Chapter 571
Chapter 571
TeSTAR holding a meeting every time trouble broke out was practically a daily routine now.
It meant the members were now so seasoned that they wouldn't even blink at most incidents.
"Huh? Oh, a meeting. Got it."
And so, without anyone panicking or showering me with questions, they gathered calmly in the living room as soon as their schedules ended.
Though Keun Se-jin did look at me with a somewhat impressed, almost ridiculous expression.
"So that’s why Moondae-Moondae’s face looked so crappy? At least you’re spilling the beans quickly these days."
If you know that much, let’s just get on with it.
…Well, being calm didn't mean they didn't grasp the gravity of the situation.
As they heard the full story, the members' faces quickly turned serious.
"…Hmm. So… the problem is the image of being on a downward trend."
"Right."
No matter what we chose for the next album, either the fandom or the general public's appeal would take a hit. It could become the signal fire for an uncontrollable decline.
Kim Rae-bin’s face darkened.
"It is because my skills are lacking…"
"No, that’s definitely not it."
I knew he’d react like this the moment the album came up.
It was only after a detailed explanation that it was actually a "complication caused by doing too well" that the gloom on Kim Rae-bin’s face began to lift.
Instead, he fell into deep thought before finally speaking.
"There is a saying that an extremely well-crafted work transcends personal taste! In that case, I shall devote myself further to writing a new song that can satisfy both the public and Loviewers!"
"Oh boy, here he goes again."
"Kim Rae-bin is a dummy."
"…?!"
I placed both hands on Kim Rae-bin’s shoulders.
"Rae-bin, listen carefully."
"Yes!"
"You’re a genius."
"…!?"
"And your songs have always been irrationally good."
Excluding a few slumps, he possessed a terrifying talent with no weaknesses in either quality or speed.
Honestly, if it weren't for this guy, things would have been several times harder.
It meant the songs Kim Rae-bin had produced until now were never of a lower caliber.
"But just because a song is good doesn't mean it automatically becomes a mega-hit. That’s a matter of timing and luck."
"That is…"
"Mmm, Moondae is absolutely right! That’s a universal truth that applies to many things, not just songs~ Right, hyung?"
"Huh?"
Bae Se-jin seemed a bit flustered by Keun Se-jin’s prompt, but he soon nodded calmly.
"…That’s right. There was a movie I appeared in when I was younger that I thought was the most fun, but it wasn't the most commercially successful."
"Ah…"
"So, you can't really force something like that to happen artificially."
Kim Rae-bin gave a small nod.
Exactly. No matter how well you make it or how hard you push the promotions, a trend that satisfies everyone cannot be manufactured on demand.
The best you can do is set a target audience and capture them.
And then, sometimes, luck and timing align, and everyone ends up loving it.
Cha Yu-jin, who had been listening, shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't get it. Why only make one song? Why can't we just do both?"
"Huh?"
"We can do both the hard stuff and the easy stuff. Double title!"
"Ah."
A double title. Instead of trying to make one perfect song to satisfy everyone, it was a method of diversifying the investment to target both the public and the fandom.
The reason this wouldn't work was simple.
"There’s no time."
To go with a double title, you’d have to imagine doing exactly twice the work we were doing now.
No, since it’s an outright addition, considering schedule coordination, it would take more than twice the effort.
We’d have to do the choreography, costumes, concept, and music video filming all over again, while maintaining a level of completion that didn't feel disjointed from the other title track.
And what would happen then?
"If we go with a double title, instead of releasing the next album sooner, we might end up releasing it even later than scheduled."
In the end, we’d be leaving the fandom leakage unattended for even longer. The core premise of "acting quickly to stop the fandom from deserting" would be undermined.
Of course, we could try to force it to meet the deadline.
"Work fast and a lot! We're all hard-working people."
By grinding our bodies into dust.
To be honest, I was the type of person tempted by those words.
But…
"Who’s going to take responsibility if someone drops dead from overwork?"
The workload would be more intense than anything we had experienced so far. Our current schedule was already tough; if we crammed double the work into it, someone might actually collapse.
I can't let that happen.
…To go the distance, I had to look after the group’s health.
I saw Ryu Cheong-woo smiling slightly from across the room. Are you proud? Fine. Whatever… as long as you’re happy.
Cha Yu-jin also nodded half-heartedly as if conceding…
"OK. Consider the hyungs' age."
