“Then we see the scene of the past on that planet! And then come back to Earth and catch the culprit!”
I couldn’t tell much, but it was clear that the CEO had recently been deeply impressed by Sherlock Holmes and Interstellar. This was only slightly better than the previous concept of merging divided souls by traversing multiple universes, but couldn’t he let go of that damn multiverse idea?
Seeing the planning director clapping along next to the CEO, who was meticulously planning even the content of the music video, I could sense the downsides of this network-driven company. I started suspecting that even the composer who gave us those crappy songs might be one of the CEO’s connections.
“So, what do you think? This time, it’s pretty good, right?”
It was time to throw cold water on the CEO, who looked at us confidently.
“Knowing this, we also prepared a concept.”
“Where else would you find a brilliant concept like this? A new perspective, huh?”
“I’m the original creator.”
At my signal, Ryu Jae-hee stood up and walked confidently to the front of the meeting room.
Remembering the maknae line’s boastful claim about the excellent, eye-catching PPT they had completed, I leaned back in my chair and smirked.
Let’s see how well they’ve done.
Finally, Kim Do-bin’s overnight creation, the PPT, was displayed on the screen in the meeting room.
‘…Is this for real?’
Seeing the state of the PPT, my jaw dropped.
Even Gyeon Ha-jun and Seo Ye-hyun, along with the staff, wore similar expressions to mine.
The screen was filled with a bright blue Bonobono.
High Teen House Party Concept and Why We Should Adopt It
And a very straightforward title written in size 46 rainbow-colored Gulim font.
‘Is this why they desperately tried not to show it?’
In the midst of the chaos, only Ryu Jae-hee and Kim Do-bin remained composed, with Ryu Jae-hee pushing up his glasses and beginning to speak.
“Then, we will start the presentation. As you can see, the theme is why we should adopt the high teen house party concept for REVE’s second mini-album.”
Pressing the space bar caused the large title to shake as if there was an earthquake before moving to the next page.
The still blue Bonobono remained, accompanied by densely written, illegible gray Dotum font text.
“First, what is a house party in high teen?”
As the title shook with animation again, I couldn’t hold back and hit my head on the desk.
If it was just moderately awful, I would be pissed, but it was so terrible that all I could do was laugh.
“Starting with our debut, the fresh concept has already become the official image in the boy group scene. The combination of high teen and house party allows us to showcase a fresh and lively image while matching a dance genre song with a party concept…”
There were densely packed texts, images unfolding, rolling around, bouncing like balls, and so on.
“Oops, it won’t play? I’ll just search and play it for you. Just a moment.”
Pretending that a plain black square was a non-playing video clip was their excuse.
Every time a page was turned, that wretched Bonobono appeared again.
‘Ha ha, we’re screwed.’
Lost in my thoughts and letting out a helpless laugh, I heard Ryu Jae-hee’s closing remark as the presentation ended.
“That’s all.”
Of course, there was no applause.
As I was preparing myself to humbly accept the space-time detective concept, applause began from beside me.
‘Wow, someone’s kind enough to applaud for that horrible presentation.’
Feeling touched by the kind-heartedness, I turned my head towards the source of the sound, only to find the CEO clapping with an impressed expression.
Never mind the kind remark.
One by one, others started clapping along, and soon, the room was filled with applause.
With a satisfied smile, the CEO praised us.
“Wow, whoever made this PPT has a good sense.”
He was praising the PPT, not the concept.
He truly had a unique perspective.
“The concept may lack a bit of the originality and creativity of the detective concept I thought of, but since our boys even made a PPT, I should step back this time. Right, Director Lee?”
“Of course, you’re always so generous, CEO.”
And then, I met eyes with the planning director, who sighed in relief.
If it was something to be relieved about, you should have intervened instead of agreeing like a sycophant.
“Then let’s schedule the comeback for mid-January next year. Everyone okay with that?”
“No.”
Everyone in the room turned to me. Unwavering, I continued firmly.
“We must make our comeback this year.”
“You know that in December, there are end-of-year awards and festivals, so we can hardly promote. If music shows are canceled, we’ll only have about two weeks of promotion. And it’s already September, so isn’t a November comeback tight?”
“Then let’s aim for the end of November. No matter what.”
“Why? Do you have a reason?”
Barely remembering the activities for the second mini-album, I saw the chart from my previous life and recalled vividly.
In my previous life, REVE made their comeback in January for the same reasons the CEO mentioned.
And that was where the tragedy began.
January wasn’t just a comeback war; it was practically a comeback hell.
