Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 49

16. Good Night

“Thank you. Thank you.”

“Yes~! This has been Good Night. Please don’t be surprised by our next guest singer. He’s very famous these days. Mr. Neoun!”

-Iheehee!-

A middle-aged man with a cheerful expression came onto the stage accompanied by loud trot music [a genre of Korean pop music].

It was the stage of a chili pepper festival, a major local event, but the middle-aged man completely dominated the stage from his entrance.

It was thanks to the enthusiastic response from the audience.

“Haa~.”

Jang Dae-hoon, Good Night’s manager and agency president, who was watching the scene, sighed deeply.

It was because of the different level of enthusiasm compared to his own group’s performance a little while ago.

Of course, it’s hard to get a response since the main age group at these chili pepper festival events is elderly, but that was just an excuse.

Even third-tier idols can attract teenagers, twenties, or even thirties who come to see them if they are actively performing.

This is because, unlike Seoul, it is difficult to see celebrities in rural areas, so people want to satisfy their desires.

However, Good Night had barely any recognition, even for a third-tier idol group, and they hadn’t made a comeback in almost two years.

In the entertainment industry, where recognition declines even after being absent from the media for a few months, not being active for nearly two years was enough to make even the few core fans turn their backs.

‘Haa~. You pathetic bastard.’

Jang Dae-hoon gritted his teeth.

It was because he felt so sorry for the girls who were not shining because of his own shortcomings.

That’s why he wanted to release a third mini-album no matter what, but the problem was, of course, money.

Even if he kept the activity costs to a minimum, including music videos, song fees, and costumes, he needed more than 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD].

With the first and second mini-albums failing miserably, and barely managing to pay off the interest on the debt, he couldn’t even dream of a third mini-album.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

The Good Night members diligently greeted even the part-time staff before approaching Jang Dae-hoon.

Among them, Yuna, who had black hair and a face reminiscent of a cat, made a fuss as soon as she approached Jang Dae-hoon.

“Wow! It’s so great to be on such a big stage!”

“R, really?”

Jang Dae-hoon hesitated at Yuna’s positive energy, which always surprised him.

Jiheon, the youngest member of the team and who became an adult this year, greatly agreed with Yuna’s words.

“That’s right! That’s right! It’s been a year since we performed in front of so many people.”

Ari, the leader and oldest member of the team, spoke clearly to Yuna and Jiheon, who were excited by the atmosphere of the stage.

“Okay, everyone. We can’t just stand still in a place where so many people are passing by. It’s a hindrance to the staff. Okay! Move, move!”

“Ah, right. We should go.”

As Ari led the members away, Jang Dae-hoon glanced at her.

He knew that Ari was the one who had the most attachment to the stage among them.

From the first time he met her, she was talented enough to easily enter a trainee program at a large entertainment company.

She was excellent at dancing, but her singing was also very attractive due to her unique voice.

The reason she came to him was not for any other reason.

It was because Jang Dae-hoon chased after her to recruit her, but more than that, it was because of money.

At the time, Jang Dae-hoon readily provided her mother’s considerable surgery expenses, which she urgently needed, under the name of a contract fee.

That’s how Good Night was created around her.

Good Night was created by taking out loans on the house inherited from his parents, but even so, it was only enough to meet the basic requirements, and of course, he suffered great failures each time.

To be sure, even successful composers with dozens of hit songs fail repeatedly with girl groups, so it didn’t make sense for him, who had only worked as a manager at a mid-sized entertainment company for about five years, to succeed.

He ambitiously released a second mini-album, but it failed miserably, not even comparable to the first mini-album debut song, ‘Assa!’, which was somewhat known to people.

As a result, Jang Dae-hoon was struggling with debt, and in the process, he had to let go of his manager brother who had been with him.

However, Jang Dae-hoon tried to make a comeback no matter what.

He not only worked part-time jobs with high hourly wages but also tried to borrow money from acquaintances.

In addition, he met investors as much as possible, but it always ended in failure.

In the end, he was performing at events at low prices like now, but it seemed that this would not last long either.

This is because the organizers tend to call those who have been active on TV to some extent that year, even if it costs a little more money.

Continuing TV activities means that they have been somewhat verified, and from that point of view, there was no reason to call a girl group like Good Night, which had not made a comeback for more than a year.

Considering that, this event might be the last one.

Ari seemed to know that situation as well.

When the road was stopped for a moment by passing cars, she looked at the stage she had been on a little while ago.

Jang Dae-hoon noticed that she was looking at the stage, but he pretended not to notice and turned his gaze away.

‘Haa~ you pathetic bastard······.’

Instead, he ridiculed himself inside.

And with that, Jang Dae-hoon was able to make up his mind.

He was now able to accept how stupid it was to have been hesitating for so long.

“Let’s go. Assa!”

‘Assa!’, which could be said to be Good Night’s most successful song, was playing loudly in the old Starex van.

The Good Night members were excited about performing on a big stage for the first time in a while, and they sang the song with even higher tension than usual.

By the time the song was over. Jang Dae-hoon said to Good Night, who was excited.

“Let’s have a company dinner today for the first time in a while. Tell me what you want to eat. I’ll buy it all for you!”

The members’ eyes lit up at the word company dinner.

“Oh! That lie, it’s not really a lie, is it?”

“What’s wrong with the stingy boss?”

“Did you get a lot of event fees today?”

“You guys! If you don’t want to see me become a real miser, tell me quickly. If you don’t tell me, I’m going to go where I want to eat.”

At the boss’s words, they hurriedly told him what they wanted to eat.

“I want to eat jokbal [pig’s trotters] for the first time in a while. With bibim guksu [spicy mixed noodles], I’ll wrap it up and yap!”

