Chapter 123: Chapter 124:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 124

After the Chuseok holiday, people returned to their daily lives.

The same was true for the A&R team of Lemon Entertainment.

The employees who came back after the holiday drank Americanos and headed to their studios or dealt with their backlog of work.

“Good morning!”

The youngest composer, Seo Pilgeun, greeted the office with a cheerful voice.

He turned on his laptop as soon as he sat down, but not to work.

The A&R team had a free atmosphere.

As it was composed of professional composers, their outfits were also casual, such as snapbacks, fashion glasses, or hoodies, and they had a lot of autonomy in their work.

However, he was still new to the company, having joined before the holiday, so he was careful not to stand out.

He browsed the internet.

The biggest issue on the social page was the increase in cigarette prices, and the entertainment page was buzzing with various scandals and accidents.

Of course, there was also some positive news.

-‘Autumn Girl’, Chuseok Special ‘Mr. Producer’ great success

-TNT, captivating Asia with just 10 seconds

-The birth of a new trend idol, ‘New Black’?

This year, TBC’s flagship holiday variety show, Idol Sports Festival, was canceled, and the idols who lost their place appeared on various shows.

Most of them were edited out, some survived.

And very few of them hit the jackpot.

The most dramatic rise to fame was undoubtedly New Black.

Autumn Girl was a girl group that had won the music shows twice in a row with their recent two albums, and TNT was the top boy group that made Asia stir with just their appearance, so they were already famous.

But New Black was a group that no one knew.

When they were active as Something, they were unknown singers who only did chorus for Jang Sowon’s songs, and they only got some attention when they appeared on Ha Seungju’s Music Cafe.

After that, they raised their awareness through fireworks, SNS ads, and so on, but they were still only known in the idol scene, not by the public.

But everything changed with their appearance on Around the World With Dice.

It started with a basketball shot that even a pro player would have a hard time making, and continued with their performance on the Chuseok Special.

‘Variety shows are really amazing.’

The portal’s ranking of the most-watched TV programs was full of New Black’s names.

-The attack of the black goat… ‘I only like one guy’

-‘Anger management disorder’ black goat Daegil, ‘Control your anger~’

“I’m the chicken fight champion” Idol vs Comedian

Each video was full of laughter and praise.

Was it that funny?

He only watched Mr. Producer, where Autumn Girl appeared, during the holiday.

He heard that Around the World With Dice was also fun, but he didn’t feel like watching it because everyone around him spoiled the content.

He felt like he had watched an episode without even seeing it, with all the talk about black goats and stuff.

Just then, he heard New Black’s story from the employees’ mouths.

“Wow, they made it. Our kids made it.”

“I had a feeling when I saw that black goat on TV during the holiday. I said this is going to be a hit.”

“I met the management team on the way up, and they were so happy. I haven’t seen them like that since Scarlet’s kids rocked the awards stage.”

“I brought a signed paper to give them later. My nephews asked me to get it.”

Seo Pilgeun listened attentively.

He didn’t know what New Black was like, since he hadn’t met them properly yet.

He had only seen them once.

He was passing by the second-floor studio when he saw a very handsome guy agonizing over something behind the glass window.

He was about to greet him, but he was staring at his phone and then looked around and started playing the synthesizer keyboard with his toes.

He didn’t want to admit it, but it was a really impressive performance.

“Woojoo is really nice, too.”

“They’re all nice. They don’t have any wrinkles, and they don’t fight with each other even when one of them does well.”

They seemed to have a very good reputation.

The senior composers of the A&R team chatted while sipping their coffee.

“But this will last for a month, right?”

“It will. They’ll get more momentum from this and film a reality show, too. They’ll attract more fans.”

As he listened to various stories, he remembered something he had to do.

The demo songs that came into the A&R team’s mailbox.

Before he went into the meeting later, he had to listen to them in advance so he could give better opinions.

He thought so and played several songs.

‘This is a pass.’

The retro-style song was a bit old-fashioned. There was no singer in the company who suited this concept.

‘This is pretty good.’

A ballad song that flowed naturally from the intro to the chorus, although the intro was a bit long.

It sounded like a song that would fit well in a ballad singer’s album, like Yoon Chanhyuk.

That was how he continued his song exploration.

During the holiday, he listened to about nine songs that had piled up. On the day of Chuseok, he found an email that had been sent.

It was from an account called ‘Deoksoon-love’.

‘Deoksoon-love? Is there a composer like that?’

Of course, there were some unusual pen names among the composers, such as Apgujeong Tyranno or Horuragi Holhol, but he had never seen Deoksoon-love before.

He wondered what kind of crazy thing it was, but the song title was ‘Masque’, which was normal.

He downloaded the audio file and played it.

Unlike the others, he listened with a light heart because it was sent by an unknown composer.

‘Let’s see what it’s like.’

…That was his only thought for three seconds.

As soon as the intro started, he couldn’t help but admire it.

It wasn’t because of the song’s quality or the fine density.

It just sparkled, so to speak.

The song was screaming, ‘I’m a gem!’ with its whole body.

And an image came to his mind.

