27: Chapter 27 Tell Me Your Wish

A day of isolation in the mountain cabin felt like a deep mental therapy session. When Kim Taeyeon returned to Seoul by car and drove back into the bustling Gangnam District, the neon lights and traffic flashing past the window no longer made her feel suffocating pressure; instead, there was a sense of detachment and peace, as if observing another world through a layer of glass.

The accumulated fatigue in her body had been washed away by sleep and the scent of the mountains, and the dull pain in her stomach had quietly subsided after her father's bowl of ginseng porridge and a simple, regular diet.

More importantly, in a forgotten corner of her heart, that faint flame called "I still want to sing," beside the fireplace in the cabin and amidst the sound of that youthful demo, had been gently rekindled. Though not blazing, it could already steadily provide a glimmer of warmth and direction.

It was already evening when she returned to the Villa. The Villa was very quiet, and she could faintly hear music and footsteps coming from the practice room, where the other members were conducting basic training according to the schedule. Standing in the spacious and bright living room, Kim Taeyeon felt a sense of having lived through a lifetime.

In just one day, this place seemed to have gained a bit more of the warmth of life. Several sticky notes with encouraging drawings from the members were stuck on the wall, unfinished snacks were on the coffee table, and the air was filled with a faint mixture of sweat, shampoo, and freshly baked cookies.

She did not immediately go to find the other members, but returned to her own room first. The room had been cleaned very well, the bed was neat, and the small green plant on the windowsill seemed to have been carefully watered, its leaves looking crisp.

She put down her simple luggage, took a hot shower, changed into comfortable loungewear, and then sat by the bed, watching the deepening night outside the window, quietly zoning out for a while. The reality of the vacation had finally arrived, and that string that had been pulled tight for too long could finally, temporarily, and safely relax.

Early the next morning, at the breakfast table, Kim Taeyeon's return caused a small commotion. The girls surrounded her, asking all at once, "Where did you go?", "Did you rest well?", and "Did you encounter anything interesting?"

Kim Taeyeon just smiled and brushed it off simply by saying, "I went to a quiet place and slept for a long time," but her gaze couldn't help but drift to the head of the dining table. Song Tianhao was not there. She heard from Jang Se-hoon that the President had gone to the company early in the morning.

A subtle premonition rose in Kim Taeyeon's heart. The vacation was over; the real "reboot" was perhaps about to begin.

Sure enough, at ten o'clock in the morning, everyone received a notification to gather in the temporary conference room on the first floor.

The nine girls, wearing uniform Sky Entertainment training outfits, with bare faces and hair tied into neat ponytails or buns, entered the conference room one by one. The blackout curtains in the conference room were drawn, and only the beam from the projector cast a blurry pillar of light in the air.

On one side of the long conference table, nine seats had already been reserved for them. Song Tianhao sat at the head, while Jang Se-hoon and several other people she hadn't met before, who looked like a music production team, sat on the other side. The atmosphere was somewhat formal and rather heavy.

The girls sat down one by one, their backs unconsciously straightened, hands placed on their laps, each with a different expression.

As the leader, Kim Taeyeon sat in the seat closest to Song Tianhao. She could feel the nervousness of Im Yoona beside her, the calm scrutiny of Jessica Jung opposite her, and the anticipation and unease in the eyes of the other members.

Song Tianhao did not make small talk and went straight to the point. He signaled to Jang Se-hoon beside him. Jang Se-hoon operated the computer, and the projector beam focused on the screen, displaying a concise title:

Girls Generation Reboot Project - Phase 1: Voice Return

"The rest period is over." Song Tianhao's voice rang out in the quiet conference room, carrying an unquestionable power. "Starting today, Girls Generation officially enters the comeback preparation stage. The core of the first phase is 'voice'—find your voice, define a new voice, and then use this voice to speak again."

He paused and swept his gaze over the nine young faces.

"I know what you are worried about. The Black Ocean, boycotts, doubts, and self-doubt. These are objective obstacles, but they are not the reason I bought you, and certainly not a reason for you to stop moving forward."

He signaled Jang Se-hoon to switch the PPT. A complex graph appeared on the screen, marked with a timeline and various data.

"This is the trend chart of search volume, streaming volume, and paid download volume for 'Girls Generation' related music, including 'into the new world' and 'Gee,' on all music portal sites from the Black Ocean incident last year until last month."

Song Tianhao pointed with a laser pen to the area of the obvious low point in the chart. "Look here, on the day of the Black Ocean and the week after, the data dropped off a cliff, and public opinion was one-sided. This is reality."

