The Conditions for Becoming a Gentle Idol Leader - Chapter 100
They even uploaded this.
On the video, two people were performing a bizarre little skit to the background music.
A blond-haired guy, acting with strange, impossible gestures as he stared into the camera, suddenly flipped backward and climbed onto a glass table, and the other one who had been filming with him climbed up after him. Even after they got on the table, they kept screeching and hopping around like maniacs until, at last, the table collapsed and the two of them went tumbling down, ending the clip.
For something uploaded only moments ago, the comments and hearts were piling up surprisingly fast. It would be deleted soon enough anyway.
“……”
Go Young-in played the video again. Once more, the slow melody started up and the clip replayed. This was… familiar. Very familiar.
For instance, the rhythm had that Mumba tone, with percussion laid against an off-beat groove and a heavy bass line. To borrow someone else’s words, it had a lazy, luxurious feel to it.
As soon as he realized that, Go Young-in left Baek Geon behind and headed back to the studio. Since the monitor had gone to the great beyond as well, he brought over his laptop, connected it to the desktop tower, and checked the studio files through the laptop screen.
One file he knew by heart sat all by itself in the center of the desktop.
It was the practice recording he had made while thinking up the title track. The one Cha Sung-hwan had been enthusiastically praising from behind him. It should have been tucked away inside a folder, but instead it had been pulled out into the open.
He had only filmed it roughly for practice, then moved it to a USB without deleting it afterward, but what was this about security? Did people actually take discarded drafts and use them like this? It was the first time something like this had happened to him, so he felt thrown off. Still, if he didn’t say anything, no one would ever know.
In that case, he really should avoid the shared studio for a while.
So this was what happened when people shared a workspace. The clip itself was short enough that only a few seconds were used, and the title track was going to be made another way anyway, so in the end it didn’t matter much… but still.
A private studio… should he ask the company for one? He had thought he’d only be composing for a little while. He hadn’t expected to be kept on for this long.
In the end, a private studio meant money. If he wanted the company’s investment, the only thing he could really do right now was make this title track succeed and secure his position as one of the group’s composers.
Honestly, Pyo Jae-ho was the unusual case, getting a private studio at this age.
For now, I should get the settlement statement first and then think about it…
“Okay~ We really don’t have much of this year left now! Our Blue Bloom’s Bit-na, what kind of year do you hope next year will be?”
December 31st.
He had no idea how it had already become the last day of the year. The idol the MC had called on took the microphone and began giving their remarks.
At the year-end music festival held at MBS, one of the three terrestrial networks, Zero One had ended up attending alongside countless other idols, standing shoulder to shoulder with them on one side of the stage.
Everyone was huddled together in little groups, talking among themselves to keep the cold at bay. Zero One was doing its best to hold its place, too.
Damn, I’m freezing to death.
Every time he exhaled and saw the white breath rise from his mouth, he felt less like a human being than a walking kettle.
The Imjingak stage, infamous among fans as a sort of exile ground for its bitter cold and other complications, had been discontinued years ago. That didn’t mean they had stopped doing outdoor performances altogether.
They had simply moved to large landmarks like amusement parks and rented their outdoor stages instead.
This year as well, MBS was broadcasting from the studio complex in Sangam-dong and from a large amusement park outdoor stage.
From what idol fans said online, Imjingak had been several times colder than this open field by the river, but by the time Zero One debuted, the Imjingak stage was already a thing of the past, so he had never really felt the difference for himself.
In any case, it was still an outdoor stage.
Year-end outdoor stages were a place of suffering for both the fans watching and the singers standing onstage, but in proportion to that hardship, some absurdly legendary fan cams or photos always got produced, which made the place a bitterly beloved one.
I’d go near him twice, fully prepared to end up in jail, just to smell him. I feel like his breath would smell like roses. If you held a plastic bag in front of his mouth, collected the air, tied it up, and auctioned it off as the breath of a rose fairy, everybody would probably accept it.
