Chapter 50:

Chapter 50:

Chapter 50

Our faces hardened as we looked at the laptop screen.

Silence filled the studio.

On the monitor, Street Boys were having a blast on their debut stage.

Ugh, this is annoying.

Ri-hyuk said.

Its one thing for the companies to fight, but this is too much. What did we do to them that they diss us?

We dont know whats going on with them.

Bi-ju said in a calm voice, trying to soothe the main vocal, but he didnt look happy either.

Everyone felt the same.

The youngest bit his lip and watched the monitor, and Jun Hyun stopped eating snacks and glanced at the monitor.

Even if theres competition, this is crossing the line.

The reason we were angry was not simply because they dissed us.

It was a kind of betrayal.

We had been thinking of DNS and Street Boys as separate entities.

No, we had tried to think that way.

It was the company that was doing the dirty work, not the Street Boys who were just following orders.

Of course, I had a part in creating that atmosphere.

In group activities, friendly competition was helpful, but not negative emotions like hatred or jealousy.

So I told them to treat Street Boys as colleagues in the entertainment industry.

Lets not hate each other in this tough situation.

The kids agreed, and until a moment ago, we were watching Street Boys stage and complimenting them.

Until Han Jos rap came out.

-We dont have Something. But whats the big deal.

Honestly, it felt like a slap in the face.

I thought of them as friendly rivals, but they had been thinking of us like that all this time.

Lets watch the showcase until the end. There will be questions from the reporters during the Q&A time.

I decided to watch for now, calming down the younger ones.

There would surely be questions about the rap during the Q&A time, so I wanted to hear what they would say and judge accordingly.

The debut stage ended and the showcase went smoothly.

A famous comedian MC was hosting, and Street Boys were acting stiff and awkward like rookies.

Finally, the Q&A time came at the end.

As I expected, the first question was about the rap.

-Im Oh So Hee, a reporter from Entertainment IN. First of all, congratulations on your debut. I have a question about the lyrics of your debut title Hunger.

Street Boys grabbed the microphone nervously, and the reporters voice continued.

-In the song, theres a self-written rap by Han Jo. It says, People say we dont have Something. But whats the big deal. I personally thought of New Blacks Something when I heard it.

That was the question I wanted to hear.

-Right now, New Black and Street Boys are in a competitive relationship, and I wonder if that was an intentional lyric. What do you think about this, Han Jo, who produced the song himself?

A member in a leather jacket held the microphone.

He was tall and had a good-looking and kind face.

The leader Han Jo smiled like a picture at the reporter.

-I want to tell you that its not what you think. The context of the rap was related to our personal stories. Weve been told by many people that we cant make it, that were not handsome, that we dont have the talent to be celebrities. The lyrics came from the meaning that we dont care about what people say we lack.

Thats funny.

I realized that it was intentional when I heard Han Jos answer.

Usually, when youre asked about a controversy you didnt expect, youre startled and lost in thought.

But he answered as if he anticipated it.

It meant that he or the company had prepared for this beforehand.

This is ridiculous. If youre going to diss, do it in front of us.

Ri-hyuk muttered in displeasure, while Han Jo spoke with a smile.

-And you said that were in a competitive relationship with New Black, but actually, we dont think of them as rivals.

Huh?

-They debuted earlier than us, so theyre like seniors in the music industry, and we respect them.

-You respect them?

-When we made Hunger as our title song, we realized how much effort it takes to make one song. So I got a lot of help from professional composers, but I heard that the leader of New Black composed by himself. Honestly, I wouldnt have dared to do that.

It was awkward.

He was stacking up compliments for us, as if he was building up to say something.

-And not only did he compose Something with Jang So-won, but I also heard what he said on Music Cafe. Honestly, I think hes much more talented and amazing than me.

On the screen, Hanjo smiled.

-How can I say this, its like looking at a real genius.

The moment I saw that smile, I realized that I had been thrown a huge shit that was incomparable to the diss lyrics from before.

***

-Street Boys Hanjo, New Black Universe is a genius

-Street Boys New Black is not a competitor. Rather, they are genius seniors

-They stuck together with hunger and ambition, Street Boys successfully finished their showcase

During and after the showcase, articles kept coming up for a long time.

It was a showcase of a rival company, but our company was busy.

