Little Pink Starfish

The process of registering music is complicated, but if you break it down, it requires two steps.

First, register the artist.

Second, register the song.

Among the two, the first step was much more tedious and complex.

Especially when registering a copyright holder for the first time, it’s quite cumbersome.

However, Sedalbaekil had previously released music through Coming Up Next and was already registered as a copyright holder.

Therefore, the registration of the song could proceed in an instant.

As long as there was no external pressure from Lion Entertainment.

Of course, if Sedalbaekil had registered the song when Yang Seokhoon’s video broke out, Lion wouldn’t have been able to do anything.

But Sedalbaekil missed the golden window.

Even though it was just a week’s difference, in the world of show business, a week is an enormous amount of time.

A national hero can fall into public disgrace, or someone who was being cursed out can suddenly become a hero.

“Ah, damn.”

That’s why the person in charge at the Music Copyright Association was conflicted.

He didn’t know whether it was okay to delay Sedalbaekil’s song registration.

Honestly, he hoped such complicated matters wouldn’t land on his desk at all.

After all, Lion Entertainment would lobby through the singers’ association to the higher-ups, not to him directly.

‘If only I had a justification…….’

In any case, with a tenured government job, as long as there’s an excuse, the higher-ups would just gloss it over.

The person in charge was thinking about that.

Suddenly, a courier arrived.

“A courier? For me?”

Upon receiving it, it turned out Sedalbaekil had enclosed the necessary documents for song registration “just in case.”

It was absurd.

They would have submitted the same documents through the website or email, so what was the point of sending them by courier?

‘And how did they know I was the one in charge?’

Was this a way of saying they were watching and that I should behave?

If that was the case, it made him want to resist even more……

“Huh?”

At that moment, the person in charge noticed something.

The documents that arrived by courier.

The envelope containing them.

On the envelope was the emblem of a giant law firm that any American would recognize.

He belatedly examined the stack of documents and found a power of attorney along with a business card on top.

It stated that Sedalbaekil had appointed attorney Choi Ji-woon from that law firm as their legal representative.

Which meant these documents weren’t sent directly by Sedalbaekil, but by the law firm.

But it didn’t make sense.

Why would a massive law firm that usually cleans up dirty business for chaebols help Sedalbaekil?

Even if they were helping, why would they bother with something as trivial as song registration?

At that moment, a thought flashed through the person in charge’s mind.

‘Did they give me justification?’

He looked up Choi Ji-woon’s background online.

Without hesitation, he approved Sedalbaekil’s song registration.

‘Insane.’

Son of a prosecutor general, and grandson of the Chief Justice.

He almost called the number on the business card to double-check, but stopped himself.

He didn’t have the guts to ask the prosecutor general’s son if he was really Sedalbaekil’s legal representative.

Instead, he called the law firm, and received a simple answer: YES.

It was real.

Attorney Choi Ji-woon was Sedalbaekil’s legal representative.

How much money does Sedalbaekil have to hire someone like this just for song registration?

Whatever the case, big law firms really know how to do their job.

With just an envelope and a business card, they gave him the justification he needed.

If Sedalbaekil had that kind of backing, even the higher-ups wouldn’t say a word.

That’s what the person in charge thought, but he was mistaken on two counts.

First, the justification wasn’t given by the law firm.

It was given by Han Si-on.

It was entirely Han Si-on’s idea.

Second, Han Si-on didn’t hire Choi Ji-woon just for the song registration.

He was working on a much bigger plan.

If CEO Choi Dae-ho had known about Choi Ji-woon at this point, things might have unfolded differently.

But that didn’t happen.

And so, Han Si-on’s plan proceeded flawlessly.

---

As they entered the third week of release, the battle between Drop Out and NOP was reaching its most exciting phase.

In the first week, NOP claimed victory.

Their song I’m not your man was number one on the weekly chart.

But that didn’t mean Drop Out backed down without a fight.

They held firmly to second place, aiming for number one.

While the charts favored NOP, the music shows were evenly split.

In Korea, there are four authoritative music shows: three public broadcasts and M Show.

“NOP! Congratulations!”

The two groups split the music show wins evenly.

“Drop Out! Congratulations!”

In the second week, things got more complicated.

On the charts, Drop Out came out on top.

They took first place for the week and were number one on the daily charts for five days.

However, in the music shows, NOP swept all four wins.

Fans on both sides had plenty to say.

-The chart reflects the true public opinion, lol. Music shows just give wins for promotional purposes.

-NOP stans have no shame, lol.

Drop Out’s fandom argued they won based on the weekly chart, while the music shows just handed NOP some pride.

-That logic only works for week one, don’t you know? lol

-When Drop Out lost on the charts and went 50-50 on music shows, you said music shows were important, lol. Hypocrites.

NOP’s fandom insisted they won based on the music show scoring system.

While fierce conspiracies, manipulations, politics, and brawls unfolded in the idol community……

-Music shows have gotten fun lately.

