The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Yoo Won-Dong opened the conference room door and came inside.

“Hello, Director Yoo!”

“Ah…hahaha.”

“Sir, you’re still here…at this late hour.”

“…Hahahaha.”

Then the members got up in a hurry and greeted Director Yoo Won-Dong. I knew exactly what type of situation this was.

‘It’s like when a clueless adult joins a group of kids playing with each other.’

A situation that was not helpful to anyone unfolded, but Yoo Won-Dong looked at us with a proud face.

“It’s good to see…you guys working together for a better future like this.” He looked thoroughly impressed by us. Did he originally have this kind of character? He seemed like a indifferent businessman through and through, but he suddenly seemed like a girl full of sentimental emotions.

He asked, “What kind of meeting were you guys having? May I hear the agenda for today’s meeting?”

“Oh…it’s not so grand to be an agenda…But we were gathered here to brainstorm our follow-up concept and ideas.”

“Follow-up activities?”

“Yes.”

“But I haven’t approved the budget yet.”

“Oh, but I heard that the plan was in the process of being reviewed, so we were planning to set a more detailed concept with the approval in mind.” Yeon-Hoon answered Yoo Won-Dong’s questions one by one as the group leader.

Yoo Won-Dong looked a bit concerned that we were having a meeting when the budget hadn’t been reviewed yet as his expression darkened.

‘Come on, there’s no way they won’t approve our follow-up activities.’ Although it would need a substantial amount of budget, there was a good probability that it would be approved as we just needed to produce results by getting a Triple Crown. This company as well as Yoo Won-Dong were not fixated on making a lot of sales. Since there were many affiliates in Jaeil Group that made much better money, there was no need for Next Wave to also work harder in producing sales.

Since this business was just beginning, it was more important to show tangible results in the entertainment industry than sales. Therefore, it was no means a losing business to support our efforts to get the Triple Crown all-kill. When I had a one on one meeting with Yoo Won-Dong before, it was this part that I tried to appeal to him.

Yoo Won-Dong also seemed to agree with me. So I was sure that the word, ‘no’, wouldn’t come out of his money, but at the same time, I thought, ‘I don’t know yet.’

There was nothing that was 100% sure. Then Yoo Won-Dong said, “Let’s do it. Let’s burn 700 million won.” He said to spend 700 million won with a big smile.

“Oh!”

“Really?”

“Wow!”

“Wow, our budget is 700 million won…”

In the end, Yoo Won-Dong approved our budget here. If he was going to easily approve it like this, I wondered why he hadn’t approved it before. Then he said, “How much time do we have to prepare for the music video or marketing activities?”

“I think we have about three weeks left.”

“Hmm, the schedule is tight.”

“But I think it’s a sufficient time frame if we just push hard enough.”

“Let’s first work out the detailed timeline with the working-level staff and…May I hear what concept you want to do?”

“…What?”

“Oh, I’m not telling you to present it to me, but I want to listen to you guys brainstorming from the side. Please relax and take it easy.” There was no way he didn’t know that the moment he told us to relax and take it easy, we could do anything but that. When Yoo Won-Dong sat down with his butt on top of the chair, a tense air formed between my members and me. It was a mutual rescue request for someone to step forward and resolve this dilemma.

Yeon-Hoon seemed like he was stepping up first. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to say something, but I intercepted. “First of all, our follow-up song is <Blue Ocean>. It’s also the B-side song that has been on the chart the longest.”

The members looked at it with slightly surprised eyes. It seemed they were all surprised that I was trying to continue the meeting without a script in front of the Director. However, I couldn’t avoid this situation now. I didn’t know Yoo Won-Dong very well, but I knew that this person was a wily, old fox. He was feeling a bit discouraged now, but his nature didn’t change easily.

It was clear that although he said he would approve our 700 million won budget, if he didn’t like our brainstorming and meeting, he would take back his words. He wouldn’t have to think hard to find a way to not give us the budget he promised as this whole matter would end if he just said they concluded that this was an unreasonable expenditure.

Therefore, we needed to continue this meeting with a bit more responsibility as Dong-Jun’s life and in the long-run, our group’s fate were on the line.

“Why are you using that song as your follow-up song?”

“It’s a song that has been in the top 50 for a long time without any promotion. Many of our fans have also said that <Blue Ocean> should have been the title song, so I think the song’s quality and appeal factor have already been proven.”

“Hmm. Okay. And your goal is to get a Triple Crown All-Kill with that song?”

“Yes, that’s correct. I think it would be possible if we have a sufficient budget to support us.”

“Then would you be able to tell us what marketing strategies you’ve been thinking of and the stage concept?”

“First, we need a marketing tactic that can comprehensively target teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s. We’ve been thinking about creating a challenge and making it a trend.”

“Hmm. Yes, a lot of people do that these days. It’s a marketing tactic that I agree with, but do you have a different marketing tactic in mind? If your goal is the Triple Crown All-Kill, shouldn’t you have something more unique?”

How the heck do I think of an unique marketing tactic here now? While hesitating for a moment, Woon stepped in and came up with an idea, “What don’t we do a beach tour?”

“Beach tour?”

“The song itself is called ‘Blue Ocean’, so I think it would be better to sing it on the beach. I think our activity period would also overlap with summer vacation.”

“Hmmm.” Yoo Won-Dong nodded as if he thought this idea was great. However, he immediately brought up a concern, “But would you be able to pull off that schedule? You would have to go all over the country after the pre-recording.”

