Chapter 11
Choi Sung-jun blinked blankly with his mouth open for a moment
Daeng— Daeng— Daeng—
"So... what are you doing?"
A bell rings softly. The sound of water trickling.
It's absurd. There's random music playing in the room right now.
- Meditation music that soothes the mind (10 hours of continuous playback)
I dragged Choi Sung-jun out of the studio and headed straight to the dorm.
While Choi Sung-jun was taking a quick shower, I set up the speaker I brought from the practice room and finished preparing.
And as soon as Choi Sung-jun lay down on the bed, I played a video.
-Lie down in a comfortable position with your arms and legs relaxed.
A soft voice echoed through the room.
I pressed Choi Sung-jun's forehead as he tried to get up with a frown.
"Consider it a trick and lie down for now."
"...?"
Choi Sung-jun, with dark circles under his eyes, helplessly lay back down.
His eyes were still filled with distrust.
"And I am going to sleep like this?"
"Yeah."
"...Huh. You crazy X."
Choi Sung-jun laughed in vain at my light-hearted answer and shook his head.
Of course, meditation music doesn't help Choi Sung-jun's work progress.
It just helps.
'He needs to sleep.'
It was a well-known fact through many interviews that Choi Sung-jun, the leader and composer of Tighten, gets inspiration from sleep.
Waiting without any expectations was not limited to bodyguards.
Idols also had to wait for hours every time for a stage that lasted about 3 minutes.
The types of waiting for Tighten were diverse.
Conflicts, friendships, and even romances disguised as friendships.
However, Choi Sung-jun was different.
'He couldn't help but always lack sleep.'
During his busy schedule, he was a guy who would fall asleep as if he was dead anywhere as long as he put his head down.
The important thing is that there were constant factors that prevented Choi Sung-jun from getting a good night's sleep.
The Clicker members took turns causing trouble, but the worst of them was when one of the members got married.
Tung— Tung— Tung— Tung— Tung—
A clear sound filled the waiting room.
The sound of the wooden fish [*instrument] flowing through the cold waiting room air and beyond the door made the new bodyguard's pupils shake greatly.
- Sungjun ssi must be very... faithful.
Choi Sungjun is a non-religious person.
Choi Sungjun's haggard face flashed by as he asked the staff for tips on how to get a good night's sleep.
He suffered from insomnia because of the members who periodically irritated him like an annual event.
After trying various treatments, from diet to medicine, the best sleeping pill he found was sleep-inducing music.
The range was diverse, from the Heart Sutra to meditation music.
- Close your eyes tightly.
The meditation video was still playing.
"What are you doing? It told you to close your eyes tightly."
"Haa.... Am I going to sleep like this?"
Choi Sung-jun frowned, his eyes fluttering.
Do it obediently before I give you the moktak.
When I nodded, Choi Sung-jun narrowed his eyes and sighed deeply, finally lowering his eyelids.
***
Finally, the day of deciding on the debut song dawned, and the conference room was soon filled with excitement.
"Wow! Our composer is still alive!!"
"That's right!!! It's so good?!"
The enthusiastic response that poured out without anyone saying anything first was naturally directed at Choi Sung-jun's song.
'The effect is certain.'
Choi Sung-jun, who grumbled even with his eyes closed, fell into a deep sleep before the second hand had even completed a full turn.
The next day, Choi Sung-jun woke up with a shiny face. The work that had been unfinished for three days was solved smoothly, and it only took three hours to complete the song.
Choi Sung-jun, who had been walking around with a sensitive expression on his face for a while, smiled happily.
"Wow. It's perfect for your image. Really...!!"
The team leader, who had been rubbing her eyes and making strange gestures, almost cried. Everyone who heard the song, from the members to the rookie development team, was equally delighted.
Except for one person.
"Well... wouldn't it be better to go with a strong song for a debut song? Clicker generally had a strong concept, right? Sungjun, do you have any strong songs other than this bright song?"
Choi Sungjun smiled faintly despite the bujang [*manager] 's tackle.
"No, there isn't."
Okay, consistently resolute.
Actually, when I first heard Choi Sung-jun's song, it was surprising.
Before my return, he always made strong songs, but this time, it was music with a cheerful and bright atmosphere.
'The spectrum is wide.'
The song was good, as expected.
He's incredibly talented. If we keep doing this, we won't fail because the song is good.
"The melody is simple and unique, so it's addictive, right? It feels fresh too!"
