A Major Debut
He stared intently at the clock, which seemed to be moving exceptionally slow today.
5:59:30 PM, 35 seconds, 40 seconds.
After waiting a few more seconds, the moment it struck exactly 6:00 PM, he raised his voice slightly and addressed the office.
"Great work today, everyone."
"Time to head home!"
"Thank you for your hard work! I'm heading out!"
"Ha-chan, aren't you leaving?"
"Ah, I still have a bit of work left today..."
"Let's go grab a drink."
The employees were deeply moved by the sudden, unexpected order to leave right on time. Watching his delighted staff, he tapped his documents together to neaten them, slipped them into his bag, and stood up.
"Manager, would you like to grab a drink with us today?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I have a very good reason to get home early tonight."
"Ah, that's a shame."
Perhaps because they were in high spirits from leaving early, his subordinates had voluntarily invited him out. Normally, he would have gladly agreed and drunk himself under the table, but today he declined without a moment's hesitation.
There was something he absolutely had to buy today.
Taking a slightly longer detour than his usual commute, he headed to the Tower Records near his house.
The moment he stepped inside, the song playing over the speakers was the very track from the album he was looking for.
It really does seem popular.
He walked past the special display at the very front of the store—filled with recent releases from popular bands, K-pop, and Johnny's idols—and took a few more steps inside.
There, he spotted another special corner.
The display bore obvious signs of being put together in a rush, featuring crudely printed, laminated photos alongside typography drawn in a distinct Don Quijote style.
"Oh! Mr. Naruoka. What brings you here today?"
"Well, to buy an album, of course."
"An album? But you just bought the new Spitz record the other day."
"Not that one. This one."
He answered the familiar clerk's question, pointing at the special display in front of him.
The clerk let out an understanding "Ah!" and chimed in.
"We worked so hard decorating this corner. We had no idea it would sell this well."
"Really?"
"Don't even get me started. The stock we have right now is what we scrambled to get from the distributor after completely selling out our entire opening day inventory. Even then, we only have a few copies left."
"Oh, boy. I was debating whether to come today or not. If I hadn't, I might have missed out."
"You'd better grab it quick. There's no telling when it'll be gone."
Even as they spoke, an elderly woman who looked slightly older than him picked up a copy of the album. Naruoka scratched the back of his head at the sight, then picked up a copy for himself. The heavy, premium weight of the physical album—so different from standard releases—felt incredibly satisfying in his hands.
"Welcome home, Father."
"I've drawn your bath."
"Thanks."
After soaking in the bath, he washed up and sat down to have dinner with his family. Their conversation was nothing out of the ordinary—just casual chatter about how their days went.
Then, leaving his children to head to their rooms, he unwrapped the album he had bought.
"What did you buy?" his wife asked.
"An album. The music is quite good."
"Didn't you just buy a Spitz album recently? Was there another one worth buying? Did Southern All Stars release something new?"
"No, it's that one from recently. Love Can't Be Erased with an Eraser."
"Ah... was it the theme song for that? It was a good song."
Once he peeled off the rustling plastic wrap, a hardcover case was revealed. It was flat and simple, yet possessed a beautiful, monochromatic cover. Inside was a slim photobook and a booklet of liner notes. He stared at the photobook for a moment, then opened the sleeve at the back to slide out the CD.
"How much was it?"
"About forty-four hundred yen, I think."
"That's a bit expensive. Why is that?"
"Look at the case. But well, it's very pretty. It looks nice enough to just leave out as a decoration."
Saying so, he inserted the CD into the old but well-maintained CD player in the living room. As he pressed play, a low hum vibrated from the fifteen-inch speakers on either side, and the music began to flow.
How much do I have to tell you
Or how far do I have to drift away
I still don't know, but anyway...
Despite the old speakers, the texture of the instruments was remarkably distinct. Not a single sound was muddy or lost in the mix; every instrument was clearly separated.
Yesterday, I walked around the neighborhood
The flowers had already bloomed
Why couldn't I see this with you?
And then came the melody, which naturally lifted the listener's spirits. Listening to the music flowing from the speakers, he unconsciously swayed his shoulders and nodded his head. He glanced to his side. His wife seemed to be feeling the exact same way.
Just listening to this one track makes it feel like it was worth every penny.
"Oh!"
As they were enjoying the music together, their daughter, who had come out to grab a glass of water, suddenly let out a gasp and rushed over to him. Alternating her gaze between the album in his hand and his face, she spoke in a tone of sheer disbelief.
"Dad, you bought this too?"
"Why?"
"Because I bought it too..."
Saying so, she quickly ran back into her room and emerged holding the exact same album he had just unwrapped. The name printed clearly on the cover: Group Sound.
"You bought the exact same thing as our daughter."
"Well, look at that... What a waste of money."
"How is this a waste of money? It means we're giving twice as much money to the girls, so we're supporting them twice as much!"
"Aren't they older than you?" his wife teased with a chuckle.
Their daughter scratched the back of her head, looking a bit embarrassed, before clinging to his side and starting to explain.
"There should be a photobook in here somewhere. Ah, here it is. Look here, this girl... this unnie is the leader and the guitarist. Her name is Ha Suyun..."
Watching his daughter explain so passionately, he smiled to himself. As he grew older, he had felt a growing distance between himself and his children, but he felt this might be a chance to grow closer to them again.
34,000 copies.
That was the first-day sales figure for Group Sound's first full-length album, Out of Time.
It continued to sell steadily, moving 12,000 copies on the second day, 15,000 copies on the third day...
Within a single week, the album easily blew past their original target of "30,000 copies in first-week sales" and reached an incredible 80,000 copies.
Furthermore, this figure excluded the 30,000 copies allocated for sale in Korea...
