Chapter 65 - What Kind of Song Would Be Good

“And here you were telling us we can't date!”

Slam!

Laura slammed her hand on the table.

Right now, the Newstarz members were in their dorm, holding a hearing surrounding Baek Hyeon-woo.

“I don't think I've ever said you can't date.”

“Really? Then are you saying it doesn't matter at all if we go around dating? Ah, I guess it can't be helped. I'll have to go around making about ten boyfriends outside!”

In front of the indignant Laura, Baek Hyeon-woo spoke with a calm demeanor.

“It's your freedom to date whoever you want, Laura, but dating ten men at the same time will be difficult in many ways. For your own sake, Laura, I think it would be better to reconsider.”

“There's no way I'd date ten people at the same time! Do you think I'm that boy-crazy?!”

“……”

Honestly, even dating one person, let alone ten, was not a very desirable thing.

Haram Entertainment doesn't have a rule like DP Entertainment's absolute ban on dating for several years after debut, but still, he hoped they would avoid dating as much as possible.

“Still, it is a bit disappointing.”

At that moment, Kim So-yeong opened her mouth with a bitter expression.

“To think that Hyeon-woo oppa, who was watching us with fire in his eyes to see if we were meeting guys, was secretly meeting a woman outside behind our backs...”

“As I said before, I properly expressed my refusal to Seong Hae-won.”

“Still, it's a fact that the two of you had a secret conversation in a quiet hotel lounge, right?”

“I was just with her for a moment when Director Seong Soo-ho had left his seat.”

“But it's still a fact, right?”

Well, if you're asking whether it's a fact or not, it is a fact.

“I'm envious of Seong Hae-won. To think she could spend such a good time with you, oppa, even for a moment.”

“……”

Answering 'Then I'll take you guys too' here would be a foolish thing to do.

The coffee alone would cost tens of thousands of won each time, and he would have to repeat that five times.

Besides, he had to be mindful of others' eyes.

Because their faces had become much more well-known since appearing on 'The Idol'.

“But you're really popular, Manager-nim…”

Kanade muttered while looking at the silent Baek Hyeon-woo.

“To get asked out on a date by Seong Hae-won... honestly, that's pretty amazing.”

“But it didn't feel like Seong Hae-won was particularly serious about having a crush on me. Shall I say, it was more like treating me like a fun toy…”

“Isn't that a crush? In manga, it's common for the male lead to see the female lead and think, 'What an interesting woman,' become intrigued, and then fall completely for her.”

“What on earth are you watching?”

Baek Hyeon-woo let out a sigh.

At that, Kim So-yeong spoke again.

“Anyway, Hyeon-woo oppa, I'm against you meeting Seong Hae-won. She's the leader of our rival, Choux-pop, and I don't think she'd be good for you either, oppa.”

“So-yeong unnie is right. Honestly, isn't her personality really weird? I'm telling you, I had a bad feeling from the first time I saw her.”

“I-I also don't like the idea of you meeting that person, Manager-nim.”

Kim So-yeong, Laura, and Kanade stated their opposing opinions one after another.

“You don't have to worry. I don't particularly have a crush on Seong Hae-won either.”

Baek Hyeon-woo had also gotten an unsettling feeling.

Seong Soo-ho was also behind Seong Hae-won, and he was not inclined at all.

“She's not my type either. Nothing is going to happen with her, so you don't have to worry.”

“Then what is your type, Hyeon-woo oppa?”

“That's…”

As Baek Hyeon-woo trailed off, the members' gazes became focused.

“Is it Ha-ryeong sunbae-nim?”

Right at that moment, Seo Na-eun, who had been watching quietly, opened her mouth.

“Is Ha-ryeong sunbae-nim your type, Manager-nim?”

“What…?”

When the name of N.A.N's main vocalist, Ha-ryeong, came up, everyone's eyes went round.

“Didn't you meet with Ha-ryeong sunbae-nim separately too?”

“……!”

It's true that Baek Hyeon-woo met Ha-ryeong separately, but that was to discuss her transfer to Haram Entertainment.

It was a top-level secret that he couldn't tell anyone yet, so he couldn't explain the circumstances to the Newstarz members either.

“Hyeon-woo oppa, what happened?”

“It was a bit suspicious at the last recording...!”

“M-Manager-nim, you were a total popular guy...”

“……”

Amidst Baek Hyeon-woo's resignation, the second hearing began.

……

“And here I just came to tell them I was promoted to team leader.”

Baek Hyeon-woo felt a sense of fatigue as he left the dorm.

It seemed his Mental Condition would be quite low if he looked at his status window.

“I'm sorry. Everyone's mood got overheated...”

Next to Baek Hyeon-woo, Yoo Jeong-ah made an awkward expression.

He was in the middle of taking Yoo Jeong-ah to the company because the A&R team preparing the new song said they had something to discuss.

“No, but I still received congratulations, so it's okay.”

After the hearing was over, a team leader congratulatory party was indeed held.

'Congratulations on your promotion, congratulations on your promotion, dear Hyeon-woo oppa (Manager-nim), congratulations on your promotion,' they had all sung a congratulatory song together.

Although in between there were suggestive remarks like, 'Since you've become a team leader, you'll be busier, so it'll be harder to meet women'.

“I understand that you're worried I'll be distracted by dating and become neglectful of Newstarz. It's not that I don't understand how you feel, so don't worry too much.”

“The unnies probably aren't trying to make it so you can never date, Hyeon-woo oppa. If the person is a good one, they'll all accept it and bless you. Shall I say that the other party was bad today...”

Saying that, Yoo Jeong-ah looked at him with a serious gaze.

