Chapter 119. MVP of the 9 O'Clock News
Too much enthusiasm could become a problem too.
Kim Hyun-tae needed to stop thinking people would automatically like him just because someone who had spent the beginning of his term carefully watching his party's mood suddenly started pretending to champion ordinary citizens.
I wrapped up the hearing smoothly and went to meet Moon Hee-jung.
I'd listened to 〈Come Out of There〉 by then too.
It was every bit as well-made as 〈City Heart〉.
The office might have been small, but I could clearly feel her determination to create a first-rate group.
Still, even someone like me, with no experience in the American entertainment industry, knew one thing.
Among songs that reached the upper ranks of Billboard, tracks in languages other than English were extremely rare.
Unless they had been artificially boosted by some kind of meme.
But aside from the title and chorus, 〈Come Out of There〉 was entirely in Korean.
Could this song really climb high on Billboard?
The spam probably wasn't going to hand me the answer this time.
This was a situation where I'd have to rely on my own instincts.
〈Come Out of There〉 probably hadn't set its Billboard record in its current form.
Most likely, Dessault would first attract attention in North America with 〈City Heart〉, then ride that momentum and remake 〈Come Out of There〉 in English.
Moon Hee-jung was exactly the kind of person who would think that was more rational, since Korean listeners were already fairly receptive to English songs.
"Like you suggested, I scrapped the teaser plan and decided to put more effort into the music video. But once the production budget went past a certain level, I realized we'd start getting diminishing returns. So instead, I decided to split the music video into two."
"The music video? Two videos for the same song?"
"Yes. You told me to focus on satisfying the fans who are already waiting, right? Imagine waiting for a debut and then getting two music videos. Wouldn't that be exciting?"
If Blue Moon released two music videos for one new song, every Apollo out there would faint.
They'd probably hold a group meetup in the hospital.
I'd be there with them.
"Ah, you've definitely got ambition. I like it. I hadn't even thought of that."
"Really? I've always felt disappointed that we couldn't release several. I was worried you'd think it was ridiculous, so that's a relief."
Music videos took up a pretty large share of the budget.
In that case, should we just release 〈Come Out of There〉 at the same time too?
It might be efficient, but I decided against it for now.
I already intended to support the next comeback after they finished promoting 〈City Heart〉.
Promoting two songs simultaneously would mean performing twice as many stages that normally only needed to be done once.
Their practice volume would double too.
A vocal group might manage it depending on their throat condition.
But Dessault had to perform choreography as well.
It would drain too much stamina, so I decided to take things slowly.
"I understand idol fans extremely well, you know? For fans, the stress of waiting for a comeback is the cost, and the happiness after the comeback is the reward. If the reward is smaller than the cost, it feels like poor value. If the reward is bigger, they feel satisfied. If there are multiple music videos, you can give each one a different flavor and let fans keep exploring them. That's where the idea came from."
"Really? The way you're talking, it sounds like two music-video concepts aren't everything you've got."
"There are only two planned. I have a lot of ideas, but I picked the two that fit best."
She came up with the idea of releasing multiple videos, yet she planned to stop at two.
Wasn't that like knowing you were going to win the lottery but only buying one ticket?
"How many concepts do you have in total?"
"Four."
"Then let's do all four."
Moon Hee-jung's eyes widened.
Having multiple music videos allowed you to try things that were impossible with only one.
Namely, serializing the music videos.
Give each video an order and an ongoing narrative, then release them one by one throughout the promotion period.
With one new song, you could give the fans four separate moments of enjoyment.
And I doubted that enjoyment would be mine alone.
Blue Moon's members always seemed disappointed no matter how much effort went into an album.
They wanted to show the fans more of themselves.
I could already imagine how excited they'd be if they learned they could pour even more, more, more effort into something.
If a music video was one form of original content provided by an agency, there was no reason not to develop that content further.
Even Aran was gradually increasing how much she could eat on camera.
Apparently realizing I genuinely supported her, Moon Hee-jung went ahead and showed me all of Dessault's plans through their fifth album.
There were even things like solo albums for Min Ji-hee mixed in between.
After returning to the company, I reviewed every proposal and song Moon Hee-jung had shown me, all the way through the fifth album.
I put in my earphones and listened.
The tracks weren't completely finished yet, but guide vocals were already recorded, making it easy enough to imagine the final versions.
