Kang Rojun and the members were in the middle of a lively after-party at the beef restaurant where the Rental Lover team had gathered. Rojun, Sihu, Kangmin, and Dokyeong avoided alcohol, but they welcomed the beef like madmen.
The one with the highest combat power was Dokyeong, who had even undone his belt.
“Beef is damn good. This naengmyeon is freaking amazing too.”
His tone was dry, but judging by the way his chopsticks never stopped moving, he seemed sincere. Baby-permed Sihu was usually a light eater, but today he must have made up his mind, because he was wrapping beef in green onion kimchi and eating it.
“Whoa—it melts! It just melts away in my mouth!”
Kangmin, who had somehow found a headband and put it on, seemed to love the naengmyeon more than the beef. After all, his nose was practically buried in the bowl.
“The naengmyeon is seriously good. It’s in the top tier of everything I’ve ever eaten in my life.”
And Kang Rojun?
“Hey, hey, just eat the beef. Don’t fill up on other stuff. Naengmyeon and whatever are for blowing things up at dessert.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he too stuffed a ssam into his mouth. It was the size of a fist, so one might wonder if it would all fit, but there was no problem at all. Rojun chewed refreshingly on the ssam packed with two pieces of beef.
‘The oil comes out and the flavor’s insane.’
The Vanguard members had all taken off the tuxedo jackets they had worn as stage outfits, and since they were worried about broth splashing onto their white shirts, they were all wearing simple aprons. Perhaps finding that sight cute, Manager Kim Gibaek chuckled.
“You eat so heartily—being young sure is nice.”
There was a hint of envy in his voice. At the same time, he picked up his phone. He thought the kids’ current appearance would be good to hand over to the PR team.
“Everyone, strike a pose while you eat.”
Even as the members kept picking up meat, each of them posed toward Manager Kim Gibaek. Sihu waved his chopsticks with meat stuck between them, Kangmin and Dokyeong made V-signs, and Kang Rojun solemnly raised a thumbs-up.
It was full of sincerity. This place was genuinely delicious.
After that, the boys were completely immersed in the after-party. They clinked glasses of cider with the Rental Lover team at other tables, chatted back and forth with PD Jeong Suryeong, and took proof shots at the actors’ table where Choi Rina was.
The last photo was handled by Rental Lover’s assistant director.
“All right, all right! Only the award winners today, gather up!”
With dozens of staff members distracted by beef in the background, Kang Rojun, PD Jeong Suryeong, and top actress Choi Rina stood side by side. Of course, all of them held trophies in their hands. The two women each had one trophy, but only Rojun had two.
“One—two!”
-Click!
Meanwhile, around the time the Vanguard members were floundering in beef, all sorts of search engines, social media, YouTube, and countless online communities were in utter chaos.
No, they were shaking.
The hottest topic was, of course, Vanguard.
《[Photo] Vanguard Appears at the SBC Drama Awards! / Photo》
《Rojun, Sihu, Kangmin, Dokyeong Leave “Geubaekpeu” Behind—Please Call Us Vanguard from Now On》
《[Big Issue] GN Entertainment: “Please Support the Members Starting Anew as Vanguard”》
《Various Communities Set Ablaze Thanks to Rojun, Sihu, Kangmin, and Dokyeong Appearing as Vanguard / Photo》
They were burning the hottest. The group name “Vanguard” was being mentioned endlessly everywhere, and the media outlets watching the situation were all left with their tongues out.
“Has there ever been a boy group that hit it this big as soon as their group name was revealed?”
“Not as far as I know.”
“It’s incredible, seriously incredible. They promoted their group name properly with just one congratulatory stage.”
That did not mean only Vanguard was hot. Other topics were also receiving quite a bit of attention here and there.
《[Awards Ceremony] Rental Lover Sweeps 4 Awards at the SBC Drama Awards》
《Rojun Grabs 2 Trophies, Smiling with Trophies in Both Hands / Photo》
《The Miracle of a One-Act Drama! Rental Lover Wins Drama of the Year! Choi Rina Wins Top Excellence Award》
From Rental Lover, which had won several awards thanks to Kang Rojun and others, to the Vanguard members’ congratulatory stage. There were not merely plenty of issues; they were overflowing. What was interesting was that the news of Rental Lover’s four awards had also been thrown into Japan.
It was not strange.
After all, Rental Lover was currently enjoying fiery popularity in Japan as well.
