NOVEL NEXT chapter 25 - Concept
‘A neutral vibe is by no means an easy concept.’
Geum Shinyu called to mind the tomboy concepts of the singers she had seen up to now.
Tomboy.
A word made by attaching Tom, the most common male name in the English-speaking world; it was usually used to refer to lively, boyish women, but in the Korean music industry it was widely known as a type of concept.
This tomboy concept that appealed to a woman’s androgynous charm was, unexpectedly, a long-standing, venerable concept that had existed in the music industry for quite some time, but.
Separate from its history, there were extremely few singers who had scored any real hits with it.
‘Because if you half-ass the vibe, it’s worse than not doing the concept at all.’
Just looking at Rion’s “Flame”, which she had just watched with the team members, was enough.
It wasn’t that there had never been female solo singers who came out with a tomboy concept similar to Rion’s in the past, but all of them had performed poorly and were remembered as dark history—that was the tomboy concept.
In truth, Shinyu thought it was purely thanks to overwhelming skill that Rion had been able to pull off the tomboy concept.
It wasn’t that the concept had helped Rion’s stage; it was a stage that felt like it was showing that Rion could even pull off a concept like this.
‘Then how am I supposed to make this fit our team?’
A difficult song, a difficult concept, and even a difficult rearrangement.
As the one who had taken on the rearrangement of this “Lucid Dive”, Shinyu’s worries could not help but deepen.
No matter how positively she evaluated them, neither she herself nor her team members were the kind of members who could pull off a concept with their skills the way Rion did.
That said, going in the direction of reinterpreting “Lucid Dive” into the safest choice, a pure concept, wasn’t the right answer either.
From the start, the opposing team with Park Soyeon as team leader not only had a higher average level of skill, they also suited the pure concept better.
‘Gahyeon unni too, but especially Sion unni is not pure.’
Maybe because Yunkyung was still young, instead of pure she was more on the cute side, and although Suyeon was the one who suited a pure concept best, the risk was too big to bet on just one person.
On top of that, there was also the fact that Shinyu herself didn’t really suit “pure” all that well.
‘What is our team’s strength?’
In the end, Shinyu decided to go back to the starting point of producing.
Concepts were originally meant to make the singer on stage shine, so as producer, Shinyu’s role was to make use of the team’s strengths.
Calmly, Shinyu called to mind the team members one by one.
The first that came to mind was the team leader, Yunkyung.
Despite being the youngest among the team members, Yunkyung had been chosen as team leader and saddled with a heavy burden; in team meetings, it was noticeable how she especially watched the other members’ faces.
At least when she was with Sion, she showed the kind of liveliness you would expect from someone her age, but when she was with the other members, she talked less and turned passive.
‘But I think, unexpectedly, the tomboy concept would suit Yunkyung really well.’
However, if someone asked which team member would suit the tomboy concept best, the first person to come to Shinyu’s mind was Yunkyung.
Maybe because she was still in middle school, rather than a young woman, Yunkyung gave off an overflowing feeling of a boyish girl.
For a moment, Shinyu imagined that Yunkyung was wearing a boys’ school uniform, and the image that came to mind was surprisingly convincing.
‘For Yunkyung, boys’ school uniform.’
Next in line was Suyeon.
But since Shinyu had not yet even had a personal conversation with Suyeon, her image of Suyeon was not clearly fixed.
‘First of all, her eyes were really impressive.’
Shinyu remembered how, right after the team members had gathered, Suyeon, whose face looked like a gentle squirrel, had glared at Sion.
Those fierce eyes that looked at her like an enemy provided a feeling that sharply contrasted with her appearance, and had left a deep impression.
‘Then maybe a slightly decadent vibe?’
Among the team members, Suyeon had the feeling closest to pure, but Shinyu felt that if she wore a sleek suit with smoky makeup, it would unexpectedly suit her.
After Suyeon, the one who came to mind was the team’s oldest unni, Lee Gahyeon.
‘At first she was scary, but once you get to know her, Gahyeon unni has more little weaknesses than you’d think.’
Though the oldest among the team members, Gahyeon, contrary to her cold-looking first impression, was surprisingly fun to tease.
In particular, Lee Sion, the team’s second oldest and de facto leader, would often play pranks on Gahyeon like a child who had found an interesting toy.
‘Stop it!’
