First, improving job competency. That one I can just grind by practicing hard as an OJT mission, so pass.
Next, “share secrets with the members”? What the hell is that supposed to be?
What kind of secret are we talking about? Am I supposed to have conversations like, “Hey, what’s your settlement split”? Doesn’t UA stop employees from sharing salary info with each other?
Still, if it says the chance of a stable comeback goes up, I have to share something, I guess.
If it comes down to it, I’ll cram everyone into the vocal practice room and tell them the 101 reasons I couldn’t go to college or something. It already happened, so there won’t be a penalty.
Then that leaves.......
▷ Secure manpower for the comeback
▷ Reward: Increased chance of a stable comeback
If we pull the comeback date forward, we should be able to secure at least some of the company’s manpower.
But only to a certain extent. It would be hard to expect the same kind of push we got when we debuted.
‘Unless that Newri person’s workload drops by a lot, that is.’
There were roughly three ways to make that happen.
One. Ms. Newri suddenly becomes bold and bulldozes every decision-making process.
Two. Yuhan Su realizes the hidden talent he never noticed he had and actually uses it.
Three. In a UA that can’t even hire more people, I take on every odd job under the sun and minimize the time I have to spend on Ms. Newri’s side.
Anyone could tell the answer was number three.
I let out a bitter laugh.
Then I opened my laptop, figuring I’d at least prewatch Ms. Newri’s previous albums. If anything happened, I planned to do some research on the side, too.
But my sacrifice for Spark quickly lost its purity and voluntariness.
"Do you want to read the planning proposal......?"
Because someone from the Planning Team came looking for me with a proposal document that had “(Fourth generation)” written on it.
Trying not to show how unenthused I was, I carefully accepted the few-page plan.
‘Why are you giving this to me?’
The Planning Team were the pros in this industry. What could I possibly say?
I felt like I was going to die of awkwardness. Swallowing a sigh, I read the plan slowly.
And then I found it.
『The Goddess’s Return, and a New Journey』
A tacky title so familiar it was annoying.
‘Is Yuhan Su playing some kind of game these days?’
They were words I’d swear I’d seen at least a few times on subway ads at Gangnam Station.
Fine, that was a game ad. But this was a different field, wasn’t it?
I flipped the page, trying hard not to frown in front of the staffer.
And my effort almost turned to dust in three seconds.
『Planning Intent
With the concept that she is a descendant of sirens who bewitch listeners with fatal beauty and an alluring voice, we aim to shift Ms. Newri’s image as she returns after three years with a more mature appearance.......』
It only got worse after that.
That bastard Yuhan Su definitely downloaded some weird game somewhere. Is “sexy concept” the only thing this man can give female singers?
And why was the Planning Team showing me this? To make me eat shit?
Or were they thinking it’d be a waste if only their mental health got destroyed, so I should share the pain too?
Either way, it hurt. I hurriedly gathered the pages and handed them back.
"I’m sorry. I’m still inexperienced, so it’s hard for me to even say anything about it!"
"Iwol, wait!"
The staffer grabbed me in a panic as I tried to run. I wanted to scream, Please let me go.
Everyone in the company openly knew I’d fallen out with Yuhan Su. What kind of rule was this? What could I even say here?
I was about to think maybe it’d be better if my accumulated fatigue punched through the ceiling and I collapsed, when the staffer spoke.
"Don’t feel pressured. Just tell me honestly. We’re kind of unsure too, so we’ve been going around asking opinions."
Unsure? About what, exactly?
Even with my eyes closed I could see it: Yuhan Su would stick Ms. Newri in a tidal flat on the West Sea coast, shoot the MV, then slap on a million columnar joints with chroma key.
Maybe my distrust showed, because the staffer laughed awkwardly.
"Uh....... I guess it’s a bit much to ask for your opinion without explaining anything, huh?"
"If it’s confidential, you don’t have to tell me. I really don’t care about that stuff!"
"Kids these days even say ‘confidential’? Anyway."
The staffer cleared his throat a couple of times.
"Honestly, inside the Planning Team, people are skeptical about this. Before we even get to ‘freshness’ in the plan, the image itself isn’t Ms. Newri’s style."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Iwol, have you ever seen Ms. Newri’s music videos?"
I had. In general, they felt overflowing with energy. She was the type who spread bright vibes wherever she went, too.
When I nodded, the staffer continued.
"Even among ballad singers, Ms. Newri leans pretty hard toward being adventurous. The material for this new song is unique, too. So......."
"So it doesn’t match a concept like this."
The staffer sighed at my words. It seemed Yuhan Su hadn’t looked at Ms. Newri’s past work at all.
But one thing still didn’t make sense.
Why was the Planning Team bringing this to me? And they clearly already knew internally what was wrong with it.
Since I had no intention of running my mouth and getting framed for something, I asked carefully.
"Then can I ask why you’re asking me about this too? Seongbin knows pop trends better than I do, and Cheonghyeon’s more creative than me."
"How are you so meticulous?"
Maybe it was because I got struck by lightning after reheating Nam Manager’s ssanghwa tea for ten extra seconds in the microwave.
When I didn’t answer, the staffer spoke.
