Seo Ye-hyun, who had just stepped out of the recording booth, approached me. Tapping the sheet music that marked his part, I spoke up.
“The problem you’re having right now is that you’re falling behind the beat. I kept telling you it’s on the downbeat, but you keep ending on the offbeat.”
A surprisingly calm voice flowed out of me.
Even though he sang that part himself, it seemed he still couldn’t get the hang of it.
In the end, I drummed the beat of the part he was struggling with by tapping my fingers on the desk.
“Match the beat like this. Got it?”
Seo Ye-hyun tapped the desk in rhythm with the beat I’d just demonstrated.
“Your vocal part was fine, so let’s just redo the rap part. Focus on the rhythm. If you get confused with the downbeat, try tapping your palm to the beat as you do it.”
With a subtle expression, Seo Ye-hyun re-entered the recording booth.
I played the MR again and resumed recording.
Watching Seo Ye-hyun keep time by tapping his palm as he rapped, I blinked my tired eyes.
‘Wait a minute, this is way more effective than just yelling…’
When I used to get irritated, everyone’s motivation would drop, my mental exhaustion would increase, and the other person’s morale would be crushed—everything would just fall apart, and the work time would drag on.
But now, he made a lot of progress with just one piece of advice.
I guess the carrot really is the answer, not the stick.
Besides, I felt more at ease, probably because I wasn’t wasting energy on frustration.
My fingers drumming the desk slightly missed the rhythm at the last part of Seo Ye-hyun’s rap.
I gave a small smile to Seo Ye-hyun, who looked at me with a proud expression, seemingly aware of his improvement.
“Again. Pay attention to the rhythm until the end. You’re dragging at the last part.”
We’ve got to at least hit 80%.
Even though I had to say “again” several times and repeat just one part multiple times, Seo Ye-hyun’s part was successfully recorded.
Next up was Kim Do-bin’s turn to record.
Confidently, Kim Do-bin entered the recording booth, but as soon as he spat out one line, I stopped the MR.
“Do-bin.”
Suppressing my irritation, I called out to him, and Kim Do-bin responded with his eyes downcast.
“…Yes.”
“Are you joking with me right now? Is this song an R&B track? Do you really think that style of singing fits this part?”
As I pressed my temples to relieve the tension, Kim Do-bin mumbled in a shrinking voice.
“No, I’m sorry…”
“Do it right. We’re starting over.”
Ryu Jae-hee, who was sitting on the chair to my right, watching the whole thing, shook his head.
“Do-bin failed to lighten the mood. He knows how sensitive Eden is about music, yet he still tried to joke around during recording, tsk tsk.”
Then he added a quick comment for the camera crew filming us nearby.
“But he’s a good guy, just a bit clueless.”
After about two-thirds as many “again”s as Seo Ye-hyun, Kim Do-bin’s recording was finally finished.
“Your standards are way too strict, hyung. I’m more of a main dancer than a vocalist…”
“You think people can hear your dance moves when they listen to the music? Since when did music become a multisensory experience that combines hearing and sight?”
I scoffed and entered the recording booth. Now it was my turn.
The two youngest members, wearing headsets, sat side by side with their arms crossed, watching me through the glass wall of the booth.
Their attempt at looking stern was so amusing that I couldn’t help but chuckle.
I had two parts to record.
One was in the middle of the first verse, and the other was right before the hook in the second verse.
As soon as I finished the rap part in the middle of the first verse, Ryu Jae-hee stopped the MR and tilted his chin up.
“Again.”
“Don’t mess with me.”
“Wow, I’m such a big fan of Eden hyung! You were so cool that I want to hear it again!”
“Ugh, alright. Play the MR again.”
After indulging the youngest members by repeating the part a couple of times, the directing for my part was finally completed.
While the members rested, I finished the mixing work, converted the file into an mp3, and transferred it to a USB drive.
When I informed our manager that the recording was done, the reality show staff came in to retrieve the cameras.
“We’ll be conducting individual interviews one by one.”
As the leader, I was the first to be interviewed.
After everyone else left the recording studio, I sat down in the chair, facing the camera, and the first question was asked.
“Was there anything difficult or challenging during the recording process?”
It was a predictable question, so after a moment of contemplation, I slowly responded.
“The frustrating part is that the result doesn’t always turn out exactly the way I envisioned it. Sometimes the members can’t quite meet my expectations…”
Even though I know I have to compromise with reality, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed and regretful about the final product’s quality.
If we had enough time, we could have gotten it up to at least a 90, even if not a perfect 100.
“Is there anything you’d like to say to your members during this interview?”
“First of all, Ha-jun and Jae-hee, thank you for always exceeding expectations. Do-bin, if you want to joke around, do it when you can nail it in one take. It’s exhausting. And finally, Ye-hyun hyung, I know my expectations were high, but thank you for keeping up. I’m counting on you all in the future as well.”
Ahem, I cleared my throat, feeling a bit embarrassed after saying that.