One or two songs felt a little distant from mainstream taste.
But you never knew.
Apparently, she'd played them for a few people already, and everyone had said the same thing.
"It's too new."
But being new didn't automatically mean it matched what the public wanted.
Moon Hee-jung knew that risk.
There had to be a reason she still wanted to try.
And the reason I trusted her was simple.
Moon Hee-jung wasn't an artist working to display her own artistic convictions or philosophy.
She planned entirely for the fans, for the public, and for the artists who trusted her.
On top of that, when I looked at her plans, this level of novelty didn't feel like something alien.
Combined with her affection for the members, it felt like it could give fans a fresh kind of enjoyment.
"Haa. My head is already noisy enough because my wife ran away from home. Is our office going to split into the Blue Moon faction and the Dessault faction now?"
Dae-hun, who had been glancing at me repeatedly, picked a fight.
"Who says I'm in the Dessault faction? I'm Blue Moon faction whether I'm awake or asleep."
"You've been way too interested in someone else's household lately."
I was slightly offended that he was questioning my origins.
Still, since Dae-hun remained firmly in the Blue Moon faction, I decided to let it go.
Sang-do had finished producing Blue Moon's song and was now immediately working on a new track for Heenari.
It was a rushed schedule because we didn't want Heenari's six-month activity period to consist of nothing but a remake.
The Blue Moon members were practicing every day with the finished song, sharpening their skills.
Yeo Eun-joo and Yang Seung-tae were coaching them.
A student about to take the college entrance exam should be left alone to study hard.
Still.
Calling me a Dessault partisan just because I was struggling to grow the business in my spare time?
"Don't work too ridiculously hard. The company's still small. There's a limit to how much we can handle."
"There are other floors in this building. We can expand. What's the problem?"
"Don't even mention it. Every office in this building is either a design agency or something like a Buddhist philosophy research institute. They're never moving out in a million years."
We were also renting the building right next door for the members' dormitory.
I'd thought that someday we might rent a small villa or something.
I had never seriously considered expanding the company itself.
Come to think of it, if we expanded, we could give Moon Hee-jung a space and even share dorm facilities.
"Looks like we'll need to move soon. Look into it. Preferably somewhere around here."
"Around here? You mean Gangnam? That's going to be difficult. Do you know how expensive real estate is around here? And if we buy an office in this area, people are going to start talking about you becoming a Gangnam landlord or whatever. You just came back from a hearing today. You know what that's like."
He had a point.
The place was crawling with opposition lawmakers desperate to frame people over anything they could find.
"If that's all you're worried about, forget it. I win every hearing anyway."
"Really? How did today go?"
"It'll be on the news later. This area's convenient for entertainment work because all the infrastructure is concentrated here. Just look around nearby."
A Gangnam landlord?
If that's a crime, then I'll gladly become a criminal.
"Wow~! Do Jun-hyeok is going to become Minister of Culture or something when the administration changes someday. Did you watch the hearing?"
PD Seo Hoe-dong had stopped by MVN to talk with Jung Tae-jin about the 〈Blue Moon〉 documentary.
Na Young-hwan suddenly walked in and asked with an amazed expression.
"No. I heard there was a hearing today, but was Mr. Do Jun-hyeok there too? I didn't hear about that."
"Our news department just aired coverage of it, and the reaction is insane. I've never seen a committee member get cursed this badly after a public hearing."
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If you're trying to set a trap, you're supposed to dig it for someone else. He fell into his ownㅋㅋㅋ. Picked a fight for no reason and got properly educated by Do Jun-hyeok.
-"What date did I eat the grouper?" ㄷㄷㄷㄷ Quote of the year.
-You can eat dinner late sometimes. I never wanted the Forward Party to give Kim Hyun-tae a proportional seat in the first place.
┗Apparently even the Forward Party is done with him?
┗So what if they are? If he gets elected again, the Forward Party leader will come running back begging him to rejoin. He's still a promising politician.
┗┗Hyun-tae hyung, what are you doing here?
Jung Tae-jin fiddled with his hair as he read the comments under MVN News's Nutube video.
"He's extremely popular."
The comments about becoming Minister of Culture and things like that were obviously exaggerated.
Even if someone offered Do Jun-hyeok the presidency of the United States, he'd probably refuse because he had to take care of Blue Moon.
