The Art of the Fluttering Heart
"So the goal... means that, as of right now, selling out both days is going to be difficult?"
"Exactly."
Hye-in's question cut straight to the heart of the matter. Team Leader Ko Kyungmin nodded in agreement. Well, nobody ever sets a goal that's easy to reach, Suyun thought. Which means, in our current state, it's basically impossible.
"The crowd we drew at Jangchung Arena was five thousand a day. And for this year-end concert, it was three thousand a day, totaling six thousand. Even at this scale, it's an incredible achievement in the current Korean music market. But we didn't gather here today just to pat ourselves on the back."
Kyungmin clicked to the next slide of the presentation. A web of complex data appeared on the screen. Suyun narrowed her eyes, staring at the massive TV to try and make sense of it all. Jangchung Arena and Olympic Hall year-end concert attendance. CD sales. Community reactions to the sold-out shows. Surveys, feedback, demand forecasts, and more.
"Five thousand seats per day... is something we can easily achieve under current conditions. And once word gets out that we're performing at the KSPO DOME, we'll likely draw in the casual listeners who couldn't get tickets before. However, our current projection suggests that we won't even fill fifty percent of the remaining capacity."
"So we need to pull in another two to three thousand people," Hye-in noted. "And they need to be die-hard fans who are willing to actually buy tickets and show up to a concert."
"We actually need more than that," Kyungmin countered. "Because..."
He pulled up a diagram of the venue, highlighting the outermost edge sections. The nosebleeds—spots where the artist looked like an ant and the sound was barely a muffled echo.
"We pride ourselves on obsessing over our sound system and screens, but in any venue this size, there will inevitably be seats that offer a less-than-stellar experience compared to the VIP sections. To truly sell out, we need to create a situation where even those terrible seats are highly coveted. We have to cultivate the kind of fans who are just ecstatic to be inside the building, regardless of where they sit."
"Is that even possible?" Suyun muttered aloud.
Everyone in the room snapped their heads to look at her.
"Suyun, you can't say things like that!" Iseor whined.
"Yeah. If our ultra-cute protagonist talks like that, then—"
"Zip it!"
Without a single warning motion, Suyun slapped her hand over Seoha's mouth.
Seoha stared at her, looking utterly betrayed. "Did you just hit your older sister...?"
"Act like an older sister if you want to be treated like one," Suyun retorted flatly, before turning back to Kyungmin.
"To be honest, I don't see why we have to obsess over the 'sold-out' title so much," Suyun said. "Ten thousand people is already a massive crowd. Even eight or nine thousand seems more than enough."
"You're right. In terms of sheer revenue, there isn't a massive difference between nine thousand attendees and a sold-out crowd of ten thousand," Kyungmin admitted. "But there is a world of difference in what those two numbers represent."
He clicked to the next slide. It showed a collage of Japanese news articles. Suyun squinted, slowly translating the headlines in her head.
...Hallyu Star Sells Out Concert, Lands in Japan! read one of them.
"Having that title changes the entire narrative," Kyungmin explained. "Since we have Japanese examples here, let's look at Japan. For instance, 'Selling out the Budokan' and 'Performing at the Budokan' carry entirely different weights to the general public. Words are funny like that. Even if you have 9,999 people in the seats, if you're missing just one person, you didn't sell out."
"Hmm..."
"So... you're saying... it will give us... a completely different level of prestige... when we... debut in Japan...?" Hyun-ah asked hesitantly.
"Exactly. Which means, in the time we have left, our primary objective is to convert casual listeners into passionate, ticket-buying fans. We have several strategies lined up for this, and one of them is..."
Kyungmin slid a document across the table toward Suyun. She picked it up absentmindedly and scanned the title, frowning in confusion.
OST Production Work Order...?
"Wait, what?! Oh my god!"
As Suyun held the paper, Iseor peeked over her shoulder and immediately shrieked. Suyun stared at her, her face practically screaming, What is wrong with you now?
"Isn't this 'The Girl Next Door'?! That webtoon is so good!"
"What's 'The Girl Next Door'?"
"Are you serious? You don't know 'The Girl Next Door'? What do you even look at in your free time?"
"Sheet music."