As I finished my interview and came out, Seo Ye-hyun, who was up next, went into the recording studio.
Seeing the door close, a sudden wave of anxiety hit me.
“That guy… he’s not going to talk trash about me in his interview because I was hard on him, is he…?”
“No way. Even Ye-hyun hyung wouldn’t want rumors of discord in our group, probably. Besides, you were pretty gentle with him today, so what are you worried about?”
“If you’re going to say ‘probably,’ just leave it out, Jun.”
It wasn’t until the youngest, Ryu Jae-hee, finished his interview that we were finally able to leave.
In the car on the way back to the dorm, a slumped-over Seo Ye-hyun grumbled.
“From now on, let’s film the recording process and either release it as behind-the-scenes content or start a YouTube channel and upload it there. How can someone do a complete 360 just because of one camera?”
“You mean 180 degrees. If it were 360, they’d just end up in the same spot.”
After correcting his silly mistake, I added another comment.
“And if you just improve your skills, I could treat you like I did today until we retire.”
“Oh, so my skills have improved since before?”
“I don’t know what kind of delusion you’re under, but it’s not that your skills have improved—just that I lowered my expectations for this project. Your skills are still hopeless.”
[A comment inciting discord among members has been detected.]
[Initial Intention -1]
Seeing that message after so long weirdly made me feel a little nostalgic.
Of course, the pain that came with losing humility was far from welcome.
Ugh, how frustrating. Can’t even call hopeless skills what they are because of someone’s fragile ego.
* * *
With the song completed, it was time to start shooting the music video.
We gathered together in the cramped living room of our basement dorm. A camera was filming us as we sat huddled close. I read the words written on the cue sheet I had been handed.
“Decide on a Christmas gift you’d like to give to the member whose name you draw. The gifts will be revealed during the music video shoot.”
A box containing five slips of paper appeared before us.
As Ryu Jae-hee picked up the small box and shook it, I continued reading from the cue sheet.
“The slips contain the names of the Reve members. Each of you will pick one, then prepare a gift for the member you draw to be revealed before the music video shoot. A budget of 50,000 won is provided, and any excess must be covered personally. That’s what it says.”
So, it’s kind of like Santa. And since the gifts would be revealed during the music video shoot, we couldn’t afford to give anything cheap or thoughtless.
Before the members unfolded their slips, Ryu Jae-hee, who had been seriously rolling the still-folded slip between his fingers, suddenly asked,
“But what if I draw myself?”
“Then you have to buy something you need and gift it to yourself. What else can you do?”
At my nonchalant response, Ryu Jae-hee groaned and buried his head in the cushion he was holding.
“Ugh, that would be the worst. I really hope I didn’t pick myself.”
Looking at him with a puzzled expression, Seo Ye-hyun scratched his cheek and said,
“Isn’t it kind of okay, though? It’s better to buy something you need than to get a gift you don’t want.”
“No way, hyung. The fun is in imagining what someone might get you, anticipating the gift, and being excited about receiving it! If I pick myself, that ruins the fun.”
“I mean… I’d rather just get cash.”
Sitting next to Seo Ye-hyun, who was saying things like a world-weary adult, Ryu Jae-hee wore a truly bewildered expression.
“Huh? But cash is so impersonal.”
“I can use the money to buy something I actually need.”
“But there’s no thought behind it. If someone gave me money, I’d feel like they didn’t care about me at all. Am I the only one who thinks that? What about you guys?”
Ryu Jae-hee quickly looked around at us. Gyeon Ha-jun nodded and sided with Ryu Jae-hee.
“A gift should have some thought put into it.”
Kim Do-bin shook his head.
“What are you talking about? Cash is king. Whoever picks me, please just give me a thick envelope of money.”
Wiggling his fingers, he boldly demanded a cash gift, causing Ryu Jae-hee to shake his head in disbelief.
“You and Ye-hyun hyung have no sense of romance.”
“Pfft, does romance put food on the table?”
I tousled Kim Do-bin’s hair lightly as he made an annoyingly smug face and spoke up.
“Well, it might be more practical to get money like Ye-hyun hyung and Do-bin said, but I also think gifts should have some thought behind them. So, I’m with the youngest on this one.”
“As expected, Eden hyung has a sense of romance.”
Ryu Jae-hee let out a satisfied hum, clapping his hands next to me.
Seo Ye-hyun, who was staring at me blankly, met my eyes, and I asked him indifferently,
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t expect it. I thought you’d say money too.”
There sure are a lot of things that surprise him. What kind of image does this guy have of me that he’s surprised by everything I do?
“I’m a creator, after all…”
How could I write songs with a dried-up sense of emotion?
Following the signal to stop chatting, we spread out to make sure we wouldn’t see each other’s slips before unfolding them and checking the names written on them.
‘…Seriously?’
I barely held back a sigh as I looked at the neatly written name on my slip.
[Seo Ye-hyun]
Can I trade this?
***
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