“Looking forward to working with you again today......?!”
“Good grief.......”
Yujin had started greeting her the moment he opened the car door, but his face froze as soon as he saw something. When I noticed it a moment later, the exclamation slipped naturally from my own lips.
“Your face has gotten so thin in just a few days.”
“......Don't even get me started.”
Our manager, Eun-ha, was behind the wheel. She sighed like someone who had experienced every bitter hardship the world had to offer over the past few days.
All we had to do was practice as usual and go home, but our manager had to take care of us, attend meetings, and manage our schedules. She had a truly staggering amount of work.
After confirming that we were both in the van, Eun-ha asked.
“You remember today's schedule, right?”
“Of course.”
Today was the day we would finally film the music video for <Prince>, which we had been eagerly awaiting.
***
“Wooow.”
Yujin stared up in wonder at the location we had come to for the music video shoot.
Before us stood a massive Western-style castle gate, something rarely seen in Korea.
“At this scale, it practically is a real castle.”
Our music video location was Paju English Village.
The moment we thought of the title song <Prince>, we had envisioned a Western-style castle as the perfect setting.
But finding a Western-style castle in South Korea was no easy task. After discussing it with CEO Kim Dae-myeong, we had managed to rent this place.
We had not rented it for a full day. The agreement was that we would finish before the village opened, so the filming crew bustled about at a frantic pace.
Watching dozens of people rush around, Yujin asked.
“How many people are all of these?”
“At least fifty, wouldn't you say?”
There were outsourced staff members, including makeup artists, and employees from the agency's management team.
Then there were the extras recruited for today's music video shoot.
“All these people gathered before dawn because of us?”
He still seemed unable to believe it.
That was understandable. Even I, who could claim to be a veteran of this industry in my own right, had only realized how much the company expected from <Sun & Moon> after witnessing CEO Kim Dae-myeong's wholehearted support firsthand.
“The two members of Sun & Moon! Let's get you changed first!”
“Yes!”
As the two members of Sun & Moon entered the wardrobe trailer, the extras watching them began to whisper.
“They're the stars of this music video? Was their group called Sun & Moon?”
“A name I've never heard before? Are they rookies?”
A search on a phone brought up articles about an upcoming DM Entertainment boy group called <Sun & Moon>, along with a NeoTube channel.
The NeoTube channel had surpassed one hundred thousand subscribers and had apparently uploaded a video titled <Silver Button Unboxing> recently.
Judging by the channel, it had not been hastily created after the articles came out. They had been uploading videos consistently for several months.
‘With this much effort behind them, I do feel like rooting for them.’
They were also quite handsome.......
“Holy shit.”
Someone suddenly let out an exclamation, making the others raise their heads.
The two people who had entered the wardrobe trailer moments ago were stepping back out.
They looked completely different than when they had gone in.
Yujin wore a dark navy uniform lavishly embroidered with gold thread.
Chanhwi descended behind him in a contrasting white uniform.
“My prince......”
Some of the extras called to them longingly, “My prince.”
The two of them certainly looked like princes from a foreign land.
The actual filming began soon afterward.
“Yes. That expression. Good. Very good!”
Director Choi Byeong-chan, a photographer wearing a newsboy cap, snapped the shutter repeatedly while giving one approval after another.
“Are we really seeing this right?”
The staff members who worked with the photographer stared in disbelief.
“I think this is the first time I've ever seen the man infamous for being so exacting approve shots that easily.”
“Same here.”
The staff members nodded.
“Still, they really are works of art.”
One of them wore dark clothes but displayed a fresh smile that highlighted his warmth.
The other wore a bright outfit to match his cheerful smile, emphasizing his lively, energetic nature.
The staff members' expressions softened as if they were facing two princes with distinctly different personalities.
‘I'm glad we prepared.’
From the moment the album's prince concept was decided, we had studied princes through all kinds of media.
We practiced the smiles worn by prince characters in romance-fantasy webtoons and imitated the movements of princes in foreign medieval dramas.
After practicing dozens of times a day and hundreds of times in a week, we finally grasped the smiles that suited each of us.
Thanks to that, the shoot went smoothly. But at some point, the photographer abruptly lowered his camera.
“......Something's missing.”
“Pardon?”
We stared at the photographer, wondering what he meant by stopping in the middle of the shoot.
“Take a break!”
Then he announced a halt to filming.
“Here he goes again.”
Again?
An hour passed as we waited. The rumors circulating around the set about a photographer named Choi Byeong-chan were unusual.
Some said he produced phenomenal shots, while others said that whenever the picture he wanted stopped coming together, he would routinely cancel the day's shoot, and even the schedule afterward would remain uncertain until inspiration struck him.
“Is he pulling some kind of stunt to squeeze more money out of us?”
Given the situation, even the DM Entertainment employees who had accompanied us could not help making remarks like that.
We needed several Western-style backdrops, so the agency had rented the entire village. If today's shoot fell through, they would have to rent it again, doubling the cost. As the party footing that bill, DM Entertainment could hardly be pleased with the situation.
