Chapter 36: My Singer (1)
February 15, 5:30 PM – 30 Minutes Before the Release of Lilac’s Album.
The atmosphere in Letter’s publicity team was both calm and bustling at the same time.
“Wow~ I really don’t know about this one. I feel like Lilac might actually be able to hit first place this time.”
Team leader Jang Jae-sik muttered as he fiddled with the first-press edition of Lilac’s mini-album, Lonely Flower.
“Oh, come on, Team Leader. You’ve heard the title track, haven’t you? Not just the title—every song on the album is amazing. I’d bet February is ours for the taking.”
“Exactly, sir. That Heli guy really nailed it. I don’t know why the other teams were so worried—especially the producers. They were making a huge fuss over nothing.”
“They were just trying to shake up the rookie, that’s all.”
Heli had arranged three of the six tracks on the mini-album himself and had personally reworked the arrangements of the other three tracks received from external sources.
Such a high degree of autonomy and authority was highly unusual for a rookie producer.
Of course, that authority had originally been granted to Lilac, and the members had voluntarily entrusted it to Heli.
Even so, it was understandable that the company’s in-house producers found it unsettling.
After all, those who have clawed their way up the ranks often wish for newcomers to struggle just as they did.
“Really? I thought good songs were all that mattered.”
“Nope. A good song doesn’t guarantee success. We still don’t know how the charts will play out.”
“Ah, come on~ Still, I think this is way better than the Jellay track.”
About three weeks ago, Jellay’s song was offered to Lilac.
It was an unexpected development, one that had shocked not just the publicity team but every department in the company.
They had listened to it countless times.
As expected of Jellay, the song was of exceptionally high quality.
The team had been split right down the middle—about 50-50—on whether Jellay’s track or their current selection was the better choice.
But in the end, the decision not to go with Jellay had been made solely by Lee Ha-yeon.
Whether that choice would turn out to be a blunder or a stroke of genius remained to be seen.
Jang Jae-sik let out a small chuckle before his expression abruptly hardened.
“Alright, quiet down now.”
Both the publicity team and the artist team had worked tirelessly to prepare.
Now, all that was left was to leave it in the hands of fate—or rather, the public.
“Alright, the kids’ Y Live is about to start. Time to monitor.”
5:45 PM – 15 Minutes Before the Release of Lilac’s Sixth Album
Their 3rd Mini Album, Lonely Flower.
The members of Lilac had just begun their final schedule for the day: a live broadcast on the Y App.
“Everyone, everyone! Can you see this?”
Yoo Ah-ra held up an oil painting of herself to the camera.
“LilacSo—this is a painting by them! We brought it with us! They actually painted three pieces in total, and originally, we were going to give them away through a lottery. But then Yoo-jung here absolutely refused. She threw a fit, saying she had to keep them for herself…”
“When did I ever say that?!”
Startled, Kim Yoo-jung burst into the frame to protest.
Without a word, Yoo Ah-ra stomped down hard on her foot.
“Argh!”
Kim Yoo-jung, forcibly ejected from the frame.
“…So, because someone was being stubborn about keeping them, we decided to hold on to the originals. But instead, we’ve resized them to photocard size and included them in the album! Just don’t be disappointed if you don’t find one—since it’s a rare item, the drop rate is only 20%!”
As Yoo Ah-ra spoke, Lee Yeon-ji slyly slipped into the frame beside her.
“Oh! And right on cue, here comes our Yeon-ji.”
“Hello, my first loves~”
“Haha! Yeon-ji, we’ve got ten minutes left. Should we do a countdown together?”
“Ehh? Already? How do we do it? Like this? 600, 599, 598… This is gonna take forever.”
Lee Yeon-ji tapped Yoo Ah-ra’s shoulder, smirking.
Yoo Ah-ra momentarily moved the camera away from her face and muttered through clenched teeth.
“…Kkblzmrr.”
“Yes.”
“Oh my~! It looks like we had a slight camera issue just now…”
As I watched their Y App live broadcast, I kept an eye on the current chart rankings.
Right now, the number one spot belongs to VBlue, who released their song last week.
Second and third place were held by the indie band Summer Vacation and the famous rapper Lio-K, respectively.
VBlue‘s dominance had weakened slightly, so maybe… just maybe, we had a shot at debuting at number one.
But since this was my first time dealing with top-three rankings, I had no way to predict how things would unfold.
“Alright, let’s start the countdown together! Thirty!”
While I was lost in thought, the clock had already ticked down to 5:59:30 PM.
My heart pounded.
I wished I had just a little more time to prepare myself.
“Twenty… Nineteen… Eighteen…”
But Yoo Ah-ra’s relentless countdown continued, the numbers dwindling away.
“Ten! Nine!”
“Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one—ding!”
6:00 PM sharp.
On Ronmel’s main page, Lilac’s album appeared in a massive banner.
Immediately, I began streaming the title track on three different devices—my laptop using my own account, my phone using Yoon Seong-woo’s account, and the studio computer using my father’s account.
In total, I streamed the title track with three different accounts.
“And with that, my first loves, take care! You’ll be seeing us often for a while, so make sure to listen to our songs~ Ah! And not just the title track—our other songs too! They’re amazing!”
“Bye, everyone~~”
“Goodbye.”
Before long, the members of Lilac ended their Y App broadcast and gathered around me.
Yoo Ah-ra flapped her arms dramatically, full of excitement.
“What’s the reaction? The reaction, the reaction! How is it?”
“…The rating is 4 stars. That’s pretty normal, right?”
“No, that’s not normal. Girl groups usually struggle to get even a 3-star rating. But ratings fluctuate a lot… I mean, come on, it hasn’t even been five minutes since the release. Those people probably didn’t even listen to the song before rating it.”
