1
## Chapter 1
Someone once said, “If you’re so frustrated, then you guys should get out there and do it yourselves.”
Yeah. Now I really wanted to scream.
I would do it. I’d do it myself.
So—
“Just stop giving them songs like this!”
[Impactor “Boom-Shot!” M/V]
Today was the day the five-member boy group Impactor released their sixth single.
The reason they were releasing an album with only two songs was obvious. It was basically a declaration of war that they
intended to work themselves to death doing fansigns again.
The music video, which was supposed to go up the moment the clock struck six, was uploaded a whopping twenty-seven
minutes late.
“……Wow.”
Was I really the only person who had been waiting for this?
The comment section was eerily quiet.
Not a single person was angry.
Still, up until their previous album, I had been grateful just to see them make a comeback.
[My heart goes boom boom boom
Shooting shot shot shot
Straight toward you]
At this point, I was practically in tears because I felt so sorry for the members who had to sing these damn lyrics.
If you were going to be like this, you could at least read your emails, you shitty agency. I had practically begged you
to let me give them a song, and you ignored every single one of them just so you could make them come back with this
garbage?
[‘Impactor’ Collaboration Proposal_Composer SW (Demo Attached)]
[‘Impactor’ Title Track Proposal_Composer SW (Demo Attached)]
My emails had started out perfectly normally.
[‘Impactor’ Free Music Giveaway_Composer SW (Demo Attached)]
But after a few months, I had even changed the subject line to offer the song for free.
[♨Which Zodiac Sign Will Strike It Rich This Week?♨]
[※Starting Salary Over 40 Million Won? If You Dream of Changing Jobs ☆CL☆ICK☆]
Eventually, I resorted to clickbait that was worse than spam mail.
“……Are these guys insane?”
What was even more ridiculous was that they had read the last two.
Of course, it seemed they hadn't even bothered opening the attached demo files.
“They wouldn't have come back with a song like this if they had.”
I pushed my chair back and leaned into it.
[‘Sorijeun’ Title Track Request_SJ Entertainment]
[‘Jini’ Title Track Commission_K Entertainment]
.
.
.
[Request for Producing Debut Album for New Idol Group_Starit Entertainment A&R]
On the other hand, my inbox was packed with requests from entertainment agencies.
I had become successful enough as a composer that I could pick and choose whichever jobs I wanted.
Composer SW.
That was me, Yoo Seong-woo.
They say what you like and what you're talented at rarely coincide, but I was lucky.
I was good at something I actually enjoyed.
Not only had my songs topped the music charts, but I had also worked on OSTs for movies and games I loved, and even had
songs experience chart reversals years after their release.
The results were always good.
But there was one thing that even I had never managed to accomplish—
Giving a song to Impactor.
Impactor.
They were a five-member boy group that had debuted three years ago. Their name came from adding “-er” to “Impact,”
reflecting their ambition to become a group that would have a powerful impact on the music industry.
They had debuted through their agency's own survival program, and apparently had gained quite a bit of attention during
their early days.
Good-looking faces, the boldness of rookies, and even a story built through the survival show.
After making a decent entrance into the entertainment industry, Impactor's downfall happened in an instant.
[A rapper's position, given to him because he's tone-deaf
A two-line part that ends after mumbling through it]
A mixtape in which member Go Jae-seong had dissed a famous male idol was dug up, and Impactor became the target of
indiscriminate attacks from that idol's fandom.
The bigger problem was that this lunatic hadn't dissed just one group.
That's right.
Go Jae-seong was an equal-opportunity hater.
He had even written boastful lyrics about another famous female idol, as though he could pick any member he wanted and
date her.
Despite the fact that he had never even met any of them.
On top of that, he had made ignorant remarks that were practically racist, causing K-pop fans overseas to turn against
him as well.
They say one loach can muddy an entire pond.
One Go Jae-seong had ruined Impactor completely.
If they had been completely unknown, they might at least have faded into obscurity.
But thanks to the survival show, their popularity had risen to this awkward middle ground.
Meanwhile, their fandom hadn't even had enough time to establish itself properly, so Impactor's fans scattered in all
directions.
Then a plagiarism controversy surrounding their debut song surfaced belatedly, and just like that, they began walking
the path of a hopelessly failed idol group.
Of course, some fans remained.
But even those were driven away by the agency's ridiculous attempts to protect the problematic member.
As if deliberately picking a fight with the fans, the agency made Go Jae-seong the center for the next album.
That was the final nail in Impactor's coffin.
Go Jae-seong Departure Bot @OUT_GO 2 minutes ago
Has Go Jae-seong left?
No.
Share 30 Quote 20 Like 3
Get a Grip @seeballoma 1 minute ago
There aren't even a handful of us left anymore, more like a quarter of a quarter of a quarter of a handful, and they're
doing the same shit again. These fucking lunatics.
