pappabearbooks Chapter 177: Downfall (3)
Chapter 177: Downfall (3)
'Vanguard' took first place on SBC's public music program 'Stage On', following their win on 'Music Beat'. 'Vanguard' continued to firmly maintain the top ranks on major digital music charts.[1(-)] GreenBee / Vanguard
[2(↑1)] Flying Bell / Vanguard
[3(↓1)] Windveil / Vanguard
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Album sales were also heading toward 3 million copies after an initial 2 million in the first week. On top of that, the official music video views were approaching 30 million, so winning two music shows was no surprise. In any case, Kang Rojun and the members successfully completed the encore stage on ‘Stage On’.
《Vanguard, double crown on music shows “Thank you for an award we never even imagined” / Photo》
By the time they wrapped up the stage, news of 'Vanguard' spread quickly.
《"Runaway train" Vanguard, first place on 'Stage On' following 'Music Beat'... no one can stop them!》
《Vanguard wins two music show crowns, heading for a triple, even a quadruple / Photo》
《Rojun flashes an eye-smile to fans during encore performance of their double crown win / Photo》
Not just the media, but fans of 'Vanguard' were setting off celebratory fireworks across SNS and online communities.
-Vanguard double crown!!!!
-Congrats, guys ㅠㅠㅠㅜㅠ
-They’re dominating from charts to album sales right now, this double crown is light workㅋㅋㅋㅋthey’re going to devour the next few weeks
-LMAO they erased Neos from the 1st place nomineesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Doesn’t matter if Neos was there or not, Vanguard was always going to be 1st!!
-Can’t believe Si-hoo and Kang-min didn’t cry todayㅋㅋㅋthey’ve grown up!
-When Rojun flashed that eye-smile on Stage On today, I swear I hit screenshot 10,000 times.... He was stupidly super handsome
While the fans celebrated, 'Vanguard' also returned to their waiting room to share their joy with the staff. Spirits were high as they snapped proof shots holding trophies and flower bouquets.
“Great pose!! Taking it now, one, two!!”
After taking proof shots for about 10 minutes, Rojun and the members chewed on simple sandwiches for dinner and shared their thoughts on the day before departure.
“We already have two trophies!”
“This feels like a dream... or is it a dream?”
“We’ve got two, but Rojun hyung has four.”
“That’s right! Rojun had awards even before debut, right??”
As the 'Vanguard' members kept laughing and chatting, Do-kyung, who was looking at his phone, changed the subject.
“‘Neos’ sunbae-nims are in big trouble.”
“Ah.”
“It’s chaos, right?”
“Yeah, articles are dropping endlessly.”
It was about the plagiarism issue surrounding 'Neos'. At the moment, the hotter topic than 'Vanguard' was actually 'Neos'.
And understandably so.
Around the time 'Vanguard' was announced as number one on 'Stage On', the famous composer Pineon, who had written the song for 'Neos', admitted to plagiarism.
Yesterday, 'Vanguard' had dominated all the major portal sites, but now everything was filled with 'Neos'.
《Composer Pineon admits to plagiarizing 'Neos' title track 'Bloom Me'... downfall of a popular composer》
《[Star Pick] Pineon apologizes, acknowledges similarity of 'Bloom Me'》
《Pineon admits plagiarism “I recognize the similarity, I’m sorry for disappointing everyone”》
Clearly, it was both 'Neos' and the composer 'Pineon' taking hit after hit nonstop.
《'Neos' title track 'Bloom Me' confirmed plagiarized, removed from all domestic music platforms / Photo》
《[Issue Talk] Title track plagiarism... will 'Neos', who just made a comeback, have to pause activities?》
While Pineon was obviously at fault, the biggest victim of this plagiarism scandal was 'Neos'.
《The once-rising Neos, why the "plagiarism label" is fatal》
For some reason, both the public and the media had turned against 'Neos'. The reason was simple.
《'Neos' plagiarism scandal reignites past controversies over their behavior / Photo》
Disasters tend to strike all at once. If you looked closely at this plagiarism issue, 'Neos' could be seen as victims, but once the floodgates opened, many began to dig into their past problems as well.
-Neos got caught smoking during a live broadcast before, and that got swept under the rug, didn’t it?
-Their rude tone at a fan sign also got buriedㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ as soon as the plagiarism exploded, Neos’ past is getting dug up from the graveㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-The small ball that Pineon launched....
