Most of the time, an entertainer’s contacts are handled by their agency.

Because of risk, plain and simple.

It’s the same reason why even celebrities who can drive still have to ride in the manager’s van when they go to schedules.

If you get into an accident while driving yourself, it turns into headlines like “Celebrity so-and-so causes traffic accident...” and you can’t leave the scene.

It’s the same with calls.

There’s a colossal difference in pressure between letting a third party—the agency—say, “Ah, about our actor last time... it’s become a bit difficult,” and saying yourself, “Director, I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do it.”

So if you want a song, the normal thing is to reach out through the agency.

“Exactly.”

I looked at the nine on the smartphone screen who were gazing off into the distance to avoid eye contact.

“The ones pretending to be ‘Street Boys’ here—are you guys?”

“...Y-yeah.”

“......”

“......”

Then I turned to the six who had popped up on Jiho’s phone.

Six faces, eyes wide like saucers, wearing the proud look of We did nothing wrong, you know?

“You guys called too?”

“Yes.”

Maybe because they felt a kinship in not being the only ones, Sbo shot finger hearts at Teen Spirit.

Teen Spirit sent hearts back.

A perfect match, pair by pair.

Not just us with Teens and Sbo; Teen Spirit and Sbo were also on a video call, so the four sides were doing a three-way face-off.

“......You look great together. Really great.”

Yeonhu laughed, going “Hot.”

“Thank you, sir. Since it’s come to this, Sbo sirs, should we decide a name for our little friendship club?”

“That wasn’t a compliment from Wooju, you idiot.”

“It wasn’t?”

I gave Yeonhu, who was looking at me, a sunny smile. He rolled his eyes around and pretended he hadn’t done anything.

I sighed.

“No, why would people who know better do something this dumb... If you wanted to reach out, you should have gone through your managers.”

“Excuse me, I have something to say.”

“Yes, Lee Hyeonjo.”

Hanjo raised his hand and answered stoutly.

“We had unavoidable circumstances. Sun Wooju’s Rest Log Part 2 aired Saturday evening, didn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“On the broadcast you teased us to hurry and purchase the song—on a Saturday night. It was about to sell out right then, but calling company staff on a Saturday night when they’re off to say ‘please secure that song for us’ would just be being a nuisance.”

“Hm......”

It was reasonable, in its way.

“And it would have been overstepping to call NewBlack directly when you’re busy prepping a comeback. Contacting our own company staff wasn’t quite it either. That left exactly one option.”

“Ah, that’s the situation......”

A leader isn’t a leader for nothing.

At his words the Street Boys members clapped and said,

“A historic moment. This is historic.”

“The always-getting-steamrolled Lee Hyeonjo finally persuaded someone with words.”

“For once you looked like a leader~”

Watching Hanjo preen and high-five, I shifted my eyes to the other phone.

With a look that said And you? the Teen Spirit members spoke up.

“W-we were the same!”

“Same thinking.”

“No! Sir, do we look like blockheads to you?!”

Given the way they suddenly raised their voices and flinched, they clearly hadn’t thought anything through.

They just went ahead and dialed.

“But, like.”

LB stuck out his lips.

“Aren’t we customers too? We came to buy NewBlack’s song, and the shop owner’s attitude—way too insincere, isn’t it~!”

“You’re right, Mr. Namu. In matters like this, the customer is the boss.”

“Knew it.”

“But I’m a super Eul.”

Standing beside me, Ri Hyuk explained like a court flatterer.

“Super Eul is slang in the business world. It refers to the seller that exists in a monopoly market.”

“Ah......”

“Namu, please leave.”

Both sides chuckled at the image of Persimmon Tree trudging out with nothing to show for it.

Teen Spirit smiled.

“Foolish. In times like this you never, ever ruffle the Spaceship’s mood.”

“We’re the downstairs neighbors; we know.”

To the teenagers who immediately switched to aegyo faces and waved a signboard saying “We love you Spaceship,” I said,

“The songs are all sold out......”

“Ah, fuck.”

“Hey, hey, cut it. He says they’re gone.”

......Isn’t that switch a little too fast?

Smiling at the refreshing Teen Spirit flavor, I scratched my cheek while looking at the two groups.

