When I Opened My Eyes I Was a Superstar - Chapter 90

# 90

Joon-gi Jo (3)

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung briefly introduced himself, saying that he was able to come to Hit Entertainment thanks to Manager Joanie, who is now the manager of the planning and operation team.

‘Has Director Joanie been scouting?’

As Do-wook thought, he first focused on the contents of today’s meeting.

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung introduced the project, saying that he hopes for a lot of help as it is his first project at Hit Entertainment.

The project that Team Leader Daehyung Lee wanted to start was the KK goods business.

Currently, like other singers, KK prepares only basic goods and sells them whenever an album is released.

Although the contents of the goods and light stick designs included in the fan club kit were produced with Do-wook’s idea, it did not feel authentic.

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung, who inherited the idea planned by Manager Joanie, was seeking to increase profits through merchandise sales in earnest.

“So, starting from this concert, we are planning to launch a large-scale goods business.”

The members nodded while listening to Team Leader Daehyung Lee’s explanation.

“First of all, we will release small goods such as photo cards and notebook fans, but we will also try to make the members into characters.”

“Character?”

Ahn Hyeong-seo, who usually likes comics, reacted to the word character.

“yes. “I think that if we take advantage of the members’ characteristics and make them into characters and make products out of the characters, we can produce more diverse products, starting with dolls.”

“Oh…”

The members nodded. In fact, the better the merchandise, the better it was for the members as well as the company.

Compared to music or broadcast festivals, the settlement rate for album sales and merchandise returned to individual members was much better. This was even more true in the case of personal goods with names or faces emblazoned on them.

“What form does the character take?”

Dowook, who was quietly listening, asked.

“First of all, I’m thinking of cartoon-simplified human or animal characters.”

In fact, Ara Entertainment had already attempted a character business with Sabang Shinhwa before.

However, compared to the reputation of Sabang Shinhwa, it did not remain a very profitable business. It may be an actual photo of Sabang Shinhwa, but it was because the characters imitating Sabang Shinhwa did not appeal to fans that much.

The fact that he was characterized as unlikable rather than likable was also a big problem.

It was a memory I learned from one of the failure cases when I worked at Q Entertainment. I did not think that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung, who was inside Ara Entertainment, would not know about the problem.

Dowook’s eyes became a little sharper.

“I think drawing is important.”

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung nodded.

“The character business at my previous company had already failed. The most feedback I received at that time was that it wasn’t pretty. So this time, we plan to make it as cute as possible to appeal to our main target, the fans.”

“Oh, I think animals would be good then!”

Ahn Hyeong-seo shouted at the words of team leader Lee Dae-hyung.

“These days, there are a lot of fans who want to do something like this, so I think it would be good to make it less noticeable by making it an animal.”

Jeong Yoon-gi added.

“Ilko? What is ilko…?”

“That ordinary person’s cosplay… It’s like pretending to not be a fan.”

When Kim Won asked, Seok Ji-hoon, who was sitting next to him, quietly explained.

Lee Dae-hyung gave a thumbs up to Ahn Hyeong-seo and Jeong Yoon-gi’s opinions.

“As expected, the members know their fans well. I also thought it would be good to use animal characters. Assistant Manager Rahee, have you made a list of people who will work with you on that project?”

“I narrowed it down to about four or three people and organized them with images.”

“Please take a look and give the members your opinions on what style to go for. “It would be nice if you could tell us about your favorite animals or the animals you are told they resemble.”

Following Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung’s words, Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee distributed the papers she had prepared to the members and Director Oh Baek-ho.

“Director Cho said that Hit Entertainment is working to reflect the members’ opinions as much as possible.”

“yes. “A lot of members participate.”

The person who answered this time was Director Oh Baek-ho. Director Oh Baek-ho also knew that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung, who had been scouted this time, was from Ara Entertainment.

As it was the best agency, there was no disagreement about the skills of team leader Daehyung Lee.

However, the people at Ara Entertainment also had a high opinion of themselves. Manager Joanie will manage it on her own, but there were concerns that it might ruin Hit Entertainment’s ideology or free corporate culture.

Therefore, Director Oh Baek-ho wanted to emphasize from the beginning that the exchange of ideas with members and other teams was important.

Fortunately, Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung seemed to understand what I meant.

Afterwards, there was talk about marketing for the upcoming concert. For the time being, KK’s schedule was to focus on concerts and award ceremonies.

“I heard that Mr. Dowook in particular has a lot of ideas related to fan-marketing. Please help me a lot.”

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung concluded the meeting by saying that he intended to briefly talk about the overall project today and that it would be good to talk about more detailed parts next time.

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung made a special comment to Do-wook as he left the conference room door.

Do-wook quietly looked at team leader Dae-hyung Lee and answered.

“yes. Please take care of me too. from now on.”

As we talked briefly, I was able to find out from what Director Oh Baek-ho said that Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung was scouted by Ara Entertainment after receiving very good conditions from Manager Joanie.

Do-wook remembered a story about team leader Lee Dae-hyung, which he had only heard through rumors when he worked in Q Entertainment’s public relations team.

