Chapter 330: Chapter 331:

“Hello, Director!”

“Come on in.”

The handsome man who had been peering at his laptop screen stood up.

His eyes, reminiscent of a Tibetan fox, curved gently.

“Wow.”

We marveled as we looked around the office.

“The interior has changed.”

Perhaps because it had been a while since our last visit, the interior had been completely revamped.

The desk had been upgraded to a more luxurious solid wood, and the bookshelf was filled with unique ornaments.

What was already a pleasant place now resembled a hotel room.

“Wow, for a second I thought I was at my house.”

“…”

“It feels just like my dad’s study.”

Blinking, we laughed at the youngest’s remark, ‘But my dad doesn’t read books.’

Director Jo Kyu-hwan joked.

“All of this was changed with the money you guys earned.”

“Really?”

“You’ve made a lot of money.”

I smiled back at the laughing counterpart.

“Then you should have gone for something more expensive. Shall I recommend something pretty? A garden in full bloom…”

“Let’s talk about work. Work.”

We burst into laughter as he abruptly switched the topic to work.

“First, take a seat.”

While we sat on the sofa in the center of the office, Director Jo approached the cabinet and took out glasses.

“Rihyuk likes tea, right?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Don’t get up. Stay seated. I’ll make you a cup.”

Director Jo gently moved his hands as he put a teabag into the cup.

Then he opened the office bookshelf.

“Wow…”

What I thought was just a plywood turned out to be the lid of a refrigerator.

We gasped like kids discovering a secret passage, and our counterpart chuckled.

“Woojoo, you have a chocolate drink.”

“Yes.”

“Bijoo and Jiho, carbonated drinks. Junghyun, pine…”

“That’s right.”

Junghyun politely accepted the pine drink, and Director Jo hesitated before asking.

“Is it good…?”

“Yes.”

Director Jo nodded in understanding as Junghyun popped open the can with his pinky finger.

After Rihyuk’s tea was ready.

I asked the person sitting cross-legged opposite us.

“How do you have all these drinks?”

“I prepared your favorites in advance. You’re also the most important guests of the office.”

He sipped his tea with a slight smile.

Then, gesturing around with his chin, he said.

“Actually, the interior change was also because of you guys.”

“Because of us?”

“Thanks to your huge success this year, the visitors we get now are a bit different from before.”

Director Jo explained.

“In the entertainment business, what’s visible is most important.”

“Ah.”

“We’ll soon change the interior completely, starting with the lobby.”

I understood what he meant.

Not only the signed artists but also the company building itself is part of the image management of an entertainment agency.

It was the same principle as TJ Entertainment decorating their Cheongdam-dong building lobby like a hotel to show off their success.

If guests come asking, ‘Didn’t New Black make a lot of money?’ and the building looks gloomy, it would be suspicious.

“So.”

The counterpart took another sip of tea and half-opened his eyes.

“You said there’s something you want to discuss.”

“Yes.”

Glancing at the floral wristwatch, I asked.

“But do you have time? I heard it’s a busy season for you.”

“Ah, it’s fine.”

Director Jo waved his hand.

“I’ve postponed the appointments that were scheduled after this.”

“…”

I felt a strange mix of emotions.

It overlapped with the past when it was difficult to schedule a meeting due to the director’s busy schedule.

I nodded and then spoke.

“There’s an issue that concerns me about the next album.”

“Hmm.”

“This time, I’m thinking of songs with more of a folk or indie pop vibe than the usual idol activity tracks.”

“So you want to revive the songs that couldn’t make it onto the albums before?”

Rihyuk spoke up after me.

“Yes. Our official comeback is in spring. So, we’re thinking of songs that fit the winter season in the meantime.”

“That sounds like a good idea. What’s the problem?”

I answered.

“It feels a bit awkward to release them as an official album.”

“Ah.”

“The public listens to the songs, but the physical album is clearly for the fans.”

I explained the dilemma.

“If we release it digitally, it seems to mess up the physical album. But if we release it as an album, it’s not really a typical idol activity track.”

“I see what you mean.”

“What do you think, Director?”

The counterpart tapped the armrest of the sofa and asked us.

“Your thoughts?”

“Yes?”

“What do you think? You must have discussed this beforehand.”

We nodded in agreement.

“We’re thinking of a special album.”

“A special album?”

“Like the ones other idol seniors release sometimes, themed around seasons or such.”

There were precedents.

Albums themed around winter or Christmas. Albums specially prepared for fans.

We had gathered opinions among the younger members and thought it might be good to proceed in that manner.

The problem was the budget.

Digital singles cost money too, but physical albums are real money-guzzlers.

“And this isn’t a project we can do alone.”

Album production is a cooperative effort that requires a lot of manpower, so others’ opinions were crucial.

Listening to our story, the director spoke with clarity.

“It’s simple.”

“Yes?”

“Release a special album.”

“…”

“I thought you were pondering over some big issue. If you want to release a special album, just do it. Were you worried about that?”

Why was this resolving so easily?

We exchanged puzzled glances.