“Man......”

It would have been great if you’d gone through your agencies.

It was a shame for both groups, but the stock I’d put out was already completely sold. I had already emailed how we’d allocate the tracks, but even if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have changed much.

There’s an order to how things get handled at a company.

Once something’s in motion a certain way, I can’t abuse personal ties and say, “Just give that song to Sbo.”

“No leftovers?”

“The songs from the song camp are all gone.”

The nine and the six dipped their heads slightly.

Clicking his tongue, Ri Hyuk said,

“They aren’t even his compositions, and they’re not title tracks—just b-sides. You don’t exactly need to get one......”

With dewy eyes, Namu said,

“Ri Hyuk, you don’t get it. You don’t know our misery.”

“What misery.”

“When we promote a new single without the three letters ‘NewBlack’ in the copy, how little punch it has...... Even when we circulate a press release, people just glance. Even if we say a new song is coming, the public goes, ‘Hm, a song’s coming,’ and that’s it.”

“......”

Outrageously well-fed talk.

A boy group sends out a press release and people actually look, and the public registers that a song is coming—do you know how huge that is?

Just when I’d run out of things to say, Hanjo gave an order to his juniors.

“Let him in.”

“No.”

I said,

“Let him in.”

“Yes, Captain!”

I used my power and prerogative as captain of Mint Choco to deal with Namu.

While Hanjo tilted his head with a Something’s off expression, Sbo’s Rex said,

“Look, that ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) was just the opinion of some lowly tree. Truth is, we’re greedy for songs. You know how hard it is to get a good one.”

“Facts.”

Teens and Sbo nodded in sync.

“Agreed!”

“Oh treasure book~!”

Watching them play their little matching game, I fell into thought.

It wasn’t wrong.

If actors, the more successful they get, go into a frenzy for “Better scripts! Overwhelmingly great scripts!”, then singers pour everything into finding better songs.

Because in the end a singer’s rise and fall is decided by songs.

“Hmmmm......”

It wasn’t that there was no way.

If there had been no alternative, they wouldn’t have called.

“There are songs that haven’t been public on the broadcast......”

“......!”

“Hurry, get the placards up!”

While they waved their signs with wild enthusiasm like they were competing over who could shake better, I said,

“There are more tracks from the song camp sessions. Those are ones I worked on. If you’re okay with those......”

“We’d love that!”

“So good! Sir, I love you, fuck!”

What I made during the song camp wasn’t only Not Fine and METRO. There were plenty more—songs I’d passed over thinking, “Ah, we won’t have time to finish post on this one...”

With help from our producing team, there were tracks we were actively polishing.

The songs currently shown on broadcast were all fully completed, so these were still unreleased.

“I’ll talk to the producing team, so go discuss through your companies.”

“Thank you......!”

“We love you~ love you~”

While Sbo and Teen Spirit threw their heads back like “Ha! What a beautiful world!” and got drunk on happiness, Biju tugged on my hem.

“Hyung.”

Pointing at the people wriggling like cats drunk on catnip, Biju and the other minions sent me a lewd little look.

“Verbal contract.”

“Ah, okay.”

The idea was to coax them while their guard was down.

I cleared my throat and spoke.

“Of course it won’t be for free. I have a few requests.”

“Just say the word, sir. If you say bark, we’ll bark.”

“No, don’t do that......”

To the puppies pricking up their ears at the bone, I said:

Who are Teen Spirit and Street Boys? Never mind the way they look—these are top idols in the country.

So I shyly asked if they could appear a bit in our content shoots, do a cameo, film a challenge video—stuff like that.

“Hold on.”

Narrowing his eyes, Huiyeon said,

“For just one song, you want that kind of stuff...?”

Maybe I’d bragged too much over a single song.

I was thinking that when—

“That’s all?”

“Idiot. He’s only naming super easy favors because he doesn’t want us to feel burdened!”

“Who said Spaceship has a bad personality? Who?!”

Why are they agreeing so readily.

I should’ve asked for something a little more over the top...?

A little later.

The producing team called to say the contracts were signed.

They would custom-tailor the songs I’d sketched to fit Teen Spirit’s and Street Boys’ colors.

