Idols Around the World 82

Chapter 82 – #14. Level Up (2)

“Hey? Is this our schedule?”
“It’s practice again.”
“I barely got out of being a trainee, but why is it that I still can’t get out of the practice room?”

When we saw the schedule table handed over by the manager, we were devastated.
But that’s it, I had to talk about the next activity.

“Chief, how are our next activities going?”
“Curious?”
“Yes!!”
“Whoops, cute guys. The original plan was to be single. But the reaction from you guys is so good that if we do well, it might become a mini album.”
“Wow!”
“Mini! Mini! Mini!”
“Chief! What about the concept?”
“Very excited, excited.”
“Surely excited!”
“Even after seeing the practice schedule?”
“Hehe, I want you to leave that to me in the future.”

The members make a fuss at the word mini album.
Backed by the company’s tremendous financial power, we debuted through our first full-length album.
But it was also out of trend these days.
These days, even if a good song is released, it has become like a consumer product that is forgotten after listening to it a few times rather than listening to it for a long time.
That’s why most agencies release a single album with one or two songs rather than a regular album with many songs.
It was because I knew that even if I released a full album, most people would only listen to the title track and not listen to the other songs.

“You know what it means to be cared about by the company, right?”

At the words of the manager, Ki Woo-yeon nodded and spoke innocently.

“I know.”
“It is an investment that cannot be answered in Korea. It has to explode abroad unconditionally. If it’s decided to be a mini album, do you have the confidence to do well?”
“Of course I am confident that I will do well!”
“Please believe me. I can do it.”

The other members are also stunned by the manager’s words and are anxious to decide on a mini album.

‘At first glance, it seems that the decision has already been made towards the mini album, but the naive kids don’t know that and are wagging their tails saying they will work hard.’

I know it’s a skill to deal with hot-blooded kids, but I don’t feel very good about it because I’m the person in charge.

“Hmm, good. Then I will push strongly toward the mini-album.”
“Wow!! Thank you!”
“The manager is the best!”
“Oh yea! Mini album!”

Even Kang-Jun, who is the most calm among the members, is blushing as if he was happy when he said that he would push for a mini-album.

“Are you going to outsource the song again this time?”
“Song? Why the song all of a sudden?”
“You don’t seem to have grasped the concept yet, but we had a conversation about what it would be like to try something like this.”

Jeki carefully took out a memo pad where the members’ opinions were written down and delivered it to the manager.

“What, did you think of all this? It’s extraordinary~”

The director received the notepad as if he were watching a child delivering a letter of love to her parents for a school activity.

‘Just looking at it, I can clearly see what will happen to that notepad.’

Will be reading
However, it won’t be in the head of the chief for a long time.
The children’s tricks, ah~ Because the cute guys are all there to appreciate.
Since Jackie was still a 19-year-old kid, he seemed to be optimistic that the manager would take it seriously since he delivered it.
After all, he can’t help but say a word.

“I’m young, and I don’t know anything about this job, but each of them has their own ambitions as they have learned and learned for a long time. So, I want you to take it seriously.”
“… Yes? Uh… That, right? Okay. I’ll take a serious look.”

At my sincere words, the manager changed his attitude as if he sensed that the atmosphere was slightly strange.
He correctly understood my words not to be seen as childish jokes.
In addition, the manager’s gaze at me slightly changed.

‘What. Whatever.’

Dumbfounded, he caught the manager’s gaze.
The manager smiled awkwardly and told us.

“Practice hard. You know the fans are looking forward to it, right?”
“Yes!”
“I will work hard.”

The kids who couldn’t read the atmosphere were moved by the fact that the head of the department took notes seriously.
All of them are better than me.
I don’t know how much better you are trying to do here.

‘I’m not the type to do well among idols even now.’

In the position where you have to follow them, it becomes difficult if they grow too fast and move forward.
Of course, I had a strong coin, so it was embarrassing, but nothing emotional happened.

“… Is this my schedule? Aren’t you so different from the other kids?”

No, it might happen a little bit.
The head of staff who called me separately without the members knowing gave me a piece of paper with a special schedule written on it.

“I’m going to roll a little hard except for gym. It may hurt your pride, but it’s true that you’re not good enough compared to the other kids in things like singing and dancing.”
“Yes, I know.”
“I hope you don’t feel too sad to hear these words.”
“I am not sad. It’s true. What are you saying so carefully? Thank you for caring, but you don’t have to be burdened. It’s not like you don’t know that I have the shortest practice period.”

When I came out cooler than I thought, the manager, who had shown a cautious attitude, let out a sigh of relief.

“Anyway, this kind of issue was at stake, so I had no choice but to be sensitive. After all, a good-looking kid has a good personality. I think I’ve said it before, but your face is your skill. Know?”

I know. I realized the extent of the destructive power of this face while taking pictures with photographer May this time.
A photo with the power to make you feel narcissistic.
It would have taken me longer to delete it if I hadn’t been annoyed at the thought of seeing the man’s face.

“I know.”
“Haha, now I know how to be sly. It looks like the rookie tee is missing.”

