Little Pink Starfish

Then, upon hearing me, On Saemiro tilted her head.

“Who’s the idiot?”

“Who else? Choi Daeho.”

“Why are you suddenly bringing up Choi Daeho? Just because Mix Way is part of Ryan Entertainment?”

Come to think of it, innocent On Saemiro still didn’t fully understand the nature of show business.

The articles On Saemiro read were proof that Choi Daeho had placed Mix Way in the same ring as Sedalbaekil.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for so many articles to connect Mix Way’s first-week sales with Sedalbaekil’s.

That’s how media works.

In order for media to become public opinion, it needs numbers, and the easiest way to fill those numbers is with internet articles.

“Everyone, come here for a second.”

While I was at it, I explained to the Sedalbaekil members that Choi Daeho had lumped Mix Way and us into the same category.

As we talked, Koo Taehwan already knew, Choi Jaesung was uncertain, and only innocent On Saemiro and Lee Iion seemed completely unaware.

“But is there a chance we’ll lose in first-week sales?”

“There is. You can see their fandom uniting strongly. They’ve scheduled a lot of fan signings too.”

“But we sold 680,000 copies.”

“When there’s a target, people push for it.”

If our first-week sales had been 1.68 million, it’d be different, but 680,000 is a reachable figure.

And Mix Way’s fandom would push desperately if they sensed they were close.

Of course, I don’t think such actions are bad.

Fan signings are something entertainment companies naturally hold, and fans want them.

Besides, fans supporting Mix Way are doing so out of pure affection and goodwill.

There may be some who dislike Sedalbaekil, but that’s no reason to antagonize Mix Way as a whole.

I personally have no feelings toward Mix Way.

What I dislike is Choi Daeho planning to inflate the first-week sales through fan signings and then shouting, ‘We beat Sedalbaekil.’

But even that—

It’s understandable.

That’s how marketing works.

“But then why do you call Choi Daeho an idiot? You said we could lose.”

“Sion called him an idiot after seeing that article.”

Surprisingly, Lee Iion didn’t say, ‘You shouldn’t call an adult an idiot.’

It seemed Choi Daeho had clearly positioned himself as an enemy even to Lee Iion.

Well, he is basically an enemy.

Hmm…

Thinking like this and finding it amusing probably shows my age.

“Why the serious face?”

“Huh? Oh, I was thinking about something else.”

“Why do you say he’s an idiot?”

“Because I think Choi Daeho is overestimating his own influence.”

When you stay in show business long enough, you see this — the moment successful planners start underestimating the public.

It’s not always, but those who have enjoyed continuous success often fall this way.

But the public is never to be underestimated.

One person may be just an ordinary individual, but when tens of thousands gather, they become a giant wave.

And no one can control a wave.

That’s why I think Choi Daeho is being an idiot.

To be fair, his plan is actually quite good.

If Mix Way surpasses Sedalbaekil even in one metric, and they cling to that?

Fine.

It could elevate Mix Way’s status and siphon off some of our buzz.

But he shouldn’t have lumped Mix Way and us into the same category.

Especially not in the realm of music.

The public doesn’t gather and disperse on command.

Once linked by first-week sales, Mix Way and Sedalbaekil’s music would endlessly be compared.

“Isn’t that a convenient thought?”

Koo Taehwan tilted his head at my words, but this wasn’t just wishful thinking.

Because I planned to set the stage that way.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Well, even if Choi Daeho didn’t realize it, it might not be a bad thing for Mix Way.

Because Ryan Entertainment would pour full support into Mix Way to beat Sedalbaekil.

“Break time’s over. Let’s get back to practice.”

At Lee Iion’s clap, we nodded and stood up.

Even though we could only appear on M-Show and SBN’s music shows, it wasn’t bad.

We could simply deliver dense performances on these two stages.

---

[Mix Way surpasses Sedalbaekil’s first-week sales!]

[The underdog’s rebellion? Even the artists and fandom are surprised.]

[2018, golden era of K-pop idols? At the forefront stands Mix Way.]

As soon as Mix Way’s first-week sales were tallied, articles poured out.

Most of the articles were about Mix Way beating Sedalbaekil.

They put various spins and adjectives on it, but the content was identical.

Public reaction was split right down the middle.

-LOL what do you mean “beat”? Disgusting Ryan media play.

-Underdog? LOL. Isn’t this major agency Mix Way vs indie band Sedalbaekil?

-I thought Mix Way surpassed all of Sedalbaekil’s units plus 2nd full album.

-They barely passed the 2nd full album alone LOL, and even that by a small margin.

-We all know how many copies were pushed through fan signings LOL.

-They probably even manipulated sales. There was a 30k gap and then suddenly numbers jumped.

-Such numbers aren’t publicly disclosed, though?

-You’re just making things up because you want to bash them.