In any case, the public went wild. In particular, Vanguard’s fans showed a level of tension close to frenzy. First, on social media, the Vanguard fan accounts that had at some point multiplied exponentially—
-[Today’s congratulatory stage was way better than the Geubaekpeu stages lol All four of them in tuxedos were so freaking cute....]
-[Honestly I wasn’t that interested in the Vanguard kids, but after seeing Rojun’s red carpet scene I decided to stan him..... insanely, insanely, insanely handsome]
-[Ah!!! The kids did so well on the congratulatory stage but the camera work trolled them!! I’m so pissed!!]
—kept endlessly pouring out posts.
-[But am I the only one who likes that the kids’ group name is Vanguard?? It fits them perfectly lololololol]
-[Today Sihu was seriously giving full-on country mutt puppy vibes]
-[My bias is Dokyeong lololol I love the delinquent look]
-[Honestly Rojun is just on another level, and after him the next most handsome is Kangmin lololol He’s kind of like a prince]
Various communities were not losing to social media either. Posts were being updated every second. Judging only by the terrifying reaction, it was clear a considerable number of new fans had flowed in. On YouTube, videos of the Vanguard members’ congratulatory stage were spreading widely, and interest in the stage was just as high.
-Vanguard?? Looks like their group name has been confirmed as Vanguard lololol
-The Vanguard kids seriously did well on stage today... Their live singing was amazing too
-I feel like it hasn’t been long since they debuted, but their live broadcast singing was excellent. These guys are going to get big
-From the camera movement, the SBC Drama Awards stage was the worst, but the Vanguard kids saved it with their physicality
-They dance that well and sing live well too
-The live singing comes through insanely well, I love you Vanguard!!
Late at night, the scene grew even bigger, and Kang Rojun and the members, who had returned to the dorm after finishing the after-party, all picked up their phones as soon as they lay down on their beds.
How curious would they be?
Thanks to that, the members could not fall asleep because they were looking at their phones past night and into dawn. Kang Rojun, who was the same, expressed gratitude to the AI Simulation as well, on top of the public’s reactions.
-[You have achieved the hidden mission “Perform Under Your Official Group Name!” As a gift, 15 coins have been awarded.]
-[You have achieved the hidden mission “Hold Your First Trophy!” As a gift, 20 coins have been awarded.]
Because the AI Simulation had not forgotten to send him gifts this time either.
And the next day, Saturday morning.
《[Official] SBC Drama Awards Achieves Record-Breaking Viewership Ratings!》
The SBC Drama Awards set a new record.
Afterward.
The Vanguard members were given rest over the weekend, but perhaps because their combat power had risen, Rojun and the boys all went to the company. Sihu, Kangmin, and Dokyeong shut themselves in the practice room, and Kang Rojun shut himself in the studio.
It was to complete the song whose title had been decided as Geurinbi.
“······”
Kang Rojun silently fixed his gaze on the laptop. Since more than a week had already passed since he started working, the composition was nearly in its final stages.
Around this time, official videos related to the SBC Drama Awards began being uploaded to YouTube one after another.
Most of them exploded in views.
Many places were pushing promotion. From SBC to GN Entertainment and Munhwa Drawer, they were all lending strength. At present, YouTube was practically filled with Vanguard.
The noisy weekend ended like that, and Monday arrived once again.
Rojun, who went to GN Entertainment with the members—
-Swish.
—first moved to the gym and completed his daily mission. Well, since he had recently started having fun building his body, he did even more than usual.
‘Nice.’
After admiring his lean muscles, Rojun’s next destination was the studio where he had frequently been holing himself up these days. The members were probably in the middle of training, but Kang Rojun, who had been given freedom over his daily schedule, became certain of one thing as soon as he settled into the studio.
“I’ll finish Geurinbi today.”
He meant he would wrap up the composition.
Even as he tapped on the laptop, he murmured quietly.
“Geurinbi······ a man you long for.”
He spread out the colors that would be assigned to the song. The dance track Geurinbi. Geurinbi was a pure Korean word, and its inner meaning was a man you long for. In order to bring the color close to the group name Vanguard, he mixed in a sense of wildness.
“If you long for someone, you’d be restless too.”
But he would be difficult to grasp. Something visible to the eye, yet impossible to obtain. An illusion. The man you long for was also a man of fantasy.
“No, since there are four of us, men.”
Men within a fantasy. And Vanguard.
