Free Web NovelTJ Entertainment A&R team.
In the conference room where the staff were seated around the table, TNT’s member Han Tae-hyun and his manager came in and sat down.
““I heard the new song came in?””
““Yeah. We got the submission from NewBlack’s Mr. Uju.””
““Finally. I thought I’d lose my voice waiting for it.””
Han Tae-hyun, smiling with satisfaction, crossed his legs.
““You’ve listened already, right? What do you think?””
““Hmm, I’m not sure... I think you should listen first.””
““...Really?””
Was the song just so-so?
As Han Tae-hyun tilted his head at the unexpectedly muted reaction from the staff, an A&R team member hit “play.”
Woooo— [owl hoot] and the chirping of insects filled the opening.
‘Oh...!’
An eerie beginning.
The gothic-style horror intro made Han Tae-hyun’s eyes light up. It wasn’t exactly to his taste, but the atmosphere was decent.
...Or so he thought.
Rumble! Bang bang!
Startled by thunder and lightning, he flinched.
‘Ah, damn.’
Though his face still held a wry smile, the unsettling sound wiped the laughter from his eyes.
‘What is this unsettling opening...?’
And that was only the beginning.
With thriller-movie BGM came a haunting voice.
Neuaaaah~ (dundun)
Neuaaaah~ (eummuh)
The guide vocals were by Seo Ri-hyuk and Kim Jung-hyun. Even allowing for guide lyrics sometimes being gibberish like “luping bbangbbang,” it sounded awful.
Someone who couldn’t watch horror films even blinked in fright.
‘Did I do something wrong? They wouldn’t send this to spite me for pushing them for the song... would they?’
Maybe it wasn’t from Sun Woo-ju at all. Maybe it was from San Woo-ju.
While every thought flashed through his mind, the EDM-tinged, eerie dance track kept playing, making him shudder.
‘Ugh...’
It felt like only sounds he hated had been combined.
Three minutes and thirty seconds passed.
Silence fell in the conference room and Han Tae-hyun’s mouth hung open in stunned disbelief.
The staff watched his wide-eyed “earthquake pupils” and snickered.
Han Tae-hyun swept his gaze around.
“....”
The angle of the staff’s seating was oddly specific. He scanned for hidden cameras—and sure enough, spotted them.
...It was a hidden-camera prank set up by the company.
““Oh, come on.””
All his tension drained away.
He half-laughed and chided the staff.
““You really scared me.””
““Hahaha!””
““When did you hide the cameras?””
At the staff’s laughter, he feigned exasperation.
““If you’d told me in advance, I’d have done a better job acting.””
““But it wouldn’t feel authentic.””
At the mischievous grins around the table, he too laughed and asked,
““So what was that track just now?””
““Remember Uju said he’d send us a song? We thought it’d be fun to use this as a promo—film the whole process from submission to recording and post it.””
““Hmm.””
He caught the drift.
TJ Entertainment promotes Han Tae-hyun’s solo album, Lemon Ent. features their hot star, and they also get “A Day at TJ Ent.” content. Whoever planned it was milking every drop of publicity from the song hand-off.
““Clever idea. Who came up with it?””
““Who else?”” the A&R staff said.
““It was Uju’s plan.””
“....”
One of them showed him the e-mail text, which read something like, “We filled the background with the sounds Tae-hyun fears most.”
He clenched his jaw—angry but relieved at being outfoxed.
‘Well played, anyway....’
Han Tae-hyun wiped the sweat from his brow, returned to his usual composure, and said,
““See this? I was so nervous I even started sweating.””
The staff laughed.
““Before you pass out, let’s hear the real song.””
““One moment.””
Instantly, a gentle intro filled the room.
A song on an entirely different level. Han Tae-hyun’s face lit up with joy.
‘Yes—that’s it!’
Out of habit whenever he heard a good song, he tapped his fingers on the table.
Uju’s voice sang the guide lyrics:
After the army,
My body’s not what it used to be—
When will you go?
The softly beginning tune quickly built in intensity—an energetic song. When the chorus hit, the music thundered gloriously, and Han Tae-hyun smiled at the staff, who nodded in agreement.
Han Tae-hyun smiled to himself.
‘This is totally my song...?’
Genre or personal taste aside, it fit him like a custom-tailored outfit—a song that expressed him perfectly. Already excited, he began imagining how to stage it.
““Wow....””
As the song ended, he let out a joyous yell.
““It’s amazing, isn’t it?””
““Right? We were surprised too. To get this quality on that schedule...””
““I told you it might be risky for a title.””
““I don’t like cheesy ‘genius’ talk, but this guy really is a genius.””
Han Tae-hyun nodded, then turned to the staff.
““We should prepare a stage for this one too, right?””
““Of course it’d be great.””
The song Uju sent wasn’t meant as the title track. For a solo title, they’d need a dance-heavy track—but this one, while danceable, was primarily vocal.
‘In a way, that’s even better.’
