The Live Broadcast Gamble
When I said I wanted us to perform live on the music show, Park Yunchan PD's expression stiffened.
“Ah... Seoha. A live performance on that day just isn’t possible. Even with the regular crew, a band live is a hassle, and we can’t cover it with replacement staff.”
“Yeah, that’s why we came early to get everything ready ourselves.”
“Hey, knock it off already.”
Heo Junseong, seated beside me, jabbed my side with his elbow.
Then Park Yunchan PD took over again.
“I understand how you feel, Seoha, but a live broadcast is still going to be difficult. There are too many technical limits.”
“I know. Just organizing the instrument cables alone will take forever, and matching the live sound to the broadcast feed will be a pain, too. We’d have to handle the post-production corrections separately as well. So I’ll take care of all of that.”
“You’ll do all of it yourself?”
“Yes. There’s someone willing to help us, too. Only one person, though.”
“Someone willing to help?”
“Jo Hyeonseop.”
“Jo Hyeonseop? The Jo Hyeonseop who produced Uptown Boys?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And how do you know him?”
“He’s just the guy from our neighborhood.”
Park Yunchan PD leaned back deeply in his chair.
“If Mr. Jo is helping, then...”
He looked like he had plenty more he wanted to ask, but that wasn’t the point right now, so he swallowed the rest of it down.
“PD, no.”
The assistant director tried to stop Park Yunchan.
“Hold on.”
Park Yunchan PD sank into silence and turned the matter over in his mind.
“Honestly, if we can do it live, it does look better on screen. It would also show that, even with the strike going on, we still gave an ordinary participant a good chance.”
As expected, bringing up a bigger name really did help in negotiations.
“That said, we can’t just say yes without conditions. We’ll handle the post-production corrections on the station’s side, but before the morning rehearsal starts, OKTOP will take care of the cable setup.”
“Yes, sir. Leave it to us.”
“However, if you don’t finish before rehearsal begins, there will be no live performance. That’s not something you can get by throwing a fit over.”
“Yes, sir. We’ll make sure it gets done.”
“And, of course, if any equipment gets damaged, we’ll hold you responsible.”
“Yes, sir. We understand.”
Just like that, I’d secured a promise for live performance as well.
I turned to my friends with a look that said I’d just accomplished something.
I wanted to see what expressions they were making.
Probably something bright, like mine...
Nope. For some reason, they all looked sulky.
Hey, what on earth is the problem?
After the meeting ended, on the way home—
“Hey, can you really just go that hard in a meeting with adults?”
“Yeah, Seoha. You should at least keep your manners.”
Was I really rude?
That didn’t seem right.
Come to think of it, they were the ones who were too much like adults.
It was natural for high school kids to be deferential in front of adults.
I just didn’t have that natural instinct.
Still, if we needed something, we had to get it.
“Hey, then are you guys seriously going to go on a music show and just mime the instruments?”
“No, I mean, it’s great in the end, but what if we mess around with the equipment and break something?”
“Don’t worry. It won’t break.”
“Look at this guy, barging ahead without a care. How do you even know that?”
I’ve got eight years of music show experience under my belt.
They were worrying way too much.
“We have to do this live, no matter what. The whole reason we’re taking abuse and chasing buzz is to prove ourselves. But what are we supposed to prove if a band goes onstage and just mimes?”
The guys who’d been nagging me a moment ago all fell silent.
“Music shows have this strong image of being for idols, but to us, it’s nothing more and nothing less than a stage. If a band goes onstage and doesn’t perform live, then why even go?”
They started nodding.
“If you’re too scared to do live because you might break the equipment, say so now. I’ll go back and tell them we’re not appearing on the music show.”
“No, let’s do it. You’re right.”
“Yeah, and Mr. Jo Hyeonseop said he’d help us, too.”
Lee Doyeong and Heo Junseong joined in.
“Yeah, and I’m pretty good with equipment, too.”
“Interesting. Fine, let’s give it a try.”
I’d won over Kang Min and Kim Jihoo as well.
Now all that was left was to get ready for real.
If we appeared on a music show, just how noisy would the band scene become—no, how noisy would the whole world get?
The thought of all the abuse and attention we’d get made excitement start to bloom in me.
On the surface, interest in OKTOP seemed to be fading.
That made sense. OKTOP wasn’t doing broadcast promotions like other celebrities, and the media they could use to keep their popularity afloat was limited.
81. OKTOP - Rendezvous
61. OKTOP - Cruise!!
But the data told a different story.
Rendezvous by OKTOP had climbed all the way to 81st on the music rankings.
Of course, once a song enters the chart, it’s normal for the rank to rise a bit after that.
Even so, for a track sitting that far down, the growth rate was impressive.
