A studio.
It was a music production studio, neither very large nor exactly small. Several monitors, keyboards, and all sorts of equipment needed for composing were in sight. There was also an attached recording booth with a microphone. It had a slightly shabby feel.
What stood out were the things plastered across the studio walls.
They were packed with autographs and photos of famous idols who had visited this studio.
At present, there were about two people visible in that studio.
Both were men.
One wore a hat and a loose black hoodie, while the other was bald. What was unusual was that the bald man’s eyebrows were brown. It seemed he had dyed them. On top of that, he had a piercing near one eyebrow. The two men were in the middle of working on a song.
From time to time, music played.
-♬♪
Or the two men talked.
Then the man in the hat abruptly asked the bald man.
“Eon, what do you think’ll happen with the song we sent to GN Entertainment? They wouldn’t drop it, would they?”
The bald man called “Eon” clicked his tongue.
“Hyung, you always have to put things negatively. Drop? What do you mean, drop?”
“No, I mean. I’m just a little worried.”
“What are you worried about? I’m ‘Pinion.’ It’s not like I half-assed the song. Would GN be insane enough to drop my song?”
“Well—yeah, I guess that’s true.”
The bald man was Pinion, one of the most renowned composers in Korea. If Song Mingeun had the aura of a grand master, Pinion had the feel of a hot rising star. That did not mean Pinion was a rookie composer, either.
He was known for having ample experience while also reading trends well.
《“A Hit Every Time He Releases One,” Composer “Pinion,” Hot Among Idols These Days / Photo》
Between boy groups and girl groups, Pinion had already produced eight hit songs so far. His other songs had only fallen slightly short of becoming hits; they were not weak by any means. That was why, for idols who were all the rage these days, composer Pinion was their first choice when requesting new songs. Because there were so many requests, Pinion was famous for only writing songs for well-known idols and not even glancing at rookies.
That Pinion had given GN a song.
In other words, he had written a debut song for “Vanguard.”
That same Pinion crossed his arms and legs.
“Talking about being dropped. GN is definitely going to stake their lives on this ‘Vanguard,’ and naturally, they’ll pay a lot of attention to the press and public opinion. My song has to be eaten up first.”
“Maybe I was worrying for nothing?”
After rubbing his bald head a couple of times, Pinion picked up an e-cigarette from in front of him.
“This is the first time I’ve given a song to rookies, and it’s ‘Vanguard.’ You think they’d be able to not pick it?”
Meanwhile, in GN Entertainment’s large conference room.
At the meeting to decide “Vanguard’s” final debut song, Kang Rojun’s voice spread through the room.
“I think composer Pinion should be excluded.”
The members were the quickest to react.
“······?”
“??”
Sihu, Gangmin, and Dogyeong all widened their eyes or dropped their jaws almost simultaneously. On the other hand, Kang Rojun was quite calm, and at a glance, even gave off the faint scent of a villain. Soon, everyone in the conference room had their eyes fixed on Rojun.
“···What?”
“What do you mean all of a sudden—”
“Exclude Pinion??”
Everyone blurted out something. The executives, of course, and the departments such as the A&R team and management team were the same. All of them were either flustered or dumbfounded by Rojun’s sudden remark. The murmuring grew in decibels until it became a buzz.
The quietest among them was.
“······”
CEO Ha Seohwan. With a face that was hard to tell whether expressionless or smiling, he was staring at Kang Rojun. Meanwhile, the executives and employees were still making a racket, and several executives urgently questioned Rojun.
“You do know who Pinion is, right?”
“It’s not some other composer, it’s Pinion. We can’t exclude him. Why did you suddenly think that?”
“You’re not joking, I assume. Do the other members feel the same way?”
Some spoke gently, as if trying to persuade him or inform him.
“CEO Ha also said Pinion and Song Mingeun were good, and composer Pinion’s ripple effect in the market is considerable. It would be a serious waste to exclude him for no reason.”
It was then.
“You can exclude him.”
A heavy voice took over the conference room. It was CEO Ha Seohwan. The executives who had been looking at Rojun all turned their heads toward CEO Ha Seohwan.
“Excuse me??”
Still keeping his gaze fixed on Kang Rojun, CEO Ha Seohwan crossed his legs and spoke again.
“I said you can exclude him. Pinion.”
