Chapter 330

Chapter 330

TeSTAR’s global tour could not perfectly replicate the Seoul concert, which had taken elements from musicals and applied the However, crucial parts of it, as well as the stage equipment, had been carried over.

The planning and A&R staff are good at their jobs, that much is true. Now that we had formed our own label, the staff had become even more capable. They seemed to relish their escape. As for the position of CEO, it was given to the head of the Planning Team. He never did anything unnecessary, and he was experienced with good sensibilities, making him perfect for the role.

He’s not famous, either, so even if a problem comes up, he won’t be targeted for criticism personally. I’d had to listen to some silly nonsense in the process, though.

“Why doesn’t Moondae become the CEO?”

“What? Do you want to be the CEO?”

“Haha. Sorry.”

One of the members had brought up an idea that might only have been feasible if we’d been around at least ten more years.

An idol, becoming the CEO of a label? Doing so would leave us wide open to so much criticism. Just suggest I start a company of my own, why don’t you? I withheld a sigh.

In any case… the first stop of the tour was wildly successful.

You make me breathe!

After the final encore song was over, and we climbed down from the stage drenched in water and sweat, the screaming from the crowd had continued without end.

Eugene jumped down from a set of metal stairs excitedly and gave a loud laugh.

“This is so fun! Concerts are the best!”

“Y-yeah!” Ahyeon said.

“There’s so many pretty sparkling lights on stage, too. We need to do this more often!”

It seemed that he’d really enjoyed swinging lightsabers about. I grinned as I dried my hair.

Bae Sejin, who’d been wiping his stomach with a towel, said clumsily, “It’s true… concerts have their charm.”

“Bae Sejin!”

He’d looked like a wreck every time he performed before we’d debuted, between his lack of stamina and nerve issues, but now he’d come so far he was saying things like this.

Maybe them being roommates has something to do with it.

Eugene threw his arm around Bae Sejin’s shoulder and shouted, even more elated, “Let’s not take a week off between performances! It’s okay! Let’s do this again, and have lots of rehearsals, too?”

Yeah?

“We’re not taking a week off.”

“Ah…?” I tossed my towel over my shoulder. “We have a work retreat, remember?”

A brief silence fell.

“Right! I’ve prepared everything ready so we can have a productive week!” Raebin said.

So only the workaholic is excited. Wait a second, though. I thought all of you liked to work?

“You don’t like the idea of more work?” I asked.

“N-no!”

What is it, then?

Bae Sejin turned his head away and muttered, “When you say things like that… unexpected things usually happen.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

“Yeah, you sounded so foreboding and scared everyone. It’s your fault… Yikes!”

Shut it. I slapped Big Sejin on the back, only to immediately regret it as my hand came away wet.

Chungwoo watched us with a proud look in his eyes and said, “Hmm. So we start our retreat tomorrow after the Osaka concert, instead of having a wrap party?”

“Oh…”

The mood was suddenly less lively. But none of them insisted on having the wrap party instead.

Don’t tell me they’re really scared? Was I too forceful? I realized I hadn’t actually asked for their opinions.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I shook my head. “We should still do the wrap party.” I relaxed, smiling. “These are our first concerts in a while. We should celebrate. We were too busy to do so even after we got our daesang.”

“Park Moondae…”

“Y-y-yeah! That’s right!”

Staying motivated and keeping up our energy was important if I was to work them—that is, work with them—for longer.

Satisfied with the members’ reactions, I nodded. “Let’s get moving, then.”

“Right!”

We followed instructions from our leader and the staff, hearing the crowd still cheering as we ran through the backstage area. I let the others go first and took my leave more slowly. Big Sejin fell into step beside me.

“Moondae, you know I was joking, right? Everyone’s going along with your plans because listening to you always brings good results.”

I said nothing.

“It’s not because you forced us to, all right?”

“Okay,” I said.

“Yup!”

I stared at Big Sejin, who was grinning at me. As perceptive as he was, his cunning was far greater. I was made all the more certain of one thing.

