“At least this time, the music video won’t turn out like ‘Come to My Universe.’ And with the high-teen concept for the stage outfits, it won’t be anything like the white jumpsuit from that Sponge experiment or that terrible gothic-goth hybrid look Eden hyung mentioned.”
Kim Dobin was fuming at Ryu Jaehee’s relieved remark.
“Hey, we’re dealing with Kim No-hope here. Kim No-hope who shoved the dance directing onto me? The same Kim No-hope who thought of a multiverse dimension-hopping thief chase when he heard that song!”
The nickname fans had long used for the CEO came out of Kim Dobin’s mouth.
It was typical of high school students to start by giving their teachers nicknames.
But that hostility. It just added more fuel to my suspicion that he had been offered sponsorship.
When I stared at him, Kim Dobin flinched noticeably and jumped up as if spring-loaded. He awkwardly smiled, saying we should get started on dance practice, and hurriedly turned on the AR.
That bastard…
The dance practice routine was the same as usual.
Kim Dobin learned the choreography first and even adjusted the awkward parts.
Then, Ryu Jaehee, who had also learned the choreography, would mockingly dance in front of me and Gyeon Hajun where we were struggling, only to be subdued by an empty water bottle.
Once Gyeon Hajun and I had learned the choreography, the four of us would lean against the mirror, watching and giving tips here and there until Seo Yehyun’s flailing gestures became somewhat recognizable as dance moves.
“As expected of the creator of new dance moves. Where did he come up with that?”
I clapped and voiced the nickname and admiration that the fans had given.
Seo Yehyun, glaring as if too tired to even curse verbally, plopped down on the spot.
He clicked his tongue and threw an empty water bottle.
After chugging down the water, Seo Yehyun finally caught his breath and grumbled.
“Stop being sarcastic and tell me where I messed up.”
“If I say it’s a total disaster, will you get sulky again?”
“You already said it was a total disaster, you damn idiot.”
Despite his grumbling, thankfully, My initial intention hadn’t diminished.
If I spoke directly, my initial intention would drop, but if I implied it and let him interpret it himself, it seemed to stay intact.
…Why did I have to analyze even his mood? Damn it, the initial intention. That damn troublemaker.
* * *
We received a call from ydc Entertainment.
When we were guided into the spacious studio workspace, I saw what was considered state-of-the-art equipment for this era, although it was outdated by my standards.
It was a level that couldn’t even be compared to Yongchul hyung’s studio.
Of course, it was nothing compared to my pre-reincarnation studio.
A man with yellow sunglasses swiveled his chair at the sound of our presence.
His eyebrow piercing gleamed under the light.
As he rose from his chair and approached, I immediately bowed politely and greeted him.
“Hello, I’m REVE Yoon Eden. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh, right. You’re Eden? Junboom told me a lot about you.”
As I shook his outstretched hand and looked at him, I saw Producer G1. Real name Lee Ji-won.
He was already a renowned producer, but seven years from now, he would become known as a success formula in the K-POP industry.
Seeing his younger face compared to my memory made me feel the reality of time travel all over again.
Following his gesture, I sat down and he handed me a sheet of paper with lyrics on it. Clicking his mouse, Lee Ji-won started to speak.
“Because of the risk of leaks, I didn’t send the audio separately, so you haven’t heard it yet, right?”
“Nope.”
As soon as I finished speaking, a familiar melody poured out of the speakers.
As expected, expensive speakers had different sound quality. They were leagues above the crappy rental studio speakers.
The audio track played twice in total.
Once with a guided version for the featuring rap part, and once as an instrumental track.
“So, how do you feel about it?”
When I nodded, he gestured towards the recording booth.
“Then let’s start recording right away.”
“What? Right now? I mean, isn’t there something I should be aware of first…?”
“Just sing it however you want. This song wasn’t originally written with rap in mind anyway.”
The version without the rap, just the instrumental, definitely sounded better.
Scratching my head, I recalled why this song even needed a rap feature.
Seoraon had mentioned in an interview that she wanted to try including a rap feature in her song at least once.
Given Seoraon’s level of experience, even a top-tier producer like G1 couldn’t ignore her opinion.
“As you can see, the part isn’t that long, so let’s finish this within three days.”
Seeing his disinterested eyes devoid of any expectation, a strange sense of defiance rose within me.
I opened the recording booth door, put on the headphones, and stood in front of the pop filter.
The part I was given was just a few short lines, lasting 25 seconds.
25 seconds was more than enough time to grab someone’s attention.
As soon as the instrumental started, I immediately split the beat and began spitting the lyrics.
The lyrics had no rhyme or punchlines, proving that this song wasn’t originally written with rap in mind.
[Stupidly, I habitually guessed
About the ending we would face]
When the final line ended, the instrumental abruptly stopped.
I smiled as I looked at the eyes staring at me through the glass of the booth.
“We can definitely finish this within three days.”
As soon as I exited the recording booth, Lee Ji-won handed me a bottle of water and spoke.
“I had zero expectations. Your group’s songs and your underground works reek of misguided underground influence. But you were the best among the bunch, so I picked you.”
Of course. Both of those works were from before my regression. I never expected him to look up my recent music show performances.
