Second Try Idol

Chapter 273: First Full Album (9)

To be perfectly clear, I had no fondness for YMM. The reason I decided to stay with this company after going back in time was not out of affection for the agency itself. I simply wanted to be with the other members again.

My expectations for the agency were at rock bottom. This might be nothing new to say now, but the reality struck me painfully today.

I hated YMM. The reason was simple. They failed to properly support or protect their artists, focusing instead on safeguarding the company’s image. When I was unable to work due to the burns on my face, they discarded me as if I was just a burden.

Even now, YMM was dragging its feet in response, fearing stories might surface about how they had allowed a personal information leaker to remain close to the artists due to poor management. It had been a week since I voiced my suspicions about Hyuk-Soo, and even though it had been confirmed he was the culprit, the company had yet to act.

Su-Hwan lowered his head as he concluded the discussion about the investigation into Hyuk-Soo. “This is how things are. I’m sorry.”

Joo-Han simply shook his head, his expression unreadable. “You don't need to apologize. The apology should come from others," he said.

Su-Hwan was the only one genuinely fighting on our behalf. Supervisor Kim seemed caught in the middle, unsure how to proceed, while the company desired to downplay the entire situation with Hyuk-Soo. They preferred to let the storm pass quietly, waiting for the furor over the leaked information and the sensitivity around the stalkers to diminish before they made a move.

This approach infuriated me. “YMM has always been like this."

“I am sorry."

Su-Hwan’s apology was not helping. He had always been the type to regret not being able to do more for us.

I sighed deeply, shook my head in frustration, and stood up. “I’m going to get ready."

The silver lining, albeit small, was that despite the slow response, the move to the new accommodation had been executed swiftly. The only true consolation was the quality of our new home. It was well-secured and luxurious, as much as the company had flaunted. This was the stark reality for those of us from a smaller, still-evolving agency.

Today was the shooting day for the music video "Phantom Spirit" and, in just two days, Again After Rainfall would begin airing.

“I wanted to experience only good emotions about these upcoming events."

Life was accompanied by its share of troubles as always. However, I refused to just sit by and wait.

***

"How's everyone feeling today? You all look refreshed from staying in such a nice place!" The director said. His voice was lively as he broached the topic of Chronos’ new luxurious accommodations recently highlighted in an article.

“Ah, it's wonderful. They even changed the beds, and the CEO unexpectedly sprung for brand-name mattresses. It’s really something," Goh Yoo-Joon responded with a forced smile.

“With all the money Chronos brings in, they ought to provide at least that much, right? Must be nice. Does it have a view toward the Han River?"

Goh Yoo-Joon maintained the conversation with his characteristic sociability. “Unfortunately, no. We can only see apartments from our place. High Tension have the Han River view, and I’ve heard it’s quite spectacular."

Joo-Han and I were suffering from headaches as we received an update about Hyuk-Soo from Su-Hwan. Therefore, we were truly grateful that Goh Yoo-Joon was keeping the conversation going.

“Shall we get started then?"

At the director’s command, the staff and members moved with precision and efficiency. Some returned to the school and the origin of this universe sets, while others headed to sets that recreated a fantasy world.

“Hyun-Woo, head to Set A."

“Okay.”

My first filming location today was Set A. It was the pastel-toned flower bed where Jin-Sung had previously sat during “Parade." Now, I was standing in his spot, leaning on the cane he had used, facing the camera directly in the middle of the flower bed, just like Jin-Sung had.

If anything had changed in this set, it was the pastel backdrop that had turned into a dark night, and the once-vibrant pink and purple flowers now emitted a lonely and isolated ambiance. They fluttered against the nocturnal setting.

On top of that, my black shirt and pants adorned with a mismatched light pink rose badge intensified the mood.

‘Hmmm, was Jin-Sung wearing this badge before?’

“Hyun-Woo, maintain a blank expression and just focus on the camera. We are starting the shoot! Cue!" the director called out.

After his signal, the intro to "Phantom Spirit" began to play. I positioned one hand on the cane in front of me and placed the other behind my back. I stared intently at the camera and ensured I conveyed an eerie and suspicious atmosphere.

After holding my pose without blinking for about a minute, the director gave me an okay sign.

Despite being the protagonist, my shooting schedule today felt unexpectedly light. They told us that capturing the right atmosphere on set was nearly everything, and all I needed to do was make a brief stop at the school set later tonight.

However, the real strain fell on Yoon-Chan and Goh Yoo-Joon, who belonged to the modern team. I heard that Yoon-Chan had to run all day, almost as if he was trapped in an endless chase scene.

Regardless, Yoon-Chan approached the grueling day with a smile. His optimism in the face of such a demanding schedule was admirable.

“Thinking of it as a workout makes it seem more enjoyable, so it’s totally fine!”

Aside from the main filming session, I had the opportunity to explore other sets, too. I transitioned between the original set I was on, wandered through the piano set where Joo-Han was stationed, and shot scenes facing Jin-Sung.

Each set was shrouded in darkness, unlike the previous set I was at before. They felt hauntingly fragile, as if devoid of any props they might crumble into oblivion.

“Hyun-Woo will take a short break! Jin-Sung will take over the shooting now!” The director announced casually.

The director didn't really expect any acting from us, so it didn't feel like we were doing much work. The filming went by very quickly. After some of my scenes were done, Jin-Sung continued filming on the same set while I stepped outside for a bit of fresh air with Su-Hwan to head to another filming location at the school.