An image of a small spark starting in the darkness and bursting into flames in an instant.

‘This would be a hit if it was a dance song?’

His heart pounded.

They had to get this before someone else did. His throat suddenly dried up.

He was sure that it would make it to the top 20 on the chart with a decent arrangement.

He wiped the sweat on his palm and looked at the other employees.

There was a jewel rolling around in front of his eyes, but the senior composers were chatting and laughing.

He called them in a hurry.

“Sunbae-nims, listen to this.”

“What?”

“This came in the company email on Chuseok. But it’s awesome, no. Listen to it quickly.”

The senior staff laughed at the youngest composer who was urging them.

Seo Pilgeun turned up the speaker volume and played the song. But their reaction was completely different from what he expected.

They exchanged a strange smile, as if they knew it would happen.

“I knew this would happen.”

“It’s a good thing we didn’t do the title song contest. I was putting it off because of this.”

“Let’s forward it before Gyuhwan Hyung comes in later.”

While they were talking like that, the new employee stared blankly.

“Um, this is…”

“Oh, you don’t know?”

One of them said with a smile, “This is made by Woojoo.”

“Really?”

***

The studio he visited for the poster shoot of HBS MTV’s idol reality show ‘It’s the New Black’.

While changing his clothes, his ear suddenly itched.

“Why is my ear so itchy?”

“Someone must have cursed you.”

“Really?” Woojoo asked Rihyuk, “Was it you?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t swear much. Ahh! Darn it, Wang Jiho. He’s going to die… Ahh!”

As Rihyuk took off his shirt and lifted it over his head, Jiho took advantage of his blindness and poked his ribs.

“Rihyuk.”

Bijoo said, putting his hands in the sleeves of his striped sweater, “Even if Jiho is joking, you can’t talk like that outside. You know the cameras are rolling, right?”

“I know that much.”

“I’m just worried you might make a mistake. There are more than one or two eyes watching us right now.”

He was their second oldest.

Woojoo felt proud as he said what he wanted to say. Meanwhile, Junghyun, who was wearing a brown jacket, counted something on his fingers.

Then he said with a smug face, “Correct, there are eight eyes watching Rihyuk.”

“…”

Bijoo was speechless, and Woojoo and the others laughed out loud.

While they were changing their outfits in the waiting room, they heard a knock from outside. Seokhwan Hyung and Minki Hyung came in.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“The photographer is waiting for you. Let’s go quickly.”

After checking our outfits in the mirror, they followed Seokhwan Hyung to the studio hallway.

Two cameras with the mark HBS MTV followed them.

The writer asked them, “How do you feel about your first reality poster shoot?”

“Um… I’m honestly nervous. Our dream was to do a reality show since before our debut.”

“Me too. I wanted to do it so much that I wrote it as a wish in my diary every night before I went to bed.”

“Hey, maknae.”

“Yes.”

“When did you start writing a diary?”

“Why do you have to tackle me at a time like this? This is a precious moment.”

“An important moment.”

Rihyuk whispered from behind, “Y-yes. An important moment!”

Woojoo didn’t know what was so funny, but the writer smiled with his gums every time their kids talked nonsense.

The maknae, who had a poor vocabulary, looked at the camera and said, “I’m actually smart, but I talk too fast and that’s why I sound like this. I’m really smart. I know all the metropolitan cities.”

“Jiho.”

“…What now?”

“How many provinces are there in our country?”

“I’m not talking to you today.”

Their kid was fuming. While he was doing that, Junghyun spoke to the camera.

“Um… I’m looking forward to today’s shooting.”

“Why is that?”

“The photographer is the same one who took our album jacket photos. He said I looked like a sphinx back then, and I really liked that.”

“Junghyun, show me that pose.”

As Junghyun curled his fists like a cat and shrank his neck, the cameraman suppressed his laughter.

Meanwhile, unlike the two fools who were smiling innocently, Bijoo and Rihyuk looked nervous while smiling.

It was because of the photographer who was in charge of their reality poster.

Hwang Taesoon.

He was so famous that even famous stars would request to work with him again and again, as he was good at bringing out the charm of his subjects.

The jacket photo that received great praise from our idol fandom was also his work.

The problem was his personality.

He was so fierce that their kids almost heard curses that were close to dissing last time.

I’m going to throw away all these photos. You, the white one. It’s because of you that we can’t get an A-cut right now. Yeah! You!

I’m going to die. I’m going to die.

You guys, only the leader practiced properly. What did the rest of you do?

Woojoo remembered the unpleasant memories.

Woojoo was fine because he did well, but the younger ones were quite hurt that day.

Well.

They got over it quickly.

It was all part of being a rookie, and if you started to take everything to heart, there was no end to it.

But Woojoo thought he wouldn’t say anything too harsh today, since there was a camera like this.

“Hello!”

A studio with a white background and complex lighting.

Woojoo greeted the staff politely.

He didn’t want to hear things like ‘The rookies are acting cocky after doing well on a variety show’ so he greeted them more diligently than usual.

But it was good to do well on variety shows.

Some of the staff looked at them with a friendly expression, and some smiled at them.

