Project Alpha – The First Challenge Part 3

Are you kidding me? How in the world are we going to get 10,000 views in 24 hours?

Zee tried to ask for an extension. "But PD-nim we-"

"No buts… you guys were able to pull off writing and recording a song in just one night. I'm sure you'll be able to pull off another miracle." She replied and with that, we were asked to have our make-up done.

This is just insane…

"I'm not worried about shooting the video. I'm more concerned with how we can generate that many views in just a day!" Jeong Do said.

"Yeah… how in the world are we going to get that many views?" Seiji-hyung said.

"Based on what I know. Rookies can generate about a million views in just a day. But we haven't even debut yet!" Zhang added.

We were all in deep thought. Zee on the other hand just blurted his idea. "Why don't I just hack it?"

"No! Absolutely not!" We all yelled at the same time.

It wouldn't be worth it if we do so…

I'm a shareholder so I can decide when we will debut, but we chose to be strict with ourselves so it would be worth it in the end.

Show Your Case wouldn't be so awesome if we went through the back door.

But if you think about it…

"On second thought Zee… I want you to do something. Search for trends and use that as tags for our videos. Also, look for the way using SEO to push our videos to the top of the search engines. We can actually fight the fairly, right?" I suggested.

We can always promote the video the way companies promote their websites. The good old SEO.

"Will get to it right now." Zee replied.

I nodded and told everyone what they needed to do. "The rest of you. Get to the dressing room and wear the outfit the stylists provide. We'll hasten this shoot."

Matt-hyung came back in our dressing room and announced, "JYP PD-nim will be providing 3 more make-up artists and they are on their way. My chopper was nearby so I had them use that. There's a landing site on top of this roof so it would be easier to get here."

There were only 2 artists which would take about 30 minutes for them to handle each person. So I decided to add more so we could start shooting before noon.

I nodded at him and gave him a thumbs up. Jeong Do-hyung got our attention as well. "I just got on the phone with the showrunners. They've agreed to give us the footage after the shoot. But we're on our own when it comes to the editing it."

"It's all good. Just make sure that they are not corrupted." I instructed before turning to Zee. "Zee, about the foota-"

"I'll make sure that I'll get it from Jeong Do-hyung later. I've also got the keywords. They are ready to go once the video uploads. I've also added a server that would make the video run on ads." Zee added.

We're making good progress.

The people inside the dressing room were giving us questioning looks.

I even heard a couple of them gossip. "Who are these kids? Why do they have so much power over so many people?" One of the make-up artists asked.

"I know right? I even heard them mention that they had a helicopter on the way just to bring make-up artists." She was dumbfounded.

They continued to gossip.

"They're editing their own shots? That's crazy!" One of the stylists said.

"Right? I mean who does that?" the other stylist said.

"Uhh… these guys are doing it…" The other one replied.

"…"

We continued to warm-up and prepare for the shoot. So far Seiji-hyung and Yo Chul-hyung were the firsts to finish their make-up. Matt-hyung and Jeong Do just got started.

"Hyung! The artists are here." Woo peaked through the door as he said that.

"Wonderful! Settle them down here." I welcomed the artists and thanked them for coming on such short notice.

They just giggled at me and started to unpack their stuff.

"Catering's good bro." Yo Chul-hyung said.

"Good. What time will they be arriving?" I asked.

"Around 11AM. Will that be good?" Yo Chul-hyung confirmed.

I thought about it before replying. "That's perfect. We'll probably be done by then."

The people in the room continued to gossip. They could not believe that we were trainees. For them, it was impossible that we held so much power and money than they did.

"Woo? Any updates?" I turned to ask Woo.

"Coffee truck's parking right now." He replied.

"Good. We're set. Let's continue to prepare." I instructed.

They all replied with a loud "yes" before getting dressed, getting their make-up done, warm-up or do some stretching.

The people in the room were still dumbstruck with what they were seeing. It was as if they were witnessing an idol group that debuted for a long time. Even the camera crew were smiling.

They already knew what we were capable of since they were with us from the start. So this wasn't that much of a surprise for them.

After a while it was just Woo and Zee who were having the finishing touches of their make-up done.

The rest of us were trying our best to recall the choreography of the song.

When everyone was finally done. We huddled together and chanted our name before heading downstairs where the crew, the managers and the showrunners were waiting.

___________

"What do you mean?!" As we were heading downstairs, one of the showrunners was yelling at someone over the phone.