Go Young-in let the MC’s and idols’ interviews drift past his ears as he looked toward the audience. Among the scattered clusters of people, he wondered whether one of those giant telephoto lenses was aimed at Zero One.
We came all this way and suffered through the cold; we ought to get something out of it…
“Thank you for those kind words! And now all that’s left is the countdown! We don’t have much time!”
At the MC’s cue, the stage lights went out and the space fell dark, only for huge numbers to appear on the screen.
“Everyone, shout it with me! Ten!”
The people onstage and the fans in the audience all began shouting the countdown together.
Go Young-in mechanically followed along.
The new year was about to arrive, and for no reason at all, he found himself slipping into thought.
Am I really moving in a better direction than last time?
He couldn’t tell whether this was the right way to go, or whether he was doing well. Compared to Zero One at this same time in the previous loop, this year seemed even noisier, even messier.
And if this current regular promotion was pushed back, that was my fault too.
Usually they would delay a comeback because there were too many year-end events and a new album would just get buried, but if things had gone normally, they should have come back within a month after the competition broadcast ended.
Clause 32 | A perfect idol must be skilled at controlling their expressions.
He stared up at the electronic board, the status window filling his vision in a way that had become all too familiar.
Nine!
He hadn’t done anything, so why was it already the new year? Had anything this year actually gone right?
He even found himself wondering whether he had truly done his best. If someone like Cheon Sa-yoon had been in his position, wouldn’t he have manufactured a far more favorable situation for himself by now?
Maybe it would be better to just start over.
The moment that thought surfaced, breathing became difficult. Go Young-in clenched his fist. Even though it was undoubtedly the middle of winter, his palm was drenched with sweat.
Eight!
“Go Young.”
Through the noise, a familiar voice cut in. It was Kyeon In-woo, who had been talking to someone from DTD until just a moment ago.
Seven!
Kyeon In-woo covered his mouth with his hand and leaned in to whisper.
“Hey, let’s go to a New Year’s after-party or something.”
What fresh nonsense was this now? They had a comeback coming up, for fuck’s sake. This was the first time he had ever heard Kyeon In-woo make a suggestion like this.
“What after-party?”
“You know that group chat with all the people our age? We get together sometimes when we’ve got time. It’s hard to line up schedules unless it’s around a time like this anyway, and it’s the end of the year. Those lunatics keep yelling at me to bring you.”
This was the first he’d heard of it.
Come to think of it, he had heard that idols, even when they belonged to different groups, often made group chats with people they had something in common with—same age, same country, that sort of thing.
So he had joined one of those when? No, actually, that sounded exactly like Kyeon In-woo.
“Back when you debuted, you said you didn’t want to join. They didn’t leave you out on purpose, so don’t make that face.”
What face was that supposed to be? The status window hadn’t said anything.
Go Young-in brushed his face once for no reason, glanced at the audience, then looked toward where Kyeon In-woo had originally been standing.
Kang Ji-ho from DTD was grinning at him from over there. Beside him, their leader Park Ha-un lowered his head, and Go Young-in gave a small bow in return.
Did he really have to go? He wasn’t feeling particularly interested. Even Kyeon In-woo didn’t look all that eager, yet he was acting like it was absolutely mandatory. Just how much had the others pestered him to get him to come over here? No, more importantly—
“Did you get permission from the company?”
“We’re not getting any vacation anyway because they’re making us prep for the comeback after Lunar New Year, so they’ll probably just tell us to rest today. Obvious, right?”
“Still…”
One!
As the countdown ended, a boom rang out and fireworks burst into the sky.
Multicolored blossoms of light painted the night overhead. Go Young-in found himself looking up at the glittering sky without meaning to.
Just a second ago I had a whole stack of things I wanted to argue about… Wait, what was I thinking about again?
While his attention was stolen by the fireworks, Kyeon In-woo spoke again.
“Hey, Go Young.”
