In the end, the concept of the debut album was decided as ‘fear’.
At the meeting with the CEO and the board of directors, there were mixed concerns, but I also heard a little bit about how the A&R team leader Kim Joo-young had a strong appeal.
“Thanks to you, I couldn’t write all the songs I had as candidates, you guys.”
The next morning, team leader Sohyeon sighed in front of her members gathered in her meeting room and grumbled that things were piling up, but her face was not as dark as her words.
“They said that having a clear group goal from the beginning is good for surviving for a long time. There was also the expectation that storytelling would work for the public.”
After a long grumbling, it seemed that the words that were thrown out were close to the truth.
Me and the members, who were watching with a nervous mind, were busy holding back the laughter that was about to burst out at the last word that came out.
“funny? Very just these!”
“Hey, that’s not funny. I like it.”
I was the only one who could make fun of my mouth, so I said it with a lot of gratitude, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem like all the sincerity was conveyed.
As she shrugged her shoulders as if sorry for the sad reality where her truth was buried, team leader Sohyun snorted.
“Hey, I won’t tell you. look at this This is the concept.”
With a deep sigh, the members of the thick paper rolled out with a blank expression on their faces for a moment, but soon everyone happily hugged the paper roll in front of each other and touched the cover.
[Project Unravel]Under that name were written the names of the six of us whom we had longed for so much.
People – Ha-Jun (Min Ha-Jun)
Emotions – Hiss (Kim Young-bin)
Family – C.I (Baek Kyung-hwan)
Prejudice – Chan (Choi Himchan)
The World – Hwan (Gong Ji-hwan)
Future – Sebin (Kang Sebin)
Each fear we had to express and the names of the members who were in charge of it were written on the front page magnificently.
Last time, my manager hyung asked about the name I would use as my stage name, and when I was talking with the CEO, I was talking about the stage name, so everyone wrote it down.
I was reluctant to come up with a different stage name, so all I wrote was a letter of my name, and all the names except for me and Himchan’s were the same as the stage names I knew.
That made my heart flutter again.
“The A&R team said that it was woven with a theme that would suit you the most. If you have any other opinions, say them now.”
“… You must have suffered a lot.”
It is easy to give an opinion, but it is difficult to materialize and create it.
I was just stating the abstract contents in my head, and it was the A&R team that actually typified them, so I was amazed at their abilities again.
In the meantime, the other members had faces that looked like they were about to cry as if they were feeling exhausted.
“This is us.”
“It’s really debuting, we… .”
Even if I took a profile picture and an interview video, it seemed that there was a feeling in the middle of my heart.
It seemed to come true only when a bundle of papers with the proper team name, stage name, and concept in detail were given to each of them.
“Then are you debuting as a fake? Guys, calm down. Don’t say anything weird. What I will do today is Taesan.”
Even the team leader who was grunting for no reason felt that his eyes were moist for some reason, so we looked at each other and smiled.
“For some reason, I think the concept that each of us takes on is a perfect match with the members!”
“Wow, do you think this is going to be a hit?”
“Don’t be shy!”
Everyone took out one word at a time and immediately began to focus on the bundle of papers in their hands.
“Look and listen. For now, I’m recruiting songs again. Hajun, Kyunghwan, or Jihwan, if you have any useful songs in your songs, bring them to the A&R team. You should go to Deputy Ahn Si-young.”
“Yes?”
“I’m still… .”
“It’s just a reference, so don’t feel burdened. Well, you said that if the mood is right, you can put it in the b-side track.”
Does it make sense to say that, don’t feel burdened, team leader… ?
Team leader Sohyeon, who stopped the words that came out in embarrassment, looked at the members who mentioned their names one by one and said,
“This is also an opportunity, so I want to appeal to you. You have to raise the price yourself. And the company will need to know how ready you are, so it won’t be able to support you.”
As the manager said, this was an opportunity.
Whether it was a song or melody written by Hajun or Kyunghwan, the company had to know so that they could bring it out at any time.
Even if it’s not the current album, the next album, or even a solo activity in the future.
“And Youngbin, Chani, and Sebin too, if there’s something good about a song or a choreography, just tell me. That way, I don’t even talk to the company.”
It seemed that the members’ pounding hearts could be heard up to here.
“Even people in the fortress don’t unconditionally look at the things idols do on their own. Of course the barriers will be much higher. That is for you and I to bear.”
Were you trying to actively push the members up to this point in the first place?
At least, Unravel, as far as I know, was not active in individual activities.
So I said a lot of swear words about the company, but what the team leader was saying was very different from the ones I knew.
“You should do your share, and the company will do your share.”
Is this also the butterfly effect brought about by my various actions?
All of a sudden, I got scared.
Maybe because of me, Unravel’s future has had a negative impact.
The first album was sluggish, but after that, Unravel, which went well as if everyone had awakened… What if I keep getting ruined because of my cubic?
Anxiety and nervousness ran up from my toes, and I felt my fingertips stiff.
At that time, the team leader smiled and added a word.
