Chapter 96
By now, talk of advancing into America was a goal everyone agreed on without needing serious discussion.
That was only natural, having watched Eugene Kim, who had consistently stated since the audition that Billboard was his goal, and working alongside him.
'Will we be able to promote in America next year?'
I too had vaguely thought about advancing into America, but I had never seriously pondered the specific methods.
From debut until now, just dealing with the situations that confronted us every single day was no easy task.
Honestly, even when I first suggested preparing a James Blake cover stage, I didn't think of it as an opportunity for advancing into America.
Eugene Kim's thoughts seemed a bit different.
"Are you saying getting on James Blake's good side will help us advance into America?"
"Just getting on his good side isn't enough. We need to earn his recognition."
"Earning recognition..."
"Lately, James Blake has been doing more work as a producer than as a singer. And I think the reason he's coming to Korea this time feels more like he's coming as a producer rather than a singer. After all, James Blake isn't coming all the way to Korea just to perform on stage himself."
"Hmm, so if we earn James Blake's recognition through this opportunity..."
"It means we might get the chance to work together in the future too."
Actually, it wasn't rare for K-pop singers to work with American producers.
K-pop's potential for success in the American music market had already been proven by OPF, who achieved the first Billboard number one for a Korean singer.
Famous overseas producers could no longer openly ignore K-pop idol groups that had conquered Asia and were attempting to enter the American market.
That said, if you asked whether K-pop had become part of the mainstream in the American music market, it was still closer to being their own world except for a select few singers.
Regardless, receiving help from local producers was the standard approach for advancing into America.
Singers from large agencies had been receiving songs from overseas composers since debut.
If we were considering advancing into America, this was something we needed to seriously consider.
'Advance into the American market with James Blake's help.'
Honestly, if it were possible, it could be considered the best scenario for us.
James Blake, beyond his producing abilities, was still a world-famous top star.
Just working with James Blake would inevitably bring us great benefits in terms of recognition and buzz.
At that moment, Woo Jungwoo, who had been quietly listening, spoke up with a slightly displeased expression.
"I understand where Eugene is coming from, but honestly, the possibility of working with James Blake in the future is too low. And I feel a bit looked down upon, so I don't really want to go this far."
Admittedly, the demands themselves were quite unreasonable.
Having to prove our skills to do a cover stage was already somewhat hurtful to our pride.
I didn't expect them to suddenly demand proof of our skills in such an unreasonable way.
Probably not just Woo Jungwoo speaking right now, but the other members might also harbor some uncomfortable feelings in their hearts.
However, even with Woo Jungwoo's words, Eugene Kim's opinion didn't seem to change.
"Still, there's no reason not to try when there's a possibility."
As Eugene Kim finished speaking, silence briefly lingered in the practice room.
Two conflicting opinions.
Both opinions were understandable enough.
However.
'We don't have time.'
The time given to us right now was too urgent to be debating what's right or wrong here.
'Isn't there some way?'
Honestly, I agreed with Eugene Kim that if there's a possibility, we should try.
But I didn't want to force the members to follow my opinion.
After pondering for a moment, I looked at the members watching me and spoke.
"First of all, everyone can agree that we need to try. Advancing into America isn't something we can just decide to do, but staying still definitely won't make it happen either."
At my words, the members slowly nodded.
And looking at them, I continued.
"That said, unconditionally bowing our heads isn't a good thing either. Like Jungwoo said, I don't think we're in a situation where we need to beg for James Blake's favor while being looked down upon."
"Uh... then?"
"Are we not doing the cover stage this time?"
I shook my head at the members' words and answered again.
"No, we still need to try."
"Huh...?"
"You just said there's no reason to do it while being looked down upon..."
"We should try, but there's no need to do it while being looked down upon. So I think we should reconsider the cover stage."
"Then how?"
The members looked at me with expressions of disbelief.
Of course, I wasn't simply changing my words or trying to deflect.
"Since it's come to this, we should clearly communicate our position to James Blake's side too. We'll prove our skills, but if you see our skills, give us proper compensation in return."
"Compensation...?"
"Yeah, no matter how I think about it, us struggling this much over a cover stage makes no sense. Instead of a cover stage, we should at least do a joint stage with James Blake."
"What?"
"A joint stage?"
"Yeah, a joint stage."
At my words about a joint stage, the members looked surprised for a moment before seriously asking me back.
"Of course it would be really great if we could... but even if we propose it, would James Blake even care?"
"That's why we need to capture his interest with the video we send this time."
"Capture his interest? How?"
"Originally, how we cover the song is up to us. Instead of simply covering the song, we film and send the video in a completely different way."
"Hmm..."
Looking at the members contemplating my words, I continued.