“Oh? I want to eat tteokbokki [spicy rice cakes]. Rose tteokbokki with added cheese!”

“I want chicken. Chicken with powder sprinkled on it!”

“Why are your tastes so different! Let’s unify them a bit.”

“Then let’s exclude jokbal.”

“You’re kidding me. What’s tteokbokki, like a child’s food?”

“Goodness! Do you despise tteokbokki? 10 million tteokbokki lovers will not forgive you.”

“Okay, okay! Stop fighting. Ugh. Boss, let’s just have chicken.”

“What are you saying! This unnie [older sister]!”

“Yeah. I’d rather eat jokbal than chicken.”

“J, Jiheon! Thank you.”

Ari, who was happy at the appearance of an ally like rain on dry land, rubbed her nose with her index finger as if it was nothing. Thanks to that, Ari, who couldn’t eat chicken, trembled. Jang Dae-hoon chuckled at their appearance and said.

“I’m in a good mood. Let’s eat everything today!”

At the words to order all three, they made expressions as if they were surprised.

“Heok! My heart is fluttering!”

“Did I hear wrong?”

“Is it someone’s birthday today? Why are you doing this?”

“What birthday. Never mind if you don’t like it.”

“Who said they don’t like it!”

They praised Jang Dae-hoon’s generosity, fearing that he might change his mind.

Was it because they had a big event for the first time in a while and were going to eat their favorite food?

The old Starex van ran more vigorously than ever on the road to Seoul, as if it had been rejuvenated.

“Ugh. It’s really too much.”

Jang Dae-hoon couldn’t hide his annoyance as he left Gil Entertainment, which barely passed as a mid-sized entertainment company.

That’s because they had rejected his request to put the Good Night members in the first-tier trainee program too harshly.

Gil Entertainment drew a line, saying that the best they could do was second-tier trainees.

At this, Jang Dae-hoon had to suppress his boiling anger and leave Gil Entertainment.

Even though Good Night was an idol group that had entered the third tier, they were still an idol group that had released up to the second mini-album.

They were practically experienced idol group who knew this ecosystem well and didn’t need much touch.

In addition, they were outstanding in appearance, dance, and singing to the point that they could be compared to trainees from large entertainment companies.

Jang Dae-hoon appealed to this point with various data, but Gil Entertainment’s judgment did not change.

Rather, they took the point that he was pushing as an advantage, that they were experienced idol group, as a disadvantage and cut them down.

Celebrities’ images are important, so no matter how talented they are, what would they use an idol with the tail of a ‘failed idol’ attached to them for?

Above all, they said that there must be a reason why a celebrity couldn’t make it, and that it wouldn’t be easy to accept them as second-tier trainees.

The sad thing is that all the entertainment companies he found had similar thoughts.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have disbanded them when the first mini-album failed.”

He couldn’t help but blame himself for thinking that they wouldn’t have been evaluated so poorly if he had done that.

He was already wrong.

After admitting that, Jang Dae-hoon tried to revive the Good Night members even at the cost of giving up his own dreams, but even that wasn’t easy.

However, Jang Dae-hoon was going to put them in the first-tier trainee program no matter what.

This is because if they weren’t first-tier trainees with the possibility of debuting at any time, there was almost no chance that they would re-debut.

Age. Age was the problem.

Jiheon, the youngest, is 20 years old, Yuna, the second, is 21 years old, and Ari, the leader, is 22 years old.

It was an age that would have been considered young elsewhere, but in girl groups, which have a particularly short lifespan, it was by no means a young age to debut.

Jiheon and Yuna were barely okay, but Ari had to be seen as having this year or next year as her last.

“They’re such good kids. They’re such talented kids. Is there no way to revive these kids?”

Unable to overcome the pain, he eventually returned to his shabby agency and drank three bottles of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] like water before finally falling asleep.

And when he woke up, something more dreamlike than a dream happened.

+++++++++++++

“Is this really the address?”

I hesitated to enter, looking at the shabby building that looked like it would collapse at any moment, thinking that it might be better to live in a container.

“Ah!”

Then, I exclaimed as I saw an old poster attached to one side of the building’s interior wall.

The reason I exclaimed at the poster, which had terribly 촌스러운 [outdated/tacky] colors and a messy composition, was not for any other reason.

It’s because the owner of that poster is Good Night.

Looking at the poster that looked like it was made at a neighborhood photo studio, I was able to remind myself of the purpose of my visit.

“Hoo~.”

I sighed with a mixture of annoyance and frustration and entered the building.

-Thump······. Squeak!-

The door opened weakly with a loud nasal sound, making it pointless to knock to see if anyone was there.

The office that opened in that way was neat.

What does it mean that a shabby office of about 10 pyeong (approximately 33 square meters) is neat, but it was literally that.

It was so neat, as if it was swept and wiped every morning and evening, that it was difficult to enter with shoes on.

After briefly considering whether to take off my shoes and enter, I shook my head and boldly left shoe prints in the office.

And… As soon as I entered, I was able to meet a pale-looking man.

To be exact, I met a man sleeping neatly on the sofa. He smelled of soju, as if he had drunk soju the day before, but what was surprising was that the surroundings were neat even in a drunken state.

If I hadn’t smelled the soju, I wouldn’t have even known that he had drunk the day before.

“Oh… So this person seems to be the president of Good Night?”

It was unexpected.

The fact that this neat man of a similar age to me was the president who created Good Night.

‘This is why prejudice is scary. I unconsciously thought he would be a relentlessly vicious-looking president.’

This might work out better than I thought?

I, who was thinking of acquiring this entertainment company to bring Good Night, looked at him with an interesting face.