‘Stoop iit~.’
When Shinyu had first seen them, the two of them had seemed awkward with each other, but at some point they had grown so close that someone who didn’t know better might mistake them for real sisters.
‘No, on second thought, Sion unni seems to be close with just about anyone.’
Thinking it over again, Sion was someone who went around playing pranks on anyone and everyone, so Shinyu concluded that what was happening to Gahyeon now was simply because she happened to be nearby.
In any case, separate from that, Gahyeon’s image was solid.
‘Sports team!’
Just imagining Gahyeon for a moment in a baseball uniform or a soccer uniform, it suited her so well it was as if she had always worn one.
‘The last one is···.’
As she went down the line, defining each member’s image one by one, the final turn approached.
Lee Sion.
Unlike with the other members, Shinyu found it extremely difficult to come up with a concept that fit Sion’s image.
‘The problem is that any concept fits her.’
It wasn’t that concepts didn’t suit her; the problem was that everything suited her.
In truth, even now, whenever she looked at Sion, Shinyu still flinched a little; it was that hard to get used to Sion’s looks.
‘How can a person be that pretty···.’
As a trainee herself, Shinyu had had plenty of experience actually seeing idols up close, but even compared to idols known for their looks, Sion was lacking in nothing.
No, she was actually more attractive.
When she stayed still, there was such an overwhelming aura that it was hard to even speak to her, but when she occasionally threw out silly jokes at the team members, Sion felt incredibly friendly.
When she was dancing and singing, she seemed like an idol born for the stage, yet when she sometimes had to do something she didn’t want to do, the way she dawdled and slacked off made her look exactly like the uncle you see at holidays.
Because of that, Shinyu had no sense at all of what Sion’s image actually was.
No matter what concept they gave her, she would at least clear the basic level, but that was something Shinyu could not accept.
‘It’d be like using a diamond for a toy ring for a child!’
Shinyu thought of producing as the process of cutting and setting a gemstone; to Shinyu, Sion was a diamond.
Depending on how you cut and polish her, Sion could ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) become the greatest piece of jewelry, so if you just shoved her into any random concept, it would truly be no different from making a toy out of a diamond. That was why Shinyu agonized and agonized.
“What has you groaning so hard.”
“Ack! Ah··· it’s nothing!”
Someone came up beside Shinyu, who had been agonizing for a long time trying to pin down Sion’s concept, and placed a hand on her shoulder, striking up a conversation.
She had been so focused she hadn’t even realized someone was coming; at that touch, Shinyu jumped in fright and turned her head to see who it was.
The owner of that hand was none other than the very person who had plunged her into all this worry: Lee Sion.
“Is it not going well?”
“No! I can do it!”
Sion asked if there was something she was struggling with.
But Shinyu, thinking her worries must have been too obvious, answered loudly as if nothing was wrong.
‘I can’t let Sion unni, who believed in me when I haven’t shown anything, worry about me.’
Shinyu remembered when she had talked with Sion before they went into the concept meeting with the team members.
‘Um··· I don’t have the kind of talent for producing that you think I do, Sion unni.’
In truth, when Sion pointed at her and handed her the producing role, Shinyu had wanted to refuse.
But at the time, she was conscious of the other team members’ eyes, and more than anything, the way Sion was looking at her had been so scary that she couldn’t say she couldn’t do it.
After that, when they had a short break, Shinyu confirmed that Sion was alone and immediately went to say she couldn’t do it.
But,
‘Did you volunteer to join our team?’
‘···No.’
‘Right, I picked you, and I gave you the producing.’
– Then even if you mess up, all you have to do is feel sorry to me. I’ll take responsibility.
Sion had said that she would take all the responsibility, and that all Shinyu had to do was do her best at what she could do.
It wasn’t just words.
‘Okay, everyone, attention. Honestly, aside from Shinyu, is there anyone in our team who can handle producing?’
Right after finishing her conversation with Shinyu, Sion immediately gathered the team members and dropped a bomb.
‘I think if our team is going to get the best possible result, it’s right for Shinyu to take on the producing. If anyone doesn’t like that, bring me another alternative; if you have none, I’m going to entrust our team’s producing to Shinyu. And if that turns out to be the wrong decision, then blame me.’
Maybe because Sion’s voice had been so full of confidence?
