Chapter 261
Chapter 261
As soon as the live broadcast ended, I called the company and spoke with the manager on duty in the management department.
I told them we were about to release our music at the same time as Young-rin.
The company was reportedly turned upside down. It was only natural. To summarize Young-rin’s recent performance:
'3rd place for the year on the nation's largest music site.'
To provide some comparative data, the annual digital ranking for TeSTAR’s latest song, ‘Call,’ was 37th.
Furthermore, Young-rin had four songs in the TOP 50 of that annual chart: two title tracks, one OST, and one variety show collaboration.
The numbers were staggering.
I can’t win. Absolutely not.
She wasn't just popular with the general public; her core fandom was also quite solid, leaving no room for us to squeeze in.
In short, a simultaneous digital release was… nothing short of an honorable death.
Of course, the company wasn't the only one in an uproar.
"With Young-rin sunbaenim?"
"Yes."
"Sigh…"
An internal meeting was called within the group to ring in the New Year.
We were welcoming the New Year by pulling an all-nighter for work, but in truth, that was trivial compared to this situation.
I made a judgment with utmost composure.
He told me now on purpose.
With only four days left until the comeback, it was impossible to move the date.
Cheong-ryeo had informed me as a way of saying, "At least prepare yourself mentally," since no major countermeasures were possible anyway.
If you looked at it a certain way, it could be seen as a kindness, so there was no need to waste energy on emotions. From a competitive standpoint, while it was a bit infuriating, it was ultimately a benefit.
…Yeah, it was definitely infuriating, too.
"Moon-dae."
"Yeah."
"Are you sure about that information? Where did you hear it?"
"Someone from VTIC told me."
Keun Se-jin looked at me with an unreadable expression. Roughly translated, it meant, 'Aren't they just trying to screw with you?'
Right. I had checked that just in case.
I tossed my smartphone up and caught it as I spoke.
"Just to be sure, I asked Young-rin sunbaenim directly. It’s true."
"Phew."
Since there were less than four days left and the comeback periods overlapped, Young-rin didn't bother lying.
She was, however, curious.
—We only just decided on it, so it’s surprising that you already know, Moon-dae.
I made up an excuse, saying I’d overheard some staff talking and asked just in case.
The crew working with her might get a talking-to about keeping their mouths shut, but compared to our current situation, I didn't have the luxury of worrying about that.
This is driving me crazy.
I pressed my temples. Just then, Cha Yu-jin raised his hand high.
"Excuse me! I have a question!"
"Sure, go ahead, Yu-jin."
"Why can't we promote at the same time as Young-rin sunbaenim?"
Ryu Cheong-woo answered.
"…Young-rin sunbaenim has a very strong 'trust and listen' image. We’ll likely fall far behind on the digital charts."
"We don't know until we try! Let's just do it!"
Sure, the ambition was bold and great, but… this was a matter of momentum.
We had worked so hard on this full-length album; how much would morale drop if we couldn't even hit #1 on the real-time charts upon entry?
And since Young-rin would only gain more listeners as time passed, releasing our song exactly one day after hers was truly the worst-case scenario.
Releasing a new song right when the buzz for Young-rin’s music was at its peak.
Unless it’s some obscure site, we’ll never hit #1.
It looked like our record for the full album was about to be ruined.
"……."
Seeing the members lost in thought and worry, Cha Yu-jin shrugged his shoulders.
"OK. It’s fine if we don't get #1! We are good. We just need to do a cool stage!"
"…!"
"Let's get #1 for the stage!"
They were simple words. However, they did help clear the air a bit.
"Right, it’s our first album in a while, so it’s important to do well and finish safely."
"T-That’s right. Since we p-prepared so hard… if we focus on showing a good side of ourselves, won't it be an enjoyable promotion…?"
Sure, those kinds of positive thoughts were good.
Except… I happen to like winning.
Think.
I tapped my finger against the living room floor.
How to beat Young-rin on the digital charts?
First of all, it was certain that Young-rin wasn't promoting this song at all, and there were almost no rumors in the industry.
Both Young-rin’s own reaction and the company’s reaction confirmed this.
Even so, this is T1. They usually know the comeback rumors for most big-name singers.
Since Young-rin herself said the New Year's date was only finalized a few days ago, it meant that Cheong-ryeo simply had exceptionally good information, while most others were in the dark.
Then, if we target that point and have TeSTAR go hard on public promotions through variety shows…
No, that wasn't it. Everything that could be aired at the end of the year had already aired, and the variety shows scheduled for the beginning of the year were already sufficient. Adding more would only lead to overexposure.
