousin has been doing music for over ten years, and it looked seriously hard.
-Yeah... It won’t be easy for Three Months and a Hundred Days either. Not if they’re hiding their faces like that.
-Uh, wait a second. Wasn’t that webtoon OST that caused a fuss a few months ago by Three Months and a Hundred Days? There were exactly five songs.
-Huh? Was it?
It was a point where the general public, too, would find it worth paying attention.