The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

It took some time for me to adjust to the new dormitory and car. I spent the past few days editing the music video we shot at the mountain and focused on having some relaxing time that I couldn’t do on the show. Yet, I continued to hear news that heightened my worries.

[Only One, who has been looking for a company, makes a contract with Another One.]

[Only One takes the first step to become the leader of a new boy group generation.]

[Only One, will they soar with the boost of Q Entertainment?]

[Only One establishes a contract with Another One! How well will they work together?]

Only One officially signed a contract with Another One and stirred up a buzz in idol community sites and social media pages again.

—Ahhhh, Hyun-Sung!!

—Please protect Only One

—Thank goodness…seriously, thank goodness…

People appeared relieved that Only One seemed to have found a proper company. Right after the show, many felt disappointed when we were the only ones to transfer to a big company while Only One stayed in a shabby company.

‘It won’t be easy.’ Since I had my members’ lives on the line, all this news hurt my head. This was definitely congratulatory and great news for Only One, but I didn’t know what kind of unexpected changes it could cause for us.

From what I remembered from my past life, Only One achieved 300,000 sales in the first week of their debut album and grew to 400,000 sales in their next mini album. They swept all the rookie rewards and were able to reach their heights thanks to no other boy groups being within their competition. Yet, right now, we needed to reach 500,000 sales in the first week while having such a huge obstacle and enemy as Only One.

‘500,000 is already a reach even without unexpected variables. This is crazy…’ My heart felt heavy, thinking that we had to reach our giant goal against a huge variable as Only One. For now, it seemed our new company, ‘Next Wave’ seemed to also be wary of all the issues surrounding Only One and released articles.

[The Showcase 2’s Siren secured into Next Wave!]

[Next Wave, blowing new winds into the domestic idol business?]

[[Exclusive] Interview with Next Wave’s boss, Yoo Won Dong, “Siren has global potential.”]

I understood that they were trying to draw attention by releasing articles here and there, but I thought, ‘Why are the main points of all the articles a bit off?’

Rather than articles dedicated to us, these felt like articles written for the company, Next Wave, and its boss, Yoo Won-Dong. If people who were curious about Siren clicked these articles, they would have just seen that there was only information about the company’s accommodation system and quickly pressed the back button.

‘’Have these guys never taken care of artists before?’ I wondered. I stopped shifting through the articles and pressed my temples.

The current situation was this: though Only One was getting a lot of attention for finding a new company, we were still getting more mentions in the press. After the second and third episodes of ‘Siren, Time to Recharge!’ that showed different healing and humorous moments compared to episode 1, we were dominating the rankings. Furthermore, now that our official SNS, message subscription, and live broadcast accounts were made, we were using it every chance we could.

“Ahh! Ms. Seung-Yeon rejected the selfie I was going to post!”

“She obviously will if you take a pic of your nostrils looking that big, Dong-Jun.”

“Isn’t that what makes it funny?”

“It’s funny but right now, we have to focus on making our feed prettier.”

Though there were some activities that would have set us back, fortunately, they were all halted by Ms. Seung-Yeon. Oh, that was right–Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna also transferred to Next Wave. I had been planning to ask for their transfers personally, but it seemed Yoo Won-Dong surprisingly accepted them easily.

‘Maybe he is doing that to save money spent on human resources.’ A thought like this came mind, but I just glossed over it since I was satisfied with the result. Though there seemed to be multiple sources of anxiety lurking, we continued our normal days into the second week.

‘There’s no way things will stay this peaceful…’ I thought. Though I tried not to let down my guard, I was becoming used to the peacefulness now and my guard kept slipping down.

***

After coming to work, Yoo Won-Dong checked today’s schedule. The only tasks he had were related to Siren, so though his rank rose, it felt as if his work had become simpler.

‘I can’t let things be.’ This wasn’t the time for him to be satisfied that his work became easier for him. He was a member of the Jaeil Group and the boss of its subsidiary. Furthermore, he was a contract worker rather than an official one, so he would be mercilessly fired if he didn’t show proper results.

‘Siren is doing well, but it’s hard to see me.’ It wasn’t Siren that was important but him, and he needed to show the proper results that he could display to the higher-ups—not results that Siren achieved but what he achieved. The achievements that Siren made had to be his and the progress that Next Wave reached had to be his creation.

In reality, Jaeil Company didn’t expect great things from him. They simply handed him an item that could clearly succeed but simultaneously, had obvious limits too. In other words, they were simply telling him to stay put and as long he didn’t try anything funny, everything would just work out smoothly for him. Some could like this predicament but this was Yoo Won-Dong–the man who had risen from an ordinary employee with no backing to a director.

‘I can’t be satisfied by just this.’ He needed to show results that surpassed expectations.

‘I need to be at the center of it too… I need to…’ Yoo Won-Dong pondered deeply while twirling his pen. Soon afterward, he turned on his messenger and sent a message to all the team managers.

—Let’s have a meeting. Please come to my room.

