Chapter 109:
Chapter 109
What is this, a prison visit?
At the end of January, after a coronavirus outbreak, music shows were replaced by recordings without audiences.
“Thankfully, they didn’t cancel the shows.”
A staff member sighed in relief.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus, Awi’s encore concert had been cancelled long ago, and other idol groups were also postponing their planned album releases.
“Let’s just stick to our plan. It doesn’t seem like the pandemic will go away easily if we delay.”
Seo Su-hyun clicked her tongue.
The broadcasting industry was in chaos from February, after January.
Drama shootings were difficult because of the lack of locations, and some scheduled dramas were also delayed for a few weeks.
“What should we do…”
Seo Su-ryeon tapped her desk with a pen.
They couldn’t hold concerts for a while because of the coronavirus, and it was better to avoid outdoor activities even if they wanted to film their own content.
“By the way, Ian gave me a mask.”
“That hard-to-get mask? Where did he get it?”
“Do you know Cheon Sin-hwi? He heard that there was an outbreak last year and bought them in advance. Amazing, right?”
“…He always knew how to read the trends.”
No wonder he was nicknamed a shaman among the members. Seo Su-ryeon hummed… and got up abruptly.
There was no point in racking her brain like this.
She decided to ask the members for their opinions.
***
“Your opinions?”
“Yeah, anything is fine. Just tell me if you have any ideas for what we should do in the future.”
The members who were practicing their choreography for a while sat down in a circle on the floor.
“I wanted to try an escape room. What if we book a place and do it ourselves?”
“A one-day cafe… That won’t work.”
“What about filming a reality show where we observe ourselves?”
“Doesn’t that overlap with what we did with JBTC?”
“Our fans would like it even if it overlaps.”
The staff member next to Seo Su-ryeon wrote down the members’ opinions on his phone.
Jo Tae-woong, who was sitting next to Ian, exclaimed.
“How about this? We’re going to be active anyway, right? We’re going to release an album, and then we have to do a fan signing.”
“But we can’t do a fan signing, can we?”
Jo Tae-woong put his index finger on his lips.
“Just listen to me first. We let one fan in at a time at a designated place, and we put up a transparent wall in front of us so that we can’t touch them. We make a hole to hand over the album and sign it.”
That’s an ingenious idea. Ian laughed.
“What is this, a prison visit?”
“Huh? It’s like a real visit.”
The other members burst into laughter and fell back at Ian’s words. Only Jo Tae-woong was serious about his proposal.
“But the fans come to see our faces, right? Isn’t there no other way than this? They have to get signed albums too…”
“I get that, but what if our fans get infected on their way to the prison fan signing? There are people who don’t even go outside at all.”
“Is that so…?”
Lee Ju-hyuk shook his head. Jo Tae-woong pouted his lips and lay down on the floor.
“What about a video call fan signing?”
Ian quickly suggested a solution. Seo Su-ryeon and the staff member looked up at Ian.
“A video call?”
“Yeah, short for video call fan signing. We draw or whatever fans and we make a video call from our side. We get all their personal information when they apply for the fan signing anyway, right?”
“Oh, that sounds good.”
Actually, Ian just brought up something that would happen in the future.
When the coronavirus situation continued, a small agency tried a video call fan signing for the first time.
At first, people said why are they doing this, they are blinded by money.
The opinions were divided, but eventually other idols also followed their method.
“We can send them signed albums by mail. Even if they can’t see us in person, they can record videos separately. They can keep them for themselves too.”
Since they would leave it on video, they would have to be more careful about their words and actions than usual, but if the fans voluntarily shared the videos, it could also be a content.
“…Sounds good?”
“It would be fun to prepare our own fan signing system.”
The video call fan signing became a trend and continued even after the coronavirus was over.
‘Sounds good? Isn’t it good for me too?’
‘It seems okay.’
Seo Su-ryeon exchanged glances with the staff member next to her. Seo Su-ryeon’s head was spinning non-stop.
Sending mail these days was not a big deal. Since they were making calls, they could set the time longer than a normal fan signing.
They could draw about 30 fans.
What about holding a separate fan signing for overseas fans?
Seo Su-ryeon’s expression brightened noticeably.
“…I’ll have to discuss this with our staff. Thanks for the good opinions, guys.”
Seo Su-ryeon and the staff member got up quickly.
“The situation is what it is, so it might be a bit… relaxed, but we won’t make you rest, so don’t worry and practice well.”
“Yes.”
As they watched the girls leave the practice room with light steps, the members of Awi shrugged their shoulders.
“Let’s just practice.”
***
Even though the situation was not good, the album work did not stop.
After hitting success with ‘Side Effect’ and ‘We are We are’ in a row, Lee Ju-hyuk seemed to have confidence in his skills now.
He could make a song in a short time without spending much time on the work.
“Here are the lyrics… First, let’s try to sing it one by one and divide the parts according to who can pronounce and express each line well. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
“Oh, my lyrics are in here.”
The members who only went back and forth between the company and the dorm were bored and looked for something else to do.
It was writing lyrics.
Before heading to the dorm after finishing their practice, the members diligently received the guide recording that Lee Ju-hyuk hummed.
They were absorbed in writing lyrics until they went to sleep.
Lee Ju-hyuk, who became a hit song maker in the idol industry, now had many people who trusted and listened to his music. He earned the nickname ‘trust-listen’.
