In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe

 

I could find it right away. Wooju was clasping the finish version in his hand like a baby.

I was worried that he would wake up, but now I was curious as a musician. I took the piece of paper out of his grasp.

'Let's see.'

The sound of flipping the sheets of paper echoed against the background of a steady breathing. I stopped like a statue and scanned the paper until the ice in the Americano completely melted.

Then I smiled.

'Look at this.'

Cho Kyuhwan's eyes, who was looking at the sleeping young man, shone a pleasant light.




 

* * *




 

I had a dream. (Back onto Wooju's POV)

I was on my way to Pyongyang on a tour bus to have a pork belly party with pigs and also dreamt that the driver had suddenly let go of the steering wheel.

I pointed at the wheel in surprise in my dream.

"Oh, driver! The steering wheel-"

"From now on, I'll take you safely to your destination."

Then suddenly, EDM music began to flow out.

Swish swish.

The bus shook as the driver and pigs cheered and danced. I screamed in the face of a situation where I was about to fall.

"Euuuu woahhhhhh. . !!"

I woke up with a cold sweat and found myself in the practice room.

"Oh, my. . ."

Isn't that completely a silly dream.

The stress I received yesterday seemed to be greater than I thought. After struggling from the aftermath of my dream for a long time, I felt my hands empty.

What. . ?!

Where did it go?

When I stood up to find the music sheet I had written, something that had been covering my body slid down gently.

A cashmere coat.

At first glance, it was a coat that looked like several hundreds of dollar.

"What else even is this?"

No wonder I slept pretty hot. While confused by the mystery of the unidentified coat and the missing paper, a timely message came.

The sender was director Cho Kyuhwan.




 

- When you wake up, go to the recording studio on the 2nd floor.

- PS. Bring my coat too.




 

"The director took it."

Mumbling like a sleep talker, I ruffled my disheveled hair away.

Then I carefully picked up the expensive coat. It was a moment when I realize and could have guess how burdensome Shin Sukju must have been when King Sejong covered him with his royal robe. (If you wanna understand what this sentence means, press the comment section for this sentence for more info)

Why are you calling me for me anyway?




 

* * *




 

The second floor of LEMON ENTERTAINMENT was filled with recording rooms and complex equipment. This seemed to be a workspace.

It didn't take long to find the recording studio that director Cho spoke of.




 

[ON AIR]




 

 

As soon as I went up, the light for "ON AIR" was turned on.

Knock knock-

An answer to my knocking came.

"Come on in."

When I open the door, I see a familiar sight. A recording studio that I was tired of seeing in TJ ENTERTAINMENT for a long time.

At the table, director Cho Kyuhwan is clicking his ballpoint pen and looking at the paper while the man in the recording booth is singing enthusiastically.

'Oh? That person.'

If you look closely, it was Yoon Chanhyuk, a singer who was the winner of the K-NET's audition program.

He is one of the top-class vocalists who is very popular in the current music industry. It's interesting to encounter people in real life who I have only seen on music shows.

Director Cho Kyuhwan glanced at me and pressed the talk back button.

"Chanhyuk, let's rest for 10 minutes."

- Why?

"Take a rest if I tell you to, you child!" (A more correct term for the 'child' word would be bastard/jerk, but not in a mean way for this situation, more like joking as close friends kind of way haha)

Director Cho's joke made Yoon Chanhyuk leave the booth regretfully.

Wow, it looks the same just like shown in the TV screens.

A singer with an appearance reminiscent of a friendly neighborhood brother showed curiosity to me.

"Hyung, who is he again?"

"This time it's a new trainee, say hello."

I bowed politely.

"Hello seonbae. I'm the new trainee, Seon Wooju."

"Oww, that's too much pressure. Just call me hyung. What seonbae are you taking about haha."

Yoon Chanhyuk, who was shaking from laughing, looked at Director Cho.

"By the way, why did you call him?"

"Well, I need to talk to him personally. I'm sorry, but please leave."

"How long?"

"Go and light a cigarette."

"10 minutes?"

"A little more than that."

"I can't hyung."

Chanhyuk shook his head.

"I have to go and record when I get a feeling. That's what I think. I'll be back in ten minutes."

"Hey!"

"Hmm Hmmm." (Chanhyuk humming a song)

"HEY, YOON CHANHYUK!"

"I'm singing in the rain I'm singing in the rain~" (Words were originally written in English lol, just song lyrics)

Yoon Chanhyuk hummed a song and waved his hand cheekily.

The director clicked his tongue. It was like a close brother and younger brother relationship, not as producer and singer.

"You two look very close."

"We're not close."

He shook his head as if he was sick of it.

"How hard I've worked to make him the person he is today."

I laughed quietly as I remember my grandmother saying, 'I had a hard time raising you.'

 

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I slept well thanks to your coat covering me."

"Yeah, that's a relief."

When I sat on the sofa, the director pulled out something from the table drawer.