This was the training method that he had often used in the headquarters: abruptly calling all the team managers into his office.

***

In Another One’s director's office, Kang Hyun-Sung sat with Lamin. They were able to meet inside because the internal construction was done, and now, after finishing their contract, Kang Hyun-Sung was discussing with Lamin the next steps to take.

“The line-up will be generally like this…are the lyrics not finalized yet?”

“Yes.”

“Is it because the concept is undecided?”

“Yes. Everyone is good at writing lyrics but… no concept is really hitting it for me.”

“Aren’t you being too greedy?”

“I have to be greedy…considering all the fuss I made.”

Only One was dominating all the entertainment articles recently because the company was overexerting itself to spread the news in the press.

“The debut date hasn't been decided yet, right?”

“Yes, I’m still thinking about it.”

“If you think too long, you might make a bad decision in the end. It’s not always good to be too careful.”

“Yes, I know what you mean, but I can’t be certain of it yet. Please let me think about this a bit longer.”

“Yes. I’m sure a good result will come as long as we wait.”

Kang Hyun-Sung smiled softly at Lamin’s comment and turned his gaze to the monitor.

“If there are more lyric options that come in, please show them to me.”

“Sure.”

Like that, they were about to continue to work on the debut album when Lamin suddenly murmured, “Hm?”

“What is it?” Kang Hyun-Sung turned to Lamin’s screen again.

“It looks like Siren…is going to debut?” It was an article about Siren’s debut.

“…This time is critical for these guys too.”

“…Yes.”

They could just tell with just one line from the article that some higher-up was trying to ruin a great group like Siren with their foolish ideas.

***

After I took a seat to eat dinner with my members, my Precognitive Vision suddenly showed signs of activating.

“This is called Park Dong-Jun’s Jjimdak[1]!”

“Isn’t it just cola jjimdak?”

“It’s called Park Dong-Jun’s Jjimdak because I made it.”

“With that cola, you should have just made a fruit punch.”

“…You are obsessed with cola fruit punch…”

This was the first time Dong-Jun was cooking for us. He did it to give some change to the peaceful days we had been going through the last two weeks and more. I sat down without thinking much but when the jjimdak was placed on the table and bowls, plates, and utensils began to be set, I felt a foreboding, unpleasant feeling that my ability was going to become activated.

Whoosh!

Time stopped and a transparent barrier floated in front of me like a haze. The future unfolded there.

‘Why is it showing me this so suddenly again…?’ I stared in front of me. I was obviously disgruntled to see this future because the Precognitive Vision only showed me a bad future that would soon unfold for me and my members. If possible, I wanted to live a life where I didn’t need this ability. On the other hand, since this was an ability that showed us a possible misfortune, I stared intently not to miss a thing.

—The glorious first win for this week’s music countdown is…!

—Only One! Congratulations!

‘…What?’

It was a future unrelated to us. No, on second thought, it wasn’t completely unrelated. While Only One placed first place in a music program, my members and I were standing behind them.

‘What…?’ We were all standing with an awkward smile on our faces.

‘We lost to Only One…?’ Of course, just because we lost first place to them once, it didn't mean we lost everything.

‘But this is dangerous.’ We needed to aim for 500,000 sales in the first week of our album release right now, and it wouldn’t be enough even if we garnered all possible issues and attention towards us.

Sigh. At this rate, we would be starting a step behind Only One. There was also the effect of an underdog that I needed to consider. If they beat us in our debut activities after they lost to us in The Showcase and won second place, their underdog appeal would amplify.

‘If they have the underdog effect on top of their sufficient potential to succeed…they will be unstoppable.’ Perhaps, it would be not us but Only One who would reach 500,000 sales in the first week of album release.

Whoosh!

My Precognitive Vision ended.

“If you eat jjimdak~ It makes you very happy~” Yeon-Hoon hummed while eating his dish.

“Oh, it’s tasty. Good job, Dong-Jun. It’s really good.”

“You must’ve followed the recipe well.”

“Can’t you just tell me that I’m good at cooking?”

“…The recipe is good.

“…How annoying.”

Woon, Do-Seung, and Dong-Jun all chatted.

“Tae-Yoon, aren’t you going to eat?” Yeon-Hoon asked while placing a chicken leg in front of me.

“Give me a moment.” I pushed my food away and raised my phone. We were going to lose to Only One? It didn’t make sense based on how things were going right now. The only reason seemed to be that someone would make a mess of things, and there was only one person who would be responsible for that.

“Yoo Won-Dong…!” There was no way that man would do anything quietly. He was someone crazy about making a name for himself and whenever he did anything, he would proclaim it everywhere. An article about his plans would have surely been released somewhere. Combining all these key points, I began my search on the internet.

[Siren's possible collaboration with the famous choreographer, JayQueen!]

This was a collaboration news we've never heard of, yet it remained in the headlines of the entertainment news’ main page.

1. Steamed chicken with sauce ☜