Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 404

“Seo-jun, what are you going to do after lunch?”

Kim Si-hoon, the main dancer of Bluemoon, asked Seo-jun with a smile. Seo-jun answered with a laugh.

“I’m going to look for something to do for my graduation performance. I haven’t decided yet.”

Since it was known that Seo-jun was going to have a graduation performance, he received more novels than scripts. It was better to read them at the company and go home than to move them one by one.

“It must be a hassle to move them.”

Everyone nodded at Seo-jun’s explanation.

The leader, Choi Jae-won, graduated from Mirinae High School two years ago, and Kim Si-hoon and Baek Yi-hyun graduated last year. 

They knew well about the graduation performance of Mirinae High School.

“Last year, only the music department had an official performance, right?”

At Choi Jae-won’s words, Kim Si-hoon and Baek Yi-hyun, who were in the music department until last year, coughed and shrugged their shoulders.

“But you guys couldn’t participate because of your debut.”

At Jung Eun-sung’s words, the shoulders of the two brothers sagged.

Seo-jun and the kids burst into laughter at their reaction.

***

After finishing lunch, Seo-jun returned to his practice room and the Bluemoon members headed to the conference room as instructed by their manager.

“Doesn’t Seo-jun seem like he’s going to do an official performance?”

Baek Yi-hyun asked and Jung Eun-sung nodded.

“There are a lot of people who say they want to see him in person in the comments on the mirror video on YouTube.”

“Even if he does an official performance, it won’t be many times. The ticketing will be fierce…”

They couldn’t keep the kids who were going to college indefinitely, so the official performance of Mirinae High School was only held during the two-month winter vacation.

“Did the music department perform twice a week?”

“Yes. Twice a week for eight weeks.”

“Then it would be about 16 times… It would be really hard to get tickets. We won’t be able to see it, right?”

“It’s a shame. I couldn’t see it when I was in Yeoul Middle School either.”

The members laughed at Baek Yi-hyun’s words, who was the lead vocal.

“That’s right. Yi-hyun hyung was our senior by one year, so he graduated the year after Seo-jun had his graduation performance.”

“He did that in Yeoul Middle School and Mirinae High School. He should have been born a year later.”

They laughed again at Baek Yi-hyun’s sincere words.

Choi Jae-won, who was laughing, opened the door of the conference room.

There was an employee preparing for the meeting in the conference room. 

He was from Cocoa Entertainment’s Singer Team 1, who was in charge of Brown Black and Bluemoon. He was familiar to Bluemoon.

“Hello!”

The employee who was putting materials on each table greeted Bluemoon with a smile.

“You’re already here? They’ll be here soon. Wait a minute.”

“Yes!”

The Bluemoon members sat down on one side of the conference room.

They didn’t even discuss who would sit where, but they looked very familiar as they sat in their seats like they were assigned.

When the employee finished preparing and went outside, they started to open their mouths one by one.

“It’s amazing that we’re getting used to this conference room, isn’t it?”

Park I-deun looked around the familiar conference room and said. The other members felt the same way.

“It’s rare for an agency to ask for opinions from singers before their debut.”

Kim Si-hoon nodded at Choi Jae-won’s words. He had been in another agency before coming to Cocoa Entertainment.

“I couldn’t even open my mouth until I was a few years old at my old agency.”

“I guess it’s because it’s a place that Brown Black seniors and President Seo made together?”

“And Seo-jun too.”

The relationship between Brown Black and Seo-jun, which started with a YouTube parenting show, was a famous story in the entertainment industry.

“I wonder if the president who embezzled money knew that Brown Black seniors would become so great and make the company big.”

“He probably didn’t know.”

Baek Yi-hyun said and Jung Eun-sung shook his head.

The story of how Brown Black’s manager became the president of Cocoa Entertainment after President Seo’s embezzlement was also famous in this business.

Starting as an ordinary manager and becoming the president of an agency with superstars who are unique in Korea, it was like a dream for managers.

Of course, the superstar was his nephew by blood.

***

“Okay, let’s start the meeting.”

When everyone took their seats at the big table, the team leader of Singer Team 1, who was sitting at the head of the table, opened his mouth.

He had been working with Brown Black since President Seo became the president of Cocoa Entertainment.

“Are we going with the same theme as we planned?”

The team leader asked and the employee nodded and opened his mouth.

“Yes. Since the debut album focused more on the public appeal than Bluemoon’s color, we decided to go with a song that introduces Bluemoon, like a self-introduction, for this single album.”

That’s why Singer Team 1 decided to release Bluemoon’s next album as a single album rather than a full-length album with a lot of volume.

“It’s not too risky because it’s a single album, and the fans are increasing too. It would be nice to make a song that shows the members’ personalities, like ‘This is what I have.’”

“It would be even better if it had public appeal too…”

But it was not easy to find a song that fit perfectly.

The team leader nodded his head.

“Do you have any good songs?”

The A&R team, who had been listening to songs all day since the day after Bluemoon’s album production schedule was set, shook their heads vigorously.

“There are some decent songs, but none that say this is it.”

“Really? Are there more songs coming in?”

“There are a lot of songs coming in.”

It was almost certain that Bluemoon would succeed, as they were gaining popularity from the start like Brown Black, White, and Red Crown.

If they were chosen as Bluemoon’s song, they would get royalties and more requests for composing in the future. 

And Cocoa Entertainment was famous for being a good partner for new composers, so songs were constantly coming in.

“But they’re just mediocre.”

The A&R team, who had led Cocoa Entertainment idols to success, was trustworthy. 

The team leader frowned for a moment and looked at Bluemoon sitting on one side.

“What about you guys? Do you have any songs you like?”

Bluemoon members, who were looking at each other with a puzzled expression, nodded their heads. 

