Watching the Sparks Fly
"Hello."
"Ah, hello. Have you been well?"
"I've been doing fine, nothing special. Though I was recently diagnosed with diabetes at the hospital..."
"Wait, Team Leader Ko, you didn't mention that before. You're so thin, I would've never pegged you for diabetes."
"I thought so too, but apparently it runs in the family. And at my age, the body just starts breaking down..."
Rather than a standard greeting, they exchanged somewhat melancholy updates. Suyun sat down as guided by Team Leader Ko. While she took a long sip of the iced coffee on the table, Team Leader Ko spoke up.
"How is life in Japan?"
"It's hot."
"Well, it is a hot country. Anything else? Like the dorms, for instance. Isn't your lease about to expire soon?"
Suyun looked up at the ceiling. The dorm... it was cramped. There was no personal space; it felt like they shared absolutely everything.
"It's cramped, but..."
"Yes?"
"Well, it's not like we're going to stay in Japan forever. Once we establish ourselves, we'll head back to Korea, right? Like you said before."
"Right."
"It'll probably take a year or two, so it feels a bit pointless to change things now. I don't know how the other girls feel, but..."
But Suyun felt it was better not to change it. Living in a bustling, crowded space meant she never got bored, which was nice. She wouldn't want to live in a dorm back in Korea, but as long as they were in Japan, she didn't mind rubbing shoulders a little longer.
"Understood. We'll leave it at that, then... You're planning to sell some songs this time, right? Through the channel we discussed before."
"Yes."
"That's entirely possible. We set up that pipeline specifically for sales in the first place. But why the sudden interest...?"
Team Leader Ko adjusted his posture slightly. The chances were low, but he wanted to be ready in case this turned into a serious conversation. If she was planning to enter the songwriting business in earnest, they would need to hire staff to pitch her tracks.
"No big reason. I just want to buy a guitar..."
"A guitar?"
"Yes. But I'm looking to get a custom one from a really good workshop, and it costs more than a used car. I was wondering where I could scrounge up the cash, and figured selling a song would be the easiest way."
"Ah... I see."
It was a rather absurd reason. Selling a masterpiece just to buy a guitar. Yet, as Team Leader Ko gave his reply, he thought it was a classic Suyun reason—she was absolutely obsessed with guitars.
"You haven't decided where to sell them yet, right?"
"No, nothing specific. Just send over the agencies we currently have open channels with. I'll look into their profiles and references, write something up, and let you hear it."
"Understood. We have the references organized for business use, so I'll email them to you shortly."
"Thank you."
That evening, while Suyun was having dinner with Hye-in at home.
"Suyun. Mom heard from Team Leader Ko."
"Yes?"
"He said you're trying to sell a song? To buy a guitar."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Are you short on cash? Want Mom to chip in?"
"No, it's fine. I'm all grown up now."
Suyun picked up her spoon but had to set it down almost immediately. Hye-in was already vigorously ruffling her hair.
"Aigoo... My little Suyun is all grown up."
"I was always grown up."
"All grown up, look at you~"
"Ah, Mom, stop!"
As if symbolizing their close emotional bond, Hye-in kept messing up her hair. Suyun shook her body like a wet dog to break free, then picked up her chopsticks. Pork belly had to be eaten before it got cold to taste its best.
As she popped a piece of samgyeopsal into her mouth and chewed thoroughly, Hye-in spoke again.
"Oh, right. Suyun. I was thinking, why don't you give a song to... what was their name... Aurora? Those girls."
"Whu? Why dem all of a thudden?"
Suyun mumbled through her food. Hye-in had never once interfered in Suyun's music—or more accurately, her "work."
"Well, that Cream Entertainment executive... what was his name? Jeong Yong-jae? Anyway, he sends gifts to our house every holiday."
"What?"
"And not long ago, those Aurora girls? They became the advertising models for my company. Did you know?"
"Of course I didn't."
Hye-in pulled out her phone and showed her a photo. It was a picture of the Aurora members on her mother's company website. They were clearly posing as brand models.