Iseor's jaw dropped, looking like a mute who had just swallowed a bee. Hyun-ah quickly chimed in to explain.
"It's... a Naver webtoon... It's really popular."
"A Korean comic?"
"Yes..."
"And you know about a Korean comic?"
The words slipped out of Suyun's mouth before she could stop them. Hyun-ah's expression instantly turned incredibly fierce.
"I mean, of course you could know it. You're an expert on all kinds of comics... Wait, sorry."
"A bit late to try and fix it now, don't you think?" Seoha threw cold water on her attempt to backpedal.
Suyun glared at Seoha for a brief moment before turning back to Kyungmin. "Anyway, what is this?"
"It's a drama adaptation of the webtoon, produced by a major broadcast network and scheduled for a simultaneous release on Netflix. The offer came directly to us. Filming is almost complete, and they're planning to release the main OST right before the broadcast begins..."
"Will this be okay?"
"Who knows? I'm not so sure myself," Park Hyun-tae replied to his assistant's anxious question.
This wasn't how things were supposed to go. How on earth had they ended up here? And that girl...
According to Kim Jae-hoon, she's got a nasty temper. I have no idea why Cream Entertainment insisted we work with them.
A session guitarist utterly humiliating a music director—it was an unprecedented scandal in the industry. Rumor had it that Director Kim Jae-hoon could barely show his face in public out of sheer embarrassment. And the instigator of that very incident was none other than Ha Suyun, the lead guitarist of the rock band Group Sound.
Hyun-tae grumbled under his breath as he took a long sip of his iced coffee.
A moment later, the door opened, and two people walked in. Even though it was their first meeting, they were easy to recognize. The man had to be that 'Ko Kyungmin' guy, and the girl was undoubtedly Ha Suyun.
"Hello. I'm Ko Kyungmin, Team Leader at Label Echo Sound."
"Hello. I'm Ha Suyun."
"Ah, nice to meet you. Please, have a seat."
The two sat down in the offered chairs. The assistant handed them each a cup of coffee along with two copies of the project brief. While they flipped through the documents, Park Hyun-tae spoke up.
"I originally sent the offer to Cream Entertainment, but somehow things rolled all the way over to you. Well, since we're working together now, I look forward to a good result."
"Yes, likewise. We look forward to working with you," Kyungmin replied.
The Girl Next Door. A romantic comedy webtoon targeting readers in their twenties and thirties. It had hit number one on Naver's Monday webtoon rankings and still hovered consistently in the top three. With a massive built-in fanbase, the drama's success was practically guaranteed. Filming was in its final stages, and internal reviews were highly positive. All they needed now was a killer OST to seal the deal.
When Hyun-tae had reached out to his contact at Cream Entertainment for a track, they had told him, "Our artists could do it, but honestly, there's someone better..." and recommended Group Sound.
"We owe them a big favor," his contact had said over drinks.
"But to hand over a gig like this? This isn't some minor project."
"This is exactly the kind of gig we need to hand over to clear our debt."
His friend's words had lingered. "And their work is going to be top-tier, trust me."
Hyun-tae had reluctantly agreed, and after listening to Aurora's Love Dance DIVE EP—which Group Sound had produced—he had been genuinely impressed. They certainly knew how to write a song.
"A drama OST has a very tight schedule," Hyun-tae said, leaning forward. "To be completely honest, if you think you can't handle it, I'd rather you back out now."
At his words, the girl's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"I mean, that might sound a bit harsh, and I'm not trying to look down on you. But we're used to working fast and churning things out on the spot. I don't know how you usually work, but missing a deadline here is a disaster. If the entire show is filmed and we can't broadcast because the music isn't ready, that's a massive crisis."
"While I'm not the one doing the actual composing, I can assure you that won't happen," Team Leader Ko Kyungmin replied smoothly.
"Well, I'm just expressing my concerns," Hyun-tae muttered, resting his chin on his hand before continuing.
"So, are you in?"
"Yes," Suyun nodded.
While the assistant scrambled to pull out the contract paperwork, Hyun-tae took Suyun's copy of the brief and pointed to several sections.
"The OST will be placed roughly here, here, and here. There are other spots, of course, but these are the key moments. In terms of the script... wait, have you read the script?"
