The key issue is the warehouse.
No matter how small the volume, there is no space in the office to store 100,000 CDs.
Then there will be more expenses for the deposit and rent, and Lee Jung-woo will definitely have something to say about it.
‘I guess I’ll have to rely on my home again this time.’
Lee Hyun-woo decided to expand the warehouse once he earned a profit of 100 million won.
Unaware of this, Lee Jung-woo and Jang Yoo-chul started talking outside a little later.
“Aren’t you being too greedy this time, hyung?”
“What can I do? It seems like our hyung has lost his mind a bit after tasting the money.”
“If you can’t stop him, who can? We just have to watch. Besides, it’ll be returned anyway.”
“It will be returned, but where do you think we can store it in the meantime?”
“Huh?”
“I’m worried he’ll say we should rent a warehouse.”
“Oh, right. There’s no place to put 100,000 CDs, huh?”
“Still, the only thing we can rely on is hyung’s intuition.”
“Intuition? Do you really believe what hyung says? That he can tell if a song will be a hit just by listening to it once?”
“Not that, the computer thing. Remember how he said computers would sell well this year compared to last year? He felt it and even gave up on a job to start an auction site, which then led to an online shopping site. At that time, I honestly thought hyung was crazy.”
“Well, he was right about computers selling like crazy this year.”
“Yeah, even if you make them roughly, the demand is insane.”
At this point, Jang Yoo-chul looked around.
Then, lowering his voice, he said,
“Watch your mouth, we’re in Yongsan. If the manufacturers hear you say you make them roughly, they might kill you.”
“Anyway, while computers selling well brought us good fortune, it also seems to be causing problems. Seeing hyung being this greedy because he trusts the computers so much.”
“Let’s just think positively. He needs to fail once to be more cautious next time, right?”
“Sigh.”
Both earlier and now, Lee Jung-woo kept sighing.
‘Was it a mistake for me to suggest doing CDs?’
Lee Jung-woo was the one who suggested it first.
So he felt a bit guilty.
At the same time, he thought about how much his hyung had changed from the past.
‘I don’t know since when, but should I say he’s become more relaxed?’
The hyung Lee Jung-woo knew lived a very intense life.
He studied so hard that he had nosebleeds and got into the best university in Korea, and he didn’t let go of any scholarships, leaving behind a carefree college life.
It seemed like a very tough life, but how is he these days?
He seemed to be enjoying his work.
Even on this day, Lee Hyun-woo’s humming reached his ears.
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
He hummed so much that when hyung briefly left for 【One Computer】, Lee Jung-woo shook his head and said,
“My ears are going to get calluses. Is that song popular these days?”
“I don’t know, but I actually kind of like it.”
“Do you really?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty catchy. After hearing it a few times, I started liking it.”
Jang Yoo-chul, who loves popular music enough to be in charge of the BGM for 【Jungle】, became even more curious about the song hyung was humming, and at that moment, Han Se-jin suddenly spoke up.
“That song is from 【Nine Sound】.”
“Really? Oh? Then maybe…”
“Yes, it’s the song by the rookie singer whose 100,000 CDs we’re going to sell on the site.”
“Oh… I see.”
“But you’ve heard it quite a lot, right?”
Jang Yoo-chul asked at the end.
He thought that hyung must have been humming it because the song had really stuck in his head after hearing it once.
But Han Se-jin shook his head sideways.
“No. He only heard it once.”
“Really?”
“Yes, he said it would be a hit after hearing it just once, and since then he’s been humming it from memory.”
“……”
“……”
Lee Jung-woo and Jang Yoo-chul realized that something was passing through their minds.
Probably the same thought.
So the words that came out?
“Catchy…”
“Catchy…”
They didn’t know anything else, but after hearing Lee Hyun-woo hum the song, they definitely felt it.
There’s something about this song that makes you want to sing along.
The more I kept listening, the more I got addicted to the song Lee Hyun-woo was humming.
The next day too,
“When things don’t go your way!”
And the day after that.
“Stop what you’re doing and say this!”
And the day after that.
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
Even Yoo Jin-young was now reacting to hyung’s song and singing along.
Later, Jang Yoo-chul, who was deeply into popular music, joined in, and eventually, Han Se-jin also started following along while looking at the lyrics he had written down in his notebook.
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba! Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
Lee Jung-woo was the same.
As if under hypnosis, he muttered to himself,
‘I don’t know why, but I think this song is going to do well.’
He had no choice but to admit it now.
There was a powerful catchiness in the repeated part.
He didn’t know who was singing this song, but if it was handled well, he increasingly believed that the album could unexpectedly become a huge success.
This expectation vanished when two people visited near the end of the workday.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
Two people with distinctly different hairstyles—one with wild curly hair and the other completely bald—visited 【Jungle】.
“Ah, yes… What brings you here?”
