Chapter 6 - What's Your Relationship?
‘There's nothing really worth getting from today's stage.’
Kim Jeong-hoon, who runs a YouTube channel specializing in idol fancams, shook his head.
Right now, a girl group was dancing diligently on stage, but Kim Jeong-hoon was no longer filming.
He was just letting out a sigh while holding his large camera.
‘I came here aiming for Yuri's comeback stage, but it seems She's On can't come out today... this is a complete waste.’
Kim Jeong-hoon's YouTube channel is a popular one with over 800,000 subscribers.
Because he perfectly utilizes expensive equipment to film and upload high-quality videos, he has a good reputation among enthusiasts.
It's a channel that even the marketing managers of entertainment agencies pay attention to, because sometimes a fancam that Kim Jeong-hoon films gains popularity in online communities and generates a tremendous promotional effect.
A video of a certain group that he filmed 5 years ago currently has over 30 million views, and that group bows their heads in greeting every time they see Kim Jeong-hoon at a venue.
This was because, thanks to Kim Jeong-hoon's fancam video, they had climbed back up the charts and been revived from the brink.
For reference, it's difficult to earn money from these kinds of fancam videos no matter how many views they get, because the copyright holder takes the revenue.
You could say it's an act purely for self-satisfaction, but on the contrary, because of that, there's an aspect of him putting even more effort into the video itself.
The fancammer known as Kim Jeong-hoon was someone who didn't care about things like view counts and was obsessed only with creating good videos.
However, it seemed Kim Jeong-hoon would not be able to create a good video today.
‘No matter how well I try to film the video, it's all meaningless if the idol on stage doesn't show a proper performance.’
Unfortunately, all the idols who went on stage today were below expectations.
Thanks to having filmed idol fancams for nearly ten years, Kim Jeong-hoon could grasp an idol's general condition just by looking at the stage through his viewfinder.
Some idols seemed to lack practice, and some idols seemed to be in bad condition.
Even if I film kids like that, it's difficult for a good video to come out of it.
‘Should I just pack up and leave for today?’
Just as he was thinking about packing up early to avoid the rush.
Newstarz came up on stage.
‘Newstarz... they're under Haram Entertainment, right?’
Newstarz.
A girl group created by Producer Baek Yeon-ah after she went independent.
It was a group hastily formed by scraping together trainees who had failed to debut, and they had managed to gain a passable amount of popularity.
However, the fact that they couldn't make it into the debut lineup at their original agencies ultimately meant they were kids who lacked talent.
So they had never shown a particularly standout performance.
‘The leader, Seo Na-eun's dancing is on the pretty good side, but it's always stiff somehow.’
It seemed like he didn't really need to watch.
Having come to that conclusion, Kim Jeong-hoon began to prepare to pack up.
However, as he was putting his filming equipment into his bag.
Kim Jeong-hoon felt it getting hot for some reason.
“……?”
No, the expression 'getting hot' wasn't accurate.
The surrounding atmosphere was gradually heating up.
‘What in the world is...’
Kim Jeong-hoon stopped the hands that were packing away his camera and turned his gaze to the stage.
And he witnessed it.
The sight of Newstarz's Seo Na-eun... showing off a perfect dance on stage with a broad smile.
‘What? Was she always this good?’
The stiffness from before was gone.
Her natural and fluid movements were pleasing to the eye.
The sight of her taking light steps with her slender legs was especially charming.
Just like the other people cheering wildly around him, Kim Jeong-hoon's gaze was also captivated by the sight.
‘Oops!’
Kim Jeong-hoon, who had been staring blankly, belatedly realized he had made a huge mistake.
He hadn't been filming because he was in the middle of packing up his equipment, including the camera.
‘I have to capture that charm on video!’
Kim Jeong-hoon hurriedly set up his filming equipment again.
But since he had already packed most of it away, it took time to set it up.
‘At this rate, the first verse will be over...!’
If the first verse ended like this, it would go straight to the second verse's chorus.
In the chorus, Seo Na-eun moves to the side because of the part distribution.
The moment Kim Jeong-hoon looked through the viewfinder, thinking that he had to film that at least, even if it was a shame.
Instead of going straight to the second chorus, an instrumental break began.
“……!”
The instrumental section, which has no vocals, is precisely the section where the member in charge of dance can display their true skills.
Seo Na-eun, who ran out to the center of the stage, began to show off a splendid dance, and cheers erupted from the surroundings.
He couldn't miss this.
Kim Jeong-hoon did everything in his power to perfectly capture Seo Na-eun's every single move.
If he could have his way, he wanted to appreciate it with his naked eyes, but Kim Jeong-hoon suppressed that desire and focused on the viewfinder.
Thinking that perfectly conveying that amazing sight to the people of the world was his mission.
* * *
“The fancam from last week's performance, it's already surpassed 1 million views.”
In the practice room, Team Leader Park Yeong-ho spoke with a beaming smile.
“Thanks to it being posted on every kind of online community, both male- and female-dominated, it's climbing back up the music charts, and schedule inquiries are continuously coming in. It's a huge hit.”
“That's great.”
Watching the Newstarz members who were taking a dance lesson, Baek Hyeon-woo nodded his head.
Just as he had predicted at the time, Seo Na-eun showed a more outstanding performance than any other idol who went on stage that day.
No, to be precise, she showed a performance that was beyond what Baek Hyeon-woo had expected.
Even people who knew of Seo Na-eun's dance skills praised in unison that she had gotten much better than before.
