“Is it done?”
Hyunseung nodded wordlessly at Sarah’s question.
Mateo, sitting beside him, had his head lowered. Hyunseung did not know since when.
Creeeak!
Sarah Stewart came out of the booth with a refreshed look.
“I mean, I ended it in one take too, right?”
She asked with a small smile. Hyunseung looked steadily at Sarah Stewart’s face.
‘What on earth changed?’
Just earlier, she sang like a pitiful female lead in a romance film.
Clearly…
As if she could not read the atmosphere the song carried, it sounded like the rustle of a leaf swaying aimlessly.
So without saying anything, he just kept shouting, “Again.”
But nothing changed.
Even Mateo, who had kept his mouth shut, joined in and pushed Sarah Stewart, but the result was the same.
And then….
Sarah Stewart declared surrender and passed out on the sofa.
It was not that long.
Because the moment she made a groaning sound, Mateo woke her up.
Even so, maybe about thirty minutes had passed?
When Sarah woke up, the area around her eyes was reddened, like she might cry at any moment. He did not know why.
But only for a moment.
Sarah went into the booth again with a face that had turned stark white.
She even showed bold resolve, saying they should go with one take.
As if she already knew she would satisfy the two of them in a single take.
And just as she vowed, Sarah Stewart came out of the booth again after only one take.
If someone asked exactly what emotion she put into it, and how she sang it differently, he could not explain it.
Because it was an emotion even Hyunseung did not know.
‘Did she awaken or something?’
Hyunseung pushed down the distracting thoughts that kept rising and answered.
“It wasn’t one take.”
“Can’t you just count it as that?”
“If it isn’t, how can I say it is?”
“If you sleep and wake up, it’s a reset!”
It seemed that hearing there were Korean singers who finished recording in one take had really provoked her, because Sarah kept forcing it, trying to create the “fact” that she “finished in one take.”
Seriously, her competitive streak is too strong.
“Then should we reset the misutgaru every time you sleep and wake up too?”
At that, Sarah Stewart pouted like it was unfair, then glanced once at Mateo.
Mateo still did not say anything.
But neither Hyunseung nor Sarah spoke to him.
Somehow, it felt like they should not.
Scrape!
Right then, Mateo kicked back his chair, stood up, and opened his mouth.
“I’m a bit tired, so can we meet again tomorrow and do the post work then?”
“Why don’t we just finish it today? Wouldn’t that be better than having to see me until tomorrow?”
To be honest, doing it tomorrow would be fine. Hyunseung’s energy was already completely drained from consecutive work.
But he had a lot to do, so he had no choice but to hurry.
“Y-Yeah. Wouldn’t it be better to finish everything today?”
At that moment, Sarah Stewart chimed in too. Even though her gaze was pointed elsewhere, it was clearly a suggestion telling Mateo not to leave.
“Uh, th-then should I?”
At those words, Mateo quickly took his seat again.
For sure….
It seemed some kind of change had happened in Sarah Stewart.
Right now, Sarah was so exhausted from drowsiness that she was putting coffee to her lips instead of misutgaru.
But the reason she stubbornly stayed, saying she would even participate in the post work was…
“Old man’s vocals are on the weaker side, so let’s reinforce this section with doubling.”
“Let’s do that. Ah, and here, in Sarah’s bridge section, I’m planning to go without any effects at all….”
Because she wanted to capture with her own eyes the final mastering work of the only two geniuses she acknowledged.
Sarah likes singing, but she likes making a song and taking it apart and reassembling it just as much.
Which is to say….
For Sarah, the situation unfolding in front of her right now was one of those scenes she could never miss, even if the entire universe tried to stop her.
“Here, it sounds like the voice gets swallowed, so it would be better to lower the volume.”
Mateo, known not just across America but to the world as a famous composer.
“No. Then the voice will get swallowed together with the accompaniment. In other words, it’ll be bad.”
HS, a rising star composer who had just started making a name on Billboard.
“Hm?”
As the tense work between the two continued.
“Can you guarantee that?”
Mateo asked back, eyebrows twitching. A strange expectation flickered across his face.
“Do you have to listen to know that?”
Even sitting right beside Mateo, HS answered playfully at once, without shrinking even a bit, and shrugged his shoulders.
Tap, tataratak, tap!
After moving his hands quickly for a moment.
“Here, listen. It’s bad, right?”
He played the newly edited section.
“I see.”
Mateo nodded immediately without much comment.
If it were Mateo, he might have insisted once or offered another method to press him down, but he did not, which was surprising.
In a way, it also meant he respected him as an equal producer.
Of course, even to Sarah’s ears, the section revised according to Mateo’s opinion was bad.
But until HS applied it and played it back, Sarah had inwardly agreed with Mateo’s opinion too.
Which meant HS had already “heard” it in his head and predicted it would be bad and that prediction hit.
Something even Mateo, with his long career, did not foresee, and HS could do it.
‘Seriously, what kind of brain does that weirdo have?’
It was just as Sarah narrowed her eyes and looked at HS’s profile.
Boom!
With a powerful thud, the studio door swung wide open.
“Huff, huff, huff….”
A man rushed in, panting.
“HS!”
It was Vincent.
“Oh, Mateo is here too….”
He noticed Mateo sitting beside HS a beat late, then greeted him with an awkward expression.
“It’s been a while.”