“······”
“······”
The noisy conference room fell silent in an instant. For roughly five seconds. CEO Ha Seohwan, with his handsome middle-aged looks, asked Rojun calmly.
“If ‘Vanguard’ dislikes it, then whether it’s Pinion or anyone else, we can exclude them. But I’d like to hear the reason.”
After briefly looking around at the members, Rojun’s eyes returned to CEO Ha Seohwan. The reason he wanted to exclude Pinion?
‘There’s no particular reason, really. Just that his score was lower than the other composers, I guess.’
In truth, Kang Rojun and the other “Vanguard” members had checked the final candidates for the debut song two days ago. Department Head Kim Gibaek had informed the members of the candidate songs in advance before the meeting, and the moment Kang Rojun saw the list that included Song Mingeun and Pinion, he naturally grew curious.
Which song would be the best match for our “Vanguard”?
So what Rojun did was.
-[AI analysis in progress······Analysis complete!]
It was “AI Automation.” He had confidence. He had already experienced it before. He had written out the instructions as meticulously as last time, and although “AI Automation” demanded quite a few coins, Rojun judged that it was worth the investment.
Was this not “Vanguard’s” debut album?
If possible, it would be best to go with the greatest song among the greatest. In any case, “AI Automation” showed its owner the answer.
-[Song Mingeun / 89 points]
-[Pinion / 18 points]
-[Jeong Jia / 66 points]
-[Blue Coffee / 71 points]
-[Kim Haneul / 69 points]
·
·
·
·
Most of them surpassed 50 points, but only Pinion had 18. Of all numbers, eighteen. And Song Mingeun had 89 points. Having seen results like these, how could he not exclude composer Pinion?
‘If the score were just average, maybe, but 18 points is too much.’
Kang Rojun was reminded of EY Entertainment. If he had chosen EY Entertainment, he would probably be going through hell right about now. Of course, EY Entertainment had gotten 3 points, so Pinion’s score was a bit higher, but it was the same difference.
‘And Big Star Entertainment was 28 points.’
EY Entertainment had gone down the drain, but Big Star Entertainment, one of the so-called big three, was still relatively quiet. Well, since he had already come to GN, there was no need to pay it any particular attention. In any case, the only person in this conference room who knew Pinion’s score was Kang Rojun. Even the members wore expressions that said they did not understand Rojun.
That was only natural.
‘Even I’d think someone was crazy if they suddenly did this.’
Kang Rojun had, of course, searched up composer Pinion. He understood that the man was famous, but.
‘What am I supposed to do when his score is eighteen?’
Rojun slowly scratched his chin and paused for a moment. What should he answer CEO Ha Seohwan with? Then, feeling slightly too lazy, he decided to say it as it was. Though he would blur it a little.
“The song is good, but I don’t think it’ll do well.”
CEO Ha Seohwan tilted his head slightly.
“The song is good, but you don’t think it’ll do well?”
“Yes.”
Sighs and groans spilled out among the executives. In contrast, CEO Ha Seohwan wore an expression that seemed to take it quite seriously. Then several executives threw question marks at Kang Rojun.
“What do you mean, the song is good but you don’t think it’ll do well??”
“Rojun-ssi, this is a truly important meeting. You can’t be careless about this.”
Kang Rojun nodded calmly.
“Yes, I’m being serious.”
“If the song is good, we should go with it, shouldn’t we?”
“It’s hard to put into words, but—aren’t there a lot of things that don’t do well in the market even if the songs are good?”
“······”
At that moment, CEO Ha Seohwan smiled faintly.
“There are.”
With his eyes fixed on Rojun, he continued.
“In the end, the public makes the judgment. No matter how much we say it’s good here, if the public turns away, it sinks without a trace.”
CEO Ha Seohwan, who had been looking at Kang Rojun with a subtle gaze, slowly changed the direction of his crossed legs. Only then did he withdraw his gaze from Rojun and speak to everyone in the conference room.
“Exclude Pinion’s song. As for ‘Vanguard’s’ debut songs, we’ll go with three: Rojun, Sihu, and Song Mingeun.”
After that.
In an instant, “Vanguard’s” debut album was decided to have three songs. The employees were flustered, but since it was CEO Ha Seohwan’s decision, they could say nothing. Just like that, the employees left the conference room. Kang Rojun and the members did the same. As soon as they came out of the meeting room, the members rushed at Rojun with questions.