“Hm?”
“Hope you get a ton of good luck.”
The shifting colors of the fireworks were melting straight across Kyeon In-woo’s face. It looked just like the sky he had been staring at a moment before. Go Young-in watched the spreading halo of light for a beat, then let out a small sigh.
“Yeah. You too.”
“Happy New Year!”
Before long, everyone was hopping around and shouting New Year’s greetings. The lights on the darkened stage turned back on one by one, and an upbeat EDM dance track began to play. Under the brighter illumination, the fireworks’ glow slowly faded to a pale haze.
He wasn’t sure whether his answer had reached Kyeon In-woo over all the shouts of Happy New Year. Still, whether he knew it or not, everyone standing here seemed to be smiling.
“……”
“Hey, Go Young.”
“Yeah.”
“So are you coming or not?”
“……”
“Give me a straight answer.”
Ah, fuck. Fine. I’m coming. I’m coming.
Just as Kyeon In-woo had said, the manager let them off, calling it their last vacation before the comeback.
In the end, Go Young-in followed Kyeon In-woo to the after-party. Swept up by the bright, buoyant energy of people excited for the new year, he was dragged along with it. Well, since he was already here, what else could he do…
It was a gathering where everyone had come because they were busy with schedules most of the time and would barely ever get the chance to meet otherwise.
The place was a fairly ordinary pub with private rooms, though according to Kyeon In-woo there was someone in the group who was close with the owner, so they’d asked for the favor.
Just thinking about all the things he’d have to keep track of around unfamiliar people was exhausting already. How was it that one was supposed to talk to several people at once again?
Apparently they really had rented the whole place, because it was packed wall to wall with people.
So there were this many idols born in the same year in our country… It was enough to make him blink in surprise.
Judging by how they were scattered across different tables, it seemed the groups within this place formed their own separate little cliques as well.
“In-woo’s here?”
“In-woo~ Long time no see! Why do we never get to see your face these days?”
“Damn, you’re late as hell. Since you got here late, take a shot as punishment and down it.”
People were calling out to Kyeon In-woo from all directions, in a friendly chorus.
There were a lot of people who called out his name warmly every time Kyeon In-woo passed by to greet him.
Even while people kept trying to stop him, Kyeon In-woo never stopped walking. He would either give a casual nod or, instead of taking the drink someone offered, slam down the water glass beside it and hand the empty glass back to its owner before pushing on.
That bastard had more friends than he’d expected.
Well. Unlike himself, who wandered around alone, Kyeon In-woo had always been the type to get along broadly with one person after another.
Go Young-in quietly followed along behind the path Kyeon In-woo made through the crowd.
“Huh? You didn’t come alone today? That’s Young-in sunbae behind you, right?”
He could feel curious looks from all over, but aside from greetings, no one actually came up to speak to him.
Or rather, if their eyes met by chance, most people either looked away obviously or gave him a sideways glance. What was that about? Why were they avoiding him?
“Over here!”
From a table in the corner, someone raised a hand high and waved it.
Kyeon In-woo spotted him, gave a lazy nod, and sauntered over.
Once Go Young-in and Kyeon In-woo joined the table, the people gathered there welcomed them warmly.
Seeing how startled everyone was that he’d followed Kyeon In-woo here, he was reminded all over again that he really hadn’t been socializing much lately.
At the table were DTD’s Kang Ji-ho and Park Ha-un, along with Blue Bloom’s rapper Bit-na and Fly-eyes’ rapper Ju Si-hyeong—four people in all.
The names weren’t familiar, but the faces were. Bit-na was the person who had been interviewed by the MC earlier, and Ju Si-hyeong was the Fly-eyes member from the last awards show, the one whose hit song had been written by Cha Sung-hwan.
What was this? A coincidence? Kyeon In-woo sure didn’t look like he cared, but somehow the whole thing was oddly warm and easy, and before long everyone at the table had started talking among themselves.