The Malicious Member Has Returned! Episode 170
* * *
Fortunately, the repackage album meeting that resumed after a brief break concluded in a somewhat comfortable atmosphere.
Or rather, in the direction that Gim Chunyong and the others had initially hoped for.
"Let's wrap up 'Hide and Seek' promotions this week, and make sure to check the demos without fail."
"Yes, well. We'll prepare the PT as soon as our references are sorted out. We can do it within this week."
"Yes. Understood."
They had been given four weeks.
Whether a title track could come out of it was still uncertain, but it included Logan's song as well.
"...
Then you'll be even busier from now on, so please take care of your condition. I've given you another week, so you mustn't get sick and be unable to do anything during that time."
"Uh...."
"No need to answer. Let's head out first."
With a click—Sin Giho, who had been smoothing his pomaded hair that hadn't come undone even during the long meeting, left the conference room with those final words, and faint sighs escaped from people's mouths.
"Ah, that old fart, holding onto his pride until the very end...."
"Director! Please, please! Mind your words! When you butted heads with the Executive Director earlier, we really thought we were all getting fired!"
"It's not like we're working without contracts. Do you really think we'd get fired just because there was some trouble at a meeting? Get a grip, all of you. You just report that kind of thing to the labor board."
"Do you think it's as easy as it sounds? Really...!"
The meeting room filled with the excited chatter of Mun Yunha, who had finally snatched victory, and her faction.
"It's a relief that Executive Director Sin suddenly changed his mind. He was adamant that it wouldn't work no matter how much we persuaded him...."
"Right? Maybe he took the bait after hearing the members' song was good? They even said Logan was good at making songs during the mentor evaluation on
"Uh, yeah. That's right. It was a beautiful song too. Uh, it was beautiful. But right now, more than that...."
"You ToZ members really worked hard too! As expected, when the artists themselves speak up, even the Executive Director can't do anything about it, huh."
"Haha... what did we even do. Great work, everyone."
"...Hmm."
However, amid all this, Mun Yunha wore an expression that remained somewhat puzzled even in the midst of her victory.
Having been stroking her lips in thought, she soon sprang up from her seat so abruptly that her ponytail swung wildly, and approached someone.
"Uh, uh? Director?"
"No, I mean. Good is good and all. But are you just happy? Aren't you curious?"
Her destination was not very far away.
For some reason, since after the break, sitting among the members with fewer words and a composed demeanor that didn't match his thuggish face, constantly seeming to ponder something....
"Chunyong."
It was toward our Gim Chunyong.
"...Ah, yes?"
"What did you talk about with that old fart during the break?"
From that point on, she held nothing back.
*Gasp.* "Hold on, Director! If you ask something like that so suddenly, Chunyong will be flustered."
"Hey, aren't you curious? I'm going crazy with curiosity."
"We are curious! But if he doesn't want to say it, we shouldn't ask!"
"Why? If you're curious, you have to find out!"
Frowning slightly and tapping the conference table, Mun Yunha fired off words like a machine gun.
"Honestly, I think that old fart completely made up his mind after talking with you. Share your secret, will you? Huh? Let me learn from it too so I can butt heads more enthusiastically from now on."
"Hah, no. It's not like that, we really didn't talk about much...."
"Lie, lie. You liar. Do you think I've seen one or two idols? I've directed more than I can count, and ToZ, including you, is entirely my work. I can feel an emotional shift just from a twitch of your eyebrow. You're lying right now."
The audacity that was almost rude, which she had displayed from the very first day she met Gim Chunyong by bluntly asking "why is your name like that," hadn't gone anywhere.
"So, don't hold back and tell me. What did you talk about? I need to know that."
If she was curious, she had to find out, and she had to do as she pleased by any means necessary.
"The Chun of spring and the Yong of a dragon? ...The meaning is pretty."
If not, then she had to hear a convincing argument for why she shouldn't do so.