It was the sheet music that I created.

"You made this, right?"

"Yes."

"Well then, let me ask you a few questions."

"Yes."

What is it?

"Have you ever study music?"

"What do you mean by that..."

"I mean, have you learned music professionally? For example, harmonics or music theory."

"Oh, yes."

I answered, searching my memory.

"I learned a bit at my previous company."

"TJ ENTERTAINMENT?"

"Yes, the producers there taught me a bit. Like how to navigate and handle MIDI or how to write beats."

"I thought you had good basic skills."

Director Cho Kyuhwan stroked his chin.

"Looking at the arrangement, you seem to know how to play instruments."

"That's right."

"Piano?"

"Yes, I practiced a lot when I was in elementary school preparing for competitions."

"Anything else?"

"A little bit of guitar."

The director strokes his chin.

"You did this in a day. This level of arrangement?"

"Yes, but as you can see, I made it on the fly-"

"No no, you did a great job. If I were a university professor, I would have given you an A."

Was that enough?

"You've heard a lot about your talent in composing, right?"

"I heard a little bit from my previous company."

"I'm sure you've heard it a lot, not just a little bit. You're also humble."

While I was embarrassed by the compliments I received from a famous composer, a really unexpected line came out of my opponent's mouth.

"Wooju."

"Yes."

"Do you want to learn how to compose songs from me?"

"What?"

I blinked in a daze.

What did you just say now?

"You're a little flustered, aren't you?"

". . ."

"I see potential in your arrangement. Of course, it's still a rough unpolished gemstone but. . . with enough touches here and there, a pretty jewel with be born."

He asked in a soft tone.

"What do you think? If you learn well from me, you can be on shows as a composer idol when you promote songs."

"I'll do it."

"What?"

"I'll learn how to compose songs."

 

What kind of jackpot is this? In terms of gaming, this is like a legendary NPC passing to you a super-special skills.

But who'll turn this down?

You have to accept it before you change your mind.

Director Cho Kyuhwan hesitated a little whether I thought I would think carefully.

". . . . .Oh, that's great. Then. . ."

He handed over the USB to me.

"Take this first."

"This. . ."

"I transferred your arrangement to the computer. I've touched up some bits in the middle."

"Wow, thank you."

I bent my back 90 degrees bowing without realizing it. (When someone bows down at a 90 degree angle forwards from the waist, that's like a huge respect towards the person on the receiving end.)

If I had done it alone, I would have been done by this evening, but the work I had to do was finished in an instant.




 

"Well then, let's see. To teach you how to compose, my schedule is. . ."

Looking at the calendar filled with letters like Buddhist scriptures and discussing the schedule on when to learn composition for a while, exactly 10 minutes later, our conversation was interrupted by the energetic ballad singer.

"What? It's not over yet?"

We both burst into laughter at the burning eyes of the ballad singer, who seemed to be saying, 'recording! and recording again!'




 

* * *




 

- 널 사랑한 게 내 흉터가 될까봐 (I'm afraid that loving you will become my scar)

 

Yoon Chanhyuk is immersed in singing in the recording booth.

Cho Kyuhwan nodded and gave out some directing from time to time.

"Chanhyuk, this is a stylish song, so you have to sing it in a detailed way."

- All right.

As if he understood the directions, the way he sang the song changed quickly.

As expected, he's a professional.

However, it was not him that Kyuhwan was really focusing on now.

He recalled a conversation he had with Seokhwan this morning.




 

"Wooju?"

Seokhwan, who was looking at his smartphone in the company's lounge, asked.

"Why are you talking about Wooju all of a sudden?"

"I saw this, this early this morning."

"A music sheet?"

"I think he rearranged the song well for the year-end evaluation."

Kyuhwan tapped on the five-line paper.

"I've seen idol songwriting, but it's my first time seeing an arrangement. As you know, arrangement is much more difficult. If you don't know music, you can't do it.'

"Oh, come to think of it."

Seokhwan said.

"He always had a good sense for composing in the beginning. TJ knew about that and took special care of it. They even had famous producers for them."

"He must have been a rising star."

"How could that child who couldn't dance hold out there?"

"Dance? He did well though."

'It's because the director saw him during this time. It was no joke in the past. It was like a log hitting a mortar.'

Something bizarre comes to mind.

"What. And so, when Wooju said that he was going to leave, the company felt bad. I was thinking about getting him into A&R if it didn't work out. He's good at playing musical instruments and he's very talented."

"However?"

"He doesn't want to if he's not an idol."

"That's a strange friend."

Cho Kyuhwan, who was laughing quietly, caught something in his partner's words.

"Wait. He knows how to play instruments?"

"It's all inherited."

"What do you mean inherited?"

"Ahh, you don't know who Wooju's father is."

Seokhwan told a name to him, who had shown his curiosity and opened his eyes wide after since it was a name that he knew.