Becoming a Star
“...Do we really have to do this?”
“It's your turn now. You're the only one left.”
Iseo gave that grave reply to the question, shaking her head solemnly. He stared up at the sky.
Why did it end up like this for me? Is there some reason I have to go through all this? Why is the world doing this to me?
These were things he never experienced in his previous life, things he never even imagined having to deal with.
But just because the world had changed like this, just because he'd ended up living as Ha Suyeon... was that reason enough to put up with it all? Was it okay to so casually ignore someone else's feelings?
What a heartless, callous world...
“Quit yapping and get on already!”
The filming site for Self-Content Episode 3. The theme was “Amusement Park Adventure.” With cooperation from the park operators, they got to try out all sorts of rides. The highlights were two: the Gyro Drop and the roller coaster.
“Uwaaaaaah—! Aaaah! Euuuhyaaaaah! Eueok! Aak! Keuheokheokueak!”
The content for the roller coaster was “Whose scream is the loudest?” Everyone—members and staff alike—had predicted Jeong Hyeona or Choi Iseo as the winner...
But from the looks of things now, Ha Suyeon was clearly taking the crown without a doubt.
Her piercing high note was loud enough to reach the ground.
“Did she always hate this stuff?”
“Kinda seems like it... but I don't really remember.”
Was this a slaughterhouse or an amusement park? Even passersby were staring as they waited for the ride to end.
The moment the coaster pulled in, regular visitors bolted out of their seats. Lagging behind at the rear was Ha Suyeon, looking like her soul had been devoured by a demon a millennium ago.
“A-Are... you okay?”
But “Ha Suyeon” couldn't muster a reply. He thought to himself.
Stuff like this never happened in my old life. Did I pick up a fear of heights from Ha Suyeon? I know rationally there's no real danger, that it's all just artificial thrills... but my body reacts on its own anyway.
“She's dead.”
“...I'm not dead...”
“If you're not dead, get up. We gotta keep filming. Time's wasting.”
He shot a glare at Seoha, who said that, and tried to stand. But his wobbly legs made his body sway. Iseo quickly caught him, and as he gazed at the sky again, he let out a deep sigh.
What's the point of living so long in this world...
“Anyone wanna stick around and ride more?”
Only one hand went up at those words. Yoo Seoha.
Iseo pouted for a second, then shouted again.
“Okay then... who wants to go home?!”
Two hands shot up. Jeong Hyeona and “Ha Suyeon.”
Leaving Iseo with eyes wide in betrayal, Seoha spoke up.
“We came all the way here—might as well have some fun before we go. Why rush home already?”
“I'm exhausted...”
“You'd say you're exhausted at home too, and on the way back too. All you ever say is I'm tired~ I'm beat~ I wanna go home~. That's your whole vocabulary.”
“You... hated coming here... the most...”
Seoha fell silent, nailed by the indisputable truth.
Ignoring her, he opened his mouth.
“Let's just go home. I'm wiped.”
“Seoha-unnie's right. When will we ever get to come to a place like this again? Pretty soon we'll be too famous and...”
Mid-sentence, someone approached Iseo and asked, “Aren't you Group Sound?”
They confirmed it, gathered for a group photo, and then Iseo continued.
“See? Stuff like this—soon we won't even be able to set foot in places like this. There's that saying about Yoo Jae-suk not even being able to go on family trips anymore. People swarm him for chats and pics nonstop.”
“No way I'm coming back to an amusement park no matter what. You saw me earlier—did you really think I'd come again?”
“Well, some people eat Buldak Bokkeum-myeon, so who knows.”
Time slipped by as they chatted. The sun was starting to doze off. Orange clouds filled the sky at dusk, red paint bleeding into the blue above.
“We came all this way today—at least let's take a pic before we go.”
Saying that, Iseo pulled out her phone from her bag. An ancient-looking smartphone. He recalled what she'd said before: that old relic took great photos with real vibe.
Doesn't seem like it at all...
“Say cheese~!”
The three others struck poses with the selfie stick. In the midst of it, he just raised his hand a little.
For now, that felt like enough.
This year's first-half releases were countless. Some faded into oblivion, others etched into the public's memory. Some spread far and wide, others satisfied just a few. Some topped the charts, others didn't even chart.
But if you picked the buzziest, most influential, most talked-about track...