The laser pen moved, pointing to a slow but continuously upward curve after the low point.

"But look here. After the low point, starting from the end of last year, the data began to slowly recover. Especially after the release of 'Gee,' although there were still massive waves of boycotts, the music download volume, especially the paid download portion," he paused and clearly stated a number, "actually increased by 15% compared to before the Black Ocean."

Several slight gasps sounded in the conference room. The girls widened their eyes, looking at the upward curve on the chart in disbelief. Increased? In that environment of nationwide boycotts?

"Where does this 15% growth come from?" Song Tianhao looked at them and answered his own question, "It comes from the 'silent majority.' It comes from those who didn't shout insults online, didn't turn off their glow sticks, but still liked your music, or were moved by the melody of 'Gee' and silently pressed the 'download' button."

"It comes from those girls who were at the Black Ocean scene, hiding in corners crying for you, but still gripping their slogans, refusing to let go. Their voices were drowned out, but the data does not lie."

He turned off the chart, and the screen returned to a deep blue.

"So, forget those noisy insults. Just because those voices are loud doesn't mean there are many of them, and it certainly doesn't mean they are right. Your battlefield is not in the flame wars; it is in the ears of the listeners willing to pay for your music, and in the eyes of the audience willing to buy tickets for your stage."

His words were like a strong wind, blowing away the thick clouds of "nationwide anti" that had shrouded the girls' hearts. So, not everyone had abandoned them. So, those small supports were real, existed, and were powerful.

"And now, what we need to do is give these 'silent majority' a louder, more impossible-to-ignore reason to continue supporting you, and even attract more people to join." Song Tianhao nodded to Jang Se-hoon.

Jang Se-hoon operated the computer, and a light, upbeat intro with a retro disco flavor and a wonderful, dreamy feel rang out in the conference room.

The melody was catchy, the rhythm was upbeat, carrying a refreshing air like sunshine and sea breezes, which was different from the youthful liveliness of Girls Generation's previous "Gee," with more confidence, dreaminess, and a little bit of sexiness.

After the intro, a female voice with electronic sound effects, sweet yet powerful, cut in:

"Tell me your wish~"

"I will make them all come true~"

The lyrics were direct, bold, full of temptation, and maintained a just-right sense of distance.

The melody built up layer by layer, the chorus was gorgeous and memorable, and the whole song overflowed with a sunny, confident charm that said, "I am your dream goddess, I can make all your wishes come true."

The girls were stunned as they listened. This song... the style was too distinct, different from any of their previous works. It was not heavy, not tragic, not deliberately showing off sexiness, and not just acting cute.

It was simply a pure, extroverted happiness and confidence with a touch of fairy-tale color. It was like, after experiencing darkness, instead of becoming gloomy, they completely cast off the baggage and stood in the sunlight, loudly declaring: "I am doing great, I am amazing, and I can make you happy too!"

The song demo finished playing, and the conference room was silent. The girls looked at each other, their eyes filled with amazement, confusion, and helplessness. This song... it was good, definitely good, and even had a magic that made you unable to forget it after one listen. But...

Im Yoona hesitated, being the first to speak up in a low voice, voicing everyone's inner thoughts: "President... this kind of song, can we... still sing it now?" Her voice was full of uncertainty, "It sounds... too happy, too sunny."

"We just went through those things, and singing a song like this, will the fans and the outside world... think we are... heartless? Or, just putting on a brave face?"

This was also the concern of the other members. The scars of the Black Ocean were still there, the hostility from the outside world had not dissipated, and releasing such a bright, even somewhat "dreamy" song at this time, would it seem inappropriate? Or even invite more ridicule?

Song Tianhao did not immediately answer Im Yoona's question. Instead, he operated the computer and clicked on another audio file.

A burst of noisy, obviously live-recorded sound came out. One could hear chaotic cheering, screaming, and... harsh, collective booing. It was the audio from the Black Ocean scene. The girls' faces instantly turned pale, and their bodies stiffened unconsciously. That unbearable memory came flooding back with the sound.

However, right in the midst of this booing and noise, Song Tianhao turned up the volume and pointed to a specific frequency band of the audio. Listen carefully; beneath that booing directed at Girls Generation, there were indeed extremely faint, but definitely present, voices humming along to the melody—and not just one.

They were singing "into the new world," and some were even singing along to the chorus. The voices were very small and scattered, but under professional audio processing, after being deliberately isolated and amplified, they were clearly distinguishable.