It could work as performance art or as a pure listening experience. Han Tae-hyun said,
““We could go double-title. If the response is good, we can promote it as a follow-up for a week or two.””
““That’s what we were thinking too. But...””
““Any issues?””
““Can you prepare both? Title choreography plus this one—it’ll be a lot.””
““Don’t worry. We’ll make it work.””
Even if it meant cutting his sleep to dangerous levels, his smile never faded.
The A&R director nodded.
““Okay. I think we’ve covered everything—let’s draft the proposal for the CEO.””
““Thanks!””
He rose, stretched, and paused at the door—realizing he’d forgotten one thing.
““Oh, by the way—what’s the song called?””
““Survivor.””
““Survivor....””
It meant “survivor” or “one who has endured” in Korean. Han Tae-hyun grinned.
““Good title.””
Top floor, TJ Ent. headquarters.
In a lavish office filled with antiques, a portly middle-aged man stroked his chin.
“Hmmm....”
Chairman Park Tae-joon let out a low murmur.
As CEO of TJ Entertainment and legendary “Midas Touch” of the industry, he had a current worry.
“I just can’t figure it out.”
He’d approved Han Tae-hyun’s solo album plan—yet on TV, he watched NewBlack on screen, narrowing his eyes.
‘What did I miss?’
His uncanny instinct for sniffing out money had built TJ Ent. into the country’s top agency. Six years ago, when comparing the debut lineup including Sun Woo-ju versus Baek Seung-je, he followed his nose—and it was right: TNT exploded, becoming Asia’s top idol. Had he debuted Uju back then, they might never have made the same explosive impact.
‘But....’
He replayed the audition video titled [SunWoo-ju_Audition] on his computer.
“Eek!”
A young elementary-school Uju tumbled into a doorframe, rolling across the floor. While the judges laughed, he popped up like part of the act.
“Hello! I’m Sun Woo-ju from Gunsan Elementary!”
“Aw, so cute.”
Even a random voice captured on audio couldn’t hide how radiant the kid was. The judges assumed he’d be accepted and began questions.
“I prepared my intro as a rap!”
“Ooh.”
“Yo, I’m from Gunsan Elementary, small but dreaming big! Small pepper’s hot-hot—underestimate me and you’ll regret it! I’m the little jalapeño on stage!”
He rapped with gusto while the judges laughed.
“Uju?”
“Yes!”
“Your phrasing and rapping aren’t ordinary, but maybe let someone else write those lyrics next time...”
“Sorry!”
The bowed apology nearly made the chairman wince—but then they asked him to dance.
As the dance began, the past video’s trainer gasped for air. Park Tae-joon shut it off, unable to watch the embarrassing scene to the end.
After reviewing all the year-end evaluation videos one by one,
“Hmmmm...!”
He watched last year’s KMA performance of “Nine” on TV—Uju’s flashy dance break made his head ache.
‘This can’t be right...’
But the dancing was undoubtedly astonishing. Doubt gnawed at him: had he misjudged?
A voice from a recent toast with KM Ent.’s CEO echoed in his ear:
“If you were going to let that kid go, you should’ve sent him to me.”
“Hngh...”
“He made nearly 40 billion won in his debut year. Imagine what he’ll do this year—they’re rubbing off each other’s reputations over there.”
“His dance was...”
“Is dance the issue? With his composing skills, you should’ve put him on a pedestal.”
It was true—dance was nothing compared to his musical talent. Park Tae-joon pictured Uju producing for ATEN.
‘If I’d known, I’d’ve set him up like a statue on stage.’
His mistake was focusing too much on performance when launching TNT. But what could he say? ‘His face is already perfect...!’ Who’d guess the handsome kid was also a musical genius?
Now that he’d matured into the industry’s top composer, his regret burned.
‘If only I’d debuted him as a singer-songwriter... I’d have built another TJ tower by now.’
Uju-produced acts would be dominating the charts.
“Ugh....”
His stomach churned as online comments scrolled past: frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
“Park Tae-joon’s lost his touch lol”
“Stop playing with stocks and run the company”
“Should just rename the company ‘Park’s Jewelry Shop’ lol”
“They probably got scammed buying those office antiques”
“Lemon: RIP owner~♡”
“A gem sat in the main building for six years without being noticed lol”
“Ugh.”
He reached for antacid tablets.
A tickle.
“Is someone bad-mouthing me?”
“Why?”
“I keep feeling an itch in my ear.”
As he rubbed his ticklish ear, Jiho read aloud a comment.
“Please scratch the other ear too, oppa. They say it’s weird if only one side itches.”
“Really?”
He winked playfully with one eye.
“Hahaha!”
Amid Soufflé’s (Suple’s) frantic comments, they took turns reading each one:
“We’re celebrating your second anniversary.”
“NewBlack’s biggest...”
“What’s this Squid Princess business?”
They tried to read them all, but the speed was overwhelming. Jung-hyun squinted, got an “Oh,” then “I forgot.”
