Suddenly, I Became Crazy Handsome, and the World Became Easy

Chapter 140: Album (3)

At the words spoken by Manager Kim Ki-baek, who looked exhausted, Kang Rojun tilted his head and asked again.“I’m writing the lyrics for all the songs?”

Manager Kim Ki-baek gave a small nod.

“Yes. Um- this hasn’t been discussed with the CEO-nim or the A&R team yet, but I think it would be good if you took charge of the lyrics for Vanguard’s debut album. What do you think?”

Kang Rojun quietly mouthed something like, “Is that even okay?” It made sense to wonder, because a company like GM Entertainment would have no shortage of well-known or highly skilled lyricists across the country.

The usual order of completing a song is composition first, then lyrics.

Once a composer sends in a track and the company selects it, they compile details like the song’s concept and the direction of the idol group, then send that information along with the track to lyricists. Dozens of lyricists, not just one. Then those lyricists pour everything they have into crafting lyrics. But only one is selected per song. The process for both composition and lyrics is roughly the same, and in either case, the competition is cutthroat.

Once the composition and lyrics are completed, the recording begins, and choreography for dance is created.

Not a single part of the process is unimportant.

Which is why Kang Rojun found it a bit puzzling.

‘They’re skipping all those lyricists and giving it to me? I mean, I don’t mind, but still.’

It would be one thing if it were just one song, but Manager Kim Ki-baek had mentioned all of them. After briefly scanning the members, Kang Rojun made eye contact with Kim Ki-baek again.

“I’d like to give it a try, but is it really okay for me to do the entire album?”

Kim Ki-baek shrugged his shoulders slowly.

“There might be quite a few people who object. But we’ll make it happen. It’s better in many ways for you to write the lyrics, Rojun.”

“What kind of ways, for example?”

Kim Ki-baek, who had been rubbing his chin, responded with a hum.

“Hmm- You wrote most of the songs for 'Produce That 100!', right? Including Park Hyun-jung-nim’s.”

“That’s right.”

“‘Witch', the original 'Survival 100' track, the Japanese version of 'Survival 100', ‘Bold', and the OSTs ‘Lovers’ and ‘Black and White Sound'. That’s what I found when I checked. Are there any others?”

Though his tone was tired, his information was accurate. Rojun wondered, “When did he even find time to look all that up?” He looked like the type to be sloppy with details, but he had memorized the songs clearly, which was strangely impressive.

“No, that’s all.”

“As a lyricist, your filmography is absurdly strong for a rookie. Even more so because songs like those from 'Produce That 100!' and ‘Black and White Sound’ are still ranking high on the charts. The results of your lyric work have been quite good.”

“......”

“On top of that, I hear your writing speed is insanely fast. Sources include PD Woo Han-suk, PD Jung Soo-ryeong, and Song Min-geun-nim. Oh, and even the members here. Like with composition, experienced lyrics writing would be even faster."

He had clearly done his homework in advance.

“Among the members of Vanguard, the visual center also happens to be a highly skilled lyricist, and he works several times faster than other lyricists. I think this is something you absolutely have to do, Rojun.”

At that point, Si-hoo, who had been quietly listening, cautiously chimed in.

“Ro, Roju. I’d also prefer you write the lyrics. I trust you. You wrote all my songs in 'Produce That 100!', and I want you to handle the ones I’ll be singing in the future too.”

Kang-min and Do-kyung strongly agreed as well.

“I’m absolutely in favor.”

“No lyricist out there compares to Rojun hyung.”

To this, Manager Kim Ki-baek added further reasoning.

“If Rojun writes all the lyrics, of course, Vanguard’s debut can happen sooner. Normally, lyricists take a few weeks to a month per song.”

Finally, he voiced the concern that had been on his mind.

“But, if you think the workload is too heavy and intense... um- feel free to decline. The most important thing is your condition and health, Rojun.”

Decline? Kang Rojun had no intention of doing that.

“No, I’ll do it.”

Though he’d been focusing more on composing lately, Rojun hadn’t neglected screenwriting or lyric writing either.

‘Of course, all my main and side gigs are fun. If I have the potential, there’s no need to hand it off to another lyricist.’

With that, Kang Rojun smiled with his eyes.

“To be honest, I was planning to offer to write at least one of the songs anyway.”

Manager Kim Ki-baek gave a thumbs up, clearly pleased.

