There are about twenty more songs of similar quality to the one we heard earlier.
“What, what did you say?!”
Upon Ryu Won’s nonchalant statement, the managers expressed disbelief.
And it wasn’t just the managers reacting this way.
At this moment, Kang Beom-jun, who had spent the most time with Ryu Won, was certainly shocked. Even Baek Ye-rin, who was sitting next to Ryu Won, wore a surprised expression.
In this chaotic atmosphere, Kang Beom-jun urgently asked Ryu Won.
“Ryu, Ryu Won. Did you just say something wrong? Is my hearing getting worse these days? Haha.”
“Seems perfectly fine to me. As I said earlier, there are about twenty more songs that are quite good. If we have Ye-rin rearrange them, all of them could be released as high-quality singles.”
“Really…?”
The songs Ryu Won had shown so far would each be considered ‘hit songs’ if released into the music market.
And it goes without saying that producing such hit songs is extremely difficult.
After all, some composers might only be able to create one song in a lifetime, or face a creative wall and fail to create anything at all.
And yet, there are said to be twenty more of these songs? By someone who’s just a middle schooler?
Ryu Won’s claim was hard for even experts to believe.
“I’ll go to the president’s office for a moment to get my laptop.”
If words alone weren’t enough, the results would speak for themselves.
“My… goodness!”
There were ten tracks in total.
These were the remaining songs that Ryu Won had made in his spare time whenever he had a moment.
In reality, from his perspective, it was just about bringing over songs he composed in his previous life or slightly tweaking what was missing.
But there was no way the people in the meeting room could know that. To their ears, all ten tracks sounded just like the ones shown earlier.
That’s right. Ryu Won was absolutely correct when he said they could all be released as singles without issue.
And Ryu Won had explicitly mentioned twenty songs.
“So, what about the other ten?”
On Kang Beom-jun’s cautious question, Ryu Won didn’t answer with words but simply opened the music composition software on his laptop.
It took him 30 minutes.
In just 30 minutes, Ryu Won, as a composer, had completed a song including lyrics—without a single pause or hesitation.
As if he had stored the song in his head and simply copied it across…
“Truly… there might be twenty songs, it seems.”
“Yes. I made them earlier, but the files were accidentally lost. Still, I remember them all.”
Whether or not this statement was true was something Kang Beom-jun had no way of knowing.
But one thing was certain.
Ryu Won wanted something from Kang Beom-jun.
Otherwise, given his character, he wouldn’t reveal such a powerful card at this moment unnecessarily.
“Ryu Won, what exactly do you want?”
Kang Beom-jun asked the boy whose thoughts were impossible to read.
The boy simply responded.
“There’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Alright. I figured you’d say something like that. Does this happen to sound ridiculous to you?”
“This time, it might actually be.”
On the boy’s affirmation, Kang Beom-jun swallowed nervously, and the boy proceeded to explain his request.
“I want to release a full-length album for Ye-rin’s debut, not just a mini album.”
“Full-length album?”
“Yes. It’ll be fine as long as we rearrange the tracks according to the album concept.”
But Kang Beom-jun had anticipated a much more out-of-the-box request.
Or rather… from the perspective of a boy who wants nothing more than for Baek Ye-rin to shine gloriously as an artist, this was a rather reasonable judgment.
Let’s think about it from another angle.
In the digital age where music streaming platforms have become widespread, consumers tend to pick specific tracks to listen to rather than buying whole albums. This has made releasing albums less efficient, especially for rookies, making full-length album attempts practically non-existent.
But what if, against this current trend, an unknown rookie releases a full-length album from the very start?
Without a doubt, this would garner immense attention.
Moreover, a full-length album carries symbolic meaning for an artist.
A 1st full-length album from a middle schooler would create an exceptional image.
Considering the current situation, releasing a full-length album wouldn’t be challenging for Baek Ye-rin.
The most costly part of making a full-length album — sourcing the tracks — has been perfectly resolved thanks to someone.
Thus, Kang Beom-jun was even more confused. What exactly was supposed to be ridiculous?
Unfortunately, his confusion didn’t last long.
“Isn’t releasing just one full-length album a bit too predictable?”
“Huh?”
The answer was clear from the boy — no, from Ryu Won.
“Full-length albums usually have at least 8 tracks. And it just so happens we have 25 tracks of sufficient quality to be released as singles.”
