Damn Idol Episode 26
* * *
As soon as I got home, I blacked out, and when I opened my eyes, it was 6 p.m.
I think I slept for almost fifteen hours.
And yet I still can’t stop yawning.
“Haaaah.”
Those Korean broadcasting bastards are really something else.
They said it was a one-night, three-day shoot, but I didn’t know they’d push us this hard.
It’s not like filming hours are strictly kept in America either, but a forced march like this is rare.
With that thought, I picked up my phone and saw that my great-uncle had called.
I must have answered it by accident.
“You little shit! When an elder calls you……!”
I pressed the record button on the accidentally answered call and tossed it under my blanket.
His voice is too loud; it’s noisy.
Of course, if I blocked him I wouldn’t have to deal with this, but this is all a necessary process.
Lawyer Choi Jiun will find fault with my great-uncle’s actions and intentions in persistently contacting his nephew.
I had also been forwarding the threatening texts that flew in whenever I ignored his calls to Choi Jiun.
That alone would be enough, but it doesn’t hurt to record a call every now and then.
I went to the kitchen and made a cup of coffee, but, surprisingly, my great-uncle on the other end was still cursing up a storm.
“Please just leave me alone!”
So I said that and hung up.
This guy could have made it as a rapper.
His diction, mixing curses into talk about money and hammering it home, is absolutely top-tier.
You could say he has a real talent for hip-hop.
I drank my coffee to clear my head and immediately called BVB Entertainment’s Team Leader Seo Seunghyun.
* * *
“Rumors are spreading that Dropout has taken an external composer’s song as their sole title track. Double M was a bit flustered, but they supposedly okayed it after hearing the song.”
Team Leader Seo Seunghyun, whom I met at a coffee shop, looked slightly excited.
He didn’t seem thrilled about any crumbs falling his way; rather, he looked intrigued that Dropout was pushing my song as their title track.
Well, after all, before LMC and Prime Time came along, Dropout was K-pop’s greatest output.
“Yes. That’s good news.”
So he looked shocked by my indifferent attitude.
“I’m surprised you’re not surprised no matter how good the song was.”
“I had a feeling it would sell.”
“How much should we try to squeeze out of them? We’re in the position of power right now.”
“Let’s only take up to seventy percent of the maximum amount you have in mind. Hmm, sixty percent is fine too.”
*Selfish* is a good song, but it’s not something just anyone can sing and succeed with.
The basic concept is a desperate love song with a sleazy vibe to it, but there aren’t many K-pop idol groups that can pull off that feeling.
No matter how I look at it, Dropout suits it best.
I’m curious about *Selfish*’s future too, so I want to avoid the deal itself falling through.
“Does that mean we should sell the other songs the same way?”
“No. Only Dropout. For the rest, squeeze them for all they’re worth and sell to whoever offers the most.”
“Understood.”
Team Leader Seo Seunghyun would know better than anyone how much K-pop entertainment companies are willing to spend on a single song.
He’s the A&R team leader of BVB Entertainment, the company that raised NOP.
After that, Seo Seunghyun shared various progress updates regarding song sales with me.
BVB Entertainment had also confirmed a song as NOP’s follow-up track and would soon be signing the contract.
“The remaining songs are drawing interest from quite a lot of companies.”
“We can take our time selling them. Won’t they be most expensive around the time Dropout reveals *Selfish*?”
“That’s true.”
“If there’s a suitable offer, it’s fine to sell now too.”
After all, what I’m curious about is how the K-pop industry interprets, arranges, and sells my songs.
“Oh, Sion. Dropout contacted us saying they’d like to have a meal with the composer.”
“Please refuse. I’ll be signing the contract electronically, and I won’t be revealing my personal information.”
“You’re going to skip even the concept meeting?”
“Yes. Just sell it. Once K-pop enters the producing stage, the arranger is the main one anyway, right?”
“But with this kind of response, the composer could become the main one. Connections are assets too, so why not attend at least the concept meeting?”
That was a bit unexpected.
From Seo Seunghyun’s perspective, it would be more convenient for me to hide my identity.
That way he could sell my songs while gaining leverage for himself and avoid bothersome interference.
Honestly, if Seo Seunghyun were ill-intentioned, he could have colluded with an entertainment company to deceive me.
I wouldn’t fall for such tricks, but the possibility existed.
Yet his current advice was pure goodwill, excluding profit motives entirely.
Should I call it the occupational disease of a regressor?
I like observing someone’s default.
As people live, they face various choices depending on external circumstances, but they usually act according to their default.
And if the behavior Team Leader Seo Seunghyun just showed is his default, then he is a trustworthy person.
Of course, I’d have to observe him slowly over time to know for sure…….
I had grown to like him a little.
“You take those connections, Team Leader Seo. I probably won’t have any reason to step forward.”
“Why?”
“They’re industry seniors, so I’m uncomfortable.”
“It’s rare for singers and composers to observe senior-junior relationships.”
“Ah, did I not tell you? I’m currently appearing on *Coming Up Next*.”
“*Coming Up Next*……?”
“You don’t know it?”
“Ah, that, the shitty show Ryan Entertainment is doing…….”
When Seo Seunghyun stopped short mid-sentence, I finished it for him.
“Yes. That’s right. That shitty program.”
“No, why are you there?”
“Just because. It looked fun.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to get introduced to a decent company through HR? Or I could help you.”
“Oh right, I didn’t mention that. The HR thing was a lie.”
“What?”
I mixed appropriate lies and truths and explained the situation to Team Leader Seo Seunghyun.