‘Did the plus correction on her Dance play a big part?’
What was lucky was that a famous fancammer who was at the venue at that time perfectly filmed Seo Na-eun's performance and uploaded it as a video.
Thanks to him editing and uploading just the instrumental break where Seo Na-eun's dance skills exploded, it was able to spread across various communities and gain word-of-mouth traction.
‘Thanks to that, the excitement could be conveyed as it was, even to people who weren't at the venue. So this is the power of a fancam.’
After the stage performance ended that day, Baek Hyeon-woo looked into the entertainment industry in more detail.
This was because he wanted to properly understand the degree of response that Seo Na-eun's performance on stage had generated.
There were many unfamiliar topics, but the more he studied, the more interesting it became.
“Team Leader Park, with this incident, Newstarz won't become a popular group on the level of She's On, will they?”
“Haha, it's not that easy. Honestly, not a chance.”
Park Yeong-ho said with a laugh.
“However, it's true that Newstarz, which was in a bit of an ambiguous position, has seized an opportunity to leap into becoming a popular group. So we have to do even better from now on.”
“I see.”
What should be done for Newstarz to gain more popularity?
Since some point, Baek Hyeon-woo had started to have such worries.
Originally, Baek Hyeon-woo only thought of it as just doing a temporary part-time job.
Since he had no particular interest in the entertainment industry or girl groups.
But his thoughts changed after the last performance.
He began to seriously contemplate what he could do using his ability.
‘If I use my ability like last time... I might be able to do much more.’
Baek Hyeon-woo feels a sense of reward from guiding people who are suffering to a better state.
That's why he chose the path of a physical therapist who treats patients.
However, at the hospital, he faced the wall of reality and came to feel skeptical about the profession of a physical therapist.
If so, what about exploring a new path in the entertainment industry?
If he walks the path of a manager while utilizing his newly awakened ability, he might be able to once again pursue the ideals he had to give up during his days as a physical therapist.
Without compromising, while doing his best.
“Manager-nim, there's something I'd like to ask you for a moment...”
At that moment, Seo Na-eun, who was on her break, approached him.
Seo Na-eun's expression was much brighter than when he first saw her.
Since that day, Seo Na-eun's condition has continuously remained good.
This was thanks to Baek Hyeon-woo teaching her stretches and giving her additional corrections.
However, a plus correction was no longer being applied to her Dance.
At that time on stage, it was clearly [Dance: A+], but now it was just [Dance: A].
It seemed that a plus correction wasn't applied simply because the symptoms disappeared and her condition was good.
‘A little more verification is needed.’
If he was to walk the path of a manager in the future, he needed to grasp the characteristics of this ability in more detail.
While thinking such thoughts, Baek Hyeon-woo conversed with Seo Na-eun.
However... there was someone staring intently at Baek Hyeon-woo.
* * *
“What is your relationship with Na-eun unnie?”
As Baek Hyeon-woo came out of the restroom, a person who had been waiting in the hallway blocked his path.
A beautiful woman of mixed Swedish descent with sparkling silver hair and white skin.
It was Laura, Newstarz's sub-vocalist.
“You two seemed quite close.”
Laura asked, glaring at Baek Hyeon-woo with her blue eyes.
“What exactly is your relationship?”
“It's not a special relationship.”
“Don't lie.”
Laura said, her white face turning red.
“I definitely heard you last time, you know?”
“Heard what?”
“Na-eun unnie making strange sounds where the stairs were.”
“……”
He had checked that there was no one around at that time... It seems Laura must have briefly peeked towards the stairs in the middle of it.
“Doing that kind of thing in secret right before a performance, it's truly absurd.”
“I think you're having a big misunderstanding...”
In truth, if she had only heard the sounds for a moment, it was understandable that she would misunderstand.
After all, it was a situation where a man and a woman were in a secluded place with no one around, and the woman was continuously making groaning sounds.
“At that time, I was merely giving Na-eun-ssi a massage.”
“A massage?”
However, Laura made an even more suspicious expression.
“It wasn't a strange massage, but a massage for treatment. I also performed corrective therapy.”
“Treatment…?”
He had told Baek Yeon-ah and Park Yeong-ho that he had tended to Seo Na-eun's body, and was even praised for doing a good job.
But it seemed that the story hadn't reached Laura.
“If you're suspicious, ask Na-eun-ssi.”
“We're not even that close, how can I ask something like that?”
“……”
Come to think of it, the Newstarz members didn't seem close to each other.
Laura didn't seem to have a very affectionate personality either, and it would probably be awkward for her to ask, 'Unnie, what was that sound you were making on the stairs last time?'
“Laura! The trainer is calling for you! She says she needs to look at your upper body movements again!”
At that moment, another member called for Laura from afar.
Laura, who could no longer continue the conversation, made an annoyed expression.
“Anyway, this is a very important time for us Newstarz. So I would appreciate it if you didn't get too close with Na-eun unnie privately. You know what I mean, right?”
“We're not particularly close privately.”
“You don't get it.”
Laura clicked her tongue and tried to leave.
However, Baek Hyeon-woo spoke to her departing back.
“Laura-ssi.”
“What is it?”
Laura stopped in her tracks and looked back.
It was a cold gaze without a shred of goodwill.
Receiving that gaze, Baek Hyeon-woo spoke in a calm voice.
“Before you go into your lesson, please stretch your back for at least 30 seconds. Then your upper body movements will improve a lot.”
Laura's eyes widened as she looked at Baek Hyeon-woo.