“Then that’s resolved.”

On my to-do list, under Someday, “Give songs to Sbo/Teen Spirit” was done.

“Let’s see. What’s left......”

Checking what remained, I looked at my phone.

Crossing things off one by one, the only thing left in August was releasing METRO.

“Huoooo—”

Maybe because the comeback was right in front of us, I was about to shake apart.

Even sitting still I got so antsy I kept popping up to pace in place. No matter how much water I drank, the thirst wouldn’t stop.

Even if I tipped my head back and went ah, my mouth felt parched and cracked.

“Whooo......”

Every time I let out a deep breath my body shivered, so even my sighs broke into little pieces as they came out.

And still I felt stifled and on edge.

The worry inside me and all that—no matter how much I sighed, it wouldn’t flow out; it just kept ricocheting around inside.

To the point I thought it might be better if it just never got released.

“I’m just not going to the States......”

The maknae, sitting next to me, leaned his head on my shoulder and sniffled as he said it.

[ding]

[Dear passengers, our plane has arrived at Los Angeles International Airport.]

“We’re here.”

“Uhee-ee......”

“Uhhh, we’re here...!”

The day our METRO would finally drop.

My minions and I landed in the States with the staff.

The VMAs were next Monday, and to prepare we needed to adjust to the time zone ahead of time. We also had to rehearse on site to raise the stage’s completeness.

So we arrived in LA.

“Grrrrrrrrr!”

Unlike usual, we wore masks or sunglasses and greeted the local Souffle.

Normally we don’t cover our faces much.

Today, we had no choice.

“Uuuuuu......”

“Nggh.”

Partly because we’d poured everything we had into prep the last week and our faces were a mess.

Nobody looked great.

“Ah, I think this is the hardest it’s ever been since debut.”

At the maknae’s words, we leaned back in the bus seats and opened our eyes with a Hmm.

Because harder times came to mind.

“At the Fireworks showcase, when the sound system had issues and the reporters got nasty. Still gives me the chills.”

“At the Icheon festival when it rained and everything went nuts.”

“I’m remembering when we competed on the same stage as Senior Cha Woohyun......”

“We almost got caught......”

At Biju’s last line we all went “Hm?” and looked over, but Biju went “Mmm” and shut his eyes, playing dumb.

At our words, the maknae said,

“...Thinking of it like that, it doesn’t seem as bad as I thought.”

“Right.”

We decided to be positive.

It’s okay.

Even if we flop... even if......

Right then I imagined Chairman Park Taejun’s face sprinkling salt on me as he cackled after METRO flopped spectacularly.

“No way......!”

“He’s daydreaming by himself again.”

“They say that kind of random solo imagining is a classic ENFP trait.”

Shaking off the what-ifs trying to climb into my head, we started our schedule in America.

Arrived at the hotel and unpacked.

At the huge set the label had secured separately, we checked stage blocking with the local staff.

Then we checked the formation with dancers and ran repeated rehearsals—what the locals call blocking.

Not just us; the TF team was running around to the point of getting blisters.

But even working that frantically, none of us could actually focus.

“Phew......”

Around 8:30 p.m. LA time.

11:30 p.m. in New York, where the audio would drop at midnight.

Together with the members and the TF team, we all huddled in a hotel room, shivering.

“Seokhwan.”

“......Huh?”

“Sit.”

I coaxed the TF team leader, who was practically floating as he paced the room, onto the sofa and handed him a bottle of water.

The bottle went down in long pulls.

Next to him, Manager Hong Seoyoung, cackling while she hit refresh on the laptop, looked half out of her mind. Our managers kept raking their hair back, licking their parched lips.

The air itself lay thick and heavy.

Normally our minions would have livened up a mood like this; they were the same as everyone else.

“Dear God, Buddha, and everyone else who is precious.”

The maknae closed his eyes and prayed.

“If this goes well, I will live righteously from now on. I will listen to the older members. I will also listen to Mom and my sisters. I will even take better care of Dad sometimes. I will live my life grateful that everything I achieved was thanks to Wooju......”