‘What’s this?’

‘Don’t know.’

‘Too easy.’

As we looked at him with bewildered eyes, without even a moment’s hesitation, he cheerfully said, ‘Do whatever you want~’.

The director burst into laughter.

“Why do you look so confused?”

“You still don’t understand, do you?”

He continued to look at us, his face full of mirth.

“You’ve been worried about the cost of producing albums and shooting music videos.”

“…?”

“Thanks to the revenue you’ve brought in for the company this year, you don’t have to worry about album costs anymore.”

“Yes?”

“The production cost is a drop in the bucket now.”

I was slightly stunned.

It was like coming to eat a 70,000 won portion of meat and seeing the price tag say ‘7,000 won’.

More bewildered than happy.

“Us?”

“Hold on.”

I vaguely remembered hearing about the overseas tour, but then the director brought over his laptop.

And showed us a file.

“Here. Look at your achievements this year.”

“…”

Together with the younger members, I looked at the various numbers on the monitor.

“Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million, billion, ten billion…”

“Count again. Ten, hundred…”

“Are you all fools? Just look at the commas.”

“Ah! Be quiet. Brother, I can’t concentrate.”

As we all counted the numbers on the monitor over and over, we wore expressions of utter astonishment.

Then we all looked up at the same time.

“See it?”

“Just a moment. Once more.”

I thought we had made a lot of sales in the first half of the year.

But the second half, with concerts, overseas tours, and merchandise sales, was boasting an incredible force, as if saying ‘Here I am!’.

The director rested his hands, interlocked, on his knees.

“Now you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead with the special album. We’ll keep checking in.”

We nodded, still in a daze.

“Anything else you need these days?”

“Uh…”

Looking at the monitor, my mind went blank for a moment.

It felt like holding a winning lottery ticket in my hand.

No. Maybe it was the shock of winning a lottery that could be worth even more, but I felt my strength drain away without realizing it.

“Woojoo, snap out of it!”

“Ha ha…”

“Why are you like this too, Bijoo? Don’t close your eyes in happiness!”

“Hehehe…”

Like those who had achieved everything, I laughed happily, but soon regained my composure.

Then, we all exchanged glances.

It was because when the director asked if we needed anything, something had come to mind.

“Director.”

“Yes?”

We asked, our eyes shining, as the director smiled kindly.

“You asked if we needed anything.”

“Yes.”

“Well then.”

“What is it?”

After a brief silence, I cautiously spoke up.

“Can we spend a little more on food?”

“What?”

What we thought was a serious conversation was met with roaring laughter from across the room.

With an expression that said ‘you can’t stop them,’ the other party spoke.

“Eat. Eat all you want.”

“Really? Can we really eat that much?”

“Yes. Eat a lot.”

“Wow…”

Director Cho shook his head with a smile.

“You’ll see how much you can actually eat.”

Some time later.

Someone at Lemon Enter’s office was trembling as they reviewed a statement.

“Director Cho.”

“…”

“Director Cho.”

“Yes…”

President Park Gyu-ho asked with moist eyes.

“What exactly did you tell the kids?”

“Well…”

“Well?”

“Don’t worry about the food expenses. Eat whatever you really want to…”

As the president stared blankly into space, Director Cho continued.

“I didn’t know… I didn’t know a human stomach could be so big.”

Silence filled the president’s office.

Meanwhile, it almost seemed like I could hear the members of New Black laughing merrily as they grilled meat in a flower field.

The illusion was so strong that I could almost smell the meat coming from the statement.

“They really ate their fill. Look at this, there’s even lamb skewers… At this rate, they could buy a whole sheep farm.”

“…”

“And amidst all that, they ordered ten boxes of diet cola, claiming it wouldn’t make them gain weight. Our kids…”

“…”

Amidst the heavy silence of the two men, President Park Gyu-ho made a decision.

“They wanted to do a special album, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s get that moving quickly.”

Director Cho nodded silently to the president’s forlorn remark that they couldn’t possibly eat that much chicken breast.

The statement fell to the floor.

That was the reason Lemon Enter decided to expedite the preparation of New Black’s special album.

It must be because they brought in so much money.

The preparations for the special album were moving incredibly fast.

I don’t know what the president said, but the work was done at lightning speed.

And.

“Ha Seung-ju will also participate as the main producer, and the response is positive. Baek Sang-gyo and others are also positive.”

The lineup for this album was stellar.

Although we were still leading the production, we invited the MC of Music Cafe to be one of the main producers.

He hadn’t been active in music recently, but he had composed various famous piano pieces and carol songs, making him the perfect producer for this ‘winter’-themed special album.

“I never thought he would really accept.”

“It’s like he volunteered for the trap, no, not a trap. I didn’t expect him to agree.”

“Exactly.”

He was a famous producer, but I heard he had never worked with idols before.

Because he’s very particular about music.

“I’m curious about that.”

Jung-hyun said.

“How it will turn out if he works with you.”

“What will happen is, good music will come out.”

I was curious too.

I wondered if our working styles would mesh well.