At this point, some company executives or staff would try to join in writing lyrics, but BHL Entertainment was actively supporting the members’ writing.
“Don’t you think we’re going more and more towards self-production?”
“It’s good to have royalties.”
“Do you think we’ll end up making a music video too?”
“We could. Weren’t there some idols who made their own music videos?”
It was a very healthy hobby compared to getting photographed outside in this situation.
“By the way, we’re doing that thing with our own styling. The stylist noona is waiting for us.”
“Crazy. Are we going to sew and stuff?”
“She’ll be furious if we mess it up…”
“Maybe we’ll become servants instead of sewing?”
The company was preparing various self-made contents to prevent stagnation due to COVID-19. Tonight, they also had a live broadcast on Y app making dalgona coffee.
“Stop chatting. Let’s start with Seo-dam.”
“Okay.”
Park Seo-dam cleared her throat and started singing. Lee Ju-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk looked at the lyrics sheet with serious faces.
“This part sounds good. Let’s mark here and here…”
“What about here?”
After Park Seo-dam, the other members sang one by one.
They divided the parts according to their own feelings. Some members got more or less parts than others.
“Ju-hyuk hyung, don’t you think the parts are too uneven?”
“Hmm, yeah. Should we divide them again?”
Lee Ju-hyuk and Park Jin-hyuk looked at the members with nervous eyes.
The part distribution issue could be a sensitive one depending on who accepted it. Jo Tae-woong shrugged his shoulders.
“Why do you have to divide them again? It’s up to the producer.”
“Yeah. You don’t have to worry about us, hyungs.”
Lee Ju-hyuk sighed with relief. Apart from making good songs, he didn’t have much time until the deadline to hand over the songs.
“Then shall we proceed like this? Let’s record it right away.”
***
“So! Today! We have to follow the trend too. We’re going to make dalgona coffee.”
With Park Seo-dam’s opening, the members poured instant coffee into bowls.
“How do we measure the water?”
“Did I put too much sugar?”
They ripped open instant coffee packets without thinking.
When they came to their senses, they saw that the coffee in the large stainless steel bowl was a bucketful.
“Did we make too much?”
“It’ll take all day to whip this up.”
Lee Ju-hyuk looked around as he started stirring.
“But why is this the only tool we have?”
“Is this all we have for a whisk? Don’t you have an electric one? The one you use when you make meringue.”
The video production team shook their heads. The original purpose of Y app’s dalgona coffee was to watch their favorite idol stir tirelessly for an endless time, feeling frustrated and painful that it was not finished yet.
“Wow, I can’t do this. My arm hurts. Next.”
“Ah hyung, why are you giving up so fast?”
“Hey, it’s really hard. You try it.”
Lee Ju-hyuk gave up after stirring for a while and passed the bowl to Kim Joo-young. Kim Joo-young said confidently.
“This is nothing. You don’t have to work so hard. Just whip it lightly with your wrist snap.”
“Oh.”
-?????????cute
-As expected of Awi’s cook?????
The pro mukbang-er was different. Even if he ate food at the dorm, he wanted to eat it deliciously. He was also good at cooking, and his expression was relaxed as he whipped the coffee like meringue.
“Is it done?”
Of course, it didn’t last long. Kim Joo-young lifted the whisk with a tired face after stirring for a long time.
“Isn’t it thick enough yet?”
“It should be heavier than this, right?”
“Come on, stir it quickly.”
“Are your hands getting slow?”
Ian and Jo Tae-woong lifted Kim Joo-young up from both sides. Kim Joo-young made a sad face and moved his hand slowly.
-Poor Joo-young LOL
-He’s getting bullied hard LOL
The chat window was filled with laughter. Kim Joo-young finally gave up and put the bowl on the table.
“Ah! I quit!”
“He ran away, huh?”
Jo Tae-woong pushed the remaining bowl to Ian.
“Didn’t you say it only takes a few hundred times? Joo-hyuk and Joo-young already did a thousand times, didn’t they?”
“Look at the amount. Do you think this will end in a few hundred times?”
“Ah… who spilled the coffee?”
Ian rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the whisk. There were seven people, so it should be over soon. He started to stir gently, following Kim Joo-young’s movements.
“Does the coffee taste better after this hard work?”
As he kept stirring, he felt his arm muscles tense up. Ian frowned.
“Why do we have to do this to drink coffee?”
-Look at Ian’s arms TT
-Ian, you’re so handsome
-His veins are popping out, I want to poke them with a needle TT
“Does it have a special taste if we stir it like this?”
He felt like he became a killer with a question mark because of the hardship.
After stirring for a long time, Ian shoved the bowl into Jo Tae-woong’s arms and collapsed on the floor.
“Wow, I can’t do it!”
“Look, it’s still thin after all that stirring.”
Jo Tae-woong, who received the bowl by surprise, grabbed the whisk, and the rest of the members ate snacks.
“…This feels like a punishment.”
“You too? Me too.”
“Why is this popular?”
The production staff answered the members’ questions with a smile.
“Because of COVID-19, people work from home and spend more time at home. People are looking for things to do at home.”
“Don’t we just need to rest at home?”
Jo Tae-woong, who gave up quickly, passed the bowl to Park Jin-hyuk. He staggered and sat down on the floor.
“COVID-19 ruined Korea.”
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