“…Ah!”

He had a point as it was physically impossible for us to do. However, thanks to Woon’s idea, another idea came out from my side. “Then why don’t we make a beach…instead of going to the beach?”

“Make a beach?”

“We can open ‘Blue Ocean’ pop-up zones in major locations in Seoul like Gangnam, Jamsil, Yeouido, Hongdae, and Itaewon, using a beach motif.”

“….Ohh.”

“I think it would be important to decorate the space as much as possible so that you can feel like you’ve been to the beach in the city center. I think it’s better to actively use media art if possible. As I spoke, I began to embody and solidify the idea more and more. “I think it would be good to release sand on the floor, shoot a beam on the wall and play a video of waves crashing, and record the actual sound from the beach and play it.”

Now that the theme was set, the members began to actively participate in the brainstorming process and began to come up with ideas.

“The smell! I think the smell of the ocean should come out! Of course, it shouldn’t really smell like the ocean, but I think it would be nice to have a diffuser that only contains the best smells from the ocean.” Yeon-Hoon threw in ideas about the smell.

“Since it’s a pop-up zone in the city, why don’t we make a winding path to the main stage like a maze? Healing spots are more valuable when you discover them than when you discover them right away.” Dong-Jun came up with an idea.

“If we’re going to spread sand on the floor, I think it would be a good idea to let people enter barefoot, since they would feel like they’re really at the beach if they could touch the sand as well.” Do-Seung also suggested an idea.

A pop-up zone. Although I was the one who suggested this idea, it felt like I hit the spot for Yoo Won-Dong’s personal taste. He liked things that were tangible and very conspicuous. It was natural because he was in the manager’s position that needed to produce results. In that sense, a pop-up zone was the number one marketing tactic in terms of visibility.

“The idea of bringing a beach here…That’s nice. Then will the music video come out at the end of the pop-up zone?”

“Yes, that’s probably the case or maybe we can play a teaser.”

“That’s perfect for marketing. Hahaha.”

As expected, Yoo Won-Dong seemed to love the idea. Yoo Won-Dong looked at us with a big smile.

“I stayed late at work because I had a lot of documents to read today, but I think it’s a good thing that happened today. I was able to have such a meaningful time with the Siren members like this.” Judging by his words, he seemed pleased that we produced the result of the pop-up zone with us here.

He continued, “I’d love to hear the concept brainstorming, but…I think it would be too tactless of me to stay longer here. I would actively listen to the artists’ opinions in that regard. Please try to realize your dreams as much as you want.” He was so pleased by the results that he was now telling us to fulfill our dreams to the fullest.

But if we actually did this, I was sure he would tell us there was not enough money. Anyway, I was glad to at least hear him say this.

“Then I’ll be going. You don’t have to come out. It’s getting late so make sure you guys don’t push yourselves too hard and go back to your dorms.” Even though I had no plans to see him off, I was glad that I didn’t have to go out. Like this, Yoo Won-Dong left the conference room satisfied.

Sigh…

“I was really surprised…”

“Haaa.”

The members were finally able to relax after Yoo Won-Dong left and drooped down to their chairs. However, we couldn’t end things on this note and brought up our energy again.

“Shall we…finish our meeting?”

“Yeah.”

“We got this!”

We began the concept meeting, which could be said to be the main topic of today’s meeting.

***

When the next day came, we shared yesterday’s meeting content with Ms. Seung-Yeon, Ms. Hyuna, and the A&R team, including the fact that Yoo Won-Dong came and approved the 700 million won budget. Sure enough, everyone said they were surprised to find that the budget had been approved when they came to work in the morning.

Anyway, now that we got the money and a rough sketch of the concept had been laid out, there was no need to delay our activities now. Furthermore, the song was already out. Now that the biggest and steepest mountains have been climbed, it was time to splurge on the money.

“We’ll pick a list of companies and get some proposals for this pop-up zone today.” First of all, we were going to quickly decide on the company that would create the pop-up zone that Yoo Won-Dong loved so much.

“Shall we go with the music video director who worked on the title song? They are probably free right now as they are always posting themselves playing on social media.”

“Yes, that sounds great!”

“That director is really good at directing.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

The music video director was also quickly decided. The outfit sponsorships, makeup proposals, and outfit proposals were quickly decided based on big data accumulated by the working-level staff. Overall, since people who were knowledgeable about the work and infrastructure for the entertainment industry were gathered, the work proceeded quickly. Since we had enough money and the direction was clear with expert human resources, everything was smooth sailing.

The only problem was that the meeting, which started at 10 a.m., continued until 10 p.m. because everyone was so passionate. When we left the company after the meeting, the members looked at the pitch-black streets and murmured:

“…Is this magic?”

“The day…disappeared?”

“Who used the Time Stone? Come out and quickly reveal yourself.”

But we had a meaningful day, so we were satisfied by that.

“Let’s go home first~” Yeon-Hoon said while going down the parking lot. After that, we all got on the junk van that we always took.

“Let’s go home, wash up, and go to bed. We have to work tomorrow too.”

“It feels like we’ve been robbed of a holiday.”

“It’s okay. It’s not too late to take a break after we die!”

“…Yeon-Hoon?”

On our way back to the dorm, I habitually went into Bluebird to monitor responses. I wondered what kind of issues there were in the entertainment industry these days. However, what I saw as soon as I went in was—

—Bleshu’s teaser is out.

It was a teaser for Bleshu’s activity period, which would overlap with our follow-up activity period.