Chapter 47:

Chapter 47:

Chapter 47

A few days after DNS Medias surprise publicity blitz.

Lemon Entertainment launched a massive counterattack.

The PR team, which received twice as much budget as before, started to circulate press releases like crazy.

-New Black, the Something hitmakers, return with self-composed songs

-This time, its a summer season song, New Black reveal the tracklist of their debut album

-New Black, to land on the music scene next month with their new title song Fireworks

The PR cost must have been enormous, as some of the articles even made it to the main page.

Thanks to that, our group name rose on the real-time search rankings.

Maybe it was because our name became more known through music shows and music cafes.

This never happened when DNS Media promoted Street Boys.

And it seemed to provoke our competitors.

As if they wouldnt take Lemons counterattack lying down, DNS Media also poured out another round of publicity.

-Lavender Rose, cheering for their junior group on SNS Who are Street Boys?

-Rapper Hesion, praises Street Boys leader Hanjo for his rap skills

-Street Boys, who rose on the real-time search rankings, are hot even before their debut

The nerve war between the two companies was going on everywhere.

At this point, it was so obvious that anyone could see it, so posts started to appear on idol communities.

-Whats up with Lemon and DNS? Theyre so competitive

-Are Kyuho and Hyunsik fighting again?

-It didnt seem like this when Scarlet and LaRose were competing, why are they doing this?

-Isnt it because DNS started it? They changed Street Boys debut date and song, right? Anyone can see that they were conscious of Lemon

-What are you talking about? Didnt you see the interview? They said they were going to release it on their second album, but they had enough time to prepare it

-The comment above is nonsense. Anyone can see that they followed New Black

-Theyre fighting like crazy

-Who are these guys? They already have fans?? I get that New Black is because of Something, but what about Street Boys?

-They had a debut reality show on Knet, it was pretty popular

-Wow, theyre already fighting like this, Im looking forward to it

-Some of the comments smell like shit

-Theyre just saying whatever they want because theyre rookies

-It reminds me of the epic fight between TNT and Sixty. It wont be boring for a while

Except for a few fandoms, most of the idol fans were watching with popcorn in their hands, as if they were enjoying the show.

Maybe it was because of these reactions.

The entertainment reporters smelled something and jumped in like hyenas.

-The upcoming boy group war in June, who will be the winner?

-Composer-dols vs Composer-dols, the points to watch in the June boy group war

-June music scene, the bold challenge of rookie boy groups

The entertainment reporters gave a grand name to the competition between the two groups: June Boy Group War.

Of course, other groups were also mentioned, but it was obvious that they were just for show.

The main focus was the rival structure between us and Street Boys.

Who would have a more successful promotion, whose song would be better.

The general public was still indifferent, but the interest was gradually rising among the idol fans.

There hadnt been any rival fights in the idol scene since Sixty Seconds fell, so that was why.

Especially since the main singers announced their comeback in July and August, the rookie group fight was a spectacle for the boring June.

Reflecting that, there were some visible changes.

The number of fancafe members increased, and the views of the videos we uploaded on MTube soared noticeably.

The more that happened, the more clear the meaning of this battle became for the two companies.

Opportunity.

Whoever won, it was certain that the winner would monopolize all the attention.

A fight that had to be won at all costs.

In the situation where the two groups and their agencies were sharpening their knives, summer was slowly approaching.

***

May, a studio in Gangnam-gu.

Wow.

The New Black members were exclaiming as they visited the studio for the album jacket shoot.

Hyung, sit down. The sofa is as good as ours at home.

Really. This is awesome.

Wang Ji-ho and Kim Jung-hyun were sitting on the luxurious sofa and giggling.

Doesnt this look really expensive?

It does. It looks like an Egyptian jar. It would be nice if we had one of these at our dorm.

Why would you put it in the dorm? Jung-hyun and Wang Ji-ho would break it for sure.

Kim Bi-ju and Seo Ri-hyuk were admiring a strange artifact and giving their opinions.

A jar that looked expensive at a glance.

Everything in the waiting room was like that. The interior seemed to say, Do you think you belong here with your level?

They said hes the best-selling artist in Gangnam. He must be really good. The waiting room is so luxurious.

Look at the photos on the wall. Theyre all top star seniors.

Wow. Oh? But there arent many idols, are there? Theres TN Ah, why?

Are you clueless?

What do you mean?

Yoon Seok-hwan smiled as he looked at the bustling crowd.

They are the company staff who came to help you with the shooting.

Wow

There were at least 20 people.

Including the outsourced staff such as makeup and the management team staff who came from the company.

They all came out because of us.

I felt it for real.

When I heard that the company was pouring money into New Black, I was nervous, but now that I see it, I feel it in my heart.

I steeled myself and told my brothers.

We have to be prepared to break our bones, guys.

Huh? Why are they laughing?

I was serious, but they were laughing for some reason.

***

The shooting began in earnest.

The members of New Black stared at one place and blinked their eyes.

Yeah! Thats it!

The photographer with gold-rimmed glasses and a beanie pressed the shutter with an excited voice.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, with the expression of watching fireworks in the night sky, yeah! Thats right. Youre doing well. You.

The members looked at each other in silence.

Did I hear that right? When I was shooting, that photographer was so annoyed with me. He said if I was going to do it like that, I should just quit.

Me too. He asked me why I looked so awkward. Ive never been dissed for my expression before.

I got scolded a lot too.

He dissed me for being too big to shoot. He said I was the biggest subject he ever saw among idols. He also said my pose was like a sphinx.

Hyung. Thats because

Hey, Kim Jung-hyun. If you lie down when he tells you to relax, of course youll get scolded.

Before Seon Woojoos shoot, they had endured all kinds of insults from the professional photographer, as Yoon Seok-hwan had warned them.

His expression was so fierce that it made their stomachs ache.

But now, the person who had been so strict with them was smiling all the time.

Its kind of unfair that hes now

Hes doing so well.

Right? Hes really good.

They looked at Seon Woojoo, who was standing in the studio.

A white T-shirt and jeans.

With a sky-blue shirt loosely draped over them, Seon Woojoo smiled and struck a pose.

There was nothing lacking or wanting.

As if to show what freshness was, he had a determined expression.

Did Hyung always do expression acting that well?

They were not the only ones who were amazed.

The company staff who came to help with the shoot were also staring at him like they were bewitched.

It was not just because of his appearance.

His expression had something that drew peoples attention.

Like when you see a sunset or a night sea in front of you and you cant help but stare at it.

Huh?

The members turned their heads at Kim Jung-hyuns remark.

Whats wrong?

That expression, its similar to the ones that the models had in the video that Hyung watched earlier.

They looked at each other.

So, that was him practicing his expression?

It seems like it.

Can you practice with that?

It looks like it works

They looked at each other again and chuckled.

They realized what their leader had been doing.

Of course, if someone else had done that, they would have said, Are you kidding me? and dismissed it as nonsense, but since it was Seon Woojoo, they accepted it.

He was a person who often defied their common sense.

Hes really amazing. Seriously.

Seo Ri-hyuk said with a bored tone.

Its really lucky that hes on our side.

Street Boys are really screwed. Of all the teams to compete with, they have this crazy guy on their team.

The youngests words made the older ones laugh.

By the way, didnt they say they would upload their jacket photos around the same time as us?

Oh, right.

Im curious about the reaction.

They wondered what kind of reaction Seon Woojoos photos would get on the internet, since they were so well received on the scene.

As they all looked forward to it.

A few days later, the concept photos were posted on the SNS accounts of both companies.