As soon as the live broadcast ended, Yoon Seok-hwan left to attend a general meeting at the producers call.

It was because of the shit that Hanjo threw.

Of course, it didnt seem like a problem on the surface.

Oh? Mr. Oh, reporter? We met at the Street Boys showcase.

Hello.

Whats with all the showcases this month? Next week, theres also a showcase for the rookies from Awl.

The topic of conversation was naturally the rivalry in June.

Who do you think will do better?

Im for New Black.

Well, DNS doesnt have much talent for boy groups.

Hmm? I saw the chart performance of Street Boys and it was pretty good. They charted at 99th or something on the first day of the music show.

It was a difficult feat for a rookie who had just debuted to enter the chart on the first day in this era of fierce idol competition.

The idol fandoms were buzzing about their fight. Honestly, it drew some attention.

But its impressive that they charted with a self-composed song.

I dont know. From what I heard from the insiders, the leader only wrote the rap, and the composer wrote most of the melody. It was almost like they just borrowed his name.

Well, who writes songs by themselves these days? They all collaborate.

Right. Whats his name, the one whos debuting today, Woo-ju? Hes the odd one. Usually, professional composers are involved in everything.

They all nodded.

I heard from the DNS side that the initial sales were good. I dont know, but it must be impressive.

Good for them. I thought there wouldnt be any hip-hop concept after Sixty.

We still have to wait and see. Its only been a week.

But the song is good. Hunger seems to have nowhere to go but up.

Soon, the reporters interest shifted to New Black.

What about New Black? Does anyone have a source?

I had a drink with the PR staff a few days ago, and they casually mentioned that the song was good. They said you can expect it. Lemon doesnt usually say theyre confident unless they are, so the song must be good.

Are they bluffing? Ive never heard of an idol self-composed song being that good.

They must have real talent. His father was like that too, and I saw him play the piano at the music awards. He had a good reputation.

Someone said.

And this time, they spent a lot of money on Lemon, so they must be really determined. They even asked Hwang Tae-seon to do the jacket shoot.

Hwang Tae-seon? Isnt he the one who only works with top stars?

The music video director is Jung Sung-moon. Hes the one who made the hit music video for TNT last year after working in the independent film scene. I heard about the people he worked with and they were not easy.

Thats amazing. Its not easy to invest that much.

They must think this album is worth investing in.

One reporter stuck out his tongue and said.

Not only the producer, but Park Kyu-ho, the CEO, is not an ordinary person. He started out as a one-man agency, but now hes one of the top three in the actor field. He also recruited a lot of actors who came out of FA recently.

True, he never jumped into anything he wasnt sure of.

Right. Scarlet was also thought to be just a bunch of pretty faces at first, but they turned out to be talented.

The more they talked, the more curious they became.

They thought it was too much investment for a small agency to debut a rookie group, but maybe there was a reason for it.

To be precise,

I wonder what kind of song is coming up next that they invested so much in it.

Ah? Are they about to start soon?

As the announcement asked us to take our seats, the lights in the hall gradually dimmed.

After it was completely dark, the screen lit up.

It was the music video that was scheduled as the first part of todays showcase.

The opening scene of them with their arms crossed appeared.

-Drip.

The sound of water in the dark.

-Drip.

The screen brightened as the sound of water droplets continued.

Then, a girl appeared.

Daisy, the rapper of Scarlet, who made a cameo appearance, walked on the floor submerged in water.

She had a faint smile on her lips.

It was a mysterious atmosphere.

She walked in a space that was dark but brightened by the lighting, where only darkness filled below.

The girl who was walking leisurely stopped.

It was because of the transparent glass wall that blocked her way.

Daisy touched the glass wall and raised her hand to her mouth, smiling gracefully.

Then, she blew a breath.

With the help of the graphics, her breath sparkled like white light and scattered a bunch of light.

The light split into five colors as it passed through the glass wall.

Red, yellow, blue, green, purple.

The light that split into five rainbow-like prisms zoomed through the space that looked like a starry universe.

And then, they mixed again.

The five strands of light mingled with each other and the light turned black.

Finally, the logo appeared.

[The New Black]

Along with that, the darkened screen brightened in an instant.

A sunny sky.

Five young men showed themselves in an exotic sea.

The song that started at the same time.

It was a refreshing intro that opened my ears.