"Hmm."
While rubbing the back of my neck, I locked eyes with Kim Rae-bin, who looked grim.
"…Are you that worried?"
"Pardon? Oh, no, I am not!"
Right. You have even more reason to be worried. You had a hand in half of this album.
I was honestly taken aback when I found out he had worked on it even when we were stranded on a deserted island, using what little battery he had left.
"It is just that… I am somewhat concerned that the listeners' desire for new music will be satisfied by Young-rin sunbaenim's new song, leading many to not even attempt to listen to our track."
Right, the fact that such a long sentence poured out after a single nudge meant he was indeed very worried.
And he was hitting the nail on the head.
"You're right. When someone with strong public appeal takes all the attention, the side with a stronger fandom than public appeal often ends up becoming a 'league of their own.'"
It was an unavoidable trend.
"……."
I pondered a bit longer before finally speaking up.
"So, for now, I think we should assume that we can't win digitally no matter what we do."
"…I suppose so."
"Mmm~"
"But I think we can get #1 on music broadcasts."
Bae Se-jin, who had been looking serious, was slightly surprised.
"…How?"
"Well, Young-rin sunbaenim is only releasing a digital single, but we have a physical album. We have the physical sales score."
"Ah."
That was true. This was our long-awaited full album, while Young-rin’s was just a surprise New Year's single.
The fans will do whatever it takes to pull up the other scores and give us that #1.
Because trophies were important.
I was grateful and sorry, but the public reaction to this was also easy to predict.
-Honestly, Young-rin should be #1, but TeSTAR pushed her out with fan power.
-LOL, a solo artist with zero promotion vs. a boy group with excessive sob-story marketing. Aren't they embarrassed?
-Congrats TeSTAR~ The fans worked hard.
-Wow, the distortion is real. In reality, everyone is only listening to Young-rin's song.
This was the point where we needed to build up the group's narrative with our first full album since the accident.
At a time when we should be filling the people watching TeSTAR with pride, a pyrrhic victory would only cool their enthusiasm.
So, in the end, a line that couldn't be crossed emerged.
Even if we lose digitally, we can't lose the buzz.
We had to maintain the perception that we were 'worthy of #1' and keep our public impact. This was the final line of defense.
"I want to propose… that we aim for just an average performance digitally, assuming a loss, and go all-in on buzz so that our promotions become famous no matter what."
"…!"
"The promotions, the PR, the mentions, the reveal order… all of it."
We needed extreme selection and focus.
I spoke, and the members each seemed lost in thought.
Keun Se-jin was the first to raise his hand.
"I'm in. It's the most rational, isn't it? It's not like we have another plan."
"Right. Strategy is important at a time like this."
Kim Rae-bin also nodded.
"I believe that if our promotions become famous, the number of people who eventually attempt to listen to our music will increase, even if it is late."
He was a pretty resilient guy.
I let out a small smirk and nodded.
Bae Se-jin spoke up with a tense face.
"So, do you have any ideas on how to create that buzz?"
"We'll have to discuss the specifics more, but… I think shock is the answer."
To steal the buzz that Young-rin would suck up with her surprise announcement, this was the way.
"Let's start by hitting people where they least expect it."
"…??"
A twist. Unpredictability, that is.
-
Time passed, and it was January 5th.
TeSTAR’s new music video was smoothly released at midnight that day.
The title was ‘Wheel [Day].’
—Turn the wheel
So it flies far away
The melody rings out beautifully
Reaching the heart, let it pop
The music video was beautiful.
An amusement park in the middle of the day, drenched in sunlight.
A mysterious atmosphere was felt through the dreamy filters and time-space overlapping effects.
The moments in the old amusement park, as beautiful as something out of a novel and captured by a fixed camera, boasted excellent visual beauty.
And the surreal, slightly uncanny scenery—like a member in the foreground also appearing in a corner of the same frame—enhanced the strange feeling.
—Tap, tap, tap
A jumble of time and space.
A boy standing with arms wide open in front of a rotating golden Ferris wheel against a blue sky.
Anyone could see it was the spiritual successor to their debut song, ‘Magical Boy.’ It was a masterpiece that stayed true to their worldview, evoking a subtle sense of emotion.
However… it was a bit plain.
-The song is really good ㅠㅠ
-It feels good to listen to while welcoming the New Year.
-It has a bit of a carol vibe, it’s fluttering.
Even as they said that, the fans couldn't shake the chilling feeling that it was 'stale.'