That the previous visit had been a mild deception to sell songs to the industry.
Seo Seunghyun seemed bewildered that HR had fallen for it so easily, but what can you do?
He was sitting here thanks to that very connection.
In the end, Seo Seunghyun soothed his confusion with coffee and reached a conclusion.
“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”
“Anyway, I’ll be entering the dorm soon, so I won’t be easily reachable.”
“But it would be interesting if you debuted, Sion. A rookie idol being the composer of Dropout’s first external title track.”
“If it were revealed, I suppose so.”
I had no intention of revealing the truth.
What I want in this life is a stereotypical idol.
I want to experience a very textbook idol life.
That way, I can obtain information based on general sentiment rather than special situational information.
Of course, you never know what will happen in life, so I might have to reveal the truth someday.
Well, if that moment comes, I won’t reveal it blandly.
A secret is just as much about how it’s revealed as it is about its content.
“Since we’re already meeting, why don’t we take a look at the terms for *I’m Not Your Man* before you go.”
“Shall we?”
* * *
At a glance, Lee Hyunseok of LB Studio looked like a good-for-nothing loafer running a recording studio.
That wasn’t entirely wrong.
He wanted to live that way, and he actually was.
But did that mean Lee Hyunseok had no influence on the Korean music industry?
Absolutely not.
Strangely, in the music industry, it was often failed musicians who led the industry.
Successful musicians remained musicians, but failed musicians often transformed into businessmen or producers.
Unable to achieve brilliant artistic results with their own talent, they changed their career path to making others’ talents shine.
Even Choi Daeho, CEO of Ryan, had been a failed singer in the eighties, and there were many failed indie singers among A&R staff and producers.
That was why Lee Hyunseok had influence.
Among the countless failures he had comforted, quite a few were currently leading the music industry.
And Lee Hyunseok had exerted his influence for the first time in a while.
“Then I look forward to working with you, CEO Lee Hyunseok.”
“I’m the one who should say that.”
Lee Hyunseok’s LB Studio had been put in charge of music production for *Coming Up Next*.
This was actually quite unusual.
No matter how good LB Studio’s conditions were, it couldn’t be better than producing internally.
Moreover, Channel M Show had its own recording studio, so there was no reason to entrust music production to an external company.
So how had this been possible…….
‘Han Sion has already sung three songs? And one of them is being released as a single?’
It was thanks to Lee Hyunseok’s persistence born out of curiosity about Han Sion’s music.
He had even persuaded Jo Gijeong, the original singer of *Under the Streetlight*.
Jo Gijeong had refused Channel M Show’s remake proposal.
He would have okayed a simple cover, but he had not given permission when told the song would be changed significantly.
Audio stars inevitably have prejudices against video stars.
Whether it is distrust of their skills or an inferiority complex about their looks.
And idols are the ultimate video stars.
But.
“Hyung, he’s really a genius. No, not a genius idol—a genius musician. I guarantee it.”
With one phone call from Lee Hyunseok, Jo Gijeong immediately okayed it.
Seeing that, M Show also finally okayed Lee Hyunseok’s music production.
Having sorted out all the circumstances, Lee Hyunseok could finally call Han Sion.
“Sion, how have you been? Ah, it’s nothing big, but I ended up working with M Show. That’s right, *Coming Up Next*. So, are you free today?”
* * *
After eating lunch, I arrived at the LB Studio building.
The recording for *Under the Streetlight* had originally been scheduled for tomorrow, but I was visiting because CEO Lee Hyunseok had begged me so much.
What does he want to do?
The *Coming Up Next* filming team is coming tomorrow anyway.
With that thought, I opened the door and went inside, where CEO Lee Hyunseok and the part-timer who was his niece were waiting.
“Did the filming go well?”
“Yes, I worked hard.”
“How’s the level of the kids? A friend who works at M Show said they’re pretty good.”
“They were all much better than I expected. I was very surprised.”
“Who’s the best?”
I tilted my head at the part-timer’s sudden question.
They’re all just idol hopefuls; would she even know their names if I told her?
“Yongeun, you watch the counter. We’re going inside to talk.”
“Why?”
“It’s distracting up here.”
“But still…….”
Lee Hyunseok put his niece, who seemed to want to join the conversation, in charge of the counter and pulled me into the conference room inside the studio.
“Sion.”
“CEO. Please speak comfortably. I think we’ll be seeing each other often.”
“Oh, shall I? Well, you’ll keep coming to record music, so that would be better, right?”
Others would probably find this absurd.
CEO Lee Hyunseok wasn’t even considering the possibility that I would be eliminated mid-way through *Coming Up Next*.
But in a way, it made sense.
In this life, the person who had listened to my music most closely was neither Team Leader Seo Seunghyun nor the judges of *Coming Up Next*.
It was Lee Hyunseok.
He had watched my performance and music for the entire three days I worked at LB Studio.
I didn’t know Lee Hyunseok’s exact background, but he was someone with the eye to recognize my skill.
“Mm, okay. I’ll speak comfortably. You call me sunbaenim too.”
“Wouldn’t ‘teacher’ be better?”
“I’d have to teach you something to be a teacher.”
Having said that, Lee Hyunseok adjusted himself in his chair and spoke in a subdued voice.
“I saw the video M Show sent. *Under the Streetlight*.”
“Ah, yes. What did you think?”
“It was good. Really good. I was surprised and amazed, but…… looking back, it was a bit disappointing.”
“In what way?”
“A masterpiece isn’t something you call ‘amazing.’”
I think I can raise my assessment of Lee Hyunseok even higher.
He’s a sharper man than I thought.