Chapter 11 |
The preparations for the official theme song stage were accelerating, and it was time to start preparing in earnest for the upcoming performance. This also meant it was time to begin recording.
The S-Class trainees were packed into a van and driven to the recording studio. It seemed that transportation and recording would be divided by grade.
As we opened the door to the recording studio, there were several staff members and the camera was filming a man.
When he spotted us, he stood up and shook our hands. The man, who looked to be in his 40s, had a friendly and approachable demeanor.
“Hello, I’m Zebra, the composer of the official theme song.”
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
After shaking hands with each of the trainees, the composer sat back in his chair, flipped through his papers, and smiled when he saw my face.
“Hmm, Trainee Han Seungbeom will be the first to enter the recording room.”
The other trainees were buzzing with excitement as this was the first time they visited a recording studio, but from my perspective as a composer, it all just looked like delays. Recording with 77 people was by no means an easy task.
I quickly entered the room, put on my headset, and stood in front of the microphone. The composer smiled with satisfaction.
“Seungbeom, are you ready? Can you hear my voice well?”
“Yes, I can.”
I spoke into the mic, and the composer gave me the okay sign with his finger.
“You’ll sing all the parts like the rest of your friends. Since the official song doesn’t have any individual parts, all 77 voices will be included. However, Seungbeom is the center, so you’ll be singing the part before the intro on your own. You received this information, right?”
He asked me if I had practiced my solo part well. I smiled slightly and answered obediently.
“Yes, I’ve been practicing hard for it.”
“Oh boy, you look even more handsome when you smile. Okay, great. Let’s get started.”
Smiling fondly, the composer took the pen in his hand.
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.
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“Bet on me. JACKPOT! Born to be IDOL. That’s me
“Okay! Very good!”
The composer clapped with great satisfaction.
“What is this, one shot one kill? What’s your position? I heard from the production team that center is not from the vocal position, so I didn’t have high expectations.” The composer, his hands wrapped around the back of his neck in disbelief, asked me.
“I’m not, I’m in dance position.”
If it’s not vocal, then it must be dance, obviously.
“Wow, you’re in the dance position but can sing this well? And you’re really good looking too. Isn’t this totally unfair?”
“Thank you.”
‘Ah, it’s a piece of cake.’
Idols who composed their own music were typically multi-talented in various areas.
As you started to see the overall picture; that singing like this would make the vocals sound amateurish, and dancing like this wouldn’t do the song justice—your perspective took a 180-degree turn, from just being a performer to someone who was truly analyzing the song.
In other words, it was no different from solving a problem by accurately understanding the intention of the person who asked the question.
I might not be naturally gifted in singing, but I knew best how to bring the song to life.
‘The face isn’t mine, it’s Han Seungbeom’s that’s good-looking.’
I fixed my headset for the next recording. My head was so small that it kept slipping off.
“Huh, the recording is over?”
The composer, who saw me getting ready to record again, urgently spoke up. I looked at him like a fool.
“Yes?”
“I told you it was one shot one kill. Everything you sang will be included! Come out quickly! Come out quickly!”
“Ah …. all right. Thank you.”
At the joking composer’s words, I awkwardly took off my headset and walked out of the recording room in a daze.
‘If it were me, I wouldn’t have given the okay sign at this point. The composer is being really lenient. Maybe it’s because I’m a trainee, so the expectations are low.’
It was completely different from me, who kept making my members do it again and again until they were in tears and begging me to let them out.
Next in line, Lee Hwayoung entered the recording studio, and since I had to wait for the other S-Class trainees, I sat down on the soft sofa outside the recording studio. It was cozy.
‘Finishing the recording early is more convenient than I thought. Guys, I’m sorry.’
I would like to express my deepest apologies to the former members.
Ah, a truly sincere apology.
***
“Do you like it that much?”
“Yes! It was fun. Recording, I wasn’t as nervous as I thought.”
When I asked Do Yuda, who was giggling the whole time, he replied quickly.
