Chapter 308: Time to Get to Work
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 308: Time to Get to Work
The bittersweet vacation was over; it was time to get back to work. Since it was our first full-length album, there was a mountain of things to prepare.
The dedicated team had contacted me beforehand, saying they could handle everything from A to Z, but I wanted to send over at least some of the items I’d brainstormed. I was busy pounding away at my keyboard until the keys nearly popped off.
In between, I also pondered what kind of bug the System wanted to fix through me. "Why it has to be Kim I-wol" and "What Kim I-wol ultimately has to do" were two different issues.
The Final Performance Reward for achieving the Final KPI was likely just a bonus for fulfilling the System’s requirements; the System probably had something else it ultimately wanted to set right.
Splitting my brain in half—dipping one side into the glittering world of idols and plunging the other into a glitch-ridden game world—started to make me feel lightheaded halfway through.
"Hyung, why do your eyes look so unfocused?"
"I was just wondering what kind of bu—"
I was about to say "bug," but I quickly changed my words, fearing that the expression might violate some non-disclosure agreement.
"—scum I belong to."
"...Hyung, just go get some rest."
Lee Cheong-hyeon pressed Ctrl+S with a serious expression and closed my laptop. I hurriedly flipped it back open.
"I can't. I have a lot to do today."
"Didn't they tell you in counseling to maintain a work-life balance? You're a total walking dead right now, you know that?"
"But as long as I'm capable of normal walking, there shouldn't be a problem on paper, right?"
"This hyung has lost his mind."
Lee Cheong-hyeon looked at me with utter disgust.
"Cheong-hyeon, you're not in a position to be saying that to me."
"Why? If I put my mind to it, I could go to the office right now and bring Seong-bin hyung here."
"We're going to release a double title track next."
"Huh?"
At my words, Lee Cheong-hyeon checked the screen I had just turned back on.
"It's different from when we did Winter Night. Both songs need to be title-track material. We'll be promoting both simultaneously."
"..."
"Since we're on the subject, please share the progress on those melodies you played for me last time. I was brainstorming items based on those. If it's too much trouble to organize, just send the raw files. I'll check them myself."
Lee Cheong-hyeon pressed a hand to his forehead. Shadows pooled under his eyes.
"I'll have them organized and sent by midnight..."
Lee Cheong-hyeon left with staggering steps. Finally, I was able to check the proposal sent by the dedicated team without any further interruptions.
In their first year, the idol group Spark took "youth" and "refreshing" as their main concepts. As the year-end approached, they mixed in a bit of balladry to convey the soft, budding feelings of adolescence.
So, what should Spark show now that they were entering their second year?
Showing a variety of sides without losing the group's unique color was as difficult as it was important.
If you repeated a similar concept, people would immediately complain that you were overdoing it. If you brought out a completely different concept, it was easy for people to say you'd lost your touch.
If you took the fans' desired concepts to an overly detailed level, people would realize the agency and the idols were monitoring social media, leading everyone to lock or delete their accounts.
Conversely, if you only brought out items discussed internally within the company, people would say the results were trash because a bunch of clueless people were working together. How difficult it was to find a balance in such a situation.
'At least if I'm involved as a producer, I'll be the only one taking the heat.'
The only ones who had been friendly to Spark from the past until now were the fans. Even if everyone else turned positive or negative, the Sparklers had existed since before the debut and had maintained their legacy until now—exactly as they were back when I was monitoring them while doing my proxy-fanning.
These people, at least, had to be maintained if Spark was to run until the very end.
So, I hoped that whenever album and comeback news broke, the fans could be purely happy to be with Spark.
Whatever. It’s not like I’m going to die from working a bit more.
'A concept that gives off bright and positive energy but isn't just bubbly, where the two titles have independent meanings but are connected...'
It was a request as difficult as Department Head Nam's daughter saying, "I want Je-ho's impression to be softer!" If I hadn't spent years accumulating skills in handling contradictory tasks, I would have given up long ago.
Still, I was glad the budget was large. When the company suggested adjusting the number of comebacks, I asked for a bigger budget instead, and the negotiations ended smoothly. With this much, even if we couldn't do the flashy backgrounds Lee Cheong-hyeon mentioned, we could at least go on location shoots.
Living while tightening one's belt isn't easy. I missed the employees of the Hanpyeong Industry accounting team.
Just then, as if on cue, a new message arrived. The sender was "Cute Pretty Visually Lee Cheong-hyeon." Speak of the devil.
[Cute Pretty Visually Lee Cheong-hyeon]
[PD Kim]
[Please check the melody lines...]
[Attached File: (2X02XX)SongA_Melody(Final)_Length_3m 28s]
[Attached File: (2X02XX)SongB_Melody(Final)_Length_4m 35s]
[Me]
[Yes, good work ^^]
[Go to sleep now ^^]
[Cute Pretty Visually Lee Cheong-hyeon]
[Hyung, you're a demon.]
