Chapter 175

Chapter 175

I’d learned two days ago that we’d be getting a new director.

“Again?”

“My thoughts exactly. I’d assumed he’d stay until the end of the year, at least.”

Based on the rumors that were going around, apparently, the higher-ups and the yes-men had been negotiating a lot after T1 headquarters heard about the corporate spy incident. They seemed to have come to some kind of agreement, since the director left the position to go to an affiliate company, and someone new took his place.

“The new director isn’t from T1. Apparently, he’s a famously successful CEO.”

“That’s amazing,” I said. I wasn’t looking forward to his takeover, but there was no reason not to play along, so I nodded politely to the employee.

We were there for a meeting regarding the concert.

“As for your solo track, Moondae, I’ll write up a report about our final decision.”

“Yes, thank you.”

At that point, we weren’t aware that we were about to be told we’d be going to the US, which happened at the reality content meeting two days later.

“The US?”

“I like it! Let’s go!” Eugene said.

“Slow down, Eugene. That’s nice and all, but it’ll cost money. And what about our schedules? We don’t have any plans of including the States in our tour, do we?” Big Sejin said, gently bringing up the practical concerns as soon as he heard the suggestion that our next reality content would be taking place in the US.

He is correct. The reactions we’d gotten from American audiences indicated that we’d only barely managed to find secure footing as a top-tier group among the aficionados of K-pop.

We’d also built up our rep among gamers after we’d been on the gaming talk show, but that wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It certainly wasn’t enough to warrant going on tour there, and if we did a concert in the US it would be a modest affair, understandably.

“Oh, they’re going to arrange your flights to fit around your South American tour. Tnet has said they’ll foot the bill—this is TeSTAR we’re talking about, after all.”

“Wow!”

“We’re grateful, but what if they aren’t able to recoup production costs?” Raebin said.

A few of our more gullible members looked a little embarrassed at the employee’s flattery.

Something’s off. It wasn’t efficient to suddenly go to the US. I leveled a more direct question at the employee to see his reaction.

“But why the US? Did Tnet suggest this?”

“Oh, uh… The suggestion came from the director, actually…”

“The new director?”

“Yes.”

I’d only heard two days ago that we were getting a new one. He was already making suggestions? I didn’t like that at all.

“Did he give a reason for this?” I asked.

“Well, I didn’t hear what he said firsthand… But apparently, he had a global release in mind and wanted a… more global setting.”

The answer was abstract, with plenty of loopholes they could employ later should things go wrong. Something was bothering this employee.

I’m going to dig a little deeper.

Chungwoo interjected before I could. “A global release?”

“Yes. We’re considering releasing the reality content directly to WeTube for audiences other than those in Korea!”

Eugene interrupted. “Will lots of Americans be watching?”

“Uh, yes? There was talk of that, too…” The employee looked shaken. Eugene had accidentally poked them where it hurt.

So the director is aiming for American audiences? There was nothing to lose from doing this with one reality episode, but the problem was that this clearly indicated the new director’s preferences. He was eager to increase the size of our pie overseas, instead of producing content during our overseas tour to appease the domestic fans and keep them around.

What was worse, he’d simply chosen the US because he thought it sounded like the most attractive market, instead of choosing a country that was already familiar with K-pop.

I should nip this in the bud. It would be good to see if the director would grow a little more cautious when we made it clear we didn’t really like the idea.

I looked around at the members and said, “Would you mind if we discussed this among ourselves for now and told you at the next meeting?”

“Yeah. That sounds like a good idea!” Big Sejin said, coming to my aid.

The employee, however, was far from done. “Oh, of course! Now, while most of your opinions will be taken into consideration, the final decisions will be made by the production team, taking various practical considerations into account... I’m very sorry about this, but I hope you understand.”

He was saying they would probably send us to the US anyway, even if we refused at the next meeting.

F*ck. It looked like the decision was essentially made already, thanks to internal pressure. I could tell he was treading very softly, though, because of the corporate spy incident.

“We’ll see you next week.”

“Thank you!”

We then discussed some things we’d like to try in terms of reality content, then left the meeting room.

“What do you guys think of going to the US?”

“Let’s go! We could go to my house! There are lots of nice restaurants. My mom would love to see you guys!”

“That would be nice!” Big Sejin said.

“I-it would be n-nice to meet her,” Ahyeon said.

Eugene was in favor of it, of course, and the other members seemed to be fine with it as well.

Can’t be helped, I guess. He got to see his family less than the other members, so he’d probably enjoy the opportunity to do so.

I’ll bet he misses home, too. If we were going to go anyway, it was probably best to go to Eugene’s house for content’s sake.

However, we should probably make our position on this clear before that. Based on the way the employee was being so cautious around us, the agency would probably do something before the next meeting.

As expected, we were in one of the agency’s practice rooms the next morning when our manager came to us.

“Guys, the new director wants to see you.”

“Oh, the director.”

“Right now?” Bae Sejin said.

“About an hour from now? He says it won’t take long!”

It wasn’t surprising Bae Sejin sounded so put out.

Say goodbye to our time off. We’d managed to wrestle some time in our busy schedule to rest in the practice room.

“All right…”

“Hmm, okay!”

None of the members sounded particularly excited. Still, an hour later, we headed to the director’s office, which we hadn’t visited in a while. Even Ahyeon, who’d recently switched hobbies to French embroidery or something, was glancing at his pile of fabric with a disappointed look. One thing was certain—the director was making a bad first impression.

