Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: READY TO COMEBACK?(1)
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At the mention of being newly appointed as the head of the A&R team, I nodded.
The A&R team—short for Artist & Repertoire—was the department in the company responsible for scouting artists and music, then managing them.
These days, though, with rookie development teams handling the casting and management of new trainees separately, A&R teams had shifted to focus mainly on collecting songs for albums, planning overall concepts, and overseeing production.
Back at TL, they’d been desperate to assign staff to A&R teams just to gather good tracks.
It was that crucial for idols—high-quality songs and concepts could make or break them.
That was when Kim Kwang-myeong, sitting across from me, widened his eyes and asked.
“Oh, A&R team? It’s new?”
“Yes!”
“What?”
Ji Team Leader’s bright reply caught me off guard, and I found myself blurting out a double-take.
“Wait, so you’re saying there wasn’t an A&R team until now?”
“Oh, yeah. Up until recently, we didn’t have a separate A&R team. The planning department handled all album production. Plus, CEO Oh and Producer YellowG put in a lot of effort too… But Manager Hwang said we needed a more systematic approach to album production, so with CEO approval, we created the A&R team. And I was promoted to team leader!”
Her words left me speechless for a moment.
Come to think of it, I’d never actually seen an A&R team here. I’d just assumed one existed.
“They’ve been putting out albums and running the company without an A&R team?”
We were still newbies since debuting not long ago, but how had Sunbaes like Red Bee managed albums and promotions? It was astonishing.
At least the CEO was a talented producer, which probably covered for a lot. And the planning department had been pitching in…
‘Still, glad it’s here now.’
We’d only released our debut album so far, so it wasn’t too late. Manager Hwang had made a smart call.
That said, I should probably take another look at the company structure soon.
Who knows what else might be missing besides A&R.
‘That’s why people always trash the agency.’
I sighed, recalling the flood of complaints about EverPlanet whenever I came across info on it.
Now it made sense.
CEO Oh might be a genius at producing music, but he clearly had zero talent for company management.
‘And with trash like Manager Hong sticking around…’
Yeah, I could picture it.
Now that sharp Manager Hwang had taken over, things should improve.
‘Exhibit A: the new A&R team.’
For now, all I could do was trust and wait.
…Not that a mere singer like me had any better options.
I rested my chin on my left hand, watching Ji Team Leader prepare her presentation on her laptop at the podium.
Once ready, she gripped the PPT remote.
“Notebook’s all set. Let’s dive right into the second mini-album presentation!”
She pressed the button, and the beam projector lit up with the PPT. In the center of a soft pastel rainbow template was the title: EverPlanet Mini Album 2.
“First off, I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, but the title track is Colorful Dream!”
“Colorful Dream! Love it. Sounds great.”
“Teddy, you really like it?”
“Yeah!”
Teddy nodded, and Ji Team Leader grinned, scratching her head.
“Hehe… Actually, it was my idea.”
“Oh, Team Leader Ji, you’ve got great taste.”
“Thanks, Tae-hee.”
Somehow… they seemed to vibe well.
The way Teddy would puff up and chuckle at praise overlapped with her exactly.
“Anyway, not trying to toot my own horn. But starting from why we chose Daydream for the last album and now Colorful Dream for this one—what the exact concept is, and what roles you all need to play as artists. Let’s go through it step by step.”
Ji Team Leader ran the presentation with impressive skill.
I listened intently, pen in hand.
“First, you all know why the last album was titled Daydream, right?”
“Uh… Something about EverPlanet’s grand debut into the industry…?”
Park Su-rim mumbled, and Ji Team Leader pointed right at her.
“Exactly, Su-rim! It was EverPlanet’s first album—a declaration to the entertainment world. Concept-wise, remember the end of the music video? What happened to you all?”
“Something like a blinding white light exploding over us, I think.”
“Yes! Spot on, Jae-o. That white light explosion—we even called it the Big Bang. So, to explain why this album’s Colorful Dream, I need to touch on the worldview. Basically…”
Ji Team Leader began explaining the album’s lore in her cheerful voice, step by step.
Here’s the gist: We, EverPlanet—the guardians and incarnations of our planets—lost the battle against that ‘white flash’ and got swept away.
