Chapter 44: Seniors (Part 2) (First Update Seeking Recommendation)

  "Haven't you received the second title track yet?" Hae-in, whose mouth was full of food, furrowed her brow and said vaguely, "Let Jun-hyuk write one for you. This guy is a great talent! He wrote both the first and second title tracks of his mini-album himself."

  Although the voice was vague, it couldn't hide the faint pride in his tone.

  Few people knew that her words were mostly boastful, and didn't take it to heart. Kim Jong Kook scratched his head, chuckled and said: "A month ago, I listened to Jun Hyuk's audio clip. His Hiphop style songs are not something I can sing, my vocal range is too limited."

  Baek Ji-young, who gradually blended into the chat atmosphere, no longer silent as before, glanced at him: "How do you know Joon-hee can't make a lyrical song? The singing and lyrics of 'Snow Flower' are not inferior to his '1 Minute 1 Second'."

  Seeing her maintaining a poker face, Seo Poong opened his mouth with a playful tone: "So quickly bought over by him? Jun Hwi ah, if you can really compose an emotional song, give it to Ji Young, at least she won't waste her time flattering you."

  This was originally just a joke between them, Baek Ji-young rolled her eyes and was about to tease him for two sentences. Ahn Jun-hee, who had been laughing at their bickering, suddenly put down his cup and nodded bluntly: "Okay, I actually have a song that's quite suitable for Sister Ji-young!" Ignoring the slightly stunned expressions of the others, he paused for a moment before continuing: "Just wait another half month or so. My album is being rushed out, so I'll have to take care of myself first. Half a month later, I'll have time to write that song. If Sister Ji-young isn't in a hurry, just wait a bit longer!"

  Baek Ji-young stared blankly at him, momentarily forgetting how to speak.

  Those who have not experienced her situation can hardly understand her current mood. Since the video incident, her singing career has been in a prolonged slump. The three-year self-adjustment period of blankness has made her popularity disperse completely. Many people no longer remember her voice or her once proud dance moves. When mentioning her name, the first thing that comes to mind is a certain unmentionable video.

  This also indirectly led to the complete failure of her comeback plan in '03, and since that failure, she has been trying hard to prove herself every step of the way for over a year. But now, she has lost too much credibility, record companies no longer have confidence in her, songwriters avoid her like the plague when they hear she wants to record their songs, and last year, according to the terms of her contract, the company was supposed to release an album for her, but ultimately couldn't because they couldn't get any songs.

  Now she can probably do the same as the three-year adjustment period, silently waiting for another three years, until people, whether positive or negative, completely forget her. At that time, there may be a possibility of starting again from scratch.

  To be honest, this approach is very negative and also ironic for a singer.

  She doesn't know how others would react in her situation, for her, the only thing that can support her to hold on now is probably the anesthesia of alcohol. Although as a singer, she knows that alcohol is bad for her vocal cords, but it's already the only thing that won't make her feel hurt.

  So when I heard An Junhe say that there was a song suitable for her, and also prepared for her, I suddenly felt a bit unreal, as if my soul had completely left my body, dazed and at a loss.

  The other three were also somewhat stunned. After a while, Ha Ji-won was the first to react, collecting her expression and frowning: "Jun-hee, you're not joking?"

  "How could I possibly joke about this?" An Junhe helplessly spread his hands, "It's true!"

  "Uh..." The three of them looked at each other in dismay, and then turned to Baek Ji-young. At this time, she seemed to have finally come back to her senses from the initial shock, slowly raising her wine glass. However, every time she brought it to her lips, she didn't drink. Although her expression was still calm, with not many ripples, but the slightly trembling hand holding the wine glass and the spilled liquid completely exposed her inner turmoil.

  Perhaps the song was just a temporary game, perhaps it wasn't as suitable for her as he said, but Baek Ji-young didn't want to think about that now. She looked at Ahn Jun-hee with complex eyes, raised her glass again and muttered: "Thank you, Jun-hee!"

  Then she threw her head back and swallowed, the overly urgent movement made her choke, in the midst of violent coughing, she quickly covered her mouth and buried her face in her knees, for a moment, her shoulders shook, a suppressed sob flowed out.

  ……

  An Jun-hyuk wasn't joking, he really wanted to help Baek Ji-young. On the one hand, it was a matter of returning favors, as Hwang Ji-yoon had gone to great lengths to introduce him to seniors in the music industry, and for now, he couldn't repay her with anything, so he could only start by helping her friend first. On the other hand, there was also a sense of sympathy involved.

  Perhaps Baek Ji-young herself didn't like being pitied, but it couldn't be denied that when Ahn Joon-hee saw her drinking alone in the box, he felt that for such a strong woman, he seemed to need to do something.

