Persuasion (2)
The members’ minds were already in knots, but Baek Yuri turned to them with a sincere expression.
“I think we do need a world concept. But it shouldn’t be complicated or hard to understand; it should be something anyone can easily accept. Um... for example, we could incorporate a fairy tale or a classic novel that everyone knows.”
As expected of a true bookworm, Baek Yuri offered the most Baek Yuri-like opinion of all.
“I like books too...! Hwa, if we use a fairy tale or classic novel that everyone’s probably read at least once, it’ll be easy for anyone to approach, and it could leave a strong impression too...!”
Yeo Do-bin’s eyes shone.
The other members looked toward Neoul, who had yet to give his opinion.
“What about you, Neoul? What do you think?”
“All the ideas thus far please me, so if they are all joined together, I deem that would be twice as good.”
“Huh? Join them all together? How?”
“That, I do not know either.”
Neoul shrugged.
“However, if it were a world concept as blue as the sea, yet one that could blend fairy tales and novels, I think this story may be of use.”
“Oh~ What is it? What is it?”
“When I was young, the Sea Witch... no, Auntie, told me a story...”
Neoul searched his memory and recalled the tale the Sea Witch had once told him.
Sometimes she spoke of humans, sometimes of merfolk, and sometimes she went back so far into the past that she told him of ancient legends of the sea.
Among the many stories she had shared, one had remained especially vivid in Neoul’s memory.
* * *
“Your Highness. Do you know what a library is?”
At the Sea Witch’s question, young Neoul shook his head.
“It’s where humans go to look at books. Libraries are full of stories. There are fairy-tale books for children your age, and books full of miscellaneous knowledge for adults to gather information from, and even sensational novels.”
The Sea Witch picked up a sharp stone and drew a bookshelf full of books onto the cave wall. Then she sketched the building that surrounded it.
“A library belongs to humans, yes... but in truth, there’s a very large one beneath the sea too. Hmm. It’s more like a book depository than a library, perhaps?”
“There are depositories in the Dragon Palace too.”
“You foolish prince. What’s there isn’t books; it’s thick stone tablets. Real books are bundles of hundreds of thin sheets of paper. They can hold so much information you can’t even imagine it.”
The Sea Witch pretended to flip through pages with her empty hands.
“But paper gets soaked if you leave it in water, you see. The ink smears, the pages tear, and before long the book is ruined.”
“That is odd. Then how can there be a place that keeps books beneath the sea?”
“That’s what makes it fascinating.”
She tapped Neoul lightly on the bridge of his nose as he frowned in confusion, then giggled.
“They say there isn’t a story missing there. Every story in the world is written down in books and fills the whole library. Your story might be there too.”
“What? Then is someone spying on me and recording everything?”
“Maybe?”
“And your story too, Sea Witch?”
“Probably?”
Neoul looked around as if chilled. But no matter how far he searched, there was no eye watching them.
“There’s no one here.”
The Sea Witch laughed again, as wicked as a witch. Neoul’s face immediately soured at her mocking tone.
“You’re lying again, aren’t you?”
“No. This time it’s true.”
The Sea Witch put a small shrimp into the mouth of the sulking young prince.
“So always mind your manners, Your Highness. Someone might be reading the story written about you there.”
“That is not something you should say, Sea Witch.”
Neoul grumbled, but he swallowed the shrimp all the same.
“Then where is this library, exactly? And why does it record every story?”
“I don’t know the details either. But they say the inside of the library is huge, and so labyrinthine that you must be careful not to get lost.”
“Is it larger than the Dragon Palace?”
“Much larger.”
The Sea Witch added for emphasis.
“If you get lost, you may never find your way out again.”
* * *
When Neoul told the story, Baek Yuri and Yeo Do-bin were the first to respond positively.
“A library beneath the sea sounds great. It would work well with fairy tales or classics, and a librarian concept could be really interesting too.”
“It sounds unique and cool...!”
Ha On-ha, who had been listening, raised a hand.
“Then how about adding book possession~?”
“What’s book possession...?”
Yeo Do-bin asked.
“You don’t know book possession?”
“......?”
At that completely innocent, utterly ordinary look, Ha On-ha faltered for a moment.
“You’ve never seen it in a web novel or webtoon?”
It wasn’t just Yeo Do-bin. Baek Gi-yeom, Woo Cheong, and even Neoul all wore the same blank expression, as if they had no idea what he was talking about.
“Have you never screamed ‘status window’ in your life?”
“......?”
“Haha. Guess I’m the only one who has~”
With a slightly embarrassed smile, Ha On-ha gave a simple explanation.
“Well... it’s when you enter the world of a book, or become a character from it. Then, depending on what you do, couldn’t you add superpowers and stuff that Cheongi wants~?”
“Wow! That would be fun!”
Woo Cheong shouted in excitement.
“We can do the MV and concept that way, and for the lyrics, it might be good to honestly pour out our feelings like Gal-chae said.”
Baek Gi-yeom nodded.
“Since it’s a library under the sea, we can keep that blue feeling going too, right?”
The members kept sharing ideas. The more they talked, the more concrete everything became, and little by little the shape of the concept came into focus.
“...Listening to all this makes it feel like Idol Travel filming still isn’t over.”
Lee Gal-chae murmured.
The cramped house, the bunk beds, the concept meeting, and even the fact that it was already past midnight and drifting toward dawn—it all still felt like they were living inside a survival program.
* * *
The next morning, a meeting with CEO Kim Woohwan was arranged.
“All right, our artists! How’s the dorm? Livable, I hope?”
Since they couldn’t exactly say it was awful to his face, the members kept their mouths shut and smiled. But they’d failed to consider that Neoul needed to be gagged first.
