“We trust that you’ll be able to handle this just fine on your own.”
At first glance, this statement might seem full of trust and confidence. However, when it comes from a superior, it usually means one of two things:
“Handle it yourself,” or, “If you fail, it’s your fault.”
And the management director, without even realizing it, was implying both meanings in one statement.
“If Testa doesn’t achieve global success with this comeback, he’s already given the Director the perfect reason to step in.”
It was obvious. The Director would use this opportunity to say something like, “See? You should’ve listened to me if you wanted to conquer the global market.”
Naturally, this would weaken Testa’s decision-making power, which we had worked hard to secure.
We had just barely managed to build this much control, and in this ridiculous, chaotic company, that was like stepping on a landmine.
And pulling back now, saying we weren’t confident enough to achieve global success with this album, would be a problem too.
That would give the Director another reason to interfere.
In other words, we were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
‘This guy’s completely playing into the Director’s hands.’
What could you expect from someone who got the job through connections? It was infuriating.
“Of course, we’re always working hard to achieve good results, but we can’t guarantee success every time…”
“Why, no worries! Just keep doing what you’ve been doing so far, and everything will be fine!”
This manager was only concerned about his own standing, assuming Testa’s upward trajectory would just continue as it had. He hadn’t even considered that his carefree attitude might be putting unnecessary pressure on us.
Typical clueless parachute hire who didn’t know what it was like to actually be on the front lines.
“…Alright.”
Even Ryu Cheongwoo realized it was best to stay silent for now. Saying we couldn’t handle it would only make the group look bad.
‘Damn it.’
This upcoming single was supposed to be light and geared toward mainstream appeal, with choreography and arrangements already planned out to suit the local audience.
‘We even made the chorus easy to follow.’
And now, with just weeks left until the comeback, everything would have to be overhauled.
It felt like we were back in the hell of debuting all over again.
“…”
Was there any way out of this?
I quickly ran through possible solutions in my head.
‘Testa’s growing out of the rookie phase, so maybe, if we play this right…’
Suddenly, Kim Raebin raised his hand and bluntly stated:
“But this single was designed with local appeal in mind. We weren’t aiming for global success.”
“…!”
‘Hey.’
For a second, I thought about stopping him, but seeing the manager’s confused face made me realize something.
‘This could actually work in our favor.’
Kim Raebin, looking entirely sincere and clueless about the effect of his words, continued.
Ryu Cheongwoo and I exchanged a quick glance, and I gave a small nod.
“…”
Alright, let’s see how this plays out.
“Well, if it works locally, it’s bound to do well internationally too, right?”
“That’s not necessarily true. There’s been a growing gap between what’s successful domestically and globally in K-pop over the past few years, with many examples…”
Raebin then began explaining, with a passion, various cases of songs that did well locally but failed internationally, and vice versa.
He ended with a proud smile, clearly pleased with his explanation.
“That’s why we can’t guarantee a global hit this time!”
“…”
The manager seemed a bit overwhelmed by Raebin’s barrage of facts. However, he also seemed to realize that Raebin wasn’t trying to argue, so he spoke again, this time with a more subdued tone.
“Well, we still have a few weeks until the comeback, so how about tweaking the direction a bit? You know how stubborn the Director can be… you all know that, right?”
Perfect. He just gave us the opening we needed.
I interlocked my fingers and leaned forward.
“So, are you saying we need to completely adjust the group’s concept to align with your direction?”
“…!”
We weren’t struggling with performance, so I figured this much pushback would be acceptable, even to a parachute hire.
“Of course, I know you’re saying this to help us and that we need to put in our best effort…”
But I softened the blow a little to smooth things over.
“But since your direction contradicts our original plan, I’m worried the Director might see this as not being artist-led after all.”
“…”
The manager’s expression flickered with confusion for a moment.
Makes sense, right?
After all the effort he put into winning this battle, the thought of the Director changing his mind and interfering again must have stressed him out.
“Exactly! We’ve already put a lot of thought into our original plan! I’m worried it’ll come off that way too.”
“We’re still not aiming for major success in the U.S. right now. For now, we’d like to focus on preparing for our domestic activities.”
The team was backing me up.
We were basically telling him: we’re going to stick with our plan, so you deal with the mess you’ve made.
Naturally, the manager’s face darkened.
“Well, then, it might make it harder for me to support you…”
In other words, he didn’t want to backtrack on what he said and look foolish.
‘If I push him further, he might take it personally and do something stupid.’
The manager’s anger should be directed at the Director, not us.
Still, cornering him like this had its advantages.
‘It makes negotiating easier.’
With that in mind… ah, right.
‘…We agreed to consult with the team.’
I glanced at the other members, exchanging looks and subtle nods.
‘Let’s go with what he says for now, or this could blow up.’
‘Sure, sure~’
‘I’ll work hard either way…!’
‘I’m hungry!’
I ignored the last weird signal and continued.
No one objected, so I turned back to the manager and spoke in a calm tone.
“How about this then?”
“What… what are you suggesting?”
“Since the reality show is doing well, the company could invest more and say that we’ve expanded our project for the comeback.”
In other words, give us more money.
“That way, the shift in direction would seem natural. What do you think, sir?”
The idea was to pour in resources and fill the gap with money.
‘He’s a parachute hire, so he should have no trouble pulling funds from the headquarters.’
Sure enough, the manager’s face lit up.
“That sounds reasonable to me.”
Got him.
This way, it wouldn’t look like Testa had asked for more money, so even if things didn’t go perfectly, there would be fewer complaints afterward.
Now we just had to pour an enormous amount of money into reworking the choreography, arrangements, and music video… all within four weeks.
‘Damn it.’
We were suddenly in for an exhausting sprint.
* * *
That day, we delayed our recording schedule and holed up in the meeting room.
