I dug my pinky into my ear, thinking I must have misheard, but the CEO kindly elaborated.
“Getting a new song now is a bit tight on time, isn’t it? And do you know how much that song costs? 3 million won. Three million won.”
The first part was just for show; the second part was the real concern.
Emphasizing the 3 million won, the CEO’s words made me grimace involuntarily.
Oh, sure. You bought that trash for that price. A song you wouldn’t buy even if begged for 700,000 won?
Congratulations on getting ripped off by the composer.
And now, when “Come Into My Universe” is barely scraping the bottom of the charts and we’ve just managed to chart, instead of seizing the moment, you’re trying to break the oar entirely.
Running my hand irritably through my hair, I tossed out my response.
“We have a song that’s already charting. The current trend is good enough to warrant promoting a follow-up track.”
Seven years later, after my regression, follow-up promotions had dwindled, but now, the concept of follow-up promotions wasn’t awkward and was still active.
There were definitely cases where a song failed as a title track but succeeded as a follow-up, and I was aiming for exactly that.
Thanks to charting, the odds were even better.
“Can you manage it with only three days until the third week?”
“We can shorten the current promotion to two weeks and start the follow-up promotion after a one-week break.”
“Hmm, wouldn’t it be tight to make a choreography and rehearse the stage in just a week?”
Damn it, here it comes. The endless questions until he hears the answer he wants. I was so used to this tactic from before the regression that my teeth ground together instinctively.
Should I just punch him, reset my initial intention to zero, and go back to the first week to start over?
Why does fate grant such clueless people just enough luck to avoid complete failure? He’d reflect and change if he experienced real failure.
Oh, wait, we’d go down with him. I take that back.
“Throwing away an opportunity to earn several times more just because you don’t want to waste 3 million won seems a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Still, I saw how hard you worked to prepare for your debut stage. It’d be a shame to waste all that effort. Who knows what the quality will be if you prepare in just ten days—”
“I’ll work the members to the bone and create an even better stage than our debut.”
Annoyed by the endless roundabout conversation, I cut him off and replied firmly.
Seeing me unyieldingly aggressive instead of my usual submissive self, the CEO looked surprised.
[Detected speech that might incite conflict with members.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Damn, again? What now? What’s the problem this time?
I forced a smile to smooth over my frown and gestured toward Seo Ye-hyun with my chin.
“I already have a successful example, don’t I?”
Mentioning how I had trained Seo Ye-hyun to perform like a proper idol when he was just a pretty wooden doll before debut, the CEO furrowed his brows.
[Detected speech that might incite conflict with members.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Great, now I’m losing all the determination I just gained because of this petty person.
I glanced at Seo Ye-hyun’s fist, clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palm, and clicked my tongue.
At this point, losing intention because of him didn’t even feel unjust.
“Fine, give it a shot.”
Finally receiving a positive response, I relaxed and smoothed my expression. Once again, I played a role in saving our team.
The internal meeting, neither too long nor too short, ended without incident, and we returned to the dorm with a heavy atmosphere.
It was me who broke the silence first.
“What’s your problem, exactly?”
I was trying to pull us out of the muck and end this damned regression, so why wouldn’t they cooperate? If they couldn’t help, at least they shouldn’t hold me back.
Seo Ye-hyun snapped back with a frustrated expression.
“Do you really not know why we’re upset?”
“No, I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know. I’m the one who brought you up to your current level, fought with the CEO to secure follow-up promotions, and all you did was sit back and reap the benefits. Why are you complaining?”
My sarcasm left Seo Ye-hyun staring at me blankly.
“Do you really…think I’m upset about that?”
“If not, then what?”
[Detected speech that might incite conflict with members.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Damn it. More lost determination. At this rate, I’m going to regress again.
“Seriously, are you even a leader? Why did you take the role if you’re going to act like this?”
“Oh, you want to be the leader? Then why didn’t you stand up to the CEO earlier? Instead of just keeping your mouth shut! Who’s the one taking the fall for the team?”
“Both of you, stop!”
Before the situation could escalate further, Kwon Ha-joon stepped between us, pushing us apart.
“Ye-hyun, calm down. Eden, you cool off too.”
I stepped back a couple of paces, following his push while roughly running my hands through my hair.
In the first timeline, I had conflicts with Seo Ye-hyun too, but it was happening earlier this time.
I glanced at the two younger members watching us with anxious eyes.
“What, do you have complaints too? If you do, say them now.”
“Eden.”
Kwon Ha-joon called my name, trying to stop me, and I looked away from the two sticking close to him, running my hands over my face.
I knew lashing out at them was just taking out my anger.