Throughout our vocal classes for the official theme song, Do Yuda often received various corrections from vocal trainer Seezy. The correction proved to be effective, as the composer showered him with praise at the end of the recording.
‘The official theme song will likely be finished with this guy’s voice as the centerpiece.’
In fact, the vocalist Seezy never once criticized me. She always gave me positive comments like ‘You’re flawless‘ and ‘You’re so skilled.’ However, it was different for Do Yuda. Seezy pointed out every detail, from pronunciation to the range of vibrato, and provided feedback on everything.
‘I think she recognized his talent and got greedy.’
Artists naturally become greedy when they see natural geniuses in their field. They would have a desire to nurture that young prodigy’s talent. It seemed like Seezy was trying to raise Do Yuda properly.
And Do Yuda might be a fool, but he was wise enough to repay someone who recognized his worth with the utmost enthusiasm.
“Your collaboration trainer was also Seezy-nim.”
We were on our way to the practice room to practice with our assigned trainers, so the conversation naturally shifted to that.
“That’s right. I was really startled when she came running at me so quickly during the choosing time back then.”
“That’s because you’re so good.”
“Hee, hyung, you’re with Trainer Jay, right?”
He grinned widely when I patted his head and complimented him, then excitedly asked.
“Yeah.”
“How is it? Do you think it’ll be okay? Anyway, since we have to perform with the trainer’s song, yours must be something like a Prism song? Ugh, if it were me, I think I’d be really scared. Their songs are so difficult.”
It’s the song I made, you little brat.
“Well, since the trainers are doing most of the performance, the public will probably be more interested in their stage than ours. We’ll probably just show our face as featured artists.”
“That’s probably true?” The guy, looking sullen, spoke with the corners of his mouth down.
“Still, it’s not like you won’t get anything out of it, so do your best. Opportunities to share the stage with those seniors don’t come easily.”
“Yes! I’m going to do my best!”
“Good. You’re on that side, right? I’m going now.”
“Bye, hyung!”
I greeted him in front of Practice Room 1 and parted ways with Do Yuda. The practice room he had to go to was a bit farther away, the Practice Room 5, which had excellent soundproofing.
As I opened the practice room door and walked in, Jay, with his makeup and hair fully done, greeted me.
‘Why did he come all dressed up like that again?’
If Han Seungbeom didn’t have such a crazy visual, things might have gotten dangerous.
“Trainee Han Seungbeom, hello! Welcome.”
“Hello.”
I bowed to greet him, trying to suppress the goosebumps.
“Yes, yes.”
Then, the guy who kept nodding and grinning softly tapped my back. He had been our youngest for so long, so it was funny seeing him try so hard to act like a senior.
“Don’t be nervous. Just think of it as practicing for your debut in advance.”
“Yes.”
To hell with debut practice. I already debuted, you brat.
“How much did you practice? Did you practice well after watching the dance video I sent you?”
“I’ve practiced it for the company evaluation before, so I had no trouble memorizing it. I still remember the lyrics as well.”
It wasn’t a lie. The day after I joined the agency, they suddenly told me there would be a performance evaluation, so it was true that I chose Prism’s song that I could perform right away.
“Wow, you performed our group’s song for the performance evaluation? That’s pretty amazing? I was worried because the practice period was so short, but I’m glad to hear that. Since you didn’t learn the choreography directly, there might be some mistakes, so I’ll review it for you. Come stand in front of the mirror.”
“Okay.”
It was a choreography I created, so there was no way I had learned it wrong. Still, for the sake of appearances, I decided to go along with Jay’s suggestion.
Before starting the actual practice, I bit the left side of the hoodie I was wearing over my practice uniform and unzipped it. After taking it off and throwing it on the floor, I turned around and made eye contact with Jay, who was staring at me.
“.…Is there something wrong?”
“…….”
‘How can this kid be zoning out in front of his junior. We’re in a situation where every second counts, but he still can’t come to his senses.’
I was itching to give him a smack on the head, but I barely held myself back. Right now, I am Han Seungbeom. I couldn’t act like Seo Yutae.
