Calming the Panicking Idol
Ha Suyeon soothed the half-panicked Harin (though she couldn't for the life of her figure out why she had to handle this), declared she'd participate as the collaboration composer, and soothed her all over again. They hadn't even gotten started on anything major, and already Suyeon felt utterly drained.
Not like she's some kid or anything. Wait, is she?
Harin had just debuted three years ago. And Jeong Yuyoung, the section chief, had mentioned trainee life averaged two to three years, so that made five straight years down the idol path. She looked a bit older than Suyeon, but still only around twenty or twenty-one. Maybe her reaction wasn't so surprising after all. She was the same age as Seoha and Hyeona, after all.
"Anyway... I'll be handling the collab song's composition, arrangement, recording, and whatever else comes up."
Suyeon paused mid-sentence and glanced at Harin. The idol was hanging on her every word, utterly absorbed, determined not to miss a thing. Suyeon wondered why she was acting like that. How big a fan is she...?
"I was originally just going to write the song and hand it off, but since it's a collab now, I figure I should get input from everyone involved. Any preferences, like what kind of vibe the track should have?"
"None! Just write it for us!"
Harin's answer shot back like lightning. But to Suyeon, it didn't seem quite right. Behind her, the other four members were poking at her back with dissatisfied expressions plastered on their faces. Still, Harin ignored them all with a face of steel.
"...Looks like the folks behind you do have some thoughts on it."
"They're all troublemakers! Just ignore them—they don't know what they're talking about!"
"What's a troublemaker?"
Such whispers drifted from the back. Whatever. Suyeon figured she didn't need to worry about it and spoke up.
"You all need to give me your input if you want the songwriting to go smoothly. The main melody's already there, but tweaking it can completely change the track."
"No need...! You don't have to go to all that trouble for us...!"
Harin's eyes shone with. But Suyeon caught the expressions on the others' faces beyond her—a familiar look. Where had she seen that before...? She racked her brain and remembered. It was the face the other kids made when she went off on a long explanation about guitars. The 'you're not that kind of person' vibe.
What to say...?
Suyeon pondered. She appreciated the admiration, but work was work. Worship could wait—duties came first. Better to calm things down and get to business.
But what to call her? Harin was older, but "unnie" felt off. "Singer-nim" or "teacher" sounded too formal and weird. After mulling it over, Suyeon settled on something fitting.
"Harin sunbaenim. We're professionals here, and we've got work to do. I appreciate you liking me, but... let's handle the business side first, and we can chat about that stuff later. Please."
As she said it, Suyeon felt a twinge of guilt. It was the most natural response, but telling someone who adored her like that to cut the fangirling and focus on work felt a bit harsh.
But Harin latched onto a different part entirely.
"S-sunbaenim??"
"Yes?"
Harin's eyes flew wide as she stared at Suyeon. After a beat, she muttered to the member beside her.
"Suyeon-ah. I think I need to retire now. Idol life's got nothing left for me. Team leader, I feel like I've done everything I wanted. I'll put in my resignation. Please accept it."
"What nonsense is this now?"
"Getting called sunbaenim by Group Sound? I think I've achieved my life's goal. No reason for me to stick around the music scene anymore. They say you should exit to applause, right? Stepping away at my peak has to be the best move..."
Her dialect poured out nonstop, and Suyeon thought, Is this that MZ-generation dramatics thing?
Before the collab was locked in, the track they'd been working on stuck to Aurora's idol color—even venturing outside rock. Straight rock or preserving the group's original vibe? Cream Entertainment had chosen safety over adventure.
No criticism there. It was just a song by a "rock band leader" composer, after all.
But now that it was a collab, Suyeon thought it needed to change. At least a little.
"The song's already selected, melody and all. It was in progress anyway, so sticking to that direction would finish it."
"Yes."
"But with the collab, don't you think we should shift gears? The current direction's just rock interpreted through Aurora's lens. Fans expecting Group Sound x Aurora will want our flavor."
The A&R team leader nodded vigorously. It made sense. A collab built hype—you had to deliver something different.
"I agree. It's not like the whole EP's collab anyway... Title track's undecided, track count too."
Max 50%. Two or three out of five or six tracks, probably a pre-release rather than title. That was the A&R take. Suyeon figured it was fine. Better than dropping a couple singles and shelving it.
Pre-releases carried weight too. Just compare Group Sound's album pre-release Sky Garden to title track Becoming a Star.
"Shall we get to work, then?"
Suyeon sat at Cream Entertainment's studio, flipping open her laptop. Now it was her time again.
"Come in."
A knock, and the voice from inside—Group Sound's leader, Ha Suyeon, whom she knew all too well.
