Christmas Day finally arrived, the day everyone had been eagerly awaiting.
Right on schedule…
Hyunseung’s personal album was publicly released.
[Exclusive] The confession-themed first personal album by “HS,” this year’s breakout hit-maker, finally unveiled at midnight…
[Official] A source at LS Entertainment says, “HS insisted on a fair showdown with Jayble by releasing on the same date,” stirring buzz!
[Issue] Who is the up-and-coming “HS,” composer for Seo Jini’s second heyday and the star-making success of Jung Arin?
[Composer HS declares this album is ‘a single cohesive work’—confident he’ll rely on the music alone to prevail]
Perhaps thanks to CEO Jeon Nam-il’s promise, the instant the album dropped, several online entertainment articles were published covering its release.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Jayble’s personal album was also creating a stir on all the major portal sites:
[Official] Jayble, who “came prepared with a vengeance,” unveil his personal album [Warm us]… limitless musicality on display.
[Jayble], in just one hour after release, enters the top charts on every domestic music platform, signaling a massive hit!
[Issue] Jayble returns after two years—“I feel zero pressurefrom being called a hit-maker,” raising eyebrows
Before long…
“Manager Kim, stop shaking your leg, or your luck will run off.”
At Hyunseung’s remark, Manager Kim Kim snapped:
“Hey, how else am I supposed to cope with nerves—?”
“It’s my album. Why are you so nervous?”
“Because this whole thing blew up bigger than we planned!”
“People just love sticking their noses in someone else’s business.”
A full day had passed since both albums came out. Jayble’s album had soared to the top of the charts, while Hyunseung’s was languishing near the bottom.
“Hey, you’re awfully calm for someone in your situation.”
“What do you expect me to do—start praying over a water bowl?”
“All these people worked their butts off for your album for days!”
“They were just doing their jobs, same as me.”
Hyunseung gestured.
“I composed it.”
Then, pointing in another direction, he said, “They promoted, distributed, and sold it.”
At that, Kim stared at him with hurt in his eyes. He’d spent sleepless nights at the office—calling press, checking distribution channels, crossing his fingers for the best results. Even if Hyunseung hadn’t asked for it, Kim had poured his heart into it, praying it would do well.
Meanwhile, the composer in question acted as though it was all some distant scene. Kim wanted to smack him.
“Dude, if other departments heard you say that, they’d be really upset.”
“Huh?”
“Strategy, PR, Distribution, A&R…none of them slacked off. Everyone worked crazy hard.”
Choosing to release on the same day Jayble dropped his album was basically playing “egg meets rock”—or maybe more like self-sabotage. Still, the entire staff had worked feverishly, harder than they ever had before.
Nobody could fully explain why. Perhaps they believed Hyunseung might pull off a miracle. Or maybe it was because he’d consistently defied expectations with Seo Jini and Jung Arin. Or because CEO Jeon personally said to give him full backing. They’d all set aside sleep and proper meals, throwing themselves into the project out of a collective sense of “hope” in Hyunseung.
But alas, the world doesn’t revolve around people’s wishes alone. Regardless of the album’s quality or the team’s hard work, the initial response was cold.
[Composer HS’s personal album “Confession,” overshadowed by LS Entertainment’s heavy promotion—lackluster results; netizens mock “He dares to go against Jayble?”]
Scrolling through the portal headlines, Kim grumbled:
“Is Jayble royalty or something? Why is it so bad for us to ‘dare’ to challenge him?”
He clicked on the entertainment section to read more:
[Veteran music critic Hwang Chansu says, “The era when marketing alone decides chart rankings is over. The public is savvy and their preferences are clear.” Harsh criticism aimed at composer HS and LS Entertainment draws attention…]
Kim snorted:
“Ha! That Hwang Chansu guy is always sniffing around whenever we drop an album. Does he have nothing better to do? Practically some traveling con man. Why won’t he just vanish?”
Another headline:
[Stardom and box-office success can’t be artificially made? “HS” overshadowed despite aggressive promotion… Is LS Entertainment in hot water?]
“In ‘hot water,’ my foot! Everyone’s fine.”
“Boss, you look pretty stressed…”
“Shut it. Are you siding with them?”
“Hardly. I’m the one they’re attacking, no?”
Kim froze. Right—if anyone was upset, it must be Hyunseung. Underneath his usual flippancy, he took his work seriously, especially this album. Seeing all these negative articles must sting.
“Those jerks. If they’d actually listened to it, they wouldn’t write such garbage….”
He tried a consoling tone:
“Anyway, don’t worry too much. The PR team’s on the job. We’ll handle the hostile press. The album’s brand new, and the songs are good—if we keep at it, the charts might rally.”
“It’s fine. No need to push yourselves.” Hyunseung replied calmly.