Plunged into the dream it conjured, forgetting our memories as planetary guardians and incarnations, even our powers.
“So… we’re trapped in the ‘dream’ created by the white flash, with no memories or powers, living like ordinary Earth humans without even realizing it’s a dream?”
“Yep! That’s it, Jae! So we named it Colorful Dream to reflect that everything’s a dream.”
Hm. More intriguing than I expected.
I found myself getting pulled into her story.
It connected organically to the previous album and felt pretty well-crafted.
This kind of tight storytelling… hard not to love it. I’m weak for narratives like this.
The old me, who’d blinked skeptically when CEO Oh first told me I symbolized Saturn, was gone. Now my eyes sparkled as I stared at Ji Team Leader.
“You’ll all be students in this album.”
“Students?”
“Yeah. Friends at the same school. You’re living ordinary school lives together, but one day, you start experiencing weird phenomena now and then. And then…”
Ji Team Leader enthusiastically unpacked the MV’s setup and story. As I listened…
‘This is fun?’
My initial intrigue was morphing into genuine enjoyment.
“Oh… and then what?”
“So what happens next?”
Looks like I wasn’t the only one hooked. Han Tae-hee and Go Eun-young behind me were urging her on with excited voices.
“That’s a secret! It’ll be revealed in the next album.”
“No way.”
“Wow… even from us?”
“Of course! You’re the protagonists—can’t spoil it early.”
With a wink, Ji Team Leader flipped to some concept photos.
Mostly pastel tones and warm, easy-on-the-eyes colors.
Then she went through each member’s character profiles and other album details in order.
Once done, she smiled, her voice turning a bit solemn.
“Now it’s up to how well you grasp and embody this concept. That’s it. And with that, presentation over. Thank you.”
She bowed, and the members applauded.
Glancing around, everyone looked pretty satisfied.
The upgraded concept had won them over.
Ji Team Leader ended the slideshow with a proud expression and asked us.
“Any questions?”
Park Su-rim raised her hand.
“Team Leader Ji.”
“Yes, Su-rim?”
“I get the concept and overall worldview. But why go to the trouble of explaining it all to us like this? Is there a reason?”
I turned to stare at Su-rim.
As expected from a long-time trainee like her—she nailed the key point.
Companies rarely broke down concepts this thoroughly.
Pre-debut basics aside, it was usually up to in-house directors.
We just received and executed.
More often, they gave on-set shooting guidelines instead of deep lore dives.
But Ji Team Leader saw it differently.
She answered Su-rim’s question as if it were obvious.
“Because you need to know.”
“…Meaning?”
“You seven are our company’s artists—and the ones bringing this concept to life. Future albums will build on this worldview organically. If you don’t even know the backstory and just follow the director’s orders… well, it’d be boring, right? For you, and for the fans watching the result.”
She was genuinely passionate about the concept and worldview.
“And personally, I think concepts are more fun when built with the artists! You’re my first official group, so maybe I’m going overboard… But anyway, feel free to contact me anytime about album or song concepts, your characters—whatever. I’ll incorporate your input as much as possible!”
Of course, pending upper management approval… She added with a cheek scratch.
Her sincerity shone through.
Not bad at all. Felt like real respect as artists.
I grinned and nodded.
“Got it. Looking forward to working with you, Team Leader Ji.”
“Same here!”
“Yeah, me too!”
Somehow, I had a feeling we’d be working with her for a long time.
In that warm atmosphere, Teddy raised his hand.
“Team Leader Ji, but was it always gonna connect like this? Glad I worried for nothing!”
“Oh, that…”
Ji Team Leader suddenly looked emotional, bowing her head and mumbling.
“…Actually, I worked really hard on it. I tried so hard to salvage that forced setup from CEO Oh and former Manager…”
“…”
“So… what was it originally?”
“Well… hostages of the white flash, fighting to conquer the universe…”
“Nope, that’s enough. You can stop there.”
Su-rim nodded, face pale.
Then Han Tae-hee spoke in a subtly trembling voice.
“Thank you so much, Team Leader Ji…”
“Thank you…”
I joined the chorus of gratitude.
Seriously… thank you. You saved us.
It was a moment of endless thanks for her grace.