Little Pink Starfish

MacArthur said it after the Korean War.

Old soldiers never die, just fade away.

The achievements of old soldiers never vanish. They don’t die; they simply fade away.

But you know what?

Old musicians do die, or fade away.

The disease that kills us is usually called trends.

But how about this?

If I said that youthful energy has been added to the blues I’ve built my whole life, would that sound too much like an old fart from NME or Rolling Stone?

Then listen to the track that Zion co-composed with Yankos Greenwood.

I used to tease Yankos every time he insisted his genre was “pop jazz,” calling it “jazz pop” instead.

But Holiday — it’s pop jazz.

This is the exact sound Yankos always wanted.

Now he’ll be able to do it too, after learning from this.

Ah, but Mary Jones’ techno was too childish. He should be grateful Zion arranged it like this.

Honestly, my favorite track from The First Day is…

---

-Wait, what? Han Si-on co-composed with Donald Magus?

-So it wasn’t sampling.

-Is this really Donald Magus’ writing?

-Yup, it’s from Donald Magus’ official SNS lol.

-Whoa. Did Chris Edwards help him pull this off?

-That’s not something you can just “help” with.

-Then did he co-write with all those other artists too? Lucid Bean?! Yankos Greenwood?!! Eric Scott!!!

-Maybe we’re living in Han Si-on’s era?

-Not so fast. Magus is confirmed, but the others could still be samples.

-Why?

-Han Si-on and Magus go way back. They met in New Jersey.

-What’s that about?

-A lot of newbies don’t know this. (Video) (Video)

-Wait, that’s Han Si-on?

-Yep. While filming Color Show, Han Si-on met Donald Magus at Seaside Heights. That video went viral in the U.S. and led to Billboard entry.

-Whoa;

-I didn’t know that either.

-It even led to breaking into music shows lol.

-When is Han Si-on gonna make this official.

-“Yeah, it’s me, hyung. We all wrote it together.”

-lol even imagining that feels satisfying

-Nothing on Sedalbaekil’s official account?

-They’re probably busy with M-show music broadcast today lol.

---

“Crazy.”

I laughed in disbelief reading Donald Magus’ review.

No, this wasn’t a review.

In Korea, it was translated as “blues legend Donald Magus writes a review of Sedalbaekil’s album,” but it wasn’t formatted like a review.

It was closer to a playful write-up on his SNS.

If not “review,” maybe “recommendation” would fit better.

Now that I think about it, Magus probably intended this from the start.

“You live like a movie character. Fighting evil capitalists with music?”

“Maybe I can help.”

“You know what power old people like me have?”

“We sound credible. When old people speak, it sounds weighty.”

Back at that hotel in New Jersey, I didn’t think much of it, but now I understand.

Western listeners found his playful mention of other artists amusing.

Especially his mention of Mary Jones caused a stir.

In Korea, headlines said Magus dissed Mary Jones while reviewing Sedalbaekil.

But that’s just because they don’t know the scene.

Magus, the blues legend, and Mary Jones, the techno legend, stand far apart genre-wise.

But they’re actually quite close.

They even posted vacation photos together after an award show.

At several joint nominations, they’ve exchanged playful banter many times.

“Congratulations to Mary Jones, the best melody-maker among those who can’t make melodies.”

Magus joked, teasing techno’s lack of melodic structure.

“Blues? Isn’t that outdated jazz musicians who can only play 4/4 time?”

Mary Jones fired back, poking fun at blues being labeled a subgenre of jazz — something blues musicians dislike.

That exchange ended with Magus pretending to be beaten.

But ignorant (or lazy) reporters called it dissing.

If I know Mary Jones, he’d have posted a response immediately.

Sure enough, on his SNS two hours ago:

SO, WHO’S THE TITLE?

Meaning: “So, who got the title track?”

Because Pin Point, the title track, was co-composed with Mary Jones.

And not just him — Chris Edwards, Yankos Greenwood, and others also hinted on SNS that they’d be writing their own reviews soon.

Honestly, this was a first for me too.

I’ve lured many legendary artists into co-writing before.

Some praised my albums privately or even publicly.

But I’d never seen them pull such blatant attention-grabbing moves.

What’s the difference now?

“Ah.”

It’s because I’m in Korea.

Back in the U.S., these collaborations always involved politics.

For example, when I was signed to Gingerbread Man Records (a Warner Music subsidiary), artists like Roots Lobby (under Universal’s Interscope) couldn’t openly praise me.

Not because Roots Lobby feared anyone — but it’s better not to stir unnecessary trouble.

Besides labels, there’s the award committees.

