<Episode 13>
After finishing the broadcast recording, a week passed.
During that time, Spade Joker’s album preparations were nearing completion.
And finally, the teaser for “Reverse Perspective” was released.
I played the teaser to monitor it.
Since it wasn’t a lighthearted variety show, a dark screen slowly brightened, and the logo appeared. Then the screen went dark again.
Thud.
With a sound effect, a yellow ceiling light flicked on.
In a space divided by a partition, Spade Joker and I appeared.
Then a large caption popped up:
[What misunderstandings have built up between them?]
The light flickered on and off repeatedly, and the video ended with Spade Joker and me facing each other.
↳ ??? Who even is Spade Joker? Is this like some contract dispute?
↳↳ I looked it up, and there’s no such article. It’s just staged.
↳ Not really interested.
The reaction in the comments wasn’t very good.
But even so, the people who will watch it will still watch it, so I wasn’t worried.
If there was one thing I learned after stepping into this industry, it was that bad reactions don’t necessarily mean failure.
‘Let’s check the reporters’ reactions too.’
I moved my fingers and searched for Spade Joker on the portal site.
[Spade Joker, another comeback? The struggling idol group’s relentless challenge.]
[Spade Joker, nonstop comebacks… but where is the quality?]
[Reverse Perspective: Spade Joker and their agency CEO confront misunderstandings.]
As expected, reporters started pouring out negative articles about Spade Joker’s comeback.
Both the headlines and the contents were filled with harsh criticism.
They mocked Spade Joker’s past activities and produced provocative articles.
“Write whatever you want. Go ahead and write to your heart’s content.”
Honestly, the more they did this, the more it benefited us.
People who wouldn’t normally care about the comeback of some unknown idol group would now hear about it.
It would become a form of noise marketing.
[Spade Joker is coming back???? Wait, didn’t they say the members were going to rest? They moved dorms and said they’d take a break, even promised more personal lives once the company allowed it. So why a comeback? I’m already grinding my teeth.]
↳ Exactly.
↳ Ugh. How much are they planning to piss me off this time? I thought they’d finally let them rest. What is this?
↳↳ I checked, and that company doesn’t even have other idols. Of course, they can’t afford a long break.
↳↳↳ Even so, there should be limits. They run the members through endless local events and don’t even support them properly after a comeback… of course, we’re mad.
↳ They need to make money, so they don’t have a choice.
↳↳ Don’t talk so casually when you don’t know the situation. The songs are awful, and the styling, hair, makeup, nothing is good. Until recently, they were crammed into a terrible dorm. And that’s not all, there wasn’t even a dedicated manager. They were being managed by the CEO or the head manager. Does that even make sense?
↳↳↳ I don’t know about the rest, but having no manager is definitely serious…
Spade Joker’s fan club, Clover, seemed to be in a state of extreme agitation.
[Is this for real? Did I see that right? Ugh, I’m so mad. Are they testing my patience? Instead of making them come back constantly, bring a proper song! It’s obvious they don’t want to spend money on the members but still want to profit. They’ve never even properly learned composing, yet you force them to make songs. And the lyrics are childish, like something an elementary schooler wrote. You call that an album? I feel so bad for them. I can’t even leave the fandom because it hurts too much. I don’t even want to watch that program… it’ll hurt. But I’ll watch it anyway, staring hard. You know why? Because I want to hear what the CEO has to say.]
↳ This is exactly how I feel. Any Clover would be furious.
↳ I seriously don’t understand the CEO. Does he even want to make money?
↳ It feels weird saying this as a fan, but… where does the CEO even get money from?
“Where would I get money from… Back then, it was just a game, so money came in easily.”
[If they come back again with trash songs and outfits, I’m not letting it slide. I’m submitting a statement and sending funeral wreaths to the company.]
↳ Good idea.
↳ I don’t want to see them get mocked anymore.
↳ Let’s really unite this time. They think we’re easy because we buy albums and stream songs for the members. Let’s make sure they never look down on us again.
