Chapter 311 : I Want to Leave the Group (1)
Chapter 311: I Want to Leave the Group (1)
Even as the sounds of wailing grew louder, the meeting came first.
“Ugh…”
Groaning weakly, I checked the document laid out in front of me. It was the concept proposal for our 3rd Full Album.
Section Chief Kim Seyoung from the A&R Team, someone I saw almost as often as the management team, spoke excitedly.
“I personally think all three title track candidates turned out really well! That's why our A&R Team has been debating over them for so long.”
Section Chief Kim Seyoung's ear for music was definitely trustworthy. Smiling, she continued.
“But all three songs have very different concepts... Would you like to hear them first?”
Doubles tended to gather a lot of the members' opinions when making the final song selection.
Kang Siwoo nodded with a serious expression. Cha Seongbin looked just as cautious.
“Let's give them a listen.”
The first sample track.
Bright English lyrics flowed through the speakers. Section Chief Kim Seyoung confidently explained.
“This is a song we got from BMA.”
“Ah, those guys.”
“Oh! I'm actually a fan.”
Was it Vail and Eric?
I had heard BMA was a company founded by two internationally famous pop composers.
Lately, they'd been working on quite a few K-pop songs, and among their representative works was The Way's previous title track.
I'd heard their musical spectrum was broad, but their refreshing concept song was much higher quality than I expected.
Ha Junseo nodded.
“This has a similar style to our debut song.”
“A lot of fans have been asking if we'd do another refreshing concept around summer~.”
Considering when the album would be released, it wasn't a bad choice.
Jin Sehyun smiled in satisfaction and looked over at me.
“This song's good.”
While overseas fans tended to prefer more powerful songs, considering the success of Every summer, there was no reason to rule this out completely.
Keeping the first song in mind,
it was time to listen to the second sample.
“Let's hear the next one.”
Section Chief Kim Seyoung tapped on her phone and played the sample.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
A powerful beat slammed into us from the very beginning. Even before she could say anything, I already knew.
“This is Seongbin-hyung's song, isn't it?”
“Is it that obvious~?”
“Yes. Completely.”
Of course.
This trendy, clean beat was Cha Seongbin's signature style.
While it was true BMA had a wide musical spectrum, personally, I thought Cha Seongbin's range was even broader.
“Mm. I like it.”
The moment the first verse ended, Kang Siwoo broke into a genuine smile.
“This one's my style too!!”
Seo Haim also spoke with slightly excited eyes.
“This is great!”
It wasn't the kind of style we'd promoted with before, but it was probably the closest to Tied to you from our Starf competition days.
Jin Sehyun's eyes sparkled.
“Hyung, the lyrics aren't done yet, right?”
“Yeah. I'm still deciding exactly what concept to go with.”
Cha Seongbin smiled as he stroked his chin.
“Now that we're all adults... Maybe it's time to loosen the reins a little?”
“Someone stop him.”
I should probably let someone else write the lyrics.
“I'd like to try writing them.”
The fact that even Seo Ian timidly raised one hand said everything.
Cha Seongbin cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Ahem. Please play the last song.”
The third song was also from overseas composers.
Section Chief Kim Seyoung proudly explained.
“This one came out during last year's second-half Song Camp. It got an amazing response back then.”
There was a reason Doubles held Song Camps twice a year. High-quality songs poured out during those sessions, and if this was one that had already been well received, it was definitely trustworthy.
Sure enough.
The moment the third sample started playing, everyone fell silent.
It was an upbeat retro pop track. The highlight melody was incredibly addictive, sticking in your head immediately.
As soon as it finished, the reactions split cleanly into two groups.
“Ah, this one's good too.”
“This is driving me crazy... How are we supposed to choose?”
From what I heard, the A&R Team had struggled with the exact same dilemma.
Section Chief Kim Seyoung pressed a hand against her forehead and complained.
“Honestly, both songs are title-track worthy, so we spent forever debating. It feels like such a waste to shelve one of them. We even considered doing a double title, but upper management was against it because they were worried it'd split the promotional impact. Or should we release one as a single?”
“That wouldn't be bad either...”
“If we go that route, we still need to decide today's title track.”
Having two great songs was a problem in itself.
“Should we go with a double title?”
“Let's release one as a single.”
“The problem is we can't decide which!”
While the members were happily agonizing over the decision,
I quietly found myself worrying about something entirely different.
“Hmm…”
Strange.
Ever since the lineup had changed, the future had already become hopelessly distorted...
but it still felt unfamiliar that all three title-track candidates were songs I'd never heard before.
As far as I knew, Stardust's original 3rd Full Album title track definitely wasn't among these.