A rookie girl group from a major agency, a top-tier boy group with a groundbreaking concept, a solo ballad singer dominating the charts, a boy group making a comeback after their youngest member’s military discharge, the main vocalist of a top girl group’s solo activities, and the unit activities of a top-tier boy group from a major agency.
In the midst of all that, REVE, coming back with a Black Soul song and feathered goth looks, didn’t even get a chance to shine and failed miserably. The odd concept should have garnered attention, but it didn’t even manage that. It was utterly pathetic.
‘And February is too late.’
Six months was more than enough time for any new fans to lose interest during a hiatus, especially when we only had one hit song without a music video. No matter how much we appeared on variety shows or produced our own content, it couldn’t compare to a single round of promotional activities.
Given our current lukewarm popularity, no major variety shows would invite us anyway. If I insisted it was just my gut feeling, no one would take it seriously. And if I said I had experienced our downfall firsthand and traveled back in time, I’d be labeled a madman.
So, what’s the most convincing approach when it comes to discussing the future in Korea? Shamanism, of course.
“My grandmother recently had my fortune read, and she said my monthly fortune in January is extremely bad. She advised me against doing anything significant then.”
“Can’t you just avoid doing anything big?”
“Of course, our comeback activities are the most significant thing. If this comeback fails because of my monthly fortune, how could I face my members? Oh no, if we fail, I’ll have to take responsibility and leave, oh no.”
The members looked at me like I was crazy, but I persisted with my passive-aggressive act. The songs and concept were well-prepared; I couldn’t let it fail due to a poorly chosen comeback date. Knowing the past alone is a lonely thing. Why am I the only one burdened with this heavy fate?
As I indulged in self-pity, the system responded by displaying a system window before my eyes.
[Project to Help Idol Who Lost his Way Reclaim his Passion!]
[Mandatory Task – Disappointed 30,000 fans, then make 30 million fans happy! (11,002/30,000,000)]
Oh, thanks for the reminder of why I’m doing this. Much appreciated.
But only 11,000 fans so far? When will I ever reach 30 million? Hopefully, before I die, I suppose.
Lost in my thoughts, the CEO, thinking I was zoning out, cleared his throat and cautiously started speaking.
“Well, your grandmother’s fortune reading might not be accurate, and setting the comeback date based solely on that…”
“Are you implying that my grandmother is being scammed by a fraud? How could you say such a thing?”
Widening my eyes and covering my mouth in shock, the CEO fell silent. Indeed, combining a grandmother and shamanism was the best way to persuade people.
Feeling a sudden pang of guilt as I recalled my grandmother’s disdainful tuts about spending money on fortune-telling instead of buying beef, I felt sorry for using her like this.
Grandma, I’m sorry for being such an unfilial grandson. I’ll come visit with a set of ginseng and Korean beef after a successful comeback this year.
* * *
The comeback date was successfully set for the end of November. The activity concept remained the high teen house party concept. Considering it was early September, we had less than three months until the comeback.
In the USB, there were three finished songs ready for the album without further modification, including the title track. If we received one more song from Hyung and added a filler track, we could have a total of five songs.
These were songs I had intended to save for future albums, but given the urgent situation, I had no choice but to use them now.
As I mentally organized the tasks at hand, I frowned and looked to the side, feeling the persistent prickle of someone’s gaze.
“What is it? If you have something to say, say it.”
“No, not really.”
Ryu Jae-hee, who had been staring at my profile, scratched his cheek awkwardly and avoided my gaze.
“Then what? Are you here to praise today’s presentation?”
“Well, I’m just curious. You believe in fortunes? And shouldn’t I get praise? My perfect presentation moved the CEO’s heart.”
It wasn’t your presentation that moved the CEO’s heart but the atrociously tacky Bonobono PPT that matched his peculiar tastes.
Clicking my tongue at the misunderstanding maknae, I threw out a casual remark.
“I don’t believe in fortunes.”
“What?”
“I don’t believe in fortunes.”
Blinking as if he didn’t understand, Ryu Jae-hee’s mouth gaped open.
“No way, then what was all that talk during the meeting? It wasn’t really about your monthly fortune?”
Shrugging nonchalantly, I replied coolly to the unanswerable question.
“Well, that month’s fortune isn’t good.”
“Why do you sound like you’re telling a ghost story?”
“Can I ask you something?”
Ryu Jae-hee nodded without grimacing at the question thrown at him.
“When I insisted on a comeback this year during the meeting, what did you think?”
I brought up the question that had been bothering me since the meeting. Although the situation seemed similar to when I pushed for follow-up promotions, my initial intention didn’t decrease.
Now was the time to figure out the standards for ‘causing discord with members’ that led to a decrease in the initial intention.
***
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