Chapter 964: Nothing Goes According to Expectations (18)

"They kicked you out?"

"Yeah."

It wasn’t a complete expulsion, but it was close enough.

-Hyung, the composers are probably waiting. Why don’t you head there first...?

He explained the entire situation to the composers.

After hearing the backstory behind "Ballerina Bug," the composers all looked puzzled.

"The idea’s not bad though?"

"Exactly. Why were the members criticizing it so much?"

"I honestly don’t get it."

He nodded and held up the drawing.

"Right? Look at this."

"..."

"..."

The composers suddenly began avoiding eye contact.

While everyone silently swallowed their words, Team Leader Na Sangyoon spoke on behalf of the group.

"Wooju."

"Yeah."

"I think... from a kid’s perspective, the design might be a little......"

The composers added comments one after another.

"It looks like a cockroach with wings."

"No matter how I look at it, that’s a Guardian. You know, the evolved Mutalisk thing...."

"I saw something like that on National Geographic once. Apparently bugs like that actually appear in Australian homes."

At the brutally honest assessment, he gently placed a hand over Ballerina Bug’s ear.

"Lina. Don’t listen to those mean things. None of this is your fault."

"No, seriously. Kids would find that terrifying. Even adults would have nightmares after seeing it."

"But......"

He tried to argue, then stopped while staring at the drawing.

As much as he hated to admit it, they were right.

The intention was good, but it really did look too scary.

"I really must not have any talent for design."

"It’s okay, Wooju."

Composer Saltman spoke up.

"No one can have everything. You need at least one flaw to feel human."

"Right?"

"People need weaknesses. Being bad at games, bad at drawing, having a terrible personality while working......"

"A terrible personality while working?"

Saltman unconsciously listing things froze and swallowed hard.

"It’s too good!"

"Right?"

Just as they were all laughing together—

Click.

The members arrived as the door opened.

"Hello!"

"Oh, how’d the meeting go?"

At the producing team’s question, the members answered,

"It went well. The owner really loved the ideas we suggested... oh, right."

Biju held up a bag.

"The owner gave us gifts too. She said she personally made these dolls, and they’re ridiculously cute."

Cotton dolls were placed onto the table one by one.

"Oh? These are seriously adorable."

"Hey, your fans are going to lose their minds when they see these."

Even though they were simple plush dolls, each one was distinctive enough that you could immediately tell who was who.

The outfits were from the Goblin era.

For some reason, they looked like dolls that absolutely needed nicknames like Woo Goblin and Bi Goblin.

Jiho spoke up.

"Hyung, I think we could use these for the Goblin Restaurant project too. Like mascots on display."

"That’d actually be perfect."

They really would fit perfectly in New Universe’s restaurant project.

After deciding to display the goblin dolls together with Tosam in the sixth floor showcase later—

"And there’s this too."

"...?"

Biju held out his phone.

"After you left, the owner redrew Ballerina Bug because she loved the idea so much."

"Really?"

"Look."

It was a photo of the drawing.

A slightly chubby Tinker Bell style fairy girl posed with a sparkling little flourish.

"Ooooh......!"

"See? This is it."

"My daughter would absolutely love this."

While the composers nodded with expressions saying Now this feels like a children’s cartoon!, he smiled sadly.

At that moment—

Shuffle.

Junghyun quietly approached him and whispered like he was sharing a secret.

"Hyung. I actually like your version better."

"Right? It’s cuter, isn’t it?"

"Yeah."

Junghyun shyly scratched the back of his head.

"I like how it really looks like a bug that lives in the grass. It has that countryside feeling."

"..."

"Alright."

After tidying up the briefly chaotic atmosphere, they officially began the meeting.

The members held pens or phones while the producers rested laptops on their knees.

"Then let’s begin the meeting regarding the international album."

"Yes!"

First, they reviewed the matters already agreed upon between the TF team, A&R team, and producing team.

"The international album will be produced with roughly the volume of a full length album. Around twelve to thirteen tracks. One or two songs might get cut, or instrumentals could be added later."

Everyone nodded.

"The expected release window is either December this year or January next year. Around January 2019."

An album composed entirely of English tracks.

And since it was their first international album, they planned to spend six months working on it.

