Chapter 34
“A gift?”
What kind of gift are they talking about?
I looked around for a gift box, but there was nothing.
The managers were empty-handed, and so were our kids.
“I don’t see anything.”
“It’s not here. We have to go somewhere else.”
They had a look of mischief in their eyes.
And in the hand of our team’s rapper, there was a blindfold. He smiled and handed it to me when I looked at him.
“…You want me to wear this?”
“It’s a surprise gift, Hyung.”
“You really know how to surprise me in many ways.”
I answered without enthusiasm and put on the blindfold.
It became pitch black.
The only sensations I felt were the cool air of the recording studio and the chatter of voices.
“Come on, let’s go. Hyung.”
I got up, hearing the calm voice of Bi-ju.
Someone grabbed my arm and led me. It felt solid, so it must be Jung-hyun.
I heard Jihoo’s laughter.
“You look like a Reesin, Hyung.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a character from a game. He’s old like you… Ouch!”
I couldn’t see, but I guessed by the sound and slapped him.
I heard Ri-hyuk’s delighted noise.
The youngest groaned and complained.
“How can you hit someone you can’t see? Are you a bat or something?”
“Do you still expect logic from that guy? He knocked down the CEO and the director last time.”
“Knocked down?”
I frowned.
“I’m not a bad guy, you know.”
Then I heard the faint voice of Director Yoon Seok-hwan.
“I went to the hospital the next day, Woojoo.”
“…I’m sorry.”
I heard the faint laughter of the others.
‘That was no joke back then’ kind of conversations.
I recalled the incident that was caused by my unconscious mimicry ability and realized something.
After I got the mimicry ability.
I felt like my balance and perception skills had improved overall.
I was sure I was blindfolded and couldn’t see, but I could walk steadily without losing balance.
“Why are you walking so well? Did you put the blindfold on properly, Jung-hyun Hyung?”
A big hand touched my eyes.
“It seems fine.”
“Really? You’re walking too smoothly…”
“Do you want to check?”
“No, thanks. Last time I put my hand on your shoulder, the director got smashed.”
“Ri-hyuk Hyung, the director is making a sad face right now.”
I couldn’t see, but I felt like I could see his expression and laughed.
I headed to the lobby with the blindfold on.
I heard a click sound.
Someone must have pressed the elevator button.
“How is it, Woojoo Hyung? Can you walk with your eyes closed?”
“So-so.”
“How much? Can you walk without us holding your hand?”
I said with a smile.
“I have more confidence in finding the way than Bi-ju.”
“Hyung.”
Bi-ju called me with a sad tone and everyone laughed.
On the first day of the music Broadcast, Bi-ju got lost in the Broadcasting station.
It was a famous story in the company.
When the elevator arrived and we moved again.
I asked the question that I had been holding until then.
“Why did we take the elevator if we’re going back to the second floor?”
“…”
A moment of silence.
“See? I told you he would know.”
Ri-hyuk said and everyone murmured.
The youngest tried to cover it up.
“It’s not the second floor here, Hyung. Right, guys?”
“That’s right. This is the third floor.”
“Exactly. There’s no need to assume it’s the second floor.”
I chuckled at the absurd words.
I took off the blindfold again when I walked through the second floor corridor, passed by the recording studio where I was before, and entered another room.
This seemed like a place I had never been to before.
There were only two rooms that I had been to on the second floor.
The main recording studio where I had lessons with Director Jo Kyu-hwan and the studio of Daisy, a member of Scarlet, whom I helped move her stuff in early January.
But this room was different from those two.
Soon, I took off the blindfold.
“Ta-da! We’re here!”
As I adjusted to the bright light, a unfamiliar scene entered my eyes.
A small room with a recording booth.
It was about the same size as the living room of the dorm.
There was a sofa, and on the desk with various audio equipment and speakers, there was a laptop set up.
“…What is this?”
As I looked around in confusion, Director Jo said.
“Well, you hit the jackpot with ‘Something’. The company had different opinions on what to give you as a reward. It didn’t seem appropriate to just treat you to a meal, but it also felt weird to give you money.”
“So this is…”
“Right. This is your personal studio.”
I opened my mouth in disbelief.
And then I looked around again.
