Little Pink Starfish

I calmed myself after briefly getting excited.

It couldn’t be helped.

So instead of the CD player, I packed the merchandise kit with various items: membership card, stickers, keyrings, cardholders, and so on.

Of course, the items we poured the most effort into were the photo book and the photo cards.

After discussions with the members, we decided on two key concepts for the photo cards.

First, maintaining the world-building.

We are sticking to the time-travel concept.

So, the year is printed on the top-left corner of each photo card.

This led to the second concept: keeping an element of randomness.

While allowing fans to choose the member whose photo card they receive, we added randomization to the year.

Randomness is also a form of entertainment.

The photo book, filled with both group and individual shots, would be included for everyone.

However, for the three photo cards, fans could choose which member’s they wanted, but the year would be random.

90% chance for 2017.

9% chance for 2007.

1% chance for 1997.

And a 0.1% chance for a special cut.

For the special cuts, we picked outfits for each other.

By the way, I picked I-on hyung’s outfit and made him go shirtless to show off the muscles he’d worked hard for, and got scolded for it.

At first, I forced him to exercise, but now he does it voluntarily.

Wouldn’t he want to show it off?

If he’s still embarrassed because his muscles aren’t quite there yet, I’ll accept that.

Anyway, because of this, we have another photo shoot tomorrow.

Today, we shot the 2017 version, so tomorrow will be for 2007 and 1997.

While I was discussing tomorrow’s shoot with the photographer, Choi Jae-sung suddenly came running.

“Hyung…!”

“Yeah?”

“You need to see this.”

“What is it?”

I glanced at the article he handed me and chuckled.

[Sedalbaekil facing Fair Trade Commission over ‘tampering’ allegations.]

Oh? Choi Dae-ho.

So this is how he’s playing it?

“The article says Lion Entertainment reported us to the FTC.”

“Yeah, I figured just by reading the headline.”

“But doesn’t this make no sense? After Coming Up Next, we were free to sign with anyone… Tampering means contacting another company before the contract ends.”

“Technically, Lion had the right of first negotiation.”

“So what does that mean?”

According to the contestant contract, we have nothing to fear.

There are clauses that could be interpreted differently, but they’re more like intimidation tools for the contestants.

Since Coming Up Next was co-produced with M-Show, the contract was probably written clean to avoid any potential mess.

Lion likely assumed that sweet-talking 20-year-old contestants into signing with them wouldn’t be too hard.

And to be honest, without me, they probably would have succeeded.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ll explain once we get back to the dorm.”

I could’ve explained here, but there were too many eyes watching.

But honestly, there’s nothing to worry about.

Choi Dae-ho’s intentions are clear.

He’s likely casting two fishing lines.

First, he’s trying to figure out who’s backing us.

He must’ve heard we’re recruiting fan club members and producing merchandise.

This industry is small; everyone talks.

He’d be startled.

We managed Na-rak Detector, produced our own variety content, and registered our songs independently.

But forming a fan club and making merchandise? That’s a bit odd.

So he’s casting bait out of suspicion—wondering if some capital is backing us from behind.

Notice it’s a report, not a lawsuit.

Second, it could be a jab.

It’s amateurish to start big when you want to ruin someone’s reputation.

You throw small jabs, make the public suspicious, then hit hard.

That’s when people say, “I knew it.”

That’s a terrifying phrase—it implies that was your true nature all along.

But it’s funny.

Why does Choi Dae-ho think only he can play this game?

I immediately picked up my phone and texted him.

[CEO, wouldn’t it be better to stop here? There’s no need for us to hurt each other.]

The reply came instantly.

[You? If you think you can, go ahead.]

Thanks for the cool permission.

Of course, I didn’t text him to ask for his permission.

I wanted him to know exactly where what happens next started.

So he would fear me—and Sedalbaekil.

Originally, I was planning this for when we released our EP album…

But it seems I’ll be starting sooner than expected.

---

-So tampering means they contacted another company before their contract ended, right?

-Yeah, basically.

-But it’s kinda murky. Weren’t the contestants free to sign after the show ended?

-Lion apparently had first negotiation rights. Looks like they just ran off.

-Then Sedalbaekil was dumb. They should’ve finished negotiating with Lion first before signing elsewhere.

-You’re dumber. You think that was a real negotiation? That was probably a threat.

-Exactly. 100% classic coercion tactics.

-You guys really don’t get it? Sedalbaekil’s been #1 on the weekly chart for two weeks but there’s not a single article about them? That’s Lion applying pressure.

-Yeah, a lot of people can’t seem to see the obvious.

-So who’s managing Sedalbaekil now?

-Whoever got them their dorm.

-Wow, helpful.

