Member Recruitment
The Han University Music Awards were ultimately held as a non-face-to-face event. It will be available for viewing on various platforms on January 15th.
At a time when society was in an uproar over the contagious disease, the news that the Han University Music Awards had given up on an in-person ceremony was more than enough to stir up the various music communities that had been completely devoid of any new information since Seo Siyeon's full album release.
The year-end stages were all canceled, the showcase events for upcoming albums were scrapped, and now even the Han University Music Awards are going non-contact. Makes sense, I guess.
[So, who's your prediction for Musician of the Year?]
Honestly, everyone already knows.
[But if Seo Siyeon keeps growing at this rate]
Could she become the GOAT of Korean popular music? Honestly, I think it's possible.
“…It’s embarrassing.”
I muttered quietly as I watched the community reactions that Jo Naeun was showing me from the seat beside me. At the same time, I was a little curious what kind of reactions they would have when they heard my acceptance speech at the Han University Music Awards.
The people around me, having sensed my inner thoughts, immediately showered me with jeers.
“Boo… You trash!”
“Don’t toy with your fans’ hearts!”
“…Siyeon, you have a surprisingly bad personality.”
“No, it’s not that bad. I’m just curious. It’s not like this happens often.”
In the entertainment industry, it wasn’t unheard of for someone to reach their peak and then suddenly stop all activities. However, it was extremely rare for someone in a position as promising as mine to halt their activities.
I grumbled as I picked up a cola can.
“Open it for me.”
“Heh… Say ‘open it for me please!’”
Unfortunately, as a delicate elementary schooler with a slender frame, Seo Siyeon’s hands still lacked the strength to open a soda can on her own.
“…Please open it for me, sis.”
“Hmm? That sounds way too stiff. Is that how you ask for a favor?”
“Ugh, sisssss! Siyeon wants to drink cola!”
“Kyahaha!”
Jo Naeun laughed brightly as she easily popped open my cola can and handed it to me. I lowered my head to hide my flushed face and whispered in a small voice.
“…I’ll get my revenge for this someday. So be ready.”
“Hehe. You’re so cute, Siyeon.”
The place we were in was a rather large private room at a Korean barbecue restaurant. There were six tables in total, and we were occupying four of them. At one table, the two managers were quietly grilling meat and drinking soju. At another, three trainees and the CEO were eating grilled meat together. The remaining two tables were taken up by the Blooming members, me, and Lee Hyena as we devoured the meat.
As you could tell from the members, we were finally holding the Blue Sky Entertainment company dinner that we hadn’t been able to have at the end of the year due to the chaotic atmosphere. Now that the year had changed, we were finally getting around to it.
“Now that I think about it, why is Hyena unnie here?”
“Because I signed with this company yesterday!”
At Jo Naeun’s question, Lee Hyena shrugged her shoulders and answered.
“Hehe. Thanks to our Siyeon, unnie gets to live…!”
“I keep telling you it wasn’t just because of our personal connection.”
I had been following Lee Hyena’s news closely and had kept in personal contact with her. That was why, the moment she left her previous agency, I was able to reach out and bring her over to our side immediately.
“Unnie’s skills are way too good to be looked down on anywhere.”
“That company’s situation was just…”
From what I heard, it seemed like she had gotten caught up in a truly terrible mess. A mid-tier agency where the headquarters factions were engaged in a power struggle. Just hearing about it sounded horrific.
“Anyway, since things have turned out this way, let’s do well together from now on.”
For the next year or so, I would have to focus more on Blooming and the new group I was creating rather than my own solo activities. Of course, that didn’t mean I planned to stop my personal activities entirely. Someone might ask how I could do personal activities without singing, but I already had a plan in mind. There was no way I would quit my activities as Seo Siyeon without thinking it through.
“Oh! That’s right. We still need to add one more person to the debut team.”
“…Yes, that does seem to be the case.”
The topic Lee Hyena brought up was a problem that had been bothering me and Lee Hajin lately. Because of the current season, it had become difficult to hold auditions to recruit new trainees. That meant we would have to scout someone from elsewhere. The most viable option was to bring in a trainee who had been dropped from one of the major agencies. However, none of the big companies were releasing trainees right now. Since we were aiming for a mid-year debut, the situation was quite troublesome. We had prepared everything from the songs to the concept, but we were missing the most important thing: people to sing and dance.
“I heard something in passing…”
“Yes?”
“Try contacting Haruka.”
“…? Didn’t she already decide on her destination?”
It hadn’t even been a week since I heard that Haruka had signed with the mid-tier agency called Neon Entertainment. With two former Starlight trainees already there, it had seemed like a pretty good choice.
“Apparently that fell through.”
Maybe it was because she still had connections with people on that side. The information Lee Hyena brought was faster than what Lee Hajun, who had been a manager for quite some time, had heard. If Haruka was willing to come here… we might be able to complete an almost dream-team level lineup.
What is the most important thing for an idol?
Vocal ability? Looks? Variety skills? Dancing?
Haruka had worked as an idol for six years in Japan and two years in Korea. So she could say it with confidence. The most important thing for an idol is the company. And the most important ability that company must possess is producing ability.
No matter how outstanding an idol’s stats are, without proper producing they cannot leave an impression on the public. Conversely, even an idol with mediocre skills and appearance can rise to the top tier if given the right producing.
That was why, when Haruka chose a company, the most important factor was the company’s capabilities. Since she could choose anywhere except the major agencies, she first negotiated with Neon Entertainment, where she had colleagues from her Starlight days. They accommodated almost all of her requests, and Haruka herself quite liked their conditions, but—
“I cannot agree to the pure and delicate concept.”
She immediately rejected the producers’ suggestion to use a pure and innocent concept that had long since gone out of style in the current era. After that, she negotiated with several other agencies, but none of them truly caught her interest.
In that situation, the person who came to mind was, of course, the girl who was currently the talk of the industry.
“Blue Sky Entertainment…”
Haruka knew quite a bit about Winter Girls. After all, they had been at their peak when she was heavily into K-pop. Because of that, she had a decent understanding of the capabilities and limitations Blue Sky Entertainment had shown back then. Excellent sales power and promotional strategies, along with songs that perfectly rode the trends of the time. In return, their choreography was terrible and their styling was tone-deaf. However, the latter issues could be fixed with money. Since they had received a large investment recently, those aspects could probably be resolved through discussion.
“And if Siyeon is there… I won’t have to worry about the songs either.”
From what Haruka could see, that child had a lot of greed when it came to producing and composing. If she joined, she would definitely end up singing songs that Seo Siyeon had created. Seo Siyeon’s capabilities had already been proven. There was no need to question the ability of someone who had won both the Composer Award and the Grand Prize at the WMA.
That was why, when she received contact saying that Blue Sky Entertainment wanted to have a meeting, Haruka gladly accepted.