"How about this? When constructing the stage, we leave the center position empty and build the choreography around it."
"Leave the center empty? Then whose position is that?"
"James Blake's."
"Ah!"
If we left the center position empty, it would be obvious.
Then James Blake would immediately notice that these guys are plotting something.
"You're saying we should appeal to him as much as possible to stand on stage with us."
"Yeah, we need to show James Blake. If he likes us, ask him to fill the empty spot by doing a joint stage with us. Of course, just leaving the spot empty won't be enough. We need to show results that satisfy James Blake."
I finished what I had to say and looked at the members.
Honestly, since I came up with it on the spot, even I thought there were many shortcomings.
"What if there's no response from their side even after seeing the video?"
"Then we cancel the cover stage and prepare a different one."
But isn't it all or nothing anyway?
If we're going to try, I wanted to gain as much as possible.
"Honestly, it seems difficult. But still, the method you mentioned is somewhat appealing."
"Well, if it doesn't work out, we can just prepare a different stage..."
The members also started being persuaded by my words little by little.
"Then we don't have time, so let's get ready quickly!"
Sim Sungha immediately stood up from his seat and shouted loudly.
Then he grabbed the arm of Woo Jungwoo sitting next to him and pulled him up.
"Come on, Jungwoo hyung, stop sulking and get up quickly."
"When was I sulking...!"
"Your lip has been sticking out a foot since earlier. It's okay, you won't die from staying up all night for one night."
"No, it's not because of staying up all night... Sigh, fine, alright, wait!"
With Woo Jungwoo won over like that, there was no one left to object.
Of course, there were still many problems to solve...
"Shihyun."
"Yes."
"How should we choreograph the dance?"
Actually, the biggest problem right now was the choreography.
Creating choreography considering James Blake's empty position would definitely not be easy.
If Baek Shihyun said it was impossible, we'd have to quickly request help from the company.
"Um, it's honestly a bit difficult, but..."
Baek Shihyun seemed to contemplate for a moment before looking at me and speaking.
"Could you give me one hour?"
"Huh...? One hour?"
"Yes, I have something in mind right now, and I think it'll take about an hour."
"Really...? Well, is there anything I can help with?"
"I'll let you know if it gets too hard while working."
'Come to think of it, that guy's a genius too.'
With the choreography entrusted to Baek Shihyun like that.
Right then, Eugene Kim approached me.
"Hyung, here, I've roughly divided the parts for now. And since it's a joint stage rather than a cover, I thought about what direction we should change the song..."
Listening to Eugene Kim's endlessly continuing words, I somehow felt like the person most excited about this situation was probably Eugene Kim.
"How about this?"
"It seems good... Let's think about it again once Shihyun's choreography comes out."
"Yes, understood."
I could see Eugene Kim finishing his report to me and moving back to his spot.
'Can I look forward to this?'
Baek Shihyun and Eugene Kim, and not just those two, but the other members burning with passion in the practice room.
Looking at those members, I somehow had a good premonition.
***
One day, two days, and then three days passed.
The time that flowed after we sent the video to James Blake.
Unlike last time when we received a reply within a day, three days passed without any response from James Blake's side.
'Well, it must be absurd from their perspective too.'
They told us to send a video to judge whether we had the skills for a cover stage.
And out of nowhere, we sent a video for a joint stage.
'Is this a failure then...'
The awards ceremony was now not far away.
No matter how much we were called the sons of MusicNet. It seemed like MusicNet could no longer wait for us.
They had asked us to send the confirmed setlist by today.
"Hmm... I think we'll definitely do the two title tracks. If we assume we only do the first verse of Hero, it seems like there'll be some time left after. Doing three songs is a bit ambiguous."
"I think it's best to go performance-focused. It's hard to give a fresh feeling with just arrangement."
Right now, we were gathered in the practice room to come up with a new stage configuration.
Of course, the atmosphere wasn't very good.
The stage we had prepared was looking like it would completely fall through.
Still, we couldn't keep clinging to something that wasn't working, so we had to quickly come up with a new stage either way.
Looking at the members who seemed dispirited, I forced myself to speak energetically.
"Alright, guys! First of all, we have no time. We need to decide quickly, so everyone cheer up and..."
Just as I was trying to force a change in atmosphere, the practice room door suddenly opened, and the manager walked in with a flushed face.
"Guys! We just got word!"
At the manager's words, the members asked with expressions of half-belief, half-doubt.
"Don't tell me...?"
"What happened?"
"Is it a rejection?"
Looking at us standing there tensely, the manager slightly shook his head and spoke with a smile.
"He says he wants to talk with you once."
"Yes? He wants to talk?"
"Yeah, James Blake himself."
At least a small possibility had opened up.