on the way to greatness

Teaser, part 2

Kwon could feel Kim Eunbi’s naive worldview crash and burn around her.

He could practically feel her deflate next to him as Bang Sihyuk unveiled  before them what Hybe thought the “next revolutionary girl group” was going to be.

Turns out, that was basically an NCT copycat with a dash of Loona sprinkled on top. He wondered if the company had to pay anyone for the idea. Probably not. The beauty of rotational units was that it probably couldn’t be trademarked.

He tried listening to the business plan presented to them, but he couldn’t help watching Eunbi out of the corner of his eye. She tried hiding her disappointment behind a mask of professional indifference, but Kwon knew better.

The Big Hit founder clicked and the screen behind him showed a slide of sixty or so girls, ages twelve to twenty five. Kwon could recognize a few of them, trainees who had transferred from other companies after the merger. He had to interview them and go over their contracts back when he was a trainee manager.

Bang Sihyuk sat down, and the man who was going to be the creative director of Pop Girls, Kim Taekwang, took his place and cleared his throat.

“The cost of signing many artists is exceptionally low considering our profit comes from shared revenue.” Taekwang said, “There is of course the cost of music and video production, styling, etcetera, but they all outweigh the potential profit just one member can bring. By putting them all under one name, we can create a brand that has infinite potential. We can try different concepts, add and remove artists according to their profit analysis. We can conduct market research by promoting different groups at the same time, and adjust our strategy accordingly. If one girl does better than the rest, we can put her in all of the units, thus increasing the overall brand value. The potential profit of this plan is immense. We already have planned endorsement deals with Prada and Chanel set for March 2022, in time for the debut and their new cosmetic launches.”

Kwon felt something shift beside him, and he just knew that Eunbi was going to do something stupid and somehow ruin it for the both of them.

Taekwang looked as if he was trying to remember Eunbi's name, and his eyes momentarily shifted to a piece of paper subtly shoved in his direction by Lee Minhyun. “Yes, Kim Eunbi, do you have a question?”

Eunbi lowered her hand and cleared . “Sir, we went over the business plan so far, but could you please tell us more about the creative aspect of the group? What is their concept? Their theme? What are they going to say with their music?”

Minhyun looked at her, then at Kwon, then back at Eunbi. Taekwang nodded stiffly, but it was their chief manager who answered. “Certainly. As road managers it is very important for you to learn how the higher management is done so that you can assist the seniors whenever the need arises. The Creative Director will go over it shortly.”

It felt like an insult, somehow, or a threat. Eunbi nodded, but Kwon knew she understood it enough not to speak again until the end of the meeting. He would’ve gloated, if she hadn’t turned the attention towards him, too. 

Taekwang clicked and a new slide appeared before them.

“We would like to begin with roughly ten members to test out the waters. The specific trainees are still undecided, and in the following weeks we will conduct more interviews and examinations to determine who will fit the group the best. The overall concept will follow the mainstream music trends so that we could target as many audiences as possible and cater to all of them at once. Our data analysis team has shown that it’s been on the rise the past few years and is not expected to go out of style for at least six years. Of course, we also have an adaptable strategy in case it does. This group is highly versatile.”

Eunbi started scribbling down questions to ask Minhyun later, and one glance was enough for Kwon to kick her lightly under the table. She kicked him back - much stronger than he did - but it was enough to get her to stop.

Meanwhile, Minhyun cleared his throat and commented, “The various sub units will cater to more specific audiences, and it will be our job to ensure that they are satisfied both with the units and the bigger group. We have decided on girl crush; as you all know it is a very popular genre nowadays, retro; an emerging genre as we have previously witnessed with BTS, and an experimental unit that will allow us to test out trends with audiences. From there, we will be able to see which unit does best and adjust accordingly. Such is the convenience of this strategy. Of course we also have plans for future sub-groups, most notably an English oriented group for the American market. Now, for the estimated valuation of…”

Eunbi spent the remainder of the meeting trying to set the slideshow on fire with her eyes. Kwon tried to listen to what the executives and senior managers were saying. He tried taking some notes. But Eunbi’s leg trembled next to his, and he was annoyingly aware of the tremors until Sihyuk thanked everyone for coming and dismissed them.

Minhyun called the two of them to his side.

“We will start with both of you as direct managers, and if you two will feel like you need more help, we will add a third manager,” He said, but Kwon was certain neither he nor Eunbi would ever admit to needing more help, even if it meant collapsing in exhaustion.

“Yes, sir,” he said in unison with Eunbi.

“We will go over the specific management strategy in detail tomorrow.” Minhyun continued, gathering his loose leaf notebook in his arms and motioning for them to follow him as he left the room. “It will be our responsibility to ensure the training and forming of the group goes smoothly. I vouched for the both of you personally, and I expect that you do everything to excel at this position.”

“Yes, sir,” they repeated.

“And never embarrass me in front of any executive again. Understood?” He said matter-of-fact, so casually that at first Kwon missed the bite in his voice. Not waiting for their reply this time, Minhyun said, “Have a good evening,” and left them.

“Now you’ve made him angry. Hope you’re happy.” Kwon said as he watched Minhyun walk away before disappearing behind a hallway.