“Jihwan is studying composition? I heard from the manager. That song helped change the minds of the CEO and other directors.”
“Yes?”
When Hajun asked with a puzzled face, the eyes of the members were fixed on me.
“It is best to go safely, but they decided that it was worth investing more actively. The audience ratings and the response on the bulletin board also changed more favorably than I expected. Besides, for a song I made by studying alone, the quality of the work was good.”
“Hey, did you do what Jihwan did?”
“No, that… .”
“If you don’t want to be hurt by your brother, you have to work harder.”
I couldn’t say that it wasn’t a song I made, so my face went red.
I was embarrassed to think that I stole someone else’s thing and changed it to my liking, so I wanted to go into a mouse hole.
Himchan, who mistakenly thought that I was shy, was busy making fun of me, while Youngbin and Hajun looked at me with unique eyes.
Oh, that’s not it! Hey! Ah-oh!
Does this mean that people shouldn’t live by sinning?
I was deeply disturbed by the old proverbs of my ancestors.
“Hey, uh? Are you crying?”
“Don’t cry! Why am I crying!”
The conference room, which was noisy for a while due to the commotion caused by me, became an atmosphere where we could barely talk again with the team leader’s arrangement.
After that, fortunately, the atmosphere relaxed and the members’ minds calmed down, so the meeting became more active.
There was time to listen to and express opinions, such as the approximate direction presented by the company and the contents of future idol creation broadcasts.
It was something everyone had been talking about before, but even if it was reality, it wasn’t without a script.
It was enough to refer to the direction of the story to be filmed rather than the script. It felt strange even though I was guessing that 100% of all reactions could not be true.
Of course, situations always occurred suddenly, and the members’ reactions were more likely to be raw, but they still lacked immunity to the events and atmosphere the company and the PD intended.
After checking the organized contents, the team leader added a word.
“After the meeting, don’t leave, stay here.”
“Yes? How about our practice?”
“Captain, we are hungry.”
A lot more time had passed than I expected. We had a quick meal and were about to go to the practice room, but we looked pitiful.
We couldn’t prepare for our album because the most important title song wasn’t decided right now, but there were a lot of things we had to do aside from that.
“Noisy, you guys. When do I not feed you? Be quiet.”
The team leader, who put a threat, left the conference room pretending to listen to the members’ murmurs with one ear and let it go.
“But Jihwan, when did you study composition?”
Ha-jun asked me, who had been exchanging various things about the concept we each took on in a relaxed atmosphere.
“Huh… . I just did it little by little.”
“I thought I was only in the practice room every day, but I was surprised.”
“Then why did you keep going to the company first?”
“Don’t even talk to us!”
As soon as Ha-jun opened the door, questions and grumblings erupted here and there.
No, guys. You guys weren’t very interested in me… ?
Come to think of it, recently, even if I don’t speak to myself first, the members approach me first and talk to me a lot.
These were trivial but intimate stories such as asking about the location of objects, asking for a good night’s greetings before going to sleep, or asking for a meal menu.
I didn’t even know that my kids were showing interest in me to get to know them because I was adjusting to reality right now!
Himchanin, who is the same age, was a member who had talked a lot before, but the other members were not.
However, from a certain moment, everyone started talking to them with a friendly look and started playing pranks on them.
I wondered if this was an effect of a skill, but to dismiss it alone, there was no difference between the members who did not apply the skill and the members who did not.
“We’re a team, so it’s great!”
“that’s right! There is nothing to hide now!”
At some point, we were talking naturally. It was a change that even I wasn’t aware of as it came together naturally as if breathing.
I just thought I would be able to close the distance if I worked harder and harder, but it was so fast that I didn’t seem to notice.
Before that, I was in a position where I could only guess what I could see and hear, and I was in a position to tease and support.
However, the time I went through as I changed into a position of direct conversation and confrontation narrowed the distance between me and the members, which had seemed far away.
He was so unique that he laughed at Unravel because he was so affectionate.
“No, everyone loves me so much.”
“Oh, what? crazy?”
“I like my brother!”
“Has he not slept lately? Why are you sleeping with your eyes open?”
I liked Himchan, who was disgusted with the word I threw and pushed the chair he sat on, and Sebin, who raised his hand and spoke his opinion, and Yeongbin, who looked absurd.
I wanted to leave a review everywhere saying that our children are kind and warm-hearted.
I wanted to brag to the neighborhood that I was able to participate in the album after I bought the album like that, but I didn’t have a place to brag.
In this case, there should have been a poing!
Unfortunately, Poing, who can be proud of most, was out today.
When I was enjoying my happy heart alone, I heard a knock on the door of the conference room, and luckily I was able to get out of my thoughts.
If I had been like this for a little while, Himchan and Kyunghwan would have been around for a while, so I was lucky to have caught up with him before it was too late.
“who are you?”
Hajun asked politely.
But there was no answer, and there was a slight hum outside the conference room, and the door swung open.
“Huh?”
We were all stunned at the sight seen through the open door.
It was because one or two people who didn’t expect to be here now appeared.