“L Duty Free Shop?!”
“Really??”
“Wow! Crazy!”
The members, who were surprised after checking the message, all shouted.
As it happened, they had previously heard that they were receiving advertisement offers one after another recently.
The company was painstakingly choosing among the flurry of advertisement requests that were coming in. They also had to consider how to raise KK’s value.
Among them, L Duty Free Shop was an advertisement they absolutely had to do regardless of pay.
L Duty Free Shop was a place that didn’t typically pick you as their model unless you were a big Hanryu* star.
(TL Note: hanryu/hallyu refers to the Korean Wave, the global rise of Korean culture)
Of course Sa Bang Shin Hwa was not the only model for L Duty Free Shop. They’d historically used a lot of Hanryu stars like Sa Bang Shin Hwa as models.
However, they were mostly actors, and Sa Bang Shin Hwa was the only idol model for L Duty Free Shop.
It wasn’t enough to simply be popular in Korea. You had to have significant popularity abroad to become a model for L Duty Free Shop.
Those who caught the quickest that KK was gaining popularity in Japan and China were marketing teams of businesses where overseas sales were important, like duty free stores.
Even though they were just a submodel for a photoshoot without a video, it was a good example to prove that KK had reached a certain position.
With this, in less than 2 years since debuting KK achieved all three of the top advertisements an idol could do: a school uniform, chicken, and duty free stores.
[Then when is the shoot?]
Jung Yoon Ki asked Manager Oh Baek Ho as the representative.
[The shoot is around December and you’ll do the New Year advertisement first.]
[The concept is giving a New Year greeting wearing hanbok.]
[There will be another shoot in March depending on the response.]
Manager Oh Baek Ho, who was at an external meeting, sent them a concise response summarizing just the important content.
Excited, Ahn Hyung Seo sent an emoticon of a rabbit drawing a heart without thinking.
“I think Manager Oh will say something about that…”
Suk Ji Hoon, who had been looking at his cellphone, said.
Sure enough, Manager Oh Baek Ho sent a message scolding Ahn Hyung Seo.
Not caring at all, Ahn Hyung Seo excitedly hummed. The other members looked at Ahn Hyung Seo doing that and smiled. It was true that everyone was in a good mood.
“There’s nobody who can stand in our wayyyyy―!”
Ahn Hyung Seo sang the theme song of a sports cartoon as he spun around in circles.
Pretending to cover his ears, Jung Yoon Ki, who was trying to stop Ahn Hyung Seo, made eye contact with Do Wook .
Do Wook was thinking of how Ara Entertainment, who had probably already heard the news, must have reacted when they heard the news KK was doing an ad for L Duty Free Shop.
‘I’m sure they had considered M2M, who will be succeeding Sa Bang Shin Hwa, as the model too…’
Jung Yoon Ki, who was making eye contact with Do Wook, muttered,
“Honestly, I’m kind of scared lately.”
Do Wook asked “what do you mean” with his eyes, and Jung Yoon Ki quietly started to speak,
“Think about it. It can’t continue to be one success after another like this forever…”
Do Wook understood the uneasiness Jung Yoon Ki was feeling. It was natural to feel uneasy.
Even Do Wook, who knows the future and can get ahead, didn’t know if everything would work out or not.
Every day was a challenge and adventure for Do Wook too.
However, he was certain of one thing. You could properly get to your destination if you walked the set path without going off-track.
That was why you had to give it your best every day.
“Don’t care, bro*. We just need to keep working hard!”
(TL Note: This was said in English.)
Kim Won said what Do Wook wanted to say. When Kim Won said that, Jung Yoon Ki nodded his head. Park Tae Hyung, who was quietly listening from the side, felt the same.
At that moment instructor Noh Yoon Tae, who had stepped out, returned.
They started the concert rehearsal again.
***
In the midst of busily preparing for the concert, Do Wook had a short meeting with Yoo Sung Fashion’s President Lee Yoo Min. It was at a quiet café near Dosan Park.