“Wait… Could you mean…”
“Yes. Let’s release not just the 1st and 2nd, but also the 3rd album right away. Releasing a full-length 1st album is already considered special in today’s era. So what if we follow up with the 2nd album? How about the 3rd?”
“…”
“Let’s shock the world and make an indelible impression. The arrival of the singer Baek Ye-rin needs to be solidified.”
With Ryu Won’s statement, Kang Beom-jun experienced a huge shock that made him realize what tremors feel like.
Releasing a full-length album for a debut is quite unusual in today’s market.
But beyond that, releasing all the way up to the 3rd album at once? This wasn’t just unusual—it was absurd.
And Ryu Won was actively encouraging such absurdity.
It was so absurd that…
“Sounds like it’ll be quite the interesting scene, no?”
With a smile pure enough to make him seem like a child.
Kang Beom-jun let out an empty laugh upon seeing this smile.
He had long known that Ryu Won the composer was, in many ways, insane.
But this time, he felt like he might have to throw up his hands in total disbelief.
Kang Beom-jun glanced around the meeting room to gauge the reactions of the managers.
Though everyone looked startled by Ryu Won’s words, a new feeling was beginning to bud in their hearts.
It must have been…
excitement.
That’s what geniuses do.
With unorthodox ideas, they turn the world upside down and lead people like this.
“I guess I wasn’t cut out for this managerial job after all.”
This applied to Kang Beom-jun as well.
More than anyone, he was siding with Ryu Won’s thoughts and wanted to know what kind of picture the boy had painted.
“Our first artist shouldn’t be a mere business venture. Without romance in music, wouldn’t it feel a little off? So, I’d like to fully comply with the request of composer Ryu Won.”
Under Kang Beom-jun’s endorsement, the managers began checking each other’s reactions.
However, from the moment Ryu Won spoke, the answer might have already been decided.
“I agree.”
“Why not just give it a try? It’s not like anyone will die, right?”
“We might die from how busy we’ll be.”
“Haha. We might actually do that.”
*
Mid-March.
The cold winter had passed swiftly, and spring had arrived.
What imagery does spring typically evoke?
Most would think of flowers blooming and shoots sprouting as the weather gradually warms up.
But this year’s spring wasn’t exactly the epitome of warmth. Perhaps “scorching” would be a more appropriate word.
The turning point was unmistakable.
It began when RT Entertainment, a new management company, started promoting their rookie singer, stating that she would debut with a full-length album.
People thought,
“Looks like President Kang Beom-jun has really found some talent.”
After all, Kang Beom-jun was an experienced figure in the music industry. Even if he took a break, his skills wouldn’t have withered.
And everyone knew how crazy it was to invest in a full-length album for a rookie in the current music scene.
To top it off, they didn’t even do any pre-release promotions or previews of the album.
People were curious.
“What kind of confidence drives them to pull this sort of stunt?”
This seemed less like a clever marketing tactic and more just… off.
Even the experts who heard the news ruled it as more hubris than confidence.
In the mix of anticipation and negativity, a rookie singer named Baek Ye-rin and her album were released.
<Album 3 Romance>
01 This Street
02 First Love
03 You As A Cherry Blossom (Title)
04 Fragrance of Flowers
05 Only U
06 Things That Don’t Fade
07 Such a Story
08 Sweet Ending
Right away, people were bewildered.
Why was the “3rd Album” released before even the 1st or 2nd?
Their confusion was swiftly resolved.
<Album 2 Take My Hand>
01 Let It Be A Happy Moment (Title)
02 Film
03 The Story of Stars and Flowers
04 One More Step
05 Cliché
06 A Child That Became An Adult
07 The Boy And The Girl
08 My, Dream
The very next day after the 3rd album was released, the full-length 2nd album was revealed.
Regardless of whether the songs were good or bad, people started to realize something.
It seemed RT Entertainment was set on doing the unexpected.
Correct.
Over the past few months, RT Entertainment poured all its resources into this exact moment.
Therefore…
<Album 1 Rewind>
01 Misty Smile
02 Our World
03 Kind Star
04 My Everything
05 Unreachable
06 Moments Gone
07 Rain Shower
08 Rewind (Title)
09 Fruition
Now it was time to see what the true intentions they revealed would bring.
