Chapter 176
Steel Blue Concept Photo Summary
Each of us had one photo in our school uniforms and one photo while participating in club activities.
It seemed like they took these photos with that concept in mind.
Seo Baek-young: One photo sitting on the stairs holding an ion drink + One photo in a kendo uniform swinging a wooden sword with her hair tied back.
Kim Geum: One photo sitting by the window with white curtains fluttering + One photo that gives off the feeling of a powerful volleyball spike.
Ryu Bo-ra: One photo receiving a call surrounded by juniors on the way home, with a 2G phone and a big doll phone charm (ㅋㅋㅋ it looks like Ryu Bo-ra) + One photo of her holding a script on the stage.
Yoon Cheong: One photo of her reading a book in the classroom, our class’s first love + One photo of her making a pledge as the student council president.
Yeon Juhong: One photo of her happily waving on her way to school, giving off a junior vibe + One professional-looking photo of her reading a script as a broadcaster.
The concept was senior students we admired back then.
But we never had such seniors at our school.
If we did, I would have become a fan right away.
But they really nailed that feeling of first love, capturing those everyday moments sneakily ㅋㅋㅋ
Steel Blue… First love concept, good.
I totally understand why Yoon Cheong misses those days.
If it were me, I would have talked about those days until I became a grandmother.
@: Grandma… sob sob… In the same class… sob sob
Grandchild: Grandma!!! If you tell that story one more time, it’ll be the 100th time!!!
Taking the photos with a film camera was the best.
Maybe because they used a film camera, it really captured the emotional vibe.
The greenish feeling,, full of light,,,
Even the slightly blurry quality is perfect.
All five of them had black hair, which was awesome.
But their hairstyles were all different.
Seo Baek-young: Long straight hair without bangs
Kim Geum: Short bob without bangs
Ryu Bo-ra: Long wavy hair with bangs down to her eyebrows
Yoon Cheong: See-through bangs + long straight hair
Yeon Juhong: Wavy bob without bangs
So cute… With name tags, it was easy to remember who was who.
This is why I love school looks.
Kim Geum alone had a bunch of piercings.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋStill the same hipster
Couldn’t give it up ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
But she took them all out when wearing the volleyball uniform.
Ryu Bo-ra’s phone was so realistic.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ A 2G phone with a bunch of phone charms…
I loved how she answered the phone so sensitively.
Juhong’s hairpin was so pretty.
My Yeon Coral… Couldn’t give up on coral, so she stubbornly wore a coral pink pin ㅋ큐ㅠ
Yoon Cheong was really the human embodiment of a student council president.
How could she be the student council president of my dreams?
Isn’t the student council president supposed to be human?
Never mind, the real deal is Seo Baek-young.
She’s just the embodiment of my first love from back then.
No one would argue against that.
The response to the concept photos was even better than we expected.
While everyone was happily preparing for the comeback.
Articles popped up one after another.
[Inleven aiming for summer dominance? Comeback signal]
[Summer Queen is ours! Big rookie Inleven, comeback green light]
[Move aside Steel Blue… <Inleven> is coming, comeback scheduled for July]
As expected, I wasn’t surprised.
Of course, the members were very upset.
“Why does Moment always act so petty?”
“Don’t they realize they’re only hurting themselves by scheduling things so hastily?”
“Why choose a strategy that’s bad for everyone?”
No.
They know very well.
That’s why they’re pushing themselves to come up with such strategies.
Like, ‘Resurrecting History,’ for example.
“Did Dahin say anything to you?”
Kim Geum asked me.
She must have thought we got close while doing <Dear My Diva> and <Three Kingdoms Era>.
“I’ll check.”
The moment I checked my phone,
[Dahin]
Dahin had really sent me a message.
Surprisingly.
Why did she send a text?
Dahin
Senior… I’m really sorry.
I tried to stop them, but… they didn’t listen at all…
It was a predictable story.
But knowing that Dahin tried, I replied that it was okay.
Just do your best in what you’re responsible for.
That’s all that matters.
Ding!
Dahin
Senior, by any chance, what song are you coming out with this time..?
But then, another message came.
What song are we coming out with?
Dahin
Didn’t you see the article?
It’s coming out with Eternal Summer
Dahin is someone who has experienced the world where Baek Nokha exists.
Of course, I had heard of it.
There’s no way an idol wouldn’t have heard the annual number one song.
Dahin
Ah, yes!
I know it, but I was wondering if I could listen to the audio…!!ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I’m so curious… as a fan…ㅠㅠㅠ
If it’s burdensome, you can refuse!!
ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
I had a feeling.
This…
Isn’t Dahin.
Dahin
Ah, Dahin must be really curious about our title songㅠㅠ
Of course, she could be!!ㅎㅎ
Who doesn’t know Dahin?
Might as well say you don’t know Yoon Cheong.
It was definitely someone else, maybe a manager or someone else in the company, who had taken Dahin’s phone and was sending messages instead.
Moreover, contacting me via text message instead of the usual messenger was suspicious.
Couldn’t they crack her messenger app’s password?
If not, there would be no reason to use text messages.
I had always strongly urged Dahin to leave the messenger chat room immediately after our conversations.
She wasn’t the type to disobey, so the conversations shouldn’t have been leaked.
What should I do?
