Episode 175
* * *
Most people judge most situations according to their own standards.
This holds true even when they witness something greater that they cannot measure.
Therefore, the evaluation the masses had given the singer known as Han Sion was inevitably an underestimate.
Since appearing on Coming Up Next, Han Sion had never once experienced failure.
Every piece of music he composed was excellent, every song he sang was excellent, and every performance he showcased was skillful.
But even so, there was not a single person who thought, “Han Sion is the best musician in the world.”
Not even Han Sion’s own fans.
How many artists climbed up and down the Billboard like it was the neighborhood hill, and how many achieved album sales figures unimaginable in Korea?
Thus, Han Sion’s talent was evaluated as merely “the best among idols.”
Or “the best among young singers.”
It was in this situation that
The album’s success itself was not surprising.
The magnitude of that success, having surpassed a million copies in an instant, was surprising, but there were few who thought Sae Dalbaekil’s album would fail.
What shocked the masses was the process by which the album was created.
Han Sion had the opportunity to have his songs heard by masters through Chris Edward, and surprisingly, every single master took a liking to Han Sion’s music.
They composed based on Han Sion’s sources, and Han Sion arranged them again to fit Sae Dalbaekil.
The album born through that process was Sae Dalbaekil’s first full-length album, TFD.
Around this point, the masses adjusted their evaluation of Han Sion upward.
He was a singer with talent far superior to what they had thought.
But…….
Even then, that evaluation was still aligned with the masses’ standards.
The truth was different.
Han Sion possessed talent and capability beyond the masses’ ability to judge.
He was originally a person with great talent (though he himself believed he had no great talent in his first life), and he had blossomed that talent within a closed timeline.
It had not been sweet or pleasant, but there was no one who had poured more time into music than Han Sion.
Therefore, the capability of the singer called Han Sion was the best in the world at the present time, and even across the entire history of popular music, he was at a level that could be counted on one hand.
But even if Han Sion continued to run the road of success from now on, far too much time was needed for the masses’ evaluation and Han Sion’s skill to align.
At least about ten years.
This was also partly because, as of 2017, the public still held prejudice against the occupation of “idol.”
It was a time when the lingering afterimage of first-generation idols, who had prioritized appearance and charm over skill before the pandemic, still remained.
However, now.
-No way;;; does this even make sense?
-Really? He really landed the commercial?
-Is it a lie?
-Han Sion isn’t crazy; why would he lie about something like that? It’ll definitely come out within a year.
-Right? Then he really did land the commercial….
-It’s not Apple Korea instead of Apple Global?
-Apple Korea doesn’t have an I Branding Team; it literally is the team that brands products made at headquarters.
-No, I’m getting serious cognitive dissonance.
-Why is everyone so surprised? With Han Sion’s skill level, couldn’t he make commercial music?
-It’s not a matter of skill, but intention. He made music to land a commercial. But he actually landed it.
-Yeah, it’s not like it became commercial music by chance; music made with that goal from the start won the contract.
-Wow, I always thought Han Sion’s talent was insane, but at this level, isn’t he the best in Korea?
-By composition standards, I don’t think it can be denied.
Absurdly, it was thanks to a single company that the masses began to guess at Han Sion’s skill.
Apple, which possessed the most loyal product maniacs in the world.
It was only natural, but the buzz around Self Made soared tremendously.
No, strictly speaking, Self Made was being devoured by Han Sion’s buzz.
Replay viewership ratings that would startle the whole of M Show came out, and the rewatch payment rate was unbelievable.
“Hah, really.”
The metrics that made the Entertainment Bureau Chief, who had joined hands with Gang Seoku during Coming Up Next, let out a hollow laugh poured forth.
The reason the Entertainment Bureau Chief let out a hollow laugh was simple.
Coming Up Next had come to mind.
Coming Up Next was a program in which Sae Dalbaekil was not meant to be the protagonist.
Take Scene was the protagonist, and Sae Dalbaekil was the supporting role that made the protagonist stand out.
However, if the supporting role’s level was too low, the spotlight on the protagonist would weaken as well, so they had merely given Sae Dalbaekil a little support.
Han Sion took that little bit of strength and devoured the program.
What else could be the reason that the ratings for a program thought to be doing well if it hit 3% had come out close to 20%?
It was thanks to Han Sion.
At the time, that had been quite a headache, and in the end, it had even escalated into factional fighting within M Show.
But now it was different.
Self Made was a program where Sae Dalbaekil was the protagonist, and if they generated buzz befitting a protagonist, that was perfect.
But this buzz was too massive even for a massive buzz.
Just as the Chief, having received the advance report, had asked PD Gang Seoku several times, “Is it true that you landed the commercial music?”
The Chief pondered for a long while, checked the time difference in California, and picked up his smartphone.
And called PD Gang Seoku.
The signal went through for a moment, and the call connected.
[Yes, sunbaenim.]
After boarding the same boat in a political faction, Gang Seoku used the title “sunbae” rather than “Chief.”
However, never had this title been as welcome as it was now.
The reason Sae Dalbaekil chose M Show was not because of M Show, but because of Gang Seoku.
In other words, Sae Dalbaekil, which had shaken Korea, was close to Gang Seoku, and he himself was close to Gang Seoku.
To this extent, it counted as having connections in the broadcasting industry.
“Seoku-ya. I’ll keep it short since you must be busy.”
[Yes.]
