“Why? What is it? Why are you suddenly acting like this?”
“Jonghyeok, his rehearsal and everything else are included, right? He still has plenty of time before he needs to arrive?”
“Uh... yeah?”
See? He said there was plenty of time!
But the quest window kept shoving the warning in front of my face. Apparently deciding that wasn’t enough, it opened another window too.
Q2-1. Toward Completing Music Show Promotions
Success: “Gowon’s” Vocals and Dance MAX LEVEL will increase
Additional Reward: Junior’s Respect (+10)
How dare it suggest there was still room for his respect to grow? It should have hit the maximum ages ago.
Either way, damn it, I had no choice but to let myself be dragged along by the quest window’s coercion disguised as a suggestion.
“...No. I think I’ll go have a look around Music Sea too. It’s been a while.”
“Huh? Seriously?”
Chief Manager Park was the one who asked, but I saw it clearly.
Gowon was the first to react, his eyes widening at my words.
***
They said hierarchies existed everywhere in the arts and sports, but the entertainment industry unquestionably stood at the top.
The criteria used to determine rank were as follows.
Popularity.Seniority.As for number three... the power of your agency, maybe? Or your connections?
But all of those became meaningless in the face of number one.
Seniority was little more than a bonus option you unlocked after surviving around ten years in the music industry. In any case, everything in this business, from A to Z, was determined by popularity.
On music shows, for example, top-tier idol groups were given favorable prerecording slots to reduce their waiting time. They were also assigned waiting rooms near the front, making it easier to move to and from the stage.
<Gowon, BigTree Waiting Room>
At the opposite end of the spectrum, it was common to be lumped together with people you barely knew and forced to share a waiting room.
“Wow, right. There really was a waiting room tucked all the way back here.”
I was walking down the long corridor, immersed in nostalgia, when Chief Manager Park jabbed me in the side.
“Keep your voice down, you punk. Gowon, give me your coat and sit down carefully so you don’t mess up your hair.”
“It’s okay. I’ll hang it up myself.”
“No, no. I’ve got it.”
While everyone else bustled around, I claimed the sofa and sprawled back across it.
“Jonghyeok, I’m an artist too. Aren’t you going to take care of me?”
“If you’d come here to perform, I’d have carried you in on a royal palanquin myself. Why did you follow us all the way into the waiting room?”
“Yeah, seriously. Why did I come here...?”
“Oh, please. I can see right through you.”
“See what?”
Chief Manager Park stepped closer and narrowed his eyes.
“You came to harass Gowon and put pressure on him.”
Was he joking? I was the one who had been harassed and pressured into coming here by the quest.
“Yeah. I came to see whether he performs the song I made well or screws it up, so I can give him hell.”
“You could watch the broadcast.”
“My instincts say I should see it in person today.”
“There you go again with those instincts. You’ve got a television the size of a wall at home.”
“Why not? Movies are in 4D now. I should experience the vivid atmosphere in person for my first viewing.”
“Senior, have you never watched one of my stages before?”
Gowon was the one who asked.
What was with that expression?
“No.”
“......”
Without a word, Gowon adjusted his clothes and loosened his wrists.
An inexplicable silence settled over the room, only for the waiting-room door to suddenly creak open.
“Is anyone...? Oh, you’re already here. We’re BigTree, and we’re sharing the waiting room with you today—augh! H-hello!”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Y-Y-Young Ace! Hanzel. Senior Hanzel!”
“What? Whoa!”
“...Hello.”
Hmm.
It was refreshing to see a reaction I’d never gotten from Gowon, who treated everything with equal indifference, but these juniors looked ready to throw themselves flat on the floor, which was a little overwhelming.
“Senior, hello! If your name was accidentally left off the sign on the door, I’ll go tell the staff immediately!”
“No, it’s fine. I only came to support my junior for a little while. Just think of me as one of the staff who followed him here and make yourselves comfortable.”
I gestured toward Gowon.
Except the little bastard casually turned his gaze away.
Well, look at that.
Did he feel nothing while watching these other juniors panic just from being in the same room as me?
“The album. We brought our album, right?”
“Hey, our album. Didn’t we bring any copies?”
The BigTree members hurried around before approaching me and respectfully presenting an album with both hands. Another member gave one to Gowon at the same time.
Then all four of them lined up neatly in front of the sofa.
“Grow up! Hello, we are BigTree!”
In time with their thunderous greeting, they raised their arms high like branches before bowing like musical theater actors.
“Wow, you’re full of energy. Nice to meet you.”
...I was sorry I couldn’t repay their enthusiasm, but unfortunately...
I had no idea who they were.
Even the company logo printed at the bottom of the album was unfamiliar. Meanwhile, Gowon was diligently bowing back and forth with one of the BigTree members as though they were competing to see whose waist was more flexible.
“I only released a digital single, so would a promotional copy¹ still be all right...?”
“Oh, that’s nothing to apologize for. Thank you. I’ll gladly accept it!”
“Wow, but Senior Hanzel and, um, Mr. Gowon... you’re both much taller in person than you look onscreen.”
“Ha ha. Thank you.”
I let the compliment pass and opened the album I’d been given to the first page.