"I don't care! You have about an hour to fix this!" He yelled.

We approached him and asked if something was wrong. Apparently, the studio that they had hired to shoot the music video backed out at the last minute.

Now, we don't have anyone nor the equipment to shoot the video.

"Oh! That's it? There's no problem then." I told them.

The people turned to look at me and were giving me the "are you crazy" look.

I just smiled at them. "Zee grab the equipment that I asked you to borrow yesterday. They're still in those bags inside the cars."

"Aye aye, hyung." He responded in a salute.

"What do you mean by that JayB-ssi?" The showrunner asked.

I chuckled at the question. "We're going to shoot the video ourselves. We don't need the studio or props to help us. Just a good director and an obedient cameraman."

"Wha… a good director? An obedient cameraman?" He seemed confused.

Just then Zee came back with two big bags of equipment. "Hyung! The equipment is here."

"Thanks, Zee. Now PD-nim. Here's the plan…"

I told them the plan and their eyes grew wider and wider in surprise. It was impossible to find a studio who would be willing to shoot without an appointment. At most it'll take a day. We can't afford that.

"Absolutely not! We might as well make a dance practice video!" The showrunner was obviously ignorant about this.

But I was confident.

He was right…

It was that simple and less of an effort that it'll look like a dance practice video.

But…

What they don't know is that this was a hit back on my world.

This was the video that generated millions of dollars and got them their second building.

This song won 14 times on different South Korean music TV shows describing it as "the crown jewel" of that group's amazing year.

It was the song of the year in Melon Music Awards and KBS Song Festival.

I definitely am confident that this song will shake the k-pop industry in this world too.

"Well do you have any other suggestions, PD-nim? I'm pretty sure you just declared that we have until tomorrow evening to generate views, and I'm sure it would take a day to look for a studio that would work with us." I told him.

He was practically in a dilemma right now.

This surprise challenge was already shot. We can't re-enact everything since this is a reality show. So he has only one option…

"Fine! But I'll let you handle the directing AND you can only use one of my cameramen." He said.

"That's all we need." I smiled at him before I turned to one of the cameramen that I knew.

"Bongpal-hyungnim, is it okay for you to film our music video?" I asked him.

He looked behind him before pointing to himself asking if I was mistaken. I motioned for him to come.

"But JayB-ssi… I have no knowledge in shooting a music video." He whispered to me.

I assured him that there was no mistake and he is the person I needed right now. "No worries, Bongpal-hyungnim. You are exactly the person I need. Like I said, I just need an obedient cameraman."

He just sighed, "Alright. Whatever you say."

The rest of the crew who were not with us the past few days were looking down on Bongpal-hyungnim and us. They were smiling smugly at us while gossiping.

"Who does he think he is? This kid is way over his head!" One of the showrunners said.

"Be quiet! He'll hear you!"

I just chuckled at them. They don't even see the bigger picture.

Bongpal-hyungnim was the perfect cameraman. He was there to shoot our choreography's behind the scenes.

He was there from Day 1!

He took care of the shots while everyone else had their breaks. So if there was another person who was very familiar with our choreography aside from us, it would be Bongpal-hyungnim.

I gave a couple of instructions for the people on what to do. Some of them were looking at me from head to foot as if they were unhappy with how I was the one who was giving the orders.

I asked the members to perform some of the choreography and I was behind hyungnim telling him what to do.

It took us about an hour to do the dry rehearsal while the rest of the make-up artists kept on retouching the members.

After the lights were set and the speakers were well hidden, we were finally ready to shoot.

"Okay! The rest of you go up the 2nd floor. We only need Alpha and Bongpal-ssi on this floor. The lights operator and the one who has been assigned to play the music will go hide in that place that I asked them to stay earlier." I instructed.

The crew didn't move and just stayed there. "JayB-ssi, how can we shoot the behind the scenes of the music video if we aren't here?"

"That's why I told you to take some shots earlier since we won't be allowing anyone else on this floor." I replied.

"But why is that? I don't get it?" The producer asked.

"Don't worry about it too much. We're probably going to be done in 1 or 2 takes." I told them.

"1 or 2 ta… Aish! Whatever! Let's just go!" The producer gave up and brought the crew over to the second floor.

"Make-up artists and stylists, please stand-by near the stairway since we might need to do some retouch before the second take." I smiled at them before giving them a bow which made them giggle.

