Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Episode 19. Bet
Seol A-yeon entered the dressing room like that.
After waiting for a moment, she came out wearing a pure white dress.
“Wow.”
Exclamations erupted one after another from those around her.
That was how beautiful she was.
Even Park Si-woo, who had seen her all along, let out a small sigh.
“That looks good.”
The photographer shouted as he eagerly gripped his camera.
“Please come this way.”
He pointed toward the set.
It was a sensorial set filled with various fruits scattered across a white background.
‘This concept is fresh and refreshing.’
A concept fitting for summer.
But the so-called executive producer had suddenly tried to change it into a sexy concept.
‘Completely out of his mind.’
Park Si-woo glared once at the executive producer.
However, the man had disappeared without a trace.
It seemed he had run away after being reprimanded.
Tsk.
Clicking his tongue once, Park Si-woo turned his head.
Then he flinched in surprise.
Seol A-yeon, who was supposed to be on the set, was standing right in front of him.
The moment their eyes met, her sapphire-blue eyes shimmered for an instant.
“How do I look?”
Her clear, transparent white skin, as if you could see through it, gradually flushed a soft pink.
The sharp corners of her eyes, which were usually particularly piercing toward others, softened noticeably in front of Park Si-woo.
Like a young girl, Seol A-yeon, her face blushing pink, urged him for an answer.
“Hm?”
Park Si-woo let out a faint laugh.
He considered teasing this cute girl, but decided to just answer honestly as she was.
“You’re pretty.”
A bright smile spread across Seol A-yeon’s face.
“Thank you!”
She shouted and quickly ran toward the set.
The artist photo shoot ended like that.
And so, two weeks passed.
Nearly all preparations related to Neon Heart were completed.
Now, all that remained was to focus as much as possible on promotion during the remaining time.
Fortunately, Park Si-woo already had an idea for that.
‘In the music industry, my name is already trending.’
Guitar Hero.
Park Si-woo’s songs were a kind of cheat code that easily surpassed one million views whenever a famous celebrity covered them.
Of course, those celebrities themselves were extraordinary figures who could rack up at least 100,000 views just by showing their faces.
If his songs hadn’t been good, they would have barely reached around 100,000 views, not even close to a million, perhaps just slightly above the minimum threshold of ten thousand.
Perhaps because of that,
‘I’ve gained confidence now.’
The reason Park Si-woo had not been able to easily abandon company work was because he lacked confidence in his own songs.
The thought of “What if I fail?” always lingered in his mind.
But not anymore.
He had gained the confidence that his songs would undoubtedly reach number one in Korea.
This was not arrogance.
The indicators so far proved it.
‘So.’
Park Si-woo decided to make use of this.
His talent.
“A-yeon, you said you know all of my songs, right?”
Seol A-yeon nodded.
“Yes. It’s such a shame they’re not on karaoke charts.”
They weren’t officially released songs.
So it was natural that they weren’t on karaoke charts, but that wasn’t important now.
“I’m planning to make a cover video of my songs.”
“By producer, you mean a cover video….”
Park Si-woo showed her his phone screen.
It was the NewTube channel of Guitar Hero.
The current subscriber count was 102,000.
Normally, even if a song became popular, the number of subscribers for the composer wouldn’t increase.
But he was a special case.
In other words,
‘If I upload a video, I can advertise to at least 100,000 people.’
Even converting just 1% of them into fans would be an incredible achievement.
“I’d like A-yeon to sing <Shooting Star>.”
“<Shooting Star>?”
“Yes.”
Park Si-woo nodded.
However, Seol A-yeon’s expression was not good.
“All of your songs are good, producer-nim, but….”
She likely thought <Shooting Star> didn’t suit her.
That made sense.
The song he recommended was somewhat heavy.
It was the complete opposite of the upbeat, lively songs she had been singing so far, which emphasized popping guitar riffs and energetic rhythms.
However, Park Si-woo believed her tone was not limited only to bright, lively music.
“A-yeon, trust me. I’m sure you can do well. Of course, it will turn out well too.”
“I’ll follow your intention if that’s what you want….”
“Thank you. Please get ready right away.”
“Yes.”
Seol A-yeon nodded and headed toward the recording room.
“Ah, and.”
“Yes?”
“I’m planning to film you while you sing.”
“Me, my appearance?!”
The next day, in the recording studio.
With all members of the Neon Heart band gathered, Park Si-woo frowned.
“Why is the executive producer here?”
Instead of answering, he turned his head away sharply.
What kind of behavior was that.
Letting out a sigh, Park Si-woo decided to ignore him.
‘No.’
Rather, this could be a good opportunity.
In fact, Park Si-woo had already requested Cha Ye-seung to relieve him of his duties.
[We’ll do our best, but due to procedures, it will take at least a month.]
That meant he would have to face him throughout the debut period.
‘It will definitely affect the members too.’
That was what worried him.
‘It’s different if he resigns voluntarily.’
Then the dismissal from duty would be immediate.
‘Is there no way…?’
