Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 33

33.

“Personally, I recommend Ryu Ideun or Chae Hamin.”

The moment I said that, Chae Hamin lowered his head as if embarrassed (why?), and Ryu Ideun immediately retorted.

“It’s better if Donghwa *hyung* [older brother or male friend] does it.”

I sighed and said,

“…It’s better if *hyung* does it than me.”

“Donghwa *hyung* is always calm, so he has a good personality to be a leader.”

“…*Hyung* is always active and leads the conversation, so he can handle it skillfully when we exchange opinions.”

“Donghwa *hyung* is sometimes more mature than me…”

“*Hyung* has a strong sense of responsibility and has been a trainee for several times longer than me…”

We were praising each other like that for almost two minutes.

Thanks to the table in the middle and Ryu Ideun and I sitting at each end, the three people in between kept turning their heads back and forth each time we spoke.

“So, I’m saying it’s better if Donghwa *hyung* does it!”

“…Therefore, the conclusion is that it’s better for you, Ryu Ideun, to do it.”

After Ryu Ideun’s face and my ears turned completely red, the praise battle ended.

Lee Hyunjae sighed, Chae Hamin smiled awkwardly, and Seokjun had a lazy, sleepy expression.

…I always think this, but when I talk to Ryu Ideun, I feel like my intelligence is dropping.

“…Truce. How about we have a production meeting about the leader tomorrow and talk about it again?”

“Okay, Donghwa! Your ears are so red right now; I don’t think you should do any more!”

“…But Ideun *hyung*’s face is totally crazy too.”

“You two— look— very— well done—.”

…Praise is still awkward.

* * *

After suffering from noise between floors, a day passed, and we gathered in the conference room for a production meeting.

Planning team members, A&R [Artists and Repertoire] team members, and our members gathered.

“Then, first of all, I’ll introduce the agenda to be discussed at the meeting.”

Jang Haejin, surrounded by cameras in the conference room, went to the front and flipped through the presentation on the large monitor.

“The main topics we’ll be talking about today are first, group name discussion, and second, debut album production process.”

Then Jang Haejin flips to the next PPT [PowerPoint presentation].

“Here are the results of summarizing the team name opinions from our planning team.”

I quickly scanned the names. …Oh my god.

“First of all, ‘Caterpillar’ means the endless tracks of a tank and contains the meaning of moving forward into the music industry without hesitation.”

…And in another sense, there’s a caterpillar [the insect].

Only Lee Hyunjae seemed to know this and was shocked, and the others reacted with ‘Ooh’. But Seokjun, aren’t you a high school student too?

“Next is ‘Superman’. It contains Nietzsche’s representative philosophical ideas, so it’s an opinion that came out because it fits the image of The Next Nietzsche.”

…No, if that’s the case, then keep the original word as it is and call it *Übermensch* [Nietzschean concept of the ‘Overman’].

Calling it Superman in Chinese characters is too… it’s hard to say this, but it’s embarrassing.

No matter how much my brain is steeped in philosophy, this isn’t it.

As I listened to the names that continued to come out, I imagined introducing each one myself… and I wanted to quit.

“…Okay, that’s it. Which one do you guys like?”

Jang Haejin looks at us with a face full of anticipation. …Are you proud?

I quietly raised my hand.

“Team leader, how about giving us a chance to name it? I think it would be good to decide on a name that fans will call ourselves.”

And I looked around at the other members. Everyone nodded their heads vigorously as if they agreed.

Then Jang Haejin thought for a moment, and then nodded as if it made sense.

“Then let’s postpone this agenda to tomorrow’s meeting! Everyone think more about the team name by tomorrow.”

Jang Haejin said, moving on to the next PPT.

“Next is the story about the album, does anyone have any opinions?”

Then this time, the A&R team leader raises his hand.

“Since our debut is in the summer, wouldn’t a cool atmosphere be better?”

