From A Producer To A Global Superstar-Chapter 343: Dayo’s back home
The flight from Tokyo to New York did not feel like travel. It felt like survival.
They left Japan after barely half a day of rest, not because they were strong, but because the schedule had become a beast that refused to be fed slowly. People slept in broken pieces. Some with their mouths slightly open. Some with their phones still in their palms. Some staring into the dark cabin like their bodies had forgotten how to relax.
Jang Wook slept with a tablet on his lap. Wayne had headphones on but nothing was playing. Yuri slept curled into herself like she was trying to shrink her nerves. Min Jae sat with his arms folded, eyes closed, but his expression still looked like he was solving problems in his head.
Dayo did not sleep much.
He watched the window and counted time silently, not with hours, but with urgency.
When the plane finally landed in New York, it was morning.
Cold air. Sharp wind. Bright sky.
The airport, however, was anything but calm.
Before the doors even opened fully, the noise was already pressing through like the fans had been waiting for weeks with their breath held. The moment Dayo appeared, the terminal erupted. It was not the screaming chaos of Korea. It was different. It was heavier. It was ownership. It was the sound of people who felt abandoned and proud at the same time.
"DAYO!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"YOU LEFT US!"
"WE MISSED YOU!"
Phones rose like a forest. Some people held album covers. Some held posters from the movie. Some held printed screenshots of Beijing’s sold out stadium. Some held signs that were half jokes and half threats.
One sign read:
YOU WENT TO ASIA AND STARTED A WAR. NOW COME AND FINISH IT HERE.
Security tried to push the lane open, but even security looked surprised by how many fans were there at that hour. The airport had barriers, but the barriers were shaking. Not because the crowd wanted violence, but because the crowd wanted proof. Proof that he was real. Proof that he was back.
Dayo raised his hand once.
The chant started immediately, clean and loud like the crowd had rehearsed it.
"DAY O! DAY O! DAY O!"
JD
JD
JD
He was tired, badly, but he walked closer anyway. He leaned in and signed, fast and controlled. Three albums. One hat. One movie poster. A girl near the front cried while laughing, clutching his old U.S. album like it was a relic.
"You betrayed us!" she shouted, but her face was smiling.
Dayo shook his head, voice calm.
"I came back, didn’t I."
That sentence hit the crowd like fuel.
They screamed again, louder, and security had to move him quickly before the pushing turned into something dangerous. He waved as he was guided away, then disappeared into the convoy like a man trying to protect his energy for what was coming next.
Inside the vehicle, Min Jae finally exhaled.
"They were waiting."
Dayo nodded.
"I know."
He did not go to a hotel first.
He went home.
The door opened before he could knock properly.
His little sister launched at him like a missile.
"Brother Dayo!"
He caught her, even though his shoulders protested, and she held him like she was afraid he would vanish again.
"You got thinner," she complained.
"You got taller," he replied.
His brother stood behind her, looking too relaxed for someone who had clearly been watching the driveway.
"So Asia didn’t kill you."
Dayo smirked faintly. "Still training?"
"Harder than you."
Dayo laughed quietly. "You always say that time would tell."
They ate together after a long while with Real food rather than take out and laughter filled the room. No cameras. No screaming. No stadium lights. His brother talked about training and competitions coming up. Just ambition and discipline. That familiar competitiveness. That same stubborn pride that Dayo carried too.
The banter helped Dayo breathe again.
But the moment the laughter faded, the weight returned.
Because the next morning was not family.
The next morning was war.
JD Label, United States branch.
Conference room.
Long table.
Screens ready.
Files stacked.
The people present were not there to praise him. They were there to make sure the machine did not collapse under the weight of what they had triggered.
Dayo sat at the head of the table.
Min Jae sat to his right.
Jang Wook sat with a thick folder in front of him, already looking exhausted.
Valerie sat opposite, laptop open, eyes sharp.
Wayne leaned forward, quiet, observing.
Alice sat slightly behind Dayo, as always, steady and alert.
Urich was there too, phone in hand, still trying to catch up on how insane the world had become.
Dayo spoke first, calm, controlled.
"No comfort talk today. Give me numbers. Clean numbers."
Jang Wook nodded once.
"I’ll handle Korea, and the Asia leg logistics that started from our end."
Valerie tapped her screen.
"I’ll handle United States and international totals."
Dayo nodded.
"Go."
Jang Wook exhaled, then opened the folder.
"First, the movie. Train to Busan. Three weeks old as of today."
He turned the first page.
"Korea is still the core engine. Korea has held strong for three straight weeks, even with the tour chaos and the album drop pulling attention."
He looked up once, then read.
"Korea box office, three week total: 182 million dollars."
Min Jae’s mouth twitched slightly. Even he still reacted sometimes.
Jang Wook continued, voice steady.
"Week one Korea: 78 million. Week two Korea: 61 million. Week three Korea: 43 million. The drop is normal, but the floor is unusually high because the tour and album kept pushing attention back into the film."
He flipped again.
"Korean attendance record is still clean. Busan and Seoul boosts happened because fans kept treating the movie like a movement, not just entertainment."
Dayo nodded slowly, absorbing it.
Jang Wook moved to album.
"Now the album. Two weeks old as of today."
He pointed to a section.
"Korea album physicals, city based sales only, meaning sales tied directly to show days and immediate local push."
He spoke carefully, because he knew Dayo hated messy numbers.
"Total Korea cities we have confirmed so far: 620,000 physical copies sold on show days."
He looked at Dayo to make sure the wording landed.
"That is not Korea’s full market total yet. That is not online store totals yet. That is not delayed orders. This is only what we have from the cities tied to the tour days."
Dayo nodded. "Good. Keep it clean."
