Chapter 37 |
One of the many reasons why this happened was me.
In fact, with Do Yuda’s skill, he could carry any song on his own and successfully complete the stage, no matter how much pressure there was.
However, the song that Do Yuda’s team chose this time was PRISM’s Domination.
And that song was something I wrote to say ‘f**k you‘ after I got into a head-to-head fight with the main vocalist.
“Hyung, are you crazy? It seems like you already are, seeing that you even thought of putting so many high notes 5 in a row in a boy group song. Where on earth is the breathing section?”
“Our great Seo Yuseong said that he’s all grown up now and can do everything by himself without listening to his older brother. So, a song like this should be a piece of cake, right? Scared?“
To sum up the outcome of this sibling quarrel, Prism’s main vocalist, Seo Yuseong, ended up gritted his teeth and flawlessly sang the song. As much as I hate to admit it, I lost the battle of wills against that guy.
However, other idols were different.
As the song became a massive hit, Domination gained a reputation as a public execution song for idols. It was a song that no group other than Prism could ever pull off.
‘There’s no way trainees could pull off a song like that.’
Trainees often couldn’t accurately judge their own skill level. As a result, they would carelessly pick cool and popular songs, leading to disastrous outcomes.
Do Yuda had previously avoided Prism’s songs, so it was probably the other members who decided on the song.
“I can’t, I can’t breathe well. What should I do? Tomorrow is the performance … heuh, ukh.”
“…….”
The shaky breaths scattered sharply through the confined space of the props room.
‘He didn’t show it at all at the dorm.’
It was just recently that he put on a cheerful face and said he could handle it on his own, but I never imagined his condition would deteriorate this much.
His hands, tensed with excessive force, were trembling uncontrollably, but could not clench into a fist. His pale blue face was covered in cold sweat.
“Hyung, I … ukh, I still have to practice … heukh, I think I have to go practice. I’ll go.”
“…….”
As if signaling danger, his whole body was screaming in agony, but he was still worried about the tomorrow’s performance.
“Uh? I-I can’t put any strength..…”
He forced himself to his feet, then collapsed to the floor.
I was at a loss for words.
It was a total mess.
You can do well. Just do what you practiced. Calm down. When you reched this point, such words couldn’t be heard.
I made his upper body lean against mine, then I held his hand tightly and placed it over his chest.
The inside of the broadcasting station must have had the heater running full blast, yet Do Yuda’s hand was as cold as ice.
‘Damn, his fingertips are cold.’
The cause of hyperventilation was excessive stress and anxiety. I had to calm him down.
“It’s alright. Try not to breathe from your chest, like you do when you sing. You’ll be fine soon.”
“…….”
“Listen quietly to when I inhale and exhale. And follow along slowly. Trust me and follow me.”
The child, who was confused and anxious, closed his eyes tightly at my words.
He seemed to be trying to listen to my breathing.
I slowly inhaled, paused for a moment, and then exhaled again, slower, over a longer period of time. After a while, as I felt my chest rise and fall, Do Yuda gradually began to match his breathing to my pace.
“Haa, ha…..”
Once his breathing had settled, the guy, his limbs hanging limp, turned his head to look at me. Then, he mumbled absentmindedly.
“…What? What was that?”
Seeing him ask such a clueless question, it seemed like he was starting to feel a bit better.
“Light hyperventilation. Just slow down your breathing and calm down, and you’ll feel better.” I replied briefly, running a hand through his messy hair.
Do Yuda was lying limp, his limbs completely weakened, and I was holding onto his shoulder, causing his hair to become disheveled. I was genuinely worried about what would happen if someone walked in.
“Aha.”
“…….”
I originally had a simple personality, so I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but this situation was definitely not something I could easily overlooked.
This kind of hyperventilation syndrome could resurface at any time unless the anxiety and stress that pushed him to the edge are resolved. And if he didn’t have the good fortune of having someone he could rely on by his side, like today, the situation would quickly worsen.
Just like I did in my previous life.
‘…..What did I just think?’
For a moment, I felt a sense of dizziness along with a headache.
I couldn’t quite remember.
What I was thinking just now.
I pressed my throbbing temples and stayed still for a while, then Do Yuda slowly crawled toward me on his knees.
“Hyung, I…..”
From the way he started subtly looking at me, I gathered that he was planning to go back to practicing the song.
It wouldn’t work. At least while my eyes were open, I would never let him go.
I cupped Do Yuda’s cheeks with one hand and opened my mouth, “Do Yuda, do you remember what I often said?”
“..…Ummm.”
“Can’t you answer?”
“A good song cannot come from bad breathing.”
He, who had been stalling time by avoiding eye contact, answered in a very quiet voice.
“And?”
“….When practice, prioritize quality over quantity.”
“That’s right. Do you think you’re in a state where you can practice with those two things in mind?”
“Noo…..”
As if sensing my intentions, Do Yuda slumped and lowered his head. I let out a deep sigh and released my hold on his cheeks.
Given his current condition, no matter how much he practices, he would only strain his vocal cords without achieving any results. He should know that better than anyone, yet seeing him push himself like this only made me sigh in frustration.
“What happened during the rehearsal?”
As soon as I asked a question whose answer I could already predict, Do Yuda flinched as if he’d been hit right on target. Unable to withstand my sharp gaze, he slowly began to spill the beans one by one.
“….During the rehearsal feedback, the trainers said the song sounded sloppy because of my part. They said the performance was ruined because of my greed.”
“’Why did your greed have anything to do with it?”
The difficulty of the main vocalist part was hellish, so it was only natural that it looked sloppy. The trainers should have already known that, so I couldn’t quite understand why the word “greed” was used.
