Lying on the bed, I closed my eyes but couldn’t fall asleep.
Embarrassingly, I had spent the whole day crying, feeling exhausted.
Since my older sister asked me to aim for a Billboard No. 1, I was seriously thinking about it.
What kind of song would fit that concept to reach No. 1 on Billboard?
Also, what kind of vibe do American K-pop listeners get into?
And above all, the limitations and obstacles we face.
“No matter how you look at it, the biggest obstacle seems to be our bad relationship with LE Entertainment.”
The level of our bad rapport with broadcasting companies was on a whole different level.
At least when it comes to idols.
In K-pop content, LE was the biggest company with the most influence both domestically and internationally.
Even NND gained overseas attention thanks to LE.
It was the overseas K-pop concerts regularly hosted by LE that created such opportunities.
However, we hadn’t been invited to the biggest K-pop concert being held in North America this year.
It was a clear power struggle. The reason they didn’t invite us, even though we could confidently call ourselves the hottest group.
But ultimately, that fact was a significant vulnerability in this industry where virality is crucial.
It meant that we were losing the hype to other groups.
“If we just leave it alone, the title of being the hottest will slowly be eaten away.”
In the end, the best course of action was for us to bow down.
Literally, us or the members should regularly show up at events or programs hosted by LE and try to be friendly.
But…
“I guess I’ll just have to do what I wrote down in my notebook.”
Since I already told my sister I’d do things my own way.
It also seemed that making it a short-term goal for LE to extend the olive branch could boost morale.
*
The next day, Jung So-hyun waited for Do-hee with her usual expressionless face.
But countless thoughts were tangled in her mind, making it chaotic.
Starting with worrying about sending Do-hee back to the dorm alone after the issue exploded the day before.
“She’s a grown-up kid; she’ll manage to figure it out…”
If we were to give a break, would we have to delay the comeback?
If we couldn’t release the single as planned in October, things would definitely get messy.
November would be when the award ceremony schedules would overlap.
December was the busy season for stages.
“That means the comeback would have to be pushed back to at least January… and the fandom would get exhausted.”
Most importantly, the backlash from the executives was to be expected if we delayed the comeback.
Not only for Debonaire’s growth.
But also, due to Topist’s biggest issues regarding listing and funding.
“Of course… both the first and second albums sold well, and the kids often participated in events, so the financial situation has improved a lot, but Debonaire is still a rookie and needs investment…”
“Your financial situation has improved a lot, but Debonaire still needs investment as a rookie…”
“Besides, Topist is a major entertainment agency only if they’re performing well.”
“Since the specific path and infrastructure aren’t set up yet, every process was mostly new and inevitably costly.”
“Above all, the top priority was to calm the toxic atmosphere circulating within the fandom.”
“Specifically, the disputes among malicious individual fans.”
“Ensuring that it doesn’t become the mainstream vibe within the fandom.”
“Content that could quickly stabilize everyone.”
“Something that shows the members getting along.”
“Like the self-content we had when we went to Gangneung last time.”
“Although it’s something that would only be possible after the kids’ inner turmoil is resolved.”
“Even worse, there’s now a new obstacle arising just as global market reactions are starting to pick up.”
“…Destroy Six. The global chart index has definitely… dropped sharply.”
“Regardless, the more I think about it, the more it becomes clear that all of Debonaire’s schedules have drifted away from Producer Jung So-hyun’s grasp.”
“Of course.”
“Typically, as most groups accumulate years, the responsibilities are handed over to the members themselves.”
“But in Debonaire’s case.”
“The handover happened way too quickly.”
“Not even a year has passed since their debut.”
“True rookies.”
“I knew the reason.”
“Do-hee was very different from ordinary people.”
“When compared to extraordinary entertainers, she was on another level.”
“Moreover, the image of Do-hee writing her own songs was significant.”
“That’s also why Debonaire is being rated more highly than perhaps they should be.”
“Thus, the atmosphere surrounding the next comeback title is that Do-hee must participate, whether she likes it or not.”
“That said, I can’t exactly ask a girl who’s not in her right mind to write a song.”
“Should I just ask Jeon Yo-seob instead for a piece? At least it would get a credit under the same authorship…”
“Do-hee would be upset about that.”
“But if it’s urgent…”
“And as expected.”
“Did you come?”
“One hour later, Do-hee entered just like yesterday, tearing through the sheets in a compulsive manner, yet her expression showed as if nothing had happened, cautiously asking.”
“Yeah, it’d be hard to write a song right now.”
“I guess we can’t delay the comeback.”
“It must have been tough with the schedule, so it’s probably best to take a break for a bit. You thought well.”
“However, it was vastly different from Jung So-hyun’s thoughts.”
“Yes, I have a comeback date in mind for February.”
“Jung So-hyun couldn’t hide her expression at Do-hee’s words, stunned.”
“Do-hee, February is…”
“It’s already late for January.”
“February is…”
“I know it sounds unreasonable even while I’m saying it. But I have a clear reason for it. It somehow feels like it’ll resonate in the US. Of course, I’ll need to package it well.”
