"Anyway, the producer spot goes to the manager."
The Heavenly Demon was pushing it through without any regard.
No, I've only been a manager for eight years.
Would the CEO really accept that?
But he did.
"Then, we'll have Mr. Sowi handle producing this full album."
It actually went through.
Why the hell did this work?
The reason the CEO accepted the Heavenly Demon's proposal was simple.
"If Heavenly Demon says so, then you must have a plan in mind."
*This Heavenly Demon bastard...*
Was it really okay to just haphazardly take on producing like this?
At that moment, I was ready to back out if even one member objected.
But maybe because they were raised on a major company's capital.
The members were optimistic about the situation.
"Awesome, this is gonna be hilarious."
Fine, Jaha's always been the type to live without a second thought.
"Please take good care of us, Soy-hyung."
Even the sect leader, who treated the CEO's words like gospel truth, went along with it.
"Uh... I don't really know much about it. Managers can produce too, huh? Looking forward to working with you."
No, no way. That can't be right, Juna.
Didn't Namgung Jun have a super long trainee period?
Why is he being so airheaded?
Taekgeuk's reaction wasn't much different.
"Everyone else is fine with it, so it feels weird for me to object alone."
You're handing your group's full album to a manager over something that flimsy?
The unexpected reaction actually came from Nahani.
"You've gotten awfully close to Heavenly Demon lately."
I thought Nahani would just go along without a word.
...Was that comment just now implying I'm getting cocky relying on Heavenly Demon's backing?
Nahani seemed lost in thought for a moment before continuing in his soft, measured voice.
"Soy-hyung. Don't trust Heavenly Demon too much."
That sounded like a warning not to get arrogant leaning on Heavenly Demon's clout.
Jaha and Taekgeuk glanced at Nahani and whispered.
"It's Heavenly Demon, not Heavenly Demon-hyung."
"Nahani's pissed off for real."
Even if he was desperate to track down the departed members, from Nahani's perspective, this was about the group's album.
I decided to look for another way out and was about to say producing was beyond my abilities.
But then.
"No, I want you to handle producing as is."
Nahani suddenly switched stances, making it awkward to refuse.
"Good, unanimous decision."
The Heavenly Demon nodded in satisfaction and added with a meaningful tone.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
The Heavenly Demon's reason for handing producing to me was to keep the CEO's hands off the album.
To lure out Shin Tae-eul while testing the CEO, he needed to slip in messages without the CEO knowing.
That's why he planned to handle lyrics and composition himself while passing planning to me.
But even so.
"So, the concept Mr. Sowi will plan for this album is..."
"Bald monks, wooden clappers, sutras, decadence."
"That's what it is. Sorry to put you through this, Mr. Sowi?"
This was a whole different story, you insider!!
* * *
The sixth-year idol group
After [Nine Beggars] blew up, another wuxia-concept idol group hastily debuted by Kichi's rival agency, Lamang.
If someone asked how
"Green Forest?"
"Yes, that Green Forest."
In wuxia tales, Green Forest were mountain-based bandit forces who pillaged for a living—simply put, thugs who knew martial arts.
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue.
"Bandit scum doing idol work? The jianghu's morals have hit rock bottom."
"But it's fine when Heavenly Demon does it?"
"Demonic cultists and fans are a hair's breadth apart."
"You've already grasped that much."
"But another wuxia idol group? I never even heard about Green Forest from the Beggar Clan kids."
"Oh, they debuted the same year, but they've focused more on variety shows and acting than idol activities."
"So they're flops."
Trembling as he listened to the conversation between the Heavenly Demon and his manager Jeom Sowi, the Green Forest leader Woochee finally couldn't hold back and exploded.
"You've got no filter in front of people!!"
"You started picking fights first, Dukman."
"Ah, don't call me by my real name!!"
Unlike the Nine Beggars members who all used real names—since Lamang's CEO wasn't as hardcore into wuxia as Kichi's—Green Forest members all had stage names.
*No, most people use stage names! This is normal!*
Green Forest had been compared to Nine Beggars every single day since debut.
Of course, it was true that Green Forest was Lamang's CEO ripping off Nine Beggars.