“I too will sincerely cheer for you if a good person appears for you, Hyeon-woo oppa. I really mean it.”

“Yeah, thank you for just the thought.”

In the warmed-up atmosphere, Baek Hyeon-woo smiled and opened his mouth.

“You guys also went out shopping for a change today, but I'm sorry you had to come back in the middle because of me.”

“What? Shopping?”

“Didn't you go out to buy things today?”

When Baek Hyeon-woo arrived, the only one in the dorm was Seo Na-eun.

She had said that the rest of the members went out to buy things.

“Na-eun unnie told us all to go out because she was going to vacuum today?”

Huh?

……

It seems the new song production is experiencing difficulties.

The reason the A&R team called for Yoo Jeong-ah was because of that.

According to the A&R Team Leader's explanation, when they checked the song sent by the publisher, the requested items were not properly reflected.

They brought in the main vocalist, Yoo Jeong-ah, and discussed it, but the conclusion was reached that this song just wouldn't do.

“Those punks, this just won't do. We'll have to look for another publisher.”

In the music industry, a publisher or a publishing company refers to a company that manages composers and their copyrighted works.

These days, when singers prepare a new song, there are many cases where they discuss with such publishers.

If the A&R team tells the publisher they want this and that kind of song, the publisher supplies a song from one of their affiliated composers.

This time, since it's the first new song that the reborn 5-member Newstarz is releasing, they had requested a new song to be composed to match the style of the main vocalist, Yoo Jeong-ah.

However, the A&R Team Leader's opinion was that instead of composing a new song, it seemed the publisher had just picked a suitable one from the songs they already had and tossed it over.

‘If it's like this, the new song is bound to get more and more delayed.’

He had already laid out a roadmap, taking schedules like 'The Idol' into consideration.

If the new song is delayed, the plan has to be revised.

‘Besides, if a song finally comes out but the response isn't very good...’

In the rush to get a new song, they might receive a song of lower quality.

No matter how hard the Newstarz members work, if the song itself is bad, it's difficult for it to be a hit.

However, judging what kind of song is good is by no means an easy task.

“‘The Idol’, which decides the best idol, its fourth session has arrived.”

In a state of anxiety about the new song, the recording for episode 4 of 'The Idol' began.

Currently, only five groups remained in the studio.

When it first started, there were seven groups, but this was because one group had been eliminated in each of episodes 2 and 3.

“The seating arrangement has changed a lot from last time. 1st place is N.A.N, 2nd place is Choux-pop, and...”

Suddenly, Choux-pop caught his eye.

Seong Hae-won, who had been flirting with Baek Hyeon-woo last time, was sitting there with an idol-like smile, as if that had never happened.

Watching her, Baek Hyeon-woo recalled hearing about the overseas tour from Seong Soo-ho.

‘To become a popular group that can even do an overseas tour like Choux-pop, the new song really has to blow up.’

The overseas K-POP market is quite large.

To capture that market, you need a good song.

Even if you don't promote it to an overseas audience, if the song itself is good, K-POP fans will consume it on their own.

In the end, the song has to be good.

‘The problem is that it's difficult to know what's good.’

Unfortunately, Baek Hyeon-woo did not have the ability to discern whether a song was good or bad.

He could evaluate dance by utilizing the Silhouette ability, but when it came to songs, he was no different from an ordinary person.

Of course, even for a veteran who has been in the industry for a long time, it's impossible to accurately discern what kind of song is good.

There are times when a title track that they were confident would be a hit, and had poured their heart and soul into preparing, flops hard, and a song they just received from a publisher and roughly threw into the album becomes a huge hit.

That's why the music industry is difficult.

“Alright, then the time to select today's mission song has arrived.”

On the stage, the MC began to announce the mission song they had to practice today.

“Today's mission songs are five in number. We will play one song at a time, and you can decide which song to take. Of course, the groups with the higher rankings from last week will get to choose first.”

Since last week's 1st place was N.A.N, N.A.N will select the mission song first.

After that, the 2nd place Choux-pop will get to choose a song, and the 3rd place Newstarz will get to choose one of the remaining three songs.

‘We'll have to be able to pick a song that fits the Newstarz style.’

Last week, they made the wrong choice.

They chose the song with the first pick, but the song interpretation was more difficult than expected, so in the end, they got the result of 3rd place.

“Now, the first song is...!”

The first mission song began with a refreshing burst of guitar sound.

All five groups were perking up their ears and concentrating on the song.

‘What kind of song would be good.’

The ones who select the mission song are the idols on stage, and Baek Hyeon-woo has no right to choose.

Still, Baek Hyeon-woo listened intently to the song.

Until now, Baek Hyeon-woo didn't know much about the song side of things.

However, he can't remain in that state forever.

He's become a team leader now, and he also has to cultivate a discerning eye for songs.

‘A song that's a perfect fit for our Newstarz, and can instantly capture people's hearts is...’

Erasing the vocalist's voice, he instead inserted the voices of the members, like Yoo Jeong-ah, and imagined it.

What kind of song would suit Newstarz well.

What kind of song could capture people's hearts.

Just as he was concentrating with all his mind, hoping that he could accurately see through such things.

“……!”

Zzzap.

Along with a sensation as if his entire body was being electrocuted, his vision went dark.

Strength left his arms and legs. His sense of balance also disappeared, and he couldn't control his body.

Baek Hyeon-woo knocked something over nearby and collapsed.

“Manager-nim!”

Hearing the voice of Seo Na-eun, who had forgotten they were in the middle of a recording and had run out, Baek Hyeon-woo lost consciousness on the spot.