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Chapter 151: New Song
Translator: Enuma ID
"Aigoo... what on earth is going on here?"
"Granny, I told you I didn't send anyone. Did you check the name?"
"But the name's a bit strange."
"What is it, then?"
Ѐ num̀ а̄
"Lee Si-on. This is the unnie you're always talking about, right?"
Shin-yu had received a sudden call from her grandmother in Jeju.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Her grandmother had said an unknown number called asking when they could come install an air conditioner, and since she'd never bought an air conditioner, she got scared and hung up.
At first, Shin-yu had assumed it was one of those voice phishing scams that were going around, but the moment her grandmother said the name "Lee Si-on", Shin-yu was at a loss for words.
So she told her grandmother she'd call back later, hung up, and immediately tried to call Lee Si-on.
They were normally always together, but yesterday Si-on had taken some kind of leave and gone home for some reason, so she had no choice but to call.
Ёn̆ ù mа̂
But,
"Aw, our Shin-yu, did you miss me already?"
"Si-on unnie!"
The moment she went to dial, the dorm door swung open and Lee Si-on appeared.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Anything happen while I was gone?"
"No, nothing! But Si-on unnie, did something happen? You suddenly took leave and all."
W̊ ӗ b̃n ӧvёl̀ Е n̊ũ m а̃
"Something worth taking leave for happened, that's what."
Lee Si-on strolled into the dorm as casually as if she'd just been on a neighborhood walk.
Her hands were absolutely loaded with shopping bags, who knew what she'd bought, and they must have been heavy because she immediately dumped them onto the living room couch and used her freed hand to ruffle Shin-yu's hair.
There was only a two-year age gap between them, but this was Lee Si-on's signature move when dealing with the members, especially Shin-yu and Yun-kyung, treating them like little kids.
In Yun-kyung's case, she'd pout every time Lee Si-on patted her head, complaining she was being treated like a child.
'It's strangely comforting.'
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But Shin-yu loved Lee Si-on's touch.
While unconsciously letting Lee Si-on pat her head, Shin-yu suddenly remembered why she had called in the first place.
"Ah! Si-on unnie, my grandmother just called me about something strange."
"What's up?"
"She said she got a call from someone saying they were installing an air conditioner under your name, Si-on unnie. I told her not to take any more calls for now, but someone using your name..."
"That was me."
W̄е̊b nо v̂ е̇ ľ Еnu m а
"Huh?"
"Call your grandmother and tell her it really was me, and she should go ahead and pick whatever date works for the install."
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"What do you mean..."
"I'll explain later!"
Before Shin-yu could even ask what was going on, Lee Si-on, looking thrilled, was already running around the dorm pounding on the members' bedroom doors and yelling for everyone to come out.
"What? You're back?"
W ё b̌_n̄ ó vel̈ .Е̌ n ům̀à
"Where the heck did you go, Si-on-chan!"
"Right! That's so unfair, sneaking off and skipping evening practice all by yourself."
"Nothing happened, did it?"
The rest of the members, who'd been resting before heading to the company, gathered in the dorm living room.
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"Do you all know what happened to yours truly yesterday?"
"What happened?"
Enu.ḿа̂
"I got my Settlement."
"What?!"
At Lee Si-on's words, Shin-yu and the rest of the members couldn't help but be stunned.
And rightly so, because Settlement carried a special meaning for idols.
The minimum amount an agency invested per month to raise a single idol was one million won.
For large agencies, that figure could go up to several million, and considering that even the fastest debuts took at least a year of training, the claim that raising one idol cost anywhere from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won was no exaggeration.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
And then there was the cost of producing a debut album.
─Our debut album? The total production cost this time came out to over 500 million won. We did spend a lot, but it's still on the lower end compared to the big agencies. Lynx and VYNNIA probably spent around a billion?
In short, the money it took to raise and debut an idol ran into hundreds of millions even for a small or mid-sized agency, and for any name-brand agency, you had to expect at least a billion won.
And every won of that money was, in the end, the idol's debt.
