Chapter 41. Saturday's Upgrade
"It actually feels like a real idol music video. I never even dreamed we'd have something like this before."
Youngchae said that after watching the music video.
An idol who had never even dreamed of having a proper idol music video.
Still, better late than never.
They were all still young.
It wasn't too late at all.
Everyone seemed moved.
Seeing the members react so strongly made all the work feel worthwhile.
Sure, I was doing this because I wanted to.
But every time something worked out, it also felt like I was giving them a present.
"I let a few people hear the song early, and they really liked it. So we've already got quite a few schedules lined up. Festivals, obviously. Music shows too. And quite a few variety shows. We're still coordinating everything."
"Variety shows? On the major networks?"
"Are there variety shows that aren't on major networks?"
When I deliberately played dumb, the members laughed happily.
As for music shows, we hadn't gotten a very good performance order.
But by industry custom, it was impossible to start near the end of the show from the very beginning.
We would release the song, do the first broadcast, and if the response was good, we'd gradually get pushed later in the lineup.
Regional festivals weren't exactly unfamiliar territory for the members either.
But the scale was completely different from anything they'd done before.
Even fairly famous idol groups would've considered some of these worthwhile schedules.
"I personally brought in the variety show. You know 〈Saturday, Saturday Is Idol〉, right? The one where you do cover dances and play games?"
"Gasp! Toto-dol? The one Iblis appeared on?"
"Yeah. Even top-tier rookie group Iblis went on it."
Iblis.
A Team 2 idol group under T.O.P Entertainment.
The members were a year or two younger than ours, but they'd already reached the top as promising rookies.
I'd even seriously supported them as a fan for a while.
If a group like Iblis appeared on Toto-dol, then it was obviously a huge opportunity.
Dae-hun proudly took credit for getting the schedule.
I felt a little bad saying this, but I'd never expected that much from him.
Especially not enough to imagine he'd land a major show like Toto-dol.
But Dae-hun was much better at networking than I'd thought.
He was the kind of planner who naturally built connections just by working diligently in the industry.
Apparently, he had especially deep ties in the variety-show field.
And somehow, he'd secured Toto-dol for us.
"I really wanted to give you a huge showcase too, but the company's still poor, so we can't go that far yet. But when the next song comes out, I'll absolutely give you a proper one. For now, we'll have to settle for this promotion."
"This isn't something to settle for! It's already amazing."
Serin shook her head.
Even just a prerecorded showcase set would've cost around twenty million won.
It was too expensive to seriously consider right now.
The members probably hadn't expected one anyway.
Still, the moment I said it was unfortunate, I genuinely started feeling disappointed.
Your perspective changes depending on where you're standing.
Back when I worked at Pantheon, showcases were simply a normal part of promotion.
They cost a lot, but the return on investment was huge.
If anything, it would've been strange not to do one when you had the chance.
If this comeback went well, we could easily earn enough to pay for a showcase next time.
That was money the members themselves had earned.
Of course, we couldn't simply stuff every cent the company made into the members' pockets.
But mindset mattered.
We couldn't say, The company has done enough for you. Everything from here is your responsibility.
Until the comeback promotions ended, I had to keep thinking about how to increase their earnings.
We needed money.
Couldn't a lump of gold fall out of the sky somewhere?
Once thoughts of money filled my head, my expectations naturally turned toward the spam messages.
Honestly, wasn't it about time they gave me some lottery numbers?
No matter how impressive 〈Saturday, Saturday Is Idol〉 was, it had one major headache.
They needed a different idol group every single week.
Even 〈Live Singing Contest〉 had been bringing in guest singers every week for decades, and eventually the same people kept appearing.
If CP Jo Gwan-seok had agonized from scratch every week over who to cast, his hair would've turned completely white years ago.
That was how desperate the production team was for guests too.
And because they were in a hurry, our first major schedule connected to the new song became 〈Idol of the Week〉.
The digital single would be released at the same time Toto-dol aired.
Apparently, we'd secured the appearance on the condition that the song would be revealed for the first time on their program.
There really were good and bad times to release music.
But if we could debut it on a major show, that was obviously a good time.
"That thing we ate last time! The thing that's delicious when you grill it!"
"Pork belly!"
The Toto-dol filming set felt almost like a festival.
Not many idols understood how precious an opportunity like this really was.
Promotion was usually the company's job.
A lot of idols probably just considered it one of the easiest shoots on their schedule.
At least Toto-dol had chairs.
But our members knew exactly how much this broadcast could affect Blue Moon's popularity.
Even though the filming atmosphere was relaxed, there was no way their energy wouldn't rise.
"That thing! The thing at amusement parks where you sit down and then it goes like this!"
"Roller coaster!"
Serin was giving the clues.
Honestly, her explanations were pretty terrible.
But somehow, the members understood her perfectly.
Youngchae, with her excellent observation skills, scored most of the answers.
"Wow. You got all twenty questions right. What do you think? Want to keep going?"
The mischievous MC looked impressed as he asked whether they wanted another challenge.
Serin immediately asked back.
"What do we get if we succeed again?"
"Well, you already succeeded in this challenge, so we'll play your entire new song at the end of the program. If you succeed in the next challenge too, we'll even let you perform the choreography right here. But if you fail, you lose both rewards and go straight home."
"That's too cruel! We don't even get paid much for appearing!"
"Four hundred billion won isn't much?"
The MC, famous for being troublesome, calmly answered Aran's complaint.
"Anyway, you're accepting the challenge, right?"
"Challenge!"
"All right. The next game is... 'Shout in Silence'!"
The MC began explaining the rules.
They had five minutes.
A word would be given to one member, who had to somehow communicate it to the next member wearing headphones.
As he explained, staff began putting headphones on the members.
"Those are the basic rules. But if we add an extra penalty, the reward should become bigger too, right?"
"Oh. What's the reward?"
"Today's prize is Korean beef. Very fresh Korean beef. You can freeze it and take it out later during your off-season."
The moment they heard Korean beef, the members immediately agreed without even asking what the penalty was.
The MC smiled.
"All right. Then your manager will be the final participant. Come on out, Blue Moon's manager!"
Four people stood in a line.
Serin first.
Then Youngchae.
Anna.
And finally Aran.
The answer would travel from Serin to Aran.
Then I would write down whatever Aran communicated to me.
Naturally, I was wearing headphones too.
Simply blocking our ears apparently wasn't enough.
Terrifying death metal was blasting through the headphones.
If I wrote an answer and raised the sketchbook, it would be compared with the original word.
We needed at least five correct answers within ten minutes.
"Every manager I know spends all day standing right beside giant amplifiers, so they're all half deaf. Isn't that right, Manager?"
The MC grinned.
He genuinely seemed to believe I was the penalty.
Of course, that was the natural assumption.
Most managers spent their careers behind cameras.
Almost none had experience standing inside a brightly lit variety-show set like this.
"Sorry, what did you say?"
"Oh-ho! This manager is tougher than expected."
I hadn't spent much time in front of cameras either.