The manager, who had a lighthearted smile, smiled heartily as if he was admirable.

“I practice when the kids are practicing, I practice when the kids are resting, and I practice when the kids are doing the gym.”
“They say you take good care of yourself. You don’t really need to lose weight, but rather it’s to the extent that it looks better to gain a little weight, so you kept the gym time to a minimum.”
“Good job. I think so. I’m not particularly fattening.”

The body can also be managed with coins.
So, there is no need to spend too much time on fitness.

“You will come out with a healthy diet, not a diet diet.”
“It’s like I’m going to trust you completely.”
“We are not that tough. When I was a rookie, I didn’t know anything, so I thought I had to protect him, so I was beaten hard.”
“Yes. Thank you for caring.”

This is true
I was full of confidence with the coins I had accumulated quite thickly, but I think I still have a long way to go with today’s work.
It seems that the dedicated team is planning to somehow improve my skills, the hole in the next album…

‘If I wish that much, I’m assuming it will live up to expectations.’

No, it was time to level up.

♧ ♧ ♧

It’s been a month since I started practicing in earnest.
The details of the mini-album were concreted.
August 9th.
We will make a comeback with a new mini-album.
As of early June.
The mini-album, which had been prepared for about 3 months, was improving day by day.

“The recording should be done later, right? My skills improved day by day, so I recorded it now and the song will be completely different when I make a comeback. It’s not just Haesol, everyone is getting better at it.”

The producer in charge of this mini-album brings me and the members up.
However, the praise was not embarrassing or burdensome.
Even if I think about it, it is because my singing skills have improved significantly over the past month.
In addition to the main song, in this album, there are additional songs with a high level of difficulty that can show off their skills in songs other than the main song.
It’s a song that Jeki made, and the PD-nim just said that we should record it later.

“Jackie. What’s your opinion? Since it’s your song, your opinion is the most important.”
“Thank you for thinking. Then I’ll postpone this song to a later date.”
“Yes! Even if you practice as a trainee for 100 days, you can’t beat the fact that you debut and grow while promoting. Everyone has improved a lot.”
“But if you start recording, you’ll get angry at me for saying that I can only do that.”
“Of course. I could make a better song, but you can’t give it up because of your lack of skills. Grind and grind to make it right. Haha!”

Producer Chan Jeong-yeon laughed and then continued, scratching her greasy hair.

“But what kind of secret do you guys really have to improve your skills like this? Did you take any medicine? No matter how much debut experience has been gained, it’s getting better to the point where it doesn’t make sense.”
“Uh… The love for the fans, the eyes of other fandoms, and the competitive spirit?”
“Is that the secret?”
“Yes.”

It’s surprising that there are secrets, but PD-nim is surprised that the secrets are unexpected.
But what Jackie said was true.
First of all, I practiced harder because I didn’t want to disappoint the fans, and I didn’t lose my motivation to practice because of nervousness and fear because of the other fandom who were watching with a distrustful eye on how well we would do after our comeback.
In addition, according to the members, there are parts where I work harder because I am amazed at the speed of my growth.

“It’s real.”
“Haesol hyung’s skills are vastly different from a month ago and now. Seeing that made me very nervous. I guess it’s not okay if I’m the only one playing like this.”
“I have the worst skills, but aren’t the checks too harsh? I have to think about what I’m following. Bad guys.”

In the end, I had no choice but to say one thing.
These children do not respect adults, but attack them.

“No! Hyung is the look. But what if you lose your skills?”
Haha! That’s what Eun-gyu said. Hae-sol is already perfect visually, but if she does well with her skills, the other kids will be nervous.”
“Okay, the recording is over, right? I have to go to practice.”
“Yes, yes. I’m busy, but I took a long time. Come on. What about the other kids?”
“We don’t have a schedule after the recording is over. Still, you have to practice. If Haesol doesn’t want to catch up with you.”
“Haesol is suffering a lot.”
“Thank you for noticing. I don’t have much time left, so I’ll go. Take care.”

I left the recording studio and moved to the practice room.
Normally, walking towards the practice room is bound to be heavy, but today my steps were very light.

Smart tock-

“Are you a teacher?”
“Come in.”

As I opened the door and entered, I saw a familiar woman stretching in a white tank top and leggings.
I don’t know why the person who teaches singing keeps stretching.
I know you like sports, but…

Kwak-!
“Do you exercise when it’s time for me to come to seduce you, or do you usually show this to other men?”
“Oops! Yaa~!”
“Tell me quickly. Do you seduce other men by shaking your hips like this?”
“No!! Are you saying there’s no other man here besides you?”
“Huh, really?”
“That’s right.”

It was necessary to conduct an examination to see if Bok-soon’s words were true.
Of course, it is the prelude to sex disguised as a prosecutor.

“You have to check it before you can believe it. Take off all your panties.”
“Did you lock the door?”
“Sure. It’s not even a day or two, but it’s all over again.”
“It’s because I’m afraid that the old girl Lee Ah-hyun will come out of nowhere like last time.”

The tryst with Bok-soon noona, which had been cut off since I debuted and started promoting, started again.