The representative of PMC Entertainment, Mr. Park Min-chan, discovered an extremely impressive group name during the group name submission event.
Pentanil.
Truly, an astonishing name appeared, and the fans’ reactions were burning up like crazy.
– No way, I can’t quit being a fan of this group!!
– Irresistible charm.
– It’s not a drug. It’s a painkiller.
It received the most recommendations, and the sound of it was also to his liking.
“No, Director, are you serious?”
“You’re going to name an idol group Pentanil?”
However, there was fierce opposition.
I’m the CEO of the company, yet I can’t even freely choose a group name.
Thinking something was wrong, CEO Park Min-chan still tried to stick with Pentanil.
“How is this a problem?”
“It’s a drug.”
“No, it’s a narcotic painkiller.”
“That’s ridiculous…”
“If AsXrin is okay, why not Pentanil?”
“That’s not a drug!”
CEO Park Min-chan truly felt wronged.
“Does this country suppress freedom of expression to this extent? Pentanil was also the name that got the most positive reactions from the fans.”
“…Director, while the fans’ response is good, we do have to stay reasonable.”
“What kind of reason?”
“Didn’t we go through a lot with Nuclear? They were called the ‘leftist group’ or the ‘nuclear group.’ And remember when we entered the Japanese market?”
“Truly a wrongful incident, especially in Japan. We weren’t Bigman or Littleboy, yet they went berserk.”
And then there was their reckless release of nuclear wastewater. What a headache of a country.
“Idol groups are basically about fandom merchandising anyway. As long as the fandom is satisfied, it doesn’t matter what others say.”
“But this might go beyond that. It could be a serious social issue.”
Indeed, recently, a certain celebrity caused a scandal involving Pentanil-related drugs.
Drug-related issues are still ongoing everywhere…
Thus, using this name as it is would be impossible.
This is incomparably more dangerous than Nuclear.
“So, how about this?”
Mr. Park Min-chan teased the fans and modified “Pentanil” to “Penta-nil”.
“…Are you joking right now? What’s the difference?”
“Obviously different. ‘Penta’ means five, right? We have five members, so ‘Penta’ plus ‘nil.'”
“What does ‘nil’ mean?”
“You’re supposed to figure that part out.”
“Ah, Director…”
“Alright, alright.”
Apparently, such loopholes wouldn’t fly.
Mr. Park Min-chan sighed deeply and teased the fans again.
Pentaring.
“Is this acceptable?”
“…Yes, it’s passable.”
“Good, then let’s go with this.”
Although they had to switch the group name due to external pressure, the numerous fans who participated in this voting would surely recall Pentanil when they see this name.
Mr. Park Min-chan decided to be satisfied with this for now.
Until the day comes when the group’s real name can be revealed with pride, he resolved to keep trying.
Of course, such a day would likely never come, even if he lived long enough.
Back at the company, they started work the very next day.
It was the recording session for the OST of the drama that Moon Suyeon had conceptualized.
True to her music, which had already been acknowledged by fans, the songs turned out beautifully.
“This part through this part will feature the seven-string zither.”
“Understood. Let’s try it.”
My task was to play the seven-string zither as she requested, and for this, Heavenly Yuah had specially prepared one for me.
The one used during filming, which was hastily abandoned due to time constraints, had been brought back into the country. Since the one used then had been returned to Nam Hyun-ho, there was no reason to reject the one she had prepared.
“…This is really top-notch.”
“Right? It’s been passed down in our family.”
“But can you really just hand something like this over?”
“It’s mine, so what’s the problem?”
This seven-string zither was also quite familiar to me.
It was very similar to the one Heavenly Demon had gifted me when I first started learning the seven-string zither.
Even though this world has a separate timeline altogether, this is quite surprising…
Still, I should be thankful that it’s not an exact replica.
Would I have gone insane if it had been? Even now, it’s perplexing.
“Alright, Siwoo, everything okay?”
“Is it?”
“Yes, exactly the feeling I wanted. The piece you played in that production…”
“The Moonlit Wanderer?”
“Yes, that piece. Doesn’t it give a similar feel?”
“Yes, so it was easy to play.”
Playing the seven-string zither melody while Moon Suyeon sang—it definitely had a certain feel to it.
It was certainly satisfying.
“I must admit, Siwoo’s seven-string zither really brought the piece to life.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, and Moon Suyeon’s singing was excellent as well. I think this work will achieve great success through its OST.”
Even Heavenly Yuah, who wasn’t particularly thrilled about my collaboration with Moon Suyeon, admitted that this OST was good.
Honesty about the work is another feature of Heavenly Yuah’s character.
This looks like it’ll be fine as long as we keep it going.
-RRRRR.
“Siwoo, there’s a call for you.”
“Right, excuse me a moment.”
“Who is it?”
“My father.”