When she had heard the meaning of Gim Chunyong's name on
She had thought the real meaning was beautiful, and she had taken a liking to Gim Chunyong's sly yet confident attitude.
That was the foundation of why Mun Yunha was in this position....
Of course, not everyone understood that, which was why the word "madman" was in her nickname.
'I knew she was like this, but this is almost spinal-reflex level. She comes asking the moment the meeting ends?'
Facing Mun Yunha, who had thrust her face right up to his and was waiting for an answer, Gim Chunyong clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.
Everyone in the conference room had their eyes fixed on Gim Chunyong and Mun Yunha.
"Ha, haha...."
In fact, Gim Chunyong knew as well.
It wasn't just Mun Yunha actively showing her curiosity—everyone in this conference room was curious.
"Uh, why did you call me all the way out here?"
"Can't you tell? I called you to talk. ...
I also have something to ask."
"So, why did we have to come all the way to the company rooftop smoking area for that...."
"I don't smoke in front of artists. It's just, there aren't many smokers in the company, so word won't leak out here. So, what I want to say is...."
What on earth had a member who had barely debuted in 6th place on a survival show and hadn't trained long at AG talked about with Sin Giho?
If forced to explain it simply....
"Uh, just. He asked if Logan's song was really good when I listened to it directly."
"...Hoo. And then?"
"I told him my honest thoughts, and said that if this worked out, I thought it would do well. That's all. I think Executive Director Sin changed his mind because our sincerity simply got through to him?"
"......"
Mun Yunha's gaze looking at him didn't change at Gim Chunyong's simple words.
Is that what it would look like to say "this liar" with her eyes?
"Let's go, go! Now that we've heard it, we have to go! We have to work!"
"Ah, you guys!"
What dragged her away before she could latch onto Gim Chunyong any longer were her own faction members, who couldn't stand the sight of their superior grilling her assigned idol.
"Let go. Chunyong! That can't be all, right? I couldn't even convince him, you think that old fart would be convinced by that? Huh? Hey, I said let go."
"Hey, you take the left leg, you take the right leg. And I'll take both arms. Let's go!"
"You guys really! Ah, hey! Spill it!"
"ToZ, great work! We'll head out first!"
"You guys are really dead meat—..."
—Bam!
After they caused a huge commotion and left the conference room, the only ones left in the moderately-sized meeting room on the 4th floor of the AG building were the ToZ members.
"...Tch."
"S-should we... go... too?"
"I think so."
Exchanging awkward glances, they quickly gathered the scattered meeting materials, shoving them into their bags while whispering.
"Whew... intense, right? Haha! I saw some returning student hyung being carried out like that during an MT once...."
"No, can that really be explained as 'intense,' Yuchan hyung? I thought the Director was going to devour Yongyong hyung! Adults are really something."
"Huh, whatever. Anyway, I'm just so happy my song can be included in this album! I'll polish it even harder so I won't be embarrassed in front of the members."
"I-it's already... plenty... good. Logan hyung... if you fix it more, hyung... won't have time... to practice the choreography and movements."
"Hmm. Well, we bought another week, so that's a relief. ...
No matter what method was used to get it."
In a situation where even one person speaking turned into a babble of five voices, Son Jaeha, the leader who had delivered the final line, approached Gim Chunyong, who was also busily packing up his things, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Chunyong."
"Ah. Yes, Jaeha hyung."
"...Nothing happened, right?"
And the moment Son Jaeha said that.
"......"
A deeper gaze from the members poured onto Gim Chunyong than when Mun Yunha had been raising a fuss and interrogating him earlier....
Filled with worry.
Truthfully, whatever conversation had occurred between Sin Giho and Gim Chunyong, as long as it had gone in a good direction, that was all that mattered.
In the end, no matter how much they preached that communication and empathy between the company and artists were important, it was a relationship bound by a contract.
Mun Yunha was simply curious how Gim Chunyong had 'acted' during that process to change Sin Giho's mind.
However, the members who lived and rubbed shoulders with Gim Chunyong were a bit different.
