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K-Talk Category
Chatter | Heard Secreti might be making a comeback?
…Inside my head, maybe lol
[6 Comments]
“Secreti comeback?? I was ready to hold my breath and wait, but I backed off.”
⤷ “Please stop spreading false hope and misinformation.”
⤷ “Ugh, the title baited me.”
⤷ “If only it were true…”
“HB Entertainment, wake up already. Drop the comeback track while the boys are still hot.”
⤷ “WAKE UP! WAKE UP!”
***
[Secreti’s Yeon Yu-jin rises from D-rank to C-rank Guide: “I got lucky.”]
Rare rank-up case draws attention from the guiding industry
(Photo of Secreti member Yeon Yu-jin, taken from the K-101 broadcast)
Secreti member Yeon Yu-jin (20) has been officially certified as a C-rank Guide by the National Ability Evaluation Center.
This is one of the rare rank-up cases in the country. According to a post-reveal statement, Guide Guild A had even seriously considered recruiting Yu-jin as a Hunter if his grade had gone any higher.
Some have speculated that had he scored even higher, he might have transitioned to becoming a Hunter. But Yu-jin himself reportedly declined all offers.
According to HB Entertainment, Yu-jin stated, “I want to focus on my main job as an idol right now,” and responded positively to the re-evaluation results, saying, “I’m really satisfied. I got lucky.”
Meanwhile, HB Entertainment has announced that Secreti’s first mini-album will drop at the end of next month.
***
[Secreti Comeback Next Month…!]
It’s official!
HB Ent knows they can’t afford to miss this window.
They’ve been getting a ton of exposure since . Really hope this mini-album does well. T_T
[11 Comments]
“I heard the CEO sold her car and some expensive jewelry to go all-in on this comeback.”
⤷ “Nope, not a rumor. FACT. My sister’s friend’s cousin’s eighth cousin works at the company and said it’s true.”
⤷ “LMAO that’s just some random stranger then.”
⤷ “Honestly more impressed you even heard that.”
“Anyway, sounds like it’s not a lie. I heard they’re training like hell, especially YYJ.”
⤷ “Well, YYJ is the worst one…”
⤷ “Excuse you?? Our Yu-jin is a great singer!”
⤷ “Dancing, though… the jury’s still out.”
⤷ “At least there haven’t been any recent attitude controversies.”
“Still, I’m excited. Their first single had a decent concept and styling. Hope they keep it up.”
“Please let Secreti rise to the top!”
***
The moment the Ability Evaluation Center sent over the official paperwork certifying I was now a C-rank Guide, the CEO of HB Entertainment practically jumped for joy.
“I knew it! I knew I had an eye for talent! Ohohoho!”
“No, you really didn’t.”
If I hadn’t secretly used a bit of mental pressure to fudge my numbers, she would’ve been crying right now.
Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, she’d actually been scared I’d be rated too high. It made me feel a little bad for her—until the next day, when I saw the flurry of articles online about my rank.
“CEO, what’s this?”
I shoved my phone in her face with an entertainment article pulled up.
“Oh, that? I had the PR team drop the story the moment the Bureau’s letter came in.”
“And what if I had been rated high-rank?”
“Then we would’ve pushed the ‘selfless, dedicated idol staying with the group despite being high-rank’ image. Great for marketing!”
This woman…?
“…What if I’d insisted on quitting? Signed a scout contract thanks to my high rank and used the advance pay to cover the penalty fees?”
The CEO just smiled with the serene grace of the Buddha.
“That didn’t happen, so let’s not dwell on it.”
“……”
So she was planning to twist my arm into staying in Secreti no matter what. She had no backup plan whatsoever.
I was dumbfounded—but whatever. Like she said, it didn’t happen.
Then she gathered the members and made a declaration.
“If this comeback fails, there is no future for us. Got it?”
Seo Yoon-chae raised his hand.
“Did you invest a lot into this, CEO? My parents said you were pulling every string and begging every connection you have—fake or real—to raise money for our comeback.”
The CEO didn’t even deny it.
“Yeah. I gathered everything I could.”
“What are you gonna do if this flops?”
“Then you guys better make sure it doesn’t. I pulled every financial string I had to bring in some of the industry’s best people—producers, MV directors, stylists, you name it. Everyone’s top tier. I went all in.”
Looking supremely confident, she even showed us a list of the names involved in the comeback project on her tablet.
