“Man…”
Jung Yoon Ki suddenly got a bad feeling. He wasn’t sure what Do Wook was trying to say.
“How about we release one more song?”
“Huh?”
“…Hmmm?”
“Yoon Ki’s song this time.”
Do Wook sounded a little apologetic yet excited. The members looked at each other with a puzzled expression. Noticing the excited vibe from the back seat, Gu Chul Min, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked back to see what was going on, but couldn’t figure out the source.
Even the members didn’t quite know what Do Wook was talking about.
***
The intense ‘Continue’ music video shoot in Dubai had gone on for 3 days.
They had finished shooting in the desert, so what was left was returning to the studio to shoot there. The studio shoot took place a week later.
It was because Do Wook had a private business during that time.
Unlike the members heading to Incheon from Dubai International Airport, Do Wook, Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, as well as the youngest manager who recently came to work under Gu Chul Min, headed to Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
It was Paris.
Branch manager Jung Jin, who he had recently met with President Lee Yoo Min, officially contacted him through HIT Entertainment. He wanted to pick Do Wook as the muse for Coco’s new season. Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung had already heard from Do Wook that the idea had been brought up, but he thought it was truly amazing.
For Do Wook, it would definitely be a life-changing opportunity. Even if you looked at it from a team perspective and not just him personally, it would be beneficial. Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung thought that they would have to do whatever it took to make this work, even if they had to rearrange their schedule.
Coco even invited Do Wook to a meal with Coco’s Chief Designer and Director Saul Niguez before the full-scale catalogue shoot.
The founder of Coco was someone else, but Saul Niguez could be considered the person who created Coco’s current signature colors of black and white.
Saul Niguez, who became Coco’s chief designer at the age of 40, was still active today even as a gray-haired old man and was considered one of the most influential figures in the fashion industry along with Joy Wintour, the editor-in-chief of ‘Bombe’.
That very Saul Niguez chose Do Wook as his muse and asked to meet up.
Of course it could have been a business process, but Branch Manager Jung Jin mentioned that Saul Niguez was fascinated by Do Wook’s face and vibe and even listened to Do Wook’s songs.
He was saying that Saul was very interested in Do Wook. As they ironed out the scheduling details, Branch Manager Jung Jin seemed to be in a very good mood as he conveyed the information to Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung.
Even from Branch Manager Jung Jin’s perspective, the Korean model he recommended to be the representative was selected without much difficulty, so of course, he was in a good mood. Thanks to that, it led to an opportunity to go to headquarters with Do Wook as planned and impress the higher-ups there.
‘If the position of Coco’s muse was already decided…It’s a position that I can use to my advantage…’
Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung thought.
Do Wook had the same thought.
It was very uncommon to have a private meal with Saul Niguez.
It was common knowledge that if you want to spend an hour with Warren Buffett, who was called an investment genius, you need to buy his time. If you could buy your way into having a meal with Saul Niguez too, there would probably be a line of people wanting to buy it. That is, anyone who was in the fashion world or even remotely interested in fashion.
Do Wook, who had traveled to Paris from Dubai, met with Branch manager Jung Jin on site. After meeting up with him and sharing a brief conversation, Do Wook immediately headed towards the restaurant they would be having lunch with Saul Niguez at.
The place they ended up going to based on Saul Niguez’ personal recommendation for Do Wook, who originated from Korea, was a Michelin three-star restaurant in the city with a good view of the Eiffel Tower.
Once they entered the restaurant, the staff member asked if they had a reservation and Branch Manager Jung Jin gave Saul Niguez’s name.
The staff lead them to a very well-set table.
“Don’t be too nervous.”
“Ah…ok.”
“Haha. Actually, I’m getting nervous.”
Branch Manager Jung Jin relieved Do Wook’s nervousness with light words. The reason Do Wook was a little nervous was none other than Do Wook’s concern that on top of Saul Niguez being an incredible person, he was French.
‘They said we’ll be conversing in English so there shouldn’t be a communication problem, and Branch Manager Jung Jin is here too so it should be fine.’
Do Wook sat down as he thought that.
After they had been waiting for about 5 minutes, the restaurant door opened and Saul Niguez came in. He came right at the meeting time. Saul Niguez was with his secretary Ana. She was his secretary but she was a beautiful French woman: tall and skinny and features, including her facial features, that were model-status.
Exchanging handshakes and light hugs with those who arrived, Do Wook gave the first greeting.
“Bonjour!”
On his way from Dubai to Paris, Do Wook had practiced hard on the greeting in the plane. He had put in his headphones and tried to copy the pronunciation as close to the original language as possible.
“Enchanté de vous rencontrer.”*
(TL Note: “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”)
It was the logical “nice to meet you” greeting, but when Do Wook unexpectedly started speaking French, Saul Niguez’s expression brightened.
Before he could ask if he spoke French, Branch Manager Jung Jin tactfully said that it seemed like Do Wook had been practicing. It was a short sentence, but it was such an incredible pronunciation that even Branch Manager Jung Jin had also mistakenly thought that Do Wook could speak French.
Only then did Saul Niguez nod his head in understanding and ask for another handshake.
“Ahng nyuheung….hashuehyo…”?
(TL Note: The crazy spelling is to show that his Korean pronunciation is not very good.)
Do Wook had a delighted expression when Saul Niguez spoke Korean and said “Merci” to express his thanks. Saul Niguez said that he had previously learned Korean greetings from his friend.
Anyway, their conversation continued in English as they ate.
Do Wook’s concerns about communication were unfounded.
Since Do Wook’s English skills were more advanced, he was able to say what he wanted and there was no barrier in conveying his thoughts or in understanding what the other person was saying.