"First, the reason we’re asking people outside the team is because we’re worried we might be biased against PD Yu. You know—hate the person if you must, but don’t hate the work."
Isn’t it usually the other way around? I wanted to ask, but I held it in.
"You seem like you think it’s strange we’re not asking people with meaningful industry careers, but the kinds of issues those experienced people would catch should already be pointed out inside a team that has experienced people. If that can’t happen, that team’s already lost its function."
"......."
"And on top of that, the reason we asked you—someone young—is because we wondered if we might be missing today’s trends. No matter how trend-sensitive the entertainment industry is, it’s hard to keep up with the actual younger generation. PD Yu’s plan looks bad to us, but it might work for your generation. We needed to consider that possibility."
The staffer scratched his head and laughed.
I was surprised. I hadn’t expected UA to have this level of professional integrity.
It almost made me wonder how a “cyborg warrior” concept ever came out of this company.
Next, I felt embarrassed.
They were looking at the work itself seriously, and I was sitting here thinking about my situation with Yuhan Su.
Reflect. And learn a lot. I repeated it to myself.
"Oh, right. Iwol."
I thought the conversation was over, but the staffer stopped me again.
"You said earlier, right? Why we asked you instead of Seongbin or Cheonghyeon."
"Ah, that."
"There are a lot of reasons, but the biggest one—the reason we picked you specifically—is because you’ve got good sense."
It was hard to understand. My brain had been stiff as a board for years now. There was no way I had any “sense” left that was worth using.
As if he’d noticed what I was thinking, the staffer patted my shoulder.
"Your instincts are good. Surprisingly good. At least, that’s what our team thinks."
"So you got totally swept up by the Planning Team’s compliments and searched for Ms. Newri’s items until dawn yesterday?"
During break, Lee Cheonghyeon walked over and asked me.
"Cheonghyeon, if you put it like that, I’m going to cry."
Even as I answered, my fingers didn’t stop moving.
If I wanted to send the attachment, a formal greeting, and a laughing emoji within ten minutes, I had to move fast.
Even with me brushing him off, Lee Cheonghyeon didn’t back down.
"Didn’t you say your eyes are so dry that tears try to come out but then go back in?"
"How is every single thing you say so logical?"
Ignoring Cheonghyeon’s rapid-fire jabs, I hit the send button on the email to the Planning Team.
What else was I supposed to do? As a fellow office worker fighting for my life, I couldn’t just leave a coworker hanging.
"Hyung, you’re sleeping way too little. You tend to let your guard down too much just because your growth period is over."
As Cheonghyeon spoke, Park Juu nodded behind him.
"Yeah? So starting today, you’ll handle schedule coordination for him instead?"
"Should I? Then forward it to me."
Look at this little punk. We pulled a couple of all-nighters together and he already understands the ecosystem perfectly.
"Forget it. I’m joking."
Saying that, I stood up from the floor. Cheonghyeon grumbled that nobody jokes with a straight face like that, but I pretended not to hear.
When I checked the time, we had about two minutes until practice resumed.
While we still had a moment, I went to the corner of the practice room and secretly opened the system to check our progress.
▷ Kim Iwol
Dance (1) ■■■■■□□
Dance (2) ■■■■□□□
Vocal ■■■■■□□
▷ Choi Jeho
Dance ■■■■■□□
Vocal ■■■■■□□
.
.
.
All that was left was for me to make up the missing practice time by tonight, get the full attendance stamp on Dance (2), and then go hard for the remaining two days.
If I pulled that off, then.......
≫ Fuck, I’m tired of even pretending to look away for this clunker
Iwol, practice 좀 해....... Aren’t you embarrassed in front of the members......?
≫ lol he’s # Nоvеlight # the oldest but his skills are the worst
Why the fuck did this guy wedge himself in at the very endㅠㅠ it’s so annoyingㅠㅠㅠㅠ
≫ He’s just not built to be an idol
What’s the point of the members hyping him up no matter how hard he practices? The level the public sees is still this
If he practices and it’s still like this, it just means this path doesn’t fit him in the first place
......I’d be able to soothe the hearts of Spark’s five supporters, at least a little.
I’m sorry. I’ll be careful not to stand out as much as possible.
"Hyung, break time’s over!"
Jeong Seongbin called for me the moment I finished checking the progress.
"Yeah, coming."
I stood up from the corner as naturally as I could.
At that moment, the area under my nose went hot, and something ran down in a thin stream. I hurriedly covered my nose and mouth with my hand.
‘What is it? Runny nose?’
This was humiliating. A grown adult who couldn’t even blow his own nose in time, letting snot drip—someone who was a Spark six-member supporter would switch to five members on the spot.
"Hyung, what’s wrong......?"
Park Juu asked.
I waved my hand, trying to keep them from coming closer to what was about to be the ugliest scene imaginable.
"Sorry. I think I’m going to look really gross right now, so can you pretend you didn’t see it and just bring me some tissues?"
"H, hyung! Hyung, you’re bleeding!"
Cheonghyeon shouted.
Bleeding?
Then I smelled a familiar metallic scent. Something I’d been desperately trying not to swallow, in case it was just snot, seeped between my lips.
Slowly, I looked down at the hand that had been pinching my nose shut.
My hand was drenched in dark red blood.