“Film everything you can in America regardless of budget. If you need additional budget, just use it. I’ll process everything as post-approval.”
[Um…….]
“Don’t worry about the program format either. If you want to extend Season 2 to 10 episodes, do it. Or you can cross over to Spain and film Season 3. As long as Sae Dalbaekil says okay.”
All the reporters in Korea were looking for Sae Dalbaekil, but Sae Dalbaekil was currently filming Self Made Season 2 with M Show.
This fact alone was tremendous advertising.
But what if their return was delayed?
If the masses were curious about Sae Dalbaekil, but the reporters had no source material to write articles?
All that source would pour into the variety show filmed with M Show.
If he could have his way, he would tell them to film until Season 5.
“Don’t misinterpret my words or read the room. It’s 100% sincere, so spend the budget to your heart’s content.”
At the end of an earnest request asking Sae Dalbaekil to please spend M Show’s money, Gang Seoku opened his mouth.
[Um, sunbaenim.]
“Yeah?”
[Sae Dalbaekil wants to return to Korea tomorrow, but…….]
“What?! Why!”
To the Chief’s memory, the Season 2 filming schedule had been set with ample time.
Because Sae Dalbaekil had earned so much money, there was also the concept of a vacation, and the broadcast format was generous.
He didn’t know the exact schedule, but they had planned to stay in America for at least a week, or as long as two weeks more.
But at PD Gang Seoku’s following words, the Chief was startled.
“Are you sure? How is the result?”
[As always. It was perfect.]
“Ha. They really are something else.”
The Chief, who had been lost in thought for a moment, opened his mouth.
“Let’s have a meeting with Sae Dalbaekil as soon as they return.”
[What do you plan to do?]
People in the entertainment business call those with great popularity “stars.”
But thinking about it, the word STAR is truly grandiose.
Star.
Because it means a fixed star.
The reason there is no sense of incongruity despite that is because true stars possess exactly that level of impact.
Not a modifier attached to just anybody, but a true star.
In the Chief’s eyes, Sae Dalbaekil was a true star.
So the conclusion was reached.
“We shouldn’t propose what we want. We should ask them to propose what they want.”
Thanks to Gang Seoku, M Show was the one that learned of Sae Dalbaekil’s plans the fastest.
Then shouldn’t they board the mainstream?
The Chief, who thought this, smiled slyly.
Until not long ago, Sae Dalbaekil had been oppressed by the mainstream; now they were the mainstream.
[I will relay it.]
“Yes, please do make sure to ask them.”
The Chief hung up the phone and began to ponder how far M Show could go in providing for Sae Dalbaekil.
* * *
Sae Dalbaekil’s return to Korea happened quietly.
It was unintentional, but the return, faster than anticipated, had confused those tracking Sae Dalbaekil’s schedule.
People who should have been in America had appeared at Incheon Airport.
Having entered Korea in that way, Sae Dalbaekil did not engage in any activities for about four days.
The members wanted to start a live broadcast to talk about their trip to America and communicate, but M Show begged on their knees.
They asked if Sae Dalbaekil could please pretend to still be in America until Episode 4 of Self Made Season 1 aired.
That was how much popularity was pouring into Sae Dalbaekil and Self Made right now.
You could tell just by seeing OTT platforms, which competed with cable variety shows, swallowing their pride and desperately trying to distribute Self Made simultaneously.
Moreover, M Show had bundled episodes 1 through 3 of Season 1 twice on weekdays for a 6-hour continuous broadcast, and the ratings came out miraculously.
So from the channel’s perspective, it was a hundred times more profitable for Sae Dalbaekil to interact after showing Episode 4 rather than talking about America on a live broadcast.
Of course, Sae Dalbaekil didn’t really care about M Show’s achievements, but…….
“They’re really going that far?”
“The Chief is all fired up.”
“At this point, they could be called M Show’s son, couldn’t they?”
At M Show’s proposal that came flying toward the returned group, Sae Dalbaekil nodded as well.
And so Sae Dalbaekil hid their return and stayed home for four days, but they were not simply resting.
“Ion-hyung and Gu Taehwan.”
“Our turn?”
“Yes.”
Because they were doing this and that with Han Sion, repeating recordings.
Thus, the four days flew by like an arrow, and finally Episode 4, the finale of Season 1, aired.
* * *
The beginning of Episode 4 was Han Sion’s mono scene.
He had a smile on his face as he tweaked the song the members had made, with the camera in front of him.
In terms of timing, it was a flashback to before receiving Apple’s contract.
[It came out well, right? I like it more than I expected.]
Viewers might not know, but it was truly rare for a result to come out better than Han Sion’s expectations.
Because the “estimate” Han Sion gave for a specific singer and song was rarely wrong.
That meant the Sae Dalbaekil members had grown that much.
As Han Sion was showing off the completed song, he suddenly went into Google Maps and started looking at Street View.
[This is Apple’s headquarters, it seems. I’m going to send emails to all the cafe owners around here.]
[I have thoughts of sending people to America, or flying there myself.]
[I’m going to try challenging with this good result the members have made.]
So Han Sion wrote emails and started making calls.
Naturally, most were ignored, and his attempt failed.
But Han Sion was completely unfazed.
[I plan to call again tomorrow.]
The beginning of Episode 4 was the point the masses had been desperately curious about.
How on earth the commercial contact had been made.
But no one would have expected such a method.