Though I always release stellar debut albums in the U.S., I rarely win awards.

Usually, just nominations.

Because I’m an unfamiliar Asian.

If legendary artists praised me publicly, award committees might be displeased.

That’s why this couldn’t happen when I was active in the U.S.

But now, I’m in Korea.

No ties to the American market, no Western distribution deals.

Actually, not even a label in Korea — fully independent.

So these artists feel no pressure speaking freely.

Donald Magus, still with the spirit of a teenage boy, broke the ice.

Hmph. Honestly, it’s a bit disappointing.

Originally, I planned to let the full-sampling controversy explode until Choi Dae-ho couldn’t hold back.

Then, at the perfect moment, I would reveal the truth and flip the script.

“You really are a pervert.”

“Me?”

“Why do you enjoy being hated?”

“I don’t enjoy the hate itself — I enjoy what comes after.”

“Most people would avoid it if they could.”

Maybe.

But I’ve never been in a situation where I wasn’t hated.

When an Asian becomes a media star in the West, you’re bound to get hate no matter what.

So if you’re going to get hate, you might as well enjoy it.

Anyway, a leader must adapt to changing situations.

Since the reviews from legends are pouring in, I should adjust my plan.

-Knock knock.

While thinking that, someone opened the waiting room door.

“Oh, hello!”

“Hello!”

The members jumped up when they saw the familiar face.

It was PD Kang Seok-woo.

We were currently waiting to perform on M-show’s M-Mixdown.

“It’s nice to see you here like this.”

“How have you been, PD?”

“Good, good. Lee Eon, you’ve gotten even more handsome. I used to admire your footage during Coming Up Next.”

“Thank you for filming us so well.”

The members knew my history and dealings with Kang Seok-woo.

Including his help casting On Sae-mi-ro for The Masked Singer.

So they were quite friendly with him.

Besides, Kang Seok-woo would be directing our first variety show.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Nothing specific. I was thinking about the show format and got curious about something.”

“Curious?”

“Did you really co-write with all those legends?”

“Yes. Chris Edwards helped make it happen.”

“That’s something someone can help with?”

“If you’re good enough.”

Kang Seok-woo stared at me for a moment, then smiled.

“You’ve changed a lot, Han Si-on.”

Me?

I was puzzled at first but then realized — yes, I had changed.

I don’t even have nightmares despite releasing our first album.

Honestly, our album sales are a bit lacking.

When I first regressed, I looked up K-pop album sales for 2016.

The highest-selling album didn’t even reach 1 million copies.

Maybe around 750,000.

Usually, 20–50% of total sales happen in the first week — the “initial sales.”

Our initial sales…

Sedalbaekil
First Full Album <The First Day>
219,3**

About 220,000 copies.

Most were pre-orders.

People were shocked.

Initial sales reflect fandom power.

They knew we had awareness, but not this much popularity.

Ah, but 20,000 copies don’t count.

Chris Edwards bought those.

Not because he wanted that many albums — he was running errands for the participating legends, and Alex was scheming something.

Alex, Chris’ manager and HR Corporation’s ace, had been eyeing me for a while.

They’d probably run some simulations and offer us a distribution deal.

For me, 220,000 was terrible.

If my U.S. debut sold 200,000 in week one, I’d seriously consider time travel again.

But strangely, I felt fine.

I didn’t believe for a second that this album would stop at 200,000.

The Dark Side of The Moon by Pink Floyd stayed on Billboard 200 for 949 weeks — a Guinness record.

I believed our album would become Korea’s Dark Side of The Moon.

That’s how good it was.

We could easily sell over 1 million by year-end.

Then Kang Seok-woo asked:

“Why haven’t you announced it officially?”

“Judging by how things are unfolding, the legends themselves will speak up. It’s prettier that way than me announcing it.”

“Hmm.”

He seemed to ponder something, then nodded.

Just then, a staff member signaled us.

As we all stood, I remembered something.

“PD Kang.”

“Yes?”

“Please use today’s appearance fee to pay off On Sae-mi-ro’s advance.”

“Advance?”

He looked puzzled, then clapped.

“Oh right, the advance.”

On Sae-mi-ro’s eyes widened.

“The PD was never going to ask you for that money.”

“Don’t you know what an advance is? It’s money pulled from the future. From the future On Sae-mi-ro who’ll continue appearing on M-show.”

In the end, what I once told him came true.

“I’ll tell the finance team. These things should be clear.”

“Thank you.”

As On Sae-mi-ro fidgeted, I smacked him lightly and led everyone out.

Soon after, our second music broadcast began.