“Good. Alright then, I’ll work on persuading everyone about Rojun writing the debut tracks. Though honestly, I don’t think it’ll be too hard.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you. It’s rare to find a group with members this talented. And also, probably a good idea to start thinking about the Japanese versions too. At this rate, I think we’ll be going over to Japan sooner than expected.”

If the debut album had three songs, then they would have to write lyrics for six tracks in total, including the Korean and Japanese versions. That might be a burden for most people, but Kang Rojun felt his mood lift.

‘The more I have to do, the more dopamine I get.’

Soon, Manager Kim Ki-baek changed the subject.

“And congratulations. Vanguard’s YouTube channel is a huge hit. You probably all know already, but it passed 1.3 million subscribers this morning, and now let’s see, 1.8 million. At this rate, it might hit 2 million before the day’s over.”

Vanguard’s YouTube channel was nothing short of a runaway train.

[Channel Name: Vanguard]

[Subscribers: 1.86 million]

[Videos: 3]

It had just launched yesterday, and they were already on the brink of 2 million subscribers.

“This is a first for me too, so it’s a little overwhelming. I figured there’d be a good response because of your recognition, but not to this extent... You’ve already overtaken most of the popular idol YouTube channels in just one day.”

This, too, was a record if you considered it that way. It wasn’t like there was no precedent, but no debuting group had ever pulled in this kind of subscriber count and views right out of the gate. It was safe to say Vanguard was the first.

“Thanks to that, the YouTube team is now swamped. We were planning to roll things out slowly and monitor the response, but in this situation, we can’t just sit on our hands. There’ll probably be some additional shoots for YouTube content. I’ll let you know as soon as we get confirmation.”

Next, he gave a more detailed briefing regarding the music videos.

“I mentioned it briefly, but the music video side will be on a larger scale. CEO-nim also said not to be limited by the budget. If we film MVs for all the tracks, we’ll first release the teaser. That will also act as Vanguard’s concept teaser. Then we’ll release the official MVs simultaneously on the Vanguard YouTube channel. The debut stage will come after that.”

In addition, Manager Kim Ki-baek carefully informed them of everything that had been confirmed so far. The more they heard, the more fired up the Vanguard members became. Soon, Kim Ki-baek closed the diary he’d been looking at.

“I’m seeing and experiencing a lot of firsts too, and it’s really getting me fired up.”

His words stood in complete contrast to his weak demeanor.

The next day, Wednesday around lunchtime.

Kang Rojun and the members were at the cafeteria. From morning until noon, Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung had been in training, while Kang Rojun had just come from the studio. When the boys arrived at the spacious cafeteria, they did a little shoulder dance.

"Today it's got to be Ttukbul."

As Do-kyung said dryly, Si-hoo and Kang-min also decided on their meals. With a wide range of choices like Korean, Western, and Japanese cuisine, just picking what to eat was a task. A happy dilemma.

As for Kang Rojun.

“I think I need to wield a knife today. Craving meat.”

“Steak? Hmm- I might slice up some meat too.”

Soon, Rojun and Si-hoo walked over to the Western food corner, and before long, the Vanguard members were all gathered at one table. They shared their main dishes so everyone could have a bit of everything. With a blank expression, Do-kyung put a piece of Ttukbul in his mouth and slowly closed his eyes.

“I could easily down three bowls of rice with this.”

Kang-min, wearing a hairband, chimed in.

“Whoa- today’s Ttukbul quality is insane. I should’ve gotten Ttukbul too.”

“Take some, hyung.”

“You take some of my donkatsu.”

As Do-kyung chewed on a few pieces of Kang-min’s donkatsu, he turned his gaze to Rojun and Si-hoo.

“How about you two, hyungs?”

The one who answered first was Kang Rojun, who was seriously slicing his steak.

“What about?”

“I mean, how are you feeling? Both of you submitted songs, right? You think your tracks will be chosen as the debut songs?”

“No idea.”

Then Si-hoo reacted like something suddenly came to mind.

“Ah! Right! I still need to listen to Rojun’s dance track composition. Did you officially decide on the title being ‘GreenBee’?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you finish it and submit it?”

“Fortunately. What about you, hyung?”

“I selected a few and turned them in.”

Kang-min looked at Do-kyung.

“Do-kyung, why didn’t you submit anything? You can compose too.”

“I’m really just rap-focused, so my style doesn’t suit group songs.”

“True, you can use it later for solo or other group stuff.”

