Little Pink Starfish

But that doesn’t mean Sedalbaekil should be enjoying the victory.

They can enjoy it inwardly, but outwardly our attitude must remain, “This whole situation is quite uncomfortable.”

Officially, we haven’t done anything.

We simply stayed still while the quick-witted public acted and cleared our name. That’s the stance we need to maintain.

“So stay focused.”

“But hyung, the comments are too funny for that.”

“One day that place might be filled with insults aimed at you. Don’t get too happy or too sad.”

“Wow, how could you say that?”

Am I wrong though?

Even during the short break, I gathered the members who had been glued to their phones and resumed practice.

The song we’re singing now is for the Color Show.

Well, technically, it’s the song we’re submitting to the Color Show at this point.

But come on, we’re not going to get rejected, right?

The title is Colorful Struggle.

The members wondered when this new song had been made, but from my perspective, it wasn’t new.

It’s a song I release in most of my lifetimes.

Personally, I think it’s much better than Selfish.

Usually, I use Selfish as the debut song for Hot 100.

And I use Colorful Struggle as the title track of the second album.

This way, it’s praised for brilliantly breaking the sophomore jinx.

But there’s a problem. This song depends heavily on skill.

Selfish can become a hit as long as the vibe is captured properly, no matter who sings it or when it’s released.

In contrast, Colorful Struggle requires quite a high skill threshold.

When sung well, it’s a massive hit.

It stays at number one on Billboard longer than any of my other songs.

Usually, seven consecutive weeks at number one on Hot 100.

Depending on the competition, I’ve even hit ten weeks.

But if it’s sung even slightly poorly, forget seven weeks at number one — it won’t even break into the top 50.

It’s never happened when I sang it, but sometimes other singers have performed it under different circumstances.

At its worst, I don’t think it even entered the Hot 100.

And people would go around saying the song was bad.

Anyway, that’s why I’m curious.

What kind of reaction will Sedalbaekil get with Colorful Struggle?

Of course, it’ll be hard for them to jump into the Billboard charts right away.

Billboard is a huge and high barrier market.

It’s nearly impossible for complete outsiders with no base and no promotion to chart there.

Well, it’s not impossible, but it would require at least a year of activity in the U.S.

And we can’t afford to waste this precious time where we’re grinding Ryan into dust.

What I’m curious about is the raw response of people.

Until now, Sedalbaekil has only sung songs tailored to them by me.

Seoul Town Funk, Crossroads, Sedalbaekil, Résumé.

All songs made with the members’ characteristics in mind.

Which means, thanks to my production, they may have appeared more skilled than they actually are.

But Colorful Struggle isn’t like that, so it wouldn’t be surprising if the results fall short of expectations…

But it’s actually pretty good.

Rock-based contemporary R&B can easily turn tacky, after all.

“Sion?”

“Ah, yeah. It was good. But let’s try pulling back a bit.”

“Should I bury the sound more?”

“Yeah. Rather than competing with Eon hyung’s voice, just make it feel like you’re you, and he’s him. No need to force synergy.”

“Okay.”

Besides, directing them is way too easy.

Even without detailed explanations, they understand the vibe and go for it on their own.

What’s going on here?

This is supposed to be an incredibly difficult song.

‘Am I losing my objectivity?’

Maybe the members’ likeable personalities are making the song sound better?

That could be the case.

Actually, it probably is to some extent already.

But even so, I’m a cold, objective regressor who’s done this dozens of times.

If they fall below my standards, I’ll criticize them no matter how close we are…

“Why that face?”

“Ah, no. Sorry, Eon hyung. You don’t have much of a part, right?”

“No, it’s fine. The song’s so good, I’m enjoying just listening.”

“It’ll keep getting better.”

“Me? Or the song?”

“Both.”

Honestly, I don’t know.

For now, we’ll do our best and see how it turns out.

---

As usual, Sedalbaekil’s fandom gathered online to hold a Ryan-bashing competition.

There were many points they were angry about, but two topics dominated.

First, whether Sedalbaekil knew what was happening during the Coming Up Next filming.

Ryan Entertainment’s statement was infuriating for Sedalbaekil’s fans.

The vague excuses were bad enough.

But what really made them furious was that the name ‘Sedalbaekil’ wasn’t mentioned at all.

-So what, our kids knew nothing and just did their best? Or did they know and stay silent?

-Either way it’s infuriating. If they didn’t know, that’s just manipulation.

-Exactly. Then it’s rigged.

-I’d be angrier if they knew and stayed silent. They were intimidated and couldn’t speak up.

-I rewatched Coming Up Next and there are so many fishy parts. Especially at the end during the winner announcement — almost no Sedalbaekil cuts.

-Right. People were already talking about that during the broadcast.

-Maybe they edited out parts where they spoke up?

In fact, it was the part where Han Sion suddenly switched his decision to Sedalbaekil that got edited out.

But to fans, it looked like the production was deliberately silencing Sedalbaekil.

