The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

“Should we make our own universe?” I suggested.

“Huh?”

“Universe?”

“What? Why does Tae-Yoon look so excited?”

I couldn’t believe this was coming out of my mouth. It was rare for me to be so excited about something, and my heart thumped in anticipation. I hadn't even drunk my morning coffee yet, but my heart was thumping fiercely. Perhaps, there was a stimulant in the bread I ate this morning, and I continued.

“Wouldn’t having our own universe storyline help us write the lyrics and think about the concepts for our songs? It will make things more efficient.” Thus, I began my passionate presentation to my members on why we needed to create a Siren universe. “It will give us the general direction of our future albums, and whenever we discuss album concepts, we will have a basic guideline to follow.”

It wasn’t just because I liked having concepts and following them that I was suggesting this. Having our own universe as an idol group was useful in many ways, and there was a reason why many other producers created their own universe storylines before beginning their work.

“There’s a reason why universe storylines are one of the leading trends in the idol market right now,” I explained.

A universe storyline not only decided on the project’s overall tone and theme, but it also acted like a compass to help groups stay focused on their original goal without losing direction. It was also the goal that the main characters needed to reach at the end of their project. In other words, creating a universe storyline was the process of connecting a project’s beginning to end.

“I think it’s similar to laying the foundation to complete a big project,” I said. Thus, a storyline was only necessary to create a result that exceeded a certain standard. In a company, it would be the same as creating a business plan in the very beginning or a college student making the table of contents on the very first page of their PowerPoint notes. A universe storyline was something that couldn’t be missed at all costs.

Perhaps, I sounded too excited that Do-Seung stared at me in genuine surprise.

“…What’s up with you today?”

“Tae-Yoon, are you sick?” Woon said worriedly and placed his hand on my forehead. I felt a bit awkward because it felt like I was the only one excited about this.

“…No, I’m perfectly fine,” I said while pulling Woon’s hand off me. I felt a bit regretful that my group members didn’t realize the importance of this step and creating our own universe. I didn’t want to make any mistakes at this crucial time.

“Then, let’s make a Siren universe!”

“…!”

It was then that Yeon-Hoon wrote ‘Siren Universe’ in big letters on the paper. “I think it’s a good idea after hearing what Tae-Yoon said.” It appeared only Yeon-Hoon was convinced after hearing my speech.

“It’s not like we will stop working after The Showcase 2 is over.”

“That’s right.”

“I think it might be a good idea to look at things more long-term and create our own universe.”

“It’s as you say.”

“Plus, if we show a little peek of our universe storyline in the final performance, we could get more attention after we officially debut,” Yeon-Hoon said, and I looked at him in slight surprise. I had never seen him think so hard, but Yeon-Hoon was even explaining parts that I missed because I had been too focused on creating a universe.

“But don't most songs created with a universe in mind have excessive concepts and exaggerated lyrics?” Do-Seung said, clearly showing some resistance to the universe's idea.

It was as he said. There were plenty of examples of idol groups who had their own universe or concept swallow up their performances. Though I liked even those performances, I knew that there were many who also didn’t.

Thus, I answered, “Then we can just make ours not like that.”

“You can do that?”

“There are many people who don’t.” As I said, there were many conceptual songs and lyrics that sounded so normal that they made listeners wonder if they were really based on a universe. After I named some specific examples, Do-Seung looked quite surprised.

“…That’s interesting,” he said.

Yet, as expected, there were more rebuttals.

“But shouldn’t we leave the story-making to a professional? Will it be all right for us to come up with it ourselves?” The second rebuttal was about the professionalism of the creation. In reality, there were people whose sole jobs were to create universes for groups. Those people worked in big companies and earned good pay, so we couldn’t afford them in the first place.

‘However, it’s a bit awkward for me to say that I can write one.’ It was so obvious that I appeared like an amateur with no professional background in writing to my members. Thus, I wondered how I was going to convince them when Yeon-Hoon supported me again.

“Then, why don’t Tae-Yoon come up with a universe storyline first, and then, we can see whether we will go through with it or scrap it,” Yeon-Hoon continued, “Tae-Yoon is good at writing lyrics. Let’s trust him, guys~”

I looked at Yeon-Hoon, touched.

“Will you be able to do a good job?” Do-Seung asked me again.

“Won’t it take time away from your practice?” Woon asked worriedly.

“I can do it,” I said in a firm and calm voice.

“Yeah, that’s right. Why don’t we trust him? See how confident he is and how much he wants to do it~” Dong-Jun also supported me in the end.

“Okay. You make the Siren Universe and then we can talk about what concept we would have for the final performance,” Do-Seung confirmed as the team’s song producer. Then, he asked, “What’s the deadline you could finish your work by? I can’t give you much time because I also have to write our song. Hm…Could you do it by this week’s Sunday at least…?”

“I will make one by tomorrow morning.”

“…?”

I answered confidently to Do-Seung’s question about the timeline. Truthfully, I could finish writing in three hours because I already had a blueprint for our group’s universe in my head. I just had to write them down. Since I regressed to this timeline and gained my senses, I have been creating the general outline for this as an ex-novelist.

“I will try to create something by tomorrow morning, so let’s talk again then,” I said.

“…Okay, I understand.”