"……."
Bae Se-jin opened his mouth.
"You… aren't getting any more candy from now on."
"What?!"
Ignoring Cha Yu-jin, who was horrified at the news that he could no longer enjoy the handmade candies sent by Bae Se-jin’s mother, the members fell into their own thoughts.
"Then… we just have to leave it to luck?"
Perhaps the idea was too defeatist for Keun Se-jin to accept, as his face looked displeased.
The other members looked equally uncomfortable. We had never been the type to say something as complacent as "let’s leave it to luck."
In the midst of this, Seon A-hyun tentatively raised his hand.
"U-um, maybe… how about we explain this promotion directly to the fans?"
"Hmm?"
"On W-App… or we could post a letter on SNS."
To summarize Seon A-hyun’s suggestion, it was this:
—We didn't prepare this with a full concept! The promotions were scheduled in a hurry!
—If you thought our passion had cooled and we were going to take it easy from now on, it’s all a misunderstanding!
Let’s put this into words honestly.
Explain the process of how we released this single in just two weeks, and how we hurriedly prepared for promotions after the song suddenly blew up.
The idea was to slowly explain and convince the fans.
"I-I thought if we told them what kind of process we went through for these promotions… they might feel relieved."
"And then we prepare the album steadily according to schedule?"
"Yes…!"
Seon A-hyun’s words were a straightforward, textbook solution.
Except there was a problem.
I rubbed my chin.
I don't think they'll believe it.
Doing that right now would make us look desperate, which would have the opposite effect. If they thought we were trying to make excuses because we were scared, our credibility would drop, and our image would take a hit.
—Stop it... it’s so obvious they’re making excuses that I’m getting secondhand embarrassment..ㅠㅠ
—Wow, TeSTAR’s A-list pride is really dying.
—Is this really something to make a fuss about?;; This is a bit awkward. They could have just brought something intense for the next album..
In slang terms, it would look like we have no 'sense'.
That was a problem. Right now was the time to choose everything carefully and restore our image.
And there was no need to explain this cruelly.
"Mmm, honestly, I want to go with A-hyun’s opinion too… but to make it sound natural, we’d have to mention it in passing, right? Then I don't think it would get much attention."
"Ah…!"
"Of course, we could convince those who listen, but right now we need to make a sharp impression on even more people."
Keun Se-jin skillfully pivoted the conversation. Seon A-hyun nodded firmly with an understanding look.
"Y-yeah. So, it’s better to show them through clear actions after all…!"
"Exactly."
But… the problem remained that we still didn't know how to release this damn album.
"…Postponing the album entirely isn't an option either. Hmm. Since we have to reassure the fans."
"Hrmmm."
Whether we moved the album up, pushed it back, or chose any concept, risks and losses were unavoidable.
A brief silence fell among the guys as they clutched their heads.
Then, Bae Se-jin clenched his fist.
"Ahem, what if we just ignore everything and prepare diligently? This… isn't about leaving it to luck, it’s about trusting the way we’ve always done things."
"Hyung……."
Kim Rae-bin blinked, looking somewhat moved by Bae Se-jin’s words.
And Keun Se-jin looked at him with eyes full of sentiment.
"Those are wonderful words… but isn't the way we’ve always done things exactly this? Diligently setting up strategies."
"……Huh?"
Well… that was true.
"Hyung, this attitude of fiercely analyzing the situation and trying to respond! Isn't this the most TeSTAR-like thing of all?"
"That… hmm, I guess so."
Bae Se-jin’s expression went blank for a moment before he finally nodded.
Persuasion had succeeded between the two namesakes who usually never saw eye-to-eye. It was a rare sight.
"Besides, this industry is increasingly using more provocative ways to stimulate people’s interest. Like HaloHe-im this time."
"HaloHe-im?"
"They’re a group that uses a dating reality show as their own content, and they’re currently number one on the charts."
"What?"
Keun Se-jin explained what kind of bizarre marketing methods that co-ed group had used.
And to Bae Se-jin, who was horrified, asking, "Why are entertainment agencies becoming so immoral these days?" he said in a firm voice:
"Our competitors are staking their lives on marketing like that."
"……."
"Well, we could walk the lonely path of high-quality production and hope people eventually recognize it and we climb back up the charts… but our current environment is too precious to waste like that."