The surprise didn’t end there.
In both public opinion and at the scene, Cruise!! had actually been getting a much better reaction than Rendezvous, and once it charted, it started climbing at a frightening pace.
The performance video uploaded about a month ago to the Human Kim Juhee channel had played a huge role in that.
Even in the freezing weather, the sight of OKTOP singing and playing with everything they had stirred up a powerful urge to support them.
By now, the video had already blown past 400,000 views.
And that influence was bleeding straight into the rankings.
From the beginning of the year, OKTOP had been overflowing with good news.
There were plenty of critical voices mixed in among the people cheering OKTOP on, but in the end, they were all still spectators.
Those who sent love and those who hurled abuse were both, after all, looking at OKTOP.
But there still weren’t enough of them.
No matter how I thought about it, I wasn’t satisfied, so today we were going to make things even bigger.
“Ugh, I’m sleepy...”
The station had told us to report at 7 a.m., but because we had to prepare for the live, we’d agreed to get there by 5 at the latest.
Of course, we weren’t going alone.
We were going with Mr. Jo Hyeonseop, who’d come along as our manager, guide, handler, and guardian.
“Sorry to drag you out this early.”
“No. Letting you go by yourselves wouldn’t sit right with me, either.”
Just like the boys, even Mr. Jo was blinking sleepily.
The list of things I owed him kept getting longer and longer.
Of course, I’d definitely repay him properly someday.
But debts of the heart always piled up faster than personal success did.
So we loaded our instruments into Mr. Jo’s car and headed to the station.
If there was one lucky thing about getting older, it was that I didn’t sleep in as badly in the morning anymore.
I shot myself full of coffee and took the wheel.
In the rearview mirror, everyone except Cha Seoha in the passenger seat had already passed out.
It was only about a twenty-minute drive, and the fact that they’d fallen asleep the moment they got in told me enough: early mornings really were hard on them.
When I heard they were going on a music show, I’d volunteered to take care of these kids.
I first stepped into this industry in 1993.
These days I’d pulled back a little, but I’d still kept my eyes fixed on the entertainment world for twenty-five years now.
Over those years, I’d seen more geniuses than I could count.
They’d all made their success by starting with some unbelievable stunt or other.
And when I looked at OKTOP, it felt like I was staring at the period just before that kind of genius took off.
The reason I’d followed them here today was simple: I wanted to see what these kids were doing up close.
Still, my kindness didn’t come for free.
At some point, I wanted to put them to use somewhere.
It didn’t even have to be for anything practical in particular.
Even if all I got was to have my name etched onto a page of their history, that would be enough.
Something that had been necessary for the completion of a genius.
The fact that genius might one day remember me as part of its own legacy—that was a noble thing.
“You should get some sleep too.”
“I’m fine. I’m in the middle of mapping out the live setup in my head, so I can’t sleep.”
He probably had no idea what the station’s sound equipment was like, and yet he was already planning it out in his head.
The kid was funny, but it was a good thing that he was so thorough.
“And you can sleep later during the waiting time.”
“Mm, sure. Don’t push yourself too hard.”
So he really had done quite a bit of research after all, huh?
After driving for a while, we reached the station parking lot.
With our instruments in hand, we stood around in the middle of the lot, looking lost.
“Where are we supposed to go...”
Mr. Jo seemed to be out of practice with the station too, because he hesitated for a moment as well.
I knew the way, so should I be the one directing everyone?
“Probably this way. Come on, everyone, follow me.”
“Yes, sir!”
So we started walking in the direction Mr. Jo led us toward on instinct.
A little later, we ran into one staff member who spotted us and came sprinting over from far away.
“I’m sorry. It’s my first day on the job today, so I got the message about you coming early a little late.”
“It’s all right. We actually came earlier than scheduled.”
The guide we met at the parking lot entrance was obviously a replacement worker, so flustered he practically wore the word on his face.
To think they were replacing even the most junior staff—just how huge was this strike?
We followed the employee’s guidance and made it to the first-floor lobby.
“A pass? Uh... the person in charge hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Should I call the producer for you, then?”
“Oh, hold on. There’s a temporary pass here. Use this.”
“Thank you.”
Not a single thing was going smoothly.
We got our passes and boarded the elevator.
“Uh... hmm...”
The employee hesitated just as he was about to press the floor button.
His finger hovered between the third and fourth floors before he finally pressed the third.
“Ah, sorry. Where was the waiting room assigned again... Would you mind waiting for a moment after you get off?”
“Oh, yes. That’s fine. Take your time.”
“Yes, well, the situation’s a bit of a mess, so I’ve been given too much to handle.”
“It’s okay.”
I had no idea whether a broadcast could really go smoothly like this.