Share 25 Quote 30 Like 10
Impactor Is Finished @mangpacter 3 minutes ago
Impactor has failed. I thought they were going to make it at one point, but they went down the drain in an instant.
Share 30 Quote 0 Like 27
And I was a male fan who had belatedly stepped into the ruins everyone else had already abandoned.
---
Did this damn agency not know how to make money except through fansigns?
They had promoted for barely two weeks, yet they were still holding fansigns for an album released two months ago.
Would you believe me if I told you today was already their twentieth fansign?
Sounds like a lie, right?
The fact that I'd attended all twenty of them sounded even more like one.
“You're here again?”
“You came yesterday too, didn't you?”
Only the most die-hard fans remained now.
They'd been there so long they were practically stagnant.
And if things continued like this, they'd start rotting.
I casually set up my camera.
When I pointed the lens at my favorite, Kang I-yul, he flashed a bright smile and waved.
‘A failed idol group with a face like that.’
That guy really had an unfortunate life.
Even though I'd come so often, there was always one thought that came to me every time.
‘This group isn't supposed to fail like this.’
“Seong-woo hyung, you're here again today?”
“I feel like I see you every day, hyung.”
“Thank you for supporting us so much during this promotion too!”
“Wow, I'm really touched.”
All four of the members had outstanding looks, personalities, and skills—
“Hello.”
“…….”
Except for this piece of deadweight, who merely gave me a little nod instead of speaking.
“…….”
“…….”
And every time I came, I had a second thought.
Why did a fansign have to make me spend the same amount of time with every member?
‘I genuinely have nothing to say to this guy.’
Apparently, Go Jae-seong felt the same way.
Just from his eyes, I could practically hear his thoughts:
‘Why would a man pay money to come see another man?’
“Seong-hoon? Seong-ho? Seong-woon?”
As expected of someone infamous for chasing women, he'd seen me dozens of times and still hadn't memorized my name.
At this point, I seriously wondered whether this was no longer a matter of effort but intelligence.
“……Seong-woo.”
The security guard standing behind him quietly said my name.
He must have been so dumbfounded that it slipped out without him realizing.
“Oh~ Seon-woo? Nice to meet you, Seon-woo hyung!”
The staff member squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.
‘Forget it. Just forget it.’
I really had nothing to say, but I somehow managed to squeeze something out.
“I heard the demo song you uploaded to social media this time.”
“Oh, really?”
“…….”
“……So? How was it?”
How was it?
It was fucking terrible. I had turned it off halfway through.
“Um, how about reducing the autotune a little?”
The guy, who had been wearing an expression like he'd been chewing on something nasty the whole time, now snorted.
“Come on. You really don't know anything. That's the charm.”
It wasn't charm.
It was probably plastered all over the song to hide his lack of singing ability.
I never knew you were such a forward-thinking person, you bastard.
The song was so full of robotic sounds that I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd learned an AI had made it.
“You really have no sense—”
This rude bastard was subtly dropping the honorifics.
“Well, what would Seon-ho know about composing?”
‘It's Seong-woo, you goldfish-brained bastard.’
“You seem to listen to SW's songs a lot these days.”
“Damn—our SW hyung is a god.”
My stomach twisted.
I wanted to tell him that I was SW and shut that flapping mouth of his myself.
“It'd be great if SW gave Impactor one of his songs.”
“Come on, SW's songs would be such a waste on us.”
Only on you, I thought, barely managing to swallow the words.
“Someone like SW hyung should release a song as my solo.”
……Should I kill him?
Being this completely incapable of self-awareness had to be a sin.
“Ah, ha, ha. Yeah, definitely. See you next time.”
No one had actually told me it was time to move yet, but surely a minute had passed by now, so I stood up.
The staff member caught me by the hand.
“Your time isn't over yet.”
...Don't make me laugh.
You mean one minute hasn't passed yet?
It felt like I'd endured an entire hour.
Only after enduring a painfully awkward staring contest did I finally hear the words:
“We'll move on now.”
“Oh, it's Seong-woo hyung!”
Who said there was no paradise where someone had fled?
Heaven was waiting for me.
This guy was my favorite.
Kang I-yul.
Before his brightly smiling face, the first thing that caught my eye was his hair.
Repeated dye jobs had turned it into something resembling dog fur, and under the lights, it looked even more tragic.
Strangely enough, the agency seemed to have completely lost its sense of taste and only ever experimented with bizarre
hairstyles on I-yul.
‘I should put some hair essence in his birthday present, too.’
What on earth had he done to the CEO to receive a life sentence of cheap hair dye?
Was being handsome a crime?
It was the first fluorescent hair color I'd seen since Ppoppi, the Maltese my childhood friend used to raise.
“Hyung, be honest. You trained to become an idol, didn't you?”
“Huh? How old do you think I am—”
“Every time I see you, I'm amazed. You have the kind of face that looks like you should be standing onstage with us.”
