Beep beep. Beep beep.
Six in the morning.
Seo Jong-woo, the former leader of Freesia and the current guitarist for Prequel, woke up to his alarm as usual and began preparing for work.
The start of an ordinary day felt like a lie after the fantastic performance at Taeha’s fan meeting last night.
But if you asked if today truly felt ordinary to Seo Jong-woo, the answer was no.
Recalling the excitement and joy he felt during the performance, he smiled without realizing it.
That smile was definitive proof that Jong-woo’s day was different from usual.
Yes, Jong-woo was in a very good mood today.
It was like that throughout his shower, while getting dressed, and even during his simple breakfast.
The world, which had always seemed monotonous to him, had completely changed without him noticing.
And the reason Jong-woo felt this way was simple.
It was because of the music he had started again and yesterday’s performance where he showed it.
In truth, Jong-woo felt a great sense of responsibility for Freesia’s failure.
Even though the group was forced to disband due to the agency’s bankruptcy, he blamed himself, thinking this outcome happened because he, as the leader, failed to guide the team well.
Among the Freesia members who each took on a portion of Taeha’s debt to repay it, Jong-woo took the largest share because of this same sense of responsibility.
His sense of responsibility even morphed into a strong aversion to music.
He vowed never to do music again.
It was because of this resolution that Jong-woo studied again and joined a large corporation.
But deep inside, a small whisper always existed.
It was a whisper asking if he didn’t want to do music again.
He just busied himself with attending meetings, preparing presentations, and building up his performance, trying hard to ignore that whisper.
But just like Kim Gun-yul, Jong-woo also watched as Taeha’s “Rebel Anthem” dominated the music charts, feeling his passion for music revive, making all his efforts until then seem meaningless.
That was why he accepted Taeha’s proposal and formed the workplace band Prequel.
And now, having just finished performing under Prequel’s name at Taeha’s fan meeting…
Jong-woo was more satisfied than anyone with Prequel’s formation.
The joy he felt during yesterday’s performance was the greatest he had ever experienced in his life.
It was to the point where he wondered if he could ever feel such joy again.
The fact that the scenes from yesterday were replaying over and over in Jong-woo’s mind as he got ready for work was proof of that.
The audience marveling at the stage Prequel prepared and cheering along as Prequel led them.
Himself and the Prequel members performing joyfully and without any intimidation in front of such an audience. Even everyone was there together.
All the boys who had gathered under the name Freesia but couldn’t protect that name to the end.
So, for Jong-woo, yesterday’s emotion was bound to be doubled.
To the point where he couldn’t forget that emotion even the next day.
And so, Jong-woo left home in a different mood than usual and worked with a bright expression all day at the company.
One of his colleagues he had lunch with even asked what happened, saying his expression was unusually bright today.
Jong-woo vaguely dodged the question, saying it was probably because he was enjoying a hobby he’d recently started, without specifically revealing he was in a workplace band.
He thought that if he went into a long story about Prequel, it might cause trouble for Taeha.
And so, half a day had already flown by since the start of today.
At 7 PM, after finishing work a bit late, Jong-woo was on the subway when he noticed Prequel’s group chat suddenly blowing up with notifications.
‘Huh? There’s no practice today, what’s going on? Are they talking about yesterday’s performance?’
Wondering this, Jong-woo clicked on the group chat.
That’s how he could see what the Prequel members were discussing.
Surprisingly, what the Prequel members were talking about wasn’t yesterday’s performance.
It was about Prequel’s mini-album “We’re getting closer,” which was released early this morning.
Surprisingly, ‘Did our song really reach number one on the real-time charts?’
The messages from the Prequel members contained such talk.
[We’re number one on the music chartsã… ã… I can’t believe itã… ã… Am I dreaming?]
[My heart is beating so fast right now.. I don’t think I can just go home like this]
[Anyone free? I was hoping we could have a small celebratory drink]
[Me! I was just on my way home with some beer!]
The Prequel members had already gathered their opinions to meet at the practice room for a drink.
It was chaos, with even members who had other plans canceling them to come to the practice room.
Feeling his own heart pounding, Jong-woo also wrote a message in the group chat.
[I’m heading there now too.]
***
The momentum of Prequel, which took first place on the real-time chart on the first day of the song’s release, was incredible.
As time passed, instead of the ranking dropping, it only solidified its hold on the number one spot more firmly.
The fact that it briefly dropped to third place when a famous idol group made a comeback but reclaimed the number one spot within a few hours was proof of that.
And so, Prequel’s “We’re getting closer” eventually took first place on the weekly chart as well.
Around this time, agencies began approaching Prequel to sign a formal contract.
Among them were even agencies classified as one of the Republic of Korea’s top four major agencies.
“So, what should we do?”
