<Episode 79>
“Hello, sunbae.”
While waiting at the broadcasting station for a music show, the members of Spade Joker were heading to the snack shop because they were hungry when they ran into Spade once again.
“Yes. Hello.”
They kept their response as short as possible and quickly averted their gaze from Spade. In truth, they wanted to ignore them outright, but there were too many eyes watching inside the station.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
They didn’t have anything urgent to do, but they still had to quicken their pace.
“Phew….”
As soon as Spade disappeared, Leejoo let out a deep sigh.
“Why do we have to act like this?”
His face was filled with sadness.
“To be honest, I know all of this is the agency’s fault, not theirs. I do know that.”
He himself had also been forced to sing songs and perform dances he didn’t want because of his agency, so he didn’t want to put all the blame on the group ‘Spade.’
But the mind and the heart were separate matters.
He couldn’t help but feel resentment.
“But it’s hard to look at their faces.”
The other members patted Leejoo to comfort him.
“We feel the same. It’s not just you.”
“Yeah.”
The group name Spade Joker had been arbitrarily given by the company, but now it fully belonged to them.
Because it was the name that tied together all of them who had struggled side by side.
That was how significant a name could be.
“So let’s be careful not to run into them as much as possible.”
“But did you see the outfits they were wearing this time?”
At Seora’s question, the other members tried to recall what Spade had been wearing.
“Huh? Their outfits were different from ours?”
Zen said in a slightly bewildered voice as he remembered.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“What were they?”
“That black shirt…”
When Cain asked, Zen began to explain while piecing together his memory.
“Ripped pants, combat boots. And… leather accessories?”
“That’s completely different from us.”
“Yeah.”
“If they were dressed similarly to us again, we would’ve remembered right away.”
Everyone agreed with Heeseo’s words.
“But this time, because the outfits were completely different, we couldn’t recognize it immediately. Right?”
“That’s right.”
At the thought that they wouldn’t have to be stressed about outfits anymore, they all smiled with relief.
***
“CEO.”
“Yes.”
After finishing the meal with the CEO of K-From and getting ready to leave, Joo Youngjoon stopped me.
‘What is he trying to say?’
Honestly, I was the one who wanted to confront him.
There were more than a few things to question him about.
“Are you the type who lacks awareness? Or is it because you’re still young?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Wanting to get under Joo Youngjoon’s skin, I deliberately acted even more clueless.
“Is that so? Which part gave you that impression?”
“Ha.”
Joo Youngjoon turned his head sharply, as if trying to suppress his anger. Honestly, I almost wished he would just hit me.
‘If he hit me, at least I could sue him.’
Until now, Joo Youngjoon had harassed me in subtle ways that left no evidence, so suing him had been out of the question.
That was also why I knew he wouldn’t hit me. People with a lot to lose don’t openly break the law.
Because he was both cunning and cautious, I had let him be until now.
‘He always dodged the law cleverly, so I couldn’t sue him, and if I confronted him directly, he’d just pretend ignorance… so I stayed quiet. But I shouldn’t have.’
“Do you know how difficult it is to arrange a meeting with the CEO of K-From?”
“I think I’ve heard about it.”
The CEO of K-From was famous for rarely having private meetings.
The reason was because of films.
To prevent investors’ personal greed from influencing movies.
And yet, after barely arranging such a meeting, I had inserted myself into it… so from Joo Youngjoon’s perspective, it was only natural he’d be displeased.
“And yet you sat down there anyway?”
“You were the one who greeted me first, CEO. And when the CEO of K-From told me to sit, how could I ignore him and walk past? I didn’t even have company, so refusing would’ve been rude. I simply sat down.”
At my logical response, Joo Youngjoon shut his mouth, seemingly having nothing to say.
“Even so… this still isn’t right.”
“CEO.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand what I did wrong to make you this angry.”
As I said that, I took a step closer to him.
“I didn’t do something petty like copying your achievements exactly, did I?”
It was a deliberate remark.
“…Are you saying that for me to hear?”
“Huh? I’m not sure what you mean. Saying it for you to hear? It’s not like you did something like that, so why would I?”
I spoke with the most innocent expression I could manage. No matter how shameless someone was, that kind of remark would surely hit a nerve.
“Ahem.”
