ABSRFITLHOI Chapter 105

Among the requested songs, I casually selected about five and skimmed through the lyrics.

“Why the hell do all of these have so much cursing?”

“Just mute the swear words.”

“If the song keeps getting cut off, it ruins the whole vibe.”

Wait a second. Does this mean I have to do clean, family-friendly rap now? This is insane.

Just how many songs could I not even hum anymore? If I unconsciously mumbled a lyric, I might end up losing all my 100 beginner points and getting reset.

Goodbye to all the solo tracks stored on my old USB. Actually… the beats were fine. Maybe I could just rewrite the lyrics and salvage them.

‘Damn, I worked so hard to get the rhymes and punchlines right.’

It really was a shame.

Out of the five, I picked the two that at least didn’t have the F-word.

The fact that these two songs were coincidentally listed right above my deadline-closing comment? Pure chance.

One of them did have a single “motherfucker” in the second verse, but since we were only singing one verse per song in a medley format, it didn’t matter.

Ryu Jaehee, who had no restrictions thanks to his skill, was the first to finish choosing his songs. He then turned to me and asked,

“Should we edit the instrumentals in advance?”

“If we’re using the original tracks, yeah, go ahead. But if someone like Yehyun hyung or Dobin needs the key adjusted, it’d be better to play the accompaniment live.”

“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to do the fan live in your studio instead of the practice room?”

“That could work.”

I nodded, scrolling through to find the instrumental for my song before suddenly turning to Ryu Jaehee.

“You don’t need live accompaniment?”

“For one song, I do. I’m doing a rock track, and I doubt you can play bass, electric guitar, drums, and keyboard all at once.”

“Fair point.”

As for Gyeon Hajun, he was definitely going to pick a technical ballad. I knew his taste inside out.

I watched him carefully selecting his song until he suddenly showed me his list and asked,

“Anything you want to hear?”

“Oh, are you taking my requests now?”

I chuckled, teasingly. Hajun smiled lightly and replied,

“Well, you’re my fan too. My tone fan.”

“…Can’t argue with that.”

Clicking my tongue, I scrolled through the list. Most were familiar, except for a few. I plugged in my earphones and listened to the unfamiliar ones.

After some deliberation, I picked two.

“This one and As It Is, Goodbye.”

The first was a pop song that would highlight Hajun’s tone best.

As It Is, Goodbye was an indie ballad with an impressive falsetto high note.

Hajun readily nodded at my choices.

“Are you using an instrumental? Or do you want live accompaniment?”

“Live accompaniment, please.”

Unlike us, Kim Dobin and Seo Yehyun were still struggling.

“There’s nothing I can sing!”

“Just think of it as karaoke. What do you usually sing at karaoke?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

I really didn’t.

Dobin plopped down dramatically and declared,

“I’d rather dance to the requested songs than sing them.”

“Go ahead.”

“At least sing one song, hyung. Fans requested them to hear you cover the song.”

Ryu Jaehee scolded him, making Dobin nod reluctantly.

Seo Yehyun, who didn’t even have the option of performing a dance instead, was practically diving into his phone screen, scrolling through the song requests.

I sat beside him and showed him one of the songs.

“How about this? It’s Not a Love Song.”

He looked at me like he had never heard of it. I played the song on YouTube for him.

It was a pop song with no high notes—something easy to sing as long as he stayed on pitch.

“Isn’t this a girl’s song?”

“You can lower the key. Besides, your voice is plain. You should pick something that works with that.”

Yehyun stared at me. I stared back.

No way he was actually offended by that, right? I really hoped he wasn’t that fragile.

“What?”

After hesitating, he asked,

“If my voice was your type, would recording have been easier?”

“If that were the case, you’d be criticized for your lack of skill instead. Wait… don’t tell me you think Hajun finishes recording first just because of his voice?”

From his awkward reaction, that might actually be what he believed.

I sighed and left the choice of the second song to him.

“Jae, what’s your song selection?”

“You’ll find out during the live stream.”

Dobin whined about how unfair that was, but Ryu Jaehee remained firm.

It wasn’t like anything would go wrong—this was Ryu Jaehee, not Kim Dobin, after all.

***

Three days after Yoon Eden posted the surprise live music show announcement on the fan café—

[On Air] REVE’s Dream Playlist

The OA app’s live stream notification popped up on fans’ phones.

“Dream of me! Hello, we’re REVE! It’s been a while, Daydreams!”

The members were seated in chairs, with Yoon Eden’s studio as the backdrop. Following Jae’s bright and energetic greeting, the rest of the members took turns saying hello.

“Today’s content is a cover live of Daydream’s requested songs!”

“Yes, we were actually surprised by how many requests we received.”

Yoon Eden, seated in front of the synthesizer, smoothly followed up on Jae’s opening remarks.

“It was hard to choose since everyone picked such perfect songs. We wanted to sing them all, but we didn’t have enough time, which is a shame.”

