CEO Ha Seohwan, the executives, and team-leader-level staff from each department had gathered in the large conference room when Gang Rojun, Sihu, Gangmin, and Dogyeong entered.
“Hello—”
“Good morning—”
Perhaps the weighty atmosphere felt awkward, because the members drained the strength from their greetings. Rojun, too, glanced at the clustered employees and gave an appropriately polite greeting. Watching them, CEO Ha Seohwan smiled faintly.
“I’m the one who called you. You must be in the middle of hectic practice, so I hope I didn’t interrupt.”
The voice came from behind Rojun and the members. An extremely feeble tone.
“No— It’s fine.”
It was Director Kim Gibaek’s voice. He poked his face out from among the boys, and CEO Ha Seohwan, still smiling, asked,
“Director Kim, you’re adapting quickly.”
“I’m struggling along in my own way.”
“I have high hopes.”
“Ah— um, yes.”
After giving that somewhat subtle answer, Director Kim Gibaek whispered quietly enough that only the boys could hear.
“I wish those hopes would be kept to a reasonable level. Right?”
Gang Rojun lowered his decibels and replied,
“Just say it straight. Refreshingly.”
“Do you want me to get expelled as soon as I transferred in? Especially in front of CEO Ha Seohwan, you really need to watch your mouth.”
“He’s an impressive person, right?”
“Well— in this industry, he’s a legend. A legend. He’s also my role model.”
Rojun slowly nodded and fixed his gaze on CEO Ha Seohwan. CEO Ha Seohwan leisurely crossed his legs, then nodded to several employees. Extra chairs were quickly set up in front of Rojun and the members.
“Sit.”
Unlike the aura he gave off, CEO Ha Seohwan spoke rather warmly, then addressed the A&R team employee standing at the front.
“Sorry to trouble you, but please give the members the same briefing you gave us.”
“Ah, yes, understood!”
Then CEO Ha Seohwan turned his head toward Gang Rojun.
“We were deciding on your group name. But I wanted to know what the people involved thought.”
Ah, so that was why they called us. Gang Rojun murmured inwardly and noticed the words displayed on the screen at the front. It gave off a thoroughly professional smell.
‘Are those the group name candidates— and explanations or something?’
Then.
‘Ah!!’
Rojun found something that contained his own idea.
—[Geurinbi: Previously recommended by member Rojun. A pure Korean word meaning “a man one longs for.”]
An indescribable embarrassment surged up in him.
‘No, now that it’s hanging up there like that, it’s kind of… weird. Not great. I thought it was okay back then.’
Director Kim Gibaek, sitting beside him, chimed in.
“Geurinbi, huh— When I saw it, I wondered if it meant a green bee. So it was pure Korean.”
Stop, stop. Just as the embarrassed Rojun cried out inwardly, the employee continued briefing them on each group name candidate. Rojun, Sihu, Gangmin, and Dogyeong listened closely to the explanation. Meanwhile, Gang Rojun admired the group name candidates on the screen in front of them.
‘As expected, when professionals get involved, even the group names feel… different. Well, of course they would.’
GN Entertainment was a major company, and they must have gone through this process countless times before. There was no comparing them to a group name he had come up with and tossed out casually. In any case, were they supposed to choose one from among those candidates? Even as he listened to the explanation, Rojun carefully chewed over the listed candidate group names from the beginning.
‘Hmm—’
All the group names were usable, and their meanings were cool too, but to Gang Rojun—
‘I think Vanguard is damn cool.’
One group name in particular stood out. Vanguard.
‘It rolls off the tongue, but more than that, I like the meaning behind it.’
Along with a one-of-a-kind image, it also carried a charisma that felt like standing at the forefront of trends or whatever else. Gang Rojun glanced at the members sitting around him. What were they thinking?
At that moment.
“That’s all.”
The employee’s explanation ended. CEO Ha Seohwan, who had taken off his suit jacket at some point, threw a question at Gang Rojun and the members.
“Which one do you like? Or if you don’t like any of them, feel free to say so. If you need time to think, I’ll give it to you.”
Then he met Rojun’s eyes.
“Since it was your idea, Rojun, is it ‘Geurinbi’?”
Gang Rojun immediately shook his head.
“No.”
“Then?”
“‘Geurinbi’ was really just something I blurted out.”