Of course, the slightly delayed release timing was strategic.

"Before the album releases, we’ll probably put out two or three singles first. Overcooked will come first, then after that we’ll select the best track from either your own songs or the submissions we receive."

The American album release style differed somewhat from Korea’s.

In Korea, when comeback season arrived, artists usually released everything all at once.

-You waited a long time, right? Today the title track MV and the entire album are dropping all at once! Enjoy!

Meanwhile, the English speaking market they were targeting this time worked differently.

First of all, there was no concept of a title track.

Instead, there was something called a lead single.

Simply put, it was similar to a prerelease track. A song released before the album to draw public attention.

-Everyone, my album’s coming soon! First, please listen to my fresh new lead single, I Love Wang Jiho!

Since the success or failure of a lead single could determine the entire album’s performance, lead singles were usually title track level songs.

Like Overcooked, for example.

Usually artists released one, but sometimes two or three songs came out before the album.

-Please check out the other songs too!

This strategy had one major advantage.

Risk distribution.

What if the first lead single performed worse than expected?

Unlike Korea’s industry, which usually bet everything on one title track, this system allowed multiple chances.

If the second or third song performed better, that was enough.

-Hahaha. Actually, my true lead single was the second one, I Love Seo Ri Hyuk.

-Didn’t you say I Love Wang Jiho was the main track?

-Me? When? Where? Who...?

Being able to shamelessly pretend otherwise afterward was one of the biggest advantages.

Jiho spoke up.

"But honestly, I always get confused by this single stuff. Some artists just release it right before the album drops."

"Feels like there aren’t really fixed rules."

In truth, there was no strict formula for lead singles.

Even Korea’s music industry had recently started experimenting with prerelease promotions.

There were no absolute rules in marketing.

And honestly, artists with strong fandoms like theirs didn’t necessarily need these methods.

However—

-It’s probably better to minimize the risks as much as possible. I think you should approach this carefully.

That was the advice they received from their American agent, D’Angelo Costa.

This was an important project.

The biggest reason was that Korea remained their main market.

K pop was still their core identity, which meant a full English album was realistically something they could only do once every two or three years due to scheduling.

Once this project ended, they would probably have to wait another two years before attempting something similar again.

That was why they were approaching it so carefully.

And beyond that, they wanted to maximize the quality as much as possible.

Not a lazy album made with the assumption that fans would listen anyway, but something fans themselves would consider their greatest album ever.

And—

"This album’s goal isn’t just to reach Souffle. We want to reach ordinary overseas listeners too."

They viewed it as a major opportunity to appeal to international muggles.

Release an incredible lead single.

Make ordinary listeners think, If the quality’s this good, maybe I should buy the album too...

Then gather all that momentum and unleash it like a Spirit Bomb.

"...And that concludes the introduction."

He and the members looked around at the composers.

"The goal’s pretty huge, right?"

The composers burst out laughing and nodded.

"It really is huge."

"Getting both fans and general overseas listeners to praise it enough to actually buy the album... that’s not easy."

As they spoke, Team Leader Na Sangyoon said,

"But we have to pull it off."

"Exactly. We have to."

He looked toward Rabbit Uncle sitting on the table.

"The situation isn’t bad right now either. This little guy’s promoting worldwide for us."

"True. Tosam’s bait power is insane."

"Yeah. And......"

He glanced at Tosam and smiled.

"This guy’s setting historic records right now, but no matter how much I might technically be the real Rabbit Uncle......"

"..."

"I absolutely refuse to let NewBlack lose."

"...!"

The members’ eyes burst into flames with competitive spirit.

"We’re going to make Overcooked surpass Tosam. No— it will surpass him. Because I’m going to make it happen."

"We feel the same way."

"Fastest 100 million views ever? Tosam, you think we can’t do it??"

The composers swallowed nervously at the fiery atmosphere.

Just then, voices drifted in through the slightly opened door from the hallway.

-Hahaha~!

-The world is such a beautiful place~ right?

-Oh wow. It’s raining. What lovely weather~

Voices happily praising every aspect of existence itself.

It was the A&R team.

"..."

"..."

Shadows fell across the faces of the producing team staff.

