~Prologue: The Start of EQSOL~           

- {November, 2012} -
- {South Korea} -

Papers, papers, papers, oh and more papers…

YG sighed as he shuffled through the multiple documents spread across his desk. He forgot how much fun it was when prepping for a new group to debut. The winning group from the upcoming show, WIN, who would then be called WINNER, was set to debut towards the end of next year after the reality series ended. But in actuality the debut wouldn’t happen until the following year, 2014. The viewers and followers would have to wait on the edge of their seats for just a little longer; it would be very un-YG-like if something came out on time under his watchful eye. He was often called a “troll” for how he handled things and how he never sticks to a specified release date. That was not true! He just wanted to make sure every song was catchy, each concept was creative, and just everything in general was up to par before he sent everything out for public scrutiny. Yang Hyun-suk chuckled slightly as a smirk formed on his face. Okay, maybe it was pretty fun to mess with everyone about releases but the other part was just as true.

But he couldn’t shake this feeling…

All of his acts were…similar. He loved the fact that he had a hand in creating some of the most charismatic acts in the Kpop industry, they all have a strong urban music vibe to them but that seems very stagnant and predictable. He always made it a habit to stick to creating the music and made sure his acts were more focused on being artist and not idols. But he was intrigued. He knew his politics were far from perfect but when looking at his biggest rival, SM Entertainment; he wasn’t doing so badly, even though he greatly respected Sooman-hyung not so much the new guy but that was a story for another day. But he envied the idol culture that they embodied sometimes. Though there was the problem of overbearing fans and sasaengs, he liked how active they were in variety shows because they were able to make themselves seem more approachable instead of scare them away or seem unattainable like all of their acts. Big Bang was to a lesser extent but, even to this day, 2NE1 still holds onto the unattainable, scary girl image and they debuted close to 4 years ago.

While on the topic of 2NE1, Yang Hyunsuk was faced with another dilemma - a girl group. He really wanted to debut one but he had no idea what concept to focus on. He wanted to try a cuter, subtle concept like having his very own SNSD, the earlier version, with a slightly mature edge like Sistar or After School but that might be a stretch seeing as all of his trainees thus far, currently have a strong charisma. He has a few groups that are being prepped to debut in the distant future but the concern surrounding those groups is their ability to handle the instant dive into stardom. Call it him being slightly protective; he's been told that his Papa YG tendencies became a lot stronger after having his daughter but he refused to admit it! He just wasn’t completely sure of what to do, what direction to go…

Soon he heard a knock on the door which brought him out of his reverie.

“Come in!” said Yang Hyunsuk and soon a person entered, a small, pale woman with hair cut into a sleek bob while wearing a green romper and matching heels. Kim Sookyung was her name; head secretary was her job. “What is it, Sookyung?”

“Sorry to disturb you, sajangnim, but you have a visitor.” Sookyung explained. “An Igarashi Hiroyuki-ssi.” she added and Yang Hyunsuk’s eyes widened.

“Oh, send him in!” he instructed and with a nod, Sookyung stepped out and in walked a man, tall and tanned with long dark hair and dressed in a majority of black attire. Hyunsuk stood up and walked around his desk, holding out a hand for the Japanese man to shake as they both bowed slightly. “Konichiwa, Igarashi-san.” the YG CEO greeted in nearly perfect Japanese. His artists weren’t the only ones to study up on the language. Judging by the males impressed expression, he guessed he didn’t sound so bad.

“Ah! Annyeonghaseyo, Yang Hyunsuk-ssi!” he greeted in flawed Korean which made the Korean CEO chuckle slightly. “I’m sorry about my faulty Korean, it’s still pretty bad but I’ve told you to call me Hiro. We were born in the same year so no need for major formalities, that’s one way that our cultures aren’t that different.” Hiro chuckled and Yang Goon smiled.

