The comeback date was confirmed for August.
It was Baekya’s first time back in the conference room since signing the contract, and he felt a little strange.
“Long time no see. It’s been hectic lately, hasn’t it?”
The door opened and the planning team staff entered.
The woman who naturally took the head seat in the conference room was Imari. Known as the Midas of the entertainment industry, she was the powerful figure behind all album concepts and art direction for ID’s artists.
From the top idol group AIM to the national girl group RoseDay’s albums, and even the concept and universe of rookie group DASE — everything was born from Imari’s hands.
“Baekya, I don’t think we’ve met before. We never really had a chance to see each other, did we? I’ve been too busy to pay attention, sorry.”
“Oh, no, it’s okay. And hello.”
Baekya bowed his head at his seat. The greeting felt a little awkward, but it was the best he could do. When his eyes met Imari’s, his eyeballs rolled nervously.
‘It’s suffocating…!’
Having joined DASE late, this was Baekya’s first concept meeting. His fingers fidgeted on the table, clueless about what usually goes on in these meetings.
Imari, noticing him, chuckled softly and tried to lighten the stiff atmosphere by joking with other members and staff.
Soon after, the meeting started once a subordinate said preparations were ready.
“DASE’s next comeback will be a mini-album. You’ve heard that, right?”
“Yes, we have.”
Leader Minsung answered calmly.
“As you all know, the part we focused on most for this rookie group is the universe.”
‘Universe?’
Obviously a new term for Baekya. He looked at the screen in the middle of the room.
[DASE UNIVERSE]
“If the debut song ‘Nori (Play)’ was the intro to the DASE universe, this album will start dropping proper hints.”
The PPT switched to the next slide.
“To put it simply: Mafia game.”
The screen showed images of playing cards.
The deck, also known as “One Card,” contained the four suits — spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs — plus Jacks (J), Queens (Q), Kings (K), and Jokers, totaling 54 cards.
Imari explained that through the ‘Nori (No Games)’ music video, each member was assigned a role.
‘Now that I think about it, the music video kept showing cards.’
Baekya thought it was just because the title was ‘Play’ and they used a card game theme, but ID had planned it all along.
“We will embed this intriguing universe into each album’s concept using fitting devices.”
Little by little, so fans can grow interested, theorize, and become immersed in DASE’s universe.
And the concept for the first mini-album embedding that universe?
“Doll play.”
It could be seen as a continuation of the debut song ‘Nori.’
The next PPT slide showed various princess dolls as reference material.
‘…Huh?’
If you ran this face through an expression analyzer, it would show 100% “No thoughts.”
Not only Baekya but all DASE members except the planning staff shared this expression.
“…Princess?”
Cheong muttered with slightly unfocused eyes.
“You’ve probably seen it before. It’s a toy doll girls play with, and this is the concept for this DASE album.”
Only Imari was talking.
The staff didn’t interrupt the boss, and DASE members and Namgyeong looked hesitant, unable to find proper words.
Seeing this, Imari quickly added to clarify.
“But don’t worry, we’re not making you wear princess dresses, so don’t be so gloomy.”
The PPT moved on.
The new materials were similar but now the dolls were male. Their proportions were upgraded from 3 heads tall to 8 heads tall. That was a relief.
“They’re called articulated dolls, designed to look similar to real people.”
When told to refer only to this if the earlier materials weren’t liked, relief spread over the members’ faces.
But was it really so simple?
She planned to turn the members into dolls in the music video for the title track.
Dressed with the same hair and clothes, placed in colorful boxes, and shown to the public.
Of course, there was a secret that hadn’t been told to the members.
▷ Current Star Points: 4
Baekya, staring into space while considering the skill draw, soon gave up.
The debut activities would end this week, and DASE would be busy with reality filming and comeback preparation.
‘I don’t really need to level up skills.’
He thought it better to save points, since who knew what would happen during comeback prep.
‘But why isn’t the quest appearing?’
Even if quests didn’t show immediately after completion, they never took longer than a day. Somehow, since debut, the quests felt increasingly unpredictable.
Holding a signed CD in one hand, Baekya walked down the hallway dazed.
[Newbie Development Team]
The place where he stopped was the second most-visited place after the practice room. Baekya knocked and peeked through the slightly open door.
“Hello… anyone there?”
The office was empty, maybe because of lunch. No response to his call.
‘I’ll just leave this quickly and go.’