As the members focused for a while on eating, Do-kyung asked the hyungs a question.

“Do you think the staff will like your songs?”

Among them, Si-hoo, who had the most experience in composition, scratched his head.

“Even if they like it… decisions won’t come out right away. They’ll probably start by listening to all the collected song compositions as a sort of test? Like Manager Ki-baek said, picking song compositions is complicated.”

“That’s true. As far as I know, they usually hold at least three meetings before making a final decision.”

“They narrow it down from fifty song compositions to thirty to ten… and once they have the final candidates, CEO-nim and the executives gather to decide.”

“Ugh- it’s gonna take forever just to decide on the song compositions.”

“Our company’s considered fast. Normally, it takes over a month just to collect song compositions, and even more time to finalize them.”

“Since we’re in the collection stage now, that means there’s no chance of finalizing the debut tracks this month. Next month? Or maybe the month after if it gets delayed?”

Perhaps the timeline felt daunting, because Do-kyung let out a long sigh. Kang-min was no different. Watching the younger members, Si-hoo tried to lift their spirits.

“We’re on the faster side, seriously.”

Beside them, Kang Rojun was spreading steak sauce over his rice as he silently clicked his tongue.

‘I figured it’d be complicated, but choosing the song compositions is way more complex than I thought.’

Meanwhile.

In the main conference room, countless staff members had gathered, including those from the management team, A&R team, business team, PR and marketing teams, and more. Among them was Manager Kim Ki-baek, wearing a long padded coat. As the room buzzed with murmurs, the female team leader from the A&R team stepped to the front. More precisely, she was the person leading the Vanguard-dedicated team.

She addressed the assembled staff.

“About 80% of Vanguard’s song collection is complete. It’s not fully done yet, but on CEO-nim’s orders to speed things up, we’ll start reviewing the more important songs from what we’ve gathered so far.”

Though the full collection of songs for Vanguard’s debut album wasn’t yet finished, enough of the key tracks had come in for them to proceed with the first round of evaluation. Naturally, not every collected track would be played here. They’d focus on the high-priority songs, gauge the atmosphere, gather feedback from each team, and then the A&R team would make the first round of selections.

“For reference, as previously shared, song compositions from Vanguard members Rojun and Si-hoo are included in the collection. We’ll begin with those two’s tracks.”

Most staff already knew that Rojun and Si-hoo had contributed song compositions. However, there was greater trust in Si-hoo’s work. Only the A&R team here was aware of Rojun’s composing abilities.

“We’ll start with Rojun-nim’s track, a ballad he composed early on. Please have a listen.”

Just as she operated the laptop.

-Swish.

Suddenly, the glass door at the front opened, and someone entered. Immediately, Manager Kim Ki-baek and all seated employees stood and bowed politely. It was understandable.

The person who had just entered, speaking with a deep and heavy tone, was.

“Stay seated. I just came by because I was curious.”

CEO Ha Seo-hwan of GN Entertainment. Dressed in a full suit, he took a seat in a spot the staff had cleared for him. It was by the window, and as he gently crossed his legs, he gave a silent look to continue. He wore a faint smile, yet his charisma was undeniable.

Somewhat startled, the female team leader cleared her throat and resumed operating the laptop.

Soon, throughout the large conference room.

-♬♪

A ballad began to play. It was Kang Rojun’s 'Song No. 1'. After listening for a brief moment, CEO Ha Seo-hwan gave a faint smile. His expression was hard to read. In contrast, the surrounding staff gave genuine exclamations of awe.

“This is good?? Is it just me?”

“Wow- he’s got a knack for ballads too?”

“This is insane. Wait, this is his first composition? Unbelievable.”

Manager Kim Ki-baek let out something close to a scoff.

‘I’ve never heard this one before, but damn, it’s insanely well made. Now I get why the staff are reacting like this. Who would think this is a rookie-level composition?’

After stopping the song around the first verse, the female team leader raised the corners of her mouth.

“Nice, right? The next one is a track we asked Rojun-nim to create specifically for the song collection. Please give it a listen. The title is ‘GreenBee.’”

A few seconds later, Kang Rojun’s freshly completed track, 'GreenBee', began playing in the conference room.

-♬♪

And then.

“......”

After about thirty seconds of listening to the intro of 'GreenBee', CEO Ha Seo-hwan immediately gave an instruction.

“This one’s confirmed.”

Just like that, one of Vanguard’s debut songs was instantly decided.

*****

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