“Yes, my apologies, Hiro-san.” he nodded. Igarashi Hiro, or more commonly known as Hiro throughout the majority of his career. Like YG, he was in a male group -the Japanese dance unit Zoo- during the late 80s, early 90s before the group disbanded. Afterwards, Hiro started his first management label, LDH (Love Dream Happiness), and released a few other groups during the duration of the 90s before gaining acknowledgement with the release of the male performance unit J Soul Brothers in 1999, which he was the leader of, before changing the name to Exile in 2001. After twelve years and the achievement of commercial success, Hiro planned to retire from Exile because he was only getting older while he had many younger and energetic trainees and wanted to focus more on CEO management. During his run though, he performed with the likes of Boyz II Men and Koda Kumi; he also created many notable acts, from the revival of the second and third generations of J Soul Brothers, Nidaime and Sandaime, respectively (Nidaime becoming “The Second” upon Sandaime’s creation), their newest male performance unit Generations, their rap based unit Doberman Infinity, and an high anticipation of the soon to debut group, Rampage. He also manages many acts most notably Thelma Aoyama and Verbal from J-Hip hop pioneer group, m-flo. YG had met the man when he was in Japan for the YG Family concert in 2011. Hiro came personally to meet him, citing that he respected how his  acts as a whole were more focused on their craft above anything else, like true musicians. They weren't the stereotypical pretty, like most idols whether it be from South Korea's SM or their older Japanese counterparts Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) or any other controversial agencies, nor were they in many scandals compared to the management agencies mentioned above. Hiro also came because they had a lot in common from being in pioneer music groups to being CEO's of their own companies all the way down to being 6 months apart in age! Hiro became one of YG's strongest connections in Japan due to their similarities and work ethic. Their only difference was the fact that Hiro wasn't a troll but yeah...moving on! "I'm glad you made a safe travel. How was Hawaii?"

"Amazing, though, it would've been nicer if I didn't have to work. But the academy isn't going to start itself." Hiro sighed with a shrug. Did he forget to mention that LDH has some of if not the most talented dancers and performers he's come across? It's no surprise since Hiro was a dance performer and took dancing seriously so he set up training camps throughout Japan and decided to expand to other locations, one set up in New York while he aimed for Hawaii as well then California and even South Korea. "The most important thing is that deals and renovations were accomplished. A little jet lag and an aching back never hurt anybody, am I right?"

"So the old man needs a nap, huh?" YG smirked and Hiro snorted.

"You aren't one to talk, Yang Goon." smirked the LDH founder. "But I'm going to head to my hotel and relax. I came here straight from the airport."

"Oh, well go settle in then. We can talk more tomorrow." Hyunsuk assured and Hiro nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~

The booth was filled with the sizzles of the grill centerpiece while the aromas of various meats from Korean beef, pork and chicken. The smells were mouth watering and divine.

"So this is the almighty Korean barbeque I've heard so much about." Hiro said as he watched Hyunsuk, who was the present youngest, turn the meat every so often before it was good enough to eat. Hyunsuk chuckled at the statement.

"This is a general favorite amongst a lot of my foreign trainees so I thought it wouldn't hurt to let you try it." YG shrugged before picking a few pieces of meat and vegetables. "What is that you say before eating? Itadakimasu?"

Hiro laughed. "Yes. Itadakimasu!" he said before diving into the meal before them. After moments of silence, aside from the sounds of the two men eating, Hiro finally spoke up. "So do you have any new and upcoming acts in mind for the years to come? I've noticed you haven't debuted a new group in a while."

"I'm actually going to have a reality show putting two of my best boy groups against each other for the chance to debut. When that's over with, the winning team will debut next year." Hyunsuk explained. "But I really want to debut a girl group." he sighed.

"You, too?! That's something I've been wanting to do for so long. My last female project didn't work out but I wanted to try again! How many groups are you considering for the opportunity?"

"I have five that I'm considering but I'm not sure if they're ready, you know? They've done a few individual group projects in the underground scenes of Seoul but nothing really big." Hyunsuk admitted and Hiro nodded.

"Hmm, do any of them know Japanese?"

Hyunsuk raised an eyebrow. "Yes, most of them have a grasp of it while others not so much." he explained. "I can't help but to sense some heavy intrigue coming from you, Hiro-san." admitted YG with a slight smirk.

"Well..." Hiro dragged out. "How do you feel about doing a joint project?" he suggested and YG's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"A what?"

"A joint girl group project between both LDH and YG. I think it'll be very beneficial." Hiro nodded. "There's this stigma that the Japanese don't care about international fans since we have strict music policies but that's not the case, we just don't have to since we have such a big market, as well as the stigma that Japanese and South Koreans don't get along which is also incorrect. Just look us old geezers." he joked and Hyunsuk laughed out. "So from a marketing standpoint, us joining forces could help soften the perception of supposed disdain between both cultures."

