[KK, Makes it onto the Billboard! 67th place…]
[KK, Makes it on the Billboard, second time for a Korean singer]
[KK, the king of the Korean Wave, makes it onto the Billboard. “They’re a success in America too! On their way to becoming world-class stars…”]
-Gosh, the Billboard…crazy…ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-I’m seriously so proud to be a KK fan ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-The fact that they got to this point is already really amazing, but the possibilities are truly endless ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-I’m so proud!
-Proud of you KK~!
-Young men from our country getting their names known like this increases our national prestige
-Billboard haha *shaking*
-One Man is incredible too, but KK is really incredible!!!
-Are they more popular than One Man?
-Nono, One Man made it to 4th place
-lololol are you kidding? One Man was a true legend. It’s not for nothing people used to ask random foreigners, “Do you know One Man?” It wasn’t just the public, even Hollywood stars used to sing along to his song. He was truly deserving of being called a worldwide phenomenon. If you were to ask, “Do you know KK?” even Koreans wouldn’t really know…
-KK stans are in a frenzy~
-Isn’t comparing them to One Man going a bit too far? They only got on it once and their ranking is much lower
-Sure KK is getting noticed overseas, but let’s not exaggerate
-It’s not exaggerating, it’s that KK fans are playing it up lol
-We never play it up, it’s just mad respect for making it onto the Billboard hahaha
-Kyaa, I’m overflowing with pride in our nation~
-Making it onto the Billboard is amazing in itself, why’s everyone being like that lol. Is it because they’re jealous? KK I’m rooting for you!
-KK got two songs on there, they’re so cool!
-isn’t there another singer besides One Man who made it on there too?
-It’s an album they released in America in English so it doesn’t count lol
-What makes One Man and KK meaningful is that they were albums in Korean *nodnod*
-They have a long way to go before they become worldwide stars
They were the responses that Ahn Hyung Seo saw to the articles and comments posted on the portal site. The community response wasn’t much different from it. Of course, over half of the comments were positive, praising them and saying they did a good job.
At the same time, there were a lot of comments comparing them to their sunbae who had also made it onto the Billboard, or questioning whether KK was even popular enough overseas to make it onto the Billboard.
When it comes to the Billboard ‘Hot 100’ chart, honestly, even getting to the top 100 is an incredible feat. Even if you only knew a little bit about the Billboard chart or the American market, you would know how incredible it is.
However, even though their efforts paid off, it bothered Ahn Hyung Seo that it wasn’t a perfectly positive response. Even the previous article about their high MyTube rating had much more positive responses.
Jung Yoon Ki said after reading some comments,
“That’s how it goes man. Even if you get the silver medal, there’s people who would badmouth you for not getting the gold medal.”
“It’s because they’re jealous. They say a person will get jealous of even their friend’s successes…don’t they?”
Do Wok nodded his head at what Jung Yoon Ki and Kim Won said. Ultimately, what they said was right.
“The reason that it seems like we have more negative responses than before is because it’s getting that many more comments. Before, only people who were really interested were posting comments…Everyone is interested in the Billboard article.”
After hearing what the members were saying, Ahn Hyung Seo nodded his head that he’d try to be understanding of it too. His mind understood but his heart still didn’t.
“What’s important isn’t trivial responses like this, it’s…the actual results…”
Do Wook, who was muttering like he was talking to himself, started to trail off even more.
Do Wook, as well as Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, considered the number of articles and its content the current problem, not the responses in the comments.
KK making it on the Billboard was definitely worthy of becoming a hot topic. It was obvious by the number of comments on each article alone. KK itself was enough to be trending, but this was also about THE ‘Billboard’.
Despite that, there were less articles than articles about M2M continuing to get first place and being on a roll.
Other than on one news organization that had always been friendly with HIT Entertainment, they all only briefly reported about KK making it onto the Billboard. There was no mention about what it meant and how much of an achievement it was.
It was something only Do Wook and Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who had worked in PR and had consistently been analyzing things, would notice.
‘Hmmmm…’
Do Wook thought to himself and tried not to make it obvious, so that he wouldn’t make the members worry on a happy day.
All the members including Ahn Hyung Seo, along with Manager Oh Baek Ho, were looking for a place to hold a company dinner tonight. Department Head Jo Anna had personally given the order to have an extravagant dinner together.
Taking advantage of the members being preoccupied, Do Wook quietly spoke with Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung in whispers.
“It’s undoubtedly…”
“Yes. It does seem like they’re being cautious of Ara Entertainment.”
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung replied immediately, knowing what Do Wook was going to say.
“There’s the saying that even if a rich man goes bankrupt they can last for 3 generations*. M2M is gaining popularity…Man.”
(TL Note: I think this isn’t the correct proverb, I heard it as a rich man can last for 3 years even if they go bankrupt, meaning even if they lose their money, the advantages they enjoyed such as connections and resources they had will still be there to help them survive.)
Do Wook quietly nodded his head to what Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung said. Director Seo Joong Won was definitely keeping KK in check.
KK making it onto the Billboard was certainly amazing, but they weren’t on One Man’s level yet and in the domestic entertainment world, Ara Entertainment still held a lot of influence. News organizations were being cautious of Ara Entertainment and only published the bare minimum.
“Looks like the only thing to do is to get even better results. To the point that nobody can ignore it.”
Do Wook said. His words were like sharpening a knife.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung wanted to ask, “Better how?” but Do Wook did not back down.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung could suddenly feel that his endless passion to aim to be the best and his desire to improve weren’t the only reasons Do Wook rose to where he is now.