All the other team members had nodded in agreement, and Shinyu, standing there in a daze, turned her head and met Sion’s eyes.
And at that moment, Sion had given her a bright smile and a big thumbs-up.
‘Ah···.’
For some reason, when she thought back to Sion then, Shinyu was reminded of a scene from a fairy tale book she had read as a child.
And in that moment, Shinyu became convinced that that was the perfect concept for Sion.
***
“Thank you all for waiting!”
“Did you figure it out?”
“Yup! I’ve perfectly nailed down our team’s concept for this stage.”
Looking at the confident look on Shinyu’s face, I finally felt a bit relieved.
‘Just a while ago she looked like she was on her deathbed.’
After finishing the concept meeting and saying she needed time to put together a stage concept that reflected the team members’ opinions, Shinyu’s expression had been no joke.
As if the rise and fall of a nation were riding on this problem, Shinyu had been so out of it as she agonized over concept that she looked almost soulless, but in the end, having apparently found an answer, she had called the team members together in a firm voice.
“First of all, there was only one concept that could keep the dreamy and mystic concept while also giving off a sexy feeling and showing neutral charm!”
‘She must’ve had a lot piled up, huh?’
Hearing the results of our team’s discussion coming out of Shinyu’s mouth, I couldn’t help thinking she had no shame.
Dreamy and mysterious, plus one spoonful of sexy, and another spoonful of gender-neutral charm.
If you ordered like this at a shop, your demands would get you featured as a nightmare customer on an investigative current affairs program.
“So, I decided our concept will be succubus··· no, incubus!”
“Incubus?”
“Yup! Incubi are a type of demon passed down in medieval European legends, famous as beings who appear in dreams to seduce women!”
Incubus.
It was a name I had heard before too.
If I put it simply, in games, it wasn’t incubi but female demons, succubi, that showed up a lot, so it was hard not to remember.
‘The ones famous for their racy outfits.’
The succubi that appeared in games all had voluptuous bodies and outfits that weren’t exactly suitable to watch with kids—that was their defining feature.
And we were taking that as a concept.
At first I felt thrown, but thinking about it, it felt like a concept that matched the song “Lucid Dive” well.
More than anything, it was a concept that perfectly met our team’s demands.
“Nice. With incubi, we can definitely play up the sexy side.”
“Exactly! And on top of that, since we’re girls expressing a male demon, it also has that gender-neutral feeling.”
“Shinyu, is she a god?”
Apparently the other team members didn’t think Shinyu’s suggestion was bad either; they were nodding repeatedly, expressing their approval of the incubus concept.
“Thank you! So, I’ve prepared individual concepts that suit each of you.”
“Even personal concepts?”
“Yup, first, for Yunkyung, it’s the high school boy concept!”
“I have to wear a school uniform even on stage···.”
At Shinyu’s words, Yunkyung looked a little dissatisfied at the fact that she’d be wearing a school uniform instead of a pretty outfit, but to my eyes, since she still radiated student vibes, it seemed like it would suit her really well.
“Next, for Suyeon, it’s the decadent office worker concept!”
“What?! Decadent?”
Suyeon’s concept was excellent too.
She was vehemently denying it now, but Suyeon, who had tried to kill me earlier for having picked her this time, was a squirrel hiding vicious fangs inside, so she needed this kind of reversal charm.
“For Gahyeon unni, it’s the wild soccer player concept!”
“Okay. Well, since you worked hard to come up with this, I should follow it.”
Hmm.
As for Gahyeon’s concept. It seemed my opinion differed from Shinyu’s here.
‘Not wild, but a delinquent hanging around in some back alley fits her perfectly, though.’
Of course, since Gahyeon was glaring at me, I didn’t say that out loud.
“I decided to challenge the nerd-style engineering oppa!”
“What the, why does that fit so well?”
“Right? It’s a concept that was born just for Shinyu unni!”
“But seriously, we’ve pretty much gone through every concept now, so what are you going to make Sion unni do?”
At last, with even Shinyu’s concept revealed, the only thing left was my concept.
‘I wonder what she’s going to make me do?’
If it were something like a soldier, I was confident I could do it well.
As I waited a moment for Shinyu to speak,
“Sion unni’s concept is···.”
“The concept is?”
“A prince on a white horse!”
– You XX.
For the first time since joining this program, I ended up letting out a curse.