"Okay, I'm listening." Yang Hyunsuk nodded.

"From a revenue standpoint, YG could benefit a lot from it. With South Korea's music market being about 20 times smaller than Japan's, to make more money, most companies would have export and distribute music and merchandise to Japan. But even at that point, around 85% of the income goes to Japan because of distribution fees, even if you have YGEX." Hiro continued breaking down the information. "If we go 50-50 then distribution fees would be a lot less of a hassle, meaning more money to both artists and managements, especially if they are extremely successful." he said and money signs practically appeared in YG's vision. Big Bang promoted in Japan a lot (Daesung and Seungri even more so since they didn't have G Dragon's style, TOP's acting prowess, or Taeyang's appeal in Western regions) and that became a big source of their income and YG Entertainment still didn't make as much of a profit as they could've. This could be the answer to everything but he had just one more thing...

"Okay, you've pretty much sold me on the marketing and increase in incomes but what about the actual talent. I want to create artists not prancing robots. I actually want strong musicians."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way! I have a heart of a performer, not a super greedy business mogul." Hiro assured. "You could train them mentally while I can help the girls physically. They can learn the YG charismatic charm and I can train them in as many dance styles as possible, from ballet, jazz, tap, krumping, you name it. I have some of the world's best choreographers in my good graces. We would also take turns with vocal training. What do you say, am I winning you over at all?"

"Oh, you've pretty much won me over. We just need both of our business managements to hash out a type of agreement and we'll be good to go." Hyunsuk said as Hiro smiled in triumph. "The only thing left is for us to come together and figure which group will be used for this project."

Hiro nodded. "I'm in Seoul all week so that won't be a problem. I'm discussing with investors about opening up another dance academy here in South Korea tomorrow so I'm booked for tomorrow but I can come by the day after to observe the trainees."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Hyunsuk nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~

YG and Hiro both walked the training areas and observed multiple trainees travel to and fro. Some laughing and smiling while others were intense and serious.

"Some of your trainees scare me." Hiro told the man. "And this is coming from someone who's been called a scary beast idol his whole career." he added and Hyunsuk chuckled.

"What can I say? They're resilient and full of determination. I train them so they can endure whatever comes their way." YG admitted as the two men passed by one of the practice rooms, spotting five boys choreographing a dance routine. "That's one of the teams due to compete in the reality show airing next month." he explained as the two watched them dance.

"Hmm, they're pretty good." Hiro nodded as he looked closely at their movements, analyzing from a performer's perspective. That "pretty good" meant a lot coming from the former performer.

"They are talented but they lack something in their dynamic and musicality. Once they find what they're lacking they'll have an unlimited amount of potential." Hyunsuk said. "But anyways let's move on to the girl groups." he said as the two men continued on and saw one of the girl groups. There was three of them and they were dancing to a remix of Beyoncè's End of Time and Hiro was impressed. With training and polishing at his dance academy, they would be really good and they already had a very upbeat charisma as a whole. The least charismatic yet extremely smooth one was in the middle while the others surrounding her made up for it, one having a natural sass to her vibe while the other girl danced in a way well beyond her years, like a mini Koda Kumi. If she was his daughter she wouldn't be allowed to leave the house until she was 40, it was that inappropriate. But overall they blended well and were extremely talented. "This is the first group, Spark. They're designed to be a young 2NE1 and are the best at upbeat music. They're geared to debut in Korea and Thailand."

Hiro nodded. "They have a really strong vibe like I can see them releasing those summer hits everyone will love." he said and YG couldn't help but agree.

"Let's move on to the next group." Hyunsuk said and Hiro gestured for him to lead the way. A little further down the hall they heard singing and when they got to the room, the song was distinguished as an imperfect English rendition of Rolling in The Deep which held a subtle power to the overall tone. There were many ways to describe it, a perfect blend of cute, mellow, lyrical, and very sweet. It was refreshing to Hiro's ears. "This is Blossom. They're going to be my first group to have a soft bubblegum image and will remain as a strictly Korean group."

"They have a very fresh concept so they seem like they'll do really well and appeal to the public. A lot of people are ers for the sweet and demure image." Hiro chimed and YG couldn't help but agree. He just had to look at Apink and SNSD to see how much people liked the softer concept or even AKB48 and their multiple sister groups who were very popular in Japan, including their Shanghai division SNH48 and Jakarta division JKT48.