Once everyone left the floor. We immediately started to shoot the video.

____________

In the upstairs room 10 minutes after the crew went up…

"That brat! Who the hell does he think he is?!" One of the producers yelled.

The rest of the crew flinched as he threw the script on the floor scattering it. The juniors began to pick up the scattered pile while the rest of the people continued to eat and drink.

The catering crew had already finished setting up the tables. The coffee truck was also there now serving drinks.

The rest of the juniors just didn't mind their boss since they knew what the Alpha members were really like. They already spent 3 days with them.

"Does he think that making a music video is easy?! Huh?!" The producer continued to lash out his anger on the juniors.

Everyone else just remained silent and didn't do anything.

It's the same in any world… the strong prey on the weak. Treating them unfairly.

He continued to yell and rant while hitting one of the juniors. The junior was already bruised.

He only stopped when he could hear laughter coming from the staircase.

___________

"Wow! We seriously did it all in one take?" Zee asked still in disbelief.

"Yeah, I guess that works. What do you think Bongpal-hyungnim?" I asked the expert.

He was stills staring at the footage that he took. "I… shot this? This can't be right."

I placed my hand on his shoulder assuring him that he did well.

There were tears in his eyes, "You guys are unbelievably talented! Today, you just earned another fan!" He said while pointing at himself.

We hugged him before laughing uncontrollably.

We started going back upstairs in the dressing room while laughing at Dominic's joke.

As soon as we opened the door, one of the producers smiled smugly at us.

"What? Are you done? Or are you laughing because you found out that it's hard to shoot a music video?" He laughed like a maniac.

We didn't mind him as I was focused on the mess and the girl that had a lot of bruises.

Did this guy hurt the juniors?

"What happened here?" I said in a low voice.

The rest of the members approached me slowly. They knew I was about to hit someone.

My hands were already turning white because of how tight I was balling my fist.

No one answered me.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" The producer yelled.

"And I asked you a question!" He flinched a little before he continued to smile smugly at me.

"Do you know who you're talking to you bastard?" He asked.

I already knew what happened but I need to make sure that that person was okay. I went past the producer and approached the person.

"Hey… are you okay? Did he hit you?" I asked while pointing at the producer. She was sobbing while shaking.

"Hah… this bastard… Hey! I'm talking to you!" This trash just can't stop talking.

I rubbed her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes and said, "Don't worry. I will throw the garbage out." I told her while she looked at me confused.

He still continued to ramble. "Do you know wh-"

I didn't let him finish. I turned around and punched him in the nose as hard as I could. He fell down and rolled around like a dog.

"Ooooh…" The Alpha members reacted.

"That's got to hurt!" Dom said which made everyone snicker.

"You bastard! I'm going to sue you!" He cried out.

"Hold him down, Matt-hyung." I said.

Matt then helped him up before locking his arms behind his back.

I grabbed his jaw and dislocated it. He screamed in pain.

I stared at his eyes while I was still holding his jaw. "You see? You don't know who you're messing with. I just don't get people like you. How can a senior like you treat your junior like that? You're supposed to help them out, not treat them like punching bags. If you had a problem with me to begin with, just say it. You didn't have to lash it out on her!"

He started to laugh hysterically. He tried to speak but it didn't sound right. But I knew what he was trying to say. "If I get out of here, I'm going to kill you."

"You shouldn't have said that." Woo commented while he was shaking his head and crossing his arms.

The producer looked confused so Jinwoo tried to explain. "Still not getting the picture?" He stood beside me and tapped on my shoulder before he continued. "JayB, is this guy's stage name. His real name is Kim Jinboo. I'm pretty sure someone like you knows him."

It took a couple of seconds before he realized his mistake and his knees began to weaken. "Oh and the guy behind you is Matthew Nakrop."

He froze when he heard Matt's name. He slowly turned his head to look at him before I ordered Matt to break his left arm.

He fell to the ground clutching his arm. I stepped on his leg making him look at me. "Should I break this one too?"

He quickly shook his head and cried. The producer was so scared that he began to pee his pants.

Woo crouched down and whispered to him, "Don't bother trying to get out of this one. No one here will testify for you if you take this to court…" He paused for a while before he turn to face Jeong Do.

"Because that guy over there? That's Oh Jeong Do the famous lawyer slash detective." He stood up and glared at him. "You just messed with the 9 pro… no… you just messed with Alpha. Now you have to deal with being bitten off."