He’s waiting. I’m sure of it. He was waiting for me to come clean about my situation, and I had no doubt he had done his own fair share of analyzing the oddities he’d noticed until now.

I guess I should find the right timing during the retreat, just as I planned. We’d focus on work, and when he was so tired that his critical thinking skills were at their lowest, I would bring up a handful of movies and dramas as examples to aid me in my explanation.

“Let’s put together an incredible album,” he said.

Yeah. I knew that would be the priority for you, too. We need to focus on work for now.

The concert the next day went surprisingly well, all of us in great condition and not suffering from even the slightest injury. A pleasant wrap party took place as well. This was a good starting point, and it meant everyone arrived at the retreat the next day with smiles on their faces.

“Should we order room service?”

“The manager packed laptops for us to use during the retreat!” Raebin said.

Everyone looked cheery thanks to all the fun they’d had, and they seemed to have plenty of energy.

I didn’t stop them as they excitedly set up their work stations and arranged various snacks. In fact, I helped where I could, waiting for them to be at their most relaxed. We were in the living room of a suite, and I turned on the projector as they sat side-by-side on the sofa.

[TeSTAR’s future direction]

“Ahyeon, look at that! He’s got a presentation and everything. He’s so serious about this,” Big Sejin said.

“Yeah…”

This is work. Of course, I’m serious.

“First, let me give you an analysis of the current situation.”

Eugene quietly put down the popcorn he’d been eating.

“As you all know, TeSTAR won five daesang at awards ceremonies this year.”

“Wow!”

“But that’s not what we should be focusing on right now.”

“What?”

I switched to another slide.

[Distribution of Loviewers]

[⇾ ~~Daesang~~ Most Popular Artist award voting pool]

“These are the results of the vote for Most Popular Artist award.” I gestured at the screen. “As you can see, we won the Most Popular Artist award at three awards ceremonies. What do these have in common?”

“We don’t know! Tell us!” Eugene said without a shred of shame.

“They’re the ones that didn’t allow for any overseas votes. When it comes to pure domestic firepower, TeSTAR is within the top two artists who had comebacks this year.”

“Wow.”

“Moondae, where do you find stuff like this?” Chungwoo asked.

“The internet.” As the members gaped, I continued, “But the moment overseas K-pop fans participate, the results change.”

“So VTIC wins no matter what…”

“Yes.”

I changed the graph to show the rankings. There were even a few screen captures wherein TeSTAR was in third or fourth place.

“We sometimes even lose to idols from other large agencies.”

“Hmm.”

“Our overseas presence is still weak,” I concluded. I had been building up toward this. “I think we should aim for a global audience with our next album… What do you think?”

The members glanced at each other, then at the screen. There was no enthusiastic agreement—not even from Eugene, who was from America. I repressed a smile.

Good. I couldn’t have any of the members falling for such naive words. They debated with me instead.

“If we do well in Korea, don’t you think overseas audiences will take notice? We’ve seen plenty of cases where idols tried to force their way overseas and failed.”

This was true and precisely why we hadn’t ever focused on overseas promotions until now.

“We’ve already won a few daesangs, so I think those who are likely to recognize the situation in Korea have already done so. Perhaps we can increase our overseas exposure now.”

“Hmm… right.” Chungwoo seemed convinced by my reasoning.

Another member chimed in, “I don’t know about this. I don’t think our domestic fans will like it very much!” It was Big Sejin. “We do lots of W App streams and produce our own content, but frankly, it will make us feel more distant. And doing that right after winning so many daesangs might seem like we’re betraying their trust.”

I crossed my arms and laughed. “Yeah. If the most popular idols in Korea suddenly begin to cater to foreign audiences, it’ll seem like toadyism.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t go that far. But we need to be aware of how they might feel and adjust accordingly, is all. You know what I mean!”

This was accurate.

“You’re right,” I said, nodding. “It will be best if we’re invited to go overseas.”

“Invited?”

“Yes. The US can invite us, and if that happens, then we can test the waters while also increasing our exposure.”

