pappabearbooks Chapter 198: Summer (1)
Chapter 198: Summer (1)
It was Vanguard’s second concert, including their debut show-con, and this Japan concert was also “sold out”. Kang Rojun, who was reading an article on his phone, couldn’t help but widen his eyes.'Seriously, everything sold out?'
He had been surprised even during the debut show-con, which had 20,000 seats, but this Japan concert had increased to 35,000 seats. And yet it was a full sellout, even though it wasn’t held in Korea but in Japan. Rojun checked the time.
“The ticket sales just opened only a few minutes ago??”
Rojun was slightly stunned by how quickly the tickets had sold out. Just in case, he checked other articles as well.
《[Star Issue] Debut Japan Concert Tickets Completely Sold Out! ‘Vanguard’ Proves Hot Popularity in Japan》
《‘Vanguard’ Sells Out 35,000 Seats After Selling Out 20,000! / Photo》
《Monster Rookie ‘Vanguard’ Makes Japanese Media Buzz with Full Sellout of Japan Concert》
It was indeed confirmed that it was completely sold out.
To share his joy, Kang Rojun shouted to the manager and coordinators sitting in the passenger seat.
“Our Japan concert! They say it’s completely sold out!”
The coordinators quickly got excited.
“No way!!”
“That’s crazy! We've conquered Japan too!!”
“There are so many articles coming out!"
The manager was busy making phone calls.
The other members, who were likely at GN Entertainment at the moment, were also going wild in the group chat. Just in case Rojun hadn’t seen it yet, they were quick to share the good news.
-Si-hoo: Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Japan concert completely sold out!! Rojun!!
-Do-kyung: The company’s in chaos right now
-Kang-min: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ This is so good! Rojun hyung, respond!!
-Do-kyung: Rojun hyung must have seen it too, right?
-Si-hoo: Wow... 35,000 seats?? I can’t even believe it...
-Kang-min: Our debut show-con was epic too, but this time is just....
As Rojun chuckled and was about to reply to the members, Vanguard’s fans were also going absolutely wild.
-Wow... wow...
-Is it really all sold out?? Vanguard’s gonna be world-class soonㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Oh
-I... I need to be there...
-No way..... 35,000... let me be just one of those people...
-Among this year’s rookies, Vanguard has the best response in Japanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Not just among rookies, even including other idols, Vanguard is dominating right now
-Why can’t I goㅜㅠ Why don’t I have a spot?ㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠ
-I want to go to the Japan concert, but it’s too hard to even apply......
-Walk the money road, Vanguard!!!
With the media and public opinion at this level, the entire entertainment industry was obviously already bustling. Anyway, emotion welled up in Kang Rojun. And for good reason, imagine those tremendous fans numbering 35,000 people waving light sticks in support, and in Japan, not Korea.
The day of the concert would be even more intense, but just imagining it gave him a thrill.
'I feel the energy rising!'
Rojun was in a deeply elevated mood.
“We’ve arrived!”
They had arrived at the set complex for Blood Hunt. The words “sold out” were still stuck in his head, but Kang Rojun tried to calm himself down as he took a small deep breath and got out of the van. No matter how excited he was, now it was time to focus on Blood Hunt.
-Swoosh.
As Kang Rojun’s team started moving after getting out of the vehicle, a man could be seen running over from a distance. It was the assistant director of Blood Hunt.
“O-o-oh! Rojun-ssi! Welcome!”
“Hello, Assistant Director-nim.”
“The Director is waiting for you! Ah!! Congratulations on the Japan concert being completely sold out!”
“Ah, thank you.”
Seeing that the assistant director congratulated him first, it was clear the news of Vanguard’s Japan concert had already reached the set of Blood Hunt. It wasn’t surprising. With so many articles pouring out, word would spread quickly in a place with over a hundred staff.
After exchanging brief words with the assistant director, Kang Rojun entered the set, which looked like a logistics warehouse.
Inside the massive space were over a hundred staff members, filming equipment, actors, the actors’ staff, and so on.
At first, it had been overwhelming, but Rojun was starting to get used to it, and the staff who had been moving busily congratulated him upon his arrival.
“Rojun-ssi! I heard the Japan concert sold out?? Wow- that’s amazing!”
“Congratulations! Haha, are you taking over Japan now?”
“Incredible!! I heard it was 35,000 seats sold out?!”
“At this rate, won’t you be heading to the U.S. within your debut year?? Hahaha!”
Amid the endless stream of congratulations, Rojun felt a bit awkward, but responded with a smile. Just then, top actor Jung Tae-soo, now with shorter hair than during the script reading and still flaunting his handsome appearance, approached.
