The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Yoo Won-Dong looked at me with a pale-stricken expression. Since I’ve been dropping bombs at every meeting, he now seemed genuinely terrified of me. However, his expression changed quickly as he didn’t seem intent to immediately discard his favorable impression of me.

“7 million won…hmmm. Well, we’ll think about it first. Since we spend more than 7 million won every activity period, I’ll just consider your request as spending about 7 million won on the next comeback.”

Yoo Won-Dong changed my request to a more plausible request in his own way; as the next comeback budget became 7 million won, not 7 million won for follow-up activities with B-side tracks. Like this, my request became completely standard as idol groups like us usually used between 5-10 million won in comeback activities. About 2-3 million won was used for music video production, 1-2 million won for promotion, 1-2 million won for stage production, and 1-2 million won for music broadcasting, makeup, and hair setting.

From this standard, 7 million won was a very reasonable ‘comeback’ budget. Yoo Won-Dong was interpreting my proposal as the next ‘comeback’ proposal, not a proposal for ‘follow-up activities with B-side tracks.’ However, I wasn’t making a reasonable request right now. I was saying I wanted to spend 7 million won for follow-up activities with B-side tracks from the same album, not a comeback.

“No, Director Yoo, I wasn’t talking about spending 7 million won for our next comeback.”

“But you said follow-up activities.”

“Honestly, you could consider this as a comeback if you really wanted to, but I’m not talking about a comeback. I’m talking about follow-up promotions in a row with a B-side track.”

“…”

“So, I’m telling you we’ll do follow-up promotions in a row with a B-side track, and I’m asking you to allocate 7 million won for that.”

“…Are you telling me to spend twice as much as usual on one album?”

“Yes.”

“Are you asking to use 7 million won after making all our album sales?”

“Yes.”

“Even though there isn’t much expectation for additional profits?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Usually, the most efficient way was to make an album and use it several times during the promotion period. After four weeks of broadcasting activities, idol groups could do tours and festivals with these songs and cash in right away like this. However, what would happen if an additional 7 million won was allocated to the same album?

It was very difficult to expect clear profits like that by using double the money for one album.

I said, “Sir, don’t look at the trees but the forest. The money you invested now may come back a hundred or thousand times in the future.”

Yoo Won-Dong looked at me as if I was trying to sell him drugs. However, I couldn’t show myself wavering and stayed firm in my stance. “We’re not the only ones taking such a drastic move, and there are actually quite a few teams that take two promotion periods for one album.”

“I’m aware of those cases because I’ve been briefed on it, but there aren’t cases where an agency uses 7 million twice, and it usually ends with continuing the promotion period a few more weeks on music shows with songs that generated good responses in an album. That’s not something that requires 7 million won.” I was surprised that he was knowledgeable about these business aspects better than I thought. I guess I shouldn’t sell drugs recklessly to him.

I continued, “I plan to produce a new music video with 7 million won and promote it on a large scale.”

“So, what I’m asking is why do you have to produce a new music video and promote it on a large scale so badly?”

Frankly, we were entering the domain of sophistry from here on. I needed to get a Triple Crown to save Dong-Jun’s life. In other words, I planned to throw as much as 7 million won in the air to achieve a Triple Crown, and I needed to convince Yoo Won Dong of my plans as logically as possible.

“…I’ll first start by telling you that Triple Crown is our goal,” I revealed my goal right away.

Yoo Won-Dong tilted his head at my unexpected goal.

“To be exact, an all-kill is my goal. A Triple Crown all-kill.”

“Why is that your goal?”

“Director Yoo, do you know how many groups have achieved the Triple Crown all-kill?”

“That’s something that needs to be shared by the proposer.” Now that we were on the topic of budget, Yoo Won Dong’s wording got sharper. His manager mindset must be kicking in.

“There were only nine groups.”

“That’s not a lot.”

“It’s an honor that only the group that produced the most popular song that year can have.”

“Yeah, that’s a nice honor to have, but if the profit is lacking, the value of that investment won’t be worthwhile. Who would spend 7 million won on something that’s nothing but simple honor?”

“But sir, don’t you need that honor more than anyone else?”

Yoo Won-Dong’s brows twitched at my remarks. Frankly, I was surprised that my words matched like puzzle pieces from start to finish; I spat the words out as they came to mind, but the conversation was flowing in my favor more than I intended.

I said, “Sir, hasn’t your position in the company faltered after the abolition of the previous project?”