Do you think Mr. Demon wants to be doing this? Mr. Demon would also find it easier if he didn't work. Mr. Demon's first choice for a workplace is the Hell of Sloth.
I downloaded the two files Lee Cheong-hyeon sent and played them one by one. As always, the songs were excellent.
In a house with a student, the realization that the year has changed comes a bit late. Even though the New Year has long since passed, a student's new beginning starts in March.
Before the start of the new semester, I had called Lee Cheong-hyeon into my room and asked him a question. The point was whether he, now a high school senior, needed time for college entrance exams.
'Hyung, what do you think would be the wise thing for me to do?'
'If you have an interest in academics, I think it's best to give it your all.'
'And if I don't?'
'Then it's better to focus on what you like right now. But before that, I'd like you to check this.'
I showed him the departments I had researched in advance. They weren't famous or particularly attractive in the job market, but they were departments that taught things Lee Cheong-hyeon might personally find interesting, like composition or hobbies.
'I've separately organized the curriculum, actual lecture reviews, and the textbooks they use. With your grades, you'll easily meet the admission requirements. Read all of this before school starts, and if there's a department you want to go to or learn more about, let me know. I'll look into it more.'
'Wow.'
'I'm saying this again, but I'm not saying you absolutely have to go to college right after graduation. You're so smart that as the years go by, your perspective will broaden and there will be more things you want to do. So this is strictly for reference. Got it?'
Entrance Exam Consultant Kim I-wol's first dossier thus passed into Lee Cheong-hyeon's hands. I didn't hear much from him after that, but I left him alone, figuring he'd speak up if he hit a wall while thinking it over.
In any case, time flowed on, and the start of the semester for Lee Cheong-hyeon and Kang Gi-yeon arrived, along with the entrance ceremonies for Jeong Seong-bin and Park Ju-woo.
After sending all the guys who were working two jobs—idols and students—off to school and sticking Choi Je-ho in the gym, I spent the entire morning in meetings. By the time I returned to the practice room for lunch, my eyes were sunken.
"I thought you went to a meeting. Were you practicing?"
Choi Je-ho, who arrived next, asked after seeing my complexion. I shook my head slowly.
These dark circles were really getting annoying. I thought they'd almost disappeared during vacation, but they flared up again immediately. Is sleep really the best medicine after all?
"Oh, right. Since you have some time, think about this in advance."
"What?"
I pulled out my diary while opening my salad. Choi Je-ho waited for me to speak while chewing on chicken breast.
"Our next choreography. I think you and Gi-yeon are going to have to put in some work."
"The two of us have always been the ones making it."
"I mean the difficulty level needs to go up. I'm planning to put everything into this album."
I kindly explained the keywords confirmed in the morning meeting, tailoring them to Choi Je-ho's level. Choi Je-ho just ate his salad, barely seeming to listen.
"...So these two versions need to come out. Understand?"
"I understand."
"The way you said 'I understand' makes it sound like there's something you're not sure about."
"There is."
Choi Je-ho pointed at me with his chopsticks.
"If we make the choreography, can you actually dance it?"
Well, that's a question that really stabs a clumsy person right in the heart. I've actually increased my dance proficiency a lot, you know?
"I'll practice hard. I'm not the type to just make you guys do everything."
"I wasn't asking if you could dance it or not. Your dancing has improved."
"Then what?"
"I'm asking if your heart can take it."
Choi Je-ho's chopsticks returned to his salad container.
These guys still weren't convinced. They didn't believe that my heart was perfectly fine when I was doing idol activities.
Well, I suppose no one would easily believe someone saying, "I only overflow with vitality when I'm working!"
Still, it's unfair. I rode my bike just fine at the Han River. It's like this guy has a memory worse than two goldfish.
"In the group choreography, Kang Gi-yeon will probably set it up so your part requires less energy. He's good at that. But it's hard for just one person to have it easy throughout the whole song. Unless you're singing solo and the rest of us are just backup dancers."
Choi Je-ho made a terrible analogy. Since there's a limit to how many steps or minor movements you can cut, I had no intention of asking for special treatment either.
"Don't worry about that and just make it. Don't you trust my endurance?"
I appealed with a sincere voice. As the person who ranks #1 for staying the longest in the practice room, #1 for the best long-distance running record among the athletic types, and #1 for the grit of an office worker whose working hours far exceed his sleeping hours, showing tenacity was the easiest thing in the world for me.
However, Choi Je-ho only gave me a skeptical look.
"To be precise, I don't trust you."
"Je-ho, is our friendship only worth this much?"
"Do you really think there's such a thing as friendship between us?"
It was a remarkably philosophical question for a conversation between men in their early twenties.
Choi Je-ho, having finished his salad completely, stood up and spoke.
"I'll do it since it's work. Just make sure the kids don't come complaining to me."
"That mindset is enough. Show me your true power!"
I gave him an encouraging thumbs-up. The look of disgust on Choi Je-ho's face was a masterpiece.