How should I cook this up to make it known that I did well?
I pondered and then replied.
Dahin
Wait a moment! I’m in the middle of a schedule right now.
Can I send it in about 6 hours?
Not long after,
Dahin
Yes! Take your time, senior ㅠㅠ
Thank you!!!!ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
They took the bait.
“Geum, come here.”
“Oh, Cheong Cheong.”
Kim Geum looked a bit bewildered.
“Cheong Cheong, you look quite wicked right now.”
“By any chance,”
“Yes,”
“Among the songs we considered for our album but then discarded… is there one we definitely wouldn’t use? Something similar to our title track.”
“Hmm.”
Kim Geum pondered for a moment, then brought her laptop.
“This song is somewhat similar, but it’s so dull… we threw it away. This one is really bad, we’d never use it.”
“Really?”
I grinned and placed my hand on Kim Geum’s shoulder.
“Can I use this for a bit?”
[Steel Blue, music leak? Comeback at risk]
[Comeback D-1, Steel Blue faces music leak scandal… Will the comeback proceed?]
[Is Steel Blue’s leaked track the title song? Disappointing response to ‘Eternal Summer’]
The day before the music video release.
Steel Blue’s title track started spreading on SNS.
It wasn’t uncommon for songs to leak before a comeback, but it had never spread this much on social media and communities.
Initially, people felt sorry for the leak itself, but their reactions gradually changed.
Steel Blue’s new title is a bit…??
They’ve always released good songs, why mess up at a crucial time?
I mean, it’s seriously dullㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Steel Blue’s title is really bad
Is Colors out of their mind for approving this crappy song?
I think this shows the limits of their self-producing
└22 Instead of lowering the quality, they should abandon the self-production concept and buy songs. This kills the hype before the comeback.
Steel Blue’s Rookie of the Year award is out of the question now
If they win it with this, they’d be shameless…
Are they going to force it with their fandom power?ㅎ
?If it’s with their fandom power, isn’t it fair?
Wow, Rookie of the Year is definitely Inleven’s now
I had high expectations because the teaser was good, but the song is really awful
But don’t you think something’s off?
The chorus released earlier doesn’t match the song…
I thought the same thing
Doesn’t it seem like this isn’t the real title song…?
I hope that’s the caseㅠㅠ
Due to the disappointing quality, fans and the public couldn’t react favorably.
Only Moment was celebrating inwardly.
Isn’t it obvious?
The leaked song had drastically lowered expectations.
On top of that, the song was being reviewed poorly.
At this rate, the comeback itself might be canceled.
Moment was sure.
Even if Steel Blue forced the comeback, they would never make it on time.
They had already released the teaser and concept film.
It was impossible to scrap everything, so they must be in total panic by now.
“…How could they… do this….”
And Dahin, who had her phone taken while she was sleeping, was in despair.
Without knowing, she had ended up stealing Yoon Cheong’s song.
“It’s all for your own good. What’s the problem?”
Not long ago, Director Park, who had threatened Dahin and Yoon Cheong in front of Yoon Cheong’s car, shouted.
“I’m doing all this for your success. Do you think I’d go this far if you had succeeded on your own? Do you think I want to be doing this, damn it?”
Director Park raised his hand to hit Dahin, then remembered the upcoming comeback and lowered it.
“Listen carefully. Do you know how many tens of billions of won have been invested in you? If you don’t make it this time, you’ll have to pay it all back.”
“How can that—”
“Shut up!”
Director Park yelled at Dahin, who tried to protest.
“If we follow the law—”
“The law? Do you know there’s something stronger than the law?”
Director Park smiled at the trembling members of Inleven.
“Do you really think the law can protect you? Go ahead and try.”
“….”
“Do you not understand why your seniors stick to the company without a word? Huh?”
The members had already seen previous examples with their own eyes.
Of course… they knew.
They knew how powerful these people were in the entertainment industry.
They knew how viciously these people could torment others.
Dahin hated herself for being utterly powerless.
“So stop whining and—”
“Director!”
At that moment.
Someone burst into the director’s office.
It was a staff member from Moment.
“What is it?”
“There’s something strange…! You need to see this.”
“What is it?”
Director Park frowned deeply.
He took the phone handed to him by the staff.
“This… This is the music video that Steel Blue just released. It’s nothing like the song we received….”
“It’s completely different? What is this?”
Director Park listened to the song for a moment, then, realizing the situation, immediately threw the phone.
These bastards had deceived him.
“Yoo Dahin!”
“…!”
Dahin finally understood what was happening.
A hint of color returned to her face.
Yoon Cheong… had done it again!
“You, come here…!”
Ding ding.
Ding ding.
As Director Park reached to grab Danhin’s wrist.
His phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number.
Director Park frowned.
Very few people knew this number…?
He decided to answer the call.
“Hello.”
-Oh, is this Director Park’s phone~?
“Who is this?”
A woman’s voice, overly smooth.
Director Park instinctively responded with anger.
-Oh, it’s nothing special~ I was just going to tell you that if you swing your hands around carelessly, huh? You might end up in big trouble with me.
“What? Who do you think you are—”
-We have a complete list of your rigging activities.
“!”
-I’ve just come from getting testimony from the owners of the accounts in different names.
Haha.
The voice on the other end was saying the most frightening things in the happiest tone.