Just yesterday, they had spent two days and one night with Gim Chunyong, who had been feeling fatigued due to the whole ordeal with An Taei of the rival group Wizni and such.
"I've seen him for about three years now, but, hmm. Executive Director Sin can be a bit... forceful. So, I was wondering if he pushed anything unreasonable onto you."
What was important to the members was whether their member had felt any intimidation or fear from a high-ranking company official.
And in this situation, if there was anyone who could bring up such a difficult topic first, it was the leader, Son Jaeha.
"...Ah."
Letting out an exclamation in a low voice, Gim Chunyong scratched his cheek in embarrassment and gratitude, smiling awkwardly.
'If you come at me like this, I feel like I really have to say something....'
Rolling his eyes for a moment in contemplation, Gim Chunyong read the words on the conference room's projector.
[ToZ - 1st mini album 'Six-leaf Clover' Repackage Album 'W.o.W (Working Title)' Proposal]
What Sin Giho had said to Gim Chunyong really wasn't much.
"You seem close with Logan."
"Ah, yes. ...
We've been close since
"—Not just that, but you must know about his relationship with his parents, and even further, his family situation. After all, you were the one who convinced his mother back then."
"Hah... you're suddenly speaking so comfortably."
"Is that important?"
"...No. Please continue."
"Honestly, I don't like you very much. You simply rolled a very small snowball for your own debut and to debut your friend. But, ha... it hit me pretty hard."
He had only kept his words brief because explaining it to others would require revealing other circumstances as well.
There was a difference in the information Sin Giho and Gim Chunyong knew.
Gim Chunyong didn't know how much he had personally derailed Sin Giho's plans for his own debut, and Sin Giho didn't know how desperately Gim Chunyong had needed to debut for his own atonement and his family.
Thus, inevitably, their relationship had reached a stalemate.
"We'll need more time to include Logan's song in the repackage album, so I will extend it by a week. And, I intend to gain his parents' trust by including that song, thereby drawing in investment."
"...Excuse me, but is there a reason you're telling me this? Haha, this is something I have no idea about even after hearing it."
"Well, from what I could see, you suddenly brought that up earlier because you had some kind of motive, didn't you?"
Sin Giho was sharp.
Sharp enough to quickly notice Gim Chunyong, who had deliberately raised his voice to assert his opinion amid adults older and more powerful than himself, drawing their attention.
"...Because it's a good song. That's the answer."
"Of course, I don't give a damn. What's important to me is that I can draw in investment by including that song. If this album doesn't do well in a situation where I've brought in investment, the reflected benefits from that will fall to me as well."
"......"
"The reason I called you out is to tell you that I won't take any responsibility for that. I won't bear any mental burden whatsoever. You will be the one to feel it. Understand?"
Roughly speaking, it was a situation where Gim Chunyong had listened to Sin Giho childishly reveal that 'because of you, my plans were ruined throughout
"......"
Gim Chunyong slowly closed his sharp eyes and opened them again, painting a playful smile across his face.
"Nothing really happened. Well, I wasn't hit or anything."
"No, Chunyong! If you were hit, that's an immediate report!"
"Uh, Yuchan hyung. What do you mean reporting the executive director of our company, haha... so, what I meant was, there's no need to worry."
That's right.
In Gim Chunyong's mind, there was no need to worry.
Even if they ended up releasing a repackage album amid fierce competitors and legendary seniors, even if the album flopped in the process, and even if the top decision-maker threatened him with a threat that wasn't quite a threat, saying he wouldn't take responsibility.
"For now, shall we head down to our practice room and do a final choreography check for 'Hide and Seek,' then meet with the A&R team?"
"Hm? Why the A&R team?"
"To record the demo for Logan's song."
Not many times, but just once.
If the timing was right, and with Logan's song from his Arrowz days when he was active in the UK, and with Mun Yunha's concept to back it up....
"You all know, right? That it's a good song."
...Because even a number one was possible.