Jang Wook turned the page again.
"Tour attendance. Korea leg had sold out venues with near full turnout. Busan was the loudest marker. We already saw 100 percent turnout patterns beginning there."
He paused slightly, then placed the folder down like he needed his hands free.
"Now, Valerie."
Valerie took over instantly, like a surgeon.
"United States first."
She tapped her screen, and the numbers filled the large display.
"Movie. Three weeks total worldwide is currently at 1.29 billion dollars."
The room went quiet.
Even Wayne blinked.
Valerie kept going.
"United States is still the highest single market, like we predicted."
She zoomed in.
"United States box office, three week total: 528 million dollars."
Urich whistled under his breath. He tried to stop himself but couldn’t.
Valerie added the weekly breakdown.
"Week one U.S.: 214 million. Week two U.S.: 186 million. Week three U.S.: 128 million."
She looked around the table.
"And that third week drop is normal. But the number is still insane because the Asia clips reignited U.S. interest. People are going back to watch the movie again just to feel included in the movement."
She switched tabs.
"International excluding Korea and U.S., three week total: 580 million dollars."
She broke it down without overloading.
"China is currently at 263 million total box office. Japan is currently at 141 million total. Europe combined is currently at 132 million total. Other markets are carrying the rest."
Jang Wook nodded. "That lines up."
Valerie moved to the album.
"Album. Two weeks old."
She didn’t smile. She didn’t hype it.
She just read the truth.
"U.S. album performance is the most aggressive we’ve seen from Dayo in years."
She pulled up the totals.
"U.S. physical album sales in two weeks: 710,000."
Wayne leaned back slowly. "That’s ridiculous."
Valerie continued.
"Week one U.S. physical: 420,000. Week two U.S. physical: 290,000."
She flipped to digital.
"U.S. streaming numbers are also dominating. Two week U.S. streams across major platforms: 1.34 billion."
The room stayed silent.
Because those numbers were not normal.
Valerie shifted to international album numbers.
"Now Asia show day physicals. These are the confirmed city tied numbers only, just like Jang Wook explained."
She pointed at the screen.
"Shanghai, confirmed. 62,000 tickets sold. 100 percent turnout. 280,000 physical copies sold in one day in Shanghai."
Dayo’s eyes narrowed slightly, because he remembered the shock of that day.
Valerie continued.
"Beijing, confirmed. Beijing National Stadium. 70,000 plus capacity. 100 percent turnout. 540,000 to 560,000 physical copies sold in one day in Beijing."
She paused.
"Tokyo, confirmed. Two nights. Night one, 180,000 physical copies. Night two, 200,000 physical copies."
She changed slide.
"Osaka, confirmed. 150,000 physical copies in one night."
Then she pulled up the total that matched what had already been established in earlier Chapters.
"Asia show day physical total confirmed so far, based on cities only, not full country totals: 1,970,000 physical copies."
She looked at Dayo.
"Nearly two million. And again, this is not counting the rest of China’s nationwide purchase wave, not counting Japan nationwide orders, not counting delayed shipping orders, not counting online store ripple. This is only what we have confirmed from show day surge in each city."
Dayo’s expression was calm, but his eyes were sharper now.
He asked one question.
"And streams?"
Valerie nodded.
"Asia region cumulative streams across supported platforms and regional services, two week total so far: between 1.8 and 2.2 billion."
Yuri’s mouth parted slightly.
She stared at the screen like she was watching someone else’s life.
Min Jae exhaled once, low.
Jang Wook rubbed his face.
Wayne shook his head slowly, then laughed once, quiet and disbelieving.
Urich muttered, "This is not a rollout. This is a takeover."
Valerie switched to tour revenue, because Dayo had asked for everything.
"Tour ticket revenue from the Asia leg, city totals only, based on confirmed attendance, average pricing tiers, and official venue splits."
She displayed it.
"Shanghai gross ticket revenue: 5.9 million dollars."
"Beijing gross ticket revenue: 7.1 million dollars."
"Osaka gross ticket revenue: 5.0 million dollars."
"Tokyo two nights combined gross ticket revenue: 14.3 million dollars."
"Korea leg combined gross ticket revenue confirmed so far: 14.1 million dollars."
She looked up.
"Asia leg ticket gross total confirmed so far: 46.4 million dollars."
She raised a finger slightly.
"Merch and album sales revenue are separate. Brand deals are separate. Streaming revenue is separate."
Jang Wook added quietly, "And we still have U.S. leg coming."
That sentence hung in the air.
Because everyone knew.
The U.S. leg was not going to be calm.
Dayo finally spoke again, voice steady.
"Good."
He looked around the room, one face at a time.
"We have one week to finish what we started."
No one asked why he was pushing the timeline like this.
They didn’t need the explanation.
They had learned the pattern.
When Dayo moved with urgency, it was because he could see a finish line they couldn’t.
And the reason for Dayo rushing them was simple secret the Globak spotlight card ends in a weeks time so he wanted to make the best of it and tour the U.S before then.
Valerie closed her laptop slightly.
"So what’s the U.S. plan?"
Dayo leaned back. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
"Four shows. Fast rotation. Major cities. No wasted days."
Wayne frowned, producer brain already calculating.
"That’s brutal."
"It has to be," Dayo replied.
Min Jae finally spoke, calm as always.
"If we do it, we do it clean. No mistakes."
Jang Wook nodded, exhausted but locked in.
"I’ll coordinate the venue confirmations and movement."
Valerie added, "I’ll handle PR timing and U.S. platform control."
Dayo looked at them.
"Then we move."
Outside that room, America was already boiling again.
Because while they were sitting under clean lights and numbers, the internet was screaming in a different language.
Dayo was back.
And the real show was about to begin.
