Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 169

49. LITTLE LADY

When Jaehee heard the news that Happiness was disbanding, she accepted it with surprising composure.

‘I knew it was coming!’

She had known it would happen.

After moving to a new company and adopting a new concept, the performance of their first mini-album was still dismal.

There wasn’t much difference compared to their previous mini-albums, which barely exceeded initial sales of a thousand copies.

They managed to sell a few hundred more copies with their second mini-album, but the mini-album released a year prior experienced another significant decline.

It barely managed to surpass a thousand copies in initial sales.

There could be several reasons for such poor performance.

The notoriety they gained in a negative way, and the core fans who became even weaker as they changed their concept.

Moreover, some of the existing fans turned their backs, and unfavorable rumors were circulating.

Rumors about a member of Happiness being involved in two-timing or smoking.

Usually, such rumors circulated among top-tier or rising stars who were gaining significant recognition, but Happiness, belonging to neither category, was still plagued by such malicious rumors.

With the situation like this, the atmosphere within the company and Happiness itself was not good.

This also affected Jaehee, who had always been resilient like a tumbler doll.

“I guess there are things that don’t work out no matter how hard you try.”

At 22 years old.

Jaehee, facing harsh reality at a young age, had to murmur those words with a sense of resignation.

While packing her belongings in the dorm, where she had grown fond of, the manager who had been in charge of them came to say a final goodbye, looking bewildered.

“Disbanding? What are you talking about?”

“……I know. That we’re leaving the company.”

“Hmm. Where did you hear that? Ah! It must be Taehee. Always so hasty.”

“Please…… don’t scold her. She was just worried about us.”

Even though she was called ‘unnie’ [older sister or female friend, a term of endearment in Korean], she was only one year older than Jaehee and a second-year road manager in this industry.

As a dorm manager, she lived in the same house, and Jaehee had grown quite fond of her, so she was worried about her even in this situation.

Realizing Jaehee’s thoughts, the manager looked at her with a complex expression.

‘She was such a talented and determined kid.’

And how righteous was her character? Even in a situation where she thought she was being kicked out, she was still thinking of staying until the end, which was a rare act of kindness.

If she had succeeded, she would have become a star who received cheers from people for a long time.

‘It’s a shame to let her go like this, but there’s no other way.’

If it hadn’t been for the unexpected COVID-19 situation, they would have changed their strategy and continued to challenge, but due to the increasingly difficult company situation, they had no choice but to let go.

So, the manager looked at her with a hint of regret and corrected the false truth she knew.

“You guys aren’t disbanding. You’re being transferred to another agency.”

“Huh…… Really?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected words, Jaehee couldn’t hide her confusion. The manager slowly told her about the situation.

The story started with who CEO Kim Seung-jae of P Entertainment was, and how he was currently viewing Happiness very positively.

“I heard that CEO Kim Seung-jae caught a big fish. The fact that the agency is located in Gangnam [affluent district in Seoul] says it all.”

Unlike her company located in Gangbuk [less affluent district in Seoul], real estate in Gangnam was at an enormous level.

Especially now, with the bubble inflated to the fullest, setting up an agency in such a place meant that the agency’s financial power was immense.

“And to think such absurd rumors would circulate among you guys.”

“Um…… Is this good for us?”

“Of course. You know Max, right? They were a third-tier group before that guy took charge.”

“Max?”

They were an idol group that was a bit lacking to be called a top-tier group, but it would be unfair to call them a second-tier group.

They had topped the charts 1,250 days after their debut and had generated many memes at one point.

Jaehee couldn’t help but feel her heart flutter when she heard that the producer who created Max wanted them.

Naturally, Jaehee and Happiness were positive about this transfer to P Entertainment.

They had already changed agencies and concepts once before, so they were even more so.

Above all, the contract terms were so generous that it was hard to believe it was a newly established agency.

“The profit split is 4:6. Who gets 6? Of course, it’s you guys.”

The profit split itself was unbelievable, but what was even more surprising was the investment in them.

“The first album will start with shooting three music videos. In addition, the dorm will be…….”

If you were to ask where the most money goes into making an idol group, it would be music videos.

It depends on the quality of the music video, but a decent quality one averages over 200 million won [approximately $150,000 USD]. Of course, if you put in some effort, it can easily go up 2-3 times.

In addition, there’s the Performance MV (a music video focused on dance) which costs from 50 million to 100 million won [approximately $37,000 – $75,000 USD].

Plus, Live in studio (a video of a live performance in a studio), Lyric video (a video to show the lyrics, often provided as a service by the company), Making & Teaser videos.

Besides that, there are behind-the-scenes videos, episode videos, reaction videos, short videos, etc.

Most of the time, they are bundled together in a contract, and the cost is approximately 900 million to 1.1 billion won [approximately $675,000 – $825,000 USD].

As a plus, at least 6 sets of outfits are needed for each member, and the production cost for these outfits is at least 1 million won [approximately $750 USD] per set.

Of course, if the song changes and the concept changes, the number of outfits increases.

But to shoot not one, but three music videos, that alone would cost about 3 billion won [approximately $2.25 million USD].

Having been in this industry for 6 years, they knew how enormous this was.