At those serious words, several of the guys nodded.
"I get what you mean."
Bae Se-jin’s expression also turned serious.
It was to shake his head.
"But I don't want to promote our album like that."
I thought they were in agreement, but I guess not.
Even Seon A-hyun spoke up with a somewhat firm face.
"I… m-me too."
"……."
"If we have to, there’s no choice, but…… it feels a bit strange. It feels like we’re deceiving the fans."
"…Okay."
Keun Se-jin didn't push further and skillfully withdrew his opinion.
"I wasn't saying we should use those exact methods in the first place. I was just saying we should consider using something bizarre and provocative ourselves."
"Yeah."
"……Right. I know."
Bae Se-jin finally nodded.
At this rate, it might actually become harder to see these two fighting like cats and dogs while shouting, "Why is your way of thinking like that?"
That was a good thing.
Right, but…
The goal of the meeting remained unachieved. No matter how much we discussed, no sharp solution emerged.
I rubbed my chin.
Everything was a catch-22, and no matter how we released the album, there would be a loss…….
"……."
Wait a minute.
Album?
I felt a spark flash in my mind.
"Why did I only think about it in terms of an album?"
"Huh?"
"It doesn't necessarily have to be an album."
That was it.
From the promotions to the next full-length album. Since the cause and process of everything happening now were related to the promotion period, I had naturally only thought of the album that creates that promotion period as the solution.
But in reality, a comeback with an album isn't the only time TeSTAR can show something.
"How much large-scale content have we made besides albums?"
Self-produced content, concerts, tours, even game collaborations.
Keun Se-jin snapped his fingers.
"Ah, right! We can just show a new, intense performance in content that fans watch a lot!"
"…!"
The atmosphere of the meeting shifted at that response.
"T-that’s right! If we make it well, the fans will all see it anyway……."
"Ohhhhhh!"
"But isn't it somewhat more unofficial than an album?"
"That’s the best part."
I smirked.
"It’s not tied to chart results."
"…!!"
We could do a concept as intense as we wanted without worrying about the metrics that get so much attention—like digital rankings or physical sales.
"It’s content that primarily fans watch anyway. The general public won't care as much."
They might even pass by without knowing TeSTAR had released something like that. There would be no disappointment that it wasn't the easy-listening song the public currently expected, nor would there be any comparisons to Epic’s digital rankings!
"…And if it does get attention from the public, it’ll be because it was good enough to become a hot topic?"
"Exactly."
This was the answer.
As I was able to fire off answers to every question, my mind began to race. In a state of rising adrenaline, I turned my gaze toward the group leader.
Ryu Cheong-woo spoke.
"What’s the content with the closest schedule?"
*
A while later.
Around the time the programs TeSTAR had filmed for their promotions were nearing their end, a video was uploaded to their official WeTube channel.
But this time, no one was surprised.
[202X TeSTAR ‘HUNT or BE HUNTED’ WORLD TOUR TRAILER]
It was because the fans already knew this information. TeSTAR was resuming their tour.
—The kids are starting their tour again.
—But weren't the tickets all sold out... were more dates added? Why a promo video?
—Huh, the tour has a new subtitle? Hunt or Be Hunted?
While puzzled by the details, fans clicked on the video. They speculated that perhaps the schedule had been delayed and it was only being released now.
[Hello.]
As always, the video quality was superb.
While a more elegant and intense arrangement of their previous title track, Hunt, played in the background, several classic hotel props passed by.
A golden call bell, a luxurious lobby, a metal key, a vintage telephone.
Is the concept an old-fashioned trip?
And interspersed were black-and-white close-ups of the members' upper bodies in suits! However, shadows were cast over their faces, so they couldn't be seen clearly.
"……."
How should I put it? It lacked impact.
There’s nothing particularly new.
The 32-second video was the epitome of a tour trailer concept introduction released as a formality. Fans watched it with a lukewarm "I see" attitude.
However, the last 5 seconds changed everything.
Just as the exterior of a magnificent hotel was shown in time with the final melody of the rearranged Hunt, and the title 'HUNT or BE HUNTED' appeared in large letters.
Suddenly, a subtle color washed over the building, and a classical-style BGM began to flow.
"……?"
And then.
[-> Enter the hotel.]
[-> Leave.]
"……!"
Choices appeared.
As related videos.