The director said the pastel petals had to shine even more beautifully with the pitch black background, so we brought in as many lights as we could. This made being on the set feel somewhat unpleasant.

“Goh Yoo-Joon will be coming here soon, right?” I asked.

“Yes, he is filming intensively right now, but will join us on set after the sun sets.”

It was intriguing how this music video pivoted around the distinction between day and night.

Since Goh Yoo-Joon had transitioned into a fantasy realm in the finale of the last “Parade” video, today's shoot would only capture the reason for his crossover before he hurried back to the set. Nearly last to wrap up with the modern team was Yoon-Chan. By now, he'd be drenched in sweat, sprinting through the school corridors.

“Hey, how are you?”

Goh Yoo-Joon was filming in a classroom used as a clubroom. I expected him to be in the middle of a take, but it turned out we had timed his break perfectly. Under the director's instruction, he was scribbling something on the blackboard.

[He betrayed us]

Our music video director's signature style involved adding profound English sentences.

I was handing out coffee to the crew with Su-Hwan when I approached Goh Yoo-Joon. His handwriting strangely became smaller and more skewed to the left without any balance.

“Are you the one writing this?”

Goh Yoo-Joon wrote and erased repeatedly while tilting his head quizzically. “Yeah, the director told me to write it. Is my handwriting bad? Wow, I really can't write at all. ...Suh Hyun-Woo, could you write it for me?'"

“Me?”

He offered me the chalk. However, just as I started to scribble in English beside him, the director insisted it had to be in Goh Yoo-Joon’s handwriting, so I had to step away, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Goh Yoo-Joon then resumed his shoot. He feigned to write over the already scribbled letters, his face etched with complicated emotions.

The warm sunlight streamed into the empty club room. This was a room that once echoed with the laughter and chatter of five people, but now, Goh Yoo-Joon was the only one surveying the empty classroom. He slowly peeked his face out of the window where we all once leaned out together and then stepped out of the club room.

“Cut! Put the chroma key[1] behind and shoot this one more time."

“Okay!"

A green screen was placed behind the window, and Goh Yoo-Joon filmed the same scene again. It appeared that this scene was meant to transition him into a fantasy world, and the two takes would be seamlessly blended in the music video to create a mystical scene. I wanted to watch Yoon-Chan film too, but he had run all the way to the road and was out of sight.

“Cut! Okay! Great job! Yoo-Joon, you can move to the set now!"

Having company made it far less boring than killing time alone, so I spent a considerable time watching Goh Yoo-Joon's shoot.

As it got dark, the school corridors began to dim and Goh Yoo-Joon's filming came to an end. Everyone's filming locations changed with nightfall. Joo-Han, Jin-Sung, and my scenes were at the school, Goh Yoo-Joon was at the set, and Yoon-Chan was said to be resting in the car before having to run again.

As soon as Joo-Han and Jin-Sung arrived at the school, they naturally came over to me.

“It seems like Yoon-Chan is having a tough time. Shouldn't we treat him to some barbeque once we’re done here?" asked Joo-Han.

“I even asked Yoon-Chan hyung if he was okay, but he said he was having fun?" Jin-Sung said.

I shook my head. “Do you believe that? You'd be exhausted if you ran all day too. Let's get him some BBQ later... Of course, Joo-Han hyung is paying, right? Love you, hyung."

I joked with an awareness of the behind-the-scenes camera around. This prompted Joo-Han to chuckle and shake his head. “Su-Hwan hyung has the company card, Hyun-Woo. Let's use it as much as we want. The company's been annoying us plenty anyway."

It was funny because we were blatantly criticizing the company on camera, yet the cameraman, Su-Hwan, and our staff were all laughing along. It seemed like they all agreed our company was terrible.

“Let's restart filming!"

The nighttime shoot began. After gathering briefly, we all dispersed to our respective filming locations. As Jin-Sung brushed past Joo-Han, Joo-Han placed his hand on Jin-Sung's shoulder and mine and said, “If there's a repeat of last time's incident, let me know anytime."

“...Hyung."

“You must be really strong-willed.”

“No matter how many times I paid close attention, I couldn’t see a single ghost. It’s annoying.”

Come to think of it, all sorts of strange phenomena happened in this school during the last shoot, almost like ghosts were behind them.

Jin-Sung turned pale. "You are being nonsensical, hyung.”

I smirked as I watched Joo-Han leave and reassured Jin-Sung. “Jin-Sung, it's okay. Ghosts can't touch you. That's how they work."

Jin-Sung’s hands were trembling. “Hyung... That—that sounds like a haunted house story... It will be very troublesome if we find ourselves in a similar situation...”

“Ah... You are right."

I also thought the experience would be as scary as a haunted house, so I didn't have much else to say.

“Anyway, hang in there, man. You got this."

Jin-Sung was strong, but weak in spirit. He tended to get scared more often than other members. But since I had not heard of any celebrities encountering ghosts messing with them during a shoot, maybe I should have taken it as a sign of a huge success...

“Hyung, I hate you. I really hate you guys."

“Huh?"

Jin-Sung looked upset as if he heard something he shouldn't have and dragged Su-Hwan to his filming location. “This isn't me being weird. It's you guys. How can you not be scared? It's annoying."

I watched Jin-Sung walk away, shrugged, and headed to Hye-Ri. Then, the filming resumed.

1. Chroma key is a visual effects technique where a color from the original footage, usually a bright green or blue, is made transparent, allowing another image or video to be placed in the background. This process is commonly used in film and television to create various environments or visual effects, such as weather forecasts or fantastical scenes in movies. ☜