Group Sound's Sky Garden was a lock.
Depending on who you asked, it could rank in the top three—or even number one.
Sky Garden had that kind of impact.
Band music that bucked every trend. An unprecedented girl high school band from the major leagues. Self-produced. A genre that wasn't remotely mainstream.
Yet with promotion more mass-appeal than anyone else's. People saw Sky Garden and anticipated what came next.
It was just a pre-release single, after all. So what would the even more painstakingly crafted title track be like? Similar vibe? Totally different? What quality? What genre?
Leaks from EBS Amplifier Now and eyewitness accounts gave rough clues. Unlike the razor-sharp Sky Garden, it stuck to their convictions.
But not completely divorced from the mainstream. Maybe that's why it was so intriguing.
More and more people were dying to know. Countless eyes focused on one thing.
Group Sound's debut full-length: Becoming a Star.
“It's confirmed.”
“...For real?”
“Yes. No more changes, I think. Well, I'd love to tweak it more, but...”
Go Kyung-min stared in shock. He paused, then replied.
“No time left. We have to lock it down.”
There were dissatisfying parts. Could he have made a better album? Pulled better masters?
Even after mixing and mastering, he tinkered with the tracklist. The final album: 11 tracks.
- Maybe There.
- Chromatic.
- Sky Garden (Pre-release Single).
- Belmont Message Bottle.
- Evening Glow.
- Something That Seems About to Vanish.
- Value of a Variable.
- Becoming a Star (Title Track).
- Crow's Feather.
- One Day You Came Back to Me.
- Ilmodo Won (Physical-Exclusive Hidden Track).
Track 11 was the physical-only hidden track, so 10 tracks for the public—9 new ones excluding the pre-release.
He'd originally planned 12-15 tracks, stuffing in B-sides galore. But like ruthless editing, it got trimmed down.
Even so, he wasn't fully confident. Were past successes pure luck? Couldn't the full-length spell a sudden downfall?
The public might reject his choices. Just like in his old life.
“...Should we delay it a bit?”
Go Kyung-min's words snapped him out of it. The team leader's face showed faint anxiety—the fear of no turning back.
“No. Let's go with this. It's right.”
No one knew this album better than him. If he wavered, it'd unsettle everyone else.
“It'll succeed for sure.”
That he believed. The years he'd lived, the countless songs he'd heard... fused with Ha Suyeon's talent. He trusted what they'd produced.
“Alright, let's get to it.”
The conference room was tense. They'd released other indie band albums before, but those followed traditional indie methods—no real company muscle involved.
Group Sound's debut full-length was different.
Their first EP, Plastic Nostalgia, sold around 4,000 copies total. Modest, but no MV, no dedicated staff—just a rushed art design, the rest band-handled.
Becoming a Star was another beast: full production, outsourced mastering, MV, external promo. Not idol-level budget, but plenty invested.
First-week sales were crucial. Initial sales measured fandom size perfectly—only diehards buy on release day.
It'd dictate Group Sound's path forward.
“First-week sales for the debut full-length: total...”
Lee Hyein gripped her hands tight.
Label Echo Sound was tiny compared to her old company—just one team. Failure meant dead debt.
Her prior firm could salvage failed ventures somehow, but albums? Straight to the trash heap.
Please don't let that happen...
And her daughter would get hurt too. That scared Hyein most. Beyond money, rejection of your creation was agony—she knew it well.
“10,447 copies.”
Silence blanketed the room. No one knew what to say—or how to react.
“Is that... good?”
Iseo muttered. Hyein too. Hard to gauge.
Last album: 4,000 total. This: 10,447 in one week. Tenfold jump—definitely up, but...
“It's a high number. No...”
Go Kyung-min broke the quiet, adjusting his glasses.
“A massive success.”
“Massive?”
“No indie band has broken 2,000 first-week since the late 2010s. Not even major-label giants everyone knows. Even bands more famous than us now fell short. That's the reality of album sales today.”
Yet they'd topped 1,000 on their first EP, 10,000 on the second. Numbers boy bands with big agencies hit—or mid-tier idols.
“Idols outpace us, sure—casually smashing 10k-20k. But this is a triumph. Indie's real money is live shows and tours. We've nearly broken even on albums alone.”
Go Kyung-min paused, then delivered the kicker.
“From here on, everything's profit.”