The producing team had already achieved incredible results, but the A&R team had exploded Rabbit Uncle to an absurd degree.

Meanwhile the A&R team giggled joyfully over the enormous performance bonus the CEO promised them.

"Right."

"Wooju’s right."

Flames ignited in the eyes of the producing team composers, who were famous throughout the industry for their pride.

"The greatest song."

"The greatest album."

The composers and members clasped hands together.

The producing team was burning just as fiercely as they were.

"Let’s do this."

"Let’s go."

Thus, the anti rabbit alliance was formed.

Of course—

The rabbit doll seemed to stare at them with an oddly wronged expression, but everyone ignored it.

The core concept of Overcooked was simple.

-A song you can sing while cooking.

Biju nodded in agreement.

"Honestly, that really feels like the peak of mainstream appeal. A song people casually hum while cooking."

A song people could naturally hum while cooking or showering.

After all, the song itself had been born from exhausted nonsense muttered while cooking.

"This time, I want to focus on the fun of the song itself. A melody people unconsciously hum along to. An exciting beat. And honestly, the nature of the song makes it hard to force in a deep message...."

"Why?"

"Because we’re going to reveal the story behind how Overcooked was created on New Universe."

The song was literally born from absentminded humming.

If they suddenly acted like This song contains profound meaning, that would just be ridiculous.

"More importantly, Rabbit Uncle taught me something. A song doesn’t need some grand thematic message to be loved by people. When you think about it, music is open to interpretation anyway, isn’t it?"

He looked around at everyone.

"I think it’s time to move away from the pressure that songs always need to contain some deeply meaningful statement."

"True. You can’t ignore the simple joy a song itself gives people."

Of course, Overcooked didn’t completely lack meaning.

The song had originated when foreign chefs criticized meat Koreans considered perfectly cooked as being "overcooked."

Overcooked~ overcooked~

I only cooked it a little too long~♪

Maybe my love for you was just a little excessive~♬

There were countless ways to interpret that.

-Every country and every person has different opinions about properly cooked meat. Just like that, we should accept that people are different.

-Maybe I overcooked it because I loved you too much. Even if my love is clumsy for now....

-I barely cooked it, but it still burned too much? Well, that’s life, isn’t it?

It was the kind of song that could generate many interpretations depending on perspective.

"I want to break out of the mold a little. Instead of the creator imprinting one definitive message onto the audience, we first show them something fun and let each listener interpret it differently."

Until now, their songs had always carried very deliberate messages.

White Night was about insomnia.

The six part Fireworks series was about meetings and farewells.

And from Empire to Goblin to Coin, the trilogy centered on conflict and resolution.

But this time, he wanted to loosen things up.

Because songs were simultaneously the artist’s story and something listeners accepted as part of their own lives.

"I think it’s a good idea."

Ri Hyuk spoke.

"Especially since this is a global release. I don’t think it’s possible to give the exact same message to every person in the world. Songs need room for multiple interpretations if you want them to really succeed."

"I agree, hyung."

"I don’t have any opinions, but I’ll do whatever you tell me."

The younger members nodded, and the composers also agreed with his direction.

"I like it. At first listen it sounds like a love song."

"But at the same time, it also feels like a song about diversity. Like it’s talking about conflicts caused by differences between people."

"But mostly, the song’s just good."

That last statement was the key point.

"Exactly. In the end, we win with a good song. Which means now it’s time to make a really good song."

The framework of Overcooked was already complete.

There were no sections requiring major bursts of creativity anymore.

If songwriting were architecture, the building had already been constructed according to the blueprint.

Now they were inspecting it carefully and deciding on the interior design.

The beginning of endless repetition.

"Tosam......"

He placed the rabbit doll on the table.

There was a phrase called sleeping on firewood and tasting gall.

The story of some ancient Chinese man lying atop firewood while licking bile in preparation for revenge.

"Just wait, Tosam... hooooo......"

He blew dramatically into Tosam’s ear.

The members and composers whispered among themselves.

"But technically speaking, isn’t this a disaster he created himself? Rabbit Uncle is him."

"I fight myself every day...☆ Something like that, maybe?"

"Don’t speak too much truth. He hates hearing accurate statements."