“Rojun, what was that all of a sudden??”
“Exactly. Wow—I was so nervous. Hyung, how can you talk so calmly in front of the CEO and the executives?”
“No, more importantly, Rojun-hyung. Why Pinion? I thought the song was good.”
Kang Rojun merely shrugged moderately.
“I said it earlier. The song is good, but I felt like it would flop.”
At that moment, a drained voice cut in from behind.
“That’s right—if something bothers you, just say it outright.”
It was Department Head Kim Gibaek, smiling.
“Whether the other party is me or the CEO.”
Meanwhile, the executives and CEO Ha Seohwan were still gathered in the conference room. Amid the strange atmosphere, one executive cautiously asked CEO Ha Seohwan.
“Um—CEO Ha. Will this be all right?”
“What will?”
“······”
He shut his mouth, but everyone would know what he meant. Was it all right to make such an easy decision just by listening to what Rojun said? CEO Ha Seohwan knew as well.
“If the artist dislikes it, there’s no need to force them to adopt the song.”
“Th-that may be true, but Rojun is still young, and—”
CEO Ha Seohwan looked at the executive for a few seconds, then recalled Kang Rojun, who had been in the meeting room just moments ago.
“It may have been a coincidence, but there was the EY matter too. Leaving his age aside, Rojun has insight.”
“······”
“Of course, I didn’t decide solely because I believed that child’s words. I also ran the numbers on various things, such as the position Rojun holds in the current ‘Vanguard’ project. Throwing away Pinion, or raising Rojun’s confidence. I simply chose the one that benefited us.”
It seemed CEO Ha Seohwan had calculated many things in that brief moment.
“Whether the way Rojun looked today was bluster born from youthful spirit, or boldness he can show because he lacks experience. If the desk ignores and crushes that from the start, it will rust someday.”
CEO Ha Seohwan rose from his seat and slowly swept his gaze over all the executives.
“We’re the people who oil the gears, not the ones who pour cold water over them.”
Then, the next day, perhaps thanks to “Vanguard” having chosen their debut songs, GN Entertainment became even busier. First, Kang Rojun had lyric writing added for Song Mingeun’s song as well, and the A&R team immediately set the choreography and music video side of things in motion.
They began casting the best choreography team and music video filming team.
Naturally, the concepts for the debut songs had to be finalized at the same time, and since they had decided to film music videos for all the debut songs, storyboards for each music video also had to come out. Above all, music videos were the core of the core in today’s idol market. Including introducing the idols’ color to domestic fans, they were also an extremely effective way to make the idols known overseas.
That meant they could not help but cost a lot of money.
At any rate, while GN Entertainment was thrown into chaos, two days melted away. And a famous composer in a studio grew furious.
“······Fuck, they rejected me? For real??”
It was Pinion, who had heard the results from GN Entertainment. The message had been roughly along the lines of, “The song received high praise, but unfortunately, it will be excluded from Vanguard’s debut album.” Bald Pinion, who had been almost certain of success, went from anger to disbelief.
“This is absurd. Those mere rookies dropped my song?”
His anger extended into incredulity. It was the first time he had ever been treated like this. Since he had not even considered the possibility of being rejected, the blow that followed was even greater. As if stressed, he kept scratching at his brown eyebrows, and his colleagues in the same studio worried he might tear out the piercing on his brow.
After expressing his irritation and disbelief for several dozen minutes, Pinion accepted it.
“Then screw them.”
Wounded, but pretending otherwise with an indifferent expression, he picked up his phone. The colleagues around him asked cautiously.
“Why?? You’re not—going to call GN, are you??!”
“Am I crazy? Why would I call them?”
“Then??”
Pinion clicked his tongue.
“Big Star Entertainment.”
“Ah—”
“Tsk! Even though Big Star made an offer first, ‘Vanguard’ has been hot lately, so I ditched Big Star and gave GN the song, and they drop me??”
“You’re going to throw the dropped song straight to Big Star?”
Holding the phone to his ear, bald Pinion answered coldly, and his choice was.
“Of course I’m switching to Big Star.”
It was “Big Star Entertainment,” to which “AI Automation” had given 28 points.