Conditions for Becoming a Kind Idol Leader — Episode 96
Even after that, Pyo Jae-ho kept repeating the same thing over and over whenever the subject turned to outside composers or communication with fans, as if his stubbornness were a wall no one could climb.
That didn’t mean he refused to talk at all. Whenever Go Young-in went to find him, he didn’t leave or kick him out with a cold “I don’t want to hear it.”
It was the same when he went to the room Pyo Jae-ho shared with Kyeon In-woo.
Knock, knock.
“Jae-ho, you in there?”
“Hey, Go Young. You’re the only one in this house who goes around knocking on other people’s doors. Just come in.”
As soon as he heard the knock, Kyeon In-woo greeted him in that familiar, shameless voice, and Go Young-in gave an awkward smile before opening the door and looking inside.
Pyo Jae-ho didn’t even bother glancing up at whoever had come in. He was sitting at his desk, scratching something out with a pen, probably homework from school.
“Jae-ho.”
“Mm.”
…What was that supposed to mean? Go Young-in had clearly called for Pyo Jae-ho, but the answer came from Kyeon In-woo instead. No, not you.
Kyeon In-woo, who had been absorbed in some phone game, looked up only after the fact, as if he’d answered on reflex to a voice he knew well.
“Huh? Pyo Jae-ho?”
“Yeah.”
“Not me?”
“Yeah. Not you. Jae-ho.”
As if. Go Young-in shook his head, and sure enough, the System window appeared.
Article 28 | A kind idol leader offers warm words and considerate actions to the members.
It wasn’t even surprising anymore. The damn thing really did love warm words a little too much.
Kyeon In-woo, for his part, didn’t seem to care much. He was busy taking his frustration out on an innocent phone screen, complaining that his character had died in the middle of the game.
“Keep gaming hard…….”
After tossing out a few halfhearted words, Go Young-in called Pyo Jae-ho again.
“Jae-ho, wait a second.”
Only then did Pyo Jae-ho, who had been silently watching their little farce with his mouth shut, pull off the headset he’d been wearing and walk over toward Go Young-in.
“What is it?”
So he really did come when called. What a ridiculous guy. And, as always, he answered properly too. Goddamn it, he only answered properly.
“Ah, it’s nothing major.”
What Go Young-in needed to say to Pyo Jae-ho was already decided. It was either about the composer Baek Geon had asked him to meet, or about the fans.
The latter had already been discussed, so that left the former.
“About what Producer Baek Geon mentioned before, you know? The one you said you didn’t want to work with…….”
“I already said no.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m turning it down. I don’t think it’s right to push it when you hate it.”
Pyo Jae-ho lifted an eyebrow without saying a word.
“I thought I should tell you first. I’m going to the company now and let them know.”
“Yes.”
“There isn’t some other reason you hate him, is there?”
“Why?”
“No, I was just wondering if you knew him already.”
“I don’t.”
“All right. I’ll pass your opinion on to Producer Baek Geon for now.”
“Yes.”
“That’s okay, right……?”
“……”
Baek Geon would probably cling to it and whine just like last time, but if the answer was no, what was he supposed to do about it? And the System wasn’t asking for some kind of “kind composer,” either.
Go Young-in had gotten used to Pyo Jae-ho’s silence by now too. Even if the kid didn’t say it out loud, he’d clearly heard every word and tucked it away in his head.
He’d said everything he needed to say, and was just about to leave when another familiar notification sound rang out with nauseating timing.
Article 7 | A kind idol leader never withholds words of encouragement from the members.
Ha. The instant he thought about it, the thing popped up. What a cute little bastard the System was.
What the hell was there to encourage right now? What was he supposed to tell Pyo Jae-ho to keep up the good work on?
Just as Go Young-in was rolling his eyes around, struggling to find something to say, the owner of another room rescued him.
“Fuck, kid. Is Go Young your damn property or something? Show some manners.”
Kyeon In-woo, who couldn’t stand listening any longer, sneered from the side, but Pyo Jae-ho didn’t so much as twitch. He answered in his flat little voice.
“I learned it from you, hyung.”
Go Young-in couldn’t tell what Pyo Jae-ho was thinking, but somehow the atmosphere itself felt familiar.
Hadn’t he felt something like this not long ago? A little sulky, maybe. Come to think of it, he’d always been like this.
At first glance, it looked like the same blank expression as always, but there was a subtle difference to it. It was the kind of face someone made when they were displeased about something…….
