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“Huh?”

“…What?”

“What did you say, Tae-Yoon?”

My members huddled in front of my phone like they couldn’t believe me, and I showed them my phone message without any resistance. The message that Kang Hyun-Sung was clearly visible on my phone screen; it was the message that Willy Freedman wanted to see us when he came to Korea this time. Like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, my members checked the message multiple times.

“What, really Willy Freedman? He\'s the hottest singer right now.”

“It’s already amazing that he shot a challenge for us, but we are going to meet him in person?”

“He’s going to really feature our song at this rate.”

“What in the world is happening…?”

My members still looked to be in disbelief and continued to murmur amongst themselves. But among the conversation that went back and forth between them, they mentioned my ultimate goal for this interaction.

“I was planning to ask him if he could feature our song.”

“…Huh?”

“Tae-Yoon?”

“What did you say?”

“It’s up to Mr. Freedman whether or not he’s going to do it for us, but I wanted to at least make the request.”

My members looked at me with utter shock. But I was the one surprised by their reaction.

“If we won’t make a request like this, what’s the point of seeing Mr. Freedman?”

“Isn\'t it just to have a chance of meeting a top star?”

“It’s already such an honor that he’s meeting us.”

“But asking him to feature in our song? That’s too big.”

My members didn’t seem to have thought so far to ask for a feature. It was understandable since the gap between our current celebrity statuses between Willy Freedman and us was too big. Yet, I had shot a challenge with Kang Hyun-Sung with this proposal in mind. If I didn’t ask Willy Freedman to feature our song, all of my efforts would come to nothing.

“But since he went so far as to make a meeting for us, I think we should try it instead of regretting it later. Do-Seung, could you prepare a remix beat before then? There’s about a week left before then.”

“It’s not difficult to make it before then. But you are going to show my work to Mr. Willy Freedman?”

“Yes.”

“…But this is insane.”

All my members appeared to have some sort of fantasy about Willy Freedman. Of course, Willy Freedman was a giant in the industry, but he was human in the end; and if our conversation went well in the upcoming meeting, we could bring up the topic of asking for a feature.

“We are going to have to meet him anyways so let’s all work hard to try to get a feature for him. It’s a rare opportunity.”

“Ha…”

“Okay.”

“Yeah, let’s give it a try.”

“I should work really hard on the remix.”

Though everyone appeared nervous, we fired our resolve for our upcoming dinner meeting with Willy Freedman.

***

The fact that Willy Freedman made a challenge with “Blue Ocean” became big news and quickly spread online. Of course, the first responses came from Siren’s fandom. There were already heated responses coming just from the challenge video that Kang Hyun-Sung and Tae-Yoon shot together but because Willy Freedman also shot a challenge video a couple of hours after that, fans were talking more heatedly than usual.

—What? Suddenly?

—Isn’t Willy Freedman too out of the blue? Lol

—I think he saw the challenge video that Kang Hyun-Sung uploaded and copied that haha

—Is Siren going to be a huge global star at this rate? It’s already so hard to go to their fan meeting

—Please release a duet song with Willy Freedman

—Next Wave, you better work. Try to get a hold of Willy Freedman. This is a rare chance to get onto Billboard

People were well aware that Willy Freedman was Siren’s next big break and tried to garner attention to the news. Furthermore, it wasn’t just Korean fans who responded to Willy Freedman’s challenge but there were also responses from abroad.

—This song is dope! Whose song is this?[1]

—Isn’t this kpop? The lyrics kind of sound like Korean.

—Siren? The group’s name is Siren? Like in the myth?

—This song is already a mega hit in Korea

—Guys you already know Willy loves kpop. No need to hype this so much

Many were curious about the song that Willy used for his video and that led to more people saying the song was good and being curious about who the kpop singer was this time. Siren was receiving both responses from their nation and overseas.

It was true that currently, Siren was amassing explosive popularity in Korea, but they had significantly less recognition out of the country. At most, their names were little known in Japan, China, and other Asian countries that had a high awareness of Korean idols, and they were almost unknown in the United States and Europe.

Yet, the biggest music market in the world was the United States without question. If one succeeded in the United States, it naturally led to the establishment of a global fandom and because of that, many idol groups bet their lives on debuting in the United States. As such, this Willy Freedman’s challenge video was a golden opportunity for Siren. Even Yoo Won-Dong, who had little management experience in the entertainment world, knew it was a chance they could never get again.

“Has anyone deduced the reason why Willy Freedman might have shot a video challenge?”

“We think the biggest reason is the challenge video that Mr. Tae-Yoon shot with Mr. Kang Hyun-Sung.”

“Well, the fact that he shot a challenge video must mean he has a positive feeling towards Siren, right?”

“People won’t usually shoot a challenge video of an idol group they dislike.”

“Is there anyone who can connect with the company Willy Freedman is in?”

“We do know the company name but…”

“Ah! Mr. Kim, the manager of the overseas business team probably has the contact information of an employee there!”

“Please call Mr. Kim in.”

Yoo Won-Dong planned to approach Willy Freedman by gathering internal information. Yoo Won-Dong was aware that idols’ debut overseas had diversified significantly these days. There was a way of releasing a good song so that it hit the charts or going overseas in person to promote.

