“Yes, we did it!”
“Let me see!”
…They successfully entered the charts.
[73rd Place: Secret Girl – Rookies] New!
And it’s at a whopping 73rd place…!
At first glance, it might not seem impressive, but in reality, it was huge.
Unlike other songs in the Top 100 chart that secured their spots based on 24-hour views, our Rookies’ [Secret Girl] charted with just 1 hour of views.
Since they debuted at 73rd, it’s clear they’ll only rise from here.
“Yay-!”
“This is amazing!! Totally amazing!!”
Thanks to that, our Rookies immediately transformed into a festival atmosphere.
Seo Yoo-jin, Park Yoo-jung, and Na Han-na, the Rookies’ YBs, jumped around the living room, shouting, while Lee Hye-jeong and Yoo Seol didn’t overdo it but had satisfied smiles on their faces.
After the chaos, as the ‘pretend leader’, I suggested to the members.
“Okay, now that we’ve confirmed our entry on the charts, how about we sleep? It’s 1 AM, and we have to get up at 6 AM tomorrow.”
It seemed everyone forgot about it; I reminded them that our relaxation period was officially over.
From tomorrow, tough schedules awaited us again.
Hearing my words, the other members finally nodded with gloomy expressions.
“Ah… right…”
“Yeah… hell’s wheel begins again from tomorrow…”
Starting next week, we would have to rotate through different broadcasting stations and appear on music shows, so the upcoming schedules were bound to be even tougher than now.
Realizing we needed a break, we temporarily set aside our excitement from entering the charts and hurried to our rooms to sleep.
I took my roommate Seo Yoo-jin with me and lay down on my bed.
Seo Yoo-jin, who naturally lay beside me, still wore a bright smile.
“Are you that happy, Yoo-jin?”
“Of course! How difficult is it to chart in just an hour? Our SAV seniors could never hit 73rd in just one hour! I’m so proud of our Rookies!”
Indeed…, it was nearly impossible to chart so quickly after [Secret Girl] changed from the real-time charts to the Top 100 on the music streaming site ‘Watermelon’.
Yet, our Rookies pulled off that nearly impossible feat.
To summarize the reasons…
First, the song [Secret Girl] was just that good.
Second, Na Ah Ah’s popularity exceeded all imagination.
Lastly, the current idol scene was void of any real superstars.
Among girl groups, none were part of the top three agencies, and most major boy groups were at the end of their activity periods, so their firepower was weakened.
It felt like our Rookies were knocking on the doors of an empty giant castle in the idol world.
“Tomorrow, our rank is going to go up even more. So, let’s sleep already.”
“Okay, hehehe.”
With that, Seo Yoo-jin closed her eyes, trying hard to sleep like a child waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
As soon as Yoo-jin closed her eyes, I followed suit.
Neither of us could fall asleep, though.
73rd place… The charting rank was higher than I expected, raising my hopes.
I even thought….
‘Aren’t we going to be number one on the Top 100 tomorrow?’
Such a somewhat unrealistic expectation began to fill my heart.
There were no obstacles blocking our Rookies’ path, so it didn’t feel impossible at all.
And so, I fell asleep, dreaming of [Secret Girl] hitting number one on the charts.
Then, the next morning.
“Sis! Wake up, quick!”
“Ugh… Yoo-jin…? What is it…?”
As I groggily sat up, I was greeted by the sight of an excited Seo Yoo-jin, who had been sleeping in my arms.
She showed me the screen, filled with her excitement…
[11th Place: Secret Girl – Rookies] New!
[Secret Girl] had seen a shocking rise to 11th place within just 5 hours.
Seeing this, Seo Yoo-jin jumped around the room in delight once more, but…
“……”
I couldn’t wrap my head around the unbelievable result; my mouth hung open.
Rookies… were they really this good?
I knew of Rookies in my previous life.
Even though I had no interest in idols, I knew their name, suggesting they had gained significant popularity even then.
But this level of success…?
I finished that day’s schedule in a bit of a daze.
As that night came…
“……”
“……”
“……”
The other members who had been thrilled about [Secret Girl]‘s unexpected success also wore stunned faces, their mouths agape.
And it’s no wonder…
[1st Place: Secret Girl – Rookies] New!
Less than 24 hours had passed…, and [Secret Girl] hadn’t even lost its “new” sticker, yet it topped all music streaming sites.
In less than 24 hours, it was number one on all platforms…
And as a rookie girl group…
Our Rookies were probably writing records that other girl groups couldn’t achieve.
Then Na Han-na spoke in a trance-like voice.