I even searched and found an article saying he had worked with my dad on jazz arrangements in the past.

Suddenly, I became curious about how my dad had worked.

“Let’s first get through the schedule we’ve been given.”

Right now, the A&R and production teams were planning based on the list of ideas we had given them.

To use a cooking analogy, it was like preparing what to plate, what to make the main dish, and what ingredients to buy.

While the company staff were busy preparing the meal, we had our own work to do.

“Hello!”

“Hi!”

At the Los Angeles International Airport.

“Wow!”

Dozens of American fans, holding placards, were jumping up and down in excitement.

While people passing by inside the airport wondered what was going on, we were busy providing fan service.

“Hello!”

Thanks to the small gathering, we had time to sign autographs for everyone there.

“Why are you crying? Don’t cry.”

“Sob…!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, some fans started crying upon seeing us. We comforted them.

A smile naturally formed on my face when I saw a placard awkwardly written in Korean, “Congratulations on winning the New Black Award.”

While our managers were filming with the MiTube camera, a fan asked us,

“Why did it take so long for you to come out?”

“There was a slight delay because of Jiho.”

It was our youngest member’s slip of the tongue.

During the immigration interview, calling us ‘brothers’ made the officer do a double-take.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding was quickly resolved.

Singing the Nostalgia OST with a kind smile, we were mistaken for a teenage choir.

“…”

Of course, I couldn’t tell that to the fans waiting here.

“Thank you! See you at the fan meeting!”

We greeted the fans who had been waiting and then climbed into the vehicle.

As soon as I sat down, I sprawled out.

“Phew…”

“Bro, are you okay?”

“No…”

It had been the longest flight of my life.

No matter how much I slept, it was always on the plane.

It was surprising and almost magical that a flight that would take nearly 30 minutes to Jeju Island took over 10 hours.

Maybe it was because I had been tense the whole time, but the in-flight meal made me feel queasy.

“It’s okay. It’s just because the flight was long. It was worth it.”

“Do you want some headache medicine? You look a bit wilted right now.”

“Just one, please.”

I swallowed the headache pill given by Rihyuk, and thankfully, I started to feel better.

“Wow. The weather is so nice…”

The youngest opened the window slightly and peeked out.

November in LA was about 10 degrees warmer than in Korea.

While it was shivering cold in Seoul, here it felt like early summer during the day.

A cardigan would be enough.

“The weather is indeed nice and refreshing.”

“And there’s no car following us.”

Unlike in Asia, here, where no one knew who we were, there were no sasaeng fans following us.

As a local employee drove the car, Seokhwan, sitting in the passenger seat, said,

“This time, apart from a few fan meetings and schedules, we have some free time. Think of it as a rest stop.”

“No way! We want to work!”

Our rebellious response made the other person laugh and say we could do as we pleased.

“Maybe do some busking on the streets, then.”

“Oh!”

“Doesn’t Rihyuk’s mother live in LA?”

“Yes.”

Rihyuk nodded.

“She actually invited us over for dinner this time.”

“Oh, Rihyuk’s home.”

“Please, I beg you, don’t do anything weird there.”

“It’s fine. Mom knows all about our antics.”

“She might not.”

Rihyuk muttered under his breath.

“Because she’s not really interested.”

The youngest and I exchanged glances and changed the subject.

“So, where should we go this time?”

“How about Hollywood? I want to go where the American actors leave their handprints.”

“Leave their handprints?”

Jung-hyun’s admiration for the actors sparked a confused but amusing conversation.

As we laughed at this, we also marveled at the exotic scenery passing by outside the window.

Flipping through a tourist brochure we picked up at the airport, we pondered where to go next.

This time, our schedule was quite relaxed, with just a fan meeting, one performance, and a magazine interview.

Of course, there was one big event among them.

“But I’m a bit nervous about singing in another language on stage.”

“I know. The stage seems pretty big too.”

We were invited as guests to a concert.

It was a mini-concert prepared by the producers of Nostalgia.

Since the OST had received such a positive response, we heard we’d be performing songs from the movie as a fan service.

We were to make a surprise appearance and sing ‘Thousand Dreams.’

Rihyuk, looking over the schedule, said,

“Didn’t the director say he has someone to introduce us to before tomorrow’s performance?”

“Yes. He didn’t say who it was.”

We were curious about who Director John Edwards wanted to introduce us to.

Who could it be?

While pondering this, we arrived at our accommodation, unpacked, and immediately changed into our outing clothes.

“What should we do, bro?”

Bijoo asked with slightly flushed cheeks.

“I’m excited.”

“That excited?”

“Yes. Just thinking about meeting after so long, talking about dance… My heart is racing.”

I smiled.

On my first day in LA, there was someone we had to meet before anyone else.

“Come visit when you’re in LA,” the choreographer had said with a smile.

“So, shall we go?”

“Go go!”

We immediately headed to the dance studio where Clay Tyler was said to be.

30 minutes later.

“It’s closed.”

We blinked in front of the dance studio, the ‘Closed’ sign hanging on the door.