He continued to cry just like that until the ambulance came. We reported it to the police as self-defense because he beat up one of his juniors.

No one defended him because everyone already knew who we were. After the police left, we asked everybody to sign a nondisclosure form. They already know what'll happen if they broke it.

But we knew that after this one, they would never be the same.

We spent the entire afternoon talking and having fun instead of souring the mood. Zee finished editing the video and we were just waiting for the head showrunner to give us the go signal to upload it.

After that eventful afternoon. We decided to head to JYP Entertainment's building to explain what happened earlier. As we were heading to the cars I felt a tap on my shoulder.

We all turned around and saw the girl from earlier who got beat up. She wanted to speak to me in private so the members left us alone for a while.

"Sajang-nim! Thank you for everything!" she said as she bowed deeply.

I shook my head and waved her off, "No need to thank me over it. It was the right thing to do."

"But it does matter! If you weren't there then…" She trailed off.

She was right, we wouldn't really have known what would have happened if we didn't stop that guy.

"Well… it's over now so let's move on from that. And ohh… please don't be too formal with me. I'm sure we're about the same age." I told her.

She look around to see if anyone was looking at us. She then leaned towards me and whispered. "I'm actually a year younger than you, oppa."

Hearing her call me that made me blush. She giggled seeing me flustered. "So I didn't get your name." I quickly changed the topic.

"Oh! It's Eunbi! Kwon Eun-bi!" She replied.

"Kwon… Eun-bi…" I pondered for a while.

Where did I hear that name before?

Then I remembered! I smiled at her and told her sincerely, "You should be an idol instead. This line of work doesn't suit you. You're better off dancing and singing on stage."

"No, I don't think so, oppa. I'm bad at singing." She said.

Yeah right… if you only knew…

I ignored her remark and gave her a card with my seal on it. "Give that to the company that you decide to apply for. Tell them I sent you. You'll immediately get in and be a trainee. If they don't believe you, tell them to give me a call."

She looked at the card and teared up a little. "This is the first time that someone is being nice to me. Thank you, oppa."

After our conversation, we said our goodbyes. I knew that I'll be seeing her really soon.

After all, one of the lead singers of IZ*ONE should have a place in this world's k-pop stage, right?

__________

After explaining to JYP PD-nim what happened, he decided to take legal action on the producer but decided to do it discreetly.

We didn't want to be involved in any scandal before we debut.

PD-nim was also very happy with how we handled the situation. He said that if it were him, he would have strangled the person to death. For him, hitting a woman regardless of any reason, is never good.

It ended up being a lecture about what it takes to be a man.

After we settled that, we headed towards our studio to rest and relax.

It was almost 6PM and that was the scheduled time for the MV to be uploaded.

"How are we going to generate so many views for this video, JayB-ah?" Jeon Do asked.

"We'll just see how this goes first." I replied.

"So basically, you have no plan whatsoever?" Dominic said.

I just shrugged at them.

"Hyung, the video is ready to be published." Zee entered the recording studio from the practice room.

I stood up and replied, "Great! You guys get up too. We're going to be busy tonight."

"Where are we going?" Jeon Do asked.

"You'll see." I replied before I went to the door.

"Ah! Hyung! You still haven't told me the name of our song!" Zee yelled.

I peeked my head on the door, "Didn' I tell you guys yet?"

They all shook their heads in response.

I chuckled and replied, "It's 'Growl'".

With that I left the room to work on generating the views.

_________________

It was 6AM in the morning now and the dorm was very peaceful. Only one person was awake.

He slowly stretched and he walked towards the living room half-asleep while bumping and crashing on to some stuff.

Zee was monitoring the number of views since he uploaded it on YouTube. It only had around a hundred views for about an hour of waiting.

He was working on the SEO to boost the page rank of the video in the search engines. But around 8PM he got tired and went to bed early.

No one could blame him. We had a very long day.

Once he reached the dining room, he turned his laptop on and started testing out the app that he was developing.

He suddenly remembered that he had to check the status of their video so he hurriedly went to the site and searched for their video.

His eyes slowly widened in surprise.

He could not believe what he was seeing.

Zee rubbed his eyes and then refreshed the site again.

The numbers did change but the shock only grew from there.

"Oh my God…"

He muttered.

He tried checking the lines and codes if it was messing with him.

"It's real… it's not hacked…"

He closed his laptop and hurriedly stood up.

"Hy… Hyung!!!!"

_______________