“In the end, the fandom name Daydream got the most votes. Damn, too bad. Nyx sounded pretty too. So what should we call our fandom? Day? Dream from the end? Or since it’s Daydream, how about Daydreamer?”
“Lame! That’s so lame!”
At my annoyed outburst, Ryu Jaehee turned to look at me with wide eyes.
“Whoa, are you saying my ideas are lame? Then you come up with something. If it’s cooler, cuter, easier to call, and sticks to your mouth better than Day, Dream, or Daydreamer, I’ll acknowledge it.”
“What nonsense… no, it’s just bullshit. I meant the equipment is lame. But your tone also sounds pretty lame, don’t you think?”
What? You come up with something? I’ll acknowledge it? I glared at him as he flinched and backed down.
I’m already on edge because I can’t find a decent studio to my liking anywhere.
Before the regression, I had a nice studio, but now I had nothing and had to rent.
Building my own studio like before the regression was too expensive and impossible with my current finances.
However, the studios with composing equipment were expensive to rent, usually located in basements, and bad for health. And most importantly, the equipment was outdated.
Of course, a master doesn’t blame his tools, but I did. If it wasn’t the latest equipment, I just couldn’t…
I spat blood, making my mom send a load of health tonics in a panic. I was scrolling through my contact list built up in the hip-hop underground scene when I found a familiar name.
[Yongcheol hyung – Hey, wanna check out my new studio?]
[Yeah, should I bring a congratulatory plant?]
[Yongcheol hyung – What opening? I didn’t start a business, you know?]
Going through the chat history which spanned over seven years but had no memory in my mind, I tapped my mattress with my finger.
‘Should I contact him or not?’
Messing up my hair with a nervous hand, I tried to convince myself.
‘It should be fine. We haven’t fallen out yet…’
Even so, contacting someone with whom I had ended on bad terms before the regression required a lot of resolve and mental strength.
But considering the situation of my agency, which had no studio and rented an external one for recording debut album tracks, and my thin wallet, this was the best option.
In my memory, the next album was scheduled to release four months after the debut album’s promotion. Considering concept meetings, recording, and music video shooting, I had less than a month to complete the song sampling.
I had to start working as soon as possible to have the song ready for the internal meeting in three weeks.
Currently, even male idol groups could compete with mass appeal like female idol groups.
If the song was good and caught the public’s eye and ear, it could have a bigger impact than a fancam going viral.
However, the problem was that the next album was as bad as the debut album.
Before the regression, REVE failed to chart twice and started down the path of a flop idol group. But now, I have the condition of creating over 30 million fans.
To end this damn regression, I had to succeed with the next album and move up to the top tier.
Pressing the call button with my thumb, I heard a few rings before the call connected.
“Hey, Yoon Eden! Congrats on your debut! But you didn’t write those rap lyrics, did you? They were awful!”
A playful voice came through the receiver. Trying hard not to sound awkward, I got straight to the point.
“Hyung, can I use your studio?”
“Sure, of course. I’m at the studio now, wanna come over? I’ll text you the address.”
He agreed without even asking why.
Putting on my hat and heading out the door, Kim Dobin, who was sitting on the couch, looked up from his phone and called out to me.
“Eden hyung, where are you going?”
“To find a way to survive.”
His eyes trembled slightly at my answer, but I just brushed it off lightly, wondering why.
***
After sending a text saying I had arrived, I knocked on the door. It swung open to reveal a man in his mid-twenties welcoming me.
His face looked much younger than my last memory of him.
“Hey, ED!”
Seeing Yongcheol hyung’s face, welcoming me as if nothing was wrong, suddenly made me emotional.
Memories of the past before the regression, when our relationship had soured due to a misunderstanding caused by someone’s lies, flooded back.
Yeah, we used to be this close. If only he had apologized first, I would have gladly accepted it.
“Yongcheol hyung!”
Feeling a surge of sorrow and joy at seeing him after so long, I ran toward him with open arms. He made a stern face and pushed my face away with his palm.
“Ah, don’t be gross, you grown man. And didn’t I tell you not to call me Yongcheol?”
If I can’t call Yongcheol, Yongcheol, then what should I call him?
Yongcheol hyung let me into the studio and glanced at me, shaking his head.
“How come you’re an idol now, but your face hasn’t changed at all?”
“Well, I haven’t had any work done, so how would my appearance change? Honestly, do I have a face that needs plastic surgery to debut?”
“True, you always had it. That’s why you debuted as an idol instead of rotting in the underground.”
Waving his palm in front of his face, Yongcheol hyung laughed.
His real name was Lee Yongcheol. Stage name, D.I.
Dragon (Yong) Iron (Cheol), shortened to D.I.
A few years ago, when I briefly dipped my toes into the hip-hop underground scene under the stage name ED, he was the hyung I became close with.