Whispers spread around him.

His conscience stung a little, but nothing could stop his competitive drive against Rabbit Uncle.

"Just wait, New Tosam!"

Junghyun crunched on snacks while asking,

"Ooh, was that a monologue?"

"Gyaaaah!"

"S sorry."

After passionately working on Overcooked—

Once it became individual practice time, the NewBlack members scattered into their personal practice rooms on the sixth floor.

"Hoo......"

Seo Ri Hyuk put on headphones and listened to the recorded song.

'It’s my own voice, but it’s honestly beautiful.'

A satisfied smile naturally formed.

But the smile only lasted briefly before Ri Hyuk’s expression turned cold as he began writing criticisms onto the lyric sheet with his fountain pen.

'If the me from five minutes ago saw this, he’d probably cry. Hahaha.'

Scratch scratch!

After mercilessly writing feedback for his past self, Seo Ri Hyuk immediately suffered emotional damage upon reading it.

'But this process is what creates a better Seo Ri Hyuk...!'

He quickly put his headphones back on and resumed vocal practice before smiling in satisfaction.

Then he typed onto his tablet.

[Temporary pitch instability: 93% resolved]

[Ending treatment on specific parts: 78% resolved]

[Pronunciation issues: 98% resolved]

Ri Hyuk was evaluating himself even more meticulously than usual.

The reason was simple.

『TBC Mission Singer Competition』

The competition date was rapidly approaching.

After receiving coaching from vocal trainers and feedback from the members, the song had finally reached near completion.

Now he was focused entirely on final checks.

'As long as I manage my condition properly, I should be fine. There are still a few parts I’m unsatisfied with......'

He could ask Wooju about those later.

With that thought, Ri Hyuk cleaned up and exited the practice room to head home.

"Hm?"

As soon as he stepped out, he spotted the other underlings gathered nearby whispering among themselves.

"What are you guys doing over there?"

"It’s because of Wooju hyung."

"He still hasn’t come out? We’re supposed to go home."

Biju nodded worriedly.

"We were thinking of knocking, but he seems super focused."

"Just knock."

"What if it’s a really important moment and we interrupt him? Wooju hyung gets really sensitive when it comes to songs."

Apparently they were waiting outside until Wooju emerged on his own.

'Ridiculous. Seriously.'

Ri Hyuk clicked his tongue.

NewBlack was famous for loving practice, but even they had already finished for the day while Wooju alone remained trapped inside the studio.

"His competitive streak is unbelievable."

He knew exactly why.

Rabbit Uncle had basically been an accidental hit.

A casually made children’s song had achieved far greater success than the serious promotional songs he worked hard on.

Naturally, his pride had taken damage.

"But is this really okay?"

Jiho spoke worriedly.

"Wooju hyung already works himself to death. If he pushes even harder, then seriously......"

"Exactly."

"If he ends up hospitalized with gastritis again, we’re the ones who have to take care of him. Last time it was all Jihooooooo!!! and then waterrrr—"

Their eldest hyung had finally started taking better care of his health lately, but now he seemed ready to fall back into his old habits again.

As the members worried—

Ri Hyuk stepped forward confidently.

"This won’t do."

"...?"

"I’ll go talk to him properly. People need to take care of their health."

Declaring that, Ri Hyuk dramatically flung open Sun Wooju’s studio door and marched inside.

'Ooooh!'

'Our Ri Hyuk is so cool...!'

And then—

That was the last anyone saw of him.

"..."

"..."

The members swallowed nervously while staring at the firmly shut door.

"He’s not coming out."

At Junghyun’s comment, Jiho replied,

"What’s going on? I’ll try."

"You sure?"

"If nothing else, I’m good at escaping. Don’t worry, hyungs! I’ll bring both of them back out!"

Jiho flashed a bright grin and trotted toward the room.

And that was the last anyone saw of him too.

"..."

"..."

Biju and Junghyun exchanged looks before cautiously approaching the studio door themselves.

The two young men stood on tiptoe and peeked inside.

Wooju stared intensely at the monitor while clutching the other members beside him like stuffed animals.

Nom nom—

The maknaes happily eating snacks looked up and met their hyungs’ eyes.