He opened the door a bit more and looked around. His round eyes found a name tag.
[Manager Kim Dongman]
Not far inside from the door. Baekya quickly stepped forward, left the CD on the desk, and left.
He had thought to give it earlier but forgot because of the schedule. It only came to mind after the concept meeting.
“Manager Dong asked if there were any leftover DASE CDs. He said he cast one of the members and was very attached.”
“I said I’d look for some too, but it might be hard. Not many have copies in the company since the Imjingak stage caused a big fuss.”
Kim Dongman — a familiar name. Baekya’s top supporter for his debut.
Dongman was close to Namgyeong and often heard news about Baekya from him.
‘He asks so often about how I’m doing…’
Whether I eat well, sleep well, or if the schedule is hard. Though it seemed excessive, Baekya was grateful.
‘He should like this.’
Closing the development team’s door gently, Baekya hurried to the elevator. It was time to practice for a more perfect DASE.
[DASE_Official]
Hello, this is DASE! Our debut album ‘Nori (No Games)’ activities have finally ended! Waa~! But it’s so sadㅠㅠ
We’ll be back soon, so please wait a little longer! Thank you always to all our fans for your support, love, and gratitude♡
#DASE #DASE #Nori (Group photo with tissue under eyes.jpg)
The month-long debut activities officially ended today. After the first place announcement, they returned to the waiting room, where Namgyeong told them not to remove makeup, just change clothes. Jihan asked.
“Do we have any schedules left?”
“Not really schedules, but we have to shoot some videos.”
Cheong, trying to remove makeup, was stopped by a stylist.
“Hey hey, don’t take off the makeup!”
“Why? No! I have to~”
“Are you a tadpole?”
Namgyeong stopped Cheong. But on second thought, something felt off.
This morning when asked about schedules, they said only music broadcasts.
“Hyung, did you hear anything?”
Jihan looked at Minsung.
“Nope.”
Minsung shrugged. He hadn’t heard anything either.
They waited for Namgyeong, who went to stop Cheong, to come back. Baekya, returning from the bathroom, appeared with a camera.
“Uh… hyung Namgyeong, are we shooting more?”
Namgyeong, startled, stammered, and the cameraman stepped in.
“We’re just shooting a short video for the company account to celebrate the end of DASE’s first album activities. Don’t worry, just relax. I’ll be quick.”
Only then did things become clearer. Jihan and Minsung also changed clothes without suspicion.
“Oh~ so that’s why they said not to remove makeup?”
Yulmu, who changed first, came back waving leisurely at the camera.
“They said it’s a short shoot since it’s the last broadcast. Looks like it’s for the company account.”
“Ah? Hello~”
Yulmu grabbed Baekya’s hand and waved at the camera like it was his own. Because of the roughly 10cm height difference, Baekya looked like he was being held.
Baekya got goosebumps and quickly slipped out of his hold.
“Move. I’m going to change.”
Baekya said primly. Yulmu squinted his eyes and gave a sly smile.
That’s the face that only appears when he has some scheme.
“Wh-why… why.”
Baekya hesitated and stepped back. Yulmu was being Yulmu again.
“Want me to dress you?”
Crazy guy.
Baekya’s jaw dropped.
“You’re crazy! Go away, pervert!”
“Ah, why~ I’ll dress you!”
The chase between fleeing Baekya and pursuing Yulmu was caught on camera.
“Guys, we’re here. Go inside and rest.”
The white Carnival came to a slow stop. Namgyeong woke the members who had fallen into a deep sleep.
‘They seem to have slept well…’
Baekya rubbed his eyes and got up. The members who had fallen asleep as soon as they got in the car slowly opened their eyes.
Namgyeong hurried them to get out, and Baekya, the last to get in, opened the door.
“……?”
But the scenery wasn’t familiar. The usual underground parking lot was gone, replaced by a cold field.
“What’s wrong?”
Yugyeon asked curiously to Baekya who sat dazed without getting out. She leaned over his shoulder to look outside and saw a dilapidated, abandoned house.
“What is this? Hyung, where are we?”
Noticing something strange, Yugyeon hurried to find Namgyeong, but the driver’s seat was already empty.
‘He bailed…!’
Meanwhile, Minsung was ready to get out.
Sitting in the passenger seat, he got out first without suspicion. Then a camera suddenly shoved into his face.
“W-what is this?!”
Minsung’s eyes widened in surprise.