“Why in the world is this…”
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung quickly clicked on the article.
The article said that KK was preparing an album with world-famous pop star LIL. It also included that the album release date was currently undecided, but that they had started working on the song.
It was a very concise article. The information was correct for the most part, but one mistake was that it was LIL’s album and not KK’s.
‘I guess he heard bits and pieces in passing and wrote this…’
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung quickly checked the name of the reporter. It was an entertainment reporter who was already on Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s list. However, he wasn’t particularly associated with any agency, including HIT Entertainment. He was just an ordinary entertainment reporter.
As expected, the comments said they couldn’t believe it, and most of them were favorable reactions like them being curious how it came to be or that they were looking forward to it.
A favorable response was inevitable. However, it wasn’t time for this kind of article to be published yet.
It wasn’t confirmed whether or not Do Wook’s song would be included in LIL’s collaboration special album.
They could find out later how the reporter came across the information. What came first was publishing an article to stop the follow-up articles that were quickly spreading.
“Hyo Jin! Please look into this real quick.”
“Yes sir!”
When Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung called her, Nam Hyo Jin got up from her seat and came over to him.
Nam Hyo Jin was an intern at the Fan Marketing Team until a little while back, and had recently become a full-time employee. She had a lot of tasks, but her main tasks recently were to respond to press, including broadcast and ad representatives.
“This article here…please look into it.”
There was inevitably a little bit of exhaustion in Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung’s voice. There are many times where projects that are still under discussion get ruined if the media gets involved.
‘Of course LIL absolutely will like Do Wook’s song and put it in the album, but…’
Fortunately, LIL’s side did not include any particular confidentiality clauses regarding the album.
There was news currently spreading on foreign sites regarding his collaboration with a British singer.
Nam Hyo Jin skimmed over the article and had a surprised expression. Nam Hyo Jin had received orders from Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung not too long ago to work on a future press release once the LIL collaboration was confirmed and a promotional strategy was set.
“How did this…”
“Leave that to me. Please quickly write up a corrective article and send it out.”
“Uh…should I say it’s baseless?”
“No. Please say that we have been in talks with LIL about working together, but that nothing is set in stone.”
Nam Hyo Jin energetically nodded her head. After swallowing hard, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung added,
“Oh, also, you know the article we were going to release tomorrow?”
“Are you referring to the dome tour?”
“Yes, please release all of them today. The tour teaser that we were planning on uploading tomorrow evening as well, we should probably release that today too. You received all the material from the design team, right?”
“Yes. Once the article is sent out and you’re back from your meeting with Assistant Manager Do Ra Hee, I’ll go over it with you and post it today.”
“Ok. As fast as possible and accurately. You know that, right?”
“Yes sir!”
Nam Hyo Jin replied and went back to her seat.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung first called the reporter who wrote the exclusive report.
***
< KK, 5-dome Japanese tour confirmed! Second time ever for a Korean singer! >
< KK, on the brink of conquering Japan! Recognized in Japan too! >
< KK, LIL have only been in contact...The members are currently working hard to prepare for the dome tour >
< KK dome tour in March! Elaborate entrance into Japan >
-And earlier, I heard something about a LIL collab. Are they trying to become world-renowned stars?
-They said it’s not confirmed with LIL lol. Just the dome tour alone is a big deal! lolol
-5-dome tour. Isn’t that hard even for Japanese singers? That’s so sick
-You’re a KK stan aren’t you
-There’s no Japanese singer who can pull off a live performance to this extent lolol Proud of you KK!
-As a Korean citizen, I am truly proud. This is what cultural diplomacy is haha
-Has KK done their military service yet?
-They’re only in their early 20s…
-Aren’t they popular in China and other Asian countries too? They’re certified superstars lol
-Grand Prize winner KK ^0^!
-Ahn Hyung Seo had a hard time after chugging hat coke in Japan. I’m glad it paid off
-Heartbroken T.T T.T T.T
-That was funny lololol. suge suge*
(TL Note: Another way of saying “sugoi”, meaning “awesome/cool/amazing” in Japanese)
-It really took the internet by storm lol. I almost died trying to copy it
-You have to be careful if you’re going to try it. I threw it up all over my room and got in big trouble with my mom
-Lololololol stupid…
-Go! The yen expedition!
-This is just the beginning! A journey to earn yen!
-Kekeke I can hear it~~~ The sound of yen rolling in ~~~
-I wish they’d share some of it with me…
-When will KK do activities in Korea? I’ll grow old and die while waiting for KK
-People tend to not come back once they go to Japan. What will we do if KK also goes down that route?
-They announced that the Korean album will be released right after the dome tour is over *nod nod*
-I guess they’re not taking a break. They’re working like a dog, seriously T.T
-It looks like they’re working harder than a dog now…
-I want to see Kang Do Wook’s face. The government needs to set a quota so that Kang Do Wook can be on TV a lot, and if it’s not met he needs to be forced to appear on TV*
(TL comment: Oh my gosh…stans are scary XD )
-You want to look at his face? Me too
-Why can’t he be a news anchor? I want to see him every day
-I admit that looking at Kang Do Wook’s face is more fun than watching frustrating news
As soon as the dome tour article was released, people’s attention went towards the dome tour. There were many people who were still looking forward to the LIL collaboration, but it wasn’t confirmed, so the general consensus was to wait and see for now.
At that time, Do Wook was attaching the file of the finished project to an email.
“How nerve-racking…”
Do Wook couldn’t help but feel anxious.
It wasn’t guaranteed that he would use Do Wook’s song. He may want it modified or to go in a different direction. It was the first artist that composer Kang Do Wook could call a ‘client’.