Kang Rojun’s concentration rose as he fitted together the puzzles he had laid out. Since his Composition stat was not yet very high, he was bound to be clumsy, but it was hard to find hesitation in his hands. Fortunately, musical ideas came to him fairly well, and interpretation was Kang Rojun’s specialty.
One hour, two hours, three hours.
Several hours passed after he began working. Before he knew it, it was past noon. Sihu called to let him know it was time to eat, but Rojun intended to skip lunch.
Another two hours passed.
At that moment, Kang Rojun stretched long and swept his black hair back refreshingly with both hands. With his fingers interlaced and both hands resting on the back of his head, Rojun fixed his gaze on the laptop. Soon, he smiled faintly.
“It’s done.”
After moving his hands for a bit, he tapped the tablet screen several times, and a song soon played from the tablet.
-♬♪
It was a dance track that was dreamlike while also infused with a deep darkness somewhere. It was Geurinbi, which Kang Rojun had just completed. This time, unlike the ballad “Song No. 1,” which had only gone up to the first verse, he had made it up to the second verse. After listening to it until the end, Rojun played the song again and murmured his impressions this time.
“It wasn’t bad. It also served as composition practice.”
One thing was certain: compared to his first composition, “Song No. 1,” his composition skills had improved. And.
‘Surprisingly, writing, lyric writing, and acting also help with composing.’
Not only singing ability, choreography, and rap, but even other side jobs became a source of strength. As expected, nothing useless existed. Writing and lyric writing helped with interpretation and imagination, while acting encouraged emotion. The guitar he had learned in advance was the same.
It felt as if the various abilities Kang Rojun possessed were organically intertwined and pushing him from behind.
Well, composition would probably help with another side job too.
At any rate, he had gained everything he could from composing Geurinbi this time. Now what remained was to perfect the song Geurinbi, which had been completed but was lacking in quality. Soon, Rojun picked up his phone. Naturally, what he opened was the AI Simulation app. Among them, AI Automation.
He intended to carry out the same work as he had with the ballad “Song No. 1.”
-[Through AI Automation analysis, it is possible to derive your desired result. What would you like to derive? (Only things related to your desired occupation, idol, are possible.)]
Kang Rojun meticulously wrote the Geurinbi inside his head into the blank space, and according to his instructions, AI Automation spat out the result. As expected, it required a moderate number of coins.
‘I do have a “one-time free AI Automation use ticket,” but using it here would be such a waste.’
He used the coins without much concern.
-[Applying······ Application complete!]
The file soon arrived on his phone. Having already experienced it once, Kang Rojun was not greatly surprised as he played the perfected Geurinbi.
-♬♪
The more he listened to the song, the deeper Rojun’s smile became. After replaying it several times as if it were addictive, Kang Rojun decided on his next goal for composition.
“Next is—Song No. 3’s turn, right? Mm, let’s do another dance track, like a review. But this time, with a somewhat calmer feel.”
Thirty minutes later, Rojun came out of the studio and met Manager Kim Gibaek. The reason was simple. It was to hand over the completed song Geurinbi. For reference, Sihu had already handed his songs over to the A&R team, and the A&R team’s song collection was in its final stages. In other words, it was fair to say Kang Rojun had caught the last train.
Manager Kim Gibaek, who received the song from Kang Rojun, gave a feeble laugh.
“···You finished this already?”
“Yes, Manager.”
“What kind of song just pops out in a week?”
Manager Kim Gibaek felt both bewildered and amazed.
‘Did he rush it because everyone around him had such high expectations? His personality is on the steady side, so I don’t think he would have put it together sloppily······ Still, one week is too fast.’
A slight worry rose within him. It was the first time he had seen composition end in less than ten days.
“If you wrapped it up in a hurry, you can work on it more. The A&R team said they’d wait until the end of this month.”
On the other hand, Kang Rojun had no hesitation.
“I didn’t. I worked on it comfortably. You can give it to the A&R team as it is.”
“Mm—understood.”
Manager Kim Gibaek immediately headed over to the A&R team.
Then, at 6 p.m.
[Channel Name: Vanguard]
[Vanguard Official YouTube Channel]
[This is Vanguard’s official YouTube channel.]
Vanguard’s official YouTube channel opened.
And the fans became aware of it a few minutes later. Interest exploded.
-Hul!! Vanguard’s YouTube opened!!!
It meant prospective subscribers were rushing in all at once.