"I really think making us work overtime again today is a bit much."

"It can't be helped. It's busy season. Let's at least eat something good."

"You're just going to take us to eat charcoal-grilled bulgogi again, aren't you?"

"It's good, though, isn't it?"

At Hyunwoo's answer asking what was wrong with charcoal-grilled bulgogi, the junior employee let out a sigh and shook the head.

Hyunwoo could only think it was because they were still young.

Sure, they ate it often, but where else near the office was there a place as tasty and generous as the charcoal-grilled bulgogi place?

When working overtime, you had to eat a heartier meal than usual to endure it.

With it being the end of the year already, the accounting team Hyunwoo worked on was buried in work as it was, and Hyunwoo knew from years of experience that if he tried to act refined and eat something fancy, he would definitely regret it.

"Ma'am, three servings of charcoal-grilled bulgogi, please."

"I'll bring it right out."

And so Hyunwoo and his team members went into the charcoal-grilled bulgogi restaurant near the office.

"Ugh···it's really cold now."

"Seriously, these days November doesn't even feel like November."

Even the team members who had been grumbling, asking if it was charcoal-grilled bulgogi again today, seemed to feel better the moment they stepped into the restaurant, where the warm smell of meat spread deliciously through the air, and started chatting nonstop.

Listening to those voices, loud enough to verge on noisy, Hyunwoo let out a smile without realizing it.

If there was one thing that made the restaurant feel different at lunch and dinner, it was this kind of atmosphere.

Unlike lunchtime, when even eating a little noisily somehow made you feel self-conscious, at dinnertime everyone felt liberated because work was over, so not only Hyunwoo's team but the other customers as well were rowdy and lively.

Maybe because it was near the office, the restaurant was especially full of office workers.

At some tables, people had already started drinking, and their red, flushed faces stood out.

'Still, alcohol's a bit much.'

Back when he had first joined the company, having a drink with lunch or dinner had been common enough, but now if you did that, people would start talking right away.

So Hyunwoo firmly held back his craving for a drink and waited for the food while talking with his team.

"Why are they showing something like that? They should have baseball on."

In the middle of the conversation, Hyunwoo's eyes landed on the TV in the restaurant.

Instead of the usual baseball game, some loud music show was playing on the restaurant TV.

"Team leader, the season ended ages ago. Even the Korean Series is already over."

"Ah, right."

Hyunwoo felt a little disappointed when he remembered that even baseball, which somehow felt more fun to watch on a restaurant TV than at home, was already over.

But only for a moment.

-Thank you for waiting! The comeback stage so many people have been anticipating today, Iam!

-After "DON'T BLINK," Iam has returned as pirates. We'll now begin the stage for their new song "Black Pearl"!

As the sound from the music show came through the TV, everyone's attention turned that way.

'Another idol group?'

The truth was, Hyunwoo did not watch music shows.

He felt like he used to watch them fairly often on weekends, but at some point, whenever he put on a music show, it was nothing but idol groups he didn't know.

If a famous girl group came on, it sparked a little interest, but recently you could watch music show stage videos on YouTube too.

And to get passionately obsessed with girl groups when he was already well into his mid-thirties... the reality was that it just did not interest him much anymore.

"Iam's coming back today."

"Ah, them?"

"Team leader, you know Iam too?"

"Jihyeon, you have a tendency to underestimate me way too much."

At the MCs' words that Iam's stage was coming up, the team members brightened and fixed their eyes on the TV.

When Hyunwoo acted like he knew Iam too, the team members reacted with startled surprise, like parents had suddenly used some trendy new slang.

It made him feel a little melancholy, wondering if he was really that old, but he did have a bit of interest in Iam, who were supposedly doing their comeback stage now.

That was only natural, since Iam was one of the very few recent idol groups he actually knew.

'For some reason, Iam feels familiar.'

Even Hyunwoo, who never looked up music shows or idols, knew Iam.

From YouTube to every kind of variety show on TV, they had appeared everywhere, to the point where unless you simply never watched TV at all, could there honestly be anyone who didn't know them?

And it wasn't just that they showed up a lot. Every time they did, they made an especially memorable impact, so Iam had left a strong impression on Hyunwoo's mind.

Because of that, Hyunwoo sometimes even went looking up Iam's content on YouTube, but—

'Funny is funny, but as idols, I don't really know.'

Still, he had never had much interest in Iam's stages.