The idol community was heating up with talk about Sedalbaekil.

Was it really tampering? Did the term even apply? Were they in the wrong? Etc.

The focus remained on Sedalbaekil.

But at some point, attention started shifting toward Coming Up Next itself.

-Didn’t TakeScene’s win on Coming Up Next seem kinda rigged?

-Yeah, everyone expected Sedalbaekil to win.

-They were #1 in all mission songs on the chart.

-And Han Si-on had two solo songs hit #1 on the weekly chart and one on the monthly chart.

-The judges said TakeScene was better as a team.

-Seriously? If I were Sedalbaekil, I’d be pissed too.

-Everyone seems to forget we still don’t know why Coming Up Next was even made. Choi Dae-ho buried it.

-Yup. They made it to hype up TakeScene pre-debut but Sedalbaekil blew up unexpectedly.

-Makes sense, but that’s just speculation. There’s no proof.

-You don’t need proof for this stuff.

-If there’s no proof, stay neutral. Otherwise you’re just bashing TakeScene for nothing.

Right as these debates were swirling and Choi Dae-ho was probably growing anxious—

A post appeared on the most active idol forum.

[Is this proof TakeScene’s win was rigged?]

The title sounded like typical clickbait.

In fact, there had been many clickbait posts like this lately.

‘Proof Sedalbaekil should’ve won’ with just a picture of Lee I-on.

But forum users loved clickbait.

Many clicked in out of curiosity—then grew serious.

-Whoa, what is this?

-Is this for real?

The first team mission on Coming Up Next was self-arranged performances.

Sedalbaekil rearranged Uptown Funk into Seoul Town Funk.

TakeScene rearranged Maroon 5’s Sugar.

It’s common for idol trainees to reinterpret famous pop songs.

In fact, TakeScene had already attempted Sugar during a monthly evaluation.

Nothing shady there.

They were simply refining a song they’d already performed once.

But there was no need to air such behind-the-scenes details on TV.

Even Sedalbaekil had no way of knowing.

What they didn’t know was that Han Si-on had picked up on this on set.

If you check Blue’s YouTube channel, there’s a video from two years ago where they visit Lion Entertainment on Christmas to give gifts to trainees, right?

Here, look…

It was a typical feel-good clip.

Blue handing out presents to trainees and listening to their worries.

There was a scene where they monitored trainees’ singing and dancing, offering feedback.

This was the key point mentioned by the poster.

During a rapid-cut montage of Blue watching, Maroon 5’s Sugar played in the background.

They didn’t show who was singing to focus on Blue’s reaction, but you can see a mirror here.

Back then, TakeScene was a 6-member trainee team…

It wasn’t ironclad proof.

All it showed was that TakeScene seemed to be practicing Sugar during that evaluation.

It could easily be dismissed as reaching or nitpicking.

After all, trainees reusing songs isn’t illegal.

But every good exposé needs buildup.

This was only the beginning.

The real punch came with the final Free Song Mission.

The words Han Si-on said while preparing:

“Want me to tell you the true meaning of ‘Free Song’?”

“There’s meaning?”

“Lion Entertainment’s pride, TakeScene. Their debut song is Scene Stealer, but do you think they only collected that one song?”

Of course not.

They probably gathered dozens, narrowed it down to two or three, and agonized over the final pick.

“Chances are, they’ll perform one of those shortlisted songs here. Maybe even the follow-up song after Scene Stealer.”

“In other words, no matter what we do in this final stage, they’ll spin it as TakeScene’s victory—even fabricate scenes if necessary.”

Han Si-on had clearly anticipated what would happen the moment he chose Sedalbaekil over TakeScene.

And he’s a regressor.

He loves controlling every situation.

There’s no way he’d sit quietly.

Here’s the demo for the song TakeScene performed for the Free Song Mission.

Check the creation date.

It’s from 10 months ago, lol.

I’ve also included part of TakeScene’s own guide version.

I don’t have the dance video, but I know they already made full choreography.

Don’t ask how I got this. I’m scared enough already.

By the way, TakeScene’s debut song is Scene Stealer, and this song was one of the final candidates.

It was a suggestive revelation.

If TakeScene had prepared both their self-arranged mission and the final Free Song Mission in advance…

Then what about the other stages?

It implied the whole show may have been rigged.

And once TakeScene’s debut song Scene Stealer dropped, this theory would gain even more credibility.

But this entire narrative was a masterful deflection.

It twisted Choi Dae-ho’s tampering accusation into Coming Up Next’s shady production narrative, then further into accusations of outright rigging.

And the ones executing all of this?

Numerous small-scale PR agencies hired by Han Si-on.

Too small for Choi Dae-ho’s radar to even pick up.

The story spread like wildfire.