Song Tianhao turned off the audio. The conference room fell into silence again, but the girls' hearts could not calm down. They had heard it—those faint choruses that persisted even amidst the booing.

[part:gemini-3.5-flash]

"Do you hear that?" Song Tianhao's voice rang out, calm but carrying a strange power. "The people who insult you want to see you cry, want to see you in a wretched state, want to see you collapse and never recover, disappearing from the stage forever.

Because they are afraid. They are afraid you will climb back up, afraid you will become even better than before, and afraid that the harm they once inflicted will ultimately become the medals of your achievement."

He stood up, walked to the screen, turned around, and looked at them with eyes as bright as torches.

"So, why should you give them what they want?"

"They want to see you cry, so you must laugh. Laugh brighter than anyone else, laugh louder than anyone else."

"They want to see you sink, so you must fly even higher. High enough that even if they stand on their tiptoes and strain their necks, they still can't reach you."

"They attack you with darkness, so you return the favor with sunshine. Use the sweetest songs, the brightest smiles, and the most dreamlike stage to expose their malice hiding in the shadows, leaving them with nowhere to hide and feeling utterly ashamed."

He paused, speaking clearly and deliberately, word by word:

"This is what real revenge is."

"Counter pain with joy. Crush reality with dreams. Use 'I'm living ten thousand times better than you imagined' to make everyone who ever wished you ill completely question their lives."

These words were too harsh, too direct, and too... satisfying. Like a powerful medicine, they instantly dispelled the hesitation and gloom in the girls' hearts.

Indeed, why live according to those people's expectations? Why use their malice to punish themselves and restrict their own possibilities?

Jessica Jung had been listening with her arms crossed. At this moment, she was the first to lower her arms and sit up straight. She didn't look at Song Tianhao; instead, she looked at the sisters around her, and then at the screen.

Then, she raised her hand and said calmly, "I agree with this direction."

Her voice was clear, carrying her usual calmness, but there was a spark dancing deep in her eyes.

"But," she shifted her tone, looking at Song Tianhao, "the choreography. The dance for this song can't just be some template thrown together by a random choreographer the company found. I want to participate in the choreography. At least, I want to have a say in my parts and the overall style control."

This unexpected initiative and request made the other members look at Jessica Jung in surprise. Even a flicker of approval flashed in Song Tianhao's eyes.

"You can," Song Tianhao agreed almost without hesitation. "The dance team has already been assembled, and the head choreographer will be here tomorrow. You are a member, but also one of the co-choreographers. I want to see your ideas."

"And the lyrics," Kim Taeyeon also spoke up softly, her eyes falling on the lyric sheet that had been displayed in sync with the demo playback earlier. "For the line 'Tell me your wish', I think the vocal run and tone can be adjusted a bit more to be... more dreamlike, but without losing the sense of power."

"You can work out the details with the production team." Song Tianhao nodded, then looked at the others. "Anyone who has any thoughts on this song or this comeback, now or later, can bring them up. I don't want obedient puppets; I want artists with their own ideas.

This project is called 'Girls Generation 2.0'. It's not a continuation of 1.0, but an evolution, a transformation. And the first step of transformation is to break all preconceptions, including the ones you have of yourselves."

Just then, there was a soft knock on the conference room door, and a man in his forties with a somewhat arrogant expression was led in by Jang Se-hoon.

Jang Se-hoon introduced, "President, this is Mr. Choi Sung-wook, whom we contacted earlier. He previously served as a vocal coach for S.M. artists."

This Mr. Choi glanced at the nine girls sitting around the conference table with an expressionless face, merely nodding to Song Tianhao. Then, his eyes fell on the speakers still looping the demo of "Genie".

He listened for a dozen seconds, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly as he muttered in a low voice. It wasn't loud, but it was very clear in the quiet conference room:

"This song... the melody is catchy, but isn't the overall style too... childish? Like a nursery rhyme. What Girls Generation needs right now is a song with depth, something that can showcase growth and power, right?"

These words made the expressions of several girls change slightly.

Song Tianhao didn't even look at Mr. Choi. He simply said to Manager Jang, "Manager Jang, take Mr. Choi to finance to settle today's consulting fee, and then show him out."

"W-what?" Mr. Choi was stunned, his face turning a bit embarrassed. "President Song, I am speaking from a professional perspective..."