*But what power does a mere trainee have to reject the CEO's concept?*
Woochee and the other members who debuted in Green Forest were all long-time trainees.
They knew it was a risky move but accepted anyway, unwilling to miss their debut shot.
The result after six years? Nothing but the stigma of concept thieves and Nine Beggars knockoffs.
Jeom Sowi shot back pityingly.
"Stigma? Let's get the words right, Dukman. You guys even ripped off our kids' album concept."
"Sapa scum act the same even after centuries."
"R-Rip off? It was just a coincidence!"
"Your comeback track this time is 'Diamond Heart,' right?"
Woochee flinched but, tempered by six years into having skin thicker than iron, shot back confidently.
"So what? It doesn't overlap a single letter with 'Mind as Indestructible as Diamond.'"
Instead of scoffing at the lame rebuttal, Jeom Sowi looked at him with pity.
"Yeah... Anyway, your fans seem to think it's part of your phantom thief concept, stealing everything in sight. Robin Hood, Arsène Lupin, and Zorro getting along well?"
"Just Robin, just Lupin, just Zorro."
"You're ripping off other people's stage names now too?"
Woochee bristled, but he had no comeback on the stage names.
Their stage names and group name were all given by Lamang's CEO.
-Wanna try this wuxia idol thing too.
-Wuxia besides Nine Beggars? What's out there?
-Green Forest? Not global enough. Debut as Greenwood.
-Green Forest are bandits, right?
-Then your stage names can be Hong Gil-dong, Im Kkeok-jeong.
-Too tacky?
-Fine. Let's go sleek with English names.
...It was decided along those lines of thinking.
They said sleek English names, but the leader—himself—got stuck with Woochee.
No consistency, no thought put into the concept. Just abysmal naming.
*Wuxia illiterate...*
Woochee considered himself a proper wuxia fan with some real knowledge.
He was the one who told Lamang's CEO about Green Forest.
If he'd known earlier that Kichi's CEO was a wuxia nut, he would've pitched his love for wuxia at Kichi's open audition.
If he hadn't flunked that audition, or impulsively debuted at Lamang, he could've been in Nine Beggars too.
*Who knew so many would drop out.*
Blaming his past self, Woochee muttered bitterly.
"Damn it, I must've been crazy. Shouldn't have acted like I knew."
"Is that acting like you knew? You debuted later than our kids and now you're acting like a sunbae?"
"Heavenly Demon's a hoobae though!"
"Did you pull this crap on Namgung Jun during that variety show too?"
Woochee had indeed thrown mad seniority tantrums while filming with Namgung Jun, so he flinched and backed away.
Normally, Woochee wouldn't pick fights with Nine Beggars when Jeom Sowi was around.
Jeom Sowi groveled to his own kids, had a bitchy personality, and was backed by that asshole Kichi CEO.
He'd poked them cluelessly early on and gotten screwed over plenty.
But lately, rumors said he'd been demoted from head manager to rookie handler.
With a fresh-faced newbie in tow, Woochee figured it was worth a shot and smugly went, "You should greet your sunbae!"
But he didn't even break even.
"Dukman, where's your Park Team Leader?"
"Hey, what'd I even do to call for the team leader!"
"Just saying hi before recording. Why so jumpy? Guilty conscience?"
The rookie next to him marveled.
"I thought you didn't even know the 'muh' in martial arts, but damn, your mouth-fu is on point."
"Not coming off as a compliment."
Woochee bit his lip hard, his eyelashes quivering.
This was the sorrow of a mid-tier flop idol.
He could tolerate getting dissed by Jeom Sowi.
The guy had Kichi's CEO as backing.
But Heavenly Demon—this rookie—what the hell gave him the right to grin and chime in with his manager right in front of a sunbae?
He already hated how Heavenly Demon called his own manager "you bastard this, you that" for some concept schtick.
Even if he and Jeom Sowi weren't on good terms, six years of run-ins had built grudging familiarity.
Once they learned they were same-age, they even bantered crudely.
But screw getting lipped by me all you want—no way was he letting some no-name rookie treat him like this.
"Hwajin, was it? You—"
But before Woochee could open his mouth, Jeom Sowi spat out rapidly, face pale.
