Chapter 123:

Chapter 123:

“Why do you look so unhappy?”

Kyunghwa, who had a keen eye, noticed the change in Yu-geon’s expression and frowned.

I was about to answer casually, but I remembered the microphone under my chin and shut my mouth.

‘Did he hear something from the production team beforehand?’

It was time to use the replay service that I hadn’t used for a while.

‘System.’

The payment window for the replay service flashed in front of me.

[Do you want to purchase the replay service?]

[Yes/No]

Of course, it was ‘yes’.

‘Yes.’

As soon as I shouted it in my head, I heard a barking sound as if Pposili was happy.

The surroundings quickly darkened and a black-and-white movie-like scene unfolded.

“Oh my... How can a young person go so soon...”

“It’s too bad, right? He was so young.”

“But he must have left a lot of money behind, his father was so famous.”

“Didn’t you hear? Yu-geon’s mother kept borrowing money from relatives to live.”

“Did Yu-geon’s father have another family or something? I never saw him like that.”

The place where the mourners in black clothes were whispering was none other than the funeral hall’s restaurant.

It seemed like an old event, as their outfits looked like they were from 20 years ago.

“Shh, be quiet. What are you doing here at the portrait hall?”

Someone in the group warned them and the conversation stopped. But the peace didn’t last long.

Soon after, there was a commotion at the entrance of the mortuary, as if a fight had broken out.

“We’re not taking any interviews! Please go away!”

“We want to have a quiet time with our family. Please, I beg you!”

The loud shutter sound poured out, and someone finally knocked over a piece of equipment towards the reporters.

“Get lost! Don’t you see he’s dead? Do you want to take pictures like a pack of dogs? Get out!”

“Ji-hwan, please calm down. We just need to get rid of the reporters...”

The voice sounded familiar. It was Nam Ji-hwan, the singer who debuted at the music festival and swept the 90s.

There were also other singers who were active around the same time, occupying several seats.

It seemed like it was Yu-geon’s father’s funeral.

As someone who had said he wanted to see his father’s face before, I felt a bit embarrassed.

‘I unintentionally offended him.’

So who was Yu-geon’s father? Why was this related to Yu-geon’s unhappy expression?

I showed my curiosity in the situation and made my way to the front of the mortuary. There was an unexpected portrait photo on the flower bed.

Kang Hee-sung. He debuted in 1991 with a college music festival award. He was a singer who had a sensational popularity and earned as much as a small business walking around at the time.

Then he suddenly had a conflict with his agency and it became a news story. He died at a young age, not even thirty.

‘With such a person, surely...’

It was strange that Yu-geon being Kang Hee-sung’s son hadn’t been a topic until now.

Do you know what agency he belongs to? He’s a genius who produced an incredible amount of hit songs and legendary albums in less than a decade, and shook the world with his talent.

He was the icon of the era, the legend. There was no one who suited those words better than him.

The last thing I saw was the young Yu-geon, who looked like he was barely in elementary school, sitting next to his mother with his head bowed.

[Replay service – Ends on November 28th, 5 years old]

Bang-!

As I was lost in thought, Pposili wagged his tail and snorted, as if to wake me up.

That’s right. I’m on air right now. I clenched my fist secretly and gathered my mind. I didn’t need to show that my mind was elsewhere – even though I actually went there – in front of the camera.

‘I got it. Thanks.’

“Well... I think it’ll be okay if we do it.”

Seon-woo’s unconfident voice drew everyone’s eyes to Yi-jun.

“Rejected.”

It was clear that it was not a good idea.

“What! Why are you rejecting it when you look at me?”

Yi-jun shouted in disbelief.

“I get a headache when I think of you running around with a ribbon candy.”

It would have been fine if the goal was to make the audience laugh. But they couldn’t choose a gag for their first mission.

There would be many people who would see us for the first time through this program. They didn’t want to be branded with a gag image out of nowhere.

“Why doesn’t anyone acknowledge how cute Yi-jun is?”

“It’s because you keep bringing up concepts that won’t work, that’s why they say no, what other reason could there be!”

Kyunghwa’s angry cushion flew into Yi-jun’s face.

“Can you move me to another seat?”

Seong-won moved to a seat where he couldn’t see Yi-jun, as if he couldn’t stand it anymore. Then the atmosphere calmed down again.

“Stop joking around. What are we really going to do?”

It was a waste of an opportunity to use a concept that they had already released as an album or could release later.

A concept that was surprising but not too weird...

Then, a pair of goggles that were placed as a prop in the meeting room caught their eye.

‘This would be a good retro vibe, right?’

They remembered a video they had found while collecting concept materials for their comeback stage and went back to ten years ago.

The cool all-white tone of the sporty outfits and the bright and cheerful rhythm of the hit song were impressive in the special stage video.

The main theme of the song was the summer sea, so it might not match the season when the first snow was about to fall.

But the point was to match the outfits with a ski suit vibe.

If the season was on their side and it really snowed, it would be even better, like a summer in November, or a Christmas in the summer.

“I have an idea.”

This was something that all of us, from Seon-woo to Seong-won, Yi-jun, Kyunghwa, and myself, could pull off perfectly.

Four pairs of eyes locked on me as I grinned confidently.

“Ugh. I’m so exhausted.”

It was already past 11 pm when we finished the first shoot and the last interview recording.

“I need to go home and sleep. I’ll work on the details of the concept tomorrow afternoon.”

The production team said they would film us having a meeting at the dorm in the afternoon.

They’re making us do everything... I thought, but I decided to think positively since it was a good opportunity to show ourselves.

“Just rest when you get there. Don’t do anything else. We have to practice constantly once we finalize the concept, since we have to prepare for the stage in a week.”

“Okay~.”

We all nodded briefly at the manager’s nagging and stifled a yawn.

Was this the end of today’s schedule? I felt relieved for a moment, but the manager seemed to have something to say.

“Oh, and one more thing. Stop by the company after the stage next week. We have to discuss your contract renewal and hear your opinions.”

“Oh.”

“Right.”

That reminded us of the renewal deadline that we had forgotten amid the hectic schedule.

We had no other choice but to stay with Climax, since we all agreed not to leave...

But we had to address the poor treatment that Climax had given us.

I understood that they didn’t want to waste money on a sinking ship.

But they had neglected and ignored us throughout the conflict with Floss, and even tried to use us as a scapegoat.

‘They can’t just get away with this.’

The other members might be willing to sign the renewal without much fuss, as long as the conditions improved, but not me.

It was time to start a proper negotiation.