-I always thought something would explode with Neos... their attitude is really bad, those guys
The flow was not good. There were many issues to resolve, such as refunds stemming from the plagiarism and problems with future promotions, but overall, the image of 'Neos' was barreling down the path to ruin.
Big Star Entertainment, which had planned to overcome the situation by framing 'Neos' as the “victims", became even more frantic.
“W-Why is this getting out of control like this?! Call the ones running weird articles and tell them to take them down immediately!!”
“It’s not just the articles, there’s more noise popping up on SNS and community sites!!”
“Augh- Fuck, should we just announce that we’ll sue everyone?!”
“...Sorry?? In this situation??”
Under company orders to shut up and stay put in their dorm, the 'Neos' members.
“......Ha, this is driving me crazy.”
“What is this. One damn song and we’re really screwed.”
“Pineon’s completely ghosting our calls!!”
“Why are they digging up our past now?! It’s all in the past, isn’t it?!”
“The team leader said, if no one makes it a problem, it’s nothing, but if someone makes it a problem, it becomes one.”
“Crazy! We’re the victims, why the hell are they hating on us?!”
They showed their fear and frustration to the fullest, unable to put their phones down. At first, most of the hate had been directed at 'Pineon', but now 'Neos' was also getting a fair share.
This situation grew even worse by the morning of the 17th, after the night of the 16th had passed.
《Past controversies of 'Neos' begin to surface, what incidents were there?》
While the hell-bound train of 'Neos' was picking up speed that afternoon, 'Vanguard' took.
-Vanguard triple crown!!! Congratulations for real!!
First place for the third time on an MBS music show.
At the same time, at Culture Drawer.
In the CEO’s office of Culture Drawer’s headquarters near Cheongdam Station, surrounded by books stacked in every direction. Two familiar figures were in conversation on a soft five-seater sofa. One was the bear-like CEO Heo Ki-tae, and across from him sat writer Han Seo-ryeong, co-CEO of Culture Drawer, with her short bob swaying.
It had been quite a while since the two had met, as Han Seo-ryeong was in the midst of writing a new work.
At any rate, Han Seo-ryeong lowered her teacup and adjusted the glasses she had been wearing.
“So, the Netflix Korea project was entrusted to writer Rojun?”
The large CEO Heo Ki-tae nodded.
“Yes. We only offered it to writer Rojun.”
Their discussion was about a Netflix Korea project aimed at a global audience, centered around a historical drama concept. Soon, CEO Heo Ki-tae summarized the details of his meeting with Executive Director Lim Hyun-jin.
“It’s a project aimed at the domestic and global market as a Netflix Korea original series. The scale is quite big.”
“And they want a historical drama style? But not a full-on traditional historical drama.”
“Judging by what they said, they wouldn’t mind a traditional historical either, but it felt like they wanted to avoid something too heavy.”
“Well, historical dramas can be unfamiliar to international audiences, so there’s bound to be mixed reactions. A fusion historical drama would probably work better. But if you go too light, it won’t feel like a proper historical drama.”
“They asked us to find a good balance in between.”
“That’s difficult.”
Writer Han Seo-ryeong lifted her teacup again.
“They want the writer to create something new rather than adapt existing works, and I’m sure they’ve already reached out to most major writing agencies besides Culture Drawer.”
“Probably.”
“And you decided on writer Rojun.”
“Yes.”
“Did writer Rojun agree to take it?”
“He made the decision on the spot, said he would do it.”
“......Hmm.”
Han Seo-ryeong let out a quiet sigh and ran a hand through her bob.
“Won’t it be difficult? I know full well how talented and capable writer Rojun is, but this is right after Vanguard’s debut. Even just skimming through the news, it’s clear how busy they are right now... and on top of that, he’s acting in ‘Like a Kaleidoscope’ and doing other side jobs.”
CEO Heo Ki-tae flexed his arm slightly and scratched his head.
“I was worried too before I made the offer, so I mentioned it kind of casually. But he made the decision without even a moment of hesitation.”
“......”
Writer Han Seo-ryeong, sipping her warm tea, wasn’t doubting Rojun’s skills, she was just concerned from a practical standpoint. Having written works for decades and being one of the top three star writers in Korea, Han Seo-ryeong had her reasons.
‘Even dedicating all your time to writing wouldn’t be enough, but writer Rojun is juggling so many things. It might be... a bit too much, I think.’