Meanwhile, opening time was approaching and every minute counted, but Choi Byeong-chan sat deep in thought for a full hour over whatever was bothering him.
“What could be wrong with our shoot?”
The bastard beside me sank into thought as well.
“No idea.”
The entire premise—and the central point—of the <Prince> music video was that two princes danced and moved as if guiding viewers through their kingdom.
Even our routes had already been decided, so what could the problem be?
“The two members of Sun & Moon! The director wants you!”
“Yes, coming!”
Thinking he was ready to resume filming, we headed toward the camera, but Choi Byeong-chan shook his head.
“Not over there. Come here.”
So he still had no intention of filming.
When I approached the camera, Director Choi pointed to its screen and asked.
“How does this picture look to you, darlings? Don't you think something's missing?”
Darlings.......
It was not something I wanted to hear from a grown man, but that was not what mattered right now.
The camera screen displayed a photograph of the two of us. Was he saying this was the problem?
The fact that the director had summoned us suggested he could not identify the issue on his own and wanted our input so he could finish before the village opened.
If we answered that it was fine and looked good, filming would continue as everyone else wanted.
But had he spotted some kind of problem with the shoot?
If there was an issue, we also wanted to choose the path that would produce a better result, so we studied the screen closely.
“......”
I could not tell what was wrong at all.
When I checked Yujin's face, he was wrinkling the tip of his nose as though something bothered him.
“Hey. Do you see something?”
“......This.”
Yujin pointed to the screen.
The shot showed two princes in uniform reaching their hands toward the camera.
“In this scene, who are we reaching out to?”
Had this guy ignored my explanation completely?
“I told you. It's the princes' invitation. So who receives that invitation? The fans, obviously. We're reaching out to the listeners hearing this song and the viewers watching this music video.”
“Then what are those viewers supposed to be here?”
“They're......?!”
Only then did I realize what element was missing.
Director Choi Byeong-chan must have realized the same thing, because he leaped to his feet and seized Yujin by the shoulders.
“Excellent! That's exactly it. Who are the princes guiding? The viewers, obviously. I understood that much too. But what role do those viewers play here? Hmm? What role should they play?”
This time, Director Choi demanded an answer from me.
“The princess.”
Whether she was Cinderella in shabby clothes.
Or Snow White in a splendid dress.
In the music video, we were the princes guiding those princesses.
“Yes! Princess!”
Director Choi cheered when I gave the right answer, but disappointment soon settled over his face.
“But how are we supposed to cast a princess at this point?”
The fact that the music video had been planned with only the two members of Sun & Moon as its leads and no supporting roles had come back to haunt them.
“A role, huh.”
An idea occurred to me, and I placed my left hand against the camera screen.
This could work, couldn't it?
“Sigh, the whole picture is finally clear, and now we have to postpone it? Darling, what are you doing to the camera?”
“I don't think we need anyone for the role?”
“What?”
There was a style of photograph that had once been popular.
It showed someone holding one hand of their lover and leading them forward. The composition originated with a photographer traveling the world, and countless couples had imitated it.
When I explained it, Director Choi reacted with interest.
“So you're saying we only need to show a hand?”
Director Choi Byeong-chan immediately gathered the staff in one place and told them to hold out their hands.
If a hand was going to appear anyway, would it not be best to use the prettiest one?
“You there.”
“M-me?”
The person chosen by Director Choi was someone unexpected.
***
DM Entertainment unveiled both members' profiles alongside an article announcing the launch of a new boy group.
More than one hundred thousand people already knew through NeoTube that DM Entertainment was developing a boy group. The fans who had been quietly rooting for them erupted in cheers as soon as they saw the debut schedule.
[Breaking News!!! DM Entertainment Boy Group......]
Wow, seriously. I was wondering why these guys hadn't appeared on Beef Man lately, and it turns out they were preparing to debut. Good luck! This noona is rooting for you!
-Those were two long months. They're finally coming out.
-??? They've only been trainees for two months?
-Other people train for five or ten years, but these guys only did two months?
Some disparaged their extremely rapid debut, saying they had not practiced enough. Others even claimed DM Entertainment was a new agency and a one-trick pony with only one solo singer, so it had rushed them into an early debut out of desperation.
But when subscribers of the S&M channel heard those rumors, they rushed in to refute them.
-The bastards commenting above should watch even one video on the S&M channel before running their mouths. Seriously.
-Yeah. Go see how skilled they are. Didn't you see Kim Dae-myeong say this was originally supposed to be a multi-year project, but the kids were so good that he decided to debut them early?
-Every member of the Beef Man fan club actively supports their debut.
-Wow, they haven't even debuted yet, and they already have stans rushing to defend them. Fine. Let's see how good they are.
***
The music video teaser for <Sun & Moon> was released on DM Entertainment's official YouTube channel.
As soon as the opening intro ended, the two members appeared with the drums in the thirty-second video, their visuals immediately capturing viewers' attention.
Then, with no verse before the chorus, Chanhwi's and Yujin's voices flowed out as a pair.
At the end of the video, the two reached toward the camera and delivered their line.
“Won't you take my hand and come with me to a world of dreams?”