“Rojun-ssi!”
Kang Rojun immediately bowed.
“Hello, sunbae-nim.”
“Oh, I heard the news, you really turned Japan upside down? Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“Honestly, I was shocked. I’ve done a fan meeting in Japan too, right? I think it was… 3,000 people? I was amazed even then, but 35,000 people…”
Jung Tae-soo was much more friendly with Rojun than he had been during the script reading. It felt a bit like he was treating him as a neighborhood dongsaeng he saw often. In response, Kang Rojun smiled lightly and said,
“I think the airing of ‘Produce That 100!’ in Japan really helped.”
“When ‘Vanguard’ has a concert in Korea, I’ll definitely have to go. Oh, more than that, come to one of our private gatherings sometime and have a meal with us.”
Rojun's eyes widened slightly.
“A private gathering?”
In the entertainment industry, there are private gatherings. Sometimes they’re between actors, or they mix singers and comedians. To put it simply, they’re the ultimate network of entertainment connections.
“Yeah, we meet fairly often, eat, go bowling, chat. It’s more conversation than drinking. Let’s see, who’s in it right now…”
Jung Tae-soo began listing the members of the private group. Listening closely, Rojun realized they were all top-tier actors like Jung Tae-soo himself.
“It’s mainly an actors’ group for now, but you’re an actor too, Rojun-ssi, so definitely come out sometime.”
Even as he responded, Rojun thought, What is this? Me, joining a gathering full of top stars? He wondered if it was just something Jung Tae-soo was saying casually, but it wasn’t. Jung Tae-soo repeatedly told him to come and said he’d be in touch soon. As Rojun began to feel slightly stirred, he recalled something Manager Kim Ki-baek had once told him.
‘It’s okay to get close. Jung Tae-soo.’
If time allowed, he thought it might actually be fun to attend. With a smile in his eyes, he replied,
“Yes, I understand.”
Next, Kang Rojun met Director Yoo Ji-heon, the legendary figure overseeing Blood Hunt.
“Hello, Director-nim.”
“Mm. Welcome, Rojun-ssi. I hear there’s something to celebrate?”
“Yes, the staff congratulated me.”
“I won’t be able to go to the concert myself, but I’ll cheer you on while we work hard on the film.”
“Thank you!”
“Haha, alright then, get ready.”
Rojun immediately moved to the makeup team.
After some time, Kang Rojun transformed into 'Hook' and blended in among the other actors. His outfit was a fluttering short-sleeved shirt with colorful floral patterns. The makeup wasn’t heavy. There was no need to even out his skin because Rojun was already flawless. But his hair had been styled more intensely.
It was slicked back to give off a wet, sleek look.
Exactly the image of a handsome thug.
And so.
“Alright!! Standby!”
The filming of Blood Hunt,
“Hi- Action!”
Kicked off with the first shooting cue.
From there
Filming, now officially cranked-in, rolled on rather smoothly. For the first few hours, most of the scenes were for Rojun’s role as ‘Hook’, probably because Director Yoo Ji-heon had adjusted the shooting schedule to accommodate Rojun’s availability.
“Cut! Rojun-ssi! Nice!”
Usually a somewhat stern figure, Director Yoo Ji-heon’s voice became intense once filming started. But thanks to prior study and countless rehearsals, Rojun’s portrayal of 'Hook' delivered fantastic results.
“That was good, but let’s go once more with a change in camera movement.”
“Yes, Director-nim!”
Even though it was his first film shoot, Kang Rojun wasn’t too nervous.
'It’s basically the same as a drama, just a bit faster-paced.'
Solo shots, two-shots, group shots.
They’d started filming a little after noon, but the hours flew by as the shoot moved quickly. Between scenes, Rojun was given plenty of downtime, but as always, he didn’t rest. Instead, he secluded himself in the van and quietly worked on something else.
Episode 3 of Tale of the Strange Moon, now that Episode 2 had been completed.
Eventually.
“Cut!! Whew- great work today, Rojun-ssi.”
It was only by nighttime that Kang Rojun’s first filming schedule for 'Blood Hunt' came to an end. After a full day of shooting, both the actors and the staff were like wilted green onions.
“Whew- look at Rojun-ssi still full of energy.”
“Is it because he’s young?”
Kang Rojun was perfectly fine.
“Thank you for your hard work, Director-nim.”
“Yes, you were great with your acting today, weren’t you? I’m having trouble deciding which cut to use. Anyway, let’s meet the day after tomorrow after tomorrow’s shoot.”