"There's a lot of truth in that statement which is really why I decided to create them." Hyunsuk explained as they ventured down the hall once more. They came to the largest group thus far dancing to an old 4minute track. Hiro observed them and deduced that something was a little off with them. Their moves were close to precise and they did the moves with relative ease but he could shake the fact that they lacked something, they lacked the pizzazz that the other groups naturally held. "This is the group Butterfly but they are more like Caterpillars to me. They are talented, no one can deny that, but they lack the individual uniqueness that all of my other artist have when they aren't in a group. They're probably the least developed out of the current groups."

"I can totally see what you're talking about but with a little polish, practice, and self discovery, they'll be perfect!" Hiro said confidently and YG nodded. Only time would tell with this group of girls. The next group was duo that rapped along to GD&TOP's High High and looked more like they were having the time of their lives while doing the number, performing with such ferocious power. It entertained Hiro immensely, they had that overflowing charisma without even trying and it was phenomenal.

"I like their energy!" Hiro exclaimed and Hyunsuk smiled.

"This is my duo, Dusk, who were created by one of my top producers, Teddy. They don't really have a set style but both are open to whatever. One is also one of my top singers out of all my trainees. They will promote in Korea and Japan and are extremely talented." Hyunsuk explained.

"Ooh, this is where I can really add my magic." Hiro smiled in excitement as YG chuckled. They continued on and came up to the last group. It was a group of three who danced to a...Sandaime song?! Winter Story (Fuyu Monogatari) at that! Their movements were so precise, suave, fluid, and perfectly in sync like they were programmed to do the same movements. They had a cold, chilled charisma that wasn't outgoing like Dusk or Spark but held a melodic and elegant feel while leaving an emotional and passionate impact in every dance move. "Please tell me this group is also planned to promote in Japan, please! They know Exile Tribe songs!" Hiro pleaded and Hyunsuk snorted.

"Yes they are mainly geared towards debuting in Japan while doing some releases in Korea and China. This is my trio, Crystal. They are the most all-around talented, my triple threats if you will. They were hand picked by G-Dragon and are designed to be a mini Perfume." YG explained before pointing towards one of the members, an above average height girl with ivory skin and long contrasting ebony hair with pretty light brown eyes, smiling towards her other two members after they finished the dance. "That's one of my top trainees, Yuna, who goes on and on about being a fan of Exile Tribe since the original JSoul Brothers formed when she was 4. She also asks me about couple ships, which I hate by the way, and asks if Ryuji, Kenjiro, and ELLY paired together becomes R. Kelly and even though I laughed, I really wished she would stop but she won't. She's also called "My headache" for that reason as well." Hyunsuk added and Hiro laughed.

"She sounds so fun." Hiro deduced.

"No, she is n-"

"Ahjussi~~~!" exclaimed a voice that belonged to the female of the conversation as she skipped over to the two men. Hiro was amused while YG looked comically annoyed.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Yah, yah, yah~!" Yuna waved off as Hyunsuk sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose and the girl giggled. "I wrote another song and I want you to hea...Oh My God, I know you!" she trailed off as she noticed Hiro. Yuna then promptly bowed in respect. "Its a pleasure to meet you Hiro-san! I'm a big fan!" she said while greeting the man in flawless Japanese. "My name is Zhao Yuna."

"Zhao? You're Chinese?" Hiro asked and Yuna nodded.

"Yes, with a dash of Spanish as well."

"Your Japanese is so good. I thought you were a native!" Hiro said in shock and Yuna smiled from ear to ear.

"I lived in Yokohama for about a year when I was 3 and I've been learning the language ever since." the teen explained and Hiro nodded upon learning this information.

"So, how did you get into the Kpop industry?"

"Well, apparently, I'm pretty so SM scouted me out but after a couple years I transferred out of that company before I was accepted into YG. I originally tried to get a start in the American music industry since that's my home country, but they rather see me model than be a singer. The nerve of some people." Yuna pouted before shrugging and Hiro found her amusing. "But I guess this is cool since my brother works in both the Japanese and Chinese music industries so he's not too far away and I get to go to YG concerts for free. Sweet~!" she finished explaining before she stared at her chuckling boss. "I guess I'll show you the song later, ahjussi! It was nice meeting you, Hiro-san!"

"You as well." Hiro nodded.

"I said to stop calling me that!" Hyunsuk sighed.