Gazing at nothing with moist eyes, Jiho said,

“If we hit number one on the chart, I’ll do all of that. If we make Top Ten, I’ll do seventy percent of it.”

“Hey.”

As usual, Ri Hyuk threw the flag.

“Don’t haggle over stuff like that.”

“Kinda gross, huh...?”

“Just promise and then don’t keep it.”

“What a method!”

We were definitely all losing it.

Catching Ri Hyuk scoping something on his tablet after scolding the maknae, I craned my neck.

“Tarot?”

“J-just for fun.”

Jiho, vowing to live in eternal gratitude.

Ri Hyuk, checking tarot.

The whole world was spinning. The air molecules felt like giant elephants crushing me from all sides.

Biju and Junhyun were the only ones relatively quiet.

“Biju.”

“......”

“Biju?”

“......”

Hee-hee-hee... he kept smiling, and every time I shook him his little charm bells jingled.

And Junhyun—

“Junhyun?”

“Yes......”

“Are you nervous right now?”

“Yes.”

News that Junhyun was nervous sent everyone into shock.

Then we all realized we weren’t the only ones going crazy.

Right.

If Kim Junhyun is nervous, how would ordinary people not be.

Ah. I’m going out of my mind.

“It’s draining me. It’s really draining human blood.”

“I wish it would just hit nine o’clock already.”

Nothing I did loosened the tension.

I kept gripping my hair and letting go until someone said I could end up like the CEO, and I stopped.

Is that why the CEO is like that.

From clenching his hair in stress.

Maybe because of the tension and pressure, I honestly didn’t know what I was thinking anymore.

I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run. All I could do was hold my minions’ hands.

“Whooo......”

It’s not that everything rides on this release.

It’s just the beginning.

The beginning that will decide whether we can successfully break into the U.S. market.

I told the kids breezily, “Even if we flop, it’s fine,” but my unconscious clearly did not agree.

Without realizing it, my grip tightened around their hands.

“Starting countdown now. Ten... nine......”

I could hear my heart thudding crisp and clear.

As the sounds around me seemed to slow, I focused on the laptop screen. The moment 8:59 p.m. flipped to exactly 9:00 p.m.

[NewBlack — “METRO” Official MV]

Our music video finally went live.

[buffers— stutters—]

[buffer—]

The screen chugged badly.

“Don’t die......!”

“MyTube, not yet! Don’t you die on us!”

Same time.

In the PBS green room, where they were waiting to go on with the music-show stage for Not Fine, the Scarlet members kicked up a fuss.

“It’s up!”

“It’s up?!”

At the news that their junior group NewBlack’s new song had dropped, their eyes went wide.

The whole industry had its eyes on NewBlack’s new single.

As singers, Scarlet was curious too, but more than that they felt grateful.

“Composer Deokchun, please do well...!”

They hit like on the new song and left cheering comments.

While other girl groups were putting up decent numbers with their releases, Scarlet had pushed into music shows and were up for first place.

Who did they have to thank for that.

“Deokchun!”

With that feeling, the Scarlet members hit Like the instant they clicked the new music video.

Smiley meat goddesses.

“Wooju, be happy.”

“Everyone be happy except Wang Jiho.”

“Please let Metro do well! Big big win!”

Chanting those slogans, the Scarlet members started watching Metro’s music video.

As the girl group members watched the phone screens with relaxed smiles—

[music notes]

The second Metro’s intro hit—

The easy smile vanished from Scarlet’s faces, and their posture turned serious.

“The song......”

Were they trying to show they were on a different level from Kim Deokchun?

The digital bully—no, the boss of the digital world—the Spaceship.

From the intro alone you could tell Spaceship was throwing his weight around.

“......”

“......”

A moment ago they had been riding white horses through flower fields.

Now, in their minds’ eyes, they saw NewBlack behind them, galloping after them like a horde from the steppes.

NewBlack charging in astride massive loaves of bread.

“Ha ha! Sisters! We’re coming.”

“Kyarrk! Kyarrk!”

“Trample them, Souffle! Step on them!”

“Wooooong. Souffle listens well to NewBlack. We step.”

Barely five minutes before, they had been wishing blessings on NewBlack’s future; now shadows crept over Scarlet’s faces.