"I-I'm coming in..."
"Harin-ah, this is our company. She's the guest from outside. Why are you acting like you're at someone else's place?"
"But I'm nervous!"
"You little..."
Suyeon chuckled at that. Harin stared at her with honey-dripping eyes, then lightly slapped her cheeks to snap out of it and compose herself.
Three years since debut— she'd never been this flustered even as a trainee. But ever since that day, the CEO had chewed her out. Liking someone was fine, but not to the point of disrupting work.
But how can it not be that great?
Harin had become a Group Sound stan by pure chance. Early in her career, she'd fanned over boy band Projeckt 6... specifically Ryujin.
The day she fell for Group Sound? Just casually watching Ryujin's broadcast, no big thoughts.
The moment Ryujin leaked Gray Days of Youth, Harin was watching. She heard it right then—the instant it dropped.
And she cried. For the same reason as Ryujin. Her own teens, drifting gray and meaningless.
From then on, Harin and Group Sound were one. Attacks on them online? Personal attacks. She'd pour free time into stanning or blasting antis. That's how she sniffed out Suyeon-ah's heavy internet community habit too.
"This is just a rough draft, so I only called the leader, Harin sunbae—er, Harin-ssi. I threw in guide vocals. Not sure if it'll work as a dance track..."
"It totally could."
"Well, if you say so. Anyway, have a listen."
"Got it!"
Harin clenched her fist, sat primly, and focused every ounce of attention on her earbuds. The music flowed: homely piano, doubled humming chorus. Subtle virtual drums, then piano leading the melody... followed by Group Sound's signature quivering vocals.
Harin tapped her foot unconsciously while concentrating. She glanced at the team leader—same thing, fingers twitching.
Then the sassy part hit: a section to flaunt vocals, chased by a touch of guitar solo.
"Whoa... this is amazing! Amazing! Ama—zing?"
As she spoke, Harin got why Suyeon had said that earlier. Could this even be a dance track? Totally different from Aurora's usual concepts.
"Worried about the choreo again, huh."
"Y-yeah."
"Don't sweat it. The dance team'll figure it out."
"I'm the one who has to dance it..."
"Fair point."
"But... you made this today? With the team leader?"
"Yep."
Harin was floored. As a Group Sound fan, she'd never fully bought that their image was 100% them. Not until now.
It made sense—she was an idol herself. Idols worked hard, sure, but marketing shaped everything. Look at Suyeon-ah: prim and proper on broadcasts and content, but a total male-dominated forum addict IRL.
"Wanna try recording some vocals as a test?"
"Y-yes...?!"
Harin flinched. Not mentally ready yet.
"I'm not prepared..."
"Nobody ever is. You don't come into the world prepared."
"Still..."
"Face it head-on, don't run. That mindset makes you weak. Keep dodging, and it becomes habit. For example..."
Suyeon rambled on. Harin stared blankly, then snapped to. That "aged" vibe? She'd chalked it up to character concept. But no—it was Suyeon's real self.
Long ago, when idols first emerged, fans were called "ppasuni," and stanning meant one thing: collecting clear files, seals, pencil cases... hoarding agency merch, bootlegging shows. Consuming every idol move.
Now? Different. Stanning's core remains, but with sales and charts quantifiable, some consume "performance" stats. First-week sales, MV views. Tier perceptions, who to drop.
Plenty enjoyed that game. And riding the wave: not fans, a special breed.
Nicely: "shareholders" or "ants." Nastily: gamblers. Obsessed with ups and downs, haunting stock chats, spewing nonsense or spreading rumors. Harmless to normal fans, but huge for "chart chasers"—they dig fastest intel (money on the line).
Info's asymmetric. Rumors mostly wrong, but fans ride the highs and lows anyway.
Aurora and fans? No exception.
Hot rumor drops: internal word EP flipped entirely, direction changed. Some no-name rock band providing track—bad vibes, institutions shorting soon gogogogo.
Fans shrugged: another crazy stock uncle rant. With 1st-tier hopes on this EP (their delusion), baseless bs.
But corroborating whispers piled up: staff leaks on manager turf wars, collab confirmed, tracks scrapped... band's involved but idk who, etc.
"Chart chasers" boiled over, naturally. Sucked us dry? Pivoting cash cow to new group? Curses flew: investigate, or just rip the CEO apart—no need for details.
The original leaker via securities rumor mill? Didn't even catch Group Sound's name right. "Some band or whatever joining, K-pop trend now, makes bank no?" Mouth-to-mouth mangled it—rumor without substance.
Result? "Forest Friends" hour. And as everyone knows, Forest Friends always end up fleeing.