About 10 minutes later, Kang Rojun sat in the van for the return trip, looking down at the 'Blood Hunt' script as he thought,
'Time passed damn fast, what the hell it's already night.'
Time had zipped by because he was enjoying it so much. At that moment, the manager in the passenger seat asked,
“Rojun, good job today. Want to go straight to the dorm?”
With a smile tugging at his lips, Kang Rojun shook his head.
“No, I’ll go to the company.”
When he arrived at GN Entertainment, Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung were waiting for him. Even though it was late, none of them seemed to have any intention of going back to the dorm.
“Let’s do a shoulder-to-shoulder lap around the practice room to celebrate the Japan concert selling out!”
At Si-hoo’s suggestion, the members of 'Vanguard' spun in circles inside the practice room, and amid the brief commotion over the 35,000-ticket sellout, Kang Rojun asked,
“By the way, aren’t you guys going back to the dorm today?”
The response came quickly from Do-kyung, who wore an indifferent expression.
“We already agreed with the hyungs to sleep in the nap room tonight.”
As expected of a top-tier agency, GN Entertainment had a nap room. And the quality was so good that spending a few nights there wasn’t a problem at all.
Just then, Kang-min suddenly lowered his voice.
“Did you hear? We might get our first payout tomorrow or the day after??”
Si-hoo and Do-kyung both nodded, as if they had heard as well. But for Kang Rojun, this was the first he was hearing of it.
“Huh? Really? It’s my first time hearing that. Where’d you hear it?”
“From Manager Ki-baek and the A&R team.”
If the first payout was tomorrow or the day after, that meant 'Vanguard' would be getting paid about two months after debuting.
“Why so fast? I thought it usually takes at least half a year.”
The timing of idol payouts varied drastically from agency to agency.
Normally, it could take as little as 1-2 years, or as long as several years. But 'Vanguard' didn’t fit into the category of “normal”. They had no trainee period, and right after debut, they exploded with success across show-con, album sales, digital music, advertising, and more.
From 'Produce That 100!' to now, 'Vanguard' had been an extraordinary case, so it wasn’t all that strange that they would get their first payout after only about two months.
It was the eldest member, Si-hoo, who explained everything.
“We had little capital invested compared to other idol groups. No, at this level, we practically had nothing. Even though some invested in the music video and show-con during debut, that was recovered quickly.”
Kang Rojun nodded as if hypnotized by Si-hoo’s surprisingly detailed explanation.
“Ah-”
Then Kang-min chimed in.
“And apparently the CEO told them to process the payout as fast as possible.”
The topic of their “first payout” had the 'Vanguard' members looking visibly thrilled with anticipation.
“If it takes some people five years to get paid and we’re getting ours in two months… how much will it be??”
“My mom’s been super curious about it too.”
Same for Kang Rojun.
‘Come to think of it, I haven’t checked my account in a while.’
More than anything, Rojun was bound to receive a significantly larger amount than Si-hoo, Kang-min, or Do-kyung. He was a composer, lyricist, writer, actor, and idol. The sources of income he had to be paid for weren’t just one or two. On top of that, he had written and composed 'GreenBee', one of Vanguard debut tracks. 'Tale of the Strange Moon' might not be included yet, but it was obvious a considerable amount had already piled up.
Whatever the case, Kang Rojun and the members spent the night and dawn full of anticipation.
By the time morning arrived, Kang Rojun was in the studio.
“......”
He was completely immersed in writing Part 3 of 'Tale of the Strange Moon'. That was when a knock sounded.
-Knock knock.
Poking his head in was Manager Kim Ki-baek, looking a bit drained.
“Good morning, Rojun, don’t tell me you stayed up all night?”
“I slept a little in between.”
He hadn’t. Kang Rojun hadn’t slept a single second. Not that Manager Kim Ki-baek would’ve known. He pointed at something. Rojun’s phone, lying next to his laptop. For some reason, he gave a faint smile.
“Judging by your face, I guess you haven’t checked yet? Open your mobile banking app.”
“Huh?”
“Your first payout should be in there.”
“Oh!”
A flash of realization hit Rojun as he quickly picked up his phone and opened the mobile banking app. His mouth dropped open in seconds.
“......Huhhk.”
And for good reason. It had effortlessly passed a few hundred million won.
‘H-how much is this??!’
Tens of millions of won were sitting in his account.
*****
TL Note:
Merry Christmas????, happy holidays, and happy New Year to all of you!
I'll be taking a short break and will start posting new chapters in the first week of the new year.
*****
For 30 or more extra chapters, you can check out my Patreon here --> /dreamscribe