When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar

‘Even in the past reality, PD Yong Soo Chul had made his name known through his projects with KK and had been successful in getting KK established to a certain degree.’

Do Wook quickly organized his thoughts.

Even now ‘Sorry but I Love You’ was very popular, and while the subsequent song he had composed had been a different song compared to Very Sorry’ from the past due to Do Wook's involvement, he had still become a success by making songs with medium to high beats one after another.

Offers were now flooding in from all over the place for Brave Only Child, who had composed two or so albums with KK.

The job of a composer was more like a freelancer anyways even if they temporarily joined a company, unless you were the organizer who raised that group. Brave Only Child had no reason to absolutely have to be tied to HIT Entertainment.

HIT Entertainment did provide him with the studio, but the contract between Brave Only Child and HIT Entertainment wasn’t an exclusive contract, but an album-based one.

‘Even back then he made about two albums. The reason this is happening earlier is because he started working with KK earlier. KK’s debut was earlier too. Still…’

Do Wook looked at Yong Soo Chul.

‘Still, KK needs his songs. For now, there’s nobody who can express KK’s current group style as well as Yong Soo Chul.’

Yong Soo Chul was fiddling with the gold necklace which was practically a part of him. It was a habit of his that came out whenever he had a lot on his mind. Yong Soo Chul couldn’t be at ease either.

The project he worked on with Do Wook taught him the joy of working together, and fortune and fame weren't the only things he gained from working on KK albums.

He had been with KK since their debut and found it rewarding to watch them as they went from rookies with nothing to well-known stars through his song.

“Do you have a particular reason? Could it be that working on projects with us…”

“No! Thanks to you, not only was I able to debut as a composer, but also create a song like ‘Very Sorry’ that will stay with me forever. The company treated me well too, it’s not that there’s a problem. And honestly there’s a part of me that wants to keep working together…”

“Then why…”

“I just want to try something new.”

Yong Soo Chul was someone who had a strong desire for challenge, even in the original timeline. That was also the reason he gave up being a nightclub DJ to start doing composition.

“Try something new?”

“Recently I received a request from the production company for the female solo artist ‘Jainie’ to produce their next album. Producing a female solo artist’s album would be a completely different challenge than producing for KK."

Do Wook, who had been patiently listening to what Yong Soo Chul was saying, raised an eyebrow when he heard the name ‘Jainie’.

Jainie was a rookie who had debuted with a single about 2 months ago. She was quickly capturing the hearts of many male fans with her clear and clean voice and innocent image.

‘But it really doesn’t go well with PD Yong Soo Chul’s songs. One of two things will happen. Either the PD’s song will fail, or Jainie’s image will fail.’

Additionally, there was an even bigger issue.

‘Jainie disappears in less than a year due to allegations of having a sponsor*.’

(TL Note: Here, sponsor here means having someone rich/powerful back you up in exchange for sexual favors.)

He tried not to make it obvious, but Do Wook couldn't help but harden his expression. Yong Soo Chul continued.

“Additionally, it’s a project for the latter half of the year, but I also got a request to produce for a girl group that hasn’t debuted yet. It’s also a job I really want to try doing.”

“Ah…I see. With your skills, you’ll definitely do great. “

Yong Soo Chul thought Do Wook would try to change his mind. His expression softened when he heard Do Wook say he’d do well. Yong Soo Chul was about to say thank you, but Do Wook stopped him.

“But, Mr. PD.”

“Yes, what is it?”

Do Wook had two reasons why he absolutely had to get Yong Soo Chul to stay.

The first reason was KK. KK needed Yong Soo Chul’s song one more time. The second reason was for Yong Soo Chul’s sake.

Working with Jainie would only make Yong Soo Chul’s future gloomy. As for the other request from the girl group for the latter half of the year, Do Wook could guess who the girl group was.

Even originally, Yong Soo Chul had become the producer for a rookie girl group around that time. Then that girl group had become a huge success like KK.

“Are there no more projects you want to do with KK anymore?”

It had only been two times. It was possible that Yong Soo Chul still had one or so songs he wanted to work on with KK.

Do Wook asked in a quiet voice.

“The reason you were unsure is because you still have songs you want to do with KK, right?”

“Huuu….That’s correct.”

“There will probably be more opportunities to work with you even if it’s not this time, but it seems like there’s things you have to do ‘now’.”

Yong Soo Chul also understood what Do Wook meant.

The genre for KK’s album this time was the same as their debut album, a mix of pop and hip hop, but they planned on emphasizing more on a hip hop image than pop.

It was Do Wook’s idea to make hip hop the main genre. Do Wook had caught on ahead of others that the hip hop sound would soon be trending.

Yong Soo Chul also thought “is this the next big thing?” after seeing how the US market trend was going, but wasn’t certain. However, Do Wook was certain.

With the hip hop sound decided as its main, the concept for KK was ‘burning youth full of longing to head towards freedom’.

That was all that had been discussed so far, but it was a project Yong Soo Chul had always wanted to work on. The project with Jainie would probably be a ballad or a completely different genre.

As Do Wook said, this music and concept was only possible for KK ‘now’. There was no guarantee that that concept would still be relevant for KK’s next album or the album after that.

