To be honest, I haven’t made any revisions to the track since we started promoting.
If I had to make an excuse, it would be that as our song gained popularity, our schedule automatically increased, and by the time we got back to the dorm, I was too exhausted to do anything but pass out.
I was in no condition to head to the studio.
Of course, if it were during our debut song promotions, when we were desperate to perform it perfectly, I would have dragged my heavy body to the studio no matter what.
Having the completed track in hand also made me a bit more complacent.
And the damned complacency from having some time before the next promotional meeting played a part too.
‘Damn it, the CEO is only diligent when it comes to these useless things.’
I ground my teeth, thinking of the CEO’s face, always smiling while driving us mad.
The effort, dedication, and money spent contacting that damned composer should have been used to make a proper schedule!
But it was too late to regret it; the song was probably already being created.
The only thing I could do now was to perfect the track and blow away the title song of the doomed second mini-album the CEO would bring.
‘…That song was even worse than <Come to My Universe>.’
Thanks to that, both our debut album and second mini-album were treated as nonexistent even after we gained popularity.
While we occasionally performed <Come to My Universe> due to its status as our debut song, the next song was practically banned from mention.
Having barely escaped the “failure idol” path, we couldn’t afford to crash and burn with such a song again.
“Guys, gather around for a bit. Let’s have a meeting.”
I gathered the members and scribbled on a notebook with a bold marker.
[1st REVE Meeting]
[Subtitle: Next Album’s Title Song]
Considering how opinions were divided last time over extending <Come to My Universe> promotions, I knew it was possible that opinions might differ again, so I called for a meeting.
Although my direction was usually correct, pushing my opinion would only fuel conflicts with the members, and my reputation would suffer.
It was my mistake to not realize that some people lack common sense.
“What’s the meeting about? The next album’s title song?”
Jaehee, the first to rush into the living room, blinked at the words written clearly in the notebook.
“Are we deciding the title song from several tracks? But are the songs already out? Have you heard them? Are there any good ones?”
“I just heard that the CEO contacted a composer.”
Nodding at the barrage of questions from Jaehee, Hajun added a comment.
“I haven’t heard the songs yet, but the composer is the same person who did our debut album.”
At that, Jaehee’s face turned pale, and he stuttered.
“Our debut album… You mean <Come to My Universe>? That person is doing our album again?”
“Yeah.”
As soon as I nodded, Dobin clutched his head and wailed as if the world was ending.
“We’re doomed… Doomed! I had hope that we wouldn’t be failure idols after One Chance blew up…”
“No, it could be that the composer gets a sudden burst of inspiration and creates a masterpiece!”
Shaking the dazed Dobin, Jaehee shouted desperately.
Trying to calm Dobin or escape reality, who knows.
Can’t you smell the burning of false hope?
“Eden, is that even a realistic possibility?”
Hoping for an affirmative answer, the youngest looked at me with earnest eyes. I scratched the back of my head.
“It’s possible.”
It was true.
The composer who created <Come to My Universe> also composed our song that went viral through fancams.
As Jaehee and Dobin’s faces lit up with hope, I doused it with cold water.
“But the chances of that happening for this album are practically zero.”
Not practically zero, but absolutely zero. We’re definitely going to flop. I know because I’ve been through it before.
I vividly remember the disastrous mood seven years ago when we were handed a song even worse than <Come to My Universe>.
You’d think they would have put more effort into the next project after our debut album bombed. Well, they did spend more money.
350,000 won, damn it.
“It would probably take about three years for that guy to get enough musical inspiration to compose a masterpiece. And even then, there’s no guarantee.”
When we went viral, about 80% of the credit went to Yehyun’s face, but the song we promoted back then accounted for about 20%.
That’s where the tragedy began.
The CEO, believing that the composer who hit the jackpot once could create another hit to propel us to the top, kept giving him our projects.
It was like someone who wins second place in the lottery and keeps wasting money, believing they’ll hit first place next time.
And that song was the composer’s first and last masterpiece.
After that, he never produced anything as good.
While other idol groups reached number one on the charts and received praise from critics, we struggled with mediocre songs, barely clinching music show wins thanks to our fanbase, hitting a peak of 10th on the charts during the early morning hours, and receiving harsh criticism from reviewers.
To avoid repeating this tragedy, the only way was to make sure the CEO wouldn’t consider buying songs from that composer by making a huge hit with my song.
“Surely it’s not worse than <Come to My Universe>…”
It is worse.
I couldn’t spoil the future, so I bit my lip and scratched my head as Yehyun groaned, “We might as well buy and remake some hit songs from the 70s and 80s.”