“Oh, there are originally six of us, but one member is serving in the military, and another is temporarily resting because of an injury.”
“So you have the same number of members as us. Still, it must be reassuring to know the other members are holding everything together so they can leave without worrying.”
“Thank you so much for saying that, Senior Hanzel...!”
The four briefly exchanged glances, then immediately began talking again.
“In that sense, the members of Young Ace are truly incredible. You’re practically legends to us. You’ve kept the group together for over ten years while continuing to release hit songs, and your members have become actors, rappers, and even company executives! You’re genuinely the role model for male idol groups.”
“That’s right. You even have the nickname ‘history-laundering idols.’”
After listening to the uncomfortable stream of praise that seemed determined to wear their tongues raw, I tilted my head.
“Hmm? History-laundering idols? Doesn’t that sound insulting?”
“No, no! It’s because there were other groups that used to be popular but ended badly, you know? When their former fans are asked who they liked in school, they rewrite their own history and say it was Young Ace instead. That’s why people call you history-laundering idols.”
“Ah ha ha ha!”
A loud laugh burst from my mouth.
“I see. What an honorable nickname. Wow, I need to tell the others about this too. Thanks for letting me know.”
And I should tell them to keep their brains firmly switched on and live their lives without ever ending up in the crime section.
The atmosphere inside the waiting room had become fairly cheerful, but one person still hadn’t managed to join the conversation.
Gowon.
“Senior, could I possibly ask you to take one picture with us, as long as it wouldn’t be rude?”
They had busily searched for an album to give me, kept finding ways to speak to their senior, flattered me, and cautiously asked for a photo.
Even though BigTree had been in the waiting room for quite some time, they had been too busy to sit down even once.
The photo we took together would be posted on their social media and cause a brief stir. Most of the attention would probably come from Young Ace fans or my individual fans.
But there were times when even that much attention felt desperately precious.
And I didn’t dislike that desperation.
“Of course. Absolutely.”
I smiled readily and snatched the phone from his hand.
Then I turned and held it out to Gowon.
“Gowon, could you take our picture?”
“......”
Everything they were doing was precisely what Gowon lacked the most right now.
I knew Gowon practiced with plenty of desperation.
Gowon
Vocals Lv.44 (▲19)
Dance Lv.67 (▲21)
His stats had continued rising not only during his debut preparations but throughout the promotional cycle.
It meant he was practicing himself half to death while enduring a murderous schedule.
I knew he had excellent natural talent, and I knew his own hard work supported it.
But using his lack of conversational skill as an excuse to stand there shyly and say nothing was a luxury.
If he continued staying still, he would quickly be pushed aside and reduced to nothing more than background decoration.
“Make sure you get a good one.”
“Yes.”
Gowon took the phone from me and stood.
I inserted myself between the four BigTree members, pretending to be friendly, and posed for the picture.
“Senior, thank you so much!”
“I’m grateful that you’re this happy about it. It looks like I’ll need to stay here a little longer. Since I’m imposing on your waiting room, feel free to ask me for anything else.”
“......”
A strange gleam returned to the BigTree members’ eyes.
Soon, the member who had been speaking most actively clasped his hands together and approached me.
“Senior, then could you possibly... do a challenge with us?”
“Ah...”
When I trailed off, every gaze fixed on me wavered.
But the moment I continued, the member’s eyes flew wide open.
“I’m not a dance member, so I’m a little worried, but I’d be happy to as long as you’re all right with that.”
“Waaaaah!”
One of them screamed, clapped a hand over his mouth, and began jumping in place.
I gave them an awkward smile.
“Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
“W-we’d be incredibly grateful no matter what you did! Hey, where should we film it? Our company didn’t even make a designated challenge section for the song... We should probably use the chorus, right?”
“But the pre-chorus has the prettiest lyrics, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t we need our manager’s permission?”
“Why would we need permission for this?”
They reached a decision in an instant.
The four members played their song and taught me roughly two lines of choreography.
...Ah, damn it. Was this going too far?
It had been a long time since I’d even danced to a Young Ace song, so my body had grown stiff. Learning someone else’s pointless choreography on top of that brought on a mild existential crisis...
But when I saw Gowon’s expression as he framed all five of us in the shot, I recovered a little of my satisfaction.
Even BigTree’s manager joined the excited discussion about when and where to upload the video.
When I dropped heavily onto the sofa, Gowon sat down a short distance away from me, just as he had earlier.
“Well, look at you, Baek Hanje.”
Most of K-Dom’s staff looked bewildered, as though wondering what the hell Baek Hanje had eaten to make him act like this, but Chief Manager Park alone gave me a knowing look.
“What? I just like seeing hardworking juniors.”
“Suuure. Of course. I like seeing you like this too.”
“...I think we’ve known each other too long.”
Having my true intentions dug out wasn’t particularly pleasant.
I glanced at our own junior, then merely sighed.
Stupid bastard.
Gowon had taken out his phone and was holding it.
He lowered his gaze and rubbed the screen, but in the end, he didn’t manage to say a single word to me before his turn came and he was called away.
***
¹ A promotional CD not intended for sale.
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