Kim Dobin, holding a guitar, playfully winked and joked.

“For songs that need live accompaniment, Eden hyung will take care of it.”

Yoon Eden played a quick, flashy melody on the synthesizer before making a V sign with his fingers.

A fan noticed Kim Dobin resting his upper body on his guitar and asked:

[Dobin, are you playing the guitar too?]

“I’m not playing. I’m just serving as Eden hyung’s guitar stand and temporary storage space.”

[You really didn’t have to say that so proudly.]
[Does the word ‘serving’ even apply here…?]

The first up was Seo Yehyun. Some trolls commented that the order was based on skill level, but they were swiftly shut down by the collective backlash from Daydream fans.

As the soft, mellow synthesizer accompaniment—transposed to a much lower key than the original—began to play, Seo Yehyun, sitting with his legs crossed, tapped his toes to the beat.

[Was Yehyun’s tone always this clean?]
[Eden, since you’re hearing this live, can you give our boy more parts?]
[What’s this song? I love it! I want to hear the original too.]

[It’s Not a Love Song.]

[? You could’ve just said ‘It’s not a love song.’ I asked for the title, not whether the song was about love.]

[No… that is the title: It’s Not a Love Song…]

[Oh… ohhh…]
[LMAO]

His smooth, unembellished voice, paired with the gradually rising melody, made his singing sound at least above average. The power of good song selection.

As soon as the first verse ended, the melody seamlessly transitioned into the next song.

Unlike the previous song’s slow and simple tune, a bright and bouncy melody now filled the air.

It was a children’s song—one that was in every middle school music textbook, making it impossible for any Korean to not recognize it.

But it didn’t feel childish even for an adult to sing.

The song had been used in public service announcements and covered by several artists.

[Wow, Sky and Clouds! It’s been ages since I last heard this.]
[This was my middle school performance test, lol. It’s still a banger.]
[This is a children’s song? It’s actually really good.]

That’s right. Seo Yehyun was banking on nostalgia.

Even though his pitch wavered slightly in the high notes, older fans just smiled and reminisced about their school days.

[Pitch issues]

Of course, younger fans without that nostalgia were quick to point out the mistake.

Regardless, once Seo Yehyun safely finished his performance, Kim Dobin took over.

Instead of sitting down, he suddenly stood up, filling the chat with question marks.

As the prepared MR played from the speakers, Kim Dobin broke into an impromptu freestyle dance. The chat, realizing what was happening, erupted with laughter.

[Dobin, didn’t you say you wanted to sing all the requested songs?]
[To be fair, he probably covered the most songs overall.]

Not everyone was amused, though.

[Isn’t this a cover performance? Why is he dancing instead of singing?]
[Lol, is he avoiding singing because he’s not confident?]

After performing short choreographed pieces to three different songs, Kim Dobin finally caught his breath, sat down, and took the mic.

The song he chose was a staple of karaoke top 100 charts—a classic Korean ballad.

Though he passionately belted out the high notes, something about his delivery felt more like a karaoke session than a polished cover, making the chat explode with laughter once again.

[Where are all the haters who were complaining about him only dancing? LMAO]

His enthusiastic performance effectively silenced any lingering negativity.

Next up, Gyeon Hajun took the mic.

The classical ballad-style accompaniment that Yoon Eden had been playing suddenly shifted into a sultry, dark melody.

As soon as Gyeon Hajun sang his first note, the chat flooded with reactions. It was, without a doubt, a song that fit his voice perfectly.

[OMG, look at Eden’s face.]
[Stop the Gyeon Hajun bias.]
[I swear Eden looks more satisfied with this cover than anyone else.]
[Thank god Yehyun and Dobin went first…]
[I know the original song, but Hajun’s cover is straight-up heavenly.]

His seamless transitions between high and low notes, coupled with his impeccable pitch, left no room to question his skill.

After finishing the first verse, Yoon Eden lifted his hands from the synthesizer and picked up a guitar. As he strummed the chords, the original melody rang out perfectly.

[Is there anything Eden can’t do?]
[Talented in his main job, stunning visuals, great personality—he’s got it all.]
[Actually, his personality might not be that great…]
[He used to be in a band?]
[I heard he was a drummer, but damn, he plays guitar too?!]

The original song was already known for its striking falsetto high notes, but with Gyeon Hajun’s vocal tone, it was elevated even further.

[OMG, my request! The original song is amazing too, please check it out!]
[Eden is grinning from ear to ear.]
[This song sounds insane in Hajun’s voice.]

As Gyeon Hajun finished his last note, even the REVE members erupted into applause.

Yoon Eden, who had put his guitar down to give a standing ovation, was the most enthusiastic.

With Hajun’s requested song (which was really Yoon Eden’s pick) completed, it was finally time for Yoon Eden himself to perform.

[Please, please let it be a song with clean lyrics.]
[Eden, I beg you… not Korean hip-hop…]
[I’m counting how many times he says ‘fxxk.’]

***

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