"Don't."
"What?"
"Even if you and I didn't start off friendly, we've built up some grudging bond over six years... If I say don't, then don't."
"...?"
Woochee was a bit baffled, unaware he'd just dodged death, but his instincts weren't totally dull, so he listened to Jeom Sowi.
"...."
"...."
A brief silence flowed, and Jeom Sowi spoke first.
"Never thought I'd be asking you for this."
"What?"
"You don't happen to have Shin Tae-eul's contact, do you?"
"Shin Tae-eul? That's your dropout member."
Woochee remembered Heavenly Demon's remark on Adugeon and made a slightly uneasy face.
"Why ask me? I don't play that loose."
"What're you talking about? You do acting too, so I figured you might know."
"Robin does more acting than me. I'll ask him."
"Thanks."
Woochee pulled out his phone to text member Robin but hesitated and broached.
"Hey, but... can I ask something too?"
"Shoot."
"Nine Beggars doing a full album?"
"News travels fast."
"Can I ask what the concept is?"
"...."
Jeom Sowi's silence made Woochee defensively snap.
"Ah, I'm not gonna copy it! Asking to avoid overlap!"
"You guys? Sure... "
"You asked me to find Shin Tae-eul's contact too."
"...."
Jeom Sowi eyed Woochee with contempt for a moment.
But soon, he nodded to himself, stroking his chin and muttering.
"Yeah... Guess it doesn't matter if I tell you."
"You're dragging it out when you know it'll be some cringey nonsense anyway."
"Why does your CEO keep making you ask about this stuff?"
"I dunno. Ah, no, it's not like the CEO told me to!"
"This full album's concept. Bald monks, wooden clappers, sutras."
Woochee tried hard to process Jeom Sowi's words.
"...What?"
"And now they've added decadence to it."
"If you don't wanna say, just say so."
"And I'm producing it."
"If that's real, your CEO's insane."
At that, Jeom Sowi widened his eyes like some huge secret got busted.
"...That obvious?"
"?"
* * *
The day after Woochee and Heavenly Demon's variety filming.
A text arrived from Woochee.
[Sorry, Robin doesn't have Shin Tae-eul's contact either.]
*Figures.*
Woochee was useless after all.
He'd checked around actors in case, but no dice.
Shin Tae-eul had left with a "see you next time" and gone completely quiet.
Impossible to track since he left no traces.
Maybe he ran into the CEO that day and went into hiding.
Perhaps Shin Tae-eul didn't trust me.
The CEO said he'd seen the YouLive, but no way could he know Heavenly Demon headed to the rooftop just from that.
Even I wondered how the CEO timed his rooftop arrival so perfectly—Shin Tae-eul must've suspected me too.
So he'd probably asked how I knew the CEO from the rooftop.
*So this album needs content to rattle the CEO. But also something to earn Shin Tae-eul's trust.*
The problem was blending that into bald monks, wooden clappers, sutras, and decadence.
I knew zilch about producing.
Music even less, so someone else was handling music production.
The CEO was footing the production costs.
As a puppet producer, I just needed to nail the overall album concept.
First concept brainstorming meeting.
Jaha, ever the eager beaver, excitedly pitched.
"Why not? There was that drum girl group. We do choreography hitting wooden clappers!"
"How do you make wooden clappers decadent?"
"Strip?"
"And sutras?"
"Remix as EDM? Na-na-na-na-na-na-na Amitabha! Oh Guanseeum Bosal!"
"...No matter how I think, we'll get sued by the Jogye Order."
"Sorry Jaha, but same thought here."
Yeah, maybe asking kids who'd only done cringey concepts for six years to brainstorm decadence was absurd from the start.
The sect leader watched me quietly before asking.
"Soy-hyung, you seemed up late wrestling with it yesterday. No ideas of your own?"
I had agonized late, true.
Did light leak out?
"What, Soy-hyung had something in mind?"
"I do, but..."
"I even said EDM sutras. Spill it, hyung!"
Sometimes I envied Jaha's "say it and see" attitude.
"Uh, you guys..."
I scratched my cheek and cautiously started.
"Wanna try sword dancing?"
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