It wasn't like I couldn't guess why.
Around this point in the original timeline, Lee Junhyeok had caused a massive scandal with his assault incident, and Cha Seongbin had suspended activities because of mental health issues...
There was no way the second song Cha Seongbin composed had ever seen the light of day.
Then what about the third song?
Had completely new tracks come in simply because Stardust was growing much faster than its original trajectory?
The flap of a butterfly's wings really could create a storm beyond imagination.
It was another moment that made me truly realize the butterfly effect.
As long as the end result was good, there wasn't really a problem...
but from this point onward, this was definitely a future I no longer knew.
I couldn't confidently say which song would become the bigger success.
Just then, Seo Ian's voice broke me out of my thoughts.
“Which one do you think is better, Seohan?”
“Do Seohan's got a really good eye for songs~.”
Cha Seongbin smiled brightly as he casually asked me.
I swallowed and laughed awkwardly.
“I'm not really sure.”
“Just go with your gut.”
Meanwhile, Seo Haim was chattering away excitedly.
“I'm voting for Seongbin-hyung's! I've wanted to try something more intense!! And while we're at it, why don't we make the lyrics intense too?”
“Let's make sure those two never write lyrics.”
“No, why?!”
Listening to everyone's opinions, the group was split exactly in half.
Jin Sehyun, Seo Ian, and Ha Junseo preferred the retro pop track.
The other three were on Team Power EDM.
Of course, we weren't going to settle something like this with a simple majority vote, but it still made the decision difficult.
So as for me...
“I want to try Seongbin-hyung's concept.”
“Wow!”
“Is Do Seohan finally going for a major image transformation?”
“…Huh?”
A second Tied to you.
I thought it was finally time to give it a shot.
The 3rd Full Album would undoubtedly become a major turning point in Stardust's career.
The importance of the title track couldn't be overstated.
There were plenty of artists who had been doing well, only to collapse because they chose the wrong title song.
Gulp.
Cha Seongbin swallowed nervously.
His sample track had been provisionally selected as the title track.
It would only be finalized after the completed version was finished, but in reality, the decision had practically already been made.
“Ah, leave it to me. I'll work hard~.”
He had spoken playfully in the meeting,
but in truth, his mentality was far too fragile to withstand the pressure.
“Hoo…”
Grabbing at his hair, Cha Seongbin stared blankly at the project on his monitor.
The sample he'd sent to the A&R Team wasn't bad by any means.
But...
he kept getting greedier.
Trying to raise the song's quality by several levels during the week's grace period, he'd already stayed awake for three consecutive nights.
To be honest,
it felt like his brain wasn't functioning properly anymore.
“Hyung, get some rest. You're seriously going to collapse...”
It wasn't just Do Seohan who looked worried.
Seo Haim had also left behind an entire box of Choco Haim in the studio, telling him to eat something sweet and cheer up.
Of course...
“Wow. This is even better than the last version. Seriously, this is already good enough, so why are you still worrying after three days? By the way, remember that shabu-shabu place we went to before...”
He couldn't deny that his energy had only been drained even further.
“Ha... I don't know anymore.”
Leaning his head against the back of his chair, Cha Seongbin let out a short sigh.
He wanted to prove himself.
If only for the youngest member, who pretended otherwise but clearly obsessed over the overseas tour audience numbers.
For his hardworking younger members.
For the leader who silently carried so many burdens.
Still, album production was a marathon.
There was no reason to push himself this hard already.
Straightening his posture, Cha Seongbin muttered quietly.
“Let's just finish this mixing and head home.”
Right then—
Drip.
A sticky liquid trickled down the tip of his nose.
“…!”
He wiped it away with his sleeve, thinking something had dripped onto him.
Blood stained the fabric.
It was a nosebleed.
“Ah.”
He had pushed himself too hard.
Cha Seongbin hurriedly grabbed some tissues and tried to stop the bleeding.
At the very least, he shouldn't have stayed awake for three straight days and nights.
To make matters worse, his head was spinning.
He firmly pressed the tissues against his nose.
Fortunately, the bleeding stopped, but the dizziness remained.
Frowning, Cha Seongbin took a deep breath.
He leaned his head back against the chair once more.
The dizziness seemed to ease a little.
“I should close my eyes for a bit...”
—or at least, that was what he intended.
He hadn't meant to completely pass out.
But his body declared a strike.
Before he even realized it, he drifted into sleep.
.
.
.
“I want to leave the group…”
“……”
“I can't keep living like this.”
Hmm.
Strange.
“Let me go. I don't want to be an idol anymore.”
A crystal-clear voice echoed beside his ear.