Little Pink Starfish

Album 18. Show biz

In the past, who knows, but in modern times, the flow of society ultimately follows the flow of money.

Perhaps the reason the devil chose Han Si-on was because of this timeless insight.

[The world is no longer a spinning wheel turned by men standing between life and death.]

[It is a windmill shaken by those crying out over the rise and fall of wealth.]

[Yes, money.]

In that sense, it was only natural for the terrestrial networks to boycott Sedalbaekil.

To be more precise, there would be no full-scale boycott.

A broadcasting station isn’t something controlled by a single person, and while the music and variety divisions are technically under the same entertainment department, they operate quite differently.

Sedalbaekil’s boycott would likely be limited to music programs.

The reason was incredibly simple.

Because of the financial currents generated by Sedalbaekil’s release of the second full album Stage and the three unit albums.

The more successful these four albums became, the more money Sedalbaekil earned.

As an independent label, Sedalbaekil’s artists pocketed most of the pure profit after expenses.

So who earned the second most?

M Show.

When M Show first went all-in on Sedalbaekil, many in the industry raised their eyebrows.

“Wow, what gave M Show the confidence to bet so boldly?”

“Seriously. They’re running full-blown TV ads for an album.”

“I heard they’re even rotating M Show’s own outdoor ads.”

“Is M Show really struggling that much these days?”

Everyone knew Sedalbaekil was good.

Of course, the album would sell well.

Maybe not quite surpassing the 1.5 million sales of the first album, but even a third of that would be huge for a K-pop act.

So people didn’t mind that M Show chose Sedalbaekil—the surprise was the scale of their investment.

At this level, M Show had practically boarded the same boat as Sedalbaekil.

If the album failed, M Show’s quarterly revenue would sink with it.

No broadcasting station would risk this much on a single album unless they were desperate.

Even though M Show was a unique broadcaster that thrived on music-related content.

Thus, people assumed M Show was under some external pressure and was forced into a desperate gamble to generate quick results.

Normally, no one would bet like this.

But surprisingly, this wasn’t normal.

Strictly speaking, M Show had seized what matters most in show business:

The “show.”

M Show owned the original footage of Self Made—the highest-rated idol group content in history.

They had witnessed Sedalbaekil’s miracles and seen firsthand how the second album was being prepared.

So M Show’s head of entertainment bet on Han Si-on, and Han Si-on guided that bet to his advantage.

Of course, there were political factors too.

Originally, M Show’s mainstream was dominated by people aligned with Lion Entertainment, but after the Coming Up Next incident, their power had weakened significantly.

But they hadn’t disappeared, and were still trying to regain influence behind the scenes.

What would deal the biggest blow to them?

Sedalbaekil’s success.

After all, the Coming Up Next incident stemmed from the conflict between Lion Entertainment and Sedalbaekil.

While Self Made was a clear success, its success was easily quantifiable.

Sometimes, in business, the invisible successes are far more valuable.

M Show’s gamble had become a major success.

Talks were even underway to co-produce Sedalbaekil’s next concert.

Yes.

M Show held a production stake in Stage.

Of course, Han Si-on, always skillful in these matters, hadn’t lost anything—in fact, he had traded prestige for practical gain.

At this point, the terrestrial networks naturally felt uncomfortable.

Drama and variety divisions not only had bad blood, but fundamentally different structures.

Dramas were evaluated individually.

Even if a drama department produced flop after flop, one 30% hit could turn everything around.

Because dramas were judged one at a time.

Variety shows, on the other hand, were marathon runs.

Unlike dramas, which were produced by one director-writer pair, variety shows were built by entire departments.

Once a hit variety show emerged, it spawned many junior PDs and writers who gained experience and strengthened the department.

In the past, this distinction was so stark that even mentioning a rival network’s name on air was taboo.

Eventually, in the mid-2000s, networks were allowed to be referenced by abbreviations like M, S, K. By the mid-2010s, full names could be spoken.

So the current boycott of Sedalbaekil wasn’t because they “truly hated” them.

As Han Si-on had guessed, this wasn’t something Choi Tae-ho could influence.

The networks’ boycott was push-and-pull. A negotiation tactic.

“Let us in on your business.”

“Don’t act too high and mighty—we still have this much power.”

That was all.

For Sedalbaekil, the solution was extremely simple.

Collaborate on something with the entertainment divisions of the three major networks.

So that years later, when Stage’s legendary success was remembered, their names would be attached as well—not just M Show’s.

It was a reflection of just how immense Stage’s success was predicted to become.

Perhaps it was their chance to get in cheaply now, before it became impossible later.

But what they didn’t know—

Was that Han Si-on was a regressor.

---

“That’s good?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

I shrugged at Director Seo’s question.

“Because it feels like an opportunity.”

“An opportunity? For what?”

But I didn’t explain further.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Director Seo—but I didn’t trust anyone completely.

