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Chapter – 12
After talking things over with Hyung Seongho, we were finally able to make a decision.
We decided to meet Madrien directly and give them the song.
There was absolutely no downside for him.
Since he would receive compensation in exchange for helping with certain parts.
‘There’s a song that’s absolutely perfect for a girl group.’
Of course.
If a well-known idol group performed the song, the impact would be much greater.
For example…
Even “Umbrella Tree,” the song my daughter Songi sang—
If it had been sung by a vocalist with longer training and completely stable skills, it might have gone beyond its current popularity and swept across the entire world.
Not just remaining on the Water Melon charts.
It was the kind of hit song that could have even conquered America’s music magazine Crown Chart.
But right now, there was only one goal.
To completely surpass Frenzy’s upcoming title track in a single blow.
‘With Madrien’s vocal skills, there’s no problem jumping straight into recording work.’
There wouldn’t even be any need for practice time.
‘After pulling something like this, I’ll make sure they regret it.’
“Hello! I’m Ria, the leader of Madrien.”
It was then.
A guest had arrived at the agency.
Her real name was Lee Sojeong, twenty-three years old.
She debuted at sixteen and had endured for over six years already.
Within the team, she was the leader and main vocalist—a veteran member.
“Nice to meet you. I believe we met once before?”
Ria sat down.
A little awkwardly.
Since I hadn’t properly explained why I called her here yet, she looked quite nervous.
“Wow, so this is Ssong Entertainment! It’s really spacious for a one-man agency.”
“I haven’t even finished the interior work yet.”
“No, it’s seriously amazing!”
Ria’s greatest trait was her incredible friendliness.
Maybe it was because she had struggled from such a young age.
Or maybe she was simply born cheerful.
No matter what happened, she was the type to endure stubbornly and push through.
“But… why exactly did you call me here?”
“I heard that you often act as Madrien’s manager yourself… is that true?”
“Ah, that…”
Did Madrien even have a proper manager?
The agency only assigned one formally.
In reality, the members had to handle everything themselves from beginning to end.
They were already treated as “failed idols,” and the possibility of contract renewal was practically zero.
Even so, during the remaining contract period, Ria personally arranged schedules and knocked on doors everywhere searching for opportunities.
Rather than struggling for a contract renewal—
It was probably closer to desperate resistance.
Ria trying her best until the very end.
“Hahaha, groups like us probably all live pretty similarly, right?”
“Most people seem to give up around this point… but you really seem to work hard.”
Ria scratched the back of her head and laughed awkwardly.
A few years ago,
She was the one who created Madrien’s YouTube channel to actively promote the group.
People even said Ria practically managed the channel herself.
However…
Despite being their official channel, they had only barely surpassed 300,000 subscribers, and the comment activity wasn’t very high.
Even so, Ria still filmed and edited self-produced variety content to encourage the members and keep morale up.
At this point, her passion alone deserved recognition.
“This might sound sudden, but to get straight to the point… I’m currently composing a song.”
“Ah, yes! If it’s featuring work, we can do that anytime.”
I hadn’t even properly explained yet.
But Ria immediately responded like that.
It was probably a habit.
Rather than their own songs, they often received more attention when featuring on tracks for slightly more famous artists.
“Ah, no, that’s not it… I want to give the song directly to Madrien. I was wondering what you think about that.”
“…Excuse me? Y-you want to give a song to us?”
What producer would willingly offer a song to a flop idol group?
If they wanted their music to become more successful, they would obviously seek out more popular idols.
“Why would you give a song to us? Then… wh-what about Songi?”
Ria even started stuttering in surprise.
“The tempo is too fast and the difficulty is too high for Songi to sing. I think it would suit a girl group much better.”
“H-however, compared to us…”
Ria stopped speaking.
Ssong Entertainment was still just a newly established agency.
But my daughter Songi’s first song had enormous impact and was still hot enough to shake the music market.
So it wasn’t accurate to say we had zero recognition.
We still lacked a loyal fandom.
But if it came to hit songs, I was confident I could make plenty more.
Ria surely understood that too.
Which was exactly why—
There was no reason for her to refuse a song being handed to them.
“If you give us a song, we’ll really do our absolute best to make the stage shine!”
Ria suddenly jumped to her feet.
Then she even bowed at a ninety-degree angle while speaking.
“…Ah, there’s no need to go that far…”
I could feel the desperation in Ria’s actions.
“Please sit down first. There’s still more we need to discuss.”
“I think I got too excited. I’m sorry.”
This was probably the first opportunity they had received in years.
I could understand Ria’s position.
“However, there are conditions. I wanted to know first whether those conditions are something you can accept.”
“If you mean conditions… what kind?”
I handed Ria the printed document I had prepared beforehand.
She carefully accepted it and began reading line by line with a serious expression.
“If we reach an agreement, recording work will begin immediately after practice ends.”
Ria’s expression slowly stiffened.