“…It must have been serious enough to reach even the artist’s ear.”

“So, sir, don’t you need an honor like an All-Kill Triple Crown right now? If you trust us and invest, I’ll bring that honor to you.”

Yoo Won-Dong looked at me even more like a drug dealer than before. However, what changed was that I could now see a glimmer of hope in his gaze. Yoo Won-Dong pressed his brows and fell into thought.

“Anyway, in short, what you want is to get an additional budget of 7 million won to do follow-up activities in a row, right? For the Triple Crown all-kill.”

“Yes, if you believe in us, we’ll show you the results.”

“Can I accept this as a request that the artist strongly wants? Even if you don’t achieve your goals, we can consider this as an opportunity to build a partnership between the company and he artist.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then, I’ll consider the matter favorably and get back to you again.”

“…Sir, are you certain that it’s in a favorable light?”

“Yes, I’ll look at it very positively.” Yoo Won-Dong stared at me as if he wanted me to leave now.

“Didn’t you tell me this because you trusted me? I’ll seriously consider this proposal to repay our artist’s trust.” However, excluding his fatigued expression, he made quite a touching comment at the end.

It seemed as if he was slowly establishing himself as the president of an entertainment agency. I wondered if those who remained passionate even after 50 years of age still had a lot of room for growth. Of course, I wasn’t especially moved by Yoo Won-Dong’s growth or anything like that.

“Then I’ll wait for your reply for now.”

“For now?”

“If I don’t like it, I’ll come back.”

“Ha…geez.’

“Then, I’ll take my leave.” I got up from my seat, and Yoo Won Dong looked at with an incredulous look.

“Ah, leave the suing business to me and don’t mind it anymore. I’ll definitely take care of that.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yoo Won-Dong organized our conversation right before I headed out.

“I’ll seriously consider the 7 million budget and give you an answer again.”

“Yes.”

“Then, get home safely.”

“Yes, thank you.” I came out of the director’s office. When I came out, some of the staff stared openly at me, but I paid no heed to their stares and headed outside the office building. After I got a taxi, I thought about what would be going on in my dorm. I thought it would be chaos there right now as they must have confirmed that the public opinion on Dong-Jun changed 180 degrees during dawn.

I couldn’t wait to go and watch their reactions.

‘I should talk to them about the follow-up activities and quickly persuade them.’ At the same time, I planned to get a confirmation of follow-up activities that I talked to Yoo Won-Dong about but not to my members. ‘I should talk to them about the follow-up activities and quickly persuade them.’

Although it felt like the order had flipped, I thought that it wouldn’t matter if I met my goal in the end.

***

While Bong Tae-Yoon was talking with Yoo Won-Dong and negotiating a 7 million won proposal, Siren’s dorm was in a festive mood.

“Dong-Jun! Dong-Jun! Dong-Juuuun!” The first person who got up was Woo Yeon-Hoon. He checked his phone as soon as he woke up and after seeing that the whole issue had been resolved overnight, he immediately ran out of his room.

“Whaaat?” As a result, Kang Do-Seung, who shared the same room with him, also woke up in surprise.

While causing a commotion, Woo Yeon-Hoon quickly ran into Park Dong-Jun’s room. Park Dong-Jun was quite tired last night as the controversy had kept him late at night and muddled his mind. However, he had no choice to get up when Woo Yeon-Hoon suddenly rushed towards him.

“…Yeon-Hoon? What’s going on…” Dong-Jun wondered why he was making such a fuss in the morning. He thought that Yeon-Hoon might be purposely acting over-energetic to lift his mood. Even Kang Do-Seung came into his room together with Yeon-Hoon. Seeing that both of their hair was in a complete mess, they seemed to have just woken up.

Since he had just woken up, Park Dong-Jun had a hard time understanding Woo Yeon-Hoon. However, as his mind slowly gained focus, a couple of words began to register in his mind.

“…What?”

“The controversy is over!”

“What did you say?”

“It’s all over!”

Dong-Jun heard everything but couldn’t immediately understand what Woo Yeon-Hoon was saying. He couldn’t believe that the controversy was over so quickly and wondered if this made sense. Park Dong-Jun hadn’t monitored the internet since yesterday evening as the situation wouldn’t get any better by just looking at it.

Soon after, Dong-Jun turned on his phone and entered SNS. All the articles that criticized him last night were deleted, but above all, the fans’ comments, which hadn’t been visible, began to catch his eyes.