Ding—.
The sound of a message notification rang out cheerfully amidst the heavy atmosphere.
[Chul-Hyung: Hey, the crew’s gathered at my studio. Wanna come?]
[Chul-Hyung: Beom Hyung and Se-min said they miss you too]
Perfect timing. I wanted to get out of this wretched atmosphere anyway. If I stayed here, I’d just keep losing intention.
I quickly sent a positive reply and headed for the entrance.
“Where are you going?”
“You told me to cool off. I’m going out to do that.”
“Hey, Yoon Eden…!”
Bang!
The front door, broken and violent if not handled gently, slammed shut with a resounding noise.
***
“Hey, top 100!”
“Are you treating us today?”
“What’s the big deal about barely making it into the top 100…”
When I arrived at Chul’s hyung studio, the hip-hop crew members I’d been close with in the underground scene warmly welcomed me with cans of beer.
After a few cans, my frustrations began to spill out.
“Wow, an idol group on the brink of disbanding due to internal conflict just a week after debut?”
“Stop teasing me already!”
I snapped, leaning back in my chair as Chul hyunglaughed at me.
“I knew you lived without caring about others, but this is pretty serious.”
“Yeah, man. It’s a group; you need to be considerate.”
“What did I do wrong? They should be grateful I saved them from continuing with that shitty song!”
“This guy really doesn’t get it.”
One of the crew members stopped his can halfway to his mouth and clicked his tongue. Chul hyung, who had been deep in thought, started talking.
“By the way, our crew is putting out a new track.”
I blinked in confusion at the sudden change of topic, and Chul hyung continued.
“I put your name down as one of the contributors.”
“What? Me too?”
“Why? You don’t want to?”
Feeling a bit lightheaded from the alcohol or maybe just struggling to keep up with the conversation, I rubbed my throbbing temples and responded bluntly.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but shouldn’t you have asked for my opinion before including me? It’s kind of inconvenient.”
“Exactly! That’s the point!”
Chul hyung snapped his fingers in my face.
Seeing my blank look, he sighed and asked.
“Did you ask your members for their opinions?”
“…….”
“Now you get it, don’t you?”
Then, laughing, Chul hyung handed me another beer, saying he hadn’t actually put my name down.
“So, they’re upset over something as trivial as not asking for their opinion?”
“And who was the guy just now complaining about not being asked for his opinion?”
I had nothing to say, so I closed my mouth.
“If you feel this way, how do you think they’ll feel, knowing you have to stick together for years? You’re the leader over there, even if you’re the youngest here. You need to be more considerate.”
Chul hyung ruffled my hair as he spoke.
Was it really so wrong to move everyone to a safer ship without asking for their opinions when the current ship was clearly sinking?
I gulped down my beer and slammed the can down, trying to calm my frustration. Even if I couldn’t fully understand it, I had to deal with the immediate issue first.
“Guys, listen to this song and give me your feedback. It’s the next track for our group.”
“Why is the fate of your group hinging on one song?”
“If this flops, we’ll be labeled as failures for at least three years.”
With a few double-clicks, the song filled the studio.
“What do you think?”
After the song ended, I broke the silence by asking for their thoughts.
“The verse is awkward.”
“Yeah, it’s awkward. It doesn’t stick.”
“It feels like a half-baked melody forced into shape.”
Impressed, I thought to myself that their critique was spot on.
Hearing everyone unanimously agree that the song was lackluster, it was clear that releasing it commercially in its current state would be disastrous.
While the guys laughed and drank behind me, I stared blankly at the monitor, leaning back in my chair.
[Detected a lifeless expression.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Can’t this system be updated to only detect this in front of fans? Does it have to dock points when I’m brooding alone?
Slapping my cheeks to stay alert, I pondered my options.
There’s not enough time to rewrite just the verse. I have other songs to compose too.
‘Shouldn’t the system help at times like this? Maybe with something like memory extraction.’
Then, as if responding to my grumbling, the status window in front of me began to shimmer.
[Do you want to use a random ticket? Yes/No]
Wasn’t the random ticket an item I got as a reward for gaining 1,000 fans?
Oh, it’s offering this because it thinks it can help? Alright, I’ll give it a shot. Time to trust in beginner’s luck.
[You have obtained the item ‘USB from Some Time Ago’!]
A worn-out USB stick dropped into my hand.
What’s this? Narrowing my eyes, I rolled the USB in my hand before plugging it into my laptop to check the contents.
The folder contained several mp3 files. Clicking through them one by one, I stopped at one file.
All Right or Night(MR)_mp3(Seriously_Really_Final)
It was the exact song I was trying to refine.