They felt puzzled by the A&R team’s words that said there were no good songs.

“Really? What kind of song is it?”

The team leader and other employees sparkled their eyes.

The A&R team members also leaned forward with interest, as they were opposite to Bluemoon’s reaction that said there were good songs.

“It’s number 37. I liked it and the members said they liked it too.”

“37? There were no good songs below 50.”

The song numbers were random, meaning to listen without prejudice.

It took a lot of time to listen and judge from the first song to the last song, but they could also find a song that they almost missed. 

And they also believed that listening and evaluating any song frequently would improve their skills.

The A&R team quickly found song number 37 on the laptop connected to the conference room. When they played it, music flowed out of the speakers installed in the conference room.

The team leader, A&R team, and other employees tilted their heads at the song that seemed exciting but strangely blocked. 

Bluemoon also tilted their heads to one side.

“No, you can’t react like that!”

At the A&R team member’s words, Jung Eun-sung scratched his cheek.

“But this is not the song we heard, right?”

Everyone tilted their heads at Bluemoon’s constant nodding.

Then where did this song come from?

“Did you bring the song?”

“Yes. Here it is.”

Choi Jae-won handed over his phone, and the employee quickly connected it to the laptop and played the song number 37 that Bluemoon mentioned.

Ding.

“Oh.”

The first melody caught their ears. Everyone in the conference room listened carefully. 

Some of them nodded their heads and followed the rhythm. 

They understood why Bluemoon chose this song.

“Let’s listen to it again.”

At the team leader’s words, the song was played again.

“Is this the first part?”

“Yes. It seems like it.”

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

There were four parts with distinct features, followed by a new melody that seemed to combine all four parts.

“The first four parts are a bit rough, but the last part is good.”

“It’s not bad until the fourth part. It’s just that the last part is too good.”

The team leader, A&R team, and other employees nodded at the A&R team’s words.

“It would be nice if each person took one part.”

“That’s right. If we arrange it and add one more part, we just need to modify the last part a bit, right?”

To match the number of Bluemoon members, five parts with distinctive features and a sixth part that harmonized all the parts.

The A&R team frowned a little.

“But the last part is so good that it won’t be easy to modify.”

“Plus, if we add another individual part, we’ll have to make the last part completely new.”

They had a lively discussion because they found a good song. Bluemoon also shared their thoughts on song number 37.

“What if we split the longest part?”

“If we divide the same melody, it might not show our individuality well.”

But there was no other way than to touch the last part that they wanted to keep intact.

“Was there no name of the composer?”

“No. There was none.”

At Choi Jae-won’s words, the A&R team regretted and nodded.

“I don’t know where it came from, but I want to get more songs from them because it’s a good song…”

“Maybe you can find it if you look at the company’s computers.”

“Um…”

When Choi Jae-won opened his mouth, everyone looked at him.

“This is just our guess, but… It reminds us of Brown Black seniors’ old songs. Maybe it came from them.”

…!

Everyone in the conference room widened their eyes.

“…You’re right? This is like Brown Black’s old style.”

Old style didn’t mean bad or boring.

Brown Black’s song style was divided into two types: in the early songs, the four members blended together like an orchestra, and in the later songs, they showed their individuality.

They had more individual activities lately, but sometimes they released songs that showed Brown Black’s fierce competition among the four members, yet they harmonized into one song and made them admire.

“A Brown Black song slipped in.”

“That’s right. There are exactly four parts.”

“Do you still have a list of composers who submitted Brown Black songs?”

At the team leader’s question, the A&R team member smiled awkwardly and said.

“It was a long time ago… I don’t know if I have it.”

“It would be hard to find them one by one even if you have it.”

“Why don’t we ask Brown Black members? They might remember because it’s a good song. And we might find out why they didn’t use it.”

It was a good idea.

If they didn’t use this good song at that time, there might have been something that even the team leader didn’t know.

The team leader picked up his phone and contacted Park Seo-jin, the leader of Brown Black. He switched to speakerphone mode.

“Bluemoon kids found a good song that sounds similar to your style. I wondered if you heard it before.”

-A good song?

When song number 37 was played, Park Seo-jin’s humming followed along. At first he was catching up with the melody, but at some point he sang along with it.

‘He knows this song!’

Bluemoon and employees sparkled their eyes.

-Ah, this song.

“You know this?”

-Ye-jun composed this song.

Hwang Ye-jun?

Bluemoon and employees thought of Brown Black member who always made them laugh on variety shows. He had talent in composing and was currently working with various singers.

The team leader realized his mistake.

He became Brown Black’s manager shortly after President Seo took over Cocoa Entertainment. 

Hwang Ye-jun started composing songs slowly from then on, but Brown Black’s songs at that time were not this style, so he didn’t think of it.

***

“We originally planned to use it for our next album, but our style changed in the middle.”

‘That was probably at the fan meeting.’

Park Seo-jin leaned back on the sofa as he watched [Shadowman 2].

Ah. It was around this time.

It was a fan meeting to comfort the worried fans before starting their official activities after President Seo took over Cocoa Entertainment, which was on the verge of collapse due to the previous president’s embezzlement.

They moved freely as if they had escaped from the restrictions they had been holding back. 

Their style changed from then on and continued until now.

“That song was still there. You can ask Ye-jun, hyung.”

He heard the team leader’s voice saying he got it and hung up.

Park Seo-jin pressed the remote control and played [Shadowman 2] again.

The innocent Jin Nara was holding Shadowman Mac’s hand and heading to the memorial hall in Central Park.

“I should call everyone and go eat with Seo-jun.”

He smiled brightly as he thought of Seo-jun, who was still laughing like a baby even though he was about to become an adult. 

He remembered him as a baby first.