“Huh? Meaning…?”
“I know how hard you all worked.”
From the moment the album was announced, LS’s entire marketing apparatus had been thrown behind him, maybe even overkill. If they still didn’t get results, perhaps it was time to look inward.
Usually, that means two possibilities, Hyunseung mused: Either the music’s bad or it’s ahead of its time. Since he didn’t think his music was bad, he chalked it up to being “ahead of its time.” Overly self-assured? Possibly. But he believed that one day it might be reappraised.
In fact, from the standpoint of a brand-new composer who hadn’t been active even a full year yet, cracking the top 100 at all in this cutthroat holiday season was actually decent. And simply completing a personal album was already quite an achievement.
“Oh, cut that out.”
Kim didn’t quite see things the same way.
“When you produce music, do you ever say you’ve ‘done enough’ and leave it at that?”
“Never.”
“Same here. Once the composer’s done, everything else is on us. So stop telling us to slack off. That’s what we do.”
He gave Hyunseung a confident look.
“So just keep calm. We’ll figure out how to get some positive momentum.”
Hyunseung gave a faint smile:
“Why the big dramatic pose?”
“Because I am that cool.”
They bantered lightly, but Kim felt uneasy. Realistically, the album wasn’t living up to the hype. And that might cause CEO Jeon to lose a finger of patience, so to speak. Maybe the CEO had already decided Hyunseung had used up a “get out of jail free” card. Or maybe he’d let him fail a few times. Hard to say. But Kim refused to sink into negative thinking. If nothing else, the album was still in distribution; who knew what could happen? Hyunseung was always surprising them.
“Delivery’s here—!”
PR Team Lead Gwak burst into the studio, lugging a heavy box full of CDs.
“Fresh off the press: HS’s album CDs!”
He set down a box containing about a hundred copies of Hyunseung’s album.
A junior PR staffer, trailing him, asked quietly: “It’s unusual to make such a small run. Is this for some lottery event—like a limited first-edition giveaway to fans?”
Kim smirked.
“Ha, you know how our ‘magnificent’ composer is: He insisted we absolutely had to produce physical CDs. So we did the minimum pressing. Orders from the top.”
Ignoring their banter, Hyunseung flipped through the box:
“Manager Kim, could you send one copy to Master Lee Du-seok?”
“Send it yourself.”
“Nah, if I go, he’ll keep me all day.”
“What am I, your errand boy?”
“So you’d rather I mail it, with no personal touch?”
Hyunseung grabbed a single CD from the box:
“I’ll just take one for myself. You can do whatever you want with the rest.”
“Just one? That’s it?”
“Yep. One’s enough for me. Get some rest today—and maybe shave.”
Hyunseung strolled off holding his single copy.
Kim muttered, “That brat. I’m the one skipping shaves because of him…”
Team Lead Gwak laughed. “You two look as close as ever.”
“As if.”
“By the way, does Hyunseung have a girlfriend?”
Kim jerked. “How’d you know?”
He’d only recently gotten word of that rumor himself.
“Just from experience. Usually, a composer that age, after his first album, the first thing he does is bring it to his girlfriend.”
“Hmm, guess so.”
The female staffer from PR pointed at the album booklet:
“Hey, I see he included sheet music in the booklet?”
The others took a look.
“Wow, yeah. Feels more like a piano new-age album. Did you know about this, Manager Kim?”
“I had no idea. He handled all the layout himself.”
Some of the staff started rummaging through the box.
“Mind if we each grab a copy?”
“Me too!”
“I promised a friend as well—maybe three copies for me…”
Kim frowned.
“Guys, it’s not an idol album. Why bother snagging a copy?”
One staffer clung to a CD, explaining:
“You never know. Sure, it might lose to Jayble now, but one day, HS might surpass him. Then this album might become legendary. If so, this is the ultra-rare first pressing.”
“You think it’s a movie storyline? Keep going.”
“Hey, it was only a hundred printed, right? Could be super valuable someday. Picture it: ‘Thanks for coming to Sotheby’s! Next up, a first-edition of HS’s debut album…!’”
Inspired, even those who hadn’t planned to do so started pocketing one or two copies.
“Makes sense. I’ll take one too.”
“See, that’s how it is.”
Kim chuckled:
Who knows…
He recalled a famous overseas band “Beat-Lace,” which had only pressed 100 copies of their debut LP. Now, with their iconic status, that first edition sold for millions at Sotheby’s.
Right, he thought.
It felt premature to label Hyunseung’s album a flop forever. He’d proven to be full of surprises.
“Huh. Maybe I’ll stash a few. Could buy a house someday…”
“How about a building while you’re at it?”
Team Lead Gwak joked, and everyone burst into laughter.
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