“You sure are passionate.”

“If I knew you were this intent on doing it, I would’ve made you do it a long time ago.”

Thus, the meeting about creating our universe ended and we moved to our next topic of conversation.

“How should we practice today?”

“Should we just do some warm-ups?”

“Loosen up your bodies and necks. Though we don’t have our lyrics or universe yet, let’s try to think of the general mood of our performance~”

And thus, we planned our schedule for the rest of the day. Then, we got up changed into our training wear, and headed downstairs to the apartment’s training room.

***

The next day after The Showcase shooting, WD Entertainment’s Yoon Seung-Yeon and Lee Hyuna were able to enjoy a rare break. Of course, this break time would only last until the afternoon, and they would soon have to return to their stress schedules since another episode of The Showcase would air soon.

“Should we have a cup of coffee?” Seung-Yeon asked.

“Ah, I have a lot of gift codes. Let’s use that,” Hyuna answered.

“All right.”

This was the most leisurely time they had all week. And after drinking their morning coffee, they decided to dive into their work. Most of their work involved Siren, and since Siren was gathering quite the attention in the idol market, they were receiving some collaboration and commercial requests. Yet, since there was none that could help the Siren’s image, they had been refusing them. Thus, day by day, they were increasing their skill of refusing kindly.

“I’m going to become a pro at refusing at this rate.”

“Same.”

“But if Siren is already getting this many requests, I wonder how the really famous people are doing. I bet their mailboxes are exploding.”

“Since media platforms are getting more diverse and there are smaller internet programs now, I suppose that’s the case.”

“Or is it because Siren still seems easy to reach that people are trying to contact them?”

“Ah, that could also be the case.”

Since their main job was Siren, most of Seung-Yeon’s and Hyuna’s conversations centered around the group. Yet, between their conversations, there was a topic that appeared repeatedly.

“…What if those guys really win The Showcase 2 at this rate?” It was about the possibility of Siren winning the show.

Truthfully, when they first heard that Siren was going on The Showcase, they doubted Siren would verse well against other groups and their companies who backed them. But seeing how things were progressing, their victory didn’t appear to be an impossibility.

“Honestly, I think those guys might do it.”

“I know right?”

“Not just because they are our group but from an objective point of view or a complete outsider, I think there’s a good chance.”

“Yes, they are also the best-looking!”

“Yes.”

“And they have the best skills!”

“There’s no reason why they can't win.”

Seung-Yeon and Hyuna smiled to find out that they had the same thoughts. Then, like they always did when they talked about Siren winning the show, Hyuna asked the follow-up question about their future.

“What are you going to do when that happens, Ms. Seung-Yeon?”

“I will quit this job and find a new place to work at.”

“Well, I will probably do the same…Though the Jaeil Company says that they will work jointly with us, I doubt they will make new hires.”

It was most ideal for them to transfer to a joint company with the Jaeil Company but they knew that was unlikely. They would have to remain in WD Entertainment or quit. And there was no point in them remaining in WD Entertainment without Siren.

“But won’t Yoon Tae-Hyung and the bosses make a huge fuss if Siren leaves?”

“Because they had absolutely no interest in them, they might actually be glad to hear that Siren is leaving.”

“Perhaps, the bosses could act like that, but would Yoon Tae-Hyung react the same?”

“Hm…”

Yoon Tae-Hyung was WD Entertainment’s head manager who had neglected Siren the whole time. He didn’t even come to work today even though it was way past the starting time. The only reason why he had been keeping Siren under his authority was to give the bosses a reason for his salary.

The Siren was simply proof that he wasn’t just fooling around and was managing a business, and the bosses of the company simply accepted Yoon Tae-Hyung’s reasonings because they were just wealthy people who lived off royalties and real estate and weren’t the type to care about the details like that. They didn’t have much interest in business and were only interested in enjoying the rest of their lives. Thus, they only had to be concerned about Yoon Tae-Hyung.

“Would he be willing to let go of Siren though? He would have to gather trainees and create a whole group again. There’s no way that man would do anything that bothersome.”

“But it’s not like he has a choice if the Jaeil Group takes them.”

“That’s true…”

The influence that Jaeil Group had in the entertainment industry was enormous. Thus, it was only proper and natural that they would have to give up the group to the company.

Creak.

Then, the office door opened and Yoon Tae-Hyung appeared.

“What? Why is everyone already here…? Aren’t you guys even tired in the morning?”

It was 11 am then. Seung-Yeon and Hyuna rose in surprise to see Yoon Tae-Hyung appear to work earlier than they expected.

“Good morning, sir.”

“Hello, sir.”

Yoon Tae-Hyung shrugged off their greetings and lay on the office sofa in the corner. Then he said, “I am going to sleep, so tell me when you think the bosses are coming.”

“…Yes, sir.”

“…All right.”

They thought this man would just kill time until he went home again like usual when he suddenly announced, “Let’s have a meeting today. It has been a while since we had one.”

“…Sorry?”

The two looked at Yoon Tae-Hyung in shock to hear words they had never expected.

“Those Siren guys…got too big. We need to decide what we should do with them. Let’s talk about them,” Yoon Tae-Hyun said.

“…Ah.”

“…Yes.”

Seung-Yeong and Hyuna’s faces turned sour.