"The debut concept is refreshing after all! Isn't it so timeless?"
The rookie development team was about to cut a music video storyboard right here.
...... Is that team made up of people like that?
'Well, as long as you do your job well, it'll be fine.'
The manager smiled.
He seemed to want to say something in return, but the song is good.
Although it was a bit extreme, I was very worried about the manager's sense compared to the rookie development team that had a good sense.
Right now, no one seems to be listening to what the manager says.........….
I have a strong feeling that my life will be on the line from now on because of the position.
The meeting proceeded quickly after that.
"Then let's decide the debut song by voting."
The voting was conducted by adding Choi Sungjun's song to the four samples that the manager had brought.
The result was clear.
"Wow!"
Choi Sungjun's song, which was chosen by everyone except one vote, was selected as the debut song.
The conference room erupted in cheers and applause.
Even if the manager is the general producer, he can't just unilaterally pull it forward.
I also quietly let out a sigh of relief. The meeting quickly moved on to the next agenda.
"I think Sungjun, who has the most experience as our M8 leader, will do the best. What do you think?"
"Yes?"
Choi Sungjun looked dumbfounded at the team leader's sudden suggestion.
"I'm fine with it."
I answered coolly.
Following my agreement, the other members also joined in one by one.
These guys must have felt Choi Sung-jun's leadership while practicing group choreography these past few days.
It seems like there are still some guys who are afraid of Choi Sung-jun.
'Anyway, there is no one better than Choi Sung-jun.'
Choi Sung-jun nodded in the end after getting the approval of everyone except himself.
"Okay, so we've decided on the leader. All that's left is to announce our debut date."
The manager, who seemed to have lost his will to fight, cleared his throat solemnly.
"M8's debut date is June 28th!"
The members all took a deep breath and gulped.
I wasn't much different.
Three months left until I debuted safely.
All that was left was to work hard for the main quest of getting 1 million views on the music video.
***
The summer when TP announced the debut of a new boy group was approaching.
However, there was still no news from TP.
As the public's interest gradually died down, a link was shared on TP Entertainment's official YouTube channel.
It was the first video uploaded to the newly opened official channel with the unfamiliar name of 'M8'.
[M8 - 'OPENING' M/V Teaser]
A short 38-second video.
The video began with the backs of five boys sitting side by side and looking at the sunrise.
A quiet amusement park, the still carousel was bathed in orange light.
Yeonwoo, who had his eyes tightly shut, slowly opened them, and a cheerful guitar sound flowed out.
𝅘𝅥 ♬ - 𝅘𝅥♬𝅘𝅥𝅮 -
As Yoo-Hyun, who was sitting, slowly took a step, the playground lights came on brightly.
And the moment he took a second step, the song started.
— Now we play
A bouncy, trendy beat started.
The members formed a choreography formation against the backdrop of a clear blue sky and green grass.
Exciting choreography with brisk steps.
Close-up cuts of the members' individual moves passed.
—It's the beginning
—It's our opening
Yeonwoo makes a gesture of putting a crown on his head towards the camera.
The video ended with white subtitles appearing over the face.
[OPENING]
[06.28 18:00 KST]
***
It was short but intense.
TP's sudden teaser release revitalized the market that had been languid during the Clicker's break.
The comments pouring in from various communities were proof of this.
— It's really so fresh.... Youthful and refreshing.. A concept that only rookies can do....
—Yeah, I already had a sharp sense of fandom just by watching the teaser.
—TP form is crazy woof woof I love you loyalty loyalty lifelong loyalty shout out I'm a slave to K-pop!!!
—Who is the thumbnail? Drop it
—TP is really good at picking visuals
└The visuals are crazyㄷㄷ There are no holes;
└The face is just a total BS. Seriously debut tomorrow I'm ready to empty this grandma's pocket money
In addition to the title of a new male idol from TP, it's Choi Sung-jun's song.
There were quite a few comments saying that the quality was better than expected.
It was a reaction that I expected to some extent, but even so, I was a little taken aback by the thumbnail.
I wonder if it's because I couldn't adapt to dressing up so much, so I kept flinching whenever my face appeared in the video.
—No, but the song is really well-chosen; it's addictive.
└The song smells like moneyㅋㅋㅋ
—This is definitely a must-haveㅜㅜ It's only 38 seconds long but it's all in the song, music video, choreography
—From the song quality to the visuals, it seems like the top among the new male idols that came out recently
└Yeah, it's really like good
—Fuck, the juicing is over now, how many times has it been since you've fed me a face like that?