““To everyone celebrating our second anniversary—thank you so much.””
Today was June 19—exactly two years since their debut. Behind them, during a samgyetang mukbang in the dorm, lay congratulatory banners sent from all over:
“Why does searching ‘Uju’ bring up Mr. Uju first? by Angry Astronomy Club”
“Jung-hyun, you’re K-Agriculture’s hope. by Farming Cooperative”
“Ri-hyuk, hit me up if you need buttons ~.~ by Tailors’ Guild”
“Celebrating two years dreaming of a world where the fake becomes real. [N O V E L I G H T] by Zapple”
Reading the fan messages was a delight. Biju laughed:
“Wow. It’s crazy—only two years since debut, but it feels like ten.”
“We’ve been through so much,” we nodded.
We’d thought about checking our wiki page of scandals and embarrassing moments but didn’t have the courage. Instead, we chatted with fans and slurped samgyetang.
Then Brother Wonseok shared good news:
“Also... our ‘Fireworks’ has just hit #1 real-time!”
“Applause!”
“Waaaaaaaa!”
Though only briefly, it thrilled us—our B-side “Fireworks” had surged to #1.
“The chart looks so pretty...”
We screenshot the chart showing “Fireworks,” then “Attention,” then “Nakhwa.” “Fireworks” was holding at #3 on the daily chart—steadily locked in by public streaming, despite Souple’s efforts to push it to #1.
“People really love it,” we said, laughing at the comment “NewBlack Special: the public streams it.”
“It’s amazing that a two-year-old song is getting this much attention,” we agreed.
Each time we spoke, another article went up. Officially, we stuck to cautious commentary, but in reality...
“Yeah!”
“Fireworks—real-time #1!”
“Guys—”
“Ujuuuu!”
“I’m so happy—Jung-hyun, let’s sing a yodel of celebration!”
“Yodel-ro-lo— yodel-ro-lo-lo—”
We checked Y-App was off, then all hugged, celebrating the surprise #1. The downstairs neighbor texted, “More meat again?” in astonishment.
“I’m so happy. So happy...” freёweɓnovel.com
“This is the most exciting period of my 19 years.”
We all beamed. Not just us—Souple was in full-blown festival mode. To heighten the celebration, we released a flood of 2nd-anniversary content—unreleased videos and pre-prepared material—and watched them go live with smiles.
Then, “Two, three! Hello, we’re NewBlack!”
We tackled the extra schedule: interviews, a radio spot to perform “Fireworks,” and even a visit to choreographer Han Ah-yoon’s studio—MiP advisor and the nation’s top. It was non-stop.
Han Tae-hyun [See you soon]
Han Tae-hyun [Holding my breath until you come]
Me [You planning on living long?]
TJ Ent. will visit as soon as recording is ready—probably after next week’s New York schedule. There’s plenty to do there too: record the Nostalgia album and appear at the K-pop concert in New York, like our Paris show, to promote K-pop.
“Okay! Let’s run it again!”
“Yes!”
“One, two, three...”
As the main dancers led the performance rehearsal, we got news from the boys downstairs: “T-Spirit is comin’ back—please buy and prove it!”
They’d bought our “Nakhwa” album before and asked for mutual support.
“Of course we’ll buy theirs.”
“How many should we get?”
“They bought one apiece, so let’s buy one per member.”
We happily agreed to help our fellow group.
T-Spirit’s fans were ecstatic:
“T-Spirit’s comeback...!”
“T-Spirit’s insane...!”
“When T-Spirit screams, the charts shake...!”
Though NewBlack dominated the charts, as the top single fandom, T-Spirit’s sales were spectacular. Observers predicted they’d set an all-time record for first-week sales.
“Crazy!! 140k copies??”
“140k—omg, epic lol”
“That’s top-ten first-week already, right?”
“Unreal lol”
“Did NewBlack do that? They’re on another level.”
But they didn’t—T-Spirit’s 3rd full album first-day sales of 140,000 made them #2 all time.
“They should be #1?”
“#1 by one copy?!”
“What the heck?”
“I think I know why.”
Fans realized: the six-member group bought six copies; we, the five-member group, bought five; 6 – 5 = 1.
“...”
T-Spirit fans felt the sting. Though forecasts said they’d overtake by the last day, this was what happened. A forum post titled “[Why T-Spirit is #2 on first day]” appeared:
“lol so wholesome”
“Sorry for the fans but this is hilarious”
“Summary: 6-member – 5-member = 1 copy”
“Everything T-Spirit touches feels like a meme”
“T-Spirit is adorable lol”
“Fan solidarity butterfly effect lol”
“I didn’t like them before, but this made me a fan lol”
Amid laughing comments, T-Spirit fans raged:
“Aaaargh I’m losing my mind”
“Guys...!!!”
“Just buy an extra one next time, why do group size buys???”
“Buy two each next time, honestly!”
And they started buying like crazy.
‘Kind of feel bad...’
We Souple watched, scratching our bellies awkwardly.