He approached me first, joking about forming a duo called ED.I since he was D.I.
Though I chose the idol path, leaving the underground, we stayed in touch until my third year of debut.
After that incident of slander, our relationship soured, making us worse than strangers.
Feeling bitter, I averted my eyes from Yongcheol hyung and looked around the cramped studio.
The equipment was definitely new, but having vivid memories of my studio filled with the latest gadgets seven years later, this place felt oddly outdated.
Yeah, it’s greedy to expect the same level in a situation where I’ve gone back seven years.
As I tapped the keys of the synthesizer in front of the monitor loaded with DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), Yongcheol hyung draped his arm over my shoulder and spoke.
“Hey, since you’re here, treat me to a debut meal.”
“Of course. Is there a good restaurant around here?”
Having been treated to many meals by him before the regression, I readily agreed. Waving his phone, Yongcheol hyung patted my shoulder.
“Why bother going out? Let’s order Chinese delivery. How about set number 2?”
“Is that fine?”
“I know your situation inside out. Why would I take your money when your debut flopped?”
“Yeah, it’s a shame. If it had been a hit, we’d be eating steak.”
Responding indifferently, Yongcheol hyung ruffled my hair, telling me to treat him to a success meal if I succeeded later.
Within 30 minutes of the call, the delivery arrived. Set number 2, consisting of jjampong, jjajangmyeon, tangsuyuk, fried dumplings, and 1.25L of cola, was laid out on the studio table.
Grumbling as I unwrapped the plastic from the jjampong bowl, I said,
“Everyone must be laughing at me. Saying, ‘Did you leave the underground for this?’”
“Oh, they are. Recently, mocking you has been the top gossip in the underground.”
“Geez, those nobodies are putting on a show, acting all high and mighty.”
“Pfft! What’s with the proper speech? Are you campaigning for clean language now that you’ve debuted?”
Unable to retort to his burst of laughter, I just scratched the back of my head.
It sounded insane to explain that swearing decreases my ‘initial intention’ and could cause regression.
Clearing out the jjampong and tangsuyuk dishes while reminiscing, I was about to eat my second fried dumpling when I suddenly felt a sharp pain.
[High-calorie intake detected.]
[Initial Intention -1]
The dumpling fell back onto the plate.
Are you telling me to watch my weight? I mean, they say not to disturb someone while eating, but you deduct points for this? Can’t I at least eat in peace?
“Not eating?”
“Yeah, you have more, hyung.”
This damned system tells me not to eat. Geez, the system’s driving me crazy. First, it makes me cough up blood, and now it won’t even let me eat properly.
[Not all food, only ‘unbalanced high-calorie food’ is restricted.]
Same difference. Don’t you know the truth that the higher the calorie, the tastier the food?
Waving my hand at the floating status window, as if shooing away flies, I shrugged.
“The password is 9125, so come and work anytime. I won’t be around for a while. If you need the studio later, let me know.”
“What about the rental fee?”
Instead of answering, Yongcheol hyung tapped the jjajangmyeon bowl with his chopsticks.
“What, wasn’t this supposed to be the debut treat?”
“It’s also covering the rental fee. If you really want to pay, succeed and pay me back later, you brat. Seeing a young guy acting like his life’s over just because one album flopped isn’t good.”
Feeling a slight consolation from his unique way of offering comfort, I gave him advice that could help his future.
“Thanks, hyung. If you’re going to enter a hip-hop survival audition, make sure to cut your hair short. You don’t want your mop-like hairstyle to be called the Yongcheol cut, do you?”
“What are you talking about?”
Muttering while scratching his messy hair, Yongcheol hyung finished cleaning up and left the studio with the collected empty dishes.
As soon as the door closed, I turned on the computer and sat in front of the synthesizer, tapping the keys.
It was too risky to create an entirely new song.
I had to make the best use of the agency’s investment while I still had the chance without raising suspicion.
A song with proven popularity and a guaranteed success rate.
A song with a catchy hook and easy choreography.
A song that doesn’t require too much capital but fits the concept perfectly.
“Wasn’t the hook chord this one?”
As I pressed the keys, the melody formed at my fingertips. Humming along to the melody, I reminisced about the past.
This was a song I had composed before.
No matter what song I brought to our agency, they always rejected it, so I sold it impulsively to a rookie boy group from a small to mid-sized agency out of spite.
The song charted at a pretty high rank, helping that boy group make a mark in the public eye. They continued to get better support from their agency, which had a better sense than ours, and had moderate success.
This song was the first to introduce me to the sweet taste of copyright income.
Using another composer’s hit song would be outright theft, but this was ‘my song,’ so I had every right to use it.
I sent a sincere apology to the group that would miss out on their future debut song.
Sorry, but I’ll make sure to give you a good song later. okay?