"Yah, yah, yah, yah~~~~!" Yuna waved off as she skipped back into the practice room.

"She's a cute girl and she seems really comfortable around you." Hiro said after observation.

"A little too comfortable, I might add." Hyunsuk said before the two men heard the group practice singing a soothing and soulfully melancholic rendition of Big Bang's Blue with Yuna at the keyboard. They sounded beautiful and their harmonies were almost on par with the Blossom group he saw earlier. But with voices like that, they were set to be...a Perfume 2.0?

"Why are they going to be a second Perfume? For dancing and stylistic creativity, I can completely understand why. Perfume is one of the best out there but these girls have amazing voices, even better than Perfume's actual singing voices. Why mask that with the use of synthesizers and vocoders?" Hiro asked.

"That's exactly what I questioned Jiyong on but I'm letting him find his way. They'll figure out something." Hyunsuk assured as they walked towards his office, Hiro taking a seat on the sofa while YG sat across from him. "So how do you feel about the groups?"

"I like them all! I can see why you don't know which one to debut first, they all have their own charm."

"I'm glad you see my dilemma." Hyunsuk sighed. "I'm not sure what to do."

"Why not debut them all at the same time?" Hiro suggested calmly while YG nearly had a heart attack.

"At the same time?!"

Hiro put his hands up in defense. "Hear me out." he chuckled. "You know how my groups work right? Where there is one large group that is compiled of multiple smaller groups? You could do that?" The way Hiro's agency worked was that he reversed the dynamic. Most people are used to the concept of having a big group and subunits, like Exo having the M and K sub groups and so on. But with Hiro and LDH, the big groups are the collaborative subunits - mega units if you will. It was confusing to YG at first but he later understood.

"Hmm..." YG hummed, cupping his chin in thought.

"I say you should merge Blossom, Spark, Dusk, and Crystal into a single mega unit. Butterfly could be the trainee group for the time being and be promoted with the main group until their debut time comes."

"That sounds good but-"

"I see them all having an awesome concept, one that resembles the seasons! Blossom reminds me of the subtle spring, Spark is the warm and intense summer, Dusk can resemble the ever changing leaf colors of autumn, and Crystal have the chilled grace of winter. This is perfect!" exclaimed Hiro, extremely proud of himself and Hyunsuk couldn't help but agree, it was a really good idea.

"Okay what would we name this project?"

"Give me a second." Hiro said before mumbling to himself. "Shine...Snow...Lunar...Equinox...Solstice...Equi...Sol..." the man said before clapping his hands together. "EQSOL- the combination of equinox and solstice which plays into the whole seasonal concept."

"I...like it." Hyunsuk said, nodding. "Its so unique that it's memorable."

"See? I knew that me paying attention in school would come in handy." Hiro smirked proudly as Hyunsuk chuckled.

"So how would their training be from this point on?"

"Well, they can travel to and from Japan and Korea so they can learn as much as possible." Hiro suggested. "One question though, do they have a dating ban of any sort?" Hiro asked.

YG nodded. "Yes, currently it's four years post debut." he said and Hiro visibly winced from being told this information. "What?"

"These are teenagers and young adults, Hyunsuk! I remember when I was a kid and found girls pretty and I'll never understand this. How can you put a law on being human?!" Hiro ranted slightly. none of the LDH acts had such a ban but YG felt it was necessary, despite completely understanding where he was coming from.

"I know and I agree with you but it's all about the fans' emotions. I just feel the need to take caution from the backlash."

"But if you're upfront about it you won't have to worry about stuff like that and protect when you really need to protect, like for more important things like vicious rumors about selling illegal drugs and, you know, stuff that doesn't involve basic human needs. We could put the actual meaning of scandal back into the word "scandal" you know."

"I know where you're coming from but we can discuss this more in the future and meet a mutual agreement." Hyunsuk suggested and Hiro agreed before busting out into a smile.

"I'm just really excited about this, you have so much talent under this company and those 12 are no exception. I see those girls being a huge hit." he beamed.

Hyunsuk smiled before nodded. "I agree." he replied, extremely optimistic about what the future will bring with these girls.

Author's Note

Here's the new layout, so I hope you like it. I just like the simplicity and the fact that I can add pictures without it looking so weird. It was heavily influenced by mollygirl's Chapter layout from her applyfics so thank you for the inspiration!