He should have just spoken to us after one of our meetings ended. By arranging this sudden meeting, he’d only earned our resentment. Suspecting that this new director was also going to be a dud, I entered their office. I was slightly taken aback by what greeted us.

“Oh, TeSTAR! I’m sorry to have called you over so suddenly. Please take a seat.”

He had set out food for us. It wasn’t just simple refreshments meant for manner’s sake—there was chicken, waffles, and various other snacks. While it was the sort of food academies would set out at briefings to entice the kids, it made his message very clear—I’m very eager to get along with you.

“I interrupted one of your breaks, didn’t I? I know how busy you must be nowadays. The food is an apology, you could say!”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all, sir!”

“Th-thank you.”

“Why don’t we eat while we talk?”

He picked up a piece of chicken. He only took a bite, which probably meant he wasn’t actually hungry. Instead, he seemed to be aware that unless he ate first, the others wouldn’t be able to eat comfortably.

Well. He certainly seemed competent in his work. This guy was also much younger than his predecessors. He engaged in small talk and waited until we’d all eaten a bit before starting to talk business.

“Firstly, I arranged this meeting so we could meet each other and say hello. I’m thrilled to be working with you.”

“We feel the same way!”

There was a quick exchange of handshakes.

“And secondly… I’m sure you’ve already heard. We’re considering filming our next round of reality content in the US.” He intertwined his fingers, a serious look on his face. “I have a plan for taking on the American market in not only more immediate content, but in the long term as well.”

“What…?”

Goddamn it.

“I went through all your albums and past activities before I was made director.” He looked serious as he described TeSTAR’s activities and delivered his analysis. “It’s clear the US loves that sort of concepts you’re selling. The underdog. Social messages. Pride in one’s roots and your unique flavor. What do you think, Eugene? Do you agree with me?”

“Yes, you’re right!”

“Of course. And TeSTAR is a team that meets all these criteria. That’s why I believe you definitely have a place in a much bigger market.”

“Ah!”

This was all bullsh*t. First of all, his three so-called criteria were exaggerated guesses, not based on factual information. Eugene was just excited to eat good food, and so he’d responded positively to the person who’d bought said food. And most importantly, there were more artists than we could count who had met these criteria and yet failed to make their mark in the US.

He’s full of sh*t. Sadly, he’d obviously done his own analysis of the data and firmly believed that he was right. What was more, he seemed confident in his own abilities.

Chungwoo finally spoke up with some difficulty. “Uh, thank you for your positive words, but it’s not our aim to target a certain country or audience… Our focus has always been on producing good music.”

“Of course! And that’s what you can continue doing. It’ll be the agency’s job to figure out how best to promote and manage your amazing music, and I was simply laying out our plans for that.”

He was a smooth talker.

“Frankly, I believe T1 Stars hasn’t been giving you the support you deserve. Instead of sharing your vision, we were always busy trying to keep up.” There was a serious gleam in his eyes. “Take the Japanese concert tour, for instance. The first episode of the Japanese Idol Incorporated received rave reviews right from the get-go. We should have reacted swiftly, expanded the size of the tour, arranged additional schedules, and analyzed how best to please the Japanese audience. But we did none of those things.”

Now this was news to me. I’d been too busy lately to look into the response from other countries, and I realized he was right. The agency should have looked into that.

Even so, I prefer nothing happened than attempting something clumsy and having it turn out a flop. For instance, if this director had been around back then, we’d be doing the rounds on Japanese music shows by now, which would be rather random.

He seemed very immersed in his own argument, however, and continued to talk, almost spitting in his enthusiasm. “And what results do we have to show for that? While TeSTAR has gained popularity after Idol Incorporated was a major hit there, the agency has done nothing in Japan.”

“Uh, is that so?” Chungwoo said uncertainly.

“Are we really that popular in Japan?” Raebin asked curiously.

The director seemed excited to show off his knowledge and suddenly produced a tablet. He swiped the screen with a familiar gesture.

“Have you seen this?”

It was a presentation slideshow using a relatively modern template. It featured a screenshot from a Japanese auction site. There was nothing special about the product itself other than its astronomical price, but the product featured a picture of Ahyeon’s face.

“Whoa.”

It was a photocard that had been given out in very limited quantities as a raffle event for some public service campaign held by a broadcasting company at the start of the year. It had probably been made using a photo taken backstage, requested by the staff from the station right after the performance where Ahyeon had done a somersault to cover for his earpiece falling off.

The situation made the photocard oddly unique. Better still, the photo had turned out incredible considering that Ahyeon had taken it himself, and after being barraged with requests, the broadcast station had uploaded the original photo to its social media account.

Even so, the few that had been released early on seemed to be going at a premium. Who knew they’d make their way to Japan and become worth that sort of money?

“This is worth almost 500,000 Korean won. It’s incredibly compelling evidence that TeSTAR has grown immensely in popularity in Japan. They seem to like you especially, Seon Ahyeon.”

“Oh, all right…” Ahyeon said, blushing.

The director continued eagerly, “That means it’s time we took a more aggressive approach regarding the overseas market. We made it in Japan with such ease. That means if we can establish the right approach to the US and work at it, we’ll quickly see results.”

Now I understood.

My Words of Persuasion trait returned as rank A, so I could deal with this guy. My theory had been proven correct once again.

Suppressing a sigh, I spoke up.