Yet, if the company had enough money, they could use another method which was to call a famous artist overseas to feature a song. But even this was only possible if they had a tiniest bit of connection with the artist or their company, and now, it became possible with Willy Freedman.

“I think you just need to set up a meeting for Siren members to meet with Willy Freedman and let them bring up the featuring topic…Manager Kim, I heard that you have a connection in Willy Freedman’s company. Could I ask you to set up the meeting?”

“Um, Director, first, I think I must make it clear that the connection I have isn’t with the company Willy Freedman is associated with but the music management company that would be managing Willy’s schedule in Korea.”

“Anyways, doesn’t that mean you have a connection with someone who would manage Willy Freedman when he comes to Korea? Then, can’t you set up the meeting? According to the news articles, they say Willy Freedman is coming to Korea next week. I think it would be great if you could set up a dinner meeting with him and Siren somehow.”

“Um, Director, the second thing I wanted to tell you was that Mr. Freedman already agreed to eat dinner with Siren. It\'s just personal information I heard…so, I didn’t make a report…”

“What?” Yoo Won-Dong exclaimed without meaning to.

“Well…I heard that they aren’t meeting for work but meeting for personal reasons to eat. They say it’s because Willy Freedman has gained interest in Siren these days…according to a friend who works in that music management company I talked about. We are keeping in contact in case we have to work together in the future.”

“How could you call this just a personal meeting, Mr. Kim? You should report things like this immediately.”

“I’m sorry, Director. From now on, I will report even the smallest details about Siren to you.”

Yoo Won-Dong was slightly resentful that important information might have been hidden from him. But since he also understood Manager Kim’s point of view, he didn’t get angrier.

“Then, I guess it will be important to make the atmosphere good when Siren meets Willy Freedman.”

“It certainly is.”

“Let’s schedule a meeting with Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna to come up with the best ways to leave a good impression on Willy Freedman.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

“Since a week isn’t a very long time, please hurry up.”

“Yes, sir!”

Like that without Siren’s knowledge, Next Wave’s biggest task became a dinner plan with Willy Freedman, and they began to make preparations.

***

Days passed until it was time for us to eat dinner with Willy Freedman. And on that day, it was hard for me to understand how big of an event this became. When I first received a message from Kang Hyun-Sung, I had thought lightly of the matter. I thought I could make a reservation at a suitable restaurant, eat a meal there, and if possible, invite him to Do-Seung’s studio or someplace else to let him listen to our song and ask if he wanted to feature our song.

Yet, two days after Willy Freedman posted his challenge video, we suddenly got into a meeting with the employees of the overseas marketing team from the headquarters, and we received a basic training course that informed us what kind of person Willy Freedman was.

I simply knew Willy Freedman as an American and that was the first time I heard so much about him in detail. I learned what sort of diet patterns and preferences he had, what his music style was, the marketing and album trends he had shown, the personality types of his albums and the records they had achieved.

We had to memorize information about him as if we were studying an exam subject named Willy Freedman. Soon after that, they showed us possible restaurant options, discussed which menu choices to make, and what we should do for our next course. The plan was detailed to the point that it decided at what time frame we should bring up the featuring proposal to Willy Freedman. I wondered why we had to go this far but my members joined the meeting quite seriously.

It was funny that so many people were getting involved in just one dinner meal but with it, we could tell how serious the company was about getting us on Billboard.

‘I shouldn’t complain about them working hard,’ I thought. Rather than doing nothing and sitting pretty, it was better to go all out even if it got too much. Like that, the day for us to eat dinner with Willy Freedman arrived.

Our company lent us a car since today was supposed to be the day when Siren and Willy Freedman were going to meet for a private dinner, and Yeon-Hoon personally drove the car. Yet, since it wouldn’t help out our image if we just went to meet him with any car, the company gave us an expensive SUV from a famous overseas brand.

“…It’s my first time driving a car this expensive.” We left the seat next to the driver seat for Willy Freedman, and we all sat in the back. Since we agreed to meet Willy Freedman with Kang Hyun-Sung, we headed to Kang Hyun-Sung’s dorm first. When we arrived at our promised spot, Kang Hyun-Sung and Willy Freedman came out while wearing masks and hats. Yet, even from the beginning, things progressed differently from our plan.

“Willy is going to come with me in my car. Let’s go to the restaurant separately.”

Our plan had been to place Willy Freedman in the front and make small talk while we were on a drive. Yet, he was going to go separately in Kang Hyun-Sung’s car. I thought this was fine since it wasn’t a huge change of plans, but the changes began to get bigger.

“Ah, also, Willy said that he liked your suggestion, but he wants to eat more traditional Korean food, so I chose another place for him. I will tell you the address so why don’t you search it up.”

We were going to a different restaurant than planned. The premium and lux Willy Freedman first-meeting plan that Next Wave’s core employees had worked so hard on was going awry from the beginning. But since the key was for us to eat together and become closer, I thought it was fine. Yet, my members appeared nervous about the change.

“Ahhh…”

“Things are going differently from our expectations…”

“Haa…what do we do?”

“Why am I shaking? Ahh…”

My members who had never been scared even on stage looked pale and heaved nervously.

1. All italicized comments are in English in the original text ☜