And so, Hyung Jinwoo arrived at the studio with both arms held, looking for all the world as if he were being dragged in by detectives.
Unable to see in front of him, he had no choice but to be hauled along.
Before long, the tip of his toe bumped against a threshold, making him hesitate.
“You bragged that you could find your own way, yet you brought along a whole entourage dangling from both sides?”
Unlike Moon Beomjae or Baek Gyuho, it was a very youthful voice that chimed in.
“I could have sworn only one gentleman was supposed to work today. How odd. Why are there three?”
Though a mid-to-low baritone, the voice grew closer, smooth as foam.
The owner of the voice had to be Min Hyunseung.
Jinwoo remembered it clearly, having thought when he first heard it that the young man sounded more like he should be a singer than a composer.
However, the tone was distinctly different from the voice that had come to his house to persuade him before. How should he put it? It sounded a bit more childlike.
Perhaps it was because Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho were here.
“I was so worried sick about whether this fellow could make it here safely that I couldn’t bear it. So, I escorted him in person.”
As if to prove the point, Moon Beomjae offered an uncharacteristically fussy excuse.
“So you were so worried about this gentleman that the two of you personally held both his arms to escort him here?”
“Well, we thought he might refuse to come. One of us had to hold the steering wheel, and the other had to hold onto him.”
“Y-Yeah, exactly! He might look skinny, but he’s strong as an ox, an absolute ox.”
Baek Gyuho quickly chimed in.
“Yeah, that’s right. Dragging him here drained all my energy. So, would it be alright if we rested a bit before heading out?”
“I was driving for quite a while, too, and sudden fatigue just hit me…”
The grip holding Jinwoo’s arms loosened softly.
Soon after, the sound of the two men settling onto a sofa could be heard.
Going that far…
Just to watch that fellow, Min Hyunseung, at work?
“Do friends even take after each other in shamelessness?”
Hyunseung, the person in question, sounded thoroughly annoyed.
“Me, friends with Moon Beomjae, this rascal? Ha, friends? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Actually, by birthdate, I’m much older than Baek Gyuho here. I just never brought it up because I don’t care for that kind of authoritarian nonsense.”
Having been hailed as the twin pillars of the same genre since their youth, Baek Gyuho and Moon Beomjae always engaged in a battle of egos whenever they met.
‘Some things never change.’
At a glance, it might look like a clash between a white tiger and a fierce beast.
Look closer, however, and it was utterly childish.
“Stop the childish bickering and just lie down over there and sleep.”
“Y-Yeah, we’ll just sleep quietly here and leave.”
“Right. Pretend we aren’t even here. We’ll be as quiet as dead mice.”
At Hyunseung’s single remark, the two obediently stretched out on the sofa.
Good grief.
Those two were completely dragging the dignity of veteran singers through the mud.
“Ahem.”
Jinwoo cleared his throat, his own face growing hot with secondhand embarrassment.
“Now that things seem somewhat settled, would you like to hear the track?”
Right on cue, Hyunseung asked as he gently guided Jinwoo’s shoulders to seat him in a chair.
“I actually wanted to hear it through proper audio equipment anyway; the sound quality on the cassette tape wasn’t doing it justice.”
“Would you prefer headphones? Or should I play it through the speakers?”
Just then.
“Wouldn’t the speakers be better than headphones?”
“Yeah, what did you buy these great speakers for if not to use them?”
Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho’s grumbling voices drifted over from behind. Why were the two of them acting so childish and failing to act their age today?
For a brief moment…
He felt just a little embarrassed to call them his friends.
“I’d like to listen quietly by myself with headphones.”
Brushing aside their opinions, Jinwoo took the headphones Hyunseung handed him and put them on.
—♫♫♫
With that, a familiar melody flowed into his ears.
Wait.
Had it changed a bit? It wasn’t just a matter of clearer audio; the melody was definitely subtly different.
The instrumentation in the track seemed more diverse and richer as well…
—♫♫♫
It seemed Hyunseung hadn’t simply been sitting on his hands waiting.
“Would you like some time to practice?”