─We really didn't make any money.
An interview a member of a fairly well-known girl group gave after their disbandment had once become a hot topic.
Еn̊ u m̌а .і̃ ḋ
It hadn't been a massive smash hit of a group, but they had decent name recognition and at least some songs people had heard, so when she went on a variety show and said she'd hardly earned anything during her time as an idol, no one believed her at first.
The average person figured all celebrities, especially idols, raked in money by the truckload.
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But it was the truth.
Now that the standard contract had settled at seven years, unless a group struck it really big, it was extremely common for them to spend their entire active period just paying back trainee fees and album production costs.
'And on top of that, we have two contracts...'
Especially for the members of Iam, where Shin-yu belonged, since they were attached to two agencies, Settlement was still a distant dream.
W̃ е̇ b̊ ñ о̄ v̀ ѐl È n ù m̌ а
Of course, the company people had told them that, given how shockingly well they were performing for a group that had just debuted, Settlement might come sooner than expected, but even so, it was hard not to be acutely aware of how much debt was still hanging over them.
In that context, the fact that Lee Si-on had already received Settlement was, naturally, enough to floor the rest of the members.
"So with the Settlement money I got, I picked out gifts for all of you."
"You bought us gifts with Settlement money?"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"First up, matching team tracksuits!"
And in the middle of everyone's shock, the next thing out of Lee Si-on's mouth was even more jaw-dropping.
Ẇ е b̂ n̆о̃v̇ ё l̊ Е̂ num â
She announced she'd used her Settlement money to buy the members presents, beaming with a proud smile.
"Commander! You bought one for every single member?"
"Of course. Won't it be great if we all wear them when we practice together?"
"These would've been expensive to buy in this many sets..."
"I just couldn't resist matching outfits. If we wear these to practice, it'll feel like we're back on Idol Ground 100, right?"
The tracksuits Lee Si-on was proudly holding up were perfect for working out: comfortable, easy to move in.
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And not just any tracksuits, she'd bought a matching set, one for each member, in a brand even Shin-yu had heard of.
But that wasn't the end of it.
"Ga-hyun unnie, take these home for your parents."
"What's this?"
"You said your dad had surgery the other day, right? These are good supplements for patients who are recovering."
"Hey... you actually remembered that?"
Ё ňumā
"What else would I remember? And Shin-yu, tell your grandmother that you bought the air conditioner with money you earned yourself."
"Si-on unnie..."
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The gifts she'd prepared, tailored to each member's needs, made them wonder when on earth she'd had time to put it all together.
"Ryu A-yeon, this is for your mother. A new phone. They told me this one's recommended for older folks who still want the latest model."
"How am I supposed to accept this..."
"Hm?"
Ẇė b̃nо̄vе̇ l̆ _Е̂ n ü m̆ а̄
"This is money you worked hard to earn, and for us to take it like this..."
"Tsk tsk."
A-yeon shook her head, saying she couldn't possibly accept the gift Lee Si-on was holding out.
Watching her, Lee Si-on began to click her tongue.
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"This is a gift I'm giving because I want to. Don't tell me you actually thought we were just business partners?"
"That's not it, but!"
Wе bṅо̄ vеl Е̇ ǹŭ ḿ а
"If our members do something for me, all I need is a thank you, and if anyone messes up, an apology. That's enough. That's what a team is, right?"
"Lee Si-on..."
"Now, now, Santa Lee Si-on doesn't come every day of the year! Everyone form a line!"
None of the members could argue with what Lee Si-on said.
Because for every single one of them, not just Lee Si-on, Iam wasn't simply a group.
'She remembered everything.'
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And while at first glance the gifts looked like she'd just grabbed whatever, with prices varying widely between members, Shin-yu could tell that wasn't the case.
Compared to the other members, Shin-yu and Ryu A-yeon had received noticeably more expensive gifts.
─If I make a lot of money, the first thing I want to do is install an air conditioner at my grandmother's place.
─Mom said her phone's broken. I couldn't get hold of her and was wondering what was going on... I need to get her a new one soon...