After a brief moment of thought, Park Si-woo soon set the thought aside.
For now, filming the video took priority.
“Let’s begin right away. Bae Soo-eon, please handle the filming well.”
“Yes!”
The vocal trainer tightly gripped his phone and shouted.
Park Si-woo nodded in satisfaction, then spoke to the engineer, Cha Seung-joon.
“Let’s start.”
“Yes, Neon Heart members, please begin whenever you’re ready.”
At his words, the members of Neon Heart exchanged glances.
And then.
—Dum.
Starting with the bass, the music began.
Up until now, Neon Heart’s songs had been led by two people: the guitar and Seol A-yeon.
But <Shooting Star> was a song focused entirely on the vocals.
Only with expressive power and vocal skill could the song’s true beauty be fully drawn out.
In that sense, Park Si-woo believed Seol A-yeon’s sweet voice would play a major role.
[Filled with dreams and hope
I hold them close within my heart.
The brief moment of a shooting star
I will remember forever.]
As he had expected, Seol A-yeon’s tone exploded.
It was such a perfect performance that it felt as though the song had been made for her.
‘Good.’
Park Si-woo clenched his fist.
And then the song ended.
He immediately entered the recording room.
“Did it come out well?”
Bae Soo-eon gave a thumbs-up.
“I shot it in a MusicThink style.”
“MusicThink…?”
Well, that probably meant it turned out well.
“Let’s watch it together!”
Starting with Lee Soo-a, who ran over cheerfully after putting down her guitar, the Neon Heart members gathered around Park Si-woo in a circle.
Park Si-woo pressed play on the video he received from Bae Soo-eon.
The video was shocking.
The screen spun around, zoomed in on Seol A-yeon’s face, and everything was chaotic.
‘So this is what they meant by MusicThink style.’
Park Si-woo smiled wryly.
The expressions of the Neon Heart members were not much different.
Only.
“I think it’s fine.”
Bae Soo-eon’s expression was bright.
Park Si-woo let out a deep sigh and said,
“Does anyone have a phone stand?”
“Let’s put it on the guitar case.”
At his question, Lee Soo-a brought over a guitar case from somewhere.
Park Si-woo placed the phone on top of it.
After adjusting the angle properly, a composition that could capture all Neon Heart members was formed.
“Alright, let’s do it again. A-yeon, is that okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
She nodded.
“I felt a bit unsatisfied earlier. I’ll do better.”
“Good. Let’s try again.”
After saying that, Park Si-woo turned his back.
Then Bae Soo-eon asked with a puzzled expression,
“Do I also leave?”
“Yes.”
He answered without hesitation.
Park Si-woo stepped out of the recording room together with the dejected Bae Soo-eon and grabbed the microphone.
“I’ve already set it to record, so please start whenever you’re ready.”
The performance began once more.
One thing was certain: Seol A-yeon’s tone was far more alive than in the previous take.
‘It seems the first one didn’t go well.’
Park Si-woo nodded in satisfaction.
At this level, the video was sure to gain massive views.
“Cha Seung-joon.”
“Yes?”
“You know how to edit, right?”
He nodded.
“I’ll make sure it’s perfect.”
“Please do.”
As Park Si-woo said that, Cha Seung-joon smiled.
At that moment,
“What do you plan to do with this video?”
From the side, the executive producer, Lee Seung-woo, spoke to him.
“I’m going to upload it to NewTube.”
Park Si-woo replied as briefly as possible without being rude.
“You’re going to upload this to NewTube?”
“Yes.”
Lee Seung-woo pressed his forehead.
Then he shook his head repeatedly.
“I’m saying this because I’m genuinely concerned. It’s industry practice not to expose videos before debut.”
This time, Park Si-woo let out a scoff.
“And how did AriaTe, which followed that industry practice, end up?”
“That…!”
His face instantly turned bright red.
AriaTe was the idol group he had been in charge of.
AriaTe, which failed to make any impact on the public, ended up disbanding after incurring massive losses.
Unable to hide his embarrassment, he suddenly raised his voice.
“Do you know why industry practices are called industry practices? It’s because doing useless things like this is less helpful than greeting network executives and flattering them. It’s just been dressed up with a pretty name. You don’t even know anything.”
“Then, executive producer-nim, do you think this video will fail?”
“Of course!”
He nodded.
Park Si-woo smiled knowingly.
“Then shall we make a bet? If this video fails, I will formally apologize.”
“…….”
“If the video succeeds, then please take responsibility and step down from your position as executive producer.”
“What… what are you saying….”
“Are you afraid that I might succeed?”
At those words, Lee Seung-woo’s face turned red like a tomato.
Watching him, Park Si-woo laughed inwardly.
‘I might be able to get him to resign today.’
As expected, Lee Seung-woo accepted Park Si-woo’s proposal.
That evening,
Park Si-woo uploaded the video to the Guitar Hero account.
[Neon Heart, <Shooting Star> COVER]
A simple title.
But its impact was tremendous.
Within just three days, the video reached one million views.