[it originally means squeezing fruits or vegetables to get juice, and thesedays it also means trying so hard to find someone's attraction even though he/she is so ugly (as a slang)]
—F*ck, TP just make a comeback for Pink Lime... Don't do stupid things with the money Pink madeㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Ah, it looks like it'll be hard for Pink to renew their contract, so TP needs to find a way to survive~~~
—Five handsome guys debuting with a hit song during the stagnation of the male idol scene? National unification of idol fandom
└FR I'll hold on to other things, but I can't tolerate ugly people anymore
And an exclusive article lit the fire.
['TP rookie' M8 Sungjun's identity, genius composer DownJay]
—F*ck DownJay???? That Pink Bittersweet composer DownJay??? This is crazy, somehow it is a great songㄷㄷ
—What's with DownJay's visuals..? With that face and physique, he's even good at composing; the world is so unfair
—Wow, a group where a song composer who ate up all the Asian charts is a composing member and visual leader? This will be hard to fail ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
I looked at the comments a little more and then put my smartphone down.
'Fortunately, the response is mostly positive.'
I couldn't stand Kim Eden's nagging about what's with the flip phone, so I changed it a while ago, and thanks to that, it's convenient to monitor comments.
In the past, when there was a lot of noise due to an incident or accident, I was curious about Choi Sung-jun, who would look up even the bad comments one by one, but now that I am an idol, I think I understand a little.
"Do you want to drink?"
Choi Sung-jun came in holding a can of beer, shaking off his wet hair.
I can't smoke, but how about alcohol?
My lifespan wasn't that long to experiment.
I don't want to regret drinking it for nothing, so I'll hold back. I shook my head bitterly while lying on the bed.
"...No."
"Okay. Then."
Chiik-tak.
When I heard the sound of beer cans being opened, my mouth naturally watered.
I tried to look away and think of something else.
The debut preparations were going on like crazy.
The debut date, which was originally planned for July, was moved up to June, and the busy period passed.
UJ Entertainment's rookie debut is in July.
'It's an open competition.'
I wonder if the team without Choi Sung-jun will be like before.
Fortunately, we were able to safely finish the teaser release.
The atmosphere of the company and members was good, as they confirmed the response to the teaser that was released after two months.
A few days ago, Choi Sung-jun asked me how I knew that he was DownJay, and I was flustered, but I roughly covered it up by saying that I heard it from the team leader.
Choi Sung-jun is the one who knows the team leader character the best among us.
'It was a lukewarm response... but I think he accepted it for now.'
Choi Sung-jun was calmly sipping his beer. Choi Sung-jun's condition seemed good. He didn't show any signs of running away.
'Anyway, it went well.'
Now all that's left is to debut smoothly.
I got up in relief.
I can't even drink beer, so I have to eat something.
Choi Sung-jun followed me to the kitchen.
"Why, are you hungry? What should I make you?"
Choi Sung-jun closed his eyes and sipped his beer.
Here we go again.
Choi Sung-jun, who cured his insomnia with folk remedies, would always offer me food whenever he had the chance.
It seemed like a way of expressing gratitude.
It ranged from snacks like chocolate and milk to homemade breakfast, and thanks to that, all the members ate a hearty breakfast before going to work.
'It's a bit burdensome, but it's delicious.'
Looking at how good he is at cooking, it seems like he's good at everything he makes.
I sat down at the table and seriously thought about the menu.
At that moment, the door opened wide and Kang Se-hyun poked his head out.
"Hyungs, is Kim Eden here?"
"? No."
Kang Se-hyun tilted his head at Choi Sung-jun's answer.
"That's strange. It's past the time for him to come."
"He hasn't come yet?"
"Yes, it's already been an hour. He doesn't even answer the phone."
Kim Eden often walked home alone after practice, but looking at the clock, it was not too late.. He must have left work. I thought maybe he had stopped by a convenience store.
A piercing warning sound rang out.
[Sudden Quest Arrived!]
Sudden quest? What is this....
I had an ominous feeling at the unusual notification.
[Rescue the member! (Special reward upon completion)]
Thump-
I jumped up.
"That surprised me! Hyung, what's wrong?"
I didn't have time to answer Kang Se-hyun who asked in surprise.
[00:14:55 Until the accident]
'F*ck.'
A red spear flashed before my eyes as it rose one after another.
—