Once the teaser dropped in an hour, their reactions would change.
Imagining Clover’s changed reactions, I smiled to myself.
I had intentionally pushed the filming schedule so the teaser would be released to match the broadcast date.
“Sir, are you okay? Why are you grinning like that?”
“I can’t stop smiling, thinking about how everyone will be shocked in an hour.”
“It’s just a teaser, so the reaction won’t flip that dramatically.”
At Han Suseok’s words, I nodded slightly.
“That’s even better. It’ll make people curious. What we need right now is sustained attention.”
“But you’re getting a lot of hate, sir. Are you really okay?”
Han Suseok looked at me with concern.
Getting cursed at online didn’t bother me.
I was used to it, and nothing actually happens in real life.
‘Being cursed at is nothing compared to regressing again. Besides, it’d be stranger if an agency CEO didn’t get hate.’
From browsing SNS, I learned one thing:
There are no idol fans who like their agency CEO.
[Every time I feel like committing murder toward the agency, I deposit money into a “contract killing savings account.” I checked today, and wow, it’s grown a lot. At this rate, I’ll become rich.]
↳ LOL, that’s actually a great way for idol fans to save money
↳ LOL that’s genius
↳ I’m going to try it too
↳ Ever since I got into idol fandom, I’ve become a master at suppressing anger. How is there not a single proper agency?
↳↳ Seriously, I’ve never seen a proper agency…
↳ Does a proper agency even exist? I seriously wonder. At this point, we should submit a petition against K-pop agencies.
From the start, it’s a structure where agencies can’t be viewed positively.
Fans feel that the agency exploits the idols they love while failing to properly support them. How could they like that?
“Today is their music video shoot, right?”
“Yes.”
We had forced filming for just part of the teaser, and skipped the group choreography scenes due to a lack of practice.
It was a schedule we barely secured by pleading with the music video director.
“Then send them some snacks. Oh, and the official account.”
“The official account? Why?”
“Let’s overhaul it completely. When Spade Joker comes back, and their search volume increases, interest in their SNS accounts will naturally rise too.”
“That’s true.”
“But right now their SNS feels too bare. Looking at it, no one would want to stan them. Let’s update the profile with the new logo, upload photos, and let the members post freely too.”
Originally, Spade Joker’s SNS accounts were strictly managed by the company.
They had no way to freely communicate with fans.
This time, we allowed personal accounts and live streams, but posting on the official account feels different.
‘The more communication, the better.’
Building trust with fans is also part of being an idol.
It’s hard to gain fans, but surprisingly easy to lose them.
If idols don’t communicate often, small frustrations build up.
Then the SNS atmosphere shifts.
Fans split into those who demand communication and those who say it’s unnecessary, and that becomes the starting point of fandom division.
[Seriously, how many days has it been with no updates? Isn’t this too much? Other idols show up at least once a week. Not even a single photo, post, or live? Isn’t that basically neglect? Honestly, they can stand on stage because of us. They used to be nobodies, and now they’ve changed?]
↳ Wow, making a fuss over nothing. Spade Joker truly cares about fans. You’ve seen how much they love and cherish fans, so why write something like this? They always try to give more, say more, even when the staff scolds them. And you’re complaining about communication? You know they’re busy preparing for a comeback.
↳↳ If you joined early in the fandom, you’d have ruined everything.
↳↳↳ LOL ruined what? I bought albums and streamed for them, can’t I even complain?
↳ Honestly, I’ve thought this too. I’m not asking for fan service, just some communication. Even just telling us what they ate would be enough for us to have fun among ourselves. It’s disappointing when they don’t even do that.
↳↳ This disgusts me. Even I’m mentally shaken reading this… imagine how the members would feel.
↳↳↳ I hope the members never see this. Isn’t there a way?
↳ LOL, how would they see it? They never even post.
After the [I] promotions, I sped up comeback preparations to ride the momentum, and that’s when these kinds of noises started appearing.
But I couldn’t afford to lose the fans we had finally gathered.
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