“Global hit…”
“Hmm.”
Surprisingly, the first to speak was Bae Sejin.
“…What if we try doing it in English?”
It was a fairly reasonable suggestion.
But in the context of K-pop’s global ecosystem, it might be a bit too soon.
“Using English would target Western audiences specifically… but for that to work, they’d have to already know who we are.”
“Ah.”
Exactly. We’d need a solid fanbase in that market for such a strategy to succeed.
Otherwise, we’d just end up with a negative label like “trying too hard to pander to the U.S.”
So how could we solidify the American meme-based audience into a real fanbase?
“I think we should look at the kinds of concepts that have worked well with overseas K-pop fans.”
“Oh, that’s definitely true~”
At Ryu Cheongwoo’s murmuring, Geon Sejin raised his hand energetically.
“Fans like cool choreography, strong beats, and slick music videos, right?”
“Y-Yeah, but isn’t that the kind of thing Korean fans would like too?”
“True. But in Korea, there are people who don’t really listen to intense dance tracks if they’re from male idols, right?”
He was right.
That’s why, when we debuted, we pushed “Magic Boy,” which wasn’t too heavy on the beats and was easy to listen to, over the more intense “Hi-five.”
‘And “Magic Boy” charted higher and lasted longer than “Hi-five.”‘
Similarly, the extremely conceptual and intense track “The Procession” didn’t perform as well on the charts as our previous title track, despite the fact that it was a career-high for us and brought in a noticeable increase in our fanbase.
So, Sejin had a point.
‘It’s a shame to miss out on the domestic popularity we’ve built, but if we need overseas reactions, this direction makes sense.’
Even so, deciding on a direction didn’t mean we could easily overhaul everything overnight.
“Choreography and stuff can all be adjusted, so that’s no big deal… Sejin, you’re okay with that, right?”
“…Of course.”
Bae Sejin answered firmly.
Ryu Cheongwoo, looking slightly guilty, continued.
“Right. And I think we can gradually revise the rest to make it cooler… but I’m worried about the arrangements.”
With that, everyone turned to look at Kim Raebin.
“…?”
He looked around, confused, and then spoke up with a determined expression
.
“If we can nail down the concept, I’ll bring you a few arrangement drafts that fit the vibe! Just give me four days!”
It was a bold declaration.
“A-Are you sure? It sounds like a lot of work…”
“I’m excited to try new things! This title track has such a good top melody note that we can try out various combinations.”
“…”
Kim Raebin seemed… genuinely thrilled at the prospect of trying out things he couldn’t do while sticking to the formula for mainstream success.
‘Well, at least someone’s happy.’
I spoke up.
“Alright, Raebin. Then let’s talk about the concept quickly so you can get started right away.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Sounds good!”
“Moondae, do you have any ideas? You’re our idea bank, after all~”
We had originally planned to release something fresh and light without a fixed image—a seasonal song for spring.
Now, we had to turn that into a concept that could give us a visually stunning music video with a larger scale…
At the same time, it had to appeal to Western tastes enough to keep the Director off our backs.
And ideally, we didn’t want to lose our domestic appeal either.
Since this was a digital single, we weren’t selling physical albums, so charting on music platforms was important.
‘…Hmm.’
Cool choreography, intense beats, and something easily digestible for fans?
‘…Ah.’
I spoke up.
“Let’s expand our world-building.”
“Our world-building? You mean from “The Procession”?”
“Yeah.”
After a flurry of intense brainstorming, we unanimously agreed on a revised plan—including the arrangement.
‘But make it as easy to listen to as possible!’
And three turbulent weeks later…
* * *
Testa fans all knew the upcoming comeback was a digital single.
News of the comeback had quickly spread during the encore concert, as part of a strategy to maintain momentum.
And based on the wording in the articles, fans had already formed a clear idea about the song’s vibe.
[Testa to Return in Time for Cherry Blossom Season]
[Testa Heats Up for a Spring Carol Comeback]
[Testa, the Nation’s Darlings, Return with a Fresh Spring Sound]
These articles had been carefully crafted by the company’s staff to set the tone for Testa’s upcoming activities.
As a result, fans were expecting something similar to “Picnic,” the title track from our previous repackaged album—a light, easy-listening song with broad appeal.
But it wasn’t just the fans who thought so.
-“They did so well with “Picnic,” so they’re playing it safe again, I guess.”
-“Haha, kind of a letdown. I thought Testa’s real color was more like “Magic Boy” or “The Procession.””
-“Man, “Better Me” was killer, but they keep going for these easy tracks. It’s kind of a bummer.”
-“Already lowering the difficulty of their choreography even though they’re barely a few years in. They’re probably only doing it because the fans will eat it up.”
Because our reality show had been a hit, there was as much buzz surrounding this comeback as there had been around our debut, which also meant there were plenty of people waiting to tear us down.
-“You’re complaining about a song that hasn’t even dropped yet, lol. You must be feeling threatened, poor thing.”
-“It feels like there’s no punch to it. Weird.”
-“It’s a digital single, relax. They’re obviously going to hit hard with their next full album. These ‘I’m a fan but…’ types are so annoying.”
-“Whatever they do, we’ll love it. So stop acting like you know better than us.”
-“Lol, they’re doing so well that the haters can only whine. Pathetic.”
Fans were slightly irritated by the negativity, but they could brush it off easily enough.
After all, there was no way this comeback would flop, not with the momentum we had!
Still, many fans hoped our new stage would be impressive and flashy enough to shut up the naysayers once and for all, even though they already trusted Testa.
“Testa never fails!”
And on the day our comeback teaser dropped…
Fans were in for a jaw-dropping surprise with a stunning 30-second video.
‘W-What? A wasteland??’
The concept Testa had chosen was… *steampunk Joseon*.