While working with LIL, Do Wook realized even more that if they one day enter the world market, knowing English, the world’s official language, would be essential. There was a reason that each idol group team included a member who could speak a foreign language like English.
Therefore, even after the project was over, he continued speaking English with Kim Won or building up his English skills by watching videos, and now could speak English at the level of an international student.
As there was no language barrier, Saul Niguez and even his secretary Anna naturally became absorbed in Do Wook’s tone, which was polite yet humble, but at the same time not putting himself down too much.
Saul Niguez was one of the pickiest people in the world, but Do Wook was a Coco muse he had picked out himself. He had already been interested in Do Wook before the meeting took place.
Saul Niguez was even more certain about the vibe he saw and felt in the picture after meeting him in person, and praised Do Wook saying that Do Wook was exuding the scent of someone that loves life.
The hidden meaning in that expression was that his vibe was ‘as deep as from someone who has lived two lives’.
Do Wook felt a twinge of guilt at that moment.
‘It might simply be an innocent expression but…as expected…is this the insight of a master?’
Actually, the reason Saul Niguez wanted to talk with Do Wook was to definitively determine if Do Wook indeed would be a good fit with the vibe of Coco’s new season.
In other words, it was the final interview. It may have already been decided, but Saul Niguez could cancel the decision if he wanted.
However, this lunch meeting had already become more than an interview.
Saul Niguez was genuinely interested in this star who came from the East. Contrary to his young appearance, he had a deep and unique vibe. There was a healthy energy flowing out from him even in a light laughter.
When Saul Niguez showed a little more interest in him, Do Wook introduced KK to him in order to introduce himself.
Saul Niguez, who had seen videos of Do Wook but only short clips of his solo performance, asked if they were a boy band as he displayed interest in KK too.
WIthout missing a beat, Do Wook showed the music video of ‘LAST DANCE’, which they had put the most effort into to make the video beautiful.
Branch Manager Jung Jin had thought Do Wook was no average guy, but he didn’t know that he would be able to carry a conversation with Saul Niguez so smoothly. On top of that, he was even casually promoting himself.
While Branch Manager Jung Jin was internally admiring him, Saul NIguez expressed his appreciation after watching the video.
”Oh…nice. It’s beautiful.”
Honestly, it was a conventional compliment. It’s true that it was a positive evaluation, but it didn’t seem like it totally caught his eye. To Saul Niguez, K-POP was a very unfamiliar genre.
Do Wook was a little disappointed, but gave himself a new goal to make music that would be highly praised even by people like Saul Niguez in the future.
However, that was not the end. Saul Niguez thanked him for introducing him to good music and said that he wanted to give KK outfits as a gift.
Branch Manager Jung Jin’s eyes opened wide.
Of course Saul Niguez was an artist who did fashion design, but he was a business expert at the same time. It wasn’t as if he had absolutely no prior information on Do Wook or KK, and he had already heard that they were quite influential in the Asian market through his secretary Ana.
Something that was as important as popularity to luxury brands like Coco was dignity. ‘Luxury goods’ do not become luxury goods for no reason. After having met Do Wook, he thought it would be ok to give outfits to KK.
Do Wook gratefully accepted Saul Niguez’s offer.
***
“We’re going to get all the outfits for the shoot from Coco. Limited edition outfits made with KK in mind.”
“Ah, right, you’re a model…but us too?”
“Yes,”
Do Wook said in response to Ahn Hyung Seo’s question.
With their jaws dropped, the members all listened closely to what Do Wook was saying.
Do Wook thought now was the time to step it up when the reaction to ‘Continue’ was keen, even in the Americas.
At the same time, he wasn’t thinking of releasing another album. The current album had record album sales. There was no reason to pointlessly release an additional album and disrupt album sales. Revenue was important, but records were also important.
‘Records make history.’*
(TL Note: Breaking the record for number of album sales, consecutive weeks as #1 on the charts, etc. will make your name go down in history.)
That’s why what Do Wook discussed with the Album Production Team back when the 3rd full-length album was being released was releasing a digital file of a remix version.
If ‘Continue’ succeeded in the global market as planned, it would serve as the stepping board for future projects. And the song Do Wook wanted to make a remix version of was the B-track song Jung Yoon Ki had composed, ‘Go low, Go high’.
‘Go low, Go high’ could be considered an extension of the song ‘Go high’ that was in the OKAY album.
There was a reason Do Wook took Jung Yoon Ki’s song under consideration.
What KK is good at. They made ‘Continue’ by finding that. It was a song that they made the best performance from.
Next, if there was one thing they wanted to show the people of the world, it was hip hop, the genre that KK had always done with a basic bass.
From the late 1990s to the present, hip hop is a genre that has definitively established itself as mainstream in the global market, including the United States.
Furthermore, Do Wook determined that if they make a high-end music video using outfits from Coco and borrowing the power of Coco’s Visual Director whom Branch Manager Jung Jin had introduced him to, they could easily keep ‘Continue’’s momentum going.
‘It’s time to unleash all of KK’s diverse charm.’
The members, who had listened to Do Wook’s complete explanation, nodded their heads.
They all became pumped up about continuing their momentum and briefly forgot about their fatigue.
It was befitting of KK, who had risen to the top through passion.
However, unlike the other members, Jung Yoon Ki’s expression was very dark. It wasn’t only because of the pressure of using his song.
“Do Wook…I appreciate you wanting to put my song out as a producer, but…”
“…yes?”
“But as a composer I’m against it.”
“If it’s because you feel pressured…”
“No man, it’s not the pressure. To be able to put the song out, it’ll have to be taken completely apart.”
—
Next chapter: Yoon Ki says Do Wook is…..the problem???