The moment the song ended, Hyunseung took the headphones back and asked.
“No, let me try singing it through first.”
Jinwoo flatly declined the offer.
First and foremost, a sudden, overwhelming urge to let his voice out to this song right this second had welled up within him.
“Alright, then. We’ll record a one-take run, so feel free to sing however you like, and we’ll adjust our direction from there.”
Hyunseung readily agreed, but then paused.
“Just a moment, I need to get ready, too…”
A rustling sound could be heard.
“M-Min Hyunseung, you…!”
“No way, are you really…?”
For some reason, Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho suddenly blurted out in shock.
Just what on earth was he preparing that made them react with such utter astonishment?
“Why is everyone so surprised?”
Hyunseung asked them nonchalantly.
“Even I need to hear out of both ears if I’m going to work properly.”
“W-Why a hearing aid…?”
“Well, you can lose hearing in an ear as you go through life.”
“Are you serious? You really can’t hear out of one ear?”
“Yes. Aren’t you two getting to the age where your eyes start going dim anyway?”
Even as Jinwoo was caught off guard by the mention of a hearing aid, Hyunseung casually poked fun at Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho with utter composure.
“Dim, you say? I’m not that old yet!”
“Indeed. Moon Beomjae might be getting a bit dim, but I’m still in my prime. I was born late in the year, after all.”
“What? You and I are only a few months apart! Why are you just assuming my eyes are dimming?”
“Didn’t you just say earlier that you were an older brother by far?”
As if they had never been surprised in the first place, the two flared up in anger.
Good grief.
Still engaging in a petty battle of pride even in a moment like this…
“By the way, didn’t you two say you were going to sleep?”
Of course, with that single word from Hyunseung…
“We were just about to fall asleep when we got startled awake.”
“Right. We’ll sleep quietly and leave, so don’t mind us and hurry up with the recording.”
The two quieted right down.
Earlier that day, when he was being dragged to this studio by Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho, he hadn’t understood their warnings.
Indeed.
When they spouted all those threatening words, babbling about taking nutritional supplements, asking if he shouldn’t get an IV drip first, or suggesting they have an ambulance on standby, he had thought they were just trying to frighten him since he was returning to the recording booth for the first time in over a decade.
However, Jinwoo finally understood what they had meant.
“Haa, haa…”
Having repeated a single verse dozens of times, his heart thudded violently and his breath came in ragged gasps, as if he had just run a marathon. Truly.
It was pure agony.
Just how many hours had passed? It felt like he had repeated the cycle of resting, recording, resting, and recording dozens of times.
Was it taking even longer because they were treating it as both practice and recording, given that he hadn’t had proper time to rehearse?
He had wondered that at first.
However, seeing Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho laughing as if to say I knew it whenever he stepped out for a break, it was clear they had gone through the exact same experience.
Those two were singers famous for wrapping up recordings in a single take. The fact that even they had laid down such dire warnings before arriving…
It meant this relentless, obsessive method of recording was entirely natural and standard practice for that fellow, Min Hyunseung.
“Would you like to take a break?”
Hyunseung asked through the talkback mic.
“No, let’s finish this verse before taking five.”
Jinwoo shook his head and straightened his back once more.
Of course.
His scrawny legs were trembling so badly that it was difficult even to stand.
He desperately wanted to lie down on the sofa and close his eyes, if only for a moment.
Indeed.
Never mind exercising, there were days he barely walked at all.
And having lived without even eating regular meals, it was only natural that his body couldn’t hold out.
Yet.
The thirst of his desire to keep singing left no room for his throat to run dry.
Just how long had he endured, wished, and thirsted for this?
He had thought he’d given it up.
In truth…
He hadn’t.
Shamelessly enough, he had occasionally asked his housekeeper for foods and teas that were good for the throat, diligently consuming them.
He had practiced his vocalizations from time to time so his vocal cords wouldn’t seize up.
Perhaps.
He had secretly hoped that a day like this might come.
Therefore, he had to do it all the better. Now that the thing he had wished for so desperately had finally come true.