-Yeah, it’s been a while since I watched, but Drop Out and NOP are still going strong.

The public simply enjoyed the spectacle.

Both songs had become public picks, making it entertaining.

Having two first-tier boy groups active at the same time was rare.

And so, the fateful third week arrived.

Drop Out would wrap up their music show activities this week.

NOP would finish their activities early next week before heading overseas.

This would be their final showdown.

Some said Drop Out dominated the charts and NOP dominated the music shows, but that wasn’t entirely accurate.

The likelihood was high that they would split the music show wins again this week.

Music broadcasters didn’t want to antagonize big entertainment companies, so they would negotiate among themselves.

The stations closer to BVB would likely favor NOP, and those closer to Double M would favor Drop Out.

The real deciding factor was the digital chart rankings.

-Hey, I’m really looking forward to week 3.

-Doesn’t it seem like Drop Out is stronger with the general public?

-No, after dominating for four weeks, their momentum seems weaker.

-Really?

-Yeah, that’s true.

-Both songs have been swapping 1st and 2nd for a month straight. It’s wild.

-If not for NOP, Drop Out’s fandom wouldn’t be acting like this, lol.

-Same for NOP. If not for Drop Out’s simultaneous comeback, they’d be happily supporting.

-But seriously, Han Si-on is insane. How does he compose both songs?

-Only noobs rave about composing. In the idol world, arrangement is more important. That’s why even among producers, there’s a split between topliners and true producers.

-Have you been to some temple retreat or something? Haven’t been online lately?

-?? No, why?

-Han Si-on did both composition and arrangement for both songs, lol. What are you talking about?

-But why is Sedalbaekil so quiet these days? The timing’s perfect, yet they’re just sitting idle.

-That’s why Sedalbaekil’s fandom reactions are hilarious.

-How so?

-They want to bash the company, but don’t even know which company it is, lol.

-They can’t bash the members, so they’re crying instead, lol.

-Maybe they’re preparing for episode 2 of their reality show, haha. By the way, does Sedalbaekil have a fandom name?

-Nope, lol. That’s one reason they want to bash the company, but still don’t know which company it is.

-Why do you know this so well? lol

-Because I’m one of the people who wants to bash that company.

-You crying?

And so, people’s attention was focused on whether Drop Out or NOP would win the third week.

In the middle of this, people started talking about Han Si-on’s ability to create both songs.

But when the third week actually started, something completely unexpected happened.

Sedalbaekil released Resume and declared war in the digital charts.

-;;;;Why is the developer entering the game;;;

-Can we call this a match between a seasoned veteran and a rookie developer?

-But isn’t it a bit much to call him a rookie? Didn’t he win another music competition?

-Coming Up Next? That was Take Scene who won.

-Oh right, haha. My bad. Take Scene did win.

-It somehow feels like Sedalbaekil won though, since all anyone talked about was them while Take Scene was preparing for debut.

-Take Scene was supposed to debut in 2–3 months, weren’t they? Still no debut?

-I think they’re in countdown mode but delayed a bit because of the Drop Out and NOP chaos, haha.

-Tons of groups probably postponed their comebacks to avoid this chaos, lol.

-Cheering for the Take Scene stans. By the way, Tension and Weffle are releasing in August.

-LOL

At this point, people were simply amused by Han Si-on’s ‘developer’ position.

No one seriously thought Sedalbaekil would become a real contender against the two groups.

But they were wrong.

On release day, Resume entered the chart at 21st……

-Huh?

-What?

The next day, it shot up to 1st place.

Thus began total chaos.

---

It was clear that we had missed the golden timing for releasing the song.

But the Sedalbaekil crew forcibly seized that lost golden timing.

Not with buzz, but with skill.

Honestly, even I was surprised.

I didn’t know if they could push themselves this much even after leaving the Coming Up Next program.

I think I have to admit it now.

Even though I didn’t personally pick them but just happened to encounter them……

Sedalbaekil is special.

I’m not talking about their talent as singers.

To be honest, compared to the team members I’ve met until now, Sedalbaekil’s members rank low.

Even assuming they reach their full potential, except for Goo Tae-hwan, they’d still rank low.

But their mentality is different.

I don’t know how this happened.

I knew K-pop idols were diligent, but are they all like this?

If I were to regress again and leave Sedalbaekil behind, would I be able to meet such team members again?

Honestly, I don’t know.

Probably not.

I mentioned the idea of potential being fully realized, but I’ve never seen anyone reach their full potential before.

The process to get there is grueling, and most people settle for moderate success.

Of all the people I’ve teamed up with, only one fully reached their potential.

Me.

Running on the same hamster wheel in a nonlinear timeline.

But……

Maybe the Sedalbaekil crew can do it.

The trust I’ve placed in people has always betrayed me.

But while recording Resume, I felt this.

I want to trust one more time.

No, let’s trust one more time.