“Trainer-nim?”
I called out again, and Jay, who had finally regained his senses, waved frantically.
“Ah! Sorry. We don’t have much time, so shall we start practicing right away?”
.
.
.
We finished practicing the choreography and movement at an unusually fast pace, and were about to start the vocal practice when he called out to me.
“Seungbeom, why don’t we go outside and talk for a while? I’m thirsty, so let’s get some drinks.”
‘This kid, he’s making excuses about being thirsty again.’
Since his trainee days, Jay would always talk about drinks whenever practice got boring. I almost frowned out of habit, but with the rationality I barely managed to hold onto, I nodded quietly.
Let’s not forget. I am Han Seungbeom, a twenty-year-old trainee.
“Yes. That would be nice.”
“Seungbeom, what do you want to eat?”
“I’m not very hungry, so I’m fine.”
“Oh, drop the camera, we’ll just rest a bit and come back.”
Stopping the camera director who was about to follow, Jay grabbed my wrist and led the way out.
Despite wearing a coat, the winter of January was really cold. Since I have a hard time with the cold, I couldn’t help but huddle up immediately. Jay glanced at me briefly and then walked on in silence.
‘Is he trying to freeze me to death?’
“…….”
He didn’t let go of my wrist until we were far enough away from the center that I couldn’t even see any cameras.
“.…Trainer-nim, it hurts.”
“…….”
There was no answer.
‘Kid, what’s wrong?’
“Trainer Jay-nim?”
When I called him again, the guy who gave me no answer the whole time stopped. Then, he turned around.
“You’re not that tall, but it seems like you’re used to looking down on people. As if you used to be taller.”
“…….”
“You’re really sensitive to the cold. You bite your clothes when you unzip them. You don’t even touch snacks. You practice like crazy without resting. You use your shoulders flexibly, but your lower body doesn’t wobble. When you concentrate, your right eye twitches. You’re like that, and that person was the same too.”
I heard the sound of teeth grinding, and that guy grabbed my wrist tightly. His eyes, which always carried a sense of playfulness and composure, were now wide open with a murderous glare.
“Even the parts that are unknown to the public are all creepily identical.”
‘Damn.’
The situation I was worried about happened.
“You, what are you?”
I tried to take a step back, but he wouldn’t let go of my arm.
‘This is why I didn’t want to do a collaboration stage with this guy.’
“Please let go of me.”
“Answer me properly. Don’t try to dodge my question. Are you trying to cosplay as Seo Yutae?”
‘Given his personality, if he thought I was just a cheap imitation, he would have openly humiliated me in front of the camera.’
From the moment this attention-seeker left the camera behind on purpose, I already knew.
We had known each other for too long.
I was really surprised when Han Seungbeom’s aunt noticed, but this guy was different. He knew me too well. From the moment he chose me for this collaboration, I had already mentally prepared myself to some extent.
‘What the hell is habit of unzipping. I don’t even know.’
Jay was the one who took care of me the most even among the members, so he knew so much about me during our time together, such as my personality and preferences. Especially my small habits, Jay probably knew them better than I do since he was always following me around like crazy.
“…….”
“Or … are you really hyung? Are you a ghost or something like that?”
Tears welled up in Jay’s eyes. The hand that held me tightly was trembling.
Han Seungbeom’s aunt strangely had complete certainty that I wasn’t Han Seungbeom. But this guy was different. He was clinging to me, as if he wanted to grab onto something as hopeless as a rotten rope.
I stared at Jay, who was desperately clinging to me, and then hesitated for a moment.
Should I ignore him and make up an excuse to get out of this situation, or should I tell him the truth?
“….Hyung?”
I sighed softly as I looked at this kid, who couldn’t stop crying and was staring at me with anxious eyes. Then, I opened my mouth.
“Let it go.”
“….What?”
“If you’ve figured it all out, then let it go. Stop glaring at your hyung so rudely.”
A real man doesn’t make excuses.
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Translator’s Corner:
I read this part like 20x times already klsjdjfdlkfdsj
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