If they didn’t have a large agency or a mid-sized agency with wealthy overseas investors, it would be difficult to even start.

But the surprises for them were just beginning.

“You may or may not know, but Happiness will be disbanding. Instead, you guys will start as a new group.”

“A new group?”

Chaeryeong, the youngest member of Happiness, born in 2001 and 20 years old this year, asked back in surprise, and CEO Kim Seung-jae nodded with a smile.

“Two more members will be added to the current four of you. Each of them is born in 2002 and 2004, so you won’t be the youngest in the team anymore.”

“Two more members?”

“Born in 2004!”

“That’s too young!”

“High school freshman. No, it’s not the new semester yet, so…… middle schooler?”

Jaehee and the others, who were also called 99z by fans [referring to those born in 1999], were at a loss for words at the news that a member born in 2004 would be joining.

Chaeryeong, born in 2001 and now an adult, thought she was young, but it was amazing that a member 3 years younger than her was joining.

“Wow! Finally escaping the maknae life!”

And Chaeryeong, who was no longer the youngest (maknae) [youngest member], was very happy at the news that she would have two younger siblings.

She had three younger brothers at home, and she had a hard time adjusting to being the youngest in the team. She had also wanted to have cute younger sisters instead of younger brothers since she was young.

So it was no wonder she was so happy to have two younger sisters.

“When can we see the new members?”

“……Well, you’ll probably be able to be together next month.”

“……??”

They were momentarily taken aback by the unexpected and strange answer, but this was something that even CEO Kim Seung-jae couldn’t help.

This was because he had also been notified by Director Park Seong-ryul, who had become a director at P Entertainment.

“You don’t have to worry too much. You’ll be satisfied enough when you actually see the kids we brought in.”

“If the director says so, then I’ll believe it.”

CEO Kim Seung-jae, who knew that Director Park Seong-ryul didn’t make empty promises, had no choice but to show a trusting attitude.

Anyway, after being taken aback for a moment, they couldn’t close their mouths at the scale of the new agency, P Entertainment, that they were about to face.

Most new or small to medium-sized agencies would use one or two floors of a building at best, or a small building, but the building where P Entertainment was located was no worse than the agencies they had been with before.

That was just in terms of size, and considering that it was located in Gangnam, it was actually embarrassing to compare.

CEO Kim Seung-jae smiled at the surprised girls and continued.

“Hahaha. It’s a bit bigger than you thought, right? But the inside is even more amazing, so don’t be surprised yet.”

And as CEO Kim Seung-jae said, they couldn’t easily close their mouths at the luxurious interior design of the company, which was more luxurious than what they saw from the outside.

The peak of their surprise was when they checked their dorm.

Chaeryeong had to look around when she found out that their dorm was a luxurious 70-pyeong officetel [a multi-purpose building containing residential and commercial units] located in Gangnam, not far from the company.

“Huh…… Is this a hidden camera prank?”

It was a statement typical of Chaeryeong, who usually said strange things, but the 99z couldn’t tell her not to joke around like usual.

That’s because it was an officetel with an interior that looked like it was from a rich family in a drama, and it had three bathrooms, so they couldn’t help but think that way.

“We don’t have to fight over the bathroom anymore.”

“Hehehe.”

Chaeryeong, who had toured the officetel once, made another strange remark, and Jaehee finally burst into laughter.

Indeed, with only one bathroom in a house with five women, including the dorm manager, every day was a war.

There were six rooms, and one of the small rooms was for the dorm manager, so when the members were added later, two people had to share a room.

“I’ll share with the youngest.”

“……You’re sharing with me?”

Chaeryeong, who was excited that she finally had her own room, looked as if the sky was falling at Jaehee’s words, but soon realized that she was not the youngest.

It was about the new member who was coming in, about whom everything was still a secret except that she was born in 2004.

Thanks to this, Jaehee naturally got the biggest room.

A few days later, new furniture was brought in, and they spent the night in the new dorm. They naturally gathered in Jaehee’s big room.

“Jaehee unnie, let’s sleep together…… Oh, when did you guys get here?”

“Hehe. You came?”

“……I was a little scared.”

“Yeah, yeah. My bed is too big.”

Having slept in the same room for over 6 years, they were not used to sleeping alone.

Jaehee was happy to see the members like that, but she was also worried.

“Sigh. We need to get used to it before the new members come.”

“Ahaha.”

“Won’t we be used to it by then?”

“Yeah, we’ll be used to it by then. Don’t worry, Jaehee.”

“……Can’t I sleep with the youngest?”

Chaeryeong whined, but Jaehee shook her head at the sight. She didn’t think she could entrust the young maknae [youngest member] to Chaeryeong, who was so immature that it was hard to believe she was the eldest at home.

After that, they stayed up late talking because they couldn’t sleep.

Jaehee looked at the members who had fallen asleep late at night and briefly expressed her curiosity.

‘Ah~. What kind of kids are the new members?’

She thought that they must be talented friends with great potential, as the CEO was so confident.

That’s why she was worried on the one hand.

She was worried about what they would think about the fact that they were joining them, who were famous for being flop idols.

As she struggled with her worries all night, she fell asleep to the sound of the members’ colorful snores.