Even without factoring in the fact that they were a rookie band, it was an exceptionally high sales volume.
"How big of a deal is eighty thousand copies?"
"Well, eighty thousand copies in first-week sales..."
Manager Jeong scratched his head. He tried to think of a good comparison, but nothing immediately came to mind that would truly put it into perspective. The figure of 80,000 was both incredibly large in one sense, yet relatively small in another.
"Korean girl groups or boy groups with established fandoms usually sell about that much in Japan! Around fifty thousand to a hundred thousand copies?"
"That's quite a lot."
"Other than that, maybe artists with decent-sized fandoms? Famous singers nowadays sell about that much! If we're talking about people famous in Korea, like Ado, Yoasobi..."
"Compared to their name value, their sales are surprisingly low. Did we sell a lot, then?"
"Well, there are plenty of popular bands! For example, a band like King Gnu sells around three hundred thousand copies, and bands like Spitz or Mr. Children still sell over a hundred thousand! If I recall correctly, Southern All Stars' recent release topped over four hundred thousand copies!"
Hearing this, Suyun twirled a strand of her hair. She thought they had sold a massive amount, but it seemed they weren't quite in the ranks of "popular bands" just yet.
However, as if reading Suyun's expression, Manager Jeong smiled slightly and spoke.
"But then again, no band has ever sold eighty thousand copies of their debut album! And that's without even doing a single tour!"
"...Well, that's true."
Suyun said, picking up their album. It was clear that a lot of care had gone into the design. Inside the hardcover case was a mini photobook containing fifteen photos in total—one for each member, styled in 1960s, 70s, and 80s aesthetics.
And turning to the next page...
"Did you really write this with a straight face?"
"What?"
Suyun spoke to Iseor, who had just emerged from the restroom. Iseor approached, raising both hands and tilting her head side to side as if asking what she meant.
"What's that?"
"A mysterious pose."
"Is there even such a thing as a mysterious pose?"
"Why would you think there isn't? It's entirely possible, isn't it?"
Suyun stared at her face for a moment, wondering what kind of nonsense she was spouting, before turning her attention back to the liner notes. It was a small booklet containing brief yet detailed commentaries on the tracks and lyrics.
"Look at this. 'Before too late is... a song I worked on with a great deal of affection. In the lyrics, I wanted to express the fear of passing time. For instance, we let so much time slip away in our lives. Haven't you ever had a moment like that? When you're watching a movie on cable in the dead of night, and suddenly, everything just feels utterly empty. It feels as though you're the only one awake in the early hours, while everyone else is living diligently without wasting their time like this... that kind of feeling...'"
"Hasn't everyone felt that way at least once? Is it just me?"
Suyun stared at Iseor, utterly dumbfounded. How could a kid who had barely turned twenty say something like that?
Fear of passing time? Letting so much time slip away? You've barely even lived...
For the first time in a while (though it hadn't actually been that long), Suyun felt her inner boomer rising up. She barely managed to suppress her irritation by thinking of some silly internet meme she'd seen: 'Hold it in, my other self...!'
"I do have moments like that," Manager Jeong agreed.
"Right?"
Suyun frowned as she watched Manager Jeong sympathize with such absurd remarks. It felt less like professional artist care and more like genuine sincerity.
"That's why I mostly watch variety shows at night. Reruns. When I'm watching something like Infinite Challenge, it makes me feel like there's at least one other person out there watching the same thing!"
"I know exactly what you mean. Anyway, that's why I've stopped fooling around late at night lately. It felt so empty wasting time like that..."
"Once you get older and start working, you realize how precious that time is... Ah, I suppose you won't be living the office life anymore!"
"Who knows? You never know how things will turn out in life."
Let's just ignore them.
Suyun thought as she listened to their conversation, turning her gaze back to the album.
Eighty thousand copies in the first week...
To be honest, it was a figure no one could have predicted. After all, who would have expected a band that had only released a single digital track in Japan—even if they were successful in Korea—to sweep up 80,000 copies in first-week sales? Even the leader of the band herself hadn't expected it.
But looking back, there were plenty of reasons. Though unintentional, they had made music that appealed to an older demographic—people who had the financial means to buy albums and still maintained a culture of collecting physical media. At the same time, they hadn't lost their youthful sensibility (Suyun genuinely believed this), keeping a refined, sophisticated edge. The album design was also excellent, transcending a mere collectible to the point where it could easily serve as a decorative piece in any living room.
On top of that, searching the internet revealed reviews like, "It's been so long since a proper girl band came out, so I just bought it without thinking." There were countless reasons. Though she would have to do a proper analysis later.
Come to think of it, how is the label reacting?
As her thoughts drifted, Suyun suddenly wondered. During the album negotiations, to speed things up, they had adjusted the profit-sharing ratio based on a projection of... if she recalled correctly, around 50,000 copies.
With eighty thousand in first-week sales, plus thirty thousand in Korea, that's a hundred and ten thousand copies...
What would Zenith Music think of this massive overshoot? Well, it probably didn't have much to do with her anyway.
"Manager Hayasaka, did you hear the news?"
"Pardon?"
A short while after Group Sound's album was released and the first-week sales figures were tallied. Walking down the hallway, Hayasaka turned around at the quiet voice calling out from behind him. It was a female employee from another team whom he was on friendly terms with.
"What news?"
"That there's going to be a personnel reshuffle."
The female employee stepped closer, whispering as if sharing a deep secret. Hayasaka scratched his head. The regular period for personnel transfers had already passed, so what was this sudden reshuffle about?
"Is it a special reshuffle? But why?"
"I heard there's going to be a transfer in the A&R team. You haven't heard?"