He could feel that Do Wook, whom he thought had only a good-natured side, had his own ambitions. Of course, being ambitious didn’t make you ill-natured.
It may seem like Do Wook’s good nature means that he might give up on some things, but having seen him from close by, Do Wook seemed like someone who would compromise neither being good natured nor his ambitions.
In that regard, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung shook his head. He felt that even if he were reborn, he wouldn’t be able to live like Do Wook, who worked hard without compromising anything.
***
“Yo! Is the Billboard singer here?!”
“Wow, it’s blinding!”
Site of the < Sweetheart from the Universe > shoot.
Do Wook finished getting ready, got out of the van, and headed towards the Director and Wang Hee Jin. They welcomed Do Wook and made a fuss. The staff, who were in the middle of preparing for the shoot, heard the Director and Wang Hee Jin’s voices and turned their gaze towards Do Wook.
“I’m sorry for being late! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
Do Wook bowed his head towards the Director, Wang Hee Jin, as well as towards the staff.
It was for one week, but Do Wook was famous for being the first among the actors to arrive on set and prepare. He was getting praise by staff when filming on set too for doing things himself that were normally done by supporting actors or assistants.
Not only was his personality flawless but also his acting skills, so Do Wook was already popular on set.
Today’s shoot was taking place outside, but Do Wook was coming from an interview with Billboard magazine so he couldn’t arrive at the set at his usual time.
Director Ahn Chul Hwan, who was the Director for < Sweetheart from the Universe >, stopped Do Wook as he shook the script he had rolled up in his hands.
“It’s one minute past 2! Apologize later once you’re actually late!”
Wang Hee Jin also chimed in,
“Are you doing this to embarrass me?”
Director Ahn also wrinkled his nose and laughed at the joke from Wang Hee Jin, who always arrived right on time or with about 10 minutes to spare.
“It’s been so busy that we weren’t able to properly congratulate you, let’s properly congratulate you today!”
Director Ahn asked the nearby staff to give a round of applause. The staff gladly congratulated KK making it onto the Billboard and applauded in sync with Director Ahn. Even the spectators that were surrounding the set saw Do Wook and clapped along.
‘Continue’’s current rank on the ‘Hot 100’ chart was 65th. It had gone up two ranks and was on the chart for the second consecutive week.
People in the industry were interested in seeing how high it’d go up. Do Wook and the members were also nervously checking the billboard chart every day even though it wouldn’t have changed.
“Thank you.”
Do Wook bowed his head and thanked them.
“We’re the one who should be saying thank you. This is the first time we’ve been so well-fed on set. We heard a snack truck is coming today too,”
One of the lighting staff that was passing by said to Do Wook. Do Wook laughed awkwardly and accepted the lighting staff’s expression of gratitude. Fans would prepare food trucks and snack trucks for the staff whenever it was an outdoor shoot.
They knew it would be a burden on the fans too so they wanted to tell the fans they didn’t have to do it, but they understood the fans wanted to express their affection so it wasn’t easy to ask them to stop.
‘The way to repay them is definitely…for me to do well.’
Do Wook quickly got the KK and billboard stuff out of his mind and, keeping his personal clothes he was wearing as is, changed his expression to that of Manager Chun Min Joon.
A 32-year-old that looked like he was around 25. Actual age, 239 years old.
It was difficult to figure out how to portray that age, but interestingly, Do Wook portrayed that vibe enough with his hair pushed straight back, dressing in a suit, and speaking in a rigid tone like someone from the Joseon era.
It wasn’t strange at all that the beautiful Wang Hee Jin, who played the role of Han Song Hee in the show, fell in love with him…based on his looks and vibe.
Do Wook, who had changed his vibe by immersing himself in the role, looked over his lines and warmed up his body as he waited for the shoot to start. Wang Hee Jin also sat on her chair fixing her makeup to be a little thicker and on standby. About 10 support cast members were on standby too.
Today’s shoot was the scene where Han Song Hee had been day drinking after being hurt from the malicious comments posted online and the comments from her family, runs out of the bar without her manager and wanders the streets, drunk.
People passing by notice Han Song Hee stumbling around drunk and flock around her. Manager Chun Min Jun finds Han Song Hee and, unable to bear to watch his company’s advertisement model ruin her image, takes on the role of her manager.
At that moment, Han Song Hee’s ex-lover, current platonic friend, and 3rd generation chaebol who had been drinking with her sees what’s going on and snaps at him asking who he is that he’s pretending to be Han Song Hee’s manager.
It was the scene where the sub male lead and the male lead meet for the first time.
The sub male lead role was played by Jung Lee Hook. Jung Lee Hook was a male actor similar in age to Wang Hee Jin, mid-30s. He debuted in his late 20s and gained popularity due to his good looks from the beginning, but critics predominantly said he still lacked something to be cast as a main character.
Jung Lee Wook soon arrived on set. He greeted Wang Hee Jin with a nod and gave a deeper bow to Director Ahn.
“Ok then, the main actors are here, so let’s start filming! Go straight to standby!”
Director Ahn yelled in a loud voice.
Wang Hee Jin portrayed being drunk by thickly applying deep red blush on her face. She ruffled her hair herself and stood in front of the camera.
“Hello sunbae.”
Before standing in front of the camera, Do Wook also greeted Jung Lee Wook and extended out his hand.
—
Next chapter: Is there a reason behind the sunbae’s sudden icy treatment?