As soon as Lee Jung-woo, who spotted them first, asked, Lee Hyun-woo quickly came over and exclaimed,
“Welcome.”
“……”
“Lee Jung-woo, say hi. It’s Clones. I got word they were coming.”
“Oh, hello.”
After introducing the two singers to everyone, Lee Hyun-woo spoke warmly.
“Our place is small and shabby, right? This is how we live.”
“No, it’s fascinating.”
“Also, thank you. I heard the CEO recognized our song.”
“It’s a mega-hit song no matter who listens to it. These days, everyone in our office is singing it.”
“What? Even though it hasn’t been released yet?”
“I kept singing it, so everyone started singing along. Hahaha.”
Lee Hyun-woo looked at them with a bright smile.
Actually, he had contacted Hong Dong-wook earlier, who informed him that these two wanted to meet him.
They had heard about the company planning to sell 100,000 copies and were curious.
When Lee Hyun-woo readily agreed, the two really visited.
‘I never thought I’d see celebrities in person. And singers whose songs I often sang in karaoke.’
For the first time in both his past and present lives, Lee Hyun-woo was talking to singers.
In this life, he aimed to do things he hadn’t done in his previous life, so this was also a joy for him.
Naturally, his voice was filled with joyful dopamine as he spoke.
“Shall I show you how we sell the albums?”
With a smile on his face, Lee Hyun-woo guided them to the screen.
Although they might have already seen it, encountering the work screen here again would be a new experience for these singers, wouldn’t it?
As he expected, the two singers looked at the work screen with fascination.
Then, after a brief pause, they began talking.
“So, this is how Sung-hoon hyung’s album was sold.”
“He’s releasing a live album soon, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct. There’s a lot of anticipation.”
“I hope it does well.”
“Fifteen thousand copies have already been pre-ordered.”
“What? Really?”
“Wow… this site is incredible.”
Lee Hyun-woo read the flicker of excitement in their eyes and smiled even brighter.
They were still rookies without high egos.
So they had no choice but to cling to anything that seemed to have a good chance of selling.
Should he get a few promises from them while their egos were still low?
He decided to subtly drop hints.
“After Sung-hoon’s live album, it’ll be Clones’ new album’s turn.”
“Wow, just hearing that makes me nervous already.”
“Me too, me too.”
“But if you make it big later, please promote our website.”
“Of course, we’ll have to.”
“Yeah, we talked a lot about that on the way here.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If the CEO even thinks about doing commercials, we’re willing to do it for free.”
“We really should. You recognized us.”
“Oh, but TV commercials are still a bit much. However…”
The two singers’ expressions turned serious.
So Lee Hyun-woo threw another bait.
“…We can do website ads.”
“Website ads?”
“What’s that?”
“This, 【Jungle】. Using this for ads.”
“Oh…”
“Oh…”
They both let out the same exclamation, but it didn’t sound like it came from their hearts.
They probably thought web ads were no big deal.
Instead, their sincerity about doing ads for free was evident as they repeated,
“We’ll do anything.”
“Yeah, me too. If it’s TV, that’d be great, but if you have plans for radio or newspapers, we’ll do our best to help.”
“Thanks in advance.”
“It’s not just empty words. We came here with plans.”
“Yes, we’ll talk a lot about 【Jungle】 on talk shows later. Saying you recognized us when we were rookies.”
“Just hearing that makes me feel good. I’d be happy if you don’t forget that later…”
“No way.”
“We may not know much else, but we always value loyalty.”
There’s a saying that a single word can repay a debt of a thousand nyang.
He wanted to change that saying.
A single word can earn a thousand nyang.
Lee Hyun-woo’s face was filled with a meaningful smile.
‘They’re still untainted since they haven’t debuted yet.’
Celebrities usually have their own world.
Sometimes they show a fake life to manage their image in front of the public, but before debuting, they’re somewhat like ordinary people.
The current appearance of Clones was eccentric on the surface, but in conversation, they still seemed like ordinary young people.
Because of this, they didn’t calculate or weigh things.
Even when hearing someone hum their song,
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba…”
Their eyes widened.
“Isn’t that our song?”
“How…”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I did it without thinking…”
Yoo Jin-young, who was even more pure at twenty, had been humming the addictive chorus after hanging up the phone these days.
This time too, he had hummed it out of habit.
I smiled and stepped forward.
“I heard it once and it stuck in my head, so I kept humming it, and our staff started following along. I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Please keep singing it.”
“Yes, please keep singing it. Or better yet, should we sing the original for you?”
“Let’s do that.”
I didn’t stop them from suddenly stepping forward.
And although they restrained their dance moves, I enjoyed listening to the two of them singing live with a smile.
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
“Dum-da-da-da Sha-ba!”
It’s fascinating.
For some reason, memories of my past life kept coming back.