Gu Chul Min, who brought Do Wook by car to the meeting place, sat at the next table so he wouldn’t get in the way of their conversation.
“Hello ma’am.”
“Why are you greeting me so stiffly? Please relax. Long time no see.”
“Yes. Have you been well?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
President Lee Yoo Min replied, laughing.
President Lee Yoo Min was extremely satisfied with the result of the brand 7days and OKAY’s collaboration. It was such a perfect result that it would be weird if you weren’t satisfied no matter how greedy you were.
“You could have spoken with our Team Leader, but isn’t it better if I tell you directly?”
President Lee Yoo Min said bluntly after ordering coffee.
“And I wanted to see you again too.*”
(TL Note: To clarify, Yoo Min is saying this to Do Wook.)
President Lee Yoo Min was perfectly put together today too. A manner of speaking that didn’t have any gaps yet wasn’t too stiff and felt relaxed. Do Wook learned those things as he looked at President Lee Yoo Min.
“Thank you for looking after me.”
“Sure. I want to use KK as the model for 7days’s next season. It won’t be a collaboration like with OKAY, just simple modeling.”
After the recent collaboration, HIT Entertainment and the 7days marketing team had felt it had been a win-win situation and had already discussed things a little further.
President Lee Yoo Min simply set up a formal meeting so she could take extra care of Do Wook. It was what was called managing your connections.
“Of course I consider it an honor any chance I get to work with Yoo Sung Fashion.”
President Lee Yoo Min took a sip of her coffee when Do Wook responded.
“I’m thankful that that’s how you feel. I heard KK was just selected as the model for L Duty Free Shop too.”
“Ah, you heard?”
“Yes, I happened to.”
President Lee Yoo Min replied vaguely then added with a smile.
“I have a personal relationship with the President of L Duty Free Shop.”
Do Wook realized that fact belatedly and exclaimed “ah”.
President Lee Yoo Min’s relative was President Lee Yoo Jin, who owned L Hotel. He had thought President Lee Yoo Jin was only the President of L Hotel, but recalled a step too late that he owned L Duty Free Shop too.
“I heard you’re rivals with M2M in your industry.”
“Ahh…”
Do Wook felt he might be able to get some information from President Lee Yoo Min so his curiosity was getting the best of him, but he was careful with his words.
As if she had noticed how Do Wook felt, President Lee Yoo Min continued to speak,
“I heard their agency pushed for that.”
“Is that so?”
Just as he thought. There was no way Ara Entertainment was keeping quiet.
“Yes. But, well, KK is extremely well received overseas.”
“The hard work paid off.”
Do Wook replied as he seamlessly put on a smile.
President Lee Yoo Min liked how he was not overly humble and pointed out things he should point out.
“Still, M2M’s Seo Jun? They became models because he was well-received in China for his drama.”
“I didn’t know. That’s good,“
Do Wook replied, trying to not harden his expression.
“We were also looking for a model and his name came up, so we were looking into him.”
“I see…”
“But we have you.”
When President Lee Yoo Min said that, Do Wook didn’t know what to do so he drank the coffee in front of him. President Lee Yoo Min’s expression hardened a little and became sharp.
“That’s what I think.”
Do Wook looked at President Lee Yoo Min with a serious expression.
“A star from the sky is more valuable than a cut diamond.”
The two of them quietly looked at each other.
Do Wook understood the overall meaning of what President Lee Yoo Min said.
He was able to tell clearly that Ara Entertainment had pushed M2M to Yoo Sung Fashion and L Duty Free Shop, and that doing so made President Lee Yoo Min be against it instead.
Do Wook started to think that if he kept up a good relationship with President Lee Yoo Min, she would become a stronger ally than he thought.
***
KK’s first concert itinerary was already announced before KK started preparing for the concert. When posters, ticket reservations, and performance dates were announced, the fandom was restless.
The fan community was full of talk of the concert every day.
The first concert had a total of 3 performances: one performance a day for 3 days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at a handball stadium.