Rojun needlessly scratched his chin, then immediately said the one he liked.
“For me, it’s ‘Vanguard.’”
“……Why?”
“It just— feels like it suits us. The meaning behind it.”
Then Sihu, his eyes wide, cut in.
“Oh! Me too.”
Gangmin as well.
“We’re on the same wavelength. I liked ‘Vanguard’ the best too.”
Dogyeong also felt the same as Rojun.
“‘Vanguard’ is even hip.”
As a result, though they had not discussed it in particular, all four of them were of one mind. Wondering if this was really true, Gang Rojun looked around at the members, and their eyes were sincere. At this, CEO Ha Seohwan showed a handsome middle-aged smile.
“Then the group name is settled as ‘Vanguard.’”
Starting with the team leaders, the executives looked at CEO Ha Seohwan in slight surprise. Their gazes seemed to say, Just like this, without any further discussion? Sihu, Gangmin, and Dogyeong were similar.
‘Is, is this okay??!’
Rather than being shocked, Gang Rojun inwardly gave the CEO a thumbs-up.
‘He’s got a refreshingly decisive personality.’
Regardless, CEO Ha Seohwan gave instructions to everyone.
“Confirm the group name as ‘Vanguard.’ Proceed with the work accordingly. However.”
He designated the day they would reveal “Vanguard.”
“It would be best to reveal ‘Vanguard’ onstage.”
A little while later.
The meeting ended, and after CEO Ha Seohwan, the employees and executives left the conference room. Rojun and the boys— no, the members of “Vanguard” did the same. Director Kim Gibaek remained in the conference room, as though he still had things to discuss with other teams.
Soon, as Rojun stepped out into the hallway, Director Kim Gibaek called him.
“Rojun.”
Gang Rojun turned back, and Director Kim Gibaek whispered to him in his feeble tone.
“‘Geurinbi’ may have been eliminated as the group name, but I didn’t think it was bad.”
You don’t really have to comfort me. Embarrassment rose in Rojun again.
“As I said earlier, that was just something light.”
“Mm-hm, I heard it was a passing idea. Hmm— but I still think it’s a bit of a shame. ‘Geurinbi,’ a man one longs for. It’s interesting, and it’s pure Korean.”
“That’s true.”
“Instead of as a group name, how about using it as a song title later?”
“As a song title?”
“Yes. It gives you storytelling too. ‘Geurinbi,’ which almost became the group name before ‘Vanguard,’ but ended up becoming a song title.”
Thinking it sounded pretty good, Gang Rojun clapped both hands inwardly.
‘Not bad, right?’
Unaware of this, Director Kim Gibaek shrugged.
“Think about it.”
Director Kim Gibaek returned to the conference room with that drained aura again. Around then, Gang Rojun was—
‘Hmm, ‘Geurinbi,’ huh—’
—recalling the dance track that was next in line for composition.
The next morning, GN Entertainment.
In one practice room, singing had been echoing since morning.
—♬♪
Since the song was “Bold,” it was obvious the people inside the practice room were Gang Rojun and the members. The four had begun practicing early in the morning, before even all of GN Entertainment’s staff had arrived at work. Outside that practice room, Director Kim Gibaek and several employees were waiting.
Today, Director Kim Gibaek was wearing a long padded coat. Leaning his shoulder lightly against the wall, he gave the other employees a frail smile.
“Mm— let’s wait just a little longer. I don’t want to interrupt the boys’ practice.”
Only after a few minutes had passed and the song inside the practice room cut off did Director Kim Gibaek move. The other employees followed him. When he opened the practice room door, Gang Rojun and the members, slightly panting, turned their heads. Rojun set Director Kim Gibaek aside and fixed his gaze on the employees behind him.
‘Cameras??’
Because among the five people, about two were holding cameras. Then Director Kim Gibaek spoke to the members.
“We’ll be opening a NewTube channel for ‘Vanguard’ soon. These people here are the team for Vanguard’s NewTube channel.”
The members and Gang Rojun bowed deeply in greeting. The employees did the same. Meanwhile, Rojun felt his curiosity tugged by the NewTube channel he had only heard about.
‘Oh— our very own NewTube channel??’
Of course Gang Rojun had seen them before. Music videos and videos from famous idols easily reached millions of views, and tens of millions were possible too. Director Kim Gibaek continued explaining.