  Of course, behind helping her, he also had a little bit of self-interest.

  The company does not trust his ability, although he said that Quan Baogen helped to fight for the power of MV producer, but after careful consideration, it is also known that the possibility of the company's agreement is very small. As Quan Baogen said, agreeing to let him compose the music was already a big concession by the company, releasing an album is not a trivial matter, and even the most tolerant high-level executives would not allow this person who has no relevant production experience to point fingers and draw pictures - even if this album belongs to him.

  It all comes down to experience and qualifications. Since he can't get through in the company, he seeks external cooperation. As long as he can produce a best-selling record - even if it's just an EP - next time he'll have enough confidence to ask for more power.

  Looking around the entertainment industry, there is probably only Baek Ji-young who has the ability and can accept his demands for production rights. Except for her, who has been ostracized and has nothing to lose, even smaller second- or third-tier singers would not hand over their works to this newcomer to operate.

  As expected, after Baek Ji-young's emotions had stabilized a bit, Ahn Joon-young proposed that he would take on the role of producer and she agreed without hesitation.

  As a singer with no songs to sing, she had had enough. Let alone being just a producer, even if it was more demanding, she wouldn't have hesitated for a moment.

  After the dinner, the two exchanged phone numbers and made a verbal agreement that Baek Ji-young would go to SM Entertainment in half a month to receive the song. After lunch, Ahn Jun-hyuk hurried back to the company in the afternoon and temporarily put this matter aside, focusing on writing his own two title tracks first.

  "1 Minute 1 Second" was previously leaked online as an audio file, so it has already gained some recognition. Therefore, it will be used as the first main single and debut stage song before the mini-album is officially released. Ahn Jun-hyuk spent three days revising it, then spent four more days writing the second main dance track, after which he immediately started recording work.

  "Why are you in such a hurry all of a sudden?"

  He was puzzled by his urgent request to start recording, and while contacting the company's recording studio and sound engineer at his request, he also contacted Bao'er and asked.

  An Junhe didn't answer him, in fact he also had a sense of urgency that day when he saw Jin Zhongguo.

  Memories brought by dreams are not complete, just like normal memories, many things that were not paid much attention to will be very vague when recalled. In the dream of '05, he was still in his busiest period and didn't pay much attention to the entertainment circle. Before, he had only a faint feeling that something big happened in '05, especially in the music industry, which seemed to have a rare prosperity, but what exactly it was, couldn't be completely recalled.

  It wasn't until I saw Kim Jong Kook that the vague information in my mind suddenly connected.

  Although it's still fragmented, at least let An Junhe know that the prosperity of the song world in 2005 is related to Kim Jong-kook, and then connect it to his album release this year, the result is clear.

  An Junhe didn't know if his guess was correct or not. He, who had always been cautious, would never think about problems with a lucky mindset. This debut album meant a lot to him, and even if there was only a tiny possibility, he wouldn't take the risk.

  Now suddenly speeding up the progress, it's natural to take advantage of the gap before Kim Jong Kook's title track is released, which will delay a lot of time, and greatly stagger the release dates of the two people, avoiding direct competition with each other.

  The recording of "1 Minute 1 Second" went very smoothly, and Ahn Jun-hee and BoA, who had worked together once before, completed all the audio tracks in just two days. All that was left was the MV shooting. According to the album's overall producer, Yoo Young-jin, the female lead for the MV was also planned to be BoA, making their collaboration even more thorough. Ahn Jun-hee had no objections, and neither did BoA. So while Ahn Jun-hee continued recording the dance track "Unfalling Sun", the company accelerated its search for an MV director.

  Time flew quickly, and soon it was the date agreed upon with Baek Ji-young. Ahn Jun-hyuk, who had been busy recording lately, took some time to write out the song "No Longer in Love" for her. He also temporarily put down his work that day to wait for her at the company and discuss the production details with her.

  However, this ordinary January 17th morning was not so ordinary after all. The calm and peaceful Korean entertainment industry was hit by its first storm of 2005 - a destructive hurricane that affected most of the top stars in the industry!

  On January 17, 2005, a document titled "In-depth interview results report on advertising models and star prospects" appeared online. According to the poster, the report was compiled by DSR Research Institute for client "First Planning" to select product endorsers and models, starting from last November, collecting data and interviewing materials, totaling 113 pages.

  The poster released a portion of the "extreme private" information about popular Korean Wave stars Lee Byung-hun, Kwon Sang-woo and Bae Yong-jun, causing a massive download frenzy among netizens once the file was released!