Not only was he handsome, he was kind, too.
“Right, there's something I've been wanting to ask you.”
“What?”
“How did you become our fan?”
I was momentarily at a loss for words.
Well, it was understandable that he was curious.
It was unusual enough for a male fan to keep coming to fansigns like this.
Even I had never imagined that, in my entire life, I would end up liking an idol.
A male idol, no less.
I'd never even been interested in female idols.
“Hmm…… I'll tell you next week.”
“What? Now I'm curious—”
I'd already entered the fansign lottery for next week anyway.
The fansign happened to fall on I-yul's birthday, so I'd give him his birthday present and tell him then.
‘I became able to write songs again because of you.’
---
“Wow, the weather is freaking insane.”
Even standing still, sweat poured down my body.
Apparently, this damn agency wasn't even opposed to last-minute fill-in events.
They had suddenly booked a local event for the day before Kang I-yul's birthday.
Bzzzz—
“What?”
It was my friend and work partner, the producer Moon Ho, Moon Geon-ho.
“Why?”
[Can you send over the work file today?]
“No? I'm outside right now.”
[Why? Wait, no way. Our I-yul—are you going to see him?]
“Yeah. I'm fucking busy, so get lost.”
Click.
I'd gone to see Impactor so often that I'd given up on pretending otherwise a long time ago.
“It's fucking hot…….”
The heat, combined with my exhaustion, had pushed my irritation to its limit.
If I ran into anyone today who pissed me off about my seat, I was one hundred percent ending up at the police station.
A trot singer.
A children's choir.
A dance team I'd never even heard of.
After waiting for what felt like forever, the host finally shouted.
“A global boy group leading the Hallyu wave! Impactor!”
The only thing about that statement that was actually true was “boy group.”
“Hello, we're Impactor!”
...Not a single person reacted.
Unable to bear the silence, I swallowed my embarrassment and shouted at the top of my lungs.
“One of our songs has the lyrics ‘boom boom boom, shot shot shot’! Shall we do it together?”
Han Sang-yoon, the leader, relentlessly tried to get a response from the crowd.
That's right.
Being an idol wasn't something just anyone could do.
“Boom boom boom, my heart beats, shooting shot shot shot toward you!”
Whatever else happened, I couldn't stand watching my boys lose confidence.
“Boom boom boom! Shot shot shot!”
I felt like a parent screaming their lungs out at a kindergarten talent show.
Still, smiles spread across the members' faces.
Kang I-yul gave a thumbs-up toward the camera.
Someday, we'd all be able to laugh about this.
‘Because things are going to get better from here.’
Even though it was just a local event, they danced and sang as passionately as they would on a music show.
Well, almost all of them.
There was one loach-like bastard ruining all the formations.
“If only that guy weren't there.”
The entire stage lasted barely a few minutes.
I'd spent a good seven hours just getting here and waiting for Impactor, only for it to end in exactly three minutes.
Still, I didn't regret it.
Every single stage was precious.
“Thank you! This has been Impactor!”
The members bowed so deeply it looked like their backs might break before finally leaving the stage.
I packed up without hesitation and returned to my car.
Now I had to drive four hours back to my studio, finish the song as soon as I arrived, sleep for an hour or two, and
then head to Impactor's fansign.
“Seriously, I think I'm busier than Impactor.”
As I drove away from the venue, I heard raindrops hitting the roof of my car.
Tap.
Drip-drip.
“What? Is it raining?”
Rain suddenly began pouring down.
It was coming down so hard that the windshield wipers could barely keep up.
“Damn it, I washed the car yesterday…….”
Across the road, headlights were flashing frantically.
“Is this a beginner driver—”
I slowly turned the steering wheel to give the car room to pass.
At that moment, the headlights flashed.
The glare was so intense it nearly blinded me.
It happened in an instant.
“……Huh?”
Beyond the headlights, I saw Kang I-yul's face.
HOOOOONK—!
It happened in an instant.
With an enormous crash, the airbags exploded.
My entire body twisted violently, and I couldn't breathe.
I didn't even know what had broken.
The thing that kept me from losing consciousness was the face I'd seen at the very end.
There was only one thought in my mind.
Please, let that not have been Impactor's car.
‘Please—’
Clutching my shoulder, which felt like it had been broken, I somehow managed to get out of my car.
It was horrific.
The car was crushed beyond recognition, and shards of broken glass were scattered across the ground.
“Ah, ah…….”
Amid the wreckage, I saw a limp hand.
I knew who its owner was just from seeing that hand.
And there was nothing more horrifying than knowing that.
“……No.”
The legs I'd barely been keeping myself upright on finally gave out.
The rain pouring down felt unbearably heavy.
It wouldn't have been strange if the weight of it had crushed me straight into the ground.
I hadn't even gotten to tell you why I'd become your fan.
As my consciousness began to fade, I had no choice but to admit it.
Today, I had killed my favorite.