“T-test the waters?”

We needed to not seem desperate for overseas attention. Instead, we would simply go by invitation and perform there casually while we were at it. Instead of giving the solution, I described the ideal conditions.

“Whatever we do, it shouldn’t be openly connected to K-pop, though. VTIC has already conquered most of that playing field. The invitation shouldn’t seem contrived, either, and it needs to be talked about enough that it’s going to be useful to us.”

As I rattled them off, a blank look settled over the members’ faces. Yeah, it’s rather complicated. Think about it slowly. The moment I finished, however, a member raised his hand.

Well. It was Raebin.

“May I offer an opinion?”

“Of course. Go on.”

“Right! I’d like to point out there are people we’re connected to who have won massive recognition overseas!”

I repressed a grin. He was getting close to the answer.

“Who?”

“Ruins Factory, the company who made 127 Section.”

“…!”

“They recently made a new game that was a huge hit in the US, too. A movie spin-off is coming. Why don’t we aim to make a song for the soundtrack of that movie?”

“A m-movie?”

Many were against this idea, of course.

“Hmm. I don’t know about working with them again. There’s a reason we made that All-Star Music account.”

Naturally, they thought it was needlessly repetitive to work with the same game studio again.

Bae Sejin, surprisingly, shared Big Sejin’s opinion. “Yeah! And that company is owned by T1, too. It just feels like an inside arrangement!”

An inside agreement was probably the only way for us to initiate contact, but our reputation held sway as well. If people decide that we simply had our parent company arrange something to fool the public, we’ll be a laughingstock.

Raebin did not back down, however, instead offering more information. “I suppose that could be the case. But from what I’ve seen, the movie isn’t being made by T1.”

“Who is making it?”

“Hollywood.”

“…!”

“I saw the news in the comments section of the All-Star Music account. The gamers were all excited since Limestone will be producing the movie.”

“Limestone?” Eugene said, whistling. “They specialize in superhero movies!” He added in English, “And they’re insanely famous!”

They were the superhero division affiliated with an animation company known for their IPs. And the company was completely American.

“So… We can establish contact quickly through T1, while making it seem like an American company initiated the conversation,” I said.

And given that the company making the movie was a large corporation that owned famous IPs, it would not feel as though we were repeatedly linking ourselves to the same old game development company and potentially boring our audience that way.

“Yes! What do you think?”

What do we think? That is the best idea there is. He zeroed in on the top candidate right away. He had a good sense for this sort of thing, though he lacked tact—he was good at choosing things he thought would be fun.

“I like it.”

“…!”

“I’m curious what everyone else thinks,” I said.

“I like it, too!”

“Me as well!”

There were quite a few votes in favor. A few of the most important concerns had been addressed, and many of the members seemed interested in this fresh challenge.

Big Sejin was the last to speak, smiling. “Yes. Let’s give it a go!”

“So we have a consensus then.”

We decided we’d aim to make a soundtrack for a Hollywood superhero film, something that was sure to come with lots of dedicated subculture fans. Applause came from around the room.

“W-w-we’ll contact the person who’s going to be the CEO… and tell him about this, right?” Ahyeon asked.

“Yes.”

“Wow.”

“I liked that game. The movie could be amazing.”

Bae Sejin muttered bitterly, “But what if they refuse?”

“So what? Their loss.”

“Is that right?”

Eugene shrugged, asking why he was so unsure when he was a daesang-winning artist. This lightened the mood a lot.

Good. His timing was perfect.

“The title track should be something that will appeal to people who learn about us through a superhero movie based on a game,” I said.

“Yes.”

“This is going to be very fun!” Raebin said.

“Hmm. Okay.”

I smiled. “Then let’s start coming up with some concepts that will work for that vibe but don’t seem too blatant, while still containing the TeSTAR charm. Let’s go!”

“Go…”

And so our spartan K-pop retreat began, filled with endless brainstorming. There was a slight problem, though. This was not a hobbyist retreat, and the skill gaps between the members were huge.