—Dong-Jun must have had a hard time

—It’s a huge relief that it got resolved really quickly; if not, he would have gotten trauma from it

—I feel so sorry for how unfair It must have felt, without being able to say anything

—Let’s not talk about this anymore. It’s going to be traumatic for Dong-Jun too

Although these comments have been consistently posted even during the controversy, Dong-Jun’s mind had instinctively glossed over them. However, they began to catch his eyes now that the controversy was over.

“Ah…” Dong-Jun was so shocked that the only word he could say was ‘ah.’ After finally calming his surprised, he said, “What happened…?”

How could the public opinion overturn so much overnight?

“I think it’s because of this.” Kang Do-Seung, who was standing in the back and yawning, replied for Woo Yeon-Hoon. He showed the page he found on his phone and handed it to Park Dong-Jun. A picture of Nacepann’s post was on his phone screen.

“The original post has been deleted, but the screenshot is still on the internet. It seems like the writers got too scared and dashed after writing an apology post.”

Park Dong-Jun immediately read through the apology post. “Ha….” Then he breathed a deep sigh of relief. He was relieved that what he was most concerned about didn’t happen. He said, “That’s a huge relief.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I really…I thought our team would be ruined cause of me.”

“What, no. Why would it be ruined?”

“There are many cases where groups that lost their momentum in their rise end up not being able to make a rebound.” Park Dong-Jun finally revealed thoughts that he had pent up inside. “So if this controversy didn’t get resolved within a week, I planned to leave the group on my own.”

Both Woo Yeon-Hoon and Kang Do-Seung became speechless at Park Dong-Jun’s resolve.

“So…it really is a relief.” As soon as he said this, tears began to drop from Park Dong-Jun’s eyes one by one.

Woo Yeon-Hoon silently hugged Park Dong-Jun, and by the time their emotions were settled down, Yeon-Hoon found something interesting in the phone that Kang Do-Seung handed over. The portal window that Kang Do-Seung searched for the screenshot of the original post was still open on his phone, and Woo Yeon-Hoo unintentionally saw the search records there.

—How to comfort a friend

—Wen fiernd having hard tiee

—When fiend is having a hard time

—Wise sayings that helps people who are sad

—Healing attractions near Seoul

“What? Did you search for things like this to comfort Dong-Jun, Do-Seung?”

“…Ah.”

At that moment, Park Dong-Jun’s eyes also moved to Kang Do-Seung’s phone screen, and Kang Do-Seung’s face turned beet red.

“No, this is not, I mean. I thought I needed to protect the group.”

“Wow, I’m getting goosebumps all over my body.”

“…What the hell, punk? Even when I’m being nice.”

“It’s giving me goosebumps that you’re searching for stuff like this.”

“…This bastard.” Kang Do-Seung shook in anger with his fist clenched, and Park Dong-Jun smirked while staring at this sight.

“You can’t hit someone who just came back from the dead.”

“Wow.”

“You’re not human if you yell at me today. Right, Yeon-Hoon?”

“Yep, yep. No one can say anything bad to Dong-Jun today.”

“….Ha…Patience…” With Park Dong-Jun teasing Kang Do-Seung, Kang Do-Seung trembling in anger, and Woo Yeon-Hoon babying Park Dong-Jun–it was a hectic morning.

Lee Woon, who woke up late, made a commotion without knowing that the three already talked about the controversy’s resolution. “No waaaaaay! Dong-Juuuun! The apology post completely overturned the public opinion…Huh?”

“I’ve already heard everything, Woon.”

“Oh, really?” Lee Woon smiled awkwardly and then gave Dong-Jun a tight hug. “You went through a lot, Dong-Jun.”

“Thanks, Woon.”

“But where’s Tae-Yoon.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, where is he?”

It was only then did four members of Siren realized that their maknae had been gone since early in the morning.

***

I got out of the taxi and went up to the dorm. I started searching for my phone while going up the elevator. I saw that the public opinion on Dong-Jun had been completely overturned. While I was trying to immerse myself in my sense of accomplishment after realizing that we had won the public opinion battle—

—Huh? Bleshu’s debut teaser just got released

—What’s up with Bleshu’s teaser quality??? Insane

—Are all the groups from The Showcase 2 coming out this summer?

—Hahahahha But what’s up with Bleshu? Did their agency have this much money?

“…What the.” A name that I had forgotten for a long time suddenly appeared in my SNS. Bleshu—it was the same group that appeared in The Showcase 2 with us.