“It is extremely cramped and shabby.”
Keeeeegh.
The members screamed silently.
“There isn’t even enough room to put down all seven people’s luggage, and when one lies down, the tips of one’s feet and head nearly touch the walls, so one can only just barely stretch out.”
In the Dragon Palace, Neoul had used a separate wing with a spacious courtyard all to himself.
On land, when he stayed in group lodging for Idol Travel, five or six people had shared one room, but it hadn’t been especially uncomfortable. The production staff had chosen a place that was reasonably pleasant, partly because the dorm was occasionally filmed for the cameras.
And it was only temporary.
But the dorm they’d be staying in for far longer than they had stayed during Idol Travel was worse than the place they’d slept during those group stays. Above all else, having only one bathroom was the real problem.
Neoul had merely answered honestly because Kim Woohwan had asked, but the CEO clicked his tongue in clear displeasure.
“That’s all experience! These days, young people are so spoiled they don’t know how to be grateful for the little things! When I was in my twenties, I thanked my lucky stars every day just to have a roof over my head and stay dry when it rained!”
He glared at Neoul with a look full of annoyance. Neoul had simply answered a question, and he couldn’t understand why Kim Woohwan was angry.
At that moment, Baek Gi-yeom and Baek Yuri each pulled Neoul back at the same time. Baek Gi-yeom stepped forward first and soothed Kim Woohwan with a smiling face.
“We’re sorry, sir. Of course we’re grateful too. We really are thankful just for being given the chance to debut. As you can see, Neoul is incredibly tall, right? Because he’s so tall, he probably bumps into things easily, and the house might feel even smaller to him. Please be generous with us and look upon us kindly, sir.”
Baek Gi-yeom flattered Kim Woohwan even as he shielded Neoul.
“Hmph. At least you’re someone I can talk to.”
To everyone’s surprise, Kim Woohwan’s attitude softened a little under Baek Gi-yeom’s easygoing talk. To keep the conversation from veering off in some absurd direction, Baek Yuri quickly spoke up.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, sir.”
“Right. Why’d you want to see me?”
“Yesterday, after Team Leader Choi told us about the song, choreography, and concept, we talked it over carefully all night among ourselves.”
Baek Yuri continued calmly and politely with a gentle smile. But—
“Why are you discussing it?”
“Pardon...?”
“Planning the album is the producer’s job. You kids just need to do as you’re told and perform it well.”
Kim Woohwan’s abrupt interruption sent a cold shock through Baek Yuri and the rest of the members.
“Sir.”
With a look of hardened resolve, Baek Yuri nodded at Ha On-ha. Ha On-ha stepped between Baek Yuri and Kim Woohwan, holding up a printed PPT deck.
“What’s this? The benefits and practical profit of self-producing?”
“Yes. On Idol Travel, they repeatedly emphasized the trainees’ self-production. Of course, FLu only oversaw the broadcast itself, and we understand that our group’s concept and direction are Flux’s responsibility.”
As Baek Yuri slipped into presentation mode and nodded, Ha On-ha rustled the papers and flipped to the next page of materials.
“But there was a reason they kept stressing self-production on Idol Travel. This material is from the survey they conducted there, and viewers voted that ‘whether an idol participates in album production’ was more important than any other skill.”
At the time, they had thought the result was manipulated, but what of it?
In the world at large, every survey is either based on too small a sample or stacked from the beginning so that the desired conclusion comes out. In other words, the results can never truly be trusted.
In a world where manipulation ran rampant, citing an already existing survey result was perfectly acceptable.
Baek Yuri suppressed the guilty twitch in his conscience and decided to get a little shameless.
“That shows how strong fans’ pride and affection are for self-producing idols, and if we turn the production process into content, we can gain even greater promotional effect. Interest will become even more concentrated too.”
It was a total bluff. If the song wasn’t good, nothing else mattered. The song had to come out well for this to become a major plus.
“If we go the self-produced route, then even if the track later gets dragged into plagiarism controversy or receives a bad reaction, the blame won’t come down on the company. We’ll participate in every step of production, so if the results are poor and we get criticized, that’s entirely on us.”
A decent company would normally protect its artists and stand as their shield. But the Jjokbit members didn’t have even the slightest expectation that Kim Woohwan possessed any such decency.
Especially since Neoul, who could see through souls, was strongly backing this up.
— CEO Kim Woohwan will probably be more tempted by the idea that he can avoid responsibility.
“Of course, if the album gets a good response, that’ll be thanks to your judgment in recognizing our talent and trusting us completely.”
He hadn’t forgotten to flatter him either.
Baek Yuri abruptly dragged Yeo Do-bin forward and presented him to Kim Woohwan.
“Lastly, if we handle the album production ourselves, we can cut the cost of buying songs and choreography dramatically. This is Do-bin here, and he’s a professional composer who wrote the first number-one song for the Ruma seniors.”
“I-I can do it...! Sir! Could you trust me just this once...?”
As the hesitant Yeo Do-bin stood there, Woo Cheong popped up at his side.
“There’s also dancing machine Woo Cheong! On-ha hyung’s pretty good at choreography too! You saw our self-produced stage on Idol Travel, right? If not, then watch it now!”
“No, wait....”
Before Kim Woohwan could even answer, Woo Cheong thrust a smartphone right in front of his face. Then he played the self-produced mission song from Round 3, the Baengpaje team stage.
“Composed by Do-bin hyung, lyrics by Yuri hyung! Choreography created by Woo Cheong, Ha On-ha, and Logan! The doubling was by Neoul hyung! We even designed the costumes and stage concept ourselves!”
[Ay—
The operation has already begun.
Are you ready?]
* * *