"Even if my company is B2B, we still need models. But they came and offered a great deal. It was about fifteen percent cheaper than the usual rate. So I agreed, and the idol members worked incredibly hard during the shoot."
"Mom. That's obviously..."
Suyun shook her head. Since they knew they'd get a flat rejection if they asked her directly, they were using this roundabout method to curry favor.
"Of course I know. I run a business, after all. But they showed such sincerity, and they actually gave us a discount. It's not like they were guaranteed a song, either. Isn't that just how the world works? Scratching each other's backs."
"Ah, yeah. I guess..."
Suyun twirled a strand of her hair. Seeing her mother go this far meant the other side had put in a massive amount of effort.
"Well, fine. I get it."
"Good. You should always repay those who show you kindness and goodwill."
Though it feels like all that goodwill went to you, not me.
Suyun shook her head to dispel the thought. Since Hye-in was her mother, treating her mother well was essentially the same as treating Suyun well.
It's not like I can only hand over one song. I'll just have to be a bit busier. Since Mom asked...
Realizing she was powerless against her mother's requests, Suyun took another spoonful of rice. At any rate, the food was delicious.
That night, Suyun picked out two suitable tracks based on the references Team Leader Ko had sent, finished the basic arrangements, and sent out the emails. One went to Team Leader Ko, and the other went to Cream Entertainment.
She was only pulling out songs she had already written, and she planned to let them handle the arranging, mixing, and mastering, which was why she could work at such a breakneck speed.
The reply came the very next morning, right at 9:00 AM.
"Suyun-nim!!"
"Hello."
"Thank you so much!!!!"
"Sunbae-nim, your voice is a bit too loud..."
The moment her phone screen flicked to 09:00, Harin, the leader of Aurora, called. Suyun pulled the phone away from her ringing eardrum. But Harin was either not listening or simply too overwhelmed with emotion. She continued to blast through the speaker.
"Seriously!! I heard you're taking charge of our song this time!! Wow!! Seriously, Suyun-nim, I loved Kingdom so much, and I'll Wait and Faintly, But Surely were absolutely amazing!! I am so, so sorry, but I actually watched a leaked video of your Summer Sonic performance!! But starting from Paradox, the songs were just so insanely good! Do you have any plans to release a festival version album?!"
"W-Well, we are giving that some thought..."
"But more importantly, aren't you performing in Korea?! I couldn't go last time because of my schedule, but if you perform in Korea this time, please, I really want to go..."
"Unnie, please!" a voice pleaded in the background, followed by a loud clattering noise. After a brief moment of silence, a different voice came through the line.
"Hello. This is Executive Director Jeong Yong-jae."
"Yes, hello. This is Ha Suyun."
"Our girl got a bit overexcited..."
"No... it's fine. It happens."
Suyun twirled her hair. Well, people get excited. The real business only began after the executive expressed his deep gratitude.
"We listened to the song. Of course, it's a track written by you, Suyun-nim, but it's also just incredibly good, so we have absolutely no complaints. As for the schedule you mentioned in the email... you want to get this done as quickly as possible, right?"
"Yes. I'm currently on vacation, so I'd like to wrap this up and head back to Japan within this timeframe."
"You're on vacation?! And you're working... Oh dear."
His voice was thick with genuine pity. Suyun didn't correct him. She couldn't exactly say, Actually, this isn't work. I'm just earning some pocket money to buy a guitar.
"Understood. I'll set up the schedule as quickly as possible. I'll call you back before noon. You should probably expect it to be tomorrow or the day after."
"Sure, sounds good."
The phone rang again an hour later.
"Would tomorrow from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM work for you? I apologize for the late hours, but since you're on vacation, we figured it's best to get it done as fast as possible."
"Yes, that's fine. I'll head over to Cream around 1:00 PM after lunch."
"Ah, in that case, let us buy you lunch. If you can make it by noon, you can eat with the girls and then jump straight into the session."