We had once been crushed by a girl group who remade an 80s hit after we came back with a song from that composer.
As the members, unknowingly predicting the future, voiced their opinions, I wondered if they had also time-traveled.
‘Probably not. If they had, I wouldn’t be the only one busting my ass trying to save this group.’
I was only momentarily surprised by the somber atmosphere.
The youngest raised his head and asked, “So, we’re here to discuss how to prevent this, right? Should we share our ideas?”
“No.”
“Then why did you gather us? To mentally prepare us?”
At Yehyun’s sarcastic remark, I shrugged.
“I just called you to give you a choice. Pick one of the two options.”
The meeting was merely to show that ‘this leader is at least considering your opinions.’
The answer is already decided; you just have to choose.
I raised my index finger to present the options.
“Option 1: I take care of the next album’s title song. Option 2: Leave it to the CEO—”
“Option 1, definitely Option 1!”
“11111!”
“Is there even a question? Of course, it’s 1!”
“I choose 1 as well.”
Before I could even raise my middle finger, they cut me off with their enthusiastic responses.
I was taken aback by the intense reactions, making my long, prepared persuasion speech for option 2 completely unnecessary.
I alternated my gaze between Kim Dobin and Seo Yehyun, who had previously driven me crazy by insisting we continue promoting <Come to My Universe>, and asked seriously.
“Why the sudden burst of common sense? You weren’t like this before.”
“That’s different, hyung. Last time, we only had a week to prepare, but now we haven’t even started yet.”
Dobin, eyebrows furrowed in an exaggerated 八 shape, protested, feeling unfairly labeled as irrational.
“I’d rather be pushed by you… I’d rather take harsh words from you than promote a song worse than our debut track.”
Unbelievable. Hearing Seo Yehyun ask to be pushed around by me was shocking. Did he hate the debut track that much more than my blunt words?
Then why did you insist on continuing to promote <Come to My Universe> before, you idiot?
* * *
“Wow, I’m dying here…”
Leaning back in my studio chair, I let out a heavy breath.
An energy drink can, which I’d accidentally knocked over, rolled around aimlessly on the desk.
The desk was already piled high with empty cans.
Having pulled an all-nighter for two days, my vision was naturally blurring, but this damn system penalized me for having dull eyes, so I had to slap myself every minute to stay focused.
Thanks to that, my burning cheeks stung. I couldn’t see it, but they were probably red and swollen.
Rubbing my dry eyes, I clicked the save button.
Had I ever worked this intensely, before or after my regression?
Pressing the space bar, I played the track, and the melody flowing through my headset was flawless.
Even the verse part that had previously frustrated me was much smoother than before.
“Ha, my talent is scary.”
Self-praising, I pressed the space bar again to stop the song and took off my headset.
All that was left was the guide recording to complete the demo.
Normally, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask Hajun to do the guide recording, but I needed to use this demo to persuade the CEO as much as possible, so I decided to get a recording from Jaehee as well.
The cozy-sized studio was bustling with people.
Jaehee came, followed by Dobin, who wanted to watch, and Yehyun, who didn’t want to be left alone at the dorm, tagging along to the studio.
“Wow, is this your studio, hyung?”
“No, it’s a friend’s. So don’t touch anything carelessly. If you break something, not only will you have to pay for it, but I’ll also get scolded.”
Giving a perfunctory warning to the youngest, who was looking around excitedly, I immediately started the guide recording.
The guide recording didn’t need to be as polished as the final one. As long as the lyrics were clear and the melody was well-presented, it was fine.
“Jun, you can fudge the rap part a bit, and for the last part of verse 1, lower your tone for ‘Turn off your phone and don’t go home tonight, all right?'”
“Do the hook again. The timing is slightly off.”
“Match the rhythm: dum da-dum, dum da-dum. Again.”
“Jaehee, it’s good, but enunciate ‘right night’ clearly. Why are you saying ‘all right’ twice? Again.”
“Not ‘right night’… I mean, don’t over-enunciate, say ‘rite nite.’ Didn’t you go to English academy as a kid? Do you need English classes? Again.”
[Your words have been detected as causing discord with the members.]
[Initial Intention –1]
Ouch, this is driving me nuts. If I’m already losing Initial Intention during the guide recording, how much more will I lose during the final recording?
The CEO sure has a talent for gathering only the most mentally fragile members besides me. Talent, indeed.
***
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If I was a member of their group and often had to listen to this guy’s remarks… I’d take the members side on this.