It was a small change that Woojoo felt after the broadcast of Around the World With Dice.

Whether it was the broadcasting station or the shop, people became a little more kind. They greeted them well.

Woojoo wondered if that was why they said you had to be popular even a little bit.

But the next moment, Woojoo was surprised by the dramatic change that happened.

“Hello, we are New Black!”

“Oh, hello.”

The photographer with gold-rimmed glasses and a beanie smiled at them.

And that was a bright smile, like meeting a close friend.

“Long time no see. How have you been?”

Oh my god.

***

The photo shoot took place in a friendly atmosphere.

The photographer with the camera spoke in an excited voice as he moved around.

“Good, good! Well done! That’s the way to go, okay!”

The youngest one, wearing a striped shirt that gave off a princely vibe, raised his hand to his ear, highlighting his silver earrings.

The more he received compliments, the more splendid his expression became, as was his nature.

As a result, he took an elegant photo that was unlike his usual self.

“Wow, your skin is so pale, I need to lower the lights a bit. No, I mean it as a compliment. Okay, put your hand on your collar!”

Rihyuk leaned against the wall, gazing at a distant place with a cold face.

The screen captured the image of a young man who seemed to be looking at some leaves somewhere.

The blue cardigan suited him well.

Woojoo managed his expression as the camera tried to capture him smiling fondly every time his brothers took photos.

“Good posture, haha! You look like a sphinx, I remember now. Let’s try something different this time.”

Junghyun, who wore a brown jacket, sat in his place and leaned against the wall, then lifted his chin slightly.

He smiled slyly and looked at the camera.

He was actually a fool, but he looked like a handsome sports club senior on the screen.

“You’re the member who dances, right? You have charisma no matter what you do.”

Bijoo wore a striped sweater and rested his chin on his hand, then smiled.

His eyelashes fluttered and he looked shy, which made the reality writer smile contentedly.

When their eyes met, Woojoo nodded at him.

That was right. Their kid was pretty.

No, why did the cameraman keep trying to shoot Woojoo’s expression?

“Woojoo! It’s your turn now.”

It was his turn right away.

Woojoo went out and did the poses that the photographer asked him to do, and also showed the poses that he had prepared in advance.

Everyone reacted well.

During the monitoring time that followed, his brothers opened their mouths.

“Wow… this is cheating.”

“What’s cheating?”

“This is not you. I can’t accept it.”

The photos were good enough to make such jokes.

Woojoo looked at the camera, but beyond that… ugh, it sounded cheesy when he said it.

It was just a snapshot of him holding a jewel flower in his hand, wearing a black shirt.

“Why do you always make this seductive smile every time you take a photo?”

“Junghyun, seductive smile?”

The people around them laughed at Junghyun’s words.

And among those laughing was the photographer Hwang Taesoon.

It was hard to believe.

Until a while ago, he had a stern face, but now he was smiling and praising them.

It was partly because of the camera, but it seemed to be a temporary thing because Around the World With Dice’s reaction was quite good.

“…So this is why everyone wants to make it.”

As they walked to take a group photo, Bijoo whispered in Woojoo’s ear. He also smiled and nodded silently.

Woojoo felt it while taking the poster photo.

At first, he was happy with the luck that came into his hand, but now he felt like he didn’t want to let go of it.

“Let’s do better.”

At the words he said before the group photo, the members nodded. Then they changed their expressions right away towards the camera.

With the happiest faces in the world.

***

A few days after the reality poster shoot, New Black, who were at the company practice room, heard the news of a new schedule from Seokhwan Hyung.

The face on the video call started to talk.

-I’ve reviewed all the variety show offers that came in from everywhere, and I’ve only picked the ones that suit your image.

Their expressions on the screen were quite determined.

-First of all, Junghyun got the most offers. He has the black goat impact and all. There was a lot of talk from the rural variety shows, but we only got one schedule.

“Oh, what is it?”

-It’s called Animal Friends, a TBC weekend animal show… They’re going to see Daegil again, the veterinarians.

They seemed to want a story of visiting the anger management disorder goat again.

-And Bijoo, you got some cooking-related variety shows from cable TV and education broadcasting, right? They’re on the same time slot, so take a look and decide as you like.

“I can decide…”

Bijoo made a touched expression, and the three of them got some decent other variety show schedules.

Rihyuk got a program that introduced houses, and Jiho and Woojoo got to join the three of them as freeloaders.

-Oh, and Woojoo, you really don’t like going to the army, right?

“Yeah.”

-Well. We thought that was not a good fit for you, so we decided to try to save your image of digging or being a veteran in another way.

Woojoo was speaking frantically. “Hyung, what are you talking about? Why are you keeping that? Just get rid of it. Hurry up.”

But Seokhwan Hyung said something strange.

-It’s something you have to do anyway.

“What do you have to do?”

-A notice came.

“A no, notice…?”

He lifted up a piece of paper and showed it to Woojoo on the video call.

As Woojoo stared blankly and his siblings giggled, the devil on the screen smiled brightly.

-Congratulations. You got a reserve army notice.