The soundproofing equipment and facilities in the room felt unfamiliar.
…This is my studio?
He looked at me with disbelief and asked.
“Why do you look so incredulous?”
“This is too big of a surprise. Are you sure this is not a hidden camera and you have another gift?”
At that, Bi-ju reassured me.
“We didn’t believe it at first either, but this is real. Hyung.”
“Really?”
“Really. I can bet on Ri-hyuk hyung.”
“Why me?”
Ri-hyuk, who was grumbling, also said to me.
“Believe it. This is really your studio.”
“But I haven’t done anything yet…”
Director Jo said.
“You don’t have to feel too pressured. It’s not a free gift, it’s an investment in your potential. The CEO and the other staff all unanimously agreed on this decision.”
I see.
I felt a bit numb as I looked at the equipment in the studio.
There was a synthesizer that I had always drooled over on the internet, and speakers from a brand that was famous for its sound quality.
The soundproof glass of the recording studio looked sturdy like a bunker.
I took in all of that with my eyes and muttered.
“This is not a dream, right?”
I asked Manager Yoon Seok-hwan.
“Hyung, can you say something to wake me up from this dream?”
“You still haven’t rejected that military variety show, right?”
“So this is not a dream.”
I looked around the studio, hearing the laughter of the people.
It was a small room, or rather, it looked small.
But to my eyes, it was bigger and more beautiful than any other room.
My chest felt tight with emotion.
“So this is really my studio.”
“Well, technically, it’s everyone’s studio. How do you like it?”
I nodded silently.
Seeing my expression, Min-ki hyung, who was filming me with a camera, Seok-hwan hyung, and the other members had smiles on their lips.
“How do you feel, hyung?”
I just smiled at Bi-ju’s question.
Because this was a feeling that I couldn’t explain in words.
***
Some might say that getting a small room as a gift was nothing to fuss about, but it meant a lot to us.
It had a symbolic meaning.
That was recognition.
It was proof that we were recognized by the company.
We were no longer just trainees who had to practice in the basement, but finally acknowledged as artists.
That meant that we had value worth investing in.
That’s why we couldn’t help but be moved.
“Let’s eat!”
After the director left the studio, we sat around the pizza he bought us and chatted happily.
“I can’t believe we have a studio now… It still feels unreal.”
Bi-ju said, and the youngest, who had tomato stains all over his mouth, nodded.
“Yeah. We have our own space now. Honestly, I wasn’t jealous when Scarlet debuted first, but I was really envious when they said they would make a studio for them.”
“Wipe your mouth, Wang Ji-ho. You weren’t jealous when Scarlet debuted?”
“Yeah. I talked about it all day then.”
Ji-ho looked at Bi-ju for help, but our main dancer just smiled and brushed off the pizza crumbs from the maknae’s mouth.
“Well, anyway, that’s that. The important thing is that we have a studio now.”
“Yeah, it feels good.”
“Right. I feel like we’re accepted.”
“Well, it’s not bad.”
As the younger ones agreed one by one, I remembered something I had forgotten because of the word ‘work’.
“Speaking of work, there’s something about the next album.”
I told them what I had talked with Director Jo Gyu-hwan earlier.
That making good songs was more important than gaining fans.
And that he would put my song on the debut album.
“So I need your help.”
I said.
“I think it’s hard for me to compose alone. Just like Jang So-won sunbae helped us with Something, I want to compose with you guys this time. What do you think?”
“I’m in, hyung.”
Jung-hyun extended his fist and said.
“I’ll take care of the rap part for sure.”
I smiled and fist-bumped with him.
The other members also nodded and said they would help.
“I especially need the help of Ri-hyuk and Jung-hyun.”
“Huh? Why is my name suddenly mentioned?”
Ri-hyuk, who was nibbling on a pizza, widened his eyes.
“You and Jung-hyun know how to arrange, right?”
“Jung-hyun hyung is good at it. I’m just at a basic level.”
“You two were in charge of the arrangement for the end-of-year evaluation before I came.”
Besides, I clearly remember what he said to me.
When we were preparing for the end-of-year evaluation last year, I suggested an idea for the arrangement and he said this.
-That’s too difficult. I like the idea, but it will take at least two weeks to arrange this. The only ones who know how to arrange among us are Jung-hyun hyung and me.
