Chapter 224

Chapter 224

Our vacation was over.

“Hey. You’re back.”

“Yeah.”

As soon as we returned to the dorm, we shared the details we’d ironed out regarding Raebin’s remote work arrangement. Though we’d told Raebin that he would be the one having a hard time, it would not be easy preparing two versions of everything because we couldn’t be sure if he would be able to take part.

This is going to be extremely hard, in fact. That much was obvious, since we were working under the assumption that our comeback schedule wouldn’t change. If the other members were to take exception to the conclusion the three of us had reached without their input, we’d have no room to be upset with them. I hadn’t thought they would, though, and I was right.

“And so, we decided to let him work from home on the album preparations.”

“Wow.”

“Well done. Phew.”

Relieved sighs could be heard all around after I delivered a simple briefing in the living room. They’d all been texting and asking after Raebin during our holiday. If I had to guess, all of them had been doing their fair share of worrying.

“S-so… Raebin gets to stay with his grandmother.…”

“Yes. That’s good! So we’re going to do feedback regarding Raebin’s work at nine o’clock on Thursdays?”

“That’s right. We’ll try to keep all other communication short and sweet, if possible.”

This was a compromise that would satisfy both the members who wanted Raebin to be comfortable, and those who’d been worried about him possibly being absent from the new album.

“The method’s a little different, but the work itself hasn’t changed. Let’s create another great album.”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

“S-sounds great!”

We were used to always shouldering more work anyway, so naturally that aspect hadn’t been a major issue. I knew then that the staff at the agency would probably react in much the same way. I hadn’t even needed to think of a way to convince the other members.

Looks like I’ll have to check if the agency will pay us for overtime. There was one exception to this easy acceptance, however, since one of the members had paled at the news.

“That’s good for… Kim Raebin.” It was Bae Sejin, of course. His reaction even came late, after we’d already talked through everything.

However, he does seem sincere when he says our plan to help Raebin is good. There was no doubt in my mind that the thought of learning two versions of the choreography was making his head spin. He still recovered surprisingly quickly, however. He contributed a few things to the following discussion about the choreography.

“Why don’t we discuss the choreography first?” Chungwoo said.

“Cool! Since we might be missing a member, why don’t we ask for separate formations entirely?” Big Sejin asked.

“Hmm… Wouldn’t it be better to minimize how much we change for the vocal members, at least?” Chungwoo asked, trying to be vague despite everyone already knowing who he was trying to be considerate of.

Bae Sejin himself responded, “No, that won’t be necessary. There’s no need to worry about that.”

“Y-yeah?”

“Sure!” Bae Sejin said.

“Wow! Amazing!” Eugene cried.

“Ahem.”

I could tell Bae Sejin was pretty pleased with Eugene’s reaction.

Ah, I understand now. There was a very specific reason he had gained a bit of confidence recently. I believed the recent improvement in his reputation had something to do with it. Just before the vacation, I’d spotted him secretly watching a WeTube video titled “No Longer the Group’s Weak Spot: Bae Sejin” while tucked away in a corner of the living room.

“Defying the controversy surrounding him during Idol Inc., Bae Sejin has made some amazing progress since his debut.”

“Not only does he no longer stand out like a sore thumb in group dances, he also did not miss a single detail in the choreography, even in the fancams. This surprised fans.”

“Now he is what we can really call an idol specializing in growth.”

He’d been wearing wireless earbuds, but videos of that sort had such large captions that I’d been able to see what he was watching without difficulty. The comments had been surprisingly positive as well.

- I was so surprised by Bae Sejin. He’s cute and hardworking in the variety show. I want to cheer him on haha

I recalled the way Bae Sejin failed to hide his smile as he furtively pushed the like button on these kinds of comments. In any case, the hotteok reality show had improved his reputation with the public, its trajectory now headed up. It seemed to have had quite an effect on his motivation. He probably had every intention of pulling his weight this time around to cement his newfound good reputation.

Still, I can’t have him pushing himself too hard. I couldn’t have him burning himself out before we even made it to the tours. I decided to try to ease the burden on him a little.

“In that case, we won’t give the choreographer any special requests—”

“Actually, I think that’s a good idea,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Minimizing changes. I think that would be helpful.” I looked between Bae Sejin and Chungwoo meaningfully.

What? I’m a vocalist, too. Chungwoo seemed to be repressing the urge to laugh and looked down, pretending to consider the request.

“Hmm… All right. In that case, Sejin, is it okay if we ask for the choreography to remain similar across both versions? Given what Moondae is asking and all.”

“I-If you wish…”

“All right! Let’s go with that, then!” Big Sejin said. He wriggled his eyebrows at me when our eyes met. I got the impression he was wondering why I was going out of my way to accommodate Bae Sejin.

Big Sejin never changes, does he?

“Did you contact the agency about all this?” Chungwoo asked.

“Yes. We asked for separate shooting schedules, and…” I rubbed my chin. “We can get to work, starting with the album concept. We’ll have to get a move on.”

“How much time do we have again?”

“A week at most.”

“Right.”

A heavy, determined air settled over the room. We were suddenly feeling Raebin’s absence acutely—he’d gotten really good at making spreadsheets. More pressure still, our next concept had to be something that stood out from the rest of our discography. Clear organization of ideas would be necessary.

“Why don’t we speak with all the relevant people today and get started properly tomorrow?” Chungwoo said.

“Sounds good.”

“L-let’s do our best!”

And so work on our album began.