“Look, look, look! The chart! How’s it going?”
“Me too! I wanna see it too!”
Three heads crowded over my shoulders.
Unlike with Yoon Hyeok-pil, Lilac’s goal was set incredibly high.
That’s why I focused on the five-minute predicted rankings, which only displayed the top three positions.
Five tense minutes passed. 6:05 PM.
Click.
I hit refresh.
Nothing.
As expected, getting on the chart within five minutes was too much to hope for.
“Ugh, how are we supposed to keep waiting like this?!”
Lee Yeon-ji clutched her head, her hands trembling slightly.
She had been pretending to be calm, but in reality, she was incredibly nervous.
Kim Yoo-jung wasn’t much different—unable to sit still, she paced around the studio in restless circles.
Ironically, Yoo Ah-ra was the only one staying put.
She stuck right next to me, biting down hard on her lips as she furiously refreshed the comment section.
“Tsk. What the hell are they saying?”
Whenever a hate comment popped up, she scowled and slammed the desk in frustration.
“Don’t pay attention to those.”
“I’m not, even if you don’t tell me. Ugh, should I just sue them? Why the hell is Chan-hyeok being mentioned here?”
“……”
She’s definitely paying attention to them.
Still, all we could do was endure the anxiety, the anticipation, and the unease as we waited for the five-minute chart update.
6:10 PM—Nothing.
6:15 PM—Still nothing.
“Phew…”
“…I can’t watch this anymore. Oppa, you check and tell us if it updates.”
“Same here. My heart’s about to explode.”
“M-Me too.”
6:25 PM—Lilac’s three members had officially surrendered.
Determined to carry on their will, I clung to the chart, yanking at my hair in frustration but refusing to look away.
Another 25 minutes crawled by.
6:50 PM.
Finally, an update.
“…Oh.”
Third place.
A strange feeling settled over me.
Was debuting at number one just too much to hope for? Third place was still an incredible achievement…
I should be satisfied, right?
It was a little disappointing, but if I just accepted it, I could finally relax.
Leaning back in my chair, I let out a deep sigh.
Another five minutes passed.
6:55 PM.
The ranking hadn’t changed.
Still third place.
But the gap between us and second had narrowed significantly—almost nothing.
Even the difference with first place had shrunk to barely a single step…
My blood ran cold.
No, it had already run dry up.
My vision blurred, and dizziness crashed over me.
In that state of physical and mental exhaustion, another five minutes slipped away.
7:00 PM.
This time, I didn’t check the predicted rankings.
I went straight to Ronmel’s real-time chart.
For a moment, my mind went blank.
It felt like the strings controlling my body had been cut, leaving me utterly drained.
IDOL – Lilac
Debut ranking…
1st place.
Lilac’s graph had barely edged out VBlue, the former number one.
Was I seeing this wrong?
I rubbed my eyes and checked again.
It was real.
Like a whisper, like a scream, the words spilled out on their own.
“…It happened.”
The moment they heard that small utterance, the girls erupted.
“It happened?!”
“What do you mean, ‘it happened’?!”
I turned my dazed gaze toward the three Lilac members.
But no words came out.
“W-What rank? What rank?!”
From the couch, Yoo Ah-ra flailed wildly, demanding an answer.
“How many. HOW MANY?!”
“……”
“Why aren’t you saying anything?!”
“J-Just look for yourselves, damn it!”
My voice came out louder than I expected, as if something had finally unclogged my throat.
I jumped up and moved aside.
The Lilac members bolted toward the screen.
I pressed my forehead against the studio window, trying to catch my breath.
My head throbbed, my skull buzzing like a limb that had fallen asleep.
My eyes were burned, my hands trembled.
Wow.
Just… wow.
While I stood there, stunned, a small voice broke the silence behind me.
“No way. This is a joke.”
“…Oh my god.”
And that was it.
Even after a long pause, they said nothing else.
Did they… pass out?
I turned to check.
All three of them were hunched over, frozen in place, staring at the monitor like statues.
I walked over and spoke.
“Congratulations.”
“……”
Yoo Ah-ra slowly turned to look at me, her face completely blank.
“You got first place. Congratulations.”
“Kyaaaaaah!”
Out of nowhere, she let out an ear-piercing shriek—then suddenly charged straight at me.
“Ugh!”
Her head slammed right into my solar plexus, knocking the wind out of me.
Before I could recover, Lee Yeon-ji joined in.
Even Kim Yoo-jung, who had been watching from a distance, quietly walked up and grabbed my hand, shaking it vigorously.
Ah, this is way too much all at once.
“KYAAHHHH!”
“SHAAAAAAA!”
“Wait, wait, hold on—!”
They jumped around, practically crushing me in their excitement.
I twisted and turned, desperately dodging to avoid any accidental contact while trying to push them away.
“Calm down, girls! CALM! DOWN!”
Only after I raised my voice slightly did they finally step back, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Hufft… Hufft…”
Running a hand through my sweat-dampened hair, I muttered,
“It’s too soon to celebrate.”
“…You say that, but your face is the reddest out of all of us.”
“I’m always red.”
We had taken first place, but there was no telling how long we could hold it.
In just two days, Pluto was making their debut.
This week’s charts were going to be a brutal battleground.
“Anyway, calm down. From now on, we need to work even harder. No scandals, no slip-ups—”
Even as I said those words, I could feel it.
I wasn’t calm at all.
My body was completely ignoring my brain and celebrating on its own.
“So basically, what I’m trying to say is… uh… well… hufft… hufft…”
Screw it.
“AAHHHHH!!!!”
I just let out a loud, reckless shout.
The Lilac members looked startled for a second—then they immediately screamed even louder in response.
“WAAHHHHH!!!!”
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