He had watched Iam the way you watched a celebrity who was simply popular, not with much interest in their performances or songs.

But hearing it was a comeback stage somehow made him curious, so while waiting for the food to come out, he focused on the TV.

Who owns the sea?

WE DO.

Who takes the crown?

WE DO.

Black flag up—

As soon as the stage began, Hyunwoo could not look away.

'What is this···? This is an idol stage?'

Right before the stage started, the set had gone dark for an instant. Then when the lights came back on, all the Iam members were already up on stage.

At the same time, the stage LEDs installed on the floor and the backdrop lit up with a panorama of rough underwater scenery.

Then the performance began with the melody, and Lee Sion stepped forward first to lead the intro, while the members behind answered back. That opening part was so full of force it bordered on sheer intensity.

Black long boots and a black corset wrapped around the waist.

In contrast, the slightly loose white shirt fluttering around made Lee Sion look almost like the protagonist from Pirates of the Caribbean, and it suited her so perfectly it was enough to draw admiration.

Unlike her usual mischievous expression, Lee Sion stared coldly into the camera with eyes that looked down on the opponent.

For a moment, Hyunwoo could hardly believe this was the same Lee Sion he had seen on variety shows and YouTube, and could only stare with his eyes wide open.

Late at night, destiny sways upon the waves

Broken compass, even lost, I still believe

All those mocking stares, I throw them behind me

Even in the storm, I spread farther and wider

But Hyunwoo could not keep admiring Lee Sion for long.

Because right after Lee Sion, Ryu Ayeon stepped to the front of the formation and started her part.

"They dance so well."

"Doesn't this feel way too different from Iam's old stages?"

"This stage is insane."

The team members watching Iam's performance with him also seemed to sense that something about the stage they were seeing now was special.

'The choreography's interesting.'

Even Hyunwoo, who knew nothing about idols, knew that the usual thing with idol dancing was perfectly synchronized group choreography.

But Iam's stage right now was a little different.

The members' formation was subtly off-center.

And yet, when he saw the choreography starting from one end of the formation flow all the way through like a connected motion until it reached Ryu Ayeon at the other end, he could tell the formation was intentional.

Choreography that flowed like waves.

And at the end of it, the other members were always busily repositioning themselves into place, and Hyunwoo barely had time to keep up with it all using only his eyes.

Even if I fall, I get up again

The more I shake, the stronger I become

I don't need any map

Because my name will become the road

Now Seo Ryujin stepped forward for her part, and immediately the Iam members moved as one body, continuing the motion Seo Ryujin had begun.

They were clearly moving separately, yet Iam's choreography fit together so perfectly it still gave the sense of unity, to the point where simply watching it gave him a thrill.

How much practice did it take to get choreography this tightly synchronized?

And on top of that, hearing them perform the song perfectly without a single shake while dancing like this was enough to send chills over his entire body.

As he watched the stage in a daze, completely absorbed, the sound of a drum hit with a heavy boom, and the mood of the song changed.

Up to that point, the melody had flowed like a voyage across a calm sea.

Now it changed. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Everyone watching the stage—Hyunwoo and his team members alike—could feel the shift.

At a glance it might have seemed abrupt, yet strangely enough it felt completely natural.

'It had been changing little by little.'

Only then did Hyunwoo realize that from the very beginning up until now, the song had been slowly tricking the listener as it transformed.

Like water that does not boil until it reaches a certain temperature after being set over flame, the first half had steadily built up the song's momentum.

Raise the black flag, higher

Burn up like flame

Even in the endless storm

In the end, I become the king

Crown on my head now

Go even higher

Above every sea

Black flag queen, that's me

As if all of that had existed for this moment alone, it exploded in the highlight part, and Lee Sion and Kurosawa Yuri stood at the front of the formation, veins standing out in their necks as they drove their voices forward.

Not to be outdone, the group choreography grew so intense it felt like they were fighting against something invisible.

The Iam members swung their arms and legs with such force it made you wonder if some part of their bodies might break.

Gulp.

Hyunwoo swallowed while watching the stage, then froze in surprise.

Before Iam's stage had begun, the restaurant had been full of noise.

But now, at some point, all the sound inside had disappeared.

The place had grown so quiet you could hear even the sound of swallowing.

'Everyone's watching the TV.'

Everyone had stopped talking and stopped eating and was watching Iam's stage as if spellbound.