There are situations where composers give songs that they had already made to singers who could fit it well, but there are also cases where they get a request to compose a song.
‘It’ll have a big impact on future projects.’
He clicked on send and sent the email to the album production team. Do Wook took his hand off the mouse.
It was arranged for Do Wook to send the file to the Album Production Team and for them to send it to LIL. The Album Production Team representative was waiting for Do Wook’s email, so it should soon be sent to LIL along with the email content.
The email contained the intention and explanation behind the song Do Wook made, translated in English.
He had chosen his arrow in the quiver after much consideration, and the arrow had already been shot. Any further worries or anxiety were pointless.
Do Wook got up from his seat as he thought about that.
The Japanese dome tour was just around the corner.
The members had to be fully familiar with the Japanese versions of the songs from the new regular album, which they didn’t have during the last Japanese performance, and learn the performance set list that was newly created for the dome tour.
Do Wook had been working on the song, but he also had to attend the group rehearsals no matter what and gave his all into the rehearsal.
He was done working on the song now, so he had time to get some proper individual practice in while he waited to get feedback from LIL.
***
When Do Wook came to the rehearsal hall, the members who got there before him greeted him. The atmosphere amongst the members was livelier than usual. When Do Wook looked at them with a puzzled face, Park Tae Hyung explained,
“I heard that we….are doing a commercial.”
“What kind of commercial?”
Do Wook asked as he pulled out his phone to check his messages. There was a message from Manager Oh Baek Ho in the group chat with Manager Oh Baek Ho, Gu Chul Min, and all the KK members.
He had rushed out after sending the song, so he hadn’t seen the message.
“A cola commercial!”
Kim Won yelled.
Do Wook checked the message from Manager Oh Baek Ho.
[Hyung Seo pulled off a big one. We’re doing a 3-month-long group cola commercial! Your net worth has gone up a lot now lol]
No wonder the members were surrounding Ahn Hyung Seo.
An Hyung Seo seemed to be in a very good mood. He strutted and was telling people to be grateful to him.
“Thank you, thank you. Man, I’m super thankful!”
Defeated by Ahn Hyung Seo’s pestering, even Jung Yoon Ki ended up saying thank you to him.
“Thank you. I wanted to do a drink commercial.”
When Do Wook also chimed in, Ahn Hyung Seo raised his chin. Suk Ji Hoon, who was looking at Ahn Hyung Seo do that, asked.
“But Hyung Seo, what if the advertiser tells you to do it again? One shot?”
“I can’t do that a second time!”
“They probably cast us thinking you can do that, right?”
“Can’t they do it in post-editing somehow?”
Ahn Hyung Seo said, flustered. From behind, Suk JI Hoon had a conspiracy-filled smile. He looked at Ahn Hyung Seo with a sincere expression and said.
“Maybe you should practice it.”
“Hurrr. You think so?”
While Ahn Hyung Seo was seriously thinking it over, the rehearsal hall door opened and the choreography instructor Noh Yoon Tae as well as the dance team trickled in.
Noh Yoon Tae said they’d start rehearsal in 10 minutes and told them to do warm-ups until then. He then started warming up as well.
Even while they were spread out and doing warm-ups, the members didn’t stop teasing Ahn Hyung Seo that he’d be the one who would have to drink all the coke.
At that time, the oldest and most experienced members of the dance team approached them and asked. The current dance team had been working with KK since the second album so they were pretty close, calling each other big brother or little brother.
“Is it true that LIL will be a part of your album?”
“What? It’s not like that. We just exchanged a few conversations.”
“Oh really? They really reached out? Amazing. Maybe we’ll end up touring around America with him later.”
A dance team member chatted excitedly in response to Ahn Hyung Seo’s reply. Ahn Hyung Seo was wary of Do Wook for some reason. People already had this much expectation of it, so Do Wook, who had just sent out the song, might feel burdened.
“If that happens, there’s nothing else I could ask for.”
Do Wook replied to the dance team member with a relaxed expression.
Once the dance team member went back, Ahn Hyung Seo grumbled about the article getting published early and needlessly causing pressure.
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung was looking into it, but the reporter didn’t have any particular intentions and was just repeating what he had heard an acquaintance say in passing, so it was not easy to find the origin of the article.
Do Wook thought that since people’s interest in KK was high now, it was inevitable that there was information that leaked out. The more interest one draws in, the higher the risk one has to bear.
‘Thankfully this won’t lead to any loss. What’s important is to be more careful…’
Do Wook thought as he replied to Ahn Hyung Seo.
“I’m ok. Still, because they took care of it so quickly there were just one or two articles. It was corrected too.”
“Yeah. And all we need to do is actually do a project with LIL! If he says he doesn’t like it and can’t work with us, say we’ll fix it. It doesn’t matter if we just do LIL’s chorus.”
“No, I have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Yeah, the song was really good. I hope LIL hyung likes it too.”
“You’re calling him hyung already?”
“Is that too familiar? Then, LIL sunbae?“
“Considering the year we debuted, we’re probably the sunbae.”
“Oh, LIL hubae then”
The choreography rehearsal soon started. The members, including Do Wook, sweated as they focused intensely.
There’s no sweat as transparent as the sweat you shed while singing and dancing. It’s sweat made up of nothing but passion for performing without any selfishness mixed in.
***
The next day, the reply they received from LIL was a formal one saying he’d contact them after giving the song a close listen.
After that, there was no contact from LIL for a very long time.
Time passed quickly and it was the first day of the dome tour, the day of the Osaka Kyocera Dome performance. Do Wook, who was preparing for the performance with a strong sense of anxiety, finally received a reply from LIL.
—
Next chapter: It’s time for KK’s dome tour in Japan