“They said the difficult parts should be left to those who are good at them, but in addition to the main vocal part, all the high-pitched parts were given to me. The trainers didn’t know the situation, so I think they just thought I was being greedy and took someone else’s part.”
“And you just listened to that without saying anything?”
“The evaluation atmosphere is already a mess, so if they see us pushing blame onto each other, it’ll be even worse. The members probably tried to blame me … they definitely wouldn’t have taken my side.”
“….Ha.”
I felt like ripping my chest open and pounding my bare chest like King Kong, letting out a loud roar.
But I was a modern human being with intelligence, so I held back.
“What about the live MR? I told you MR was out of the question. You must have the recorded file, right?”
At my question, Do Yuda folded his hands politely and kept his mouth shut. It seemed like this was something he didn’t really want to talk about.
But I had no intention of letting it slide.
“Tell the truth.”
“….The members said that if the AR is used, it’s not a real performance, so they told the production team while I wasn’t around that they wanted to do it live.”
“…….”
“…….”
“Haha. Hahaha. Hahaha. Ahaha!”
I forced out a laugh artificially. If I hadn’t done so, I felt like my head was going to explode.
‘F**k……’
I finally figured out the reason why Do Yuda, who had a steel-like positive mentality, crumbled apart so miserably.
When performing intense dance moves along with singing, 100% live performance was truly difficult. Especially if you’re a trainee. For parts where the upper body moved a lot or when breathing became too heavy, the pre-recorded vocals had to be subtly used to support the live performance.
But our Do Yuda’s team members seemed to insist on a clean MR, even though they weren’t the ones singing. And on top of that, for an “Idol Execution Song“.
“They really went all out bullying a kid, huh? It’s amazing how meticulous those young people can be. They have everything in place. Greedy main vocalist, professional spirit! Hahaha!”
Do Yuda’s eyes began to shake wildly at my furious laughter.
“Hyu-hyung! Calm down!”
“I, I was going to overlook it. I was planning to let them off hook because of Do Yuda’s expression. I was going to forgive them! And yet, how dare they?”
“Deep breath, take a deep breath!”
The situation seemed to have reversed. Do Yuda, who had become contemplative, was now trying to calm me down.
I stopped laughing.
And I looked at Do Yuda.
“I need to have a talk. I’m going now. Are you okay on your own?”
“Yes?”
“I said I’m going to have a conversation.”
“Who are you having a conversation with … huh! No, never mind. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to get involved in what hyung’s doing. There are things in the world that are more beautiful when you don’t know about them.”
Do Yuda, who was unconsciously about to ask me about what I was going to do, abruptly covered his mouth and shook his head frantically. It seemed like his cowardly soul was instinctively rejecting it.
“Yes. It’s better not to know. You’re wise.” I said with a bright smile.
***
I headed straight for the entrance to the audience area where the rehearsal feedback was taking place.
The production team seemed to be busily preparing something, and the trainers were sitting in front of the stage, passing the boring waiting time.
‘Found him.’
My target was Jay. That guy was casually sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of the trainers, playing with his phone.
“…….”
‘This isn’t the time to be doing that.’
As soon as I thought that to myself, he rubbed the back of his head and looked back.
Our eyes met.
There was no need for a long conversation between Jay and me. I pointed in front of me with my index finger and touched my neck with my thumb.
It was a hand signal I’d used often with Jay in my previous life.
“Huk!”
As soon as he realized that, the guy got up with a loud thud.
“Shall we take a short break? The trainers are exhausted, and the trainees seem too nervous. Let the production team sort things out, and then start properly again.”
With a plausible excuse, Jay halted the filming and quickly started running. The composure he had shown while leading the trainers and guiding the feedback was nowhere to be seen, and he was now visibly flustered.
I left him behind and headed straight for the parking lot through the emergency exit.
“Seriously, I’m losing my mind!”
I heard Jay’s voice in the back of my head, but I didn’t answer. I was planning to have a quiet conversation in the car anyway.
Then Jay’s footsteps quickened. The sound of his frantic footsteps echoed loudly in the quiet parking lot. I stopped in front of his car.
Less than 30 seconds later, he arrived.
Jay quietly took out the car key, opened the door, and got into the driver’s seat. Then, as if he were being punished, he looked down at his own hand.
“…….”
‘You’re falling for those little brats’ tricks? A little fox like you? You might as well tell me the Earth is flat.’
I sat in the passenger seat and didn’t say anything.
I was trying to calm my rising anger.
“….Is he the kid that you cherished, hyung?”
Having noticed the reason why I was furious, Jay lowered the ends of his eyebrows and asked quietly.
“……..”
“I was wrong……”
The meaning of the hand signal was, ‘You’re f**ked up now, so get out immediately‘.
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Translator’s Corner:
In case you’re unfamiliar,
MR: Music Recorded. Recording without any singing, just the instrumental music. Like in karaoke. So, when 100% MR is used, the singer is singing everything.
AR: All Recorded. Recording where both the singer’s voice and the instrumental music are all recorded, so it’s kinda the same as music you would stream on streaming sites just being played. 100% AR is what people call Lip-syncing.
Live AR: Recording where both singer’s voice and the instrumental music are recorded. However, unlike AR, it’s recorded as if the singers are singing it live, such as by including breathing. Like you know how usually before a concert, there’s a rehearsal. The singers will pre-recorded the song during that time.
Live MR: Live AR, except some parts are left blank where the singers can sing live.
So, basically the members of Do Yuda team said they’re going to sing the whole performance 100% live without using any pre-recorded vocals. Which was absurd because the song they performed has such complicated and intense dance choreo on top of so many high notes.