I didn’t know who any of them were, so I stepped back a bit. But with every name she swiped past, Shin Tae-boem’s face lit up more and more.
“Wow, seriously. These people are hard to book…”
“It cost me.”
“Then what about the music, CEO? We had that track prepared after our first single. I wrote and composed it myself.”
Hearing that, I did a double take.
“You know how to make music?”
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean… it’s impressive!”
“Hmph. Bet you took one look at me and figured a guy who looks this rough couldn’t possibly write music.”
…Guilty.
Shin Tae-boem was an Esper with fiery red hair and piercing wolf-like gray eyes.
His frame was muscular and broad—like someone who could crush boulders barehanded—so it honestly never crossed my mind that he could do something as delicate as composing music.
“You’ve got that ‘you hit the nail on the head’ look on your face.”
“I’m just honestly impressed.”
He’d been the most aggressive toward me when I first woke up, so I’d pegged him as a brute. But now he looked genuinely happy to be surrounded by the resources needed to make good music.
He was… surprisingly sensitive.
When I kept staring, he shifted uncomfortably and avoided my eyes.
“…If you’re about to say it doesn’t suit me, don’t. I’ve heard that a million times and I’m sick of it.”
Cha Si-yoon stepped in with an awkward laugh and explained.
“That’s actually one of the things Tae-boem hyung’s most sensitive about. He’s got a complex from hearing that kind of stuff too often.”
“Ahh…”
“These days, a lot of idols produce their own songs. But even if someone in Secreti were doing that, people would usually assume it’s Ho-yeon hyung or Yoon-chae hyung. So they always get asked if they produce.”
So basically, I’d just stepped on his biggest sore spot without realizing it.
He’s the biggest guy in the group, but he’s got the softest heart…
Tae-boem looked at me sullenly and asked,
“…You do think it doesn’t suit me, don’t you?”
“Nope. That’s not what I was about to say at all.”
His gray eyes sparked with hope.
“…Then?”
“I really meant it when I said it was impressive. Creating something isn’t easy.”
“R-right.”
“And what does ‘not suiting you’ even mean? Who cares if you’re jacked or a scrawny little twig? That has nothing to do with making music.”
“Exactly! It’s all about the final product.”
“Uh… uh…”
Tae-boem started stammering like a wind-up toy that was winding down. He clearly hadn’t expected me to say that.
“…Do you make crappy songs?”
“Absolutely not!”
He practically shouted it, then flinched at his own volume and slumped his shoulders.
“My song was chosen in a blind test. And when I first got scouted by this agency, the stuff I wrote got really good reviews.”
“Then you’re talented. Why are you acting like you’re not?”
“…Huh?”
I didn’t know the first thing about composing, but—
“If it got picked in a blind test, that means it was solid. I’d be super proud if I were you. That’s proof your work’s top-tier, right?”
Hearing that, Tae-boem’s face turned bright red.
“…I mean, I’m not the best or anything. But… thanks.”
“No problem.”
The CEO, who’d been watching all this from the side, let out a pleased little hum and narrowed her eyes.
“You two seem to be getting along better than before?”
“…A bit.”
“So-so? Like a grain of rice?”
Didn’t matter that we downplayed it. The CEO was already grinning.
“Good. Just keep growing like that.”
“Ma’am… we’re already fully grown.”
Ra Ho-yeon smiled awkwardly as he said it, but the CEO ignored him.
Instead, she finally answered the question Tae-boem had asked earlier.
“We’re doing two title tracks. One is Tae-boem’s track—the one that passed the blind test. The other will be produced by an industry pro.”
Double title tracks.
Tae-boem asked her,
“Then… does that mean we’re filming two music videos?”
“Yep.”
“Then our training’s going to double… We don’t have much time either.”
“There’s no other choice. As you all know, we’ve finally caught some momentum. Rather than letting it pass us by, I think it’s better we whip ourselves into shape and move up the comeback date before the buzz dies down.”
All eyes turned toward me.
“…W-why are you all looking at me?”
I didn’t do anything wrong. I tried to back away, uneasy, but the CEO rushed over and grabbed my shoulders.
“Yu-jin.”
“Y-yes?!”
“You especially need to prep like a madman. Absolute perfection. From now until we go live, you’re officially dead. You’re a rehearsal room ghost, got it?”
Honestly… I’d rather do three dungeon gate runs a day than this.