Mateo replied roughly with a cold face, then turned his head away.
‘Are they not on good terms?’
Sarah Stewart found Mateo’s reaction strange, but right now, her irritation at the uninvited guest surged up first.
“Do you not know what knocking is?”
Sarah immediately glared at Vincent and sneered.
“While HS wasn’t answering my calls, I heard he came to America, so I came here myself. I’d like you to step aside.”
“If the work is already done, why are you contacting HS?”
Vincent answered with a furrowed brow, as if he were starting to get annoyed.
“I contacted HS because I have business with him.”
“Then what business?”
“Do I have to tell you that?”
At that, Sarah shut her mouth. It was true there was no reason or justification for him to tell her.
Slide.
Instead, she moved her gaze to HS.
“Hoo….”
With a somewhat awkward face, HS brushed his hair back.
No matter how much HS was the type not to care about other people’s moods, the work had been interrupted when it was really getting good because of him, so it made sense.
“Vincent.”
HS called him in a low voice.
“Let’s talk separately.”
Then he brushed himself off and stood up, asking Mateo to handle the remaining post work.
Since it was almost the end, it was an amount Mateo alone could handle, but HS’s expression was not good, as if he felt unsettled.
And then HS dragged Vincent out like he was escorting him, but stopped and called to Sarah as if in passing.
“Misut Sarah.”
“Huh?”
“Take the old man and treat him to a meal or something. He’s old and he’s suffering, you can do at least that, right?”
“Seriously, why would I treat him to—!”
“Can I take that bag back with me?”
Cutting her off, HS asked, gesturing with his eyes toward the bag placed on the table.
“Fuck…”
Sarah muttered a curse under her breath, biting her lip in frustration.
Part of it was that eating alone with Mateo would be so awkward she felt like she would die.
But she also did not like that HS was going off to have a secret talk with Vincent.
‘But that bag has….’
It was a bag filled with enough misutgaru to last for months even if she ate it. So she could not bring herself to say, Fine, take the bag, just let’s eat together, the three of us.
“See you next time.”
With a frown, HS poked her puffed up cheek with a finger and added in a gentle tone she had never heard from him before.
“And share some of that misutgaru when you drink it. If you eat all of that by yourself, you’ll really be rolling around.”
It was just that his tone was gentle, and nothing more.
Hyunseung found Vincent’s constant grinning in front of him extremely irritating.
“Why do you keep smiling?”
It was not that he hated Vincent. It was just that he did not like the fact that he interfered and kept him from finishing the work.
“No, the timing is just too perfect.”
Perfect for you, maybe.
“For me, it was the worst timing.”
Hyunseung added as he set down the coffee he had been drinking.
“So what is it you wanted to say?”
At his question, Vincent answered with slumped shoulders as if he were disappointed.
“You didn’t read a single thing I sent?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re seriously too much.”
“I’m not really the type to check my phone much.”
“Still, I told you on the phone last time too.”
Only then did Hyunseung let out a small sigh like he remembered.
“About that, I clearly said no. I told you to do it all by yourself.”
Right after the dating rumor with Sarah Stewart broke out, Vincent had suddenly suggested they start a label together.
Yeah.
He said he would provide all the capital and make Hyunseung the head, and that they should make a one man label for him, right?
It was boring just to hear, so he remembered refusing it cleanly.
“Still, you haven’t checked what I contacted you about after that, right?”
“Even if I look, I’m not doing it, so can I go back now? I left the old man alone, and it makes me uneasy.”
Vincent hurriedly grabbed his wrist and stopped him.
“Wait, wait just a moment!”
“I said I’m not doing it.”
“Just listen once.”
He looked like it bruised his pride terribly that he was begging while holding onto another man.
“If you hear what I have to say, you won’t be able to refuse either.”
But Vincent continued in a calm face as if forcing it.
“I’ll take care of everything. Capital, investment, distribution lines, all of it. Of course I’ll prepare the headquarters too.”
“I can do that myself.”
“You be the CEO. For me, being an inside director is enough.”
“That’s also something I can do by setting up a corporation alone.”
“Ah, don’t talk back and just listen. What comes next is the important part.”
As if telling him to continue, Hyunseung leaned his upper body back in his chair, and Vincent finally pulled out the next words with difficulty.
“To be honest, it’s a bitter pill for me, so I don’t really want to, you know?”
“What is it, why are you dragging it out?”
“For the people who will belong to the label we make, I’ll let you set them up however you want.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m saying you can set it up with the instruments you like so much.”
At those words, Hyunseung only looked at Vincent instead of answering.
As if Vincent took that steady gaze as a refusal, he hurriedly added the next line.
“Ah, of course, I won’t complain even if you set up the internal staff with people you trust and can hand work to.”
Even so, Hyunseung’s lips stayed tightly shut, like a zipper had been put on them, with no intention of opening.
“This is a chance for your life to change. Think carefully.”
With his heart aching, Vincent added that in a needlessly loud voice.
“…”
In the long silence, only the ticking of the second hand was heard for a moment.
“I’ll think about it and contact you.”
With those words, Hyunseung brushed himself off and stood up.
“Then you’ll read my texts now, right?”
At his somewhat pitiful question, Hyunseung gave a brief nod and left Vincent’s studio.
“Ha, ha…”
A complicated smile was floating on Hyunseung’s face.
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