Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus – Chapter 94

Author: LyraDhani

I could immediately understand why Kang Hyuk felt so repulsive, and why my entire body was suddenly reacting with such rejection toward him.

Of course, part of it was because of the terrible songs—or rather, the somewhat incomprehensible songs—he brought, but what was even more unsettling was…

‘This bastard’s attitude.’

It was completely natural to him.

His way of handling power was natural. He took being treated specially by those around him for granted, and he didn’t even bother to hide it.

He had no intention of caring about others’ feelings or the situations they were in.

As though the world revolved around him—as though he were an actual presidential candidate—he’d arrived surrounded by aides.

The aides were busy catering to his every whim, and he accepted it as if it were the law of nature.

Even the Main PD and executive producer—the people effectively in charge of this entire program—sometimes acted while gauging the reactions of their staff, but the man before me was different. He behaved as though he alone stood above heaven and earth.

I’d compared people to nobles before, but this guy truly felt like a noble from the other world. He was the spitting image of the pot-bellied, middle-aged aristocrats I’d encountered countless times back there.

No, he was even more than a noble.

I had never seen royalty, but I was certain the members of a royal family would feel exactly like this.

‘He’s not just a producer and composer, is he?’

The realization came naturally.

As I searched through my lost memories, I was immediately able to recall who Kang Hyuk was.

‘Ah! Crown… CEO Kang Hyuk of Crown!’

One of the Big 4 agencies.

In fact, it was arguably the agency with the strongest momentum at the moment.

Only then did all of his behavior make sense. At least in this industry, he reigned like a king, so there was no reason for him to be afraid of anything.

‘But why did he come here personally?’

“……”

His attitude suggested he held a significant stake in the show. Was there a special clause in the contract I hadn’t seen? Was Crown among the producers and investors? What kind of birth secret did Idol Classism have that brought him here?

And, rather inconveniently…

‘Why does he like me so much?’

He was directing inexplicable goodwill toward me. He wasn’t even looking at Han Yohan or Kim Taeyeol. The same went for No. 106 and the other trainees.

He simply smiled warmly and kept patting my shoulder. He gave a separate greeting to Jegal Hwi, who was also in the debut range, but that was it.

Just then, one of the high-ranking broadcasting executives I’d never met before patted my shoulder as well and spoke.

“Did you know CEO Kang has always thought very highly of Trainee Lee Unha?”

‘I appreciate it… but I honestly don’t know whether I should be grateful or not.’

“CEO Kang, instead of standing around here, why don’t you take the trainees out for a meal?”

“Hahahaha. I’d love to, but I think the group meal should wait until after they debut.”

“Ah, right. Let’s do as CEO Kang says.”

After finishing his brief greeting with Jegal Hwi, CEO Kang returned and gently patted my shoulder again.

“How is it? Do you like the songs?”

‘I’m grateful, but… honestly, I’m not sure.’

I wanted to say that, but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead, a perfectly practiced business smile spread across my face.

“Yes!”

“Hahahaha. I’m glad you like them. To be honest, from the moment Idol Classism started airing, I had a strong feeling Trainee Lee Unha would make it into the debut group. Hahahaha. Candy Star was written specifically with Trainee Lee Unha in mind. It actually came together surprisingly quickly… and Hey HEY Hey had been waiting for its owner for quite some time. It finally found the person it belonged to.”

“Ah… yes. Th-thank you.”

“Oh, don’t thank me. If anything, I’m the one who’s grateful to Trainee Lee Unha for letting me experience inspiration like this again. Have you ever heard the word muse? Hahahaha.”

“Haha… hahah….”

“Oh. Is there any discomfort while living here?”

“Oh, no. Everything’s been very comfortable.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Hey! You there! Bring that over.”

“Yes, CEO!”

“Here, this is a gift… don’t open it here, open it yourself when you get home.”

“Ah. Th-thank you.”

“Hey! You have to bring Jegal Hwi’s too!”

“My apologies! CEO!”

I had no idea what the gift was, but naturally, receiving one made me feel a little more favorably toward him. However…

‘Does he have to be this tactless in front of everyone?’

I couldn’t help thinking that too.

‘Is he normally this oblivious? Or does he just not care to look at the atmosphere…. Or… does he only know how to act according to his own whims….’

The official debut members hadn’t even been decided yet.

I didn’t doubt Lee Unha’s or Jegal Hwi’s debut myself, but I couldn’t understand how he could act this way openly.

Indeed, the faces of the other trainees, besides Han Yohan and Kim Taeyeol, showed clear signs of disappointment. After being ignored this blatantly, there was no way they’d feel good about it.

‘Wow….’

And then….

“This part here in Candy Star that starts with ‘Sweetness’ is Trainee Lee Unha’s part….”

“Yes.”

“And this side is Jegal Hwi’s part. Everyone saw the choreography when the video was revealed earlier, right?”

“Yes….”

“Actually, you should think of the choreography you saw in that video as just the guide version. Since the preparation period is short, I asked them to make the choreography for <Idol Classism> as simple as possible.”

“Is that okay?”