I didn’t suspect people easily.

Not because I believed in human goodness, but because I knew people could be good or bad at any moment.

Across countless regressions, I had never met anyone who was one-dimensional.

Everyone had two sides.

A person who once risked everything to help me might, in the next life, refuse to give me a single dollar.

My job was to ensure that Director Seo stayed as he was in this life.

In future lives, who knows—but in this one, let him share in our glory.

Depending on Stage’s success, I was even considering stock options.

That way, even if a world came where I was gone, the Sedalbaekil members would be secure.

Frankly, none of our members were particularly business-savvy.

If anyone had potential, it was Choi Jae-sung.

Goo Tae-hwan was quick-witted, but didn’t know how to apply that wit strategically—an easy mark for seasoned businessmen.

“I’ll give it some more thought.”

“Why?”

“Because you’d definitely oppose it.”

“You’re not planning to pick a fight with the terrestrial networks, are you?”

“Come on, I’m not a rebellious teenager.”

I changed the subject.

I didn’t plan to reveal my intentions now, but I mentioned it so Director Seo wouldn’t later feel like I excluded him.

“Anyway, let’s talk about the second album. It’ll sell even more, right?”

“We’ll make sure it does.”

We discussed additional marketing strategies.

The main topic was the timing of the digital release.

Originally, it was scheduled for next week—but we weren’t sure if that was the right call.

An unexpected trend had sprung up.

Fans were showing off their physical album purchases by playing them together to recreate mashups.

There was definitely some pride involved—“You haven’t heard this yet, have you?”

But as soon as the songs went live on streaming platforms, that bragging right would vanish.

Yet delaying the digital release any longer also felt risky.

We didn’t know which option would generate a bigger payoff—the current trend or digital exposure.

“I’ll research it. Let me run some surveys.”

“Please do.”

“Oh, by the way, HR Corporation reached out…”

After some time, the meeting ended.

As Director Seo left the conference room, he subtly tapped his phone, sending me a message.

[If you need to get the members’ consent, do it quickly.]

[Quickly?]

[Isn’t this boycott actually advantageous because of the unit albums?]

At first, I didn’t understand, but then I realized Director Seo had misunderstood something.

This was something I had recently discussed with M Show as well—whether to include the unit albums along with the second album for music show performances.

If we included all the units, it would make the broadcast lineup bloated.

But excluding them felt like a waste, since the units were hugely popular.

M Show couldn’t say it out loud, but the issue was Choi Jae-sung.

His unit album, Side B, didn’t match Stage.

The vibe was too different.

Side B was synth-pop, but closer to party tunes, while Stage was quite far from party tunes.

In fact, I had taken intense elements from Stage and transformed them into upbeat tracks for Choi Jae-sung’s album.

Intensity and excitement were two very different things.

M Show secretly wanted to stage the other units without Choi Jae-sung, but I rejected that idea.

There was no need.

However, the terrestrial networks would likely pressure us to make that compromise, and Director Seo assumed my calm demeanor was because I had anticipated this.

But that was a complete misunderstanding.

I didn’t really care about staging the unit albums.

If Choi Jae-sung wanted to perform, I’d make sure he could.

If he didn’t want to, I wouldn’t force him.

“What are you doing?”

As I was thinking about all this, the Sedalbaekil members tilted their heads.

“Let’s go, Si-on.”

“Wait, sit down. I have something to say.”

Lee Eion, settling into his seat, suddenly said something unexpected.

“Are you dating?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been playing with your phone nonstop. That’s not like you.”

“If I date, album sales drop. No dating until we hit 200 million sales.”

“……”

The members looked slightly embarrassed but didn’t argue.

Since I was about to bring up something serious, I shifted the mood.

“Remember earlier when I said this boycott is actually good?”

“The network boycott?”

“Yes.”

“What are you planning?”

It was strange.

Even though the networks were boycotting us, the members seemed completely unfazed.

“You’re all okay with this? You’re awfully calm.”

“Well, so what? We made a great album. We’re earning plenty. We can find better ways to interact with fans than music shows.”

Of course, fans loved seeing us win first place on music shows, so there was no perfect substitute, Choi Jae-sung added.

“But why do you say it’s actually good?”

Goo Tae-hwan asked, and I shrugged.

Originally, I had planned to wait until the COVID era.

That would be a period of upheaval for show business, where individual artists gained much more power.

Personal broadcasts and independent content would explode due to the pandemic, creating huge opportunities.

But now it felt unnecessary to wait.

“I’m going to draw a line.”

“A line? What line?”

“Between Choi Tae-ho and us.”

“What?”

Choi Tae-ho had surrendered to me, but I wasn’t about to declare the war over.

He hit me. I need to return the blow.

Otherwise, I’ll be underestimated in this industry.

Yes.

For me, this boycott was an opportunity for revenge.