Save a Failed Idol’s Life

#020. Dead end (1) 

When I glanced back, Kyunghwa bent over, picking up a cell phone that had fallen on the floor.

“Did you drop your phone?”

When I looked back and asked, Kyunghwa replied in a panic.

“Oh, I will look for it. You don’t have to worry about it!” 

At the same time, it seemed like I should be worried about how he kept fumbling with his fingers on the floor.

Wasn’t he originally have a bit calm personality? Why is he so restless? 

It might have been like that for Sunwoo or Yejun, but I only had a few chances to talk to Kyunghwa one-on-one.

I thought he was the most calm Keun Hyung among all the trash because he usually played the role of a leader. (t/n: 큰 형 is like a big brother.) 

I answered while hiding my doubts.

“There is some time to arrive, so find it slowly.”

Originally, there was a simple reason why Kyunghwa came with me to the concept meeting, which was supposed to be just me.

I still can’t fully trust myself.

I’ve been looking for information and studying it for a while, but I was still an outsider in my 40s.

It was a shortcut to fail to be 100% sure of the eye of a man in his 40s who was not originally working in the entertainment industry. 

‘I thought I was a calm investor and researched, so my intuition wouldn’t be too bad….’

However, it can’t be the same as what kids see these days.

I needed an indicator to determine how many points I made were the correct answers.

Ryu Kyunghwa lifted his head and sat down immediately as if he had found his phone.

But his face was still stiff.

“Don’t be too nervous.”

Man, you say you have a strong heart on stage. Are you strong-hearted ‘only’ on stage?

What I wanted to say came up to the inside of my throat, but I tried to swallow it.

“…I wasn’t nervous.”

It looks like he did it from the outside, but he was too stubborn to admit it. That doesn’t help anything. 

He said that while hiding his face, which looked more pale than usual. 

I clicked my tongue lightly.

After driving for another 15 minutes, the office I arrived at was a 7-story building. It seemed that the entire office building, which seemed to have been built quite a while ago, was divided and used by several business units. 

I arrived at the entrance and called the manager Hyung. 

After a while, I was told to come up to Room 502. 

5th floor… Then I should take the elevator. While I was walking, I quickly looked through the office building.

‘Doesn’t this kind of celebrity agency usually check for a pass on the first floor?’

I’m not sure if they recognize me first and let me in because I’m a celebrity.

The security guard, who was dozing off at the entrance, lifted his head roughly once and let Kyunghwa in. 

Were the expectations too high because this agency worked with Floss, the most popular group of this generation? 

When I was ‘Lim Hyunsung’, I received several offers from a large agency. 

I thought it would be a luxurious office building like the agencies I visited back then.

‘It might be natural considering that the entertainment industry is an affiliate that doesn’t generate a large surplus compared to what it looks like on the outside.’

I convinced myself and pressed the elevator button to go up to the 5th floor.

There was no significant difference in the food industry. Of course, not as much as the cultural industry. Basically, since there is a sales scale, the accounting alone is hundreds of billions of won. 

In fact, only one or two companies have such a low operating profit ratio that they don’t make much operating profit.

“Oh, you’re here?”

When I opened the door to the meeting room lightly and entered, the manager saw me. 

Aside from the manager, there were about three other employees who looked to be in their mid-twenties or early thirties.

‘Everyone…aren’t they too young?’

When I entered the new product planning meeting, I felt a sense of incompatibility when I recalled the days when the basics started in my late 30s.

Of course, the industry as a whole has to be young.

“This is the head of the planning team, and these two are Assistant Manager Lee Jinjoo of the planning team. Manager Lee Sejun. Did you meet Manager Lee Sejun for the first time?” 

It was my first time meeting everyone, not just Sejun. 

“Yes, I look forward to your kind cooperation.” 

A man in his mid-twenties, with his khaki hair dyed, waved his hand lightly.

I was expecting the usual bow, so I was surprised by the casual attitude and flinched without realizing it. 

When I thought about it, it was natural. Because now I am not a representative in my 40s, but a 24-year-old idol.

“First of all, we have a schedule to start our activities from the fourth week of October. Since today is the second week of June, we don’t have enough preparation time, so I think we’ll just release the song first and release it as a second full-length album during the next activity.”

It was important considering that discussions on the contract’s expiration will be possible from December this year. 

You know it won’t make money anyway, so they’re saying that as the last activity, we should release a single and finish it. 

“If it’s a second full-length album, there should be three or four months between the release of the single. Doesn’t that mean that it will actually be pushed beyond the contract renewal period?”

Ryu Kyunghwa also pointed out the part that bothered him as if he had exactly the same thoughts as I did.

The head of the planning team, who seemed to be the most experienced among the three planning team members, answered with a smile as if he wouldn’t bleed even if he stabbed him. 

“It’s a shame that the preparation period is too short, but I think we should do that. Let’s do our best this time and cheer up to get good results!”

To interpret it, ‘No. Go back. You can’t release a full-length album.”

Considering the time, I thought it probably wouldn’t be a full-length album and that a mini-album would be fine. What a hopeful twist of the word no. I clicked my tongue lightly inside.

Arguing here would only lead to an emotional fight.

If it were Cheon Yise, he would have insisted on not doing that. Did he complain to Chairman Cheon to let him do something he couldn’t, or—.