Joo Youngjoon cleared his throat, trying to shift the atmosphere.
“Then why hasn’t composer Han Youngjoo responded?”
Even in this situation, bringing up Han Youngjoo impressed me.
“I’m not sure. Although she is an exclusive composer under our agency, ever since we set up a separate basement studio for her, we don’t communicate that often. But seeing you’re looking for her… are you preparing for A-Pen’s comeback?”
I deliberately avoided mentioning Spade. As of now, Spade was a thoroughly failed group.
They were benchmarking, at best, or plagiarizing at worst, other groups, so there was no way they’d gain fans. On top of that, even their songs were plagiarized, so there was no way to reverse their image.
Even if they did gain fans, those fans wouldn’t be able to step forward openly.
Even if someone created a fan account, they’d first be mocked for liking a plagiarist group.
An idol’s image was often equated with their fans’ image.
In the end, Spade’s fans would inevitably face ridicule, and that ridicule would eventually make even passive onlookers turn aggressive.
‘And in the end, even the fans would grow exhausted from the fights.’
“Well, with A-Pen, it wouldn’t be strange no matter when they make a comeback. You must be busy preparing for it… Please take care. I still have a lot to do today, so I’ll be heading off now. Thank you for today.”
I gave Joo Youngjoon a light farewell and headed straight to the car.
Being around him was stressful in itself.
‘Though A-Pen’s comeback will never happen.’
“You’re back?”
Han Suseok, who was already in the car, spoke.
“You seem to be in a good mood, sir.”
“Do I?”
“Yes.”
It seemed I was in a good mood because I had blocked one of Joo Youngjoon’s plans.
“I ran into Joo Youngjoon earlier.”
“I see.”
“And the CEO of K-From was there. I stopped what Joo Youngjoon was trying to do and built a connection with the K-From CEO instead. That’s probably why I feel good.”
Han Suseok smiled and nodded.
“But what were you looking at?”
He had been looking at his phone with a pleased expression, so I asked.
“Oh. The Spade Joker members’ sportswear advertisement was released.”
“Oh, that was today? Let me see.”
“You’re wearing your seatbelt, right? I’ll start driving.”
“Yeah.”
I took out my phone and searched for the Spade Joker advertisement.
“This is it.”
I immediately played the video.
A blue sky and a wide grass field spread across the screen. Across that field, the Spade Joker members appeared wearing sportswear.
They ran and ran again, all with bright smiles.
‘Filming this must’ve been exhausting.’
The running scenes continued.
[If you keep running along one path, you’ll eventually see the finish line.]
Along with the narration, the caption appeared.
At the same time, the members of Spade Joker crossed a finish line marked with a white stripe.
‘It’s not bad, but it’s very much the usual style this brand goes for.’
I went to check the reactions on social media.
[Wait, what? LOL, why are these people so serious about Spade Joker?]
↳Why?
↳↳The company’s official account is already filled with Spade Joker photos, and now they’re putting them on billboards not just in Korea but overseas too.
↳Were they always like this?
↳↳No, even when they had models before, it wasn’t this extreme.
↳Those billboards are insane. (Collection of billboard photos.)
‘They’re putting up billboard ads?’
After looking through SNS, I confirmed that Spade Joker’s advertisement videos and photos were being broadcast worldwide through billboards.
[What on earth made them become this sincere about Spade Joker?]
↳The narrative, maybe?
↳↳I think so too.
↳It has to be the narrative. There’s no other explanation.
[This brand is seriously all-in on Spade Joker. They even made a whole new ad video using their past stages. (Video link.)]
↳What is this? I’m tearing up.
↳↳Same.
↳How could anyone not cry watching this?
↳↳If they don’t, they must not have emotions.
I had heard from Han Sooseok that there would be a secondary advertisement, but since I had left everything to him, I didn’t know the details.
Curious about what kind of video it was, I clicked the link.
The ad quickly went through Spade Joker’s journey from debut to the present.
At the end of the video, the members raised their first-place trophy, and light reflected off it, making it shine.
And then, a single line appeared at the bottom of the screen.
[Until the moment their efforts shine]
In some ways, it had an even stronger narrative than the main advertisement.
It would definitely have a positive impact on Spade Joker’s image.
‘Setting everything else aside… this video feels like it’s going to blow up.’
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