"Your professional perspective is 'nursery rhymes'?" Song Tianhao finally looked at him, his gaze calm and undisturbed. "My professional perspective is that what I need is music that understands joy, creates dreams, and ignites the stage, not some pseudo-profound tragedy.

My artists do not need to use 'depth' to pander to a so-called 'sense of high class'. What they need is to strike people's hearts with the most direct, purest joy and charm. If you can't understand that, it means you don't belong here. Goodbye."

Mr. Choi's face turned red and white in turns. Under Jang Se-hoon's calm but firm hand gesture of "after you," he finally left the conference room in embarrassment.

This little interlude instead dispersed the last trace of doubt in the girls' hearts. The president was using his actions to demonstrate his attitude and determination: what he wanted, without question, was this "dazzlingly sunny" and "dreamily happy" song, "Genie".

Song Tianhao acted as if nothing had happened and gestured to Jang Se-hoon. Jang Se-hoon took out nine bound proposals, their covers completely blank, and distributed them to the nine girls one by one.

The proposal was very thick, but when they flipped to the first page, there was only a simple headline: Girls Generation 2.0 - "Genie" Comeback Proposal. Below it was a large blank space, waiting to be filled.

"Take the proposals back and read them. Inside, there are detailed comeback schedules, promotional strategies, styling directions, dance training plans, and so on."

Song Tianhao pointed to the blank covers in their hands. "But I left the cover blank. I want the nine of you to each use one color to draw your current imagination of 'Girls Generation', of this comeback, and of the future.

Draw whatever you want—symbols, lines, blocks of color, or even just a signature. Nine colors combined together will be the new beginning."

He gestured to Jang Se-hoon to play a video. It was a video clip of T-ara crying, hugging, and incoherently expressing their gratitude backstage after winning first place on Music Bank. In the footage, the six girls cried without any regard for their image, yet they smiled incredibly brightly, their eyes filled with a survivor-like ecstasy and radiance.

"This group, T-ara, is another girl group under my company." Song Tianhao's voice accompanied the cheers and crying in the video. "Three months ago, they were still practicing in a dilapidated basement, treated like garbage by their former agency, and were on the verge of disbanding.

Now, they are number one on the digital charts. I told them to let their stage do the talking and slap their detractors in the face with their achievements. Now, I am giving you the exact same words."

The video ended, and the conference room fell silent, save for the girls' slightly rapid breathing. They looked at the blank covers of the proposals in their hands, then at T-ara's crying and laughing faces frozen on the screen.

Finally, their eyes met, and they saw a sparked flame and a gradually hardening resolve in each other's eyes.

The meeting ended, and the girls left one after another with their thick proposals, each with different thoughts. Kim Taeyeon, as the leader, stayed until the very end.

She walked up to Song Tianhao, pointed to the line "Tell me your wish" on the open lyric sheet, and asked somewhat hesitantly, "President, this line... and this tone, do we really have to sing it so... so sweet and direct?"

Song Tianhao looked at her. "Do you dislike this approach?"

Kim Taeyeon shook her head, her brow slightly furrowed. "I don't dislike it, it's just..."

She seemed to be searching for the right words. Finally, as if making up her mind, she cleared her throat, closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she tried to adjust her facial expression.

Then, using a sweet tone she had never used in formal settings, Kim Taeyeon softly sang that line:

"Tell me your wish~?"

After singing, she was stunned for a moment, seemingly shocked by her own attempt. Then, a blush crept onto her face, and she couldn't help but burst into a chuckle, with a hint of self-deprecation and disbelief. "It seems... not bad either?"

Song Tianhao looked at the smile and blush on her face, the corners of his mouth curving upward as a flash of satisfaction showed in his eyes.

"Then it's settled," he made the final decision. "Go tell them that starting tomorrow, the practice room on the first floor of the Villa will be open 24 hours a day, and you can use it anytime. Vocal, dance, and physical training—the schedule is in the proposal. I want to see 'Genie' come alive through you within a month."

Kim Taeyeon hugged the proposal to her chest and turned to walk toward the door. By the door, she stopped, turned around, and looked at Song Tianhao, who had already started packing up, and said very seriously and softly:

"President, thank you."

Song Tianhao didn't even raise his head. He just waved his hand dismissively, his voice flat:

"It's too early to thank me."

"Wait until you stand on the stage of Music Bank and win first place for 'Genie'..."

He paused, finally raising his head. His gaze pierced through the dim light of the conference room, landing on Kim Taeyeon's brightened eyes.

"It won't be too late to thank me then."