The truth was, the two of them came from less comfortable backgrounds than the other members.
Shin-yu, who lived with just her grandmother, and Ryu A-yeon, who'd mentioned being from a single-mother household.
En̈ ūm̀ a_.і d̄
Of course, neither of them made a show of it, but living together in the dorm, you couldn't help but pick up on those things over time.
And Lee Si-on had remembered the casual, offhand things Shin-yu and A-yeon had once said, and bought each of them exactly what they had been so desperate for.
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The other members understood why, too, so even with the difference in price between their gifts, far from being put out, they all broke into wide, delighted grins.
Once everyone had accepted the gifts Lee Si-on handed them, it was time to head to the company.
Lee Si-on was practically bouncing, declaring they'd break in the matching tracksuits today, while the other members looked a little embarrassed and asked, did they really have to wear them.
"This is what a team looks like."
W е́b.ńӧ ṽе̇l̄ .Е nü ṁ a
But once Lee Si-on stared them with that fierce stare of hers, there was no way to hold out and not put on the matching outfits.
In the end, when Lee Si-on saw every member dressed in the tracksuits she'd bought, she gave a satisfied smile, and watching her, Shin-yu and the rest of the members ended up laughing too.
***
─I'd recommend keeping the Settlement a secret from the other members.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
After arriving at the practice room and going through the usual basic training with the members, we wrapped up the day's scheduled dance training and slipped into a short break. Leaning against the wall and watching the members, I suddenly remembered the advice CEO Kim Sang-hyeok had given me.
He'd been worried that if the members found out I'd received Settlement on my own, an awkwardness might creep in even if no one meant for it to, hence the advice.
Е n um а .і d
So at first I'd actually mulled it over.
'But this isn't really hiding it.'
Sure, I could've just kept quiet about my solo Settlement and gone on as usual, but was that really the better way?
I didn't think so.
I didn't have it in me to keep something like that hidden and act like nothing had changed.
─Sir, isn't that card the squad command expense card for the troops?
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─Yeah. Comes in handy as pocket money. You've got one too, right? As long as you don't use it off-base and stick to the PX, no one catches on.
─...
Back when I was a brand-new Squad Leader, my senior Squad Leader at the time used to use the squad command expense card, which was issued for things like counseling sessions with the soldiers or providing support to them, on himself.
A few tens of thousands of won per quarter.
It wasn't a huge sum, in some sense, so a portion of the officers used it to buy cigarettes or whatever for personal use.
But I didn't want to do that.
Ё.n u m а̀
─This is funding issued to support your welfare. I thought about how to spend it, and we're going to throw a chicken party every quarter!
─Wooooo!!!!
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So I kicked in some of my own salary on top of it and threw a quarterly party where everyone got their own whole chicken, and even though I ended up spending way more than the actual support fund covered, my conscience was clean.
It was the same now.
This was money I'd earned through my work as a member of Iam, and if I tried to hide it and quietly use it on my own under the excuse of avoiding tension, I'd be too uncomfortable to do anything at all.
And it seemed the choice had been the right one.
Ë nům̈ а
The money was already pretty much all gone, spent on family and the members, but my heart felt more at ease right now than it had in a long time.
Click.
While I was watching the members take their break in the matching tracksuits I'd bought them, the practice room door opened and someone walked in.
"Hello!"
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
"Hey, did practice go well?"
"Yes!"
Е̊ nů m̃ à
The person who entered was none other than PD Raon, whose face we'd hardly seen lately.
'Been a while.'
She'd been holed up in the studio working on our follow-up album recently and hadn't shown her face, to the point where I'd half-wondered if she'd been poached by another company, but luckily that didn't seem to be the case.
"I've got two pieces of news for you guys today."
"What is it?"
Two pieces of news?
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Sensing it sounded interesting, I sprang to my feet and headed toward PD Raon.
The other members all got up too, ready to listen, but PD Raon, as if intending to torture us, just kept smiling and dragging out the suspense.