Raise the black flag, higher

Take this moment

Crossing countless nights

I stand at the summit

Crown on my head now

No one can stop me

At the edge of the world

Black flag queen—It's me

At some point, Hyunwoo had stopped watching idol performances.

He had thought those were things only kids watched, and that the songs were just mass-produced factory products.

But what he had just seen was unquestionably an idol performance.

And he had been drawn in.

There was only one thought in his mind.

'I want to see that again.'

That was all.

He wanted to see the stage Iam was showing right now one more time.

It wasn't simply that he wanted to hear the song again. His mind was filled with the desire to watch everything they had shown on that stage one more time.

Even from the ashes

I bloom again

But this was not the time to be thinking about that.

Because as the song finally neared its end, the members were walking forward across the stage again, led by Lee Sion as she moved back to the exact center of the formation.

This sea is my stage

I survive to the end and dominate

The performance had been so intense that even through the screen, Hyunwoo could feel how breathless the members were after delivering the final line.

Their chests moved roughly.

And there were beads of sweat running down their faces.

Those, together with their costumes and the makeup smeared as if diluted by water, created the ending image of the stage.

"Three servings of charcoal-grilled bulgogi."

Until the restaurant lady brought out the food they had ordered, Hyunwoo and his team members could only stare blankly at the screen.

***

"This doesn't look normal."

"I think it's already gone beyond the level of 'doesn't look normal.'"

Those were the words Raon spoke after watching Iam's first music-show comeback stage.

By now, Raon came and went from the CEO's office almost like it was home.

The sofa in the office was the softest, and the TV was big, which was nice. Anyway, for reasons like that, Sanghyeok and Raon had ended up deciding to watch Iam's comeback stage together.

"I had a feeling, but I didn't think it'd be this much."

"Like Producer Raon said, is this the effect of the third album?"

"That's part of it, yes."

The third album.

Sanghyeok remembered Raon saying before that the results of an idol group's third album usually determined whether the group would succeed or not.

-It's simple. By the third one, a group's underlying strength finally shows. The awareness and fandom built through the debut and second album. The third album is where that really starts producing results.

At first, Sanghyeok had just thought, So that's a thing, and let it pass, but now he could feel with his entire body that those words had not been said for nothing.

Three hundred thousand pre-orders.

That was the sales figure recorded by Iam's third mini album this time.

Not only Raon and Sanghyeok, but every employee at KJ Entertainment had been left speechless by the miraculous result of achieving a sales number that could compete for first or second place in all-time girl-group album sales rankings through pre-orders alone.

And that was not all.

Iam's new song "Black Pearl" had taken first place on the real-time and 24-hour charts of the country's largest music site.

Iam had always done decently on digital charts—no, more than decently, in fact—but this was the first time they had ever taken first place on the 24-hour chart instead of just the real-time one.

"The music video already passed two million views."

"Compared to last time, that's twice as much··· no, if you factor in the release time, it's an absurd increase."

The music video views, which had already been strong compared to other girl groups, were now rising fast enough to stand comparison even with top-tier boy idols.

'The investment paid off.'

The truth was, Sanghyeok had invested a great deal into Iam's contract renewal and their third album.

-Isn't this a little too generous a split?

Because of the generous terms he had offered in order to satisfy the members and their original agencies, Sanghyeok had received doubtful looks from some people at headquarters even after securing the major achievement of their contract renewal.

And instead of shrinking back in that situation, the amount he invested into the third album was not merely on par with the expenses of the Big Three agencies but arguably greater.

Starting with the choreography draft they received directly from a famous American choreographer, and although Shinyu and Lucas's song had ultimately been selected, the money spent commissioning famous composers for title-track candidates.

From the outfits to the music video to the investment needed to build the pre-recording stage for music shows, Sanghyeok had poured money into every part of it without holding back.

Producer Raon had even gone so far as to ask whether this was really okay, so depending on the results of this third album, Sanghyeok might have had to step down from his position as CEO.

If it failed, obviously, but even if it had merely done average, his seat as CEO would still have been in danger.

But Sanghyeok's investment had succeeded.

"Now we need to prepare."

"Huh? Prepare what?"

"I think it's time to prepare for the next step."

His position as CEO?

At first it had mattered, but at some point Sanghyeok had stopped caring much about the CEO seat.

If he had been trying to protect his position, would he have made a risky move like the contract renewal in the first place?

"I'm going to begin Iam's expansion into Japan."

Right now, there was nothing on Sanghyeok's mind except even greater success for Iam.