Jung Tae-jin had also watched the hearing footage.
It had practically been a boxing match between Do Jun-hyeok and Kim Hyun-tae.
And the entire flow of the fight had been nothing more than buildup for Do Jun-hyeok's final counterpunch.
To be fair, Kim Hyun-tae could have pressed further after Do Jun-hyeok's final answer.
He could've alleged that the 〈Rebooting〉 deal had already been settled over the phone in advance, and that the later grouper dinner had simply been a strategy meeting.
Do Jun-hyeok probably knew that too.
That was likely why he'd waited until Kim Hyun-tae had completely burned through his speaking time before throwing the counter.
Kim Hyun-tae.
A politician with excellent speaking skills who had enjoyed broad popularity across generations.
He was wobbling somewhat lately after clashing with his own party and walking a lonely path, but no one knew how he'd perform in an actual district race.
He was also a National Assembly committee member who had been fiercely criticizing the Returning Company Support Program.
In some ways, he had irritated Chairman Jung Jun even more than ruling-party lawmakers had.
The more popular Kim Hyun-tae became, the greater the chance that the returning-company project would collapse.
Could Do Jun-hyeok have deliberately put on that performance to help the return project?
To reduce public trust in Kim Hyun-tae?
Who knew.
MVN News was playing on the television in the president's office.
Coverage of the hearing was still ongoing.
A phone interview with Universe's chief manager, Kwon Dae-hun, was being aired.
"Ah, yes. I watched all the hearing footage on Nutube too. Have you finished interviewing our trainees already?"
"Yes, Chief Kwon. Their interview will air after this one. We should be able to confirm things there."
"There probably won't be anything that contradicts the facts. I talked to the CEO earlier, and apparently he was even complaining that he never got to touch the grouper that day. Aside from that, yes. Our trainee contracts are legally sound, and we've never paid money to another agency. I also noticed some people talking about our investment in a company called New Dimension. We recently invested there."
"New Dimension?"
Jung Tae-jin muttered as he watched Kwon Dae-hun's interview.
Seo Hoe-dong immediately explained.
"Recently, CEO Do said he'd met a talented planner for the first time in a while and invested quite a large amount of money. Apparently, the company is practically becoming a Universe subsidiary. He's extremely confident they'll succeed. The planner's name is Moon Hee-jung."
"Really? Did she look like a genius to you too, Director Seo?"
"Hard to say. She doesn't have enough domestic experience for there to be much evaluation of her. Apparently she did well in Japan. But, well... if CEO Do Jun-hyeok says she's good, then I suppose she is."
After the trainee interviews finished, the news channel showed an interview with Blue Moon member Artem.
Even in ordinary news footage, she was beautiful enough to instantly seize attention.
"What? There are rumors that the New Dimension investment is for hiding a slush fund? A paper company? Haa... I'll give you the address, so follow me. President Moon Hee-jung works unbelievably hard. National Assembly members are really scary."
"Those are only allegations being raised in political circles right now, so you don't need to be overly concerned. So you're saying that's not true?"
"Yes. Our CEO has always been bold. And he's always succeeded. I can't understand every reason he believes she'll succeed, but why does a planner investing in another entertainment company suddenly turn into a slush-fund story?"
The member called Artem answered the anchor's questions clearly and confidently.
At a glance, it looked like Kim Hyun-tae was successfully biting into Universe.
In reality, it wasn't working out that way at all.
If this situation continued in the wrong direction, Kim Hyun-tae might have to step away from national politics for a while.
Then—
"Ah, CEO Do Jun-hyeok is calling me right now. Excuse me for a moment."
Jung Tae-jin lowered the television volume and answered.
"Yes, CEO. I've heard everything. You got dragged into some strange allegations. Are you all right?"
Do Jun-hyeok answered amid noisy sounds, as though he were somewhere outdoors.
"What? Ah, the slush-fund thing? New Dimension's debut is practically confirmed, so it doesn't really matter. I'm more worried about Assemblyman Kim Hyun-tae's future. Anyway, that's not important right now. Why the hell are they doing construction here in the middle of the night?"
"What construction?"
"You know the planned domestic site for Seongdam Engineering? In Cheonan. I'm there right now."
He'd said before that he was worried about it.
And despite how busy he was, he'd gone all the way down to Cheonan.
"Huh? What's that...?"
"What? What happened?"