It was a meaningless assumption. I hurriedly got my head together and returned to the main topic.

“Then the timing is fixed. Are the other parts undecided?”

When I asked, recalling the album preparation process I had been looking for on YouTube, the youngest manager raised his hand. 

“First of all, I picked out about three demo songs and received them.”

Three are things: A, B, and C. One of the three will be a discard card with a high probability.

It would have been fortunate if either of the remaining two had a good one in it. 

“You…” 

As soon as I tried to change the subject, Kyunghwa clenched his fist under the desk as if he couldn’t understand.

How could you give up so easily?

What if you’re angry? Anyway, they’re people we work with, so you’re trying to threaten them?

I looked into Kyunghwa’s eyes with a cold look.

“Let’s talk later.”

Kyunghwa’s gaze shook. I continued without giving Kyunghwa an opportunity to intervene and cause trouble.

“Shall we listen right away?”

“Ah, yes! I’ll play the first song for you.”

The youngest employee immediately turned the laptop in a direction that everyone could see and played a music file.

♪~♬~♩♪

It was a reggae-style song with English lyrics that were hard to understand. I don’t think the quality itself is that bad, but—.

‘Isn’t the atmosphere too bad to bet in the autumn?’

It felt like it had been prepared for another group’s summer album, and then it was sent here. 

“Shall we listen to the second song right away?”

Looking at Kyunghwa’s expression, said that all people are alike. 

His expression looked complicated as if he couldn’t just cut it off and say he didn’t like it.

“Yes! I’ll play it right away.”

♬-♩-♩~♪

As soon as I heard the second song, I knew it right away.

‘This is a discard card.’

Likewise, it was a digital pop song with English lyrics. It was such a hectic song that I heard, too.  Looking to the side, it seemed that Kyunghwa was also embarrassed.

“I think 20 years is too soon for the world to accept….” 

Kyunghwa quietly left a complaint.

“Uh… Usually, songs that are a little ahead of the generation are a hit.”

Kyunghwa and I looked at each other with stiff expressions, so the team leader made a joke to lighten the mood.

I do my best to solve it as a joke. There is a possibility that it can be improved by adding lyrics and going through arrangements, but this was not the case.

At this level, I didn’t expect the next song.

Wouldn’t it be better for Cheon Yise to buy songs from outside composers or remake songs from overseas with his wealth?

The second song ended while I was trying hard to squeeze out a way to survive.

“Now I’ll tell you the last draft.” 

Maybe because I was so disappointed with the second song, Kyunghwa seemed to be thinking about how to keep the first song alive to fit the atmosphere of October.

Click, the last draft was played with the sound of clicking the mouse.

♩♬~♩♪-♩

“What?”

This time, the demo song lyrics were not in English. It’s Korean— where have I heard this voice? 

Kyunghwa opened his mouth a moment before I tilted my head. 

“Did Seongwon record the guide for this?”

Then Assistant Manager Lee Jinjoo nodded immediately.

“Oh yes. Seongwon often helps the exclusive producer record when he has time.”

Even though I had high hopes for the only vocalist S, the sound of his voice and his ability to sing were not lacking in the sound sources that had already been released.

‘It’s really a waste of skill to be buried in obscurity like this.’

That’s why they would have given him a lot more opportunities here and there if he had just corrected his temper. 

Even in the middle of it, I blamed Seongwon inside and puckered my lips.

“The song…is good.” 

If there is a trap, does it sound like it’s good because Seongwon sings well? Or is it really good?  I couldn’t distinguish it with my ordinary level ears. 

The beat, which seemed light but not too flashy, resonated rhythmically and matched well with Seongwon’s sweet voice.

When he talks normally, it’s not like his voice never sounds low, but at first glance, it sounds high. At other times, his low voice brushed the floor. 

“I think this is the best.”

 Kyunghwa declared it first before the song was finished.

Maybe it’s because it’s a demo guide lyrics, but meaningless words are often repeated, and the same lyrics are used repeatedly. Even though it seemed like the lyrics should have been worked on again from the start.

“I feel the same way.”

As soon as they gathered their opinions for the last song, the team leader looked at the other team members.

“Actually, it was the first song I played for you that we were pushing for… This is a song I got from a really famous overseas producer. You know Dr. Reggie, right?”

I don’t know. I don’t even know Korean singers, so how do I know foreign producers? I replied reflexively, squinting my eyes.

“But the season feels so out of sync. If it’s going to go out in the fall, I think the last draft would be the best.”

Then, as if to ask Kyunghwa to throw out a card, a group of people from the planning team came out and tried to persuade him.

“Wel…Well, you might think so. Reggae style doesn’t just come out in summer. The end of late summer! Why don’t you try to grasp the concept with the same feeling?”

Why are you so desperate?

Putting aside the things I don’t understand, the expression on his face clearly showed that we were in trouble because he was stubborn.

No, even if you insist, you should do it.

Would it work for late summer, even though it’s the fourth week of October? At this time of year, it was the weather to take out the wool coat.

I twitched my eyebrows at the attitude as if he wasn’t pushing anything away but trying to hand over a specific plan to us.

“No. I think the third one is the best.”

The sound of Kyunghwa swallowing dry saliva resonated as the tension ran between me and the team leader.