The Prequel members, now with various options, were all gathered together when Seo Jong-woo asked this.
However, the question wasn’t simply about choosing a contract agency.
It also contained the meaning of whether signing with an agency was a good idea.
To others, it might not seem so, but Prequel’s identity was definitely that of a workplace band.
And the reason Prequel could maintain the appearance of a workplace band was because all the members had separate main jobs.
But now, they were being told they should sign with an agency and start serious activities.
For the Prequel members, it couldn’t be anything but a burdensome matter.
Moreover, the Prequel members were people who had previously signed a bad contract with an agency, earning the disgraceful label of “failed idols” and a not-insignificant amount of debt.
For that reason, the members’ attitude toward agency contracts was inevitably somewhat cautious.
Some time passed after hearing Jong-woo’s question.
Breaking the silence, bassist Kim Gun-yul spoke up with difficulty.
“I want to sign with an agency one more time and try doing music activities seriously. I’m not at the stage to give up my main job yet, but if a side job is permitted, I think it’s not bad to gradually expand influence in this direction.”
At Kim Gun-yul’s words, a few members nodded.
Certainly, if they could make a living from music activities alone, there was no need to cling to their main jobs.
After all, the dream the members had harbored since childhood was to do music.
However, as Kim Gun-yul mentioned, it wasn’t a situation where they could be seen as able to live on music activities alone yet.
One song did well, but that was just it.
They couldn’t guarantee they could focus on music activities and make a living with just one hit song.
Drummer Choi Jin-woo followed Kim Gun-yul’s statement.
“Definitely, a contract with an agency that doesn’t guarantee our main jobs seems tough. We’re not kids anymore. But I’m also positive about signing with an agency. If we want to do music activities more efficiently than now, we’ll need expert hands anyway.”
The biggest advantage of an agency contract was undoubtedly having people to handle the various minor tasks necessary for music activities.
At the same time, it would be possible to get schedules that could help raise awareness and income, and receive expert help to do music activities efficiently.
So, for the members, unless the schedule was too grueling, signing with an agency was better in many ways.
“So, it seems opinions are roughly narrowed down to signing with an agency. An agency that can help us focus on music activities without interfering with our main jobs. I wonder which places fit that.”
Keyboardist Alex summarized the opinions, and the Prequel members listed agencies that matched the conditions.
The agencies that were narrowed down were three.
Howling, People & Purple, and AH Entertainment.
And among these three, the one that received the most support from the members was undoubtedly AH Entertainment.
Taeha, who had been watching this, spoke up.
“If you’re choosing AH Entertainment because of me, you don’t have to. I already have an agency, so I can’t sign a new contract with the same agency as you guys, but I’ve already received permission to work under Prequel’s name with AH Entertainment.”
It was an obvious statement, but Taeha couldn’t leave AH Entertainment and sign with another agency.
But as mentioned, he had directly received permission from Go Seokjun that Prequel activities were possible.
That meant, no matter which agency they signed with, there would be no problem with Taeha doing Prequel activities.
Issues like schedule coordination or profit distribution might become a bit more complicated, but the members didn’t need to choose AH Entertainment just because of such things.
Rather, signing with another agency could be better in many ways than AH Entertainment, which had no experience in singer care.
But the members shook their heads at Taeha’s words too.
Seo Jong-woo spoke.
“For us, AH Entertainment isn’t a bad choice either. They’ve promised to guarantee our main jobs and schedule us the way we want. Moreover, they said if we sign, they’ll formally hire Composer-nim as the overall producer, so there’s no worry about a lack of expertise either.”
The composer Jong-woo mentioned was none other than TT.
Originally, AH Entertainment had been considering a full-fledged entry into the music field.
After all, for an agency to grow, it was essential to broaden its fields into acting, music, variety, etc.
So, AH Entertainment couldn’t help but covet Prequel.
If they could hire TT, whose abilities were already proven, as the overall producer on this occasion, it wouldn’t be impossible to quickly establish a position in the music field.
Above all, if they hired TT, it would also be possible to get introductions to other experts in the music field through connections.
That’s why AH Entertainment could offer Prequel groundbreaking conditions.
And for the Prequel members, AH Entertainment was also the best choice.
If only the promises were kept, they could receive help with future music activities, and as could be seen from their track record in caring for Taeha, AH Entertainment was trustworthy in artist support.
“From the fact that they allowed Prequel activities for you, Taeha, even though they have ambitions to enter the music field from the start, you can tell what kind of company AH Entertainment is.”
Seo Jong-woo added.
Certainly, for these reasons, Taeha also had no need to oppose the Prequel members signing with AH Entertainment.
Rather, he could be free from issues like schedule coordination or profit distribution.
And so, the Prequel members signed a contract with AH Entertainment.
***
And a few days later.
Taeha and the Prequel members appeared on a music show.