What the Hell Are They?
Already receiving plenty of enviable offers, the group Candy had their member Jeong Hae-won eyeing the cluster sharply—not just her dedicated camera, but even the main writer and main PD PD tagging along.
"Who?"
In response to Jeong Hae-won, the foreign member May squinted her eyes and clapped.
"Ah, what. It's those guys."
"Who?"
"Black Label."
"Ah!"
Her curiosity sated, Jeong Hae-won still couldn't tear her gaze away easily.
"They're seniors."
Black Label had debuted a year ahead of Candy. It felt like just yesterday that the major agency G&X had poured massive resources into pushing them hard, yet now they were in the exact same boat, regardless of company size. Jeong Hae-won crossed her legs and bit her thumbnail.
"Did they actually flop harder than us?"
The money 1-tier G&X had sunk into producing Black Label was incomparable to what Candy's mid-to-small agency had invested. And the current situation was even more telling.
Apart from the swarm of production staff, only one composer had proposed to Black Label. Candy, on the other hand, was different. Even now, easygoing composers kept showing up with easy tracks, casually hitting on them.
Intentions didn't matter. What counted was that these composers saw that much potential in Candy out of all these idols.
"Hmm…."
Jeong Hae-won wiped the gnawed thumbnail on the hem of her pants.
She pondered. Why would the main PD bother filming a group no composers were chasing? Waste of time, memory. Waste of battery.
"Heh heh."
Finishing her thoughts, Jeong Hae-won burst into mad laughter like a lunatic. Now she got why the managers had warned her so much about Jo Young-soo PD.
"W-what? Hae-won-ah. What's up? You okay?"
They're trying to humiliate us in front of the whole nation. For the first episode, no keyword would generate more buzz than 'G&X'. And Black Label was under G&X Entertainment.
"Hmm… in that case… here goes!"
Jeong Hae-won stood up, and May followed suit.
"What, Hae-won-ah? Where you going?"
"To greet the seniors. Come on!"
Arm in arm with May, Jeong Hae-won slowly approached Black Label, stepping on their shadows in the light as she greeted them.
"Hello! Seniors!"
"We've made our decision!"
Black Label grabbed my hand. And didn't let go.
"We've decided to team up with the composer!"
"Looking forward to working with you."
Courtesies ended there. The glaring timer on the screen was running low.
Parts assigned, but they needed finer tuning. We'd formed a team and needed a practice space. Plenty of time, too.
The maknae Ray, who'd photocopied the lyrics, underlined them deftly with red pen.
"Lyrics we can memorize during practice. But choreography?"
"I'll work on it."
Won Ji-min took the lyric sheet, plugged in her earphones, and started scribbling what looked like stick figures to my untrained eye as she mulled over the parts.
Watching her, Hye-soo reassured me.
"Don't worry about the stage. We're fourth-year idols, after all. We pick up choreo fast. And…."
She trailed off, embarrassed, and Ray took the baton.
Proudly, she declared, "Ji-min unnie's a choreography machine. She whips it up in no time."
"Really?"
That was a relief. Still, I couldn't just sit idle. Time to book a recording studio quick.
"Then while you prep…."
"Hello! Seniors!"
My words cut off. The camera filming us swung around to follow the voice.
I wasn't the only one startled. Black Label, deep in stage prep, froze too. The production crew watched with keen interest.
Won Ji-min pulled out her earphones, flashed an awkward smile, and bowed her head.
"Hello."
"One, two, three! Sparkly sweet Candy~ here! Nice to meet you."
"Bl… Black Label. What brings you here…."
"What do you mean? Seniors, we came to say hi, obviously."
The girl with 'Jeong Hae-won' on her name tag flashed a cheeky grin. And that cheekiness grated on me.
Sudden greetings? If every senior got personal hellos, they'd have no time for stage prep amid the endless rounds. Something was up. And Jeong Hae-won's narrowed eyes held a sharp glint.
"Prepping your stage well?"
What was it? I glanced around. Candy's other members lingered, stacked with tablets. A few composers hung back desperately, unwilling to leave without sealing the deal.
Not here for small talk. I clicked my tongue.
Scouting our song? Or… huh? Jeong Hae-won met Won Ji-min's eyes once, then kept staring at the assistant director.
Ah! Her eyes didn't align with the assistant director's, so he smartly bent down to meet the petite girl's gaze.
Of course. All that scheming from a tiny kid. In this industry where even 'mature' meant early twenties, kid schemes were obvious as day.
A tired cliché: Step on Black Label—who rode in on G&X's back—to climb higher. Candy wanted to hitch a ride on the buzz we'd generate.
Stepping on us to soar even higher. With production not handing them rival framing, they'd create it themselves to shine brighter.
Hmph. No wonder that snake-faced girl didn't sit right. And the crew, with nothing to lose, ate it up.
Damn, our hard-won solo screen time was shifting to the villains.
Jeong Hae-won thumped her chest and played cute.
"Me! Me! I always listened to your songs on my commute to hype myself up."
Lie. Pure lie. Her lip twitched. While Won Ji-min thanked her graciously, maknae Ray whispered to me.
"If she listened every day, our songs would've charted. Right?"
She's obsessed with charts. I nodded quietly.
Jeong Hae-won glanced at me and tilted her head. No real wariness, even knowing I was the composer.
She raised both arms in a fighting pose, tossing a non-request request.
"Looking forward to another awesome stage~."
To outsiders, it might look like fan support. But we victims saw different.
Our precious Black Label solo shots—stolen, and maybe no longer solo. Jo Young-soo PD smirked at the setup.
Hell, he might reframe the whole thing as a Candy rivalry arc.
Hmm~. That'd be trouble. Fewer pure Black Label focus scenes.
As Candy breezed off after their piece, Hye-soo scribbled tiny on the lyric sheet, wary of mics.
-This a declaration of war?
I circled it quick to obscure for cameras and stood.
Ray asked, "Composer? Where you going?"
To ensure Black Label wouldn't get sidelined anymore, I had to do what I could.
"Gonna use a cheat key."
Truth was, the cheat key was nothing fancy. While Black Label practiced, I dashed to the hallway and dialed.
Round 1 was passable with decent rhythm and pitch. It was for grading fun, not elimination.
Sure, total amateurs failing basics would get cut—from the back, with unteamed stragglers.
Filter enough, and not many teams from 1st to 100th would survive. Barring upsets, we'd cruise Round 1.
Round 2 onward was the issue. Judges' critiques plus online votes kicked in. Real judging meant real stages and real cuts.
Candy had a bigger fandom. We needed weapons. Dynamic stages to turn viewers into Black Label voters.
And those dynamic stages came from….
Ring ring.
-Hello?
"Hyung! Long time! It's Hyun-woo."
-Hyun-woo? What's up?
I cautiously asked after him.
"Hyung, you still play guitar?"
As I kept talking, some hand grabbed mine.