Completely different from earlier.
“Within… one week?”
That was the first condition.
The moment they received the song, they would need to begin practicing and recording for one full week.
Within that time, they also had to complete choreography and stage movement arrangements suited to the music.
If Madrien were rookie idols who had just debuted, it would have been difficult.
But they had survived in this industry for six years.
And one of the members even created choreography personally.
Of course…
Their choreography had never really contained standout points.
But there was one thing I was certain of.
My song would elevate even their choreography.
“I think that condition needs to come first before we can coordinate the other details.”
“…Haha, but even so, considering our schedules…”
Ria looked uncertain somehow.
Well…
One week was naturally overwhelming.
Even if they didn’t appear on broadcasts frequently,
They still handled all kinds of events and personal schedules behind the scenes, so suddenly rearranging time would inevitably be difficult.
“If it’s too hard, you can refuse.”
“Ah, no! W-wait a moment, CEO. We haven’t decided yet.”
Ria hurriedly waved her hands.
“Do we need to decide immediately?”
“…It would be best if you could decide within today.”
The reason I specifically chose Madrien—
Was because I wanted to create a more dramatic story.
Of course, there were plenty of other “failed idol” groups out there.
But among the groups I had been watching closely, Madrien had good personalities and excellent vocals.
It might actually be difficult to find a team with more potential than them right now.
“Will it take long to get your agency’s permission?”
“…No, not really. We already received permission to release whatever song we want for our final album, whether it’s a single or mini album.”
Final album.
It seemed discussions regarding their contract had already concluded with the agency.
“Then there shouldn’t be any problem.”
“…Yes, but I think we still need to discuss it with the members before reaching a final decision. Personally, I want to accept immediately, but some members are working separate jobs for financial reasons.”
I see.
That kind of thing happened often in this industry.
Of course, idols were professionals, so technically having another job alongside idol work could become an issue.
But even the agency had no choice but to turn a blind eye.
If it was for survival.
At the same time,
I was once again realizing just how cruel this industry’s jungle really was.
“We’ll gather everyone’s opinions by tonight and contact you tomorrow morning so we aren’t late.”
“Alright. I’ll wait.”
└ It’s true though, Jung Songi kinda secretly looks a lot like Bae Jina.
└ There’s a rumor saying Bae Jina divorced because of an affair.
└ Didn’t they say her husband worked in the entertainment industry?
└ Yeah.
└ So the husband cheated?
└ Wasn’t Bae Jina the one who cheated?
Sometimes I browsed the communities.
Sometimes to look up Songi.
Other times to search for Bae Jina.
But…
As she became more and more popular, suspicions always seemed to follow her around like a tail.
Those questions never seemed to be properly resolved.
Most of Bae Jina’s fans believed the likely reason was rumors about her husband cheating or domestic violence.
However…
Some netizens quietly guessed that Bae Jina had a daughter.
And after noticing she didn’t have custody, they increasingly believed the divorce was Bae Jina’s fault.
‘…There’s no need for me to step forward myself.’
Choi Mago was a vicious person.
He quietly gathered evidence and sued even anonymous community posters one by one.
Because of that, the suspicions surrounding Bae Jina remained relatively clean.
If I stepped forward claiming I would reveal the truth—
The one who’d end up in trouble wouldn’t be Bae Jina.
It would be Ssong Entertainment…
In the end, my daughter.
‘Even without fighting dirty like that, there are still other ways.’
Right then,
A phone call came in.
“Yes, this is Jung Hwieon of Ssong Entertainment.”
[Hello, CEO. Sorry. I meant to contact you sooner, but it got a little delayed.]
I had just dropped Songi off at school and was alone at the agency.
The caller was Madrien’s leader, Ria.
Her voice sounded strangely bright.
“No, it’s early enough.”
[Um, is now a good time to talk?]
“Yes.”
[Yesterday, after discussing things together with all the members, I’m calling to tell you the decision we made.]
So I was finally going to hear their answer.
One week of practice time.
And demanding a decision in less than twenty-four hours.
Naturally, they couldn’t have liked those conditions.
[All the members had different circumstances, so it took a long time for us to gather everyone’s opinions….]
“I see.”
[After all… we’re a group that’s going to disband soon.]
Madrien only had around six months left on their contract.
No—
Maybe even less than that.
Although the agency had allowed them to prepare one final album,
That offer couldn’t possibly have felt pleasant.
[Some members are still only twenty years old… and even after disbandment, some still want to prepare to become idols again….]
“…”
For some reason, Ria kept talking longer and longer.
Was she building up toward rejecting the offer?
[We spent the whole night talking honestly about whether Madrien’s final single album even had meaning anymore.]
“…I see.”
I listened until the end.
Even though inwardly, I only wanted to hear the conclusion.
[And after talking sincerely all night together… we finally made our decision.]
“Yes. What did you decide?”
[We really, really want to sing the song you’re giving us, CEO!]