The second issue was Sedalbaekil’s current status.

-So Ryan let them go nicely? Why isn’t that in the statement?

-Exactly! We don’t even know where they are or what they’re doing. They hit number one on the weekly chart, but no music shows, no articles.

-Why can’t we do any fansign or pre-recordings?

-I think Ryan freaked out when Sedalbaekil was about to sign with another company.

-Yeah, that’s why they dropped that tampering accusation. To block the contract.

-What if all the companies pull out? They even had a dorm ready, so they were probably close to signing.

-They might even have to leave the dorm…ㅠㅠ

Even if we generously say that Coming Up Next is in the past, there’s at least the relief that they’re no longer working with the loathsome Ryan Entertainment.

But Ryan interfering in Sedalbaekil’s present was intolerable.

They beat Drop Out and NOP to take first place on the weekly chart, yet they couldn’t appear on any music shows. That’s just abnormal.

-What should we do?

-Should we send a protest truck to Ryan?

-We’ll have to stay put until the Fair Trade Commission announces the resultㅠㅠㅠ

They also denounced the leaked Fade video and the suspiciously timed negative comments about Sedalbaekil members.

And then it happened.

-YAAAHHHH! The FTC result is out! No charges!

-Already?

-So fast!!!

-They did nothing wrong, of course!

The Fair Trade Commission announced the results of Ryan Entertainment’s complaint.

But soon question marks appeared in the fans’ minds.

At first they were only focused on “no charges,” but there was something huge hidden in the investigation details.

Simply put:

There was no need to legally interpret contract clauses.

Sedalbaekil had no record of signing a management contract with another company, nor any intention to do so.

Meaning…

-They’re an independent label?

-That’s what “independence” meant in “Independent Diary”???

-Can rookies even go independent?

Sedalbaekil was aiming to be a self-made independent label.

The fandom was at a loss for how to react to this completely unexpected outcome.

On one hand, they were happy the boys were free, but on the other, they were confused whether this was even possible.

Some celebrities do set up one-man agencies, but they’re usually superstars.

They get work even without promoting themselves as a brand.

Even then, many of them end up returning to big agencies after a few years.

While the fans were confused, the general public was simply excited.

-So they’re not idols but an indie band? Is that right?

-That’s what it sounds like to me! LOL

-Sedalbaekil fans are flustered LOL. I thought I was an idol fan, but I’m an indie band fan?

-LMAO, HipSion can’t hide his instincts LOL

-Yep, Han Sion was always destined to be HipSion.

-Has this ever happened in idol history?

-No, but honestly it seems kind of dumb. Idol activities rely on huge capital structures. What can they even do?

-Well, their first variety show hit 10 million views.

-Yep. Their self-produced content is about to hit 10 million too.

-Yep. Beat Drop Out and NOP to take first place on the weekly chart.

-Yep. Took over the main stage.

-LMAO they’ve done a ton already LOL

-But realistically, this momentum is still riding on Coming Up Next fame. It’ll get harder going forward.

-Why are you worrying about celebrities so much?

-They’re not celebrities. They’re an indie band.

-Oh yeah?

-But I watched their content, and do they have a ton of money? Their dorm is amazing.

In this situation, even the media, now beyond Taedaeho’s influence, went wild.

[“Sedalbaekil announces formation of independent agency.”]

[“Indie idol band? Does this term make sense?”]

[“The history of Korea’s indie bands and idol bands.”]

There was nothing but news about Sedalbaekil everywhere.

Understandable, since a rookie idol group forming their own agency was utterly shocking.

But unlike the excited public, the idol scene remained cold.

-Do they think the idol scene is easy? You think other groups don’t do this because they can’t?

-Exactly. There are reasons not to.

-You think fans break their savings to support groups for no reason?

-Sedalbaekil fans just got unlucky. No music shows, only Hongdae performances LOL

-Forget stage fancams, we’ll be watching club fancams LOL

Of course, underlying this was resentment toward Sedalbaekil.

Their every controversy consumed all the noise, disrupting other groups’ activities.

But then—

[“Will you be our first fan?”]

On Sedalbaekil’s official SNS, which had so far posted almost nothing, a recruitment notice for the first fan club appeared.

Complete with very professional-looking photos.

-OMG, look at Eon’s face!

-Is Gu Taehwan out of his mindㅠㅠㅠㅠ

While the Sedalbaekil fandom lost their minds over this unexpected bait—

-Yo, LOL the membership fee is 40,000 won.

-They must’ve spent all their money on photos. Help them fill it up LOL

-They’ll probably just make an official cafe, assign ranks, and call it a fan club LOL

-One hundred percent LOL

The awkward timing of the fan club announcement earned more ridicule from the idol scene.

But.

“Ugh?!”

Those who endured the mockery and became Sedalbaekil’s first fans were left speechless.

When the kits arrived…

They would’ve been happy with just a few photos and autographs…

But these luxurious goods… what on earth are they?