Then, apparently noticing our expressions getting steadily more menacing, she finally opened her mouth.
"First, your follow-up album is finally finished!"
"Yay!!!"
At PD Raon's first announcement, we let out a chorus of cheers.
Е́ n̈ u̇ m̀ а̄
And rightly so, because ever since wrapping up promotions, the members and I had been suffering from a sort of withdrawal.
─Lately, I've been feeling kind of empty.
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─Right? I think Idol Ground 100 rewired our brains. When we're not learning something new, I get all anxious.
─Now resting actually feels weirder than working.
─Ah, I want to start prepping for the follow-up album already.
Looking back, Idol Ground 100 really had been an insane program.
Еnum̂а
Preparing performances every week with our survival on the line had warped us into people who got jittery the moment we weren't doing something.
"Can we go straight into practice today?"
"Today we'll just have you listen to it. The real practice starts tomorrow. The choreography's already in its final performances, so we'll be doing vocal and choreo training together."
We were scheduled for a comeback in late July, so we really needed to dive into practice from now on.
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Fortunately, we had a bit more breathing room than we'd had with the debut album.
Of course, factoring in learning the song, recording, and music video shoots and so on, it wasn't exactly a luxurious amount of time.
W̆.eb.nо v̊е̂ l Е n̈ u m̂а
But our skills, the members and mine, had all grown since back then, so I figured maybe it would feel a little more manageable.
"And now, the second piece of news."
While we were exchanging excited glances at PD Raon's announcement that practice would start tomorrow, this time she didn't drag it out and went straight into the second piece of news.
"Let me introduce Lucas, the new PD who worked with me on your follow-up album."
Step.
The moment Raon finished speaking, a man strode in through the open practice room door.
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"Hello, Iam! I'm yours!!! I missed you!"
"Eh?"
At the sudden appearance of a white man, we couldn't help but blurt out our confusion.
***
─Welcome to KJ Entertainment, stranger.
Pfft.
Ẅ ӗ bn̈о̆ v̇еl̆ Е̄ n̊u m а̊
Lucas couldn't help but burst out laughing, remembering how Lee Si-on had been frozen in a daze when she first saw him before suddenly approaching with that friendly greeting.
After shamelessly addressing him in Korean, Lee Si-on had then proceeded to grill him about himself in halting English.
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─Where are you from?
─Oh, I'm from Sverige.
─Siberia? You're Russian? Spasiba?
─Si-on unnie, you can speak Russian too?
Е̃ ǹ um̈а
─Wow, Lee Si-on, you're not bad at foreign languages.
─I thought he kind of looked Russian!
─Yuri heard you have to be careful around Russians.
She'd mistaken Sverige, the official name for Sweden, for Siberia, and arbitrarily reassigned Lucas's nationality to Russia.
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The Iam members had continued showering him with curiosity after that, but,
─Hold on. Lucas, let's finish the welcome party later.
W̌е bń о̃v ēĺ Е̃ ń u m а̃
The moment it came time to listen to the new song, they had set him aside and shifted into a frighteningly intense focus, completely absorbed in analyzing the music.
'Young as they are, pros are pros.'
The Iam members were now listening to the follow-up title track he and Raon had co-produced, "Don't Blink", and exchanging opinions back and forth.
"It's really catchy."
"Sounds easy when you're listening to it, but actually performing it and getting that rhythm right is going to be tough."
"There are way more rap parts than in the previous song."
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"This part right here, where it goes from falsetto into chest voice, Yuri, can you handle that?"
"I'll have to try singing it to know."
The playful side they'd been showing earlier was completely gone, replaced by the Iam members focused solely on the music. It was almost a little intimidating.
"Raon, I really am glad I came to Korea."
"Now that you've seen them in person, you feel something?"
"Some people call K-POP Idol's manufactured industry babies, but if they saw this, they couldn't say that."
Ŵ.е b̀n ō v еl̊ É n̆ ú m_а
Lucas could already picture the members standing on stage, performing Don't Blink, the song he'd written.
*****
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