“We’re going on music shows starting next Wednesday.”
“…Right.”
“…Could it be we might get 1st place in our first week of music shows?”
“……!”
The criteria for ranking on music shows involve various complex factors.
Unless it’s a top-tier boy group, getting first place in the first week is nearly impossible.
But….
[1st Place: Secret Girl – Rookies] New!
The results in front of us…
Whispered that our Rookies achieving the top spot in their first week might not just be a dream.
Excitement started to spread in our hearts.
Meanwhile, at the same time Rookies topped all music charts.
“Yaaaaawn~”
In his workspace, Han Si-woo, who was preparing a song for Rookies, stretched and yawned.
“How many hours has it been since I last slept? …About 26 hours, I guess.”
Rookies was a project group with a lifespan of a year, so the members were undoubtedly going to be extremely busy during that time.
But the busyness was not just for the members.
Producing two mini-albums and two digital singles in a year wasn’t an easy task, no matter how talented a producer was.
Especially since Han Si-woo had to handle it all by himself, making it even more difficult.
He chugged energy drinks like water while producing Rookies’ next song, and stood up to refresh himself.
“Ugh…”
His workspace was in a high-rise building with a view of Seoul’s nightscape.
To shake off drowsiness, he sipped a glass of water while looking at the night view outside…
“Ah…”
He suddenly realized something important and hurried back to his computer.
“Today is the day our kids’ song is released.”
Today was the release day for Rookies’ song.
To be precise, it had already been 23 hours since it was released.
Han Si-woo cursed himself for not checking in advance and went to the music site.
And the result was….
[1st Place: Secret Girl – Rookies] New!
A confident number one on the Top 100 chart.
Han Si-woo blinked, confirming the results on other music sites as well.
“Wow….”
Finally, when he verified that [Secret Girl] was number one on all music sites…
“It’s really insane….”
His mouth involuntarily dropped in awe.
Though he created it himself, [Secret Girl] was indeed a well-produced song.
Therefore, Han Si-woo had always believed that Rookies would confidently top the charts someday.
Yet, he didn’t expect it to happen this quickly…
In his mind, Han Si-woo credited the phenomenon to Ha Ye-rin.
Previously, during Na Ah Ah’s era, Han Si-woo had heard from Shin PD that Ha Ye-rin was a ‘parachute’ member.
She had originally not been scheduled to appear, but the advertiser squeezed her into the empty spot.
This meant that perhaps Ha Ye-rin wouldn’t have been part of Rookies at all.
Without Ha Ye-rin, Rookies…
Of course, the other members were all charming in their own right…
“But Ye-rin is practically a divine choice.”
Thanks to Ha Ye-rin, Rookies shone even brighter.
And Han Si-woo was almost certain that, with such a member, Rookies would rise to the ranks of the best idols within the year.
“At this rate, we might pull off an all-kill on music shows this week.”
With that, he looked over the performance of [Secret Girl] with satisfaction and dragged down the page.
He intended to check who the competitors for Rookies were on the music site.
As he dragged down the page quite a bit…
“…Hmm?”
[32nd Place: Python – Poison Heart] New!
He found a song released at the same time as Rookies’ [Secret Girl].
It was from his former workplace, YW’s rookie girl group, Python.
“32nd place… Not a bad start.”
In fact, it was strange that Rookies achieved first place before 24 hours passed, and reaching 32nd place at this point was also quite successful.
Han Si-woo thought about Python’s ranking, recalling his former colleague and producer, Sua’s words.
“When the girl group I’m producing debuts… the top three agencies will be a thing of the past. YW’s solo dominance will begin.”
Sua wasn’t normally that arrogant, but what led her to make such bold claims about Python?
However, despite Sua’s grand statement, Python’s ranking lagged far behind Rookies.
With a light heart, Han Si-woo thought…
“I’ll know once I listen.”
He pressed play on Python’s song and leaned back in his chair, intending to listen casually with his eyes closed.
♪♬♬-!
“……”
But as the intro played, and Python’s members’ voices came in…
“……Huh?”
He felt as if a sudden jolt of energy cleared his mind and bolted upright.
And then…
♪♬♬-!
This time, with absolute seriousness, he played the song from the beginning again.
“……!”
The result was the same.
As soon as he heard the song, his fatigue vanished, and a fresh shock erupted within him.
‘This feeling…’
It was an emotion he had felt before.
The shock and touch he experienced the first time he saw Ha Ye-rin’s performance.
Those emotions, which he could hardly feel so easily, now welled up inside him as he listened to Python’s song.
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