***

It was much peskier than expected to work around a busy freelancer, which was the role Raebin now occupied, and there was a lot to think about. They had to line up all the relevant staff’s schedules with Raebin’s availability, all while making sure that said freelancer did not burn themselves out. And since it was an entire group of idols we had to take into account instead of just a single freelancer, there were many times more things to consider. This was why a Management Office was essential.

I’ve never been happy with their work, though. I felt better just keeping an eye on the situation myself. This extended to keeping track of Raebin.

[Title track_verse two—lyrics_(1)]

[Title track_verse two—lyrics_(2)]

[Kim Raebin: I worked on the rap in the second verse today. Please give it a listen and vote for which version is better.]

[Kim Raebin: Thanks as always.]

Raebin sent the music exactly on time. I sent a reply.

[Good work. We’ll send feedback soon.]

We usually managed to get the members’ opinions by morning the next day, then the A&R Team would review everything. We would then send feedback to Raebin in the evening, and he would send more work by the next agreed-upon deadline.

I would normally have had Raebin communicate with the A&R Team himself, but that wasn’t ideal given the situation. I considered for a moment, then sent another message.

[Let us know if anything changes or if something is weighing on you]

We needed to consider the nonwork aspects of the situation, too. Thankfully, Raebin responded quickly without any hesitation.

[Kim Raebin: There’s nothing of note to report.]

His grandmother’s condition hadn’t taken a turn, for the worse or better, since the operation.

Still… We can’t let this go on for too long. I was trying to think of a suitable response when he sent through a flurry of messages.

[Kim Raebin: Thank you always for being so considerate!]

[Kim Raebin : (image)]

The attached image was a photo of a rose with a caption that read, Here’s a courageous smile to power your day! in a rainbow of colors.

[Kim Raebin: My grandfather sent me this. I thought the words were very inspiring, so I’m forwarding them to you. Have a great day!]

I grinned.

Today is almost over, you know. It was already 10 at night. I decided he meant he wanted the remaining two hours of my day to be great, at least.

[Yeah. Good night to you, too.]

After getting a polite response from Raebin, I locked my phone. The sound of shoes squeaking against the floor caught my attention.

“Let’s go again.”

“Yes!”

This was why, despite Raebin’s messages coming through in the group chat, nobody had been able to reply to him yet. They were busy learning a formation for six people, in case Raebin wasn’t able to return in time. Someone had to respond to his messages, so I’d taken a moment to do so.

“Moondae! Did you see the music Raebin sent us? What part is it?” Big Sejin said.

“The start of the second verse.”

“Okay, then! You done?”

He was telling me in a round-a-bout way to get back to practicing. I took my place next to him before the chorus repeated itself.

“Let’s see you run through it, Moondae.”

“Okay.”

We had the overall layout of the entire song finalized, so we were busy with arrangements and recording different parts here and there. A temporary demo song was pounding from the speakers—a song which I’d recorded. I’d gone as far as mimicking each member’s style for their respective parts. They’d laughed quite a lot upon hearing it the first time.

“Hahaha! Is that supposed to be me? Not bad, Moondae!”

“Try me again! Me!”

“Moondae, you should do more impersonations.”

No doubt they would bring it up as an amusing behind-the-scenes story on some variety show in the future. Just thinking about it annoyed me a little.

Don’t think about it. I focused my attention on the choreography.

“One… Two…” The choreographer carefully monitored my progress and nodded. “You’re doing really great. Focus on keeping your head raised.”

“Thank you.”

“And I’m not sure if I should be saying this, but the song? It’s really good.”

Any idol about to release a new album would be happy to hear such a compliment. Everyone reacted cheerfully to the choreographer’s praise.

“Thank you!”

Interesting. This choreographer was one of the trainers on our season of Idol Inc. He’d been a harsh coach while on the show, but his overly critical attitude was nowhere to be seen now. These days he was far kinder and more careful. Even when Bae Sejin reacted slowly at times or made a mistake, he didn’t dare lash out or show disdain.

That’s society for you. He’d been borderline abusive to Ahyeon during the show, but now was nothing but polite. I wasn’t sure I liked this way of conducting business, but when it came to work, there was nothing like wielding social status to force people to show you respect.

“Ahyeon? Can we do a little spin right here?”

“Yes!”

Not that Ahyeon seems to mind. The choreographer had probably been intentionally far more overbearing for the sake of the camera. There was no need to assume he was actually a particularly nasty guy. He put together good choreography, which was all that really mattered. There was a reason we’d selected the choreography he’d submitted as the backbone of the song.

I don’t think we’ve ever tried this style before.

“And that’s the end of the first verse.”

“Good work, guys!”

“Thank you!”

The members all flopped to the ground, taking a break, and though they looked tired, they didn’t seem stressed. Despite how busy we always were, they seemed to feel secure since things were going well.

Good.

“M-Moondae. Have some water,” Ahyeon said.

“Thanks.”

Going over our schedule mentally, I drank from my bottle of water. There would be no issues, regardless of whether Kim Raebin was able to join us or not.

But it would be ideal if he came back. Raebin would really suit the image we were going for on this album. With that, I put aside these thoughts and took full advantage of the short break.

“Okay, everyone, ten minutes are up.”

“Okay!”

There was one thing I had failed to take into account, however. I hadn’t been monitoring what was being said online very deeply for the past few weeks, and people were already talking about Raebin in the more low-profile communities.

[Kim Raebin’s probably not going to participate in the upcoming promotional cycle]

I noticed what was happening too late and lived to regret my inattention.

“Ahyeon,” I said.

“Huh?”

That was the day I succeeded in convincing my roommate to return my internet privileges. I was done watching cute animal videos on WeTube.