When I repeated his words, Ri-hyuk made a dumbfounded expression.
“How do you remember that? Why do you have such a good memory?”
“It’s a family trait.”
Ji-ho chuckled.
“That’s just the arrangement. This hyung was bluffing then. He really only knows the basics.”
“Hey, Wang Ji-ho.”
“Why? I’m just telling the truth.”
“You’re no help at all. Seriously.”
I had a feeling that he was avoiding or dodging the topic whenever I talked about composing.
So he didn’t know anything about it.
Our Ri Hyuk.
I turned my head to the rapper who was inhaling pizza like a vacuum cleaner.
“You’re the only one left.”
“Yes, you can trust me.”
He might not seem very reliable, considering his usual laid-back attitude, but Jung-hyun was a talented rapper.
Rappers basically write their own lyrics for their job.
That’s why they also had a high level of understanding when it came to making music.
Most of the idols who were called composer-dols were rappers for that reason.
While eating pizza, Jung-hyun and I took the lead in discussing our debut song.
“Our debut is in June, so how about a seasonal song? Something refreshing and catchy for the summer.”
“That sounds good. Maybe something like tropical house?”
“But guys, doesn’t tropical house feel more like a girl group thing? I think deep house would suit us better.”
“Really? I never thought of it that way.”
“I think it would be nice to have a catchy melody, even if it’s not the hook. Something that makes you hum along as soon as you hear it.”
“Like Something?”
“Yeah, like the melody that Jang So-won sunbae made.”
A catchy melody like Something…
But that was possible thanks to the melody that Jang So-won sunbae made.
Could I make something like that?
To be honest, I was skeptical.
Objectively speaking, I had the ability to utilize existing things, but not to create something new.
Then I would have to apply something that someone else made.
“Is there any basic source that someone made?”
“There should be plenty in the company’s shared folder. There are also a lot of things that the A&R team made and discarded.”
At Ri Hyuk’s words, Jung-hyun made an ah sound.
He looked like he remembered something important.
“What is it?”
“Come to think of it, there’s a really good source in the shared folder.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there’s something that someone made and left. This is a famous story in the company.”
Before he continued, the other members made ah sounds.
“I know that story too. Are you talking about that?”
“I think that’s it.”
What? What is it?
“What kind of source is it?”
“Well, I don’t know how long it’s been there, but there’s a strange source. It seems like it could be a hit song if it’s polished well. But…”
“But?”
“The problem is that the sound is really weird. If you cut here, it pops out there, and if you cut there, it pops out here. It’s really hard to fix, no matter how much you touch it.”
Jung-hyun’s words were supplemented by Ri Hyuk.
“The company’s A&R team composers tried to fix it, but they all gave up. They said it was a shitty source.”
“Is it that hard?”
Jung-hyun answered.
“It’s not hard when you first hear it, but it’s really tricky when you actually try to work on it. You’ll see when you listen to it. I also tried it once, but I gave up because it was impossible.”
What the hell is it?
I decided to listen to it first and turned on my laptop. Then I entered the company’s shared folder and played the file in question.
Untitled_(1).
It was a title that meant untitled.
I clicked on it with a nervous feeling, like an athlete before a game.
Soon, the melody flowed out of the speaker.
I frowned as I heard the monotonous sound.
Huh?
What is this, it’s really weird.
They kept saying it was weird, but I wondered what was weird about it. But there was definitely something that caught the listener’s ear.
It made me want to listen more.
I could see why the composers were tempted by it.
I felt like starting to work on it right away.
But the real weird thing was how I felt right now.
When did I feel like this?
I quickly found the answer as I thought about when I felt the same way as now.
The first day I went to Hwi Entertainment.
When I heard the melody that Jang So-won sunbae made.
I felt goosebumps on my arms and a melody in my head.
I wondered… would it be the same now?
I closed my eyes, but unlike last time, the melody that would accompany the main theme did not come to me automatically.
But the more I listened to this source, the more I felt a strange conviction.
If I had to make something for my debut album, it had to be this.
I played the same source over and over again, dozens of times.
I finally made up my mind.
“Guys.”
I said, looking at the file name ‘Untitled’.
“Let’s give this a title, shall we?”