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Even when Kyeon In-woo sounded baffled, Pyo Jae-ho only repeated himself with the same deadpan calm.
“I learned all of it from you, hyung.”
“...Fuck, don’t tell me you mean me?”
Kyeon In-woo must have had plenty to feel guilty about when it came to his usual behavior. He asked again just in case, but Pyo Jae-ho kept his mouth shut to the very end.
After passing on Pyo Jae-ho’s opinion, Go Young-in headed straight for Producer Baek Geon the moment he left the dorm.
When he told him, with all due apologies, that he couldn’t work with Composer Cha Sung-hwan, the whining started all over again, just as expected.
But the concept was already set, and time was limited if they kept dragging it out, so in the end Baek Geon gave in.
He compromised, with one condition: Pyo Jae-ho wouldn’t participate in the song, but he should at least stop by occasionally and offer some advice.
Then he went and handed Go Young-in the role of messenger again, babbling that if he said it, nobody would even bother to listen, but at least he could pretend to listen when it was Go Young-in speaking. Even the excuse sounded like nonsense.
Pyo Jae-ho looked as if he hated that too, but in the end he reluctantly agreed.
What a stubborn bastard. Then again, he’d always been the king of stubbornness.
“Oh, a celebrity! I’m Cha Sung-hwan. Nice to meet you.”
The man who introduced himself as Cha Sung-hwan looked completely ordinary at first glance.
He didn’t seem anything like the rumors—no sign of someone who handed out songs to just anyone, or of a nasty, picky personality.
When Go Young-in went up to the studio after receiving Baek Geon’s call, Cha Sung-hwan and Baek Geon were already waiting for him.
They’d insisted on dragging Go Young-in into the meeting with Cha Sung-hwan after all. Apparently, it was enough to pass on his refusal and, if possible, let them exchange a polite greeting. What a horrifying level of junior affection. Just how impressive did they think he was, to be acting like this?
Cha Sung-hwan laughed heartily, held out his hand, and Go Young-in gave him a light handshake before sitting down. The moment he was seated, Cha Sung-hwan started talking like a fish that had found water.
“I listened to everything Zero One has put out so far. This summer album was the first one you officially participated in, right? The title track was good. It was fun.”
“You little punk, I hear you’ve gotten ridiculously expensive lately. Word is, if people call, you don’t even show up?”
“Ah, come on~ I wanted to do it from the very beginning. You’re hurting my feelings, hyung.”
Given how smoothly he brushed off Baek Geon’s teasing, it almost made him seem like a pretty easygoing guy.
The two of them went on talking for a while about the albums Zero One had released so far.
And it wasn’t just empty flattery, either. Cha Sung-hwan seemed to have analyzed in some detail the kind of music Zero One had been making all along.
“Though I still liked that one the best. You know, your first single title track. It was, what, extreme avant-garde? So experimental, and so good. It was like you were screaming, ‘We’re going to make art and nothing else matters.’ I loved the visual art too.”
“Our CEO really does love the weird, experimental stuff~. Back then I honestly thought these kids were doomed. They were talking about ditching every bit of commercial appeal to make art as idols. I thought I was going to have to lie down in a coffin right along with them.”
Baek Geon’s line about lying down in a coffin wasn’t a metaphor.
Surprisingly enough, he was talking about Zero One’s debut album concept. The concept for Zero One’s first debut single album, CODE : XIGN, had been exactly that.
Even just looking at the words from that time made it obvious how cold people’s reactions had been toward the concept.
Zero One had been circling the K-pop fandom long before debut, branded as coffin idols and that-weird-ass-concept idols thanks to the niche tastes Kwon Dae-do had pushed onto them. Most people meant it as mockery.
Everyone looked at Zero One with skepticism, assuming of course that they’d flop and that a concept like this could never possibly land. Even people inside the company thought that way.
And yet, unbelievably, it worked.
Of course, the song itself had turned out addictively catchy, and the fact that they’d been stirring up attention with the concept from before debut helped their visibility too. Add in all the other secondary factors, plus a little luck…….
Somehow, the occultish flavor had hit that niche foreign sensibility just right, and they even picked up a small number of overseas fans along the way.
Thanks to that, their debut performance had ended up surprisingly solid.
Maybe because of that… even with an A&R team in place, Kwon Dae-do’s say in the concept carried even more weight inside the company now.