Above all else, hadn’t he met a brilliant composer?
He finally understood why giants like Moon Beomjae and Baek Gyuho had been singing Min Hyunseung’s praises over and over again.
Without easily taking pity on Jinwoo’s physical handicap, the young man provided more than enough consideration.
Indeed.
He personally read the lyrics aloud to Jinwoo, who couldn’t see, adding vivid, detailed explanations of what emotional arc to convey until the scene practically painted itself before his eyes.
And when Jinwoo failed to catch a pitch due to the deafness in one ear, Hyunseung sternly pointed it out and corrected it again and again.
With just the right pacing and tight precision.
Watching Hyunseung drive the session forward with such vigor, a thought crossed Jinwoo’s mind. I didn’t die; I lived on just for this day.
Ah.
I am still breathing. I am still alive.
“Let’s go again.”
“Haa, haa…”
“Straighten your back, and from the top!”
Of course, at this rate, his breath might actually give out for good.
Baek Gyuho watched Hyunseung and Hyung Jinwoo as their session stretched on, consuming the entire day.
Except for trips to the restroom, his gaze never left them for a single moment, watching with persistent intensity.
His true reason for coming here today…
Part of it was wanting to hear Hyunseung’s song, but even more than that, he wanted to hear Hyung Jinwoo sing.
Half worry, half anticipation.
A tangle of both emotions was what had driven him to come all the way here.
It was the reason he had gone so far as to make excuses to a young composer just to show up.
He had been scolded and nagged for it.
Yet he had no regrets.
For starters, though Hyung Jinwoo had seemed a bit shaky at first, he quickly reclaimed his former prowess.
As expected of a master of the blues. To think he had flatly insisted he would never sing again…
He must have been practicing in secret.
Of course.
Much of the credit for bringing out that skill belonged to Hyunseung, the producer.
Running a label himself, Gyuho knew full well how vital the roles of a composer and producer were.
Why else would people call their studio the control tower?
While it is the singer who performs the track.
Crafting a song tailored to that singer, guiding them to unleash their full potential, and elevating the song’s quality to the absolute peak was the producer’s duty.
And Hyunseung was fulfilling that duty flawlessly.
Click, click, click.
Gyuho stared at the back of Hyunseung’s head as if he wanted to devour him, gnawing on his thumbnail repeatedly.
“You’re being distracting. Can’t you stop that?”
Moon Beomjae scolded him, but…
Click, click, click.
Nothing registered in Gyuho’s ears right now.
‘I want him.’
His greed to scout Hyunseung had rendered him deaf to the world. It might sound absurd.
Even if he had laid it all down now, Hyunseung was the man who founded VINCIS, a label currently considered one of the top three in the United States, and who had risen to the position of CEO at Unice Music Group, the undisputed global number one in the industry.
Such a person…
The probability of him joining a label that was only famous within South Korea converged to zero.
‘No, wait…’
Looking at the bottom line, didn’t it mean he was currently an unaffiliated freelancer?
Which meant he was free to go anywhere.
If offered treatment better than anywhere else, wouldn’t there be at least a 1% chance?
Above all, Jayble was signed under his own label, O&M.
And weren’t the two of them on quite close terms now? Close enough for Hyunseung to call in Jayble whenever there was work that required extra hands.
Yes.
If it was Jayble, who was close to him, he was bound to know something about Min Hyunseung.
Tap, tap-tap-tap, tap.
Knowing Moon Beomjae would never tell him even if asked, Gyuho sent a text to Jayble instead.
[ Do you happen to know what Min Hyunseung likes the most? If I try to scout him with that, what do you think the chances are? ]
Then, clutching the phone tightly in both hands with earnest hope, he waited.
Bzzzt.
The reply from Jayble arrived sooner than expected.
[ He likes my 1968 vintage guitar the most, and… ]
Checking the first text that arrived, Gyuho cheered inwardly and broke into a broad smile.
However, the smile blooming across Gyuho’s face turned into a gloomy storm cloud the moment he saw the second text.
[ The probability is 0%. ]
It was devastatingly firm.
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