“Oh, then you should answer quickly.”
“Yes, excuse me.”
Just as the session ended, a call came from home.
Did anything happen at home?
Lately, they often contact for trivial matters, but after I started filming, they had never once reached out.
To me, it was a situation that couldn’t help but provoke tension.
“Yes, Father.”
-Ah, Son.
“Yes.”
-Ah, Son, it’s a disaster.
“Uh? What disaster?”
-Our daughter. She exploded!
“…Exploded? What’s the matter?”
The tension in my heart was replaced with deflation upon hearing his words.
Since when my mother’s daughter explodes or doesn’t has anything to do with me.
But I can’t just blow it off casually.
It deeply bothers my father when things like this happen.
When my father gets upset, of course, my mother intervenes, and when joined by her daughter, chaos ensues…
For the peace of our household, it’s necessary to empathize with such situations.
-This time, our daughter is debuting, the group name was decided as ‘Pentaring.’
“Ah, Pent…aring?”
-Yes, but apparently, the original was ‘Pentan…il’ or something like that. A drug, right?
“Narcotic painkiller.”
-Ah, that’s right. Someone was ranting about who the hell came up with this, threatening to kill them if they found out, it was chaos itself.
“…Is that so?”
My word. So,
Just a few days ago I submitted ‘Pentanil’, but in the meantime, it somehow garnered immense support and was strongly considered as a candidate.
Realizing it was a bit excessive, they finally changed it to ‘Pentaring,’ it seems.
While observing this process, our firebrand mother must have relayed her rage straight to Father,
And now Father was passing this story along to me for…
-So, Son, is your filming done? When exactly does it air?
The real reason Father called me was to inquire about my filming schedule, using this as an excuse.
Our father-son relationship tends to be like that…
Even our father gets subtly uncomfortable calling his son too often, despite his age.
Our father is rather endearing in this way.
“Yes, filming is done, but the airing hasn’t been scheduled yet. I’ll update you once it’s confirmed.”
-Ah, you will? Then I’ll wait for it.
Concluding the conversation with this, I finished the call, committing to contact him as soon as the airing schedule is confirmed for the dear old man.
“Father said something?”
“What did he…?”
And before me were two women, ears perked up, waiting for my answer.
What’s with their sudden interest?
“Yes, he asked if filming went well. And…
“About what?”
“It was about PMC’s new girl group. Apparently, their group name was decided as ‘Pentaring.'”
“…Pentaring? Could it be that…?”
“Yes, ‘Pentanil’ came in first during fan voting.”
“Dear heaven.”
Indeed, “Dear heaven.”
The fans here are truly intense, picking this as the top choice.
“Here it is. ‘Once you start being a fan of this group, you can never stop.’ This comment garnered a lot of engagement, and ‘Pentanil’ went straight to number one.”
“Things are truly in chaos.”
“No, this idea was actually posted by me.”
“Ah, it was just a joke when I posted it.”
Honestly, I had no idea it would top the charts.
I was kidding around, so why did everyone take it so seriously?
Fortunately, PMC was in their right mind not to go through with naming the group ‘Pentanil.’
To be fair, the fans’ reaction seems extreme when you think about it, even though of course PMC was right.
You realize how fiery these people are.
“Still, imagining our firebrand mother getting furious makes it kind of amusing.”
Indeed, this world still holds righteousness.
Bringing such hardship and trials to the fiery one.
I felt today I might get to sleep better than usual.
Much like father, many people were curious about where our drama would air.
First up were the actors and production team.
Actually, it was quite an anomaly in this chaotic industry to produce a series before even confirming its airing schedule.
I am somewhat curious myself.
Why did they begin this drama without even a broadcast slot confirmed?
When I was the lone confirmed protagonist, the networks had cut it.
But with a drama featuring Heavenly Yuah, Nam Hyun-ho, Lion, and now Moon Suyeon added to the cast, surely there would have been long queues of people interested.
And today, we completed editing Episodes 1 and 2 of our drama.
The finished product was delivered to the company.
Finally, after over two months of CG work, our secret weapon was fully armed with Full-CG.
“So, why am I here as well…?”
“Are you not curious? Where your debut leading role is contracted and broadcasted, at least?”
“I am curious.”
“So, come, let’s take a look. A Phoenix representative will be here shortly.”
The production company Phoenix collaborated with the global OTT company Finesse for this meeting, securing the bullets. Phoenix believed Finesse would best appreciate the value of this drama, and Heavenly Yuah agreed on this point as well.
Still, it’s quite odd that I’m here for this meeting as a mere actor.
What am I supposed to be doing here?
Even Yang Yuli, the writer of this piece, wasn’t invited to the meeting.
But as Heavenly Yuah said, my curiosity about the outcome of this deal is genuine.
So, I decided to quietly watch from beside Heavenly Yuah.