-Your artists are the ones manipulating album sales LOL.

-Honestly, if Sedalbaekil had done the same amount of fan signings, they could’ve hit a million.

-They already passed a million if you count the unit albums.

-Then it’s 2 million LOL.

-It’s not like Sedalbaekil didn’t give away goods either.

-How’s that the same as fan signings?

-What’s so different? LOL. Even Sedalbaekil’s 1st album sold tons because they gave out CD players.

-Yeah, if there were no CD players, sales would’ve been halved LOL.

One side said Mix Way’s first-week tally was artificially inflated, while the other said Sedalbaekil wasn’t any different.

Overall, the majority of general public opinion leaned toward Mix Way’s numbers being bloated.

But while ordinary people made one or two comments, Mix Way’s fandom mobilized furiously.

And they weren’t the only ones.

-LOL serves them right.

-Honestly, Sedalbaekil got lucky with their timing so far. They never faced proper competition.

-They always acted world-class after bullying Take Scene.

-Mix Way’s new album is actually pretty good.

-Sedalbaekil tends to really look down on K-pop fans. That’s why they never became a hardcore fandom pick.

-Yeah, they’re just a “muggle pick” now. A few years later, core fans will leave, and no one will even remember them.

-No need to overthink it. Mix Way’s album is simply better.

-True.

Fans of groups who previously lost out to Sedalbaekil began rallying behind Mix Way.

They claimed Mix Way brought a better album than Sedalbaekil and that Sedalbaekil never had real rivals.

Of course, it was nonsense.

Sedalbaekil had won their first #1 as an indie by beating Drop Out and NOP.

But people overlooked something.

First-week sales were certainly important.

They proved fandom power and indicated how high the album’s peak might go.

But on the flip side, companies poured enormous marketing into that first week.

That’s why 30–50% of total album sales happened in the first week.

However…

Sedalbaekil was different.

-Seriously, what the hell. Why does Sedalbaekil always get unfairly bashed?

-How is it unfair LOL?

-Sedalbaekil 1st album: 220k first-week, 1.78 million total. Still selling steadily; might hit 2 million this year.

-So what?

-Mix Way 1st album: 190k first-week, 360k total. Tension: 150k first-week, 280k total. OK?

-Do Sedalbaekil fans not see the problem? Always dragging other groups.

-I’m not a Sedalbaekil fan? Drop Out 3rd album: 160k first-week, 890k total. Take Scene: 60k first-week, 210k total.

-Just proves good albums keep selling LOL. Why all this bashing over first-week sales?

Sedalbaekil steadily sold albums long-term.

It wasn’t that they didn’t market at all.

But their priority was always musical substance, and as long as that stayed intact, sales didn’t falter without heavy marketing.

Around this time, similar opinions began spreading online.

-Actually, that’s true. You should really look at 2nd-week or monthly sales.

-Yeah, and these crazy guys didn’t even release the digital version yet.

-LOL pure hipsters.

-Why aren’t they releasing digital?

-They said they wanted to share the analog-era feeling when you could only hear music by buying the album.

-Did Sedalbaekil say that?

-No, I’m saying that.

-Who are you LOL.

-I’m someone feeling the analog vibe.

-WTF is this guy saying LOL.

-What’s Sedalbaekil’s 2nd-week sales?

Sedalbaekil’s 2nd-week sales for their 2nd full album were still massive despite being lower than the first week.

Sedalbaekil<STAGE>

319,3**

So 320k copies.

-LOL this is insane. 320k?

-Goddamn LOL.

-Wait, this is just for the 2nd full album?

-Yeah, not counting units LOL. With units, over 500k.

-So basically the entire K-pop fandom is buying Sedalbaekil’s albums?

-The cases are beautiful, too. If you line up the 3 unit albums, they make a perfect display.

-Yeah, feels like they designed it that way.

-So it’s 680k first-week, 320k second-week. What’s Mix Way’s 2nd-week looking like?

-No clue LOL. Gotta wait and see.

By this point, Choi Daeho and Ryan Entertainment officials were sweating bullets.

Mix Way’s first-week sales had been a miraculous burst after mobilizing every resource.

Naturally, the second-week sales were drastically lower.

Internally, they projected around 100k at best—even with extra fan signings.

Possibly even less.

“Uh, Team Leader Park. Try to redirect attention. We need to drop a new topic to distract from this.”

But no matter what Ryan Entertainment tried, the focus didn’t shift.

Because—

-Wow, finally!

-LMAO who releases digital versions in the 3rd week after album release? Hipsters.

-Final stage of Hongdae disease LOL.

Sedalbaekil finally began distributing digital versions of their 2nd full album <STAGE>.

And that wasn’t all.

It was announced that Sedalbaekil and Mix Way would appear together on M-Show’s music program M-Mixdown.