Considering the current popularity of KK, the size of the concert hall was rather small. However, they clearly couldn’t accommodate all the fans since there were only three performances.
The reason they couldn’t rent a bigger place was because they had already rented a concert place at the beginning of the year. They had already taken into consideration that KK’s popularity would increase, but the trend of increasing fans was faster than expected.
Most of the fans expected there to be a ticket war. There were even fans who quickly gave up and decided to wait for the encore concert that would most likely come to Seoul again after the Japan and China concert.
There were talks within the company about adding additional performances, but since it was the first concert there was a consensus that one performance a day would be sufficient so that they could focus more on quality.
-They did a national tour in Japan, why aren’t they doing it in Korea? Why?!
-I’m poor…how can I raise the money…ㅠㅠ? Will I be able to save up my allowance in time for the ticket reservation?
-I’m really looking forward to the first concert! KK live will be freaking awesome.
-Seeing Prince Do Wook in person for the first time D-31…
-Will I be able to keep my sanity???
-I’m a working person and the Friday 8 pm performance is cutting it too close. I want to go to all the performances…do I need to use my PTO?
-Are you a Key Ring? If you’re not a Key Ring you won’t be able to go to all the performances even if you wanted to.
-First Generation Key Ring
-It’s a golden spoon
At least fans who quickly joined the Key Ring fan club could rest easy. They were worried about getting good seats, but they didn’t have to worry about tickets being sold out.
That was because presales for the fan club took place the day before the general tickets.
On the day the concert ticket reservations took place, Suk Ji Hoon was using the computer in the dormitory living room trying to reserve tickets on the ticket reservation site while Jung Yoon Ki, Kim Won, and Do Wook were away for an OKAY activity.
Park Tae Hyung was watching from behind.
“Why….are you reserving a ticket?”
“It’s just, every time I go to the fan café, they’re always complaining that it’s a ticket war. I was curious how fans reserve tickets.”
Park Tae Hyung was also curious.
Suk Ji Hoon, who entered the ticket reservation site on time, pressed the F5 key right at the reservation time, 8 pm, as fans said, to refresh the page.
“Huh?”
Park Tae Hyung, who was looking at the monitor from behind, absentmindedly made a sound. Suk Ji Hoon, who was confident he could move the mouse quickly, also stared at the monitor, bewildered.
The refreshed screen didn’t appear, only a white screen.
No matter how many times he pressed the button he couldn’t get in. After 10 minutes had passed he was finally able to get to the seat selection, but the tickets were already sold out.
Within almost 5 minutes, all the presale tickets were sold out. The few tickets that were left for general tickets the next day disappeared in 2 minutes. It was sold out.
“The fans are really something…”
“Yeah.”
It was also the day Suk Ji Hoon and Park Tae Hyung had a big realization.
***
The sold-out concert was fast approaching.
The members, who had been rehearsing for the concert as usual, were called to the Fan Marketing Team for the first time in a while.
There were so many things to prepare with the concert coming up.
There was also a change within the Fan Marketing Team.
The change was that the previous Fan Marketing Team Leader Jo Anna changed departments when she was promoted to Department Head of the Planning and Operations Team, and there was a new Team Leader for the Fan Marketing Team.
The KK members looked at the tall man entering the conference room. He was tall and handsome enough to be a celebrity.
“Hello, I’m Lee Dae Hyung. I’m the new team leader for Fan Marketing. I look forward to working with you.”
With that energetic introduction and greeting, the KK members went “ohhhh―” in admiration. Their first impression of Lee Dae Hyung was very good.
Do Wook frowned as he sat in his seat after shaking hands with Lee Dae Hyung.
‘Why is Team Leader Lee Dae Hyung, who should be with Ara Entertainment, here…’
—
Translator comments: Hello everyone! I just wanted to pop in and say Happy Lunar New year~~ Hope you are all enjoying the story so far. Thank you for all your support.
Thanks for the chapter!