“Well… it’s orthodox to appeal to a refreshing image if you’re a rookie.”

“The A&R team is slowly getting quite a few summer songs, and the quality isn’t bad. Our team’s composers are also writing songs aiming for the summer.”

Um, a summer song.

A planning team employee who was listening to the conversation raised his hand and said.

“Then the album will have a sea, travel, and resort feel, but isn’t it a bit obvious?”

“That’s true, it’s good to grab the group concept with a debut album! But the summer concept has disadvantages in the long term.”

The content of the meeting that followed was, in the end, ‘What color will this group be?’

I, who was seeing an idol debut meeting for the first time, began to discuss ‘the color of the group’ with curious eyes.

“Hip-hop is doing well these days, how about a tough guy concept?”

“Look at the kids’ faces. Donghwa is the only one who feels like the brain of an organization; the rest don’t seem like they’d even be members of an organization.”

…Was I insulted?

“Originally, the planning team decided to push for a cute younger man concept, right?”

“But, when I saw their last survival stage, they had a more mature image than cute…”

The team members, who were having a meeting like that, looked at each of our members one by one and opened their mouths.

“They’re handsome.”

“Hyunjae definitely looks young, and the rest have a youthful feel.”

“They all look classy.”

“Classy…?”

“Classy…”

“Prince…?”

“Prince…!”

Jang Haejin, who shouted ‘prince’ in a single word, nodded her head greatly. She seems quite excited.

“That’s exactly the word I wanted! Prince! A word that will explain them well!”

…Wait, I was bored for a while and wasn’t listening, but prince, what kind of strange thing is that.

Chae Hamin and Lee Hyunjae were originally raised preciously, so the atmosphere of a young master is right. You can call them princes.

Ryu Ideun has a handsome face that would suit a king, and Seokjun is the face of someone who would protect the king next to him and die heroically, so if he suits a prince, he would suit a prince.

But I am an orphan with poverty permeated to the bone and only knew how to study, so I am a human being who would suit a practical scholar from a concubine like Jang Youngsil [renowned Joseon dynasty scientist and engineer].

“Especially Donghwa! The atmosphere that Donghwa has is like a cold prince! You know that! A prince who doesn’t talk much and is thorough in national affairs but is very worried about the princess!”

Jang Haejin, who was excited, forgot her honorifics and lightly called me Donghwa. More than that… what are you looking at, what are you reading, and what have you been living with, team leader?

And Seokjun, who heard those words, suddenly raised his voice as if he was stimulated by something. A guy who has never expressed his opinion until now.

“Team leader! It’s exactly the same as what I’ve always been thinking about ‘What if Ji Donghwa was a *Wizney* [likely a typo for ‘Disney’] prince!’ Donghwa *hyung* is a typical *tsundere* [a character who is initially cold but warms up over time] prince type! Like he’s going to use ice magic!”

…Shut up, Juna.

Why are you proud of the fact that you usually waste your life?

“That’s right, Juna!”

Jang Haejin shouted brightly as if she liked the unexpected agreement.

…Through this process, our group’s color was decided to be something embarrassing, embarrassing to say, and something that I would want to hide somewhere if someone brought it up, called ‘noble sons’.

“Don’t think too strangely. It just means that a concept like the sons of a *chaebol* [large South Korean conglomerate] family gathering and deviating seems to suit you very well.”

…If it’s a *chaebol* family, there’s no one who fits except Chae Hamin.

“Then a sea vacation wouldn’t be bad either? If you pour in only production costs with the concept of the sons of a large corporation gathering and going to play in the summer, you can capture the group’s color and make the most of the season!”

* * *

We returned to the dorm and sat down to discuss the team name.

“Um, if it’s noble sons, it would be better to go with a name with that kind of atmosphere, right?”

“…But is there a team name that sounds like noble sons?”

“I— like— Prince— too—”

“…That’s not it, Jun.”

“Donghwa, what is noble son in English?”