“Today, for now, we’ll film a simple greeting to the fans? That, and a few simple cuts of you practicing. Also— I think it would be good to capture you eating lunch a little later.”
Eating? Why film us eating? Gang Rojun tilted his head but still asked.
“You film things like that too?”
Director Kim Gibaek lightly mimed eating.
“Things like that work surprisingly well with fans. It’s only a scene of you eating, but as a sense of relatability forms, the dimensionality of your daily lives increases several times over.”
“Ah—”
“Think of it as part of communication. At first, it’s small and simple, but at some point, something powerful hits with a bang. There needs to be pacing even in video uploads.”
Gang Rojun and the members did not really understand what he meant right away, but they figured they would come to understand someday. Soon, the NewTube team employees finished setting up the cameras. Interestingly, they were installed not in front of the members, but behind them. This, too, was Director Kim Gibaek’s intention.
“We’re going to show your backs as you practice, while giving it a teaser-like feel.”
Since it was a simple shoot, it did not take long. Once the members gathered again, Director Kim Gibaek told them when the NewTube channel was expected to open.
“We’ll naturally film the congratulatory performance at the SBC Acting Awards too, and the NewTube channel will probably open after that.”
Then Director Kim Gibaek looked at Gang Rojun, who was dressed comfortably.
“Of course, we’ll have to upload Rojun’s red carpet walk in a tuxedo too, won’t we?”
Around early afternoon.
The A&R team, which handled the entire process from planning a group to unveiling it. Among them, the staff in charge of “Vanguard,” which had been confirmed yesterday, called Sihu separately. Thanks to that, Sihu, who had been practicing with the members, arrived at the meeting room.
—Slide.
As he sat down with a slightly awkward expression, the dedicated team employees smiled and asked him,
“Sihu, we’re going to slowly begin sourcing songs now. You have excellent composition ability too, don’t you?”
The A&R team already rated Sihu’s composition ability highly. “Witch,” of course, as well as “Survival 100,” the acoustic version, and “Bold”— he had thoroughly proven himself on “Geubaekpeu.” In addition, they had finished confirming it with producer U Hanseok as well.
“The fans of ‘Geubaekpeu’ also spared no praise for your compositions.”
At the sudden compliment, both of Sihu’s earlobes turned red. If it had been the usual Sihu, he would have waved his hands and insisted absolutely not, but in that brief moment, advice Gang Rojun had once given him flashed through his mind.
‘Hyung, you can be a little more confident. I’m telling you, you’re seriously awesome. When it’s time to nod, nod.’
Having resolved something, Sihu opened his mouth.
“I do think there are times when I’m good.”
“……Pardon?”
Trying something he never usually did made Sihu’s words twist, and he quickly corrected himself.
“Ahhh! I th-think I’m good!”
“Haha, yes, yes. We acknowledge that fully too. Director Kim Gibaek does as well. So about that, we were thinking of including your songs in this round of song sourcing for ‘Vanguard.’”
Sihu’s eyes quickly widened.
“……My songs?”
“Yes.”
Song sourcing. Once an idol group’s name or concept was decided, the next step was to choose the songs for their debut album. Receiving songs from countless composers, informing them of the concept and requesting compositions. It was quite a complicated process, but for a massive company on GN Entertainment’s level, the top composers in the country lined up.
Out of the flood of songs, even at most, only about five would be chosen.
Even so, if selected, they could proudly be included in Vanguard’s debut album. The fact that they would check Sihu’s songs meant Sihu also had an opportunity.
Sihu froze from sheer shock, and the employees spoke again.
“You don’t have to feel pressured. Including your songs doesn’t mean they’re confirmed right away. Naturally, they have to fit Vanguard’s concept, and there are many things to consider. But we definitely want to hear them.”
“……I-I have quite a lot composed. Should I give you all of them?”
“Yes, of course. You can give us all of them, or you can filter them once yourself and hand them over. But if possible, we’d like to hear everything.”
It felt like a dream, but Sihu somehow managed to answer.
“Yes…… understood.”
“Please pass them along through Director Kim once they’re organized.”
Suddenly, Sihu thought of Gang Rojun.
“Ah!! Rojun started composing too!”
The employees’ brows twitched.
“Rojun is composing too? Since when?”