“Do-hee casually began to unravel the concepts she had jotted down in her notebook.”
I started to lightly unpack the ideas jotted down in the divine notebook.
“The concept is something like this.”
It’s just casual chatter about ideas, but this ain’t your ordinary story.
“…Different release dates for each?”
“Yes, that’s the key point. I’ve got the dates lined up too. The dates are…”
Each one was as outrageous as the last.
“I’d like to have a special stage where I stand alone at the awards ceremony, if possible. Preferably at the Watermelon Music Awards instead of the WMA hosted by LE.”
“Got it, I’ll talk to that PD about it.”
“Yeah, but I think we should drop at least one of the tracks in November so the fandom doesn’t get too fatigued.”
Definitely not an average kid, that’s for sure.
“Yes, if we count the songs, the album size ends up being… a mini-album.”
Do-hee nodded hesitantly.
“I’ll work on everything together with the unnis first.”
“Can you pull that off?”
“Yeah, just from thinking about it, it seems like only the first title track will be very hands-on, conceptually.”
She then locked eyes with Jung So-hyun.
“I heard from Woo-ah unni yesterday too. She said the unnis have done a bit of studying on composition, heh.”
That was a secret Woo-ah insisted on keeping.
Jung So-hyun smiled back at the sincere laughter shared in the conversation.
“Moreover, once we nail down the melody, it should be easy to conceptualize the rest. After going to song camp, I have a rough idea. If it doesn’t work out… we’ll just have to rely on the Director to fill in the tracks, heh.”
Jung So-hyun sighed inwardly.
If Do-hee thinks so, then they should give it a shot.
Not sure how to convince the executives who’d be noisy over budget issues though.
“Oh, and Director.”
“Yeah?”
Do-hee was about to get up but paused, glancing around.
“I, um, want to use some of my own money, hehe…”
“What do you mean?”
“It might sound a bit audacious… but can we consider stock options?”
“Stock options?”
“So, I’m talking about issuing new shares. It’s kind of an encouragement for motivation to buy back some company stocks.”
In simple terms, she was saying she wanted to invest her own money in the next album.
“I’ll discuss it confidentially with the CEO.”
Good timing too.
“Oh… and I roughly thought about what I could do for self-content. When I casually mentioned it to Seo-yoon unni yesterday, she thought it might be a good idea.”
However, Jung So-hyun didn’t think for a second that this timing was just a mere coincidence.
She recognized that behind her playful demeanor, she had a strong sense of conviction.
I recognized it as a child.
“What kind?”
“How about this? I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and other groups seem to do this kind of thing at least once. The reactions are good.”
Just pretending to be oblivious so others wouldn’t feel awkward.
From an insightful perspective, it felt like I was a child aware of all the issues in the current situation.
“Okay, let’s go with that. Have you talked to the members?”
“I’m planning to bring it up subtly tonight.”
To put it simply, I was too perceptive.
*
As Jung So-hyun worried and Do-hee discerned,
the fans were going through unprecedented stress.
Bae Ha-young felt the same way.
“Ugh, why do these idiots keep tagging that pathetic hashtag?”
The overseas Destroy Six fandom was non-stop terrorizing, saying not to stream Debonaire’s song.
[Polite Korean but has no manners]
#DoheeApologize
#AntiDebonair
#Trashbonair
The domestic Destroy Six fandom jumped on the bandwagon with a “both sides are at fault” argument, saying it was because Do-hee behaved poorly.
[Why post an apology when there’s nothing to apologize for?]
[Did someone feel hit when no one mentioned them?]
Bae Ha-young, being a well-known Home Mama with nearly 90,000 followers, was trying hard to stabilize the atmosphere.
Dol Ahyee @Dol_Ahyee
[Compilation of Do-hee’s personality described by the staff]
[What Seven members said about Do-hee]
Of course, there were frequent fights among malicious individual fans behind the scenes.
─Topist is obviously favoring someone; honestly, it’s disgustingly obvious.
But if there was a silver lining, most fans were too busy battling the Destroy Six fandom to pay attention to individual fan conflicts.
However, it was evident that for this big fire to be extinguished, the agency had to roll out some new content.
And Topist had always been quick to respond to issues like this.
“Oh…?”
Sure enough, a self-content teaser was about to be released.
But the content itself was, predictably, odd again.
[No. 1 (Do-hee): I’m a little worried.]
[Q: Are you hoping to find a partner?]
[No. 1 (Do-hee): Huh? No, I’m worried everyone will choose me.]
Not the sleek, modern vibe.
Wearing brown robes resembling monk attire, it felt like an old documentary style.
[No. 5 (Kim Na-eun): One first impression…?]
<Girl No. 5 seems especially concerned about No. 2>
[No. 2 (Chiyo): Oh…!?]
[No. 5 (Kim Na-eun): Ugh, they all look like they won’t listen… but I guess, I guess No. 3?]
It was a matchmaking program where they were all trying to charm each other.