"I haven't received it."
"Ah, I only sent it to Cream. I'll have my assistant send it over, so make sure to read it. Overall, it's about... how should I put it? Twentysomething romance? You'll get it once you read it. It has that fluttering, heart-tickling feeling. But the second male lead also has a bit of an obsessive streak, so there's a slight thriller vibe to it too. If you look at these scenes here, you'll see what kind of atmosphere we're aiming for..."
After listening to a barrage of explanations and receiving the project plan, Suyun had officially begun working. A day later, she stared at her notes and muttered to herself.
"What on earth does this even mean...?"
"The OST needs to capture a heart that wavers but ultimately chooses someone—a mind that hesitates and fluctuates, but eventually solidifies its feelings."
That was what the music director had told her with an incredibly solemn face. She had jotted it down on the spot, but the emotion was completely foreign to her. She had made something similar for their first EP, but that wasn't because she had set out to write a love song; it was just that Iseor's lyrics had shaped it that way. Still, a client's request was a client's request.
Staring at the monitor, Suyun twirled a strand of her hair. Should I just write it the way I wrote 'Meteor'?
"What are you doing?"
"Working."
"Obviously. I'm asking what you're working on."
"If you know I'm working, you could probably put two and two together and remember that I told you guys I was starting on the OST..."
Suyun turned around. The other three members had snuck up behind her and were practically breathing down her neck. While Suyun flinched in surprise, Iseor snatched the sticky note off the monitor and read it aloud.
"'A heart that wavers but ultimately chooses someone—a mind that hesitates and fluctuates, but eventually solidifies its feelings.' What kind of gibberish is this?"
"I have no idea."
"I figured you wouldn't..."
"Do you?"
"Of course I do! This is basic stuff."
"Oh, so you have experience? Please, enlighten me. Give me an example."
At that, Iseor fell dead silent. Suyun stared at her for a moment before turning her gaze to the other two.
"Do you guys know?"
"I... am actually an expert on this kind of thing..." Hyun-ah mumbled.
"Oh? In what way?"
"It... comes up a lot in comics and novels..."
"How can you claim to understand love just by watching fictional characters date each other? You have to actually experience it yourself."
"I do understand it...!"
"So, in other words, you've never actually dated a real person. Is that it?"
A second heavy silence descended upon the room. Suyun turned her head to look at Seoha. But before she could even open her mouth, Seoha fired back with a question of her own.
"Do you have any?"
"Of course I don't, that's why I'm asking."
"No, I mean, have you ever dated anyone?"
"Hmm..."
At the question, Suyun took a moment to search her memories. Did I have any romantic experience?
There was Malsuk, who used to share her side dishes with him when they were kids. The teahouse hostess who used to follow him around because she liked him. The female singer who asked him out after he taught her a few guitar chords. And a handful of others...
Suyun was about to boast that she actually had plenty of experience, but then she realized none of those memories belonged to her current body. And what about now? If she were to date a guy in her current state...
"Ugh, barf."
A sudden wave of intense nausea washed over her, and she quickly bent over, clutching her stomach. Yeah, I should definitely not think about that.
While Suyun was busy fighting back her gag reflex, Seoha spoke up.
"You don't even have any experience yourself, so why are you lecturing us?"
"Do you?"
"I'm married to music, thank you very much."
"And does this music you're married to even exist?"
"Tons of music loves me."
With a smug grin, Seoha pulled up a video on YouTube. It was a track that sounded like a typical drama OST. After a quiet, atmospheric intro, the song swelled into a famous, catchy chorus.
"At the end of the day, isn't it just about writing a hook that sticks in people's ears? Who cares about experience? I don't think you need to overanalyze it so much."
"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you've never dated anyone?"
"Absolutely not."
Looking at Seoha's completely unconvincing face, Suyun shook her head. How is it possible that out of three teenage girls, not a single one has any dating experience? No wonder the birth rate is plummeting. The world is going to ruin.
Back in my day, just locking eyes was enough to start dating, and we all thought holding hands would make a baby. Kids these days have absolutely no drive to get things done...
Of course, Suyun herself had absolutely zero intention of contributing to the birth rate, but that didn't stop her from grumbling and judging them like a grumpy old man.