Lee Ji-won, looking me up and down, adjusted his crooked sunglasses and asked.
“Seems like you’ve completely shed that influence now. Did someone point it out and make you go through rigorous training?”
“Haha, yeah, I tried to fix it after being criticized.”
“Hah, you’ve got potential.”
Who pointed it out? You did.
There was a time before my regression when I had worked with Lee Ji-won.
I think it was also a featuring job.
[Get rid of your superficiality. Grooving like that doesn’t make your flow unique. It makes it sound awful.]
[Is it really that bad…?]
[Yeah, absolutely. You’re just full of superficiality without realizing how crappy your skills are, praising yourself, and rotting in the underground. Dropping the underground scene and becoming an idol was the best decision you made. You might rot as a dragon’s tail, but you’re a snake’s head now.]
Even when I was in the underground scene, no one had ever criticized my rap skills. I was almost at the top among idol rappers who were just reciting nonsense like Seo Yehyun.
Those harsh words were quite a shock to me.
For a while, I couldn’t rap and could barely hum singing raps.
At that time, hip-hop was the only remaining pride I had as a member on the fringe of the bus ride.
After that painful (or perhaps sarcastic) advice, I worked tirelessly to get rid of my crappy superficial habits.
Thanks to that, I was evaluated to be on par with top-tier overground rappers, but Lee Ji-won would never know that.
Back then, due to misunderstandings and breaking ties with underground contacts, I was at my most driven and determined state, which made it possible.
Lee Ji-won, who might be considered somewhat of a benefactor, seemed to take a liking to me now, as he asked with a faint smile on his tired face.
“Can you come at the same time tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure about that. We’re also preparing for our next comeback, so I’m not certain about my schedule…”
As I scratched my head, he took my phone and entered an eleven-digit number, chuckling.
“Our comeback won’t clash with this, will it?”
“Oh, it shouldn’t. We’re coming back at the end of November.”
“Then it won’t clash. But why are you guys coming back at such an odd time? With the award shows in December, all the music shows will be cut.”
“Small agencies handle things like that.”
After entering his name as G1, Lee Ji-won handed my phone back to me and waved his hand.
“If something comes up, let me know. Even if you can come at the same time tomorrow, give me a heads-up.”
“Of course. Then I’ll be off now!”
I greeted him loudly and left the studio.
Feeling optimistic about the remaining featuring work, I headed back to the practice room with a light step.
As soon as I arrived at the practice room, I started sharing the life lesson I learned from this experience in a slightly louder voice, directed at Seo Yehyun and Kim Dobin, who were about to miss out on a great opportunity due to the difficulty.
“People should live with determination. If you endure a little hardship, you get rewarded manifold like this.”
“What kind of reward? Karma?”
Well, I did receive karma in the form of the initial intention.
Couldn’t you read the context, kid? If you endure hardship, do you get karma or rewards?
“Is it karma?”
“Do you have some good news? Is it the music video?”
“Huh? Didn’t I tell you? This hyung got a featuring spot with Seoraon.”
“What? Seoraon? The Seoraon who sang ‘Memory of Dawn’?”
Ryu Jaehee jumped up and started shaking me down, asking how, when, and why I got the featuring job.
It seemed his fear vanished in front of his fanboying.
I could clearly remember “Some Ending” thanks to Ryu Jaehee setting it as his phone ringtone and morning alarm.
I raised my head proudly.
“It’s all thanks to my hard work. Ha, it was tough kissing up to get that one.”
That Kim Junboom sure held a grudge. I had to apologize multiple times for not contacting him first.
Looking at Kim Dobin shivering and hiccuping, I glared at him disapprovingly.
Why did he react like a drenched puppy every time I said something?
* * *
The work finished in three days as Lee Ji-won had said.
Although he seemed uninterested in whether the featuring part would turn out good or bad, by the second session, he started adding various requests.
Seeing me perfectly understand and execute his requests, Lee Ji-won became even more enthusiastic about the featuring part.
Since I had worked with him once before, catching the vibe he wanted was easy.
This was the third time we met.
“Okay, it’s done!”
As soon as the featuring part was perfectly completed, Lee Ji-won suddenly handed me his phone as I exited the recording booth.
When I took it, puzzled, and looked at his face, he chuckled.
“What, disappointed it’s not a girl group member asking for your number?”
“Hey, hyung. That’s a harsh thing to say.”
I replied with a cheeky smile. I’d bet all of Seo Yehyun’s chicken breasts filling the fridge that giving my number to a girl group member would drop my initial intention.
I lightly touched the eleven digits, entered my name Yoon Eden, and handed the phone back. Lee Ji-won then extended his hand to me.
“Give me your phone too.”
I handed over my phone, bewildered, and asked.
“But didn’t you give me your number last time?”
“That was my work phone. This is my personal phone.”
I never thought I’d live to see the day I got G1’s personal phone number.
Lee Ji-won jokingly added not to contact him too often because it was tiring. I bowed my head, thanking him and expressing that I looked forward to working with him in the future.
A new big-name connection had been added.
Wow, now I don’t have to cater to Kim Junboom’s whims to contact or work with G1.
This must be one of the perks of regression.
***
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