‘He is a person with great ambition. Even if the scouting conditions were good… You left Ara Entertainment, a large entertainment agency, and came to Hit Entertainment? ‘You never know.’

Team leader Lee Dae-hyung was someone who had been in the running for a director position even at Ara Entertainment, where competition was fierce.

As KK’s popularity grew, Hit Entertainment’s status also changed, but Do-wook had a hard time guessing team leader Lee Dae-hyung’s intentions.

‘Did they simply think that Hit Entertainment had more vision?’

Do-wook saw assistant manager Do Ra-hee next to team leader Dae-hyung Lee.

‘I think it would be a good idea to watch to see if anything leaks out.’

However, Do-wook believed that things would not go in the wrong direction because of Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee. Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee was definitely Manager Joanie’s person and a Hit Entertainment person.

Even if Team Leader Lee Dae-hyung tried to ruin the project from within, the conversation could have passed from Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee to Manager Joanie.

“then. “Goodbye to you too, Assistant Manager.”

Do-wook politely greeted team leader Dae-hyung Lee and also pointedly greeted Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee.

Assistant Manager Do Ra-hee smiled shyly and waved.

“Okay, see you again, Dowook!”

***

It was finally the day of KK’s first concert.

Even though it was a Friday weekday, a temporary store selling goods was opened in front of the concert hall, and KK’s fans lined up early in the morning and started buying goods.

Goods such as photo cards, postcards and slogan towels printed with the members’ autographs, and hooded T-shirts with KK’s logo were sold out before the afternoon was even over.

Considering the volume released on Saturday and Sunday, sales were enormous.

The character panels of the six members erected next to the sales office were also very popular.

Animals symbolizing each member were cutely expressed by a famous illustrator. The official submission had not yet been made, but the panels were put up to see fans’ reactions before submission.

In front of the panel, there was a notice that KK’s official online goods shop would be opening soon.

“Ahh, I’m so nervous.”

“me too. The fan meeting last time was also good. “A concert… Did you hear the rehearsal sound earlier?”

“of course. Ah, but this is the only goods I can buy.”

“What did you buy?”

“me. Dowook’s badge and Hyungseo’s poker and hoodie.”

“omg? Did you buy Dowook’s badge? “I can’t even look at Dowook’s face.”

“You’ve been standing in line since dawn. Dowook’s goods are really sold out.”

“uh. “After Do-wook Get Ready 1999, I can’t buy any goods related to Do-wook with my emo fans.”

“I’m opening an online shop later, so buy it there. “Ehyo.”

“That’s right. Bom, the character standing over there? It sounds cute. “You make all sorts of things to drain my bank account.”

“That’s right. Ugh. But if our kids become more suspenseful, doesn’t that mean we won’t even have concert seats? It’s really hard these days with Chinese fans flocking to us. “I don’t think I would have seen it if it wasn’t for the fan club pre-sale.”

“that’s right. Ah, it will be even more popular at the next concert, right?”

“It’s nice to be popular, but. I’m afraid we won’t be able to see each other…”

“So.”

While waiting for the concert, fans were relaxing and talking about various things.

For the members preparing for their first concert, it was nerve-wracking, but the same was true for the fans waiting.

After a long wait, the doors to the concert hall opened and an endless line of fans began to enter.

From the standing room to the third floor seats, the concert hall was filled to capacity without a single empty seat.

Fans held light sticks tightly in their hands and waited for KK to appear.

The lights dimmed and the fans’ anticipation began to peak as they heard the thudding sound of the beat. KK appeared on stage with a roar that seemed to tear the eardrums.

The members looked at the waves of cheering sticks shining brightly and cheering for them on the unlit stage. The sound of their hearts seemed to grow louder like the sound of the beat.

I had already experienced it during the fan meeting, but the concert had a different meaning.

First solo concert.

KK started with their debut song ‘Sorry but I Love You’, followed by ‘Very Sorry’, ‘LAST DANCE’, and performed the most recent song ‘Howl’.

The stage of OK, which was a hip-hop unit album, also performed two songs with Do-wook and Ahn Hyeong-seo.

In addition, songs from albums that had never been broadcast before were performed on stage and presented to fans for the first time.

Unlike the fan meeting, the performance continued without much comment.

KK fans were completely immersed in the performance as the stage continued with no time to breathe.

KK performed so well that it was hard to believe that this was her first solo concert.

Of course, Jung Yoon-gi missed the comment because he was too nervous, and Seok Ji-hoon, who was not used to the changed choreography, made a brief mistake, but it was a small mistake that was difficult to notice.

As the performance neared its end, not only the KK members but also the fans who were enjoying the performance in the standing seats were drenched in sweat.

The last song of the concert was the a cappella version of ‘Windy Day’.

The members set up standing microphones, stood in a line, and began to sing ‘Windy Day’. Paper pollen prepared as a stage set began to fly.

The lyrical melody calmed my mind.

The members looked at the fans in front of them and reminisced about the hectic days they had run so far. There were many paths ahead.

At that time, unknown people began to appear one by one on the VCR screen that was only holding the KK members.

The fans roared. And tears poured from the eyes of the members who checked the VCR screen.

Dowook turned around while holding the microphone and looked blankly at the screen.