Kang Rojun's main job was being an idol. Yet he had an overflow of side jobs. No matter how many times one punched numbers into the calculator, even if he stayed up several nights, the realistic limits didn’t narrow.
“...How long has it been since the offer was made to writer Rojun?”
Today was Saturday the 17th. At the question thrown out, CEO Heo Ki-tae roughly calculated the days.
“I think it’s been about three weeks.”
“Hmm- For the first meeting with Netflix Korea to happen, he needs to have at least a basic character sheet, story flow, and synopsis, right?”
“Yes.”
“Three weeks. For a typical writer, they’d be just about done with their research and either crafting characters or, if they’re fast, starting the synopsis draft... but writer Rojun might not have even touched it yet.”
Writer Han Seo-ryeong, crossing her legs, asked,
“What if, while we’re waiting, another agency snatches the Netflix Korea project away?”
“Haha, we wouldn’t really mind.”
“Really?”
“Yes. To be honest, we’ve already baited Netflix Korea a little.”
“...Bait?”
CEO Heo Ki-tae chuckled slyly and lowered his voice.
“I subtly leaked to Netflix Korea that ‘we at Culture Drawer offered the project to writer Rojun’.”
A smile slowly spread on writer Han Seo-ryeong’s lips.
“Aha- then we’ve definitely bought ourselves some time. If they’ve seen what’s happening in Japan, Netflix Korea must be dying to see writer Rojun’s work.”
“100%. Even if a decent synopsis from another agency arrives first, they’ll definitely put it on hold.”
With that, writer Han Seo-ryeong, now somewhat reassured, shifted the topic while picturing Kang Rojun’s face.
“Still no word from writer Rojun?”
“Not yet. I didn’t want to interfere by contacting him directly, just sent him a congratulatory message.”
“Still, wouldn’t it be good to check in? If reaching out directly to writer Rojun is too much, you could go through Manager Kim Ki-baek.”
CEO Heo Ki-tae agreed with a small smile.
“I was just thinking it’s about time. But I more or less expected this. The offer timing overlapped with Vanguard’s debut, and they’ve been blowing up ever since, so I figure writer Rojun has probably just now started researching.”
“Phew, I’ve heard idol schedules are ridiculously packed. ‘Vanguard’ just debuted, so they must be even busier, especially with their popularity. It'll probably be a while before we even see a synopsis.”
“I’m willing to wait, no matter how long it takes. Writer Rojun is incredibly fast, so even in the midst of all this, I’m sure he’s been thinking about it.”
Han Seo-ryeong let out a light laugh as she crossed her legs again.
“It’s worth the wait, even if it takes time, especially if it’s a historical-style piece from writer Rojun.”
Meanwhile.
After finishing their MBS music show, Kang Rojun and the members had moved straight to a studio. There were tables and chairs, and a hired MC was reviewing the list of questions. It was a shoot for Vanguard’s official YouTube channel, and Si-hoo, Kang-min, and Do-kyung were getting their hair and makeup touched up.
“Ahh... I’m so sleepy.”
Their faces were filled with exhaustion from a hellish schedule.
For reference, the 'Vanguard' YouTube channel had now become:
[Channel Name: Vanguard]
[Vanguard Official YouTube Channel]
[This is the official Vanguard YouTube channel.]
[Subscribers: 7.33 million]
[Videos: 38]
They had surpassed 7 million subscribers. A recent trend was the noticeable increase in Japanese fans, and compared to the beginning, a lot more English comments were being left.
At that moment, compared to the other members, Kang Rojun, who looked unusually energetic with his black hair slicked back in a pomade style was.
“......”
Seated in one corner of the studio, typing away on his laptop.
-Tadadak!
None of the 'Vanguard' team found this behavior strange. It was well-known throughout GN Entertainment that Kang Rojun used his spare time not to sleep, but to work on side jobs. So while people were often surprised.
“Wow, Rojun-nim is working on something again?”
“Looks like he’s writing.”
“He’s amazing, seriously. I’ve never seen him take a nap during the schedule. Not only is his face out of this world, his stamina is insane too.”
There was a sense of familiarity in the atmosphere now.
Then.
-Tak!
With a firm press of the Enter key, Kang Rojun let out a small smile and murmured,
"Finished Part 1."
It meant he had completed writing Part 1 of 'Tale of the Strange Moon'.