“Actually, it’s better this way. It’s fine to take some power out of it. That way, there’s a clear difference when you actually debut, right? Of course, the revised choreography is a secret… Hahahaha. Though if Trainee Lee Unha is curious, I could give you a little hint….”

“Haha… ha….”

“The truth is, the goal of these final two missions is also to familiarize the public with the double title tracks we’ve prepared. Ah, right. Since we’ve come this far, I can’t very well leave without asking for your opinion directly.”

“Pardon?”

“Trainee Lee Unha, these two title tracks. Didn’t you think they had rhythms unlike anything you’ve heard before in the K-pop market?”

“Ah… I don’t really….”

“Hahahaha. Well, that makes sense. It’s rare for trainees to think about or study things like that…. Still, if there’s one thing I can say to ease your concerns… the success of popular music ultimately comes down to how familiar the public becomes with a song.”

“Ah.”

“The history of trendy genres proves it, and so does the current K-pop market. My theory is that as long as an addictive melody and lyrics that stick in the mind are embedded in the framework, it doesn’t really matter how you expand the base… hahahaha.”

“Hehehe….”

“So, seriously… you never thought it was strange?”

“To be honest… a little… I wouldn’t say they were strange! It was more that I just wasn’t used to them.”

“Come on, come on. That’s only natural. You might be thinking Kang Hyuk has finally lost his touch and brought in a couple of terrible songs…. But I’m certain of this, Trainee Lee Unha.”

“…….”

“If I said this project was an experiment to test my philosophy, it would probably make you uneasy, but the truth is, this isn’t an experiment—it’s a proof.”

“Ah… yes.”

“…….”

“Why am I even saying all this?”

“…….”

In that regard, my opinion was the same as his.

I wondered why he felt the need to say those things to me… But looking at his expression, I felt like I understood why those unnecessary words had slipped out.

‘You’re… anxious too, aren’t you?’

Was I just seeing him in a negative light because I was dissatisfied with him and his songs?

I wondered if I was being too negative about everything, but after checking his expression, I realized the suspicion blooming in my heart wasn’t groundless.

“Well then, listen carefully to what Team Leader Jung tells you, and let’s create a great performance together.”

Perhaps he was afraid his true feelings might show. The man who had lumbered over with his heavy body turned around and lumbered away once more.

It had only been a brief encounter, but it left a powerful impression. I’d wondered whether he’d simply gotten lucky and stumbled into success, but the thought that reaching that position might not have been a fluke took root in my mind.

Was it excessive confidence?

Or….

Was it excessive arrogance?

Was he truly confident in proving himself? Or was this too just part of an experiment?

Behind the convincing speech and firm philosophy, was he hiding a withered intuition?

I felt uneasy.

“…….”

In fact, after meeting him, I felt even more uneasy. I realized he was a self-made man who had achieved great success, but the way he acted as if that success would last forever reeked of arrogance. Precisely because I knew nothing in this world lasted forever, his attitude grated on my nerves all the more.

However….

Where that arrogance stemmed from… was something I realized shortly after the official lessons began.

“Trainee Lee Unha. Move in.”

“…….”

“One step. Two steps. Three steps. One, two, three. And the rest, step back….”

“…….”

“Trainee Kim Taeyeol’s part here. One, two.”

“…….”

“Focus. Focus.”

“…….”

“Keep the concept in mind. Expressions! Expressions! Expressions! Lee Unha, come out!”

“…….”

“One, two! Three!”

‘It’s different.’

“…….”

‘It really is different.’

“Let’s gather for a second. During the bridge part. Yeah. There… stop there for a moment.”

There was a clear difference from when the trainees huddled together to discuss, decide, clash, and go through trial and error.

Simply having battle-hardened industry veterans step in, take charge, and show us the way made preparing the performance incomparably smoother.

It was enough to make me question what meaning there had ever been in all those struggles we’d gone through by ourselves as trainees.

In fact, there was no friction whatsoever in the process of creating this single performance.

There was no time for the friction between Jegal Hwi and No. 106 that I’d worried about to even manifest.

We only did what we were told, and didn’t do what we weren’t.

Before my eyes was a process carefully refined to prevent the entertainment agency Crown from repeating the mistakes it had experienced since its founding.

We simply followed that process to the letter, and no flaws were visible in it.

We moved as told, and sang as told.

They explained the expressions and even the fine details, and none of it felt difficult.

Of course, the influence of the experience we’d gained here was meaningful, but even so….

‘This is… unbelievably easy.’

The results were excellent, too. We reviewed the performance footage exactly as recorded, then practiced the parts we’d gotten wrong.

It was a continuous process of refining a stone. To exaggerate a little, it felt as though I’d become one of the countless components keeping this massive industry machine turning.

Even the two title tracks I truly disliked started to sound good now that my ears were used to them.

But,

Comfort aside….

‘Is this… right?’

“…….”

‘Is this how it’s always done?’

That question refused to leave my mind.

‘Does relying on and following massive capital like this… solve everything? Is that how you succeed? Is this how an idol succeeds?’

And most importantly…

‘Is this the kind of idol Joo Wooyoung dreamed of becoming? Can we become the world’s best K-pop stars this way?’

I wanted to know the answer, so…

When we had a short break, I picked up my phone.