Um, there’s no exact word.

“…If you have to translate it, noble?”

“In German?”

“…*Adlige*.”

“In French?”

“…*Aristocratie* or *noble*.”

“Ah, the nuances are all not good, right, Donghwa.”

…Then why did you ask, rabbit bastard?

“Oh, our Donghwa is like a dictionary.”

At the end of my foreign language answer procession that started with Ryu Ideun’s words, Lee Hyunjae took out a strange word combination.

“…How about Blossense, *hyungs*!”

Lee Hyunjae looks at us with eyes asking us to praise him quickly. When I see him like this… Mokwha comes to mind. I should make a call later.

“Um, Hyunjae, what word is that?”

Then he realizes that he wanted praise without even explaining the meaning and says.

“…It’s a combination of Blossom and sense.”

Oh, does it mean a feeling like a flower is blooming?

Lee Hyunjae then adds why he thought that.

“So, I met *hyungs*, and I received comfort when I was having a hard time, and I achieved my dream, right?”

Lee Hyunjae looks around at us and smiles.

“I feel like my life is finally blooming.”

…This is much better than Caterpillar.

No, too much, really better.

As expected, he is the smartest kid on our team.

“Hyunjae! The meaning is good, and it’s very luxurious. Let’s do that!”

Chae Hamin first sends an excessive reaction…

“Hyunjae— sometimes— looks— more like— a *hyung*— than me.”

Seokjun said something obvious.

I quietly raised my thumb. I think I can hear Ryu Ideun next to me saying it’s like an old man, but let’s ignore it.

“…Ideun *hyung*, what about you?”

Lee Hyunjae looks at Ryu Ideun with anxious eyes. Ryu Ideun sees that and smiles…

“Our Hyunjae, as expected, is cute like the youngest!”

He started hugging Lee Hyunjae and messing up his hair.

…Oh my god, that’s really like an old man.

Anyway, Lee Hyunjae expressed his opinion for the first time in a long time, so I have to prepare the logic to persuade them to make this decision tomorrow.

I quickly went into my and Chae Hamin’s room and rummaged through the box of books I had brought.

…But why can’t I see the rhetoric-related books? Oh, no way…

“…Hamin, did you use my book as a pot coaster again?”

“…Donghwa, you said I could use it before…”

I look at Chae Hamin with a shocked expression.

That, crazy, the treasure trove of knowledge, used only as a tool to satisfy your appetite!

“…I thought you were going to read it.”

When he said that, Chae Hamin suddenly smiled brightly and shouted.

“To think you would see me like that, it’s the first time in my life!”

I pick up the book on Chae Hamin’s desk and think.

…Mokwha was really an obedient younger sibling.

* * *

‘A song with a sea travel atmosphere…’

I am borrowing a studio in the company and struggling with my thoughts.

Basic practice will start again tomorrow, so I wanted to create the basic framework of the song today.

But how could I have lived a luxurious life like ‘the sons of a large corporation gathering and going on a trip’?

When I was young, I couldn’t travel because I didn’t have money, and after I made money, I hardly left home except for studying abroad.

‘Sea… I only remember it once.’

I remember going to Incheon in the fall because Mokwha wanted to see the sea so much.

It was just a subway ride, but Mokwha was so excited.

Before I knew it, I was thinking like an old man reminiscing about memories with his grandson at the end of his life.

At that time… the sunset was quite beautiful. In the slightly chilly weather, old clothes warmed my body, and the noodles I ate at the restaurant before going home warmed my body from the inside.

It would be nice if I could write the feeling at that time into a song.

I don’t know anything about fun and prosperous sea travel, so I should just write it the way I want to write it.

‘The concept is… on a sunset beach, enduring the slight chill, feeling happiness with each other.’

I closed my eyes and reminisced about that time.

And in that atmosphere, I began to grab each of the flying notes and connect them to each other.

By the time all the notes were connected, I opened my eyes and moved my hands.