“Mr. PD, our album, please work on our album one more time. If you’re producing for the girl group in the latter half of the year, there’s not too much of a rush either. To be honest, I think this will also be more suitable for you instead of producing for Jainie.”

“No, Do Wook. Thank you for being honest with me. One reason I told you before telling the company was because I wanted to hear your thoughts.”

“Ah…”

Yong Soo Chul looked at Do Wook. He was now 20 years old. Do Wook, who just became an adult, earned his trust even at 19 with the same seriousness as he had now.

Yong Soo Chul’s trust in Do Wook only got stronger as they worked together and had not wavered even once. Do Wook had such a precocious sense of meticulousness through and through, to the point that it was admirable.

After hearing what Do Wook had to say, Yong Soo Chul came to the conclusion that he was so excited about the offers pouring in, that he got ahead of himself in deciding to try something new.

Yong Soo Chul decided not to waver or worry anymore. Of course his success was because his songs were good, but in a way he was indebted to Do Wook for getting him to where he is now.

Since it was for Do Wook, he could work on at least one more album together as a token of his gratitude, but even when he thought about it rationally he’d come to the same conclusion.

“Then I guess it’ll be good to tell the company that this album will be the last.”

“….Thank you, Mr. PD.”

“I look forward to working with you again.”

Yong Soo Chul held out his hand as he stood up from his seat. Do Wook quickly grabbed his hand. As soon as they let go after a very firm handshake, Yong Soo Chul headed to the seat in front of the machine and sat down.

“For now, do you want to listen to the beats I thought of since you said to have a hip hop sound as the main?”

“Yes, I’d love to!”

Do Wook casually sat in the seat next to Yong Soo Chul.

Boom, boom boom boom…When he pressed the button, the beats Yong Soo Chul was talking about started to play.

‘Yes, this is it!’

Do Wook focused on listening. The beats Yong Soo Chul had made were exactly the vibe Do Wook wanted.

And so the work on the song for KK’s second mini album ‘LAST DANCE’ started.

***

As the album preparation went into full swing, a meeting was held with all the members present. It was a big meeting with the team leaders and staff including Manager Oh.

At today’s meeting, they would, of course, finalize the concept for their album ‘LAST DANCE’ as well as figure out a general plan for their active period.

‘This is as far as it goes with Brave Only Child. Next, I have to figure out something else for what’s coming afterwards. Of course the best way would be for me to step up to the producer role myself…Will I really be able to do it?’

For Do Wook, there was a need for him to think about future albums just as much as he had to think about their current album. Because of that, he was working extra hard every day on making songs.

‘Of course the company will probably also prepare for it…’

It was when Do Wook was lost in his own thoughts while sitting in the conference room. The meeting started as the Fan Marketing Team intern distributed the paper their team prepared.

Album Production Team Leader Shim Joon summarized the overall album concept.

“It’s going to be an album focusing heavily on hip hop. The keywords for the concept are ‘Freedom and passion’.”

The KK members nodded their heads vigorously as they looked at the PowerPoint slides on the screen in the front.

There were high expectations, as well as pressure, for this album from everyone.

‘Very Sorry’ had record-breaking success, and ‘Windy Day’ was also loved by many people despite being repackaged. Everyone was thinking to a certain degree that they had to do even better.

In that regard, the draft of the song ‘LAST DANCE’ that they listened to was a good song that could relieve the anxiety to a certain extent. Additionally, the concept was something they were incredibly skilled at.

When they were told they would be able to act out being free and full of passion in their performances, everyone expressed confidence in its success. Rappers Jung Yoon Ki and Kim Won, who wanted to be able to move more freely on stage, were especially confident.

“Hmmm…for the choreography and outfits we plan on going with the same direction so that it doesn’t conflict with the concept. Choreographer Noh Yoon Tae will be in charge of the choreography.”

Team Leader Jo Anna continued the meeting with her signature slightly-condescending tone.

“Most likely the styling will be a more important factor for this performance. As such, we’re looking for a stylist who would fit the hip hop vibe well.”

Once they finished discussing the album concept, the next thing to discuss was the schedule for the active period.

The KK members provided their input regarding the active period here and there.

Doing many music broadcasts was definitely good, but they wanted to perform on even bigger stages as well as do lots of individual activities.

As the leader, Jung Yoon Ki also asked them to find a good balance since the quality of the performances would suffer if they had too many events scheduled. Team Leader Jo Anna asked Oh Baek Ho, who was sitting across from her.

“Manager Oh? What do you think?”

“Hmmm…”

Manager Oh was someone who strongly believed in ‘striking while the iron is hot’. For the first time in a while, Oh Baek Ho had to be ‘Manager Oh’ instead of ‘Big Brother Baek Ho’.

“I’ll at least consider it for now.”

Since reducing their schedule load wasn’t a simple problem, they moved on to the next topic.

“Also, we plan on doing one reality show as a way to fill the gap between 2 weeks before the comeback up until right before the comeback, as well as to promote the comeback but…”

As she flipped to the next page on the paper laid out in front, Team Leader Jo Anna pushed her temple.

“Two offers came in so we have to make a choice.”

At Team Leader Jo Anna’s gesture, the KK members also looked down at the paper. Do Wook’s eyes, who had been comparing the two papers, grew wide.

1.

2.

Do Wook looked at the second paper carefully.

‘No way….THAT Shin Yoon Ho?!’

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