It was because the momentum of Young-rin’s surprise song, released yesterday, was immense.
-Holy crap, Young-rin LOL
-Wow, what is TeSTAR going to do tomorrow?
-This is so fun (popcorn)
-TeSTAR’s digital ranking LOL ㅠㅠ My condolences in advance… Too bad, I heard it was a full album.
It wasn't just a bolt from the blue; fans were swept with confusion and horror, wondering what kind of disaster this was just a day before the comeback.
Because it was as if the digital portion of their goals had been declared impossible to achieve.
-Ah, why now of all times?
-The kids prepared so hard, why is this happening ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-I swear I liked Young-rin, but I’m so upset right now. It feels like I’ve been doused with cold water…
-LOL, those T1 bastards are so bad at their jobs. They can't even pick a comeback date. Ugh, I’m so pissed, I need to get off the internet.
-Please, stop killing the vibe before the lid is even open… It’s TeSTAR’s first promotion in a while, let’s just enjoy it. We just need to work hard.
Still, they had waited for the music video, but when TeSTAR brought something that was clearly a 'easy-listening' track for digital charts, they couldn't help but sigh.
Furthermore, some of the elements they had anticipated missed the mark, cooling their excitement even more.
-Moon-dae has black hair.
-LOL, I guess it was just… reflected light.
-Ah, LOL… hmm.
In particular, fans who had been excited after seeing Park Moon-dae’s year-end photos, certain that he had dyed his hair black, felt somewhat discouraged.
It was the same for the other members. They all had natural hair. It had atmosphere, but it lacked impact somewhere.
A comeback pitted against a digital powerhouse that they could never beat no matter what they did.
With several missteps like this on their most important full album, they felt drained and defeated for no reason.
-Let’s just work hard on streaming.
-It’s another god-tier song, so let’s do this right. The kids worked so hard ㅠㅠ
The fans first tried their best by streaming the pre-released title track from the album on music sites, but the results were as expected.
[TeSTAR fails to enter at #1 real-time]
[Comparing Young-rin and TeSTAR’s entry graphs]
[TeSTAR’s somewhat shocking digital results]
Trolls, excited for the first time in a while, ran wild across all sorts of sites.
As much as there were many people who wanted TeSTAR to do better, there were also many who found their slump interesting.
-TeSTAR’s song is good, but as expected, boy groups have their limits. The gap in unique listeners is quite large.
-The fans are streaming through gritted teeth to keep up this much, but the muggle pick is definitely Young-rin LOL.
-Did they try a pre-release title track to concentrate their fire? It would have looked better if they had just lined up the B-sides, this just looks pathetic ㅠㅠ
It was a situation where the comeback was actually draining their energy.
They wished they could just block their eyes and ears and enjoy the content, but because the human heart doesn't work that way, the fans were suffering quite a bit. That was when…
[202X ToneA / 01. 08. Fri]
The day arrived for the broadcast of the ToneA Awards, where TeSTAR’s first comeback stage would take place.
The fans quickly recovered their anticipation and energy at the thought of finally seeing the stage, and they waited for the members' performance.
Expecting it to be a relaxed and light stage, much like 'Picnic.'
However, their expectations were shattered.
-????
-Crazy, cra-zy!
In a good way.
After a long three-hour wait, what appeared from behind the stage… were seven figures wearing giant mascot heads that an amusement park employee might wear.
However, the lingering, clear feeling of the pre-released music video was nowhere to be found.
In its place were intense neon, punk, zippers, and gloss.
Black gangsters.
Wherever the lights passed, the neon paint splashed haphazardly on the mascot heads gleamed.
[Vroom.]
The figures, dressed in stage outfits like hoodlums, walked out without hesitation and took their positions, tilting their eerily cute mascot heads.
And then, the intro began with dazzling movements, as if they were riding human motorcycles.
Drr, Drr, Drrrrrrrrrr—!
A bass that rang out like the roar of an engine.
On top of that, electronic sounds mixed with clapping beats, snares, and bells heightened the atmosphere.
The lighting flashed frantically between warm and cool tones.
With choreography where they quickly grabbed each other in perfect order, the members achieved an exquisite balance in an instant.
And then, from between the formation that split as they were pulled from both sides, the member in the dog mascot head popped out!
He threw the head aside.
[Hi?]
It was Park Moon-dae.
His pink hair, permed and swept to the side, fluttered.
-Heol.
The double title track of this album, which they had intentionally kept hidden without a pre-release.
‘Drill [Night]’ had begun.