"Sure, will do."
And so, she had lunch with the members of Aurora.
Harin posted proof shots and free advertisements for Group Sound on Instagram about fifty million times.
"Like I said, I'll only be handling the vocal directing. I don't think I'll have time for anything else."
"That's perfectly fine. We're just grateful you gave us a song."
Suyun ushered the Aurora members into the recording booth and began directing their vocals. She provided real-time guide vocals for the lyrics Cream Ent had written.
"I didn't really write the song with that kind of vibe in mind. Right now, how should I put it... it sounds a bit too bubbly and sparkly."
"It's not bad, but let's try dropping the 'the' at the beginning. Actually, try cutting the breathiness by half. No, make it a quarter."
"The sibilance is a bit too sharp. It stands out too much. Soften it up. Make it pretty. Even if the track itself is powerful, the vocals should remain pretty."
For eight hours straight, Suyun directed the vocals without a break. As a result, Cream Entertainment walked away with a highly satisfying recording.
"Suyun-nim...! Can't we see each other more often?!"
"Fans and stars shouldn't see each other too often. It ruins the illusion."
"I know, but still...!"
"Harin. Let Suyun-nim go. Suyun-nim, we'll transfer the songwriting fee as soon as the payment is approved."
"Thank you."
Leaving behind Harin, who was practically wailing for her to stay for coffee, Suyun wrapped up her schedule for the day. After sending a few more details about the song to Team Leader Ko, she returned to Japan a few days later.
To Suyun, it was just a minor side gig.
However, to the Korean music industry, it carried a completely different weight.
Question. Is the idol market—specifically the K-pop idol market—a zero-sum game or not?
At first glance, it might not seem like a zero-sum game. Just because someone likes Idol A doesn't mean they can't like Idol B. Buying Idol A's CDs and merchandise doesn't stop them from buying Idol B's CDs and merchandise.
But once you look at the core fandom, it is very much a zero-sum market.
This is because the core fandom's consumption pattern involves pouring astronomical amounts of money into their chosen idol. Buying stacks of albums to get into fansigns, purchasing merchandise, going to concerts... How many of these dedicated fans an idol group possesses directly determines their revenue, and the number of such fans is strictly limited.
Therefore, the idol market exists in a unique state where it appears non-zero-sum but behaves like a zero-sum game.
Because of this, it is rare for idols of similar tiers to clash head-on. A direct confrontation inevitably produces a loser, and the loser is bound to face ridicule. Naturally, the fans of the losing group will storm the agency's social media, screaming, "Are you insane? Why would you schedule a comeback at the same time?!"
To avoid that headache, it is far more profitable to schedule comebacks so they don't overlap.
And yet, even if direct head-to-head clashes are rare, comebacks scheduled just a week apart happen surprisingly often.
Just like right now.
"Why is Aurora suddenly making a comeback?"
"Who knows. Maybe they finally got some confidence."
Even the most hardcore Korean internet idol fans had to admit it. Even the countless haters would begrudgingly agree, "Yeah, they're top-tier."
The undisputed top-tier girl group of Square Entertainment: Various.
The manager in charge of Various replied to the road manager who had muttered while looking at an online article.
"Well, there is a rumor."
"A rumor?"
"Word is, they got their hands on an incredibly good song. It was approved the moment they heard it. They were originally planning to make a comeback later, but they moved it up for this."
"Still, overlapping with us is a bit much."
"Maybe they want to test themselves against us now. They've leveled up quite a bit, after all."
Saying so, the manager leaned back in his chair and locked his hands behind his head. He looked completely relaxed.
"But our song is amazing this time too, so I don't know if they can even compete."
"Ah, the new song? Have you heard it, Hyung?"
"You haven't?"
The manager looked at the road manager with a look of slight pity. How could he not have heard it yet, even at his level? That masterpiece of a song.
"It's going to be huge this time. The song itself is great, but..."
"But?"
"The composer is the one who wrote Starfire. I mean, that basically seals the deal, doesn't it?"