Eunbi whipped her head towards him, her hair nearly hitting him in the eye. “Happy - How can I be - Have you seen what they’re doing? They’re treating these girls like numbers!”

Kwon rolled his eyes. Typical Eunbi. “I keep forgetting that you were in a small company before, with an established artist to keep you guys afloat. Of course they are, it’s a business. No one thinks idols are humans, that’s their thing. Profit is important, Kim Eunbi.”

“Of course it is! But what about artistic vision!?” Eunbi exclaimed. “Or creativity!? Or- Or something that isn’t math!?”

“Calm down your fear of numbers and musical production degree pride.” Kwon said. “You do realize that’s not how things are done anymore? Hybe has the best data analysis team out of all the entertainment companies, even SM. But they all have one, I promise you. Predicting trends and capitalizing on them is what the music industry has been doing for decades. Now there’s just more computers involved. No one does anything revolutionary anymore, it’s too much risk.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to take risks in an artistic industry!?”

“Because the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of people are on the line. Or would you rather have these young girls sign a seven-year contract and not make any money in return? Sometimes you just have to settle for what’s safe, especially when you’re as big as Hybe.”

“Then what is this bull about greatness?” Eunbi asked.

Kwon just shrugged. “That’s to make us feel better about having fifteen-minute breaks and eating ramyun in the park.”

There was more hardship to be endured on his path to greatness, Kwon found out the next day.

He stared at the room - newly renovated, with a much nicer view than he was used to. And by the large, bright windows? Two distinct desks positioned side by side. 

To her credit, the bane of his existence looked equally incredulous.

“Sir…”

Lee Minhyun looked at him warningly. “Do you have something to say about your new office?”

If there was one thing he learned from being a scholarship student at SNU, it was that sometimes he had to up his pride and kiss so thoroughly that his tongue turned brown. His future was on the line. “It’s lovely, sir.”

“The view’s nice.” Eunbi said lamely.

“More importantly, it’s right by my own office.” Minhyun said. “Having you two in the same room would make the management of things much easier. And consider it a gift, from me to you. Congratulations on your promotion.”

Kwon felt like he got demoted instead of promoted. This space was larger than his tiny cubicle, but with Kim Eunbi sitting next to him for 8-15 hours a day? On top of all of the additional time he’d have to spend with her managing Pop Girls? He would explode and murder everyone on the 12th floor, he was sure of it. Unless she would get to it (or him) first.

“Should I hand in my resignation letter, or would you?” He asked the moment Minhyun closed the office door behind him.

Eunbi scoffed loudly. “As if either of us would ever do that.”

She was already settling in, flinging her pastel blue backpack on top of the left desk - the one he was going to claim as his.

“What do you suggest, then?” He asked her, raising a brow in an open challenge, “That we try to get along?”

“God, no,” She laughed, “I was thinking more like - Oh, wait a second.”

Her phone rang with the obnoxious tune of a Zico song, and Kwon tried not to roll his eyes as she picked it up. Knowing Eunbi, she probably chose it to show “company pride” or some other like that.

“Hello,” She said in a tone much nicer than when she spoke to him, “Oh, baby, how are you? I missed you too -”

Kwon watched the exchange with mild annoyance for a moment before begrudgingly settling for the right desk and turning on the computer screen. Hybe’s logo greeted him on the wallpaper, black lines against a white, boring background. He immediately logged into his email account and downloaded the excel sheet the current trainee manager said he’d give him.

“I know, honey, I’m sorry. I can’t today.” Eunbi continued pathetically on the phone, “Not even for five minutes, no, we really have to work all day today. What? Yes, of course I’ll eat, don’t worry about me. It’s just that - yes, I know, honey. But I have a meeting with my boss about the potential lineup and I have to review all of the trainee footage we have by then. I’m sorry.”

Kwon started with the first column. The familiar name of Kim Sooyoung, age 20, greeted him at the top of the list. He clicked on the link for her trainee profile, and a photo of a girl - pretty in the way all trainees were - appeared on the screen. He remembered her. She was transffered to them by Pledis.

Briefly going over her information, he noted that she was a rapper. He had to watch more performance evaluation videos, see what her instructors thought, but she could work, given the right lineup. They were off to a good start.

“I’m really sorry, honey. I’ll try tomorrow, okay? What - oh, okay. I love you, b-. ”

Eunbi put the phone down on her desk, and Kwon raised his eyes to look at her. She looked outside the window and sighed heavily, hand running through her brown hair.

He wanted to just tell her about Kim Sooyoung and what he thought about her. He wanted to send her a link to the trainee page instead of waiting for her to open the excel sheet.

Instead, he asked innocently, with only a slight gloating in his tone, “No lunch in the park today?”

Eunbi whipped her head and glared at him with so much intensity Kwon had difficulty looking away. They stared at each other for one moment, then another.

“I can’t believe I have to share an office with you.” She told him. "I can't believe I have to manage a girl group with you."

Kwon just smiled, then gathered all of his willpower and turned back to his computer screen. Whether they liked it or not, it was time to start working on Pop Girls.

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